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The Onion A.V. Club brings us a super fun piece on albums that work best when listened to from start to finish. They’ve compiled a list of hits ranging from well-known classics like Sinatra’s 1958 Come Fly With Me and Randy Newman’s 1974 Good Old Boys to more obscure indie fare like Mike Watt’s 1997 rock opera, Contemplating the Engine Room. (A note on that last one: I ran sound for Watt at the Tallahassee show of his Engine Room tour. Or I should say, I stood by as Watt’s road sound guy operated the board and sang backup vocals from the board while running the show.)
This got me wondering what my favorite start-to-finish albums are. An all-time favorite is Doolittle from the Pixies — I’ve listened to that record hundreds of times straight through. A current favorite is The Thermals’ The Body, The Blood, The Machine from 2006. It’s upbeat indie pop goodness from start to finish (and it doesn’t hurt that they’re clearly have a good time while singing about serious stuff). Here’s a video from that record (though honestly, it’s best in the context of the entire album, which is a seamless 36-minute masterpiece):
What are Your Favorites?
So I’ve listed two of my favorite start-to-finish albums. What are yours? Drop some knowledge in the comments.
Comments (104)
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Personally, I really rate The Joshua Tree-a lot of the songs come as a surprise (like when you have three love songs followed by Bullet The Blue Sky’s insane thrash, or when Trip Through Your Wires brings in a harmonica) and none of the songs are filler. It’s a pleasure to listen to all the way through, whereas a lot of bands who’ve written far better singles never wrote an album which worked better from start to finish. Speaking of which, does anyone agree with me that some albums would work better if they were shorter, with a few filler tracks pruned off?
posted by Dan Letbelm on 4-15-2009 at 7:43 pm
I can’t believe Sgt. Pepper’s didn’t make the list.
posted by taylor on 4-15-2009 at 7:44 pm
Eve6 – Horrorscope
Jay-Z – The Blueprint
Barenaked Ladies – Stunt
posted by Patrick on 4-15-2009 at 8:14 pm
NIN Downward Spiral. Great tracks, but together listened from begining to end, its got a great story.
posted by Wayne on 4-15-2009 at 8:15 pm
The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust, anyone?
posted by Kelly on 4-15-2009 at 8:31 pm
I just came on to vote for Ziggy Stardust too. Also Blondie’s Parallel Lines.
posted by lisa peet on 4-15-2009 at 8:36 pm
Hmm… I love full albums. Any album that is better being listened to in full is okay by me.
American Idiot by Green Day springs to mind. While it’s singles were overplayed (unfortunate) at release, listening to the full album was great.
I also enjoy the Reel Big Fish albums, which I feel work best listened to in their entirety.
As for fluid and seamless works, I can’t think of any – maybe the new Decemberists album. But I haven’t listened to that long enough to pass judgement.
Most Beatles albums do it for me, though.
posted by Matthew on 4-15-2009 at 8:45 pm
Fantasy Black Channel by Late of the Pier
Just find it and listen to it.
I won’t try to explain it.
posted by Curious George on 4-15-2009 at 8:56 pm
a few of my favorites…
Velvet Underground-self titled
Pavement-Slanted and Enchanted
Nas-Illmatic
A Tribe Called Quest-Midnight Marauders
Radiohead-Kid A
Stereolab-Emperor Tomato Ketchup
Prince-Purple Rain
posted by El Mando on 4-15-2009 at 8:57 pm
Pink Floyd – Dark Side of the Moon, The Wall, Wish You Were Here.
The transitions from song to song, the story telling…cant beat it.
posted by Tony on 4-15-2009 at 9:10 pm
Guys and gals! Com’on! Rush’s 2112, especially side one! Let ‘er rip!
posted by Marty on 4-15-2009 at 9:17 pm
Probably obvious, but My Bloody Valentine’s Loveless – don’t even bother listening to individual tracks from that one.
