Greatest Rock Album of All Time

[miklorsmith]

Untrue. The Wall is the greatest rock album of all time, empirically.

I'm collecting the list and adding people's choices to my "check it out" list. The forum is a great opportunity to learn and that's what I'm a doin'.

If we don't like this topic, should we talk about amplifiers some more?

 

[Rob Babcock]

By empiracly, are you going by sales or votes? Some great albums sell well, but you'd be fairly safe correlating quality as being the inverse of the number sold. Madonna has reportedly sold well over 200 million albums- where does she rank, quality-wise, with Bob Dylan or Wilco? Bear in mind, too, that Hendrix was a "one hit wonder" with just a single song that charted top 20 (and that was a cover song).

Hey, don't get me wrong- I'd rather argue music with you than read another post by AV_Phile about how you can determine the best sounding amp with a Ouija Board! But I can't begin to say what the greatest album is.

Certainly I'd put Liz Phair's Exile In Guyville above almost everything mentioned here, although not above The Wall. Physical Graffiti would rank fairly high for me, as would Metallica's Master of Puppets. You could make a pretty fair case for placing Skylarking or Apple Venus Vol I (by XTC) on the short list, and I certainly wouldn't blame anyone for choosing The Soft Bulletin by the Flaming Lips. The Doors have a couple albums that still stand among the best, too. Choosing the single best rock album is like choosing the single best food. It would almost certainly depend upon your mood or the context you put it in. That doesn't mean it can't be discussed, just that you aren't likely to reach a concencus.

Interestingly, almost every candidate named in a discussion of "The Worlds Best Album" also invariably turns up in every discussion of "The Worlds Worst Album" or "The Most Overrated Album In History." For every person who loves the Beatles there's one guy driven to near homicidal rage by them. Music is a funny and subjective thing.

 

[miklorsmith]

Yeah - when I listen to The Wall, my wife asks why I'm listening to "that depressing music" again. Thanks for the additions.

 

[Rob Babcock]

If you like anything at all in the prog metal catagory, check out Queensryche's Operation Mindrime. I consider it the metal version of "The Wall." Just a totally brilliant and immersive concept album, one of the high points of the last couple decades, IMOHO. Flaming Lips and Built to Spill are a couple of new favorites of mine, too. If you have a DVD-A player, the 'Lips DVD-A version of Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots is a SOTA disc.

 

[zumbo]

Led Zeppelin (Physical Graffiti)

 

[nm2285]

All this talk of Pink Floyd, what about Dark Side of the Moon? While I love The Wall, I view DSOTM as the greatest album as a whole that I've ever heard. It's seemless and brilliant with all kinds of nuances and tie-ins. For album music, it tops my list.

 

[surveyor]

By empiracly, are you going by sales or votes? Some great albums sell well, but you'd be fairly safe correlating quality as being the inverse of the number sold. Madonna has reportedly sold well over 200 million albums- where does she rank, quality-wise, with Bob Dylan or Wilco? Bear in mind, too, that Hendrix was a "one hit wonder" with just a single song that charted top 20 (and that was a cover song).

Hey, don't get me wrong- I'd rather argue music with you than read another post by AV_Phile about how you can determine the best sounding amp with a Ouija Board! But I can't begin to say what the greatest album is.

Certainly I'd put Liz Phair's Exile In Guyville above almost everything mentioned here, although not above The Wall. Physical Graffiti would rank fairly high for me, as would Metallica's Master of Puppets. You could make a pretty fair case for placing Skylarking or Apple Venus Vol I (by XTC) on the short list, and I certainly wouldn't blame anyone for choosing The Soft Bulletin by the Flaming Lips. The Doors have a couple albums that still stand among the best, too. Choosing the single best rock album is like choosing the single best food. It would almost certainly depend upon your mood or the context you put it in. That doesn't mean it can't be discussed, just that you aren't likely to reach a concencus.

Interestingly, almost every candidate named in a discussion of "The Worlds Best Album" also invariably turns up in every discussion of "The Worlds Worst Album" or "The Most Overrated Album In History." For every person who loves the Beatles there's one guy driven to near homicidal rage by them. Music is a funny and subjective thing.

But, but Rob, how can you compare Madona's Blasterpiece (Just Like A Virgin) to LA Woman???
Why,Madonna is the one Santa speaks of!

 

[Rob Babcock]

Hey, now- L.A. Woman rocks! I must confess to being utterly infatuated with the Doors as a youngster- I loved their music & Morrison's poetry. I wanted to be Jim Morrison! In the end it was sort of a phase, and I don't listen to them that often anymore, but the music's still great. You just "outgrow" stuff, or rather move on to other things. For example, I liked NIN back in the day, but who can stay that depressed/angry their whole life?

