10 Best Albums of All-Time

[glynparson]

What do you guys think are the 10 best albums of all time. My list every album was released before I was born in 1972

1. Revolver- The Beatles
2. Astral Weeks- Van Morrison
3. Sgt. Peppers- The Beatles
4. Everyboby Knows This Is Nowhere- Neil young
5. Blonde On Blonde-Bob Dylan
6. White Light/ White Heat- The Velvet Underground
7. American Beauty- Grateful Dead
8. All Things Must Pass- George Harrison
9. Stand!- Sly and the Family Stone
10. Who's Next- The Who
Honorable mention to: Trout Mask Replica- Captain Beefheart, Stooges-Stooges, Psychedelic Sounds Of The-13th Floor Elevators, Plastic Ono Band- John Lennon, Axis Bold As Love- Jimi Hendrix Experience

[Beatles Guy]

I was born in 1974, so that hold pretty true for me as well.

"Abbey Road" - The Beatles
"Dark Side Of Moon" - Pink Floyd
"Revolver" - The Beatles
"Rubber Soul" - The Beatles
"Sgt Pepper" - The Beatles
"Grace" - Jeff Buckley
"Moving Pictures" - Rush
"Led Zeppelin II" - Led Zeppelin
"Dirt" - Alice In Chains
"Aenima" - Tool

"Houses Of The Holy" - Led Zeppelin (Honorable Mention)

[barrysloate]

There is so much to choose from that I had to do 15, plus one honorable mention:

Beatles- Sgt. Pepper's
Beatles- Rubber Soul
Beatles- Revolver
Miles Davis: Kind of Blue
Rolling Stones: Aftermath
Rolling Stones: Beggar's Banquet
The Doors: The Doors
Jefferson Airplane- After Bathing at Baxter's
Jefferson Airplane: Surrealistic Pillow
Grateful Dead: Anthem of the Sun
Jimi Hendrix: Electric Ladyland
Buffalo Springfield- Buffalo Springfield Again
Love- Forever Changes
Bob Dylan- The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan
Donovan- Sunshine Superman

Honorable mention: Meet the Beatles (very underrated album)

[bmarlowe1]

Originally Posted by barrysloate

There is so much to choose from that I had to do 15, plus one honorable mention:

Beatles- Sgt. Pepper's
Beatles- Rubber Soul
Beatles- Revolver
Miles Davis: Kind of Blue
Rolling Stones: Aftermath
Rolling Stones: Beggar's Banquet
The Doors: The Doors
Jefferson Airplane- After Bathing at Baxter's
Jefferson Airplane: Surrealistic Pillow
Grateful Dead: Anthem of the Sun
Jimi Hendrix: Electric Ladyland
Buffalo Springfield- Buffalo Springfield Again
Love- Forever Changes
Bob Dylan- The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan
Donovan- Sunshine Superman

Honorable mention: Meet the Beatles (very underrated album)

Barry - it's interesting you mentioned Forever Changes. I always thought it was pretty obscure. A few years back my son bought the CD plus a more recent reunion live CD. It was kind of a concidence as he wasn't aware that I had it in vinyl.

[barrysloate]

Mark- Love is one of those bands that is almost entirely forgotten, although they were briefly in the news about five years ago when Arthur Lee died. They had other good albums too, especially Da Capo.

[glynparson]

Da Capo would have made my list had I given 5 more honorable mentions. Along with Marquee Moon-Television, Bryter Later-Nick Drake, Desire-Bob Dylan, and Eat a Peach- The Allman Brothers band

[novakjr]

I can't argue with any of the earlier lists. I'm gonna keep my list a little more on the newer side though..Well 80's-90's with a few stragglers.

Dirt-Alice in Chains
Vs.-Pearl Jam
Purple-Stone Temple Pilots
Grave Dancers Union-Soul Assylum
Whitesnake-Whitesnake
Vol. II-Hurt
Seeds-Brother Cane
From Beale Street to Oblivion-Clutch
Use your illusion 2-Guns n Roses
Album of the Year- Faith no More
**not their best, just a personal favorite**

Honorable Mention:Use your Illusion 1-Guns n Roses, Purple Rain-Prince, The Last Temptation-Alice Cooper, Bad Motorfinger-Soundgarden, IV-Led Zeppelin, Countdown to Extinction-Megadeth and One Hot Minute-Red Hot Chili Peppers. Plus the Robert Johnson complete recordings.

