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Building That Perfect Album Collection..

A forum for discussion on Music topics whatever your taste.
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Billy Whiz
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Post by Billy Whiz »

What’s good about this thread is it’s a kind of official declaration of what we like, rather than occasional choices that come up via miscellaneous threads.
blahblah wrote:Best list so far, unc. Not perfect, as no Rolling Stones album in there. :wink:
There can be no “best list”, because music is too subjective, but it’s nice to see lots of crossover – several of my albums have been chosen by posters who, in other respects, have completely different tastes.
Rick wrote: Surely Bridge over Troubled Water came out in 1970. I was going to include that in my 70's list.
I’ve just checked – you’re right :oops: . In my defence most of the tracks, including the title track, were written in 1969. I’m not going to change it now though cos I can’t bear to drop any of the other 1970s ones – it was hard enough as it was!
Groomyd wrote: 1980's the most difficult surely?
The 1980s were tricky. The 1960s, the 1990s and the 2000s were very, very tough; the Seventies were impossible.

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Post by Wayward Lad »

Exactly the reason for the thread Billy....it wasnt about what people view as necessarily the most influential albums of an era, but much more about the personal experiences of making that choice....there are some great albums in those lists - many ive never heard of to be honest....

I must admit to loving literally thousands of records - many falling way outside of my natural musical tastes (and I define this as the music you grow up with and the fashions, cults and styles you actively adopted along that journey)...

Music is so personal....

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Post by Rick »

Billy Whiz wrote:
Groomyd wrote: 1980's the most difficult surely?
The 1980s were tricky. The 1960s, the 1990s and the 2000s were very, very tough; the Seventies were impossible.
I think it's to do with your age. I would think whichever decade you are a teenager in would be the hardest. Although in some cases that will span two decades of course.

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Billy Whiz
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Post by Billy Whiz »

M-boy wrote:
ianovich wrote:
M-boy wrote:
ianovich wrote: You say this is torture - you just wait for the follow up thread which will be the same format but singles rather than albums, that will be an even more personal retrospective as individual songs often relate to a moment in time or a period of your life....
What's a single?

:wink:
Its what YODA used to be
:lol: Right-o. But if we're doing that we'll have to widen it to all songs, because I have no idea what was a single and what wasn't.
I'm the same, partly because I never listen to pop radio stations. Sometimes I find myself recommending a song or a new band to someone, only to find that they've had a single in the charts for the past six weeks!

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Post by Knulpuk »

OK here we go, and before reading any of the above - otherwise I will then make loads of changes...I have tried not to repeat any artists.

The 80's were by far the hardest - wot no Jam, New Order, Stone Roses, Shakey I could go on....

60's

The Doors - The Doors
The Beach Boys - Pet Sounds
Bob Dylan - Blonde on Blonde
The Kinks - Village Green Preservation society
Dusty Springfield - Dusty in Memphis

70's

The Stranglers - No more Heroes
Stevie Wonder - Songs in the key of Life
Bryter Layter - Nick Drake
Tom Waits - The Heart of Saturday Night
Transformer - Lou Reed

80's
The Wedding Present - George Best
Pixies - Surfer Rosa
Dexy's Midnight Runners - Don't stand me down
Smiths - Hatful of hollow
Billy Bragg - Workers Playtime


90's
Wilco - Summer teeth
Pavement - Crooked rain, crooked rain
Jayhawks - Tomorrow the Green Grass
The Pernice Brothers - Overcome with Happiness
Lemonheads - Its a shame about Ray

00's
Not the Trembling kind - Laura Cantrall
Baby I'm Bored - Evan Dando
Eels - Daisies of the Galaxy
The Killers - Hot Fuss
Kelley Stoltz - Below the Branches
Last edited by Knulpuk on 19 Jun 2008, 09:17, edited 5 times in total.

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Knulpuk
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Post by Knulpuk »

Looking at other people's choices I conclude the following:

- people who replied have similar choices in music
- I have a list of albums to try out - the Wrens and the Thermals have passed me by
- I would never have even considered Cyndi Lauper!

also for anyone yet to choose - Allmusic.com is a good way of checking the release dates

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Billy Whiz
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Post by Billy Whiz »

Knulpuk wrote:Transformer - Lou Reed
That was one of several from the Seventies that I felt mortified to have had to leave out.

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Post by unc »

Thought about this last night and had a few revisions to make. New list as follows!!

1960’s:

Velvet Underground and Nico.
Revolver
Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison
Led Zep II.
A Kind of Blue

No question about the top 2, but Led Zep come in ahead of Jimi and Johnny Cash replaces the Doors, just based on what I listen to the most from this era. Miles Davis stays.

