Topic: Your 5 favorite albums

If you're like me, you're always looking for new music. I thought this would be a fun way to share our tastes and recommend some good stuff.

To me, these albums fulfill a rare requirement, in that I don't think any of them contain filler. In most albums, there are always those couple songs that you don't really like, or that you never feel like listening to. But with these 5, every song is worthwhile in its own way. In no particular order, here we go:

The Wall, by Pink Floyd

Whatever and Ever Amen, by Ben Folds Five

In the Aeroplane Over the Sea, by Neutral Milk Hotel

Late Registration, by Kanye West

Kid A, by Radiohead

What are yours?

Last edited by Doctor Submarine (2013-02-13 00:00:30)

"The Doctor is Submarining through our brains." --Teague

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Re: Your 5 favorite albums

Dark Side of the Moon, Pink Floyd
Echoes, ibid
Wish you Were Here, also PF
Animals, see above
Bleach, Nirvana (because The Wall has already been taken...)

(UTC-06:00) Central Time (US & Canada)

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Re: Your 5 favorite albums

Guess I'll embarrass myself with mine. Also in no particular order:

The Killers -  Battle Born
David Bowie - The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars
Paramore - Brand New Eyes
Metric - Grow Up and Blow Away
St. Vincent - Strange Mercy

I know I picked the obvious one for Bowie, Scary Monsters and Low also fought it out for that spot. Could have been any of them. Battle Born's pretty new, I initially was very disappointed with it, but the more I listened to it the more I loved it. It's currently my favorite by The Killers, but once the novelty of newness wears off it could drop back behind Sam's Town, which would take its place on this list. I don't have any excuses for the other ones.

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Re: Your 5 favorite albums

In no particular order
(With an added album from the same artist that I could have easily swapped to take it's place)

Tom Waits - Rain Dogs (Mule Variations)
Tom Waits - Franks Wild Years  (Small Change)
Nick Cave - Let Love In (Murder Ballads)
Pearl Jam - Ten (Vitalogy)
Primus - Sailing the Seas of Cheese (Pork Soda)

Edit: Thanks Phi - Love Tom Waits covers so I'll definitely be checking this one out smile

Last edited by AshDigital (2013-02-12 21:49:28)

---------------------------------------------
I would never lie. I willfully participate in a campaign of misinformation.

Re: Your 5 favorite albums

The typical non-musical-soundtrack* tenants of my CD player:

Temptation, Holly Cole

Hush, Bobby McFerrin and Yo-Yo Ma

In Your Own Sweet Way, Dave Brubeck

Something Fierce, Marian Call

16mm, Jorane

Most of the videos are live versions instead of studio versions, but they're also mostly jazz so it works.

*I excluded musicals. Otherwise Les Mis, JCS, and a bunch of Sondheim would be up there.

Edit: Hey Ash, Temptation is a CD of Tom Waits covers. You might like it. Or not, since they're done in a totally different style.

Last edited by Phi (2013-02-13 02:05:50)

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Re: Your 5 favorite albums

This is not necessarily a list of my all-time favourite albums, just a few that I seem to go back to a lot. Oh, there's more than five too, screw the rules.

AC/DC - High Voltage

AC/DC were one of the first bands I got properly in to and the early Bon Scott stuff is by far my favourite. Don't get me wrong, I love the straight up hard rock that AC/DC later became. But this earlier, more 50's rock and roll influenced stuff just brings me back to being fourteen.

Blink 182 - Enema of the State

Another album that brings me back to being fourteen. When I was that age, I was primarily in to classic rock and there was a bit of a stigma attached to pop-punk, so for a bit of a while I was a little embarrassed about being a Blink fan. However, I soon realised elitism sucked and I like what I like. SCREW DA H8RZ MAN!!!

Bumblefoot - Normal/Abnormal

These are two albums but they're sort of connected and I always play them one after another, so I've lumped them together for this. I checked out Bumblefoot when he was announced as the new guitarist for Guns N' Roses some years back and fell in love with his stuff almost instantly. These two albums are quite different from his other, more technically minded material. If you've not heard any of his stuff before, I really recommend checking these albums out.

