Yer Ol' Uncle D
Well-Known Member
What would you do with more time?
The N&G Top 500 Albums of All Time!!!
- Thread starter Woob_woob
- Start date
What would you do with more time?
Matt M
Santa Extraordinaire
Procrastinate.
DownIsTheNewUp
Well-Known Member
This is, predictably, taking longer than expected with the blurbs. I'm gonna try and take more out this weekend. Let me know if I should just post the list instead? Not sure the time frame on this stuff-- though my list to @Woob_woob is in (and different as I've continued to fine tune).
This is maybe the most modern batch of 10 and probably has the most "hidden gems"... but I swear for the quality of the contents:
This is maybe the most modern batch of 10 and probably has the most "hidden gems"... but I swear for the quality of the contents:
40) P.O.S: Never Better, (2009) Hip-Hop
For some reason, the critics never fully embraced the music of Steph Alexander. Outlets like Pitchfork have always treated him luke-warmly while dismissing his hyper unique blend of punk, electronic and hip-hop as niche. Which is funny considering they tend to drool over genre busting when it doesn’t involve hip-hop (or Death Grips). Anyways… P.O.S. “not one of those rap conservationists” and the talented lyricist has few contemporaries when it comes to fusing pop culture to the political, the political to the personal. Never Better is the climax of his early discography and one of his most accessible albums. It’s the album that led me to Fugazi, the album that soundtracked my move back to Los Angeles and it’s themes only grow more relevant with time. Favorite tracks include “Optimist (We Are Not For Them”, “Purexed” and “Goodbye”
39) Moby: Play (2000) Electronic
The only time I've ridden in a Corvette was also the first time I heard electronic music. It was the summer leading into 7th grade and all anybody was listening to at my suburban Colorado middle school was G-Funk, pop punk or Britany Spears, the Backstreet Boys and their ilk. As I experienced pure teenage bliss at 75 miles per hour, South Side is what turned my head. I promptly had my dad take me to Best Buy so that I could purchase Play. I may or may not have also openly complained about his taste in music being boring compared to his (slightly younger) co-worker whose Corvette I had been in. Moby and Eminem (among others) dominated the following year while I wondered why they couldn't get along. And as an adult, I adore electronic music at least, in part, because of the groundwork that Play laid.
38) Blood Orange: Freetown Sound (2016) R&B
One of several 2016 releases that finally caused R&B to fully click for me after years of holding the genre at arm’s length. An imperfect record, perhaps? But if so, it’s merely a reflection of its ambition. Where R&B is the base, hip-hop and electronic pop give Freetown Sound it’s vibrant, distinct flavor. Side note, Blood Orange is hands down one of the best best modern live acts. See them if you get the chance.
37) TV on the Radio: Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes (2005) Indie Rock
An album that shaped my freshman year of college and helped springboard my deep exploration of 90's indie rock that was aided by the newest technological advancements in piracy-- namely a tool that allow me to sift through all of the shared iTunes libraries within the campus dorms. A lot of people would describe early TV on the Radio as shoegaze gone soul, and that's not a completely inaccurate description. That said, in the summer of 06, I saw them open a show for NIN & Bauhaus at Red Rocks and lets just say that they were enthusiastically received by an audience that was deeply unfamiliar with their sound. Later works are more acclaimed, but the band was never more melodic nor groovy than on Desperate Youth.
36) Led Zeppelin: IV (1971) Rock, Blues
If I were making this list during my senior year of high school, this album would have undoubtedly made the top 10. And frankly, I’m surprised at the lack of Zeppelin on a lot of the classic leaning lists. A band of undeniable talent fronted by one of the most powerful voices in the history of rock. Epic bangers, gorgeous ballads and songs that switch between the two styles on a dime (while daring to be 8 minutes long)… Zeppelin has a rock solid discography, but IV is probably their pinnacle.
35) JPEGMAFIA: All My Heroes Are Cornballs (2019) Hip-Hop
Fragmented pop or industrial hip-hop? At the end of a decade that took a crate of dynamite to the constraints of genres, JPEGMAFIA celebrated in the ashes.
