100 Albums I think you should hear
 

Okay, I'm not going to bother putting this in order. That's much too difficult for me - I might like one album for a totally different reason than I like another, so how could I possibly measure that?

Anyway, here are 100 albums I consider worth hearing before you die. I'm going to limit it to one album per artist, and I'll try to include a brief description with as many as I can.

Alphabetical order:

1. Adolescents - Adolescents (1981)
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One of the greatest and most solid hardcore punk albums I've ever heard. Definitely opened my eyes when I first heard it.

2. Amon Düül II - Yeti (1970)
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This is certainly one of the best of krautrock and deserves much more credit than it seems to get.

3. Art Ensemble of Chicago - Les stances à Sophie (1970)
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Don't really need to explain the appeal of this album. Just listen to the first few seconds of 'Thème de yoyo' and it'll certainly have your attention.

4. Albert Ayler - Spiritual Unity (1964)
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Extraordinary free-jazz. Worth hearing for its musical exploration alone.

5. The Beach Boys - Pet Sounds (1966)
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Do I really need to explain this one? If you can't enjoy the beauty of this album, you're probably inhuman. A pop masterpiece.

6. The Beatles - Revolver (1966)
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In my opinion, this is their best album. It's not my favorite album of all-time anymore (in fact, not even close), but I think it's worth hearing nonetheless. It'll always mean something to me as *the* album that got me into music.

7. Big Black - Atomizer (1986)
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Extremely influential towards industrial. This is better than 'Songs About ****ing', and is a surprisingly fun listen for something so brutal.

8. The Birthday Party - Junk Yard (1982)
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Probably the best Aussie band, and this album is unlike pretty much anything I can think of from the era.

9. David Bowie - Low (1977)
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What can I say? Probably my favorite album ever. To me, this is the epitome of pop perfection - a record whose music is both familiar and unfamiliar at the same time. Even some Bowie fans "hate" Low, but that says to me that they're just not used to any experimentation at all. This isn't the most challenging listen out there by any means, but to me it's the most rewarding.

10. Glenn Branca - The Ascension (1981)
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Extremely influential, The Ascension is Glenn Branca's masterpiece. Surprisingly accessible, too.

11. Peter Brötzmann - Machine Gun (1968)
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You've just got to hear this album. It's not likely to be your favorite jazz album after your first listen, but there's no denying it's interesting even then. But I won't lie, it's not for the faint of heart.

12. Can - Tago Mago (1971)
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The mother of all krautrock, Tago Mago is Can at their most experimental and their most incredible. This will likely lose some fans once Halleluhwah ends and Aumgn starts up, but give it a chance. This is in my top 5 albums ever.

13. Captain Beefheart - Safe as Milk (1967)
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To me, this is Captain Beefheart's finest record - as a contact on RYM put it, "the perfect merger of the delta blues, pop music and the absurd". That it is. One of my favorite records ever, and certainly the best introduction to Beefheart.

14. James Chance and the Contortions - Buy (1979)
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My favorite album of 1979. Buy Contortions is a challenging mix of free-jazz and punk, but it's a ton of fun. Another one of those perfect mixtures of pop and experimentation.

15. Chrome - Half Machine Lip Moves (1979)
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One of the more experimental bands of the post-punk era. Chrome influenced industrial music quite a bit, as is apparent from this album.

16. ****ney Rebel - The Human Menagerie (1973)
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One of the most underrated albums of the glam rock era. Steve Harley created a sound in 1974 that I think still sounds fresh today.

17. Leonard Cohen - Songs of Leonard Cohen (1967)
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I think this eclipses anything Bob Dylan ever did. Simply one of the most beautiful albums ever, and maybe the best folk album ever recorded.

18. Ornette Coleman - The Shape of Jazz to Come (1959)
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It's been said before: the title gives the perfect idea of the music you're about to hear. Simply one of the most fun and influential jazz records ever. You have to hear this.

19. Gal Costa - Gal (1969)
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This and Caetano Veloso's debut are probably the two greatest introductions to tropicália. I happen to think this is also the greatest album of the genre.

20. Einstürzende Neubauten - Zeichnungen des Patienten O.T. (1983)
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One of the finest industrial albums ever. Totally uncompromising, but perhaps that's what makes it so enjoyable.

21. Brian Eno - Another Green World (1975)
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This actually is my second favorite Eno album after his debut, Here Come the Warm Jets. This is, though, perhaps the only album I own that I can actually call 100% perfect from start to finish.

22. The Fall - Hex Enduction Hour (1982)
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This isn't everybody's favorite Fall record, but it is mine, and I think it's their most essential listen. It might sound inaccessible at first, but this album is a masterpiece from start to finish. Just might take some getting used to for some people.

23. Faust - Faust IV (1974)
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Totally accessible, fun, and at the same time innovative krautrock. A true masterpiece.

24. The Feelies - Crazy Rhythms (1980)
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A totally fun album from start to finish. Crazy Rhythms is also immensely influential, and The Feelies deserve much more credit than they receive.

25. Serge Gainsbourg - Histoire de Melody Nelson (1971)
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When I first heard this, it didn't take much longer than 10 minutes to decide that it was the coolest album I had ever heard. Give this record ten minutes or less, it'll sell itself.

26. Gang of Four - Entertainment! (1979)
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I have complete confidence in this record's ability to immediately grab your attention and never let go. One of the greatest post-punk albums ever (if not the greatest), and certainly one of the best too of the 1970s. Great.

27. The Gun Club - Fire of Love (1981)
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Definitely a contender for the title of "Best Punk Album Ever". It's stood the test of time incredibly well.

28. Herbie Han**** - Head Hunters (1973)
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Great from start to finish. There's nothing much else to say - this is one of the greatest jazz-fusion albums ever.


More later...

Urban, the joke's getting old! You already made this thread. ;)

http://www.musicbanter.com/editors-p...ban-100-a.html

lol, we disagree on like everything that I'm seeing :(

He saves all his Krautrock love for later places. Gotta admit though, he doesn't have much taste in jazz and those are some fantastic albums on your list.