I've always wanted to hear that album....

[Davey]

You know the ones, we all have them, been on the wish list or in the back of your mind for years. Might be one you missed back "in the day" or something you saw on one of those everpresent greatest albums of all time lists that lately have been sprouting faster than weeds in spring. Or you've often heard it mentioned as an obscure influence on some of your favorite artists. Or it's one that has been tossed back and forth on your favorite music discussion board by some of your favorite boarders. Anyway, what comes to your mind?

One that I've always meant to check out is The Jesus and Mary Chain Psychocandy. I have a couple of their later albums but for some reason haven't yet made the journey back to the "big" one that supposedly inspired many of the artists I like today. I guess maybe that after hearing fans and critics talk about it for so long, I feel almost like I've already heard it? So why buy it now? :)

Another one that had been following me around for years was Joy Division Unknown Pleasures, but I finally remedied that earlier this year. Always liked Closer and have a couple different versions on vinyl, but for some reason stopped there. Big mistake.

Could probably list a hundred more, some critics faves, some not, some well known, some obscure, and many embarrassing. Never have heard what many consider Kraftwerk's masterpiece, Trans-Europe Express, even though I have the albums on each side of it. Weird, huh? Another that came up in a discussion a few days ago that reminded me I've never heard more than a couple songs from it is Pink Floyd The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn. Lots more where those came from. I remember quite a few I would love to hear after we did that Essential Albums (http://members.mailaka.net/davey/raverecsessentials.htm) list. Not from the top vote getter list, which I probably have all of, but from the individual lists. That's where the meat is. That was a fun and informative process. Guess I need to go back through it and make myself a list of essentials that I need to hear :)

[MindGoneHaywire]

Moby--Play. Every time I've heard it I've liked it.

Psychocandy, eh? Well worth, hearing, well worth having.

[DariusNYC]

Jay's gonna be mad. The first album that comes up in this category for me is The New York Dolls.

Also anything by Can, Kraftwerk, Brian Eno or The Jam.

[MindGoneHaywire]

My father used to tell me that only dogs get mad. Then again, he thinks the moon is made out of green cheese.

We've gotta hook up.

I never got Kraftwerk, but Can piques my curiosity & I liked what little I heard of them, which was long ago. I don't know much of Eno's solo work, but what little I have heard was not only pretentious but also tedious. Early Roxy Music much better.

I do think the 2nd Dolls album is better than the first, but I'm pretty much alone in my belief that the first Heartbreakers, David Johansen, & Sylvain Sylvain solo albums are actually better than either Dolls record. The live Dolls footage I've seen confirms--as do the albums--how important they were, and I do greatly prefer the records to, say, Aerosmith's early work, which is similar musically (I do think they borrowed from the Dolls' image) but just not as good to these ears. I just don't think they really got it down in the studio. But both albums are absolutely essential.

[mad rhetorik]

Nice to see ya Jay. Was worried that you left for good after that whole mess last week.


I don't know much of Eno's solo work, but what little I have heard was not only pretentious but also tedious. Early Roxy Music much better.

Based on all the positive chatter around here, I picked <b>Another Green World</b> using the money I got back from selling <b>Scenes From A Memory</b>, my only Dream Theater album (cue the flames from the fanatical DT crowd). I haven't heard any Roxy Music to the best of my knowledge.

As far as Moby's <b>Play</b> is concerned, I bought that about 3 years back. Aside from a few songs ("South Side" is a killer pop tune, no matter how you slice it, and there were a couple other noteworthy tracks), it was severely boring techno-lite muzak. Take one gospel sample, loop endlessly, add half-assed instrumentation, and repeat ad nauseum. "Minimalist" I can dig; this is just lazy. I sold it and bought <b>Loveless</b>. What a step up. That album had me blissed out for months.



I do think the 2nd Dolls album is better than the first, but I'm pretty much alone in my belief that the first Heartbreakers, David Johansen, & Sylvain Sylvain solo albums are actually better than either Dolls record. The live Dolls footage I've seen confirms--as do the albums--how important they were, and I do greatly prefer the records to, say, Aerosmith's early work, which is similar musically (I do think they borrowed from the Dolls' image) but just not as good to these ears. I just don't think they really got it down in the studio. But both albums are absolutely essential.

