What's your favorite album of all time?

JeanH

Scary Monsters - David Bowie - standout tracks include Teenage Wildlife, Up the Hill Backwards and Ashes to Ashes

Diamond Dogs - David Bowie - now this is one that I've been mad about lately. It's based on the 1984 Orwellian idea. Pretence obsessed and paranoia-filled. The trio that is 'Sweet Thing', 'Candidate' and 'Sweet Thing (Reprise)' is a must. The lyrics are just beautiful.

Dudess

Saibh wrote: »

another one was jennifer warnes - famous blue raincoat (on tape) haven't listen to it for a long time.

Oh yeah, "Jenny does Lenny"! I like her version of First We Take Manhattan.

hotredhead

Born To Run -Bruce Springsteen

dougal

My Bloody Valentine - Loveless

The most beautiful noise ever made!

Slash/ED

In no real order, and I can't shorten it down...

David Bowie - Rise and fall...Could use many Bowie albums here, Diamond Dogs running it the closest, but this one just pips it. Possibly my favourite of all time. Whoever it was said Hunky Dory is overrated...I actually agree. Not even close to here beyond the stunning Life On Mars?
Pixies - Doolittle or Surfer Rosa, can't decide, Gigantic alone nearly wins it for Surfer...
Nirvana - In Utero or Last Valentine, a bootleg I got of a gig in France with a version of where did you sleep last night that'd blow your mind...
Sex Pistols - Never mind the bollocks
Meat Puppets - Meat Puppets II
Whipping Boy - Heartwarm
NWA - Straight Outta Compton
Oasis - What's the story or definitely maybe...Can never decide...
Pulp - Different Class
Dropkick Murphys - Warriors Code
Thin Lizzy - Live And Dangerous
Radiohead - OK Computer
Bob Dylan - Blonde on Blonde, but I really love Desire too, if only for Hurricane
The Velvet Underground - The Velvet Underground And Nico, Loaded is great too though
Beach Boys - Pet Sounds
The Beatles - Could list nearly 100 albums here! Two pip it though, depends entirely on mood but it'd be between Abbey Road and The White Album
Spandau Ballet - True
And the soundtrack to Pulp Fiction...I just find it addicting! So many great songs...So I'm throwing it in!

Probably loads I'm forgetting too...

Dr. Nick

Dakness on the Edge of Town

BurnsCarpenter

Either:
Gentlemen by The Afghan Whigs or
Alien Lanes by Guided by Voices.

eamon234

Finding it hard to narrow it down too - funny, I'm seeing a lot of classic albums in posts that I liked growing up but I don't listen to them anymore so I'm not including them!

DJ Shadow - Endtroducing
Frou Frou - Details
Ben Folds - Rockin' The Suburbs
Jim White - Wrong Eyed Jesus
The Blue Nile - Walk Across the Rooftops
Madreblu - Necessita
Shriekback - Big Night Music

Dr.Slurm

Sufjan Stevens: Illinois or any of Mastodon's.

RandolphEsq

Darkside of the Moon or Daft Punk - Discovery

musicmatty

Pink Floyd Dark Side of the Moon.

KnifeWRENCH

It's difficult to pick but my all time favourite has to be :
Smashing Pumpkins - Adore.
So many brilliant songs there, and as much as I love Mellon Collie and Siamese Dream, Adore is still the one I find myself listening to most.

The rest of my top 10 would look like this (in no particular order):
Smashing Pumpkins - Pisces Iscariot (not strictly a studio album, but still fantastic)
Sonic Youth - Goo
Garbage - beautifulgarbage
Radiohead - Hail To The Thief
Bjork - Homogenic
Pixies - Surfer Rosa
Alanis Morissette - Jagged Little Pill
The Velvet Underground - White Light / White Heat
White Stripes - Icky Thump

stephen_b

therapy? : infernal love
manic street preachers : holy bible
whipping boy : heartworm
thursday : full collapse
idlewild : 100 broken windows
kerbdog : on the turn

im a blank after that,many more no doubt.

holton

New Order - Substance 1987
Joy Division - Substance
Breeders - Last Splash
Metallica - Ride the Lightning
Pearl Jam - Ten
U2 - Boy
White Stripes - Elephant
The Pogues - Rum, Sodomy & The Lash

Leftfield - Leftism
Larry Heard - Loosefingers
Air - Moon Safari
(plus many other dance albums)

Best Live Album:
Deep Purple - Made in Japan

A good mixture there!

Froot

If I were scoring the albums I would say the closest to a 10/10 would be "Yanqui U.X.O" by Godspeed You! Black Emperor.

