That's a good list datura, a bit more variety than a lot of the fogey rock been posted so far.
Top 10 albums of all time
- Thread starter R.N7
- Start date
Nope. Just the most talented and influential band other than the Beatles. Most hard rock bands( good ones) will attest to that. As far as borrowing the blues? They took it to a complete other form and level. If you think about it,isn't all music borrowed in a way?
I get annoyed when people say they invented heavy metal. Half their material is acoustic.
Rubber Soul is my favourite Beatles album by far. Not only is it remarkably consistent throughout, it's also the one with least offensive Ringo turd in the middle. It still wouldn't get into my top 10, but I'm in agreement with Deco and Dwayne on where is stands in the band's compendium.
As for Zep's pilfering tendencies:
As for Zep's pilfering tendencies:
Manics' Holy Bible? It's not even the Manics' best album. Generation Terrorists totally slays. That guitar tone
Ramones - Rocket to Russia should be on any Top 50 too, IMO.
Achives of Pain owns anything on GT, including Love's Sweet Exile and the lyrical content just takes it to another level.
Yeah get you, GT has all the whaley guitar stuff like Stay Beautiful, Crucifix kiss and Motorcycle but Holy Bible once you get it is just a cut above it in every way. Its pure Richey Edwards and more like Joy Division, more dark. Even This Is Yesterday feels sad.
Mine off the top of my head right now but always changes:
1. Manic Street Preachers - Holy Bible
2. Rush - 2112
3. Nin Nine Inch Nails - And All That Could Have Been
4. Ozzy Osbourne - Bark At The Moon
5. Buckethead - Colma
6. Racer X - Technical Difficulties
7. Smashing Pumkins - Siamese Dream
8. AudioSlave - Audioslave
9. The Cult - Electric
10. Orbital - Untitled 2
1. Manic Street Preachers - Holy Bible
2. Rush - 2112
3. Nin Nine Inch Nails - And All That Could Have Been
4. Ozzy Osbourne - Bark At The Moon
5. Buckethead - Colma
6. Racer X - Technical Difficulties
7. Smashing Pumkins - Siamese Dream
8. AudioSlave - Audioslave
9. The Cult - Electric
10. Orbital - Untitled 2
Not the first album. It was blues played hard and loud and led to heavy metal. So don't be annoyed at the facts.
Led to, yes. They didn't invent it. That's like saying The Kinks invented it by writing 'You really got me'.
Not invented, correct. No one invents music . But of all the blues based bands that came out of England in the 60 s, theirs was harder, faster, louder, and added a sound that was never heard before, leading to the evolution of Heavy Metal. Very original
Isn't the term 'heavy metal' taken from the Steppenwolf song, Born to be Wild?
I'd argue Sabbath were harder, faster and louder than Zeppelin. Hell, i'd argue Deep Purple were too.
Yes, it was the press that gave the term to the genre. Many of the bands from the era hate the term and prefer either not to be pigeonholed or simply called 'hard rock'.
Who says Led Zep invented heavy metal?
a) A genre isn't usually invented by one artist, it is a wave, an idea shared by many at the same time that grows on others.
b) There are artists much closer to that acknowledgement. For example :
Iommi. God. Period.
I was really down when I heard the song that influenced "Since I have been loving you" which is my favourite Led Zep song, yeah a few of their popular riffs and compositions aren't all that original. Having said that I've not loved Led Zep for their chart topping or whatever numbers but the quality of their sound and the way it has always grown on me. I'm not a big fan of Stairway to Heaven. There was an interview where Plant admitted that he never expected that song to become as popular as it did, which is true. I love songs like Since I have been loving you, No Quarter, Rain Song, etc a lot more.
And anyway even if they did not come up with all the compositions themselves, it really doesn't bother me much. I can call them thieves and still never get tired of their music.
@AldoPaine18
I've heard a lot refer to them as inventing it with their first record. I'd agree they contributed to it, hence their inclusion in the holy trinity alongside Sabbath and Deep Purple, but to say they invented it altogether i never agreed with. Sabbath were much heavier. Listen to Led Zepplin IV, then Master of Reality, both released in 1971. The difference is huge.
