As you may have noticed, it never happens that we give 5 stars to an album. It's just that we can't establish at its release that an album is perfect and will become a historical album. A few years of hindsight is necessary. So here we introduce you to albums that are at least 10 years old, that probably deserved 4 or 4 and a half stars at the time, but that clearly deserve 5 stars in retrospect. These are truly historical albums!

After the band's best album to date in Highway To Hell and the death of their lead singer, Bon Scott, it could have very well be the end of AC/DC in 1980. However, the group worked hard, hired the "screamer" singer Brian Johnson and quickly released the album that was going to rank among the legends of rock, Back In Black. The band had already begun in recent years to distance over its blues influences and the style of AC/DC was really going to be immortalized on the album. They would constantly try later to copy themselves by repeating a new Back In Black, but with not much success. The bell that announces "Hells Bells", the first song of the album, also announced the end of an era and the beginning of a new one for AC/DC. Then, try to find weaknesses on this album and you'll have a hard time. With tracks like "Shoot To Thrill", "Givin the Dog a Bone", the mega-hit "You Shook Me All Night Long" and the title track, moments of respite will be rare. If you do not know AC/DC, you only need to start with 2 albums: Back In Black and the 2-CD version of Live that will demonstrate their energy in concert. Please note that Back In Black was digitally remastered and re-issued in 2003, which will give you a refreshed version of this classic. As with all the other re-issues of AC/DC’s albums, the CD gives you access to new content on the band's website. It includes an interview with Brian Johnson, three music videos and more... (November 2005)

The Arcade Fire is a band from Montreal that catches everyone's attention since the release of its first album in September of 2004. The band is formed by a couple, Win Butler and Régine Chassagne, accompanied by Will, the younger brother of Win, and completed by Richard Parry and Tim Kingsbury. This family gives us an indie rock music particularly creative with unforgettable melodies and a perfect mix between introspection and rhythm. We can compare them to their cousins from Montreal The Dears, but other names come to our minds: Pixies, Sugarcubes, Modest Mouse, The Cure. We can find in The Arcade Fire sound a good use of strings and keyboards bringing a great musical richness. They gave the title "Funeral" to the album after many deaths of people in their entourage in the last year, but don't worry, the record has nothing annoying to death. On the contrary, the 10 tracks of the record for a total of 48 minutes never disappoint us and every new listening helps us to discover a new aspect of it we didn't hear before. It's an album without any weaknesses that left us foresee a brilliant future for this band of the Montreal scene that can be compared to the greatests of all. This album is definitely one of the best releases of 2004 and even of the decade. (February 2005 Featured New Artist)

On Pet Sounds, the Beach Boys reached a whole new level in terms of composition and production, layering track after track of vocals and instruments to create a richly symphonic sound. Keyboards and guitars were combined with exotic touches of orchestrated strings, bicycle bells, organs, harpsichords, flutes, theremin, Hawaiian stringed instruments, cola cans, barking dogs, etc. The album wouldn't have been a classic without great songs, and these contain some of the band's most stunning melodies, as well as lyrical themes that evoke both the intensity of budding love and the disappointment of failed romance, in addition to some sweeping statements about the loss of innocence and the confusion of modern times. The quality of the material is bolstered by some of the finest upper-register male vocals (especially from Brian and Carl Wilson) ever heard on a rock record. "Wouldn't It Be Nice", "God Only Knows", "Caroline No", and "Sloop John B" (which was not originally intended to be on the album) are the best-known hits, but other tracks are just as worthy ("You Still Believe in Me", "Don't Talk", "I Know There's an Answer", "I Just Wasn't Made for These Times"). Pet Sounds is often said to be more a Brian Wilson recording than a Beach Boys recording (studio musicians played most of the tracks), but it should be noted that the vocal harmonies are still pure Beach Boys (and some of their best). Highly influential upon its release (although it sold relatively few copies compared to their previous albums), Pet Sounds immediately propelled the band to the forefront of rock innovation, particularly in the UK where its success was greater than in the US. (February 2023)

Unlike Stereopathetic Soulmanure and One Foot in the Grave, the stand-alone albums that followed his debut album Mellow Gold by only a few months, Odelay is a full-fledged album with intricate and meticulous production by the Dust Brothers. Odelay relies on a mix of found sounds and samples, but the Dust Brothers showcase Beck's ever-changing sounds, while tying together the various stylistic shifts. As with Mellow Gold, Odelay touches on disparate elements: folk, country, garage rock, grunge, electro and rap. However, everything evolves smoothly into a perfectly coherent whole. Many of the songs sound a little more complicated than they really are. They betray Beck's roots as an anti-folk singer. He reworks the structures of blues ("Devil's Haircut"), country ("Lord Only Knows", "Sissyneck"), soul ("Hotwax"), folk ("Ramshackle") and rap ("High 5 [Rock the Catskills]", "Where It's At"). But each song avoids convention, whether in its construction or presentation. While many of Beck's best songs are here, Odelay is best appreciated as a whole. A very creative album! (January 2023)

