Favourite Albums

[Dintiradan]

Those "Top X Favourite" threads were pretty fun. Let's do more of those.

 

What are your favourite albums? Albums that have personal meaning to you, albums where you love each and every track on them, albums that you never tire listening to.

 

Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin IV (1971)

Pink Floyd - The Wall (1979)

Dire Straits - Brothers in Arms (1985)

U2 - The Joshua Tree (1987)

Great Big Sea - Up (1995)

Eels - Electro-Shock Blues (1998)

Metallica & San Francisco Symphony - S&M (1999)

Josh Groban - Awake (2006)

Arcade Fire - Neon Bible (2007)

The White Stripes - Icky Thump (2007)

Nightwish - Dark Passion Play (2007)

Wintersleep - Welcome to the Night Sky (2007)

Robert Plant & Allison Krauss - Raising Sand (2007)

Madness - The Liberty of Norton Folgate (2009)

Laura Marling - I Speak Because I Can (2010)

 

(I went with top 15 and restricted each artist to one album, but you don't have to. S&M is arguably a greatest hits compilation, but whatever. Also, 2007 was a great year.)

[keira]

Just glancing through my iPod...:

 

Avenged Sevenfold - Avenged Sevenfold

Carmina Burana - London Symphony Orchestra (Carl Orff)

Children of the Deuce - Fire Deuce

Conspiracy of One - The Offspring

Eat Me, Drink Me - Marilyn Manson

Endgame - Rise Against

The Fame - Lady Gaga

For Those Who Wait - Fireflight

Good Apollo I'm Burning Star Volume I: From Fear Through the Eyes of Madness - Coheed and Cambria

Grow Up and Blow Away - Metric

Hell Freezes Over - The Eagles

Holy Wood - Marilyn Manson (just for The Nobodies)

Images and Words - Dream Theater

In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3 - Coheed and Cambria

Let's Cheers to This - Sleeping with Sirens

Nostalgia in Stereo - Davenport Cabinet

Nothing and Nowhere - The Birthday Massacre

Old World Underground, Where Are You Now? - Metric

The Open Door - Evanescence

Scars and Souvenirs - Theory of a Deadman

Second Stage Turbine Blade - Coheed and Cambria

StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty - Blizzard Entertainment

The Sufferer and the Witness - Rise Against

Unbroken and Unplugged - Fireflight

War - U2

Year of the Black Rainbow - Coheed and Cambria

 

See also: last.fm profile

[Doctor Albert Halfmann]

Always fun, but challenging, to build a list like this. I'll restrict myself to 20, as I've done 15 before and it was a bit frustrating. I'm also not going to restrict each artist to one album; it's nearly impossible to pick a single favorite for some of my favorite bands. In no particular order:

 

*Caravan - If I Could Do It All Over Again, I'd Do It All Over You (1970)

*Caravan - In The Land Of Grey And Pink (1971)

*The Incredible String Band - The 5000 Spirits Or The Layers Of The Onion (1967)

*The Incredible String Band - The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter (1968)

*The Incredible String Band - Wee Tam and The Big Huge (1968)

*Gentle Giant - The Power And The Glory (1974)

*Stackridge - Friendliness (1972)

*McDonald And Giles - McDonald And Giles (1970)

*Jefferson Airplane - After Bathing At Baxter's (1967)

*The Flying Burrito Brothers - The Gilded Palace Of Sin (1969)

*The Beatles - Revolver (1966)

*The Beatles - Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967)

*The Byrds - Fifth Dimension (1966)

*George Harrison - All Things Must Pass (1970)

*Traffic - Mr. Fantasy (1967)

*Country Joe & The Fish - Electric Music For The Mind And Body (1967)

*Crosby, Stills And Nash - Crosby, Stills And Nash (1969)

*10cc - Sheet Music (1974)

*H.P. Lovecraft - H.P. Lovecraft II (1968)

*Family - Music In A Doll's House (1968)

[Callie]

I like a lot of classical music, but only threw in album-length pieces. I did not include any greatest-hits albums.

