My Top 5 Albums of All Time!!

Understanding that choosing the best albums of all time is a challenge, but there are many factors that come to picking an favorite album. Like many, people pick a favorite album because of the hits the album had. For example, Thriller is consider to be the MOST sold album of all time, but that album in my opinion its not a favorite of mines. With no disrespect to the "King Of Pop", but that album is not a classic to me. I understand that Thriller broke records, but its just didnt leave a lasting impression on me. However, it was a good album. Nevertheless, picking a favorite album should be about how the album makes you feels, good or bad memories when the album was released, and if you can play the album today without skipping songs.

Now my favorite albums of all time are:

5. THE VELVET ROPE - Janet Jackson

Janet Jackson is a music idol, with albums like the freedom album of Control, the educational album of Rhythm Nation, and the sexual album .janet. But The Velvet Rope to me showed the world the "REAL JANET JACKSON". This album showed that Janet was dealing with issues just like us, which included depression, death loss, sexual preferences, abuse, and finding yourself. With that, this album showed she was human. She starts the album with an interlude that everyone should realize, "Its my belief we all have the need to feel special". The line always make me feel good, because with that Janet understands. The next track "Velvet Rope" Janet takes us into her world, the depression that she was experiencing which brought out the best but yet worse in her. Then she has songs like "You" and "Free Xone" that talks about being yourself instead of living in a fictitious world. With these songs, it really helped me in the year of 1997. My mother and I just move to NJ, I was at a new school didn't know anyone, which is hard. But I tried to fit in by doing things that I know I wouldn't normally do but songs like "You" and "Free Xone" help me realize that I didn't have to pretend to be something I wasn't. Then she has the anthem, "Together Again" for anyone that ever loss anyone to a disease such as AIDS. In 1997, I never knew the depth of AIDS, but I always loved this song, However in 2010, this song come back into my life because my first cousin, that I considered my brother died of AIDS, it was very heartbreaking. It cause me into a deep depression for a couple of days. But it was when this song played, I cried and sung it at the same time, it felt like 1997 again. In essence, that song cause me to think about him being in a great place, "smiling back at me". Aside from the songs like "Together Again" Janet wouldn't be Janet with out the sexual songs like "Rope Burn", "Anything", the Rod Stewart remake "Tonight's The Night". These songs definitely helped in the bedroom a couple of times. Above all, this album is about loving yourself, realizing that we are all special, and "we can't be stopped". This is a type of album for me will always be relevant to be in my life. 

4. I NEVER LOVED A MAN THE WAY I LOVE YOU- Aretha Franklin

The "Queen Of Soul" what can I say about Ms. Aretha Franklin. She is definitely the queen for a reason. With me being only 24 years old, I grew up with listening to old soul artists, such as Aretha Franklin. I Never Loved A Man The Way I Love You is one of the albums that I remember my mother playing on our record player on a Friday nights. This is album is soulful from beginning to end. She starts this album off with the woman's anthem of the century "Respect", even though I like Otis Redding original version better, but thats besides the point. Ms. Franklin did this song justice. The second track is one of my favorite songs of the album "Drown In My Own Tears", she killed this Ray Charles classic, her version is so much better than his in my opinion. This song actually makes me cry every time I hear it, because you can hear the soul in her voice. Then she comes with the album title track song, which is my favorite song from the album. The song is for any person that loves a person thats bad for them. The song became relevant to me cause I loved someone more than I loved anything, they had "their hook in me". Every time I hear this song, I totally understand Ms. Franklin. Of course she has the drink re-filler song, "Soul Serenade". When this song comes on, my mother and I always have to refill out drink, but while we are refilling it, we are singing along with her. However, you can't forget the classics like "Baby, Baby, Baby", "Dr. Feelgood", "Do Right Woman, Do Right Man", and the Sam Cooke classic "A Change Is Gonna Come".  Ms. Franklin definitely made this song hers. If you want a soulful album that will take you through love and pain together, this is album that I recommend.

3. NEVER SAY NEVER- Brandy

Brandy's Never Say Never in my opinion made her a pop star. Her first album strictly R&B/Soul, but this album has a pop feel to it. This is one of my favorite albums because I have great memories with this album. I can remember when my moms and I heard the "Boy Is Mine" on the radio we never knew who the person that was singing with her. The person we thought it was Countess Vaughn, Kim from Moesha. But realizing that it was Monica. But we loved that song. I remember my mother saying as soon as Brandy's album come out we were getting it. The day was June 6, 1998, my mother got off work and we went to the record store to buy it. When we popped the tape into the cassette player were blown away with the first song "Angel In Disguise" it had the "bob your head in the car vibe". The next track was "The Boy Is Mine", by the time we got the album were sick of the song, because we played it so much. "Learn The Hard Way", was a personal favorite of mines because its not you typical  sad slow song with a message, it had a beat, which I love to sing along to. But a family favorite is track five "Almost Doesn't Count" this is one song that I let my mother sing along with me, cause she has no voice, but we love this song so much. I remember riding in our 1993 Plymouth Sundance, with the windows down singing "Everytime you build me up, you only let me down" or "Maybe come running back from the cruel cruel world". People would be looking at us on the outside but we didn't care. As the album proceeds you can't for get about "Top Of The World" with Mase, the number one "Have You Ever". But the song that took this album to the top was the classic "Put That On Everything". This song to me is Brandy at her best. This song you can sing to the person that you are madly in love with. The way Brandy sings "Ill climb mountain's highest peak" gets me every time. This is actually my favorite Brandy song of all time. Above all, this album is fun and lovable at the same time. I can play Never Say Never and still feel like the first time I heard it with my mother back in the summer of 1998.

