A Little Help, Eh?

[Guest 5_moves_of_doom]

Alright, this here is a list of bands that I've been listening to song-by-song for years now, but when it comes time to actually drop by Circuit City and get one of their albums, I have no clue which to choose (most of these groups have been around long enough so that they have a gazillion albums, and even a gazillion "Best Of's"). I think this has a lot to do with me being raised on Kazaa and Napster, where I don't even need to bother with actual albums, but... anyhow, yeah. Can someone please go through this list of bands and suggest/give me some info on some of their albums? It'd be quite terrific of you, and appreciated.

 

 

Pink Floyd

 

The Rolling Stones (already have Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out!)

 

Eric Clapton

 

Bob Dylan

 

Elvis Costello

 

Jimi Hendrix

 

David Bowie

 

Queen (I have two of their "Best Of's," but hey, more Freddie Mercury never hurt anyone)

 

The Talking Heads

 

The Buzzcocks

 

REM

 

Duran Duran (yes, I'm serious... shut up, "Rio" is damn good)

 

Frank Zappa

 

The Smiths

 

 

A big "danke" to anyone who helps me out, and I know that's a long list... so even helping me out with a few of them would be just peachy. Thanks.

[Guest Edwin MacPhisto]

Stones - Start with Let It Bleed, and then graduate to Exile on Main Street.

 

Dylan - Highway 61 Revisited is a good mix of accessible and experimental. Good place to start. I like it a little better than Blonde on Blonde for a beginner.

 

Costello - This Year's Model, no question in my mind.

 

Bowie - Hunky Dory or Ziggy Stardust. Be wary of the major change in his sound that starts with Low.

 

Duran Duran - Greatest. You just want the hits album, really. Album tracks are rarely worth it and you get all the songs you actually want with them.

 

I'd also say Automatic for the People is a goodie for R.E.M., but that's kinda halfway through their career. Everything before that that I've heard is pretty cool too and they might be fun to do chronologically. Document is also a good early-middle one to go with. Talking Heads...Remain in Light is great and a safe start, but I'm not familiar enough with their earlier albums to really say if it's more rewarding to start at the beginning.

[Guest Steviekick]

I too think you should just stick to Duran Duran's best of album. Some of their stuff is really bad. Do check out their album "Thank You", where they cover their favorite songs. Their versions of Public Enemy's "911 Is A Joke" and Grandmaster Flash and the Furious 5's "White Lines" are criminally brilliant.

[rising up out of the back seat-nuh 0]

Queen are definately best served by the "best of" albums. If you post your favorite songs off them, I might be able to help, but A Night At The Opera is the critics favorite, while Queen II, A Kind Of Magic, Sheer Heart Attack and Innuendo have their fans too.

 

Floyd: Under NO circumstances get the best of album. Wish you were here and Dark Side Of The Moon are your best bets, but Meddle, Animals and Piper At The Gates Of Dawn get good love too.

 

The Smiths: Get a best of if possible. as they were a consistant singles band, and a good compilation will glue together like any great album. If you want a studio release, try The Queen Is Dead, which is considered their best by most.

 

REM: Get Automatic For The People first. It distills everything there is to love about this band in one album. From there, try Document, Out Of Time or anything with a song you like on it.

 

The rest I don't know well enough to comment...

[Guest Mystery Eskimo]

Costello- My Aim is True to see where it all comes from. Blood & Chocolate for the fully matured, kick ass version. Avoid Almost Blue and Punch the Clock.

 

REM- conventional wisdom is Automatic and Out of Time are the best albums, and they're damned good. But my favourites are Fables and New Adventures in Hi-Fi.

 

The Smiths- avoid crappy compilations. Buy The Queen is Dead.

[Guest 5_moves_of_doom]

Thanks to everyone who's replied so far. I pretty much had a good idea that Duran Duran and Queen were best suited for "Best-Of's," but that "Thank You" album seems quite interesting. Might pick it up.

 

Also had a good idea of what to get Pink Floyd-wise... but yeah, at Circuit City they must have about ten different "Best Of's" or versions of "The Wall"... so that got me a bit confused.

 

Thanks again, though. Even more suggestions would be teh appreciated, anyway.

[rising up out of the back seat-nuh 0]

The Smiths- avoid crappy compilations. Buy The Queen is Dead.

The Singles > The Queen Is Dead.

 

That album never clicked for me for some reason...

[Guest Youth N Asia]

REM.

 

Chronic Town...only 5 songs, but they're very good. You might be able to find it at the end of Dead Letter Office, that's what mine's on.

 

Murmur...fantastic. You can't understand all the words, lots of mumbling, but it makes it even better. Great songs: Pilgrimage, Shaking Through, Talk About the Passion, Sitting Still, Mortal Kiosh, Laughing, Perfect Circle, Catapult. Has a good garage feeling to it.

