The greatest album ever?

[tristy]

Edit:  And ignore Tristy.  Ever since the Hottest Women 2005 thread, he's got this strange desire for Midgets and Monks whom are into the Blues.

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[TAFKA Castroneves]

System of a Down - Toxicity

Not everyone's cup of tea sure but the entire album just goes from strength to strength as it travels through each song. Features mostly heavy political lyrics alongside some "heavy as fuck" (as Metalhammer put it) guitaring from Malakian. Serj Tankian's voice contributes to the unique sound from the Armenian group and I just love the album all the way through.

But saying that it can only really be classfied as the greatest album in metal circles - or as I believe it is because I don't really listen to anything outside of that genre.

[Billy Castillo]

Serj Tankian's voice contributes to the unique sound from the Armenian group and I just love the album all the way through.

[Guest Grapehead]

This is even an argument? Fuck...

Red Hot Chilli Peppers - Blood Sugar Sex Magik

Don't bother responding, this is hands down the best album ever created. I'm not a huge RHCP fan, in fact I'm only a casual listener, but there's not a doubt in my mind this is amazing. The range of sounds on the disc is awesome, there's no repetitive nature to any of the songs, yet their music is all so distinct. Anthony has a sweet voice, and really puts me at ease, while there's no question Flea plays a mean bass riff. Songs like Sir Psycho Sexy, and Under the Bridge stand out as my personal favourites. There's a real good argument for you all to discuss, what is the best song on this album?

[Billy Castillo]

Huh...I always felt it was overrated. I LOVE the Chili Peppers, but this disc and the followup with Dave Navarro....nope.

JMHO.

[Steeb]

BSSM is flawed. They say it themselves. It starts off excellent, I must say, and up until about Blood Sugar Sex Magic (The track), it is the greatest, but I don't really rate anything after that track. Personally, I prefer Californication, but even that is flawed. A few of the songs sound a bit samey, it's more commercial, and there isn't as much of Flea's sound, if that makes sense. Personally, I will go on record as to saying 'De-Loused In The Comatorium' is my personal favourite CD, and therefore my personal Greatest Album Ever. Every song relates, yet is completely different. Actually, scrap that, they're not songs. They're landscapes. I haven't yet heard Frances The Mute enough to compare it, but DITC is so goddamn amazing I'm not sure it will compare. Another factor to consider is that DITC is their debut. To be able to produce a masterpiece like that as your debut? I hope they go on a lot longer, and we hear a lot more from them

Just my opinion though....

[ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster]

I remember givingmy opinions on my six greatest albums before.

I can't remember what I said but I'll decide on what I think at the moment...

"The Man Machine" by Kraftwerk

Brought electronic music into existance.

Made before sequencers existed and not on the biggest budget known to mankind.

Kraftwerk are the influece of everything from dancy-trance to hard techno to intelligent dance music.

"Homogenic" by Bjork

For me, this album, more so than "Debut", is THE best and most important Bjork album. Debut brought her into the public circle as a solo artist but Homogenic cements her as the best cutting edge female artist that has walked the face of the earth, rivalled in recreation of self only by Madonna, Bjork isn't afriad of trying new things and pulling them off in style.

"Tubeway Army" by Gary Numan

When performing live, Numan looked like he'd rather be anywhere than behind the mic, in front of a crowd. He brooded, his leg jiggled nervously and he didn't go anywhere near dancing or showmanship, but the music he created, a mixture of punk and electro, is the father of such acts as The Bravery and The Killers.

Leading on from this album came the epic singles "Cars" and "Are Friends Electric".

"Richard D. James" by Aphex Twin

Blew techno and electro up in one big bloody mess and reinvented it yet again. A rare release from the Cornish lad, probably his best.

As Rolling Stone magazine said:

"combining jolting beats, pristine melodic fragments and random noises into elegant--if at times unnerving--futuristic pop....manipulates his infinite palette of tweaked synth tones like a classical composer arranges a string section"

Edited March 23, 2005 by ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster

[GRIFT]

Born to Run by Bruce Springsteen

It literally saved him from being dropped from his record deal and drew attention to his previous work, which has gone on into critical acclaim. After releasing this album he became the first man to be on the cover of both Time Magazine and Rolling Stone in the same month. Between Springsteen and Led Zepplin, 70's rock was revived, and without them some of my subsequent favorites never would have exisited. No Pearl Jam, no Saddle Creek bands, no Rage and certainly no U2.

