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Top college-themed albums

Continuing our “best college-themed” series, we bring you a list of college-themed albums. Okay, it’s pretty tough to find albums that are “college themed” per se, so we compiled ones that have to do with school or include the words “school” or “college.” Regardless, these are all great albums that deserve a listen.

“The College Dropout” – Kanye West (2004)

What do you get when you combine four years of recording, constant rejections from record labels, a broken jaw and Jay-Z’s “The Blueprint?” You get an album that sells 441,000 copies in its first week and debuts at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 chart… and this is his first solo album. Kanye West started working on the iconic “The College Dropout” in 1999. After a life-threatening car accident three years later, he was inspired to craft his ideas into a full-length album; this lead to his mixtape “Get Well Soon…” and announcement that he was working on his debut full-length. To date, the album has sold 3.4 million copies in the U.S., 4 million worldwide and is considered one of the best albums of all time by “Time” and “Rolling Stone.”

“Jazz Goes to College” – The Dave Brubeck Quartet (1954)
In 1954, legendary jazz pianist and composer Dave Brubeck set out with his three bandmates on a college tour throughout North America in order to bring jazz music to a new audience. At first, the quartet was faced with some opposition, but became in high demand; the group would end up playing nearly 90 schools within four-month periods. Robert Christgau, famed music critic and self-proclaimed “Dean of American Rock Critics,” gave the album an “A” in his review for MSN Music. The album lead to the Dave Brubeck Quartet gracing the cover of “Time” magazine, in which Brubeck was described as the most exciting new jazz artist of the time.

“School’s Out” – Alice Cooper (1972)

This album’s title song is one we’ve all chanted at the end of a school year – “School’s out for summer! School’s out forever!” Alice Cooper’s theater-rock antics shine through in his fifth studio album. It reached No. 2 on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart and remained at No. 1 on the Canadian “RPM 100” Top Albums chart for four weeks. Mixed reviews from “Rolling Stone” hail from the album’s varied themes and lack of a central motive. In the original vinyl release, the album cover looked like an old wooden desk and the sleeve opened like one; the record was also wrapped in a pair of girl’s paper panties, which was eventually discontinued.

“Milo Goes to College” – Descendents (1982)
…and that’s exactly what he was doing. “Milo Goes to College” takes its name from the fact that Descendents’ lead singer, Milo Aukerman, was leaving to study biology at the University of California, San Diego. The album is widely accepted as one of the most influential albums of the early-’80s hardcore punk movement. It is laden with feelings of oppression from (most likely) “The Man,” girl problems and overall teenage angst, like every great punk album should be. It’s 22-minute length and track lengths ranging from 40 seconds to 2:20 make this album a quick and concise ass-kicking that all punk fans should experience.

Regina Alongi

Senior music business major at UMass Lowell/Pokémon trainer.

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