I resisted weighing in on the 15-albums note that was recently one of the hottest memes on Facebook. As I remarked to one friend, I didn't think 150 would suffice. I was being facetious, but guess what? I was right. I needed 155, spread across ten categories. What can I say? Moderation is not one of my character traits. I did show some restraint, however: blues could be two categories, acoustic and electric; R&B could be another two, soul and funk; classical could be vocal and instrumental, as could jazz.

Within each category I usually go -- as much as possible -- in chronological order of recording dates (except where noted). And, crucially, I allow myself only one album per artist. I hasten to point out that these albums are not necessarily the best; rather, they were the most meaningful to the evolution of my musical tastes.

Is this a ridiculous exercise? Of course it is. It's completely arbitrary to choose 15, and sets up an utterly false equality between highly unequal genres: classical music encompasses a span of nine centuries; rap will celebrate its fortieth anniversary next year. Why do I commit the grievous sin of having no vocalists in jazz? Because there has never been an acceptably definitive Billie Holiday best-of. Is it absurd that Chuck Berry isn't on this list? Of course it is. Hell, make it 156 albums: get The Great Twenty-Eight or some other Berry compilation. Uh-oh. Stop me before this really gets out of hand.

Top 15 albums: classical (chronological order of composer birth date)
1. Perotin - Hilliard Ensemble/Paul Hillier
2. De la Rue: Requiem [w/Brumel: Requiem] - Edward Wickham & The Clerks Group
3. J.S. Bach: Goldberg Variations - Glenn Gould [1955]
4. Sviatoslav Richter in Prague (particularly the Beethoven sonatas, which used to be available as a separate four-CD set)
5. Schubert: Winterreise - Hans Hotter/Gerald Moore
6. Brahms: Symphony No. 1/Variations on a Theme by Haydn - North German Radio Orchestra/Wilhelm Furtwängler
7. Bruckner: Symphonies Nos. 8 in C minor, 9 in D minor - Vienna Philharmonic/Carl Schuricht
8. Mahler: Das Lied von der Erde - Christa Ludwig/Fritz Wunderlich/Philharmonia Orchestra/Otto Klemperer
9. Debussy: Preludes for Piano - Paul Jacobs
10. Mompou: Musica Callada - Federico Mompou (There are several good versions, with Herbert Henck's being the best known, but nobody tops the composer himself.)
11. Shostakovich: String Quartets Nos. 1-15 (complete): Emerson String Quartet
12. Britten: War Requiem - Vishnevskaya/Pears/Fischer-Dieskau/London Symphony Orchestra & Chorus/Benjamin Britten
13. Morton Feldman: Rothko Chapel - David Abel, Deborah Dietrich, Karen Rosenak, Philip Brett, UC Berkeley Chamber Chorus; William Winant
14. Reich: The Desert Music - Steve Reich and Musicians/Chorus and Members of the Brooklyn Philharmonic/Michael Tilson Thomas
15. Ingram Marshall: Three Penitential Visions/Hidden Voices

Tough choices: If I were allowing myself more than one album per composer, I'd go for seconds on Bach (Brandenburg Concertos), Beethoven (at least some of the symphonies if not all), Brahms (German Requiem, Piano Concertos), and Mahler (Symphony No. 9 if not all nine of them), which would be 20 albums.

Top 15 albums: jazz (compilations okay for pre-LP artists)
1. Louis Armstrong: Vol. 4, Louis Armstrong and Earl Hines
2. Duke Ellington: Never No Lament: The Blanton-Webster Band
3. Charlie Parker: The Complete Savoy & Dial Master Takes
4. Thelonious Monk: Complete Riverside Recordings (I refuse to compromise on this, even coming from the LP era.)
5. Charles Mingus: Mingus Ah Um
6. Ornette Coleman: Free Jazz
7. Joe Henderson: Inner Urge
8. Albert Ayler: Spiritual Unity
9. John Coltrane: A Love Supreme
10. Miles Davis: Bitches Brew
11. Alice Coltrane: Ptah the El Daoud
12. Mahavishnu Orchestra: The Inner Mounting Flame
13. Sun Ra: Pathways to Unknown Worlds
14. Julius Hemphill: Coon 'Bidness AKA Reflections (yes, Jay, I said Dogon A.D. would make my list, but I NEED "The Hard Blues" -- which is from the same session)
15. Cecil Taylor: Silent Tongues
Keith Jarrett: The Köln Concert
Last Exit: The Noise of Trouble: Live in Tokyo
Whaddaya know, I don't count so good.

