The Rebel Johnny Cash Chords Slow Draw Richard Rides Again

He'south been called a guru, a Zen master, a reducer, a professional wrestling mark, a coach, a punk rocker, an aspiring magician, and a studio savant. Dr. Dre said that he'due south "hands down, the dopest producer ever that anyone would e'er want to be, always." Tom Morello said that he's actually more similar an artist than a producer, someone who has a "big idea of what it should be, and how information technology should sound." Johnny Cash recalled that the barefoot and bearded 1 reminded him of Sam Phillips, the Lord's day Records founder who discovered Elvis, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Carl Perkins, and changed music forever in the 1950s.

I'yard talking, of form, almost Rick Rubin.

Few individuals take affected as many corners of the musical universe for every bit long equally Rubin. You probably know most of the legends by now. Born on Long Island in 1963, he was an early adopter of Transcendental Meditation at 14, which his doctor prescribed to assistance alleviate neck pain. He maintains the practice to this day. At an early on age he fell in love with the sounds pouring out of his parents' radio. Outset it was the Beatles and the Monkees, so Aerosmith and Ac/DC, and and then the Ramones and Minor Threat. He formed a band called the Pricks; they made it to the stage at CBGB, where they conspired with some friends in the oversupply to kick up a pre-planned fight to endeavor stir up some local buzz. They were tossed off later on two songs, but the infamy never came. Past the early '80s, he'd moved to New York and—after enrolling at NYU, where he majored in philosophy— he became a fixture in clandestine clubs like Negril.

Hip-hop became his next passion. He became friends with an emerging DJ named Jazzy Jay who used to spin at Negril. In 1984, he worked with Jay and an MC named T La Stone on a single titled "It'southward Yours." From this mix of clattering 808s, scratched records, and concise rhyming, an empire—Def Jam Records—was born. It was all achieved from the confines of Rubin'south college dorm. It didn't have long before acts lined up to work with this mysterious, soft-spoken college child. LL Cool J was first. And then came Beastie Boys and Run-DMC. After that he worked with the metalheads in Slayer, Public Enemy, and Danzig, and stupor-comedian Andrew Die Clay.

In 1988, Rubin left Def Jam, moved to California, and started a new banner: Def American. A few years later, he'd drop the "Def" after hosting a funeral proceeded over by Al Sharpton. Thus, American Recordings. A new moving ridge of projects with artists like Red Hot Chili Peppers, Tom Piddling, System of a Down, and Johnny Cash followed. Rubin's renown swelled. Awards and platinum plaques seemed to follow his every movement. And and then in 2007 he embraced a new challenge when he took a chore running Columbia Records. For the next five years, he guided one of the biggest tape companies in the earth through the new, post-physical reality. His passion for creation never left, and later leaving Columbia in 2012, he went back to making records at American.

Equally varied as the artists he's worked with through the years have been, at that place's one principle that has motivated his every option: gustation. If Rubin liked what he heard, it didn't matter one bit whether it diameter any relation to anything he'd done previously. He was willing to pursue it.

Rick Rubin is a bundle of contradictions. He was the white punk rock kid who helped introduce suburban America to the predominantly Black hip-hop genre. He then revived the careers of numerous aging rock legends long after the spotlight had shifted to others. He was the record company adjust who staunchly refused to ever actually vesture a suit. "After my initial success in rap, I started making rock records, and people said, 'Why would yous exercise this?'" he told The New York Times. "It's always the same respond: 'I've always liked doing the stuff that I like.'"

But how good is Rubin's taste? And how effective has he been at getting the most of the hundreds of different personalities he'south encountered through the years? It's clear that while many have been inspired by his hands-off, big-picture arroyo, others have left the Rick Rubin feel pining for a more involved, technically expert presence. Nevertheless, at that place is a wealth of archetype records and caput-scratching bricks contained inside his discography, and you could patch together a pretty compelling survey of the music industry over the past four decades past examining them. That'south largely what the list below seeks to do.

Not every album here was fully produced by Rubin. For some, he worked on only a single vocal. In one case—an infrequent case, to be sure—his contribution came exclusively through the mixing procedure. The matter that binds this collection together is that for good and bad, none of these 100 albums would exist in their present course if non for his influence.

One last note: These are not Rick Rubin's albums. To whatever extent he was involved in their cosmos, they belong, equally they e'er have, to the artists who actually did the work to create them. That's the way the man would similar it. "I never wanted the records I do to sound like my records," he's said. "I want a thread running through the records that's about the artists, not about me. I think my recordings are honest, almost documentary-similar, explorations of who the artists are."

For better and worse, here are 100 existent ones.

The Unfortunate

100. Limp Bizkit, Results May Vary (2003)

This is what happens when yous give Fred Durst creative control over a record. While the cover of the Who'southward "Behind Bluish Eyes" is bad, the song "Eat You Alive," which was allegedly inspired by a romantic date with Britney Spears—an matter that she has vehemently denied—is some unforgivably terrible, Metallica-lite trash.

99. Kula Shaker, Peasants, Pigs & Astronauts (1999)

98. Weezer, the "Scarlet Album" (2008)

It was a struggle deciding whether to put this Weezer album or Make Believe in the lower spot on this list. Simply since the "Crimson Anthology" contains the song "Pork and Beans" and Brand Believe does not, here we are.

