100 Favorite Albums (1 per Artist)
Submitted by pianoshootis on Mon, 09/12/2005 - 10:41
Tags:
- Sonic Youth - Daydream Nation
- Residents - Demons Dance Alone
- Jimi Hendrix - Electric Ladyland
- Wu-Tang Clan - Enter the Wu-Tang
- Ween - Chocolate and Cheese
- Funkadelic - Hardcore Jollies
- Red Hot Chili Peppers - Blood Sugar Sex Magik
- Blur - Parklife
- Melt-Banana - Cell-Scape
- Richard Thompson - Shoot Out the Lights
- Tribe Called Quest - Low End Theory
- Faith No More - Angel Dust
- James Brown - Payback
- Getz/Gilberto
- Beastie Boys - Paul's Boutique
- Beatles - Revolver
- Monkees - Head
- Parliament - Motor Booty Affair
- Velvet Underground - Velvet Underground
- Gang of Four - Entertainment!
- Smokey & Miho - Two EPs
- Tom Waits - Swordfishtrombones
- De La Soul - De La Soul is Dead
- Rosemary Clooney - Blue Rose
- Mr. Bungle - California
- Frank Zappa - Hot Rats
- My Bloody Valentine - Isn't Anything
- Slick Rick - Great Adventures of Slick Rick
- Pixies - Bossanova
- Simon and Garfunkel - Sounds of Silence
- Talking Heads - Little Creatures
- Warren Zevon - Excitable Boy
- Cibo Matto - Stereo Type A
- Luscious Jackson - Natural Ingredients
- Slint - Spiderland
- King Crimson - In the Court of the Crimson King
- Captain Beefheart - Safe as Milk
- Anita O'Day - Pick Yourself Up
- Nirvana - In Utero
- Pavement - Crooked Rain Crooked Rain
- Primus - Pork Soda
- Cream - Disreali Gears
- Electric Six - Fire
- Isaac Hayes - Black Moses
- Chet Baker - Chet Baker Sings
- REM - Document
- Breeders - Title TK
- B-52s - Cosmic Thing
- Birthday Party - Prayers on Fire
- Kinky Friedman - Sold American
- Blondie - Parallel Lines
- Dr. Dre - Chronic
- Otis Redding - Complete and Unbelievable
- John Lennon - Double Fantasy
- Stooges - Fun House
- Ute Lemper - Blood & Feathers
- Ol' Dirty Bastard - Return to the 36 Chambers
- Gene Vincent - Bluejean Bop
- MC5 - Kick Out the Jams
- Television - Marquee Moon
- XTC - Drums and Wires
- Bjork - Debut
- Le Tigre - Le Tigre
- Carpenters - Close to You
- Tori Amos - Beekeeper
- Public Enemy - It Takes a Nation of Millions
- cLOUDDEAD - cLOUDDEAD
- At the Drive-In - Relationship of Command
- Prince - 1999
- Beach Boys - Pet Sounds
- Del the Funky Homosapien - Both Sides of the Brain
- Fugazi - Steady Diet of Nothing
- Insane Clown Posse - Amazing Jeckel Brothers
- Captain Howdy - Money Feeds My Music Machine
- Throwing Muses - Real Ramona
- Chuck Berry - Berry is on Top
- Dinah Washington - Dinah Jams
- Shivaree - I Oughtta Give You a Shot in the Head
- Sugarcubes - Life's Too Good
- Sleater-Kinney - Woods
- Green Milk from the Planet Orange - City Calls Revolution
- Free Kitten - Nice Ass
- Monks - Black Monk Time
- Smokey Robinson - Pure Smokey
- Suicidal Tendencies - How Will I Laugh Tomorrow
- Tomahawk - Tomahawk
- Peaches - Teaches of Peaches
- Moistboyz - Moistboyz II
- Butter 08 - Butter 08
- Michael Nesmith - Tropical Campfires
- Eric Dolphy - Illinois Concert
- Black Sabbath - Paranoid
- Screaming Trees - Sweet Oblivion
- Cocteau Twins - Head Over Heels
- Digital Underground - Sex Packets
- Russell Simins - Public Places
- Leonard Cohen - Songs of Leonard Cohen
- Pink Floyd - Wall
- Beck - Odelay!
- Pearl Jam - Ten
One of the most F'ed up lists I've seen. Great picks!
