Best Ever Albums

Re: GOAT rock discographies

akanter14 — Wed, 13 Feb 2019 15:03:53 GMT

Author: akanter14

Posted: 02/13/2019 20:03

I would add Queens of the Stone Age (incredibly consistent discography), Pavement, Sonic Youth, Dinosaur Jr., and maybe the Police to the ones mentioned thus far in the thread. Also maybe Wire or Wipers?

Re: GOAT rock discographies

Fischman — Wed, 13 Feb 2019 08:38:49 GMT

Author: Fischman

Posted: 02/13/2019 13:38

revolver94 wrote:

why would one that has great lows be better than one that is consistently high?

I think I get this.... if the highs are soooooooo high that they wipe out the lows as opposed to the consistently high being just kinda' high and therefore not quite as inspiring overall.

Re: GOAT rock discographies

Fischman — Wed, 13 Feb 2019 08:34:08 GMT

Author: Fischman

Posted: 02/13/2019 13:34

Amirkhosro wrote:

Up for all sorts of debates and discussions.

P.S. still undecided on Sonic Youth and Neil Young since I haven't heard all of their music yet

There's only five groups on that list I hold in high esteem (Floyd, Crimson, Stones, Metallica, Zep); the first four all have enough duds to eliminate them from GOAT consideration and the last lacked longevity.

I do think very highly of Trout Mask Replica, but not much beyond that, so Beefheart's off the GOAT list as well.

Re: GOAT rock discographies

meccalecca — Wed, 13 Feb 2019 07:50:48 GMT

Author: meccalecca

Posted: 02/13/2019 12:50

If we're gonna excuse the Velvets for Squeeze (which I think we should), then maybe we can excuse The Clash for Cut The Crap. Therefore The Clash discography is right up there with the best of them.

I'd also say the following have damn near perfect discogs that should be considered:
Cocteau Twins, Spiritualized, Low, Portishead, Broadcast, Leonard Cohen, Wilco, Replacements, Afghan Whigs, Blur, Faith No More, Talking Heads, PJ Harvey

Re: GOAT rock discographies

baystateoftheart — Tue, 12 Feb 2019 20:59:52 GMT

Author: baystateoftheart

Posted: 02/13/2019 01:59

This was clearly started as a diary where Amirkhosro will write about the different bands on his list. Why did it get moved to the main board?

Re: GOAT rock discographies

mickilennial — Tue, 12 Feb 2019 20:30:44 GMT

Author: mickilennial

Posted: 02/13/2019 01:30

revolver94 wrote:

why would one that has great lows be better than one that is consistently high?

Re: GOAT rock discographies

revolver94 — Tue, 12 Feb 2019 18:33:20 GMT

Author: revolver94

Posted: 02/12/2019 23:33

PurpleHazel wrote:

What makes for a better discography, a consistently high quality one or a long one with both great highs and great lows?

why would one that has great lows be better than one that is consistently high?

Re: GOAT rock discographies

PurpleHazel — Tue, 12 Feb 2019 18:26:32 GMT

Author: PurpleHazel

Posted: 02/12/2019 23:26

What makes for a better discography, a consistently high quality one or a long one with both great highs and great lows?

Re: GOAT rock discographies

mickilennial — Tue, 12 Feb 2019 13:46:02 GMT

Author: mickilennial

Posted: 02/12/2019 18:46

motorhead is the most consistent hard rock band in the genre's history - no real large duds in their discography

Re: GOAT rock discographies

DommeDamian — Sun, 10 Feb 2019 18:17:08 GMT

Author: DommeDamian

Posted: 02/10/2019 23:17

Radiohead
The Beatles
Bob Dylan
Pink Floyd
Mark Kozelek
Queen
Soundgarden
Phil Elverum
Elliott Smith
Jack White/White Stripes
Lenny Kravitz
U2

