10 albums that’ll make an everyday drive feel like an epic road trip

Motoring journalist Thomas Falkiner’s rounded up his top 10 driving albums of all time featuring a diverse selection of musicians. Add some of these songs to your playlist, get ready to drum on your steering wheel and expect to be busted belting out a catchy chorus whenever you stop at a robot

1) APPETITE FOR DESTRUCTION: GUNS AND ROSES

When it comes to heavy metal, not much can eclipse the sound of Guns and Roses’ debut studio album. Featuring 12 Gibson-fuelled tales of unprincipled excess and reckless consumption, Appetite for Destruction is a provocative exposé of the rock ’n’ roll lifestyle.

When I was a kid my mom would play it in her BMW 318i as we roared along the highway to family gatherings at speeds too high to mention. Skip to the present and I’m doing exactly the same to tracks like Welcome to the Jungle, Rocket Queen and Mr Brownstone. Proof that, when it comes to making time behind the wheel, LA’s motley-ist crew is still on the money.

2) GRACELAND: PAUL SIMON

After being blown away by a bootleg recording of the Boyoyo Boys instrumental Gumboots, New York folk-rocker Paul Simon made a musical pilgrimage to apartheid South Africa in 1985. Despite feeling the critical heat from both the National Party government as well as high-ranking members of the ANC, he collaborated with some of our then top musical talents (Ladysmith Black Mambazo) to turn out one of the finest albums of the 20th century.

Fusing eclectic world rhythms with thoughtful lyrics, Graceland never fails to engage the mind and ears of the listener — something that makes it an indispensable nugget of road-trip gold.

story_article_right1

3) ARE YOU EXPERIENCED: JIMI HENDRIX

There are few rock albums as multi-faceted as this 1967 masterpiece. One minute you’re having your brain moshed to pieces by Purple Haze and Foxy Lady. Then the next, meandering slow jams such as Third Stone From the Sun and The Wind Cries Mary are gently pushing you down a flowery tunnel of LSD-induced psychedelia.

While Hendrix undoubtedly steals the show with his finger-bloodying Fender work, drummer Mitch Mitchell and bassist Noel Redding demonstrate why they were one of the most under-appreciated rhythm sections in pop music.

4) SILENT ALARM: BLOC PARTY

British indie band Bloc Party burst onto the alternative scene in 2005 with this eargasmic 13-track sizzler that melded the best elements of post-punk thrash with the infectious beats of techno-house. It was fresh and exciting and got legions of advertising hipsters squeaking their All-Stars at the Horror Café on a Saturday night.

I know because I was there. Dance-floor fillers such as Banquet and Luno also happened to complement brisk bouts of driving thanks to their crunching guitar riffs and pounding drums. It’s a killer album, one the band has yet to better.

5) CALIFORNICATION: RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS  

Following the release of 1995’s One Hot Minute it seemed as if the Chili Peppers were starting to slip down a steady slope of musical mediocrity. But then in 1999 they sent doubters packing with what would soon become their most critically acclaimed album of all time, Californication.

Featuring slightly more poignant lyrical content and the return of skeletal guitarist John Frusciante, it’s a bass-popping, power chord-shredding evaluation of the Californian lifestyle. Which, considering the region’s affinity for the automobile, makes it especially suited to life on the road.

6) BACK TO BLACK: AMY WINEHOUSE

Talk about a waste of talent. Endowed with the most soulful voice this side of the 1960s, Amy Winehouse had all the trappings of true musical greatness. Tragically, booze got the better of her and she joined the died-too-soon club aged 27.

Before checking out she left the world with Back to Black — a 35-minute tribute to old-school rhythm and blues that easily rivals anything sung by Nina, Etta or Aretha. Thick with Spector-esque layers of brass, string and Wurlitzer keys, her second studio album brought much-needed respite in an era saturated by mass-produced pop.

7) BROTHERS: THE BLACK KEYS

In the relatively niche arena of modern blues-rock there are only two bands you can take seriously — The White Stripes and The Black Keys. Now although both outfits are excellent in their own right, it is this latter Ohio-based duo that gets my vote due to their more accessible and melodic take on the genre.

This is especially evident on their 2010 album, Brothers, a groovy collision of blues, soul and psychedelia cooked up at Alabama’s infamous Muscle Shoals Sound Studio. From the twisted snare-drum staccato of The Go Getter to the Gary Glitter-aping Howlin’ For You, this catalogue of songs showcases the Keys at their gritty and creative best.

8) STRIPPED: THE ROLLING STONES

You could throw umpteen Stones albums into this list. Emotional Rescue. Tattoo You. Beggars Banquet. Yet the one recording that stands out for me is their little-known Stripped, which surfaced late in 1995.

A mixture of acoustic studio and live venue recordings, its back-to-basics approach gives old Stones classics like Wild Horses, Dead Flowers and Sweet Virginia an intriguing new twist. Somehow they just sound fuller and more energetic. Which is always a welcome sensation when you are busy carving up the blacktop.

story_article_right2

9) KIND OF BLUE: MILES DAVIS

Sometimes you want to go slow, zone out and drift along at velocities scaled more towards grace than all-out pace. This is where Mr Davis comes in. Released in 1959, Kind of Blue is the reduced essence of cool: a 45-minute session of improvised modal jazz that would go on to inspire generations of musicians.

Backed by the likes of drummer Jimmy Cobb, bassist Paul Chambers and pianist Bill Evans, Davis’s muted trumpet is an impressionist brush that colours your journey with a laid-back undercurrent of sophistication. From Freddie Freeloader to So What, you can hear why this album revolutionised the jazz world.

10) THE LOW END THEORY: A TRIBE CALLED QUEST

I would be dragged across a crateful of molten vinyl if I didn’t work any hip-hop into this equation. So after much deliberation I give you A Tribe Called Quest’s second studio effort.

Released in 1991, The Low End Theory was one of the first albums to fuse jazz with the gritty street sounds of modern hip-hop. Featuring smooth, egoless lyrics and spacey upright-bass lines licked by none other than jazz legend Ron Carter, it was the sophisticated antithesis to over-the-top gangsta rap. Today The Low End Theory has matured into a fine sonic brew: a heavily peated serving of rhymes and beats that suit a chilled meander through the urban jungle.