Favorite albums/ songs

[nobby]

I was just listening to the Stones Let It Bleed for the first time in quite a while today. Besides great songs and performances by the Stones as well as Nicky Hopkins, Bobby Keys, etc., the sound was so warm and dynamicky, and dare I say, analoggy :grin: that it menlts in your mind. One of my all time favorites for sure.

Thumbsup

[nobby]

When I was a kid, I thought that everything you could do with a guitar had already been done.

Then a friend came over with this :icon_eek:

http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m63/jonnewyork/AreyouexpUS.jpg

[invisibl]

http://www.canaltrans.com/musica/images/encuesta-5mejores/dark-side-of-the-moon.jpg



Getting stoned with my friend and his big brother at 13 or so...



Then later that year


http://images.google.co.nz/images?q=tbn:UN1WAwoXsLm_cM:http://www.whereseric.com/discography/images/Bob%2520Marley%2520%26%2520The%2520Wailers%2520-%2520Africa%2520Unite%2520The%2520Singles%2520Coll ection.jpg

[nobby]

http://www.canaltrans.com/musica/images/encuesta-5mejores/dark-side-of-the-moon.jpg



Getting stoned with my friend and his big brother at 13 or so...



Then later that year


http://images.google.co.nz/images?q=tbn:UN1WAwoXsLm_cM:http://www.whereseric.com/discography/images/Bob%2520Marley%2520%26%2520The%2520Wailers%2520-%2520Africa%2520Unite%2520The%2520Singles%2520Coll ection.jpg

That brings back memories.

We used to pass fatties and wine in the park, then go to one of our group's house right by the park and listen to Dark Side of the Moon.

And Bob Marley, Yah, mon!

One of the most influential albums of all time, raising the bar... songs, arrangements and a novel approach to recording and production, not to mention album art:

Sergeant Pepper (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Pepper%27s.jpg)

http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m63/jonnewyork/600px-Pepper27s.jpg

[TSTW]

eclectic as possible

[CurtZHP]

Right now my favorites are:

Echoes, the best of Pink Floyd
Back in Black by AC/DC
Gladiator soundtrack

[bunnerabb]

This is pure sonic playground, IMHO.

[Mixerpuppet]

Racer-X Live Extreme Volume....

[jerryskid]

If it weren't for the Monkees and David Cassidy, I wouldn't be a guitar player !!!....go ahead, laugh, it's true.....

[Thumper]

Jellyfish: Spilt Milk.
Toy Matinee..

I'm also loving Wolfmother, and the new My Chemical Romance disc..... laugh it up, but it's a goodie.

[MacGregor]

I've heard this album about a zillion times and still dig it.

[bunnerabb]

Oh...

This:

[bunnerabb]

and this:

[bunnerabb]

This:

[jerryskid]

This:


good record, but I liked this one better....

[jerryskid]

This album really got me into guitar playing, because of Terry Kath

[Droolbucket]

Charlie...No Second Chance. From around 1979, with Steve Gadd on drums. I dig this album out and play it as an example of how harmonies are SUPPOSED to sound.
I also regularly revisit the Doobie Brothers "Captain and Me" album.... the radio hits are actually the weakest songs on the album. Great stuff.
I also have to credit the Doobie Brothers' "Toulouse Street" album fold-out as my first encounter with porn. very happy

Lots and lots of choices, I'd have to revisit my vinyl closet for a refresher.....

Droolbucket

[jerryskid]

Charlie...No Second Chance. From around 1979, with Steve Gadd on drums. I dig this album out and play it as an example of how harmonies are SUPPOSED to sound.

Droolbucket



Just to let you know it was a different Steve Gadd who played in that band...from wikipedia:

Many people assume that he played with the LA rock band Charlie, but Gadd, while on his 'We're on a Mission from Gadd' tour in 2005, told fans that it was another drummer by the same name - not him. In fact, Gadd said, "I've never met the other Steve Gadd. We happened to stay in the same hotel once, though. I kept getting his messages and apparently he was getting mine."

Dude...great album...check your PM's......

[Thud]

Jellyfish and Toy Matinee?

Hell yes.

[otek]

Jellyfish and Toy Matinee?

Hell yes.


Yeah, who said that? Give that man a cigar.

[otek]

And while we're at it: A stunningly beautiful album.....

http://ecm-records.com/Images/cover/ECM/1300/E1355g.jpg

"Yr" by Steve Tibbetts (ECM)

[E. Shaun]

And while we're at it: A stunningly beautiful album.....

http://ecm-records.com/Images/cover/ECM/1300/E1355g.jpg

"Yr" by Steve Tibbetts (ECM)

Damn it, Ola, why do you always have to have such similar tastes in music!

Yr is a great album. "Three Primates" stands as one of my favorite guitar tunes ever.

I'll chip in later in this thread with some more of my off-the-beaten-path faves.

[Thud]

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/15/Supertramp_-_Crime_of_the_Century.jpgThis record cast a spell on me when I was 8 or 9. It still does the same thing today. The recording and performance have so much space and atmosphere. A lesson in taste, restraint and drama.

