All good obsessive list-makers make up rules for their lists, and so here are mine. First, no artist duplications. In reality it's hard enough for me to leave my apartment without at least three Big Country albums clutched to my heart, but restricting myself to one entry per artist (one album or one song) makes the list more interesting for both of us. Second, no ranking. If these are to be the boundaries of my musical world hereafter, favoritism within it is not a luxury I'll be able to afford. Instead, I've arranged both lists roughly by year, so that, within the strictures of the no-duplication rule, something approximating a chronology of my musical taste emerges. This ostentatious display of forthrightness may finish off what remains of my credibility, but I distrust anybody whose tastes don't seem demented. Those of you who are going to gasp at the monstrous historical obliviousness evident in the fact that my album list has nothing before 1971, and only seven entries before 1980, may direct your indignance to the usual address. Thirdly, I've set the eligibility cutoff at the end of 1994. Half of the reason for this is that I think you need some perspective on music to know whether your initial feelings are durable; the other half is that this way I'll avoid the most egregious reiterations of things I've said in this column already.