@jssmith I think the key here is that you're a guitar player and a couple of the songs bore you from both playing and listening viewpoints. Fair enough--maybe we should split these lists into categories for musicians and non-musicians and further by under the influence or not under the influence ?
Share albums where EVERY SINGLE song is good
It rarely happens to me, but in a pile of records I bought over the summer I
found one with no cover. Shocking Blue’s 2nd album. 'At Home' (I’m your Venus is on it).
Even most Beatles albums have at least one song I could pass on, but not this one. Horrible fidelity, scratched to hell, but damn...
So I’d love to hear of other records that you all could suggest.
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@jssmith BTW who is your favorite guitar player ? I'm torn between Gary Clark Jr. and Joe Bonamassa--when younger it was Chet Atkins |
@jssmith Ooops--forgot to mention Eric in my top 3 |
@jssmith and now to prove i haven't had coffee yet i saw that you said Buckethead--sorry |
No need to filter lists. You like what you like and that's valid for everyone for whatever reason. Musicians will still have wildly divergent viewpoints. As far as guitarists go, I respect technicians, like Buckethead, Yngwie Malmsteen, Michael Batio, Jason Richardson, Ewan Dobson and Guthrie Govan, the most because they are the most skilled at the instrument, but I tend to listen to "feel" players like Nick Johnston and Estas Tonne more, while I tend to play "fun to play" licks within my skill level, like Van Halen, Randy Rhoads, Jimmy Page, James Hetfield, Dimebag Darrell and James Sykes. While all the technicians can play with feel, they tend to focus on speed because it's more satisfying. Buckethead is possibly the only one who focuses equally on both. But Buckethead is an autistic savant, which puts him on a whole different level of creativity and skill, hence the 300 albums of varying styles and techniques, not all of which I like, and world-class speed. But of all the guitar-focused albums I have, only Johnston, Malmsteen and Batio have put out one straight-through listen each. I didn't look at my list with playing in mind. Just which albums do I put on from start to finish and enjoy every minute of it and not have a thought of skipping anything. And I'd add one more I didn't think of ... Rush - Permanent Waves
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I do find that being under the influence strongly changes my opinions in a "Everything is Beautiful..." sort of way. Knowing zip about Johnston, Malmsteen and Batio i look forward to listening--i'm always looking for good guitar music i haven't heard and while i tend to be analog-oriented i'm not living in a cave and will stream them--thanks and Happy New Year |
As I said, they each only have one album that's great all the way through. They are: Johnston - Remarkably Human Malmsteen's Rising Force (1984? - his solo debut) Batio - No Boundaries They have some other albums that are real stinkers. Malamsteen's other albums are somewhat boring. And Batio's other albums are speed for the sake of speed. And I guess why not. He's probably the fastest of the bunch. But it gets monotonous. |
Many great albums listed here so I won’t bother being repetitive; a few albums I find are over way too fast: Black Market - Weather Report Dread Inna Babylon - U Roy Heart Like a Wheel - Linda Ronstadt Girl From Ipanema - Getz/Gilberto album Big Calm - Morcheeba Naturally - J J Cale Bringing it all Back Home - Bob Dylan Kiko - Los Lobos Astral Weeks - Van the Man |
@rettrussell - 'Dread inna Babylon'? IRIE!! I was gonna be going on a trip to Jamaica in mid-January, but I canceled that a few months ago.... |
Since it took 150 - 200 posts before "Court and Spark" (Joni Mitchell) or "For Everyman" (Jackson Browne) were mentioned, I wonder what else we've forgotten?. So, here's a few more that have not been mentioned yet: Jim Carroll - Catholic Boy Lloyd Cole - S/T solo album Dada - Puzzle Dixie Dregs - What If The Housemartins - Now That's What I Call Good Humble Pie - Town and Country Hunters & Collectors - Human Frailty Aimee Mann - Bachelor # 2 Mott The Hoople - All The Young Dudes Ocean Blue - Cerulean Ten Years After - A Space in Time |
All submitted in my humble opinion: Peter Frampton - Fingerprints Snarky Puppy - Culcha Vulcha Mick Jagger - She's The Boss Jeff Beck - Orange Album Elton John - Tumbleweed Connection The Band - Stage Fright Tom Scott - Tom Cat Santana - Caravanserai Rolling Stones - Sticky Fingers and Let it Bleed Doobie Brothers - Stampede Steely Dan - Pretzel Logic Jethro Tull - Stand Up The Who - Who's Next Honorable Mention - The Allman Brothers Live at the Fillmore East
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@mitchagain "A Space in Time" - Good mention. Not a bad song at all. |
There have been many discussions on here about why audiophilia is dying. This thread is an interesting glimpse into the reason (or symptom). The average album age looks to be about 45 - 50 years. Which either means there are only us old people on here, or a bunch of old people in young people's bodies. Believe it or not, there are some great newer albums. Even spotless ones. Music availability has never been more prolific than it is now, which does make it harder to sift through all the crap, but gems are out there. Music doesn't end at age 20. For instance, I didn't include EPs on my list, but if I had I might have included an album that is not too "modern" for "old" progressive rock-oriented audiophiles, and is audiophile-friendly, David Maxim Micic - Eco. Release date - 2015. If you're into epic movie soundtracks, Brand X Music - Battle for Dawn might make this list. Heck, I'm not a huge soundtrack fan, but when I'm in the mood for loud epic music I always listen to this album all the way through, so I'm adding it to this thread's list. Release date - 2016. I won't go into all the great modern metal. I know metal is outside the scope of most people here, but even if you got stuck on 70's or early 80's metal there's plenty of new stuff that would possibly make this list for some, like Dee Snider (from Twisted Sister) - For The Love Of Metal, release date - 2018. I dare say Dee is older than most people here, but he's rockin' harder than ever. He puts cheesy Twisted Sister to shame. My most-played album is the doom metal release Trees of Eternity - Hour of the Nightingale. Easily in my top three metal albums of all time. And I bought my first metal album in 1971, so it had to beat out thousands of albums for that honor. Release date - 2016. |