 

Reckoning...A little more polished then Murmur, has South Centrel Rain and other great songs: Harbor Coat, Time After Time, Letter Never Sent, Rockville.

 

Fables of the Reconstruction...a little filler on this one, unlike the albums before it there's a couple less then great and dull songs, but it also has some very good stuff: Green Grow The Rushes, Driver 8, Maps and Legends, Wendel Gee.

 

Life's Rich Pagent...a mellower album. Good stuff: Flowers of Guatamala (sp), Fall on me, What if We Give it Away, Superman (a Mike Mills track), Hyena. Better then Fables, but not as good as Murmur or Reckoning.

 

Doccument...some of the songs are a little peppy and almost goofy. Still a great album. Good Songs: King of Birds, Finest Worksong, It's The end of the world as we know it, also has The One I Love...which was their first top 10 hit.

 

Eponymous...this was IRS records just getting more product out of the band. It's pretty much songs from other albums, although it has a different version of Gardening at Night (off of Chronic Town) and that's great...not a must have though

 

Green...first album when they signed to Warner. Good stuff: You Are The Everything, Wrong Child, World Leader Pretend, Orange Crush, and an untitles 11th track...this is kind of in the middle of their stuff. Not their best, but not their worst.

 

Dead Letter Office...cool cd. Another release by IRS, just b-sides and unreleased material. 3 very good Velvet Underground/Lou Reed covers: Femme Fatal, There She Goes Again, Pale Blue Eyes. Cover of Toys in the Attic. A laughably bad cover of King of the Road. And other cool stuff. Worth picking up, and a must pick up if you can get the extended version with the 5 Chronic Town tracks.

 

Out of Time...huge album. But not my favorite. 2 cool Mike Mills songs: Near Wild Heaven, Texarcana. Couple big hits: Losing my Religion, Shiny Happy People. Other good tracks: Low, Country Feedback (great), and Belong (very different, but very cool)...I'd put this in about the middle of their stuff.

 

Automatic For the People...their masterpiece. Although I think I like Murmur better. Every song is very good or great. Very melow album, lots of piano and organs. Has the big hits Man on the Moon, and Everybody Hurts. Nightswimming is also an excelent track. Great album all the way through.

 

Monster...very good. And a huge seller. Lots of guitars and louder rock in this one. King of Comedy is a really bad song, but no other stinkers on there. Strange Curriencies is one of their greatest songs. Let Me In is about Kurt Cobain. Very good album.

 

New Adventures in Hi-Fi...not a big seller, but a great album. Standout tracks: The Wake Up Bomb, New Test Leper, Bittersweet Me, Be Mine, So Fast So Numb, Electrolight.

 

Up...hmm...what can I say about Up. It's the most hit and miss cd they have. The good stuff is good and the rest is not. Too much electronic stuff. Although At My Most Beautiful, Sad Professor, Walk Unafraid, Why Not Smile, Daysleeper, and a couple others are very good. But the rest is pretty blah.

 

Reveal...I honestly haven't listened to this one enough to fairly judge. All The Way To Reno is great though.

 

I've said my peace. In my opinion the best ones are:

 

Murmur

Reckoning

Automatic For The People

Monster (for Stange Currencies if nothing else)

New Adventures in Hi-Fi

and Chroic Town, whether you get it on its own or with Dead Letter Office

 

 

Peronsonally I own them all and like them all. They're all worth owning, the only ones I'd maybe pass on are Eponymous, and Up

 

REM is the best thing to come out of the 80s and song for song my favorite band of all time.

Edited July 26, 2003 by Youth N Asia

[Guest godthedog]

Eric Clapton: cream's greatest hits would probably be a good start.

 

The Rolling Stones: i'll disagree with edwin and say that 'sticky fingers' is the best starting place. i find 'let it bleed' kind of uneven and very idiosyncratic, 'sticky fingers' is just flat-out packed with GREAT blues-based songs. it's got everything: great riffs, great guitar work, raunchy songs (about morphine addiction, rape and the like), and it oozes that attitude the stones were famous for.

 

Jimi Hendrix: go in chronological order: start with 'are you experienced' (just great rock music), go to 'axis: bold as love' (a little more pop-oriented), keep going to 'electric ladyland' (all over the place & his best album, but it's a lot to take for a first-timer).

 

The Talking Heads: i second the 'remain in light' recommendation.

 

Monster...very good. And a huge seller. Lots of guitars and louder rock in this one. King of Comedy is a really bad song, but no other stinkers on there. Strange Curriencies is one of their greatest songs. Let Me In is about Kurt Cobain. Very good album.

my god...an REM fan who loves 'monster'? i didn't know they existed anymore. you're an inspiration to us all.

