Written by Roman Doez on 14.11.2021 at 14:28

3. Fishmans - Long Season

What an absolute patrician

Written by AndyMetalFreak on 12.06.2021 at 18:41

2. Fairport Convention - Liege And Lief
3. Can - Tago Mago

Now these are some top picks as well

Whew, that was a tough one. I couldn't sort these 10 albums by personal preference for the life of me.

Queen – Jazz (rock, 1978)
Böhse Onkelz – Heilige Lieder (hard rock, 1992)
Hass – Allesfresser (punk, 1992)
Propagandhi – Less Talk, More Rock (punk, 1996)
Portishead – Portishead (trip hop, 1997)
Beth Gibbons & Rustin Man – Out Of Season (folk/bar jazz, 2002)
Antimatter – Planetary Confinement (dark rock, 2005)
Hope Of The States – Left (post rock, 2006)
Alligatoah – Triebwerke (hip hop, 2013)
Bruce Soord With Jonas Renkse - Wisdom Of Crowds ‎– Wisdom Of Crowds (prog rock, 2013)

Decided to exclude hard rock/borderline metal stuff, thus disqualifying Guns N' Roses - Use Your Illusion II and The Exploited - Beat The Bastards (see how I named two extra albums? ), then went for a list of ten, plus five bonus albums that would likely crack the top 10 in the coming days/hours/five minutes after I post this list:

Pink Floyd - Animals - 1977, prog rock (or WYWH or Meddle)
Dälek - Absence - 2005, hip hop (the awesomest mix of hip hop, industrial and noise evah)
Philip Glass - Koyaanisqatsi - 1983, OST/contemporary classical music (Glass at his swirliest)
Arovane - Lilies - 2004, IDM/downtempo (an album that makes you feel that you're lost in the middle of a Japanese city at night without resorting to the hackneyed shamisen/Japanese percussion tropes)
Deltron 3030 - Deltron 3030 - 2000, hip hop (clever, fun, and awesomely written, nuff said)
Nirvana - Nevermind - 1991, grunge (any of their first three would deserve a spot, but Nevermind is probably my most played album ever)
Wardruna - Runaljod - Yggdrasil - 2013, ambient/neofolk (I'll be buried at sea while Helvegen plays, mark my words)
Ulver - Perdition City - 2000, electronic (how you go from a black metal masterpiece to an electronic masterpiece is beyond me)
Muse - Origin Of Symmetry - 2001, alt rock (a nice little riff fest that somehow manages to fuse mainstream appeal and catchiness with an almost garage aesthetic)
The Sisters Of Mercy - Floodland - 1987, goth rock (any of their three studio albums would do, cuz SOM are awesome, but this one has Lucretia My Reflection)

Bonus:
Portishead - Dummy - 1994, trip hop (Roads is the most beautiful song ever, period, and Beth Gibbons is a goddess)
Electric Electric - Sad Cities Handclappers - 2008, "epileptic dancing noise" (kinda like groovy dance music with real instruments, and it's awesome)
Antonín Dvořák - Symphony No. 9 in E minor, "From the New World", Op. 95, B. 178 - 1893, classical music (saw that one played by a professional orchestra in a freaking cathedral, and it was a moment of pure musical ecstasy)
Noir Désir - 666.667 Club - 1996, alt rock (street cred + intense catchiness + weird lyrics + great vocals)
The Dø - A Mouthful - 2008, indie pop (a fun and sometimes weird take on mainstream pop)

Brace for rain on thine parade...

Written by Starvynth on 16.11.2021 at 22:39

Whew,
Propagandhi – Less Talk, More Rock (punk, 1996)

BORING. Sure, tons of propaghandi in the liner notes, but compared to "How To Clean Everything" just found that album a snooze.

Not to worry, in another 20-30 minutes you can shred my preferences.

Probably still pretty much this:

Written by BitterCOld on 28.04.2017 at 17:34

non metal... includes two listed here on MS that aren't metal. limited to one album per. rather than "Top 10" is more of a "desert island" thing. a bit of variety, but really pretty chill with only The Vandals for a burst of energy.

The Cure - Disintegration
Ulver - Perdition City
Joy Division - Still
The Smiths - The Queen is Dead
Miles Davis - Kind Of Blue
The Vandals - Live Fast Diarrhea
Wall of Voodoo - Call Of The West
Frank Sinatra - The Very Good Years
40 Watt Sun - Wider Than The Sky
Pink Floyd - Dark Side Of The Moon

In looking at it again tonight, glanced at my phone for downloaded albums - those taking up perma storage space for flights, etc - and six of these are on there. Two are comps, so not sure if that is cheating.

