Nik Greeley names his top 5 albums for Ears We Trust

Eccentric band leaders aren’t in short supply, but in Philly Nik Greeley is among the most electric and animated. With his band The Operators, Greeley puts on high energy shows packed with funky fun.

As we wondered what music inspires him to get so fired on on stage, we thought it pertinent to ask the musician and actor (whose credits include Abbott Elementary, Task, and Tires) to contribute to Ears We Trust this week.

He dropped his five albums he can’t live without and listens to all the time for us. Check ’em out below.

Radiohead — OK Computer

Radiohead is my favorite band, and I tell people often this is my favorite album of all time. It feels safe to say that since I’ve been listening to this album since I was 7 when it was released that Summer of ’97. My mom and my brother played it all the time, it was a big car album for us as a family, and was always a staple in the CD book binder that we brought with us on each long car trip. When MTV was still a thing and showed music videos, they played the “Paranoid Android” and “Karma Police” videos non-stop, and that furthered my fandom even at a very early age. Flash forward 30 years later, I am still coming back to it regularly, and recently just purchased it for the first time on vinyl from my favorite local record shop in South Philly, Latchkey. Similar to Darkside of the Moon, I think everyone should have an experience with OK Computer in a dark room with only a candle lit, stoned, laying down with a comfy pillow & your eyes closed…

Deep Cut favs: “Subterranean Homesick Alien”, “Climbing Up The Walls”, “The Tourist”

Beach Boys — Pet Sounds

And while I have said OK Computer is my favorite album ever, Pet Sounds has made a strong push as a very close second… no album has emotionally floored me the same way Pet Sounds has. It haunts, in this undeniably gorgeous way, and the range of emotion song to song is staggering. I didn’t come around to this album until my 20s, right around the time I was going through a major Beatles phase of my listening, and being told frequently that there would be no Sgt. Pepper’s without Pet Sounds and that I really needed to give this album a listen. Since then it has been a major source of my music listening, and a major comfort album over the last 10 years during some rather turbulent emotional times. Brian Wilson’s recent passing reintroduced his genius to the masses, and while I was bartending at Johnny Brenda’s I spent a full week playing this album front to back non-stop. 

Deep Cut favs: “I Know There’s An Answer”, “I Just Wasn’t Made For These Times”, “Don’t Talk (Put Your Head On My Shoulder)”

Led Zeppelin — Physical Graffiti

I believe in the opinion that the Beatles, Zeppelin, and Radiohead have put out the most consistent body of work of any popular musical groups album to album, and Physical Graffiti for me is their magnum opus. One of the most formative phases of my life as a young inspired rocker was getting hooked on Zeppelin in eighth grade, and embarking on one of the greatest musical rabbit holes I ever went down in my life, obsessing over each of their albums one at a time, before finally landing my maiden voyage at Physical Graffiti. It fully displays all the dynamics and dimensions of Zeppelin at their very best, and it’s been a huge source of inspiration while I’ve written music. It simply rules & is always in rotation for me.

Deep Cut favs: “In The Light”, “The Rover”, “Ten Years Gone”

Rolling Stones — Exile On Main St.

This is the greatest rock & roll album of all time, and it’s not even close… I have a lot of emotional ties to the Stones because I’ve been listening to this music with my parents since I was a very young kid, either driving around in the car or at our house on the weekends while they were cleaning the house. I always dug the Stones and even as a kid liked how they felt edgy and provocative. I started to really appreciate them even more as I was on my major musical discovery back in high school, and when I finally sat down and gave Exile a proper spin, I knew I had found one of the albums of my life. I spin this album all the time, and lately on acting gigs this has been in my headphones quite a bit while I’ve been walking around New York City. 

Deep Cut favs: “Torn & Frayed”, “Let It Loose”, “Loving Cup”

The Beatles — The White Album

The ultimate tour de force for any Beatles fanatic, and the album I come back to most frequently, The White Album still leaves me with a new listening discovery every time I put it on, or somehow a new favorite song that gets lodged in my head for days on end. My love for The Beatles also has so many deep emotional ties amongst the people I love most, and the best thing I ever did for myself as a musician was go out and buy The Beatles complete chord songbook, and learn to play and sing these songs. As a songwriter this album is the perfect window into their craft, and as a music lover it’s a treasure trove of timeless songs.

Deep Cut favs: “Julia”, “Cry Baby Cry”, “Rocky Raccoon”