I recently picked up a copy of Blender, a rag I usually avoid like the plague. This issue, however, interested me. It is Blender’s take on 500 CDs you must own before you die. Now it’s too much to list in one OP, so I won’t even try…but I’m stunned on how god-awfull their selections were. They seperated it into 9 groups. Classic Rock
Alternative
Blues
Country
Pop
R&B
Hip-Hop
World
Jazz
Now their examples had a few necessary bands…but much to my chagrine they mostly used Best of… albums . For example…The Cure Greatest Hits…and Best of David Bowie. This to me is a cop-out…if you are going to recomend an artist as a must have…why not recomend an actuall album the way the artist originally intended his/her music to be listened…i.e. why not recomend Wish as an example of a great Cure album instead (a pick that not everyone agrees with…but at least not the safe way out)
So I think the legion of Dopers could do a better job, hands down, than Blender in picking the 500 albums you must own. But given the amount of space it would take up…I won’t ask for that. Instead I’m going ask you folks to give me the 4 or 5 best albums in each catagory…to see how we compare to Blender. Something tells me Dopers could make a more complete list than the folks at that rag with there eyes closed and hung over from a long night of tequilla shots…so let me have it…tell me your must haves. I’ll post mine after a few reponses…look forward to hearing the eclectic mix of albums that will surely be suggested. Thanks
I’m not so good with categories, especially when I don’t get the categories. Here’s the best I could do:
Classic rock: Led Zeppelin IV
Van Halen Fair Warning
The Who Who’s Next
The Clash Combat Rock
Alternative:
Pixies Surfer Rosa
Pogues If I Should Fall From Grace With God
Art of Noise In No Sense? Nonsense!
EBN Telecommunication Breakdown
Chemical Brothers Dig Your Own Hole
Pop:
The Beatles Revolver
The Beatles Abbey Road
The Beach Boys Pet Sounds
R&B:
Marvin Gaye What’s Goin’ On?
Hip-Hop:
Beastie Boys Check Your Head
Public Enemy It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back
World- Babylon By Bus Bob Marley
Alternative- Living in Clip Ani DiFranco Nothing Shocking Jane’s Addiction
Classic Rock- *The Wall[I/] Pink Floyd
*Electric Ladyland[I/] Hendrix
Just a few to consider…
Good idea, but I must admit that I’m smack in the middle of the MP3 generation so I may not own “albums” for some of my preferred bands. And no, I’m not talking about piracy: I buy digital music legitimately (I think I’m the only one, though.)
Anyway, here goes.
Classic Rock, which I guess the article uses to mean all rock music from before 1980 or so since there’s only two rock categories: The Doors self-titled, The Clash UK self-titled, Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables by the Dead Kennedys, Aftermath by the Rolling Stones, Paranoid by Black Sabbath
Alternative, which by the same reasoning I take to mean rock since 1980: Pinkerton by Weezer, Nevermind by Nirvana, Violent Femmes self-titled, Doolittle by the Pixies, War by U2,
Hip-Hop: King of Rock by Run DMC, The Marshall Mathers LP by Eminem, Body Count self-titled, pre-censorship; Straight Outta Compton by NWA, It’s Dark and Hell is Hot by DMX
Classic Rock
Rolling Stones - Beggar’s Banquet
Pink Floyd - The Final Cut
The Doors - The Morrison Hotel
Steely Dan - Can’t buy a thrill
Alice Cooper - Under my wheels
Alternative ( lumped a lot of genres together here i’m adding more here because i couldn’t fill out the others)
Dead Kennedys - Give me convenience or give me death
Elvis Costello - My aim is true
Mission of Burma - The terrible truth about Burma
Bad Religion - Stranger than Fiction
Oingo Boingo - Nothing to Fear
Janes Addiction - Nothing’s Shocking
Sugarcubes - Stick around for Joy
Fishbone - Truth and Soul
Blues
Screamin Jay Hawkins - I put a spell on you
BB King - From the Beginning
Country
Johnny Cash - at Folsom Prison
Hank Williams Sr - Alone and Foresaken
Pop
not sure what to consider pop music here…
R&B(I’m lumping funk in here)
James Brown - Sex Machine
Parliment Funkadelic - Up for the down stroke
Otis Redding - The dock of the bay
Aretha Franklin - Lady Soul
Al Green - Let’s stay together
Hip-Hop
NWA - Straight Outta Compton
Public Enemy - Fear of a black planet
Good suggestions so far. I’ll throw a few of mine out for good measure.