40 Watt Sun was more of a product of that rather tumultuous time for me and *could* be moved (maybe Floyd as well) though I'd have to think on what would slide on in to those spots. So I might come back and edit this later.

(and if anyone knows where I might be able to find a digital copy of Sinatra's "The Very Good Years" - that album specifically - please drop me a dm. Had it on disc, is stored away 10k km away and the digital copies were lost on the great external hard drive crash of 2015 after I moved to Paraguay)

Have at it, Star'V

1. Pink Floyd - Dark Side Of The Moon
2. Fairport Convention - Liege And Lief
3. Can - Tago Mago
4. Cream - Disraeli Gears
5. Rick Wakeman - The Myths And Legends Of King Arthur
6. The Velvet Underground - The Velvet Underground & Nico
7. Greatful Dead - American Beauty
8. Lynyrd and Skynyrd - Pronounced ( Leh-nerd Skin-nerd)
9. Credence Clearwater Revival - Cosmos Factory
10. Jefferson Airplane - Volunteers

The older I get, the more boring it is to simply list "favorites": the term has such a serious ring to it, and pretty much demands taking into account the album's significance in my personal listening history. I.e. if I've loved an album for 15 years, it probably needs to be included. Problem is, the 5-star albums don't change too often so such a list is really stratified. Even if I'm currently not in a phase where an album actually gets played, I'm not going to knock down its rating.

So here's a slightly updated list that puts more weight on what I've been into in recent years (though the first four artists just won't budge) and who I can sincerely profess to be a fan of, one album per artist:

1. Kate Bush - The Dreaming. Although it's hard to argue for a favorite, this is the album I think of, on most days, when asked to name one.
2. Talk Talk - The Colour of Spring. My appreciation for this one has grown steadily from the shadow of the two follow-ups. Not sure if it's better, but it's often more fun to listen to.
3. Portishead - Third. Dummy is iconic and perfect, but relies more on a specific sound and imagery. Third feels universal and timeless.
4. Tori Amos - From the Choirgirl Hotel. Tori hit me like a truck in high school and influenced my subsequent taste more than anything, although I play her albums rarely. Boys for Pele may be her best, but the wow-effect has waned somewhat, whereas Choirgirl Hotel keeps on giving.
5. Ichiko Aoba - 0. Hard to pick a favorite album, but the absolute best traditional singer-songwriter at the moment.
6. FKA twigs - Magdalene. I have an intense enthusiasm for twigs which may not last, but I'm still basking in that early infatuation.
7. Carly Rae Jepsen - Emotion. Pop has been my greatest discovery in recent (well, now I guess 8...) years, partly thanks to this album. It's a staple of every longer car trip. Perfume's ⊿ is a strong competitor, but this has more personal significance.
8. Litku Klemetti - Taika tapahtuu. The peak of the (so far) short but incredibly consistent career of the most exciting Finnish act in 20 years.
9. Fleetwood Mac - Rumours. I mean, maybe not the greatest when I think about it, but another staple for the car (and household chores) and one that I just love to put on. Perfect music for when you're NOT listening intently with headphones.
10. tricot - T H E. Nobody sounds quite like their blend of math rock and pop sensibility.

I notice the list is very feel-good. If we were naming artists, the list would have to feature Low, Stereolab and Broadcast. Low means a lot to me, and I've listened to shitloads of the latter two in recent years, but there's no single album I could point to as the "favorite" and, as a standalone, better than the above. The lack of space for Susanne Sundfør is also distressing.

This emphasis also dropped out many reliable old favorites that have followed on the background but haven't been in the limelight lately: PJ Harvey, Nick Cave, Townes van Zandt, David Sylvian, DJ Shadow, Kraftwerk, Mew, Joni Mitchell, Red House Painters, Slowdive, Tangerine Dream, Miles Davis, Björk etc.

Written by AndyMetalFreak on 19.11.2021 at 06:30

2. Fairport Convention - Liege And Lief
6. The Velvet Underground - The Velvet Underground & Nico

Tangentially: have you heard/how do you like Pentangle's Basket of Light and Nico's The Desertshore? Both your picks are great, but those two (and Unhalfbricking from Fairport, maybe) have moved me more immediately.

Written by IronAngel on 19.11.2021 at 20:29

Written by AndyMetalFreak on 19.11.2021 at 06:30

2. Fairport Convention - Liege And Lief
6. The Velvet Underground - The Velvet Underground & Nico

Tangentially: have you heard/how do you like Pentangle's Basket of Light and Nico's The Desertshore? Both your picks are great, but those two (and Unhalfbricking from Fairport, maybe) have moved me more immediately.

