Your 10 favourite albums

[TheGoodRev]

A quick search indicates this topic hasn't been brought up recently. I know it's a little tired and/or uninspired, but I put together a top ten list for another message board and thought I'd share it here, and invite others to do the same. While I love live music and find it relevant and inspiring, I have a firm allegiance to the album format. Here's my list:

1. Jimi Hendrix and Band of Gypsies - Live at Filmore East (1970): No trio has ever surpassed their greatness. The special edition two-disc set is especially awesome, with tons of cuts that didn't make the original LP.

2. Pink Floyd - Animals (1977): Stunning, beginning to end; Gilmour's guitar on this album is one of my single greatest influences.

3. The Band - The Band (1969): The songs, the playing, the harmonies are all there...and a little more rockin' than Big Pink.

4. BB King - Live at Cook County Jail (1970): In my opinion, the finest blues recording of the era, in part because of its raw nature. BB's playing is quick but precise, his tone crystal clear, his voice rough but passionate.

5. The Beatles - Abbey Road (1969): What do you say? even the worst on this album are among their best work. Songwriting is there, playing is there, and they rocked it harder than ever.

+ =

6. Allman Brothers Band - Beginnings (1970): This is sneaky of me, because this was a re-release of their first two albums in one package. You get Duane's unparalleled slide playing, the loose Southern groove of two drummers, and Dickey Bett's progressive compositions to top it off.

7. Neil Young - After the Goldrush (1970): The sheer quality of the songs puts this one ahead of Harvest and Everybody Knows for me. Don't Let it Bring You Down and I Believe in You are my two favourites.

8. Black Sabbath - Paranoid (1971): The album that showed me the connection between blues and metal. Tony Iommi remains one of rock's finest riff writers in my mind...Fairies Wear Boots, Rat Salad and Electric Funeral are my favourites.

9. Frank Zappa - Hot Rats (1969): From the introductory Peaches En Regalia, through Willie the Pimp, Son of Mr. Green Genes et al, this album showcases Zappa's sickly quirkiness and his agressive, largely underated guitar playing. Zappa's impact on my own musical tastes cannot be understated; he showed me you can be humourous and still rock, and also be humourous without being an idiot.

10. The Who - Who's Next (1971): A parade of incredible songs, from the oft-covered opener through Bargain and My Wife (my favourite). Illustrates Townshend's massive guitar sound, Daltrey's rich and powerful voice, and the sound of classic Who without heavy themes weighing them down (though that is fun stuff as well).

[Esau]

Heres ten favourites,not all but ten.

[PalacePrincess]

[color:purple]boy, i bet the dial uppers are gonna love this thread!

i have a very wide and varied taste in favourites. heh.

(well i'm sorry, but if you're only going to let me pick ten, that doesn't leave room for much else... i have commitments! )

[guigsy]

i like these games, cuz i usually end up with something new to purchase... so i'll bite... now, i cant say for certain that these are my be all/end all top 10 favourites, but if there was a gun to my head, certainly i could make a strong case for any of these... i've also broken it into 5 'modern', and 5 'older' discs.. in no particular preferential order - that's just downright impossible.

Thrush Hermit - Clayton Park

- the heart and soul of canadian indie rock as far as im concerned. crunchy riffs, tasty licks, sharp lyrics, great arrangements, and balls out rock that flows perfectly from start to finish.

Wilco - Yankee Hotel Foxtrot

- thank our lucky stars for the musical marriage of jeff tweedy and jim o'rourke. no doubt about it this is tweedy's masterpiece - brutally honest, emotionally heavy, this one came along for me at a perfect time in my life.

Rheostatics - Double Live

- i know, i know.. a live album.. but the Saskatchewan opener? 'nuff said. this double disc bleeds canadiana.

Ween - The Mollusk

- mutilated lips give a kiss on the wrist of the wormlike tips of tentacles expanding in my mind im fine accepting only fresh brine you can get another drop of this yeah you wish. umm.. i'm sorry?

Modest Mouse - The Moon and Antarctica

- Isaac Brock should be on acid all the time.

Frank Zappa & The Mothers of Invention - We're Only In It For The Money

- the first zappa record to make me a real zappa fan.. satirical in it's concept, brilliant in it's content.

The Grateful Dead - American Beauty

- a perfect album for the sunday morning wake'n'bake with a coffee and your thoughts.

Tom Waits - Nighthawk's At The Diner

- this is how i want to hear Tom: drunk, swanky and rambling. "i'm so goddam horny the crack 'o dawn better be careful 'round me!"

The Rolling Stones - Exile on Main st.

- tough call between this one, sticky fingers and goats head soup.. but ultimately, exile wins. from tumblin' dice onward, are you fucking kidding me?!

Bruce Springsteen - Nebraska

- lights off, headphones on, phatty lit.

