top __ albums

[Guest Incandenza]

Tell you what, Kinetic. I'll check out Blonde on Blonde. I will listen to it intently and repeatedly. You check out Waits' Swordfishtrombones. We'll compare notes. I can do this when I get paid on Friday.

[Guest Incandenza]

EDIT: My very first double post!

[Guest Kinetic]

Is that the Waits album you'd suggest for the novice?

[Guest goodhelmet]

why wait? just jump on kazaa and download the whole album. listen to it then decide if it is worth the purchase.

[Guest Incandenza]

Is that the Waits album you'd suggest for the novice?

Yes. Rain Dogs is slightly better, but Swordfishtrombones is like a perfect primer.

[Guest Edwin MacPhisto]

That Bob Dylan has got wild hair. He's a shady character.

 

I too will step out of the shadows and, while not quite as emphatically Dylan-sucks-like-a-two-dollar-whore-at-a-hose-factory as Incandenza, state that while I like Bob Dylan, I don't think he'll ever be one of my favorites. I love Blood on the Tracks and Highway 61 Revisited, but whenever I compile a list of my favorite albums or what I think are the best albums I've heard, I never think to include them. Something oblique about them keeps them out of my consciousness, despite the fact that they rule ungodly.

 

That said, my list, which is more personal favorites than quality, though I'll defend the quality of any of these to the death.

 

1. U2, Achtung Baby

2. The Beatles, Abbey Road

3. U2, The Joshua Tree

4. The Beatles, The Beatles (White Album)

5. The Clash, London Calling

6. The Velvet Underground, The Velvet Underground and Nico

7. Prince, Dirty Mind

8. Tori Amos, Boys for Pele

9. Modest Mouse, The Lonesome Crowded West

10. Tool, Aenima

11. Elvis Costello, This Year's Model

12. The Pixies, Doolittle

13. Radiohead, The Bends

14. The Smashing Pumpkins, Adore

15. The Beatles, Revolver

16. Prince, Sign O' The Times

17. Beastie Boys, Check Your Head

18. Tom Waits, Rain Dogs

19. Weezer, Pinkerton

 

And that's where I need to start thinking twice and struggling to add stuff, so I'll stop right there.

 

In other news, I think I'm the only guy on this board who really genuinely likes Prince. Oops.

[Guest Incandenza]

Say what I will about Dylan, but clearly, I am the only person here who recognizes the greatness of White Light/White Heat.

 

EDIT: I like Prince!

[Guest Kinetic]

You know, I always thought Adore was underrated for what it was. People were seemingly offended that the Smashing Pumpkins would do something so bold as record in a different style. And it isn't a terrible album...it has highs and lows and is a little spotty, like any of their other albums preceding that. The only one that really deserves all of the hate and backlash it received is Machina, which is probably the worst thing I've ever purchased at full price.

 

Edit: I kinda, sorta like Prince. Never enough to purchase an album, but I dig the singles. I probably should have nabbed my dad's copy of Purple Rain while I had the chance.

[Guest goodhelmet]

yeah, prince fucking rules but once again, it's a matter of grabbing the really good songs off of really mediocre albums. it's no surprise that his best work is the hits.

[Guest Edwin MacPhisto]

yeah, prince fucking rules but once again, it's a matter of grabbing the really good songs off of really mediocre albums. it's no surprise that his best work is the hits.

I find that's very true after, say, the year 1987 and Sign O' The Times. The weird Love Symbol album is great dance stuff, but aside from that, everything after Sign is definitely pick and choose. Fortunately, he's got Dirty Mind, Sign, and Purple Rain, which are pretty great start to finish, and then 1999 to a lesser extent.

 

Edit: Okay, maybe I was wrong about the whole Prince hate. Heh.

[Guest Incandenza]

What with the gift cards that'll be coming my way this holiday season, I'll take the opportunity to load up on Prince, or at least the ones that Pitchfork included in their top 100 of the 80s list.

[Guest goodhelmet]

you know, he had a really great disc entitled 'the truth' which was the fourth disc of the 'crystal ball' 4cd set. unfortunately, it was attached o the other 3 cd's. i mean, that cd would probably be considered one of the best albums of all time if it was allowed to stand on its own.

[Guest Edwin MacPhisto]

Yeah...same problem with Emancipation. It's either ballsy or outright nuts to release a 3-disc album, and in this case, that White Album style sprawl doesn't really work, cause 2/3 of this just sucks. Some of that stuff is outright gold...but man. Way to shoot yourself in the foot.

[Guest Incandenza]

Excluding albums that were originally double vinyl (but could fit on one CD), I'd say my favorite double disc/platter/whatever release is Wilco's Being There. So many double albums these days are loaded with filler, but man, every song on Being There is something to treasure. Even the "Outta Site" two-fer.

[Guest godthedog]

know what was a really boring double album? 'melon collie & the infinite sadness'. had some great stuff on it, but...jesus was it long-winded.

[Guest Incandenza]

On the rap tip, Wu Tang Clan had a solid record in Wu Tang Forever, but they foolishly spread it out over two discs.

[Guest goodhelmet]

know what was a really boring double album? 'melon collie & the infinite sadness'. had some great stuff on it, but...jesus was it long-winded.

i agree with this 100%. 'ruby' 'muzzle' 'here is no why' and a couple others are absolutely must have songs but THIS is the album that could have been a classic if you discarded the majority of the crap.

[Guest Kinetic]

Eh...some of the stuff on the second disc of Being There is pretty dull. They could have shaved "Someone Else's Song" from the album and fit it all on one disc, although it would have been long and disjointed. Agreed on the quality of the first disc, though. That was the first thing I ever heard from Wilco and I fell in love with it immediately.