I also want to second their inclusion of Cursive’s Domestica, and speaking of the Decemberists, I have to mention the Tain, even though it’s an EP, and kinda obvious, again.
posted by Jeremy on 4-15-2009 at 9:19 pm
all of “the mars volta” albums are concept albums that tell a story, and all are designed to be listened to straight through. “deloused in the comatorium” is still my favorite.
hahaha one of the recaptcha words is “sh*tt*er”
posted by john m on 4-15-2009 at 9:21 pm
There are many albums I like to listen to from start to finish. Then there’s the special category of albums I will sit and listen to from start to finish without doing anything else, or put on to go for a walk. Those include:
Pink Floyd – Wish You Were Here
Radiohead – OK Computer, and Pablo Honey
Last Shadow Puppets – The Age of the Understatement
Bon Iver – For Emma, Forever Ago
R.E.M. – Document
The Decemberists – Castaways and Cutouts, and Crane Wife
The Killers – Sam’s Town
Phish – Rift
posted by Steve C on 4-15-2009 at 9:38 pm
Quadraphenia by the Who
posted by Rick S on 4-15-2009 at 9:41 pm
I will second El Mando’s choice of Kid A and also say Okkervil River’s Black Sheep Boy. Go out and buy it now.
posted by Brendan Mackie on 4-15-2009 at 9:44 pm
U2’s Unforgettable Fire is a great listen straight through
posted by Debi on 4-15-2009 at 9:50 pm
Outtakes & C Sides by Modill
Vampire Weekend (self titled)
Vampire Weekend is good music to cruise to in the spring/summer. Really pop-y and happy music. Modill is by far my favorite band in the underground hip-hop category, I think for the same reasons. I also have recently been overplaying old Beck songs.
posted by Ryan on 4-15-2009 at 9:57 pm
We’re Only in it for the Money by the Mothers of Invention.
Zappa used innovative recording techniques for this 1968 release, and it perfectly satirized the entire hippie/popular culture of the time. Stylistically, it is all over the place yet things flow seamlessly into one another. Where are the Frank Zappaz of today??
posted by Marc on 4-15-2009 at 10:07 pm
A Grand Don’t Come For Free by The Streets must be listened from start to finish – if only for the fact that there is a continuous narrative in the lyrics of each of the songs, all connecting into a story.
But my other favourites to be listened to from start to finish would be Jamie Cullum’s Catching Tales, Whatever and Ever Amen by Ben Folds Five, and Weezer’s Blue album. Those albums are definitely worth rejecting the shuffle button.
posted by dangermouse on 4-15-2009 at 10:10 pm
Brain Salad Surgery – Emerson, Lake & Palmer
“Welcome back my friends to the show that never ends”
posted by PartiallyDeflected on 4-15-2009 at 10:16 pm
Oh man, what a great question!
I’d have to go with Giant Robot by Buckethead. It’s like you’re actually at a scary amusement park. Bucketheadland 2 also has that same kind of vibe from start to finish.
Some other good ones would be AC/DC’s Back in Black, Green Day’s Dookie, any Metallica album, and Down’s Over the Under.
posted by Casey on 4-15-2009 at 10:19 pm
A Grand Don’t Come For Free by The Streets
Separation Sunday by The Hold Steady
London Calling by The Clash
Wowee Zowee by Pavement
Marquee Moon by Television
Pinkerton by Weezer
posted by Steve on 4-15-2009 at 10:21 pm
Fiona Apple’s “When the Pawn…”
Ben Folds’ “Songs for Silverman”
kd lang’s “Hymns of the 49th Parallel”
The Beatles’ white album
All awesome albums, and they work so much better as a whole than as individual tracks.
posted by Adam on 4-15-2009 at 10:21 pm
Goodbye Yellowbrick Road by Elton John, this was back before he became a diva.
posted by drHoward on 4-15-2009 at 10:25 pm
I clicked too fast
Rust Never Sleeps>>Neil Young
My my hey hey (out of the blue) (acoustic guitar) 1st song
When I get big I’m gonna get an electric guitar.
