Your 'TOP 5' albums of all time.

I am only including the pop / rock genre. :)

 

I do this periodically, and I have had the same top five favorites for many years.  I have to include six, as there are some ties between some albums on my list.  These are, of course, the British (and not the North American) releases.

 

1) Please Please Me / A Hard Day's Night

3) Rubber Soul / Revolver

5) Abbey Road

6) Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band

 

Dark Side of the Moon (Pink Floyd) and Watermark (Enya) would be the next entries if the list were to include more (e.g., my top ten) than those listed here.

Edited by Ockeghem - 5/29/11 at 5:44pm

The Beatles - Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (VERY Close, I rotated between this and "Abbey Road" several times)

 

Nine Inch Nails - The Downward Spiral

 

 

Simon and Garfunkel - Bridge Over Troubled Water

 

 

Tori Amos - Under the Pink

 

 

The Beatles - Abbey Road

 

 

My honorable mention, which would be in my Top-5, except it's a soundtrack so I'm excluding it:

 

The Soundtrack to "Until the End of the World"

 

 

This, to me, was one of the best playlists ever.

 

 

 

Those in Black could have been headliners on their own albums.   There are almost no other soundtracks I can pick up and listen to over and over and over again like UTEOW.  

 

If you ask me again in a week, you'd probably get a different order or different records but here it is:

Ramones: Rocket To Russia
Ramones: Leave Home
Bad Religion: Suffer
Nine Inch Nails: The Downward Spiral
Ramones: Ramones

"If you ask me again in a week, you'd probably get a different order or different records but here it is:"

 

In a week  ?? I changed my mind several times while typing it. Let's just say this is 5 out of the top 25....or 30...or 50...or

In no particular order.

 

Yes: Close To The Edge

Yes: Going For The One

Genisis: A Trick Of The Tale

Steely Dan: Aja

Heart: Dreamboat Annie

 

Honorable Mention: (I know, this is cheating)

 

Steely Dan: The Royal Scam

Led Zepplin: IV

Pink Floyd: DSOTM

The Baby's: Head First

Peter Frampton: Frampton Comes Alive

Alan Parsons: I Robot

Alan Parsons: Eye In The Sky

Steve Hackett: Cured

Plus many others

 

Edit: How could I forget Boston's first album?? Not a wasted note on it.

 

And some greatest hits compilations I better not mention

Ah, what the hell, Little River Bands Greatest Hits

Edited by gene c - 5/22/11 at 9:13am

Gotta go with the top 6:

 

Pink Floyd: Dark Side of the Moon

Donald Fagen: The Nightfly

The Police: Synchronicity

Electric Light Orchestra: Out of the Blue

Elton John: Goodbye Yellow Brick Road

The Beatles: Abbey Road

The Beatles:  Revolver

U2:  The Joshua Tree

Maria McKee:  Maria McKee

Peter Gabriel:  So

Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers:  Damn the Torpedoes

 

I am of course having to leave off albums by many other artists that I also love.  That's always the hell of doing the top ten or top five...

First, I'm gonna check out Bad Religion because they were mentioned twice and I've never heard them. At least not knowingly. Here's mine:

 

Beatles - Revolver

Soundgarden - Superunknown

Alice in Chains - Dirt

Tool - Undertow

Rolling Stones - Some Girls

 

Honorable Mention:

 

The Clash - London Calling

 

Very cool to see ELO's Out of the Blue on someone's list...one of my Top 20 personal favorite albums as well.

 

If I had a Top 10, or a second Top 5 below the first, I'd likely go with:

 

Talking Heads - Stop Making Sense

Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here

Eagles - On The Border

David Bowie - Heroes

 

and yes,

ELO - Out of the Blue (could easily be New World Record, but OOTB has more songs)

Tough.. but I'll give it a whirl...

 

Michael Jackson - Thriller

 

Jefferson Starship - Red Octopus

 

Jimmy Buffett - Changes in Latitudes Changes in Attitudes

 

Kenny Rogers - Kenny

 

Guns 'n Roses - Appetite for Destruction

Tough to get it down to five, of course, and in ten minutes I'll probably be kicking myself and saying "How could I forget X?"  In no particular order within my list of five.  Also limited to rock/pop, so no Sinatra, no blues, no jazz or country.

 

 

Bruce Springsteen Born to Run

 

 

Joni Mitchell Court and Spark

 

 

Carole King Tapestry

 

 

The Beatles Rubber Soul

 

 

Linda Ronstadt Hasten Down the Wind

 

 

Regards,

 

Joe

 

Of those that others mentioned,  I'll second:

 

Jefferson Starships Red Octopus

The Police: Synchronicity

ELO: Out Of The Blue (though I like A new Worlds Record a bit better)

Donald Fagan: The Nightfly

The Beatles: (Insert any/all of them)

Indeed... the greatest of song of all time was on that album. 
 

