Albums That Are 30 Years Old in 2025: Pick # 5

Join Pete Pardo as he looks back on his favorite albums from 1995 that are celebrating their 30th birthdays here in 2025.

[markfurru]

My Day 27 Pick:

Down - Nola

The debut album from this Phil Anselmo fronted, New Orleans based supergroup - which also includes Kirk Windstein from Crowbar and Pepper Keenan from Corrosion of Conformity - this is a solid album, from opener "Temptation's Wings" to closer "Bury Me in Smoke." Other highlights for me include "Lifer, " "Rehab, " "Eyes of the South, " "Jail, " "Losing All, " and of course "Stone the Crow."

[davidholmes]

5. Astro-Creep: 2000 by White Zombie

Choice cuts: "Creature of the Wheel, " "More Human than Human"

6. The Great Escape by Blur
7. Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness by the Smashing Pumpkins
8. Mirror Ball by Neil Young with Pearl Jam
9. Pure Phase by Spiritualized
10. Symbolic by Death
11. Dead Winter Dead by Savatage
12. Elastica by Elastica
13. Grand Prix by Teenage Fanclub
14. I Should Coco by Supergrass
15. A Northern Soul by the Verve
16. ¡Adios Amigos! by Ramones
17. A Black Moon Broods over Lemuria by Bal-Sagoth
18. Original Soundtracks 1 by Passengers
19. Post by Björk
20. Southpaw Grammar by Morrissey
21. Stanley Road by Paul Weller
22. Wowee Zowee by Pavement
23. The Blood Splat Rating System by Powerman 5000
24. Fourth Dimension by Stratovarius
25. Mouth to Mouth by the Blackeyed Susans
26. Thrak by King Crimson
27. Tilt by Scott Walker
28. Tragedies by Funeral
29. The Carnival Bizarre by Cathedral
30. Cascade by Peter Murphy
31. Kojak Variety by Elvis Costello

[ziggyzagzi]

#5: Alice in Chains
Tripod (Dog Album)
Layne's last studio album! They had to give him an ultimatum to finish his vocals, due to the heroin curse. Heavy and acoustic mixed together, contemplating the spiritual and emotional pains of being alive. But then they have that positivity flowing searching for the light. Jerry Cantrell is my favorite grunge guitarist!

[joshcreasey]

27. Kansas - Freaks Of Nature

A great return to form musically. Steve Walsh’s voice isn’t what it once was but he makes it work. This also marks the studio debut for David Ragsdale. The violin is back!

[metalcousins]

Day27-Savatage-Dead Winter Dead.This is the 9th album by this American progressive/heavy metal band.This is a good album with prog and power metal elements, especially in the song structure.This is the 2nd album without guitar virtuoso Criss Oliva(RIP).Al Pitrelli takes over the guitar duties.This is a concept album, by telling the story of the Bosnian War.The song Christmas Eve is based on the end of that war.T.S.O which is the spawn of Savatage plays it in their setlist till this day.I enjoy this album for what it’s worth, but I’ve read many reviews that say the album is not solid.The guitar riffs and solos are somewhat thin, which brings the album down a bit.But their melodic sound is what makes it a good listen for me.Overall I don’t have a favorite track on the album, their all good in their own way.This is my number 27 pick.

[lukatts]

# 5 Spock's Beard - The Light
Debut album by US Syn-Phonic prog band.
There's so much to like here..like milk with tabasco. What's not to like?

Track rating:

The Light 4.55
Go the Way You Go 4.40
The Water 4.45
On the Edge 4.40

Great pick & review Pete! - matching today: Spock's Beard

# 5 Spock's Beard - The Light
# 6 Monster Magnet - Dopes to Infinity
# 7 Höyry-kone – Hyönteisiä Voi Rakastaa
# 8 Gov't Mule - s/t
# 9 Echolyn - As the World
# 10 Gamma Ray - Land of the Free
# 11 Tribal Tech – Reality Check
# 12 Dream Theater – A Change of Seasons
# 13 Blind Melon - Soup
# 14 Iced Earth - Burnt Offerings
# 15 Björk – Post
# 16 Smashing Pumpkins - Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness
# 17 PJ Harvey - To Bring You My Love
# 18 Deus Ex Machina – De Republica (Jazz fusion/prog sung in Latin)
# 19 UFO - Walk On Water
# 20 The Bevis Frond – Superseeder (Nick Saloman psych rock)
# 21 Anekdoten - Nucleus
# 22 Fugazi - Red Medicine
# 23 Kevin Gilbert - Thud
# 24 Jethro Tull - Roots to Branches
# 25 David Bowie – Outside
# 26 Kyuss - ...And The Circus Leaves Town (A fitting title for a final album by the fathers of stoner rock)
# 27 Ayreon - The Final Experiment (Arjen Lucassen prog rock opera)
# 28 Peter Murphy - Cascade (Great album from Bauhaus vocalist)
# 29 Wagon Christ - Throbbing Pouch (Instrumental trippy trip hop) there's even sample of US 60's psych band's Fifty-foot hose "Cauldron"
# 30 Sun Dial – Acid Yantra (Gary Ramon's psych rock)
# 31 Laszlo Hortobagyi – 6th All-India Music Conference (Hungarian maestro El Horto -sitar/tabla psych with orthodox slavonic choir & electronics) Standouts : "Anagatha" "Kriti-Baroque" "Paragita-Lauda" "Russian Chakra" is one of the weirdest track ever and it's a great one.

[andrewcarr]

Iron Maiden - The X Factor
Bruce departs and Blaze comes in and does a pretty decent job on this their tenth studio album, standout tracks include "Falling down" "Lord of the Flies" "The Edge of Darkness" and the epic "Sign of the Cross"
I saw them on the Virtual XI tour in '98 (I must be one of the few that actually likes the album) and it was plain to see that a lot of the songs that would normally have been on the setlist where removed because Blaze just didn't have the vocal range of Bruce, having said that it was still a great gig with "The Clansman" being the highlight of the show.

[benjamingoldstein]

Day 28: Trouble - Plastic Green Head
Day 27: Morphine - Yes
Day 26: Primus - Tales from the Punchbowl
Day 25: Rancid - ...And Out Come The Wolves
Day 23: Green Day - Imsomniac
Day 22: Anekdoten - Nucleus
Day 21: Iced Earth - Burnt Offerings
Day 20: Aphex Twin - ...I Care Because You Do
Day 19: Autechre - Tri Repetae
Day 18: Opeth - Orchid
Day 17: Blind Guardian - Imaginations From the Other Side
Day 16: Dream Theater - A Change of Seasons
Day 15: Porcupine Tree - The Sky Moves Sideways
Day 14: Marillion - Afraid of Sunlight
Day 13: Swans - the Great Annihilator
Day 12: Dissection - Storm of the Light's Bane
Day 11: Alice in Chains - S/T
Day 10: Morbid Angel- Domination
Day 9: Death - Symbolic
Day 8: Satyricon - the Shadowthrone
Day 7: Darkthrone - Panzerfaust
Day 6: My Dying Bride: The Angel and the Dark River
Day 5: Paradise Lost - Draconian Times
Day 4: Smashing Pumpkins - Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness
Day 3: Immortal - Battles in the North
Day 2: Radiohead - The Bends
Day 1: Jethro Tull - Roots to Branches

[LoLavilla]

