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Thread: My 20 Favorite Albums of All-Time

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    Member camisadelgolf's Avatar
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    My 20 Favorite Albums of All-Time

    I'm not necessarily saying these are the best albums of all-time because these all have some sentimental value to me. This list changes pretty much daily, particularly when it comes to the order. But anyway, I hope you all free to make comments and mention some of your favorites, too. And if you have any stories to go along with them, that's great, too.

    Nerf Herder - Nerf Herder
    My favorite band. I always felt like a nerd at heart, even when I was getting in trouble with school and the law. This is (kind of) my song's namesake.
    Nerf Herder - Golfshirt - YouTube

    Bob Dylan - Blonde on Blonde
    Honestly, I could probably add a couple other Dylan albums to this list, but this is definitely my favorite album of his.
    Bob Dylan - One of us must know (sooner or later) - YouTube

    Weezer - The Blue Album
    This goes back to the nerd thing. I'm a sucker for catchy harmonies. I have to give a shout-out to Pinkerton, too.
    Weezer - Say It Ain't So - YouTube

    Frank Black - Teenager of the Year
    I had to listen to this a bunch of times before I could fall in love with each song individually. It felt so great to know that there was still a rock artist that aspired to be different.
    Headache - Frank Black - YouTube

    Leonard Cohen - Songs from a Room
    I once went on a 29-hour drive from Cincinnati to Louisiana to Michigan to pick up a gal whom I'd never met and spend a week with her. We parked the car for some romantic moments and listened to a lot of Leonard Cohen. Oh, to be "young" again . . . It was only eight years ago, but it feels much longer ago. I have no way to contact her and have no idea what she's doing with her life. I wish I knew how to stay in touch.
    Leonard Cohen - A bunch of lonesome heroes - YouTube

    The Pixies - Doolittle
    It's pop music, but it isn't. It's catchy, but it's abrasive. It's quiet, and it's loud. It has everything I like about rock music combined in one.
    Here Comes Your Man - Pixies - YouTube

    The Clash - Sandinista!
    I know, I know. London Calling should be the pick here, but I always enjoyed Sandinista! more. I believe it was released as a triple-album (and sold for the minimum price their record company would allow), and the quantity of great songs is probably related to why I favor it more. But more to the point, I would listen to this every weekend as I would drive from Cincinnati to North Carolina and back to meet a gal I was crazy about. I drove through blizzards, had more flat tires than I can count, and spent hundreds of dollars on gas. It's crazy what hormones will make us do. She died just as it looked like we were going to live closer to each other. C'est la vie (and death).
    Lose this Skin - the Clash - YouTube

    The Modern Lovers - The Modern Lovers
    After meeting him and having an extended conversation with him, I have to say that Jonathan Richman is very unique. If you're unfamiliar, he's one of the most influential musicians in rock history, and it's somewhat of a surprise that he isn't a household name.
    The Modern Lovers - Girlfriend - YouTube

    The Beach Boys - Pet Sounds
    I spent a lot of time bonding over this album with a friend of mine. Unfortunately, he killed himself a couple hours after I had a long conversation with him about life. He seemed a little off that night. By that, I mean that he was extremely upbeat, which didn't seem like him at all. I was the last person to talk to him and always think of him when I hear a song from this album.
    The Beach Boys God Only Knows (Lyrics via Description) (HQ) - YouTube

    Bright Eyes - I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning
    I lived with a girlfriend in Covington who would listen to the same few albums ad nauseam. Her taste in music was certainly questionable (e.g. New Found Glory, Hawthorne Heights, and the like), but every once in a while, we'd fall in love with an album together. I listened to this album with her throughout many major life events such as my first pregnancy scare, celebrating holidays, and finding out about her lack of fidelity. To this day, I haven't told her that I found out what she had been up to, but I'm so glad it happened because I'd be miserable if I were still with her. To be fair, there are few people in the world I've had as much fun with, but she's a tramp. And although she's a tramp, everyone's getting my sloppy seconds while I've moved on to greener pastures.
    Bright Eyes Land Locked Blues - YouTube