For me, Floyd's overlooked masterpeice was Wish You Were Here. Sure, it doesn't have as many songs, but that's probably about my favorite of their albums (perhaps tied with The Wall).

 

[Rob Babcock]

BTW, DSotM was great (and I love the MC SACD remaster), but I think it sounds a little more dated than the rest of their stuff. JMOHO.

 

[surveyor]

Hey, now- L.A. Woman rocks! I must confess to being utterly infatuated with the Doors as a youngster- I loved their music & Morrison's poetry. I wanted to be Jim Morrison! In the end it was sort of a phase, and I don't listen to them that often anymore, but the music's still great. You just "outgrow" stuff, or rather move on to other things. For example, I liked NIN back in the day, but who can stay that depressed/angry their whole life?

For me, Floyd's overlooked masterpeice was Wish You Were Here. Sure, it doesn't have as many songs, but that's probably about my favorite of their albums (perhaps tied with The Wall).

I'd like to hear Wish You Were Here, on a set of Mark levinsons #33 powering some Wilson Watt spkrs.
The doors were something allright, but I'm glad we out grew them. The stuff was intoxicating though! Let's not forget Riders On The Storm.

 

[surveyor]

Another Goodie

Pavoratti & Friends for Warchild.
It is a gorgeous work!

 

[Polkfan]

Rush-Moving Pictures
Stevie Ray Vaughan-Couldn't Stand the Weather

50/50 either one for me.

 

[Transducergeek]

Quote:
As for me, the best recorded album I've ever heard is Steely Dan, Aja. When you consider it was done (mostly) sans digital, it is all the more amazing. Unquote:

Interestingly, I once owned the 24 track recording machine they used to record that album on. It's name was "Klaus" I owned it, and used it in my studio from about 1978 to 1982. It was a clean sounding deck. RE

 

[Nomo]

Supertramp- Crime of the Century

Released in '74 I believe? Still timeless.

 

[jeffsg4mac]

Come now people, everyone knows it is The Dark Side of the Moon. I thought that was understood the world over.

 

[Bullit67]

Dark side hands down no contest

 

[cam]

To be a best rock album of all time then it has to be one of your cd's that stands the test of time. No matter how much time passes by you never ever get bored of it and it excites you just as much as the first time you heard it when it was released. Also it must be an album with solid tracks from start to finish, no filler songs. Now some of you may laugh at me but the album for me I think is, and many others because I believe it to be fourth in all time sales behind Wacko Jacko's Thriller, Fleetwood Mac's Rumours, and I believe third is Boston's ?? is............. ACDC's BACK IN BLACK. ACDC should have died after Bon Scotts death but nope. ACDC just managed to put those three cords that they always play into a completely wicked album.

 

[Rob Babcock]

I have no problem with your opinion, Cam, but I must admit I just don't understand the appeal of any of those you list in the top 3. To me, Thriller is purely monotonous, and Fleetwood Mac is the surest way to make me avoid an elevator. I like a few Boston songs, but to sit thru a whole album is to risk a musical lobotomy. There're a few old warhorses that I just don't "get."

You're right on with AC/DC, IMO. They hit the big time, then their irreplaceable lead singer dies. They "should have" called it quits, but instead they replace him with a nobody and record one of the biggest albums in rock history. Back in Black secured their legend for all time, and by all odds they never shoulda recorded it!

 

[Polkfan]

To be a best rock album of all time then it has to be one of your cd's that stands the test of time. No matter how much time passes by you never ever get bored of it and it excites you just as much as the first time you heard it when it was released. Also it must be an album with solid tracks from start to finish, no filler songs. Now some of you may laugh at me but the album for me I think is, and many others because I believe it to be fourth in all time sales behind Wacko Jacko's Thriller, Fleetwood Mac's Rumours, and I believe third is Boston's ?? is............. ACDC's BACK IN BLACK. ACDC should have died after Bon Scotts death but nope. ACDC just managed to put those three cords that they always play into a completely wicked album.

I agree completely. I personally think Boston should get third overall (behind Rush and SRV ). I put Rush and SRV for extactly the reason you stated. I still listen to the music on these recordings and get that sense of wow more than any of the other rock recordings of mine. SRV blows Jimmy Hendrix away musically in my opinion. Styx ranks pretty high up there too IMO. Pink Floyd is just to darned depressing to me...No offense .

 

[Leprkon]

a little on the soft side but,

my vote for greatest rock album ever would be Wings Over America. even laced with Beatles songs, it set McCarty apart from the Beatles and established his "personal" legend