[E. Shaun]

Alright...I don't know how to classify my "favorites" as I now have so many albums, and have loved music for so many years, that's it's all but impossible to narrow it down to any meaningful sample. Soooo...here are a few of my faves that are a little off the beaten path, as it were...insofar as they weren't huge commercial successes.

http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/drf300/f396/f39639dwslv.jpg

Folklore by Sixteen Horsepower.

I came across this band early in the year, and in one fell swoop, it opened up a whole new genre of music that I had never even CONSIDERED listening to. "Gothic country" or "Gothabilly" is how I've sometimes heard them referred to, but "The Outlaw Song" from this album is a work of sheer beauty that I get moved by on every listen.


http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/drf300/f350/f35082pph7b.jpg

Pawn Hearts by Van der Graaf Generator

Otek and Slipperman still salivate at the mention of this band, and so do I. In the late 90's, I had NO qualms calling this my "favorite album of all time." I still listen to it with regularity today. It's progressive rock, sure, but with such intelligence, cynicism and passion, that it's not the kind of sound you usually associate with that genre distinction.


http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/drc300/c393/c3930949tci.jpg

Spiderland by Slint.

This album came out just before the big grunge explosion of the early 90's...and yet it rocks harder and smarter, and sends darker chills than anything Pearl Jam or Nirvana ever came out with shortly thereafter. "Good Morning, Captain" is another one of my "all time favorite" tracks.

[E. Shaun]

http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/dre400/e401/e40190cintm.jpg

Dogs by Nina Nastasia.

I could pick any of Nina Nastasia's albums, including her 2006 release On Leaving. This is her debut, though, and it has a rawness and sincerity to it that just jumps out at the listener. It's folksy, but the Albini production, and some of the heavy lyrics and arrangements make it very unique.

http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/drg900/g943/g94354y35wt.jpg

Twin Cinema by The New Pornographers.

My favorite release from last year, and it happens to be by a local band, with a close friend of mine as the assistant engineer. Honestly, this is what I think rock SHOULD sound like these days. It's alternately upbeat and intense, but always has a great vibe to it, and intelligent performances...not to mention the sexy vocals of Neko Case on many songs.


http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/drg400/g417/g41754o8oly.jpg

Waterfall Cities by Ozric Tentacles.

A lot of Ozric Tentacles albums sound rather "samey" to me, even though I have them all...but this is one that seems to have perfected the balance of acoustic and electric instruments...and somehow it just sounds wonderful sonically. I have no idea how they get such lush mixes, given that they're just a bunch of British hippies living in a windmill, but electronic music never sounded so rich and vibrant.

[blackieC]

Twin Cinema by The New Pornographers.

My favorite release from last year, and it happens to be by a local band, with a close friend of mine as the assistant engineer. Honestly, this is what I think rock SHOULD sound like these days. It's alternately upbeat and intense, but always has a great vibe to it, and intelligent performances...not to mention the sexy vocals of Neko Case on many songs.




I think we've "crossed streams" on this one before somewhere but I felt the need to qoute you for emphasis that this is a fabulous album and should not be overlooked by anyone who has an affection for quirky/brainy pop.


And while you're at the record store you might as well pick up the "Mass Romantic" album also.

[G. Hoffman]

PJ Harvey - Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea

Jill Sobule - Jill Sobule

Joni Mitchell - Hejira

Tom Waits - Bone Machine

Tom Waits - Frank's Wild Years

The Tannahill Weavers - Passage (pretty good for an album with bag pipes)

Miles Davis - Kind of Blue

Pat Metheny - Bright Sized Life

Paul Simon - Graceland

Nine Inch Nails - The Downward Spiral

Me'Shell Ndegéocello - Plantation Lullabies

King Crimson - Three of a Perfect Pair

Joe Jackson - several, I can't choose

Elvis Costello - This Year's Model

Joan Osborne - Relish

Jeff Buckley - Grace

Gillian Welch - Revival

Gillian Welch - Hell Amongst the Yearlings

Foo Fighters - The Color and the Shape (why do all the rest of their records kinda suck, and yet this one is SO good)

Ani Difranco - Dilate

Aimee Mann - Bachelor no. 2

The Police - Synchronicity

Steely Dan - The Royal Scam

Sting - The Soul Cages

Susanne Vega - Nine Objects of Desire



There are others of course, and it all depends on my mood, but these would all be among my desert island necessities.



Gabriel

[G. Hoffman]

And while we're at it: A stunningly beautiful album.....

http://ecm-records.com/Images/cover/ECM/1300/E1355g.jpg

"Yr" by Steve Tibbetts (ECM)



Steve is a LONG term customer of ours at the shop. Really good guy, but I guess I always forget that he is known elsewhere. Good to see he is being heard.


Gabriel

[E. Shaun]

Steve is a LONG term customer of ours at the shop. Really good guy, but I guess I always forget that he is known elsewhere. Good to see he is being heard.


Gabriel

I haven't checked out anything more recent than A Man About A Horse...but I have most of his earlier recordings. All of those albums from the early - mid 80's are great.