 

If I was to order them I'd order them like this:

 

The Beatles - Revolver (1966)

Radiohead - OK Computer (1997)

Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon (1973)

The Beatles - Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967)

Radiohead - In Rainbows (2007)

Rachmaninoff - Piano Concerto No. 3 in D Minor, Op. 30 (1909)

Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin IV (1971)

Mozart - Requiem in D Minor, K. 626 (1791)

Simon and Garfunkel - Bridge Over Troubled Water (1970)

The Beatles - Rubber Soul (1965)

Radiohead - The Bends (1995)

The Doors - The Doors (1967)

Bob Dylan - The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan (1963)

The Who - Who's Next (1971)

The Beatles - Abbey Road (1969)

Nirvana - Nevermind (1991)

Badfinger - No Dice (1970)

Fleetwood Mac - Rumors (1977)

Gustav Holst - The Planets (1916)

Alanis Morissette - Jagged Little Pill (1995)

The Beach Boys - Pet Sounds (1966)

[Goldengirl]

The White Album - The Beatles

All Things Must Pass - George Harrison

Wish You Were Here - Pink Floyd

Songs of Faith and Devotion - Depeche Mode

Aenima - Tool

Soft Airplane - Chad Vangaalen

Transatlanticism - Death Cab for Cutie

Fight With Tools - Flobots

Freewheelin' Bob Dylan - Bob Dylan

Hail to the Thief - Radiohead

Good News For People Who Love Bad News - Modest Mouse

Sigh No More - Mumford and Sons

 

While the album is my favorite way to listen to music, as I feel it's the way the artist best intended it, there are lots of aspects of my favorite music that are either only on the radio (online or traditional) or in my mix CD's, unfortunately. Still, I think this mix of albums is a fairly good representation of my tastes in music.

[Doctor Albert Halfmann]

Good stuff, Excalibur. We have two Beatles albums in common. You also picked my favorite Badfinger album. Do you like Big Star?

 

And Goldenking, good to see All Things Must Pass on your list.

[Callie]

I'm afraid I haven't heard of them.

 

That's the thing: there's so much good music in the world that you can't even come close to having all of it.

[Doctor Albert Halfmann]

Originally Posted By: Excalibur

I'm afraid I haven't heard of them.

That's the thing: there's so much good music in the world that you can't even come close to having all of it.

Right you are. I've still got so much more to listen to within my '65-'75 sweet spot, and after that I'll have to pick out the diamonds of the modern indie crowd.

Big Star was another power-pop band, in the same vein as Badfinger, but based in Memphis, Tennessee. I'd recommend their first album, No. 1 Record (1972), though their second album, Radio City (1974) is also very good.

[Doctor Albert Halfmann]

I think it might be interesting to also specify our nationalities and the breakdown of our album list by artist/band nation of origin. I am from America. 70% of my albums are from British bands, and 30% are from American bands.

[Tyranicus]

I have trouble with restrictions, so I will just list my favorite albums. There end up being 29 of them.

 

The Beatles - Beatles for Sale (1964)

The Beatles - Help! (1965)

Simon & Garfunkel - Bookends (1967)

The Beatles - Abbey Road (1969)

Led Zeppelin - III (1970)

Simon & Garfunkel - Bridge Over Troubled Water (1970)

Queen - Jazz (1978)

Foreigner - 4 (1981)

Guns 'N Roses - Appetite for Destruction (1987)

Original Broadway Cast - Les Misérables (1987)

Black 47 - Fire of Freedom (1993)

Flogging Molly - Swagger (2000)

Nightwish - Wishmaster (2000)

Flogging Molly - Drunken Lullabies (2002)

Rhapsody - Power of the Dragonflame (2002)

Flogging Molly - Within a Mile of Home (2004)

Nightwish - Once (2004)

Black 47 - Elvis Murphy's Green Suede Shoes (2005)

Ceann - Almost Irish (2005)

Dropkick Murphys - The Warrior's Code (2005)

The Killers - Sam's Town (2006)

Regina Spektor - Begin to Hope (2006)

Emilie Autumn - Laced/Unlaced (2007)

KT Tunstall - Drastic Fantastic (2007)

Maroon 5 - It Won't Be Soon Before Long (2007)

The Young Dubliners - With All Due Respect (2007)

Guggenheim Grotto - Happy the Man (2008)

The Killers - Day and Age (2008)

Regina Spektor - Far (2009)

[Goldengirl]

Originally Posted By: Stugri-La

I think it might be interesting to also specify our nationalities and the breakdown of our album list by artist/band nation of origin. I am from America. 70% of my albums are from British bands, and 30% are from American bands.

