Building That Perfect Album Collection..

[Wayward Lad]

I thought Fresh Fruit was late 70s as well until I checked the copyright date on the CD - 1980

Fantastic album all the same

[mikeg13]

60s
1 My Favourite Things - John Coltrane
2
3
4
5

Try Bitches Brew by Miles Davis, that could give you 2

[Spencer4]

Also restricting myself to one per artist (which is well hard):

1960s
Bob Dylan - Blonde on Blonde
Beach Boys - Pet Sounds
The Velvet Underground & Nico
The Doors
Beatles - Sgt. Pepper

1970s
Roxy Music - For Your Pleasure
Clash - London Calling
David Bowie - Low
The Slits - Cut
Talking Heads - Fear of Music

1980s
Elvis Costello - Trust
Pixies - Surfer Rosa
Lloyd Cole & Commotions - Rattlesnakes
Stone Roses
The Pretenders

1990s
Elliott Smith - XO
REM - Automatic for the People
Radiohead - Ok Computer
Teenage Fanclub - Grand Prix
The Sundays - Reading, Writing & Arithmetic

2000s
The Wrens - The Meadowlands
Sufjan Stevens - Illinois
The Shins - Chutes Too Narrow
Rogue Wave - Descended Like Vultures
The Thermals - The Body, The Blood, The Machine

[kid kongo]

Ok here goes...this was really tough! Purely based on albums that have given me hours upon hours of pleasure through the good times and the bad!

1960's

Forever Changes ~ Love
The Doors ~ The Doors
The Stooges ~ The Stooges
Andy Warhol ~ Velvet Underground & Nico
In the Court of the Crimson King ~ King Crimson

1970's

Aladdin Sane ~ David Bowie
King Tubby Meets Rockers Uptown ~ Augustus Pablo
Die Mensch Maschine ~ Kraftwerk
London Calling ~ The Clash
New Boots & Panties ~ Ian Dury

1980's

Faith ~ The Cure
Head Over Heels ~ Cocteau Twins
Strange Times ~ The Chameleons
Reggae Greats ~ Lynton Kwesi Johnson
Mask ~ Bauhaus

1990's

Dummy ~ Portishead
Leftism ~ Leftfield
Leave Home ~ Chemical Brothers
Rage Against The Machine ~ Rage Against The Machine
The Good Son ~ Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds

2000's

Aha Shake Heartbreak ~ Kings of Leon
Tales from the City, Stories from the Sea ~ PJ Harvey
Is This It? ~ The Strokes
Get Behind Me Satan ~ White Stripes
Careless Love ~ Madeleine Peyroux (must be getting old! )

Good thread Ianovich!

[UncleTupelo]

60s
Love - Forever Changes
Beatles - Revolver
Zombies - Odyssey and Oracle
Jackson C Frank - Blues Run the Game
The Who - The Who sell out


70s
Big Star - Radio City
Jam - All Mod Cons
Bowie - Low
Clash - London's Calling
Tom Waits - Closing Time

80's
Stone Roses - Stone Roses
De La Soul - Three Feet High and Rising
Dexy's Midnight Runners - Searching for..
REM - Murmur
The Smiths - Queen is Dead

90's
Tindesticks - any album
Uncle Tupelo - March 16 - 20
Elliot Smith - Either Or
Wilco - Summer Teeth
Pavement - Crooked Rain

00's
Grandaddy - Sophtware Slump
Midlake - Trials of Van Occupanther
Sufjan Stevens - Seven Swans
Lambchop - Aw Cmon No You Cmon
Bright Eyes - Lifted, or the story...

Probably chnage if I did it tomorrow.