97. Wu-Tang Association, A Meliorate Tomorrow (2014)

The Wu-Tang expanded universe is rife with classics and bricks akin, from the thrilling highs of Liquid Swords and Just Built 4 Cuban Linx to the disappointing lows of Mr. Xcitement and Tical O: The Prequel. And while at that place are some notable highlights on A Better Tomorrow—Method Human being and GZA come up alive on "Keep Sentry"—this disjointed, bromidic effort falls into the latter category.

96. Child Stone, Built-in Free (2010)

His proper noun is Kiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiid … Kid State?

95. Manmade God, Manmade God (2003)

94. Eagle-Eye Ruby-red, Living in the Present Future (2001)

93. Slayer, Diabolus in Musica (1998)

Slayer goes nü metal. Forgets people love öld metal.

92. Flipper, American Grafishy (1993)

91. Weezer, Make Believe (2005)

Though this album doesn't comprise "Pork and Beans," it DOES contain an about impressively cloying array of tracks like "We Are All on Drugs" and "Agree Me," filled with big hooks and empty calories. Pinkerton this is not.

90. Eminem, Revival (2017)

Rubin nabbed credits for 4 of this album's nineteen songs, but one of those tracks, "Walk on Water," features Beyoncé. You always wanna be the person who produced Beyoncé. Y'all certainly don't want to be the person who produced "Untouchable."

The David Lynch Foundation Honors Rick Rubin

The Merely OK

89. Red Hot Chili Peppers, I'thousand With You (2011)

Rubin produced six studio albums for the Red Hot Chili Peppers. His collaboration with Anthony Kiedis, Flea, Republic of chad Smith, and whoever happened to be playing guitar at the time is the longest and virtually commercially fruitful relationship of his career. I'thou With Y'all represented the end of that relationship, at least for now. Though this album nabbed a Grammy nomination, Rubin and the band went separate ways after its release, with the Peppers electing to piece of work with Danger Mouse on the The Getaway v years later. Though I'm With You lot doesn't reach the highs Rubin and the Peppers were accustomed to, "Brendan'southward Death Song" is an underrated gem.

88. Jake Bugg, Shangri La (2013)

87. Luna Halo, Luna Halo (2007)

86. Smashing Pumpkins, Shiny and Oh So Bright, Vol. 1 / LP: No By. No Future. No Lord's day. (2018)

This is by no ways Smashing Pumpkins' worst album. It is, however, the ane that feels the least essential. Rubin got vastly amend results out of Baton Corgan when they collaborated on his solo anthology Ogilala just the year before. Either way, the 1975 wishes they dreamed upwardly an album title this gloriously elaborate.

85. The Red Devils, King King (1992)

84. Four Horsemen, Nobody Said It Was Like shooting fish in a barrel (1991)

83. Masters of Reality, Masters of Reality (1989)

82. Howlin' Rain, The Russian Wilds (2012)

81. Angus & Julia Stone, Angus & Julia Stone (2014)

A brother-and-sister indie-folk rock duo from Sydney, Commonwealth of australia. Though they were cleaved upwardly and pursuing solo careers when Rubin came calling, subsequently some prolonged convincing they flew out to his Shangri-La Studio in Malibu and laid downwards some tracks. I wonder what the band Grizzly Bear thought about the song "Grizzly Behave."

80. Saul Williams, Amethyst Rock Star (2001)

79. Linkin Park, A Thousand Suns (2010)

The album where Linkin Park tried to ally Public Enemy's political consciousness, U2'due south sweeping grandiosity, and Nine Inch Nails' synth-fueled aggression. The closing, acoustic runway "The Messenger" is hands-down the most affecting vocal hither.

78. Melanie C, Northern Star (1999)

Northern Star is 1 of the most unexpected collaborations of Rubin'due south career. You might not figure that a old Spice Girl and the founder of Def Jam Records would observe common ground, but they somehow did. And while this Melanie C tape isn't the brightest highlight in Rubin's discography, it has its moments. The unmarried "Never Be the Aforementioned Once more," featuring a guest poesy from Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes, is certainly amid them.

77. Kate Tempest, The Volume of Traps and Lessons (2019)

76. Jakob Dylan, Seeing Things (2008)

Dylan is one of a handful of artists who came away from the Rick Rubin experience feeling underwhelmed. He afterwards told Marc Maron on his WTF podcast that "I don't demand a guru," and "I like everybody in the room to talk in musical terms." To be off-white when your dad is Bob Dylan, you've got all the gurus you need.

75. Lady Gaga, Artpop (2013)

The lone song Rubin produced on this underwhelming album, "Dope," is a slow-building pianoforte carol that crests into a wall of synthetic, EDM bass notes. Both Gaga and Rubin have a litany of superior, slow-building piano ballads attached to their names elsewhere.

74. Yusuf, Tell 'Em I'thousand Gone (2014)

The Skillful

73. Sir Mix-A-Lot, Return of the Bumpasaurus (1996)

Thousands of producers have flipped the immortal "Apache" drumbeat, but few have always done so with as much zeal as Sir Mix-A-Lot on "Leap on It." Information technology's also not every day you hear someone shout out Tacoma, Kansas Urban center, or Denver on a rap rail.