Top 15 albums: country (alphabetical; compilations okay)
1. Milton Brown & His Musical Brownies: Western Swing Chronicles Vol. 1 (Origin Jazz Library)
2. Carter Family: RCA Country Legends
3. Johnny Cash: The Sun Years (Rhino)
4. Tennessee Ernie Ford: Sixteen Tons (Capitol)
5. Flying Burrito Brothers: Gilded Palace of Sin The entire LP is included on this two-disc set
6. Lefty Frizzell: Look What Thoughts Will Do
7. Merle Haggard: The Lonesome Fugitive: The Merle Haggard Anthology 1963-1977
8. George Jones: The Definitive Collection 1955-1962
9. Louvin Brothers: Satan Is Real (Razor & Tie)
10. Lyle Lovett: Lyle Lovett and His Large Band
11. Bill Monroe: The Essential Bill Monroe & His Bluegrass Boys 1945-49 (Columbia Legacy)
12. Willie Nelson: ...and then I wrote
13. Jimmie Rodgers: RCA Country Legends
14. Merle Travis: Walkin' the Strings (Capitol)
15. Hank Williams, Sr.: The Complete Hank Williams (this is what I have now, and I will settle for no less, even if its title isn't technically accurate -- but if you don't want a 10-CD box, get The Ultimate Collection)

Top 15 albums: classic rock
1. The Beatles: Help [Parlophone edition]
2. Bob Dylan: Blonde on Blonde
3. Buffalo Springfield: Again
4. Velvet Underground: White Light/White Heat
5. Jimi Hendrix: Electric Ladyland
6. Van Morrison: Astral Weeks
7. Captain Beefheart: Trout Mask Replica
8. Funkadelic: Maggot Brain
9. Joni Mitchell: Blue
10. Rolling Stones: Exile on Main Street
11. Joe Walsh: Barnstorm
12. Steely Dan: Pretzel Logic
13. Led Zeppelin: Physical Graffiti
14. Neil Young: On the Beach
15. Bruce Springsteen: Darkness on the Edge of Town

Top 15 albums: British Empire after classic rock
1. Sex Pistols: Never Mind the Bollocks Here's the Sex Pistols
2. The Clash: The Clash (English version)
3. Art Bears: Hopes and Fears
4. Wire: Chairs Missing
5. XTC: Drums and Wires
6. The Fall: Live at the Witch Trials
7. Gang of Four: Entertainment
8. Joy Division: Closer
9. Killing Joke: s/t debut
10. The Mekons: Fear and Whisky
11. Robyn Hitchcock: Element of Light
12. The Cure: Disintegration
13. Godflesh: Streetcleaner
14. U2: Achtung Baby
15. Radiohead: The Bends

Top 15 albums: America after classic rock
1. Patti Smith: Horses
2. Television: Marquee Moon
3. Ramones: Rocket to Russia
4. Contortions: Buy
5. The Soft Boys: Underwater Moonlight
6. Rickie Lee Jones: Pirates
7. R.E.M.: Murmur
8. Talking Heads: Remain in Light
9. Minutemen: Double Nickels on the Dime
10. Replacements: Let It Be
11. Tom Waits: Rain Dogs
12. Hüsker Dü: Zen Arcade
13. Slayer: Reign in Blood
14. Sonic Youth: Sister
15. Nirvana: Nevermind
His Name Is Alive: Home Is in Your Head
Liz Phair: Exile in Guyville
(oops again)

