HondoJoe's 60 Favorite-ish Albums

  #53: The Proclaimers--Sunshine On Leith  (1988) Top-Notch Tracks:  "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)" (#32 HJ200 ), "Then I Met You," "I'm On My Way," "Cap In Hand" Album Depth:  "It's Saturday Night," "Teardrops," "Sean," "Oh Jean" Weak Links:  "Sunshine On Leith" Stand-Out Lyrics:  "I can tell the difference between margarine and butter. I can say Saskatchewan without starting to stutter."--"Cap In Hand" "Well, I would walk 500 miles and I would walk 500 more just to be the man who walked a thousand miles to fall down at your door."--"I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)" "Thought that I was finished. Thought that I was complete. Thought that I was whole instead of being half of something."--"Then I Met You" "The drink that I had three hours ago has been joined by fourteen others in a steady flow."--"It's Saturday Night...

  #54: Midnight Oil--Earth and Sun and Moon  (1993) Top-Notch Tracks:  "Earth and Sun and Moon," [#101 HJ200 ], "Truganini," "My Country," "Outbreak of Love" Album Depth:  "Now or Never Land," "In the Valley," "Renaissance Man," "Drums of Heaven," "Tell Me the Truth" Weak Links:  "Bushfire" Stand-Out Lyrics:  "Sediment is flowing from river to seas. Now where are the mighty nations? No lines to be seen,"--"Earth and Sun and Moon" "Blue collar work, it don't get you nowhere, you just go round and round in debt. Somebody's got you on that treadmill, mate. And I hope you're not beaten yet."--"Truganini" "Farmers are hanging on by their fingertips."--"Truganini" "A new world order has been formed between the cheque book and the dawn. A new renaissance man is born."--"Renaissance Man" "I hope virt...

  #55: They Might Be Giants--Apollo 18  (1992) Top-Notch Tracks:  "Fingertips," [#11 HondoJoe Top 200], "Dinner Bell," "The Guitar (The Lion Sleeps Tonight,)" "Spider," "Hall of Heads,"  Album Depth:  "Which Describes How You're Feeling," "See the Constellation," "Dig My Grave," "I Palindrome I," "Hypnotist of Ladies," "Space Suit," "Mammal," "My Evil Twin," "The Statue Got Me High," "Narrow Your Eyes," "Turn Around" Weak Link:  "If I Wasn't Shy" Stand-Out Lyrics:  "What's that blue thing doing here?"--"Fingertips" "I've been leaving on my things, so in the morning when the morning bird sings there's still dinner on my dinner jacket 'til the dinner bell rings."--"Dinner Bell" "Hush my darling, be still my darling, the lion's on the phone."--...

  #56. L.E.O.--Alpacas Orgling  (2006) Top-Notch Tracks:  "Distracted," "Goodbye Innocence," "You Had Me Going," "The Old College Try" Album Depth:  "Nothing Will Ever Change," "Make Me," "Don't Let It Go," "Sukaz Are Born Every Minute" Weak Links:  "Private Line" Stand-Out Lyrics:  "I can hear the cellos singing, don't know what tomorrow's bringing, I don't mind at all."--"Distracted" "It's a bummer I discovered that my lover has another above her. Did I forget to mention he's a drummer? A drummer!"--"Don't Let It Go" "Another day, another penny--who'd have thought we'd have so many?"--"Make Me" "Alex introduced me to the brother of his roommate Sue, whose friend Marie was kind of sweet on me."--"The Old College Try" "Maybe you're just the fizz in his cheap champagne."...

  #57. Jeff Lynne's ELO--Alone In the Universe  (2015) Top-Notch Tracks:  "When I Was a Boy," "All My Life," "Alone In the Universe," "The Sun Will Shine On You." Album Depth:  "One Step At a Time," "Ain't It a Drag," "When the Night Comes." Weak Links:  "Love and Rain," "Dirty to the Bone," "I'm Leaving You." Stand-Out Lyrics:  "When I was a boy I had a dream, all about the things I'd like to be."--"When I Was a Boy" "And radio waves kept me company, in those beautiful days when there was no money."--"When I Was a Boy" "All my life I was looking for you, and suddenly you were there. All my life I knew what I would do--Just stand there like a fool and stare."--"All My Life" "I'm so glad I found you, just wanna be around you, all my life."--"All My Life" "You go your way, and I go mine...

  #58: Fastball--All the Pain Money Can Buy  (1998) Top-Notch Tracks:  "The Way," "Fire Escape," "Sooner or Later," "Out of My Head" Album Depth:  "G.O.D (Good Old Days)," "Warm Fuzzy Feeling," "Better Than It Was," "Nowhere Road," "Charlie the Methadone Man" Weak Links: "Slow Drag" Stand-out Lyrics:  "I don't want to be President, Superman, or Clark Kent. I don't wanna walk  'round in their shoes."--"Fire Escape" "An exit to eternal summer slacking, where were they going without ever knowing the way?"--"The Way" "You know there's always more than one way to say exactly what you mean to say."--"Out of My Head" "I don't wanna make you mad. I don't wanna meet your dad. I don't wanna be your dream come true."--"Fire Escape" "I've been thinking 'bout the good old days; my ...

#59. Lorne Greene--Welcome to the Ponderosa  (1964) Top-Notch Songs:  "Bonanza," "Ghost Riders In the Sky," "Ringo." Album Depth:  "Saga of the Ponderosa," "Alamo," "Sand," "Endless Prairie," "Pony Express," "Blue Guitar." Weak Links:  "An Ol' Tin Cup (and a Battered Ol' Coffee Pot.)" Stand-out Lyrics:  "Welcome to the Ponderosa, my friends, for an evening of songs and stories about the American West. A land of legend, of romance, of friendship and loyalty, and courage. A motherlode of remembrance. A true bonanza!"--"Bonanza" "If anyone fights any one of us, he's got a fight with me!"--"Bonanza" "They're riding hard to catch that herd, but they ain't caught 'em yet."--"Ghost Riders In the Sky" "The town began to shout and cheer; nowhere was there shed a tear for Ringo."--"Ringo" "...