HTF's Best Albums List - Page 2

Not desert island material but CDs that have gotten a lot of playtime in my transports over the post few months:

John Coltrane-A Love Supreme
Junoir Wells-Keep on Steppin'
Los Lobos-Kiko
Gilliam Welch-Revival
Tom Petty's Box Set (Especially Disk 1 & 2)
Oliver Nelson- Blues & the Abstract Truth
Uncle Tupelo-Still Feel Gone
Wilco- Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
Nirvana - Nevermind
Dire Staits-1st
Beach Boys -Pet Sounds
Chuck Berry-Anthology

I think you need to distinguish between albums that you *like*, albums that are a rewarding listen, and albums that are important in the development of the genre. If we take the final category, then the following are truly indispensible in historical terms:

Wagner/Solti - The Ring Cycle [showed what the then new-fangled LP could do; phenomenally advanced production]
Sinatra - Sings for Only the Lonely [pioneered the idea of the album as an integrated whole, rather than a collection of songs]
Beatles - Sgt Pepper [phenomenal influence, showed how the studio could be used as an instrument]
Beach Boys - Pet Sounds [as for Sgt Pepper, but less good tunes]
Marvin Gaye - What's Goin' On [broke black music free from a stylistic straitjacket; impeccable production]
Pink Floyd - Piper at the Gates of Dawn [innovative production techniques]
Jean-Michel Jarre - Oxygene [major influence on electronic artists for its use of soundscapes; the tunes, rather less influential]
Mike Oldfield - Tubular Bells [for good or ill, a prime influence on New Age music, and more than any other artist, introduced pop fans to the notion that something doesn't have to be four to the floor to be accessible]
Kraftwerk - Trans-Europe Express [incalculable influence on dance music]
ABC - Lexicon of Love [incredible production by Trevor Horn showed for the first time on an extended scale just what computers rather than tape effects could do]
Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon [the album that more than any other brought the concept of 'hi fi' to the masses]
Walter Carlos - Switched on Bach [made the Moog a serious instrument rather than a novelty]
Karajan - Mahler Symphony No 9 (the CD-only release) [heralded in the arrival of CDs and digital recording]
Strauss/Schwartzkopff[sp?]- Four Last Songs [even if you can't stand the voice - and I prefer Strauss sung by a 'beefier' voice - this is a sublime production and still the yardstick for classical recordings]

Heres my crack at a favorites list.

Ac/Dc- Back in Black
Iron Maiden- Number of the Beast, Brave New World, Powerslave
Queensryche- Operation Mindcrime
Stone Temple Pilots- Core
Smashing Pumpkins- Mellon Collie...
Sarah Mclachlan- Afterglow
Tool- Laterlaus, Anemia
Disturbed- Sickness
Van Halen- 5150
Pink Floyd- Wall
Beatles- Revolver, Sgt Pepper
Evanescense- Fallin
Go-Gos- God Bless the Go-Gos

Hmmmm...well here's my shot at it.

- The Lost Patrol - Songs About Running Away (this is Dennis Lyxzen's solo album...he's the lead singer of International Noise Conspiracy and of the former band Refused...also my all-time favorite album)
- Guns N Roses - Appetite for Destruction
- Matthew Good Band - Beautiful Midnight, Last of the Ghetto Astronauts (okay...actually all the MGB albums are awesome)
- Matthew Good - Avalanche (Matthew Good's first solo album)
- The White Stripes - Elephant
- New Pornographers - Mass Romantic
- Aerosmith - Big Ones
- The (International) Noise Conspiracy - New Morning, Changing Weather
- Oasis - Heathen Chemistry
- Rush - Vapor Trails
- The Who - Live at the Isle of Wight Festival

Those are my favorites in my ever growing collection

Here are a few off the top of my noggin:

(no compilations, one selection per artist)

Elvis Costello - Imperial Bedroom
Bob Dylan - Love and Theft
Beck - Odelay
Paul Simon - Graceland
Joni Mitchell - Blue
Was (Not Was) - What Up Dog
Lou Reed - Transformer
Steely Dan - Two Against Nature
Liz Phair - Exile in Guyville


Jon

Rickie Lee Jones - Rickie Lee Jones
Jason Falkner - Can You Still Feel?
Fleetwood Mac - Rumors
Pete Yorn - musicforthemorningafter
Patty Griffin - Flaming Red
Amiee Mann - Whatever
R.E.M. - Life's Rich Pageant


To name a few . . .

