Your Favorite Albums

Fervent Enigma

Loveless
What are some of your favorite musical albums throughout the annals of history? No judgement here, no matter what musical style, band, genre, etc, feel free to lay bare your favorite escapades. The following list of mine isn’t a direct list of numerical favorites in an absolute order, merely a loose list of some of my favorite albums. Simple as that.

I’ll start with a top five:

1. Dummy by Portishead. Simply speaking, this is one of my favorite releases of all time. It’s dark, contemplative, expressive and has a uniqueness all its own. A noir experience between back alleys and lost love, a truly beautiful album.

2. Loveless by My Bloody Valentine. This album basically encapsulates my personality and is the sonic equivalent of a positive and carefree day at the park/library. The sound is like a tipsy version of The Cure wishing for the best and not the worst.

3. Teen Dream by Beach House. This is the crystallization of dream pop and shoegaze into one modern blueprint. It’s catchy, commercially accessible, yet challenging all within the same breadth. Years later after Beach House has released other albums, this still holds up as my favorite and is a benchmark release.

4. In The Aeroplane Over The Sea by Neutral Milk Hotel. This album is like catching beautiful glimpses of a surreal dream where every scene is absolutely meaningful and odd. I can’t really place why the lyrics and settings are so meaningful to me, but they are. This is a deep dive within a fever dream of innocence and the loss of it. Every time I listen to the abstract lyrics and simple instrumentation I get chills and begin to cry. This album is something I’d take with me to the grave.

5. The Queen is Dead by The Smiths. Simply put, The Smiths will always be my Beatles. Morrissey, despite his character flaws will always be my John Lennon. Every lyric and idea from this album flows deeply within my subconscious from hearing it at a young age. Flowing poetry, bountiful musicianship from Jonny Marr and company. This album is the quintessential indie record.

shoot! ^_^
 
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Oburi

All praise Grail
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I recently listened to some of the newer material released by Neutral Milk Hotel, like Ferris Wheels on Fire, which I really liked. Saw them live a few years ago, and I saw Jeff perform acoustic solo before that. Some legendary shows.
 
Live Art - Belà Fleck and the Flecktones
A Live One - Phish
The Beatles/The White Album - The Beatles
Physical Graffiti - Led Zeppelin
Under the Table and Dreaming - Dave Matthews Band
Tatoom - Andy Narell
A Tribute to Jit Samaroo - Amoco Renegades
Bright Eyes - Victor Provost
Pillar - Jonathan Scales Fourchestra
Appetite for Distruction - Guns and Roses
Second Helping - Lynyrd Skynyrd
 

Oburi

All praise Grail
I have to agree with Physical Graffiti being the best Led Zeppelin album and disagree about Piper being the best Pink Floyd album. I do love it, but I prefer the Meddle - Wall stretch of albums more. As for Syd Barrett, I actually prefer some of his other random material to his work on Piper. His three tracks for their follow up album, Saucerful of Secrets, make up an epic trilogy of his final songs for Pink Floyd. Vegetable Man, Scream Thy Last Scream and Jugband Blues .

Also this little gem (humoring Dylan)
 

Matteo Metallo

Veritas Non Verba Magistri
Piper was the first album I had by them ironically because I was trying to find the track Echoes from Meddle. These were pre-internet days so I thought the extra long spacey psych track I heard by Pink Floyd was either Astronomy or Interstellar, so I grabbed it on cassette from Sam Goody's I believe, lol. Along with the nostalgia I like how raw and unfiltered it sounds, but still comes across as pop music. That's also why Their Satanic Majesty's Request is my favorite Stones album.
 

Gobolatula

praise be to grail!
I'd like to echo what Fervent Enigma said about The Smiths and Beach House, big time.

My "favorite album" tends to fluctuate. When I was younger, "The Downward Spiral" by Nine Inch Nails was what I was all about. About a decade ago, might have been "Vauxhall and I" by Morrissey.

These days, Beach House is actually my favorite duo. While I'm not sure it's actually their best record, "Depression Cherry" might have impacted me the most. There's a lot of variance in production and mood. There are some downright dreary moments and then suddenly it's euphorically hopeful. The final song "Days of Candy" might be one of my favorite songs ever. It's a sad song that you love to be sad to.
 