72. Various Artists, Less Than Zero Soundtrack (1987)

The project that brought Rubin to Los Angeles. In fact, LL Absurd J's contribution to the soundtrack, "Going Back to Cali," sprung from Rubin's own reluctance to call the Gilded State home. LL asked his producer for a concept he could rhyme virtually, and Rubin offered this one up. It was the concluding track that the pair have worked on together to engagement. The "Hazy Shade of Winter" encompass by the Bangles is pretty excellent too.

71. Johnny Cash, American V: A Hundred Highways (2006)

The one where Johnny Cash covers Bruce Springsteen.

70. Gossip, Music for Men (2009)

69. The Strokes, The New Abnormal (2020)

Rubin'south nigh contempo entry on this list and maybe the best Strokes album since Showtime Impressions of Globe in 2005. "Brooklyn Bridge to Chorus" is the droll dance-stone canticle we demand in 2020.

68. Neil Diamond, 12 Songs (2005)

Let me tell you something nearly Rick Rubin: Rick Rubin loves Neil Diamond. Rick Rubin loves Neil Diamond and then much that he almost turned down the job of running Columbia Records in 2007 considering of the mode information technology mishandled the release of this album. Columbia included some spyware on the physical CD copies of 12 Songs to prevent it from being pirated online. People institute out, there was a dust-upwardly in the media, lawsuits were filed, and Columbia pulled the CDs from the shelves. "We came out on a Tuesday, past the following calendar week the CD was non available," Rubin told The New York Times. "Columbia released it once again in a month, but we never recovered." It'due south a shame, because at that place's some good songwriting amidst these 12 Songs. Rubin was keen to apply the Johnny Greenbacks treatment to Diamond, convincing him to pare things downwardly and bringing in an all-star collection of performers to accompany him, including Tom Footling and the Heartbreakers alumni Mike Campbell and Benmont Tench, as well as Baton Preston. Brian Wilson even added guest vocals to a bonus 14th song titled "Febrile Beloved." Despite the semi-bungled rollout, Diamond and Rubin enjoyed their collaboration and worked together over again on the follow-up to this record, Habitation Earlier Dark, which, at the time, made the singer the oldest performer always to chart a no. ane album.

67. Johnny Greenbacks, American Recordings III: Lone Man (2000)

The i where Johnny Cash covers U2.

66. James Blake, The Colour in Annihilation (2016)

65. Slipknot, Vol. 3 (The Subliminal Verses) (2004)

Not as bully as the beginning ii Slipknot records, only to be fair, it's historically hard to nail the tertiary installment of a trilogy. But ask Godfather III, Bract Trinity, or The Matrix: Revolutions. Fortunately, Vol. 3 (The Subliminal Verses) avoids the fate of those maligned efforts with epic nu metallic chuggers like "Duality" and "Welcome."

64. Lil Jon & The East Side Boyz, Crunk Juice (2004)

Lil Jon handled virtually of the production duties on Crunk Juice, but Rubin's contribution, "Stop Fuckin' Wit Me," hits as hard as anything on the entire record. The sample of Slayer's "Due south of Sky" is inspired.

63. Johnny Cash, American Six: Ain't No Grave (2010)

The one where Johnny Cash covers Sheryl Crow.

62. Red Hot Chili Peppers, One Hot Minute (1995)

Ane Hot Infinitesimal is the but Chili Peppers album to feature guitarist Dave Navarro, who took over after John Frusciante quit the first time. It was largely written while atomic number 82 singer Anthony Kiedis was battling a renewed addiction to opiates, and by most accounts the process was painfully slow. With Navarro in the fold, the band drifted from their funk aesthetic and embraced hard stone riffage on songs similar "Warped," "Java Store," and "Shallow Be Thy Game." Three years later on, Navarro was shown the door, and Frusciante was back once more, dreaming of Californication.

61. Dan Baird, Dear Songs for the Hearing Dumb (1992)

60. Santana, Africa Speaks (2019)

59. Wolfsbane, Live Fast, Dice Fast: Wicked Tales of Booze, Birds and Bad Language (1989)

58. Eminem, The Marshall Mathers LP ii (2013)

The best part of The Marshall Mathers LP 2 is 100 percent, no question the "Berzerk" video, featuring a certain super-producer hateful-mugging in front of a gigantic boombox.

57. Billy Corgan, Ogilala (2017)

56. GoldLink, And Subsequently That Nosotros Didn't Talk (2015)

55. Ed Sheeran, 10 (2014)

I haven't written a word all the same, and you already have "Thinking Out Loud" stuck in your head, don't you? My bad.

54. Lana Del Rey, Paradise (2012)

Technically, Paradise is an EP released x months after Del Rey'south breakthrough full-length, Born to Die. But at 33 minutes long, it's nevertheless 5 minutes longer than Slayer's Reign in Claret. Rubin's contribution came on "Ride," a hazy elegy filled with pounding tom-toms and a stirring string section. Prime number Lana.

53. Linkin Park, Minutes to Midnight (2007)

This album didn't milk shake the world with the same magnitude that Hybrid Theory or Meteora did, only some of its peaks are just as loftier. "Bleed Information technology Out" was the final song that Chester Bennington sang earlier his death, at Linkin Park's final show in July 2017. It'southward a song that demanded everything from him, and he rarely failed to deliver in awe-inspiring fashion.