Thanks. I wasn't sure because it's mostly modern rock with just enough oddities to throw it off balance.
I really like your Daydream Nation pick at numero uno. That album is just smokin. I'm also glad to see you've unwrapped the endless depth that is Electric Ladyland. Few give it enough time to open up to them. It really is Hendrix's finest, though Are You Experienced? gets most of the nods.
Ever try "In The Aeroplane Over The Sea" by Neutral Milk Hotel?
What about Dylan? What do you think about him?
It's amazing how strong his debut was, every song on Are You Experienced? is a classic. And it's even more amazing how quickly he expanded. It almost feels like he couldn't record quickly enough to keep up with all of his developments, or slow down enough to get together a proper collaboration.
I never tried any Neutral Milk Hotel. Their used CDs don't sell for cheap.
Dylan doesn't impress me much. His songwriting is far outstripped by Leonard Cohen.
I haven't even listened to Daydream Nation in years. In my sophomore year of high school I had it (and BloodSugarSexMagik) on a constant loop and it made such a huge impression on me, I don't think anything I hear again in my life will compare.
In The Aeroplane Over The Sea will stun you. It is jaw-dropping. I can think of almost nothing that can touch it. I have to go almost wholly into the unfair realms of Beethoven, Bach, Mozart, Coltrane, Miles Davis, some Brahms, very few rock albums, and miscellaneous others to find the equivelant or slightly better musical works. Now, I almost always tell someone before I recommend it to them that it's not for everyone, because it's just so relentlessly emotional and unfailingly intense (and some I assume, wouldn't be able to handle it), but it's one of 4 or 5 albums I can confidently hand to someone out of the blue and say, "Have you ever heard the greatest album of all time?" totally straight-faced, and expect them to eventually agree, despite the subjective reality of music. It is forcefully magnetic. It is well worth your money. I strongly doubt you'll be disappointed.
As for the price, I don't understand. I can easily find a new In The Aeroplane Over The Sea for 13 bucks. It just got reissued about month or two ago, so if you go to any respectable CD retailer, you shouldn't have trouble finding it for a decent price.
As for Hendrix, I agree. I think it's a very good possibility he could've gone on to become the greatest rock artist of all time, were he to continue expanding his craft. The developments he made in such a short time were unbelievable.
As for the Cohen and Dylan comparison. Cohen's incredible, and if you think he's better that's understandable, but isn't "far outstripped" going a little too far? Heard any Highway 61 Revisited lately?
I just don't like Dylan. His songs are simple and boring to me. Part of his genius might lie in making complex songs accessible--a lot of people who know more about it than me would probably say so--but it doesn't have any affinity for me.
13 bucks doesn't seem high to you? Somehow I've gotten accustomed to paying 3-8 for most CDs. I swear I'll get it someday.
I can see your viewpoint on Dylan. He's not the easiest head case to crack.
It took a handful of listens initially to really 'get him'. I'd start with Blonde On Blonde.
Give it about 5-6 listens and somewhere along the line it will probably hit you like a ton of bricks.
I've actually heard most all of his early stuff several times because my dad is a big Dylan fan. That doesn't necessarily close the door; I heard the Beatles all my life before I discovered them like the proverbial girl next door.
Blonde on Blonde is coming in the mail and I'll let you know when I change my mind about him.
I picked up that Neutral Milk cd for $8. It's really good, like a cross between Yo La Tengo and Gordon Lightfoot.
I've been listening to Aeroplane more and more. It's just as powerful as you say and I'm glad you told me to get it. I've just ordered Avery Island.
On a strictly personal note, I haven't had much experience with the emotions Aeroplane expresses and it took some time for me to acclimatize. Have you heard the Residents' Demons Dance Alone yet? That hit me instantly with same kind of force though, strangely, a lot of people don't even like it.
Yes!
One more Aeroplane fan! That's great!
That album will serve you forever.
As for the Residents, I have (get this!) NEVER heard them (except briefly)!
I tried to pick up Not Available today and, true to its title, it wasn't.
I checked quick snippets out on that one and found it to be the most interesting to me. I haven't tested out Demons Dance Alone yet but if you're telling me it's on par with Aeroplane I promise you I will!
Also, Surfer Rosa or Doolittle by the Pixies? I saw Bossanova so I had to ask.