[Groomyd]

Wilco - Summerteeth. Gem

[M-boy]

60s
The Velvet Underground – VU & Nico
Beach Boys – Pet Sounds
The Byrds – Sweetheart of the Rodeo
Fleetwood Mac – The Pious Bird of Good Omen
The Dubliners – More of the Hard Stuff

70s
The Clash – London Calling
Marvin Gaye – What’s Going On
Gram Parsons – Grievous Angel
Neil Young – After the Goldrush
Big Star – Radio City

80s
The Smiths – The Queen is Dead
The Pixies – Surfer Rosa
The Stone Roses – The Stone Roses
The Pogues – If I should fall from grace with God
R.E.M. – Life’s Rich Pageant

90s
Oasis – Definitely Maybe
Nirvana – Nevermind
Super Furry Animals – Fuzzy Logic
Pavement – Crooked rain, crooked rain
Teenage Fanclub – Grand Prix

00s
Arcade Fire – Funeral
The Flaming Lips – Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots
The White Stripes – White Blood Cells
Idlewild – Warnings/Promises
Elliott Smith – From a Basement on The Hill



A lot of great, really influential stuff in the 1960s, but to be honest, there aren’t all that many albums I’ve actually got or even heard all the way through. I thought I’d think of more contenders for the 1970s, but there were only about four or five albums that I considered but didn’t make the cut.

All five of the 80s bands did at least two albums, if not three or four albums I’d consider great, so I kept to one album per band. This posed a problem for the 00s as I ran out of great albums in this decade that weren’t done by a band previously mentioned. There’s been about twenty albums I’ve really enjoyed this decade, but very few are great. That said, there are plenty of albums I haven’t heard as I really fell out of listening to new music for a couple of years at the start of the decade. Elliott Smith gets the nod, although I preferred Either/Or.

The 1990s threw up a lot of albums I thought were great at the time, but have faded badly in my view since. Still, that left plenty of bands and albums. Feel I should have Radiohead on there but they are somewhat tainted by their post-1990s output, imho. As it is, the Oasis and Nirvana albums had a huge effect on me and I keep going back to Teenage Fanclub and Pavement. Not sure if the Furries should be there but they’ve just shaded it ahead of Pulp, Radiohead, Green Day and Elliott Smith amongst many others.

[Billy Whiz]

Yes but its the debate and ones you forgot that will build the perfect collection isn't it?

What, so the 5 I choose for the 60s won't be as good as those I forget Probably right.

You know what they say ... if you can remember the Sixties, you weren't there!

[Groomyd]

I was only 0-5 years old.

So i don't remember it.

[Spencer4]

Surely if you don't remember the Sixties, the odds are you were there

[M-boy]

You know what they say ... if you can remember the Sixties, you weren't there!

I wasn't there. Does that mean I remember it?

[Groomyd]

I'm struggling with the 19080's

Too many superb albums. Murmur, Life's Rich Pageant, Fables of the Reconstruction from REM alone. Then A Pagan Place, the Waterboys, This isn the Sea and Fishermans Blues by the Waterboys.................

What about George Best by The Wedding Present and given that The Stone Roses is the best album by anyone ever (so there) that needs to go in too.

Then what about The Smiths, The Queen is Dead, Hateful of Hollow .........

Hmmmmmm Talk Talk, Teardrop Explodes, Echo and the Bunnymen, Elvis Costello, Wire, Lloyd Cole, Specials,

[blahblah]

I'm struggling with the 19080's

Too many superb albums. Murmur, Life's Rich Pageant, Fables of the Reconstruction from REM alone. Then A Pagan Place, the Waterboys, This isn the Sea and Fishermans Blues by the Waterboys.................

What about George Best by The Wedding Present and given that The Stone Roses is the best album by anyone ever (so there) that needs to go in too.

Then what about The Smiths, The Queen is Dead, Hateful of Hollow .........

Hmmmmmm Talk Talk, Teardrop Explodes, Echo and the Bunnymen, Elvis Costello, Wire, Lloyd Cole, Specials,

Pagan Place is very underrated, as are both the Teardrops' albums, (was Fried from the 80's), Stone Roses yes, and Closer is a must.