1970’s

London Calling
Parallel Lines
Closing Time
Songs in the Key of Life
Transformer

Sex Pistols have to make way for Stevie. Couldn't miss it out, and tbh the Pistols were never really as good as the Clash.

80’s

Stone Roses
Closer
Surfer Rosa
Daydream Nation (Sonic Youth)
Soul Mining

Still impossible, but can't leave out one of my all time favourite albums (Soul Mining), and there has to be a place for Sonic Youth's Daydream Nation, which in non-mainstream rock is up there with Velvet Underground and Surfer Rosa.

90’s

The Infotainment Scan (Fall)
The Bends
Definitely Maybe
Dummy (portishead)
Dry (PJ Harvey)

A few changes, with the Fall coming in (no collection complete without Mark E. in there) in place of Nevermind. OK I know Nevermind is essential and was on everyone's stereo for a couple of years in the early 90's, but I've not actually listened to it for ages and tbh it's just a more commercial version of Surfer Rosa, only not as good. The Fall on the other hand, is pure genius. Would probably have gone for This Nations Saving Grace, but wrong decade!


00’s
Tough to find much that stands up next to the albums that have gone before, but pretty happy with 4 of the original selections.

Is This It?
Up The Bracket
White Blood Cells
By The Way

Hot Fuss has to go though. I love the album, but when I see it set against Closer, Daydream Nation, Surfer Rosa, VU or London Calling, it's clear that it has to go.

Replaced by a little known album, but one of the real gems of the decade:

Not The Tremblin' kind (Laura Cantrell).

Slightly happier now, but still impossible with only 5 choices per decade.

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Post by Knulpuk »

unc wrote:
Not The Tremblin' kind (Laura Cantrell).
It was an administrative error that kept this off my list - one of fav's of all time and When the Roses Bloom Again is none too shabby either.

Of the Not The Tremblin' kind I think John Peel thought it his favourite album ever, that's not a bad endorsement.

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Post by unc »

Knulpuk wrote:
unc wrote:
Not The Tremblin' kind (Laura Cantrell).
It was an administrative error that kept this off my list - one of fav's of all time and When the Roses Bloom Again is none too shabby either.

Of the Not The Tremblin' kind I think John Peel thought it his favourite album ever, that's not a bad endorsement.
Was indeed the late, great John Peel that bought Laura Cantrell to my attention. Wonderful album.

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Post by Billy Whiz »

unc wrote:Thought about this last night and had a few revisions to make. New list as follows!!

1960’s:

Velvet Underground and Nico.
Revolver
Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison
Led Zep II.
A Kind of Blue
You'll have to revise your list one more time mate because A Kind of Blue was released on August 17, 1959 :P

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Post by murf »

Where to start...

The 60s maybe??

The Stooges - The Stooges. I was listening to this album yesterday - class, has to be in there. Amazing that it is nearly 40 years old but still sounds vital and almost fresh. Not bad considering virtually every pop/rock album before that was tripe.
Johnny Cash - Folsom Prison. A genius at work.
Van Morrison - Astral Weeks - found elsewhere on the thread - was this really 60s?
The Doors - Slightly over-rated but must have been amazing at the time.

For the 5th album it will depend if I include a later Neil Young album in forthcoming decades. The 60s albums were not his best but later ones will have more credible rivals.

Neil Young - not sure which one without re-listening OR
Velvet Underground and Nico. Slightly over-rated but must have been amazing at the time.

The 60s didn't really start til they were nearly over in musical terms.

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Post by mikeg13 »

murf wrote:
The 60s didn't really start til they were nearly over in musical terms.
Most 60's albums are pretty poor, they were a very small market in pop terms and most tracks just fillers.
It was Pepper/Pet sounds in my view that changed things and suddenly album sales started to be an important marketing tool for the music industry, Ogden Flake, Tommy few others became big sellers.

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Post by mikeg13 »

mikeg13 wrote:
murf wrote:
The 60s didn't really start til they were nearly over in musical terms.
Most 60's albums are pretty poor, they were a very small market in pop terms and most tracks just fillers.
It was Pepper/Pet sounds in my view that changed things and suddenly album sales started to be an important marketing tool for the music industry, Ogden Flake, Tommy few others became big sellers.
Stooges album was after Pepper and Pet sounds both far better Murf, would be amazed if any Stooges music was ever played here in the 60's :wink:

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Post by Billy Whiz »

murf wrote:
The 60s didn't really start til they were nearly over in musical terms.
Presumably by this you mean in album terms. I remember ages ago saying on one of the music threads that the Seventies effectively started in 1969, which provoked a certain amount of discussion. But it's another way of making the same point as you and mikeg are making.