While I listen to primarily albums from the UK or America, my singles list is far more extensive. I have a few Buddhist chants that I like to listen to for relaxation, and I have a smattering of international classical-type musicians, like Carl Orff, whom I listen to.

I also like French pop.

[The Loquacious Lord Grimm]

Day and Age - The Killers

Fallen - Evanescence

Fresh Aire - Mannheim Steamroller

Fresh Aire II - Mannheim Steamroller

Hot Fuss - The Killers

Kind of Blue - Miles Davis

Once - Nighwish

Sam's Town - The Killers

Songs - Rich Mullins

There Goes Rhymin' Simon - Paul Simon

A Thousand Suns - Linkin Park

Walk On - 4Him

 

Some honorable mention needs to go to

Folie a Deux - Fall Out Boy

Pretty. Odd. - Panic! at the Disco

Dark Passion Play - Nightwish

Within a Mile of Home - Flogging Molly

A Fever You Can't Sweat Out - Panic! at the Disco

The Swing Sessions - Dave Boyer

Speak Now - Taylor Swift (My wife listens to it a lot, and the album, as a whole, is quite catchy)

Final Fantasy VI Grande Finale (And, let's face it, any of Nobuo Oematsu's work performed live)

Not to mention countless other soundtracks, and a good number of "best of" albums, which don't really count here.

 

My music library is not what it should be, due to a rather sheltered young adulthood, and a very tight budget afterwards. However, I was recently convinced to start an account with Pandora, and have been very pleasantly surprised by most of the music I have encountered there.

 

Also, currently listening to Songs To Test By, Volume 3 by the Aperture Science Psychoacoustics Laboratory.

 

_________________________

The Silent Assassin enjoys The Sound of Silence, not only for its immediate implications, but its social commentary.

That is, unfortunately, the only piece of music that we have ever discussed that was not written by John Williams.

[Dintiradan]

Originally Posted By: Stugri-La

I'm also not going to restrict each artist to one album; it's nearly impossible to pick a single favorite for some of my favorite bands.

I figured no one would want to see a top X list consisting of nothing but Pink Floyd and Dire Straits. ;-) The Wall could have easily been The Dark Side of the Moon or Wish You Were Here, and Brothers in Arms could have easily been Love Over Gold or On Every Street. Picking the Dire Straits album was really tough, and I keep changing my mind which one I like most.

Making the list was interesting, because it made me think which artists I like because of their albums, and which artists I like because of their singles. Half of the albums I own are greatest hits compilations. A lot of my favourite artists don't appear on the list, because I end up listening to them one single at a time. On the other hand, The Wall is an album you listen to from beginning to end with no interruptions. Hence it's on the list while a tonne of other artists don't appear on it.

Originally Posted By: Stugri-La

I think it might be interesting to also specify our nationalities and the breakdown of our album list by artist/band nation of origin. I am from America. 70% of my albums are from British bands, and 30% are from American bands.

Not going to count 'em up, but I'd say my collections about equally split between artists from Canada, the States, and Britain, with a smattering from Finland.

[Doctor Albert Halfmann]

Originally Posted By: Goldenking

Originally Posted By: Stugri-La

I think it might be interesting to also specify our nationalities and the breakdown of our album list by artist/band nation of origin. I am from America. 70% of my albums are from British bands, and 30% are from American bands.

While I listen to primarily albums from the UK or America, my singles list is far more extensive. I have a few Buddhist chants that I like to listen to for relaxation, and I have a smattering of international classical-type musicians, like Carl Orff, whom I listen to.

I also like French pop.

I do like some bands not hailing from Britain or America, such as Wigwam, a great group from Finland, or Amon Duul II, from Germany. But somehow, I've yet to listen to an album from any of these bands that would qualify for my list.

I enjoy a good deal of '50s, '60s and '70s film music from India (in various languages, none of which I can understand), but yeah, film soundtracks don't qualify.