 

Yeah, this is basically "five good albums that are coming to mind right now":

 

Moody Blues - Days of Future

Don Fagen - The Nightfly

APP - Ammonia Avenue (clearly influenced by reading Gene's list, though I play it a lot)

Floyd - Meddle

Billy Joel - Glass Houses

Zep - House of the Holy

 

That might be more than five.

Ammonia Avenue: I'll have to give that a closer listen. I'm stuck on the other two, plus Eve.

 

Moody Blues: Days Of Future Past. Another one I can't believe I forgot to mention. Way ahead of it's time. Not always a good thing  . But a great album.

Synchronicity just makes my Top 5 from The Police.

 

 

Also, I'm gonna show my work.

 

Pet Sounds

Bad Brains by Bad Brains

Criminal Minded

Abbey Road

The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars

High 'N' Dry?

3 Feet High and Rising

Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs by Derek and the Dominos

Paid in Full

Nothing's Shocking by Jane's Addiction

Walk Among Us

Louder Than Bombs

Enter the Wu-Tang by Wu-Tang Clan

Live at Leeds

Elephant

Fair Warning

In It for the Money

The Stone Roses by The Stone Roses

Iron Maiden

Violator

 

Pet Sounds was last out. Can't believe I did that, but at the moment I probably have Wild Honey ahead of it, among Beach Boys records, so I had to be fair.

 

 

 

 

 

Of course, now you're going to have to tell us which cut is "the greatest song of all time".   

 

One of my criteria was albums that have no bad cuts.   Albums I can play the grooves out of (to use an obsolete term) and not skip over songs I don't like.  This eliminates some otherwise fine discs.  (And even on the submitted list, I bent the rule.   The title cut of "Tapestry", which is the last cut on the disc, wore out its welcome for me sometime around 1977, but the rest of the record is so good I'll forgive Carole King for it.  "Rubber Soul" can stand in for any of several early-to-mid career Beatles albums.  On further reflection I could make a case for Steely Dan's "Aja", James Taylor's "Sweet Baby James" something from Billy Joel, some early Jackson Browne or the Eagles.  In different mood I could with some Led Zepplin, The Who, Yes or Fleetwood Mac.

 

Can we change this to the top 25 - or 50, or 100 - albums? 

 

Regards,

 

Joe

 

P.S. 

 

And the Beach Boys, can't believe I forgot the Beach Boys.  And...

 

BTW, I've noticed that we have (for the most part) omitted "greatest hits" and other retrospective packages, which I think is fair.  I think albums that were conceived, recorded and released as albums should be compared to one another.  "Best of" and "Greatest Hits" collections that cherry pick the strongest songs from a half-dozen albums across a decade or more have an unfair advantage.

 

Regards,

 

Joe

Edited by Joseph DeMartino - 5/23/11 at 7:15am

Following the sentiment of this thread, I don't know how to pick my top five; so here are five indespensible albums:

 

Jimi Hendrix - Are You Experienced  (Third Stone from the Sun is reason enough.)

Steely Dan - Aja

The Beatles - Abbey Road

Pink Floyd - The Wall

The Rolling Stones - Let It Bleed

 

- Walter.

 

For me the test of a top five has got to be all killer no filler.  There does not appear to be many of those coming out anymore (disclaimer - I could just be getting old and cranky...)  So with that criteria in mind:

 

1. The Beatles - SPLHCB

2. Pink Floyd - DSOTM

3. The Who - Who's Next

4. Boston - Boston

5, Supertramp - Crime of the Century

 

For me, each song of each album is completely stand alone and could be listened to over and over and over and.....

Can't do it. But I'll list 5 unquestionable "desert island" discs that haven't yet been mentioned (after all, it doesn't really matter what any of our favorites are -- the value of these lists is to introduce others to great music they may not already know!).

 

Pete Townshend - Empty Glass

Mr. So & So - Compendium

Rush - Permanent Waves (No, THIS disc has the best song of all time! ;) )

Metallica - Master of Puppets

Iron Maiden - Powerslave

 

And because I'm lazy, 5 more:

 

Dream Theater - Images & Words

Spock's Beard - Um, could be any of their first 3 albums. . .not gonna figure it out now

Voivod - The Outer Limits

Yes - The Yes Album

Marillion - Misplaced Childhood (close call between this and Clutching At Straws)

 

Favorite live album: Iron Maiden - Live after Death

 

Favorite recent discovery: Myrath - Desert Call

 

Favorite Soundtrack: Velvet Goldmine

 

I hope you'll enjoy it.  I think it qualifies as underrated.

 

 

 

I bent the rule with Houses of the Holy.  It's weird that it's my favorite Zeppelin album, because I don't much like the Crunge and D'yer Mak'er is kind of played out.  Most of their other albums, I like stem to stern.  I consider The Song Remains the Same to be the song that really defines everything that Zeppelin is, so maybe it's what pulls the album way up for me.

