Shelf-Stacker's 20 Greatest Power Pop Albums of All Time 

Oh Man when I seen the title of this video I was so stoked to tune in and see your take on one of my favorite genres of all time, Power Pop! I even grabbed pen and paper as I’m always looking for PP albums I don’t have and you did not disappoint! My fave era of PP is the late 70’s early 80’s and we have a bit of overlap in our PP choices! The Records! Screams! 20/20! Big Star! Cheap Trick! Man I really dig how you mixed the classic PP with the more modern stuff of the 90’s and 00’s! I absolutely took notes! In my old band we used to cover Stacy’s Mom by FoW! And we also covered Cheap Trick! So sad to hear of Adam Schlesinger’s passing! I’m a nurse who does Covid testing daily at my job and I do all I can to battle this horrific illness! Loved this video and I took note of many bands I didn’t know Thank you for this incredible Show and Tell! Peace ☮️✌️👽🤘☮️

Merry Christmas! I just want to say that this is probably my favorite video from the past couple years that I've ever seen. Being 17 years old and having loved music with any sort of hook for most of my life, I've never had the sheer volume of amazing music recommendations that I've gotten from you aside from my dad and myself scrolling through rate your music. When I first saw the video I remember recognizing a couple of the bands like 'the Merrymakers', 'Bleu', 'the Records', and 'Big Star', as well as 'Cheap Trick', 'Fountains of Wayne', and 'Jellyfish' in the top 3 sealing the deal. Little did I know of the absolute wealth of music that I would discover through this video. Many of these records helped me further understand the structure of a good record, and have inspired me more than ever to make my own music. I've done music stuff my entire life but this video took me to the next level. Now I sit here typing this, in the middle of drum tracking my very own power pop record, for songs that I've written in the timespan of seeing this video, in my room, with a bunch of recording gear I've borrowed from my dad and blown out my money I earned as a dishwasher on. I'd love it if you'd make another follow up ranking, or even emailed me a couple more music recommendations. Thanks for everything!

Red's (of RedcoMusic) runner up's: 21. The Cars - self-titled 22. The Knack - "Get the Knack" 23. Rick Springfield - "Working Class Dog" 24. The Outfield - "Play Deep" 25. The Bangles - "All Over the Place" 26. The Raspberries - self-titled

Phil Seymour's self titled debut and The Pursuit of Happiness Love Junk. Two of my all time favorite power pop LPs

Can’t argue with your top pick. Fantastic album.

Hello. I really enjoyed your top 20 and great descriptions/ reviews! I’m a big power pop and jangle fan. Nice to see Merrymakers, Cherry Twister and Gigolo Aunts on your list. I have all of those and most of the other albums you showed. Will check out the few I don’t know. Thanks. Look forward to more videos. Cheers! / Matt

Most inspiring choice of power pop albums ever. Great job man, great taste. Got a new favorite playlist now. Thanks!

Was watching this and didn’t recognize very many of the first 14 bands or so. All I could think was how can this guy not say Spilt Milk. Then there it was. Such a brilliantly produced and layered album. I always felt like it was as if Queen sang on a Pet Sounds-type concept album.

Great video, full of bands I love that to be honest I hadn’t really sussed were power pop adjacent - Straw, Honeycrack, Webb Brothers and Grass-Show are all personal faves that still get listened to. I bloody love both Jellyfish albums. Very jealous of your Spilt Milk vinyl. I will definitely seek out some of the 1979 power pop iteration. Thanks so much for this.

These lists are hard since there would be so many missing from anyone’s list like Grand Prix by teenage fanclub, the posies frosting on the beater, badfinger straight up, the heats etc.. it’s an impossible task but bravo to your list. Always learn a few new ones and that is what it’s all about

I plan on listening to this whole video but i couldn't wait to recommend one of my all time favorite albums that's also power pop and criminally underappreciated... The Cave Dogs' Joy Rides for Shut Ins. Not a bad song on it and emphasizes the power in power pop imo.

Great video! All good picks! Have you ever heard of the band Pugwash? Very good Beach Boys influenced stuff :)

Great video with some fascinating & brilliant choices, cheers 👍

Wonderful list! I wondered why Marshall Crenshaw did not make the list. His first record is my fave.