    Adrian Belew - Inner Revolution
    Surprisingly, my love for this album has nothing to do with Belew's local ties nor his connection with David Bowie, Talking Heads, and Frank Zappa. The only reason I bought this album was because it was on sale for less than a dollar, so I never expected much out of it. On my first listen, I thought, "Wow, this is really cheesy." But with each listen, I was able to put that thought behind me, and now I'm able to enjoy an album no matter how many decades it hasn't aged well with.
    Adrian Belew-Big Blue Sun - YouTube

    The Strokes - Is This It
    I got a hold of all the songs on this CD several months before it came out because I had a friend in New York who was an acquaintance of theirs. I kept thinking, "Wow, why don't more bands sound like this?" Soon after, they hit it big with one of my least favorite songs on the album, and everyone was trying to sound like them (or at least that's what the media wanted us to think). This album isn't nearly as special to me now as it was for those few months, but those were a very special few months that I had.
    The Strokes - Hard To Explain - YouTube

    The Velvet Underground and Nico - The Velvet Underground
    I had read interviews of my favorite bands who cited The Velvet Underground as a huge influence, so I decided to give them a chance. My reaction was simply, "Yup. I would draw inspiration from them, too."
    The Velvet Underground - Sunday Morning - YouTube

    Radiohead - The Bends
    When this album came out, I was an angsty teen and hated any song that wasn't metal/punk/hard rock. Of course, the first two singles from this CD were "High and Dry" and "Fake Plastic Trees". I loved their song "Creep", but these new songs were crap. Eventually I grew up and realized that soft songs can sound good, too. This album helped a lot with that.
    Radiohead - High & Dry - YouTube

    Arcade Fire - Funeral
    This album was introduced to me by a friend to whom I no longer speak. It's a good thing, too, because I saw on the news a couple years ago that he was arrested. When this album came out, we were going through our fair share of problems (extreme alcoholism, heavy drug abuse, depression, and more), but it was nice to have a friend I could relate to. Unfortunately, we frequently got in trouble and went to jail for various offenses. His substance dragged us both down, and I told him I needed to part ways and get my life straight. He was hurt, and it's one of the hardest things I've ever had to do, but I still listen to this album and think of the times we had fun raising hell together (getting chased around the 275 belt by the FBI, trying to be Robin Hood by extorting thousands of dollars, intense hallucinations that led to getting lost in the woods for a few days, traveling out of town to meet shady people for shady deals, and other silly stuff like that).
    The Arcade Fire- "Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)"- Spec Video - YouTube

    Nirvana - In Utero
    In junior high, I didn't really have any friends. Everyone and everything seemed so stupid that I didn't see any point. No one in my neighborhood of Elmwood Place could relate to me, and they were more focused on things I didn't care about. Being a small village, everyone knew each other fairly well, but around this time, I started talking to a quiet kid who became a good friend of mine. We'd listen to Nirvana and similar bands while experimenting with green stuff that can be smoked (nothing illegal, of course ).
    Nirvana - Radio friendly unit shifter subtitulado espaƱol - YouTube

    Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend
    I put this one on the list reluctantly. I love everything about their debut except the fans that soon followed. It's always annoying to see something you love become embraced by a large audience incapable of knowing what it makes it special. Fortunately, I had no idea they were blowing up so big because I was in Germany with what I thought was the love of my life. I was happier than ever, and whenever a hitch came my way, I could put this album on, get cheered up, and roll through it. Eventually, my visa ran out, the woman left me, and I came back to America to find out my least favorite song of theirs ("A-Punk") had gotten them a lot of attention. I'm just now starting to not feel so bitter about it.
    09. Vampire weekend - I Stand Corrected - YouTube

    Beck - Odelay
    I listened to this album for the first time shortly after finding out I am a type 1 diabetic. I had always been interested in Beck's sound but never got the chance to hear any of his songs except "Loser". While at diabetes camp--which was one of the worst moments of my life--one of the kids let me listen to his headphones, and I was amazed at how great it sounded. I've been a huge Beck fan ever since.
    BECK Odelay Lord Only Knows by AnnD - YouTube