<b>Too Much Too Soon</b> better than the first?!?! GAH! Blasphemy. Sure, it ain't bad, but it didn't even come close in my mind to their debut. Except for the better sound quality.

I still haven't heard Heartbreakers or L.A.M.F. but I plan on rectifying that in the future.

[nobody]

Please don't shoot me, but I've never head any full LP by Big Star. I've heard bits and pieces, but never grabbed one, something I really need to do.

Psychocandy is really good, although I've always prefered darklands, for which I'm in the minority I would imagine.

I actually really liked Play. I think he sold so much to commercials and all that it got popular to diss him as a commercial sellout, but I think the record holds up well all the way through, although I could see that if you didn't like ambient stuff the latter half of the record could get boring.

And Darius, if you haven't heard anything by the Jam, I highly recommend you fix that as soon as possible. Pretty much anything by them is great. The compilation SNAP is a good introduction. I'd be surprised if no one around here has done a comp of them. If not, I may have to jump on that sometime soon.

[-Jar-]

Hmm.

Great topic Davey boy.

another title of this thread could be "gaping holes" - but, well, that's kind of another subject. Then I'll just go and embarass myself and talk about my total lack of Beatles, Stones and Who.. but, I regress..

Television - MARQUEE MOON. I heard a track from this on college radio a few months back.. totally rocked, it was totally something I would enjoy. Don't know why I never picked it up, or, should I say, haven't yet. It's on my list.

Alice In Chains - FACELIFT. I have a single with "We Die Young" and "It Ain't Like that" .. love both of those songs... just never got around to getting the album. Saw them live at the end of '92 in a fairly small hall and they delivered the goods. But back in 1990, I think I thought they were closer to Skid Row than to Soundgarden. Didn't care much about commercial metal then, was more into Slint and Jesus Lizard. But, after a few years I got over myself and started to get back into metal again. 14 years later, probably worth dropping a buck or two to pick it up.

Nick Cave - LET LOVE IN. HENRY'S DREAM is one of my favorite albums of all time. Same with THE GOOD SON. However, I remember when LET LOVE IN came out and I just did not connect with this album at all. It was just way overly dramatic and theatrical. Nick Cave cubed. However, after all these years, I think I might hear it with different ears.

Primal Scream - SCREAMADELICA. At the time I didn't know if they were supposed to be shoegazers or madchesters so I just kind of ignored them. Turns out this is a classic of early 90's British pop, but I've never heard it end to end.


-jar

[Stone]

I have never heard the first Stooges album, or any of John Cale's solo records save for the most recent one. I also have only heard maybe 3 of Bowie's albums, and I don't think I've ever heard Black Sea even though I have 5 or 6 other XTC albums. I don't have Fear of Music either, but I do have all of the other Talking Heads' proper albums.

I've never heard a King Crimson record either, but I'm not in any rush.

I agree too, Psychocandy is great stuff. I really like Darklands a lot too, but you don't get the fuzz, distortion, and feedback with any of their albums after the debut.

[3-LockBox]

I own the Legend CD (remastered) but have always meant to hear one of his albums in total (which I haven't done).

I've also always meant to hear U2's last album but just haven't bought it yet. I've always meant to hear a Macy Gray or Angie Stone album, but haven't made the leap yet.

I've been meaning to pick up that first Vines CD (I own the 2nd one), and I have yet to hear any Strokes album in its entirety.

And I only own one Who album on CD, but have always meant to pick up <i>The Who By Numbers</i> after hearing the song 'Don't Let Go The Coat' on an LP.

And I've never heard any Clash, New York Dolls, or Ramones album in their entirety either, and I do feel somewhat embarrised by that.

[Ex Lion Tamer]

But I'll start with...

The Kinks We re the Village Green Preservation Society, I've got most Kinks albums from this eraa, like Something Else and Arthur and Face to Face and Muswell Hillbillies and Lola, but I haven't been able to find this sucker on used vinyl, and I hear it's the best of the lot.