Top 15 albums: Blues (alphabetical, compilations okay)
1. Blind Blake: The Best of Blind Blake: Classic Recordings of the 1920s (Yazoo)
2. John Lee Hooker: The Real Folk Blues/More Real Folk Blues
3. Lightnin' Hopkins: The Best of Lightning Hopkins (Arhoolie)
4. Howlin' Wolf: Howlin' Wolf/Moanin' in the Moonlight
5. Skip James: The Complete Early Recordings (Yazoo)
6. Robert Johnson: The Complete Recordings
7. B.B. King: Live at the Regal
8. Mississippi Fred McDowell: You Got to Move
9. Muddy Waters: The Real Folk Blues/More Real Folk Blues
10. Charley Patton: Screamin' and Hollerin' the Blues (Revenant) This also gets you some crucial Tommy Johnson and Son House!
11. Otis Rush: Cold Day in Hell
12. Bessie Smith: Essential (Columbia Legacy)
13. Joe Turner: The Boss of the Blues
14. T-Bone Walker: Blues Masters: The Very Best of T-Bone Walker (Rhino)
15. Sonny Boy Williamson: The Real Folk Blues/More Real Folk Blues

Top 15 albums: R&B (alphabetical, compilations okay)
1. Ray Charles: Pure Genius: The Complete Atlantic Recordings (1952-1959)
2. James Brown: Foundations of Funk
3. Earth, Wind & Fire: Head to the Sky
4. The 5 Royales: Dedicated to You
5. Aretha Franklin: I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You
6. Marvin Gaye: What's Going On
7. Meters: Look-Ka Py Py
8. Parliament: Mothership Connection
9. Prince: Sign o' the Times
10. Lou Rawls: Anthology (Capitol)
11. Otis Redding: Otis Blue: Otis Redding Sings Soul
12. Smokey Robinson & the Miracles: Greatest Hits
13. Sly & the Family Stone: There's a Riot Goin' On
14. Temptations: Anthology
15. Tower of Power: Urban Renewal
Stevie Wonder: Songs in the Key of Life
(It happened again! Too bad....)

Top 15 albums: Hip-Hop/Rap
1. Gil Scott-Heron: Pieces of a Man
2. The Watts Prophets: Rappin' Black in a White World
3. Lightnin' Rod: Hustler's Convention
4. Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five: The Message
5. Run-D.M.C.: s/t
6. Eric B & Rakim: Paid in Full
7. NWA: Straight Outta Compton
8. Public Enemy: It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back
9. A Tribe Called Quest: People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm
10. Digital Underground: Sex Packets
11. Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy: Hipocrisy Is the Greatest Luxury
12. Tricky: Maxinquaye
13. Dark Sun Riders featuring Brother J: Seeds of Evolution
14. Handsome Boy Modeling School: So - How's Your Girl?
15. Rahzel: Make the Music 2000

Top 15 albums: World Music (alphabetical, compilations okay)
1. The Congos: The Heart of the Congos
2. Gamelan Pacifica: Trance Gong
3. Fela Kuti: Shakara
4. Thomas Mapfumo: The Chimurenga Singles
5. Freddie McGregor: Bobby Bobylon
6. Getatchew Mekurya: Negus of Ethiopian Sax
7. Os Mutantes: s/t
8. Augustus Pablo: King Tubby Meets Rockers Uptown
9. Astor Piazzolla: The Rough Dancer and the Cyclical Night
10. Tinariwen: Aman Iman
11. Toots & the Maytals: Funky Kingston
12. Peter Tosh: Equal Rights
13. Ali Farka Touré: The River
14. The Wailers: Burnin'
15. Tom Ze: Fabrication Defect
- Steve Holtje

Mr. Holtje is a Brooklyn-based poet and composer who splits his time between editing Culturecatch.com, working at the Williamsburg record store Sound Fix, and editing cognitive neuroscience books for Oxford University Press. No prizes for guessing which pays best.