[Beatles Guy]

Seeds-Brother Cane

Nice mention, very underrated band.

[novakjr]

Originally Posted by Beatles Guy

Nice mention, very underrated band.

I'd almost say criminally underrated. I've never understood why they were never really able to catch on.. Maybe the world just wasn't ready for a grungish band with a strong southern influence.

[dstraate]

No particular order

Metallica-Black-The only album guaranteed to add 10lbs to your bench.
Steve Earle-Trancendental Blues - Best lyricism in country music
Bob Marley-Legend - You can't feel bad listening to this album. Not possible
Willie Nelson-Red Headed Stranger - You can't feel bad sitting in his tour bus
Nirvana-Nevermind - Probably No. 1 if I'm ranking them
Sheryl Crow-Tuesday Night Music Club - Not one word guysthat's my girl
Red Hot Chile Peppers-Stadium Arcadium
George Straight-Latest Greatest Straightest Hits (are hits albums illegal?)
Pearl Jam -Ten - No matter what Kurt Cobain Said.
Bob Dylan - Bootleg Series Disc 6-Though they're all good.

Honorable Mention - Bruce Springsteen, Born in the USA
Johnny Cash - Man in Black
Green Day - Dookie

[Robextend]

David, great list we have a lot in common...I am a Brother Cane fan as well.

My favs:

Beach Boys - Pet Sounds
Live - Throwing Copper
Foo Fighters - Foo Fighters
Nirvana - Nevermind
Nirvana - Incesticide
Green Day - Dookie
Stone Temple Pilots - Purple
Alice in Chains - Dirt
Tom Petty - Wildflowers
Guns N Roses - Appetite for Destruction
REM - Automatic for the People

I know there are plenty more that I am neglecting to mention, but these come to mind first.

Anyone ever heard of a band called "For Squirrels"? They came out with an album in 1995, then they got into a horrible car accident and the lead singer died, maybe another band member too...not sure. Anyways...great album.

[novakjr]

Originally Posted by Robextend

Anyone ever heard of a band called "For Squirrels"? They came out with an album in 1995, then they got into a horrible car accident and the lead singer died, maybe another band member too...not sure. Anyways...great album.

Throwing Copper was a great choice, I can't believe I forgot about that one. Anyways, my old guitar player and I were actually hanging out and listening to a bunch of stuff, including For Squirrel's "Example" a few months back. They were a very solid band. Anyone remember "Son's of Elvis"?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pYaSdSm5Z7A

[1952boyntoncollector]

Originally Posted by Robextend

David, great list we have a lot in common...I am a Brother Cane fan as well.

My favs:

Beach Boys - Pet Sounds
Live - Throwing Copper
Foo Fighters - Foo Fighters
Nirvana - Nevermind
Nirvana - Incesticide
Green Day - Dookie
Stone Temple Pilots - Purple
Alice in Chains - Dirt
Tom Petty - Wildflowers
Guns N Roses - Appetite for Destruction
REM - Automatic for the People

I know there are plenty more that I am neglecting to mention, but these come to mind first.

Anyone ever heard of a band called "For Squirrels"? They came out with an album in 1995, then they got into a horrible car accident and the lead singer died, maybe another band member too...not sure. Anyways...great album.

right they played in gainesville and i saw them a few times...Less than Jake also performed and Sister Hazel which is a group people know im sure

[Griffins]

Sgt Peppers- The Beatles
Harvest- Neil Young
Out of Time- REM
Physical Graffiti- Led Zep
Take 5- Dave Brubeck
Long May You Run- Stills Young Band
Rastaman Vibration- Bob Marley
Kaya- Bob Marley
Holland- The Beach Boys
Kind of Blue- Miles Davis

[tiger8mush]

Doubt these are "the best", but if I could only take 10 albums with me to a deserted island right this second ...

