The 25 Greatest Rock and Roll Albums

[Rit]

it will make it that much more heartfelt

[strat-0]

ritalinpants said:

25!

any more and the logistical ramifications would be too high. it would almost lose meaning as a project, as it would be a rather large list of albums... seeing as how people are picking a fairly diverse setlist for more than half of their individual lists..

imo, o'course.

Ditto that. Gotta make those painful choices.

A few that will be adorning my list (besides some of the more obvious monsters) might be:

Twelve Dreams of Doctor Sardonicus - Spirit
Still sounds like it could have been made yesterday (mostly). What a trip.

Rock and Roll Animal - Lou Reed
There's your case for live albums. I know the purists are ambivalent about it, but hey, it's just Lou with some more electrons. And a hell of a band!

Tyranny and Mutation - Blue Oyster Cult
Raw rock and roll. What an influence they had on metal and others before they sort of went down the cheese road (Godzilla, etc.)

That's it for the moment. I'll come up with a real list soon.

[rockysigman]

admin said:

Rock and Roll Animal - Lou Reed
There's your case for live albums. I know the purists are ambivalent about it, but hey, it's just Lou with some more electrons. And a hell of a band!

Rock and Roll Animal may be the stronger album musically, but I've always found Take No Prisoners to be a much more enjoyable listen.

And Live in Italy is better than both of them.

[JesusLooksLikeMe]

Luke - Which version of Substance are you referring to? Mine is a 12-track disc with a re-recorded version of "Confusion", but my mate has a 28-track version (import from maybe Japan) that's a cassette (!) version with all the B-sides and some EP cuts. But I've never seen that version anywhere else other than cassette, and there's maybe a 24-track double CD around these days.

And can Dolly really get away with bundling Surfer Rosa and Come On Pilgrim together as one pick, just because they're now sold as a low-price single disc package?
(But obviously it wasn't me who asked this question)

I was worrying last night (sleepless nerd alert) that my list was too weighted towards the modern. The very antithesis of, say, phil's more classicist picks. Has OK Computer or Elizium really made Wish You Were Here and Dark Side of the Moon obsolete? Who needs Sex Pistols when you've got Nirvana? The Clash when you have, erm, the Libertines? Led Zep when you have Soundgarden and Pearl Jam? Any prog rock in history prior to Tool? Are the modern versions watered down and derivative, or (as I would have it) a developed and improved sound built on great foundations? If so, why can't anyone come along and kick VU out of my list?

[phil]

It may be a question of exposure and tastes more than anything else...

I grew up with The Beatles, The Who, The Rolling Stones,
Bob Dylan, The Doors, Jimi Hendrix...

Those are the ones both my musical culture and fondations are made of...
Just yesterday I took "OK Computer" out for a spin
and I liked what I heard but it has no emotional impact
and today, I can't remember one tune from that album...

I can't listen to Oasis for more than 10 minutes,
and any actual 3 guitars and drums band out there
frankly bores me to tears... Been there, done that !!
After almost 40 years of listening to the genre,
you have to be very original, creative and gifted
to get me interested in your music...

I know perfectly well that it is out there, (Porcupine Tree being the perfect example)
but my music interests are so wide, I simply just don't have the time to investigate
all the bands/artists I see recommended here or in the papers I read...

After that, it's also a question of taste...

Jazz, World Music, Blues and Classical music are as important to me
than Rock and everybody here is well aware of my indifference for Punk,
loud Heavy Metal and... Opera !!

Sigur Ros and Porcupine Tree, although with very different musical style,
I love for the same reasons : long, meandering pieces with shifts in rythms and melody,
different instrumentations and arrangements.

And believe me... with two teenage boys around the house
I hear enough loud heavy music to keep me informed of the new music scene
and keep my ear filled with cotton balls !!

[ScottsyII]

I was worrying last night (sleepless nerd alert) that my list was too weighted towards the modern. The very antithesis of, say, phil's more classicist picks. Has OK Computer or Elizium really made Wish You Were Here and Dark Side of the Moon obsolete? Who needs Sex Pistols when you've got Nirvana? The Clash when you have, erm, the Libertines? Led Zep when you have Soundgarden and Pearl Jam? Any prog rock in history prior to Tool? Are the modern versions watered down and derivative, or (as I would have it) a developed and improved sound built on great foundations? If so, why can't anyone come along and kick VU out of my list?

I shamelessly confess my preferences are FAR too skewed towards the modern... and I am not one bit ashamed of it! It's what touches me, it's what is relevant and means something to me, and I have made a point of pushing these ideals all through these list making exercises on the boards... I think if its going to be an honest and true representation of listener preferences, we gotta say what we love, irrespective of what we "think" is essential or that we "should" put into a list...

So, a big HURRAH! for modernity I say! :-)

[Rit]

Hey hey, what's the better album?

The Cure's Pornography
or
Joy Division's Closer

seems to me that both are very much cut from the same cloth and begging for a comparison.

[luke]

I've got to vote for Pornography, but that may be a personal preference. Couldn't bring myself to put it over Closer on my list, though.

Tried to keep my list somewhat diverse, but yeah, killed me to end up omitting Badmotorfinger.

