Top 10 music albums of all time

Why don't I start with the most difficult question in music: what are the best albums of all time?

As with most people, my answer depends on when you ask me, on my mood, and on what I just listened to. With that caveat, here they are:

10. Ray Charles - Ray Charles

I am a Ray Charles fan due to his great singing (not too polished) and the energy of his songs. This album is an early one and one that everyone should own. The songs are catchy and bluesy, and it has found its way into music history with songs such as Hallelujah I Love Her So and I Got A Woman.

9. Nirvana - Nevermind

As someone who grew up in the nineties, I had to put this on the list. I received it as a Sinterklaas gift in 1992 and it was my second album, after Eric Clapton's MTV Unplugged. Although it sounds like the nineties, the great songwriting and rawness have stood the test of time. Apparently it is still popular among teenagers, as my teenage nieces like it too.

8. Air - Moon Safari

I first heard this album after a parachuting course I did in the south of France in 2000. It was the soundtrack to the video of our jumps, so it played while my friends and I watched ourselves soar through the sky. I loved the music more than the video, which reminded me of something I found too scary to do again. This album became my favourite album for doing concentrated work.

7. The Beatles - Rubber Soul

I had to put an album from The Beatles on the list. I also like Abbey Road and A Hard Day's Night, so it was hard to choose. But Rubber Soul is closest to my heart as my mother played this over and over when I was a child.

6. Dolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt, Emmylou Harris - Trio

This is a sweet and sensitive album and I can listen to it all day, every day. I love the songs, the singing and the musicianship of the Nashville session musicians. It is not often mentioned as one of the greats, I guess because most songs are covers and there are only 2 originals written by Dolly Parton. That is a shame because it is great.

5. Stevie Wonder - Songs in the Key of Life

I bought this when I was 12 or 13 in the second-hand shop in my village, but it contained only one of the two records. So I only know half the songs, but that is enough to know this is a masterpiece. It is very ambitious (it is about the essence of life!), with many great songs and a lot of variety. Next to that, every song has been sampled by a hiphop artist.

4. Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young - Déjà Vu

This is another album that has been burned into my brain as my mother played it over and over. I don't think it made a huge impression when I was sitting on the floor with my drawings and my comic books. But it did later, when I bought the album myself in my twenties. Great songwriting, beautiful harmony singing, and a great sixties vibe.

3. Sonny Rollins - Saxophone Colossus

I bought this album in Avignon when I was hitchhiking through France after I finished high school. Hitchhiking was never my idea, but my friend Geert thought it was cool, and it was. We rode with interesting characters and saw a lot of France. I loved Avignon, with the beautiful streets, the Palais des Papes and the warm summer nights. This record fitted that perfectly. Atmospheric jazz ballads as well as great energetic songs (Strode Rode).

2. Bob Marley & the Wailers - Exodus

Rastafari and smoking weed are not my cup of tea, but I am a massive fan of Bob Marley. He is one of only a handful of artists who never made a bad album. I have them all. This album is his best, with classics such as Exodus, Jamming, Turn Your Lights Down Low, Three Little Birds, and One Love. My favourite song is Natural Mystic.

1. Simon & Garfunkel - Bridge over Troubled Water

I know it is not cool to like Simon and Garfunkel, but I have to be honest. When I bought this I thought I had bought a greatest hits album. I knew every song. Everyone does. Songs like Bridge over Troubled Water, El Condor Pasa, Cecilia, The Boxer, The Only Living Boy in New York, Song for the Asking. Very sweet and very beautiful songs. I saw Simon perform a few of these about 10 meters away from me in an Amsterdam venue this year, which was a mystical experience for me. Conclusion: Paul Simon is the best songwriter in pop music history.