Fun House by The Stooges? That is one of the most intense albums ever. Based on what you have here I think you'd like it.
I could easily have gone with Surfer Rosa or Doolittle, the three are so close. I just chose Bossanova because "Velouria" and "Havalina" are two of my favorites.
I do like Fun House, it's right there at #55. As soon as I heard it, I immediately bought the other two Stooges albums, and they're decent, but they don't come close to Fun House.
I must've missed Fun House. Good to see it on there. When I posted that comment I forgot you were only choosing one album per artist.
You know this is an odd list, and it includes many albums I like very much, and several I shall have to seek out.
What do you have to seek out? I would have guessed that you already had everything here.
Lol, no way, I have less than half of this list. Some of it I'm not too interested in: hip-hop, rap, and noisecore have yet to appeal to me, generally. I'm on the prowl for some Ween and Richard Thompson, and I still don't have Songs of Leonard Cohen.
Cool list. But what about the Piano Man?
You mean Billy Joel? I've never given him a chance. I'm not aware that I've even heard anything of his besides "We Didn't Start the Fire", which was just okay. Ween does a decent cover of "Piano Man". I've never even encountered anyone who spoke very enthusiastically about him.
Billy Joel is a great artist. But I don't know (and I don't want to) the cover by Ween. "Piano Man" is perfect as it is.
I've been working to find a personal album recommendation for you for this game. Have you heard either of these albums?
Peter Green - The End of the Game
Art Bears - Hopes and Fears
I've heard of Art Bears but knew nothing about them. The other is completely foreign to me. I don't see a cheap used copy of either one online right now, but I'll see if I can download some.
Since I don't recognize any all-instrumental albums among your favorites, my recommendation is Art Bears - Hopes and Fears (1978), which you can download in very high-quality, no-DRM MP3 via a free emusic trial here.
I do happen to have one all-instrumental album on my list, the Eric Dolphy concert.
Damned good call on the Art Bears rec. As soon as I heard Dagmar Krause's voice the first thing I thought of was Brecht/Weill, and sure enough there's a connection. Tell me, did you infer my like of B/W or was it intuition?
It's only too bad the CDs are expensive. I need to have hard copies with the artwork and all. I might buy the box set here in a minute.
Nope, I got lucky! The Brecht/Weill angle wasn't the one I was playing at all, but now it slaps me in the face. I'm thrilled you like The Art Bears so much!
Would you mind posting your comments on the album here, so they are on the game's page?
Gave you a rave review on your game. If you think of anything else, maybe in a different direction, I'm all ears.
As for your sorta/kinda recommendation for me (B/W), I just received Threepenny Opera and Mahogany is on its way.
I've only heard a few operas (Tristan, Einstein, El Niño, and a couple others). Can you recommend some?
I haven't seen many either, so I can't give you any sophisticated choices. #1 I'd recommend John Gay's "Beggar's Opera". Some obvious ones you might have already heard: Gounod's "Faust", Mozart's "Magic Flute", Puccini's "Madama Butterly" (I hate the plot, but the music's great). As a sampler, you could watch the 1987 movie "Aria" which is ten short operatic films by the likes of Godard, Roeg, Altman, others.
Re: Dinah Washington - Dinah Jams
You ain't kiddin'. The inimitable Clark Terry, Washington's fabulous voice, Maynard Ferguson desperately treading water and the unbelievable Clifford Brown/Max Roach Quintet. You can hear how Brownie and Max were on an entirely different plane of existence. Oh how I wish the record companies had given Dinah Washington better material to work with.
I've always thought that her voice sounded like a cross between Billie Holiday and Donna Summer but I never tell anyone because of the weird looks I get.
needs more country.
I know, and I'm from the South. I like Johnny Cash okay, but not enough to list. And I've been meaning to get some Hank Williams. Other than that, I haven't heard any country that interested me. Any recommendations?
Hank Williams is great
check out the Alan Lomax southern voices series, especially anything with Hobart Smith, Almeda Riddle, Bookmiller Shannon, or Texas Gladden
The Flatlanders' More a Legend Than A Band and Now Again are wonderful. Anything The Carter Family did. Bellwether is a real nice modern country band. Home Late is a wonderful album
Some people are really into Gram Parsons, I've not found anything by him that I love yet.
Not sure if you're up for another recommendation, but I really bet you'd like After Dinner - Paradise Of Replica.