Again, like most people I'm sure, there are buckets of albums that they would like to put on this list. Heres a few:

Traveling Wilburys - Traveling Wilburys

Down On The Upside - Soundgarden

Welcome To Sky Valley - Kyuss

Blues Is My Soul - John Lee Hooker

100% Columbian - Fun Lovin' Criminals

Evil Empire - Rage Against The Machine

Harvest - Neil Young

Willy And The Poor Boys - Creedence Clearwater

Bawlers - Tom Waits (Disc 2 from Orphans:Brawlers, Bawlers And Bastards)

St Bill

Moon Safari - Air
The Bends - Radiohead
Going by how many times I played them when I got them

Icaras

Froot wrote: »

If I were scoring the albums I would say the closest to a 10/10 would be "Yanqui U.X.O" by Godspeed You! Black Emperor.

Fantastic call on Godspeed - great album.

Mine would be
Kings of Leon - aha shake heartbreak

surprised we havent seen nirvana and bob dylan mtv live albums both very good live albums

Fanny Cradock

Mercy... That's a big question. I couldn't possibly give a single answer it. So here is a list, in no particular order, of some of the albums that I would include amongst my favourites.


*What's Going On - Marvin Gaye
*Moon Safari - Air
*Vespertine - Bjork
*Grace - Jeff Buckley
*Rain Dogs - Tom Waits
*The Software Slump - Grandaddy
*Symphony of Sorrowful Songs (Symphony No. 3) - Henryk Gorecki
*The Hounds of Love - Kate Bush
*The Trials of Van Occupanther - Midlake
*Illinois - Sufjan Stevens
*American IV - Johnny Cash
*Live - Donny Hathaway


Honourable mentions:

*Neon Golden - The Notwist
*23 - Blonde Redhead
*Kid A - Radiohead (Haven't given In Rainbows a decent chance yet)
*Orphans - Tom Waits
*Alice - Tom Waits (You probably guessed that I'm a fan)
*Programmed to Love - Bent
*Frengers - Mew
*The Boatman's Call - Nick Cave
*Involver - Sasha
*The Boy With the Arab Strap - Belle and Sebastian
*Destroyer's Rubies - Destroyer
*Challengers - The New Pornographers
*Animals - Pink Floyd
*Fox Confessor Brings the Flood - Neko Case
*Graceland - Paul Simon

Oh, man! I keep editing this post and adding to the list. Must stop...

Anyway, I have seen The Blue Nile's Walk Across the Rooftops and Depeche Mode's Violator mentioned a few times. Must check them out!

Blisterman

Guns n Roses - Appetite for Destruction
Van Halen - Van Halen
Kanye West - Late Registration
Lupe Fiasco - Food and Liquor
Beach Boys - Pet Sounds
Michael Jackson - Thriller

JC 2K3

Sonic Youth - Daydream Nation

It's weird, I feel like I should be one of those people with such a love for music and expansive taste that I'd be listing 5/10 albums like most people. However, I just can't get past the utter brilliance of this album. It's raw, but intricately constructed. It's not overtly experimental, yet is awash with layer upon layer of fantastically unique sounds and textures. It doesn't try to be smart, it's not pretentious, yet it sounds so effortlessly intellectual and insightful. The dissonance and guitar noise might sound a bit bleak at first, but after a few listens you begin to appreciate just how genuinely beautiful what you're hearing is. Totally unmanufactured, compromised by nothing, it feels so real, so modern... Sheer brilliance....


Oh, and glad to see Happy Mondays being mentioned, been listening to PTaB a lot these days due to the good weather . Fantastic album.

slipss

Oasis - Heathen Chemistry

Now I don't think its the best album of all time (although I do think it's one of the most underated albums of all time), but it's definatly my favourite, mainly on a personal level for what was going on in my life when it came out, regardless of how disturbingly messed up things were, and the connection the songs have to those times. I don't think I will ever hear Force Of Nature and not instantly be put into one of those "ahh man, everythings seriously fukked up, but I don't care, because everything is going to work out just perfect in the end, because I'm deadly and life is fukking brilliant" moods.

FunkyBarSteward

"Pearl Jam" TEN

Kold

JC 2K3 wrote: »

Sonic Youth - Daydream Nation

It's weird, I feel like I should be one of those people with such a love for music and expansive taste that I'd be listing 5/10 albums like most people. However, I just can't get past the utter brilliance of this album. It's raw, but intricately constructed. It's not overtly experimental, yet is awash with layer upon layer of fantastically unique sounds and textures. It doesn't try to be smart, it's not pretentious, yet it sounds so effortlessly intellectual and insightful. The dissonance and guitar noise might sound a bit bleak at first, but after a few listens you begin to appreciate just how genuinely beautiful what you're hearing is. Totally unmanufactured, compromised by nothing, it feels so real, so modern... Sheer brilliance....