Re: GOAT rock discographies

RoundTheBend — Thu, 31 Jan 2019 23:32:01 GMT

Author: RoundTheBend

Posted: 02/01/2019 04:32

My favorite live album for the Dead is this one (and I really like Live/Dead too):

Europe '72 by Grateful Dead

Also thank you for your insight on VU's live bootleg stuff. I've actually never heard anything past this one:

1969: The Velvet Underground Live by The Velvet Underground

Also, yes, many harrowing performances by Nirvana allow them to be considered much more than just a punk rock band. Another that immediately came to mind when you said that is this Lead Belly cover:

Link

Re: GOAT rock discographies

Amirkhosro — Thu, 31 Jan 2019 15:14:52 GMT

Author: Amirkhosro

Posted: 01/31/2019 20:14

sethmadsen wrote:

As for top artists/musicians, maybe top 10, maybe top 20. I don't think they were the greatest artist ever, if such a thing can exist. And as to the bigger question, I think they rival The Doors in emotional/artistic expression, but don't have any crap albums like The Doors do. Conceptually they have room to grow, but neither are they just the "teenage angst" everyone who hasn't really listened to their music paints them as.

I think I'd love to hear more about The Velvet Underground. Are you counting Squeeze as part of their discography and if so, what's your take on it?

Nirvana music can be harrowingly emotional at times (Pennyroyal Tea, Come As You Are, School). The only other artist that comes to my mind that might rival their ultra-simplistic efficiency and effectiveness is Neutral Milk Hotel (Aeroplane and Ferris Wheel in particular).

I haven't heard Squeeze. I think it's irrelevant to their actual legacy. For me, aside from their 4 studio albums, what cements their #1 place is the wealth of absolutely amazing live recordings they've accidentally left behind, a lot of which has been officially released in the 21st century. Either with Cale (Live at Gymnasium, Sweet Sister Ray) or Yule (Matrix Tapes, Quine Tapes), these cleaned-up bootlegs hold their own besides the studio albums and some surpass them in terms of sound quality. While the Cale recordings are mostly lo-fi hardcore avant-garde improvisations (hit or miss, but the hits are unbelievable), the Yule recordings and specially The Matrix Tapes present the quintessential Velvet Underground experience. Basically every live rendition of a song sounds different from the other. Some songs are stretched out way past their original length, and that's usually where the magic lies. The 36-minute Sister Ray on Matrix alone is worth a classic 60's psychedelic album. The 9-minute What Goes On beats the original as well as nearly any other recording by them.

I've heard the Grateful Dead have legendary live recordings. I've heard and like Live/Dead. Does anybody know about their other great live albums?

Re: GOAT rock discographies

NowhereMan — Tue, 29 Jan 2019 18:32:57 GMT

Author: NowhereMan

Posted: 01/29/2019 23:32

Amirkhosro wrote:

NowhereMan wrote:

I'd say any band that manages to produce what you'd refer to as over 2 great albums are doing well.

However you could also take into consideration the length of time of an artist's career; for instance have the Stones released anything noteworthy since Some Girls in the late seventies? Beach boys since Surf's Up in '71?

So with this in mind =:

Neil Young has to be up their for me; his run from Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere through to Rust Never Sleeps is probably only surpassed by The Beatles. ( I think that's around 7 albums, so in terms of the numerical factor he's up there?)

Dylan - Freewheelin', Bringing It All Back Home, Highway 61 Revisited, Blonde On Blonde, Blood On The Tracks.

The Smiths - a perfect Discography bar the second half of Strangeways in my mind.

Electric Light Orchestra - Eldorado, Face The Music, A New World Rceord, Out The Blue, Discovery, Time, Secret Messages and Balance Of Power all fantastic in my mind.

Simon & Garfunkel - a total of 5 albums released - 4 I'd consider brilliant. (Excluding their debut, despite its highs.)

Brian Eno, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Steve Reich, Miles Davis, Tallest Man On Earth all come to mind as well.