Never heard a Big Star album, and The Zombies, Odyssey and Oracle is a classic that I've yet to get my hands on.

And The Congos, Heart of the Congos is one that has been getting all kinds of press lately that I'd like to get my hands on.

There's a ton more but I'll leave it at that.

[Dusty Chalk]

Mine: Lacrimosa, Inferno -- as Davey said, I have the albums on either side, but not that one, and haven't spotted it yet. I've only just began hearing Stone Roses' Second Coming.
Please don't shoot me, but I've never head any full LP by Big Star.I don't think anyone has. I know a lot of people like to put it on their "seminal" lists, but...c'mon, who's actually heard it? I know I haven't...
I've never heard a King Crimson record either, but I'm not in any rush.[boldface mine - Ed.]Ar-ar.

[audiobill]

From the not too distant past, I'd have to say it's the Pixies that I have not fully explored. Indeed, both of their classics: "Surfer Rosa" and "DooLittle" I have not heard. It's kind of like the kid who gets through high school and into university, wihout really learning his 8 times tables.

The other glaring gap in my musical eduacation is never hearing The Minutemen's "Double Nickels On the Dime". Again, a similar faux pas that needs some serious remedial attention.

Most recently, I've missed each of the Drive by Truckers' releases. And there's something that tells me, from all that I've read on this board and in many reviews, that this is a band that I would really, really dig.

I'm sure there are more, but these are the glaring gaps that leap out at me, Sunday morning

Cheers,
Bill

[mad rhetorik]

I didn't really mention some albums that I've been meaning to hear (and plenty are on my list) yet never am able to get around to yet.

Haven't heard a good chunk of Husker Du's output. I have heard "Pink Turns To Blue" and "Turn On The News" from <b>Zen Arcade</b> on a comp, but not the rest. Haven't heard much beyond <b>Flip Your Wig</b> either, and <b>New Day Rising</b> is the only Husker album I own thus far.

Been meaning to pick up both <b>Confusion Is Sex/Kill Yr. Idols</b> and <b>Sister</b> from Sonic Youth after I heard both albums (courtesy of one of my friends) and immediately put them on my list. I have <b>Dirty</b> and <b>Murray Street</b>, which are both great but the earlier stuff is crazy good. Couldn't believe how much I enjoyed <b>Confusion Is Sex..</b> considering its infamous reputation. The cover of "I Wanna Be Your Dog" is rad.

Haven't heard The Stone Roses' <b>Second Coming</b> apart from "Love Spreads."

Haven't heard The Mahavishu Orchestra's <b>Inner Mounting Flame</b> yet.

Don't own any jazz pre-1950. I'm just not a fan of big band I guess, though there's some stuff that's definitely worthy (Ellington, early Bird 'n' Diz, Armstrong's Hot 5's & 7's, Basie, Fats Waller, Art Tatum, Billy Holiday, Ella). Sound quality on most of that is atrocious.

Don't own any Slayer. I'm just not a fan. Heard <b>Reign In Blood</b> and thought it sucked. Give me Dark Angel's <b>Darkness Descends</b> over it anyday. But some of the stuff from <b>South Of Heaven</b> and <b>Seasons In The Abyss</b> has appealed to me... will have to give 'em a listen. Don't have any Pantera either. The albums I've heard have their moments but are generally way inconsistent.

Don't own anything by Celtic Frost, though <b>Into The Pandemonium</b> has been on my list for like forever. Their early stuff is thudding and evil, but way primitive. Enough to pique my interest, though.

Not terribly familiar with Overkill or Exodus.

Don't have anything by Suffocation. I've heard plenty of their stuff and think they're okay, but they just never snagged my ears to the point where I'd rush out and drop cash for one of their albums.

Don't have any D.R.I. or Suicidal Tendencies yet.

Don't have any Carcass, though I've been meaning to pick up <b>Heartwork</b>. Their early stuff sucks, at least to my ears. Same goes with Napalm Death. Every time I hear that grindcore nonsense I'm more and more put off by it. Sure, I like "noisy"... but most grindcore seems more like a conscious effort to be "eXtreeM" rather than producing anything even remotely listenable.