Allman Brothers Band - Beginnings
Allman Brothers Band - At the Fillmore East (or The Fillmore Concerts)
Allman Brothers Band - Eat a Peach
Louis Armstrong - Hot Fives & Hot Sevens recordings (various packagings)
Louis Armstrong - All Time Greatest Hits (MCA)
Louis Armstrong - Louis Armstrong Plays W.C. Handy
Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington - The Complete Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington
Marcia Ball - Soulful Dress
Marcia Ball - Gatorrhythms
Marcia Ball - Presumed Innocent
Marcia Ball - So Many Rivers
Ball, Strehli, Barton - Dreams Come True (Antone's Records)
Ball, Thomas, Nelson - Sing It! (Rounder)
The Band - Music From Big Pink
Beach Boys - Endless Summer
Beach Boys - Pet Sounds
Beatles - (all)
Chuck Berry - The Chess Box
Chuck Berry - The Great Twenty-Eight
Jackson Browne - Running on Empty
Jackson Browne - The Pretender
Jimmy Buffet - Songs You Know by Heart (Greatest Hits)
The Byrds - Sweetheart of the Rodeo
Capitol Steps - Sheik, Rattle, and Roll
Capitol Steps - Sixteen Scandals
Celtic Fiddle Festival - Rendezvous
Ray Charles - Modern Sounds in Country & Western Music
Ray Charles - The Birth of Soul
Charlie Daniels Band - A Decade of Hits
Eric Clapton - 461 Ocean Boulevard
Eric Clapton - Crossroads
Eric Clapton - Layla: The 20th Anniversary Sessions
Eric Clapton - Money and Cigarettes
Eric Clapton - Timepieces (Best Of)
Eric Clapton - Timepieces Vol. II: 'Live' in the Seventies
Ry Cooder - Paradise and Lunch
Sam Cooke -Sam Cooke with the Soul Stirrers
Elvis Costello with Burt Bacharach - Painted From Memory
The Cox Family - Everybody's Reaching Out for Someone
Robert Cray - Strong Persuader
Creedence Clearwater Revival - Chronicle: The 20 Greatest Hits
Miles Davis - Kind of Blue
Sandy Denny - Who Knows Where the Time Goes
Derek and the Dominoes - Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs
Dire Straits - Brothers in Arms
Bob Dylan - Highway 61 Revisited
Bob Dylan - Blonde on Blonde
Bob Dylan - Blood on the Tracks
Bob Dylan - Oh Mercy
Bob Dylan - The 30th Anniversary Concert Celebration
Bob Dylan - Biograph
Duke Ellington - The Blanton-Webster Band
Fleetwood Mac - Rumours
Aretha Franklin - 30 Greatest Hits
Aretha Franklin - Amazing Grace
Aretha Franklin - Queen of Soul: The Atlantic Recordings
Woody Guthrie - Library of Congress Recordings
George Harrison - All Things Must Pass
Tish Hinojosa - Culture Swing
Buddy Holly - 6 LP box set (not sure if it's out on CD yet)
Indigo Girls -Indigo Girls
Indigo Girls - Nomads, Indians, Saints
Indigo Girls - Shaming of the Sun
Iron City Houserockers- Pumping Iron and Sweating Steel (Rhino)
Billy Joel - Piano Man