Johnstantine

Skibbidy Boo Bop
Not really in any order, but I can listen to these albums from start to finish every time:

Lateralus - Tool
The Impossible Kid - Aesop Rock
Modern Vampires of the City - Vampire Weekend
Discovery - Daft Punk
The Fall of a Rebel Angel - Enigma
Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots - The Flaming Lips
Supermodel - Foster the People
The Wall - Pink Floyd
Demon Days - Gorillaz
Continuum - John Mayer
808s and Heartbreak - Kanye West
Deloused in the Comatorium - The Mars Volta
Thirteenth Step - A Perfect Circle
 

Fervent Enigma

Loveless
it’s always been a toss up for me between Master of Puppets and Ride The Lightning, and I’m so torn! Both albums are supreme.

The Downward Spiral by NIN and Lateralus by Tool were some of my most favorite albums growing up, and they’re still close to me. TDS is full of layered synth wrapped up in gauze, I love it. Lateralus is that math/prog rock album that keeps on giving.
 

Griffith

With the streak of a tear, Like morning dew
it’s always been a toss up for me between Master of Puppets and Ride The Lightning, and I’m so torn! Both albums are supreme.

Same, but I put Master since it's a more consistent, cohesive and therefore transcendent example of an album as a medium, even if Ride might be the best and overall most representative collection of songs the band ever put out, and during the peak of their creative powers (song to song it still has the roots of Kill 'Em All as well as the seeds of Master, Justice and even The Black Album). It probably helped that it represents their best songwriting lineup, technically a quintet, with prominent contributions from Mustaine as well as Burton and Hammett. So yeah, RTL, best version of Metallica ever! But enough of this watered down pop, if one really wants to hear the best, uncut shit they gotta listen to... Megadeth! (Pretty much anything between 1985-1997 and 2004-2011, and their last album rocked too) :badbone:

 
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Kind of Blue - Miles Davis
Moanin - Art Blakey
Blue Train - John Coltrane
Led Zeppelin I - Led Zeppelin
Revolver - The Beatles
I Put A Spell On You - Nina Simone
The Doors - The Doors
Chicago Transit Authority - Chicago
Every Picture Tells A Story - Rod Stewart
What's Going On - Marvin Gaye
Sticky Fingers - The Rolling Stones
Songs in the Key of Life - Stevie Wonder
Close to the Edge - Yes
Wish You Were Here - Pink Floyd
The Survivor's Suite - Keith Jarrett
Rumours - Fleetwood Mac
...And Justice For All - Metallica
Blood Sugar Sex Magik - Red Hot Chili Peppers
In Utero - Nirvana
Ready to Die - The Notorious B.I.G.
Illmatic - Nas
7 Day Theory - 2Pac/Makaveli
Yourself or Someone Like You - Matchbox Twenty
The Blueprint - Jay-Z
A Rush of Blood to the Head - Coldplay
good kid m.A.A.d city - Kendrick Lamar
 
Same, but I put Master since it's a more consistent, cohesive and therefore transcendent example of an album as a medium...

But is it better than St. Anger?!! If we're talking remasters, someone needs to replace James on that album ... but that's not a remaster, what am I thinking. If St. Anger weren't on the Metallica banner and it had a different vocalist, it would actually be JUST OK.

Speaking of, curious to know what you think of the original versions of the first 3 albums vs the remaster since you linked the remaster of MOP. I only own both versions of Justice.

I feel like my list would change if I compared it with this - http://skullknight.net/forum/index.php?threads/albums-for-desert-island.15466/

I'd think to take my favorite albums if I were stranded on that lonely island ... or maybe I wouldn't take them all fearing burn-out.
 
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Griffith

With the streak of a tear, Like morning dew
But is it better than St. Anger?!! If we're talking remasters, someone needs to replace James on that album ... but that's not a remaster, what am I thinking. If St. Anger weren't on the Metallica banner and it had a different vocalist, it would actually be JUST OK.

First of all, for bringing this up, BOOOOOO! Secondly, since we're here, if you want to listen to a decent version of St. Anger by Metallica listen to the rehearsal versions, or better yet, since they're nowhere near their best at this time, as reflected by the album, remove Metallica altogether. Or best yet, listen to something else!

Speaking of, curious to know what you think of the original versions of the first 3 albums vs the remaster since you linked the remaster of MOP. I only own both versions of Justice.

