DrSleeplessIf you could only own 10 albums to listen to your whole life what would they be?
AdaNone? At that point, I’d just stop listening to music.
I can’t play albums as it is, because hearing the same artist, the same songs, in the same order every time drives me crazy
Mossy Feathers (She/Her)What kinda music have you listened to? Bands/artists who compose albums with a central concept and/or sound are a lot easier for me to listen to than albums that are collections of unconnected songs. For an example, Devin Townsend’s Ziltoid the Omniscient, and Empath, or King Gizzard’s PetroDragonic Apocalypse are way more listenable as a full album than some pop-music album designed to hit the top charts with maximum radio/streamablility.
I mean, yeah, the power of a well composed album is something special. The first 5 or 6 times…
But after that, I just can’t do it anymore. If I had only 10 albums to listen to, they’d pretty much sit ignored except for maybe once or twice a year
If you could shuffle 10 albums worth of songs it wouldn’t be that bad. I’m sure it would still get old but not knowing what’s going to play next is a much different experience than having to be locked into a whole album at a time.
I anticipate a metric ton of “best of” albums, but I’ll give it try avoiding that. In no particular order:
- Billy Joel - the Stranger
- Genisis - Genisis
- Beach Boys - Pet sounds
- the Beatles - Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band
- Muse - Resistance
- Rush - Permananent Waves
- Radiohead - OK Computer
- Boston - Boston
- Fleetwood Mac - Rumours
- Lynda
OldFartPhilLinda Ronstadt - What’s New (that will throw a few folks off the trail)
Not really, your tastes are very similar to mine. Although “What’s New” was just a gateway drug and now my music library is full of albums by Sarah Vaughan, Ella Fitzgerald, Anita O’Day, Carmen McRae, Joao Gilberto, Frank Sinatra and more.
Oh and updating my own list because I listened to it this weekend - Songs in the key of life, Stevie Wonder
Probably Rust in Peace
Humanity Still Producing New Art As Though Megadeth’s ‘Rust In Peace’ Doesn’t Already Exist
WASHINGTON—Saying that any further endeavors of technical skill and imagination were pointless, experts at the Smithsonian Institution reportedly questioned Monday why new art was still being produced after the pinnacle of aesthetic and creative potential was reached in 1990 with Megadeth’s fourth studio album, Rust…
🇸🇵🇪🇨🇺🇱🇦🇹🇪🇷Weird Al, all of them.
VaggumonGemini Syndrome - Memento Mori
Gemini Syndrome - Lux
The Beatles - One
Queen - Greatest Hits
Queen - Greatest Hits II
Aerosmith - Greatest Hits
Simon & Garfunkel - Greatest Hits
NWA - Greatest Hits
Snoop Dogg - Doggystyle
Eminem - Curtain Call: The Hits
robolemmy- The Decemberists - The Crane Wife
- Leo Delibes - Lakme
- Dire Straits - Love Over Gold
- Dire Straits - Making Movies
- Green Day - American Idiot
- The Manhattan Transfer - Brasil
- Nanci Griffith - Blue Roses From the Moons
- Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon
- Rush - 2112
- Supertramp - Breakfast In America
I’m glad to see Breakfast in America here!
Off the top of my head…
The Presidents of the United States of America - The Presidents of the United States of America
Stan Ridgway - The Big Heat
The Rainmakers - Flirting with the Universe
XTC - Black Sea
Morphine - Good
Bloodhound Gang - Hurray for Boobies
Lloyd Cole and the Commotions - Rattlesnakes
The Mattoid - Great Lovers
Frank Zappa - Joe’s Garage
Was (Not Was) - What Up Dog?
…or something like that…
I did not expect to find bloodhound gang on any of these lists.
Can’t argue with it much. Jimmy Pop is a dumb white guy. Not old or new, but middle school. Fifth grade like junior high.
Wow… didn’t know anyone else had heard of The Rainmakers. I was a huge fan when they were touring around the flyover states. Saw them half a dozen times in Wichita. I still listen to their first three albums pretty regularly.
I happened on them when they put out their first album and have been a fan ever since, and that’s even without ever getting a chance to see them live. Bob Walkenhorst is easily my favorite songwriter.
Flirting with the Universe is their fourth album - after a bit of a recording hiatus after The Good News and the Bad News, and it’s far and away my favorite. It’s obvious that they took their time and carefully crafted an album designed to showcase their talent. It’s unfortunate that it still didn’t manage to bring them the recognition they’ve always deserved, but I appreciate it.
It took me a long time to find out about their 4th and 5th albums. By the time I learned they’d been released, they weren’t available in the US. My girlfriend ordered them from a brand new little web store front in Iceland, of all places. That was before the age of streaming, obviously.