I've heard a lot refer to them as inventing it with their first record. I'd agree they contributed to it, hence their inclusion in the holy trinity alongside Sabbath and Deep Purple, but to say they invented it altogether i never agreed with. Sabbath were much heavier. Listen to Led Zepplin IV, then Master of Reality, both released in 1971. The difference is huge.
No it's not. There are bands that do great original work. Zepplin have a great sound but they lifted tunes, plain and simple. I don't care about "influence". U2 are super influencial, sadly. It's about quality and originality for me.
In no particular order:
Dream Theater - Octavarium
Therion - Vovin
Sabaton - Carolus Rex
Summoning - Stronghold
Opeth - Blackwater Park
Paradise Lost - Draconian Times
Metallica - Black Album
Iron Maiden - Dance of Death (could be about 5 other Maiden albums as well actually)
Blind Guardian - Imaginations from the Other Side
Led Zeppelin - IV
Sirenia - At Sixes and Sevens
Yeah, that's 11...
Dream Theater - Octavarium
Therion - Vovin
Sabaton - Carolus Rex
Summoning - Stronghold
Opeth - Blackwater Park
Paradise Lost - Draconian Times
Metallica - Black Album
Iron Maiden - Dance of Death (could be about 5 other Maiden albums as well actually)
Blind Guardian - Imaginations from the Other Side
Led Zeppelin - IV
Sirenia - At Sixes and Sevens
Yeah, that's 11...
Originality is overrated in music anyway. You could argue that none of the Beatles, Stones, Zeppelin, Dylan, Bowie etc. were original. Later bands like Nirvana, Radiohead, Arcade Fire and whoever certainly weren't either. Everyone is influenced by someone. The trick is making something good and real out of those influences in a way that's original to you. Bowie was a notorious magpie, yet is probably one of the most unique talents of the last 55 years.
OK Computer – Radiohead
In The Aeroplane Over The Sea – Neutral Milk Hotel
Nevermind – Nirvana
The Cranberries – No Need To Argue
The Bends – Radiohead
Kettering – The Antlers
69 Love Songs – The Magnetic Fields
Without You I'm Nothing – Placebo
Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas To Heaven – Godspeed You! Black Emperor
Sea Change – Beck
I'm not really as exclusive in era or genre as this list suggests. Just shuffled the selection on my phone and the first three tracks were by Edith Piaf, Cat Stevens and Rollins Band.
In The Aeroplane Over The Sea – Neutral Milk Hotel
Nevermind – Nirvana
The Cranberries – No Need To Argue
The Bends – Radiohead
Kettering – The Antlers
69 Love Songs – The Magnetic Fields
Without You I'm Nothing – Placebo
Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas To Heaven – Godspeed You! Black Emperor
Sea Change – Beck
I'm not really as exclusive in era or genre as this list suggests. Just shuffled the selection on my phone and the first three tracks were by Edith Piaf, Cat Stevens and Rollins Band.
Influence is overrated. As long as you don't copy actual work done by others I have no issue.
But where's the line between copying, stealing, plagiarazing and being influenced? It's a hard one for me.
Unrelated, I used to listen to The Downward Spiral by NIN quite a bit back in the day, bit of a depressing album but I think it's excellently put together. Really works well as an album, I think.
Unrelated, I used to listen to The Downward Spiral by NIN quite a bit back in the day, bit of a depressing album but I think it's excellently put together. Really works well as an album, I think.
I'm not doing this in order. Also limiting myself to one per band.
The Beatles - Abbey Road
Blind Guardian - A Night at the Opera
The Eagles - Hotel California
Guns N' Roses - Appetite for Destruction
Pain of Salvation - Remedy Lane
The Horrible Crowes - Elsie
Sonata Arctica - Reckoning Night
Ayreon - The Human Equation
The Gaslight Anthem - American Slang (although could easily change this to any other of their albums)
Blue October - Foiled
The Beatles - Abbey Road
Blind Guardian - A Night at the Opera
The Eagles - Hotel California
Guns N' Roses - Appetite for Destruction
Pain of Salvation - Remedy Lane
The Horrible Crowes - Elsie
Sonata Arctica - Reckoning Night
Ayreon - The Human Equation
The Gaslight Anthem - American Slang (although could easily change this to any other of their albums)
Blue October - Foiled
1. Low - David Bowie
Brought underground electronic music to the masses and marked a new era in music.