Hey hey my my (into the black) (electric guitar) last song
posted by drHoward on 4-15-2009 at 10:35 pm
blink 182’s untitled (or self-titled, depending on who you ask) album
posted by Tim on 4-15-2009 at 10:38 pm
I think more of concept albums;
Sgt Peppers – Beatles
Ziggy Stardust – David Bowie
Darkside of the Moon – Pink Floyd
Wish you were here – Pink Floyd
Paradise Theater – Styx
of course the last time I heard some of them straight through I wasn’t.
posted by kev in GA on 4-15-2009 at 10:45 pm
I definitely agree with Adam on The Beatles’ White Album. I have a friend who has it on vinyl; the experience is amazing.
I also have to second the original article mention of Sufjan Steven’s “Come on Feel the Illinoise.” His “Enjoy Your Rabbit” album is also quite an experience, although not quite as accessible.
posted by Kelsey on 4-15-2009 at 11:21 pm
Definitely in agreement over Doolittle. Frank Black expressed my suppressed rage when I was 16, track after track.
In 1998, Neutral Milk Hotel’s In the Aeroplane Over the Sea taught me how really appreciate a track listing. Listening to this album impartially or out of order is some kind of disservice to your heart.
posted by sarah! on 4-15-2009 at 11:23 pm
Red Headed Stranger-Willie
posted by manth on 4-15-2009 at 11:30 pm
Pinkerton by Weezer
Get Behind me Satan by The White Stripes
Sgt. Pepper
If It Were You by Tegan and Sara
Up to Here by The Tragically Hip
Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness by The Smashing Pumpkins
Also, Appetite For Destruction by GNR was very solid.
posted by Muppet Baby on 4-15-2009 at 11:30 pm
The Fragile by Nine Inch Nails
posted by Stevi Deter on 4-15-2009 at 11:58 pm
Aftermath by the Rolling Stones
posted by Mitch on 4-16-2009 at 12:14 am
Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon
posted by JJ on 4-16-2009 at 12:21 am
Sufjan Stevens’s Illinoise is a masterwork.
posted by Stimpy on 4-16-2009 at 1:05 am
not read all, sorry , but no floyd ?
posted by gold on 4-16-2009 at 1:16 am
Spacehog – Resident Alien (most underrated concept album EVER!)
Underworld – Second Toughest of the Infants
David Gray – White Ladder
posted by Martin on 4-16-2009 at 1:42 am
Clarity – Jimmy Eat World
Bridge Over Troubled Water – Simon & Garfunkel
Ziggy Stardust – David Bowie (glad to see that’s a popular one)
The Queen is Dead – The Smiths
and one not too many have probably heard of: It Won’t Snow Where You’re Going – Park
posted by bMAN on 4-16-2009 at 1:48 am
Fiona Apple – Extraordinary Machine
Matchbox 20 – Mad Season
Linkin Park – Meteora
Queensryche – Operation: Mindcrime
Beatles – Abbey Road
posted by Jack P on 4-16-2009 at 1:54 am
i like the video you posted from ‘the thermals’ … it reminded me alot of ‘the dead milkmen’.
…an album i recommend: ‘Jane’s addiction’: nothing shocking.
posted by david on 4-16-2009 at 2:56 am
Bright Eyes – I’m Wide Awake it’s Morning
Guns N Roses – Appetite for Destruction
Joni Mitchell – Blue
Belle and Sebastian – Dear Catastrophe Waitress
posted by Katie on 4-16-2009 at 4:08 am
Eels – Daisies of the Galaxy
Apples in Stereo – New Magnetic Wonder
Simon & Garfunkel – Bookends
posted by Dai on 4-16-2009 at 4:26 am
Funny…..one of mine is Surfer Rosa by the Pixies. Now, where is my mind?
posted by David on 4-16-2009 at 5:01 am
De La Soul – De La Soul is Dead
Radiohead – pretty much any album
Decemberists – The Hazards of Love
posted by Margo on 4-16-2009 at 6:13 am
The Avett Brothers – Emotionalism
posted by Andre on 4-16-2009 at 7:22 am
I agree with both Pink Floyd albums mentioned, but my first choice would be Pink Floyd’s “The Final Cut”. Great (though not especially happy) songs that become a spellbinding, thought-provoking whole.
posted by Jim on 4-16-2009 at 7:32 am
Elton John most certainly WAS a diva when Goodbye Yellow Brick Road came out, but that doesn’t keep it from being an amazing album. I’d throw “Elton John” and the semi-autobiographical “Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy” on the list as well.
