Bob Dylan – Bringing It All Back Home (1965)

Bringing It All Back Home is the first one of Bob Dylan's golden-era albums. The other two are Highway 61 Revisited and Blonde on Blonde. This was the first album where Dylan went electric. The purist folk people really didn't like the use of electronic instruments but the album made Dylan super popular in other circles and for a good reason in my view. This is one of the greatest albums ever made. There's a full rock n' roll band on the album, except there are no drums in most songs. This is a bit strange, but I didn't even notice that the drums were missing at first, because the groove is so great. It's incredible to think that this album has just been recorded with one microphone taking in all the different instruments. The band plays better than basically any other band I've ever heard playing live. I don't know how many takes they had to take, but it's still all very impressive.

Simon & Garfunkel – Bridge Over Troubled Water (1970)

When it comes to Simon & Garfunkel, I think the folkier the better. That's probably why in my opinion their albums got worse pretty much album to album. Now, this doesn't mean that they would have any bad albums. The whole of their repertoire is really good. I'm just saying that the last two albums, Bookends and Bridge Over Troubled Water are my least favourite albums by them, because they've sort of let go of their early folky sounds and as a result the amazing guitar playing and quiet and beautiful vocal harmonies are not as prominent in their music. There are some notable exceptions and actually some of my all time favourite Simon & Garfunkel tracks are found on this album. The overall feel of the album just doesn't reach the same kind of bliss as Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M. or Sounds of Silence.

Brian Wilson – Brian Wilson (1988)

Back in 1967 when Pet Sounds by The Beach Boys came out, the future of the band seemed really interesting. They were beginning to shift away from commercial surf pop towards interesting psychedelic baroque pop. Then something happened and Smile, their next album to be was cancelled and The Beach Boys took a step back in their artistic experimentation.Wilson lost some of his interest in the Beach Boys around this time and we never really saw the masterpieces that would have been released until 2004 when Smile was released as a glimpse into what could have been. Wilson continued with the Beach Boys throughout the 70's but the new albums weren't that interesting anymore and Wilson's creativity seemed to have dried out. He didn't release any solo albums until this one that came out in 1988.

Andrew Bird – Break It Yourself (2012)

Ever since I first heard Andrew Bird on the compilation album Dark Was the Night, I have been a big fan of his. His folky baroque pop sounds unique because of his amazing whistling and picked violin. His clear voice is also a pleasure to listen to. Break It Yourself was the first album Andrew Bird released after I was already familiar with his music. In the beginning it didn't make that much of an impression on me, since it sounded very similar to the earlier albums, but more recently I have found many amazing songs on this album that are among the best ones in his career. It is true that his musical style hasn't much changed, but then again, that might just be a good thing. I know so many other artists who have changed their style into something so much worse. At least Andrew Bird makes consistently great music.

Various Artists – Brainfeeder Sampler (2015)

Rough Trade is more than a record store. In a time when record stores aren't doing that well as many people have stopped buying albums, it's really refreshing having this kind of next generation record store close by. Rough Trade doesn't just sell records. They also have great curated lists of new albums, they sell books related to music and equipment to play your music with, they organise talks and gigs etc. and there's a nice cafe in the shop. One of my favourite things about them is that when you buy albums from them, you sometimes get free sampler CDs along with your purchase. This is a great way to get acquainted with new music. I got this sampler when I bought the amazing album The Epic, by Kamasi Washington. There are only a few songs and most of it is a bit too experimental for my taste, but it's still nice to get out of the comfort zone to hear something completely new.

The Cure – Boys Don't Cry (1980)

For a long time, I thought this was The Cure's debut studio album. It was only later on that I learned that this is actually a compilation album that includes many songs from the debut album Three Imaginary Boys in addition to some single releases. In the US, this album was seen as an alternative release of the debut album, so in the end I wasn't that wrong. In my childhood I had heard some songs by The Cure, but I hadn't really gotten to know the band so when I borrowed this album on a CD from the local library, I didn't really know what to expect. I was blown away by some of the more melodic songs but I didn't really care that much for some of the songs. Now, looking back, this compilation includes some of my all time favourite Cure tracks. I still don't have Three Imaginary Boys, but I think the vinyl version of this album is enough from the early era Cure.

