10 Must-Have Albums...

[PeruvianSkies]

Rules are simple:

Pick 10 albums that you think are MUST-HAVE's.

Then, when 3 people have posted the same title, it goes to the master list of the top 10 MUST HAVE's. We can keep this going until we have our first 10 selections...

Here are mine:

Miles Davis KIND OF BLUE (quite obvious)
Steely Dans AJA (also quite obvious)
Alan Parsons Project TALES OF MYSTERY AND IMAGINATION
The Who TOMMY
The Smashing Pumpkins MELLON COLLIE & the INFINITE SADNESS
Rush 2112
Neil Young HARVEST
David Bowie ZIGGY STARDUST
Stevie Wonder INNVERVISIONS
Depeche Mode VIOLATOR

[Wireworm5]

I think it's going to be impossible to get 10 reference albums let alone 5 that we can all agree on. And compiling a list of Only ten is like pulling teeth.

My ten Must haves:

Deep Purple- Made in Japan
Jean-Michel Jarre- Magnetic Fields
Klaus Schulze 'X'
Porcupine Tree- Arriving Somewhere
Ten Years After- Live at the Flimore East
Iron Butterfly- In-A-Godda-da-Vida
Mike Oldfield- Tubular Bells III
Golden Earring- Moontan
Grand Funk- Caught in the Act
Emerson Lake & Palmer- Show that Never Ends

[RoyY51]

My 10 Must-Haves are all albums that had a profound effect on me during my musical career. They are also (for the most part) albums that had a major influence on the music industry in general. I still occasionally spin them to visit Probably Best Left Forgotten memories.

They are, in no particular order:

Aqualung - Jethro Tull
Tapestry - Carol King
Hotel California - The Eagles
Highway 61 Revisited - Bob Dylan
Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band - The Beatles
The Heart of Saturday Night - Tom Waits
Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin
Harvest - Neil Young
Thriller - Michael Jackson
Live at the Beacon Theater - James Taylor

[PeruvianSkies]

Looks like we have 2 already for HARVEST, so let's keep thing thing rolling...

It's not like we have to pick ONLY 10 to own, but generate 10 that would be worthy of owing and this seems like a cool way to get that list compiled.

[Luvin Da Blues]

I'm gunna post this real quick before it drives my nuts thinking about it....

Van Morrison - Some Blues
Allman Bros - Dreams
Alvin Lee - Pure Blues
Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here
Omar & The Howlers - Hard Times In The Land Of Plenty
Queen - Jazz
Joe Cocker - Organic
Steely Dan - Decade Of
Chris Rea - Road To Hell
Cat Stevens - Catch A Bull At Four

[PeruvianSkies]

I'm gunna post this real quick before it drives my nuts thinking about it....

Van Morrison - Some Blues
Allman Bros - Dreams
Alvin Lee - Pure Blues
Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here
Omar & The Howlers - Hard Times In The Land Of Plenty
Queen - Jazz
Joe Cocker - Organic
Steely Dan - Decade Of
Chris Rea - Road To Hell
Cat Stevens - Catch A Bull At Four

Good call on JAZZ.

[SlumpBuster]

Slumpy's jumpin' in to fcuk with the spread:

Okay, I'm leaving out alot of genres like Country, Techno and Funk. Keeping it electric guitar rock oriented. No Greatest Hits or Live records (so no Segar - Live Bullet/Maiden - Live After Death). Also, keep in mind my choices are always a little suspect because of my Disrespect for the Sacred Rock Canon. i.e. I have no Zepplin, Floyd, Nirvana, or the Beatles. And the only Hendrix record I have is Smash Hits.

1. AC/DC - High Voltage or Hiway to Hell (listeners choice )
- Bon Scott realy was the sh!t and the Young brothers really are that good. Simple doesn't necessarily equate with easy or elementary.