Rise Against - Siren Song of the Counter Culture
Rise Against - Revolutions per Minute
Rise Against - The Unraveling
Anti-Flag - Die for your Government
Tat - Soho Lights
Rancid - ... And Out Come the Wolves
Millencolin - Pennybridge Pioneers
Strung Out - Twisted by Design
Marilyn Manson - Eat Me Drink Me
Eminem - Recovery

Honorable mention:
Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin II
Rancid - Lets Go!
Nirvana - Nevermind
AFI - Sing the Sorrow
The Used - self-titled
Good Riddance - For God and Country
Strung Out - Suburban Teenage Wasteland Blues
Rise Against - The Sufferer and the Witness
Marilyn Manson - Mechanical Animals
Fugees - The Score
Snoop Dogg - Doggiestyle
Dr Dre - Chronic / Chronic 2001
Social Distortion - (almost any of their old stuff)

Rob

[Runscott]

Sean, you reminded me of others. Don't think I could get by with only ten - would need at least these 2 in addition. The news song by S & G really brings back the 60's for me. Our soccer team used to practice to Waiata.

Split Enz - Waiata
Simon & Garfunkle - Parsley, Sage, Rosemary & Time

[glynparson]

These are my ten favorite from lesser known or lesser selling artists.

1. Bryter Later- Nick Drake (All his albums are fantastic)
2. Tago Mago- Can
3. Os Mutantes-Os Mustantes
4. Oar- Skip Spence
5. Psychedelic Sounds of the 13th Floor Elevators- 13th Floor Elevators
6. Call Of The Valley-Shivkumar Sharma, Brijbhushan Kabra & Haripra
7. Modern Lovers-Modern Lovers
8. Million Seller- The Pooh Sticks
9. Chelsea Girl- Nico
10. The Last Puff- Spooky Tooth

Some albums i also love but i thought mybe a little too well known for the list i just made but still more obscure. my top ten has also changed from original post. i will repost a list.


1. Love Devotion Surrender-Santana/Mahavishnu
2. Da Capo-Love
3. Marquee Moon-Television
4. Trout Mask Replica- Captain beefheart
5. White Light White Heat-The Velvet Underground
6. Hoist- Phish
7. Sea Change-Beck (he's famous album not as much, but is a critics favorite)
8. pacific ocean blue- dennis wilson

[familytoad]

This is harder for me than choosing my favorite baseball cards

I guess these change by mood, as others have commented...here is today's list in random order:

R.E.M - Automatic For The People
Rainbow-Rising
Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here
Jethro Tull - Songs From The Wood
Peter Frampton - Frampton Comes Alive!
Metallica - the Black Album
Pink Floyd - Dark Side of The Moon
Ambrosia- Somewhere I've Never Traveled
Eagles- Hotel California
Sister Hazel - Fortress
Carole King - Tapestry
Toad The Wet Sprocket - Coil

Have fun!

[Paul S]

Milestones - Miles Davis
The Black Sea - XTC
A Love Supreme - John Coltrane
Disraeli Gears - Cream
The Inner Mounting Flame - Mahavishnu Orchestra
Never Mind The Bullocks, Here Come The Sex Pistols - Sex Pistols
(Plays) Villa Lobos - Julian Bream
Imperial Bedroom - Elvis Costello
In A Silent Way - Miles Davis
In The Wee Hours - Sinatra
Then Play On - Fleetwood Mac

and on and on...

[bnorth]

AC/DC pick any 10 of their albums as long as Back in Black is #1.

[milkit1]

Originally Posted by glynparson

Some albums i also love but i thought mybe a little too well known for the list i just made but still more obscure. my top ten has also changed from original post. i will repost a list.


1. Love Devotion Surrender-Santana/Mahavishnu
2. Da Capo-Love
3. Marquee Moon-Television
4. Trout Mask Replica- Captain beefheart
5. White Light White Heat-The Velvet Underground
6. Hoist- Phish
7. Sea Change-Beck (he's famous album not as much, but is a critics favorite)
8. pacific ocean blue- dennis wilson

Nice to see Pacific Ocean Blue on a list. Heres my signed Dennis poster from that album
dennis wilson.jpg

[Runscott]

Originally Posted by glynparson

What do you guys think are the 10 best albums of all time. My list every album was released before I was born in 1972

1. Revolver- The Beatles
2. Astral Weeks- Van Morrison
3. Sgt. Peppers- The Beatles
4. Everyboby Knows This Is Nowhere- Neil young
5. Blonde On Blonde-Bob Dylan
6. White Light/ White Heat- The Velvet Underground
7. American Beauty- Grateful Dead
8. All Things Must Pass- George Harrison
9. Stand!- Sly and the Family Stone
10. Who's Next- The Who
Honorable mention to: Trout Mask Replica- Captain Beefheart, Stooges-Stooges, Psychedelic Sounds Of The-13th Floor Elevators, Plastic Ono Band- John Lennon, Axis Bold As Love- Jimi Hendrix Experience

Reading Bill's comment, this is very interesting - the OP asked for us to list the '10 best', not our '10 favorite', yet he clearly listed some albums that no one could possibly consider to be among the '10 best' ever, so I think he really meant '10 favorite'. Not that they aren't great albums - I love most of them, but this just shows how subjective of a question this is.