The Stones definitely would've been placed higher if a huge chunk of their discography wasn't so mediocre. Still there's that other huge chunk of discography filled with all sorts of greatness so ... Such a great band.

I'm not a huge fan of classic prog per se, so would you please suggest a specific ELO album?

Brian Eno's early run is legendary. Don't know about most of the rest though Discreet Music is a masterpiece and Music For Airports has one of the most uniquely calm and eerie vibes ever.

I used to love The Queen is Dead and a few tracks from the debut and specially Hatful of Hollow (How Soon Is Now is an all-timer) way back in the 00's. Somewhere along the way I got deep into punk and started ignoring the Smith because I thought they're "soft" or something. Gotta listen to them again though. Does Meat Is Murder equal the other two for you ? I haven't heard that one but always been intrigued to know what it is.

About Miles, if this list wasn't limited to rock music, he would've topped everybody on here.

In terms of ELO, the vast majority of their early discography are very much prog, however from Eldorado onwards their material becomes far more mainstream and less prog - I'd start with the album Out The Blue which is seen as the definitive ELO release and an album which really captures their sound best. Albeit the album Time is second on my all time list; for me it's just as essential listening as anything by the big boy and girl artists. Face the Music, A New World Record and Secret Messages I also highly recommend.

Meat is Murder is my second favorite by The Smiths behind Hatful.

Happy listening, check out my chart and give me some recs man x

Re: GOAT rock discographies

Amirkhosro — Tue, 29 Jan 2019 13:37:09 GMT

Author: Amirkhosro

Posted: 01/29/2019 18:37

NowhereMan wrote:

Re: GOAT rock discographies

RoundTheBend — Mon, 28 Jan 2019 20:08:39 GMT

Author: RoundTheBend

Posted: 01/29/2019 01:08

Amirkhosro wrote:

sethmadsen wrote:

I'm like 50% happy with this, but this is my take.
It probably should be discography average scores or something... because even I don't agree they are the top artists.

My Top Rated Artists by sethmadsen

Would you place Nirvana at #1 or in the top 3?

Yes. I don't have too much free time and I also tend to be lazy a lot of times, but this stuff is fun so I guess at least a very short paragraph will appear under each artist in the list sometime soon. Though tbh replying to specific comments seems easier

Yup - a well thought out idea usually isn't good after a long day.

I think Nirvana is only so high up because they have such a small discography and for me, their albums are all solid. Had they stuck around just for another 3 albums I'm sure that would have changed... maybe not. I think what's key is they don't have a crap album to mess with the average.

As for top artists/musicians, maybe top 10, maybe top 20. I don't think they were the greatest artist ever, if such a thing can exist. And as to the bigger question, I think they rival The Doors in emotional/artistic expression, but don't have any crap albums like The Doors do. Conceptually they have room to grow, but neither are they just the "teenage angst" everyone who hasn't really listened to their music paints them as.

I think I'd love to hear more about The Velvet Underground. Are you counting Squeeze as part of their discography and if so, what's your take on it?

Re: GOAT rock discographies

AfterHours — Mon, 28 Jan 2019 14:45:58 GMT

Author: AfterHours

Posted: 01/28/2019 19:45

Amirkhosro wrote:

AfterHours wrote:

Nice! I could get behind most of these. I would definitely add Tim Buckley (near the top), Pere Ubu, The Doors, Lisa Germano, Neil Young ...etc... but I hardly have any issues with most of what you have there.

I like all of these! Let's see:

I think basically anything Pere Ubu from the early singles up to New Picnic Time qualifies as either classic or masterpiece. All that came after that sounds light and somewhat mediocre in comparison. I've tried a bunch of times to really get into, say, Ray Gun Suitcase or Tenement Year but that depth and creativity is just not there. There's still a bunch of cool songs to be found though. Vacuum in My Head is the craziest thing. As far as I remember you didn't rate their albums after Art of Walking either. Am I correct?