34) Portishead: Dummy (1994) Trip Hop
Another album I was exposed to during my freshman year of college thanks to a buddy who grew up in Hong Kong. He also introduced me to Radiohead (my favorite band). Yeah, I owe him. At the time, both my taste in electronic and hip-hop was growing at a parasitic rate and I was cooking a lot with hash oil (when there wasn't a paper to write). Dummy was the perfect semester-long fling that I still keep in touch with.
33) Throwing Muses: The Real Ramona (1991) Indie Rock
Throwing Muses are that band that your favorite band cites as an influence but you've never heard of. They helped put 4AD on the map in the late 80's and invited The Pixies to be their opening act before "Where is My Mind" was anything more than a saying. Tayna Donnelly would go on to form Belly (and then Breeders) shortly after The Real Ramona dropped in 1991, but she is hardly the only thing Throwing Muses had going for them. Hersh's sultry, whiskey tainted vocals and thoughtful but sometimes tormented lyrics pair beautifully with one of indie rock's most underrated rhythm sections. Guitar peddles also feature prominently. Hop Along fans will find plenty to love.
32) LCD Soundsystem: American Dream (2016) Indie Rock / Electronica
Most LCD junkies would have a different pick to represent James Murphey's band. And This Is Happening was almost here. In fact it's on the list I turned into @Woob_woob because that album had the bigger IMPACT. Dance Yourself Clean is my favorite party song and taught me I love to dance. Plus, This is Happening led to me re-examining Bowie and discovering the Berlin Trilogy. Same time? American Dream is the one I listen to all the time as a feeling-older-by-the-day 33 year old. It's been essential to my 30's. And it's criminally overlooked when discussing the best albums of last decade because critics couldn't get over the fact that a band decided to get back together. If you consider yourself a fan of the Talking Heads and haven't given this one a listen, you should definitely fix that.
31) Atmosphere: Seven’s Travels (2003) Hip-Hop
I was a bit of an underground hip-hop junkie in college due one of my best friends being from the Twin Cities. Atmosphere is not my favorite rapper of that era, but his art is fused to that moment in time. And justifiably so as his Ryhmesayers label is synonymous with 00's underground. I know there are people on this site who would point to Lemons as their masterpiece but, in my eyes, that album is more By the Way than Californication. In other words, Lemons is an excellent album but also one was intentionally aimed at a wider audience and, by proxy to that reality, created formula a under which Slug would become forever trapped. Seven's Travels, in contrast, is Atmosphere's Blood Sugar Sex Magic. Their sound here is still raw, but the production has also caught up with the talent. Catchy but unhinged, snarky but sincere-- an entire scene cemented on the map.
For some reason, the critics never fully embraced the music of Steph Alexander. Outlets like Pitchfork have always treated him luke-warmly while dismissing his hyper unique blend of punk, electronic and hip-hop as niche. Which is funny considering they tend to drool over genre busting when it doesn’t involve hip-hop (or Death Grips). Anyways… P.O.S. “not one of those rap conservationists” and the talented lyricist has few contemporaries when it comes to fusing pop culture to the political, the political to the personal. Never Better is the climax of his early discography and one of his most accessible albums. It’s the album that led me to Fugazi, the album that soundtracked my move back to Los Angeles and it’s themes only grow more relevant with time. Favorite tracks include “Optimist (We Are Not For Them”, “Purexed” and “Goodbye”
39) Moby: Play (2000) Electronic
The only time I've ridden in a Corvette was also the first time I heard electronic music. It was the summer leading into 7th grade and all anybody was listening to at my suburban Colorado middle school was G-Funk, pop punk or Britany Spears, the Backstreet Boys and their ilk. As I experienced pure teenage bliss at 75 miles per hour, South Side is what turned my head. I promptly had my dad take me to Best Buy so that I could purchase Play. I may or may not have also openly complained about his taste in music being boring compared to his (slightly younger) co-worker whose Corvette I had been in. Moby and Eminem (among others) dominated the following year while I wondered why they couldn't get along. And as an adult, I adore electronic music at least, in part, because of the groundwork that Play laid.