Looking at wikipedia, I see they got back together in 2011 and made a couple more albums. I may have to track those down.
I happened to run across a CD of the fourth one used, a couple of years after it released. I didn’t even know it existed before that, and definitely didn’t know it’d end up becoming my favorite. And I still don’t have a copy of the fifth. I do have the last two though.
25 On is sort of reminiscent of Tornado or The Good News and the Bad News - a return to form. It’s pretty good on its own, but sort of suffers by comparison. Monster Movie is odd but interesting. It feels kind of self-indulgent, but in a good way - just a bunch of guys sitting around playing what they want to play just because that’s what they want to play. It’s a bit disjointed, but I like it.
I just now bought 25 On and Monster Movie. Haven’t listened yet because I’m stuck on zoom for another 90 minutes!
TonyTonyChoppernever heard of any of these
Weirdly insulting thing to say. Maybe listen to them.
Man I’d take Drums and Wires if I had to pick an XTC album but it’s so great to see them mentioned
vltravioletLed Zeppelin - Physical Graffiti
Tool - 10,000 Days
Rush - Test for Echo
Metallica - Metallica
Rush - Clockwork Angels
Michael Jackson - HIStory
BIGBANG - MADE
- Information Superhighway
Kumi Koda - BEST 2000-2020
A Perfect Circle - Mer de Noms
Wow, a fan of the later Rush albums! I also dug those. It’s always felt like unpopular opinion for me to tell anyone, even other Rush fans, “I looove Presto.” (I know that’s not “later” Rush, but still.)
Presto is amazing!!! So much of their 90s-00s discography is so slept on.
Yeah! 😊🤘
Number one by far: Perfect Circle Thirteenth step.
The rest are in the order I think of them off the top of my head:
System of a down: Toxicity & Mezmotize
Tool Aenema
Smashing pumpkins: Melon Collie
CCRs Greatest Hits
There’s five, and I got stuff to do. I might update after I think a bit.
AC/DC - If You Want Blood
Nirvana - Nevermind
Fleetwood Mac - Rumors
Queens of the Stone Age - Rated R
Cheap Trick - Live at Budokan
REO Speedwagon - Live, You Get What You Play For
Head East - Flat as a Pancake
Foghat Live
Kyus - Welcome to Sky Valley
Albert Collins - Ice Pickin’
Bro I honestly can’t even name 10 albums. I’ve never liked listening to albums because after the singles are over most of the songs suck imo. I basically have one playlist and it’s just all of my favorite songs from every genre mixed into one thing, and it’s basically the only thing I listen to lol.
Same! I think the only album that I listened to and thoroughly enjoyed every song was Adele’s 25.
Get some weed and put on dark side of the moon.
I grew up on classic rock, my opinion still stands. Also I’m pregnant, so I had to cut the weed off :(
Maybe, Nirvana Nevermind? Fleetwood Mac rumours? Even meatloaf bat out of hell?
The MJ and dark side are just exquisite, but have you listened to an album in a situation where all you can figure out to do is listen to an album?
I’m an elder millennial. I suspect you’re younger than me. We’re done having children. You’ve just got to not have screens.
This whole thread is making me want to go find a bong. Man I remember when I saw the Pink Floyd laser show in college at the planetarium. Everyone was high as balls.
I’m in the middle of the millennial generation. Music just isn’t my thing. I prefer stories, I enjoy podcasts and old radio shows. Not everyone is going to like the same things, some prefer movies, etc. I appreciate you taking the time, but you just sound pretentious. I’ve listened to every album you named, my opinion still stands. And that’s okay, because it’s my opinion, just like how you like and can name all these albums and it’s your opinion that these albums are great.
Not going to downvote you because your tastes are your tastes. But it’s kind of sad that the artists you like can’t come up with more than one or two good songs per album. Or maybe it’s the industry itself since so few people buy albums. When I used to buy albums my favorite song was never the hit single.
Haha yeah people always bash on me because all my favorite songs are always just the top 100 or whatever… but that’s why I like them, they’re normally the bands upbeat, catchy songs lol.
JdeBPI can name a lot more than 10 albums, but yes in some cases many of the songs are not interesting. In some extreme cases I have regretted not just buying the single instead.
There are a few albums, though, where I like every single song. But I couldn't be constrained to just them for my whole life, as that would exclude some really good stuff.
craftyindividualSteely Dan - Aja
Tom Waits - Closing Time
Bob Dylan - Blonde on Blonde
Dire Straits - Self Titled
Rolling Stones - Exile on Main Street
Jackie Brown OST
The Beatles - Abbey Road
Nirvana - Nevermind
Fleetwood Mac - Rumours
Pixies - Bossanova
kometesNeeds Bowie but otherwise perfect…
Damn forgot Bowie. I like the mid-late 70’s.