Jesus, my copy of Substance is a double-disc with 24 tracks, with the second disc being the remixes. It's as described on allumusic. It is the only "greatest hits" I decided to include, because the album flows as much more than just a greatest hits, IMO, and has the unconventional remix compilation.

[Adam]

1. Fun House - The Stooges
2. Live at Leeds - The Who
3. With The Beatles - The Beatles
4. The Joshua Tree - U2
5. The Doors - The Doors
6. Exile on Main Street - Rolling Stones
7. Physical Graffiti - Led Zeppelin
8. Electric Ladyland - Jimi Hendrix
9. The Velvet Underground & Nico
10. The Clash - The Clash
11. Ride The Lightning - Metallica
12. In Utero - Nirvana
13. Reign In Blood - Slayer
14. Roots - Sepultura
15. The Downward Spiral - Nine Inch Nails
16. Lateralus - Tool
17. Van Halen - Van Halen
18. Use Your Illusion I & II - Guns N Roses
19. Chuck Berry Is On Top - Chuck Berry
20. Piper at the Gates of Dawn - Pink Floyd
21. Pet Sounds - The Beach Boys
22. Entertainment! - Gang of Four
23. Siamese Dream - Smashing Pumpkins
24. Korn - Korn
25. Blackwater Park - Opeth

[Thorngrub]

I like that list. I do.

[Kensterberg]

FYI, for purposes of this list, I'm counting albums with the same name as the same album. Thus, any vote for New Order's Substance will count for the same total as Luke's, any vote for the The Clash, whether US or UK (which we all know is better), will be counted as towards that title.

I think I'm just gonna write in every Clash album and as much Dylan as will fit, and be done with it ...

NP: R.E.M., "Gardening at Night" (live 1983)

[Mary]

OK then. Here is my first attempt at a list. This may be updated before the due date. But I feel the need to get some sort of draft in order!

1) The Clash - London Calling
2) Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Let Love In
3) The Who - Who's Next
4) Gang of Four - Entertainment!
5) X - Under the Big Black Sun
6) Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Tender Prey
7) Joy Division - Unknown Pleasures
8) The Clash - The Clash
9) Bob Dylan - Blood on the Tracks
10) David Bowie - Heroes
11) The Smiths - The Queen is Dead
12) PJ Harvey - To Bring You My Love
13) The Mekons - Rock and Roll
14) The Velvet Underground - VU & Nico
15) U2 - War
16) Wire - Chairs Missing
17) X - Wild Gift
18) Echo and the Bunnymen - Ocean Rain
19) Television - Marquee Moon
20) David Bowie - Scary Monsters
21) Sleater-Kinney - Dig Me Out
22) X - Los Angeles
23) Jefferson Airplane - Surrealistic Pillow
24) Metallica - Ride the Lightning
25) Joy Division - Closer

OK, I thought the Birthday Party would make the cut, but I was wrong.

I didn't think the 25 limit would be so difficult, but it was really really painful. I feel I've given the slight to entire genres of music which deserve recognition and invariably get slighted on such lists. I hate it that I have no industrial at all on my list - there are fabulous albums by Skinny Puppy, Ministry, and NIN which would make an expanded list - but I just can't claim to like any of them more than these albums. I was also hoping to have room for some dark horse contenders that I knew no one else would name - I thought the Swans' Children of God might make the cut, as well as Neurosis' Times of Grace, and Bad Brains' I Against I. All amazing brilliant fantastic epochal albums...but not top 25, I'm afraid.

OK, consider this my formal list, then. Just for fun, I'm going to do another list that's simply a list of my top 25 CDs at the moment - and by "CDs" that includes anything and everything - all genres, greatest hits sets, live CDs, etc etc... but don't count it toward the great album showdown!!!

coming right up...

Cheers,
M

[Mary]

DON'T COUNT TOWARD THE OVERALL RANKINGS...JUST FOR FUN



1) The Clash - London Calling
2) Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Let Love In
3) Nina Simone - Jazz Masters
4) The Who - Who's Next
5) Gang of Four - Entertainment!
6) X - Under the Big Black Sun
7) Leonard Cohen - The Best Of
8) Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Tender Prey
9) Joy Division - Unknown Pleasures
10) The Clash - The Clash
11) Bob Dylan - Blood on the Tracks
12) David Bowie - Heroes
13) The Smiths - The Queen is Dead
14) Johnny Cash - At Folsom Prison
15) 2046 - Original Soundtrack
16) PJ Harvey - To Bring You My Love
17) The Mekons - Rock and Roll
18) The Birthday Party - Hits
19) The Velvet Underground - VU & Nico
20) Howlin' Wolf - His Best
21) U2 - War
22) Johnny Cash - Murder
23) Creedence Clearwater Revival - Chronicle
24) Wire - Chairs Missing
25) The Best of the Girl Groups, Vol. 1


Cheers,
M

[phil]

Nice alternate list from Mary...



So, a big HURRAH! for modernity I say!


Scottsy ~ Beethoven, Mozart, Gershwin, Armstrong, Davis, Ferré...
all have just one thing to say to you ...

[Dr. Drum]

Hey, Beethoven was modern in his day.