# Albums That Still Amaze You **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 11, 2003, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/albums-that-still-amaze-you/212700 "2003-11-11T22:43:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Doomtrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/0ea827/32.png) [@Doomtrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doomtrain)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2003, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/albums-that-still-amaze-you/212700/21 "2003-11-12T15:57:20Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Badtz Maru \* > \*\*“Spine of God” by Monster Magnet. Every song on the album is great. Every album they have made since sucked. > > “…And Justice for All” by Metallica. Although I can’t decide whether I like “Master of Puppets” or “…And Justice for All” better, I think that, considered as an album, not just a collection of songs, that “…And Justice for All” is superior because of the unrelenting intensity of it. “Master of Puppets” may have more catchy songs, but they don’t seem to have any relation to each other.\*\* That’s why _Mer de Noms_ is on my list. It’s got such an amazing flow to it–like most Tool albums. You can play it in order and it sounds great. You can put it on random and it still sounds good. The songs all work together. ---
**Author:** ![Baby\_Fish\_Mouth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a8b319/32.png) [@Baby\_Fish\_Mouth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baby_Fish_Mouth)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2003, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/albums-that-still-amaze-you/212700/22 "2003-11-12T16:00:46Z")
London Calling–The Clash. Blood on the Tracks–Bob Dylan If I Should Fall From Grace With God–The Pogues ---
**Author:** ![Mal\_Adroit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df788c/32.png) [@Mal\_Adroit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mal_Adroit)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2003, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/albums-that-still-amaze-you/212700/23 "2003-11-12T16:17:54Z")
**Bruce Dickinson** - The Chemical Wedding It is simply one of the finest heavy metal albums ever. ---
**Author:** ![Balle\_M](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/13edae/32.png) [@Balle\_M](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balle_M)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2003, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/albums-that-still-amaze-you/212700/24 "2003-11-12T16:51:38Z")
Days of Future Past - Moody Blues Quadrophenia - The Who Miles of Aisles - Joni Mitchell ---
**Author:** ![Cloverbee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@Cloverbee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cloverbee)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2003, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/albums-that-still-amaze-you/212700/25 "2003-11-12T17:01:52Z")
Moondance - Van Morrison August and Everything After - Counting Crows Scarecrow - John Mellencamp Mock Tudor - Richard Thompson Sister Sweetly - Big Head Todd and the Monsters Various Positions - Leonard Cohen ---
**Author:** ![Labdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/439d5e/32.png) [@Labdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labdad)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2003, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/albums-that-still-amaze-you/212700/26 "2003-11-12T17:35:11Z")
Well, since I just got through raving about it in [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=222886), let me put in another plug for _ **A Salty Dog** _ by Procol Harum. I said it there, and I’ll say it here: I think it’s one of the ten best albums ever made. And in the extraordinarily obscure department, I’ll put in a plug for _ **Hollywood Dream** _ by Thunderclap Newman. If all you know about Procol Harum is “Whiter Shade of Pale” and all you know about Thuderclap Newman is “Something in the Air,” you’re in for a treat when you hear these albums! In fact, I have a tape with “A Salty Dog” on one side and “Hollywood Dream” on the other that pretty much permanently stays in the cassette player of my car. Also, _ **Must’ve Been High** _ by the Supersuckers never fails to entertain. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2003, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/albums-that-still-amaze-you/212700/27 "2003-11-12T17:37:00Z")
**Hollywood Town Hall** by The Jayhawks. **Blue Earth** , too. **The Yes Album** by, well duh! Yes! **The Steve Howe Album** by (do I really have to say it?) Steve Howe. Thats enough for now. ---
**Author:** ![Tommyturtle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8491ac/32.png) [@Tommyturtle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tommyturtle)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2003, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/albums-that-still-amaze-you/212700/28 "2003-11-12T18:08:28Z")
The Steve Miller Band **Book of Dreams** And since no one has mentioned it yet and it should be on any best record list Meatloaf **Bat Out of Hell** ---
**Author:** ![SPOOFE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@SPOOFE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SPOOFE)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2003, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/albums-that-still-amaze-you/212700/29 "2003-11-12T21:08:57Z")
Pink Floyd’s _Wish You Were Here_ (as a million other people have already said) along with _Dark Side_, _The Wall_, _The Final Cut_, as well as Roger Waters’ two solo albums _Amused to Death_ and _Pros and Cons of Hitchhiking_ (if you haven’t heard that last one, you’ve led a pathetic existence… go rectify that!) George Acosta’s _Awake_, but then, I’m a big techno freak. Anything - and I do mean ANYTHING - by Yello. Beyond that, there’s not much that impresses me consistently. ---