Well, since you asked... Kill 'Em All sounds great, like the closest thing to the original vinyl as you'll get digitally. Ride less so because they did attempt to cut down on the massive amount of reverb they put on that album, so YMMV, but they definitely tried to make that one sound more dry or "standard." Master sounds fine, but it's pretty consistent, whether it's the CD master, DCC Gold edition, mastered for itunes, or the remaster; the original vinyl mix is best, but it's not like the music is suddenly gonna be bad on any version of that one. Justice sounds like Justice, they didn't fix or fuck anything further, which is sort of a shame because Jason's bass playing is awesome on the Guitar Hero tracks, so I'd actually like a "standard" remix of this (it's not like the original will cease to exist). The Garage Days EP definitely benefits from the remaster to my ear.

Anyway, they're not remixing these remasters dramatically, and all these albums have been quietly remastered multiple times, usually for the worse, for various CD reissues over the years, so most people just aren't going to hear the difference anyway. Someone's "original" version from the CD they once had is probably already a remaster of sorts. So, in short, they're fine, maybe not the very best version of each album (I could list my opinion on every album if you'd like =), but probably the best editions across the board after the vinyls. After those, I'd go with the mastered for itunes standard editions, which fixed a lot of shit by holding them to some objective sonic standards other than making each reissue louder, especially on Death Magnetic where they finally fixed the clipping issue from their stangery attempts to make it sound as dry, rich and loud as possible (the Guitar Hero 3 versions, while less cohesively mixed, still have more sonic clarity, depth and variation). I'm glad they finally got over that on the latest album and just fucking mixed it like it's mainstream music for human ears rather than some statement of sonic extremity to try and reclaim their primacy or something.

On the flipside of the less is more approach, Dave Mustaine Megadeth went the full remix route for Megadeth, with mixed results. Some of those early, infamously poorly produced albums benefit greatly from being mixed more like a modern album, especially Killing is My Business (this album's guitars really sound like they want to kill you) and So Far... So Good... So What! sounds much clearer too. Peace Sells already sounded good so that just messed with it's iconic sound and the Rust in Peace remix is a complete stay away for that reason and because of different takes being used and even re-recorded vocals due to lost tapes. I heard it said best that those earlier albums will sound like different albums, whereas the Rust remix IS a different album, and far the worse than one which was already basically perfect.


Uhhh, back on topic, let's add Bad Religion's Stranger Than Fiction, great classic, and The Process of Belief, great comeback, for me.
 
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Fervent Enigma

Loveless
^great post. I’m not too well versed in speed metal verse, but I’ve always appreciated those bands. Slayer, as well. Reign In Blood was one of my favorite metal releases for a long time.

I also really loved black metal, in particular, as well as some doom metal. Ulver, (some) Burzum, and Emperor were some of my fave bands growing up. It was an extreme form of metal that I absolutely fell head over heels for. Bergtatt by Ulver is probably one of my favorite ever black metal albums, even though it’s haunted with crystalline, clean vocals and gorgeous melodies. There’s something very ancient and old world-like about the entire sound, almost as you’re delving into an ancient forest within middle earth.
 
I try to listen to lots of different music, but I also have pretty bad taste (truth be told) I shift what I'm listening to periodically, so I have "kicks" where I will listen to certain genres or mood based music for a certain amount of time. Here are some of my favorite albums/artists:

Megadeth: Rust In Peace, Killing is My business, Peace Sells, So Far So Good So What, Youthanasia, Countdown To Extinction (basically anything 90's or 80's megadeth is my go to favorite band)

Kreator: favorite german thrash band, I love these guys. Phantom antichrist was a really good fresh of breath air for thrash metal when it came out.

Havok: Great new(er) thrash band

Old Metallica, obviously, is very good. Not so much a fan of the newer stuff, don't hate it though.