Great Job!...will look into some I haven't Heard

Hey There - RU-vid just now served me up your show from 3 years ago - and, first off, really cool to see two bands from my label on your list(Not Lame Recordings) and arguably one more(though, not technically), your #1...Jellyfish "Spilt Milk"(Not Lame released the "Fan Club" 4-CD box set in 2002). Second, your tastes very and truly much align with my own...."Screams" being there? Well, RIGHT ON, man! The first Cheap Trick album being your choice to represent the band? Well, that would be my very hard choice to nudge to the top spot, as well . Grass Show? Yes! Merrymakers? Yes, again. But the cool one to see your life up...Straw. Whoa, nice surprise, that one. Loved that album, too - hard to import at a good cost to the U.S. back then, but my distro arm of Not Lame did. Tough to get folks to drop $30 on something they couldn't hear first(which was the case back in 1999). Lastly, you are a true music loving pantheist with your passions in so many other genres! Very well done, good sir! Gonna be tracking you(in a good way, not a creep one) going forward - keep it all up!

great video as always, adam schlesinger also wrote songs on the monkees 2016 good times album and plays on nearly ever track its a great power pop album with rivers cuomo, andy partridge, paul weller and noel gallagher writing songs too, adam also writes and plays on their christmas party album from 2018

my personal list of favorite power pop albums is: 10- Fotomaker - Fotomaker 9- Big Star - #1 Record 8- Cheap Trick - In Color 7- Joey Molland - After The Pearl 6- The Who - Who Are You? 5- 20/20 - 20/20 4- The Cars - The Cars 3 - The Raspberries - The Raspberries 2 - Badfinger - Say No More 1 - Badfinger - Wish You Were Here Anyways, thanks for the cool list in your video, I'll check out some of that records! 👍🏻

My top 20 power pop albums may include only five bands: Sloan, The Flashing Lights, The New Pornographers, Fountains of Wayne, and The Shazam. Spilt Milk may come in somewhere around #75....I'll have to listen to it again soon.

I used to watch Screams and Off Broadway in the local clubs in Central Illinois in the late 70s. They were both great bands. The songwriter of I Play For You is Greg Clemons and our band recorded a CD at his nine studio. Talented guy.

Great pics, first, Jellyfish did get reissued on vinyl in the US, on Omnivore on green vinyl...cool you picked Grass Show, love that album, and Merrymakers too...off top of my head other great powerpop albums...Adam Schmitt "World So Bright", Sugarbomb "Bully", Richard X Heyman "Hey Man", Per Gessle (he of Roxette) "The World According to Gessle" (Per is THE powerpop master, tunes coming out of his pores), Rick Springfield "Working Class Dog", the Muffs (any but I'd pick 1997's "Happy Birthday to Me"), Letters to Cleo's "Wholesale Meats & Fish", Veruca Salt's "American Thighs", Shonen Knife's "Let's Knife", this band called the Sighs, album on Charisma/Virgin, forgot the title but so good, Marvelous 3 "Hey!! album", many more I could mention...

Hi ! You did a great job. You are clear, pedagogical and precise in the details. Your intervention is a pleasure to see. And even if I don't know 80% of the bands you mention, I want to listen to them! Cheers ! Hervé

So jealous of the spilt milk vinyl! Favourite band of all time next to the beach boys

Enjoyed your choice of albums. I thought I was a power pop geek, but I must admit I hadn't heard of The Merrymakers, Straw, Screams, Bleu, Grass-Show and Jackdaw. I've noted the names and will be checking them out further on RU-vid ... The power pop tag, like all musical tags put on artists/bands, leaks into other tags and is ultimately a bit meaningless. There are many bands I love which more commonly get described as Mod Revival, Pop Punk, garage rock, Emo etc, but which play what I just class as guitar pop ... Off the top of my head, my Top 20 would include Material Issue 'International Pop Overthrow', The Flamin' Groovies 'Shake Some Action', The Promise Ring 'Very Emergency', The Muffs 'The Muffs', Velvet Crush 'Teenage Symphonies To God' , The Exploding Hearts 'Guitar Romantic' and The Media Whores 'Master Of Pop Hits' ... I love that you are so knowledgeable on different musical genres. Carl

Interesting and fascinating choices. And you're young! 1978/79 brought some musical gems to the States. We lived in a University town in St. Louis, Missouri where STIFF records was all the rage. I'm 61 and I have children as old as 38 and as young as 15. They all know Reckless Eric. And they all love Ian Dury. Not exactly Power Pop. Anyway, the Knack were around my first year as a driver. I loved them. Off Broadway? What an excellent choice you made with them. And then you mention the Tinted Windows project. Excellent. And then you go with Cheap Trick for the number two spot. Brilliant. Jellyfish seems to be the Power Pop aficionado's choice. Good video.

