Yes- it's my list of favourite albums thread
 

OK. I STILL cannot quite sort out a top 100 list so what is the next best thing? After much umming and ahhing I decided to choose my four favourite albums from A-Z and then include four from 0-9 to give us an alternative top 100. I shall include a write up of each album, youtube vids (if possible) and external links. This method will force me to be a little more selective as the criteria is narrowed. I have to admit to being petrified at doing this but onwards and upwards as they say.

EDIT: This is not a substitute for my ultimate top 100 but may provide many pointers.

Numbers/Symbols
10ft Ganja Plant - Midnight Landing (2003)
65daysofstatic - One Time For All Time (2005)
999-Separates (1978)
!!!-Myth Takes (2007)

A(page 2)
AC/DC -If You Want Blood..(1978)
Aerosmith -Rocks (1976)
Aferlife-Simplicity Two Thousand (1999)
Archive-You All Look The Same To Me (2002)

C(page3)
Big Black -The Rich Man's Eight Track Tape (1987-compilation)
Black Sabbath - Master Of Reality (1971)
Bluebob - S/T (2001)
Edie Brickell & New Bohemians-Shooting Rubberbands At The Stars (1988)

C(page 4/5)
Carissa's Wierd-Songs About Leaving (2002)
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Abattoir Blues/The Lyre of Orpheus (2004)
Clannad-Magical Ring (1983)
The Clash-Sandinista (1980)

D(page 5)
Dinosaur Jr- S/T (1985)
Dio-Holy Diver (1983)
Dog Fashion Disco - Committed To A Bright Future (2003)
Durutti Column - LC (1981)

E (page 6/7)
Echo & The Bunnymen- Heaven Up Here (1981)
Einsturzende Neubauten- Kollaps (1981)
Eloy-Oceans (1978)
Everything But The Girl- Temperamental (1999)

F(page 8/9)
Fat Freddy's Drop - Based On A True Story (2005)
Fields Of The Nephilim - Elizium (1990)
Five Or Six - Cantame Esa Cancion Que Dice,Yeah,Yeah,Yeah (1982)
Fugazi - Margin Walker (1988)

G (page 9/10)
Genesis - Foxtrot (1972)
Gomez - Bring It On (1998)
Grand National - Breaking The National Habit (2004)
Genius/GZA - Liquid Swords (1995)

H (page 10)
Hawkwind - Sonic Attack (1981)
The Jimi Hendrix Experience -Are You Experienced? (1967)
Hard On's - Dickcheese (1988)
PJ Harvey-Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea (2000)

I(page 11)
Icon Of Coil-Machines Are Us (2004)
Infectious Grooves - Mas Borracho (2000)
Inner Circle - Forward Jah Jah Children (Compilation)
Iron Maiden - Live After Death (1985)

J (page 11/12)
Jackie O Motherfucker - Flags Of The Sacred Harp (2005)
Jesu - Conqueror (2007)
Joy Division - Unknown Pleasures (1979)
Judas Priest - Sad Wings Of Destiny (1976)

Awesome! I expect good things.

An amazing record that combines Roots Reggae and Dub yet it sounds like it's a long lost classic from the legendary Trojan record label that was THE Reggae label from the 70's. Most of the tracks were written, rehearsed and cut in the same day which lend's the music an authentic and natural vibe. Reggae music has always been built upon the foundation of honesty; at least musically.The problem with many albums of this nature is that they can become tedious or almost mass produced and missing the point of the music in the first place. Dishonesty in Reggae music is easily spotted. It shares many traits with Blues, Soul and Funk in that respect.

Happily this is so well done and the balance between and Reggae and Dub so balanced, it never falls into that trap. The basslines are fuck heavy, the horns groovy and the guitar rich. Bass lines are one of the main attractions to me in many forms of music. Whether this is a subliminal connection or purely an easily recognisable asthetic is a debate for myself but I know that I certainly equate a rich Bass line to warmth and passion. Even sensuality on occasions. For this reason, bands such as TFGP who pay reverence to it's origins, appeal to me much more than a band who may well sound more refined but who are using a successful template to sell records and not absorb the roots and tradition. In this respect TFGP stand as one of Reggae/Dub's finest exponents outside of it's homelands.


MySpace.com - 10 Ft. Ganja Plant - Hawaii - Reggae - www.myspace.com/10footganjaplant

This should be good ;)
I bet 5 minutes later, you'll realize that you forgot something! But anyways, gotta start somewhere.