Billy Joel - Songs in the Attic
Billy Joel - The Stranger
Billy Joel - The Bridge (now where's that full album with Ray Charles?)
Johnson Mountain Boys - Live at the Birchmere
Robert Johnson - The Complete Recordings
Alison Krauss - (all)
K. D. Lang - Absolute Torch and Twang
Christine Lavin - (all)
Tom Lehrer - That Was The Year That Was
Tom Lehrer - Tom Lehrer Revisited
Jerry Lee Lewis - 18 Original Sun Greatest Hits
Mahlathini and the Mahotella Queens - Rhythm and Art
Paul McCartney - Wings Over America
Paul McCartney - Band on the Run
Joni Mitchell - Court and Spark
Van Morrison - Moondance
Van Morrison - Hymns to the Silence
Nitty Gritty Dirt Band - Will The Circle Be Unbroken, volumes 1 through 3
O'Jays - Love Train: The Best of the O'Jays
Roy Orbison - Mystery Girl
Roy Orbison - A Black and White Night Live
Patrick Street - Patrick Street
Tom Petty - Damn The Torpedoes
Tom Petty - Greatest Hits
Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon
Preservation Hall Jazz Band - In The Sweet Bye & Bye
Elvis Presley - 50,000,000 Elvis Fans Can't Be Wrong
Elvis Presley - Amazing Grace: His Greatest Sacred Performances
Elvis Presley - The Top Ten Hits
Elvis Presley - The Million Dollar Quartet
Elvis Presley - The Sun Sessions CD
Professor Longhair - Rock 'n' Roll Gumbo
Professor Longhair - Crawfish Fiesta
Rolling Stones - (various)
Samite of Uganda - 'Abaana Bakesa' (Dance My Children Dance)
Son Seals - Live and Burning
Silly Wizard -Wild and Beautiful
Silly Wizard - Kiss the Tears Away
Silly Wizard - A Glint of Silver
Paul Simon - There Goes Rhymin' Simon
Paul Simon - Still Crazy After All These Years
Paul Simon - Graceland
Paul Simon - The Rhythm of the Saints
Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder - Bluegrass Rules!
Phil Spector - A Christmas Gift For You From Phil Spector
The Spinners - (all)
Bruce Springsteen - Born to Run
Bruce Springsteen - Nebraska
Bruce Springsteen - Live: 1975-85
Steely Dan - (all)
Andy M. Stewart - By The Hush
Andy M. Stewart, Phil Cunningham, Mannus Lunny - Fire in the Glen
Rod Stewart - Every Picture Tells a Story
Rod Stewart - Downtown Train
Subdudes - (all)
James Taylor - Greatest Hits
Linda Thompson - Dreams Fly Away: A History of Linda Thompson
Richard Thompson - Watching the Dark: The History of Richard Thompson
Richard and Linda Thompson - Shoot Out the Lights
Alan Toussaint - The Alan Toussaint Collection
Traveling Wilburys - Volume 1
Traveling Wilburys - Volume 3
Muddy Waters - The Real Folk Blues
Doc Watson - Docabilly
Doc Watson - On Praying Ground
Doc Watson - Southbound
Doc and Merle Watson - Riding the Midnight Train
Stevie Wonder - Songs in the Key of Life
Stevie Wonder - Talking Book