2. Remain in the light - Talking Heads
Fantastic album with all that strangeness that made them fantastic but refined and well composed.
3. Violator - Depeche Mode
A better album than Music for the masses and that saying something. Fantastic in most aspects.
4. Electric Warrior - T.Rex
Great songs, great lyrics from the king of glam.
5. The Beatles - Revolver
Just look at this track list:
Side one
1. "Taxman"
2. "Eleanor Rigby"
3. "I'm Only Sleeping"
4. "Love You To"
5. "Here, There and Everywhere"
6. "Yellow Submarine"
7. "She Said She Said"
Side two
1. "Good Day Sunshine"
2. "And Your Bird Can Sing"
3. "For No One"
4. "Doctor Robert"
5. "I Want to Tell You"
6. "Got to Get You into My Life"
7. "Tomorrow Never Knows"
6. Rush - Moving Pictures
Prog at it´s best.. Great music, fantastic skills and just one of those albums that made people want to become musicians.
7. The Flaming lips - The soft bulletin
Awesome in so many ways.
7. The Pixies - Doolittle
Can´t leave this one out. Great in so many ways.
8. The Smiths - The Smiths
Everything just made sense.. Even though I didn´t live in Manchester.
9. London Calling - The Clash
Great album... Punk or not punk, just great music..
10. Bends - Radiohead
Last of the great albums. Marked the end of an era of great albums! There have been glimpses of great albums since but it all seems to have been downhill from there.
If you got stuck on a Island with this list on your walkman you would die a happy man..
Brought underground electronic music to the masses and marked a new era in music.
2. Remain in the light - Talking Heads
Fantastic album with all that strangeness that made them fantastic but refined and well composed.
3. Violator - Depeche Mode
A better album than Music for the masses and that saying something. Fantastic in most aspects.
4. Electric Warrior - T.Rex
Great songs, great lyrics from the king of glam.
5. The Beatles - Revolver
Just look at this track list:
Side one
1. "Taxman"
2. "Eleanor Rigby"
3. "I'm Only Sleeping"
4. "Love You To"
5. "Here, There and Everywhere"
6. "Yellow Submarine"
7. "She Said She Said"
Side two
1. "Good Day Sunshine"
2. "And Your Bird Can Sing"
3. "For No One"
4. "Doctor Robert"
5. "I Want to Tell You"
6. "Got to Get You into My Life"
7. "Tomorrow Never Knows"
6. Rush - Moving Pictures
Prog at it´s best.. Great music, fantastic skills and just one of those albums that made people want to become musicians.
7. The Flaming lips - The soft bulletin
Awesome in so many ways.
7. The Pixies - Doolittle
Can´t leave this one out. Great in so many ways.
8. The Smiths - The Smiths
Everything just made sense.. Even though I didn´t live in Manchester.
9. London Calling - The Clash
Great album... Punk or not punk, just great music..
10. Bends - Radiohead
Last of the great albums. Marked the end of an era of great albums! There have been glimpses of great albums since but it all seems to have been downhill from there.
If you got stuck on a Island with this list on your walkman you would die a happy man..
Last edited:
For more on this Zep thing here is a Howard Stern episode on this:
http://www.hark.com/clips/qmqjfdsztg-howard-stern-exposes-led-zeppelin-as-a-farce
Interesting choice, i always liked that record. I think it was dwarfed slightly by coming after the excellent Brave New World though. The awful cover art can't have helped either.
Interesting choice, i always liked that record. I think it was dwarfed slightly by coming after the excellent Brave New World though. The awful cover art can't have helped either.
Aye, Dance of Death is grand.
Brrrrrr.
I adore Iron Maiden, but that just might be the worst album cover art I have ever seen.
Nice list, @arthurka , there's at least six albums I care deeply about. Also, a reminder to all to post their favourites in Cafe's Top 50 thread as well.
I adore Iron Maiden, but that just might be the worst album cover art I have ever seen.
Nice list, @arthurka , there's at least six albums I care deeply about. Also, a reminder to all to post their favourites in Cafe's Top 50 thread as well.