The Doors should be there somewhere. I totally forgot. Lisa Germano probably won't show up here because I don't think she has a single classic album. I don't hear that kind of all-time greatness. I'm totally open to changing my mind about her music though.

Tim Buckley is quite the talent. I'll find the time to revisit his music soon. Thanks for bringing him up.

I just noticed we both forgot about Nick Cave.

Re: Pere Ubu ... I agree that after that they never produced any masterpieces, though Tenemant Year would probably make a 7/10s list of such works for me. And maybe 1-2 others. So, yes (excepting David T solo) they dont show up any further on my "Greatest" (7.3+) list but should on a future "genre" list.

Re: Germano ... If you dont care about cultural status/widespread canonical hierarchy as a prerequisite for "classic" then Germano has a strong case for the greatest female singer-songwriter of all time. Very few Rock artists had an equal or greater run of albums than On The Way Down From Moon Palace (1991) through Slide (1998), Slush being the only one below historically extraordinary/amazing. She is the pinnacle of the confessional singer-songwriter (first epitomized by Joni Mitchell), now as a dejected female sacrificial lamb that has endured relationship trauma and harrowing trials and tribulations, and now painfully summons them through her albums/diaries in an effort to understand herself, her choices, loved ones and her persecutors, in nightmares, condemnations, grievances, utter devastation, and occasional black comedy and glimpses at a meek (mostly false) hope of happiness.

Yes! Nick Cave! There are several we havent mentioned - he may be the best of the lot!

Re: GOAT rock discographies

Amirkhosro — Mon, 28 Jan 2019 14:28:58 GMT

Author: Amirkhosro

Posted: 01/28/2019 19:28

sethmadsen wrote:

Would you place Nirvana at #1 or in the top 3?

sethmadsen wrote:

Do you plan on discussing each?

Yes. I don't have too much free time and I also tend to be lazy a lot of times, but this stuff is fun so I guess at least a very short paragraph will appear under each artist in the list sometime soon. Though tbh replying to specific comments seems easier

Re: GOAT rock discographies

Amirkhosro — Mon, 28 Jan 2019 14:12:30 GMT

Author: Amirkhosro

Posted: 01/28/2019 19:12

AfterHours wrote:

Re: GOAT rock discographies

RoundTheBend — Sun, 27 Jan 2019 20:58:10 GMT

Author: RoundTheBend

Posted: 01/28/2019 01:58

Amirkhosro wrote:

Up for all sorts of debates and discussions.

P.S. still undecided on Sonic Youth and Neil Young since I haven't heard all of their music yet

Do you plan on discussing each?

Re: GOAT rock discographies

NowhereMan — Sun, 27 Jan 2019 20:03:50 GMT

Author: NowhereMan

Posted: 01/28/2019 01:03

I'd say any band that manages to produce what you'd refer to as over 2 great albums are doing well.

However you could also take into consideration the length of time of an artist's career; for instance have the Stones released anything noteworthy since Some Girls in the late seventies? Beach boys since Surf's Up in '71?

So with this in mind =:

Neil Young has to be up their for me; his run from Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere through to Rust Never Sleeps is probably only surpassed by The Beatles. ( I think that's around 7 albums, so in terms of the numerical factor he's up there?)

Dylan - Freewheelin', Bringing It All Back Home, Highway 61 Revisited, Blonde On Blonde, Blood On The Tracks.

The Smiths - a perfect Discography bar the second half of Strangeways in my mind.

Electric Light Orchestra - Eldorado, Face The Music, A New World Rceord, Out The Blue, Discovery, Time, Secret Messages and Balance Of Power all fantastic in my mind.

Simon & Garfunkel - a total of 5 albums released - 4 I'd consider brilliant. (Excluding their debut, despite its highs.)

Brian Eno, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Steve Reich, Miles Davis, Tallest Man On Earth all come to mind as well.