today's pick (5) is : Faith No More - King For A Day, Fool For A Lifetime

31. Spock's Beard - The Light
30. Marillion - Afraid Of Sunlight
29. King Crimson - THRAK
28. Voivod - Negatron
27. Steve Vai - Alien Love Secrets
26. Anekdoten - Nucleus
25. Tribal Tech - Reality Check
24. Death - Symbolic
23. Aphex Twin - ...I Care Because You Do
22. Stanley Clarke, Al Di Meola, Jean-Luc Ponty - The Rite Of Strings
21. Strapping Young Lad - Heavy As A Really Heavy Thing
20. Fu Manchu - Daredevil
19. Deftones - Adrenaline
18. At The Gates - Slaughter Of The Soul
17. Motorhead - Sacrifice
16. Cathedral - The Carnival Bizarre
15. Lowlife - Gush
14. Fear Factory - Demanufacture
13. Dark Tranquility - The Gallery
12. The Cardigans - Life
11. Dissection : Storm Of The Light's Bane
10. Kyuss - ...And The Circus Leaves Town
9. Mudhoney - My Brother the Cow
8. Meshuggah - Destroy Erase Improve
7. Porcupine Tree - The Sky Moves Sideways
6. Pat Metheny Group - We Live Here
5. Faith No More - King For A Day, Fool For A Lifetime

[ykmgeedee]

Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness -Smashing Pumpkins. 2 hours long. Doesn't scale the heights that its 5-star predecessor did, but bonus points for having 28 freaking songs and still being a consistently good listen.

[christophercoles]

27) Faith No More - King For A Day....Fool For A Lifetime
King For A Day is without a doubt my favorite Faith No More album. But to be honest, the record did take some time to grow on me. This album is even better than Angel Dust. The mixture of relaxed moments with tough moments make this one fantastic listen all the way through. "Evidence" is an absolutely beautiful single which meshes together Funk, Lounge and Rock perfectly. "Just A Man" is one of the most gorgeous songs to come out of the '90s, and is just an incredibly good closer that's payoff is even greater considering that the four tracks before it are also fantastic, especially "King For A Day" and "Take This Bottle".
While I kind of prefer the softer stuff here, most of the louder moments are terrific on their own, and add a lot to the album's overall excellence. This is especially true of the incredibly bouncy opener "Get Out", and "The Gentle Art Of Making Enemies" which always gets a chuckle out of me.
If you're looking for an eclectic Metal album, then check out King For A Day, you will not be disappointed.

1) Cathedral - The Carnival Bizarre
2) Tears For Fears - Raoul And The Kings Of Spain
3) The Jayhawks - Tomorrow The Green Grass
4) The Roots - Do You Want More?!!!??!
5) Garbage - S/T
6) Jars Of Clay - S/T
7) Monster Magnet - Dopes To Infinity
8) Slash's Snakepit - It's Five O'Clock Somewhere
9) Gov't Mule - S/T
10) Emmylou Harris - Wrecking Ball
11) Clutch - S/T
12) Mudhoney - My Brother The Cow
13) Spock's Beard - The Light
14) Porcupine Tree - The Sky Moves Sideways
15) PJ Harvey - To Bring You My Love
16) Neil Young - Mirror Ball
17) The Wildhearts - P.H.U.Q.
18) Cassandra Wilson - New Moon Daughter
19) Spacehog - Resident Alien
20) Joan Osborne - Relish
21) Alanis Morissette - Jagged Little Pill
22) Fu Manchu - Daredevil
23) Bruce Springsteen - The Ghost Of Tom Joad
24) White Zombie - Astro-Creep: 2000
25) Ayreon - The Final Experiment
26) Paul Weller - Stanley Road
27) Faith No More - King For A Day....Fool For A Lifetime

[weirddebbiem]

Albums turning 30 (1995)

Pick #5 Belly - King (alt. rock/jangle pop)

Tanya Donelly - lead vocals, rhythm guitar
Thomas Gorman - lead guitar, keyboards, backing vocals
Chris Gorman - Drums
Gail Greenwood - bass, backing vocals

Tanya founded the band Throwing Muses in 1981. Gail was also in the band L7.