    Rancid - ...And Out Come the Wolves
    As a kid, I always knew I liked punk rock, but it was very difficult to get exposure to it. I knew no one who listened to it, and I rarely saw it anywhere. When "Time Bomb" hit MTV, I was blown away and needed to have it. For my birthday, I was allowed to pick out a CD as a gift from my parents, but they would never let me have the CDs I really wanted because of parental advisory stickers. When my birthday finally came, my mom was so thrilled I picked a CD without a sticker that she said I could pick out another one. I asked for Nine Inch Nails, and she quickly changed her mind. lol
    Rancid - Old Friend - YouTube

    The Toadies - Rubberneck
    Although you could argue that it's a Pixies ripoff, "Tyler" is probably my favorite song of all-time just for the feedback and catchy riff. I spent countless hours listening to this disc while playing video games, watching baseball, and going for walks along the tracks to places I had never seen before. I also fell in love with the fact that they would do interesting things like use three-bar loops, which was something I had never noticed in music before.
    The Toadies - Tyler - YouTube

    Music is a huge passion of mine. Without it, my life would be nowhere near the same. Doing this list, I got a lot deeper than I thought I would. Music has helped me through a lot of tough times and helped shape who I am. It has also helped me build relationships with my closest friends. I'll be forever grateful.


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  3. #2
    Member MilotheMayor's Avatar
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    Re: My 20 Favorite Albums of All-Time

    Awesome list. I can routinely convince myself that the Pixies were the greatest rock band of all time. Love the In Utero inclusion too. Funeral was a pretty monumental album in my musical development as a teenager.

    Mine would probably resemble something like this

    20 | Pulp | Different Class
    19 | Nas | Illmatic
    18 | Pavement | Slanted & Enchanted
    17 | The National | Boxer
    16 | Slint | Spiderland
    15 | Fugazi | Repeater
    14 | David Bowie | Low
    13 | Joy Division | Closer
    12 | The Who | Live at Leeds
    11 | Prince | Purple Rain
    10 | The Gun Club | Fire of Love
    09 | Slowdive | Souvlaki
    08 | Interpol | Turn on the Bright Lights
    07 | Husker Du | Zen Arcade
    06 | XTC | Skylarking
    05 | Talk Talk | Spirit of Eden
    04 | Burial | Untrue
    03 | Talking Heads | Remain In Light
    02 | Beastie Boys | Paul's Boutique
    01 | My Bloody Valentine | Loveless

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    Member camisadelgolf's Avatar
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    Re: My 20 Favorite Albums of All-Time

    Awesome list, Milo. If I were to do mine again, I'd probably include a Pavement album.

    I kept trying to think of a Beastie Boys or Talking Heads album to add, but they were never what I was listening to during the more important parts of my life. I'm also glad to see you picked David Bowie's best album (a lot of people might argue with me on that one). And I knew someone would pick Husker Du, but I'm just surprised it came in the first response. Of course Loveless is amazing, too.

    You have a couple albums I haven't listened to, but I'll give them a shot. The only one I've heard and am not crazy about is Turn On the Bright Lights. I like Interpol, and it's a good album, but there are a few songs that flat-out bore me. I'm more of an Antics guy, but "NYC" is one of the best songs ever written.

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    he/him *BaseClogger*'s Avatar
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    Re: My 20 Favorite Albums of All-Time

    I'd say I'm still a lot earlier in my music-listening development than you guys. I didn't seriously start listening to a lot of music until late in high school and college, and like camisa spent a couple years thinking the only stuff I should listen to was heavy rock. It wasn't until the last couple years I've begun exploring hip-hop and the softer side of music. I still don't listen to much music that was recorded before 1980, which I know is something I should work on.