Also, I posted my list without reading anyone else's, so as not to be influenced. Now I'm seeing other albums that would have to be in my list;e.g-'American Beauty', so it makes me realize that I can't even limit myself to 10 favorites - probably need at least 50.

Maybe 50 isn't even enough - over the years I have culled down my vinyl collection to about 250 albums, every now and then adding another. It's as small as it could possibly get . I have almost all of Elvis Costello, Marshall Crenshaw and Roy Buchanan - can't imagine letting go of any of them, but none are 'top 10' material.

Great thread - thanks for the memories!

[Al C.risafulli]

I just saw this thread and thought I'd chime in (my first non-cards post ever on 54) because I'm a music buff.

This is always an interesting question because our lists are always colored by music we like and don't like. My "BEST" albums list would not include Michael Jackson's "Thriller" or any Beatles albums, but it would be tough to argue that they don't belong in a Top 10 all-time list of albums. I just don't like either artist, and so they're not in my list.

So my list is a list of the top 10 albums of all-time, by artists I like. It has nothing to do with sales or popularity, just a list of artistically solid albums, each of which is a powerful body of work.

1) The Clash - "London Calling"
2) John Coltrane - "A Love Supreme"
3) The Rolling Stones - "Exile on Main Street"
4) Pavement - "Slanted and Enchanted"
5) The Replacements - "Let It Be"
6) The Who - "Who's Next"
7) Jimi Hendrix Experience - "Electric Ladyland"
8) Nirvana - "Nevermind"
9) Traffic - "The Low Spark of High Heeled Boys"
10) The Pixies - "Doolittle"

Honorable mentions to:

Led Zeppelin II
Prince - "Purple Rain"
The Band - "The Last Waltz"
Husker Du - "Flip Your Wig"
The Minutemen - "Double Nickels On The Dime"
Miles Davis - "Steamin'"
Dave Brubeck Quartet - "Time Out"
Bob Dylan - "Blonde On Blonde"


-Al

[the 'stache]

Originally Posted by Runscott

Reading Bill's comment, this is very interesting - the OP asked for us to list the '10 best', not our '10 favorite', yet he clearly listed some albums that no one could possibly consider to be among the '10 best' ever, so I think he really meant '10 favorite'. Not that they aren't great albums - I love most of them, but this just shows how subjective of a question this is.

Right, and that's all I'm asking for, Scott, is some clarification. Are we listing the 10 greatest albums of all-time, or our ten favorite albums? Because those lists are going to be vastly different.

Pet Sounds by the Beach Boys might be on my ten greatest albums list, but it wouldn't be in my top 100 favorite albums of all-time. Rio by Duran Duran might end up in my top ten favorite albums of all-time, but I doubt it would supplant something like Carole King's Tapestry from any all-time great list. Simon and Garfunkel's Bookends and Revolver by the Beatles might be listed in a lot of top ten all-time lists, but I don't know if I'd put Revolver ahead of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band or Abbey Road on my all-time top ten list.

I just don't know how I'm supposed to respond until this is made clear.

[drcy]

Since some of the rock list included non-rock albums (Miles Davis, John Coltraine), I'll make my second top ten list. I listen to classical as much as I do rock

CLASSICAL MUSIC FAVORITES

Sergei Prokofiev's Alexander Nevsky. The soundtrack to Eisenstein's 1937 epic war film. I'm a big fan of nearly all of Prokofiev's work. Challenging, powerful, exotic and very Russian. Romeo & Juliet is another good pick by him. Famous scene from the movie Alexander Nevsky Prokofiev's score from youtube Based on a real 13th century battle, the dark Russian army is waiting for the white German Crusading Knights on horseback to cross the ice for the final epic battle on the frozen Russian lake Piepus. Known as the 'Battle on the Ice,' it is one of the key events in Russian history. Powerful, visceral filmmaking, the extras were real soldiers in the Soviet army.