[Guest Kinetic]

know what was a really boring double album?  'melon collie & the infinite sadness'.  had some great stuff on it, but...jesus was it long-winded.

i agree with this 100%. 'ruby' 'muzzle' 'here is no why' and a couple others are absolutely must have songs but THIS is the album that could have been a classic if you discarded the majority of the crap.

Just don't cut the suite of songs at the end of the second disc. It's all kind of twee and understated, which I prefer to the arena rock bombast that the Pumpkins eventually succumbed to entirely.

[Guest Incandenza]

Being There could fit on one disc without cutting any tracks, actually. But, as much as I love it, it would be too much to take in one sitting.

[Guest goodhelmet]

know what was a really boring double album?  'melon collie & the infinite sadness'.  had some great stuff on it, but...jesus was it long-winded.

i agree with this 100%. 'ruby' 'muzzle' 'here is no why' and a couple others are absolutely must have songs but THIS is the album that could have been a classic if you discarded the majority of the crap.

Just don't cut the suite of songs at the end of the second disc. It's all kind of twee and understated, which I prefer to the arena rock bombast that the Pumpkins eventually succumbed to entirely.

ok, if you're talking about 'machina' i can agree with that since that is the one pumpkins album i couldn't find one good keeper off of. then again, i prefer that to 'adore' whch is probably the most depressingly boring album of all time and i've heard entire barry manilow albums!

[Guest Kinetic]

Well, I'd like to cut "Someone Else's Song" for my own benefit, then. It sucks.

[Guest Incandenza]

Bite your tongue. "Someone Else's Song" is a lovely little number.

[Guest Kinetic]

Do you have Summerteeth, by any chance? That's a pretty marvelous album. I seriously considered putting it in my list in place of Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. I consider them to be about equal in overall quality.

[Guest Incandenza]

Of course. Summerteeth, as good as it is, lacks the emotional punch and tighter focus of Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, but it was still one of 1999's best albums.

[Guest Ozymandias]

Motherfucker, I got here too late, everyone's already named all the albums. I think.

 

Disclaimer: I'm not including Greatest Hits albums, since it's unfair to regular albums, but some of the best music I ever heard was on GH albums. In other words, excuse the criminal shortage of Dylan & Beatles albums.

 

 

 

1) Nirvana - In Utero

2) Beatles - Abbey Road

3) Pearl Jam - Ten

4) The Clash - The Clash

5) Nirvana - Nevermind

6) Nirvana - Unplugged in New York

7) Aimee Mann - Magnolia Soundtrack

8) U2 - Auchtung Baby

9) Eminem - The Marshall Mathers LP

10) Bob Dylan - Time Out of Mind

11) Radiohead - OK Computer

12) The Pixies - Surfer Rosa

13) Pearl Jam - Yield

14) The Beastie Boys - Check Your Head

15) Rage Against the Machine - The Battle of Los Angeles

16) Guns N’ Roses - Appetite for Destruction

17) The Clash - London Calling

18) Sebadoh - Sebadoh III

19) Radiohead - The Bends

20) Dr. Dre - The Chronic

21) Nine Inch Nails - The Downward Spiral

22) Rage Against the Machine - Rage Against the Machine

23) Dr. Dre - The Chronic 2001

24) Rolling Stones - Beggar's Banquet

25) Rancid - ...And Out Come the Wolves

[Guest godthedog]

good call bringing rage in, i'd forgotten about them completely. that's gotta be the most mind-blowing debut album ever.

 

just curious, why do you rate 'battle of los angeles' over the self-titled one?

[Guest Edwin MacPhisto]

Summerteeth is awesome. I haven't heard Being There yet (except for "Misunderstood" and "I Got You At The End Of The Century"), but I'd put Summerteeth way way up there. "I'm Always In Love" is one of the most jubilant songs I've ever heard even with that layer of melancholy under the surface. Sometimes I listen to it three or four times in a row without any problems at all.

 

Now, about Adore...

 

ok, if you're talking about 'machina' i can agree with that since that is the one pumpkins album i couldn't find one good keeper off of. then again, i prefer that to 'adore' whch is probably the most depressingly boring album of all time and i've heard entire barry manilow albums!

 

This is definitely the most common criticism I've dealt with in my Adore-love, and can be a pretty valid one if you pick the wrong tracks to listen to. For me, moments like "Daphne Descends," "Pug," and "Once Upon A Time" really break up the sort of melancholy with at least different rhythms. It's got what I think are Billy Corgan's best lyrics and, most importantly, the least of his often whiny screeches (which I do like, but in moderation, by god). Hell, his vocals on "To Sheila" and "Blank Page" and "Shame" are damn pretty.

 

And that is why I like Adore. I definitely recognize some flaws in the system, but I love it to death.

[Guest Edwin MacPhisto]

Yeah, Rage is another one that deserves to be up there. Haven't listened to it in a while, but wow, what power. I don't like Battle very much, but the debut is so hardcore groovy that it's almost worth the many years of piss-poor rap-rock/nu-metal that followed in its footsteps.

[Guest Ozymandias]

good call bringing rage in, i'd forgotten about them completely. that's gotta be the most mind-blowing debut album ever.

 

just curious, why do you rate 'battle of los angeles' over the self-titled one?

I just thought it was better crafted. The self-titled knocks you on your ass, but Battle feels fuller and deeper to me (and still contains PLETNY of knock-you on-your-ass moments for the uninitiated).

Nothing could ever duplicate the raw, beautiful, deadly honest rage (no other word fits) of the debut, but this comes close in that department and exceeds it everywhere else.