Oh yes, I am very much into Pentangle, Cruel Sister probably being my favourite album by them, I used to listen to them regularly, along with Steeleye Span, Fairport Convention, and Richard Thompson.

I also considered adding Unhalfbricking to the list, it's a great album, which also contains "Sailor's Life", which is one of my all time favourite songs. I thought during that time Fairport Convention had one of the greatest line ups in music history.

Written by IronAngel on 19.11.2021 at 20:20


7. Carly Rae Jepsen - Emotion. Pop has been my greatest discovery in recent (well, now I guess 8...) years, partly thanks to this album. It's a staple of every longer car trip. Perfume's ⊿ is a strong competitor, but this has more personal significance.

That good, heh? Beating old Perfume is a hard task. I never listened to a Carly Rae Jepsen full length before, but random songs I listened from her are pretty good. I should give this a go.

Written by BitterCOld on 19.11.2021 at 00:47

BORING. Sure, tons of propaghandi in the liner notes, but compared to "How To Clean Everything" just found that album a snooze.

We wrote this song because it's fucking BORING to keep spelling out the words that you keep ignoring.

Yeah, I really love the title track. And "Refusing To Be A Man".
"(Liquid) Meat Is Still Murder" is pretty great as well. Just like "Nation-States" and most of the rest. Definitely not enough fillers on there to take a snooze.

Then again, How To Clean has an early version of "Haillie Does Hebron", which is most likely the best song the Prop have ever done, I'll give you that.
So I guess it's got to be a draw.

Written by Karlabos on 19.11.2021 at 23:24

That good, heh? Beating old Perfume is a hard task. I never listened to a Carly Rae Jepsen full length before, but random songs I listened from her are pretty good. I should give this a go.

Well, to be honest, it's probably a bit random which albums I end up playing a lot and which therefore acquire that favorite status. But it's historically important as the album that really urged me to look more seriously into pop (Kyary came before that but was more of a curiosity), I'd say the production is as good as Nakata's (though obviously very different reference points), and the songwriting is just unusually consistent. The opener, the title track and Making the Most of the Night are perfect pop songs, and there's not really a did in the first 10 tracks.

1. Manu Chao - Clandestino
2. Amy Winehouse - Back To Black
3. The Cure - Disintegration
4. Bob Marley and the Wailers - Burnin'
5. Michael Jackson - Dangerous
6. Koinoi Thnitoi - Antilipsh
7. Sex Pistols - Never Mind The Bollocks Here's Sex Pistols
8. Alpha Blondy - Apartheid Is Nazism
9. Janis Joplin - Pearl
10. The Clash - London Calling

1 The Doors - The Doors
2. Pink Floyd - Dark Side Of The Moon
3.The Clash - London Calling
4. Rush - Hemispheres
5. The Cure - Disintegration
6. Mike Oldfield - Tubular Bells
7. Nirvana - Nevermind
8. Pearl Jam - Ten
9. Jethro Tull - Aqualung
10. U2 - Achtung Baby

Written by mde017 on 09.11.2023 at 23:21

1 The Doors - The Doors
2, Pink Floyd - Dark Side Of The Moon
3.The Clash - London Calling
4. Rush - Hemispheres
5. The Cure - Disintegration
6. Mike Oldfield - Tubular Bells
7. Nirvana - Nevermind
8. Pearl Jam - Ten
9. Jethro Tull - Aqualung
10. U2 - Achtung Baby

There's some very impressive albums here, the only one I haven't had in my collection is U2 Achtung Baby, which is a shame because I actually really like U2

1. Marillion - Marbles
2. Dire Straits - Alchemy: Dire Straits Live
3. The KLF - Chill Out
4. Edgar Froese - Aqua
5. Dire Straits - Love Over Gold
6. Meat Loaf - Bat Out of Hell
7. Frank Zappa - Hot Rats
8. Klaus Schulze - Timewind
9. Van Der Graaf Generator - Godbluff
10. Bubblegum Crisis: Complete Vocal Collection

I have lots of good memories of these albums. I used to listen to hell out of Frank Zappa back during my summer jobs when I was younger, it's groovy and fun. Listening to Timewind felt like flying to another galaxy, and Dire Straits is a kinda band you could show anybody and people would always love them. Bubblegum Crisis is an anime OVA series which encapsulates the essence of pretty much everything the creators thought were hot shit back in the mid to late 80's, that is Blade Runner, action films, James Cameron, anime robots, music videos, Jim Steinman, etc., and the soundtrack is exactly what you'd expect. I must have listened to this compilation more than any other album ever, it's so good and catchy.