My favorite tracks:
“Super-Connected”
“Judas My Heart”
“King”

Pick #31 Prince - The Gold Experience
Pick #30 20/20 - 4 Day Tornado
Pick #29 Candlebox - Lucy
Pick #28 Throwing Muses - University
Pick #27 Trouble - Plastic Green Head
Pick #26 Seven Mary Three - American Standard
Pick #25 Emmylou Harris - Wrecking Ball
Pick #24 King Crimson - THRAK
Pick #23 Jewel - Pieces Of You
Pick #22 Radiohead - The Bends
Pick #21 Monster Magnet - Dopes To Infinity
Pick #20 The Boo Radleys - Wake Up!
Pick #19 Glenn Hughes - Feel
Pick #18 The Jayhawks - Tomorrow the Green Grass
Pick #17 Garbage - Garbage
Pick #16 Marillion - Afraid of Sunlight
Pick #15 No Doubt - Tragic Kingdom
Pick #14 Oasis - (What's the Story) Morning Glory
Pick #13 Elastica - Elastica
Pick #12 Chris Isaak - Forever Blue
Pick #11 Alanis Morissette - Jagged Little Pill
Pick #10 UFO - Walk On Water
Pick #9 Porcupine Tree - The Sky Moves Sideways
Pick #8 Silverchair - Frogstomp
Pick #7 The Greenberry Woods - Big Money Item
Pick #6 Collective Soul - Collective Soul
Pick #5 Belly - King

[ScottBerry-ynrw]

Day 27 (#5): Porcupine Tree - Sky Moves Sideways

I only discovered this amazing band five years ago, but they have become a favorite. Love the long instrumental passages on this one and the band is coming into their own.

6. Gov’t Mule - S/T
7. Toni Price - Hey
8. Foo Fighters - S/T
9. Wilco - AM
10. Garbage - S/T
11. Motörhead - Sacrifice
12. Alanis Morrisette - Jagged Little Pill
13. Neil Young - Mirror Ball
14. Emmylou Harris - Wrecking Ball
15. Dream Theater -A Change of Seasons
16. Opeth - Orchid
17. Allman Brothers Band - An Evening, 2nd Set
18. Whiskeytown - Faithless Street
19. Jethro Tull - Roots To Branches
20. David Bowie - Outside
21. Cassandra Wilson - New Moon Daughter
22. Ben Harper - Fight For Your Mind
23. Sugar - Besides
24. Alejandro Escovedo - With These Hands
25. Yo La Tengo - Electro-Pura
26. Mad Season - Above
27. Marillion - Afraid of Sunlight
28. Prince - The Gold Experience
29. King Crimson - Thrakk
30. Monster Magnet - Dopes To Infinity
31. Annie Lennox - Medusa

[markwilburn]

5 - Tony MacAlpine, Evolution
My favorite player of the shred era and he never put out a bad album

[Alfred_Domke_antispace-sounds]

Great pick, Pete!
My number 5 Kevin Gilbert - Thud
Kevin Gilbert (1966-1996) was an innovative American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and record producer renowned for his boundary-pushing contributions to progressive pop and rock. This album showcases his distinctive blend of rock, pop, and experimental elements, marked by intricate arrangements and expressive lyricism. Though his life was tragically cut short in 1996, his groundbreaking work on albums like ”Thud“ continues to inspire a devoted fanbase and influence musicians across various genres.

06 Saga - Generation 13
07 Fight - A Small Deadly Space
08 Stanley Clarke, Al Di Meola, Jean-Luc Ponty - The Rite of Strings
09 Echolyn - As the World
10 Don Caballero - Don Caballero 2
11 Tiemko - Clône
12 Trouble - Plastic Green Head
13 Andy Summers - Synaesthesia
14 Death - Symbolic
15 Ozric Tentacles - Become the Other
16 Happy Family - Happy Family
17 Steve Vai - Alien Love Secrets
18 Tony MacAlpine - Evolution
19 The Enid - Sundialer
20 Joe Satriani - Joe Satriani
21 Jethro Tull - Roots to Branches
22 Anekdoten - Nucleus
23 Operh - Orchid
24 Biota - Object Holder
25 Björk - Post
26 Ben Folds Five - Ben Folds Five
27 Arthur Barrow - Eyebrow Razor
28 Tab Two - Flagman Ahead
29 The Mistakes - The Mistakes
30 Warren Cuccurullo - Thanks 2 Frank
31 Sieges Even - Sophisticated

[robmlisanti]