The National – Boxer (2007)

I remember the first time I ever heard The National quite clearly. In 2008 I was browsing for CDs at a former Helsinki-based record store Popparienkeli. My friend worked there at the time and I often asked him for tips on what to buy. This time he mentioned two albums they had just received second hand. First one was Vampire Weekend's self-titled debut album that had just been released and the other one was Boxer by The National. Boxer had already been something of a breakthrough album for The National in indie circles, but I wasn't following music media frequently enough to have bumped into The National before. I took up the headphones in the record store and listened to both of those albums. I wasn't too impressed by Vampire Weekend's album, but the first time I heard Matt Berninger's melancholic and deep baritone voice, I was already sold.

U-Street All Stars – Bowling (2004)

Helsinki has one of the best jazz scenes in Europe. New cool jazz bands seem to appear all the time and the quality of their albums is comparable to world-class big names. Many of these jazz bands were formed in jazz schools of Helsinki and even quite young players became somewhat famous in jazz circles. U-Street All Stars is one of the most impressive jazz bands to come out of Helsinki around that time. Both of the albums they released have got a Blue Note marking, which isn't easy to get if I'm correct. Unfortunately U-Street All Stars' career was a short-lived one. They only released two albums and since I wasn't really paying enough attention to jazz those days, I missed my opportunity to see them live. I bet they would've been really good live considering the amazing talent you can hear on their albums. I bet they would've had gigs in Helsinki all the time. Even their name comes from the fact that their rehearsal space was on Uudenmaankatu, a street in Helsinki.

Pixies – Bossanova (1990)

It took me several years to really get into Pixies. I was always drawn to their sounds that reminded me of the bands that I listened to in the early 90's, such as Guns n' Roses, but Pixies had a much more experimental approach to their music and I think it was more difficult to really get into the melodies. Then, something happened a few years ago. I had already started really liking Sonic Youth, which was another band from the same era that took me a long time to get into. Then I heard that Pixies is going to headline Field Day in London with their brand new album just being released. I started preparing for the gig by listening to their music and I suddenly realised that I really really liked it. The concert itself was really amazing and after that I've been even more into Pixies. Quite soon after I bought Doolittle and Bossanova, which are my favourite albums by them.

Bruce Springsteen – Born to Run (1975)

It's interesting that sometimes, even though I'm writing this blog with albums in alphabetical order, I sometimes get the same artist's two albums right next to each other. Usually it's because they have two volumes of the album with a same name, but in this case I just don't happen to own any albums that are between Born in the U.S.A. and Born to Run in the alphabet. It's interesting that two most well-known Bruce Springsteen albums start with the word 'Born'. Where Born in the U.S.A. made Springsteen a superstar filling huge stadiums, Born to Run brought Springsteen in the mainstream. Born to Run is pretty much always thought of as the best Springsteen album ever made and I certainly have to agree with that. It's a timeless classic filled with amazingly skilful musicians, great songwriting and cool sounds.

Bruce Springsteen – Born in the U.S.A. (1984)

There aren't many other albums that would be so widely known and recognisable as this one. The album cover is so iconic that you would recognise it anywhere. Born in the U.S.A. is Bruce Springsteen's bestselling album and indeed one of the best-selling albums ever released by anyone. This album made already popular Bruce Springsteen a superstar and since this album he has played to huge stadiums everywhere in the world up until today. The album is supposed to criticise the society of 80's America, but many people misunderstood this album to refer to the American dream and the album was used to back up very contradictory values to the original intention. Ronald Reagan even used the title-track in his Presidential campaign which of course led people to ridicule him for not really understanding anything about Bruce Springsteen. And indeed, the song is a cry for the American working-class man, who has been isolated from the society led by neo-liberal politics.