52. Audioslave, Out of Exile (2005)

51. Rage Confronting the Machine, Renegades (2000)

Typically, a covers anthology is the surest sign that a ring has run out of ideas. But Renegades, released presently before Rage called it quits for the get-go time, is one of the more thoughtful, bombastic ones yous'll ever hear. "Renegades of Funk" is an inspired interpretation, as is "The Ghost of Tom Joad," but I can't think of a more plumbing fixtures group to tackle the MC5's "Boot Out the Jams."

50. Slayer, South of Heaven (1988)

49. Macy Gray, The Id (2001)

48. Danzig, Danzig II: Lucifuge (1990)

47. System of a Down, Steal This Album! (2002)

What better way to discourage rampant cyberspace piracy than by imploring your fans to pocket your latest album? Absolutely, not a slap-up strategy to bolster the record company bottom line, simply the clout!

46. Various Artists, Chef Aid: The South Park Album (1998)

A soundtrack that'south supposed to sound similar a full concert recording, where Isaac Hayes performs as his animated alter ego, Chef. Ozzy Osbourne jumping on a track with DMX scored by an EDM duo named the Crystal Method is some deeply 1998 shit.

45. ZZ Top, La Futura (2012)

44. Mick Jagger, Wandering Spirit (1993)

Jagger's lone solo album released in the '90s. The duet of Bill Withers'southward "Employ Me" performed with Lenny Kravitz is 1 of the wildest things you'll ever hear.

43. AC/DC, Ballbreaker (1995)

Tin you believe information technology took Ac/DC 20 years and 12 albums before they put out a record called Ballbreaker? A massive evidence of restraint from the Aussie/English language rockers. Rubin starting time worked with Air conditioning/DC two years prior to this record on "Big Gun" for the Arnold Schwarzenegger motion picture The Last Activeness Hero, and the band apparently liked the results. Unfortunately, the Ballbreaker sessions were reportedly fraught. They began at the Record Plant in New York City, before moving west to Ocean Manner in L.A. later on banging their heads confronting a wall trying to get drummer Phil Rudd'due south kit to sound correct. Rubin and Malcolm Immature are also said to accept clashed over the album's direction, and the rhythm guitarist was past no means happy almost the repeated takes that the producer requested. In the stop, the results speak for themselves. Sometimes all yous need is three chords, a Marshall stack, and some very unsubtle innuendo to achieve greatness.

42. Justin Timberlake, FutureSex/LoveSounds (2006)

Rubin's big contribution to Timberlake's second solo album is the molasses-dull "(Some other Song) All Over Over again." To aid inspire Timberlake, Rubin posed a question: "He said, 'If y'all were to write a song for Donny Hathaway, what would it sound like?" the pop singer recalled. "'Then sing it and make it your own.'" Timberlake idea well-nigh information technology, wrote lyrics, popped over to Neil Diamond'southward studio, and laid information technology downward. He placed "(Another Song) All Over Once more" at the very terminate of the record—the last give-and-take on FutureSex/LoveSounds.

41. LL Absurd J, Walking With a Panther (1989)

40. Joe Strummer & The Mescaleros, Streetcore (2003)

Joe Strummer died before he could end Streetcore. He didn't even get the run a risk to lay downwards vocals for the song "Midnight Jam." Yet, it remains a fitting, final statement from the old leader of the mighty Clash. Songs like "Become Downwards Moses" and "Coma Girl" rank amid his finest.

39. Tom Lilliputian, Echo (1999)

The period through the late '90s, just after Footling released Wildflowers, was perchance the darkest of his life, equally his marriage ended and he began to clandestinely experiment with heroin. You tin can hear Petty's inner conflict all beyond Repeat. "Counting on You" solitary will rip your guts out. Ultimately, Rubin interceded to try to become Petty help. "He finally dealt with information technology past going behind my back and telling my kids," Piffling told biographer Warren Zanes. "I was pissed off for a long fourth dimension." Echo was the terminal anthology that Petty and Rubin collaborated on together.

1998 MTV VMA - After Party Hosted by Madonna

38. Ruby Hot Chili Peppers, By the Way (2002)

The Red Hot Chili Peppers' eighth studio is their mellowest. Frusciante unfurls a few gnarly solos, but the record is stacked with sweet-sounding ballads.

37. Sir Mix-A-Lot, Mack Daddy (1992)

Do you know who the offset Seattle creative person was to hitting no. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100? A few hints:

It wasn't Jimi Hendrix or Center.

It wasn't Nirvana or Pearl Jam or Alice in Chains or Soundgarden.

Information technology also wasn't Decease Cab For Cutie or Macklemore.

It was Sir Mix-a-Lot, and it was for "Babe Got Back." It was on Mack Daddy, and it was glorious.

36. Metallica, Death Magnetic (2008)

Metallica had a lot riding on the success of Death Magnetic. Despite going double-platinum, their last album, St. Acrimony, was a highly publicized critical flop. Combined with the Napster debacle and the inner-strife captured in Some Kind Of Monster, Metallica felt pressure to correct the ship. So, for the get-go time since …And Justice For All in 1988, they worked with someone other than Bob Stone. Rubin told them to retrieve dorsum and try to recapture their mindset when they recorded Master of Puppets. He also pushed them to perform together in the studio while laying down bones tracks. But perhaps about importantly, he stayed out of their style. "The great matter about working with Rick is he'south never around," Kirk Hammett told MTV. "Rick was there for part of that procedure—when we recorded drums and vocals—but the fact that nosotros were isolated in our studio, working on the songs ourselves, fabricated a big difference, considering information technology kept our sound pure. We got more than Metallica that way than we had previously with Bob Rock."

