20 Albums You Should Own, But Probably Don't

[Fastnbulbous]

Sorry to be a space hog. I tried to do two a day and sort of fell behind. Thanks for indulging me. Heres' my last five.

<b>The Fall * This Nation's Saving Grace (Beggars Banquet) 85</b>
In <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0143036726/sr=8-1/qid=1145837711/ref=pd_bbs_1/103-7137418-5229437?%5Fencoding=UTF8" target="_blank"><i>Rip It Up And Start Again: Postpunk 1978-1984</i></a>, Simon Reynolds noted that The Fall and Joy Division had many things in common. Bandleaders Mark E. Smith and Ian Curtis liked the same bands (The Doors, Velvet Underground, The Stooges, Can), practiced in the same building, shared concert bills, and even looked and dress similar. Due to Curtis' suicide and New Order's later success, Joy Division got the (mostly earned) sexy mystique, while The Fall slogged it out, tirelessly touring and churning out dozens of albums. They're still at it. Such prolificacy can cause people to take them for granted. The unfortunately well kept secret is that The Fall are largely a very accessible rock band. Prickly, obtuse at times (early Pavement copped some of their more cryptic tendencies), they also have a body of catchy, rockabilly punk songs. Aside from singles collections, the best introduction is this album. Here their famously repetitive riffs are engaging rather than boring, with varied textures and songs that ruly rock (&quot;Bombast,&quot; &quot;Cruiser's Creek&quot. It's also one of their best sounding albums.

<b>X * Los Angeles (Slash) 80</b>
Los Angeles had a wonderfully diverse punk scene, ranging from art-damaged (Screamers) to pioneering hardcore (Germs). What some people misunderstand is that punk isn't a sound, but a culture. X came from the culture, but hardly adhere to any uniform punk musical code, other than playing fast. Sometimes. They were had excellent, experienced musicians, particularly in the virtuoso rockabilly riffing of guitarist Billy Zoom. John Doe and Exene Cervenka were a songwriting team with a totally original chemistry, mixing pulp novels and beat poetry into lyrics that revel in darkness and violence with sheer exhuberance. Which is likely why The Doors' Ray Manzarek was such a fan, and became a sort of fifth X, producing the album and contributing great keyboard work, reminding him of the excitement of his old band's heyday. Their version of &quot;Soul Kitchen&quot; surpasses The Door's, and few albums have ended on such a celebratory peak as &quot;The World's A Mess, It's In My Kiss.&quot; This is nothing if not totally classic rock. Their following three albums nearly equal it, with1982's <em>Under The Big Black Sun</em> coming closest. The 2001 remaster adds five bonus cuts.

<b>New York Dolls (Slash) 73</b>
For a beautifully brief moment in the early 70s, just as The Rolling Stones were famously calling themselves the "world's greatest rock 'n' roll band," there was a band in New York City who could out-Stone them blindfolded, hands tied behind their backs, with enough liquor and drugs in their bellies to even make Keith Richards wobbly. The campy cross-dressing and debauchery, however, was besides the point. It was if they were making fun of the cliche'd rock 'n' roll lifestyle by presenting it to its most cartoonish extreme. Unfortunately the joke was on them when they lost Billy Murcia to overdose early on. But they went on to create a perfect, definitive album. The only bands to pick up on their legacy were Kiss, who took their stage show to a new extreme (and to the bank), and Aerosmith. To the millions who were never exposed to the original template, the joke is on them.