Gyorgi Ligeti – Atmospheres and Lontano. Ligeti is a famous 20th century Transylavnian avant garde classical composer. Mind expanding orchestral experiences.

Sergei Rachmaninoff-- Piano Concerto #2 and Rhapsody on a Theme on Paganini. Classical ear candy. Piano Concerto #2 was amusingly featured in Marilyn Monroe's Seven Year Itch.

Beethoven's Complete Symphonies. Got the complete symphonies box set for Christmas one year and not a bad symphony in the lot. Hours of music here.

Frederic Handel's Water and Fire Music. The German born Handel became the official composer for the British King, and his music is the epitemy of regal and sophistication.

Samuel Barber Adagio for Springs/Concerto for Violin/School for Scandal/Essay #1 and 2. Barber was a 20th century composer from Pennsylvania. As with Rachmaninoff, his music is ear candy and sounds like movie music.

Hilary Hahn Plays Bach. Excellent CD of the young American violinist solo playing beautiful J.S. Bach pieces. My sister went to school with Hahn.

Sviatoslav Richter, the great Soviet pianist, solo playing JS Bach on is hard to beat. Youtube sample of Richter playing Bach

Soundtracks to 2001: A Space Odyssey and The Shining (assorted composers old to new). Movie director Stanley Kubruick had great and esoteric musical taste, and the CDs include excellent assortments of works by modern and traditional composers including Bartok, Ligeti and Krzysztof Penderecki. The completely orchestral Penderecki pieces on The Shining are quite simply the darkest, most disturbing music ever composed (fitting for a horror movie). I say his music is the language of the Devil. I got the 2001 CD in college, and that's what got me into avant garde classical music, in particular Ligeti.

[AMBST95]

My Top Ten (no special order)

Beatles - Abbey Road
Nirvana - Nevermind
Pink Floyd - DSOTM
Fleetwood Mac - Rumours
Michael Jackson - Thriller
Miles Davis - Kind of Blue
Beach Boys - Smile
The Allman Brothers - Live at Fillmore East
Beastie Boys - License to Ill
Bruce Springsteen - Born to Run

I made my list without looking at others. It was tough to cut albums out and as I look at other people's I see some commonalities and other albums I'll need to look in to. Some of my honorable mentions included:

The Band - The Last Waltz
Pearl Jam - Ten
Metallica - Black Album
Led Zeppelin - Houses of the Holy
John Coltrane - Giant Steps
Bob Dylan - Highway 61 Revisited
The Who - Quadrophenia
Radiohead - OK Computer
CSNY - Deja Vu

[milkit1]

Originally Posted by Runscott

Sean, you reminded me of others. Don't think I could get by with only ten - would need at least these 2 in addition. The news song by S & G really brings back the 60's for me. Our soccer team used to practice to Waiata.

Split Enz - Waiata
Simon & Garfunkle - Parsley, Sage, Rosemary & Time

Haha! Thats awesome! Are you from New Zealand/Australia? Im in the US and there doesnt seem to be a lot of Enz fans here. Such a shame as I think they (and Neil Finn/Crowded House) are as close to The Beatles as any band has gotten. Here s apic of my Mental Notes signed poster with handwritten Phil Judd Lyrics for the song Titus (the Second Thoughts version is one of my all-time favorites)
mental notes big.jpg

and here it is signed by all but Noel
mental notes all signed.jpg

[the 'stache]

We need to differentiate between best albums of all-time, or our favorite albums of all-time, because it seems people are getting them mixed up.

[Paul S]

Biil, with all due respect, how can you even begin to moderate a thread like this? It's all totally subjective. Why would something be on a greatest list if it wouldn't be someone's personal favorite? I'm not the biggest AC/DC fan but I can see that person's reasoning -- if those are that person's fave and therefore greatest and rocks their world, more power to him. What if I were to copy and paste Rolling Stone mag's list of 100 Greatest Rock Albums of All Time? We should all just accept it? Every time they do something like that they get letters to the editor, because RS is just as subjective as the rest of us.

[thedutymon]

Afternoon,

Well a few of you got some right, but nobody came close to this grouping!!!!!