35. Tom Little, Songs and Music From "She's the I" (1996)

A rare soundtrack that'due south miles ameliorate than its motion-picture show. It is kind of odd that Tom Petty wrote a soundtrack for a pic named after a Springsteen cut. Bank check out "Hung Up and Overdue" to hear a mini-Beatles reunion betwixt Ringo Starr on drums and George Harrison on slide guitar.

34. Trouble, Problem (1990)

Trouble is one of the defining bands of the doom-metallic movement. The Illinois-based band signed to American Records after three influential albums in the 1980s. The resulting self-titled album sounds like a meld of Sabbath Bloody Sabbath, Shout at the Devil, and Louder Than Love.

33. Slayer, Seasons in the Abyss (1990)

When Slayer went, "Dun—dun-dun-DUN! [impossibly fast guitar riffage]" during the opening to "War Ensemble" … I felt that shit.

Sean Diddy Combs Celebrates New Years Eve in St Barths

32. The Avett Brothers, I And Dear And You (2009)

Rubin has produced five albums for the Avett Brothers, including 2019'southward Closer Than Together. Yet their first collaboration remains their best. James Taylor wishes he'd written "10 Thousand Words."

31. Run-DMC, Tougher Than Leather (1988)

I shouldn't take to tell you that "Run's House" and "Mary Mary" are classics. Merely I can tell you virtually Tougher Than Leather, which was released in conjunction with this album and stars Run-DMC, the Beastie Boys, and Slick Rick. It was written and directed by Rick Rubin, who also plays a criminal named Vic Ferrante who murders Run-DMC's friend Runny Ray. It's less than an hour-and-a-half long and it'south available on YouTube.

30. Danzig, Danzig III: How the Gods Kill (1992)

Many consider this to be the best Danzig album. I watched Glenn and the band perform the entire thing a few years back. "Dirty Black Summer" ruled.

29. Johnny Cash, Unchained (1996)

The ane in which Johnny Cash covers Soundgarden.

28. Geto Boys, The Geto Boys (1989)

Many couldn't run across past the trigger-happy imagery in this remix album to hear the excellence lurking underneath. That said, rapping in verbal detail about necrophilia and violent, bloody dismemberment is admittedly … a lot. One person who couldn't get over the content was distributor David Geffen, who begged Rubin not to release the record. Rubin refused. "I thought the art was good," he told The New York Times. "Equally a fan, the Geto Boys were thrilling in the same way that a horror motion-picture show might be thrilling." The Geto Boys was ultimately released past Warner Bros. Records instead. "Fuck Em," right?

27. Ruby Hot Chili Peppers, Stadium Arcadium (2006)

Some may say that 28 tracks are far likewise many to include on a single album. They may fence that releasing a double CD's worth of cloth that runs more than two hours is ridiculously self-indulgent. They might listen to songs like "Wet Sand" or "Decease Of A Martian" and enquire: Is this really necessary? To those people, I would say: It isn't, it absolutely is, and hell yes!

26. Black Sabbath, 13 (2013)

Rubin tried to work with Black Sabbath in 2001, but the sessions never moved past the jamming stage. A dozen years later on, the metal icons rejoined again and attempted to leave on a loftier notation. It wasn't an easy process. Because of guitarist Tony Iommi's cancer diagnosis, the ring recorded near his U.Grand. home rather than the L.A. confines Rubin preferred. And due to legal, financial, and personal factors, original drummer Bill Ward was non invited to participate. Rage Against the Machine drummer Brad Wilk took his place. Despite the obstacles, the band proved that their chemistry had lost little say-so. The mood remained sinister, the riffs punishing, and Ozzy's phonation every bit foreboding. The acoustic "Zeitgeist" is every bit mesmerizing equally anything from their heyday.

25. Shakira, Fijación Oral, Vol. 1 & 2 (2005)

Working with Shakira may seem like a massive left plow for Rubin, but as he explained to Zane Lowe, she'south really a singer-songwriter working in a popular-star arrangement. "At the time we got together she was essentially … a stone musician," he explained.

The Pretty First-class

24. Brandi Carlile, Requite Up the Ghost (2009)

"Caroline," the duet with Elton John, rightfully gets a lot of the attention, merely do me a favor: Stop reading correct at present, crank up "Pride And Joy," and tell me that's not one of the most incredible voices you've ever heard.

23. The Cult, Electric (1987)

Rubin probably should've been hard at work editing his footage for the Run-DMC motion picture Tougher Than Leather and turning it into a coherent motion-picture show, but he instead produced an anthology with these British difficult rockers. This was probably a wise choice. The Cult planned to piece of work with Steve Brown, who helped craft their blockbuster 2d album, Love. After working on a dozen different tracks at Manor Studio in Oxfordshire however, they called Rubin for help. The Reducer went to piece of work, stripping downwardly Billy Duffy's rhythm guitar parts and sticking Ian Astbury'southward vocals at the very front. Every song feels similar a punch to the jaw; none so more than "Love Removal Machine."