Oh, and glad to see Happy Mondays being mentioned, been listening to PTaB a lot these days due to the good weather . Fantastic album.

I'm always shunned when I say this but nothing is more likely to destroy my head like Sonic Youth.

JC 2K3

Really? I find that strange since you seemed to be someone who'd be open to that kinda stuff, considering you claimed to be much more a fan of Radiohead's more experimental stuff in the best Radiohead album thread.

I suggest trying to listen to all of Daydream Nation without any preconceptions that "it's just noise" or whatever. It's admittedly an acquired taste, but once you get over the barrier of unfamiliarity, it's truely wonderful.

Scubadevils

Find it impossible too to only have one favourite album so here is some of them at least...

Orbital - Brown Album
The Smiths - Strangeways Here We Come
The Smiths - The Queen is Dead
Aphex Twin - Selected Ambient Works
Deepchord Presents Echospace - The Coldest Season
Neil Young - On The Beach
Spiritualized - Laser Guided Melodies
The Cure - Seventeen Seconds
The Black Dog - Bytes
Brian Eno - Apollo
Boards of Canada - Music Has the Right to Children
Luke Slater's 7th Plain - The 4 Cornered Room
Primal Scream - Screamadelica
The Stone Roses - The Stone Roses (although I have recently got sick of this I think finally!)
Amon Tobin - Supermodified
B12 - Electro-Soma
Monolake - Hong Kong

I'll stop for now :pac:

Kold

JC 2K3 wrote: »

Really? I find that strange since you seemed to be someone who'd be open to that kinda stuff, considering you claimed to be much more a fan of Radiohead's more experimental stuff in the best Radiohead album thread.

I suggest trying to listen to all of Daydream Nation without any preconceptions that "it's just noise" or whatever. It's admittedly an acquired taste, but once you get over the barrier of unfamiliarity, it's truely wonderful.

Heh, maybe. I mean Radiohead was what led me to listen to Dubstep, IDM and minimal techno but I have to admit that it's possibly the roughness of the production played through my big headphones that probably grates me most. That and it kind of hits me as something heavily influenced by punk which I've given up trying to appreciate, filed with hair metal and reggae >_<

Kold

Felixdhc wrote: »

Aphex Twin - Selected Ambient Works

Boards of Canada - Music Has the Right to Children

Amon Tobin - Supermodified

Picked up these 3 last week and I likes a lot too. Someone was telling me that they think Geodaddi is far superior to MHtRtC so I'll have to give that a listen.

There are so many great albums but for me the one album which I never tire of is White Pony by The Deftones. It's just a perfect album with a song for every mood and is I think the album which defines my generation.

JC 2K3

Kold wrote: »

Heh, maybe. I mean Radiohead was what led me to listen to Dubstep, IDM and minimal techno but I have to admit that it's possibly the roughness of the production played through my big headphones that probably grates me most. That and it kind of hits me as something heavily influenced by punk which I've given up trying to appreciate, filed with hair metal and reggae >_<

Ah, you should check out the whole post punk scene that started in around '78 when punk died. Punk wasn't particularly innovative or creative, but the underground alternative movements that emerged after it died were astonishingly innovative. A lot of it can be hard to get into, and you will have to deal with rough production in some cases (though that's part of it's charm!), but there really were some fantastic post punk bands at the time. I suppose Sonic Youth (during the DN years) were at the end of all that. They're quite accurately described as a more punky Velvet Underground, but there's a lot of influence from the whole New York No Wave scene which preceeded them.

sinnerboy

Has to be Rory Gallagher Irish tour 74 ....... or whatever Rory Gallagher CD i happen to be playing at any given time

Alanstrainor

sinnerboy wrote: »

Has to be Rory Gallagher Irish tour 74 ......

Great great album, i haven't listened to it in a while, but it is one of my favourites.

EDIT:I can't help but notice your post count sinner boy...666....

jaykay74

This kinda thing changes over time and by mood but for today I would say The Pixies and Dolittle...

TelePaul

Astral Weeks

Squirrel

Layla & Other Assorted Love Songs - Derek & the Dominos. Just so well put together, been my top for the last few weeks now. It'll change in another few no doubt.

Kold

JC 2K3 wrote: »

Ah, you should check out the whole post punk scene that started in around '78 when punk died. Punk wasn't particularly innovative or creative, but the underground alternative movements that emerged after it died were astonishingly innovative. A lot of it can be hard to get into, and you will have to deal with rough production in some cases (though that's part of it's charm!), but there really were some fantastic post punk bands at the time. I suppose Sonic Youth (during the DN years) were at the end of all that. They're quite accurately described as a more punky Velvet Underground, but there's a lot of influence from the whole New York No Wave scene which preceeded them.