While we’re mentioning David Bowie, I’ve always been a fan of “Diamond Dogs”.
And lastly, a recent addition to the list is “Ta-Dah” by the Scissors Sisters; not a bad song on the whole album.
posted by Sean on 4-16-2009 at 7:57 am
Funeral (Arcade Fire)
Music From Big Pink (The Band)
Heaven Or Las Vegas (Cocteau Twins)
Pet Sounds (The Beach Boys)
posted by Joe Maz on 4-16-2009 at 8:13 am
Larks’ Tongues in Aspic — King Crimson
Story of the Ghost — Phish
Close to the Edge — Yes
I agreed with many that were already posted, but just wanted to get a few in that might not otherwise.
posted by Jeff Potter on 4-16-2009 at 8:38 am
Abbey Road (The Beatles)
Kaya (Bob Marley)
Who’s Next (The Who)
posted by Tom McDonald on 4-16-2009 at 8:47 am
Damaged by Black Flag is one I just let go from beginning to end also Franz Ferdinand self titled album!
posted by heff on 4-16-2009 at 9:09 am
Another Green World (Brian Eno)
Low (Bowie)
posted by Don on 4-16-2009 at 9:45 am
Eric Clapton – Journeyman
Beatle’s White Album
Derek & the Dominos – Layla
AC/DC – Back in Black
Peter Frampton – Frampton Comes Alive
Fleetwood Mac – Rumors
posted by Anne on 4-16-2009 at 9:46 am
The Whigs- Mission Control
posted by Jody on 4-16-2009 at 9:56 am
I love Time: The Revelator by Gillian Welch. The first time I listened to it was in my car and when I got where I was going I sat in the car for ten minutes so that I could finish the album.
posted by Kyle on 4-16-2009 at 9:56 am
These have already been posted, but I’ll repeat them as my favorites:
Rush – 2112
Pink Floyd – Dark Side of the Moon
Yes – Close to the Edge
Emerson, Lake, and Palmer – Brain Salad Surgery
And finally, one that’s off the beaten path, but if you like the above, especially Yes, ELP, and Pink Floyd, I think you’ll enjoy:
Nektar – Recycled
posted by Doug on 4-16-2009 at 9:58 am
No Moody Blues?
In Search of the Lost Chord
On the Threshold of a Dream
posted by Cathy on 4-16-2009 at 10:02 am
Wilco – Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
posted by steve on 4-16-2009 at 10:20 am
Wow, tough list to put together. Some of these have been mentioned already, but:
Beatles – anything really, but Abbey Road is the best example, IMO. Side B is basically one big medley after all.
Radiohead – once again hard to pick, but the Bends is the one that does it for me.
Love to see the Tragically Hip mentioned! Up to Here is great, but I think Fully Completely is the most complete (sorry) album they’ve made.
Led Zeppelin III is incredible acheivement, start to finish.
Neil Young – Harvest
The National – Boxer
Neko Case – Fox Confessor Brings the Flood
Another vote for Derek and the Dominoes too! So many great albums, I’m sure I missed at least one.
posted by Bert on 4-16-2009 at 10:38 am
Narrow Stairs- Death Cab for Cutie
Tell All Your Friends- Taking Back Sunday
posted by Sarah on 4-16-2009 at 10:40 am
Yes, yes, yes to Ziggy Stardust and Sgt. Pepper.
Also:
Revolver: Beatles
London Calling: Clash
East Side Story: Squeeze
Days of Future Passed: Moody Blues
Pet Sounds: Beach Boys
Anything by Splitsville!
posted by loripop on 4-16-2009 at 10:40 am
Ack! How could I forget “Hounds of Love” by Kate Bush!
posted by loripop on 4-16-2009 at 10:43 am
Narrow Stairs- Death Cab for Cutie
Tell All Your Friends- Taking Back Sunday
Risen- O.A.R.
posted by Sarah on 4-16-2009 at 10:46 am
Whoops – I forgot to mention the Flaming Lips – Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots. Armaggedon vs. Robots never sounded so good!
posted by Bert on 4-16-2009 at 10:55 am
What? No Tool people? Really? 10,000 Days is the absolute best album to listen to from start to finish, period.
