My Favorite Albums of All Time*

Right, so, music. Lots of people like it, and for good reason! Some believe it is the medium which most clearly communicates the human soul, as if it were some sort of divine stomach acid and to pluck a string or hammer a chord would conjure it up in a burp. The album format is a 20th century invention, but in its comparably brief existence it has become home to a staggeringly robust collection of artwork, a collection which music-lovers (read: nearly everyone) would despair to do without. Here, then, is my list of personal favorites, excluding greatest hits, soundtracks, and the like. Keep in mind that this doesn't at all represent the breadth of my musical tastes, especially in its absence of Motown recordings. The asterisk should be self-explanatory.