38) Blood Orange: Freetown Sound (2016) R&B
One of several 2016 releases that finally caused R&B to fully click for me after years of holding the genre at arm’s length. An imperfect record, perhaps? But if so, it’s merely a reflection of its ambition. Where R&B is the base, hip-hop and electronic pop give Freetown Sound it’s vibrant, distinct flavor. Side note, Blood Orange is hands down one of the best best modern live acts. See them if you get the chance.
37) TV on the Radio: Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes (2005) Indie Rock
An album that shaped my freshman year of college and helped springboard my deep exploration of 90's indie rock that was aided by the newest technological advancements in piracy-- namely a tool that allow me to sift through all of the shared iTunes libraries within the campus dorms. A lot of people would describe early TV on the Radio as shoegaze gone soul, and that's not a completely inaccurate description. That said, in the summer of 06, I saw them open a show for NIN & Bauhaus at Red Rocks and lets just say that they were enthusiastically received by an audience that was deeply unfamiliar with their sound. Later works are more acclaimed, but the band was never more melodic nor groovy than on Desperate Youth.
36) Led Zeppelin: IV (1971) Rock, Blues
If I were making this list during my senior year of high school, this album would have undoubtedly made the top 10. And frankly, I’m surprised at the lack of Zeppelin on a lot of the classic leaning lists. A band of undeniable talent fronted by one of the most powerful voices in the history of rock. Epic bangers, gorgeous ballads and songs that switch between the two styles on a dime (while daring to be 8 minutes long)… Zeppelin has a rock solid discography, but IV is probably their pinnacle.
35) JPEGMAFIA: All My Heroes Are Cornballs (2019) Hip-Hop
Fragmented pop or industrial hip-hop? At the end of a decade that took a crate of dynamite to the constraints of genres, JPEGMAFIA celebrated in the ashes.
34) Portishead: Dummy (1994) Trip Hop
Another album I was exposed to during my freshman year of college thanks to a buddy who grew up in Hong Kong. He also introduced me to Radiohead (my favorite band). Yeah, I owe him. At the time, both my taste in electronic and hip-hop was growing at a parasitic rate and I was cooking a lot with hash oil (when there wasn't a paper to write). Dummy was the perfect semester-long fling that I still keep in touch with.
33) Throwing Muses: The Real Ramona (1991) Indie Rock
Throwing Muses are that band that your favorite band cites as an influence but you've never heard of. They helped put 4AD on the map in the late 80's and invited The Pixies to be their opening act before "Where is My Mind" was anything more than a saying. Tayna Donnelly would go on to form Belly (and then Breeders) shortly after The Real Ramona dropped in 1991, but she is hardly the only thing Throwing Muses had going for them. Hersh's sultry, whiskey tainted vocals and thoughtful but sometimes tormented lyrics pair beautifully with one of indie rock's most underrated rhythm sections. Guitar peddles also feature prominently. Hop Along fans will find plenty to love.
32) LCD Soundsystem: American Dream (2016) Indie Rock / Electronica
Most LCD junkies would have a different pick to represent James Murphey's band. And This Is Happening was almost here. In fact it's on the list I turned into @Woob_woob because that album had the bigger IMPACT. Dance Yourself Clean is my favorite party song and taught me I love to dance. Plus, This is Happening led to me re-examining Bowie and discovering the Berlin Trilogy. Same time? American Dream is the one I listen to all the time as a feeling-older-by-the-day 33 year old. It's been essential to my 30's. And it's criminally overlooked when discussing the best albums of last decade because critics couldn't get over the fact that a band decided to get back together. If you consider yourself a fan of the Talking Heads and haven't given this one a listen, you should definitely fix that.
31) Atmosphere: Seven’s Travels (2003) Hip-Hop
I was a bit of an underground hip-hop junkie in college due one of my best friends being from the Twin Cities. Atmosphere is not my favorite rapper of that era, but his art is fused to that moment in time. And justifiably so as his Ryhmesayers label is synonymous with 00's underground. I know there are people on this site who would point to Lemons as their masterpiece but, in my eyes, that album is more By the Way than Californication. In other words, Lemons is an excellent album but also one was intentionally aimed at a wider audience and, by proxy to that reality, created formula a under which Slug would become forever trapped. Seven's Travels, in contrast, is Atmosphere's Blood Sugar Sex Magic. Their sound here is still raw, but the production has also caught up with the talent. Catchy but unhinged, snarky but sincere-- an entire scene cemented on the map.