2. WHAT'S GOING ON-Marvin Gaye

Marvin Gaye's What's Going On showed America that Africans Americans has something important to say about the society that we were living in. During the late 1960s early 1970s Vietnam War was really hurting our society. The veterans were returning from fighting this war, to experience injustice and hatred, especially in the African American communities. With this album Marvin was speaking for them and singing the experiences that they faced. The titled track "What's Going On" he sings "Mother there is too many of you crying and brother they are too many of you dying" and "War is not the answer, you know we got to find a way to bring some love here today". Marvin was telling the world that this war wasn't needed. The next track "What's Happening Brother" is a song about how a veteran feels after the war because after the war everything is suppose to be okay, but he is fighting another war such as getting a job and making money. Every time this song plays I turn it up to full volume because people in today's society are dealing with the same issues. Then he goes into "Flying High(In the Friendly Skies)". This song is about looking to drugs because of the hard times, it helps you with the pain of being unsuccessful. "I go to the place where good feeling awaits me", went Marvin sings this it brings a chill to my body because it's easy to turn to drugs when things are going bad. Meanwhile, Marvin is also concerned about the children of the world, he knows that children have many things to say. "Save the babies" Marvin sings to the parents of the world, help your children to make good decisions for the future. The song that Marvin really gets me is when he puts GOD into perspective with the gospel anthem "God is Love". I love that Marvin put a beat to this song, because throughout the album he has you in a thought process, he bring to you to life with this song. As he sings "Love your mother (she born you)", makes me realize why I love my mother so much. Also, Gaye is telling us that God is there with you all the time, even when you don't think so. As the album continues, songs like "Mercy, Mercy Me", "Right On", & "Wholy Holy" give great messages. But I love the way Marvin ends this album with "Inner City Blues"(Make Me Wanna Holler). This is the song in my opinion besides "The Ghetto" by Donny Hathaway, that gives America an insight into our inner cities. With this song, Marvin is telling the world that the African American men in the 1970s had to deal with the war, then come home to the inner cities to deal with another war. This album was very bold and truthful, its hard to believe that Berry Gordy wasn't going to release this album because he thought it was too political. He was sadly mistaken, because in this album Marvin made me understand if I had something to say, express it because GOD is the only person that can judge me. Above all, this album can definitely be played with the way the world is today.

1. MY LIFE-Mary J. Blige

What can I say about this album, Mary J. Blige in my opinion delivered the best album of all time. Mary became part of my family with this album. My mother and I moved to South Carolina back in the early 90s because my mother wanted to move out the inner city of Brooklyn to further her education. During this time, my mother was a single parent trying to balance going to school and raising a child. This was very hard to balance, but what made life a lot easier was music. Meanwhile, my mother and I listened to music while we both studied. On this one particular weekend in 1994, we had family over and someone left this tape by Mary J. Blige. Mom and I already liked Mary because of her hit "Reminisce", but we didnt follow her music too much. Nevertheless, the new week began moms popped in the tape. From that first track  "Mary Jane (All Night Long)" we fell in love with it. GOD put this tape into our lives for a reason, because Mary was going through as much of a struggle we were. So, throughout that album we can feel the pain and passion of her voice. As time pass on, it seemed like every time I came home from school, My Life was playing in the background. Songs like "You Gotta Believe", "I'm The Only Woman", "Be With You", and "Mary's Joint" made you understand that Mary was in so much pain, it was like a ghetto gospel. But the song that takes me through so many emotions is "I Never Wanna Live Without You". As a child, I used to sing this song with so much emotion, but when I got older I really understand what that song meant.  Besides, "I Never Wanna Live Without You" is my favorite song of all time, you can hear the passion, the pain, and depression in this song. Every time I sing it with her, I cry because it takes me through happiness and sadness at the same time. However, the song that my mother and I love is the last song on the album "Be Happy". This song is so inspiring from the first line of the song "How can I love somebody else, if I can't love myself enough when it's time to let go". With this song, Mary is explaining that you have to be happy before you can anyone else happy. When I think about My Life, I think about how this album brought my mother and I closer than ever, how it affected my family, and how it affected me. This album really made me fall in love with MUSIC as a whole. As a result, I want to thank Mary for this album because without My Life, I don't know where my life would be.