I have both Jellyfish originals, bought when they were released.

Just 10 power pop albums I love a lot.. The Sweet - s/t Jellyfish - Spilt Milk Raspberries - s/t Badfinger - Straight Up The Knack - Get The Knack Weezer - s/t The Romantics - s/t Teenage Fanclub - Bandwagonesque Nick Lowe - Labour of Lust The Cars - Candy-o

Great top 20! You listed a few bands that passed me by that I need to explore.

What a fantastic list! I knew when you dropped Cherry Twister that you knew your power pop! I've never hear of Straws, but that will change soon. As far as "Screams" goes, it's been sitting in my collection since the 80's and I have yet to listen to it. I think I picked it up in a dollar vinyl bin based on its cover and never put it on the turntable! I happen to adore Silver Sun myself and "Neo Wave" would be near the top of my own list. A couple of great "one-off" discs would be The Semantics "Powerbill" (1993) and Teen Machine "After School Special" (2000). Finally, I can't recommend the Swedish band Brainpool enough. Any of their discs are wonderful but "Painkiller" (1995) includes the masterpiece "Bandstarter". What a track! I've submitted a Top 500 of my favorite tracks to youtube. The link is ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Eh_5AgnxNNQ.htmlsi There is plenty of Power Pop in it. Track 495 is "April's Fool" ;-)

I just discovered your channel and I’m so glad I did

Hey really enjoyed this and got some great tips........can I recommend " Shoes: Black Vinyl Shoes", the DBs, and a Dublin band called " the number ones: lie to me, From OZ -The Stems: at first sight, Punk/power pop: Protex-I can't cope

Great choices. Love the shazam and FOW. Will check out electric soft parade and few others that i dont know. My faves are Wanderlust - prize, Mayflies usa - summertown, Brad jones - gilt flake, Zuckerbaby - s/t and Tsar - s/t All essential. More recent but classic. Great video.

Worth noting Schlesinger also did Josie and the Pussycats and many musical numbers for Crazy Ex Girlfriend.

Thank you for this video, so many great suggestions! Listening to many of them now. Part 2 by any chance?

When Guided By Voices were on the TVT label (Do the Collapse & Isolation Drills) they were the best power pop band on the planet. The earlier stuff is GREAT but too weird and psychedelic to qualify.

Thanks for all the introductions. The electric soft parade are amazing. I listen to a few power pop bands like jellyfish, fountains of Wayne, weezer, Ozma, but I didn’t know about a lot of these. Let me give you a recommendation, check out the band The Stereo and their album “three hundred”

What a great list, a good number in there that I don't know, but I'm already in love with The Merrymakers, so looking forward to discovering some of the others too. Seeing as everyone else is chiming in with their lists , I'd also give honourable mentions to Mach V by The Vandalias and Jason Falkner Presents Author Unknown, his first solo album. I had those on either side of a C90 and wore it out.

Great post- I have no idea who most of these bands are. Was excited though to see that fountains of Wayne’s welcome interstate album was up there- that is a fantastic record whatever genre you call it! Jellyfish is not a band I knew either but am understanding based on your list and that of others on RU-vid you that this particular album spilt milk is a masterpiece! A few other bands that I think get short shrift in these lists/discussions: the Dentists (try the compilation called Dresses then get more); flop and the fall of the mopsqueezer- self-titled or whenever you’re ready; Big Dipper- Craps. If you’ve not heard any of these you owe it to yourself to give them a listen!

I've just recently got 2 of the Webb brothers brilliant

Great video, lots of unknowns here for me, so plenty to check out. Enjoyed this and have subbed.

I purchased an outdoor furniture set for my deck at FOUNTAINS Of WAYNE on route 46 Wayne NJ. Late 90's I believe. The band took their name from the actual store. I still have the table & umbrella set. "Welcome Interstate Managers" is a banger of an album.

This is a great list!! Thanks to you I've been listening to The Webb Brothers and Shazam on repeat the last few days. Have you listened to the Introducing Sparks album; it's first rate power pop but bombed when released at the height of the punk movement.

I love Cherry Twister! I saw them live in NYC many years ago as part of the International Pop Overthrow festival. Their lead singer, Steve Ward, has put out two very tasty solo albums as well. I don't know whatever happened to Steve, but he was a true talent who deserved to make it big. And hang on to that 20/20 album. It's very hard to find as I've been looking for a copy for many years.

