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ur favorite Albums that last the test of time, and why (1 Viewer)

Paul Bartlet

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I started a thread some time back asking for some gems I may have missed in my youth. I bought a number of those albums many listed, some I liked, some I didn't.

So, I'm looking for the albums you liked way back when, and still love today, list why if you wish. What albums having "staying power" in your heart.

Growing up in the 70's - 80's has a large influence on mine.

First one comes to mind for me is "Led Zeppelin - In Through the Out Door". This album came out when I was 12 years old. I was at a friends birthday party and this was one of the gifts. It was played over and over, and I had to go out and have a copy of my own. As the years went on, I would discover all of Led Zeppelin's albums, I end up getting all the albums over a short time.
While the Zep craze has somewhat died for me today, I still love that 1st album I was introduced to. Looking back today, I see a group that was changing and ready to take on the 80's.

The Cars - The Cars : around the same age as In Through the Out Door, the big kids were listening to this. I didn't really get why they liked it so much. I bought it because it seemed the "in" thing to do at the time. Over time (not long) I've found the love they had for this album. It's a great/excellent album.

The Beatles- Sgt Peppers/White
I list both because as a kid the Peppers album was given to to me at around 11-12 years old. I played it over and over. I would trade this to some older kid for the White album after a short period of time. This same kid would tease me on how silly I was for making that kind of trade. Today, having had both albums, got me to listen to nearly all Beatles albums. IMO, they truly were the best.

The Rolling Stones- Hot Rocks
Well, the Stones. For some reason I didn't care for the Stones as a teenager. I wouldn't say I hated them, but I prefered they were not played. In my 20's started to ease up, and found it wasn't so bad. Hot Rocks was played at the right time and place I guess for me. The Rolling Stones are today my favorite band. Strange how you can feel so-so about a band, and one album can change all that. Hot Rocks is tops.

Van Halen - all of them
I can't choose one here. The sound of Eddie's guitar is just there on all of them. When Dave was at the helm, I loved it. Also a Sammy fan, when Sammy took over, didn't take long but I got to enjoy it just as much. I would choose any Van Halen for it's positive atitude. Feeling down, Van Halen is your answer.

Kiss- Destroyer
So many make fun of Kiss (myself included at one time). Look up there album sales. They are doing fine. Someone is buying them. I once thought of them as a "fad". Destoyer is the 1st album I bought way back when, and still enjoy it today.

Pink Floyd - The Wall/ Dark Side of the Moon
I list both as I was introduced to both at near the same time. Both are true must have albums.

Elton John - GoodBye Yellow Brick Road
If you don't care for Elton John modern stuff, try and forget, grab anything from his 70's era. It's so good.

Gonna leave off here for now, and continue a later time.

So many Great Must have albums, Supertramp, Fleetwood Mac, Rush, .............
 

John Alvarez

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One that I seem to go back to more often than any is Manfred Manns "Watch" C.D. It's just a good mellow sit back c.d.
 

Tom McDonald

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Here are a couple of my picks

Allman Brothers "Live at the Fillmore", this cd still jams with the best of anything put out since then. I think this was thier 3rd release and live too boot who did that back in those days and were so right in doing so.

John Hartford "Aereoplane" new grass blue grass who new what to call this music, listened to it a aweful lot back in my days at WVU and still it is one of my favorites. Funny thing is now my 17 year old listens to this also.

Bob Marley "Babylon By Bus" what reggae was, is, and always should be. Can't tell you how many time I have both bought and listened to this cd, album, or tape. Great for parties, remembering the past and exposing your kids to what this genre really is all about. Forget Shaggy, Sean Paul, Elephant Man, Beenie Man, Buju Banton, Sizzla, Lady Saw, and any of the so called reggae artist today they all owe it to this man.
 