[Doctor Albert Halfmann]

Originally Posted By: Dintiradan

Making the list was interesting, because it made me think which artists I like because of their albums, and which artists I like because of their singles. Half of the albums I own are greatest hits compilations. A lot of my favourite artists don't appear on the list, because I end up listening to them one single at a time. On the other hand, The Wall is an album you listen to from beginning to end with no interruptions. Hence it's on the list while a tonne of other artists don't appear on it.

Good point. One of my favorite artists is The Hollies, but their best work is definitely in the form of non-album singles. The LPs just don't stack up.

[Goldengirl]

Originally Posted By: Dintiradan

I figured no one would want to see a top X list consisting of nothing but Pink Floyd and Dire Straits. ;-) The Wall could have easily been The Dark Side of the Moon or Wish You Were Here

Speaking of Pink Floyd, that brings up a relevant point concerning the thread. Prog rock, and its successors, really brought the concept album into the vogue, and that's something a find to be a lost art, sadly. For me, listening to an album and having it tell a unified story, or provide an extended meditation on a whole concept, is a delightful pleasure that is far more cerebral than individual songs.

Sure, you get the exact sort of music that Thick as a Brick critiques, but you also get multi-layered stories, like The Wall, as well as analyses of concepts in-depth via music. They're both fun to listen to, in my opinion.

[Niemand]

I tend to be rather picky about music, and so I rarely have a use for whole albums. Here are a few that at least come close to Dinti's criteria:

 

Mannheim Steamroller - Fresh Aire (1975 - U.S.)

Mannheim Steamroller - Fresh Aire II (1977 - U.S.)

Mannheim Steamroller - Fresh Aire III (1979 - U.S.)

Mannheim Steamroller - Fresh Aire V (1983 - U.S.)

Ayreon - 01011001 (2008 - Netherlands)

Homestuck - Homestuck Volume 5 (2010 - Internet (that's a country, right?))

Sabaton - Coat of Arms (2010 - Sweden)

 

This ends up being a rather distorted picture of what I listen to, however, as no entire album from Nightwish, Dark Moor, Steeleye Span, or Blackmore's Night appears on the list, and classical pieces aren't usefully described by albums either.

 

I'm too tired at the moment to make a more thorough examination of the break down of my music by country of origin, but I'll likely see about it in the morning instead of doing something more important.

[Doctor Albert Halfmann]

Well put, Goldenking. I do find some concept albums put the concept before the individual songs, resulting in tracks that don't stand up on their own. However, when the high points of these albums are high enough, the cohesiveness can make up for issues with consistency. The Gentle Giant album I listed (The Power And The Glory) is my favorite concept album, while their earlier effort Three Friends also qualifies as a fine example.

 

Some other favorites of mine are the Camel album The Snow Goose and the Alan Parsons Project album I Robot.

 

Your breakdown of concept albums into two categories makes sense. The two Gentle Giant albums are explorations of specific topics (the attraction of power and the artificiality of class distinctions, respectively. The other two albums I mentioned tell stories, and are in fact loosely based on novels.

[Nicothodes]

In alphabetical order, since I'm going through iTunes to remind myself:

 

The Cranberries – No Need to Argue

Donovan – Catch the Wind/What's Bin Did and What's Bin Hid(yay, country-specific titles)

Elton John – Elton John

Emilie Autumn – Opheliac(I would put more down by her, but I'd end up listing every EP and album she's released, and it would get embarrassing)

The Fratellis – Here We Stand

Guggenheim Grotto – Happy the Man

Guggenheim Grotto – Waltzing Alone...

Jim Croce – You Don't Mess Around With Jim

Patrick Wolf – The Bachelor

Patrick Wolf – Wind in the Wires

Placebo – Placebo

Pulp – Different Class

Renaissance – Scheherazade and Other Stories

Skeletons With Flesh on Them – All the Other Animals

Steeleye Span – Below the Salt

Yidcore – Fiddlin' On Ya Roof(if you listen to anything from this album, listen to Tevye's Dream)

 

Wow, I was kind of restrained – only 16. I better post this before I think of more.

[nikki.]