 

Also, I would add Gerry Rafferty's City to City and Al Stewart's Time Passages to any list of albums that you can listen to from start to finish without having to skip.  A more recent album like that is Brian Burns' Heavy Weather.

 

That's a good one there... 

 

No, no, no... THIS is the greatest song of all time.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKBttQmhDBw&feature=related

 

 

I wanted to dance to this soooo badly at our wedding.  But there is some risque language in the song that my wife thought might cause permanent damage to the elderly. 
 

 

Already I'm thinking that maybe I should've gone with Nothingface over The Outer Limits (I know most Voivod fans would). . .

Almost forgot about Fleetwood Mac - Rumours  and  Genesis - Invisible Touch

 

I also wonder if I could survive on a desert island without Pearl Jam - Yield

 

 

 

And I listed MJ-Thriller, however if I'm limited to one MJ album, I'd have to go with Dangerous.  Two of my three favorite MJ songs were on this album (Will You Be There, Give In To Me)  This was his best album IMO, and had, far and away, my favorite song from him.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJ7qXHjxj_0

 

 

Really.. it's tough to beat MJ and Slash on the stage together.

 

 

 

 

 

With the smiley, I really thought I was going to be Rickrolled. Yeah, Miracles is dirty. The local student-run radio used to play it unaltered to my mild amusement, until they decided to edit their collection with a meat cleaver. They cut the entire section of "Sunshine" where it says, "He can't even run his own life, I'll be damned if he'll run mine," and "Abracadbra" says, "Black . . . with an angel's face." They missed the fadeout on "Start Me Up."

As for Miracles, I like it, but "Count On Me" is the reigning champ of JS pop songs.

Good thread. Like most here, my list would change from day to day. The easy part is my Number One album, because it hasn't changed in over 40 years (sue me):

 

The Beatles: Abbey Road

 

Here's the other 4 (today's version, that is) in no particular order:

 

George Harrison: All Things Must Pass

Bruce Springsteen: Born To Run

Mike Oldifeld: Ommadawn

Paul Simon: Hearts And Bones

 

And lots of honorable mentions (many of which were mentioned above)

 

The Beatles: The Beatles (The White Album)

The Beatles: Please Please Me

Lindsay Buckingham: Out Of The Cradle

Bob Dylan: Blood On The Tracks

Fleetwood Mac: Tusk (Ok, Rumours is the better album, but Tusk was so damn audacious. I love it.)

Genesis: The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway

Elton John: Goodbye Yellow Brick Road

Paul McCartney & Wings: Band On The Run

Sally Oldfield: Water Bearer

Pink Floyd: Wish You Were Here

Queen: A Night At The Opera

R.E.M.: Out Of Time

Linda Ronstadt: Hasten Down The Wind

Rush: Moving Pictures

Steely Dan: The Royal Scam

Al Stewart: A Beach Full Of Shells

Stevie Wonder: Songs In The Key Of Life

Yes: Close To The Edge

Warren Zevon: Warren Zevon

 

Observations on other picks in the thread:

 

Neil Young: Decade

 

My personal rule is that compilations don't belong in lists like this, but this one is the exception, Greatest single-act compilation of all time, IMO. The selections are perfectly chosen and sequenced. Neil's pithy liner notes are the icing on the cake. A close second: This Is The Moody Blues. Fantastic sequencing including artful blending of the cuts. Both of these play not as a rundown of hits, but as richly rewarding listening experiences on their own. They are essential, even if you own all the original albums. Best multi-act compilation: the American Graffiti soundtrack. If you have room in your collection for only one example of late 50s-early 60s pop music, this is the one.

 

ELO: Out Of The Blue

 

It warms my heart to see so many pick this gem. ELO never made profound music, but in the mid-70s they put out four straight albums (Eldorado, Face The Music, A New World Record, and OotB) chock full of the most delectible ear candy you'd ever want to hear. I wouldn't be without any of 'em. And let's not forgot their unsung early-80s masterpiece Time, which was of equal quality to the 4 above.

 

 

Agreed on both. I must add that Al continues to make great music decades after his last chart success. He still writes tuneful, literate songs (often based on historical events and fugures) and wraps them in tasteful, understated arrangements. I chose to highlight one of his more recent release in my list above. It's as good as Year Of The Cat and Time Passages.

You know... 5 is really too few.  On the deserted island I'm really going to need Herb Alpert - Rise   as well. 

I thought the same thing, we're sort of saluting the effort of building something from scratch more or less, which is why it was pretty easy for me to get rid of the Smiths' album of B-sides and such even though it is indeed one of my favorites, but if someone wanted to put, say, The Great 28 by Chuck Berry or one of the Robert Johnson compilations, I think that's fair. And I think that live albums can be a distinctive work in their own right, whether it be Live at Leeds, At Budokan, Frampton, How the West Was Won, Aaron Silverman's Iron Maiden choice, etc. I considered Cream's Wheels of Fire for a second, which is half live.