[Fulcrum]

The three recordings that had the most impact on me in my formative stages as a musician:

Emerson Lake & Palmer Welcome Back My Friends to the Show That Never Ends, Brain Salad Surgery, Trilogy

Genesis Nursery C r y m e, Foxtrot, Selling England By The Pound, The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway

the eponymously-titled Pat Metheny Group album

These are the ones that rocked my world back when my world was more susceptible to being rocked. Of late I've been getting behind a whole bunch of Spock's Beard, though.

[myrtlebacker]

Here is one of my favorite records, a little different to shake this thread up :)

Katatonia - Brave Murder Day

http://womb.mixerman.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=139&stc=1&d=1163250877

Highlight Tracks: Brave, Murder, 12

This is an exceptional album by a band that in this recorded form only existed for this record, because Jonas Renske couldn't record most of the vocals. For whatever reason it was and still is fairly obscure and unknown. Maybe it is because for the duration of 42 minutes and six tracks, Katatonia explored a musical landscape, that seemed too strange and forbidding, that it didn't even fit with the metal audiences tastes. So that landscape was marked as charted and quickly forgotten.

The music on this record, is at the same time very laid back and unhurried, yet always intense. The instruments set up the mood which Michael Akerfeldt's vocals then carries to godly heights.

Be warned though, this is very likely not a record to pick up and enjoy easily. If you aren't accustomed to heavy riffing and growling, the initial obstacle might be too high. On the other hand, this could be the record for you, if you ever wondered if high art could be achieved by such means.

[TSTW]

Waterfall Cities by Ozric Tentacles.
.

I've seen them several times and never get bored.

One of my favorites

[Bryson]

Revolver
Seagent....
Magical....
White Album
Abbey Road
Are You Experienced
Axis
Electric Ladyland
Band Of Gypsies
More Of The Monkees
Strange Days
CheapThrills
Hot Rats
Apostrophe
Between The Buttons
Beggars
Let It Bleed
Exile
Traffic
Mr Fantasy
Days Of Future Past
English Rose
Aqualung
LedZep I, II, III, IV,Houses..
Something Anything
Made In Japan - That's, "M a d e In Japan" (thanks for the smiley, MM)
Live At Leeds
Woodstock
Johnny Winter And Live
Abraxas
CS&N
Super Session
The Hi-Lo's - Now Hear This
Back To The GoldRush
Harvest
Fragile
Close To The Edge
Dark Side....
Wish You....
Ziggy Stardust
Truth
Blow By Blow
Free Hand
Power And The Glory
Brain Salad

......for starters.

[jerryskid]

Rubber Soul
Revolver
Pepper
Abby Road
White Album
Headquarters, Pices/Aquarius/Capricorn/Jones-Monkees
The first 11 Chicago albums
Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy- Elton John
Live Bullet- Bob Segar
Aja-Steely Dan
Katy Lied-Steely Dan
Gaucho- Steely Dan
Rush, Rush and more Rush
Europe '72- Grateful Dead
Workingman's Dead
American Beauty- Grateful Dead
Physical Graffiti-Led Zepplin
Led Zepplin 2
Catch a Bull At Four- Cat Stevens
Budda and the Chocolate Box- Cat Stevens


Just for now.......

[Thumper]

Yeah, who said that? Give that man a cigar.

I figure you guys are cheap bastards, so I'll take a Don Diego Playboy signature.

I also take rep points.

[nobby]

Revolver
Seagent....
Magical....
White Album
Abbey Road
Are You Experienced
Axis
Electric Ladyland
Band Of Gypsies
More Of The Monkees
Strange Days
CheapThrills
Hot Rats
Apostrophe
Between The Buttons
Beggars
Let It Bleed
Exile
Traffic
Mr Fantasy
Days Of Future Past
English Rose
Aqualung
LedZep I, II, III, IV,Houses..
Something Anything
Made In Japan - That's, "M a d e In Japan" (thanks for the smiley, MM)
Live At Leeds
Woodstock
Johnny Winter And Live
Abraxas
CS&N
Super Session
The Hi-Lo's - Now Hear This
Back To The GoldRush
Harvest
Fragile
Close To The Edge
Dark Side....
Wish You....
Ziggy Stardust
Truth
Blow By Blow
Free Hand
Power And The Glory
Brain Salad

......for starters.

You left out John Barleycorn Wink

[Bryson]

You left out John Barleycorn Wink

Damn! I knew there was one more!

[Scratchy Potts]

Thumbsup

Rubber soul
Revolver
Seagent....
Magical....
White Album
Abbey Road
Bluesbreakers With Eric Clapton..John Mayall
Free Tons of Sobs
Fire and water
Cream DISRAELI GEARS
Cream white room
Are You Experienced
Electric Ladyland
Beggar's Banquet
Let It Bleed
LedZep I, II, IV,Houses..
Jack Bruce - Songs for a Tailor
Dark Side of the moon
Wish You where here
Hunky Dory
Ziggy Stardust
Exidus
Catch a fire
the Heptones.NIGHTFOOD INNA PARTY TIME
Dub, Reggae and Roots ,Augustus Pablo
new world order Curtis Mayfield
The Thrill kisser Tin Star
Goodbye Jumbo World party
Bang!!..World party
Breath the Prodigy.....Etc.Etc,Etc!!...Roll eyes

[otek]

Steve is a LONG term customer of ours at the shop. Really good guy, but I guess I always forget that he is known elsewhere. Good to see he is being heard.


