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The Police Sting

Time to jump into the Top 10 of my favorite albums of all time. Todo tiempo. Wrote a song about it, want to hear it? Here it goes...

10. Bruce Springsteen - Nebraska (1982)

The Boss went demo style on his '82 release, recording this album on his own with an acoustic guitar and some harmonica. Written at the height of his artistic power, Nebraska tells in detail the stories of hard luck losers who find themselves on the wrong side of morality through a combination of disposition, economics and fate. One of my favorite Boss tunes, "Highway Patrolman", is downright moving with its tale of law versus family. The soft beauty of "Mansion On The Hill" and the desperate march of "Atlantic City" add to the pile of brilliant songwriting. Ending with the rough yet optimistic "Reason To Believe", Springsteen plants a punctuation mark on an amazing album.

9. Metallica - Master Of Puppets (1986)

Tragically the final album with bassist Cliff Burton, Metallica's songcraft and sonic fury hit it's peak on the piledriving Master Of Puppets. The thunderous title track alone has become a live classic sung by Arenas around the world. "Disposable Heroes" has motivated me through my work day many times. "Welcome Home (Sanitarium)" is a song I wasn't big on at first but in recent years has become a favorite, I love when they hit that bridge. "Battery" has long been high on my list of faves, a bone crushing rocker that I recently found out was named after Battery Street in San Francisco. And I will always remember this album for containing my wife's #1 Metallica song, "The Thing That Should Not Be". Pure Metal Madness.

8. The Police - Synchronicity (1983)

It was the hot, hot summer of '83 when my neighbor went on a major Police binge and bought all of their tapes (which meant I got to copy all of his tapes). Synchronicity was and is a flawless album where even the slight moments have magic. The second half reads like a greatest hits collection in itself: "Synchronicity II", "Every Breath You Take", "King Of Pain" and "Wrapped Around Your Finger". The first half had the killer "Synchronicity I", the percussion driven "Walking In Your Footsteps" and Andy Summer's demented "Mother". I spent a lot of sweaty summer nights rockin to this album and seeing them live that year was a definite highlight.

That's the first three of my Top 10, as I get closer to the end I'll go track by track on the albums to milk it for all its worth. :)