Post Rock is an intriguing genre. A genre of music that has become immensely popular in underground circles in recent years, yet it lacks originality and a uniqueness that many people desire in modern music.It takes it cues from adhering to an Ambient template and holding onto that. Time and time again, Post rock has been compared to many non-orchestral film scores. An accurate but misleading comparison. PR is about the here and now and not the future or past. Melodic hooks are not needed. The idea is to create a perfect ambience that when (usually) devoid of any vocal tracks, it can concentrate fully on the ambience and not fit in with any particular musical fad at any one time. It exists in it's own little world and you can enter this world as and when you can. The one major problem of Post Rock is that bands are so intent on creating this ambience, they lose certain individual characteristics of the band and they ultimately end up sounding so similar it detracts from the reason why they started in the first place.

What sets this one a little apart from many other Post Rock bands is that it is really shit heavy in parts and quite technical but not to the point of excess. There is a healthy dose of Electronic beats and loops that break up the traditional Post rock sound. An album that can be heavy AND ambient at the same time is win-win for me. I feel like I'm drowning aurally when I hear this but that is definitely a good thing.


Till the fuel runs dry…

From the little I've heard from 65DOS, I liked. I'll give this album a whirl.

one of the first times i've seen an album i like in one of these threads. great album.

cool video too.

999 were another one of those bands that got swept in with the punk scene and they were more than happy to do that but their music, although it brushed with Punk leant towards Rock. You could quite feasibly call them one of the first Pop-Punk bands. Whilst they have never blown me away I still enjoy listening to them from time to time even fifteen years after I first heard them. Not quite as energetic as bands like the Buzzcocks but they definitely shared that pop hook mentality. A late 70's gem. Pity about the awful clothes :)


The Official 999 Web Site

Obviously I will be missing some albums as I may have 8 albums in 'M' that might have made it into a classic list but then it makes me listen to albums I have'nt heard for a while. I am working straight from my Rate Your Music page, so at least I won't miss too many.

What is music and how do we interpret it? Does it need to be constantly pro-active to stimulate us and break down it's own musical barriers that it has built itself? Does it need to fulfill a basic emotional response and strip itself down to be liked? Does it need to completely disregard the asthetic that make up it's component part's I.E likeability? I become dissillusioned often with trying to justify WHY I like certain music and argueing it's merits. why can't I just play an album that appeals to my basic needs? By this I mean simple compositions that do not require a huge amount of analysis but a physical connection. Not even an emotional connection but a physical connection. A deep throbbing bassline. A primitive tribal drum beat. A simplicity that is safe yet fun.

Myth takes is just that. It's bouncy, funky, dirty, glitchy, sexy and full of fun. Every genre imaginable is chucked into the melting pot and what comes out is a candy coated, sweaty and organic Dance album that masquerades as everything BUT a rock album. Very few albums are primordial and pure fun. MT is definitely just that. An album that is even now, yesterdays news but it will be played, enjoyed and hopefully even revered for it's joy, it's optimism and sheer fun


!!! (Chk Chk Chk) - Myth Takes - album out 5th March

PS. This is included in the 0-9 category as It does'nt fit any other category.

!!! is great.

I hate clichés. I really don't want to be associated with them. Predictability. I hate that word too and I pride myself on the fact that my music tastes are eclectic enough to dispense with a predictable moniker. I have to admit that I have been beaten and I'm damn pleased I have been. After many years of trying to distance myself from this album, I now realise that resistance is futile. Why deny the listening pleasure of one of Rock's greatest ever live albums?

I can hear it now: the rumblings about the lack of originality. The simplistic compositions and the lack of progression. So fucking what? If you can't appreciate this album for what it is, then maybe you like music for the wrong reasons? Don't equate this to elitism. Oh no. This album is only one step from the usual Rock n Roll peddled in many bars on drunken Friday nights. Fortunately, that one step separates it.

If You Want Blood... represents a band at their absolute peak and does not put one foot wrong. From the solo's in 'Bad Boy Boogie' to the dirty riffs of 'Rock n Roll Damnation', 'IYWB' represents everything that is great about live music- the intensity, the joy, the participation and the energy. I wont even mention the track in the vid ;)

I did'nt want to be a bore and include this album. I replayed it and realised that I was being a twat.......


ACDC.com

Commercial Blues based Rock is great. I like it but i would never put it into classic status...unless it is Aerosmith's 'Rocks'. If you only have to own one album of this ilk, then Rocks is it. A scuzzy, booze soaked, dirty Blues based rock album that was created and perfected by Aerosmith. Before drugs took a hold, this album represented the best hard Rock band in America at their peak. 'Combination' is a dirty stagger through blues rock. 'Rats In The Cellar' taught many bands how to swagger and 'Nobody's Fault' is the best riff Jimmy Page never wrote.