[TheGoodRev]

Thrush Hermit - Clayton Park

- the heart and soul of canadian indie rock as far as im concerned. crunchy riffs, tasty licks, sharp lyrics, great arrangements, and balls out rock that flows perfectly from start to finish.

Awesome man! The 5 new/5 old thing is a good idea...I could probably come up with another 10 released since I was born that would be great. I can't say my 10 are my absolute favourite either...of course that changes all the time. But when I put together that list above and took a good look at it, I found it to be a pretty good cross-section of the albums that made me the music nerd that I am.

Clayton Park is a favourite of mine too. I've read more than one interview where Plaskett quips that they set out to make a completely self-indulgent album, and it strikes me that this statement implies that it's almost as if they were afraid of how good it would be if they just forgot about the critics for a moment and just made the record they wanted to make, so there's this tongue in cheek attitude on some of the tunes. By far a huge favourite of mine, but I could have done without, for example, the out-of-tune lick that runs throughout Songs for the Gang. That aside though, a modern Canadian masterpiece for sure. I love 'We Are Being Reduced'...Neil Young influence all over that one. I'm not heavily into lyrics, but great lyrics on the record too. "I'm wearing out my vocal chords/Because I am alone and bored/Can you take me up to 24,000 feet, Concord..."

[PhishyK]

Fun thread!!

Mine are...

• 1. Pink Floyd - The Wall
  
• 2. Beatles - Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
  
• 3. David Francey - Far End of Summer
  
• 4. The Congos - Heart of the Congos
  
• 5. Sweet Baby James - James Taylor
  
• 6. Burnin' - Bob Marley and the Wailers
  
• 7. Intense Pressure - Midnite in Dub
  
• 8. Jagged Little Pill - Alanis Morissette
  
• 9. Sailing the Seas of Cheese - Primus
  
• 10. Bass, Sweat and Tears - Gaudi
  

[Del]

The Slip - aliveacoustic

The Slip - aliveelectric

Phish - Junta

Phish - A Picture Of Nectar

Phish - Farmhouse

Grateful Dead - Anthem Of The Sun

Grateful Dead - American Beauty

Talking Heads - Stop Making Sense

nero - SoOn

nero - Zedonk

[dJEd]

my top 10 changes all the time. its kind of a "right now" thing. all time faves is too hard. i feel like i should have zepp and beatles albums but i never listen to either band anymore. i guess i feel obligated.

these days its....

-Death Cab For Cutie - Transatlanticism

-Mars Volta - both albums

-Elliott Smith - XO

-Mahavishnu Orchestra - inner mounting flame

-Godspeed You Black Emperor - Lift Yr Skinny Fists like Antennae to Heaven

-The Sea and Cake - Oui

-Tortoise - Millions Now Living Will Never Die

-Valley of the Giants

-JFJO - walking with Giants

i know these aren't "all-time" but like i said its too hard so deal with what my faves are RIGHT NOW!!!!!

i seen a car

[Tooly]

hmmm lets see

1 junta

2 zedonk

3 the mollusk

4 $1.99 celtic cd fuckin priiiiimooooooo

5 return of hooch

6 the copy of blood on the tracks (i think its BOTT) esau hooked up, not the store bought copy

7 john prine the one where hes sitting on a bale of hay (not good with names as you see)

8 joes garage

9 after the goldrush

10 pizza tapes

hey palace princess how is quebec anyways? i love the ween, was tinking abot grabbing it as i saw it at a used shop near work, but i heard a few lame tunes on it when it first came out? is it dec?

[scottieking]

1. Exile on Main Street - Rolling Stones

2. Dark Side of the Moon - Pink Floyd

3. Europe 72 - Grateful Dead

4. A Live One - Phish

5. Decade - Neil Young

6. OK Computer - Radiohead

7. Rheostatics - Double Live

8. Abbey Road - Beatles

9. Yankee Hotel Foxtrot - Wilco

10. Dummy - Portishead

I've been paring this list for a half hour. Expect edits.

[ollie]

Looks something like this and in no particular order:

Metallica - And Justice For All

Genesis - Foxtrot

Iggy & the Stooges - Raw Power

Sonic Youth - Daydream Nation

Jane's Addiction - Nothing's Shocking

John Coltrane - A Love Supreme

Guns'n'fuckin'Roses - Appetite for Destruction

Peter Gabriel - Peter Gabriel (3)

The Clash - The Clash

Pink Floyd - Animals

[Paan]

Man, this is a tough one...

Off the top of my head...