I can't stop listening to Disturbed - Believe. Seriously. It's in my car CD player just looping over and over again. Which is a little weird since I'm coming down the stretch of my live Joe Jackson project...

I'll update this list as I hear more.

AC/DC - Live 2-Disc Set
Derek and the Dominos - Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs
Eric Clapton - Unplugged
Nirvana - Unplugged
Offspring, The - Smash

Re: HTF's Best Albums List

subdudes - Primitive Streak

Re: HTF's Best Albums List

Five Essential Albums from the Last 4½ Decades (not necessarily the five best)

1960s
1. The Beatles (White Album) - The Beatles
2. Abbey Road - The Beatles
3. Revolver - The Beatles
4. A Hard Day's Night - The Beatles
5. Rubber Soul - The Beatles

1970s
1. Band on the Run - Paul McCartney and Wings
2. All Things Must Pass - George Harrison
3. Imagine - John Lennon
4. Plastic Ono Band - John Lennon
5. A Night at the Opera - Queen

1980s
1. The Game - Queen
2. Cloud 9 - George Harrison
3. Songs from the Big Chair - Tears for Fears
4. Hunting High and Low - A-Ha
5. Tug of War - Paul McCartney

1990s
1. Purple - Stone Temple Pilots
2. Odelay - Beck
3. Bad Hair Day - "Weird Al" Yankovic
4. Nevermind - Nirvana
5. The Colour and the Shape - Foo Fighters

2000s
1. In Your Honor - Foo Fighters
2. Guero - Beck
3. Contraband - Velvet Revolver
4. Songs for Silverman - Ben Folds
5. Waiting for My Rocket to Come - Jason Mraz

Re: HTF's Best Albums List

Gear Daddies: Billy’s Live Bait
Klaatu: Hope
Pink Floyd: Dark Side of the Moon
Del Amitri: Change Everything
Bruce Springsteen: Born to Run
Jellyfish: Bellybutton / Spilt Milk
Dire Straits: Dire Straits
Brian Wilson: Smile
The Beach Boys: Pet Sounds
The Beatles: Revolver
Crowded House: Temple of Low Men
Oasis: (What’s the Story) Morning Glory
Cherry Twister: At Home With Cherry Twister
Bruce Springsteen: Born in the USA
Hootie and the Blowfish: Cracked Rear View
The Posies: Dear 23
Fountains of Wayne: Utopia Parkway
Crash Test Dummies: God Shuffled His Feet
Darden Smith: Little Victories
Crowded House: Woodface
New Radicals: Maybe You’ve Been Brainwashed Too
Pete Yorn: musicforthemorningafter
Cheap Trick: One On One
The Decemberists: Picaresque
The Outfield: Play Deep
XTC: Skylarking
Wilco: Summerteeth
The La’s: The La’s
The Autumn Leaves: Treats & Treasures
The Replacements: All Shook Down
Electric Light Orchestra (ELO): Out of the Blue
The Smithereens: Green Thoughts
R.E.M.: Out of Time
Beck: Sea Change
Barenaked Ladies: Stunt
AC/DC: Back in Black
The Honeydogs: 10,000 Years
Sarah Brightman: Dive
William Shatner: Has Been
Midnight Oil: Blue Sky Mining
The Apples In Stereo: Tone Soul Evolution
The New Pornographers: Twin Cinema
David Gray: White Ladder
Coldplay: A Rush of Blood to the Head
XTC: Oranges and Lemons / Nonsuch
Pink Floyd: The Wall
John Hiatt: Slow Turning / Walk On

Further explanations here.

Re: HTF's Best Albums List

Wow, talk about resurrecting an old thread!

A few of my faves that I didn't notice in the other lists (not that I looked very closely):

• Rush - A Farewell To Kings, Hemispheres, Permanent Waves, Moving Pictures
• Dream Theater - Images & Words, Six Degrees of Inner Separation, Train of Thought
• Iron Maiden - Number of the Beast, Piece of Mind, Powerslave
• Mr. So & So - Compendium
• The Who - Who's Next (I even have the 6-disc Lifehouse set!)
• Yes - The Yes Album, Close To The Edge
• Metallica - Master of Puppets, And Justice For All
• Judas Priest - Screaming For Vengeance, Sad Wings Of Destiny
• Pain Of Salvation - I'll have to think about which are my faves.
• Banco Del Mutuo Soccorso - Also requires more consideration than I'm motivated to give right now.
• Without Face - Astronomicon
• T-Ride - T-Ride

Re: HTF's Best Albums List

Here are some of my recent purchases that I feel are outstanding:

The Beatles - Love (DVD-A)
Sigur Ros - Takk
Depeche Mode - Violator (SACD)
Depeche Mode - Songs of Faith and Devotion (SACD)
Depeche Mode - Music for the Masses (SACD)
Depeche Mode - Some Great Reward (SACD)
Keane - Hopes and Fears (SACD)
Ladytron - Witching Hour
I am X - The Alternative

Rock on!