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Whiteout75
Active Member
So okay! Listened to 69 Love Songs by Magnetic Fields today for the first time in over a decade, and DAMN! This HAVE to be in the top 10! Had completely missed it. I don't have the energy to rearrange my list this late, but for what it's worth, 69 Love Songs is probably in the top 10 somewhere....
#3 with words
I absolutely love this album, every single note. This came along for me right after getting into Zeppelin, trying pot, and taking off on a musical journey that would never end ...it was all so magical at that age. Kinda still is. There were so many albums I couldn't get enough of early on in that journey, but this one always sounds so purely excellent that, as I type this, I can't believe it's not my number one. It's not just nostalgia; this has hung around as an album I can listen to with more regularity than most, even decades later.
There's a new level to my association with this record now. I joined VMP back in 2015 to get a copy of Paranoid because I had just started collecting again, figured I'd quit the club right after. But then I found the forum, which turned into this beautiful place, my favorite corner of the internet.
Cheers to you all
I absolutely love this album, every single note. This came along for me right after getting into Zeppelin, trying pot, and taking off on a musical journey that would never end ...it was all so magical at that age. Kinda still is. There were so many albums I couldn't get enough of early on in that journey, but this one always sounds so purely excellent that, as I type this, I can't believe it's not my number one. It's not just nostalgia; this has hung around as an album I can listen to with more regularity than most, even decades later.
There's a new level to my association with this record now. I joined VMP back in 2015 to get a copy of Paranoid because I had just started collecting again, figured I'd quit the club right after. But then I found the forum, which turned into this beautiful place, my favorite corner of the internet.
Cheers to you all
ThePakoBuelna
Well-Known Member
40-36
40.- Moses Sumney "Aromanticism" 2017
39.- Saba "Care for Me" 2018
38.- Daft Punks "Random Access Memories" 2013
37.- The Juju Exchange "Exchange" 2017
36.- The Wombats "A Guide to Love, Loss And Desperation" 2007
39.- Saba "Care for Me" 2018
38.- Daft Punks "Random Access Memories" 2013
37.- The Juju Exchange "Exchange" 2017
36.- The Wombats "A Guide to Love, Loss And Desperation" 2007
yeahLCD
New Member
I edited mine and I think that killed it
here it is again
here it is again
| 1 | Radiohead - OK Computer |
| 2 | Arcade Fire - Funeral |
| 3 | The Beatles - Abbey Road |
| 4 | Vampire Weekend - Modern Vampires of the City |
| 5 | Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion |
| 6 | Nick Drake - Pink Moon |
| 7 | Nirvana - Nevermind |
| 8 | Destroyer - Kaputt |
| 9 | Deerhunter - Halcyon Digest |
| 10 | Kendrick Lamar - Good Kid, m.A.A.d. City |
| 11 | Television - Marquee Moon |
| 12 | The Flaming Lips - Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots |
| 13 | Sufjan Stevens - Carrie & Lowell |
| 14 | The Beatles - Revolver |
| 15 | Weezer - Blue Album |
| 16 | LCD Soundsystem - Sound of Silver |
| 17 | Paul Simon - Graceland |
| 18 | Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga |
| 19 | The Who - Who's Next |
| 20 | Slint - Spiderland |
| 21 | Ariel Pink - pom pom |
| 22 | Frank Ocean - Channel Orange |
| 23 | Radiohead - Kid A |
| 24 | The Smashing Pumpkins - Siamese Dream |
| 25 | The Strokes - Is This It? |
| 26 | My Bloody Valentine - Loveless |
| 27 | Daft Punk - Discovery |
| 28 | Talk Talk - Spirit of Eden |
| 29 | Grimes - Art Angels |
| 30 | The National - Boxer |
| 31 | Talking Heads - Remain In Light |
| 32 | Spoon - Kill the Moonlight |
| 33 | Weezer - Pinkerton |
| 34 | Chromatics - Kill For Love |
| 35 | Deerhunter - Microcastle / Weird Era Cont. |
| 36 | Kanye West - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy |
| 37 | The Beach Boys - Pet Sounds |
| 38 | Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes |
| 39 | Fleetwood Mac - Rumours |
| 40 | Led Zeppelin - Houses of the Holy |