I thought you would be suggesting Fog on the Tyne

[mikeg13]

Surely if you don't remember the Sixties, the odds are you were there

Not strictly true program on tonight on BBC3 about 60's music, think tomorrow its the 70's.
For me at least wonderful, wonder how many will be listening to music they loved at 16 and getting same pleasure from when 60.
Been playing a guy called Phil Ochs most of day, how in todays world we need somebody like him to express the problems we have and some of the dreadful things he sang about still true today, instead we have the Red top papers

[UncleTupelo]

Been playing a guy called Phil Ochs most of day, how in todays world we need somebody like him to express the problems we have and some of the dreadful things he sang about still true today, instead we have the Red top papers

Bonnie Prince Billy covers a Phil Ochs song ("My Life") on his very lovely latest album (of covers) called "Ask Forgiveness".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ask_Forgiveness

Also covers an R.Kelly song!

[Rick]

I grew up in the 60's so have a slightly different viewpoint to someone who was an adult or someone looking back after already experiencing different types of music which weren't out then.

The Beatles - With The Beatles Personal favourite because this was the first Album my parents bought (I would have been 6/7), they then had a buy a record player to play it I don't know if this album started my love for Motown (the originals of Please Mr Postman & You Really Got A Hold On Me are 2 of my favourite songs of all time), or that's the reason I like it so much. But guess it just has a lot of happy memories from my early years.

A Hard Day's Night - Beatles Love this album, probably mainly because of the film which was so different at the time to anything we had ever seen before. Great music too though. My favourite Beatles period.

Shotgun - Jr Walker & the All Stars Looking back this was a great album, one that I wish we would have had. Same as above, was almost a 'greatest Hits album' even though he hadn't actually had a hit here yet.

Phil Spectors A Christmas Gift To You Just have to get this album out every year (and have done since I discovered it in 1972). Hard to belive that it was actually made in 1963.

Motown Chartbusters Vol 3. Originally didn't include this album because I mistakenly thought we weren't allowed compilations. This one is a bit special though. Released in 1969 and like all Motown chartbusters it featured tracks which had been hits in the past year or so. This one was boosted by the fact (unbelievably when you look back on it) 7 classic songs had not been hits this side of the Atlantic when they had first come out. They were Dancing in the Street , Martha & The Vandellas (64), Behind The Painted Smile (67) & This Old heart Of Mine (66) - Isley Bros. Get Ready - Temps (66), Tracks Of My tears - Smoky Robinson (65), Stop her On Sight (SOS) Edwin Starr (66) & Road Runner - Jr Walker (65) all finally made it big in the UK in 68 or 69. Those tracks added to some of the other good stuff out that year made for an amazing compilation. I picked the Album up for 50p in 1972 and haven't stopped playing it since.

[Billy Whiz]

It’s torture trying to limit each decade to five – I’ve had to leave out Bob Dylan, the Beach Boys, Led Zeppelin, The Who, Talking Heads, Muse … God forgive me . But here we go anyway …

The Sixties
Simon and Garfunkel – Bridge Over Troubled Water
The Beatles – A Hard Day’s Night (the best pop album ever made)
Neil Young – Everybody Knows This is Nowhere (the best guitar album ever made)
Crosby Stills and Nash – Crosby Stills and Nash
Phil Spector – The Christmas Album (classic!)

The Seventies
Van Morrison – Tupelo Honey (my all-time favourite album)
Yes – The Yes Album (from 1971, when they were hot!)
Pink Floyd – Atom Heart Mother
Steely Dan – Can’t Buy a Thrill
Bill Bruford – Feels Good to Me (fantastic jazz-rock)

The Eighties
Doll by Doll – Doll by Doll
U2 - The Joshua Tree
Paul Simon – Graceland
Bob Marley - Uprising
Simple Minds – Once Upon a Time (everyone’s allowed one taste failure!)