Classic Rock
The Beatles White album
Bob Dylan Blonde on Blonde
Beach Boys Pet Sounds
The Beatles Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band
Bruce Springsteen Greetings From Asbury Park
Alternative
The Pogues Hell’s Ditch
The Smiths Hatfull of Hollow
Nine Inch Nails Pretty Hate Machine
Sound Garden Super Unknown
The Cure Wish
Sonic Youth Dirty
Marah Kids In Philly
Hip-Hop
Public Enemy Fear of a Black Planet
Dr, DreThe Chronic
Country
Wilco Hotel Yankee Foxtrot
Lucinda Williams Car Wheels on a Gravel Road
Jay Farrar Sebastopol
A few to munch on for now…thanks for the replies.
Oh and BurnMeUp…thatnk you so much for reminding me that Fishbone exists…I’m gonna run out now and dig up my old tapes…now if I only had a tape player.
Here’s what I came up with today (I took some liberties with the categories). I’ll probably look at this list tomorrow and bang my head against a table. Appologies to The Replacements, The Damned, Merle Haggard, The Yardbirds, The Dead Kennedys and about one hundred other bands.
Classic Rock:
T-Rex - Electric Warrior
Black Sabbath - Paranoid
The Stooges - Fun House
The Chambers Brothers - Time Has Come
Velvet Underground - White Light / White Heat
Alternative:
The Rezillos - Can’t Stand The Rezillos
Ramones - Road to Ruin
The Minutemen - Double Nickels on the Dime
The Detroit Cobras - Left, Love and Leaving
The Young Fresh Fellows - The Men Who Loved Music
Blues:
Robert Johnson - King of the Delta Blues Singers
Chuck Berry - Chuck Berry Is On Top
Andre Williams - Red Dirt
Hasil Adkins - Out To Hunch
Lightnin’ Hopkins - Remember Me
Country:
The Knitters - Poor Little Critter On The Road
Johnny Cash - At San Quentin
Split Lip Rayfield - Never Make It Home
Neko Case - Furnace Room Lullabye
The Old 97’s - Wreck Your Life
Pop:
The Beatles - Revolver
REM - Document
Liz Phair - Exile In Guyville
The Bangles - All Over The Place
Blondie - Eat To The Beat
R&B:
The Blasters - American Music
The Coasters - The Coasters
James Brown - Live At The Apollo
Marvin Gaye - What’s Going On
War - The World Is A Ghetto
Hip-Hop:
The Beatnigs - Beatnigs
NWA - Straight Outta Compton
Public Enemy - It Takes A Nation of Millions To Hold Us Back
Beastie Boys - Paul’s Boutique
Grandmaster Flash - - The Message
World:
The Pogues - Rum, Sodomy and the Lash
Youssou N’Dour - Set
Desmond Dekker - Black and Dekker
Los Lobos - Just Another Band From East L.A.
Ennio Morricone - The Good, The Bad and The Ugly Soundtrack
Jazz:
Gil Scott-Heron - Reflections
The Legendary Marvin Pontiac - Greatest Hits… not actually a “Greatest Hits”
Tom Waits - Swordfishtrombones
Thelonius Monk - Monk’s Dream
Joe Jackson - Jumpin’ Jive
Classic Rock:
Led Zeppelin: IV, Physical Grafitti
Jimi Hendrix: Are You Experienced?
Beatles: Rubber Soul
Billy Joel: The Stranger
Alternative (I’m not sure what fits in here)
Pearl Jam: vs.