If you wanted to discover Chuck Berry's first albums on Chess Records, this is the one you must have. The song list is exemplary, collecting classics like "Maybellene", "Carol", "Sweet Little Rock & Roller", "Little Queenie", "Roll Over Beethoven" and "Johnny B. Goode". With the addition of "Hey Pedro" with its Latin flavor, as well as "Blues for Hawaiians", "Anthony Boy" and "Jo Jo Gunne" on steel guitar, this album is almost a greatest hits collection in itself. Although it is only a collection of singles rather than an actual album (like most rock 'n' roll records in the 1950s and early 1960s), it is the most perfectly produced album of Chuck Berry's career. An essential masterpiece in rock history! (January 2023)

In 1972, David Bowie decided to create an androgynous character he called Ziggy Stardust. He introduced the concept album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars, a masterpiece out of its time that would revolutionize the genre and definitely put Bowie on the map. The character would again appear one year later on Aladdin Sane before he made him disappear on stage at the end of the next tour. The album commonly called Ziggy Stardust forms an inseparable whole of 11 tracks. Each song has indeed its importance and its role to play on the record, from "Five Years" to "Rock 'N' Roll Suicide" through "Moonage Dream", "Starman", "Lady Stardust", the rock ‘n’ roll "Suffragette City" and the hit title-track. We can say that David Bowie has explored many genres during his career, often before they become fashionable, but the glam rock of the Ziggy Stardust era was likely to be his most creative and most prominent period (although some fans prefer the Berlin trilogy in the late 70s in collaboration with Brian Eno). In my opinion, Ziggy Stardust remains the ultimate Bowie, the one that started it all, but also the one which has put the expectations higher on him for the rest of his career, often making him unpopular among the critics despite his overflowing creativity and forward thinking. For more information about David Bowie, you can visit his musicography: www.musicomania.ca/davidbowie. (April 2008)

In 1989, at a time when the hair of the musicians seemed more important than the quality of their compositions, a band has surprised everyone with a different album, Faith No More. Despite an excellent record released two years earlier (Introduce Yourself), they had not managed to get out of the underground. But with The Real Thing, the band moved to the other side with a huge success and many awards. They were originally one of the first bands to mix rock and rap on the hit "Epic". They also presented a creative sound on catchy tracks as "From Out of Nowhere", the excellent "Falling To Pieces" the heavy "Surprise! You're Dead!" and the varied "Zombie Eaters". They have dared to cover a Black Sabbath classic, "War Pigs", they have been able to appropriate cleverly, so much so that some young people at the time believed that it was a Faith No More song, not having known the original released almost 20 years before. In this group people were discovering, you could hear a promising young singer named Mike Patton. He became known in later years for his eclecticism in bands like Mr. Bungle, Fantômas and Tomahawk to name a few. With The Real Thing, Faith No More showed us a 55-minute album without weaknesses, creative and varied, which allowed us to forget that American rock bands who reigned as kings at the time were Bon Jovi and Poison and that all the artists from the 70s (with rare exceptions) were unable to issue an interesting album at that time. Faith No More was a pioneer of the alternative movement that would develop in the 90s led by the grunge from Seattle. They would themselves contribute to the movement in 1992 with the excellent album Angel Dust some people even prefer to The Real Thing. (June 2005)

After Warning, released four years before, which was surprising because of its more acoustic sound than the previous Green Day sound, the band came back with American Idiot, another surprising album. Even if the sound brings us closer to the era before Warning, and despite the title song which is reminding us of the best moments of the excellent Dookie, this new record is a 57 minute concept album containing even two songs over nine minutes each and in five parts each: "Jesus of Suburbia" and "Homecoming". Some critics talk about an album between Tommy by The Who and the punk opera by Hüsker Dü, Zen Arcade. Without going that far, I will only say that Green Day continues its evolution in modern punk rock, an evolution some can find weird because of the quickness of it, but that will surely be recognized in a few years. Don't forget that Green Day never did a bad album before, even if the audience had sometimes problems to follow them. The punk compositions of Billie Joe Armstrong are once again extremely efficient in addition to be different from many other bands in this genre (the title song, the excellent "St. Jimmy", "She's a Rebel", etc.), but the band also goes in classic rock and theatrical rock (Queen, Meat Loaf, David Bowie, etc.). The record, extremely rich in textures, will probably please you at the first listening, but will totally conquer you after a few more. It's an album you have to listen to in its entirety, but each song can be listened to separately also and be absolutely great. It's a beautiful album without any weaknesses, very close to perfection and it could become a masterpiece after maturing a bit. To listen to absolutely, but with a kind of an open mind... (November 2004 Featured Review)