Catch 22 - Keasby Nights

Catch 22 (and also Streetlight Manifesto, who I'm gonna mention later on) is a band I've only really gotten in to over this past year and this album in particular has very quickly escalated in to one of my absolute favourites. I'm a pretty big ska-punk fan, so I have no idea why this one escaped me for so long.

Guns N' Roses - Chinese Democracy

Probably gonna get some flack for this, but Chinese Democracy is my favourite GNR album. I loved the whole mystery around it prior to its release, so whenever I listen to it I get brought back to a time when of speculation, rumours and leaks. Speaking of leaks, most of the tracks were already leaked online before it was released so many found the final tracklist quite lackluster as it was mostly stuff that we'd already heard. I gotta admit, I was kinda bummed back then, but hey - I loved the songs.

Motley Crue - Too Fast For Love

I had a bit of an 80's glam phase a while back and this was the album that started it all. The album doesn't really sound like what you'd normally associate with the genre, it's a lot more stripped back and 'punky' and less over the top than the many imitators that soon followed.

Pink Floyd - The Wall

For a long time, Animals was my favourite Floyd album. But when I think about it, it's The Wall that I keep going back to more and more. This album introduced me to the idea of a concept album, something that I love and don't think there are as many around as there should be. I'd love to try my hand at a massive concept album one day.

Reel Big Fish - Turn the Radio Off

I've mentioned certain albums taking me back to specific time in my life and this one takes me back to two distinct periods. One is fairly recent, it kickstarted my whole love of ska-punk which only really began a couple of years back. The other is back to the TFN days as Sell Out and Beer were both part of The Formula.

Sex Pistols - Never Mind the Bollocks

I often overlook the Sex Pistols when thinking of my favourite bands and I really don't know why. I love the songs, the image and the whole ruckuss they caused back in the seventies. Fun fact: John Lydon's other band Public Image Ltd were playing opposite my dads local pub a few years back and his mates challenged him to get his way on the tour bus. He did it.

Sixx:A.M. - The Heroin Diaries

Most of my favourite albums take me back to a rather happy time in my life, but this one takes me back to a pretty bad time for me. I got dumped, my dog died and discovered my best friend wasn't coming back from L.A. after visiting family for the summer pretty much all at the same time. Yeah, they're all first world problems - but I really wasn't myself when it happened.

Streetlight Manifesto - Somewhere in the Between

The most recent addition to my favourites. Streetlight Manifesto are pretty much a continuation of Keasby-era Catch 22, so it's only natural that I became a big fan. It's hard to look at this restrospectively and I'm still living the part of my life where this album is acting as my soundtrack.

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Re: Your 5 favorite albums

I'm astounded by how many albums mentioned here are some of my favorites.

Everyone has good taste. I approve.

Teague Chrystie

I have a tendency to fix your typos.

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Re: Your 5 favorite albums

I'm not very good at liking music if I'm honest. 15 years ago Radio 1 would play a fair selection of good music instead of just complete bollocks and now I never really know where to hunt it out. The truth is I hate listening to an album the first time as it tends to take a good couple of listens for me to decide if I like it. I mainly find myself listening to the same kind of things or the music from Sad Max.

But if I had to put together a top 5 list of albums then today atleast it would be:

The Levellers - Levelling The Land 
JJ72 - JJ72
Godspeed You! Black Emperor - F#A#O Infinity
Mumford and Sons - Sigh No More
Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here

Extended Edition - 146 - The Rise Of Skywalker
VFX Reel | Twitter | IMDB | Blog

Re: Your 5 favorite albums

Well, duh, it's because they're only filled with the most popular songs.


My list is... probably as follows.

30 Seconds to Mars - This is war.(2009)
     Seriously great album. I know it's a 2009-model, and that doesn't make me all hipster-like, but I've pretty much listened to it in one way or another every day since it was released.

Linkin Park - Reanimation(2002)
     Why? It took the first album, "Hybrid Theory", and remixed it. The results was something stellar, something new, and something I'm mad they haven't done since.

