Best album ever?

there's a thread going on the Nields nook right now about what the "best album ever" is. I think it's an impossibly hard topic, since there are so many different things that make an album good. but there are, of course, albums that stand well above and beyond those that are more difficult to compare.

but I'm curious anyway - what would you all say is the best album ever made?

my votes are for "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" and "Pet Sounds." I can't really decide between the two.

oooh i have both of those! *dances* :)

um yeah. anyway. i was just going to say that practically every year some magazine or newspaper over here does a 'best album ever' poll, and it's usually a beatles one like revolver or something. yup. as for me, though, i have no idea. why did i start writing this again? :D

mmmmmrevolver :)

that might even be my answer...but i'm not sure...other nominees for me would be gordon(bnl), graceland(paul simon), indigo girls(indigo girls), and charlie brown christmas(vince guaraldi trio)....but i think those are more just the ones that i grew up on, ya know? the ones that my life wouldn't be complete without. the ones that made me who i am today, to sound ultimately cliche. :)

tough question, lawrence.

Huey Lewis and the News - Sports.

;)

My knee-jerk reaction is "Sgt. Pepper's," "Purple Rain," and "The Wall." I have a weakness for concept albums. Among my coworkers, the following were suggested: "Thriller," "Joshua Tree," "Rubber Soul," and "Sticky Fingers."

It's all subjective.
Here're my top two though.

Parsley, Sage, Rosmary & Thyme - Simon and Garfunkel

John Henry - They Might Be Giants

 

what, lawrence is the only one to mention pet sounds? there wouldn't be a sgt pepper without it.

I have to say re: Pet Sounds: I JUST DON'T GET IT. I think it's a fine album and all, obviously "God Only Knows," is a wonderful song, but on the whole, I really want to know what makes this album "best-album-ever-good?? I'd be curious what some of your answers are. And please judge the album on its own terms, not just on the fact that it influenced others. Please fill me in!

the orchestration is phenomenal. the emotion of each song is conveyed by the very carefully constructed, intricate arrangements that Brian Wilson came up with.

it's great because it's more than just a collection of songs. it is truly a work of art.

yeah, but there would be no pet sounds without revolver.......

by the way, best album ever = The Dark Side of the Moon

"Abbey Road" by the Beatles, though personal preference brings Frank Black's "Teenager of the Year" a close second. Why? Because I dig this album based solely on what I heard on the album. I've had little to no exposure to the hits or history of the Pixies or any of FB's other work outside of this one album, and have yet to pursue further knowledge on them. Nonetheless, I find this 1994 22-track new-wave punk-pop effort to be quite endearing. The closest thing to a '90's Sgt Pepper that I've found.

Erasure - Abbaesque

Oh, you were serious....

I have to vote for Dylan's Highway 61 Revisted. Sgt Pepper is clearly way up there too.

lets see, this is really hard. If we are talking groundbreaking type impact I would agree with others who have mentioned Sgt. Peppers, and there are so many more....Dylan's first electric album, Thriller, Hotel California, Graceland, Babylon by Bus...many others. If we are talking peak of genre then I would have to add a bunch of others, among them Saturday Night Fever soundtrack, Songs in the Key of Life, Breakfast in America to mention a few.

Best album I have ever heard as far as recording perfection and production values? My favourite is still Aaron Neville's Warm Your Heart. Every note can be heard and every note needs to be there.

Ok. I've bored you all enough...... :-)

I'd have to include Miles Davis' "Birth of the Cool", and Dave Brubeck's "Time Out".  Not to mention "Revolver" and "Sgt. Pepper".  Oh wait, I just mentioned them......

see, i'm more a kind of blue girl. :)

Perhaps the most influential album in the folk world was Harry Smith's Anthology of American Folk Music. It has directly or indirectly influenced pretty much everyone people on FHDC discuss. You probably won't know any of the performers on it. Harry Smith crossed the country looking for traditional American folk songs. It's a treasure.

Who has it influenced? And, what's on it?

It's all traditional american folk songs. It had a huge influence on people as diverse as Dylan, Pete Seeger, The Stones, Clapton, the Beatles,the Kennedys, and Richard Thompson. Everyone who sings folk music has been influenced by it either first or second hand.

Cool I shall have to check it out. :)

I can't beleive nobody has mentioned You Will Go To The Moon!

radiohead - ok computer.

'nuff said.

I'm inclined to agree with this one. Off the top of my head, it's the best I can think of. I know it isn't possible to pick a "best album ever", but this one is pretty damn perfect..

This has got to be the most highly praised album I don't own and haven't heard.� I'm gonna have to buy it already just to hear what I've been missing.

I concur

Definitely Pet Sounds and Sgt Pepper but I would also have to mention...