In 1994, punk music was back in vogue thanks mainly to two bands: The Offspring, but mostly Green Day. The latter, which had only issued independent records previously, offered us a first album widely distributed and would conquer the whole world in the following months. With 14 tracks, all effective, including the hits "Basket Case", "Welcome To Paradise" and "When I Come Around", Dookie is one of the most enjoyable albums to listen to in full and repeatedly. This album would inspire a whole new generation of pop/punk musicians and Green Day would become one of the most cited groups as inspiration by new artists. Even if the band has released other high quality albums later, none would be able to match the genius of Dookie, an incomparable must-have album in your collection. (July 2005)

In 1987, when rock music was immersed in a sea of hard rock, a band of bad boys has emerged with a sound that was different from the mass. They threw us: "Welcome to the jungle!", to use the first title of Appetite For Destruction. The first radio hit with an unforgettable guitar riff, "Sweet Child O' Mine", which was presented to radios in a shortened version compared to the original album, allowed the band to reach a wide audience. Yet the attitude of the guys had nothing really enviable and it was a pretty bad example for youth, since drugs and alcohol were freely used within the band. This is also one of the reasons why the band, led by singer Axl Rose and guitarist Slash, released only two real albums after that and disbanded (most members are now part of Velvet Revolver without Axl). But back to Appetite For Destruction which is a perfect hard rock album containing 12 tracks totaling 54 minutes. The songs are linked together beautifully and each one seems better than the previous one. Rock ‘n’ roll is king and few albums since that time have managed to present a rock sound both as raw and perfect. The style has lost vigor in the 90s with the advent of grunge that has transformed the way of playing for several musicians. But Appetite For Destruction remains the great hard rock album that is the benchmark in the genre. A must! (September 2005)

After having produced a successful album with Off the Wall in 1979, Michael Jackson was determined to reach the top three years later with Thriller. He has fully achieved his goal by selling over 45 million copies of this album. Thriller thus became the biggest selling album in history and would be recognized by the Guinness Book of records that would encrypt these sales to 65 million. It is nothing less than 7 of the 9 songs of the album that were released as singles to become successful. The three most important of them inspired revolutionary music videos, real short movies that have changed the way to produce a music video for future generations. This is "Beat It", "Billie Jean" and the title track. Among the other hits, we must also consider the exceptional collaboration of Paul McCartney (the former Beatle) for "The Girl Is Mine", which would lead to a participation of Jackson to the next album of McCartney. Thriller has no weak moment while the tracks are linked together beautifully alternating light pop and a bit more pop rock. Jackson was certainly at the top of his creativity at that time and this album was going to crown him as the King of Pop. In February 2008, to mark the 25th anniversary of the release of the album, a new edition was issued, Thriller 25 with 2 choices of front covers, classic and zombie. This new version of the album includes, in addition to the remastered version of the original 9 tracks of the record, 5 songs re-recorded with artists of the 2000s: will.i.am (2), Akon, Fergie and Kanye West. They are all particularly good, the least effective being "Billie Jean" with Kanye West which is frankly boring. There is also as a bonus a never-released song from the album recording sessions, "For All Time". A DVD is also included which contains the complete music videos of "Billie Jean", "Beat It" and "Thriller", as well as his performance of "Billie Jean" at the Motown 25th anniversary concert, the label on which Michael recorded his first albums with his brothers. Thriller 25 is doing full justice to this classic album in the history of music. It is particularly interesting as the original edition of the album is no longer available. A must! Visit the musicography about Michael Jackson here: http://www.musicomania.ca/michaeljackson. (May 2008)