2. Boston - Boston
- I hate to admit it, but I still listen to this record all the time.

3. The Dandy Warhols - Welcome to the Monkey House.
- After Kurt Cobain blew his head off, the cure for what was ailing rock music was right there in the form of the Warhols - four people eager to be rockstars and willing to shamelessly and brilliantly rip off the Stones and George Harrison in the process. Problem was that nobody cared.

4. ELO - Out of the Blue
- In my head, ELO is like what everyone else hears when they are telling me the Beatles were so great. And yes, I know the connection.

5. Green Day - Dookie or American Idiot
- When Green Day did it once with Dookie, you could still hate on them. When the did it twice with American Idiot, no more hating is allowed. They are the only Multi-Platinum band that I can think of that made a wholly unflinching anti-war record. Does anyone else on a major label remember Rock and Roll?

6. Naked Raygun - Understand? or Jettison
- Hopefully, one day my son will ask me about Punk Rock. And rather than debating what is or isn't Punk, I will give him my Naked Raygun records and say "This is punk."

7. Oasis - Definately Maybe
- Fuggetaboutit. They really were bigger than the Beatles, well for two summers at least.

8. The Ramones - Road to Ruin
- I literally stole my first copy of Road to Ruin after seeing Rock and Roll High School on some saturday afternoon on TV. Mmmmmmmmmm.... stolen Ramones.

9. Social Distortion - Somewhere Between Heaven and Hell
- For anyone that says "I don't like punk..." This is the record for them.

10. Cindy Lauper - She's So Unusual
- Listed out of alphabetical order, this record is the antidote to all the CockRock listed above. This record is just stupid good, even after twenty years. Any stodgy best of 50 or 100 records list that doesn't include this album isn't worth the paper its on. If you already have this record, you're cool. If you don't have this record, well, then you have a homework assignment for tommorrow.

[PeruvianSkies]

Slumpy's jumpin' in to fcuk with the spread:

Okay, I'm leaving out alot of genres like Country, Techno and Funk. Keeping it electric guitar rock oriented. No Greatest Hits or Live records (so no Segar - Live Bullet/Maiden - Live After Death). Also, keep in mind my choices are always a little suspect because of my Disrespect for the Sacred Rock Canon. i.e. I have no Zepplin, Floyd, Nirvana, or the Beatles. And the only Hendrix record I have is Smash Hits.

1. AC/DC - High Voltage or Hiway to Hell (listeners choice )
- Bon Scott rely was the sh!t.

2. Boston - Boston
- I hate to admit it, but I still listen to this record all the time.

3. The Dandy Warhols - Welcome to the Monkey House.
- After Kurt Cobain blew his head off, the cure for what was ailing rock music was right there in the form of the Warhols - four people eager to be rockstars and willing to shamelessly and brilliantly rip off the Stones and George Harrison in the process. Problem was that nobody cared.

4. ELO - Out of the Blue
- In my head, ELO is like what everyone else hears when they are telling me the Beatles were so great. And yes, I know the connection.

5. Green Day - Dookie or American Idiot
- When Green Day did it once with Dookie, you could still hate on them. When the did it twice with American Idiot, no more hating is allowed.

6. Naked Raygun - Understand? or Jettison
- Hopefully, one day my son will ask me about Punk Rock. And rather than debating what is or isn't Punk, I will give him my Naked Raygun records and say "This is punk."

7. Oasis - Definately Maybe
- Fuggetaboutit. They really were bigger than the Beatles, well for two summers at least.

8. The Ramones - Road to Ruin
- I literally stole my first copy of Road to Ruin after seeing Rock and Roll High School on some saturday afternoon on TV. Mmmmmmmmmm.... stolen Ramones.

9. Social Distortion - Somewhere Between Heaven and Hell
- For anyone that says "I don't like punk..." This is the record for them.

10. Cindy Lauper - She's So Unusual
- Listed out of alphabetical order, this record is the antidote to all the CockRock listed above. This record is just stupid good, even after twenty years. Any stodgy best of 50 or 100 records list that doesn't include this album isn't worth the paper its on. If you already have this record, you're cool. If you don't have this record, well, then you have a homework assignment for tommorrow.

