Greatest Rock Album of All Time

[WoodieB]

I can't pick just one, but if I had to DSOtM would maybe, probably, Ummm... be it. Stevie Ray is without compare, much of the early LedZep, and Mudcat, dude, few people have even heard of Dread Zep, kudos for the mention. They played a show in SLC once & I met them backstage. Good musicians, good Iowa boys, and great sense of humor. I've got most of their albums.

 

[jordanny]

Best ever?

In reading all of the posts to this point, I agree with those who say that there is no way to single out one 'greatest rock album' of all time. If you are going to try, make sure you are rating the album as a single entity, not the body of work of that artist as a whole. Here are a few of the albums I would nominate-- each was great on its own. In no particular order...
Pink Floyd- Dark Side of the Moon
The Beatles- Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
Jimi Hendrix- Electric Ladyland
Rolling Stones- Exile on Main Street
David Bowie- Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars
Derek and the Dominos- Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs
The Who- Tommy
Van Halen- Van Halen
Aerosmith- Get Your Wings
Bruce Springsteen- Born to Run
These are just a few. Here are two other questions-- how about best rock BAND of all time and best LIVE albums of all time?

 

[gene]

Here are a few of my votes:

1) Genesis - Lamb Lies Down on Broadway
2) Genesis - Selling England by the Pound
3) Pink Floyd - Animals
4) Yes - Tales from Topographic Oceans
5) U2 - Unforgettable Fire
6) Emerson Lake & Palmer - Tarkus
7) Beatles - White Album
8) Steely Dan - Aja
9) Yes - Talk
10) Genesis - Seconds Out

Of course some of these didn't stand the test of time due to the dated keyboard sounds, but they left such an impression when they were first heard. I don't listen to much rock these days, because the recording quality usually sucks

 

[Bullit67]

How about Dire straits Brothers in arms

 

[Rob Babcock]

How about Dire straits Brothers in arms

That'd be on my short list, too.

 

[jaguars_fan]

I agree with NomoSony that Supertramp's Crime of the Century should be on the list. My short list also includes;

Steely Dan - Aja
Meatloaf's - Bat Out Of Hell
Fleetwood Mac - Rumors
Pink Floyd - The Wall
Aerosmith - Toys In The Attic

I suppose I couldkeep going...

 

[Polkfan]

Any of you guys fans of Styx?

 

[Dan]

OK Best Live albums of all time:

The Who Live at Leeds
Allman Bros Fillmore East
Otis Redding/Jimi Hendrix Live at Monterey Pop Festival
The Band The Last Waltz
Little Feat Waiting For Columbus

In the tradion of "High Fidelity" I'll leave it at a top five.

Best Band not enough people have heard: Little Feat

 

[jrohland]

Feats is neat

OK Best Live albums of all time:
.
.
.
Allman Bros Fillmore East

Best Band not enough people have heard: Little Feat

Allman Bros is near the top of my live list. Much of the live Cream stuff was
also great.

Steely Dan Alive in America brings back good memories.

Agreed on the Little Feat comment. In the 70s I was a sound man for a cover band. They played a number of Feat songs and we were all into them. Shame Lowell George died too young.

jrohland

 

[Rex]

Iron Maiden - Seventh Son of a Seventh Son.

 

[jordanny]

Great Choices!

Great choices for 'Best Live' album. You can certainly make a case for any of them. How about some of these? (in no particular order...)

Led Zeppelin-- The Song Remains the Same
Velvet Underground-- Live From Max's Kansas City
Jimi Hendrix-- Live at Berkley
Lynyrd Skynyrd-- One More From the Road
Rush-- All the World's a Stage
Rolling Stones-- Get Your Ya Ya's Out
Queen-- Live Killers
Yes-- Yessongs
Paul McCartney-- Wings Over America
Bruce Springsteen-- 1975 to '85 Live
Frank Zappa-- Live From the Fillmore East June, 1971
Peter Frampton-- Frampton Comes Alive

I better stop there. There were so many great ones. I'm one of the minority (I guess...) that actually prefers live albums to studio. Listening to some of the performances now really bring back great memories of the hundreds of concerts I saw growing up. It also brings back some great non-memories ( but, I'm told I had a great time... ) Also, anyone have any bootlegs you'd recommend? My favs are Led Zeppelin 'Destroyer', recorded at the Coliseum in Cleveland 4-26-1977 and Bruce Springsteen 'Live at the Agora', recorded 8-9-1978 at the Agora, Cleveland. Cleveland rocked in those days!

 

[aspaceintime]

IMHO, Ten Years After - A Space In Time. It's my all-time favorite, hence the login name...

 

[sjdgpt]

The CD loaded in my car's player this week is......

U2 Josuha Tree.

I think next week will be something from Dire Straits. Unless a Styx CD gets in the way.


In other words, for most of us, it is not a single albumn, just our present frame of mind.

 

[BradBo]

Re:Best album of all time.

At least for me Pink Floyds "Dark Side of the Moon" is the best album of all time.

But I do have a group of albums (cd's) that I seem to consistantly listen too since they came out.I like these albums or musicians from start to finish.It seems reciently that it is harder to find concept albums though.

1.Cowboy Junkies, "Black Eyed Man "
2.Rod Stewart, "Never all Dull Moment".
3.The 4 Seasons Antholgy
5.Prefab Sprout "Jordon:The Comeback"
6.and anything fro Roddy Frame

 

[Colonel_Tomb]

And my Top Five nominees are . . .

Studio

The Rolling Stones / Exile on Main Street
Bob Dylan / Blonde on Blonde
The Beatles / Abbey Road
Van Morrison / Moondance
Derek and the Dominos / Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs

Live (and very few actually matter)

The Allman Brothers Band / At Fillmore East
The Who / Live at Leeds
James Brown / Live at the Apollo
The Rolling Stones / Get Yer Yas-Yas Out!
B. B. King / Live at the Regal

 

[Lee_Kee_Brain]

STUDIO

Montrose first lp


LIVE

Allman Bros. Fillmore East

 

[Duffinator]

STUDIO

Montrose first lp

Now that is a good one. Ronnie Montrose can make his guitar really sing.

 

[Colonel_Tomb]

Just browsing the thread, and people are actually nominating Styx and Boston and Supertramp . . . it's a "phony corporate rock" extravaganza! Why don't we just throw in Kansas and Foreigner and Journey (and maybe Asia and Europe and Survivor) while we're at it?

These bands probably sold 50 bezillion records collectively, but they never made a record that even matters, let alone one that ranks among the greats. (Styx is arguably the worst band of all time; one doesn't forgive trash like "Babe" and "Mr. Roboto.")

Have a look at Rolling Stones' 500 Greatest Albums List:

http://www.rhino.com/rs500/listing1.lasso

Nobody's gonna agree on the particulars, but -- damn -- I think a little perspective might be in order.

 

[MDS]

Yes, a little perspective is definitely in order. From your perspective none of those bands ever made a record that "matters". But if they sold 50 bezillion records then obviously they mattered to alot of people.

I like all of the bands you mentioned and have numerous cds from each band. Each of those bands have had careers spanning DECADES (except Asia and Europe). Saying Styx is the worst band of all time by citing 'Babe' and 'Mr. Roboto' as examples tells me you know little to nothing about the band.

 

[miklorsmith]

Record sales have no relation to staying power or redeeming value. None. Selling a lot of records is a sideline fact. Most popular music of today sucks and will be utterly forgotten tomorrow, even by people who bought it. I would bet that less than 1% of the 50 bezillion are still in regular rotation.

Anonymous - you should complete your registration to differentiate yourself from all the other anonymouses.