Gabriel

I started listening to Tibbetts back in 1988 or so, and I have most of his albums. Phenomenal tone and taste, and a strange, very "organic" feel to the recordings. Some of the most underrated (or rather overlooked) and exciting guitar-based instrumental music ever. "Yr" is a personal favorite - you can tell that album was a labor of love, what with all the layers upon layers of sound, and that mystical feel and texture which doesn't particularly seem to belong on any one continent - or in any particular decade for that matter. "World" music in the truest sense of the word, a timeless masterpiece.

I kinda figured, him being from Minneapolis and all, that you'd at least met.

I bet that "Style O" of his has been in for the occasional tweak. ;)

[E. Shaun]

I kinda figured, him being from Minneapolis and all, that you'd at least met.


So Gabriel...feel like bringing Steve here?

That would be a rather nice addition for Team Primate in the next CaPE. Razz

Actually, now that I think about it, I'd have to say my favorite Tibbetts tune is "Test" from Safe Journey. The build-up and release is just so amazing, even for ECM productions...

[PRobb]

A few people have posted a "why I play guitar" album, and this one is high on that list.
http://womb.mixerman.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=178&stc=1&d=1163363739

Clapton's gold top Paul straight into the Marshall combo is still one of the all time great guitar tones. Was that the first time somebody plugged a Les Paul into a high gain amp and let it sustaaaaaaaaiiiiiiiiiiiin?

[PRobb]

Oops, wrong fileRoll eyes . Here's the actual cover.http://womb.mixerman.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=182&stc=1&d=1163368003

[G. Hoffman]

So Gabriel...feel like bringing Steve here?

That would be a rather nice addition for Team Primate in the next CaPE.



I'll see what I can do next time I see him.


Gabriel

[G. Hoffman]

A few people have posted a "why I play guitar" album, and this one is high on that list.
http://womb.mixerman.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=178&stc=1&d=1163363739

Clapton's gold top Paul straight into the Marshall combo is still one of the all time great guitar tones. Was that the first time somebody plugged a Les Paul into a high gain amp and let it sustaaaaaaaaiiiiiiiiiiiin?


Actually, the impresion I get is it was the first time a guitar player told an engineer to go fuck himself, the distortion was a GOOD thing.


Gabriel

[PRobb]

Actually, the impresion I get is it was the first time a guitar player told an engineer to go fuck himself, the distortion was a GOOD thing.


Gabriel

There were earlier distorted guitars (Dave Davie, George Harrison) but I meant the Les Paul/Marshall singing sustain tone. Is there an earlier example?

[G. Hoffman]

Actually, the impresion I get is it was the first time a guitar player told an engineer to go fuck himself, the distortion was a GOOD thing.


Gabriel

There were earlier distorted guitars (Dave Davie, George Harrison) but I meant the Les Paul/Marshall singing sustain tone. Is there an earlier example?


Yeah, my only point is that there were probably others doing it earlier (or doing it with a Bassman, which is really the same amp as Clapton was using), but that when they got to the studio the engineers of the day would complaign about the distortion and tell them to turn it down.

But no, there were probably not many before that, because there were not that many Marshalls around. It was a pretty new company at the time.


Gabriel

[Calvin]

Here are a few from back in the day:

http://cover6.cduniverse.com/MuzeAudioArt/120/126886.jpg

http://cover6.cduniverse.com/MuzeAudioArt/150/156485.jpg

And, yes:

http://cover6.cduniverse.com/MuzeAudioArt/090/96033.jpg

[Calvin]

And then there's always:

http://www.superseventies.com/ac9relayer.gif

http://cover6.cduniverse.com/CDUCoverArt/Music/5646909.jpg

http://cover6.cduniverse.com/MuzeAudioArt/500/502577.jpg

http://cover6.cduniverse.com/MuzeAudioArt/320/328099.jpg

and soooo many more.

[blackieC]

See, that's the problem with these kind of threads.

It's too damn easy to say "Pink Floyd, Yada,blah,blah,bling", or "The Fuckin' Beatles, derrrr".


I know that shit, and I love that shit, but turn me on to something released in the past five years that has made your hair stand up on end.


Apologies to those that have done so and I have skimmed over, just hit me with some new stuff.


I know it's out there.

addendum: I'm just old enough to find "cookie monster" bands humorous (I still consider Judas Priest's "Hell BentFor Leather" to be a great "Metal" album).

I'm willing to give anything a shot, just feed me with new input.


[Johnny5] Input... Input... [Johnny5/]

[emtou2u]

Humbly request Blackie's forgiveness of adding more "blah, blah, bling...."

Pet Sounds
The Beach Boys


and Ditto
Dark Side of the Moon
Pink Floyd



ok...i'm such a girl...but on every level - i love Pet Sounds.

[blackieC]

And you should, as do I.


But what's out there lingering with the same weight and import?

[G. Hoffman]

I know that shit, and I love that shit, but turn me on to something released in the past five years that has made your hair stand up on end.