In 1991, when rock music was becoming increasingly boring and predictable, a music video appeared that would create a stir and catch the attention of a wide audience, "Smells Like Teen Spirit" by a band from Seattle called Nirvana. This band with punk influences would lead a new musical wave, grunge, with bands like Pearl Jam, Soundgarden and Alice In Chains. Nevermind, produced by Butch Vig, is considered by many to be the album that allowed the rock to survive when it needed it. Almost all of the 12 tracks included on this record became successful at one time or another, either in their original form or in a live version (electric or acoustic). In addition to "Smells Like Teen Spirit", one cannot ignore the brilliance of Kurt Cobain, Kris Novoselic and Dave Grohl on classics like "In Bloom", "Come As You Are", "Breed", "Lithium", "Polly", "Drain You", "On A Plain" and "Something In The Way". Forget weaknesses on this album that proves that perfection can indeed exist. This is an album you can listen to repeatedly tirelessly, an album that the band itself was not able to match later in their short career brutally interrupted by the death of Cobain in 1994. The symbol of excellence in the 90s, Nevermind remains today a legendary album in rock music, an album that will pass through history as having been among the bests. To learn more about Nirvana, you can visit the musicography about the band at the following address: www.musicomania.ca/nirvana. (April 2005)

When Pearl Jam appeared on the music scene in 1991, they were immediately compared to Nirvana, Soundgarden and Alice In Chains and qualified as a grunge band, since all these groups came from the same town of Seattle. Yet they were all quite different. Pearl Jam would get inspiration into the hard rock of the 70s, offering us a sound both hard and introspective. With the unique voice of Eddie Vedder and a very characteristic guitar sound, the band was able to pave the way for an extraordinary number of bands of the 90s and 2000s. Ten is the best example of a perfect album since it contains no weakness, can be listened to completely with pleasure and contains many of the best songs of the band’s career ("Even Flow", "Alive", "Black", "Jeremy", and so on), still the most popular on stage. The second portion of the CD, a little more introspective, brings us literally in a parallel universe where only Radiohead may have had the secret afterwards. Despite some good albums after this one, Pearl Jam were never able to match the quality and success of Ten which remains the quintessential album of the group. (May 2005)

By condensing Meddle's sonic explorations into real songs and adding lush, immaculate production to their most trippy instrumental sections, Pink Floyd inadvertently created their commercial breakthrough with The Dark Side of the Moon. Roger Waters has written a series of songs about mundane, everyday details that aren't very impressive in themselves, but which, when accompanied by Pink Floyd's slow, atmospheric soundscapes and carefully placed sound effects, find emotional resonance. But what gives the album its real power is its subtly textured music, which evolves from heavy, neo-psychedelic art rock to jazz fusion and blues rock before returning to psychedelia. It's dense in detail, but quietly paced, creating its own dark, haunting world. With The Dark Side of the Moon, Pink Floyd proved that with a little concentration and perfect collaboration, you can deliver a masterpiece. The Dark Side of the Moon still holds the record for the most consecutive weeks on the Billboard Top 200 chart, with 724 weeks to April 1988. Over 200 more weeks were added at various times thereafter. (June 2023)

After his debut at Sun Records, Elvis Presley was hired by RCA, who had confidence in the talented teenager from Memphis. The circumstances surrounding this first album were neither simple nor promising, and nothing in the history of pop music up to that point suggested that Elvis Presley was going to be anything more than a flash in the pan. At the time, it wasn't even clear that there was a reason for a rock 'n' roll artist to make an album, since teenagers were buying singles, not LPs. The first single, "Heartbreak Hotel", seemed like a potential single, but no one thought it would sell. It took about a month before it took off and started selling. Then, Elvis appeared on TV, and the single became #1 on the pop charts. The album is based on two recording sessions in January and February, plus five unreleased songs from Sun Records. This is the most amazing debut album ever made, representing all of Elvis' musical influences, except for gospel which would come later. Rockabilly, blues, R&B, country and pop are all present in an explosive and seductive combination. Elvis Presley becomes the first rock 'n' roll album to reach #1 on the U.S. charts, and the first RCA pop album to gross a million dollars. This is a rousing record that is truly impressive, an album that will lay the foundation for rock 'n' roll, a must-have in the history of rock music. (January 2023)

During their career, Queen gave us good and less good albums. But, one is largely out of the lot: A Night At The Opera. Released in 1975, the album reuses the hard rock elements, or even metal, of Sheer Heart Attack, but bringing it in a real rock opera. The band uses many instruments and specific arrangements to offer us an extraordinary music richness. Queen remains metal on "Death On Two Legs" and "Sweet Lady", but they also offer the simple pop music hit "You're My Best Friend", perhaps their most beautiful love song, composed by John Deacon. Brian May is much more mystique on the almost country "'39" and the progressive with psychedelic accents "The Prophet's Song". The ballad by Freddie Mercury "Love of My Life" remained for many years a favorite on stage. Finally, the group presents music hall with "Lazing on a Sunday Afternoon" and "Seaside Rendezvous". All this blend of creativity finally gathers in the final piece, "Bohemian Rhapsody", the most popular song of all the band's career. In 2005, a new edition of the album with a DVD was issued. The DVD contains a stunning 5.1 surround sound, which further improves the quality of the album. In fact, it is totally unnecessary to listen to the stereo version with such a version in hand. Visual accompanies each song, whether the original video, live footage or any other footage. It is also possible to hear comments by the band members. This version is perfect to obtain a great music experience. To learn more about Queen, visit the musicography: www.musicomania.ca/queen. (December 2007)