Millencolin - Pennybridge Pioneers (2000)
     As with Owen, this takes me back to when Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 was the coolest game in history, and we were all skating around like idiots, listening to Millencoling, watching Jackass and stupidly recreating it. Ah, the days.

Paramore - Riot!(2007)
     Brand New Eyes didn't cut it for me. Riot is so awesome, I even own a live DVD of "The Final Riot". I owe a huge thanks to Guitar Hero World Tour for showing me this band.

Our Lady Peace - Gravity(2004)
     Alternative, chilled-out rock from Canada. I don't know how to express it, I just really enjoy the album.

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Re: Your 5 favorite albums

Just for fun, here are 5 more albums that could have easily made that list:

Channel Orange, by Frank Ocean

Dear Science, by TV on the Radio

Tommy, by The Who

Sound of Silver, by LCD Soundsystem

The Suburbs, by Arcade Fire

"The Doctor is Submarining through our brains." --Teague

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Re: Your 5 favorite albums

I'm too lazy to link to Youtube videos, but here's some of my favorites:

The Wake of Magellan by Savatage. before the group morphed into Trans Siberian Orchestra, Savatage did some great concept albums. This one could easily swap places with Dead Winter Dead.

Selling England By The Pound by Genesis.

Duke by Genesis. Depending on my mood, you could swap in Wind and Wuthering as far as what's the best of the Phil Collins era.

Haunted by Poe. She only did two albums that I can see, but this tribute to her late father is incredible.

The 13th Floor by Sirenia. Narrowing it down to one particular album from this group is hard, but I find myself going back to this one again and again.

I write stories! With words!
http://www.asstr.org/~Invid_Fan/

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Re: Your 5 favorite albums

I've got a big love for alot of different metal genres, so here are my personal picks, with samples for each.


1. Insomnium - Above The Weeping World (Melodic Death Metal, Finland)

http://www.on-parole.com/shop/18597-33801-large/insomnium-above-the-weeping-world-cd.jpg

Drawn To Black: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QThgIY5Vqdo
The Killjoy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYf3wP3l28k

In my opinion the best metal album ever made. The music is energetically melancholic and the lyrics are all poems, some even use, or are influenced by poets or poetry. All songs are masterpieces.




2. Fredrik Thordendal's Special Defects - Sol Niger Within (Experimental Metal, Sweden)

http://www.carlkingdom.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/sol-niger-within-fredrik-thordendals-special-defects.jpeg

Full Album: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7RaDa-S_Qf4

This album is absolutely insane, and the musicianship is prodigious. Polyrhythms, polymetrics, insane guitar solos, screaming, lovecraftian lyrics about the end of the universe and existence. One long album with no pauses.

Here is the drummer Morgan Ågren doing a medley from the album:

http://youtu.be/M1hmMBmnmLw?t=17m40s




3. Sybreed - Antares (Industrial Metal, Switzerland)

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2cfsmyHbHzU/TjW1jSp2iHI/AAAAAAAAAG8/I7ZttF7nWhs/s1600/Sybreed+Discografia.jpg

Emma 0: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KzEyvg2rqf0
Dynamic: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWq05c8Q7xU

Unique metal with wonderful melodies that never sounds ordinary, yet still have some obvious beauty to them. Also the production and sound/mixing are exquisite.


4. Decapitated - Organic Hallucinosis (Death Metal, Poland)

http://www.metal-archives.com/images/1/0/2/1/102186.jpg?1053

A Poem About An Old Prison Man: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IDFWD78Mesw

This album is as close as you'd come to something that can do actual physical harm. The guitars sound like buzzsaws and the drumming sounds like machine gun fire. The songs range from melt-your-face, to groovy.




5. Illidiance - Damage Theory (Cyber Metal, Russia)

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ohjrU0QC85o/TzRDZ87824I/AAAAAAAAAYA/L3sBz-lzaQo/s1600/illidiance.jpg

I Want To Believe: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_IqhwOiLZk
Cybergore Generation: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Fxr3d9VAJE

This album is just catchy as hell, and it has a very distinct sound.

