For my money, the best snare album (that is, an album whose songs have great-sounding snare drums) is Brushfire Fairytales by Jack Johnson. I swear to god, the snare hits on that album, on average, are about eighteen feet deep. Heavy snares. Crisp snares. Ringing snares. Exultant snares. It’s my favorite album from a snare perspective. Two songs on this album appear in my Top 5 Snare Hit Songs post. Head over there for more snare goodness.
My advice is to find yourself a copy of Brushfire Fairytales and listen to the snares. C’mon, when’s the last time you did something nice for yourself?
Ethan Abides 