On a more personal level, these are the songs I grew up with and they were the songs my father grew up with. My first cassette was Born to Run and while the Boss's entire career has produced music I love this album has some of the real stand outs like Thunder road, Jungleland, 10th Avenue Freeze out, Night, and Meeting Across the River.

All and all it might not be the greatest for everyone else on this board, but it is the greatest to me... and you'd be a fool to deny its impact.

[TMM]

I've gotta say it's a close call between 'Tommy' by the Who and 'American Idiot' by Green Day.

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Sorry, try again.

Care to explain why my opinion is wrong?

[Skummy]

I'm going to stake my claim for The Queen Is Dead by The Smiths

It's an utterly unique, intelligent, thought-provoking and quintessentially British piece of work, which doesn't take itself too seriously. From the thunderous marching drumbeat of "The Queen Is Dead", you just know that you've stumbled on something very special.

And any album that can have songs like "Never Had No One Ever" and "I Know It's Over" sat alongside "Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others" and "Vicar In A Tutu", yet still flow superbly has to be an absolute work of genius.

It gets uber-bonus points for "I Know It's Over", one of my favourite songs of all time, where almost every single line is pure genius, and some quality lyrics in the form of "There Is A Light That Never Goes Out"'s anthemic chorus of "And if a Double-Decker Bus crashes into us...", and if you don't know the rest, you haven't lived!

Essentially, this is the album that shows exactly what all the fuss is about The Smiths. Fantastic music, fantastic lyrics, but not afraid to take a tongue-in-cheek look at themselves.

Absolute masterpiece.

[Hobo]

The Beatles - Seargent Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band - So many things we take for granted today in records were established on this album. Every single song on the album is a classic. Highlights would be Getting Better which just showcases Lennon and McCartney's differences both in songwriting and life. She's Leaving Home is beautiful. Being For The Benefit Of Mr Kite is just a strange contrast of simplicity and complexity at the same time. With A Little Help From My Friends is tailor made for Ringo's voice. The greatest Beatles song of all time imo finishes it up with A Day In The Life. Just a total masterpiece in every single way.

George Harrison - All Things Must Pass - Some of the most beautiful music ever recorded. I'd Have You Anytime, My Sweet Lord, Isn't It A Pity, Beware of Darkness, All Things Must Pass, I Dig Love... for a double album of 23 songs to all be quality is a feat, but of this quality is insane.

I agree.

But I'd like to add:

Johnny Cash - American Recordings (1994)

Solid Album, did so much for his career and proved just how you can strip music down to the bare essentials, a voice and an accoustic guitar in this case. It opens with Delia's Gone, which is a-typical Johnny Cash song of a criminal's regret of his crime. The album deals with sins (Deilia's Gone, The Beast In Me) and eventual repentence (Redemption, The Man Who Couldn't Cry, Like a Solider). Johnny Cash at his very best.

Johnny Cash - American Recordings Vol. III: Solitary Man (2000)

For my money the last time Johnny Cash sounded anything like the man he was was on this album. It deal's with his own impending death (it was thought this was to be his last album as he was very ill at the time but as we know he survived to make The Man Comes Around). It starts off with a cover of Tom Petty's "I Won't Back Down" and has some of the best accoustic guitar playing (see "Solitary Man") and songs that really fitted Cash's character (Will Oldham's "I See A Darkness"). Johnny Cash put his all into this album, more than he had to put into it's follow-up. Aside from American Recodings itself Solitary Man is one of the best of the American Recordings.

Steve Earle - Transcendental Blues (2000)

Steve Earle's best recent album in my book. Each song takes you to a different genre from the rockish Everyone's In Love With You and Another Town to the Sharon Shannon backed Irish sound of The Galway Girl and Steve's Last Ramble. Loniler Than This and The Boy Who Never Cried have a hint of the blues about them. All of My Life has echo's of Springsteen like rock. While I Can Wait, When I Fall and I Don't Want to Loose you yet are excellent love songs. The also inculdes the sobering Over Yonder (Johnathan's Song) about a man facing death row and the regret and sorrow he feels and the Blue Grass sounding 'Till the Day I die. The album is exactly what it says it is the Transcendental Blues.

Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings - Waylon and Willie (1978)

Two outlaw country legends joining together for the first time (later they would tour, and record follow ups to this album and in the '80's with Johnny Cash and Kris Kristofferson form the Highwaymen. Some of the best country of it's era, with a bit of rock thrown in. The song like Mammas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys has since this album been forever linked with Waylon and Willie. Waylon does a great version of Fleetwood Mac's Gold Dust Woman. The two also join togther to preform Kris Kristofferson's 2003 Minus 25 and Don't Cuss The Fiddle. Willie also puts his distinictive touch on the album with the heart-wrenching If You Can Touch Her At All and It's Not Supposed to be That Way.

[Skummy]

I don't know how you can possibly choose between the American Recordings. I was going to say them as well, but it's so hard to pick just one, IMO. They're all an amazing body of work.

[strobogo]

I'd like to throw in Incubus' Make Yourself

Contains many great songs, inovative style, strong lyrics. Everything you want in a great album.

[VerbalPuke]

Choosing a greatest album of all-time from any genre is a tough task, and I doubt many people can pick an album they believe to be head and shoulders above the rest. I am no different, as my opinion of the greatest album of all-time could change from day to day. However, I'd be glad to add a few albums that I think deserve mention as all-time great albums.

The Minutemen - Double Nickels on the Dime: The Minutemen recorded a bunch of records throughout the 1980s. Each album was very good in it's own respect, but Double Nickel's on the Dime stood above the rest as the pinnacle of their success. This album is 43 tracks of politically charged funky punk, each song not going much longer than two minutes. All three men involved with this band deserve equal credit for this sensational album.

Johnny Thunders and the Heartbreakers - L.A.M.F.: When I think of rock and roll, this album immediatley comes to mind. Johnny's excellent guitar work coupled with his anthems of love and heroin addiction make this one of the greatest albums to be released throughout the 1970s. There is nothing especially deep or throught provoking about this album, it's simply rock and roll at it's finest.

Cockney Rejects - Greatest Hits Vol. 1: This is the quintessential oi album, influencing countless punks and skins. Keep in mind that this album is not actually a greatest hits or best of album, but the Cockney Rejects first album. Their second album was also appropriately named Greatest Hits Vol. 2. This music definitely personifies the working class values held by the Oi scene. It's the kind of the music that makes you want to raise your glass and chant "Oi Oi" with your drinking buddies.

Nomeansno - Wrong: Out of all the epic albums these fellows from Canada have produced, this is definitely the highlight of their musical career. Lyrically, they can provide thought provoking words, or their lyrics can take a turn to the lighter side of life. I absolutely love the chunky sounding bass, rapid fire drums, and well I can't think of a clever way to describe their guitar work, but I assure you that it is also great.

Honorable mentions: Jimi Hendrix's - Are You Experienced, The Doors - Waiting for the Sun, Black Sabbath - Paranoid, Dead Kennedys - Plastic Surgery Disasters/In God We Trust Inc., Richard Hell and the Voidoids - Blank Generation, The Dead Boys - Young, Loud and Snotty, and The Rotters - Pull it and Yell.

Edited March 24, 2005 by VerbalPuke

[Hobo]

I don't know how you can possibly choose between the American Recordings. I was going to say them as well, but it's so hard to pick just one, IMO. They're all an amazing body of work.

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Sure, but I've always felt that Solitary Man and American Recordings were the best. Unchained was pretty good and was different from the first album (which was a good idea for Cash and Rick Rubin not to repeat themselves) but I've always prefered the songs on Solitary Man and just the way that American Recordings sounds. Overall it is a great body of work (I own all 4 and the UnEarthed Box set and I look forward to Rick Rubin releasing American V in the future, perhaps it will come the same time as the Biopic Walk The Line does) but I still think that out of the 4 albums those where the better.

[Liam]

I second the vote for "The Queen Is Dead" by The Smiths.

However, I thought it was time someone dropped the big, bad boy in this topic...