The Nineties
Radiohead – The Bends
Jeff Buckley – Grace
Sophie B. Hawkins – Tongues and Tails
REM – Automatic for the People
Ian McNabb – Head Like a Rock

The Noughties
Red Hot Chili Peppers – By the Way
The Killers – Hot Fuss
Ryan Adams – Cold Roses
Arcade Fire - Funeral
David Bowie – Heathen *

*A tactical choice, allowing me to choose five non-Bowies from the 1970s. It's still a brilliant album though, one of his best IMO.

[unc]

Right - just 1 album per band.

1960’s:

Velvet Underground and Nico
Revolver
The Doors
Are You Experienced?
A Kind of Blue

Loads of other potentials, but the above are the ones that I go back to. Tough to really judge as I wasn’t actually buying albums in the 60’s!

1970’s

London Calling
Parallel Lines
Closing Time
Never Mind The Bollocks
Transformer

Really tough choice for the Clash, but London Calling just edges it

80’s

Stone Roses
Closer
Psychocandy
Surfer Rosa
The Queen is Dead

Almost impossible. How do I leave out Rum, Sodomy and the Lash, It Takes a Nation of Millions, Low Life, Remain in Light, 3 feet high and rising, Murmer, Waterboys, George Best, This Nations saving grace etc etc. Given it my best shot, but could easily choose 20. Thought 80’s music was supposed to be rubbish??

90’s

Nevermind
The Bends
Definitely Maybe
Dummy
Dry

Another toughie. Outrageous that the Bends gets in but OK Computer doesn’t? Where’s Bjork’s ‘Post’, Jeff Buckley, Pulp’s appropriately named ‘different class’, Slanted and Enchanted, Screamadelica, Urban Hymns, Achtung Baby…..


00’s

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

Bonus Albums:

OK Computer
Doolittle

(that was in the rules wasn’t it??)


Impossible task.
Good thread

[blahblah]

Best list so far, unc. Not perfect, as no Rolling Stones album in there.

[Rick]

It’s torture trying to limit each decade to five – I’ve had to leave out Bob Dylan, the Beach Boys, Led Zeppelin, The Who, Talking Heads, Muse … God forgive me . But here we go anyway …

The Sixties
Simon and Garfunkel – Bridge Over Troubled Water
The Beatles – A Hard Day’s Night (the best pop album ever made)
Neil Young – Everybody Knows This is Nowhere (the best guitar album ever made)
Crosby Stills and Nash – Crosby Stills and Nash
Phil Spector – The Christmas Album (classic!)

The Seventies
Van Morrison – Tupelo Honey (my all-time favourite album)
Yes – The Yes Album (from 1971, when they were hot!)
Pink Floyd – Atom Heart Mother
Steely Dan – Can’t Buy a Thrill
Bill Bruford – Feels Good to Me (fantastic jazz-rock)

The Eighties
Doll by Doll – Doll by Doll
U2 - The Joshua Tree
Paul Simon – Graceland
Bob Marley - Uprising
Simple Minds – Once Upon a Time (everyone’s allowed one taste failure!)

The Nineties
Radiohead – The Bends
Jeff Buckley – Grace
Sophie B. Hawkins – Tongues and Tails
REM – Automatic for the People
Ian McNabb – Head Like a Rock

The Noughties
Red Hot Chili Peppers – By the Way
The Killers – Hot Fuss
Ryan Adams – Cold Roses
Arcade Fire - Funeral
David Bowie – Heathen *

*A tactical choice, allowing me to choose five non-Bowies from the 1970s. It's still a brilliant album though, one of his best IMO.

I was going to include Phil Spectors Christmas album when I was thinking about this yesterday, but forgot when I typed it up today . Easily the best Christmas album ever.

Surely Bridge over Troubled Water came out in 1970. I was going to include that in my 70's list.

[Rick]

1970's

Bridge Over Troubled water - Simon & Garfunkel Got to be one of the best pop albums of all time. Not a bad track on it.