[Guest Lethargic]

Get the Buzzcock's Singles Going Steady. Lots of kick ass stuff on there. One of the most under-rated bands ever.

[Guest ArkhamGlobe]

Pink Floyd - I'd probably suggest picking up Dark Side of the Moon and/or Wish You Were Here, as well as one of the early albums (Piper at the Gates of Dawn, Saucerful of Secrets, Meddle, et al).

 

 

Bob Dylan - I agree that Highway 61 is probably the best place to start.

 

 

Elvis Costello - I also agree wholeheartedly that This Year's Model is the best place to start here.

 

 

Queen - The albums tend to be a bit patchy, but if you want to get one I'd suggest A Night at the Opera.

 

 

Talking Heads - For some reason I've always thought of Speaking in Tongues as a good place to start, without really being able to explain why, especially as I personally I think both Fear of Music and Remain in Light are better albums.

[Guest Youth N Asia]

As far as Costello I'd get

 

My Aim Is True

This Year's Model

Get Happy

Armed Forces

Trust

 

The first 4 are must haves, and trust is pretty good too.

[Rendclaw 0]

I loved Monster, and I never was a huge REM fan... I'm a guitar-oriented guy, thats why I have a guitar-oriented music show on IRC (when I can get time to DJ), and the fact that they wrote a song titled after what some dude was muttering while beating the crap out of Dan Rather is a never-ending source of amusement for me.

[Guest Youth N Asia]

I loved Monster, and I never was a huge REM fan... I'm a guitar-oriented guy, thats why I have a guitar-oriented music show on IRC (when I can get time to DJ), and the fact that they wrote a song titled after what some dude was muttering while beating the crap out of Dan Rather is a never-ending source of amusement for me.

Yeah, "What's The Frequency Kennith"...that's just too cool not to use.

[Guest godthedog]

coincidentally, that's my least favorite song on that album.

[Guest Youth N Asia]

coincidentally, that's my least favorite song on that album.

You like "King of Comedy" better???

[Guest La Parka Es Mi Papa]

Get the Buzzcock's Singles Going Steady. Lots of kick ass stuff on there. One of the most under-rated bands ever.

Oh yes, The Buzzcocks were fantastic. Melodic punk rock, ala Green Day, only actually good and not dumb and juvenile.

 

I think the best place to start with the Stones is Begger's Banquet, and then get Exile On Main St.

 

As for Costello, I've only heard his first two albums in their entirety, but both are absolutely fantastic.

[Guest Agent of Oblivion]

Pink Floyd

 

Your best bet is either Meddle or Dark Side of the Moon.

 

Meddle is more diverse, exploring several different ends of the spectrum, Dark Side is great from beginning to end, and is the brightest moment of their "newer" material. In fact, if one were to draw a line between newer and older Floyd, this album would be it. Of course, if you get both, you can't lose.

 

Then, if you LOVE Meddle, go for more older stuff. If you LOVE Dark Side, get some newer stuff but avoid The Final Cut, for the most part.

 

Obscured by Clouds is kind of a middle child, as it came out just prior to DSOTM, but sounds a little like their older stuff. Either way, it's a great rock album, and is definitely worth checking out.

 

Albums you probably shouldn't listen to first:

 

Piper At The Gates of Dawn-Goofy tracks galore, mixed with some really good ones. They were completely out of focus on this album due to Syd Barrett being a nutcase. Some great psychedelic stuff on here, but they've got a lot better..

 

The Final Cut-Really samey, really boring.

 

Ummagumma-Weird as fuck, but really damn good. The live disc is some great rock music, the studio cd is off the wall. Every member of the band basically went and wrote their stuff COMPLETELY on their own, and as a result, it has no cohesion at all, but it's a good idea in concept, and the songs are good, if a bit strange.

 

Frank Zappa

 

Definitely start with Apostrophe. It has Frank being only minimally stupid, with plenty of virtuoso guitar work, and good songs all around. Sheik Yerbouti is a fun one as well, although pretty much every song is devoted to various kinds of sex and sodomy, some of it is REALLY stupid, too.

 

Zoot Allures is a holy grail of awesome virtuoso-style riffage, and if you're into that, definitely get it.

 

The Mothers of Invention's older stuff, like Freak Out, and Wowie Zowie is pretty much completely and utterly conceived, written, recorded, and mastered under the heavy influence of various hallucinogens and god knows what else, so keep that in mind.

 

Overall, I can't really say anything to prepare you for what Zappa sounds like..he's incredibly diverse, and you either love it or hate it. Might want to download a few tracks first, like "Apostrophe", "Flakes", "Rubber Shirt", and "Help, I'm a rock."