    My tastes do share a lot of similarities with you two, I just think I haven't developed them enough to reach that point. Doolittle and Slanted & Enchanted just missed the cut. I could have included other Nirvana or Fugazi albums. Anyways, I haven't thought about coming up with a list like this in a while, but here's what comes to mind at this moment in time:

    20)The White Stripes - De Stijl
    Choosing a favorite White Stripes album was like deciding which of my six fingers to cut off. In my opinion none of them really stand out from one another, they're just all really good. Favorite song is 'Apple Blossom'.
    19)The Minutemen - Double Nickels on the Dime
    I could not like ten songs on the record and still have 34 songs to like. Thankfully, I like just about all of them. Favorite song is 'West Germany'.
    18)Black Sabbath - Paranoid
    I wish I could see the looks on people's faces when they heard this album for the first time in 1970. It's still heavy to this day. Favorite song is 'Electric Funeral'.
    17)Nas - Illmatic
    This album made me realize there is some really good hip-hop I need to check out. Favorite song is 'New York State of Mind'.
    16)The Black Keys - Thickfreakness
    See what I said about White Stripes albums above, except this album has the namesake track's riff. Favorite song is obviously 'Thickfreakness'.
    15)Weezer - The Blue Album
    If only Weezer could record more songs as perfect as 'Only in Dreams'. Favorite song is 'Only in Dreams'!
    14)Primus - Frizzle Fry
    After RHCP, this was the next band I obsessed over (bass phase). Weird, right? Favorite song is 'Pudding Time'.
    13)Superchunk - Foolish
    I think this is a really underrated album and proved they weren't just products of Steve Albini's production. Solid from start to finish, and it can go fast and it can go slow. Favorite song is 'Why do You Have to Put a Date on Everything?'.
    12)Death From Above 1979 - You're A Woman, I'm a Machine
    It just perfectly exemplifies my tastes by my sophomore year of college. I really hope now that they've reformed they'll record something new. Favorite song is 'Romantic Rights'.
    11)Rage Against the Machine - S/T
    This is a good example of what kind of music I was listening to in high school. Thing is, I still go back and listen to it and never skip a track. Favorite song is 'Know Your Enemy'.
    10)Alkaline Trio - Goddamnit
    These guys know how to write heartbreaking music, and I prefer the production on this album to the stuff they recorded after this. Been listening to this album for years now--it's pop punk done right. Favorite song is 'Nose Over Tail'.
    9)Modest Mouse - Lonesome Crowded West
    Lonesome is a masterpiece. Constant style shifts and everything works. That short documentary Pitchfork released recently about the recording of this album was fantastic. Favorite song is 'Trailer Trash'.
    8)Japandroids - Celebration Rock
    Just released earlier this year, not only does this band's sound match a lot of the 90s alternative I love so much, but as a recent college graduate I now find myself relating more to their lyrics. Favorite song is 'Younger Us'.
    7)Eminem - The Marshall Mathers LP
    It's just so much fun. Top of Em's game. Favorite song is '***** Please II'.
    6)The Strokes - Room on Fire
    Yeah, Is This It is the original release and the more influential Strokes choice. But the songwriting on Room on Fire is just better, the production is better, and the content is more varied. Favorite song is 'Under Control'.
    5)The Thermals - The Body, The Blood, The Machine
    I like to think of The Thermals as pop punk for adults. I believe this album best balances their raw sound and production values. Favorite song is 'Here's Your Future'.
    4)Red Hot Chili Peppers - Blood Sugar Sex Magik
    This is the album that got me into music. From here, I read Scar Tissue and wanted to hear all of their influences. Chilis truly are a great gateway band. I could have gone with Freaky Styley instead, since I listen to it more often these days, but this one's important. Favorite song is 'Under the Bridge' (sue me).
    3)Dinosaur Jr. - You're Living All Over Me
    Oh man this is a great album. The production is so unique, and the songs proved to be incredibly influential on the wave of alternative musicians to come in the next decade. J is one of my heroes. Favorite song is 'In a Jar'.
    2)Arctic Monkeys - Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not
    Why isn't this band more popular in the United States? I understand that they are a truly British band, but at the same time so were plenty of the British Invasion bands that sold over here, and the Arctic Monkeys have the songwriting chops to join them. Turner's lyrics are only matched by Isaac Brock IMO. Favorite song is 'Mardy Bum'.
    1)Defiance, Ohio - Share What Ya Got
    I've been through a lot of highs and lows emotionally with this album. It seemed like no matter the mood, there was always something I could relate with. Folk punk is such a cool movement and I think Defiance does it best. Favorite song is 'Road Signs Always Look Better Looking Over Your Shoulder'.
    Last edited by *BaseClogger*; 10-22-2012 at 12:15 AM.