Shine On You Crazy Diamond (all parts)by Pink Floyd, while not an entire album, is 25 minutes that is amazing and should only be listened to start to finish as well.
posted by Russ on 4-16-2009 at 10:58 am
Not listed above:
Tommy from The Who
Schoolboys in Disgrace from The Kinks
Bone Machine from Tom Waits
posted by Wrongo on 4-16-2009 at 11:12 am
This is the real tragedy of MP3s – the decline of a well put-together album. I could rant for days; another time.
Depeche Mode: Black Celebration
Beginning with “Flies on the Windscreen” it descends to deep, dark – yet warm – depths. Then it closes with “New Life” which so buoyantly lifts you that it can leave you with a euphoric effect.
It must be listened to in whole, uninterrupted – truly greater than the sum of the parts.
posted by n2y2 on 4-16-2009 at 11:15 am
Achtung Baby by u2
Barometer Soup by Jimmy Buffett
X&Y by Coldplay
posted by Mavis on 4-16-2009 at 11:43 am
Black celebration is a great album but for me Violator has always been DM:s high point – both as a whole and in its parts.
NIN – the downward spiral is also a brilliant suggestion.
Godspeed You! Black Emperor – lift yr. skinny fists like antennas to heaven (warmly recommended although kind of cheating on this list since it doesn’t really have individual tracks and you get a flowchart in the booklet to describe the record.)
posted by kojjan on 4-16-2009 at 11:49 am
Songs in the Key of Life by Stevie Wonder
Inner Visions by Stevie Wonder
Kind of Blue by Miles Davis
Moondance by Van Morrison
Fisherman’s Blues by the Waterboys
posted by Pithecanthropus on 4-16-2009 at 11:53 am
David & David – Boomtown
Lou Reed – New York
Radiohead – OK Computer
Coldplay – Parachutes
Coldplay – A Rush of Blood to the Head
R.E.M. – Fables of the Reconstrucion
R.E.M. – Life’s Rich Pageant
R.E.M. – Document
Wilco – Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
U2 – The Joshua Tree (The best album ever. Period.)
posted by TC on 4-16-2009 at 12:06 pm
Hotel California and Desparado – The Eagles
The Pretender – Jackson Browne
Goodbye Yellow Brick Road and Captain Fantastic – Elton John
Heart Like a Wheel – Linda Ronstadt
…and thanks, TC for bring up Boomtown…it’s on iTunes now; everyone should get it.
posted by Zane on 4-16-2009 at 12:10 pm
In no particular order:
Rush:2112
Tom Waits – Blue Valentine
The Beatles – White Album
Jethro Tull – Minstrel in the Gallery
Led Zeppelin – Physical Graffiti
Counting Crows – August and everything After
Gawd, I wish I still had all of my albums..
posted by Mike on 4-16-2009 at 12:38 pm
Patty Griffin – Living with Ghosts and 1000 Kisses
The Spring Standards – No One Will Know EP
Neko Case – Fox Confessor Brings the Flood
posted by Nicole on 4-16-2009 at 12:45 pm
the Killers – Sam’s Town
Bloc Party – A Weekend in the City
Propagandhi – How to Clean Everything
Rage Against the Machine – RAtM (self titled)
Sublime – 40 Oz to Freedom
Face to Face – Don’t Turn Away
Green Day – Dookie
the Thermals – the Body the Blood the Machine
Beastie Boys – Licensed to Ill
Those are some that I have listened to over and over in the last 20 years or so…
posted by Laura on 4-16-2009 at 1:02 pm
The Cars debut album
posted by Fred on 4-16-2009 at 1:17 pm
Serge Gainsgourg – The Ballad of Melody Nelson
posted by Adam on 4-16-2009 at 1:17 pm
Enya-can’t remember the title. The one in roman numerals
posted by Vickey on 4-16-2009 at 1:26 pm
Get A Grip – Aerosmith
Third Stage – Boston
America Town – Five for Fighting
Enema of the State – Blink 182
A1A – Jimmy Buffett
Changes in Latitudes Changes in Attitudes – Jimmy Buffett
posted by Brian K on 4-16-2009 at 1:30 pm
Neutral Milk Hotel – either On Avery Island OR In An Aeroplane Over the Sea.