Some really great choices there! Great call on the BOSTON bit. I couldn't make up my mind on which ELO I love the most and it was the same for QUEEN.

[SlumpBuster]

Some really great choices there! Great call on the BOSTON bit. I couldn't make up my mind on which ELO I love the most and it was the same for QUEEN.

You quoted me before I was done editing my post. But thanks. I'm always up for suggesting an alternative, even if just to be contrarian. She's So Unusual is better than Tapestry. The Warhols do Floyd and Lou Reed better than Floyd and Lou Reed do Floyd and Lou Reed. The Eagles are a radio friendly rip off of The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, but with lots more cocaine and wasted money. And, Jim Croce is better than alot of other singer/song writers.

And not to bag on one of you choices (especially after complementing mine), but I'm going to anyway - I've just never gotten Neil Young. Frankly, everytime I hear or read any quote or interview, he just kinda seems like a d!ck. Plus, his whole spate of fcuked up records in the 80's just left me with a question mark next to his name. Oooooo.... yeah, this note is for you Neil... you're so anti-establishment, Neil. People say he was the Godfather of grundge... well, I didn't like Grunge either. (except for Pearl Jam and the first 20 seconds of Soundgarden's Rusty Cage - that intro rocked!)

Oh, and every list so far is wrong (including mine) for failing to include a Springsteen record.

[Mikkee33]

Great list, ACDC & ELO good choices

[Wireworm5]

I think the list is skewed already. I would like to add that I have parts of these albums in my collection. Like I generally buy Best of compilations. So of the albums posted some may qualify already for Must Haves, not my top ten however. Taken to extreme it comes down to most popular and we can find all kinds of Top Lists for that that are laughable.

Okay I'll agree to these albums or best of complations that contain versions of said artist that should be in one's collection.

Rush 2112
Neil Young- Harvest
Tapestry- Carol King
Hotel California- Eagles
Led Zepellin- Led Zepellin
Allman Bros.- Dreams
Pink Floyd- Wish You Were Here
Alvin Lee- Pure Blues
AC/DC- Back in Black

[thekid]

In no particular order but from my collection this are the ones I always drift to......

Jackson Browne-Running on Empty
Genesis- And then there were three
Bruce Springsteen- Darkness at the Edge of Town
Jonathan Edwards-Jonathan Edwards
Tom Waits-Closing Time
REM-Murmur
Pearl Jam-Ten
Dire Straits-Brothers in Arms
Alison Krause + Union Station-Live
Beatles- Revolver

With nods also to Jimmy Buffet's - Changes in Attitudes Changes in Latitudes and anything by Copeland-Mozart or Handel (if ain't Baroque don't mix it)

[kexodusc]

Ok, I'll play:

1) Rush - 2112 (edit: had Moving Pictures here by accident)
2) John Coltrane - Blue Train
3) Pink Floyd -DSOTM
4) Beethoven's 5th (and if it's Kleiber's I get the 7th for free!)
5) Miles Davis - Kind of Blue
6) B.B. King - Live at the Regal
7) Yes - Fragile
8) Dream Theater - Scenes From a Memory
9) Holst -The Planets
10) Nine Inch Nails - The Fragile

[pixelthis]

Let the old fart jump in

1. Kinda Blue

2.pretenders- learning to crawl

3.Rickie lee Jones self titled (used to be REQUIRED)

4. Stones- EXILE ON MAIN ST

5.Doors - LA woman

6. Led Zeppelin-Stairway to heaven

7. Fleetwood Mac- Rumours

8. bOB jAMES- Bob James 4

9. Getz and Gilberto- Girl from Ipanema (desert Island release)

10. Pink Floyd- Dark Side Of THE Moon (putting your schizoprenia to work for you)

There was a time when everywhere you went , Rickie Lee Jones, it was a great way to show off your system, the original master recording (album) is to die for.
And Peruvian likes Neil Young? Hope for you yet

[Feanor]

Rules are simple:

Pick 10 albums that you think are MUST-HAVE's.