Rachael B

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Seatrain's S/T'ed Capitol album. It has the usual lead guitar but also has lead electric fiddle by Richard Greene. It has standards like I'M WILLIN' and ORANGE BLOSSOM SPECIAL and they're the best versions of those songs I've ever heard. Several of the songs have enviornmental messages, stille relevant! It has a radio hit in 13 QUESTIONS. There are no dead cuts or wasted notes.

Free's Fire And Water is another album I never tire of. It has the hit ALL RIGHT NOW and an excellent suppourting cast of songs.

I really like Todd Rundgren's period of being heavily influenced by Laura Nyro. Something-Anything, Runt, and The Ballad Of Runt are all timeless klassics for me. This is some of the better pop-rock to come down the pike. I like it over his other stuff

...I may think of some others later...
 

dan-0

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While not my oldest memory (my first album was Kenny Rogers "the Gambler", then I heard Areosmith "Walk this Way" on the radio and it was all over, I sold my soul for rock n roll, anyway I digrese) Dream Theaters "Images and Words" probably has received the most playing time of any album/cassett/cd I've owned. Besides the excellant musicmanship that accompainies every DT album, I love the way the entire album flows together, not one weak song on the album. Keeps me rivited from beginning to end everytime I put it in.
 

Jason Kirkpatri

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My favorite album of all time, and if I could only own one album, is/would be Judas Priest, Ram it Down.

I remember playing The Legend of Zelda on NES but listening to this album rather than the video game score.

Call me stuck in the 80s (album released 1988), but all of the songs rock pretty hard, even by today's standards (Ram it Down, Heavy Metal, Hard as Iron) of Dimmu Borgir, Amon Amarth, etc.

The guitar riffs still hold their intiall captivation (for me anyways) and the songs never get old.

New Priest album in January 2005.
 

Brian L

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Abbey Road.

Got it in 4th grade (yes, kids, it was new then!) because there was a show on TV about how Paul was really dead, and AR, Pepper, MMT, etc., had all these clues that he was really dead and that the guy we all thought was Paul was an imposter. 28IF and all that......

Little did I know that AR was/is once of the greatest LPs ever recorded, and that side 2 or AR is the single greatest side of music ever comitted to tape.

BGL
 

Rachael B

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Brian, I like Booker T. & The M.G.'s cover of Abbey Road, McLemore Avenue almost as much as the Beatles. The songs are not in the same order and vocals are sparse. It works for me. Have you heard it?
 

Brian L

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Have not heard Booker T's take on AR at all....but now I am intrigued! Will need to see if I can find it. Thanks for the tip.

BGL
 

Matt Fisher

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Although obviously considerably more recent than most of the classics you all have listed, I'd have to say that my oldest CD (and I'm only 20, well in a week, 20) that I continue to find myself listening to time and time again is Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness. I remember buying this the day it came out back in '95 and there's just some amazing songwriting, instrumentation and emotion. There was a lot of crappy rock from the 90's in my opinion, but the Smashing Pumpkins are one band that held it together until their untimely demise.
 

George See

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The Velvet underground and Nico. Or White light/White heat. You'll either love the Velvet Underground or hate them but either way they deserve at least one listen.

Not too old but R.E.M. : Murmur, my personal favorite of all time, it's just out there. If all you've heard of R.E.M. can be summed up by saying Losing My Religion then you really need to hear Murmur.

This one might seem obvious but, The Beach Boys : Pet Sounds. Such a beautifull collection of sounds it's also another one of those, if all you've heard of the Beach Boys is Fun Fun Fun or Surfin USA etc, then you haven't heard anything yet.

Early 70's Genesis stuff before Peter Gabriel left the band is always good to hear.

Patti Smith : Horses put it on headphones and crank it, it's pretty much mind blowing stuff.
 