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Post by unc »

Billy Whiz wrote:
unc wrote:Thought about this last night and had a few revisions to make. New list as follows!!

1960’s:

Velvet Underground and Nico.
Revolver
Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison
Led Zep II.
A Kind of Blue
You'll have to revise your list one more time mate because A Kind of Blue was released on August 17, 1959 :P
There's always someone :lol:

I don't care, it's near enough for me, and it's too good to drop.

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Post by mikeg13 »

The National Association of Recording Merchandisers (NARM) and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame have put together a list of 200 albums that should be in every music collection
is an interesting list of 200 must have albums, had a quick look and fair few of those put forward on here are in it

deleted it as it went to wide, sorry
Last edited by mikeg13 on 18 Jan 2008, 15:42, edited 1 time in total.

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Post by murf »

mikeg13 wrote:
mikeg13 wrote:
murf wrote:
The 60s didn't really start til they were nearly over in musical terms.
Most 60's albums are pretty poor, they were a very small market in pop terms and most tracks just fillers.
It was Pepper/Pet sounds in my view that changed things and suddenly album sales started to be an important marketing tool for the music industry, Ogden Flake, Tommy few others became big sellers.
Stooges album was after Pepper and Pet sounds both far better Murf, would be amazed if any Stooges music was ever played here in the 60's :wink:
I am not a fan of most 60s stuff, be it pop (Beatles, Beach Boys), Motown or whatever.

I wasn't really around at the time but all the 'interesting' stuff (Stooges, Doors, Jimi, VU, Sabbath, Led Zep) seemed to kick off late 60s, early 70s (whether or not the British masses were aware at the time) - so the 70s perhaps did start a couple of years early!

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Post by Rick »

I know a few have decided (for some reason) not to include the same artist twice, but if it is really your best 5 albums from each decade then chances are more than one will by your favourite artist/band.

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Post by mikeg13 »

murf wrote: I wasn't really around at the time but all the 'interesting' stuff (Stooges, Doors, Jimi, VU, Sabbath, Led Zep) seemed to kick off late 60s, early 70s (whether or not the British masses were aware at the time) - so the 70s perhaps did start a couple of years early!
MC5 maybe more to your taste, around about same time as stooges, not sure how to describe them hard rock probably, but very different to what most seem to think was 60's music. Most of what people know as music of the time hated then, play it a lot more now :lol: (age thing)

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Post by UncleTupelo »

Sgt Peppers has to be my least favourite Beatles album (would much rather listen to Beatles for Sale, or With The Beatles) but yet it keeps appearing as their best album on these lists. Am I the only Beatles fan who just can't stomach that album?

Day in the Life is good though.

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Post by unc »

mikeg13 wrote:
murf wrote: I wasn't really around at the time but all the 'interesting' stuff (Stooges, Doors, Jimi, VU, Sabbath, Led Zep) seemed to kick off late 60s, early 70s (whether or not the British masses were aware at the time) - so the 70s perhaps did start a couple of years early!
MC5 maybe more to your taste, around about same time as stooges, not sure how to describe them hard rock probably, but very different to what most seem to think was 60's music. Most of what people know as music of the time hated then, play it a lot more now :lol: (age thing)
Very influential band. Sonic Youth are named in honour of their guitarist I believe. If you like the VU/Sonic Youth/Pixies blood line of Rock music then MC5's Kick out the Jams is well worth a listen.

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Post by zipnolan »

OK then, my 999th post. Better get something down before the grumpiness kicks in. It's going to take a few edits before it's complete.

60s

The Zombies, Odessey and Oracle
Perfect pop tunes.

The Beatles, Sergeant Pepper
Revolver is maybe better, but this is the only Beatles album I know almost by heart.

Cream, Disraeli Gears
It made my parents angry when I played it because it was loud.

Otis Redding, Otis Blue
I have a mono copy of this I bought in Brighton about 30 years ago. It just sounds better in mono.

Aretha Franklin, I Never Loved a Man (the Way I love You)
Similar story - bought my copy of this in the late 70s, in Cheapo Cheapo Records in Soho. Then took it back and played the grooves off it.


70s

David Bowie, Ziggy Stardust
Easy pick - the first LP I bought, and I still love it. Could have gone for Hunky Dory, or Station to Station, but....

Steely Dan, Countdown to Ecstacy
By some distance the album I played most in the 70s. Can't Buy a Thrill and Pretzel Logic may have better pop songs, but there is more depth in this one.

Michael Jackson, Off the Wall
The only record that kept me thin through dancing in my university years. Well, this and The Jacksons' Triumph. I make no apology for picking it.