<b>Betty Davis (Just Sunshine/Aztec) 73</b>
Imagine Band of Gypsies era Hendrix, <i>Fresh</i> era Sly Stone and <i>On The Corner</i> era Miles Davis combined into one fearsomely hot funk diva. A common fantasy, but this one is real. Betty Davis was friends with Jimi and Sly, and married for a year to Miles Davis. By no means a groupie, she actually influenced the people around her, and was a force of nature, and an extremely talented writer and performer. Her first album distills everything perfectly, hard funk with jazz chops, with the band that rivalled Funkadelic, consisting of members of Santana and Tower of Power. Davis presented a persona part ***-kicking Cleopatra Jones, and part Frank Zappa wise-cracking pottymouth. She cast a feminist evil eye on pimp characters with lyrics like, "If I'm in luck I might get picked up ... I'm fishin' and I'm trickin' and you can call it what you want." And in "Anti Love Song" she sings, "You know, I could make you crawl/And just as hard as I'd fall for you/You know you'd fall for me harder." More often her voice would jump between shrieks and feral growls that are truly frightening. To today's audience, she's no less than the older, and better, forerunner of the likes of Macy Gray, Kelis and Missy Elliot.

<a href="http://www.fastnbulbous.com/martha_muffins_ice.htm">

<b>Martha & the Muffins * This Is The Ice Age (Dindisc/Virgin) 81</b></a>
Known as the Canadian Talking Heads, Martha and the Muffins were unfortunately not known enough. Their secret weapon was a young Daniel Lanois, who would play the Brian Eno role for a trilogy of albums. Lanois incorporated incidental sounds and digital synthesizers filtered through delays and reverbs that made it sound less synthetic than their peers. The drum sounds themselves are impressively ahead of their time, like they used giant rubber mallets. It sounds like Tricky may have sampled them on Maxinquaye 14 years later. Embedded toward the end of the title track, you'll hear a snippet of a scrambled, processed vocal that sounds suspiciously like the intro to Radiohead's <i>Kid A</i>. The songwriting is as equally stunning as the band's vivid sound, with guitars that reference Television's Tom Verlaine,and Andy Haas' melancholy saxophone that recalls a more introverted, melancholy mix of Roxy Music and Steely Dan. A flawless album. Now if they would please reissue the next two albums, <i>Danseparc</i> (1982) and <i>Mystery Walk</i> (1984).

 

[jimmyz]

Great posts all !

I recently bought a model K701 headphone from AKG.What would you all recommend as some of the greatest sounding albums for headphones listening?

I enjoy all genres save RAP.

I have a great seperates and speakers set-up but due to small children cannot truely light it up when I need to, so I've gone to the 'cans'.

Thanks in advance for your opinion.

 

[Duffinator]

<b>X * Los Angeles (Slash) 80</b>
Los Angeles had a wonderfully diverse punk scene, ranging from art-damaged (Screamers) to pioneering hardcore (Germs). What some people misunderstand is that punk isn't a sound, but a culture. X came from the culture, but hardly adhere to any uniform punk musical code, other than playing fast. Sometimes. They were had excellent, experienced musicians, particularly in the virtuoso rockabilly riffing of guitarist Billy Zoom. John Doe and Exene Cervenka were a songwriting team with a totally original chemistry, mixing pulp novels and beat poetry into lyrics that revel in darkness and violence with sheer exhuberance. Which is likely why The Doors' Ray Manzarek was such a fan, and became a sort of fifth X, producing the album and contributing great keyboard work, reminding him of the excitement of his old band's heyday. Their version of &quot;Soul Kitchen&quot; surpasses The Door's, and few albums have ended on such a celebratory peak as &quot;The World's A Mess, It's In My Kiss.&quot; This is nothing if not totally classic rock. Their following three albums nearly equal it, with1982's <em>Under The Big Black Sun</em> coming closest. The 2001 remaster adds five bonus cuts.

I completely agree with this selection! I saw them at the House of Blues in Anaheim this past February and they can still rock, and I've always thought of them as a rock band not really a punk band. Check out their DVD "Live in Los Angeles". See post 33.

Fast, nice website.

 

[Johnd]

Jimi Hendrix's "Nine to the Universe." The quintessential jazz/rock/blues Hendrix album of obscure songs. A "must have" album if you're a Hendrix afficionado, or collector.

 

[jzac]

Must have...

I think both the Motown Hits albums of Michael Donald are 'must' have ones... beautifully produced and engineered... along with all of Donald Fagan's works & Steely Dan. Also, I absolutely love the English band 'Incognito". I don't know if any of you heard of them or like the acid jazz/jazz funk style music they deliver. I have all their albums and...man, are they good!