22. Jay-Z, The Blackness Album (2003)

Rubin produced only one vocal on Jay-Z's "retirement album," only good god, what a song! The inspiration behind "99 Problems" came from Chris Rock, who suggested to Rubin that Jay could make something using a line from a similarly named Ice-T rails equally inspiration: "I got 99 problems only a bowwow ain't i." Hov agreed, and after Rubin and Co. put together a bombastic array of 808s drums reminiscent of the early Def Jam artful, he allow loose a powerful narrative about the limits of the police force that professors would one mean solar day use in form.

21. The Black Crowes, Shake Your Money Maker (1990)

Rubin didn't exercise much studio work to earn his producer credit on hither. Nearly all of the musical controlling and production was handled past George Drakoulias. But as the guy signing the checks at Def American, he made one very important bespeak. He told the band, who at that point were called Mr. Crowe's Garden, they needed a new name. He pitched a few Southern-fried monikers that the band hated, so much so that Chris Robinson reportedly threatened to boot the producer'southward ass. Ultimately, they settled on the Black Crowes. The debut went triple-platinum and the band sold some other 30 one thousand thousand albums throughout their tumultuous career.

20. Dixie Chicks, Taking the Long Way (2006)

This was the start anthology the Dixie Chicks dropped after Natalie Maines told a crowd at a prove in London, on the eve of the Iraq War, that she was "aback that the president of the United States was from Texas." The Chicks responded to the furor from country music fans past telling the world that they were "Not Ready to Make Overnice." Taking the Long Way somewhen earned the trio an Album of the Year and Country Album of the Year Grammy in 2007, bringing their full Grammy haul upward to 13. Toby Keith has yet to win one.

xix. Public Enemy, Yo! Bum Rush the Show (1987)

Rubin was one of the earliest fans of Chuck D. He loved the records Chuck put out in the early on '80s under the name Spectrum City, and had a Post-Information technology notation taped to his phone with the MC's number, so that every time he was nearby, he'd call back to give him a call and try to sign him to Def Jam. Chuck consistently begged off. Rubin persisted, especially once DMC played him an early, minute-long cut of "Public Enemy No. 1." Later months, Chuck D relented. He'd sign with Def Jam, but non as a solo artist—only if he could bring the whole crew, hip-hop's version of the Clash. The selection was a no-brainer for Rubin, a huge Disharmonism fan. Public Enemy became ane of the almost pro-Black groups on the planet, and Yo! Bum Rush the Show became one of the fastest-selling hip-hop albums of the 1980s.

18. Danzig, Danzig (1998)

At that place are an phenomenal number of songs written almost mothers: "Honey Mama" past Tupac, "A Song for Mama" past Boyz II Men, "Julia," by the Beatles, "Hey Mama," by Kanye West to name just a few. Only practice whatever of them stone harder than "Female parent" by Danzig?

"Twist of Cain" also knocks.

17. Johnny Cash, American Recordings (1994)

The one in which Johnny Cash covers Glenn Danzig.

16. System of a Down, System of a Down (1998)

This is 1 of the keen introductions in the history of alternative metal. Merely a total-blown gothic punch to the solar plexus.

15. Kanye Westward, The Life of Pablo (2016)

Songs on The Life of Pablo ranked:

20. "Freestyle iv"
19. "Frank's Track"
18. "Siiiiiiiiilver Surffffeeeeer Intermission"
17. "Low Lights"
sixteen. "Feedback"
15. "I Love Kanye"
xiv. "Saint Pablo"
13. "Facts (Charlie Heat Version)
12. "Highlights"
11. "Famous"
10. "FML"
ix. "30 Hours"
8. "Waves"
vii. "Pt. two"
half-dozen. "Real Friends"
5. "Wolves"
four. "No More than Parties In LA"
three. "Father Stretch My Hands Pt. 1"
two. "Fade"
i. "Ultralight Axle"

14. Cherry-red Hot Chili Peppers, Californication (1999)

Frusicante'due south back, baby! After leaving the band following Blood Saccharide Sex Magik in 1991, the guitarist was invited back after he entered rehab and kicked his addictions to heroin, cocaine, and alcohol. Frusciante took upwards yoga, abstained from sexual practice, and adopted a healthier lifestyle while composing some of his all-time work. The group had someone else in heed to produce Californication before the sessions began: David Bowie. Unfortunately for the Peppers—or fortunately, all things considered—the Thin White Knuckles was decorated, and they decided to become with their bearded sage again.

thirteen. Lucinda Williams, Motorcar Wheels on a Gravel Route (1998)

Although Rubin didn't produce Car Wheels on a Gravel Road, he signed Williams to his label American Recordings and was instrumental in presenting this superb drove to the world. Williams worked with many producers on this tape, kickoff with her longtime collaborator Gurf Morlix. So Steve Earle took over, before ceding the responsibilities to the Due east Street Band'southward resident professor, Roy Bittan. When the time came to mix the album nonetheless, Rubin became involved. Rubin and engineer Jim Scott honed its sound to its most basic elements, giving room for Williams to smoothen as she poured her center out.

12. Audioslave, Audioslave (2002)

After Rage Against the Machine disbanded in 2000, its 3 instrumentalists gathered at Rubin's firm to plot their next steps. Rubin had produced the ring'southward final album, Renegades, and was eager to help guide their next project. Tom Morello, Brad Wilk, and Timothy Commerford knew they wanted to continue making music together, but they didn't know what their future looked like. That'southward when their producer threw on Soundgarden's lacerating Badmotorfinger cut "Slaves & Bulldozers." As Chris Cornell's stratospheric vox filled the room, the manner frontwards suddenly became clear. The subsequent self-titled anthology is an action-packed collection of soaring ballads and lacerating hard-stone anthems. Cornell's bear witness-stopping screams on "Cochise," "Shadow on the Sunday," and "Like a Rock" collided with Morello'due south stultifying guitar acrobatics. Critics largely hated Audioslave when information technology start debuted—Pitchfork afforded it a lowly score of 1.seven out of 10— but audiences loved the tape. It didn't have long to turn triple platinum.