Then, when 3 people have posted the same title, it goes to the master list of the top 10 MUST HAVE's. We can keep this going until we have our first 10 selections...

...

As a person who's 95% classical, 4% jazz, and 1% anything else, it's difficult to jump in to say anything intelligent. Nevertheless lack of anything to say has never really been a deterent for me.

I do have a minute jazz collection; a few I like especially are:

• Miles Davis,Kind of Blue -- rather obvious for sure
• Miles Davis, Round About Midnight
• Charles Mingus, Mingus Ah Um
• Bill Evans, Sunday at the Village Vangard
• Herbie Hancock, Maiden Voyage
• John Coltrane, Blue Train
• Dave Brubeck, Time Out
• Sonny Rollins, A Night at the Village Vanguard
• Wynton Marsalis, Black Codes (From theUnderground)
• Vince Guaraldi, Jazz Impressions of Black Orpheus

As for classical: Kex, good call on Kleiber's Beethoven 5th, but the problem here is that the great works have dozens, even hundreds of performances and choosing ten recordings as "top" is ridiculous.

See my list of core classical works ...
http://ca.geocities.com/w_d_bailey/CoreClassical.htm

[kexodusc]

As for classical: Kex, good call on Kleiber's Beethoven 5th, but the problem here is that the great works have dozens, even hundreds of performances and choosing ten recordings as "top" is ridiculous.
See my list of core classical works ...
http://ca.geocities.com/w_d_bailey/CoreClassical.htm

Pfffftt....says you...
Seriously...you're right. I just picked the ones I owned - and even some bad versions of these works would be welcome if I can only have 10.

[Rich-n-Texas]

1. Patti Smith: Horses.
2. Jimi Hendrix: Electric Lady Land.
3. Neil Young: Harvest (For Words).
4. The Beatles: The White album.
5. Led Zeppelin: 4th album.
6. Yes: Close to the Edge.
7. Genesis: Wind & Wuthering.
8. Jethro Tull: Warchild.
9. Pink Floyd: Dark Side of the Moon.
10. Allman Brothers Band: Eat a Peach.

This list is the same as my "Dessert Island Top 10" list except I have to sub a Beatles album with Harvest because I agree that it was one of Neil's best, and he is and was a very important contributor to the rock-n-roll genre.

[GMichael]

It's tough to keep this to just ten. Here are my picks though.

1 - ELP - Brain Salad Surgery.
2 - Kansas - Leftoverature.
3 - Rush - Moving Pictures.
4 - Yes - Fragile
5 - Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here.
6 - Rush - Caress of Steel.
7 - Yes - Close to the Edge.
8 - Rush - 2112.
9 - Pink Floyd - Animals.
10 - Ted Nugent - Double Live Gonzo.

Honerable mentions:

11 - AC/DC - Back in Black.
12 - Fleetwood Mac - Rumours.
13 - Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon.
14- Spira Gyra - Fast Forward.
15 - Boston - Boston.
16 - Eagles - Hotel Cal.
17 - Genesis - And then there were Three.
18 - Rush - Rush
19 - Rush - Fly By Night.
20 - Rush - A Farewell to Kings.

21 - Yes - Tormatto.
22 - Pink Floyd - The Wall.

Geez, this just goes on and on. I quit.

[jrhymeammo]

Classic Thread, PS!


1. Joe Puma - - Shining Hour
2. Grant Green – Idle Moment
3. Mobley’s 2nd Message
4. Nina Simone – Forbin Fruit
5. Leon Thomas – Live in Berlin
6. Sonny Stitt – Now!!
7. Jazzmatazz Vol. 1
8. King Crimson – Lizzard
9. Pete Townshend & Ronnie Lane - Rough Mix.
For the last one... I have to pick the one that's been mentioned numerous times.... Close to the Edge!!

I wanted to choose bobstick's summer comp, but I dont think he plans to have it pressed on vinyl...huh huh? C'mon BOBBY!!!

