100 Albums You Would wish for...from a Genie


This thread was inspired by this thread:

https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/building-a-100-album-vinyl-collection-3-must-have-albums-are

Please add to the above list. Thanks!

 

Okay, here is my premise for this:

I find an very odd, really old record in the $.99 cent bin in the back corner of some old, dusty record store. I pull the LP from the sleeve and a Genie appears. He says I can have any equipment/gear I want. Speakers, amp, preamp, etc. Just name it, (mbl Master Reference System and a custom room for it please.)...

...but, I can only have 100 albums forever to play on it. No "Best Of" or "Greatest Hits". No Box Sets or Compilations. Soundtracks are fine if original score, no Compilations. Double and Triple LP’s count as one album. (This Genie was very detailed in his instructions. He kinda looked like Donald Fagen).

 

What 100 albums would they be?

(I know I fudged on a rule or two, on a few of mine).

 

  1. Allman Brothers-Idlewild South

  2. Amazing Rhythm Aces-Too Stuffed To Jump

  3. April Wine-Harder, Faster

  4. Atlanta Rhythm Section-Red Tape

  5. Bad Company-Straight Shooter

  6. The Band-The Last Waltz

  7. The Beatles-Abbey Road

  8. The Beatles: Rubber Soul

  9. Jeff Beck-Live At Ronnie Scott’s

  10. Blackberry Smoke-The Whippoorwill

  11. Blackfoot-Strikes

  12. Karla Bonoff-Restless Nights

  13. Boston-Boston

  14. Jackson Browne-Late For The Sky

  15. Jimmy Buffett-Songs You Know By Heart

  16. Charlie-Lines

  17. Chicago-Chicago Transit Authority

  18. Eric Clapton-461 Ocean Boulevard

  19. Eric Clapton-Slowhand

  20. Marc Cohn-Marc Cohn

  21. Shawn Colvin-Fat City

  22. Cowboy Junkies - The Trinity Sessions

  23. Creedence Clearwater Revival-Cosmo’s Factory

  24. Crosby, Stills & Nash-Daylight Again

  25. Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young-Deja Vu

  26. Christopher Cross-Christopher Cross

  27. Miles Davis- Bitches Brew

  28. Miles Davis - Kind of Blue

  29. Dire Straits-Making Movies

  30. Doobie Brothers-Toulouse Street

  31. Eagles-The Long Run

  32. Electric Light Orchestra-Out Of The Blue

  33. Emerson, Lake & Palmer-Works Volume 1

  34. Melissa Etheridge-Brave And Crazy

  35. Donald Fagen-The New York Rock And Soul Review

  36. Donald Fagen-The Nightfly

  37. Fleetwood Mac-Rumours

  38. Foghat-Foghat

  39. Genesis-Invisible Touch

  40. Hall & Oates-Private Eyes

  41. George Harrison-All Things Must Pass

  42. Head East-Flat As A Pancake

  43. Heart-Dreamboat Annie

  44. John Hiatt-Slow Turning

  45. Hootie And The Blowfish-Cracked Rear View

  46. Bruce Hornsby & The Range-The Way It Is

  47. Indigo Girls-Nomads, Indians & Saints

  48. J. Giles Band-Bloodshot

  49. James Gang-Straight Shooter

  50. Jefferson Airplane-Red Octopus

  51. Billy Joel-The Stranger

  52. Elton John-Goodbye Yellowbrick Road

  53. Rickie Lee Jones-Rickie Lee Jones

  54. Kansas-Leftoverture

  55. Kiss-Dressed To Kill

  56. Mark Knopfler -Shangri La

  57. Alison Krauss-Forget About It

  58. Little River Band-First Under The Wire

  59. The Liz Barnez Band-Inkmarks On Pages

  60. Shelby Lynne-Just A Little Lovin’

  61. Pat Metheny & Lyle Mays-As Falls Wichita, So Falls Wichita Falls

  62. Steve Miller-Book Of Dreams

  63. Joni Mitchell-Hissing of Summer Lawns

  64. Van Morrison – Moondance

  65. New Riders Of The Purple Sage-The Adventures Of Panama Red

  66. Stevie Nicks-Bella Donna

  67. Tom Petty-Damn The Torpedoes

  68. Poco-Legend

  69. The Police-Zenyatta Mendatta

  70. Queen-The Works

  71. REO Speedwagon-Ridin’ The Storm Out

  72. Robbie Robertson-Robbie Robertson

  73. Linda Ronstadt-Simple Dreams

  74. Roxy Music -Avalon