Amazing albums; so complete and so cohesive. And the entire In An Aeroplane… album is based on the lead singer’s obsession with/love for Anne Frank. I can’t believe they haven’t been mentioned yet!!
posted by Chelsea on 4-16-2009 at 1:31 pm
definitely Sgt. Pepper’s (Beatles)
and Dark Side of the Moon (Pink Floyd)
i second the Spacehog-Resident Alien nomination. great album, truly under-rated.
seems like any Moody Blues’ seems to work best when in context with the rest of the album.
posted by the creature on 4-16-2009 at 1:36 pm
The Ataris – So Long, Astoria
Queen – A Night At The Opera
posted by Duster63 on 4-16-2009 at 1:38 pm
The Alan Parsons Project — Turn of a Friendly Card (can’t believe no one said APP)
Spock’s Beard — Snow
October Project’s self-titled debut
Phideaux — Ghost Story (If you’ve never heard Phideaux, google his stuff. GREAT.)
Dan Fogelberg — The Innocent Age
posted by Duke E on 4-16-2009 at 1:41 pm
Way to go Wrongo! Tommy!
Another old fave: “Journey to the Center of the Earth” by Rick Wakeman
posted by Jon on 4-16-2009 at 1:44 pm
Pearl Jam – No Code.
It didn’t produce the singles that their earlier albums did, but the music just flows from start to finish. My favorite PJ album by far.
posted by Joe on 4-16-2009 at 1:45 pm
Abbey Road – The Beatles
Smash – The Offspring
Songs for the Deaf – Queens of the Stone Age
Harvest – Neil Young
40 oz. to Freedom – Sublime
posted by D Hue on 4-16-2009 at 1:57 pm
The Avalanches – Since I Left You. A masterpiece that definitely works better as a long-played piece.
ReCaptcha – Historic overshot?
posted by Dinosaur on 4-16-2009 at 1:57 pm
Bless you, loripop, for mentioning my own personal fave, Kate Bush’s “Hounds Of Love”! Not so much the first side, although the songs are fab, but the second side is the real concept piece, “The Ninth Wave”, wherein a woman is drowning (”And Dream Of Sheep”), imagines herself slipping away as she falls asleep (”Under Ice”), then voices from her past wake her (”Waking The Witch”), she sees her family going on without her (”Watching You Without Me”), her future self reminds her of all she has to come (”Jig Of Life”), and she reawakens (”Hello Earth”) and returns to her loved ones (”The Morning Fog”). Now *that’s* a concept! Blew my pretty little head when I was 21, oh so long ago (1985).
posted by Tiny Dancer on 4-16-2009 at 2:05 pm
Although this album doesn’t find itself in the same category as the majority of the classic rock albums listed above, but Elvis Presley’s final masterpiece Elvis Country (I’m 10,000 Years Old) deserves to make the cut. The material chosen for the project was very strong and Elvis still had an incredibly strong voice at the time.
posted by MJB on 4-16-2009 at 2:25 pm
Although I’m not the biggest Killers fan, I agree about Sam’s Town.
Vampire Weekend – self titled
Neutral Milk – In An Aeroplane Over the Sea
Rufus Wainwright – Release the Stars
posted by Deanna J on 4-16-2009 at 2:39 pm
August and Everything After – Counting Crows
(Mike – I second this!)
posted by K on 4-16-2009 at 2:52 pm
How London Calling by the Clash was not included on that list is beyond understanding.
posted by Andrew P on 4-16-2009 at 3:15 pm
i will list some repeats from above here -
Pink Floyd- Wish You Were Here, Dark Side of the Moon
Bowie-Ziggy Stardust,Low
Beatles -Sgt Pepper’s
Who-Quadrophenia
Eno-Another Green World
Jefferson Airplane-Surrealistic Pillow
Jefferson Airplane- After Bathing At Baxter’s (simulates an acid trip)
Stones-Their Satanic Majesties Request, Beggar’s Banquet, Let it Bleed, Sticky Fingers,Exile on Main Street
Gun Club-Fire of Love (absolutely brilliant and visceral punk/delta blues fusion)
B52’s-B52’s (for listening AND dancing!)