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    Re: My 20 Favorite Albums of All-Time

    No Beatles albums?

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    Re: My 20 Favorite Albums of All-Time

    Quote Originally Posted by fearofpopvol1 View Post
    No Beatles albums?
    These are lists of our favorites, not best...

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    Re: My 20 Favorite Albums of All-Time

    I love the lists so far from everybody, so I'll bite. So, so many painful cuts from this... Among the honorable mentions were Wilco's Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, Yes's Relayer, Roy Buchanan's Second Album, and everything by the White Stripes.

    20. John Coltrane- Giant Steps- Just about the epitome of jazz albums. Nobody else sounded this far ahead of the rest of their peers.

    19. Akron/Family- S/T II: The Cosmic Birth And Journey of Shinju TNT- This band was the furthest down the rabbit hole I ever got in my musical development. I stopped listening to them for a time as my tastes became more grounded... until they came out with this trip. It's wonderfully exotic and weird.

    18. Spoon- A Series of Sneaks- It's hard to pick one just Spoon album to pick here, but I'll go with the one that gets its point across in the least amount of time with the highest concentration of perfect guitar riffs.

    17. Pavement- Crooked Rain Crooked Rain- Just a great album, back to front. There's not that much else to it... even the "bad" songs are memorable and entertaining.

    16. Otis Redding- Otis Blue- Can you name anybody else with the audacity to cover (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction and own it better than the Stones themselves? I didn't think so.

    15. Okkervil River- The Stage Names- There was a period where this was my favorite album during my formative musical years. The songwriting on here is good enough as is; how they managed to make it all sound so good is beyond me.

    14. Pink Floyd- Animals- Another one from my earlier teenage years. The overall message feels ham-handed in retrospect, but damn if they didn't make it sound gripping on record.

    13. Van Morrison- Astral Weeks- There's so much indescribable beauty here that I can't really do it justice. I love me some Beatles, but if you're looking for the best album of the late 60's, I'd point you here.

    12. Tedeschi Trucks Band- Revelator- Who says modern blues ain't as good as the old stuff? I've never found a better album to listen to with the car windows down on a sunny day, and I've gotten more mileage out of it in the past year than any other album save #4.

    11. The Black Keys- Rubber Factory- Fits in your CD player like an your best pair of jeans. Whenever I think of Ohio, I think of this album.

    10. Band of Horses- Cease to Begin- This album is home for me. Simple as that. It's the pure, distilled sound of growing up in the SC Lowcountry.

    9. The Smashing Pumpkins- Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness- One of those albums that holds nothing whatsoever back and gets away with it. The highs on this album are just so high that you can hardly force yourself to care about the lows.

    8. R.E.M.- Reckoning- The one album that has never, ever left my car CD changer. There's never been a need to. It's the only album I never, ever get tired of hearing.

    7. The Clash- London Calling- Can't touch this one. Iconic and unremittingly awesome from start to finish.

    6. Bruce Springsteen- The Wild, The Innocent, and the E Street Shuffle- This is the sound of the youth I wish I had growing up (and that everyone else probably wishes too.) Haven't we all wished at some point that life were really this romantic? Side 2 is easily one of the best halves of Vinyl ever.

    5. Fleet Foxes- Helplessness Blues- As close to perfect of an album as I've heard in the past few years. The whole album is filled with mini-masterpieces of lush modern folk.

    4. Sam Cooke- Portrait of a Legend- It's cheating to put a greatest hits compilation on here, I know. But it didn't feel quite fair to leave the best vocalist of all time off of here. His music takes you back to a more innocent and earnest time. There's always something on here to cheer you up, no matter your mood.

    3. Radiohead- Kid A- I don't care about the musical influence that this album has supposedly had on the world, or any critic's list that puts it at the top. It's just the most truly immersive album ever, and remains incredibly easy to get lost in 12 years later.