Inara George - All Rise

Ray LaMontagne - Trouble

Drive by Truckers - The Dirty South

PJ Harvey - Un Hun Her (and though it is closer to six years old, Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea)

(I'm gonna get shit for this one)

Björk - Medúla

The Bad Plus - Give (you just HAVE to love a jazz version of Iron Man)

Aesop Rock - Fast Cars, Danger, Fire & Knives (hip hop, but great)

Amiee Mann - Bachelor No. 2


Gabriel

[blackieC]

As long as i have a say in this...



(and I don't)




Nobody will ever catch shit for recomending Aimee Mann on my watch.


No Sir.
:Thumbsup:

[G. Hoffman]

As long as i have a say in this...



(and I don't)




Nobody will ever catch shit for recomending Aimee Mann on my watch.


No Sir.
:Thumbsup:



No, just for the Björk one. I'm not a fan of most of her stuff, but Medúla is just fucking haunting. It has very few instruments other than the human voice, and it is just, well, hauntingly beautiful.

But no, I can't imagine anyone complaigning about Amiee Mann. She's too fucking good.


Gabriel

[G. Hoffman]

Oh, I just thought of another one. Joan Osborne's How Sweet it is. It's an album full of covers of 60's and 70's songs, but reinturpreted in modern fashion. She did it right after she stole that whole Funk Brothers movie, and it is REALLY good.

Don't ever dispair about music. There will always be good and new music. You just have to find it, and comercial media is very unlikely to show it to you. Check out the radio station in my sig line (89.3 The Current) if you want to see how good music can be when it is non-comercial.


Gabriel

[blackieC]

That version of "What Becomes Of The Broken Hearted?" that Joan lays down with the Funk Brothers on the Standing In The Shadows of Mowtown" DVD never fails to give me the hee-bee-jee-bees. And the smile on Pistol's face just makes it that much more...


I just can't explain it to anyone that hasn't seen it, but by God you should.


Standing In The Shadows Of Mowtown


If you haven't seen it, go out and get it now.


Yes, I mean fucking now.



There's got to be a 24 hour video shop wherever you are.

Standing In The Shadows Of Motown.





GO!


NOW!!!!!

[G. Hoffman]

That version of "What Becomes Of The Broken Hearted?" that Joan lays down with the Funk Brothers on the Standing In The Shadows of Mowtown" DVD never fails to give me the hee-bee-jee-bees. And the smile on Pistol's face just makes it that much more...


I just can't explain it to anyone that hasn't seen it, but by God you should.


Standing In The Shadows Of Mowtown


If you haven't seen it, go out and get it now.


Yes, I mean fucking now.



There's got to be a 24 hour video shop wherever you are.

Standing In The Shadows Of Motown.





GO!


NOW!!!!!


Amen, brother, amen.


Probably the single best movie about music I have EVER seen.

Period.

There is only one thing I don't like about that movie. You know that scene where they are in the diner with Joan, and she starts singing Heard it Through the Grapevine? Why the FUCK would you then cut to Ben Harper doing what was, in comparison, a really half-assed version of it? Every time I see that, I just wish she had sung every song in the movie, or that she had at least done that one. That half a verse of her singing it is just SOOOOO good.

However, Me'Shell Ndegéocello's You've Really got a Hold on me" is so smooth, and Shaka Khan's [i]What's Going On is just amazing.

But Yeah, Joan doing Brokenhearted is the show stopper, as far as I'm concerned.


Gabriel

[G. Hoffman]

Man you got me watching this thing again when I should be going to sleep. ARGH!!!!!


But something I just noticed (again, but it is still just as impressive); Those guys are all reading through out the whole show. Playing with feel like that while reading, to me, is about the most impressive thing I can think of. Playing with a good feel is easy, and reading is easy, but doing them at the same time, that's fucking hard. At least for me.


Gabriel

[blackieC]

You will get no argument from me, man,

"Heard it through the grapevine"

Never heard it so fine.

No disrespect to Otis, but...

Damn...


Anyone that sings it so fine
Earns a little bit o' my time
When you take me outta my mind
You knows it feels so fine



Utmost props to the Rockchick with the chops.



All hail Joan,

[jerryskid]

Joan is awesome....saw her with "The Dead" and also with Bob Weir's "Ratdog" and she was sweet....the girl can sing!!!!

[PRobb]

I know that shit, and I love that shit, but turn me on to something released in the past five years that has made your hair stand up on end.

[Johnny5/]

Sure.



http://womb.mixerman.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=238&stc=1&d=1163524584

[magicchord]

...turn me on to something released in the past five years that has made your hair stand up on end.


I'll have to echo that, 'cause I'm old and I haven't kept up with the "signed" artists of the last few years.

I just listen to unsigned music these days.

(edit) Thanks to those who've complied!

[frnjplayer]

That version of "What Becomes Of The Broken Hearted?" that Joan lays down with the Funk Brothers on the Standing In The Shadows of Mowtown" DVD never fails to give me the hee-bee-jee-bees. And the smile on Pistol's face just makes it that much more...