Nirvana - Nevermind

Say what you will, love it, hate it, adore it, want to burn every copy of it into one mass CD bonfire, YOU HAVE an opinion on this album. Now, some albums have better songs, some bands have better members, but for this one recording in the early 90's, it all came together, and the sound of Generation X was found (ok, I think thats media mumbo jumbo, but thats what was said). The amount of bands who sprung up solely based on this one record was amazing.

Sadly, Nirvana will forever be "the band whose lead singer shot himself", and many believe this is the only reason they have an enduring legacy. This album, my friends, is why they have that legacy, IMO irrelevant of the Kobain saga. Also, Nirvana always had the problem that the bands that were spawned from thier sound were second rate (most of the late 90's US alt scene), and left a poor taste in peoples mouths with regards to Nirvana's work. Take away the bands that ripped off the Nirvana sound (ok, I'm aware that Nirvana did that as well, but they didn't do it as shamelessly as some, and usually, they improved on whatever formula they "ripped off"), and view Nirvana solely as what they were, and whether you like them or not, no-one can argue of the value of the band.

My last vote goes to Faith No More - Angel Dust. Under-rated album, awesome songs, probably single handedly creating the Nu-Metal/Alt scene in one fell swoop (along with some other timely releeases of course).

EDIT: Jeff Buckley - Grace. Listen to this, and view a talent in full flight, awesome voice, awesome songs. Sad when you hear this, and know that he died shortly after.

Edited March 26, 2005 by rvdwannabe

[Robsturgh]

Dark Tranquillity - The Gallery: Now, allow me to explain. 87% of people visiting these boards haven't heard of Dark Tranquillity. 95% of people havent heard of this album. So why the hell do I class this as the greatest album of all time? Because, put simply, it shows the work of a band that knows exactly how to write songs that individually stand out from each other, and from anything else. Each song has its own emotion applied to it, it tells its own story. Now, while this band arent the most famous in the world, and may not be considered the most influencial, when I heard this album, I had to choice but to sit and be taken to a world that had be perfectly crafted by musicians who, clearly, knew exactly what they wanted to do and went out and fucking well did it.

Edited March 27, 2005 by Robster

[Liam]

Dark Tranquillity - The Gallery: Now, allow me to explain. 87% of people visiting these boards haven't heard of Dark Tranquillity. 95% of people havent heard of this album. So why the hell do I class this as the greatest album of all time? Because, put simply, it shows the work of a band that knows exactly how to write songs that individually stand out from each other, and from anything else. Each song has its own emotion applied to it, it tells its own story. Now, while this band arent the most famous in the world, and may not be considered the most influencial, when I heard this album, I had to choice but to sit and be taken to a world that had be perfectly crafted by musicians who, clearly, knew exactly what they wanted to do and went out and fucking well did it.

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What I've heard of Dark Tranqulity, they fucking rule. Very good Gothenburg (sp?) - esque sounding band, with thier own spin on it. Very good.

[Benji]

Call me crazy, but I believe American Idiot is perhaps the best album I've ever heard. Ever since I got it on it's first day of release, I've listened to at least one song once. Not one bad song and it all comes together as an ALBUM, it's not just a bunch of songs thrown together, they all connect. From the light self-loathing/loving of Boulevard of Broken dreams to the anthemic "We Are the Waiting", to the rock out songs like "Holiday" and the title the album is named after, and then the 5-in-1 pair of tracks. It's very much a complete album.

I've been a fan of Green Day since age 10, so maybe it's the fan boy in me, but I really believe this to be a master work in albums, it's an album that came out of adversity after the original album was stolen and that makes it even MORE special.

[Steeb]

OK. Fucking wow. I've now heard enough of Frances The Mute to compare it to DITC and IMO it blows it out of the water. i've never heard such a brilliant album. All the tracks have memorable lines, and memorable instrumental parts. Everything comes to shape perfectly. The orchestral arragements add tons of depth to the songs and everything just syncs together perfectly. Personal favourite tracks would have to be Cygnus....Vismund Cygnus, L'Via L'Viaquez, Miranda That Ghost Just Isn't Holy Any More and Cassandra Geminni

(I've heard The Widow too many times to enjoy it too much at the moments )