Don't own any Jesus Lizard, Big Black, or Shellac albums yet (though I have heard plenty of each).

Don't own Acid Bath's <b>When The Kite String Pops</b>. I wanna like 'em, but their lyrics really freak me out. Real messed-up serial killer type stuff. ; P

Don't own Minor Threat's <b>Complete Discography</b>. I've heard it enough times though. All the sXe kids I know have it. Actually I'm almost sick of Minor Threat. Sure they were pretty good, but damn were they preachy, and their mindset resulted in bands like Earth Crisis and Gorilla Biscuits, crap the world could do without. I have similar feelings about Crass and most of those '80s Brit/anarcho/crust-punk outfits. At least the Dead Kennedys had a sense of humor.

Don't own anything by DJ Shadow yet.

I've been meaning to check out De La Soul, but haven't gotten around to 'em yet.

Don't own anything by The Smiths. Is it just me, or is Morrisey an insufferable whiner? At least Robert Smith doesn't throw on the pretentious, affected nonsense.

Haven't heard anything by The Fall.

Don't own any Gang Of Four yet, though <b>Entertainment!</b> is an album I've been on the lookout for.

Haven't heard much early industrial. The only thing that I've heard so far is Swans and early E.N. Haven't laid my ears on any Throbbing Gristle or SPK yet.

Been meaning to pick up Al Dimeola's <b>Elegant Gypsy</b>.

Wow, that's quite a list. And that's not even all of it.



From the not too distant past, I'd have to say it's the Pixies that I have not fully explored. Indeed, both of their classics: "Surfer Rosa" and "DooLittle" I have not heard. It's kind of like the kid who gets through high school and into university, wihout really learning his 8 times tables.

The other glaring gap in my musical eduacation is never hearing The Minutemen's "Double Nickels On the Dime". Again, a similar faux pas that needs some serious remedial attention.

Gah, this makes me mad. I'm merely one malfunctioning computer away from exposing you to those records. And damn it, you NEED those. They're like air and water. Seriously.

And BTW, I don't miss that DT. <b>Another Green World</b> is excellent.

[DarrenH]

Haven't heard The Stone Roses' <b>Second Coming</b> apart from "Love Spreads."

I actually like this more than their first album but I'm in the minority here.


Haven't heard The Mahavishu Orchestra's <b>Inner Mounting Flame</b> yet.

You should. If you like Birds Of Fire there's no reason you shouldn't like this.


Don't own any jazz pre-1950. I'm just not a fan of big band I guess, though there's some stuff that's definitely worthy (Ellington, early Bird 'n' Diz, Armstrong's Hot 5's & 7's, Basie, Fats Waller, Art Tatum, Billy Holiday, Ella). Sound quality on most of that is atrocious.

I picked up an Ellington box set titled Never No Lament: The Blanton-Webster Band 1940-42 and while the music is classic the sonics are indeed atrocious. Apparantly, that's as good as it's going to get too. Too bad. Also, I took some of your suggestions to heart from that jazz recommendations thread and picked up a couple of things. Diz and Bird's Jazz At Massey Hall which was titled "The Quintet", Thelonius Monk w/ John Coltrane and Wes Montgomery's The Incredible Jazz Guitar Of. All are most excellent so thanks for mentioning them. I saw that Ornette Coleman rec too but I had to draw the line and stop at three. I was supposed to be shopping for others. Ooops!


Been meaning to pick up Al Dimeola's <b>Elegant Gypsy</b>.

Great, great album. You're gonna love Mediterranean Sundance. Casino and Splendido Hotel, the follow-ups to Elegant Gypsy, are damn good as well.


And BTW, I don't miss that DT. <b>Another Green World</b> is excellent.

You like what you like. I won't hold that against you.

Darren

[DarrenH]

I've never heard one Joni Mitchell album and I'm only familiar with just a few songs.

Nothing from Joan Armatrading.

I've never listened to one James Taylor album although I do know his hits.

I've never listened to one Bob Dylan album although I do know his hits.

Never heard anything from Big Star. I'm curious to find out what all the hullabaloo is about.

