You know what I did tonight? I took these two bananas I had thrown in the freezer for the hell of it, peeled them, chucked them into a blender with some 1% lowfat milk, a few dashes of nutmeg and cinnamon and a packet of fake sugar and, what do you know, it tastes like a delicious banana eggnog. Does this have anything to do with this week’s The John Dunphy Experience? No, not at all. I just thought I’d share a quick and easy recipe with you all.

So, another week went by and it seriously felt like no time passed at all. Is this because I’m no longer in school and that time where I would be in class, bored out of my mind, counting every little minute that passed soooo slowly is now spent at home, wondering just where the hell the minutes have gone before I need to go to work? Or am I just turning into an old fart? I’ve always heard people older than me say that the older one gets, the more time seems to just move faster and faster and faster. When I first heard that, I thought they were full of bullplop. Bullplop! But, really, in hindsight, I think the nail was being soundly thunked into the head of that one.

God, I’m only 24 and weeks feel like days sometimes. Imagine what it’ll be like when I’m 40, or 50? *Shudder* Frightening. Well then, if I’m going to be aging faster than the speed of light, I better equip myself with music that can stand the test of time far better than I. Which is why this week I have prepared another non-comprehensive list of music for you all. For your judgement, may I present:

The John Dunphy Experience’s Top Five Timeless Classics To Take With You To The Sweet Hereafter, or TJDETFTCTTWYTTSH for short.

By John P. Dunphy

So what exactly constitutes a timeless classic? For me, a timeless classic is exactly what it says: it’s timeless. It’s an album that felt fresh when it was released and continues to feel fresh to this day. Perhaps the artist was truly a pioneer in their sound and helped to set the standard for future musicians to emulate. Perhaps theirs was a sound so unique and original, no one was able to imitate it then or now, thus carving their own out of time niche. Whatever the case may be, here now are five albums that will provide you with listening pleasure now and throughout your hopefully many years.

5. Dream Theater: Awake

Originally released: 1994

Label: Eastwest Records

I originally thought about including their previous release, 1992’s Images and Words, in this list but then remembered that one of the songs dates itself by referring the time period as the early 90s so that kind of shot that one to hell. But still, after giving this another listen, I didn’t regret it one bit. Awake to me represents the progressive metal band’s most accessible period, with a melding of hard rock and metal with some almost pop rock minded hooks to craft what I consider their most listener friendly album. While albums before and since might have attempted to make some bold statements or test the boundaries of the musicians own undisputed talents, Awake simply set out to be a damn enjoyable rock album. It still features bold-strokes, such as the eleven-minute masterwork “Scarred” and the daring closing track “Space-Dye Vest” but it, unlike of the band’s other efforts, never felt like it was out to prove something, it just rocks.

4. Queensryche: Empire

Originally released: 1990

Label: EMI

All of Queensryche’s other albums only wished they could be as successful as this. Well, perhaps Operation: Mindcrime did pretty good for itself two years before but it was certainly Empire that nearly made this Seattle based hard rock group a household name. Led by the mammoth success of the single “Silent Lucidity”, this would go on to be the groups’ most commercially successful release ever. And now, thirteen years later, every guitar riff of Chris DeGarmo and Michael Wilton, every symbol crash of Scott Rockenfield and every high note of Geoff Tate still feels as new as it did then. Sometimes, it seems like an album is a commercial success because the record executives force it down our throats through radio saturation, but on rare occasions it’s simply because it’s a damn good listen. Empire was able to balance out raw power through tracks like “Empire” and “Resistance” with melodic, hook riddled masterworks such as “Silent Lucidity” and “Anybody Listening?” that has unfortunately never been repeated by them with even half the success.

3. Yes: 90125

Originally released: 1983

Label: Atlantic Records

For many, this was most certainly not the Yes sound they had come to know and love. With longtime guitarist Steve Howe out of the band, bassist Chris Squire and drummer Alan White teamed up with South African guitarist Trevor Rabin to form the band Cinema that would later on morph back into Yes when former keyboardist Tony Kaye and longtime vocalist Jon Anderson would re-enter the picture. And while the sound might not have been necessarily that of the 1970s progressive rock pioneers, it would most certainly find an audience, perhaps the band’s largest audience ever. “Owner of a Lonely Heart” and “Leave It” notwithstanding, this album feels like it could have just as easily been written in any time period than in the early 1980s. Thankfully, the keyboards venture off into funky new-wave Thomas Dolby land only once (the aforementioned “Leave It” does give off a little impression that just cannot be ignored) and the beautiful final track “Hearts” relies not on sticky sweet sap for its emotional weight but on quality writing. Perhaps it’s not the definitive Yes album out there for many “hardcore” fans but it is most certainly an album for all seasons.

2. Patrick O’Hearn: Indigo

Year of Release: 1991

Label: Private Music

It seems fitting that I would include a Patrick O’Hearn album on here as I just recently reviewed his latest release, Beautiful World. This might probably be one of the multi-instrumentalist’s better-known works, at least for me since it was the album that got me hooked onto his unique brand of instrumental music. This was released a year before he released the score to the movie White Sands, which might explain why this album feels so cinematic in scope and execution. Each song, through O’Hearn and guest musicians keyboards, bass, guitars and more are able to capture scenes in some dark movie of the mind so well, from the haunting “The Ringmaster’s Dream” to “Coba”, the first song I ever heard by him. This should be in every music lovers’ long-term collection.

1. Marillion: Season’s End

Originally released: 1989

Label: Capitol Records (USA), EMI (Europe)

Here is an album that goes far beyond timelessness and borders on the legendary. This was the first Marillion album without longtime vocalist Fish so newcomer Steve Hogarth would have some pretty big shoes to fill. And fill them he would, with ease and grace along with co-lyricist John Helmer.

Season’s End represents something of a melding of the two generations of the band – the progressive rock oriented 1980s Marillion and what would become the modern day Marillion – as much of the music had been written prior to Hogarth’s entry into the group, which is much of the reason why I feel an album such as this could probably never be accomplished again. But that’s fine, because this unique blend helped to separate it that much more from the era by which is was created in. Tracks such as the somber and absolutely brilliant “Easter” continue to be present in the band’s set lists and the poignant lyrics of the title track, which tells about how future generations might never be able to truly experience the winter season due to what we are doing to this world, will always strike a chord with us because unfortunately it seems like a problem that is just not going to go away anytime soon. Amazing beyond words and one of the band’s greatest albums.

Well, there you have it, folks, five albums I personally feel are as fresh and original now as they were when they were first released and as they will be years down the road. Perhaps some of it for me is nostalgia but then again, doesn’t everything in our lives have a little of that? It just can’t be helped!

And while some of these artists have created some truly beautiful and memorable work before and since, it’s these albums that are the ones I truly feel will stand the ultimate test of time. As it seems, I’m going to need music with some legs. If time continues to move as fast as it has been lately, I’ll want to have something timeless to play in front the grandkids so they don’t call me “old fashioned”, “uncool” or “fogey”. Now, that’s what I call planning ahead. Enjoy the rest of the week, folks, I’ll see you next week.