Substack 40: My 100 Favourite Albums

+ My Substack Milestone Journey to no.40.

Welcome to my 40^th Substack. Wow.

Over the past 15 months I’ve delivered 40 pieces of work here. Most often pieces over 1000 words, sometimes near to 3000. There are now well over 60,000 words* written on my Duncan Illing Writes archive, all available to peruse and read. Feedback has been great.

*probably nearer 70,000 words

My aim has been to write about themes I’m passionate about across music, culture, society, tech; dedicated pieces drawing from my personal experience and insight, with hope my writing connects to as many people as possible.

Some personal highlights include my article on the decreasing amount of socio economic diversity in the arts, creative industries and media. Secondly, the inside story shining a light on how the recorded music industry was crushed in the face of online tech. Along with my article on meeting Robert Smith and The Cure one afternoon at their rural Sussex rehearsal space.

Now I need to take a short break to attend to other matters in life. I will decide what’s next for my Substack efforts, and consider the required focus for my other writing projects. I want to thank my readers and supporters to date.

As I began to write my 40^th Substack piece, the first thing I thought of was the number itself and memories of the Top 40 chart in the UK. Listening to the singles rundown in the 80s and early 90s as a kid. Beyond the singles, it got me thinking about all the music I discovered and the albums I began to cherish, many of these have stayed with me throughout my life, as albums do for any music fan. Albums were and remain the essential purchase. Many great albums have been made between those evenings listening to the chart rundown on the radio and now, many albums have been discovered delving into back catalogues from yesteryear. Great albums are still being made thank goodness.

More than ever, we live in the age of the track, and in the streaming age, the track written for the playlist. The single song sitting solitary, now without its B sides from the age of the physical single. Just three minutes extracted from an artists’ broader music project. While the playlist will always have its place, as did those C90 cassettes you might have swopped with friends, if you are of a certain age, it is the album that remains a focus point for any artist developing their career, for any fan engaged in their favourite artists work, and as an inspiration to any artist going forward. The album is for any musician, writer and performer, band or solo artist; the ultimate piece of musical art, a statement, a concept, a sequel, a progression, a moment in time captured, a collection of songs intended by the artist, or band, to be played in its intended sequence together. The equivalent to the film release beyond the trailer teaser. It is the album that defines and supports the artist with the associated tour. Long live the album.

This time I want to focus on my 100 Favourite Albums.

In an effort to include as many artists as possible, one simple rule I applied was to only allow one album per band or artist.

These are the albums that sprung to mind right here, right now, at this point in time. If I did this list next month, or next year, some albums will certainly be different. Equally some albums will always remain on any such list I do. There will inevitably be some I’ve forgotten that would have made this list, there are others I could not include with my aim to stick to one hundred… however here they are, in all their glory.

Apart from the first four or so, they are in no particular order.

My 100 Albums:

The Cure - Disintegration (1989)

Nine Inch Nails - The Downward Spiral (1994)

Depeche Mode - Violator (1990)

David Bowie - Low (1977)

Coil - The Ape of Naples (2005)

Talking Heads - Speaking In Tongues (1983)

Swans - White Light from the Mouth of Infinity (1991)

The The - Soul Mining (1983)

Suede - Dog Man Star (1994)

The Smiths - Meat Is Murder (1985)

The Sisters of Mercy - Floodland (1987)

The Sex Pistols - Nevermind The Bollocks (1977)

Siouxsie & The Banshees - Juju (1981)

Radiohead - In Rainbows (2007)

The Beatles - The White Album (1968)

Rolling Stones - Sticky Fingers (1971)

Queens of the Stone Age - Songs For Deaf (2002)

The Psychedelic Furs - The Psychedelic Furs (1980)

Portishead - Third (2008)

PJ Harvey - To Bring You My Love (1995)

Pixies - Doolittle (1989)

Orbital - Orbital 2 (1993)

Nirvana - Nevermind (1992)

The Velvet Underground - The Velvet Underground & Nico (1967)

Bauhaus - Mask (1981)

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - BRMC (2000)

Black Sabbath - Paranoid (1970)

Can - Ege Bamyasi (1972)

The Chameleons - Script of the Bridge (1983)

Cocteau Twins - Heaven or Las Vegas (1990)

The Jesus & Mary Chain - Psychocandy (1985)

The Damned - Damned Damned Damned (1977)

Dizzy Gillespie - Afro (1954)

Echo & The Bunnymen - Heaven Up Here (1981)

Dream City Film Club - DCFC (1997)

Electric Wizard - Let Us Prey (2002)

Iggy Pop - The Idiot (1977)

The Stooges - Funhouse (1970)

Interpol - Turn On The Bright Lights (2002)

Leonard Cohen - Greatest Hits (1974)

Dead Can Dance - The Serpent’s Egg (1988)

The Make Up - In Mass Mind (1998)

Lou Reed - Transformer (1972)

My Bloody Valentine - Loveless (1991)

New Order - Lowlife (1985)

Prince - Purple Rain (1984)

The 13th Floor Elevators - Easter Everywhere (1967)

Tom Waits - Rain Dogs (1985)

Virgin Prunes - If I Die I Die (1982)

U2 - The Joshua Tree (1987)

Tears For Fears - Songs From The Big Chair (1985)

Hell Is For Heroes - The Neon Handshake (2003)

Deftones - White Pony (2000)

Miles Davies - Kind of Blue (1959)

John Coltrane - Blue Train (1957)

Wu Tang Clan - Enter The Wu Tang - 36 Chambers (1993)

Beastie Boys - Ill Communication (1994)

Underworld - Dubnobasswithmyheadman (1994)

Bat For Lashes - Lost Girls (2019)

Chelsea Wolfe - Apokalypsis (2011)

Boy Harsher - Careful (2019)

Beak - LA Playback (2018)

Anika - Anika (2010)

Brian Eno - Apollo: Atmospheres and Soundtracks (1983)

Nick Cave – From Her To Eternity (1984)

The Human League - Dare (1981)

Ministry - The Mind Is A Terrible Thing to Taste (1989)

Joy Division - Closer (1980)

Pet Shop Boys - Actually (1987)

The Sundays - Reading, Writing & Arithmetic (1990)

Public Image Limited- Metal Box (1979)

Skinny Puppy - Bites (1985)

St. Vincent - St Vincent (2014)

T Rex - Electric Warrior (1971)

The Teardrop Explodes - Kilimanjaro (1980)

Warpaint - Exquisite Corpse (2009)

White Stripes - De Stijil (2000)

Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Fever to Tell (2003)

The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion - Now I Got Worry (1996)

Kraftwerk - Computer World (1981)

The Clash - Combat Rock (1982)

Smashing Pumpkins - Siamese Dream (1993)

Sonic Youth - Dirty (1993)

Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin (1969)

Manic Street Preachers - The Holy Bible (1994)

Primal Scream - Screamadelica (1991)

The Beach Boys - Pet Sounds (1966)

The Doors - Strange Days (1967)

Leadbelly - Blues Essentials: Leadbelly (1939-48)

Boards Of Canada - Hi Scores (1996)

Cranes - Wings Of Joy (1991)

Fields Of The Nephilim - The Nephilim (1988)

The Danse Society - Seduction (1982)

Crystal Castles - Crystal Castles (2008)

Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft - Alles Ist Gut (1981)

Ride - Going Blank Again (1992)

Kate Bush - Hounds Of Love (1985)

The Stone Roses - The Stone Roses (1989)

Suicide - Suicide (1977)

Daughter - How Not To Disappear (2016)

…and all those I forgot to mention.

Thanks for reading.

Note: original version updated 6th July 2024 to replace two repeated albums with two additions to make one hundred albums.