I don't know a great part of the albums that you tell it. Some albums, probably you know, on my favourites of power pop: Fingerprintz "Beat noir" (1979), Hellvelln (1991), Klang "Dots and dashes" from Nederlands, Tommy Tutone "2", The Radio (1981) from Sweden and Secretos "Algo más" (1983) from Spain. I will search your favourite albums for hear it.

I enjoyed this very much thank you.

Enjoyed your list and naturally there will also be albums others would have in the top 20 but that is not why most of us watch these videos. I believe most of us watch in order to learn a few new PP titles which you did for me. Believe me, that is hard to do since I think I know them all (which is not the case - never can be the case) kudos on that web brothers lp by the way. That is a gem! In my top 20 I would have had Grand Prix by teenage fanclub, frosting on the beater by the posies and present tense by shoes so curious on what you think of those classics. What about shake some action by the groovies and the last LA explosion? Thanks for doing this!

Interesting list. I will check the unfamiliar bands out. Some of my favorites - "The Flame" by The Flame (the Blondie Chaplin outfit). "This Day and Age" by D. L. Byron. "Beat & Torn" by The Spongetones.

You notice how much Buddy Holly made an impression on these powerpop acts?

Mr.Shelf is Georgeous 😍😍… I love this kind of man who loves music 😊😊

Enjoyed your video very much. Thanks for The Webb Brothers suggestion. IMHO, Kontiki by Cotton Mather has to be on all Power Pop Top 20 lists, and One Mississippi by Brendan Benson is no slouch. Oh, and Evan Hillhouse s/t from 2005. :-) Thanks for the video.

How how how did you leave "girlfriend" by Matthew Sweet off this list? I honestly thought it'd be number one.

I just pick some bands i like(their albums is good). The Motors,Fotomaker,Off Broadway,Pezband,Tommy Tutone...

Matthew Sweet’s “In Reverse”, Owsley, Taxiride, Jellyfish, new Butch Walker…

I just gave you sub number 300.

Great video. Lots I agree with, lots I would pick a different album by the same artist, lots of new things for me to check out! What more could I ask for in a RU-vid vid? A couple of albums I would have in mine that you didn't feature would be Lolas - Something You Oughta Know and Cotton Mather - Kontiki. As for Redd Kross, I always felt Show World was the more timeless album where the harder elements are less grungy. Also keep an eye out for news about Godspeed The Shazam. Interesting stuff is in the works for anyone who loves that album.

Really enjoyed the list. A bit disappointed that superdrag, Weezer and teenage fanclub weren't in the top 20

An impossible task. Some classic powerpop bands today as well.

This sorta music…I’m thinking The Cars,The Buzzcocks or Veruca Salt…. love these bands,but it’s always Hard Rock/HM for me

How did you skip over The Beat and their album "The Beat" from 1979? They had to change the name from The Beat to The Paul Collins Beat because there was another band called The Beat from England who had to change their name to The English Beat.

Funny how Illinois was an epicenter of power pop. Tons of great bands

Love your choices, except the omission ofvthecRaspberries,,whobperfectedvtheveholevgenre❤😮😢

Oh sorry forgot: The Fans- True

Good stuff! Lots of bands which are new to me, I'll look forward to checking out. Glad to see the Webb Brothers getting some love. I think I've got their three albums, but Maroon is by far my favourite. I've never listened to Cheap Trick, I think my prejudices and possible misconceptions have made me steer clear. The problem is, they seem to be championed by the same people who go on and on about shitey 70s US stadium rock. But on your recommendation I'll have to give them a go. Cheers - Hedley

weird to see this the day after Eric Carmen from the Raspberries passed away

I have a lot of these artists among various playlists. I would say, you should have had The Raspberries somewhere in the top 10. They had more commercial success than Big Star which should count for something. The Raspberries have to be acknowledged as the core of Power Pop’s successful beginnings.

100% Fun, Matthew Sweet, Warehouse:Songs and Stories,Hüsker Dü Pleased To Meet Me,The Replacements

10:18 "nice use of Theremin"??? I think Cherry Twister's "Don't Forget Your Man" is the greatest use of one in a rock song (especially by high schoolers!).

Ive always preferred the first Jellyfish LP. Also, nobody ever mentions Pezband, in the lsit of great Powerpop albums. Laughing in The Dark is a classic.