Oneness of Ju Ju - Hits

Stevie Wonder - Songs in the Key of Life

Queen - Queen II

Yes - Close to the Edge

James Brown - In the Jungle

Red Hot Chili Peppers - Blood Sugar Sex Magic

Oyster Head

Queen - Night at the Opera

Herbie Hancock - Thrust

Herbie Hancock - Head Hunters

Wham - Wake me up before you Go Go

[Jaimoe]

Off the top of my currently drunken head ( subject to change ):

Live @ Leeds - The Who

Who's Next - The Who

Band Of Gypsies - Jimi Hendrix @ The Band Of Gypsies

Led Zeppelin I

The Allman Brothers - The Allman Brothers

My Favourite Things - John Coltrane

Kind Of Blue - Miles Davis

Sticky Fingers - The Rolling Stones

Marquee Moon - Television

4-way tie for 10th:

De Stijl - The White Stripes

The Tennessee Fire - My Morning Jacket

Behind The Music - The Soundtrack Of Out Lives

Pink Moon - Nick Drake

[Guest Low Roller]

Right. I'm pretty much disqualifying anything that I've heard for the first time in the last year or so. Anything that makes a BEST EVER list should not have the advantage of freshness and novelty associated with it.

Here goes (no particular order, and I'm not looking up album covers):

1. "Happy Days" by Catherine Wheel

2. "You'd Prefer An Astronaut" by Hum

3. "MTV Unplugged" by Nirvana

4. "Kid A" by Radiohead

5. "Appetite For Destruction" by Guns 'n Roses

6. "La Revancha Del Tango" by Gotan Project

7. "Animals" by Pink Floyd

8. "Mezzanie" by Massive Attack

9. "Cypress Hill" by Cypress Hill

10. "The Doors" by The Doors

(list may be editted as memories are triggered)

[PalacePrincess]

ooh, good call, ollie, if i could add another one, there's be jane's in that for sure.... although i'd probably pick ritual de lo habitual.

hey palace princess how is quebec anyways? i love the ween, was tinking abot grabbing it as i saw it at a used shop near work, but i heard a few lame tunes on it when it first came out? is it dec?

tooly, quebec, quite simply, is a fucking masterpiece. BUY IT. especially if you are lucky enough to get it used! it is the type of album that really, really grows on you.... months and months after listening to it practically daily you will find yourself still appreciating new levels of its awesomeness. it really does get better and better the more you listen to it. some of my favourite songs on the album are the argus, transdermal celebration, chocolate town, so many people in the neighbourhood -- gad, i'm not even going to bother listing any more because i love that whole album! i would definitely recommend adding this to your collection.

[guigsy]

we used to fucking CRANK 'it's gonna be a long nite' as we were getting pumped and ready to leave for bowling, rock out, get jacked up, and go roll some fuggin' heads!

you bring the razor blades

i'll bring the speed

[dave-O]

Ooh I love these threads. Off the top of my head, in no particular order...

Beatles - Revolver

The Band - The Band

Wilco - Being There

Sloan - Twice Removed

Pink Floyd - Animals

Bill Frisell - Gone, Just Like A Train

Phish - The Story of the Ghost

The Police - Outlandos d'Amour

The Jayhawks - Tomorrow the Green Grass

Blue Grassy High - Oven Cake

[bradm]

Off the top of my head, the list is

1. Jeff Beck - Blow By Blow
   
2. Miles Davis - Kind Of Blue
   
3. John Coltrane - A Love Supreme
   
4. Thelonious Monk - Big Band & Quartet In Concert
   
5. Frank Zappa - You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore Vol. 2 : The Helsinki Concert
   
6. Frank Zappa - Shut Up 'n' Play Yer Guitar
   
7. Dixie Dregs - What If
   
8. The Who - Who's Next
   
9. The Grateful Dead - Dick's Picks Vol. 12
   
10. Phish - Rift
    

The problem is that, once you get below #3 or so, there are so many albums I like approximately equally; in fact, you can consider #4 - #10 to really be tied, they're so close.

Aloha,

Brad

[_sniffer_]

Blue Grassy High - Oven Cake

Total bullshit. I don't know how you can justify that pap being in your top 10 list.

Here's my list:

1. Grateful Dead- Workingman's Dead

2. Jeff Beck- Jeff Beck's Guitar Shop

3. Phish- Round Room

4. Genesis- A Trick of The Tail

5. Roxy Music- Avalon

6. KISS- Alive

7. Aerosmith- Pump

8. Bon Jovi- New Jersey

9. Skid Row- Skid Row

10. Depeche Mode- People Are People

[Booche]

Miles Davis - A Tribute To Jack Johnson

The Grateful Dead - Live Dead

The Beatles - Abbey Road

Radiohead - OK Computer

Pink Floyd - Dark Side Of The Moon

John Coltrane - A Love Supreme

The Allman Bros - Live At Fillmore East

Frank Zappa - Roxie and Elsewhere

Phish - A Live One

Led Zeppelin - II

[Dr. J]

In no particular order:

The Essential Jimi Hendrix

Exile on Main Street - Rolling Stones

The Doors - The Doors

Songs of Leonard Cohen

Let It Bleed - Rolling Stones

The River - Bruce Springsteen

Late For The Sky - Jackson Browne

The Band - The Band

After the Gold Rush - Neil Young

The Name of This Band is Talking Heads

Can't believe I did that list and there's no Tom Petty, Bob Dylan or T. Rex. When do we do the top 20?