Last edited by TechNoir (2013-02-13 14:36:41)

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Re: Your 5 favorite albums

I don't really like albums, mainly because I'll always like one or two tracks but dislike the rest. But... Blink 182's Enema of the State remains one of the only albums where I like almost all of the songs. Otherwise, my album collection consists of soundtracks.

Imagination will often carry us to worlds that never were. But without it we go nowhere. - Carl Sagan

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Re: Your 5 favorite albums

I thought long and hard and came up with these. One is a compilation but I like all of the songs on it-

Stevie Wonder- Songs In The Key Of Life
Kate Bush- Hounds Of Love
Queen- Greatest Hits
Genesis- Invisible Touch
Peter Gabriel- So

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Re: Your 5 favorite albums

I take it you're in the 35+ group, Jimmy tongue

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Re: Your 5 favorite albums

I am indeed. I hate the music of today big_smile

Last edited by Jimmy B (2013-02-13 17:54:32)

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Re: Your 5 favorite albums

Here are my 10 entries, in no particular order.  Youtube clips when I feel like it.  By definition, these are albums that I can put in now and still feel the same about them as I did when I first heard it.  No skipped tracks, and they all still make regular rotation in my itunes.

Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon
There are a few albums that as soon as you hear them, open up the possibilities of what music can be.  This is the first album I would just sit in my room and do nothing but listen to it, trying to suss out the different elements in the sound scape. 

Massive Attack - Mezzanine
I was a huge Portishead and Tricky fan (Pre-Millenium Tension ALMOST made the list), but this is an album you put in, and before you know it it's already over, and you're far more chill.  It's equal parts creepy and sexy, and can fit into almost any environment, like here, in a compilation of classic Film Noir

A Tribe Called Quest - The Low End Theory
While there were more influential Hip Hop albums I've listened to (Stroght Outta Compton, and Fear of a Black Planet come to mind) and overall better tracks (Pete Rock and CL Smooth's T.R.O.Y. is the greatest hip hop song ever, and I'll choke anyone who disagrees), this is the album that I can listen to today that feels timeless, while being very much of it's time.  It's also crazy amounts of fun.

TV on the Radio - Young Liars
While it's true that both Dear Science and Return to Cookie Mountain are probably better albums, the face that this 5 track EP contains 5 of their best songs helps.  This was another instance of a band taking all of it's influences, consuming them, and ejecting something entirely new.  Both sonically and lyrically ("I will by calmer than cream/making maps out of your dreams) I have yet to hear anyone like them.

But don't take my word for it.  Here is Trent Reznor and Peter Murphy performing a TVOTR song with TVOTR because they are such big fans of theirs.

Nine Inch Nails - Pretty Hate Machine
Top to bottom a great and revolutionary album.  Influenced by 80's electro, Joy Division, Bauhaus, and heroin probably.  Everyone's heard it, so no need for a clip.

Zero 7 - Simple Things
This album launched a few careers, and soundtracked a few movies.  If there was ever an album that felt like a season, this would be the official soundtrack to winter.  Props to this video which was shot documentary style of couples in love in central park, and then roto'd.  Same crew that did Waking Life.

Prodigy - Invaders Must Die
I first heard Prodgy in 1993 when I went to Germany and saw the video for Out of Space.  While Experience was practically worn out in my tape and later cd player, I think their most recent album is easily their best.  They have gained so much skill at what they do, and now that they're in their 40's, they lack all ability to give fucks.  This is from just a couple years ago, and they are still very much they cyberpunk anarchists they always were.

Depeche Mode - Some Great Reward
I used to hate DM growing up, primarily because the Armenian girls I went to school with were convinced that I looked like a young Martin Gore (after high school, however, that same fact got me laid at least twice).  Again, most people would list about 3 or 4 albums ahead of this one, but this is a deceptively strong album with a tone that was so different from it's Brit Pop peers.  The bass line and synth here are like a slow motion dogfight.

Orbital - Orbital II
I'll be free to admit I got turned onto Orbital because of the Mortal Kombat soundtrack.  But as soon as I got this album I DEVOURED the entire catalog and musically I was never the same.  This kicked off Eddie's club and rave days.  Thankfully all pictures have been destroyed.