**Author:** ![stpauler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@stpauler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stpauler)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2003, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/albums-that-still-amaze-you/212700/30 "2003-11-12T21:55:26Z")
**Patty Griffin’s** _Living With Ghosts_ still gives me chills **The Stone Roses’** _The Stone Roses_ so many years ago I bought the cassette as a “No Risk Disc” at an old store called Title Wave. **Carole King’s** _Tapestry_ only has perfect songs that stand alone or together. **Bran Van 3000’s** _Discosis_ shows the propensity of music’s ability to ignore genre boundries and play like a free-range chicken. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_scratch\_fever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/73ab20/32.png) [@Cat\_scratch\_fever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_scratch_fever)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2003, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/albums-that-still-amaze-you/212700/31 "2003-11-12T22:49:35Z")
Big Audio Dynomite - The Globe The Cure - Mixed Up Neil Young - Harvest and Harvest Moon Beastie Boys - Liscence to Ill Miles Davis - Kind of Blue ---
**Author:** ![koeeoaddi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/koeeoaddi/32/408_2.png) [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2003, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/albums-that-still-amaze-you/212700/32 "2003-11-12T23:23:37Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by stpauler \* > \*\ ***Patty Griffin’s** _Living With Ghosts_ still gives me chills \*\* Me too, **stpauler**! also **N’issi N’issi** - Khaled **The Lady and the Unicorn** - John Renbourn **Hangman’s Beautiful Daughter** - The Incredible String Band ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2003, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/albums-that-still-amaze-you/212700/33 "2003-11-13T00:20:03Z")
Exile on Main Street – the Stones Exile in Guyville – Liz Phair Poetic Champions Compose – Van Morrison What’s Going On – Marvin Gaye Live at the Fillmore – The Allman Brothers ---
**Author:** ![JohnM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/848f3c/32.png) [@JohnM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnM)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2003, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/albums-that-still-amaze-you/212700/34 "2003-11-13T00:57:50Z")
My list has some newer stuff on it, but these are the things I consistently enjoy, or know based on past experience that I will continue to enjoy. If I somehow lost my CD collection (around 800 discs I think), this is where I would start rebuilding. **Kiko** - Los Lobos **Excitable Boy** - Warren Zevon **Haunted** - Poe **Lost in Space** - Aimee Mann **In My Tribe** - 10,000 Maniacs **Yankee Hotel Foxtrot** - Wilco **Anodyne** - Uncle Tupelo **Relish** - Joan Osborne **Various Artists** - Largo **Car Wheels on a Gravel Road** - Lucinda Williams **Joshua Judges Ruth** - Lyle Lovett **Short Sharp Shocked** - Michelle Shocked **Diesel and Dust** - Midnight Oil **Nil Lara** - Nil Lara **Security** - Peter Gabriel **Murmur** - R.E.M. **Guilty** - Randy Newman (yeah, it’s a best of, but a great way to be introduced to his non-Short People music) **Martinis and Bikinis** - Sam Phillips **Stop Making Sense** - Talking Heads And a strong second for **Living With Ghosts** , **Hollywood Town Hall** , **Graceland** , **Joshua Tree** , and anything by **Richard Thompson**. ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2003, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/albums-that-still-amaze-you/212700/35 "2003-11-13T01:05:15Z")
I recently got back out some old CDs and started listening to them again. Of those, the one that surprised me for how well it has stood up as a complete album with its own unique sound is **Portishead** ’s “Dummy” - there really is nothing quite like it. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2003, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/albums-that-still-amaze-you/212700/36 "2003-11-13T01:36:55Z")
Emmit Swimming - Arlington to Boston (This is the greatest album you’ve never heard of) Comboy Mouth - Are You With Me? Rush - Roll the Bones John Denver - Back Home Again The first CD of the Police : Message In A Box (Those early Police songs were thundering) ---
**Author:** ![Lucki\_Chaarms](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de0a6/32.png) [@Lucki\_Chaarms](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucki_Chaarms)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2003, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/albums-that-still-amaze-you/212700/37 "2003-11-13T01:42:10Z")
**Nick Drake** - Five Leaves Left LC ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2003, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/albums-that-still-amaze-you/212700/38 "2003-11-13T02:03:27Z")
**Baby Fish Mouth** beat me to it, but The Pogues _If I Should Fall from Grace with God_: Human beings have no business making music this good. I’ll throw in Aimee Man’s _Bachelor #2_, as well. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2003, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/albums-that-still-amaze-you/212700/39 "2003-11-13T02:17:05Z")
I’m going to go for a couple from the last 10-15 years: 1. **Operation:Mindcrime** by Queensyrche. To the uninitiated, this is the perfect way to become acquainted with this band, and Geoff Tate’s vocal abilities. This album was released in the late 80’s, and never gets old. 2. **August and Everything After** by Counting Crows. One of the finest debut albums I’ve ever come across. 3. **Naked Baby Photos** by Ben Folds Five. This album just sums up BFF perfectly. ---
**Author:** ![Syntropy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/65b543/32.png) [@Syntropy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Syntropy)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2003, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/albums-that-still-amaze-you/212700/40 "2003-11-13T02:21:40Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Superdude \* > \*\*1) **Operation:Mindcrime** by Queensyrche. To the uninitiated, this is the perfect way to become acquainted with this band, and Geoff Tate’s vocal abilities. This album was released in the late 80’s, and never gets old. \*\* oo, oo, oo, I cannot _believe_ I forgot that one!! Thanks, **Superdude**. My hero. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/albums-that-still-amaze-you/212700.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/albums-that-still-amaze-you/212700.md?page=3)