  75. Rush-2112

  76. Sawmill Creek-Wild Western Windblown Band

  77. Bob Seger-Night Moves

  78. Paul Simon-Still Crazy After All These Years

  79. Bruce Springsteen-Born To Run

  80. Steely Dan-Aja

  81. Steely Dan - Gaucho

  82. Steely Dan-Two Against Nature

  83. Styx-Crystal Ball

  84. Cat Stevens - Tea for the Tillerman

  85. Joss Stone-The Soul Sessions

  86. Supertramp- Crime of the Century

  87. Richard and Linda Thompson- Shoot Out The Lights

  88. Toto-Hydra

  89. Traffic-Low Spark Of High Heeled Boys

  90. Trooper-Knock ’Em Dead Kid

  91. Robin Trower-Bridge of Sighs

  92. The Wallflowers-Bringing Down The Horse

  93. Joe Walsh-The Smoker You Drink, The Player You Get

  94. Wings-Band On The Run

  95. Wings-Venus And Mars

  96. The Wonderful Sounds of Female Vocals

  97. The Wonderful Sounds of Male Vocals

  98. Yes-Fragile

  99. Warren Zevon-Warren Zevon

  100. ZZ Top-Tres Hombres

 

This is just for fun. I found a ton of albums off the thread, listed at the top, that I had forgot about. Was hoping to find even more. If you want to participate, cool! If not, please don’t.

I’m by no means expecting everyone to add a list of 100 titles. I thought it was a blast, but did take some time.  I've also had a blast going back and relistening to a lot of these.  Man, I sure missed them.

Play if you want...

 

(This is by no means a final, definitive list. Probably hundreds of more albums await...)

128x128mofimadness

@mahgister Quick fix:
Qualifying statements like,
- “music is about visible architecture and rhythmical times
- “music is not about tonality versus atonality
- “music is about feeling, willing and thinking”
- “in serialism music is disconnected of the natural rhythms of human metabolism

with a simple statement of “in my opinion,” or “in my experience” cures such statements of their erroneousness.

Everyone’s opinion is valid. One may be better at arguing the usefulness of their opinion than another, but this has no bearing on the validity of a person’s opinion.
Thusly, if you were to qualify those statements of yours in such a way, they would be entirely valid statements.
When such statements are made without that qualification, their validity is dubious at best, non-existent at worst.

8,000,000,000 people here, each of them with a definition of what music “is” and what music “is about,” each of them perfectly valid.
There is no practical definition for “music” other than “created sound.”

For many people, music is indeed all of the things you said it is not, and is indeed none of the things you said that is. They, just as you, are entirely valid in those definitions.

Many people pick a streaming station and let the algorithms decide the sounds their speakers emit. Music for them is something of a utilitarian aid to daily modern life.
For many people, music is indeed “about” tonality versus atonality.
Many people are non-plussed with music that presents traditionally “beautiful” harmonic and rhythmic content. Something else excites them, music with less traditional harmonic and rhythmic content, something that would likely cause the former person to cover their ears and promptly turn the music off.
Many people are in love with something like Schubert, Tchaikovsky or Rachmaninov or, in modern terms, Mancini, Bacharach, and Wilson.
Shoenberg, Boulez and Ligeti, or Beefheart, Can, or late-era Scott Walker won’t do much for them.

Again, beyond “created sound,” there is virtually no practical definition for what music “is” or what it “is about.”

I will add that we are in the same situation with the question of what a "sound" is...

There is no scientific consensus about sound and hearing... what is a sound perceptive quality and information and how we access it ...