Iwatched that.
She did "Heatwave". And I said. Yeah that was okay.
Then she did "What Becomes of the Brokenhearted".....
and I hit replay, again and again.
She just ripped it to shreds.

[mandor]

OK...what the hell...I'll play along. The best song ever written (IMHO) is Echo, by Joe Satriani (last track off "Surfing with an Alien). I'm gonna post an original version of this beast that I recorded in College (with me on Keyboard). I'll post this later.

[bunnerabb]

Who's Next tears my skull loose.

[solomon2]

Its easy to make a long list, harder to really represent who you were .
Lately, for me
Odgens Nut Gone Flake Small Faces
Inner Mounting Flame Mahavishnu Orchestra
Urban Renewal Tower of Power

[Zoesch]

I've learned to hate these threads... because usually my favorite list has a lot of records and every year I keep adding to the equation. But heck... for the past 3 years my favorite albums have been:

ISIS-Oceanic
Neurosis-Through Silver In Blood
Frontline Assembly-Epitaph
Jesu-Jesu
Front 242-Evil Off/Fuck Off Evil
Killing Joke-Pandemonium
Battle Of Mice-A Day Of Nights (This was released this year, it's simply stunning)

But anyway the list could probably go on for a few pages

[E. Shaun]

I've learned to hate these threads... because usually my favorite list has a lot of records and every year I keep adding to the equation.

Funny...I LOVE these threads for the same reason...

Alright, earlier in this thread I pointed out six of my wider group of "favorites" that might not be all that well known. After mulling it over in the back of my head the last few days (because, as I say, I like thinking about such things), my personal top five would be (in no particular order):


10,000 Hz Legend - Air
Boys For Pele - Tori Amos
Lightbulb Sun - Porcupine Tree
Aenima - Tool
Queen II - Queen

For what it's worth. ;)

[Fulcrum]

And that I think is the value of these threads, because at any given point in time our answers tend to vary.

Those ELP, Genesis, and Metheny records I mentioned earlier are likely to always be the ones I refer to when I mention the ones that truly influenced me, but the real answer is that I can be inspired by anything.

Milliontown by Frost* has been enjoying quite a lot of eartime in my CD player, so I'm thinking about heavier keyboard-based prog now. I've had a bit of early Porcupine Tree in there lately too, so I've also been thinking about keyboard psychodramas a la pre-Dark Side Pink Floyd with state of the art synths. And the Mighty Beard has never been far from my CD player of late, so if anything you hear from me in future has lots of changes in mood and arrangements that stop on a dime, that's probably why.

[chrisj]

http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/drf300/f350/f35082pph7b.jpg

Pawn Hearts by Van der Graaf Generator

Otek and Slipperman still salivate at the mention of this band, and so do I. In the late 90's, I had NO qualms calling this my "favorite album of all time." I still listen to it with regularity today. It's progressive rock, sure, but with such intelligence, cynicism and passion, that it's not the kind of sound you usually associate with that genre distinction.

Oh my god. You, Otek and Slippy eh? I discovered them much more recently. I just have to say this: vocal range usually means 'laaaa' at different pitches. With this guy (PETER HAMMILL) vocal range means, sounding like a 12 year old choirboy- or a hate-filled demon from the pits of hell- or morphing from the one into the other mid-phrase for effect! I've never heard anything remotely like this cat, and it's all pure performance, into a mic.

http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/drc800/c847/c84746a2gxg.jpg

I discovered Genesis awfully late. I was a prog kid without any prog friends and I just didn't know- I was all Yes and Crimso and Tull. Years- decades- later, I finally heard this one and was simply floored. Similarly-

http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/drf800/f876/f87687q2htv.jpg

Need I say more?

As for old favorites:
http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/drd600/d634/d634261cc0c.jpg
http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/drd200/d291/d29151895ja.jpg
http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/drc500/c517/c51719l00gp.jpg
http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/drf100/f108/f10818krp6x.jpg
http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/drf100/f106/f106397r0ap.jpg
http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/drc800/c851/c851877439w.jpg
http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/dre400/e430/e43012q4lmw.jpg
http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/drg900/g902/g90297tro6c.jpg
But then there's some other stuff-

[E. Shaun]

Chris...

I'm not sure if I should be concerned or not that I own all of those albums, save one (I never got Heavy Horses in my big prog phase).

Interestingly enough, Selling England By The Pound was my first Genesis album, and II was my first Peter Gabriel album. In fact, all of those albums were among my first prog purchases...it was only after a year or so that I started getting into VdGG, Gentle Giant and some of the more obscure (and rewarding) prog.

I try to tell myself I've "grown out of" progressive rock, but I can't help but gravitate towards bands that really push the boundaries with their songwriting.