[shadycharacter]

In no order, and always subject to change...

Sloan - Twice Removed

The Slip - Angels Come On Time

John Scofield Band - Up All Night

Thrush Hermit - Clayton Park

Pavement - Terror Twilight

The Inbreds - Kombinator

Bill Evans - You Must Believe In Spring

The Superfriendz - Mock Up, Scale Down

Weezer - Pinkerton

Radiohead - OK Computer

[Blurry]

In no particular order;

1. American Beauty - Grateful Dead

2. The Skiffle Sessions - Van Morrison, Lonny Donegall, Chris Barber and guests

3. String Cheese Incident - Round the Wheel

4. Sarah Harmer - Songs for Clem

5. Gordon Lightfoot - Sundown

6. Burt Neilson Band - Burt Neilson Band & Orange Shag Carpet

7. Allman Brothers Band - Brothers & Sisters/Eat A Peach

8. The Band - Music From the Big Pink

9. Doc Watson & David Grisman - Doc & Dawg

10. Johnny Cash - Hello, I'm Johnny Cash

[Kaidy Mae]

1. "Happy Days" by Catherine Wheel

I love these lists (despite them being torturously hard). I was just listening to Eat My Dust You Insensitive Fuck the other night LR! You don't come across too many folks that own Happy Days...I'm glad I found another one. Sweet!

In no particular order (well, except for my first choice)...

THE BEACH BOYS - Pet Sounds

Brian Wilson's masterpiece! I grew up with this album and it is the only one I can think of that I still listen to every few days. Although, you have to have the version with the bonus track Hang On To Your Ego on it. The whole thing just continues to blow my mind. Every time I hear that first bam on the drums at the beginning of Wouldn't It Be Nice I'm glowing. Best album ever!

PRIMUS - Frizzle Fry

This album could easily be my #2. It is the album that made me fall in love with the bass and Claypool's crazy, bitch-slappin' style. This is by far my favourite Primus line-up. When it comes to this trio's musical stylings, combined with Les's social commentary, it doesn't get any better. There are too many kickass tracks on this album to even list. "To defy the laws of tradition is a crusade only of the brave!" Fuck yeah *kick*

PAUL SIMON - Shining Like A National Guitar

I still get shivers up my spine when my "shuffle" feature picks Mother & Child Reunion. When it comes to Paul Simon, there is just so much out there. When I was traveling I always had this one with me as kind of a one-stop-shop. The Obvious Child still has some of the most mind-blowing percussion I've ever heard!

BECK - Mellow Gold

I still remember reading a review of this album when it first came out. Beck was basically described as an apathetic slacker who would never amount to anything. I often wonder whatever happened to that reviewer. Soul Suckin' Jerk, Nightmare Hippie Girl, Fuckin With My Head...ALL gold!

THE BEASTIE BOYS - Paul's Boutique

My all-time Beasties fave. This one still gets me goin' and is one of my favourite albums to listen to while driving.

THE GRATEFUL DEAD - Hundred Year Hall

Okay, there are just too many Dead albums/shows to list. Instead of tormenting myself with the endless query "American Beauty or Workingman's Dead?", I'll just list one that I've been listening to lately. After the boat cruise I was yearnin' to hear another One More Saturday Night and this disc was already in the 6-disc changer. I'm lazy.

BOB DYLAN - Blood on the Tracks

Easily one of the soundtracks to my life. Whenever I even think of this album I am flooded with memories...many heart-wrenching, but beautiful in their own way. Tangled Up In Blue is both lyrically and musically one of the best songs ever.

WILCO - Yankee Hotel Foxtrot

If you don't own this album, you have fucking problems. GET IT NOW! I Am Trying To Break Your Heart and Jesus, etc. are two of my favourite songs in the world!

THE BEATLES - Abbey Road

With the exception of Octopus's Garden, I love every track on this album. We have a long-standing family tradition that after too many cold beverages at the cottage we all grab miscellaneous condiment bottles (I call the mustard) and dance on the tables, bar, tops of couches, etc. to the Mean Mr. Mustard > She Came In Through the Bathroom Window medley. Hilarious! I Want You (She's So Heavy) is one of the sexiest songs ever written.

PINK FLOYD - Meddle

My simultaneous discovery of Meddle and LSD could have been a coincidence, but somehow I doubt it.

Wow! That was tough. There are soooo many more. Thanks Rev. I've got a whole Playlist qued for my drive into the city tonight.

[secondtube]

(which i think i'll put on now...)

Edited June 10, 2005 by Guest