Jeff Pryor

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Back in the mid-90's I was going through a really hard time (emotionally because of a divorce, financially because that's what usually follows a divorce). One really sunny afternoon in the summer of '94 I was heading to the beer store with a friend when this weird song came on the radio, something I've never heard before. It was love at first sound. Mazzy Star's 'Fade Into You.' Soon after I bought the album, So Tonight That I Might See. Easily, one of the coolest albums to come out during the last decade and one that continues to amaze me all these years later.
 

Carl Miller

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I second the vote for Mellon Collie..

Also from the same era, Soundgarden's Superunknown has held up well for me, as has Tool.

Albums that have really stood the test of some serious time for me:

Grateful Dead, Workingman's Dead
Beatles, Revolver
Joe Jackson, Look Sharp
The Clash, London Calling
Steely Dan, Aja
 

Marvin Richardson

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I'd have to say my favorite albums that stand the test of time (in that they've never gotten old to me) that are at least five years old (an arbitrary number to be sure, but what the heck) are, in no particular order:

The Beatles: Rubber Soul
Pink Floyd: The Dark Side Of The Moon
Pink Floyd: The Wall
Led Zeppelin: Physical Graffiti
Elton John: Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (this was my first vinyl album ever owned back when I was about 7 in 1979...didn't know everything he was talking about but loved the music;)...now I pretty much only like one or two tracks off of anything of his from the '80s forward, but this album is classic from front to back)
Nirvana: Nevermind
Tool: Undertow
The Black Crowes: $hake Your Money Maker
Ozzy Osbourne: Blizzard Of Ozz
The Beach Boys: Pet Sounds

I'm sure there are others, but those are the ones that stand out at first thought.
 

Eddie Horton

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Gotta go with Jane's Addiction's first 2. The self titled and Nothing's Shocking. They were doing things in the late 80's that most people think started with Cobain, Vedder, and Cornell. While Navarro and Farrell's sound wasn't exacly like the Seattle boys, it sure kicked the hell out of Gun's N Roses and Motley Crue and the rest of the mainstream rock n' roll drivel of that time.
 

Walter Kittel

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Steely Dan - Every single album gets played. I don't think that there is a single weak entry in this list, but favorites are probably Can't Buy A Thrill because that is when I first heard them, and Aja which is just perfect.

The Beatles - Just about everything but especially The White Album, for the variety of styles on display and Abbey Road which is another perfect album.

Jimi Hendrix - Same applies but favorites include Are You Experienced?, and Axis: Bold As Love.

Traffic - The Low Spark of High Heeled Boys - The title track is reason enough.

Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon and Wish You Were Here

Jethro Tull - Aqualung

The Doors - The Doors, Strange Days, L.A. Women


- Walter.
 

Clint B

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Beatles "Revolver"
Elvis Costello and Burt Bacharach "Painted from Memory"
Tori Amos "Little Earthquakes"
Beach Boys "Pet Sounds"
U2 "The Unforgettable Fire"
Miles Davis "Kind of Blue"
Van Halen "Van Halen"
Pink Floyd "Dark Side of the Moon"
Bruce Springsteen "Born to Run"
Patsy Cline "Greatest Hits"

Some of these albums have really struck an emotional chord with me, but I list these primarily because I really like them and listen to them all the time.
 

Tony-B

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I want to answer this question but I'm only 18, so I can't really judge the test of time aspect well. However, I can mention my favorite albums that have stood the test of time (at least 10 years) to have relevance in the music world today...

Nirvana - Nevermind and In Utero
Pink Floyd - Dark Side Of The Moon
The Ramones - The Ramones
Slayer - Reign In Blood
Metallica - Master of Puppets, ...And Justice For All, Kill 'Em All, Black Album, and Ride The Lightning
Run DMC - Raising Hell
Beastie Boys - Licensed To Ill
AC/DC - Back In Black, Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap, Highway To Hell, and High Voltage
Guns N' Roses - Appetite For Destruction
Bad Religion - No Control
Sex Pistols - Never Mind The Bollocks Here's The Sex Pistols
The Clash - London Calling
 

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