[chrisj]

http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/drc100/c107/c10726qk93n.jpg
People don't understand why I play the way I do. Hell, sometimes I don't understand- then I remember. This is THE MOST WIRED RECORD. Ever, maybe. It's the most pointy sounding record. I'm always trying to put things, even bass, way the hell on top of the beat because of this kind of record. I get it wrong, yeah, but my fundamental musical drive resembles 21 shots of espresso because of this kind of record...

http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/drf600/f611/f61181a339a.jpg
Same deal, plus I absolutely love this version of 'Spanish Moon'. There's nothing bluesy about it, it's more on the 'bad cocaine' side of things, and I find it absolutely compelling. And the title cut hits like a trainwreck. Most of the songs are stupid, but so what?

http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/drc500/c511/c511596q2nf.jpg
Same deal again, but funnier. "Here! In my van! I can lose! My small mind! Small! My mind lose! lose, mind, small, my... oh wait, I think I found it. Yeah, it was underneath the dirty clothes..." I no longer have this one which makes me very sad because I _must_ have the version of 'Iceman' from this album. The ridiculously brutal wall of sound after 'a beautiful girl once made that mistake...' CRUNCH.

http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/drd600/d660/d6604853e6y.jpg
I just can't stand how fun this is, and best. sound. ever. I consider their later track 'Love Shack' to be maybe the most danceable thing in the universe.

http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/drg600/g662/g66273zhvt1.jpg
Same year, same kind of sound. Organic and spare yet totally weird and abstract- and RAW. I will never get why people don't love this album. It's their 'Exile On Main St'.

http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/drf500/f541/f54118ffor2.jpg
Side Red. Forever. The songs are totally stupid and I don't even care. Hard rock vibe drools off everything, and the way those guys could play! Tight, tight arrangements.

http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/drf600/f612/f61284p4mxj.jpg
Yes, I got both mixes. I just think this one's kinda beautiful. Warmth for days- decades. Either I can't explain it or I don't have to...

http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/drd600/d686/d68624820ja.jpg
Screw the '2 compact discs'. This has to be heard off green label WB vinyl. They had to play and sing because they were overseas and singing to non-English-speakers, plus Pigpen was dying day by day. I consider these to be some pretty happenin' performances and the sound is HUGE. These were the 'wall of sound PA' guys remember- their sound was usually a decade ahead of everybody else. Advanced sonics in the already great sounding year of 1972 means incredibly lively sound, jumps right off the vinyl.

http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/drd500/d595/d59545n5ee0.jpg
Same deal, similar tensions for these usually sedated guys, 1975 sonics means this one is quite amazing, especially if you really like compression a whole lot :D I've never heard anything quite as dynamic as this apart from maybe Sneakin' Sally, and by that I mean the sound. Stuff is popping in and out of a totally silent backdrop with tremendous texture and solidity. Great listening fun.

http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/drf200/f267/f26722b6u1x.jpg
Remember I also liked the Descendents- if 'The Music Never Stopped' causes you to vomit lots, never mind that last album, I'm also very into this. Note it actually sounds quite good in a certain kind of way, too!

And so on with something to offend everybody- Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, British Steel/Point Of Entry, I Got A Name, Rumours- but there are a few more worth singling out.

http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/drf500/f556/f55612sehi4.jpg
Everything awesome about the Kinks, all the time, seemingly all at once. This one is just unbelievable...

http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/drc500/c552/c55264093t1.jpg
Possibly the biggest heavy rock fusion record ever, and all live. 'Trilogy' just kills me, it's like an irresistible flood of raw sound. This usually isn't tasteful in the slightest, it's just a nuclear blast of fusiony progginess, but the power is hard to ignore. This is, bigtime, pleasure listening for me.

http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/drf900/f909/f90915ra4ma.jpg
Four side-long electronic epics from 1972 in which NOTHING HAPPENS. Well- more like it happens so slowly it's impossible to tell. Sound oozing on the ocean floor, and celestial beeps, but not like techno beeps or sequencer beeps, more like outer space messages. I love it when music defies the concept of what music is.

Enough, there's too many. The crazy thing is I don't listen to this stuff that much- but this is the stuff I seek out.

[jerryskid]

http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/drf600/f612/f61284p4mxj.jpg
Yes, I got both mixes. I just think this one's kinda beautiful. Warmth for days- decades. Either I can't explain it or I don't have to...




No explaination needed.....Garcia said they mixed it for the illusions....:grin:

[Buzzgrowl]

This is a fun post and I get the feeling that most of everyone's favorite albums where chosen when your musical tastes where fairly formed, or under the lucky influence of an older sibling or friend - i.e under good guidance. Me, I had none of that.

What made me want to play was watching the Partridge Family. They seemed harmless enough to my parents who bought me three of their records (!?!). David Cassidy had this SG with intricate wood carving that I found very cool.

A year later ('72) my aunt gave me her original bought in '64 "With the Beatles" mono LP (I still have it :very happy: !). I listened to it endlessly.

A year later still, at a school party some older kid played "Crazy Horses", "Cum Feel the Noize" and "Smoke on the Water". SOTW sounded like it came from another planet. I did not understand the words and I must have made many a salesman cry hearing a 10-year old grunt through that riff. My good luck was that another kid at school eventually got Machine Head and I taped it from him.

Soon after, it was Led Zep 4. Also. "Through the Past Darkly", ever since when my deep love of cowbell is. And open G without the E-string.

But what really blew me away was "Cry of Love" and "Hendrix at the Isle of Wight" - the German Polydor vinyl version that opens with Midnight Lightning (played on a V?) and was so expertly mastered and cut that none of the reissues and recompilations compare to it.