JRA

[PeruvianSkies]

Looks like we have a few that have already made it into the top 10....they are:

KIND OF BLUE
2112
HARVEST

[GMichael]

Looks like we have a few that have already made it into the top 10....they are:

KIND OF BLUE
2112
HARVEST

You left out Pink Floyd DSOTM and Wish you Were Here as well as Yes, Close to the Edge.

A few more who only need one more vote.
Eagles - HOTEL
ELP - Brain Salid Surgery (The Show that Never Ends)
AC/DC - Back N Black
BOSTON - Boston

[PeruvianSkies]

You left out Pink Floyd DSOTM and Wish you Were Here as well as Yes, Close to the Edge.

A few more who only need one more vote.
Eagles - HOTEL
ELP - Brain Salid Surgery (The Show that Never Ends)
AC/DC - Back N Black
BOSTON - Boston

Ok, so now the votes are:

Boston BOSTON
Pink Floyd DSOTM and WISH YOU WERE HERE
Yes FRAGILE
Neil Young HARVEST
Rush 2112
KIND OF BLUE

So that makes 7 with 3 empty places left.

[KidBoston]

Here's my 10: (I'm a product of the 80's with a strong Boston-based music influence)

Police – Synchronicity
Aerosmith – Toys in the Attic
Billy Squier – Don’t’ Say No
J. Geils Band – Love Stinks
Del Fuego’s – BOSTON, MASS.
Van Halen
Prince – Purple Rain
Def Leopard – Pyromania
Tom Petty – Damn the Torpedoes
Peter Gabriel - So

[drseid]

In no particular order...

1)Alison Krauss and Union Station - Live
2)AC/DC - Back in Black
3)Boston - Boston
4)Van Halen - 5150
5)Clannad - Landmarks
6)Erin Bode - Over and Over
7)Wynton Marsalis - Classic Wynton
8)Fleetwood Mac - Rumors
9)Iron Maiden - Powerslave
10)Metallica - Black

---Dave

[hifitommy]

but here are mine:

1. osamu-self titled-VERY rare and NOT on cd-japanese fusion for lack of a better term.

2. dire straits-love over gold-great tunes and playing, wowee dynamics.

3. moussorgsky's pictures at an exhibition-tomita-a nearly visual presentation; lorin maazel and the cleveland orchestra on telarc-quintessentioal performance, tempos right on the money, and VERY powerful, especially in the great gate of kiev finale.

4. miles davis-tutu-his best after the hiatus. he and marcus miller do a classic treatment to new music. another one to get if you can find it is 'siesta' which is a little like sketches.

5. little feat-last record album-loong distance love is my fave but the rest is fine as well.

6. bela fleck and the flecktones-flight of the cosmic hippo-title cut is a fantastic demo cut and example of electric bass playing by victor wooten. set up your sub using this and it will be just right.

7. zubin mehta and the LA phil-holst's the planets suite-perhaps the best planets of them all performance and recording wise. until recently, i didnt know it was heavily multimiked, a fact that eludes you in the listening. powerful, beuatiful, lyrical, and i never tire of it. the LP is the best, xrcd next (although i havent heard an sacd which may not even exist anyway).

8. robbie robertson-eponymous-daniel lanois produced, therefore juicy as hell, great rock and roll, well delivered and recorded. again the LP is best, cd pretty good too.

9. oliver nelson-the blues and the abstract truth-what a personnel lineup! stolen moments is worth the price of admission. i only have a digitally mastered reissue vinyl but have heard the LP (really good).

10. andreas vollenweider-caverna magica-got the cd first, pretty good, then the LP-MUCH better graphics and the sound is likewise. very spacious.

of course there are MANY more such as sergio mendes and brasil 66-primal roots- a very un-brasil 66 like album. more like REAL brasilian music, and hard to get as well.

as you can guess, i am mostly in the vinyl mode but much music is only available on cd, and some only on LP.