[Guest Agent of Oblivion]

Other notes..

 

If for whatever reason you enjoy Floyd, you might be well-served to check out King Crimson, similar progressive band from the same time period, only WAAAAY more technical, and just as weird, only not nearly as catchy and memorable.

 

Another good Hendrix selection is his Blues release, which is a pretty self-explanatory title. Awesome acoustic work on here, and hot electric blues all over. Great cd.

[Murmuring Beast 0]

REM

 

Murmur (1983) A Stunning debut. Really energetic, fast, youthful, It doesn't make a lot of sense, but it's a great listen. I love it very much. *****

 

Reckoning (1984) A great follow up to Murmur. Very acoustic, folky, but very energetic. ****

 

Fables of the Reconstruction (1985) Very eerie album, but still very good. More electronic than Reckoning, but certainly not anything like the overporoduced pap of the time. ****

 

Life's Rich Pageant (1986) A fun album, but a bit patchy. Still are some really good songs on this. ***1/2

 

Document (1987) Outstanding A-Side, very political with quite a sarcastic tone to it. ****

 

Green (1988) First record with Warner Bros and some excellent songs on here. A-Side is like Pageant with a light theme, B-Side is much darker, more mature. ****

 

Out Of Time (1991) Disappointing album, a lot of very poor efforts on here. Losing My Religion, Country Feedback and Shiny Happy People made this a great seller, but by no means is this their best. ***

 

Automatic For The People (1992). Beautiful, the best album of the band's career, wonderful tunes, perfect production. I love each and every track. Continous theme of death and how to cope. *****

 

Monster (1994) Complete U-Turn from Automatic as they try and produce a gritty rock album. Some good songs, but the lyrics are generally poor and the overdone element of feedback hurts it. ***

 

New Adventures In Hi-Fi (1996) A great, complete album that most people hate first time round. I did, but then it grew on me and I realised how great this was. Very primitive. *****

 

Up (1998) Pretty much a load of crap. Billy Berry is replaced by drum machines. A mammoth disappointment that nearly finished the band off for good. Their worst. **

 

Reveal (2001) A very upbeat, some say overproduced album. Good songs here, quite electronically based like Up, but generally better with some songs possessing classic acoustic sounds. ***1/2

[Guest godthedog]

coincidentally, that's my least favorite song on that album.

You like "King of Comedy" better???

yup. "king of comedy" is a kinda fun little throwaway track, which has some novelty value and a unique sound. "what's the frequency, kenneth?" is pretty vanilla and bland.

[Murmuring Beast 0]

King Of Comedy is the best track on Monster. I love the deep breath Stipe takes at the start.

[Guest Mystery Eskimo]

Monster is great. "Strange Currencies" is like the cool version of "Everybody Hurts".

Up gets a load of shit thrown at it, but for an experimental album it's awesome. Much better than Reveal, which just stinks of lazyness.

[Guest BAR]

PINK FLOYD

 

1971 - Meddle: I like this album but not one of my favourites. I consider it a good album that was made great by Echoes.

 

1973 - Dark Side Of The Moon: This is what the Black Album was for Metallica and we all know that's far from their best. But, comparing it to that puts it down, but you get it.

 

1975 - Wish You Were Here: Classic. Probably the first you should get. Shine On's are some of their best work. Of course the title track and the rest is nice too.

 

1977 - Animals: Arguably the most solid and my favourite album from the Floyd.

 

1979 - The Wall: Get it but not first. A rock opera that costs more than you're average. At least it does here in England.

 

1983 - The Final Cut: Someone mentioned it being boring as I can agree with. But, my two favourite PF songs are on here. So get it, not yet though.

 

1994 - The Division Bell: Good shit. The first time Gilmour, Mason and Wright had the chance to work with each other properly since Animals.

 

2001 - Echoes: Avoid, even if you're a beginner.

 

Others:

 

David Gilmour In Concert: A great DVD. Doesn't perform too much Pink but the two Shine Ons, I enjoy more than the studios.

 

Roger Waters In The Flesh: Well worth your 20 quid. My favourite Floyd VHS/DVD.

 

Live At Pompeii: Very good, features the making of DSOTM.

 

As far as a first purchase, I'd go with 'Wish You Were Here'.

[rising up out of the back seat-nuh 0]

Piper At The Gates of Dawn-Goofy tracks galore, mixed with some really good ones. They were completely out of focus on this album due to Syd Barrett being a nutcase. Some great psychedelic stuff on here, but they've got a lot better..

 

The Final Cut-Really samey, really boring.

I know this is about the best albums to listen to first, but: BOOOO!

Those are my two favorite Floyd albums...