Finally, "Bitches Brew".

[jerryskid]

This is a fun post and I get the feeling that most of everyone's favorite albums where chosen when your musical tastes where fairly formed, or under the lucky influence of an older sibling or friend - i.e under good guidance. Me, I had none of that.

What made me want to play was watching the Partridge Family. They seemed harmless enough to my parents who bought me three of their records (!?!). David Cassidy had this SG with intricate wood carving that I found very cool.

A year later ('72) my aunt gave me her original bought in '64 "With the Beatles" mono LP (I still have it :very happy: !). I listened to it endlessly.

A year later still, at a school party some older kid played "Crazy Horses", "Cum Feel the Noize" and "Smoke on the Water". SOTW sounded like it came from another planet. I did not understand the words and I must have made many a salesman cry hearing a 10-year old grunt through that riff. My good luck was that another kid at school eventually got Machine Head and I taped it from him.

Soon after, it was Led Zep 4. Also. "Through the Past Darkly", ever since when my deep love of cowbell is. And open G without the E-string.

But what really blew me away was "Cry of Love" and "Hendrix at the Isle of Wight" - the German Polydor vinyl version that opens with Midnight Lightning (played on a V?) and was so expertly mastered and cut that none of the reissues and recompilations compare to it.

Finally, "Bitches Brew".



Have you been watching me through the window ???

you just about hit my story on the head....Except for the specific details of the later albums , mines about the same.

What made me want to play was watching the Partridge Family. They seemed harmless enough to my parents who bought me three of their records (!?!)

It was The Monkees first for me, then the Partridge Family

A year later ('72) my aunt gave me her original bought in '64 "With the Beatles"

('70) Revolver

Crazy Horses", "Cum Feel the Noize" and "Smoke on the Water".

:D


Soon after, it was Led Zep 4.

:Thumbsup:


Finally, "Bitches Brew"

Sadly,I didn't find Miles until 1977....then believe it or not found the Dead in the early '80's....love it all......





Should I put the tinfoil hat on???????

[graveleye]

And while we're at it: A stunningly beautiful album.....

http://ecm-records.com/Images/cover/ECM/1300/E1355g.jpg

"Yr" by Steve Tibbetts (ECM)


I cant believe it. I thought I was the only one who ever listened to Steve Tibbetts. There are exactly 2 Steve Tibbetts fans where I am from and the other one is my wife. That album is incredible, as are most of his works. The one before this album is even crazier. All done on a 4 track. Amazing. Its nice to know there are some other fans out there.

Ever seen him and Marc Anderson live? What a fantastic show.

Yr in the stereo, cruising along winding mountain roads.. there is no better soundtrack for a camping trip.

[Buzzgrowl]

Have you been watching me through the window ??? Should I put the tinfoil hat on???????

Oh man, this is both funny and heartwarming!

Adding to my earlier post, I have to admit that the Banana Splits (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banana_Splits) were probably my very first influence!

[nobby]

Revolver
Seagent....
Magical....
White Album
Abbey Road
Are You Experienced
Axis
Electric Ladyland
Band Of Gypsies
More Of The Monkees
Strange Days
CheapThrills
Hot Rats
Apostrophe
Between The Buttons
Beggars
Let It Bleed
Exile
Traffic
Mr Fantasy
Days Of Future Past
English Rose
Aqualung
LedZep I, II, III, IV,Houses..
Something Anything
Made In Japan - That's, "M a d e In Japan" (thanks for the smiley, MM)
Live At Leeds
Woodstock
Johnny Winter And Live
Abraxas
CS&N
Super Session
The Hi-Lo's - Now Hear This
Back To The GoldRush
Harvest
Fragile
Close To The Edge
Dark Side....
Wish You....
Ziggy Stardust
Truth
Blow By Blow
Free Hand
Power And The Glory
Brain Salad

......for starters.

D'OH... Cry Of Love :Coolio:

[Statick]

I've learned to hate these threads... because usually my favorite list has a lot of records and every year I keep adding to the equation. But heck... for the past 3 years my favorite albums have been:

ISIS-Oceanic
Neurosis-Through Silver In Blood
Frontline Assembly-Epitaph
Jesu-Jesu
Front 242-Evil Off/Fuck Off Evil
Killing Joke-Pandemonium
Battle Of Mice-A Day Of Nights (This was released this year, it's simply stunning)

But anyway the list could probably go on for a few pages


interesting choices there. have u heard FINAL, the solo project by justin broderick (the guy behind JESU) ?

he performed at my main venue quite recently, and is a really nice guy. not what i expected at all - wasnt hairy or beardy or scary at all. in fact, he could have turned up with a box of house records and not looked inappropriate in doing so.

[magicchord]

Back in the late 1970s when I was first out living on my own, these were a couple of my favorite "headphone" albums:

http://www.magicchord.com/images/stewartcat.jpg
Al Stewart at his creative peak, Alan Parsons mixing...

http://www.magicchord.com/images/peteandronnie.jpg
Great songs and performances, Glyn Johns mixing...

[graveleye]

Hey someone mentioned the Beggars... referring to the Beggars who are from Detroit?