| 41 | Interpol - Antics |
| 42 | Wilco - Yankee Hotel Foxtrot |
| 43 | Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Ghosteen |
| 44 | David Bowie - "Heroes" |
| 45 | Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here |
| 46 | Panda Bear - Person Pitch |
| 47 | The Smashing Pumpkins - Mellon Collie & The Infinite Sadness |
| 48 | Mastodon - Crack The Skye |
| 49 | Neutral Milk Hotel - In The Aeroplane Over the Sea |
| 50 | Titus Andronicus - The Monitor |
BjorgenFjorgen
Well-Known Member
List submitted! Spent too much time putting this together but really enjoyed going back and listening to some very old favourites, remembering why I love them in the first place, and reliving some old memories associated with them. I started some write-ups but they got long, wordy, and out of hand so I think I'll just post the list and maybe do some short write-ups later.
I also went with personal favourites and albums that meant the most to me over my life so far. I think that's the only really honest way to do it. Didn't limit number of albums by an individual artist; favourite bands are favourite bands for a reason. Albums that led were gateways to certain genres, styles, or (especially) life experiences got tons of bonus points. #27, for example, was my favourite album in high school and almost single-handedly taught me how to play guitar, so even if I don't listen to it as much anymore, its impact on me was immense. Same for albums that remind me of a specific time and place in my life (#26, noraebang when I first moved to Korea with all the people I met there; #41, doing karaoke with my restaurant coworkers in the early '10s. I'm spotting a trend). As a result, I basically decided to omit albums I only heard or really got into in the last couple of years; I don't think it's really a long enough time to consider anything I've loved since then an "all-timer" (though I did make two or three exceptions). This list would probably look a lot different in ten years.
A couple quick stats:
26. Paul Simon - Graceland
27. Coheed and Cambria - In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3
28. My Morning Jacket - It Still Moves
29. The Mars Volta - Frances the Mute
30. Nick Drake - Five Leaves Left
31. Simon & Garfunkel - Bridge Over Troubled Water
32. James Blackshaw - Love is the Plan, the Plan is Death
33. Joe Pug - Nation of Heat
34. Cat Stevens - Teaser and the Firecat
35. Grateful Dead - American Beauty
36. Kevin Morby - Singing Saw
37. Timber Timbre - Timber Timbre
38. Gillian Welch - Time (The Revelator)
39. mewithoutYou - It's All Crazy! It's All False! It’s All a Dream! It’s Alright!
40. A Silver Mt. Zion - He Has Left Us Alone But Shafts of Light Sometimes Grace the Corner of Our Rooms
41. The Band - Northern Lights - Southern Cross
42. Arcade Fire - Funeral
43. Coheed and Cambria - The Second Stage Turbine Blade
44. Opeth - Ghost Reveries
45. Neil Young - Harvest
46. Owen Pallett - Heartland
47. Sufjan Stevens - The Age of Adz
48. Nils Frahm - Spaces
49. Robert Plant & Allison Krauss - Raising Sand
50. Destroyer - Kaputt
I also went with personal favourites and albums that meant the most to me over my life so far. I think that's the only really honest way to do it. Didn't limit number of albums by an individual artist; favourite bands are favourite bands for a reason. Albums that led were gateways to certain genres, styles, or (especially) life experiences got tons of bonus points. #27, for example, was my favourite album in high school and almost single-handedly taught me how to play guitar, so even if I don't listen to it as much anymore, its impact on me was immense. Same for albums that remind me of a specific time and place in my life (#26, noraebang when I first moved to Korea with all the people I met there; #41, doing karaoke with my restaurant coworkers in the early '10s. I'm spotting a trend). As a result, I basically decided to omit albums I only heard or really got into in the last couple of years; I don't think it's really a long enough time to consider anything I've loved since then an "all-timer" (though I did make two or three exceptions). This list would probably look a lot different in ten years.
