Never one to shirk a challenge...

So here's the thing.  Matt has a University project that requires him to name/discuss his 'all time top ten favourite records'.  Not an easy project, and actually whittling down his favourites to a top ten has proven difficult.  I, of course, have put my oar in and have, in turn, been challenged by him to "make a list of your all time top ten favourite records... Not records you think should be on there (Dark Side, OK Computer, Sgt. Peppers etc) but your actual favourite ten albums. Warts n' all."

Warts n' all, indeed.

So here goes.  In pulling this list together, I have set a few ground rules for myself which I think are important.

Firstly, no compilations, no box sets, no 'Greatest Hits'.  Only albums that were recorded, and intended, to exist as a single artistic statement.

Secondly, no more than one album per artist.  Otherwise there are a couple of artists who might dominate, and I want to present a spectrum of music to you.  And if these are the ten albums that I have to take to my desert island, I will want the variety.

Also, these are not necessarily the albums I play most.  Mainly because for most of them, every note, every word, is already seared into my brain - I don't have to play them to appreciate them, they are already hard-wired into my consciousness.

Finally, this is today's list.  Tomorrow's list would - almost certainly - look (and sound) completely different.

Anyway, this is the list I gave Matt.  In no particular order;

1. Blood on the Tracks - Bob Dylan

2. Born to Run - Bruce Springsteen

3. Revolver - The Beatles
4. Painted From Memory - Elvis Costello/Burt Bacharach
5. Boys and Girls in America - The Hold Steady
6. The Seldom Seen Kid - Elbow
7. Horses - Patti Smith
8. Songs in the Key of Life - Stevie Wonder
9. Unknown Pleasures - Joy Division
10. The Queen is Dead - The Smiths

Even now I'm wavering.  No Clash, no Hendrix, no Zeppelin?  Nothing from the Atlantic or Stax labels?  No reggae - no Bob Marley?  Revolver or Rubber Soul?  Or Abbey Road?  Painted From Memory rather than This Year's Model or Imperial Bedroom?

Well, the list is what it is.  And now to put some flesh on the bones - over the next few days let's try and articulate just why these ten made the cut....