I don't really like the Rolling Stones. The reason why is because I heard this album before I dipped extensively into their back catalogue and realised that they perfected the Stones template. Rarely do I ignore the original source but Aerosmith in their pomp were quite simply THE rock band in the 70's. We all thought we could be rock stars in the 70's. Aerosmith told us that we needed another ingredient-attitude and they had it in spades.


Aerosmith's Official Site

You know, i've given this album quite a few listens (I mean like 3) and it still hasn't really done anything for me. But I never have liked anything aerosmith has done, which is probably heresy. I can't even honestly say I appreciate it....

But kudos for including that 65daysofstatic album, it's one of my favs.

The only good thing AC/DC has ever done is create Thunder, and that's only because it's a hella fun drinking game. Aerosmith is just bleh... I'll probably get bashed for this but I honestly have just never got either of those two bands

Never been a fan of AC~DC but I can see their appeal. Rocks by Aerosmith is an awesome album but I like Toys In The Attic better.
Was not impressed by 10 ft. Ganja Plant or 65daysofstatic or !!! but I enjoyed 999.

Ugh, toys in the attic wasn't really worth listening too except for Uncle Salty

I've always thought of Aerosmith as the worst blues rock could possibly get.

You missed out the best thing about this album.

The fact it was recorded in a total shithole in front of a bunch of drunk Glaswegians.

It wouldn't be half the album it is without that crowd.

And Rocks is good but I like Draw the Line better. It's a much more bitter , pissed off album. :D

I would be very surprised if many of you have heard this and even more surprised if you liked it. Why? Because it's a Balearic downtempo chillout album that many people would call boring or uninspired, which is a fair comment. The thing is that when I listen to music the emotion and ambience seems to be a common theme in what I listen to. It is not intentional but I guess that's the way I am.

This album is a perfect embodiment of a sun kissed summer. Flamenco guitars float gently on easy beats, gorgeous vocals add a sultry overtone and there is even a little gentle Drum n Bass thrown in. Whenever I play the album I can feel the sunshine on my face and hear the waves on a beach that are so far away from grey old Britain. Perhaps that's the appeal. It's an album that can conjure up a completely different and welcoming enviroment in the most simplest of ways.

At a stretch if you like bands like Zero 7 or Nightmares On Wax you may like the album.


subatomic uk

I have a distinct feeling this thread will be an influence on my near-future listening. Ohhh yes.

I quite like sad, melancholic music but for the right reasons. When it's wrapped up in cutesy little bows of 4 minute radio friendly muzak then i'm not interested (a couple of nameless bands come to mind). When it's stretched, layered, measured and ever so slightly tortured then let's have it. Archive are a band that are relatively new to me but I have instantly fell in love with. Archive are not original. They steal little bits from Radiohead, Porcupine Tree all with a measure of atmospheric Trip Hop thrown in. They sound like none of it and all of it. With a couple of tracks clocking in at over sixteen minutes it's not everyones cup of tea but tracks such as 'Numb' sounding like a belated leftover from Massive Attack's 'Mezzanine' and 'Finding it So Hard' utilising an electronic drum template that Radiohead would be proud of, you have an album that is high on emotion and atmosphere. The highlight is the magnificent opener 'Again' that is a terrific slow builder of which an excerpt is found here ( the original is approx sixteen minutes):


http://www.archiveofficial.com/allab...es_mcnair.html

Same... as soon as I'm on holiday I'll be checking out some of these.

Near misses for inclusion of letter A):

Agalloch-The Mantle
Air-Moon Safari
Amon Duul-Paradieswarts Duul
Amplifier -S/T
Aswad-S/T

I love 'Atomizer'. I love 'Songs About Fucking'. I can't include both and as this is a compilation I chose this although it does'nt have anything from 'SAF' :(. Nevertheless this album is a beast. All dirty guitars, weird tempo's (courtesy of 'Roland' the drum machine), funky bass lines and obtuse lyrics. It was Grunge before it was Grunge. It was Industrial before the samples and loops buried the ethos of Industrial music. It is pure Punk rock. Plain and simple. If you like your music big and noisy then Big Black should be in your collection whether you are a Punk fan, a Metal Fan or a Noise Rock fan (be all three-it's easier)


ARBEIT MACHT FREI: Big Black portal

Very few fans who have liked (or in my case still like) Metal have not got into Black Sabbath at one point or another. I still think they are a brilliant band and are truly timeless. This is my favourite album because it has two of their finest riffs IMO. 'Into The Void' and the middle section of 'After Forever'. This is the album where they decided to downtune their guitars and it still blows so many Metal albums out of the water over 25 years later. Fcking ace.