    2. LCD Soundsystem- Sound of Silver- Start to finish, this album never lets up. All My Friends is just such an amazing song, so its crazy that the rest of the album manages to live up to it and keeps the energy and emotion going before and after that song. I'm not normally an electronic/dance music fan, but I make a big exception here.

    1. My Morning Jacket- Z- The first album I ever fell in love with, and it's still fresh to this day. At no point has it not sounded like the best undiscovered album ever. The ethereal vocals, those classic rock-worthy guitar duels, that heartbreaking final song... it's not my most-played album, but it gives me the biggest gut reaction whenever I do.

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    Member camisadelgolf's Avatar
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    Re: My 20 Favorite Albums of All-Time

    My favorite thing about this thread is that I'm learning more about you and your guys' tastes. Just kidding. Although I enjoy that, this has resulted in me revisiting some albums that I love but hadn't listened to in a while. I'm totally rocking out.

  10. #9
    Member camisadelgolf's Avatar
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    Re: My 20 Favorite Albums of All-Time

    I'm also thrilled that a bunch of albums that nearly made my list are on others' lists.

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    he/him *BaseClogger*'s Avatar
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    Re: My 20 Favorite Albums of All-Time

    A Series of Sneaks is my favorite Spoon album too!

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    13 Belongs in Cooperstown Captain13's Avatar
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    Re: My 20 Favorite Albums of All-Time

    Going with the theme set above, I left off compilation albums (greatest hits and such) and I limited myself to one album per artist (I could include almost the entire discography of Metallica, Pink Floyd and Black Sabbath/Ozzy). Obviously with what I have just written my list will be very different than those above.

    In no particular order

    1 Pearl Jam - Ten

    I discovered Pearl Jam at the same time as everyone else. Like many others my age, I was in high school at the time, this quickly became my favorite album. I played it to death, and can still play it all the way through today.

    2 Black Sabbath - Paranoid

    My introduction into heavy metal. Best heavy metal record, ever.

    3 Metallica - Ride the Lightning

    My introduction to Metallica. I may be the only American who has this as the favorite Metallica album, but from beginning to end their isn't a song I don't love (Sorry Mr. Hetfield, I think Escape is a great song).

    4 Don Henly - End of the Innocence

    With the exception of Shangri La, I love every song on this album.

    5 Sting - Ten Summoners Tales

    Sting at his best. Wow!

    6 Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here

    I think the groups most complete effort.

    7 Queensryche - Operation Mindcrime

    A piece of heavy metal beauty. Unfortunately, it may have ruined the band going forward. Seemed they were always trying to do better instead of just moving forward.

    8 Neil Young - Harvest

    Do I really need to add anything here?

    9 Supafuzz - Supafuzz

    Local band to Lexington, KY. This album, and their live shows, brought them to the cusp...bad luck, bad timing and bad management cost the world a chance to hear awesome post-grunge rock and roll.

    10 Alice in Chains - Facelift

    I almost had Badmotorfinger here, but decided on Facelift. This is the heaviest and darkest that grunge could be, or the grugiest that heavy metal could be. Love it.

    11 Iron Maiden - Seventh Son of a Seventh Son

    My introduction to Maiden.

    12 Megadeth - Countdown to Extinction

    Dave Mustaine's answer to Metallica's Black Album

    13 BB King - Dueces Wild

    A fun listen from beginning to end.

    14 Alan Parsons Project - Turn of a Friendly Card

    A very overlooked masterpiece. If you like prog rock or concept albums this is a must. Awesome, awesome, awesome.

    15 Black Crowes - Shake Your Money Maker

    Great classic rock album that came out at the end of classic rock. Not a miss on the album.

    16 Deep Purple - Machine Head

    Hard hitting heavy rock and roll. In my humble opinion, the reason that Deep Purple belongs in the RRHOF is this album.

    17 Garth Brooks - Double Live

    Yep. It bit me. I fell for Garth's country rock and I am not afraid to admit it.

    18 Godsmack - Godsmack

    I believe this is the best hard rock album since the dawn of grunge.

    19 Guns-n-Roses - Appetite For Destruction

    Axle has been living off of this since before 1990. I played side 1 of this tape over, and over, and over, and over. In 1991, I realized there were some good songs on side 2 as well.