After two outstanding early albums, Pablo Honey and The Bends, Radiohead offered us in 1997 an album that would revolutionize rock music, put the record straight. Following the grunge movement of the early decade when guitars with distortion ruled, the band came to us with an album containing some more subtleties and textures. We can still find good guitars, as they had offered before, except that they are now better placed and alternating with an acoustic and a little softer sound complemented by the beautiful voice of Thom Yorke. To add to the richness, the band can now count on the discreet use of electronic and keyboards. The 12 compositions from this album form an indivisible whole and without weakness, while we appreciate more and more with each subsequent listen by discovering new subtleties. You'll find the hit "Karma Police", "Paranoid Android", "Subterranean Homesick Alien" and "No Surprises" you probably already know by heart. But do not worry about the ones you don’t know, because everything is impressive. The already undertaken work with The Bends now reached new heights never equaled since, either by themselves or anyone else. Radiohead has set a new standard for 2000 with OK Computer, a huge challenge for the new generations of musicians. This is certainly a record that will cross the times and be cited as an example for generations. (March 2005)

Although the punk movement started in the United States, it is the appearance of the Sex Pistols in London that really triggered the whole wave now known as "1977 punk". The Sex Pistols are considered by many as one of the few real punk bands in history, not only because of their music, but also by their attitude. What is special with the legendary band, it’s that they offered us only one studio album, but what an album! Never Mind The Bollocks Here's The Sex Pistols is the perfect example for any band wanting to record a punk rock album. Raging rhythms, provocative lyrics and terribly effective 3-minute songs make this one album an incredible collection of hits. Whether the opening song, "Holidays In The Sun", or "Problems", "God Save The Queen", "Anarchy In The UK" and "Pretty Vacant", they were all covered, copied and banned dozens of times in the past 30 years. The album gives us no break and offers us the most intense 38 minutes of our lives. The Sex Pistols therefore presented a key album in the rock world. To learn more about the band, visit our musicography: www.musicomania.ca/sexpistols. (2005)

Here is the new sensation of the underground scene in the US, the band that is the most talked about in 2001. They are introduced as the new punk band from New York City, obviously having influences from Talking Heads and Television. We can also guess a significant influence of The Cure and The Smiths. They chose to go with a sober production, which can be annoying at times, knowing that the album was made in 2001. With all the technology we have, it is possible to do better. But the result is still impressive. This is an excellent album, varied, creative and melodic, an album we must listen to from one end to the other (anyway, it only lasts 36 minutes). None of the songs will play on the radio, even if some have the potential for it, and it should not climb very high on the charts. But this is an excellent underground album! (December 2001)

After a first self-titled album in 1998 that was acclaimed by the critics, but didn’t move a lot of things outside of the underground (despite the fact it went gold), System Of A Down issued Toxicity 3 years later. Right at the beginning of "Prison Song", we had a doubt it was not a metal band similar to the others. The woozy beat changes were bringing us to all the range of emotions in one song only, something we never heard before! System Of A Down was formed in 1995 in southern California by Serj Tankian (voice and keyboards), Daron Malakian (guitars, voice), Shavo Odadjian (bass) and John Dolmayan (drums). Their music is influenced by the underground metal of the 80’s, hardcore punk and the alternative rock of the 90’s (in the real meaning of it). We also hear some elements of neo-gothic and elements from the middle-east, certainly inspired by their Iranian roots. Mix everything with many variations in all the compositions and you’ll have a good idea of the SOAD style. At the first listening of Toxicity, at its release, I remember having been impressed because it was so different from the metal that I knew (and I heard a lot!). This is an album on which the tracks fit perfectly together, without weaknesses, and with classics like "Chop Suey", the title-song and "Aerials" closing beautifully the album of 44 minutes. After having heard the 2 albums of 2005, Mezmerize and Hypnotize, which are in fact the end of the trilogy, I almost had the feeling they were better than Toxicity. But, by listening to the album again, I realize Toxicity is certainly the best album of their entire career, an album without any mistake. They did the right thing by taking a break after this album, because it would have been impossible for them to release another album quickly without causing disappointment. If SOAD became the metal band of the 2000’s, it’s because of Toxicity which started it all. This is definitely a fundamental album! (April 2006)