Top 5 Eponymous Albums

A little late as work and home duties have got the better of me but a few weeks back the @LPGrp topic was eponymous albums. That gave us quite a broad spectrum of choice and the eventual winner was "The Band" by, err, The Band. I'd had that album in my collection for some time but had never really got to grips with it. Turned out, after some extensive pre-LPGrp listening, I really liked it. It still doesn't quite make my top five though which are as follows.

1. "Ramones" Ramones (1976) - This is one of my all-time favourite albums and comes pretty close to being perfect as far as I'm concerned. Fourteen tracks of blistering punk rock in a little under half an hour and the template for the band's career. Gutted I never saw them live.

2. "The Undertones" The Undertones (1979) - Bringing a bit more pop to the punk equation, I still don't entirely know what genre to put The Undertones in. This is packed full of tunes that either were or could have been singles. The album was re-released in October of '79 to included the first two singles, Teenage Kicks and Get Over You, so I guess that's the version I'd pick but even the original is a corker.

3. "The Specials" The Specials (1979) - Watching Top Of The Pops in the seventies Madness & The Specials were two of the few bands that grabbed my attention. This was almost my very first album purchase. I was excited to find a copy at my best pal's Blue Peter Bring & Buy Sale but my pocket money wasn't quite enough to stretch to the £3.00 price tag. Someone else got it before I could negotiate a reduced price and I didn't actually own a copy until several years later.

4. "Peter Gabriel" Peter Gabriel (1977) - Peter Gabriel released four eponymous albums before finally making an effort and giving one a proper name. I love all four but the first two are the best and the debut remains my favourite. It's one of my favourite album covers too featuring Storm Thorgerson's Lancia Flavia.

5. "The Stooges" The Stooges (1969) - Edges out The Clash's debut LP my a gnats chuff. I'm a fairly recent convert to The Stooges. I saw them live during the 2005 reunion tour and have loved their first two albums ever since.

.