Re: HTF's Best Albums List

Studio:

Led Zeppelin – Led Zeppelin IV
The Rolling Stones – Sticky Fingers
The Who – Who’s Next
Pink Floyd – Animals
Yes – Fragile
Black Sabbath – Black Sabbath
The Beatles - Revolver
Led Zeppelin – Physical Graffiti
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young – Déjà vu
The Jimi Hendrix Experience – Axis: Bold As Love
Aerosmith – Rocks
Judas Priest – British Steel
Blue Öyster Cult – Secret Treaties
Iron Maiden - Killers
Neil Young With Crazy Horse – Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere
AC/DC – Back In Black
Black Sabbath – Heaven And Hell
Led Zeppelin – Led Zeppelin III
The Beatles – Abbey Road
The Doors – The Doors
Slayer – Reign In Blood
Iron Maiden – The Number Of The Beast
Queensryche – Operation: Mindcrime
The Rolling Stones – Beggar’s Banquet
Elton John – Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
Rush - Moving Pictures
Dio – Holy Diver
Metallica – Ride The Lightning
The Doors – Strange Days


Live:

The Who - Live At Leeds
The Allman Brothers Band - At Fillmore East
Deep Purple - Made In Japan
UFO - Strangers In The Night
Led Zeppelin - How The West Was Won

Re: HTF's Best Albums List

i can't believe nobody's mentioned my bloody valentine's loveless

Re: HTF's Best Albums List

I can't believe Rob D. is a Maiden fan and left Live After Death off his list of the greatest live albums!

Re: HTF's Best Albums List

Aaron,

I've never been a big fan of Live After Death. I'd rank Beast Over Hammersmith (from Eddie's Archive) a lot higher.

Anyhow, 6 through 10 of my top live albums would be:

Judas Priest - Unleashed In The East
The Rolling Stones - Get Yer Ya Yas Out
Thin Lizzy - Live And Dangerous!
Jimi Hendrix - Live At The Fillmore East
Lynyrd Skynyrd - One More From The Road

Re: HTF's Best Albums List

these are all albums I like, I believe they are all rewarding listens. whether they are important in the development of the genre is a subjective opinion.

first, i'll start with my list of ten favorite all-time that i submitted earlier this summer to a radio station contest. bear in mind that i have a severe aversion to the "classic-rock" worship of the same old hoary chestnuts, plus an unadulterated devotion to the "80's as a musical decade.

in no particular order:

Tim - The Replacements
Nowhere to Here - Blue Rodeo
Cuba - The Silos
Fruit of Life - The Wild Colonials
London Calling - The Clash
Darkness on the Edge of Town - Bruce Springsteen
Fisherman's Blues - The Waterboys
Reckoning - REM
Being There - Wilco
Ocean Rain - Echo and the Bunnymen

every one of these except the Blue Rodeo rates at least 4 1/2 stars on AMG.

to these i will add:

Kind of Blue-Miles Davis
3rd self-titled(the meltface album)-Peter Gabriel
No More Shall We Part-Nick Cave
Jubilee-Grant Lee Buffalo
Imperial Bedroom-Elvis Costello
Remain in Light-Talking Heads
Stealing Fire-Bruce Cockburn
Peggy Suicide-Julian Cope
Special Beat Service-The English Beat
Bring The Family-John Hiatt
Power Corruption and Lies-New Order
Men Without Women-Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul
The Joshua Tree-U2
Marquee Moon-Television
Real Time-Richard Lloyd
Glorious Fool-John Martyn
See How We Are-X
Scarecrow-John Mellencamp
Into the Music-Van Morrison
Mosely Shoals-Ocean Colour Scene
Sound Affects-The Jam
Doolittle-Pixies
self-titled-Robbie Robertson
Avalon-Roxy Music
Hatful of Hollow-The Smiths
Grave Dancers Union-Soul Asylum
Soul Mining-The The

Re: HTF's Best Albums List

Just a few of my favorites:

Bela Fleck - Live at the Quick
Dave Brubeck - On Time
The Cars - Greatest Hits
Trans-Siberian Orchestra - Christmas Eve and Other Stories
Bobby McFerrin and Chick Corea - Play
Rush - Fly By Night and Moving Pictures
Minibosses - Live at the Middle East

Re: HTF's Best Albums List

My top 3

Roy Orbison - Mystery girl
Meatloaf - Bat out of hell
David Wilcox - Breakfast at the circus