11. LL Absurd J, Radio (1985)

In 1984, a sixteen-year-quondam from Long Island named James Todd Smith heard a new 12-inch single titled "It'southward Yours" by an artist named T La Stone. He loved what he heard, and he noticed the producer's phone number was listed on the back. The teenager, who would one day go LL Cool J, called incessantly trying to become the homo on the other stop to give him a chance, until finally, cheers to some prodding from Rubin's friend Ad-Rock, Rubin threw on the kid's demo tape. He liked what he heard and took information technology to his business partner Russell Simmons, who constitute the rhymes unremarkable. But Rubin felt he was onto something. "He was much improve than anything else I heard," Rubin recalled in 2007. "And he still is. 'I Need a Beat,' LL's outset single, was the real birth of Def Jam." That single was just the beginning. The anthology the pair subsequently produced—chock with braggadocious swagger, youthful exuberance, and charisma—changed everything. It sold 500,000 copies in its first five months and produced era-defining singles similar "I Can't Live Without My Radio," "I Can Give Yous More," and "Rock the Bells." Def Jam became an empire. LL Cool J became a superstar. And Rubin became one of the near in-demand tastemakers on world.

The Classics

ten. System of a Down, Toxicity (2001)

There merely aren't whatsoever records that sound quite like Toxicity. It's a bracing, 44-minute-long attack on your ears and mind; a 14-track collection that melds together elements of metal, classical, jazz, prog, folk, the Armenia heritage, and the American condition. "The beauty of System of a Down is that it's so weird and then groovy but hard as fuck," Rubin explained. Toxicity was released on September four, 2001, and was the no. 1 album when the Twin Towers barbarous. Songs similar "Aerials," "Chop Suey!" and the title track will forever be linked to that tragic chapter.

9. Beastie Boys, Licensed to Ill (1986)

A few important statistics almost Licensed To Sick:

Information technology's the first and only anthology Rick Rubin produced with the Beastie Boys.
It was the kickoff hip-hop anthology to hitting no. ane.
Seven of the album's 13 tracks were released equally singles, just only one "(Yous Gotta) Fight For Your Right (To Party!)" hitting the acme ten. It remains the group's highest-charting unmarried.
The album contains three different Led Zeppelin samples, two writing credits for Run and DMC, and one Kerry King guitar solo.
Ten million copies sold and counting.

8. Red Hot Chili Peppers, Blood Sugar Sex Magik (1991)

Rubin and Chili Peppers' first collaboration remains their all-time. On Claret Sugar Sex Magik, Rubin sought to assistance the band unlock their inner Beach Boys. He put them upward in a mansion, built a recording studio, and lent them his personal chef. For a month, they lived, worked, painted, and recorded in the seemingly haunted space, producing some of the most affecting material of their lives. Though Rubin's effort to push Anthony Kiedis to write a song well-nigh girls and cars like "The Greeting Song" didn't always mensurate upward to Brian Wilson's lofty bar of excellence, the singer found a bang-up deal of success writing about his personal experiences on "Breaking The Girl" and "Under the Span." Actually, "Under the Bridge" probably wouldn't exist if non for Rubin randomly flipping through 1 of Kiedis's notebooks one day and stumbling on the simple, handwritten poem. Kiedis worried that it would sound besides tiresome, also melodic, and too dramatic for the band. But Rubin pushed. John Frusciante helped him figure out a overnice chord progression, and the residue is history.

vii. Adele, 21 (2011)

The best-selling album of the 21st century, and it's not even close. 30-1 1000000 copies sold worldwide. What else is at that place to say?

six. Slayer, Reign in Blood (1986)

Any listing of the greatest heavy metal albums of all fourth dimension that doesn't include Slayer'due south tertiary tape in the top five should be ignored. The Huntington Park foursome needed only 28 minutes to make their case, and they did so in beautifully ambitious, breakneck speed while changing the trajectory of the genre. "It's as if they were speaking a different musical language than the rest of the world," Rubin said.

5. Public Enemy, Information technology Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back (1988)

Sometimes, the mark of a keen producer is recognizing great talent and simply getting out of the way. Rubin was a Public Enemy fan kickoff and foremost and he saw his office as executive producer equally more of an adviser one, allowing Chuck D, Terminator X, Professor Griff, the S1W'due south, and the Bomb Squad the liberty to create. "I really trusted them to make the music that they wanted to brand, and the way The Bomb Squad worked with them … they created their whole own globe of music," he said in 2013. While the group's debut Yo! Bum Rush The Show left its mark, It Takes a Nation of Millions was a monumental, sonic set on of America and its hundreds of years of systemic ills. Information technology's Marvin Gaye'south What's Going On for a new generation, but louder, and infinitely more raw. On "Insubordinate Without a Pause," Chuck D rapped, "They praised the music, this time they play the lyrics." With anthems like "Don't Believe The Hype" and "Night Of The Living Baseheads" it was impossible non to heed.