I'm also a big fan of judas priest, iron maiden, primus, nuclear assault, testament, exodus, slayer, overkill, anthrax, sacred reich, annihilator, suicidal tendencies. I went through a period where I only listened to thrash metal when I was like 15, never quite recovered (still love it though)

I spent a long time typing after this but I realize I could go on forever, I will just make a list of favorite artists

Tyler The Creator, Mac Demarco, Boy Pablo, CHON, Polyphia, Frank Ocean, Kanye West, OUR BOY SUSUMU HIRASAWA, Asian Kung Fu Generation, Survive Said The Prophet, Die Among Heroes, The Beatles, MF DOOM, Kali Uchis, Grimes, lots and lots of japanese stuff like holy crap, Black Label Society, Joe Hisaishi, Mick Gordon, CCR, Thundercat, DETHKLOK, Kid Cudi, Biggie, Dio, Pantera, Fleetwood Mac, Gary Moore, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Bob Dylan, 9mm Parabellum Bullet, The Pillows.

I HAVE BAD TASTE AND NO FRIENDS, PLEASE RECOMMEND ME SOME MUSIC!!!!!
 
The Voice of The Sparrow: The Very Best of Edith Piaf, i still remember asking my mother to put it on and me lying on my room floor during those gentle warm Saturday Spring mornings, while she cleaned the house...I don't know french, but then again, i never really needed to, Edith's voice was all 6 year old Kenny needed.
 
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Matteo Metallo

Veritas Non Verba Magistri
Uhhh, back on topic
With that being the case I wanna add the following:
Sleep - Holy Mountain
Flower Travellin Band - Satori
Gza - Liquid Swords
Jimi Hendrix Exp - Electric Ladyland
13th Floor Elevators - The Psychedelic Sounds Of...
Syd Barrett - Barrett
Swell Maps - Jane From Occupied Europe
Alice Coltrane - Journey in Satchidananda
Queens of the Stone Age - Self Titled 1st album
Tool - Aenima

There’s something very ancient and old world-like about the entire sound, almost as you’re delving into an ancient forest within middle earth.
Burzum's Filosofem puts me in this place you speak of. Read an interview with one of the Norwegian groups that essentially said that was their goal to place the listener in a dark, snow covered artic forest. The whole "satanic" label for Black Metal to them was totally contrary to their pagan roots and what they were trying to invoke.
 
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Fervent Enigma

Loveless
Here are some more of my favorites in no specific order:

Heaven or Las Vegas by The Cocteau Twins
Souvlaki by Slowdive
The Unnatural World by Have A Nice Life
Harmony In Ultraviolet by Tim Hecker
Abyss by Pastel Ghost
 

Griffith

With the streak of a tear, Like morning dew
I try to listen to lots of different music, but I also have pretty bad taste (truth be told)
Here are some of my favorite albums/artists:

Megadeth: Rust In Peace, Killing is My business, Peace Sells, So Far So Good So What, Youthanasia, Countdown To Extinction (basically anything 90's or 80's megadeth is my go to favorite band)

:judo:

Agreed on Megadeth's 80s and 90s output, the latter of which is underrated (especially Cryptic Writings), but why no mention of their thrash metal rebirth in the 2000s? That run Dave had between The System Has Failed (not really thrashy, but it sure sounded good coming off St. Anger) and Thirteen really solidified my love for them while Metallica kept tripping over their dicks. Actually, Metallica aside, most of those 80s thrash bands held up really well into the 2000s, especially last decade when most gave up trying to be current and just embraced what they (still) did well. Anyway, Megadeth's Dystopia was great too and the perfect album for the last four years.

I HAVE BAD TASTE AND NO FRIENDS, PLEASE RECOMMEND ME SOME MUSIC!!!!!

Well, since you have a mix of metal and hip hop among your favorites try latter day Eminem if you can stand him. They're basically like lyrical guitar shred albums, particularly the second Mathers LP and Kamikaze (but of course not as good or novel as back when he actually shocked people). It probably won't enhance your taste or friends though. :ganishka:
 
:judo:

Agreed on Megadeth's 80s and 90s output, the latter of which is underrated (especially Cryptic Writings), but why no mention of their thrash metal rebirth in the 2000s? That run Dave had between The System Has Failed (not really thrashy, but it sure sounded good coming off St. Anger) and Thirteen really solidified my love for them while Metallica kept tripping over their dicks.
Actually I agree with you about this for the most part, there are a couple of years of megadeth stuff I genuinely don't like but there is some newer stuff I do like, as you mentioned, dystopia is a great album. It slipped my mind completely for some reason. I also liked some songs on united abominations and especially endgame (head crusher is such a good song), and thirteen as well. Thirteen was one of the first megadeth albums I discovered, so I have a soft spot for it. I didn't like super collider, the system has failed, or the world needs a hero very much at all though.

