80. JOHN MAYER - "Continuum"(Columbia, 2006)
My sister and I saw John Mayer in concert when he was touring with Sheryl Crow a few years ago, and as a result this became my favorite of his albums. When you hear "Vultures", "Gravity", "In Repair", and of course "Waiting On The World To Change", do you even need to ask why?
79. TEDDY THOMPSON - "A Piece of What You Need"(Verve Forecast, 2008)
His frequent collaborations with Rufus Wainwright are part of what made me a fan of this folk-rockin' guy, and I've become fonder of him with every album he puts out. Check out "In My Arms", "Jonathan's Book", or the irresistible "What's This?!!", and you'll be hooked in no time too.
78. PETER GRANT - "Traditional"(Universal/UK, 2007)
Looking for Jamie Cullum or Michael Bublé with a deeper voice? You'll love this guy. A great mix of originals ("That's Life" is actually not the Sinatra classic) and cover songs (his version of the Turtles' "Happy Together" is the first one I've liked since the original) makes this a really fun album!
77. THE BRIAN SETZER ORCHESTRA - "Wolfgang's Big Night Out"(Surfdog, 2007)
If you've ever wondered what kind of music Tchaikovsky, Mozart, Beethoven, and their contemporaries might have made if they came of age in the 1940's, wonder no more. Not only is listening to it a total blast, but reading the cheeky new titles he's given the pieces is just as much fun.
76. COLDPLAY - "X&Y"(Capitol, 2005)
I know, this is the album of theirs that is usually people's least favorite, but I'm weird that way ... plus I'm not (yet) a big Colplay fan. But this album has the songs I'm most fond of -- "Fix You", "Speed Of Sound", and "Talk" -- and keeps compelling me to listen to more of them in the near future.
75. ASH - "Free All Angels"(Kinetic, 2001)
I only bought this album because the record store I frequented at the time (it's gone now, like most) had stacks of them at a rock-bottom price. Over time, I really came to enjoy nearly every song on it, especially "Shining Light", "Burn Baby Burn" and the Oasis-like "There's a Star".
74. SANTANA - "Ultimate Santana"(Arista, 2007)
Calling it "ultimate" is a stretch, but no other Santana CD contains the Alex Band version of "Why Don't You And I" (probably my favorite Santana song) or the enjoyable "Into The Night" with Chad Kroeger, while also providing a good primer on their earlier, classic oeuvre.
73. HANSON - "This Time Around"(Island Def Jam, 2000)
Though it was a rather jarring change from the sugary pop of their debut album, this moody follow-up nonetheless had some excellent tunes ("If Only" is by far my favorite), and expertly showcased the mature songwriting that would soon become their stock-in-trade.
72. "WEIRD AL" YANKOVIC - "Poodle Hat"(Zomba, 2003)
As far as I'm concerned, the originals on this album far outshine the parodies, especially the totally epic Frank Zappa style-parody "Genius In France", the giddy "Hardware Store", and the truly brilliant "Bob", a Dylan takeoff whose lyrics are all palindromic phrases. Phenomen-AL!
71. BASIA - "It's That Girl Again"(Koch, 2009)
The Polish-born jazz songstress was a favorite of mine during her late-'80s/early-'90s heyday, and I'd been waiting 15 years for her to put out another solo album ... and she didn't disappoint me one bit. If you're looking for something smooth, you needn't look any further than this.
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