Robyn Hitchcock- I Often Dream of Trains
Bill Nelson-The Love That Whirls (former BeBop Deluxe guitarist)
Serge Gainsbourg-Ballad of Melody Nelson
(awesome 30-min Lolita-type story, in French, heavily influenced Beck’s later stuff)
Bill Frisell-The Intercontinentals
Meat Puppets-Up On the Sun
Iggy/Stooges-Funhouse,Raw Power
Television-Marquee Moon
Hendrix-Electric Ladyland
Dylan-Blood on the Tracks
Sonic Youth-Sister
Patti Smith-Horses
Ramones- Ramones,Leave Home, Rocket to Russia,Road to Ruin
Pixies- Surfer Rosa, Come on Pilgrim, Doolttle,Bossanova
Blue Oyster Cult-Secret Treaties
Bjork-Vespertine
Hank Williams-Golden Greats
ok, i’ll stop there…..!!!
posted by insect surfer dave on 4-16-2009 at 3:18 pm
Prince, the symbol album, tells a story the whole way through. My absolute fave for start-to-finish and must-be-in-that-order
posted by NFAH on 4-16-2009 at 3:34 pm
Why is it that most have never heard of the top 15? I would bet less than 50% of the readers have more than 3 of the records mentioned. That being said, I would agree that SGT. PEPPERS is a must. Led Zeppelin IV is also an obvious choice.
posted by SoonerSteve on 4-16-2009 at 3:43 pm
DMX – it’s dark and hell is hot
Floyd – Dark side of the moon
2pac – all eyes on me
Zepplin 3 & 4
Elton John – yellow brick road
Rage Against the Machine – Evil Empire
AC/DC – back in black
ky-mani marley – radio
bob marley – exodus
lil wayne – the carter III
system of a down – toxicity
slipknot – vol 3 subliminal verses
and all NAS albums
posted by kraven moorehead on 4-16-2009 at 5:20 pm
Jeff Buckley-Grace
posted by Karel on 4-16-2009 at 7:17 pm
A few personal favorites, in no particular order….
Neon Bible – Arcade Fire
Siamese Dream – Smashing Pumpkmins
…And Out Come The Wolves – Rancid
Enter The 36 Chambers – Wu Tang Clan
Less Talk, More Rock – Propagandhi
Dear You – Jawbreaker
So Long And Thanks For The Shoes – NOFX
Kind of Blue – Miles Davis
Carnavas – Silversun Pickups
Thriller – Michael Jackson
posted by Ryan Motteram on 4-16-2009 at 9:03 pm
Savage Garden – Affirmation
Javier Mendoza – Tinta Y Papel
-PJM
posted by Patrick J. on 4-17-2009 at 12:10 am
Prince – Purple Rain
Yes – 90125
Rush – Moving Pictures
INXS – Kick
Led Zeppelin – IV
posted by Plow on 4-18-2009 at 6:07 pm
We were dead even before the ship sank by Modest Mouse
posted by Vivek Nenmini on 4-22-2009 at 5:41 am
Pink Floyd’s \Dark Side of the Moon\ is the greatest rock album of all time, because it is superb from start to finish.
Other excellent albums from start to finish are:
Emerson, Lake and Palmer \Brain Salad Surgery\
Yes \Close to the Edge\
King Crimson \Court of Crimson King\
Pink Floyd \Animals\
The Floyd \Wish You Were Here\
Cream \Disraeli Gears\
Jimi Hendrix \Are you Experienced?\
Sex Pistols \Nevermind the Bollocks\
P.S. 1970s Progressive Rock will NEVER DIE!
posted by Dick Head on 9-4-2009 at 10:10 pm
Roger Waters : Radio KAOS
Elvis Costello : Blood & Chocolate
Phil Alvin : Un-”Sung Stories”
Tom Waits : Frank’s Wild Years
The Church : Starfish
posted by Robert Holdridge on 9-15-2009 at 4:51 pm