Lyra Lynn, Plays Well With Others https://leralynn.com/plays-well-with-others-pre-order Gene Clark, No Other www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL8a8cutYP7focgLNtBH8B3EaCMLikq7Ur And the album that turned me on to Clark, Robert Plant & Alison Krauss, Raising Sand
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@jssmith + 1 |
@jssmith +2 I was just relaying those exact thoughts to my wife last night. She could care less but it's 2022... Album: Touch Wood
New Age robot I am |
First, let me state that I am basically a Rock and Jazz guy for music listening; and I agree with many of the albums listed here; but I also have a decent classical music collection on both vinyl and CD. I just finished listening to the RCA Victor Gold Seal recording of Rossini Overtures by the NBC Orchestra conducted by Arturo Toscanini. I can unequivocally state that there is not one bad cut on this album. |
There are too many perfect albums to name but here are a few that I play often:
Joni Mitchell - Court and Spark, Hejira Dusty Springfield - Dusty in Memphis David Bowie - Low, Station to Station Roxy Music - Avalon REM - Murmur Herbie Hancock - Empyrean Isles Miles Davis - In A Silent Way, Nefertiti John Coltrane - Coltrane’s Sound, A Love Supreme
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String Cheese Incident - Rhythm of the Road, Vol. 2 It's a live NYE concert in Vegas from some years ago. Recording is excellent, the range of styles of music and the shear musicallity is, at time, nearly breathtaking. Some of the hottest sax I've heard in a long time on a couple of tracks. Awesome keyboards, violin, guitar and vocals to show off a system. 2 CD set so it's a lot of great music. |
@dirgordoncole agreed that nostalgia is powerful; but, I would argue there is a stronger bias to how you relate to the music of your present when it takes on the role of the "soundtrack to your life" instead of just being music. Trust me, in 10 - 20 - 30 years from now, you will look back on some of the artists and/or albums that you are listening to today and you will ask yourself: "What the hell was I thinking?" |
One sentence from that article really struck me because it reminds me of something I was thinking the last time I listened to Trapeze- Medusa.
Even though I think it's an album that belongs on this list, I was thinking, "What a monster album this would be if it used today's technology." As it is, the guitars are extremely thin and lifeless. The vocals have no depth. The drums are dead. Today, with my free recording and drum software, $169 guitar modeling software, and a $100 direct interface, I can make a far better recording in my living room.
Which is exactly why The Beach Boys - Endless Summer makes my list. It's a great album, but possibly I like every song on it because it's what my group of friends and I played on our trips to the ocean every summer. Good times. But now nostalgia. I can honestly say there isn't anything I can think of that I liked past the age of 12 that I don't like today. But then again, I was always into album (FM) rock (Zeppelin, Sabbath, Rush, etc.), not pop. I think a lot of pop from every generation is embarrassing. |
@audioguy85 - That would be David Gray - "White Ladder. I too have had it on CD since its release and recently bought the 2XLP 20th anniversary vinyl. Unfortunately, mine must be defective. The vocals on the second LP have terrible distortion. I'm sending it back. Fortunately (I hope) my wife had bought me the 4XLP special edition, direct from the David Gray site, and it's expected within the next couple of days. Hopefully, it will not suffer the same issue. BTW, you are correct. It deserves to be on this list. Also, I just received David Gray - "Mutineers" on vinyl, for Christmas, and it is fantastic! Great album and excellent sound quality... |
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I'm not much of a fan of modern/new country as I don't find it very country. However, I like old school country and I love Americana. That said, for me, one country album that I could put on this list is David Ball - "Thinkin' Problem" I've always loved it and typically listen all the way through when I play it. |
Colter wall - songs of the plain Bon Iver - for Emma forever ago Joni mitchel - blue Paul Simon - graceland (although 25th anniversary version has rehearsal gems incl Ray phiri killing it on diamonds....) Television - marquee moon Bill Callahan - once we were horses Bonnie prince Billy - I see a darkness Talking heads 77 Bob dylan desire Gram parsons GP Byrds - sweetheart of the rodeo Beach Boys - pet sounds Roberta flack first take Lcd soundsystem sounds of silver and American dream Kraftwer - tour de france Ray lamontaigne trouble Fleet foxes shore First aid kit lions roar Animal collective Merriweather Moby - play (although played. To death) Phosphorescent - here’s to taking it easy Radiohead OK computer And In Rainbows Sufjan Stevens illinois Smog - dogs of sevotion Miles Davis - kind of blue All I can play and sing tap and hum too..... So many more with just one song that irritates |
Crossing The Liquid Mirror - Mystic Diversions French Kiwi Juice - FKJ Days of Twang - De-Phazz Cantoma - Cantoma Simple Things - Zero 7 Illumined Blues - Steve Gold I swear I saw Shocking Blue at the Palm Beach Pop Festival 1969, but can’t find it documented anywhere.
The Band - All the first four Albums Santana - Caravanserai Yeah Son and wife saw Rufus Du Sol a couple weeks ago. Didn’t get me a ticket. Gave them hell. I am older than you. |