Badly Drawn Boy – Born in the U.K. (2006)

Born in the U.K., in my opinion, is the best album the British singer-songwriter Badly Drawn Boy has ever released. This is partly due to the fact that this was the first album I ever heard by him and those albums tend to have the most emotional significance. Partly it's just because the songs on this album have amazing catchy melodies and even the kind of thematic nature of the album is kind of intriguing to me. The title of the album is a reference to Bruce Springsteen's Born in the USA and like Springsteen's album, this too, is quite a critical portrayal of what it means to be proud of your home country. Basically, Badly Drawn Boy is saying that it doesn't matter where you come from, but also, where you come from is a big part of who you are and you should be able to be proud of your origins without exclusive nationalism. This album is a realistic exploration of what it means to be English instead of the polished and utopian nationalist view.

Simon & Garfunkel – Bookends (1968)

The majority of the music I heard as a child in addition to children's music was whatever my father would listen to, but Simon & Garfunkel was something I heard because of my mother. We had Simon & Garfunkel's compilation album on vinyl, the one with hilarious album cover. I think I've always liked their music, but it wasn't until later on when I got excited about new folk movement of the 2000's that I really understood the significance of this band. The vocal harmonies, the songwriting and above all, the dreamy atmosphere are what make this music magical and timeless. In the 90's, no-one really listened to vinyl records, but coming to mid-00's, vinyl records became popular again and I got a vinyl player as well. Fairly soon afterwards, I went to Black & White, a record store in Helsinki, and bought pretty much all the Simon & Garfunkel albums which were surprisingly cheap.

Various Artists – Bonus CD 9 (1998)

In the 90's when CD was the leading format in music sales, there were many promotion CDs around. If I remember correctly, in Finland, if you bought two or more CDs at the same time, you got a Bonus CD, a compilation of big Finnish hits from that time. At the time, this was actually quite a significant thing, because music wasn't available freely online and the only way you really owned music was if you yourself owned it in physical form, or you had copied music from one of your friends who owned the music. Therefore, getting a whole CD of new music for free was a big thing. CDs were quite expensive to me as a child, so I couldn't afford to buy them that often, which is why I only have this one Bonus CD. The selection of songs on this album is very varied. Some of these songs I really liked, whereas some I simply couldn't understand at all.

Fenster – Bones (2012)

Even though Berlin has been the epicentre of hipster-movement in Europe, I haven't heard of many indie bands from there. I'm sure there must be loads of them, but for some reason it's difficult for them to break outside of their home country. Maybe it's because of the language. Anyway, I was introduced to Berlin-based Fenster when they were warming up for Woods at The Lexington here in London. Their show made a good impression on me and I ended up buying their vinyl record from the bass player after their show. In hindsight, the band was much better live than on this album. The recording is quite lo-fi and raw. This has changed a bit for their later albums, but then again, the acoustic folk sound has been replaced by strange space organ sounds, which doesn't work as well for me personally. So, even if this album sounds a bit raw, it's probably the best album from the band.

Morrissey – Bona Drag (1990)

Whenever someone mentions Bona Drag nowadays, my first thought is the beginning of Ryan Adams' Heartbreaker where Ryan Adams is arguing with David Rawlings about whether Suedehead is on Viva Hate or Bona Drag. Of course, Ryan Adams is right in saying that it's on both, because Bona Drag is a collection of Morrissey's early singles and B-sides. Bona Drag has lots of songs that do not appear on any other album. After Viva Hate, Morrissey wanted to release lots of singles before another LP and that's why there is so much material on this compilation. Bona Drag is one of the best albums Morrissey has ever released. The sounds are still quite similar to the sound of The Smiths. The album turned out to be a great success in the US where Morrissey hadn't been very successful before, while at the same time, Morrissey's popularity faded in the UK.

Bon Iver – Bon Iver (2011)

Bon Iver's self-titled second album is quite a departure from the debut album For Emma, Forever Ago. On the debut album, the band was pretty much just the frontman Justin Vernon, whereas on this album, there's a huge band comprising various different instruments. The songs have more electronic feel to them and lots of strange effects have been used in the instruments. In my opinion, this album is not nearly as good as the debut album was. The reason why the debut album was so great was that it was incredibly intimate and personal. You could picture Justin Vernon sitting in the isolated cabin writing these songs and singing his heart out. This second album is bloated with instruments. Sometimes it sounds quite spectacular, but the intimacy is gone and replaced by modern indie rock that is directed towards big concert venues.