Well, since you have a mix of metal and hip hop among your favorites try latter day Eminem if you can stand him. They're basically like lyrical guitar shred albums, particularly the second Mathers LP and Kamikaze (but of course not as good or novel as back when he actually shocked people). It probably won't enhance your taste or friends though. :ganishka:
I hope I don't sound rude, but there is just something about eminem's style I don't really like. I don't really like how "edgy" he is. For example, I like MF DOOM because he sounds kinda off kilter, and funny. I don't know. I just think a lot of eminem's stuff has aged poorly. (Sorry I'm not trying to be rude!)

Unrelated, but maybe this is a hot take(?) As a fan of Rap and Metal I think rap and metal are something that seldom work well when combined. Actually that's probably general consensus.

I genuinely Believe Limp Bizkit's existence is a low point in music history.
 
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Griffith

With the streak of a tear, Like morning dew
Actually I agree with you about this for the most part, there are a couple of years of megadeth stuff I genuinely don't like but there is some newer stuff I do like, as you mentioned, dystopia is a great album. It slipped my mind completely for some reason. I also liked some songs on united abominations and especially endgame (head crusher is such a good song), and thirteen as well. Thirteen was one of the first megadeth albums I discovered, so I have a soft spot for it. I didn't like super collider, the system has failed, or the world needs a hero very much at all though.

I agree on The World Needs a Hero, it sounds like muddled crap compared to most of their work, but I'd probably rather listen to it than Load Risk and Pooper Collider. The System Has Failed was kind of like Thirteen was for you because it got me back into the band in a more serious way. I still love Blackmail the Universe and the lyrics overall seem more personal because it was originally a solo album, but overall it doesn't sound much different from most of their more rock heavy 90s material. I love the first half of United Abominations, that was their real return to thrash, though I thought the second half was uneven. Endgame was awesome, just a modern wall-to-wall thrasher, and Headcrusher is my cut favorite too. Thirteen is like a career retrospective with some misses, but when it hits it's still great, and Dystopia might be the best thrash album they've done since Rust in Peace. So, all I'm all it's been a pretty great and prolific career (until cancer and the pandemic Dave put out an album every 2-3 years like clockwork) and I'm still looking forward to their next album(s).

I hope I don't sound rude, but there is just something about eminem's style I don't really like. I don't really like how "edgy" he is.

Not rude at all, Eminem IS objectively obnoxious and definitely not for everybody. You almost had to be there at the time when it was somewhat authentic and funny and not just an edgy contrivance for word salad. It also doesn't help that unlike a mainstream hip hop figure like Jay-Z, a black man whom went from street hustling to becoming a captain of industry, a compelling American story that's still novel and relevant fodder for his art, Eminem just from a poor white asshole to a rich one.

Unrelated, but maybe this is a hot take(?) As a fan of Rap and Metal I think rap and metal are something that seldom work well when combined. Actually that's probably general consensus.

I genuinely Believe Limp Bizkit's existence is a low point in music history.

I saw them live at Metallica's 2003 Summer Sanitarium tour! They basically ended their set early because nobody liked them, at least that's how I remember it. Anyway, I agree, largely because it's the purview of white rappers without an authentic voice for hip hop, and metal fans aren't going to be for it (Body Count is distinctive for this reason). Also, like rock, hip hop is very loose, malleable and experimental while vanilla metal is one of the more narrow and conservative (not politically, everybody) forms of music ever in my eyes. I mean, the sound quality and techniques of metal have improved since Black Sabbath, but otherwise the conventions can still be largely the same. Compare that to rock or hip hop where the popular music within the genres becomes unrecognizable from their earlier counterparts so many years and decades apart. Part of that is because metal has never been as popular as those genres, and becomes "corrupted" when it does, either by becoming more like mainstream rock or hip hop.


Oh geez, I'm sorry for all this metal, rap, and rap metal talk folks, nobody wants that. Here's the palette cleanser: The Jimi Hendrix Experience - Are You Experienced. I'll also pose this thought experiment: Did Jimi Hendrix simultaneously invent metal guitar and rap-style vocals? That's a trick question because he did neither! But few debut albums can also pass for a "Greatest Hits" compilation, and this is one of the best examples. Another: Van Halen I.
 
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