Dylan - Blonde on Blonde, Elvis Costello - Blood & Chocolate, Bruce Cockburn - Mummy Dust, Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon, Tom Waits - Rain Dogs, Roxy Music - Avalon/Flesh & Blood (toss up)

1. hey there first every post. Yes i'm a virgin whip me if you must. anywho top five albums
2. 1. Revolver-Beatles
3. 2. Pet Sounds- Beach Boys
4. 3. Reggeta De Blac- The Police
5. 4. Lincoln- They Might Be Giants
6. 5. This Years Model- Elvis Costello

KMFDM - Nihil

I'm surprised that nobody mentioned Joni Mitchell. Blue has to be on any list of greatest albums ever.

Quadrophenia belongs too. Tommy is a classic but Quadrophenia is even better.

absolutely. blue, ladies of the canyon, and court and spark. works of absolute genius.

1. U2 The Joshua Tree

2. Bruce Springsteen Born to run

3. The Beatles Abbey Road

4. Live Throwing Copper

5. DMB Everyday

Keeping with the spirit of postings so far, that is, nobody confined themselves to "Best album ever," singular, here are some more: Led Zeppelin (IV), The Who, (Who's next), Mozart (Requiem), Bach (The Art of the Fugue), Yes (Yessongs)

Abovementioned nominations are not excluded.

Asked what cds I'd take with me to the proverbial desert island, presumably being able to listen to them there, I'd be pained to reduce my selection down to, say, 400.

Lets see, there also is music by Zelenka, Mayall, Albinoni, Beethoven, Korner, Couperain, Vivaldi, Soler, Zappa, Mitchell ... wait ... make that 800. Would you believe, 1600?

uhm, 3200 best albums (alba?) ever?

Its a tough choice to confine onesself to just that, yeah, and that is a great prospect.

ben folds five - whatever and ever amen.
neutral milk hotel - in the aeroplane over the sea.

Milli Vanilli - Girl You Know It's True





...I almost typed that with a straight face.

In recent years I've been spliting the ages of music in to Classic (pre-1989)�and Current (1990-Today).

Classic Albums:

1. Beatles - Sgt. Pepper
2. Led Zepellin - IV
3. David Bowie - Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust
4. Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon

Current Albums

1. Pearl Jam - Ten
2. Jellyfish - Spilt Milk
3. Dave Matthews Band - Before these Crowded Streets

I love all your classics. Well all but Bowie's, I only know Ziggy Stardust :-)

I was typing in Engrish :)

This is extremely tough, but the ones that spoke to ME as the greatest albums ever would be:
Feunte Y Caudal- Paco De Lucia
Are You Experienced- Jimi Hendrix
The Inner Mounting Flame-Mahavishnu Orchestra

oooooh.. this is hard.. I have so many good cds.. oh dude... umm

Jeff Buckley - Grace
Adam Pascal - Model Prisoner
Alice in Chains - Dirt
Blind Melon - Blind Melon/Soup/Nico [yes.. i'm weird.. I love Blind Melon...]

and various other selections, but it depends what I want to listen to at the moment^_^

To me, a truly great album is one that works as one piece... that you can listen to from start to finish like you would a movie, and be transported in much the same way as with a great flim.

I agree with many of the above selections, but I'd add these:
Paul Simon - Graceland
Tracy Chapman - Tracy Chapman
Erin McKeown - Distillation
Seal - Seal (the 1994 one)
Counting Crows - August and Everything After
Rufus Wainwright - Want One

I'm hesitent to put Rufus' album on the list because it's still very new to me, but it feels like it's going to stay in my play rotation for quite some time. Erin's album is an absolute masterpiece - a true great despite its youth, and perhaps due to hers.

> Erin McKeown - Distillation

As much as I love Erin, this album seems way too disjointed to make a Top 100 list for me. There's not a consistent feel to it, and there are too many slow songs that drag the tempo down too far.

"Want One" is also a fantastic album, and it's still new and hard to tell, but there are a good number of songs that haven't latched onto me yet. Ask me again in a year.

There is a difference, best as in all around musicality or meaning or other, or most influential, having spawned others. In the first case, I stand by my descision before.
1: Fuente Y Caudal
2: Are You Experienced
3: Inner Mounting Flame
however, in terms of influentiality
1: Rocket to Russia- The Ramones
2: Electric Ladyland- Jimi Hendrix
3: Chuck Berry is On Top-Chuck Berry

I think London Calling by the Clash or Abbey Road by the Beatles (or Revolver...)

I see a lot of Hendrix on here, but no one's mentioned Axis: Bold as Love. That was always my favorite. Not the greatest of all time, but really good. It's a tough call between:

1. OK Computer - Radiohead
2. Sgt. Pepper's - Beatles
3. Kind Of Blue - Miles Davis
4. Whatever and Ever Amen - Ben Folds Five

Oh, duh.� And Graceland, by Paul Simon.