At the Drive-in: In Casino Out
Ben Folds Five: Whatever and Ever Amen
Sublime: 40 oz to Freedom
Rage Against the Machine: Evil Empire
Pop
Michael Jackson: Off the Wall
John Mayer: Inside Wants Out
Hip-Hop
Reflection Eternal: Train of Thought
A Tribe Called Quest: Midnight Marauders, Beats Rhymes and Life
Notorious BIG: Ready to Die
Tupac Shakur: All Eyez on Me
Jazz
Miles Davis: Seven Steps to Heaven
Charlie Byrd and Stan Getz: Jazz SambaClassic Rock:
Classic Rock:
Tragically Hip - Fully Completely
Neil Young - Rust Never Sleeps
The Guess Who - Canned Wheat
The Rheostatics - Melville
Jr. Gone Wild - Too Dumb To Quit
Alternative:
DOA - Something Better Change
The Forgotten Rebels - This Ain’t Hollywood
Voivod - Nothingface
Nomeansno - Wrong
UIC - Our Garage
Country:
Huevos Rancheros - Endsville
Old Reliable - Pulse of Light, Dark Landscape
Stompin’ Tom Connors - Across This Land with Stompin’ Tom Connors
Herald Nix - Open Up The Sky
Ray Condo - Door to Door Maniac
Pop:
The New Pornographers - Mass Romantic
Sloan - Smeared
Shadowy Men On A Shadowy Planet - Savvy Show Stoppers
The Weakerthans - Left & Leaving
Weeping Tile - Cold Snap
R&B:
Bughouse Five - Dark Days Passing
Ronnie Hayward - Too Many Chiefs
Ronnie Hawkins - Mojo Man
Bourbon Tabernacle Choir - Superior Cracklin Hen
Deja Voodoo - Too Cool To Live, Too Smart To Die
World:
Spirit of the West - Tripping Up The Stairs
Zubot & Dawson - Chicken Scratch
Jazz:
The Molestics - Tropic of Hokum
The Colorifics - Where There’s Smoke
Hip-Hop:
Neckbeard - Sexpo
Buck 65 - Man Overboard
Classic Rock: Boston – Boston; Allman Brothers Band – At Fillmore East; Beach Boys – Pet Sounds; Fleetwood Mac – Rumours;
Alternative: Golden Palominos – Visions of Excess; Talking Heads – Remain in Light, Fear of Music; Violent Femmes – Violent Femmes; Sonic Youth – Daydream Nation; Elliott Sharp – Larynx; Praxis – Mutatis Mutandis; Material – Memory Serves
Blues: John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers – Bluesbreakers with Eric Clapton; Hounddog Taylor and the Houserockers – Hounddog Taylor and the Houserockers; Rory Gallagher: Calling Card; Stevie Ray Vaughn and Double Trouble: Texas Flood, Couldn’t Stand the Weather
Country: BR-549 – Coast to Coast; Big Backyard Beat Show; The Mavericks – Oh, What a Cryin’ Shame; Leon Russell – Hank William’s Back Vol 1
Pop: Matchbox 20 – Mad Season
World: King Sunny Ade and His African Beats – Juju Music, Synchro System; Juluka – Stand Your Ground; Hamza el-Din – Al Oud; Clannad – Macalla; Toumani Diabate – New Ancient Strings; Soweto Never Sleeps: Classic Female Zulu Jive; Bob Marley and the Wailers – Natty Dread, Catch a Fire
Jazz: Miles Davis – In a Silent Way, Bitches Brew; Birth of the Cool; Charles Mingus – Ah Um; Bill Frisell – Where in the World; Jazz at the Philharmonic
Folk/Bluegrass: David Bromberg – Wanted Dead or Alive; Midnight on the Water; Bob Brozman – Hello Central, Give Me Dr. Jazz
Jeez, I can’t believe no one’s mentioned Matthew Sweet’s “Girlfriend”. One of the best alternapop albums I’ve ever encountered.
Ack! Guns ‘n’ Roses “Appetite for Destruction” not mentioned either?
Rollins Band “The End of Silence”
The first Weezer album? Come ON! “Undone” is fantastic, as is “My Name Is Jonas”!
I’d put Ween’s “The Mollusk” in here, too. The closest you’ll get to Sgt. Pepper without buying Sgt. Pepper.
I was going to put “Ritual De Lo Habitual” in instead of “Nothing’s Shocking”, but then I remembered “Ocean Size” and “Mountain Song”, so, yeah, Jane’s Addiction’s “Nothing’s Shocking” wins.
Classic rock: The Beatles. Any album. Except maybe YESTERDAY AND TODAY, which is sorta pointless.
Alternative: Where are all the Tori fanatics? I’ll tip the hat to LITTLE EARTHQUAKES. I know everyone says it, but DISINTEGRATION by the Cure is awfully close to a perfect album. And I’ll second whoever said IF I SHOULD FALL FROM GRACE WITH GOD by the Pogues.
World: Dead Can Dance, INTO THE LABYRINTH
Pop: Another vote for OFF THE WALL. Gee, Michael Jackson was great when he was black.
The other categories I can’t really think of anything for. Why the hell isn’t there a category for classical music? The soundtrack to IMMORTAL BELOVED blows my mind.
Ray of Light by Madonna Bach’s The Goldberg Variations played by Glenn Gould Pretty Hate Machine by Nine Inch Nails Ritual de lo Habitual by Jane’s Addiction Ten by Pearl Jam Joshua Tree by U2 Songs of Faith and Devotion by Depeche Mode