What's Going On - Marvin Gaye. Stirred by the civil rights movement and the Vietnam war Marvin decides to stop recording the classic Motown stuff locked himself away for a couple of years and came out with a masterpiece.

Innervisions - Stevie Wonder Maybe my favourite album. One of the first I re-bought once cd's came out, and one of the first I downloded onto my Computer.

Songs In the Key Of Life - Stevie Wonder Another masterpiece from Stevie's most productive decade. It's beyond me why 'Another Star' and 'As' weren't massive singles at the time.

Exodus - Bob Marley & The Wailers. Took reggae onto another level, amazing album full of classics.

[Wayward Lad]

It’s torture trying to limit each decade to five – I’ve had to leave out Bob Dylan, the Beach Boys, Led Zeppelin, The Who, Talking Heads, Muse … God forgive me . But here we go anyway …

The Sixties
Simon and Garfunkel – Bridge Over Troubled Water
The Beatles – A Hard Day’s Night (the best pop album ever made)
Neil Young – Everybody Knows This is Nowhere (the best guitar album ever made)
Crosby Stills and Nash – Crosby Stills and Nash
Phil Spector – The Christmas Album (classic!)

The Seventies
Van Morrison – Tupelo Honey (my all-time favourite album)
Yes – The Yes Album (from 1971, when they were hot!)
Pink Floyd – Atom Heart Mother
Steely Dan – Can’t Buy a Thrill
Bill Bruford – Feels Good to Me (fantastic jazz-rock)

The Eighties
Doll by Doll – Doll by Doll
U2 - The Joshua Tree
Paul Simon – Graceland
Bob Marley - Uprising
Simple Minds – Once Upon a Time (everyone’s allowed one taste failure!)

The Nineties
Radiohead – The Bends
Jeff Buckley – Grace
Sophie B. Hawkins – Tongues and Tails
REM – Automatic for the People
Ian McNabb – Head Like a Rock

The Noughties
Red Hot Chili Peppers – By the Way
The Killers – Hot Fuss
Ryan Adams – Cold Roses
Arcade Fire - Funeral
David Bowie – Heathen *

*A tactical choice, allowing me to choose five non-Bowies from the 1970s. It's still a brilliant album though, one of his best IMO.

Billy we have one the same

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....

[Groomyd]

Its hard to distinguish between things you love because the music formed such an improtant part of your life and others that were musically important.

Some people's lists include things that i'd drown myself if forced to listen to on a dessert island while others are not to my taste but i acknowldge their quality and significance.

1980's the most difficult surely? You start with the end of punk, new wave and ska, segway through new romantics, Prince, Stock Aitken and Waterman, the start of the club dance scene, the Smiths and the birth of indie pop!!!!!!!!!!!

Then the beginning of the 1990's was pants!

[M-boy]

Its hard to distinguish between things you love because the music formed such an improtant part of your life and others that were musically important.

Some people's lists include things that i'd drown myself if forced to listen to on a dessert island while others are not to my taste but i acknowldge their quality and significance.

1980's the most difficult surely? You start with the end of punk, new wave and ska, segway through new romantics, Prince, Stock Aitken and Waterman, the start of the club dance scene, the Smiths and the birth of indie pop!!!!!!!!!!!

Then the beginning of the 1990's was pants!

Name names, G!

Don't know why you've mentioned new romantics. This is a music thread

[mikeg13]

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....

Thats unfair every time one of these things start, see references to music had forgotten about and spend days searching for, bad enough when its albums, but singles will be a nightmare as often just single records loved and time has removed from memory, now your going to remind me.

[M-boy]

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?

[Wayward Lad]

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?

Its what YODA used to be

[M-boy]

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?

Its what YODA used to be

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.

[mikeg13]

What's a single?

[/quote]
think they were 6s 8p and as when first started work only earning £3. 10s a fair bit of my money, shows how things have changed, for me to see Afc game at time was 2s 6p

[Wayward Lad]

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?

Its what YODA used to be

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.

No problem....