Never heard anything from Moe, Drive By Truckers or String Cheese Incident and just one song from Widespread Panic. This music intrigues me and I wouldn't mind checking these bands out.

Darren

[-Jar-]

Haven't heard a good chunk of Husker Du's output. I have heard "Pink Turns To Blue" and "Turn On The News" from <b>Zen Arcade</b> on a comp, but not the rest. Haven't heard much beyond <b>Flip Your Wig</b> either, and <b>New Day Rising</b> is the only Husker album I own thus far.

Been meaning to pick up both <b>Confusion Is Sex/Kill Yr. Idols</b> and <b>Sister</b> from Sonic Youth after I heard both albums (courtesy of one of my friends) and immediately put them on my list. I have <b>Dirty</b> and <b>Murray Street</b>, which are both great but the earlier stuff is crazy good. Couldn't believe how much I enjoyed <b>Confusion Is Sex..</b> considering its infamous reputation. The cover of "I Wanna Be Your Dog" is rad.



Don't own anything by Celtic Frost, though <b>Into The Pandemonium</b> has been on my list for like forever. Their early stuff is thudding and evil, but way primitive. Enough to pique my interest, though.

Not terribly familiar with Overkill or Exodus.

Don't have anything by Suffocation. I've heard plenty of their stuff and think they're okay, but they just never snagged my ears to the point where I'd rush out and drop cash for one of their albums.


Don't own Acid Bath's <b>When The Kite String Pops</b>. I wanna like 'em, but their lyrics really freak me out. Real messed-up serial killer type stuff. ; P




Well, Husker Du is my favorite band.. difficult to say whether or not you'd like the rest of their stuff, but NDR is my favorite album of all time, obviously, my favorite Husker Du album.

As for SY.. I don't own any of their albums after Dirty. I really can't say I need any more Sonic Youth in my collection. It's like, ok, I feel like listening to Sonic Youth, as of right now, I have 8 albums to choose from, do I really need another? MAYBE WASHING MACHINE one of these days.. but that's a big maybe. EVOL is my favorite, though for me, the peak of their career is a trilogy.. BAD MOON RISING, EVOL and SISTER. I've always seen DAYDREAM NATION as sort of a distillation of everything that came before it.

I love Acid Bath for the music, I really don't listen to the lyrics all that much, but yea, some pretty disturbing lines to go by on occasion.. :)

I guess I've always loved Celtic Frost for the specific reason that they're so primitive, but just damn heavy. Plus I love Tom G. Warrior's "UGHs!!"

I was going to type more but a 5 year old here wants to use the computer.

-jar

[Dave_G]

I heard some Big Star before and thought they were no big deal.

I want to hear The Godz albums and Bloodrock albums and want some old INXS

Would like to have a more in-depth reggae collection too and also check out some Can, Tygers of Pan-Tang, Echolyn, SAGA, some of the real old school PIL and the Damned, some Plasmatics, Neil Youngs Greendale, and more.

Dave

[audiobill]

I know, I know.

Water & Air......but I still have not heard them, Mad R.

Cheers,
Bill

[Mr MidFi]

Let's just say that all of my most shameful "misses" have already been mentioned in this thread...the most notable of which are probably Surfer Rosa, Marquee Moon, Big Star (either one), and Zen Arcade. And suffice it to say I'm tempted to track some of you people down and force you to listen to some of the stuff you've been missing (I'm not naming names).

Wouldn't it be great if we could spend a day or two crashing at someone's place and taking turns commandeering the stereo..."dude, you have to hear this, it'll change yer life"...drinking Davey's beer when he's not looking, and arguing about whether Massive Attack or The Stooges were more important?

[Davey]

Wouldn't it be great if we could spend a day or two crashing at someone's place and taking turns commandeering the stereo..."dude, you have to hear this, it'll change yer life"...drinking Davey's beer when he's not looking, and arguing about whether Massive Attack or The Stooges were more important?
Somebody set it up and we'll all crash at Jim Clark's house this year. He'll have to send the wife and kids packing for a few days, but yeah, I'll buy the beer. Maybe bring a couple CDs too. Who's got the sign-up sheet? :)