Best album by...
Mark and I were sending each other lists of bands and listing our favorites from each. I thought it might be fun to try it here from time to time. Maybe it'll be fun or maybe I'm just stalling rather than actually writing something. Anyway, I'll list the bands below. My choices will be there too, but I made the font the same as the background so you can't see them if you want to pick yours before reading mine. To see mine, just highlight the post with your mouse and you'll see the hidden text. I tried to keep this pretty mainstream for maximum participation.
- Jane's Addiction - Nothing's Shocking
- The Clash - The Clash (but London Calling is so very close)
- The Beatles - Revolver
- Pink Floyd - Meddle
- Led Zeppelin - III
- REM - Document
- Beastie Boys - Paul's Boutique
- Fu Manchu - King of the Road
(okay, that wasn't so mainstream...) - Rolling Stones - Which is shortest...?
- Ramones - Road to Ruin
posted by bob_vinyl at 4:51 PM
8 Comments:
We really agree in a lot of places...
Jane's Addiction - Nothing's Shocking; so revolutionary for its time, not even they have been able to duplicate it
The Clash - I have to go with London Calling
The Beatles - Revolver is wonderful and Rubber Soul nearly takes it for me, but Sgt. Peppers shattered me to my core; it's one of the most beautiful albums of all-time
Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon - you know my blog about this album
Led Zeppelin - II
REM - Document - it's the only REM album I haven't sold months after buying
Beastie Boys - Paul's Boutique - definitely the most underrated albums of their work; I'd love to go with Check Your Head, but Paul's is so street it's not even funny
Fu Manchu - Action is Go
Rolling Stones - Aftermath
Ramones - Road to Ruin - anyone who knows me knows this one was the most difficult to pick, but I'm going with you on this one; it's their deepest effort, even if they had session guitarists assisting Johnny in many places
Where are the women? Oh, let me guess: neither the Bangles nor the Go-Gos deserve to be on the list because their contributions weren't significant?
(Remember, I'm the music illiterate. I'm merely poking you with a big stick to see if you are going to turn around and bare your fangs.)
Okay, I'm not reading first, I'm just writing my favorites and then I'll read yours.
Wow... as I look at this list, I realize how tough this is going to be. There are a couple of easy ones, but most of these bands I either don't care enough about to have a favorite album or I like a collection of songs that is not exclusive to an album. Oh well, here goes:
Jane's Addiction - Ritual de lo Habitual. Not because it's better than Nothing's Shocking, because it isn't. Not even close. But "Three Days" is the Jane's Addiction song for me. If I had to pick only one Jane's song to hear for the rest of my life, it would be "Three Days." So Ritual gets my vote.
The Clash - This is one of those bands who I like enough to be annoyed because the hits collections are missing songs I love, but who I don't know well enough to choose an album. So with that in mind, I'll say Combat Rock, only because "Straight to Hell" is a haunting song that will be forever etched in my brain.
The Beatles - I know, I know, they're the most important band ever. Just because I admit this doesn't mean I like 'em.
Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here, no question. Dark Side is monumental and all, and The Wall is... well, The Wall, but Wish You Were Here is, in my opinion, as close to perfection as the band ever got.
Led Zeppelin - I couldn't even pick one. I'd have to burn my own CD and even then I'd be disappointed. With that in mind, I'll narrow it down: I, II, III, IV, Houses of the Holy, In Through the Out Door, Physical Grafitti. That oughta do.
REM - Don't like 'em. Never liked 'em. Tried to like 'em but it didn't work. "Oh, my name's Michael and I'm going to alternately whine about the world and make clever pop culture referenes. What's the frequency, orange crush? Ooooh, clever clever me!"
Beastie Boys - Check Your Head. Namaste has probably made it on to more of my mix tapes than any other song I've heard. Brilliant album, captures the perfect mixture between being a kid and being a grown-up.
Fu Manchu - No, but I'm kind of sporting a Van Dyke. Is that close enough?
The Rolling Stones - I'll go with a cop out here and say Hot Rocks. I'm not a big Stones fan, and that one touches on almost everything that I'd ever need to hear.
The Ramones - Oh my god, I'd rather slit my wrists and lie in a tub full of saltwater than have to sit through an entire Ramones album. C'mon, Bob... couldn't you have put someone good on the list, like Tom Waits? (A toss-up between Bone Machine and The Black Rider, for what it's worth.)
Okay, now I'll post this and then go read what you wrote. This is fun! (And I'm a dork!)
1. Jane's Addiction - Nothing's Shocking
2. The Clash - London Calling
3. The Beatles - Abbey Road, Revolver (our wedding song was on this album)
4. Pink Floyd - Animals, Dark Side, Meddle, Wish You Were Here (Sorry they are one of my favorites)
5. Led Zeppelin - I
6. REM - Automatic for the People
7. Beastie Boys - Paul's Boutique
8. Fu Manchu - King of the Road
9. Rolling Stones - Sticky Fingers (I like a good bit of their songs on their own, but am not familiar with their albums)
10. Ramones - The Ramones (had to get Bob's help for this one
I felt so guilty about listing Combat Rock as my favorite Clash album that I had to go back and revisit it. I haven't listened to it in over 10 years and I haven't listened to it regularly in nearly 20. (Wow, I'm getting old.)
It still stands up. "Overpowered by Funk", one of my favorites as a teenager, was so awful that I hit "skip" after about 30 seconds. I could live without "Innoculated City" but it doesn't warrant the skip button. "Should I Stay..." and "Rock the Casbah" are solid pop songs despite the fact that both are grossly overplayed.
And everything else on the album is pretty incredible. "Straight to Hell" is as good as I remember, and there are gems like "Death is a Star" and "Sean Flynn" that I just couldn't really appreciate as an angry, hormone-laden 16-year-old.
So while I felt like a big poser (poseur?) for listing this as my favorite, I totally stand by my statement, even in light of also just listening to The Clash and London Calling. Combat Rock is a remarkably adventurous album that deserves better than to be known as the album on which The Clash sold out.
Janes Addiction - nothing's shocking was a great album. IS a great album.
clash - london calling
beatles - the white album makes me happy
pink floyd - i never was much of a stoner...
led zeppelin - the only thing i hate listening to more than led zeppelin is a led zeppelin cover band. ok, hate is a strong word, so let's just say they aren't in my top 600 bands.
REM - i never, ever have the urge to listen to REM. but if i did, i would probably want to hear eponymous.
beastie boys - hmmm...i like paul's boutique AND check your head...ummm...umm...which one...ummm...check your head
fu manchu - no freakin idea
rolling stones - sticky fingers
ramones - i'm not sure if i can pick just one. i love the ramones. i love rocket to russia, i love road to ruin. i even love acid eaters. i'm not sure if that means i'm a true fan or that i'm an idiot.
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The Beatles - Rubber Soul and Revolver.
But not Sgt. Pepper's, which may be the #1 rock 'n roll album in the Rolling Stone fan survey but isn't the best Beatles album for many (most?) die-hard Beatles fans.
For a friend and true fan, his fav is the White Album. For a second, it's Abbey Road. For me, it's Rubber Soul and Revolver - perfectly complimentary because Rubber Soul is strongly acoustic and Revolver is electric. Also, the first is known as the marijuana album, the second as the LSD album - very telling! Unlike Sgt. Pepper's, which has some fine songs but also some mediocre ones, Rubber Soul and Revolver have many great songs, plus many really good ones.
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