Okay. Limited to 15, here are my favourite albums (not necessarily the albums I think are "best"). There are more or less alphabetically sorted by artist, not order of liking.

 

Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Heart's Club Band - The Beatles.

Blonde on Blonde - Bob Dylan.

The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust [...] - David Bowie

Grace - Jeff Buckley

First Love - Emmy The Great

Love, Ire and Song - Frank Turner

Go Sailor! - Go Sailor!

Transmitter Failure - Jenny Owen Youngs

Remember That I Love You - Kimya Dawson

I Speak Because I Can - Laura Marling

Vauxhall And I - Morrissey

Different Class - Pulp

OK Computer - Radiohead

Begin To Hope - Regina Spektor

The Queen is Dead - The Smiths

 

Note: I could easily have listed any Radiohead album (apart from the King of Limbs), or any Smiths album, but I stuck down the one I listen to the most.

[Rowen]

Albums that I have and enjoy very very much are as follows.

 

Simon and Garfunkle - All of their albums.

BareNaked Ladies - All of their albums.

 

Beyond that I might listen to so other stuff my wife has on her iPod, but I mainly stick to those two artistes.

[Dantius]

Originally Posted By: Dintiradan

What are your favourite albums? Albums that have personal meaning to you, albums where you love each and every track on them, albums that you never tire listening to.

By "albums" you mean "records", right?

Okay, good.

1. Carl Orff, Carmina Burana, Chicago Symphony Chorus 1984

2. Giuseppe Verdi, Messa Da Requiem, St. Hedwig's Cathedral Choir, 1960.

3. Giuseppe Verdi, Macbeth, Coro e Orchestra del Teatro alla Scala, 1976

4. Richard Wagner, Antal Dorati Conducts Orchestral Highlights from Wagner's Ring, National Symphony Orchestra of Washington, DC, 1975

5. Andrew Lloyd Weber, Jesus Christ Superstar, 1970

6. Rimsky-Korsakov, Scheherazade, New York Philharmonic, 1973

7. Holst, The Planets, Scottish National Orchestra, 1980.

8. Original Motion Picture Soundtrack, The Sting, 1973

9. Georges Bizet, Carmen (Or CAR MEN as it's rendered on the album cover), Orchestre National De France, 1984

10. Franz Liszt, Dante Symphony, USSR Ministry of Culture Symphony Orchestra (this one is an mp3, so naturally it's inferior to all the others)

[Doctor Albert Halfmann]

You know, seeing all the folk-rock albums listed makes me feel as though I've neglected the genre. The only folk band whose albums I listed, the Incredible String Band, was more pure psych-folk. I'll add Full House (1970) by Fairport Convention to my list. I still need to get into Steeleye Span.

 

Nico, I saw Renaissance perform last year in Chicago; Annie Haslam's pipes are still in fine form! Unfortunately they couldn't bring a full orchestra along, but they still managed to put their stuff across well.

 

I almost included Donovan in my list, but my favorite albums of his, Sunshine Superman and Mellow Yellow, aren't quite consistent enough to make the cut. I also dig The Hurdy Gurdy Man, but I haven't heard his earlier albums, such as the one you listed. I ought to seek it out.

 

Have you checked out the band Curved Air, Nico? I'd recommend their first album, Air Conditioning. They had a violinist as a full member, as well as a great female singer. Much like Renaissance, they were influenced by classical music, though Renaissance took that further.

[Nicothodes]

Well, it is a sign of a good band/artist to be able to be amazing no matter what players they have on hand. Scheherazade and Other Stories was the first album I heard by them. My dad put it on because I'd gotten into Steeleye Span, and I loved it from the start.

 

I got to see Donovan perform a few years ago when he went on tour with his autobiography, and according to my mum(who had also seen him when she was 17), he was a lot more light-hearted on stage, and just as amazing musically.

 

I've not heard of Curved Air, but I'll definitely check them out.

[Doctor Albert Halfmann]

Originally Posted By: Nicothodes

Well, it is a sign of a good band/artist to be able to be amazing no matter what players they have on hand. Scheherazade and Other Stories was the first album I heard by them. My dad put it on because I'd gotten into Steeleye Span, and I loved it from the start.