A couple quick stats:
- 24 albums from the '00s. Not surprising, I suppose, considering that covers my high school and most of my university years--followed by 10 from the 2010s, 8 from the '70s, 6 from the '60s, and only one each from the '80s and '90s (though I've opened up a lot to records from those decades recently, I don't love any enough to make the list).
- 27 albums by American or primarily American artists, 15 Canadian or primarily Canadian albums, 5 from Britain, 1 album from Sweden, 1 from Germany, and 1 from America and Britain.
- 3 artists each have 3 albums, and 5 artists have 2 albums.
26. Paul Simon - Graceland
27. Coheed and Cambria - In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3
28. My Morning Jacket - It Still Moves
29. The Mars Volta - Frances the Mute
30. Nick Drake - Five Leaves Left
31. Simon & Garfunkel - Bridge Over Troubled Water
32. James Blackshaw - Love is the Plan, the Plan is Death
33. Joe Pug - Nation of Heat
34. Cat Stevens - Teaser and the Firecat
35. Grateful Dead - American Beauty
36. Kevin Morby - Singing Saw
37. Timber Timbre - Timber Timbre
38. Gillian Welch - Time (The Revelator)
39. mewithoutYou - It's All Crazy! It's All False! It’s All a Dream! It’s Alright!
40. A Silver Mt. Zion - He Has Left Us Alone But Shafts of Light Sometimes Grace the Corner of Our Rooms
41. The Band - Northern Lights - Southern Cross
42. Arcade Fire - Funeral
43. Coheed and Cambria - The Second Stage Turbine Blade
44. Opeth - Ghost Reveries
45. Neil Young - Harvest
46. Owen Pallett - Heartland
47. Sufjan Stevens - The Age of Adz
48. Nils Frahm - Spaces
49. Robert Plant & Allison Krauss - Raising Sand
50. Destroyer - Kaputt
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#2 with words
Led Zeppelin - Physical Graffiti
This it might not be their most cohesive record as a set of songs goes, but this is my longstanding favorite Zep record. It has my favorite-ever LZ song and Page solo - The Rover, and so many other sublime moments: In the Light, Sick Again, Wonton Song and Kashmir are all outstanding.
As a young drummer, I played to these songs queued up on the basement turntable over and over...especially In My Time of Dying and Trampled Under Foot. I think IV and Houses of the Holy are albums that captured Zeppelin at their peak song writing, and yet PG always holds a higher spot for me. I thought for sure this would be my number one...but there is still one more to go.
Led Zeppelin - Physical Graffiti
This it might not be their most cohesive record as a set of songs goes, but this is my longstanding favorite Zep record. It has my favorite-ever LZ song and Page solo - The Rover, and so many other sublime moments: In the Light, Sick Again, Wonton Song and Kashmir are all outstanding.
As a young drummer, I played to these songs queued up on the basement turntable over and over...especially In My Time of Dying and Trampled Under Foot. I think IV and Houses of the Holy are albums that captured Zeppelin at their peak song writing, and yet PG always holds a higher spot for me. I thought for sure this would be my number one...but there is still one more to go.
Ponman2003
Well-Known Member
Ponman2003
Well-Known Member
Woah woah woah. I loved Manners back in the day but then forgot about them. The got even better?!
Thackeraye
Well-Known Member
This video for Trampled Underfoot was the first I heard of Zeppelin. Always thought the visuals went so well with the song...
Matt M
Santa Extraordinaire
This seems like it could change by the minute, but I went with the theory of going with the albums that are outstanding and I reach for over ones that I know are outstanding but just don't feel like playing that much. These are my favorites....for now.
Rip_City
Well-Known Member
Yeah so Pet Sounds def the N&G aggregate #1.
Matt M
Santa Extraordinaire
I have no problem with that
BjorgenFjorgen
Well-Known Member
I'm sticking with my earlier prediction of London Calling.
wmeugene
Well-Known Member
I had Pet Sounds #1 and London Calling #2, so let's just say I am good with either.