 

[rschleicher]

The post (a few posts up) about the New York Dolls' album got me to pull out my copy and give a listen. Lot's of great songs, including "Pills" (aka Rock and Roll Nurse), "Trash", and "Looking for a Kiss". Fans of the Dolls should also check out the first solo album from David Johansen (the Doll's lead singer) - the album with "Funky But Chic" on it. Pretty much a continuation of the Dolls' style, but with better sound quality. Johansen made another solo album or two that weren't bad, but weren't as good, either, before inexplicably morphing into the Buster Poindexter character. It always amazed me that the guy who did "Hot! Hot! Hot!" was the same guy who was cranking out hard-edged NY rock with the Dolls.

 

[jimmy13]

Well, I don't think I can say I have 20 kick-a** albums that most of you don't already have BUT... I can say I have a few that I will take with me to my grave - truly great albums (not in order):

1. Curtis - Live: Anyone who is a fan of true rhythm & blues must have this in their collection. I don't even know if this was ever recorded on CD, I have it on LP and personally I don't care if it's available on CD. This kind of soul belongs on vinyl forever. I realize that I didn't list these albums in order of importance to me but this one takes the cake - hands-down, my favorite LP in my 300+ album collection.

2. Jack Johnson - In Between Dreams: Although this isn't a rare album, it seems any friends or family I audition this one for has never heard it (what planet are they from)?! Great vocals, guitar riffs and cool (and deep) bass lines too. Sound quality is top notch for a CD and Jack's crew also pressed this gem on LP but I've only got the CD version so far. I could play this one while having a casual dinner with a lass (the ladies love Jack!) or just kickin' back with a cocktail after a long day.

3. Eagles - Hell Freezes Over(DTS DVD): There aren't many DVD's I can recommend, since I'm partial to old school 2 channel stereo on vinyl but this DVD is simply stunning. I know most of you out there already have this disc but none of you can say it doesn't belong on this list. As far as sound quality, it's second only to their Farewell TourDVD; however, the actual performance and the intimate setting makes it my all-time favorite DVD.

4. Beatles - Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band MFSL Original Master Recording: If you have heard this on vinyl on a good system, you will know why I've listed this one. Forget the CD, pal.

5. Sarah Brightman - La Luna: I'm not a fan of opera music, however, I will make an exception for this CD. It does contain some non-opera (not sure what) type of music and these are mainly the tracks I listen to. Vocals that will make the hair on the back of your neck stand up... Deep (20-25Hz) movements from the orchestra that will test the full range of your system. You can use this one as a reference CD - it's that good.

6. Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon MFSL Original Master Recording: Everyone with a stereo has the DSOTM album or this wouldn't have remained on the charts for over 700 weeks. If you thought music couldn't get any better - think again. The Original Master Recording my Mobile Fidelity Sound Labs is the ultimate floyd album that all music fans should hear at least once before they die. Too bad this historical masterpiece is a tough one to find... and you can prepare to pay a premium for it. For the record (no pun intended), the SACD format sounds great - I love it, but it still doesn't compare to the MFSL LP. Sorry.

7. Pink Floyd - Meddle LP (Harvest UK): Am I sounding like a broken record.... hardy-har-har!!!... Great album. Nuff said.

8. Herb Alpert - Rise: Thumbs up to the person who mentioned this one in a previous post. A classic that is next to impossible to find, thus it belongs on this list.

9. Gordon Lightfoot - Sundown MFSL Original Master Recording: OK, I guess you get my drift that I'm a vinyl junkie. On top of that, I'm Canadian, so I gotta have a little Gordie in my collection. This is a great folk album that is definitely a keeper.