It's not just a bad concept, it's incomplete as well. There are errors galore, like the baby's foot and other things overlapping. Apparently the artist was so embarrassed he asked not to be credited after the band just decided to take the unfinished version.
Good for him, though, I think it wouldn't look good even finished. And what were Maiden thinking? Got swept by a 'cgi' buzzword.
Hello /mu/
Two great albums that almost never make these kinds of lists
69 love songs too! Never been on /mu but someone sent me a list of "mu essentials" after finding out I loved Radiohead and Neutral Milk Hotel.
Ah I assumed! Lovely list mind.
Does anyone else actually feel the Beatles were the most talented musicians ever?
Yeah I think we have similar tastes. Have a vague feeling of déjà vu with this so apologies if it's been discussed before, but have you listened to the Electrif Lycanthrope bootleg? It's insanely good. Available at archive.org
Cool to see the Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere picks. In my head it's always a five star album (along with After the Gold Rush, On the Beach, Rust Never Sleeps, Tonight's the Night & Zuma) I'm just never sure how to order them after Harvest & EKTIN often gets overlooked. I always forget about Barleycorn too. The second side is great enough but that first is easily one of the best sides ever.
Easy enough to upload if you want.
Interesting follow-on discussion re: Generation Terrorists vs. the Holy Bible, I feel that way about some bands - that what's described as more 'mature' songwriting is also the band losing the edge to its sound that actually made you love them. Like others, I don't feel that way about Generation Terrorists though. Part of that is personal preference, better liking shorter albums / fewer tracks. It sounds too much like Guns N' Roses to me though, like they're reaching for a sound that's larger than what they or the production can pull off. Motorcycle Emptiness will always be my favourite track of theirs, but I wouldn't put any of the other stuff I love from GT (Slash N' Burn, You Love Us, Stay Beautiful) above anything on the Holy Bible. THB sounds so much better produced, Revol & Faster sound so much heavier than anything on GT to me. The songs are great, She is Suffering is a close second favourite out of all their songs. And the writing is so much more personal as opposed to what sometimes comes across as sixth form politics. Yes, is one of my favourite lyrics which I didn't even register a word of for the first 10 years of listening to the track, because of the way Bradfield melds it to the music. I love 4st 7lb, too.Manics' Holy Bible? It's not even the Manics' best album. Generation Terrorists totally slays. That guitar tone
The Zeppelin thing has been done to death, but in the context of this thread (or rather the other one, which is as much about favourite records as it is great ones) - not listening to or enjoying a band for purely ethical reasons because they ripped a lot of people off, is each person's right. But I think it's clear not everyone thinks like that - to me it seems like needlessly excluding yourself from a ton of great music. & to each their own, but valuing originality (in this case just originality of composition - originality of sound would seem almost as important to me) over the emotional response to music, seems an unusual, academic way of listening.
I think that's the consensus opinion, which obviously doesn't mean anyone has to like them. 60s/70s rock is mostly what I listen to, but I do like the opinion that says feck the Beatles/Dylan/Young, & now Radiohead etc. That if you're constantly told that these artists are the pinnacle that will never be bettered, then there's no real point/room to make new music & no sounds to make your own. If you're raised on anything after Television/Wire/PiL etc. or stuff outside of rock, then I don't even see an obligation to listen to the Beatles full stop, as if there's a need to appreciate what's come before. Hopefully there's enough variation in taste mix up the final list a bit, but it's not surprising that it the final list will be classic rock dominated. If you want a different end result, check out somewhere like ILM (ilXor) & their plethora of polls.
Not the most talented ever, but they were ridiculously talented. They perfected the art of the 3:00 minute pop song, intelligent, well-written pop, too. They had hit after hit after hit.
I'm not a fan of them, mind you.
That's an interesting one. I've not listened to that particular album myself but everything i read about Sonata Arctica says the first two albums are great and after that it drops off in quality a little. I have listened to the first two Sonata Arctica albums and i do feel both are fecking fantastic so perhaps i ought to give Reckoning Night a listen since you've included it in your list.
My music horizon is limited, so I'll just list the albums I've heard and studied fully that deserve to be in that conversation. Never been a fan of classic rock, as I was exposed more to "urban" music growing up. The Beatles are growing on me though. That said...