Nick Drake - Pink Moon
Fun trivia, my Mom used to be a folk singer and songwriter who was signed to a small indie folk label for a while.  While she loved her Queen and Bon Jovi when I was a kid, I would periodically here this one, by sorta tragic figure Nick Drake.  Beautiful album, recorded in two days by himself in his apartment.  He turned in the masters and 48 hours later he was dead.  Enjoy!

Eddie Doty

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Re: Your 5 favorite albums

This is a hard list to come up with, because what I consider my favorite albums often change depending on which style I want to listen to the most at the moment. It's also a constant evolution. Two years ago it'd have been all progressive metal, but more and more I find myself going towards progressive rock. I guess I'll try to make that list as varied as possible.
Also, no particular order, because different styles bring different things to me. I won't prefer this one over that one.

Late note: I found impossible to stay within the 5 album limit. So my list will have 6 albums. Don't kill me in my sleep, please.

Spock's Beard - Snow

This is probably what defines me the most at the moment. Progressive rock with a great double-album telling a single story. The way I like to listen to music is much like watching a movie. There's a story, with a beginning, a development, and a conclusion. Music, with or without lyrics, tells the story, and makes you experience different feelings. Progressive music is much about that, which makes it go through a wide panel of styles.

Here's the album's overture song:

At that time, Spock's Beard was still led by Neal Morse, a guy I've learned to love as an artist. He's been having a prolific solo career, with albums that could be defined as progressive christian rock. He became a born-again Christian a few years ago and since then, his albums have been mostly on religious topics. I found it didn't disturb me in any way as a non-believer, because he tells them with amazing talent. Albums like Sola Scriptura or Testimony (a double-album about Morse's life and conversion to Christanity) are masterpieces of progressive rock to me.


Dream Theater - Scenes From a Memory

I don't listen that much to Dream Theater anymore, but this band is how I came to know about progressive music.  Every since I started playing guitar, John Petrucci has been my biggest inspiration and made me go towards a very technical approach to electric guitar playing.

Scenes From a Memory is also a concept-album (their only one, actually) and has no filler whatsoever. From the overture to the conclusion, everything is just perfect to me. SFaM will always remain my reference.


Pain of Salvation - The Perfect Element Part I

Yes, it's again progressive stuff, and it's again a concept-album.

This one's a hard album to listen to. Its music is very exhausting. It has its quiet moments, its heavy moments cannot even compare to death metal stuff, but their music is made in a way that makes you empty of energy - kinda. The album tells the story of a boy and a girl who both suffered abuse in their childhood and meet - for better of worse. It's a difficult topic (the song Used I'm about to link talks about the boy being raped and beaten by his father as a child, and if you listen to the lyrics, their implicit meaning is just horrific) and the music goes the same way. In the end, it's a very powerful album bringing very powerful emotions to the listener. Daniel Gildenlöw, the lead singer and lead guitarist (yes) of the band, is my favorite singer of all time. This guy's voice is amazing. He managed to bring tears to my eyes countless times.


Roine Stolt - The Flower King

The Flower Kings is a progressive rock band which sprang from their leader Roine Stolt's first solo album, The Flower King. Here, we go at the other end of the spectrum, with a band that is more or less about love. They're literally the kings of flowers.

Roine Stolt is another singer I love. He has a very particular voice, y'all should give it a listen. He's also an amazing guitarist who managed to create his own very particular style.

The song I'm linking is a 20 minute epic song called Hummanizzimo. It perfectly shows the quiet tones the band likes to play, with some extraordinary melodies that fill me with emotion.

These guys are all linked, really. A superband I love is Transatlantic, formed with Neal Morse, Roine Stolt, Mike Portnoy (Dream Theater's ex-drummer), Pete Trewavas (from the prog rock band Marillion), and Gildenlöw when they go live.


Peter Gabriel - Us

What can I say? Peter Gabriel, damn. My love for this man is beyond comprehension. I chose Us for the sake of choosing, but any album will fill me with joy. Every time I feel a little down, Solsbury Hill makes me happy again.