So, this was interesting. Lots of stuff I know, which I expected, but some fairly obscure bands - especially amongst the CDs. Back in the day, I used to hit the Our Price CD sales, and better than that, the branch of Record & Tape Exchange thatt was (is?) just down the road from Kings Cross station, when I visited London. They would buy in used CDs, and start them at a high price; then they'd come down a pound every week until they hit £3, at which point they would be dumped into locked cabinets at floor level. I would always ask to the key & end up buying a foot high pile of discs that looked interesting. Amazingly enough, I don't think I ever picked up anything that didn't have some merit - even the Danish death metal compilation was funny - if only for their attempts to write lyrics in English! I picked up quite a lot of obscure indie/neo-psych/new wave/power pop bands that way, including some of the artists you showed. I will have to try to tracxk down copies of the ones that I'd never heard of. I was particularly glad to see you show that Jackdaw4 double album. I recommended that one to Hanna, The Omaha Introvert, in a comment on one of her power pop videos. Arftists I might have listed would be The Yachts - albeit I liked them more before their original vocalist left after the first single. If I remember correctly, he was also on a 30 minute BBC in concert recording, which I no longer have. Another would be Pretty much any of Sean Tyla's work - Ducks Deluxe, Tyla Gang & solo. I don't know if Ducks Deluxe could really be considered power pop, but Tyla Gang might.

🤠 Shoes ❤

20/20. Db s repercussion. The records let's active cypress. Jellyfish spilt milk. Windbreakers. Rockpile seconds of pleasure. Blackfoot sue the sweet. Raspberries starting over. The bears car caught fire

Sad by absence of Badfinger and The Raspberries... But you pretty much nailed all of the classics... Do you like Shoes mate?

To make it 21 I would add Sterophonics Peformance and Cocktails .

Did I miss when you said rasberries?

Love vids when I dont know half the albums! Turns me on to “new” music possibilities. Thanks!

A notable release. Bram Tchaikovsky. Strange Man Changed Man.

What is the power in power pop? I always thought it was pop that rocked a bit

Superdrag

I struggle to get my head around what it is that defines Power Pop. Always have. I assumed it was an American term. Interesting to hear one or two references to Swedish artists. Is there a link or was that just coincidence? I can think of some great Swedish Pop artist that aim more for the domestic audience, but that are worthy of international attention. Check out Veronica Maggio's 2nd album 'Och Vinnaren Är...' (And The Winner Is...). Anyway, back to Power Pop. Would you say that The Act were Power Pop? They only made one album, 'Too Late At 20', but it is what comes to my mind when I hear definitions of Power Pop.

You are gorgeous and your voice is soothing❤❤❤

Huge fan of Fountains of Wayne but for some reason I’ve never really taken to Jellyfish.

Just wondering if you have a copy of the UK Band called Shooter from 1978 on CD. Cheers.

As far as power pop goes, there's Big Star. Then there's everybody else.

Check these out : THE DBS STANDS FOR DECIBELS + THE DBS -REPERCUSSION .......SPARKS - PROPAGANDA ......BIG STARS 1ST 2 ALBUMS....CRACK THE SKY- WHITE MUSIC {songs , skin deep + techno generation } ....HENRY GROSS - PLUG ME INTO SOMETHING { songs dixie spiderman, southern band, tommorrows memory lane } . THE RAVYNS { Baltimore band, song, raised on the radio, rhytym of the heart }

Spilt milk. End. Of. ❤

Give - "Present Tense" a listen by Shoes

That was a brilliant description at the start but I'm still not sure really is it a genre or what it is. I suppose it's good music sure with proper guitars......

I reckon Raspberries were the first overtly power pop band, predating Big Star.

Cool power Pop album from 2014, The Reign "The Long Wait" & from 2020 The Reign "Storm" check these albums out

Have you not heard of Matthew Sweet? Where is Girlfriend? You mentioned "Get The Knack" - did they not deserve a mention above "Straw" or "Screams" or "Off Broadway"? #FAIL

Mr Shelf do you consider The Thrills power pop ?

Posies? Teenage Fanclub?

Are you Power Pop Pop Pop?

never heard of any of them

So no music ?

Cheap Trick 77 is power pop on steroids.

you need to grow some hair

Hey Mr Self Wacker what are the 20 best shampoos?

Spilt Milk is a great album with one major flaw. Sebrina, Paste and Plato. One of the most annoying songs ever recorded. Hate it immensely. But still better than Ignorance Is Bliss. Nobody’s perfect 😂

Big joke.