Non Hip-Hop
D'Angelo: Voodoo (singlehandedly inspired me to pick up the bass guitar)
James Brown: Live at the Apollo (there's no funk, no hiphop without James Brown)
Sly and the Family Stone: There's a Riot Going On
Marvin Gaye: What's Going On
Fela: Expensive Shit (not really an album with 2 songs, but his name has to be on the list)
Hip-Hop
Nas: Illmatic
Ice Cube: Death Certificate (Diary of crack ravaged inner city America)
Outkast: Aquemini or ATLiens (I can't decide which one is better, but I'll lean more towards Aquemini)
De La Soul: Stakes is High (Succinct description of the growing gap between mainstream and underground)
Kendrick Lamar: Section 80 (Generation Y's middle finger)
Dr. Dre: 2001 (Magnum opus of the G Funk era and sound)
Raekwon: Only Built 4 Cuban Linx (The Wu's greatest album, and the template for mafioso/crime rap. It Was Written, Life after Death, Reasonable Doubt, Get Rich or Die Trying bit off the Purple Tape)
Jay Dee: Welcome to Detroit (Best album of the producer's producer. Happy birthday Dilla)
Gang Starr: Moment of Truth (Premier most diverse album, and Guru's most consistent)
A Tribe Called Quest: Midnight Marauders (Excellent salute to the Jungle Brothers sound, inspiration for Mos, Kweli, Little Brother, Blu, other backpackers)
I'm going to try and listen to every album listed here and in the top 15 album thread.
Non Hip-Hop
D'Angelo: Voodoo (singlehandedly inspired me to pick up the bass guitar)
James Brown: Live at the Apollo (there's no funk, no hiphop without James Brown)
Sly and the Family Stone: There's a Riot Going On
Marvin Gaye: What's Going On
Fela: Expensive Shit (not really an album with 2 songs, but his name has to be on the list)
Hip-Hop
Nas: Illmatic
Ice Cube: Death Certificate (Diary of crack ravaged inner city America)
Outkast: Aquemini or ATLiens (I can't decide which one is better, but I'll lean more towards Aquemini)
De La Soul: Stakes is High (Succinct description of the growing gap between mainstream and underground)
Kendrick Lamar: Section 80 (Generation Y's middle finger)
Dr. Dre: 2001 (Magnum opus of the G Funk era and sound)
Raekwon: Only Built 4 Cuban Linx (The Wu's greatest album, and the template for mafioso/crime rap. It Was Written, Life after Death, Reasonable Doubt, Get Rich or Die Trying bit off the Purple Tape)
Jay Dee: Welcome to Detroit (Best album of the producer's producer. Happy birthday Dilla)
Gang Starr: Moment of Truth (Premier most diverse album, and Guru's most consistent)
A Tribe Called Quest: Midnight Marauders (Excellent salute to the Jungle Brothers sound, inspiration for Mos, Kweli, Little Brother, Blu, other backpackers)
I'm going to try and listen to every album listed here and in the top 15 album thread.
Interesting choice, i always liked that record. I think it was dwarfed slightly by coming after the excellent Brave New World though. The awful cover art can't have helped either.
Yes indeed. Besides their first two albums, I could've picked Brave New World, Seventh Son of a Seventh Son or even the last one was well. But because Dance of Death was the album through which I've discovered Maiden it has always been my favourite. It's the same for that Dream Theater album. Many people will go for Metropolis Part 2 or Images and Words, but Octavarium was their first album I listened to and I really love it.
I never understood why people sometimes say that - it doesn't sound like metal at all to me.
Re the Led Zeppelin plagiarism thing, I think it's worth noting that in that era, covering songs and especially re-interpreting old blues songs, was considered a legitimate means of filling an album. They should have just credited the original writers - nobody would have suggested that their take on them wasn't innovative enough to be given their dues. As for 'inventing' heavy metal, it's worth noting they created their sound a year or two before Black Sabbath, so were definitely one of the biggest steps on that path, but if you had to point to any particular moment, surely it would be half way through this track (recorded 1966).
I'd say the greatest album from any Wu member is Liquid Swords, personally. Only Built 4 Cuban Linx is so good as well mind you.