(this official video is also an amazing stop-motion work)

Metallica - Kill'em All

Again, had to choose. I don't listen to everything Metallica has ever made, but every album from Kill'em All to Black Album has songs I love. I've listened to Metallica since I was 13 and never stopped. It's filled with energy, and James Hetfield is still to this day one of my favorite singers of all time.

Sébastien Fraud
Instagram |Facebook

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Re: Your 5 favorite albums

1.  Godspeed You! Black Emperor - F# A# Infinity
2.  Swans - The Seer
3.  Aphex Twin - Selected Ambient Works Volume II
4.  King Crimson - In the Court of the Crimson King
5.  Death Grips - The Money Store

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Re: Your 5 favorite albums

Jimmy B wrote:

I am indeed. I hate the music of today big_smile

I enjoy a bit of everything, but to be fair, I think my list is *relatively* timeless.

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Re: Your 5 favorite albums

First of all, loading this thread almost killed my laptop.

Top Five Albums:

1) Space Jam OST
2) Space Jam OST
3) Space Jam OST
4) Space Jam OST
5) Space Jam OST


Main theme

I Believe I Can Fly

Like an Eagle

Doc Sub: NAME DROP ALERT! I totes went to school with Will Butler. If I had to choose a non-Space Jam album it would probably be an Arcade Fire album, Ghostbusters, Michael Jackson, and some John Williams.

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Re: Your 5 favorite albums

I'll probably get some flack for my #4 and #1 picks.

5. Zoso by Led Zeppelin
Also known as Runes, The Fourth Album, Four Symbols, or Led Zeppelin IV. This is my favorite fantasy-rock album, as well as an awesome hard-rock album because, apart from two songs ("The Battle of Evermore" and "Stairway to Heaven"), it's really actually not very fantasy in tone. It's the quintessential Zeppelin album because it perfectly represents the dichotomy of their two styles—heavy, sex-driven blues-rock and mystical folk tunes. "Stairway to Heaven" is, of course, the album's highlight—just as the album is a microcosm of Zeppelin, "Stairway" is a microcosm of the album, transitioning from mystical and haunting to shredding guitar and wailing vocals.
Top Three Songs:
3. "Black Dog"
2. "The Battle of Evermore"
1. "Stairway to Heaven"

4. The Black Parade by My Chemical Romance
Yes, their first two albums were pretty standard emo wailing, but My Chemical Romance did something stunning with The Black Parade. It's all over the place in terms of sound—shades of Pink Floyd and Queen at their most operatic mixed with touches of metal, blues, and gentle acoustic ballads—but all the songs are held together by the album's concept: a cancer patient who dies and reflects on his previous life as he struggles to find his place in the afterlife (the titular Black Parade). The story is shaky, but the lyrics from song to song stand on their own, and the music is deftly orchestrated and produced. It's called "The Sgt. Pepper of Screamo" for a reason.
Top Three Songs:
3. "Mama"
2. "Teenagers"
1. "The End./Dead!"

3. Abbey Road by The Beatles
The most prized of my vinyl collection. Apart from Sgt. Pepper, this album has the distinction of being the most tightly produced of the Fab Four's later work. The band largely abandoned the psychedelic sound that had dominated Revolver, Sgt. Pepper, and much of The White Album for this record, and focused instead on producing the best long goodbye possible for their fans. The result is an occasionally funny, often bittersweet collection of songs dominated by the b-side's "medley" (largely the result of production trickery by George Martin). Sgt. Pepper and Revolver are without a question the greatest of the Beatles' albums, but this is their best, in my opinion.
Top Three Songs:
3. "Here Comes the Sun"
2. "Come Together"
1. "Golden Slumbers/Carry That Weight/The End"