Give examples and I might give it a sconce shur ^_^

blindpilot

Manic Street Preachers - The Holy Bible. Outstanding album they havent come close with anything they've done since which is a shame. The US mix of the album is even better.

qwertplaywert

Weezer- Pinkerton. Certainly not perfect, but no album sounds as good to my ears!

Twee.

Forever Changes by Love. Perfection!

nyarlothothep

Its a close tie between St. Anger and Hot Space by Queen

jill_valentine

I think people are cheating when they say Melon Collie and The Infinite Sadness. I mean, we're talking about your favourite album of all time. Melon Collie is approximately 4,547 hours of music. That's like wishing for more wishes.

For me, it's Arcade Fire's Funeral. No doubt, no hesitation, that's it. I like a lot of bands, and my MP3 playlist looks like a fight in a music shop, but that for me is absolutely the best album I've ever heard. Every song on it is perfect. The start of Tunnels still makes me giddy, because it means the whole album is on the way, and the bit between Haiti and Rebellion made me finally understand John Cusack in High Fidelity.

In fact, if my house was buring down, I'd probably save that album first, and then my money and relatives second. Sure, I can always buy another copy, but... that would mean one less copy of Funeral in the world.

And I couldn't live with that.

...

That or maybe Radiohead's Hail To The Thief anyway.

Steve_o

Cant pick 1 but top 5 are probably:

Grace - Jeff Buckley
Graceland - Paul Simon
Dark Side of the Moon - Pink Floyd
Oh Mercy - Bob Dylan
Origin of Symmetry - Muse

hussey

Rubber Soul & revolver - The beatles
Automatic for the people - REM
Damien Rice - O
Definitely Maybe - Oasis
Made in dublin - Aslan
The Hits - Garth Brooks (I bought this for my dad(my first cd) as a thank you for buying me a HI-Fi and liked so much kept it)

rebeldiamond

I have quite a few but these in particular are my ultimate favourites;

1. Mellon Collie & The Infinate Sadness- The Smashing Pumpkins
2. Automatic for The People- REM
3. Sams Town- The Killers
4. Closer- Joy Division
5. Leisure- Blur

JerryHandbag

Very hard to bring it down to only 5 but here goes...
1 Smashing Pumpkins - Adore
2 U2 - The Joshua Tree
3 Neil Young - Zuma
4 David Kitt - Small Moments
5 Joy Division - Unknown Pleasures

qwertplaywert

qwertplaywert wrote: »

Weezer- Pinkerton. Certainly not perfect, but no album sounds as good to my ears!

I love Pinkerton too. Everyone goes on about how it's Weezer's worst album and how much they hate it but everytime I hear it fall in love with it again.

Boo-yah

Deleted User wrote: »

Everyone goes on about how it's Weezer's worst album.

Anyone who calls Pinkerton Weezer's worst album is clearly insane

JauntyChick31

Hi! I'm a newbie, only just joined, so yes there ;D

The Killers - Hot Fuss, the album that first propelled me into the gigantic world of music. There is not ONE bad song on that entire album, I love it!

The Smiths - The Queen Is Dead, and I have to say the same about this album...except for maybe 'Never Had No One Ever'...tis only middlin'.

Fall Out Boy - From Under The Cork Tree, Patrick Stump - vocal genius. Enough said. The vocals just blow me away. And the guitar-riff thing going on in 'Seven Minutes In Heaven (Atavan Halen) rocks!

Many more, but I have to go...bye!

Mary-Lou

Starryeyd

Ohhhh, how do people do this?????!!!!! I think its mood dependant:

:cool: Shut out the world (well the office!) - Pink Floyd - Dark Side Of the moon (breathe!)

Happy - Bob Dylan - Subterranian Homesick Blues (good singalong)

Nostalgic - Fletwood mac - Rumours ( thanks mum!)

:mad: Angry - Tool - Undertow

Sleepy - Van Morrison - Astral Weeks

Need to cry like a 16year old - Jeff Buckley - Grace

Kid V

Ah jasus its hard to pick even a top few. Here goes anywho

Ok Computer/Kid A/ The Bends - Radiohead Cant choose one so i'm gonna cheat! 3 completely different yet undeniably brilliant albums.

Dark Side Of The Moon - Pink Floyd I loose track of time when i listen to it, its like one epic, amazing song because all the songs blend together so perfectly.

Turn On The Bright Lights - Interpol Wow:D

Odelay - Beck It always makes me feel really happy because of how good it is and how many different styles are in it.

Dummy - Portishead Every song grabs me especially Roads, Strangers and Glory Box. New album could be even better with more time.

askmysack

Jeff Buckley - Grace