My Pick Today is "Fourth Dimension" it is the fourth studio album by power metal band Stratovarius, released on 11 March 1995 featuring Timo Tolkki and Jari Kainulainen 🤘. BTW Pete Nice shirt I was just watching Lee chatting with Zak Wylde a few days back

[chrissteiner]

#05 At The Gates - Slaughter Of Souls
#06 Virgin Steele - The Marriage Of Heaven And Hell II
#07 Fear Factory - Demanufacture
#08 Iced Earth - Burnt Offerings
#09 Rammstein - Herzeleid
#10 Gamma Ray - Land Of The Free
#11 Tankard - The Tankard
#12 Nevermore - Nevermore
#13 UFO - Walk On Water
#14 WASP - Still Not Black Enough
#15 Paradise Lost - Draconian Times
#16 Death - Symbolic
#17 Monster Magnet - Dopes To Infinity
#18 Alice In Chains - Alice In Chains
#19 Motörhead - Sacrifice
#20 Symphony X - Damnation Game
#21 The Cult - The Cult
#22 Dark Tranquility - The Gallery
#23 Running Wild - Masquerade
#24 Böhse Onkelz - Hier Sind Die Onkelz
#25 Saxon - Dogs Of War
#26 Savatage - Dead Winter Dead
#27 Rainbow - Stranger In Us All
#28 Kyuss - And The Circus Leaves Town
#29 Praying Mantis - To The Power Of Ten
#30 Unleashed - Victory
#31 Moonspell - Wolfheart

[zacharyravn]

Pick 5: Dark Tranquility- The gallery. One of the two greatest melodeth albums hands down! More on the other one tomorrow. Absolutely beautifully crafted songs, amazing melodies yet still brutal as hell! Honestly, if you want to get into death metal and melodic death metal, then this Swedish stuff is a great place to start. Although it’s extremely heavy and aggressive it’s very accessible, there’s something for everyone on here.

[nightdrive]

Day 27 / #5: Ulver - Bergtatt - Et Eeventyr I 5 Capitler
A folklore style story that tells the fate of a girl who gets lost in the woods, and in the end is taken by the mountain ("bergtatt" translates to mountain-taken). The album is the debut, and the first in Ulver's often called black metal trilogy. It mixes in folk elements, and also clear vocals, which adds another dimension to Norwegian black metal. It's a very important album, and has influenced many bands. A fun thing: in the third track "Graablick Blev Hun Vaer" there's a thunderclap effect, which always makes me jump if I'm not ready for it! The lyrics even go "torden ruller" (thunder rolls) but sometimes I've just drifted off, which is very easy to do to this atmospheric album.

#6 Running Wild - Masquerade
#7 Bal-Sagoth - A Black Moon Broods Over Lemuria
#8 Mörk Gryning - Tusen År Har Gått...
#9 At The Gates - Slaughter Of The Soul
#10 Immortal - Battles In The North

[razor]

Steve Vai - Alien Love Secrets



(List not ranked)
01. Monster Magnet - Dopes to Infinity 
02. UFO - Walk on Water
03. John Waite - Temple Bar
04. Brother Cane - Seeds
05. John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers - Spinning Coin
06. Kenny Wayne Shepherd - Ledbetter Heights
07. John Sykes - Out of My Tree
08. Lenny Kravitz - Circus
09. Bad Company - Company of Strangers
10. Y&T - Musically Incorrect
11. Evil Stig - Evil Stig
12. Van Halen - Balance
13. Thunder - Behind Closed Doors
14. Pat Travers - Halfway to Somewhere
15. Slash's Snakepit - It's Five O'Clock Somewhere
16. Ian Hunter - Dirty Laundry
17. Skunk Anansie - Paranoid & Sunburnt
18. Gary Moore - Blues for Greeny
19. Black Sabbath - Forbidden
20. Glenn Hughes - Feel
21. Gov't Mule - Gov't Mule
22. Rainbow - Stranger in Us All 
23. Ian Moore - Modernday Folklore
24. Iron Maiden - The X Factor
25. Joe Satriani - Joe Satriani
26. King Crimson - Thrak
27. Steve Vai - Alien Love Secrets