10. The Roots - Do You Want More!!!??!: OK, before you lose all respect for me, be patient and hear me out. Quite a jump from Lightfoot to The Roots, I must say . I'm not a fan of modern rap music - in fact I really can't stand it because it isn't REAL music in my opinion. This album isn't the crap you'll hear on MTV or BET. This is REAL rap music where the Roots came and took the torch from Run DMC and other greats in the early 90's when rap music had a soul and the lyrics didn't revolve around gangsters, violence and drugs. There is SOUL to this music. Give it a try. I like this album when I'm grilling some steaks on my BBQ - I need to get a groove-on when I'm cooking my red meat!

Well, that's it for me. It's not 20 but I'm getting tired now. I've got an extensive collection of vinyl and cds but none others that I'd say are a 'must have' that most people don't already own.

P.S. - Honorable mention to a new albums: James Blunt - Back to Bedlam. I've been listening to this new release while typing this post and I'm VERY impressed. Much like Jack Johnson - great vocals and acoustic riffs. Sound quality is exceptional. Also, the only DVD I can recommend other than the Eagles is Peter Gabriel - Growing Up (DTS). The vocals alone put me into submission and I was forced to declare another DVD to my favorites list - danggit!

Happy Listening!
Jimmy

 

[dobyblue]

• Nine Inch Nails - Pretty Hate Machine
• Dave Matthews Band - Before These Crowded Streets
• The Stone Roses - The Stone Roses
• James - Seven
• Underworld - Dubnobasswithmyheadman
• Bob Marley - Kaya
• The Verve - A Northern Soul
• Live - Mental Jewellery
• Metallica - Master of Puppets
• Peter Gabriel - So
• Death Cab For Cutie - Plans
• David Mead - Mine and Yours
• U2 - The Joshua Tree
• Jeff Buckley - Grace
• Charlatans UK - Between the 10th and 11th
• Happy Mondays - Pills, Thrills and Bellyaches
• Massive Attack - Mezzanine
• Catherine Wheel - Chrome
• The Beatles - Rubber Soul
• Steel Pulse - Handsworth Revolution

 

[ScottMayo]

If you like rock but need something a little different, try the Trey Gunn Band's "The Joy of Molybdenum". Do it on a system that images well, has good detail, and has good bass extension. I recommend 85db at the listening position. Lyric free, metallic high energy music that kicks, punches, glides smoothly behind you, and kicks again. If you need music to dance to, this isn't it. (Except maybe Gate of Dreams, and you'd want to be a professional impressionistic dancer with a lot of stamina. Though a good belly dancer could get somewhere with Brief Encounter.)

Seconds on Metheny (As Falls Witicha, and The Way Up). This Way Up is intricate, complex and (except for one bit that reminds me of light jazz piano as played in too many upscale resturaunts) compelling. Listen to it more than once. Bonus in As Falls Witicha - you get to solve the number puzzle.

Seconds on Pink Floyd's Dark Side, in multichannel. It's a good mix. I wish they'd mix Meddle in 5.1. Echoes could be awe-inspiring.

And for days when planet Earth is just not enough, try Fripp and Eno's "The Equatorial Stars". More accessible than most of Fripp's work (that's not really saying much). It would be wrong to classify this as Ambient. It's probably wrong to classify it, period. As best as I can make out, they posited the existance of alien races around distant stars, and then guessed at what sort of music these alien races would come up with. Some of it is surprisingly melodic, most of it is just plain disquieting. Not to be mixed with low lighting and incense - you might not come back.

And in the music video category - Blue Man Group's "Exhibit 13". It's available on the web if you want a taste, but it's better on a good stereo and a big screen. Lest we forget.

 

[Ripples]

Albums to Own

Hey- I'm new here....

One album (CD- from 2003) is Rainy Day Music from the Jayhawks. Unbelievable......I'm not a big alt/rock/country/bash the president guy, but this disc is one to be played until it disintegrates. Then buy a new one.

(Sorry if someone already listed this one, as I jumped to the last page to reply)

 

[Jimi Carl Black]

20 Suggestions from a newbie

What a task. So much music out there. Well my tastes are far too eclectic for my 20 to meet the criteria but at least some of these albums should be on everybody’s CD shelf according to their tastes. e.g. if you like the genre, you should have it. I would advise all of them to peole with open minds because they are tops in their respective genres.