    20 Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin

    Holy smokes, this album is in my top 5. Regardless of category: favorite, best rock, best heavy metal, best blues...I can make an argument that this record belongs.


    Left off my list; although I love them too are Soundgarden, Badmotorfinger; AC/DC, Back in Black; Stevie Ray Vaughan, Texas Flood; Beastie Boys, License to Ill; Michael Jackson, Thriller; Ozzy Osbourne, Blizzard of Ozz; and The Eagles, The Long Run.
    What if this is as good as it gets?

  13. #12
    Potential Lunch Winner Dom Heffner's Avatar
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    Re: My 20 Favorite Albums of All-Time

    Thank you, Captain, for restoring my faith in that all the best albums didn't come from the 1980s-1990s record store crowd lol...

    Actually, this is favorite albums, not best, as was said earlier and this is a great thread.

    Thanks for the Frank Black nod, I had forgotten how awesome "Headache" was.

    Love the Pixies, too, though that era/genre is so samey...a little goes a long way. I was on the radio at a college station during most of this time period, so it brings back great memories. Except for...

    Nirvana. Wow, what is wrong with me? I think their fans ruin it for me. They are so overrated, which makes me just hate them. VH1 had a special of the Greatest 100 artists of all time, and Nirvana was ahead of Bruce Springsteen. No, they weren't better than Bruce Springsteen. Yes, they ushered in one of the most depressing eras of music that gave us, what, three bands that people still listen to? They are not better than Bruce Springsteen. It isn't close. In fact, the Foo Fighters are better than Nirvana.

    Anyhoo, glad to see Don Henley getting a shout.

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    he/him *BaseClogger*'s Avatar
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    Re: My 20 Favorite Albums of All-Time

    Quote Originally Posted by Dom Heffner View Post
    Nirvana. Wow, what is wrong with me? I think their fans ruin it for me. They are so overrated, which makes me just hate them. VH1 had a special of the Greatest 100 artists of all time, and Nirvana was ahead of Bruce Springsteen. No, they weren't better than Bruce Springsteen. Yes, they ushered in one of the most depressing eras of music that gave us, what, three bands that people still listen to? They are not better than Bruce Springsteen. It isn't close. In fact, the Foo Fighters are better than Nirvana.
    C'mon man... Foo Fighters? Once you hear one Foo Fighters song you've heard them all. You can listen to The Colour and the Shape and never have to listen to another Foo Fighers album again to know what they'll all sound like. And I *like* the Foo Fighters.

    I just don't see how you can compare Nirvana to Bruce Springsteen either. They're such apples and oranges.

    "Three bands that people still listen to?" I can't stand "post-grunge" (or is it post-post-post-grunge at this point?) but bands are still following the Nirvana template in 2012. If it wasn't for bands like Nirvana and Red Hot Chili Peppers that caught my attention while I was in high school I would have never discovered bands like Dinosaur Jr. and the Minutemen that I love today...

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    Re: My 20 Favorite Albums of All-Time

    Quote Originally Posted by *BaseClogger* View Post
    C'mon man... Foo Fighters? Once you hear one Foo Fighters song you've heard them all. You can listen to The Colour and the Shape and never have to listen to another Foo Fighers album again to know what they'll all sound like. And I *like* the Foo Fighters.

    I just don't see how you can compare Nirvana to Bruce Springsteen either. They're such apples and oranges.

    "Three bands that people still listen to?" I can't stand "post-grunge" (or is it post-post-post-grunge at this point?) but bands are still following the Nirvana template in 2012. If it wasn't for bands like Nirvana and Red Hot Chili Peppers that caught my attention while I was in high school I would have never discovered bands like Dinosaur Jr. and the Minutemen that I love today...
    It's all taste. That era for me is a low point in music. Pearl Jam, Smashing Pumpkins...still good...the rest...I dunno. Not a fan.

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    Re: My 20 Favorite Albums of All-Time

    Quote Originally Posted by The DARK View Post
    I love the lists so far from everybody, so I'll bite. So, so many painful cuts from this... Among the honorable mentions were Wilco's Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, Yes's Relayer, Roy Buchanan's Second Album, and everything by the White Stripes.