That's quite true. A good deal of artists that customarily perform with full bands are just as comfortable doing the singer-songwriter thing, acoustic guitar in hand. With a talented artist, the effect is different, but equally compelling as a full band rendition.

I first got into Renaissance with the Ashes Are Burning album, which does not include the orchestra. I also dig Scheherazade and Turn Of The Cards, but I need to listen to those a bit more. I've got a buddy who is into them as well, and he's quite a fan of the album Novella.

Quote:

I got to see Donovan perform a few years ago when he went on tour with his autobiography, and according to my mum(who had also seen him when she was 17), he was a lot more light-hearted on stage, and just as amazing musically.

Very cool that you've seen him. I've heard he is quite engaging and friendly with his audiences. I've seen an interview with him from the early '70s, and was struck by how deadly serious he was throughout. He was very fixated back then on singing the virtues of transcendental meditation.

I believe he recently co-founded the Incredible Donovan University, with filmmaker David Lynch, in Edinburgh. Apparently students take courses in conventional subjects but are also instructed in meditation techniques and such. If I could got to college all over again, I'd love to attend!

[Aoslare]

I've gotten my list down to 18, which took quite a bit of trimming, and I don't think I can shrink it further.

 

Pet Sounds, The Beach Boys (1966)

Sounds of Silence, Simon & Garfunkel (1966)

Low, David Bowie (1977)

Dazzle Ships, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (1983)

Black Celebration, Depeche Mode (1986)

 

Isn't Anything, My Bloody Valentine (1988)

Trompe Le Monde, The Pixies (1991)

Prick, Prick (1995)

See You on the Other Side, Mercury Rev (1995)

Pinkerton, Weezer (1996)

Seasick, Imperial Teen (1996)

 

Richard D. James Album, Aphex Twin (1997)

The Slow-Motion World of Snowpony, Snowpony (1998)

Fjorden, Barbara Morgenstern (2000)

Survival Sickness, The (International) Noise Conspiracy (2000)

Sound-Dust, Stereolab (2001)

Margerine Eclipse, Stereolab (2004)

Here Come the Wild Waves, Magical Beautiful (2011)

 

This is largely, but not entirely representative of what I listen to; I found I needed to leave out old favourites from Bartok and Duke Ellington to Sonic Youth.

[Cairo Jim]

The majority of stuff I listen to came out through the 80's or mostly from the first half of the 90's. Anyways here's my off the top of my head list:

 

Metallica- Master of Puppets

...And Justice For All

Anthrax- Among The Living

Live- Throwing Copper

Amon Amarth- Surtur Rising

Slayer- Im caught between Reign in Blood and Seasons in the Abyss

System of a Down- Toxicity

[Ceiling Durkheim]

My tastes (if such they can be called) are pretty all over the place. Hmm...let's see. My top twenty (and one to grow on):

 

*Clint Mansell-The Fountain Soundtrack (or the Requiem for a Dream OST, for that matter)

*Daft Punk-Alive 2007

*David Bowie-The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars

*Dr. Steel-Dr. Steel 2: Eclectic Boogaloo

*Elvis Costello-My Aim is True

*Epica-Consign to Oblivion

*Flogging Molly-Drunken Lullabies

*The Glitch Mob-Drink the Sea

*Juno Reactor-Labyrinth

*Leonard Cohen-The Future (I like pretty much everything Mr. Cohen has ever done, but this is probably my favorite album)

*Massive Attack-Mezzanine

*Nine Inch Nails-The Downward Spiral

*Pendulum-Hold Your Color

*The Pogues-Rum, Sodomy, and the Lash

*Pure Reason Revolution-The Dark Third

*Shpongle-Tales of the Inexpressible

*Tom Lehrer-Songs and More Songs

*Warren Zevon-My Ride's Here

*Within Temptation-The Silent Force

*Yoko Kanno-Cowboy Bebop Soundtrack (the series, though the movie has some very good music as well)

*Younger Brother-The Last Days of Gravity

[Student of Trinity]

I guess I'm not that much of a music person, since it is only now that I can put a very long playlist on the stereo with a couple of taps on my iPhone, or listen to music on the phone I always have with me anyway, that I listen to much music at all. The hassle of selecting a CD and popping it used to be too much.