1) Frank Zappa & the Mothers- We’re Only in it for the Money
Classic Zappa/Mothers: comedy, social commentary and jams. Pick it up and you’ll get the inside joke to my handle. Sometimes you can get this doubled up with Lumpy Gravy which may very well be the first modern DJ mix

2) Fat Boy Slim-Live at the boutique; a freakin’ dance-a-thon
Masterful mixing and good listening even for those who may generally decline electronic music

3) Suicidal Tendencies- Lights Camera Revolution
Great thrasher album and the band’s best IMO. Good social commentary and expression of psychological duress plus their lead guirtarist jams constantly.

4) Eric Burton & the Animals- Winds of Change
I’ve got to second this one from above.

5) Cowboy Junkies- 200 More Miles
Live CJ’s album is a great intro to the band and the best listener they have. Live versions of Hunted and Where Are You Tonight? are highlights here

6) Willie Nelson- Willie & Family Live
OK so it’s not Shania Twain quality but it’s pretty good country. Just listen to it and try to figure out what happened to country music. When you figure it out let me know.

7) Pixies- Surfer Rosa
The best album from the band that has inspired so many. Black Francis’s signature animalistic screech is just phenomenal.

8) Fugazi- Repeater
A little hard to find these days. Raw and unique, Fugazi is something special and this album catches them at the cusp of musical transition in 1989. At the very least I suggest finding Shut the Door and Merchandise for download

9) Pink Floyd- Atom Heart Mother and Meddle
Meddle for the average Pink Floyd fan and Atom Heart for the more experimentally inclined. Just really cool sounding stuff.

10) John Prine- These Days
If you don’t know Prine, start with this 2-disc anthology and then go buy every other one of his albums. I can’t pick one. He is lyrically the best writer I’ve ever heard surpassing Bob Dylan in his abilities. This guy will warm your heart.

11) Cee-Lo Green…Is the Soul Machine
Great vocals, rhymes and beats. A modern hip-hop/soul album with minimal amounts of offensive material, though it is there so if you’re worried about the kiddies give it a listen first.

12) Michael Franti & Spearhead- Stay Human
Probably their best effort so far. Soul-hip-hop-reggae-jam band. Strong left wing politics. Best live show I’ve ever seen; for real.

13) Morphine-Good
Morphine is good listening music for many mood types and not harsh on the ears by any measure. A good safe selection for company and likely to make you buy their other 3 albums.

14) Ned’s Atomic Dustbin-Godfodder
A harbinger of the whiny indy rock craze to come. Oh well at least Ned’s perfected it early on; the album just whisps along. Very poppy.

15) Beck- Sea Change
Beck is obviously a borderline musical genius and this is his most exceptional work to date. Very un-poppy.

16) The Smiths- Louder Than Bombs
These 24 tracks of Morrisey in harmony with Johnny Marr span The Smiths’ range. Will that ever happen again? We can only hope. Very broad appeal.

17) The Persuasions-Might As Well
The perfect package for the Dead Head needing a little something different. A capella Dead classics sung by classics.

18) David Bowie-The Man Who Sold The World
Edgy, early Bowie. Supplements Ziggy Stardust and Space Oddity nicely.

19) Velvet Underground-1969 Live Vol I & II
Really the only VU album necessary though it’s nice to have them all. The box set they put out around 1996 doesn’t match these.

20) Mozart- if you don’t have any in your collection then you need some

Oh yeah, and all of the Talking Heads and David Byrne you can find

 

[mfabien]

...

10) John Prine- These Days
If you don’t know Prine, start with this 2-disc anthology and then go buy every other one of his albums. I can’t pick one. He is lyrically the best writer I’ve ever heard surpassing Bob Dylan in his abilities. This guy will warm your heart.
...