Black Sabbath Official Website

You know that highly original, bewildering auter Director called David Lynch (The Elephant Man, Mulholland Drive)? He likes music. Especially if there is a distorted guitar in there somewhere. One day he and a friend decided to make an album and fill it full of all manners of sounds-big bruising industrial guitars, dirty skanky blues riffs, drum machines, sounds of factories, voice sampling and even a touch of a few atmospheric soundscapes. Not too mention a bunch of surreal lyrics. They then released it and nobody bought it. Bunch of ungrateful sod's. I bought it and so should you.


Blue Bob - David Lynch

I first heard this album way back upon it's release amidst my Thrash Metal phrase and I was instantly struck by it. I heard the single 'Circle' and immediately bought the album. All my friends thought i had gone soft and that was the beginning of the end concerning being a 'pure metalhead' and my tastes grew ever more diverse. However I am digressing.

SRBATS is nothing spectacular musically. It is even quite bland and inoffensive in many ways. It is also joyous and wrapped up in an innocence that I still love to this day. Musically she was one of the first female artists that i really connected to and the lush ambience of 'Air Of December' snared me. It was'nt a sixteen year old's crush either. I never saw what she looked like properly. There was a couple of small photos but I first bought it on Cassette and could'nt see them all that well.

Her voice never had a huge amount of range but it was sincere and seductively sweet. The Band (New Bohemians) were good though and peddled a gentle folk/pop with a very gentle Jazz touch here and there. I still have the album and still play it all the way through when I play it. I obviously must love it.


MySpace.com - Edie Brickell - New York City, New York - Folk Rock / New Wave / Classic Rock - www.myspace.com/ediebrickellandthenewbohemians

Close for inclusion in category B):

Barclay James Harvest-Once Again
Beck- Odelay
Blues Explosion-Damage
Bon Iver-For Emma, Forever Ago
Boredoms- Vision Creation Newsun
David Bowie-Heroes /Station To Station
Kate Bush- Hounds Of Love

Sorry about so many posts but I was in a posting mood. i will leave the thread alone for a couple of days now ;)

Odelay is awesome, Beck is the man

Working on Category C)....

'Songs About Leaving' is one of the most depressingly uplifting albums I have ever heard. The beautifully produced combo of simple acoustic guitars backed by exquisite strings and understated piano work will melt the hardest heart. Lay some perfectly timbred male and female over the top and you have
something achingly beautiful.

The album was produced within a week and is the more remarkable for it. Perhaps this intense work period benefits the melancholia with the band capturing their bittersweet mood perfectly.

It's the little things in this album that gives it an elegance. A perfectly placed use of strings here or a simply laid down drum track there add a resonance that pushes the compositions up another notch again.

Bleeding hearts acoustic Pop is not really my thing but this is so effortless and because it never strays into being one long depressing love letter, it always pulls me in.


MySpace.com - Carissa's Wierd - SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - Folk / Indie / Indie - www.myspace.com/carissaswierd

I can appreciate what they're going for, but I find the vocals highly distracting. The guitar work and ambient strings around it are hypnotic, but the vocals prevent me from fully enjoying that about it.

Ah man, that is such a good album...
Jackhammer is the one that gave it to me if I remember correctly.

Are you pertaining to the monotone delivery? The vocals for me are dropped a little in the mix and therefore don't become the focal point but I really like the fact that the male/female vocals are used at different points and not shared equally i.e one verse each. It adds another dynamic to the album IMO.

I'm not sure if its them being so monotone or just them existing at all. They're not notably bad vocals, but something about them is so jarring that it actually pulls my attention away from the music.

Each to their own but it's a shame that it spoils your enjoyment of the album.

carissa's wierd is good shit mate.

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Abattoir Blues/The Lyre of Orpheus (2004)

A double album with distinctive differences yet it works in both instances.

'Abattoir Blues' is a big ballsy album full of Blues soaken riffs, Gospel tinged and full of energy. Like all great artists though, it is never misplaced. Every beat is in it's rightful place. Every riff used in the right place and every backing vocal timed to perfection.



'The Lyre Of Orpheus' is the come down Sunday to the 'Abattoir Blues' hedonistic Saturday night. Quiet, contemplative and soothing. Acoustic guitar and ballads are the order of the day here. Of course it's Nick Cave so the serene is still backboned by his brooding imagery and disturbingly seductive lyrics.


This album is probably the most perfect encapsulation of what exactly Nick cave is all about. The juxtaposition is not just about the music, Cave can find bitter romance in the darkest of hearts. This album demands to be heard.

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds