30. TANGERINE DREAM - "Lily On The Beach"(Private, 1989)
I'd imagine that it's the last album they'd care to be remembered for, since it bears no traces of the expansive electronic soundscapes that are their trademark. But I personally adore this digestible assortment of instrumental nuggets, my favorites being the funky opener "Too Hot For My Chinchilla" (gotta love the title!) and the gorgeous solo piano number "Twenty-Nine Palms", which just might be my absolute favorite (non-soundtrack) instrumental of all time.
29. GIL - "Here I Am"(BMG/Germany, 1998)
Thanks to the record labels' crafty cross-promotion stunt between him and The Moffatts, it didn't take long for me to fall under the near-saccharine spell of German pop singer Gil Ofarim. The candy coating of "Round 'n' Round" and "Bang Bang Bang" are so thick that it's almost enough to repel me anymore, but it's evened out by more mature fare like "For Heaven's Sake", "I Need You", and "Never Giving Up Now" -- the English-as-a-second-language idiosyncrasies notwithstanding.
28. CHESNEY HAWKES - "The One And Only"(Chrysalis, 1991)
The title track is a one-hit wonder if ever there was one (at least as far as the United States is concerned), but there were several other songs on this album that were just as worthy of success. And, like quite a few of the CDs on this list, just hearing the first track or two sends me on a nostalgia trip for the rest of the album. "I'm a Man Not a Boy", "Feel So Alive", "Nothing Serious", "One World" ... nope, not really any clunkers on here at all.
27. RUFUS WAINWRIGHT - "Rufus Wainwright"(Dreamworks, 1998)
As difficult as it is to describe Rufus Wainwright's music, it's even more difficult to explain why I like it. He's not my favorite artist, and chamber-pop (not that he totally sticks to it) is far from my favorite genre, yet I continue to buy his CDs ... maybe just so I can hear what sounds he might come up with next? His first album might not be his best, but it was certainly unlike anything else out there at the time ... totally captivating, endlessly inventive, and forever ageless.
26. "QUANTUM LEAP" - soundtrack(GNP Crescendo, 1993)
Not only do the vocal contributions by series star Scott Bakula range from Broadway to hair metal, but the instrumental scores take us everywhere from heartland America to a vampire's lair. The unquestionable highlight (besides arguably the best TV theme that Mike Post has ever composed) is the feature-film-caliber orchestral suite from the episode "Lee Harvey Oswald". Just as adventurous to listen to as Dr. Sam Beckett's time-hopping odyssey was to watch.
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