Thanks for reminding me of John Prine. Earlier this year I recorded "Austin City Limits" (PBSHD) featuring John Prine in the first part and Amos Lee in the second part. This was my first chance to hear and see John Prine and I liked him so much I have yet to delete the program on my DVR.

With that I went to Amazon to see what they have o John Prine. Found the following DVD:

John Prine - Live from Sessions at West 54th

and ordered it.

Song list:
1. Blow Up Your TV
2. Six O'Clock News
3. Souvenirs
4. Far from Me
5. All the Best
6. Milwaukee Here I Come (with Iris DeMent)
7. (We're Not) The Jet Set (with Iris DeMent)
8. Let's Invite Them Over Again (with Iris DeMent)
9. When Two Worlds Collide (with Iris DeMent)
10. In Spite of Ourselves (with Iris DeMent)
11. Sam Stone
12. Lake Marie
13. Hello in There

Wish it carried: "Crazy As A Loon" and "Some Humans Ain't Human", but the others must be good.

 

[Jimi Carl Black]

Souvenirs is maybe my favorite of his. He sings it as a duet with Steve Goodman (City of New Orleans) on the studio recording. Sam Stone might very well be the saddest song ever written. I really like his first couple of albums. There's one I have with some songs he wrote when he was like 8 or something. Great tunes. Here's a lyric for you from 'Rocky Mountain Time':

O Christ I'm so messed up and lonely
I can't evern make friends with my brain
n I'm too young to know where I'm going
but I'm too old to turn back again

 

[rschleicher]

A couple of my friends in college (mid-70's) were big Prine fans, and I used to have a couple of cassettes recorded from their LPs, but they've all gone by the wayside. The above posts have inspired me to get some Prine back in my collection!

The same post above also mentioned Steve Goodman, known to Chicago area people for his tribute to the Lincoln Park Towing Company "Pirates of Lincoln Park" (or some such title).

This got me to remembering the Siegel-Schwall band. One of their better albums is 953 West, which includes "I Think It Was the Wine".

I was also interested to see the Ned's Atomic Dustbin mention, as I was the only one I knew who had one of their CDs (in this case, it's "Are You Normal?", which is also pretty good).

While I'm at it, for fans of early-Clash-style punk with a ska influence, a great choice is Rancid's "And Out Come the Wolves". Gem after gem.

 

[mfabien]

A couple of my friends in college (mid-70's) were big Prine fans, and I used to have a couple of cassettes recorded from their LPs, but they've all gone by the wayside. The above posts have inspired me to get some Prine back in my collection!
...

After his part of the show, at the "Austin City Limits" I was referring to earlier, John Prine told us that after his operation for throat cancer his vocal chords were impacted and that his voice became much lower. He said he had to relearn singing his own songs as if they were brand new.

 

[krabapple]

The thread is called '20 albums you should own but probably don't'.
People listing albums like 'Dark Side of the Moon' , 'Kind of Blue' and 'Abbey Road' don't seem to be clear on the concept of probability.

 

[Hawkeye]

The thread is called '20 albums you should own but probably don't'.
People listing albums like 'Dark Side of the Moon' , 'Kind of Blue' and 'Abbey Road' don't seem to be clear on the concept of probability.

Yeah, you're not the first person to have mentioned that. It's kind of tough weeding through all the big sellers to find the obsure recommendations. Such is life.

 

[Biscokid]

I'll add

Loose Furs: Born Again in America

Morcheeba: Big Calm

David Byrne: Feelings and Uh Oh


Someone else metioned Morphine and I would highly reccomend all of thier offerings. I personally love "Cure for Pain". It is recorded amazingly well.

 

[jonnythan]

I really want to smack the guy who recommended Y Kant Tori Read over Little Earthquakes. The album, amazing in its mediocrity, certainly gave hints about what Tori would end up accomplishing, but.. it didn't accomplish any of it

Little Earthquakes, IMHO, stands as one of the single greatest albums ever released.

 

[fudog]

I'll add

Dirty Rig - Rock did it

I don't think anyone mentioned it.