1. Black Sabbath, Black Sabbath
2. Wishbone Ash, Argus
3. Pink Floyd, Dark Side of the Moon
4. Alice Cooper, Killer
5. Alice Cooper, Billion Dollar Babies
6. Wishbone Ash, New England
7. Alice Cooper, Love it to Death
8. The Psychedelic Furs - "Should God Forget: A Retrospective" 1997 (Or Their Greatest Hits Album)
9. Yes, Long Distance Runaround Album
10. The Tubes, White Punks On Dope

Now that's some music, and I have all 10 and been listening for 30+ years!!!

YeeHah

Neil

[Paul S]

Originally Posted by thedutymon

Afternoon,

Well a few of you got some right, but nobody came close to this grouping!!!!!

1. Black Sabbath, Black Sabbath
2. Wishbone Ash, Argus
3. Pink Floyd, Dark Side of the Moon
4. Alice Cooper, Killer
5. Alice Cooper, Billion Dollar Babies
6. Wishbone Ash, New England
7. Alice Cooper, Love it to Death
8. The Psychedelic Furs - "Should God Forget: A Retrospective" 1997 (Or Their Greatest Hits Album)
9. Yes, Long Distance Runaround Album
10. The Tubes, White Punks On Dope

Now that's some music, and I have all 10 and been listening for 30+ years!!!

YeeHah

Neil

Hi Neil, Don't hate me for this but my personal favorite song on Black Sabbath (1) is The Wizard. I just love the drums and the blues harp! What can I say?

Wishbone Ash was great in the three-geetar lineup. I used to see them at the Whiskey A-Go-Go in Hollywood.

As far as Yes, I'm going with Relayer. I saw them at the Cow Palace in SF. What a gas. Alan White instead of Bruford, but still totally wonderful.

Paul

[guy3050]

allman brothers - live at fillmore east
The Clash, 'London Calling'
The Rolling Stones, 'Exile on Main Street'
BB King 'live at the Regal'
Led Zeppelin, 'Led Zeppelin 1'
The Who, 'Who's Next'
Pink Floyd, 'The Dark Side of the Moon'
Bob Marley and the Wailers, 'Legend'
Cream 'disraeli gears'
Rolling Stones 'Some girls'

[2dueces]

Originally Posted by thedutymon

Afternoon,

Well a few of you got some right, but nobody came close to this grouping!!!!!

1. Black Sabbath, Black Sabbath
2. Wishbone Ash, Argus
3. Pink Floyd, Dark Side of the Moon
4. Alice Cooper, Killer
5. Alice Cooper, Billion Dollar Babies
6. Wishbone Ash, New England
7. Alice Cooper, Love it to Death
8. The Psychedelic Furs - "Should God Forget: A Retrospective" 1997 (Or Their Greatest Hits Album)
9. Yes, Long Distance Runaround Album
10. The Tubes, White Punks On Dope

Now that's some music, and I have all 10 and been listening for 30+ years!!!

YeeHah

Neil

A Wishbone Ash fan. Saw then 5 or 6 times in 73-76 when the Turner brothers were with them. Argus and DSOTM are my 2 favorite albums of all time. Never can decide which is the best.

Traveled with the Tubes in 78 when I was dating Katie Bevin one of their dancers. Ended the tour at the Palidium in NY. Partied with Todd Rungren, The Ramones, Sex Pistols etc. The Tubes were going to do a Europe Tour after and Faye fell and broke his ankle. Cancelled it. Ahh the memories.

[MooseDog]

Originally Posted by Paul S

Biil, with all due respect, how can you even begin to moderate a thread like this? It's all totally subjective.

Yeah, a thread like this will get an overwhelming response and let's face it, we all like pushing our opinions out there, either for some validation, or to stir up some shite or some even to prove how cool they are...given the wide range of age and taste, and even geographic location it's impossible to agree on a top 10 of anything related to music.

That being said, I'm going to chime in with my top 10, and the chosen were based on overall quality of the entire album (is every track great?); quality of the performance, recording, and songwriting; execution of concept (if a concept type album); my personal tastes (all over the place); and LONGEVITY (how has the album held up over time?)

I'll put on my flame retardant suit once I hit "send".

In no particular order:

PINK FLOYD "Dark Side of the Moon"
Everyone knows this one but from my own perspective, this album really got my mind going in a forward direct (and no, I don't get stoned so that wasn't it...) I upbringing was very sheltered - I was allowed to listen to classical and "wholesome" music but the lyrics really opened my eyes and the music my ears.