    20. John Coltrane- Giant Steps- Just about the epitome of jazz albums. Nobody else sounded this far ahead of the rest of their peers.

    19. Akron/Family- S/T II: The Cosmic Birth And Journey of Shinju TNT- This band was the furthest down the rabbit hole I ever got in my musical development. I stopped listening to them for a time as my tastes became more grounded... until they came out with this trip. It's wonderfully exotic and weird.

    18. Spoon- A Series of Sneaks- It's hard to pick one just Spoon album to pick here, but I'll go with the one that gets its point across in the least amount of time with the highest concentration of perfect guitar riffs.

    17. Pavement- Crooked Rain Crooked Rain- Just a great album, back to front. There's not that much else to it... even the "bad" songs are memorable and entertaining.

    16. Otis Redding- Otis Blue- Can you name anybody else with the audacity to cover (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction and own it better than the Stones themselves? I didn't think so.

    15. Okkervil River- The Stage Names- There was a period where this was my favorite album during my formative musical years. The songwriting on here is good enough as is; how they managed to make it all sound so good is beyond me.

    14. Pink Floyd- Animals- Another one from my earlier teenage years. The overall message feels ham-handed in retrospect, but damn if they didn't make it sound gripping on record.

    13. Van Morrison- Astral Weeks- There's so much indescribable beauty here that I can't really do it justice. I love me some Beatles, but if you're looking for the best album of the late 60's, I'd point you here.

    12. Tedeschi Trucks Band- Revelator- Who says modern blues ain't as good as the old stuff? I've never found a better album to listen to with the car windows down on a sunny day, and I've gotten more mileage out of it in the past year than any other album save #4.

    11. The Black Keys- Rubber Factory- Fits in your CD player like an your best pair of jeans. Whenever I think of Ohio, I think of this album.

    10. Band of Horses- Cease to Begin- This album is home for me. Simple as that. It's the pure, distilled sound of growing up in the SC Lowcountry.

    9. The Smashing Pumpkins- Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness- One of those albums that holds nothing whatsoever back and gets away with it. The highs on this album are just so high that you can hardly force yourself to care about the lows.

    8. R.E.M.- Reckoning- The one album that has never, ever left my car CD changer. There's never been a need to. It's the only album I never, ever get tired of hearing.

    7. The Clash- London Calling- Can't touch this one. Iconic and unremittingly awesome from start to finish.

    6. Bruce Springsteen- The Wild, The Innocent, and the E Street Shuffle- This is the sound of the youth I wish I had growing up (and that everyone else probably wishes too.) Haven't we all wished at some point that life were really this romantic? Side 2 is easily one of the best halves of Vinyl ever.

    5. Fleet Foxes- Helplessness Blues- As close to perfect of an album as I've heard in the past few years. The whole album is filled with mini-masterpieces of lush modern folk.

    4. Sam Cooke- Portrait of a Legend- It's cheating to put a greatest hits compilation on here, I know. But it didn't feel quite fair to leave the best vocalist of all time off of here. His music takes you back to a more innocent and earnest time. There's always something on here to cheer you up, no matter your mood.

    3. Radiohead- Kid A- I don't care about the musical influence that this album has supposedly had on the world, or any critic's list that puts it at the top. It's just the most truly immersive album ever, and remains incredibly easy to get lost in 12 years later.

    2. LCD Soundsystem- Sound of Silver- Start to finish, this album never lets up. All My Friends is just such an amazing song, so its crazy that the rest of the album manages to live up to it and keeps the energy and emotion going before and after that song. I'm not normally an electronic/dance music fan, but I make a big exception here.

    1. My Morning Jacket- Z- The first album I ever fell in love with, and it's still fresh to this day. At no point has it not sounded like the best undiscovered album ever. The ethereal vocals, those classic rock-worthy guitar duels, that heartbreaking final song... it's not my most-played album, but it gives me the biggest gut reaction whenever I do.
    Great call on this. My favorite band to listen to.


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