 

So I'm still not much of an album person. I have one playlist of about 150 songs, and I only add songs I really like.

 

I can only think of a few albums that I've liked entirely, and thought of as a coherent unit. Three come to mind:

 

Graceland, Paul Simon.

Hold Your Fire, Rush.

Hop High, Crooked Still.

 

Maybe I can plug the last one. Crooked Still plays bluegrass. One of them is a manic cellist. Their lead singer isn't always that easy to hear clearly, but she has a great voice. I heard them once live in a small club in Harvard Square, and got hooked. They're on iTunes. I never really knew what bluegrass was, before. I guess I thought it was a sort of fiddle-heavy country. Well, it sort of is, I guess, but it's a lot better than that sounds. On the one hand it's old time music, so the words are mostly about pretty hard luck stuff. But on the other hand, it's generally either fast and furious, or laid back and cool. Maybe the best shot I can take about saying what it's like is to say: if you like steampunk, this would be the punk.

[Alorael at Large]

Symphonie Imaginaire, Jean-Philippe Rameau (Marc Minkowski arrangement)

 

Graceland, Paul Simon

 

Brandenburg Concertos, J. S. Bach (Martin Pearlman conducting)

 

Music for the Royal Fireworks, George Frideric Handel (Orpheus Chamber Orchestra)

 

Epica & The Black Halo, Kamelot

 

Two Hands, Leon Fleischer

 

Once, Nightwish

 

Twin Cinema, The New Pornographers

 

Symhony No. 9 (From the New World), Antonín Dvořák (LSO with Eugene Ormandy conducting)

 

Either the Vivaldi's Four Seasons or Ralph Vaughan Williams Lark Ascending and Fantasies (Sir Neville Mariner and the Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields.)

 

I don't have a single favorite album for many other composers, so they didn't make the cut. Many of those I did include I certainly like the particular recording, but I won't claim it's the best. Even then, sometimes I love an orchestra (Musiciens du Louvre, Academy of St. Martin's, London Symphony, Boston Symphony) more than any particular pieces they composed or played. And I want to give Fritz Kreisler honorable mention somewhere. And there's no recorder music on there because I have broken all my albums into component pieces and have no idea where they came from anymore, but Michaela Petri, Dan Laurin, and Marion Verbruggen are all good signs.

 

—Alorael, who has non-classical music overrepresented because at least he knows where the borders are, although he doesn't actually listen to whole albums so much as the songs he likes from albums. But is one Brandenburg Concerto an album? All of them? Two of them and the couple of extra tracks stuck on the disk? Is it legitimate to put down the Glenn Gould's Goldberg Variations? Twice? (Not that they're actually a favorite...)

[Actaeon]

Wish You Were Here - Pink Floyd

Negotiations and Love Songs - Paul Simon

Harvest Moon - Neil Young

Come Away With Me - Norah Jones

The Softer Side of Coltrane

Yo Yo Ma Plays Ennio Morricone

 

 

I'm with Aloreal on the classical bit. The third Brandenburg is my favorite, though it's not the one they shot into space.

 

Tchaikovsky's 5th, Suite Bergamasque, and Chopin's nocturnes all stand out as sets of work worthy of consideration.

[Dintiradan]

I agree, the third concerto is the best. However, the best thing ever shot into space is Dark was the Night, Cold was the Ground.

 

I hadn't intended any pre-twentieth-century music to be on the list, because 'albums' didn't really exist back then, but that's fine. If any musical composition could be considered an album, Handel's Messiah would beat all the other ones I listed hands down. Other favourites would be Bach's Brandenburg Concertos, Mozart's Requiem Mass, and Vivaldi's Gloria.

[The Mystic]

"Weird Al" Yankovic - Alpocalypse

Spike Jones - Omnibust

Spike Jones - Dinner Music for People who Aren't Very Hungry

Spike Jones - 60 Years of Music America Hates Best

Guckenheimer Sour Kraut Band - Music for Non-Thinkers

Beatles - Revolver

Beatles - Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band

Beatles - Rubber Soul

Richard Strauss - Also Sprach Zarathustra