“One album wonders” - Music - Forums : Best Ever Albums

Anonymous · 2017-10-09T14:03:26-04:00

A weird title, but what are some artists with multiple albums, but only one classic. They may have multiple good albums, but I’m asking for those that only have one truly essential one. I don’t count artists that only have one album. They need to have at least two.

Jimmy Dread Old skool like Happy Shopper Moderator Profile
555 Dub Street

StreetSpirit wrote:

By this logic, this thread could be dozens if not hundreds of answers.

Couldn't agree more. For example, even the most die-hard Beach Boys fan would say that Pet Sounds blows everything else they ever did out the water, although I personally adore the likes of Friends and Sunflower. Hardly classics, but solid albums nonetheless, although I would wager you'd find all 3 together in less than 1% of record collections.

Trouble is all artists - even the canon artists - have an entry point (OK Computer, Dark Side, IV, Nevermind, etc, etc.) and invariably in the cases of those acts with a small or patchy discography - especially if their music is somewhat 'different' or avant garde - that LP becomes the 'classic'. Many examples of this, but Astral Weeks and Trout Mask Replica immediately spring to mind. Both Van and the Cap have made equally thrilling albums which people who don't grasp the oeurve of their respective magnum opuses won't bother to check out, ergo the entry point albums remain as the 'classics' to all but those willing to dig deeper.
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Yann

Jimmy Dread wrote:

Couldn't agree more. For example, even the most die-hard Beach Boys fan would say that Pet Sounds blows everything else they ever did out the water, although I personally adore the likes of Friends and Sunflower. Hardly classics, but solid albums nonetheless, although I would wager you'd find all 3 together in less than 1% of record collections.

So you do agree that Pet Sounds answers the question of this thread 😄

Yann

Another famous exemple :

There are not so many of them. I found three more, but that's it for me:

All Things Must Pass
Rock Bottom
Appetite For Destruction

Last edited by Yann on 10/09/2017 20:29; edited 1 time in total

bobbyb5 Profile
New York

These are the only albums by these artists that even come close to being Classics although most people seem to think they have a fuck-ton of classics.

Radiohead. Kid A
Pink Floyd. Dark Side of the Moon
REM. Murmur
The Smiths. SIngles
Bjjork. Homogenic

Last edited by bobbyb5 on 10/09/2017 20:30; edited 1 time in total

Jimmy Dread Old skool like Happy Shopper Moderator Profile
555 Dub Street

Yann wrote:

Another famous exemple :

See, this is wrong for me, because Clash S/T is equally as 'classic' - in fact it sits nicely alongside NMTB and DDD as first wave UK punk totems.

But yes - I think 99% of Beach Boys fans would concur that Pet Sounds is unquestionably their only 'classic' LP, especially as Smile (the only record that could possibly rival it in terms of content) was never officially released/finished, bar the sessions.
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Jimmy Dread Old skool like Happy Shopper Moderator Profile
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bobbyb5 wrote:

I know that everybody is going to come after me with torches and pitchforks, but I'm going to say it anyway. Of course this is just a matter of opinion, but it is my opinion. These are the only albums buy these artist that even come close to being Classics although most people seem to think they have a fuckton of classics.

Radiohead. Kid A
Pink Floyd. Dark Side of the Moon
REM. Murmur
The Smiths. SIngles
Bjjork. Homogenic

You're missing the point though. Unless I've misunderstood the OP this thread is less about personal opinion, more about what is commonly taken to be an artist/band's one regarded masterwork (at least in the minds of the many) despite the rest of their discography.
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Last edited by Jimmy Dread on 10/09/2017 20:41; edited 1 time in total

Hayden Profile
India

This thread is awful.
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Jimmy Dread Old skool like Happy Shopper Moderator Profile
555 Dub Street

Hayden wrote:

This thread is awful.

Here's one:

The Absent Tapes by Hayden Who
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Yann

bobbyb5 wrote:

These are the only albums by these artists that even come close to being Classics although most people seem to think they have a fuck-ton of classics.

Radiohead. Kid A
Pink Floyd. Dark Side of the Moon
REM. Murmur
The Smiths. SIngles
Bjjork. Homogenic

This is why this thread requires a drop of objectivity, i.e the "most people seem to think" part of your answer 😄

bobbyb5 Profile
New York

Jimmy Dread wrote:

bobbyb5 wrote:

I know that everybody is going to come after me with torches and pitchforks, but I'm going to say it anyway. Of course this is just a matter of opinion, but it is my opinion. These are the only albums buy these artist that even come close to being Classics although most people seem to think they have a fuckton of classics.

Radiohead. Kid A
Pink Floyd. Dark Side of the Moon
REM. Murmur
The Smiths. SIngles
Bjjork. Homogenic

You're missing the point though. Unless I've misunderstood the OP this thread is less about opinion, more about what is commonly taken to be an artist/band's one regarded masterwork (at least in the minds of the many) despite the rest of their discography.

I kind of thought that's what he meant originally.. so here's these instead

Tapestry. Carole King.
Odessey and Oracle. Zombies
Forever Changes. Love
Suicide. Suicide
Stone Roses
Live Through This. Hole

Last edited by bobbyb5 on 10/09/2017 20:55; edited 1 time in total