2. Who's Next by The Who
At their worst, The Who were overly pretentious, bloated, and dominated by guitarist/songwriter Pete Townshend's obsession with producing "great" music. At their best, however, they remain untouched, and this album is without a doubt the best of their best. Rescued from the ashes of Townshend's failed sci-fi rock opera Lifehouse, Who's Next is the album that is most representative of what made The Who great. The nine songs present flow perfectly from one to the next, from the jaw-droppingly catchy opening keyboard riff of "Baba O'Riley" to the last power chords of "Won't Get Fooled Again". Lead singer Roger Daltrey's vocals are incredibly strong, and counterpointed nicely by Townshend's vulnerable soprano. Townshend's synthesizer work remains some of the only examples of synths that avoid sounding dated; he was a master of the technology in its early days, keeping its use minimal but highly effective. Drummer Keith Moon is sloppy, all over the place, and incredibly fun to listen to, and John Entwistle's bass lines are masterful. Put together this astonishing musicianship with lyrics that range from the truly thoughtful to the wryly hilarious, and you have the best album to come out of the 1970s.
Top Three Songs:
3. "The Song Is Over"
2. "Getting in Tune"
1. "Baba O'Riley"

1. American Idiot by Green Day
I cannot call this the greatest album of all time (though it is, I feel, a great album, the epochal one of the first decade of the 2000s). It is, however, my eternal favorite, an album I genuinely love. It was the first rock album I ever listened to, and the one that really opened my eyes to music. In addition, I connected to it on an immensely personal level; the lyrics, which came before singer/songwriter Billie Joe Armstrong's descent into word salad territory, let fourteen-year-old me know I wasn't alone in feeling the emotions I felt. Its story—angry, apathetic teenage rebel called the Jesus of Suburbia runs away from home, meets an enabler in the form of St. Jimmy and a girlfriend in the form of Whatsername, and then has everything fall apart—is a fairly standard one, but told magnificently well through Armstrong's lyrics, which save for the occasional stumble are clear and affecting. The album's music is wildly varied, ranging from arena rock to punk fare to country-western ditties to acoustic ballads, and fueled by Armstrong's aggressive guitar playing and Tre Cool's manic drumming. The standout track, "Jesus of Suburbia", is a ten-minute mini-opera in the tradition of The Who's "A Quick One, While He's Away", and remains the band's single best song. Some remember the album as the point where Green Day "sold out". I prefer to think of it as their greatest work, an album that will stand the test of time as one of the great records of the early 2000s.
Top Three Songs:
3. "Holiday/Boulevard of Broken Dreams"
2. "Are We the Waiting/St. Jimmy"
1. "Jesus of Suburbia"

Last edited by Abbie (2013-02-13 22:39:58)

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Re: Your 5 favorite albums

Tomahawk wrote:
Jimmy B wrote:

I am indeed. I hate the music of today big_smile

I enjoy a bit of everything, but to be fair, I think my list is *relatively* timeless.

I don't like rap or hip hop. I just listed five albums that I can listen to every song on it.  I also like Aerosmith, ELO, Foo Fighters, Mumford and Sons, Thin Lizzy, AC/DC, Squeeze, Placebo, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Blink 182, Prince, Michael Jackson, The Police, Blondie, Hall and Oates, Talking Heads, Madness and David Bowie but none of them fit the criteria big_smile

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Re: Your 5 favorite albums

Darth Praxus wrote:

4. The Black Parade by My Chemical Romance
Yes, their first two albums were pretty standard emo wailing, but My Chemical Romance did something stunning with The Black Parade. It's all over the place in terms of sound—shades of Pink Floyd and Queen at their most operatic mixed with touches of metal, blues, and gentle acoustic ballads—but all the songs are held together by the album's concept: a cancer patient who dies and reflects on his previous life as he struggles to find his place in the afterlife (the titular Black Parade). The story is shaky, but the lyrics from song to song stand on their own, and the music is deftly orchestrated and produced. It's called "The Sgt. Pepper of Screamo" for a reason.
Top Three Songs:
3. "Mama"
2. "Teenagers"
1. "The End./Dead!"

You're god damn right.

Teague Chrystie

I have a tendency to fix your typos.

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Re: Your 5 favorite albums

I'm duty-bound to represent on behalf of my boy Cage.

It's weird that I can say things like that in my life, but there it is.

Teague Chrystie

I have a tendency to fix your typos.

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