As New Wave albums go, The B-52's is one of the flag-bearers. Their usage of three vocalists, two harmonizing females in Kate Pierson and Cindy Wilson, alongside the sprechgesang style of Fred Schneider, was, and remains, something that rock music hasn't really even tried since, much less succeeded with the way The B-52s did with "Planet Claire" and "Rock Lobster", the two big highlights from this record. It's not just those two that are great though - the whole album is top notch from cover to cover.
B Sides, Alternate Mixes and Demos by The New Pornographers
I'm not sure that this is the actual name of this collection, which comes with the Executive Edition of The New Pornographers' 2007 album Challengers. It is an interesting collection, but not a wholly fulfilling one. The demos are demos for a reason - the finished products on Challengers are all considerably better than the early versions exhibited here. The only alternate mix, a "Lite Mix" of "Go Places", is nice, but it feels a little too bare. Where this album shines is in the B-sides. There are six of them, and no fewer than three would have been excellent inclusions on Challengers, and the others are mostly-great songs themselves. The highlight for me is "Fortune". No idea how that got cut.
B.o.B Presents: The Adventures of Bobby Ray by B.o.B.
For a little bit, B.o.B. was tapped to be the next big thing in hip-hop. I'm not sure why - nothing on this album seems that lyrically impressive, and his beat selection is fairly pedestrian. Then, somehow, his duet with Hayley Williams of Paramore, "Airplanes" got huge, and B.o.B. got overshadowed on his own track. He may have a bright future as a pop artist, but I can't say, based on this album, that he will be one of the faces of hip-hop moving forward. He's just not at that level, at least not yet.
Let's make no bones about it - everyone and their mother owns Legend, the collection of Bob Marley & The Wailers' greatest hits. It's a great collection, I'm not here to disparage Legend in the least. For my money, though, this is the album you should give to anyone looking to get into reggae music. A live album recorded between 1975 and 1978, during the Wailers' greatest stretch, Babylon by Bus is a perfectly metered 13-track album, featuring a great mix of well-known hits and deeper cuts. There is, quite literally, no excuse not to have this masterpiece in your collection.
Back in Black by AC/DC
Everyone's heard this, so I will offer up a question for you to contemplate instead. How on earth did AC/DC find a new lead singer who sounded almost exactly like the late Bon Scott and how did they get more popular? Both of these things astound me.
The Back Room by Editors
Editors try a little to hard to be Interpol. That said, The Back Room is still better than all of Interpol's albums except Turn on the Bright Lights. It's quick, it's neat. The pacing is good, there is a sense of cohesion throughout the album. The riffs, particularly on "Munich" and "Fall", are interesting and pleasant on the ears, if a bit unremarkable. Pretty decent album.
Back to Basics by Billy Bragg
Billy Bragg is an all-too-often overlooked genius as far as songwriting goes. Back to Basics compiles his first two albums and an EP into a one hour long full-length. It's just Bragg and his guitar, playing some of the best folk to come from the UK in the last 30 years. Were I a bigger fan of folk, this would easily have been among this post's highlighted albums, but it's something I only listen to sparingly, when the mood strikes.
Back to the World by Street Dogs
I might be slightly biased against this album because the tags on it were among the worst I have ever seen (there is no excuse for the song titles to be incorrect, ever), but given lead singer Mike McColgan's history with the Dropkick Murphys, I expected better than what I got from this album. It's not bad, exactly, it's just not very good, nor particularly imaginative. It's typical blue collar punk.
Bad Brains by Bad Brains
Oh Bad Brains. By all accounts, I should love the hell out of you. Quick, hardcore punk with touches of reggae. There is nothing about you I dislike, and yet, I can't get into it. Is it possible this album is too fast? Maybe it is. Maybe it is...
Most people would regard Jailbreak as Thin Lizzy's greatest album, but as far as I'm concerned, Bad Reputation is better top to bottom. The title track is an all-time classic - that riff is killer. Bad Rep is not all great basslines and edgy riffs, though. "Dancing in the Moonlight (It's Caught Me in Its Spotlight)" is just a beautiful song (and not to be confused with the other, more famous "Dancing in the Moonlight"). It has an air of Van Morrison to it, which makes sense, to a degree, as Morrison and Thin Lizzy are both countrymen and contemporaries. From the opening gong hit of "Soldier of Fortune" to the choral outro of "Dear Lord", this is a winner.
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