#1
The Rolling Stones - Let it Bleed
I kind of surprised myself with this decision as I made the list. But as I considered everything about it, it rose to the top.
There's not an album with a better opener/closer combo than this in my humble opinion.
(Gimme Shelter / You Can't Always Get What You Want)
And, Gimme Shelter might just be the best rock song of all time. It still raises the hair on my arms in parts, even though I have heard it countless times. Of course Merry Clayton is such a gem here, and the "woo!" we hear on mic by one of the Stones after her flat-out amazing vocal reach near the end is all so legendary. The song itself is drenched in vibe, it's hard (for me) to describe...and the band is just amazing.
I don't find any filler on this album; it's damn close to perfect...and yet if I did this list in 10 more years, maybe a different record lands the top spot.
The Rolling Stones - Let it Bleed
I kind of surprised myself with this decision as I made the list. But as I considered everything about it, it rose to the top.
There's not an album with a better opener/closer combo than this in my humble opinion.
(Gimme Shelter / You Can't Always Get What You Want)
And, Gimme Shelter might just be the best rock song of all time. It still raises the hair on my arms in parts, even though I have heard it countless times. Of course Merry Clayton is such a gem here, and the "woo!" we hear on mic by one of the Stones after her flat-out amazing vocal reach near the end is all so legendary. The song itself is drenched in vibe, it's hard (for me) to describe...and the band is just amazing.
I don't find any filler on this album; it's damn close to perfect...and yet if I did this list in 10 more years, maybe a different record lands the top spot.
Thank you! I'm old! Next up: bifocalsSince some of y'alls eyes are so poor to not be able to read that clear as day writing on the wall, here is my list that was created by a random list generator
- Samual Jackson Five - Easily Misunderstood
- Yndi Halda - Enjoy Eternal Bliss
- godspeed You Black Emperor - F# A# infinity
- Six parts seven - everywhere and right here
- eminem - the eminem show
- brand new - the devil and god are raging inside me
- explosions in the sky - How Strange, innocence
- envy - From here to eternity
- thursday - war all the time
- pink floyd - Animals
- Nujabes - metaphorical music
- mono - hymn to the immortal wind
- radiohead - Hail to the thief
- sage francis - a healthy distrust
- the sound of animals fighting - Tiger and the Duke
- YMO - Yellow Magic Orchestra
- Happy End - 風街ろまん
- Uyama Hiroto - Freeform Jazz
- Wang Wen - 0.7
- All India Radio - Echo Other
- Cold Fairyland - Kingdom of Benevolent strangers
- From Autumn to Ashes - Holding a Wolf by the ears
- Passion Pit - Gossamer
- Freelance Whales - weathervanes
- Joey Bada$$ - All-Amerikkkan Bada$$
- Kendrick Lamar - To Pimp a butterfly
- Lemon Jelly - Lost Horizons
- Mansionz - Mansionz
- meWithoutYou - Brother, Sister
- The Mars Volta - The Bedlam in Goliath
- Olafur Arnals - For now I am winter
- Portugal. The Man - Censored Colors
- underoath - define the great line
- Broken Social Scene - Feel Good Lost
- Arcade Fire - The Suburbs
- Built to spill - perfect from now on
- Dream Theater - Metropolis Pt. 2 scences from a memory
- The Fall of Troy - Doppelganger
- Fear Before - Fear Before
- Gabor Szabo - Rambler
- god is an astronaut - all is violent, all is bright
- gorillaz - demon days
- Manchester Orchestra - Mean everything to nothing
- menomena - I am the fun blame monster
- mew - frengers
- modest mouse - the moon and antartica
- Yeasayer - All Hour Cymbals
- worlds end girlfriend - farewell kingdom
- the album leaf - one day i'll be on time
- Yo La Tengo - I can hear the heart beating as one
I wish everyone had posted their lists in full all along. My list wasn't more pure for lack of input, instead I definitely missed at least 2 albums that would have been in my top 25, just because there is so much music to consider. Oh no! I just thought of another one! Though I think that one actually got deleted in an Evernote hiccup/user error.