There is no practical definition for “music” other than “created sound.”

We know though a little bit more than what you just said here... This is your opinion indeed but not a fact...

First one thing is sure, music created by man is a "sound" production related to the human body/brain/ears ... This is not my opinion here... But a fact...

Then there exist a root of this created "sounds" in the human body...Music and language are born together and are coming from the same root which is the body tripartite basic systems.. ...This is also a fact...

Must i add that this is my opinion to calm you ? ... 😊

Music is not about our taste only , music must be learned the same way in which we must learn how to act our body , that was one of my point; then there exist some different music with different healing and informative power...All is not purely relativistic and about our given "tastes" here as you seems to suggest ... Music grounded in a tradition has not the same value for me than commercial music... And yes the line delimiting them is not clear at all... This is a fact and also an opinion here... 😁

Sorry but there is a value hierarchy that cannot be imposed but is easily spotted by musicians learning their trade... A yoruba drummer for example know this, he know the difference between meaningful rythm which "speak" and rythm which did not "speak" in his language ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZOg4xIiulw&t=741s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B4oQJZ2TEVI&t=7s

( the best book on music i read is about yoruba drum and sound perception and meaning by the way ) 😋

 

 

As in litterature, harlequin litterature is not Dostoievsky or Mark Twain...

i will add that is is my opinion for sure ...

Who s opinion could it be ? mine...

is it the absolute truth ?

No...

But i bet i am not alone here with this OPINION.... 😊

 

In litterature as in music we MUST LEARN how to understand and appreciate, because our innate taste means little, it is a beginning not an end ...Comic books are not Kafka...

By the way each musical traditions contains an history of consciouness through the way the spirit/body relate to sound in a specific way , extending in millenia sometimes...It is a fact not my opinion ...

Do not say then that in your opinion, all opinions about music are equal, because they are not...

No more in music than in litteratrure and science.... Music is not only a consumers leisure tasteful choice... It is way more IN MY OPINION... 😊

Again, beyond “created sound,” there is virtually no practical definition for what music “is” or what it “is about.”

 

By the way my statements are not " erroneous" they are incomplete .... Calling them "my opinion" or not had nothing to do with their POSSIBLE meaning has you suggested in your own unsatisfying and at the end erroneous relativistic perspective...

Music express sacredness and values not only esthetical arbitrary meaningless choice as a consumer purchasing a product instead of another...

 

Music also contain a part of our consciouness history which is hidden in sounds and rythms...

This is why all musical traditions of the world matter and why we must learn from EACH OF THEM... This has nothing to do about tastes...

@mahgister Quick fix:
Qualifying statements like,
- “music is about visible architecture and rhythmical times
- “music is not about tonality versus atonality
- “music is about feeling, willing and thinking”
- “in serialism music is disconnected of the natural rhythms of human metabolism

with a simple statement of “in my opinion,” or “in my experience” cures such statements of their erroneousness.

If we're asking a genie, I'd simply ask for any 100 albums from the early digital era. But, since it's a genie they'd all sound good. I'm picturing virtually all metal albums of the time for starters.

@mahgister There is no scientific consensus about sound and hearing... what is a sound perceptive quality and information and how we access it ...

We are humans that experience music.  
Is that something we can agree on?

If the answer is yes, then not even Ludwig Van Beethoven himself can “tell” me, or you, or anyone, what music “is” with absolute authority.  

That person emitting “music” from the onboard speaker of their cell phone in a sonically cacophonous environment (airport, busy urban bus stop, shopping mall, etc.) is experiencing music in a way that is just as valid as you or I listening to music in an immaculately engineered listening room with the highest quality equipment in the world.  
As disagreeable, perhaps even vile I find the former’s behavior to be, as antithetical to music appreciation as I find that behavior to be, I don’t get to “tell” them “what music is.” Perhaps I may muster the gumption to politely ask them to use headphones out of respect to the thousands of other humans around them, but my personal feelings about what music “is” are my own.  
They are not “facts.”  
You are speaking with grave authority on matters that are purely subjective.