Rose56Aly & fila - beyond the lights(already own it)
Craig Connelly - believe in magic
Silicon soul - staring into space
Jazzanova - In between
Deep dish - junk science
Nuspirit Helsinki – Nuspirit Helsinki
Giuseppe Ottaviani - alma
Dj patife - no Estrada
Kevin Yost – One Starry Night
Can’t think the last one.
I’ll hate myself in a couple weeks for this selection because my taste varies week-to-week, but right now it’d be:
Devin Townsend: Ziltoid the Omniscient, Empath
Gojira: From Mars to Sirius, Magma
The Ocean: Phanerozoic I, Phanerozoic II (can I count these as one album?)
King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard: PetroDragonic Apocalypse; or, Dawn of Eternal Night: An Annihilation of Planet Earth the Beginning of Merciless Damnation (I think they were going for a record for the longest album title ever). Maybe Ice, Death, Planets, Lava, Mushrooms, Lungs too.
Voivod: The Outer Limits
Mastodon: Leviathan and Crack the Skye
If Phanerozoic I and II count as a single album, then I’d ask if I can leave the last one open to be filled by a single random studio album of an artist of my choosing, replaced weekly/monthly.
Ziltoid and Empath… hello, friend :)
Otis Redding - Otis Blue
Marvin Gaye - What’s Going On
Michael Jackson - Off the Wall
James Booker - Classified
The Meters – Rejuvenation
Darondo - Listen to My Song
James Brown - Live at the Apollo
Dr. Dre - The Chronic
Janelle Monae - ArchAndroid
Anderson .Paak - Malibu
NaClKnightI think being able to draw a line from your classic albums to your modern hits is hella cool. Your list makes a lot of sense.
insomniacHell yeah
Mostly replying as a personal challenge; I doubt anyone cares about my opinion. I think this is a hard but interesting challenge and I could probably spend a lifetime perfecting it, but this is my unadulterated first pass:
Fuck. How do you make a list like this without regretting every decision you made?!
I hope this meme posts correctly.
Trivium - in waves
Lorna shore - the pain remains
Metallica - master of puppets
Sum 41 - does this look infected
Arch enemy - rise of the tyrant
Florence and the machine - MTV unplugged
Frank turner - positive songs for negative people
Highly suspect - mister asylum
Mayneshewill - not for want of trying
The mountain goats - the sunset tree
Holy shit, one of these lists where I see albums I listen to haha. Why that particular Trivium album? Also, the black album gets all the love, but I’ll take And Justice For All over it every day of the week.
I really like the whole composition of In Waves. It really feels like it’s telling a story and all the songs flow so well into one another. I generally prefer albums that are whole and not just a collections of songs or singles. In Waves is probably one of my favorite albums for it’s cohesiveness.
And yeah black album is great but I think MoP is just bangers all the way through. If I want thrash metal I want Metallica and I don’t want to slow down haha.
7 I like and 3 I don’t know. Here we go…
I’m autistic, pick any ten albums and they will end up being my favourite albums as I continue to listen to them and they become my familiar.
No order
- Pickin’ on Modest Mouse - Iron Horse
- August and Everything After - Counting Crows
- Closer to the Sun - Slightly Stoopid
- Manners - Passion Pit
- Dirt - Alice in Chains
- Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix - Phoenix
- Silent Steeples - Dispatch
- The President of the United States of America - The President of the United States of America
- Building Nothing out of Something - Modest Mouse
- Dosage - Collective Soul
I reckon these would keep me going for a good old time.
Colors - Between the Buried and Me The Shape of Color - Intervals Handmade Cities - Plini Odyssey to the West - Slice the Cake Esoteric Malacology - Slugdge Crux - Moon Tooth Death of a Dead Day - Sikth Daughters - Daughters Oxidized - Frontierer Doppelgänger- The Fall of Troy
I don’t know how to appreciate Fall of Troy outside of F.C.P.R.E.M.I.X. and its unpronounceable original version. Even seeing them live (they opened for Alexisonfire) left me feeling like i was missing something.
Doppelgänger has some reasonably accessible tracks outside of FCPREMIX. Try ‘act one, scene one’ or ‘mouths like sidewinder missles’. Your mileage may vary of course.
Nah that’s exactly what i was looking for. Recommendations. I.listened to the album all the way thru and bounced off, so i figured I’d ask a fan next time i saw one.
Good looking out.