The Congos, Heart of the Congos
Had to get some Lee Perry in here. The melodies are painfully beautiful, so this edges Max Romeo's War ina Babylon and Junior Murvin's Police and Thieves for me as Perry's finest moment.

Marvin Gaye, What's Going On
The mood of this album is unique. The double CD with live rendition is worth anyone's money.

80s

Elvis Costello, Get Happy
Had to have some Elvis in here. I love all his early stuff, but this is his cheeriest moment, and the catchy tunes are pouring out like water.

Freddie McGregor, Bobby Bobylon
This album adds an edge to his singing, and a depth through Coxsone Dodd's Studio One production, that McGregor never recaptured. I have it on vinyl, cassette and CD.

ABC, Lexicon of Love
just great pop music, stylishly performed. Shoot that poison arrow through my heart.

Heaven 17, Penthouse and Pavement
It's aged quite badly, but I embraced it's crude politics, and, to an extent, still do.

Gregory Isaacs, Soon Forward
OK, it may be 1979, but I had to get the Cool Ruler into the 80s, because that's when I saw him at Aylesbury, the best concert of my life. He just sexed up the whole audience, and I slid into a girl - a complete stranger - outside, just after it ended. Never even exchanged names.


90s / 00s - Later.
Last edited by zipnolan on 18 Jan 2008, 17:33, edited 1 time in total.

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Post by Knulpuk »

I am struggling to do any productive work beacuse I am concerned about the quality of my 00's list.

I am going to have to revisit.

It may take some time.

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Post by blahblah »

Billy Whiz wrote:
unc wrote:Thought about this last night and had a few revisions to make. New list as follows!!

1960’s:

Velvet Underground and Nico.
Revolver
Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison
Led Zep II.
A Kind of Blue
You'll have to revise your list one more time mate because A Kind of Blue was released on August 17, 1959 :P
So we need a 50's Section, too?

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Billy Whiz
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Post by Billy Whiz »

UncleTupelo wrote:Sgt Peppers has to be my least favourite Beatles album (would much rather listen to Beatles for Sale, or With The Beatles) but yet it keeps appearing as their best album on these lists. Am I the only Beatles fan who just can't stomach that album?

Day in the Life is good though.
Funnily enough, it's my least favourite too. There's something artificial about it which I've never been able to put my finger on. Maybe it's just too psychedelic. And it was to their eternal embarrassment that one of its most famous songs - With a Little Help from my Friends - was done 100 times better by Joe Cocker. Like you, I also think its best track is Day in the Life, which I've always thought sounds as if it belonged more on their next album, the White Double.

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Post by blahblah »

Billy Whiz wrote:
UncleTupelo wrote:Sgt Peppers has to be my least favourite Beatles album (would much rather listen to Beatles for Sale, or With The Beatles) but yet it keeps appearing as their best album on these lists. Am I the only Beatles fan who just can't stomach that album?

Day in the Life is good though.
Funnily enough, it's my least favourite too. There's something artificial about it which I've never been able to put my finger on. Maybe it's just too psychedelic. And it was to their eternal embarrassment that one of its most famous songs - With a Little Help from my Friends - was done 100 times better by Joe Cocker. Like you, I also think its best track is Day in the Life, which I've always thought sounds as if it belonged more on their next album, the White Double.
I prefer the Stones, and Sgt Pepper is low on my list of Beatles albums.

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Post by Spinynorman »

I like Sgt Pepper both as an album and a sort of period piece although I enjoy many of their other albums more.

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Post by blahblah »

This is as far as I have got. It is hard to cut stuff out.

60s

Stones tbc
Hendrix tbc
Tim Buckley: Happy Sad
Manfred Mann Manfred Mann
Dusty in Las Vegas Dusty Springfield

70s
Closing Time Tom Waits
Bowie tbc
Never Mind the Bollocks Sex Pistols
Singles Going Steady Buzzcocks


80s:
Stone Roses Stone Roses
Closer Joy Division
Fried Julian Cope (my self indulgent one)

90s
His'n'Hers Pulp
Kasabian Kasabian
The Id Macy Gray (hope it wasn't the 80's)
The Sound of McAlmont and Butler Mcalmont and Butler: (ditto Macy)

00's
Riot City Blues: Primal Scream
Last edited by blahblah on 18 Jan 2008, 20:30, edited 1 time in total.

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Post by Spinynorman »

Eighties:

House Tornado - Throwing Muses
Doolittle - Pixies
Hybris - Anglagard
Treasure - Cocteau Twins
Shoot Out The Lights - Richard Thompson

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