EAGLES "Hotel California"
Those of us who live out here in CA probably identify with this album better than others but man, this hits on so many levels. Loss of innocence, wretched excess, broken dreams. But we are still here. As the song says, "You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave..."

NEIL DIAMOND "Hot August Night"
People know I like music sometimes ask me about live albums. I keep telling them that this is the best live album, or at least my favorite. I'm almost glad there is no video of these concerts and it would probably ruin the magic. Like him or hate him, and in recent years he seems to be a parody of himself the man was an incredible live performer. This albums catches him at his creative peak, a star in full glory and he gives it all on every song. Some might fault his style as overly dramatic, but that's what performing is all about.

MARVIN GAYE "What's Goin' On"
This forum is probably not the best place to find fans of soul music but growing up in Oakland I was exposed to wide variety of music. See my comments about Dark Side above, I had to learn about this album way after release and after a lot of the events Marvin writes about had faded to memory. As I became more away of the real world around me this album hit a lot themes I was beginning to understand. But listening to it these days one realizes not much has changed and the themes are still things we need to address today. Unlike many Motown artitst Marvin was a songwriter too. This was a protest album with a groove.

ENYA "Shepherd Moons"
I'm probably going to get a lot of flack for this one, but while I have always enjoyed fine hard rock and roll, this New Age album is simply the most beautiful music I've every heard on one CD. It works as background music (doesn't get in your way with catchy lyrics or backbeats) and you can experience some of the same mental/sonic pyrotechnics as Dark Side while listening to it in the dark on headphones.

BEATLES "Rubber Soul"
Greatest collection of pop songs, ever.

THE WHO "Tommy"
I can still listen to this one start to finish. There are some personal themes that resonate with me too, but I just love the guitar lines.

SARAH McLACHLAN "Surfacing"
I'm probably going to lose all my remaining man points with this pick. I guess I'm attracted to the "introspective singer/songwriter" type. Mostly because they seem to be able to express things that I can't. When Sarah sings "...you're a beautiful f**cked up man..." I think she's talking about me.

AC/DC "Back in Black"
In a previous life I used to work concessions at local concerts. It was a great way to get paid (very little) but see some cool shows. I was never a huge AC/DC fan but was simply (and literally) blown away by their show (and this was a Brian Johnson show, not a Bon Scott). BnB is not just a great hard rock album, I think it belongs on any "greatest" list. And no, this wasn't just to get some of those man points back.

TALKING HEADS "Remain in Light"
When I was still young and stupid (as opposed to old and...well) I could not get enough of this album. It was so different than anything else out at the time (end of disco era and start of punk/anti-music movement). Every now and then I pop it into the CD player and am amazed how still "futuristic" the sound is.

There you go.

[I Only Smoke 4 the Cards]

AC/DC - Back in Black

Jay Z - Blueprint

Black Keys - Magic Potion

Robert Johnson - Complete Collection

The Wipers : Over The Edge
The Ramones : The Ramones
The Sex Pistols : Nevermind The Bullocks
Jonathan Richman & the Modern Lovers : The Modern Lovers
Talking Heads : Stop Making Sense
Mudhoney : SuperFuzz Bigmuff
The Screaming Trees : Sweet Oblivion
The Sonics : Here Are The Sonics
Pink Floyd : Pipers At The Gates of Dawn
The 13th Floor Elevators : The Psychedelic Sounds of the 13th FE's

[Touch'EmAll]

The Beatles had a cassette, "Beatles, Rock n Roll Volume 2" - never made it to cd. But outstanding! Not sure if this counts as an album?

Personal #1 pick, "U2 Joshua Tree"

And don't forget "ZZ Top Eliminator"

[thescooper]

The london years; ROLLING STONES
Lodger; DAVID BOWIE
Bat out of hell; Meatloaf
Definitely maybe; OASIS

[glynparson]

Love this list:

The Wipers : Over The Edge
The Ramones : The Ramones
The Sex Pistols : Nevermind The Bullocks
Jonathan Richman & the Modern Lovers : The Modern Lovers
Talking Heads : Stop Making Sense
Mudhoney : SuperFuzz Bigmuff
The Screaming Trees : Sweet Oblivion
The Sonics : Here Are The Sonics
Pink Floyd : Pipers At The Gates of Dawn
The 13th Floor Elevators : The Psychedelic Sounds of the 13th FE's