4. Tom Little, Wildflowers (1994)

Wildflowers is the result of one of the nigh incredible explosions of creativity from ane of America's nearly consistently incredible songwriters. It sits like Mount Everest, towering always-then-slightly above the Himalayas of Piddling's discography. With his spousal relationship failing, Piffling channeled his pain, and songs exploded out of him almost as fast as he could commit them to tape. The anthology includes incredible tunes like "Wake Up Time," on which he thinks back to that cool high schoolhouse kid he used to be and wonders, "What happened?" "It's Proficient To Exist Male monarch" is a sprawling, about sardonic glimpse at what life is similar at the meridian. On "House In The Wood," "Wildflowers," and "To Find A Friend," he yearns for a simple existence spent in the company of someone to love. Petty wrote so much music for Wildflowers that some of the best material—"Mary Jane's Last Dance," for case—weren't on the concluding tracklist. "He told me Wildflowers scares him, because he's not really certain why it's every bit good as information technology is," Rubin said on the Broken Record podcast. "It has this, like, haunted feeling for him."

3. Kanye West, Yeezus (2013)

When Kanye W approached Rubin in 2013 to help him complete his sixth studio record, he brought along a crude cut that ran more than three hours long. And it however wasn't finished. V songs didn't even take vocals even so, and the deadline to turn information technology in was weeks away. In previous years, on projects like My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy and the Jay-Z collab Spotter The Throne, West had embraced maximalism. Now, he was asking music's most successful reducer to help tear information technology back. Rubin got out the shears, slashing every nonessential sonic element, until it became a skeletal, twoscore-minute do in raw aggression and angst. A prime example of the energy Rubin brought tin be institute in its finale, "Bound 2." West'south original vision was more than of a direct-alee R&B track. Rubin heard the song and thought instead about the '70s New York punk group Suicide. He pulled everything out merely the sample and a distorted bassline over which Charlie Wilson soared during the chorus. It's certainly possible that Due west'southward original, bloated designs for Yeezus would've received its share of adulation, but through Rubin's guidance, it became a serrated, minimalist masterpiece.

2. Run-DMC, Raising Hell (1986)

At first there was stone, and it was proficient. But so, there was rap and it was besides good! And and then forth came Run-DMC and Rubin who thought, "Well, this one thing is proficient … and this other thing is expert … what if we … put them together???"

Raising Hell was pretty much complete by the time Rubin suggested they flip Aerosmith's "Walk This Mode" into an entirely new rail. He notwithstanding felt, withal, that the album needed some other element before information technology was finished, and pushed Run and DMC to write some lyrics for the song. After some persuasion from Jam Principal Jay and Russell Simmons, they gave in. Steven Tyler and Joe Perry got an $8,000 check, and the bulwark betwixt the two genres was obliterated. Along the fashion, Run-DMC also single-handedly made Adidas THE apparel of choice among America'southward youth long before Kanye and laid downwardly "It's Tricky" and "Yous Exist Illin'." Raising Hell became the first rap album to earn a platinum plaque. Betwixt this anthology, Licensed To Ill, and Reign In Claret, 1986 remains the high-water mark of Rubin's artistic life.

1. Johnny Greenbacks, American Iv: The Man Comes Around (2002)

Information technology'due south difficult to capeesh the nadir Johnny Cash'due south career had reached before Rubin came along. No longer a hot commodity by the 1990s, the Human in Blackness was touring the casino circuit and playing to dwindling crowds. Cash later on said in his autobiography that his label Mercury pressed simply 500 copies of 1991'south The Mystery of Life, which was an exaggeration, but not a large one.

Merely in Greenbacks, Rubin saw an opportunity to work with one of music'due south greatest voices. "What I came to realize about that whole Johnny Cash experience was that he was a great storyteller," the producer told Genius in 2015. "The song didn't thing—all that mattered were the words." Rubin understood that if the mythical graphic symbol of "Johnny Cash" were proverb those words, people would feel them.

Released 10 months before Cash died, American Iv: The Homo Comes Around remains the perfect culmination of their creative relationship. Listening to it can experience like witnessing a man delivering his own eulogy. From the opening rails, "The Man Comes Around," to the duets with Fiona Apple and Nick Cave, the acoustic rendition of Depeche Mode's "Personal Jesus" put together by John Frusciante, and Cash'due south mesmerizing take on the mournful 9 Inch Nails carol "Hurt," it's a tape brimming with sadness and wisdom.

Ultimately, there is one guiding principle that led Rubin to piece of work with Johnny Cash in the twilight of his career, and it's the same 1 that informed nearly every choice he made forth his incomparable 35-yr run in the music industry. Whether it was the early on Def Jam projects with the Beastie Boys and Run-DMC, the metal records he made with Danzig and Slayer, or the commercial popular projects and veteran rock records, the cease goal was always the aforementioned. "From the starting time, all I've ever cared about is things existence great," he once said. "The things that can't exist a cistron are fourth dimension, chart position, radio success, sales—none of those things can go far the style of something being great."

Corbin Reiff is a music writer based in Seattle. His next book, Total F*cking Godhead: The Biography of Chris Cornell, comes out in July.

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Source: https://www.theringer.com/music/2020/6/25/21302180/the-top-100-albums-in-the-rick-rubin-extended-universe-ranked