# Blender's 500 CDs you must own. God help us. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 1, 2003, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blenders-500-cds-you-must-own-god-help-us/165831 "2003-04-01T23:46:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Bedrosian\_Bixby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecae2f/32.png) [@Bedrosian\_Bixby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bedrosian_Bixby)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2003, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blenders-500-cds-you-must-own-god-help-us/165831/1 "2003-04-01T23:46:40Z")
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 ---
**Author:** ![SolGrundy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbce88/32.png) [@SolGrundy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SolGrundy)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2003, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blenders-500-cds-you-must-own-god-help-us/165831/2 "2003-04-01T23:59:04Z")
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: Pizzicato Five _The Sound of Music_ Jazz: The Dave Brubeck Quartet _Time Out_ ---
**Author:** ![Casey1505](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dc4da7/32.png) [@Casey1505](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Casey1505)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2003, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blenders-500-cds-you-must-own-god-help-us/165831/3 "2003-04-02T00:07:42Z")
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… ---
**Author:** ![Casey1505](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dc4da7/32.png) [@Casey1505](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Casey1505)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2003, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blenders-500-cds-you-must-own-god-help-us/165831/4 "2003-04-02T00:10:24Z")
(as ling as this is musical…) \*\* Jumpin’ Jesus on a Pogo Stick!!!\*\* my coding sucked… ---
**Author:** ![Casey1505](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dc4da7/32.png) [@Casey1505](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Casey1505)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2003, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blenders-500-cds-you-must-own-god-help-us/165831/5 "2003-04-02T00:11:30Z")
F\*ck! So does my spelling… ---
**Author:** ![markdiscordia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c6cbf5/32.png) [@markdiscordia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markdiscordia)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2003, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blenders-500-cds-you-must-own-god-help-us/165831/6 "2003-04-02T00:15:12Z")
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 I can’t offer much in the other categories. ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2003, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blenders-500-cds-you-must-own-god-help-us/165831/7 "2003-04-02T00:18:49Z")
Jazz: Louis Armstrong and the Hot Fives Kind of Blue The Shape of Jazz to Come ---
**Author:** ![BurnMeUp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@BurnMeUp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BurnMeUp)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2003, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blenders-500-cds-you-must-own-god-help-us/165831/8 "2003-04-02T00:21:35Z")
I won’t have 5 picks for all categories. 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 World Ofra Haza - Shaday Bob Marley - Exodus Jazz Miles Davis - Live at Carnigie Hall ---
**Author:** ![Bedrosian\_Bixby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecae2f/32.png) [@Bedrosian\_Bixby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bedrosian_Bixby)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2003, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blenders-500-cds-you-must-own-god-help-us/165831/9 "2003-04-02T00:27:55Z")
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, Dre_The 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. ---
**Author:** ![Bedrosian\_Bixby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecae2f/32.png) [@Bedrosian\_Bixby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bedrosian_Bixby)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2003, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blenders-500-cds-you-must-own-god-help-us/165831/10 "2003-04-02T00:31:57Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![vl\_mungo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/bc8723/32.png) [@vl\_mungo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vl_mungo)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2003, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blenders-500-cds-you-must-own-god-help-us/165831/11 "2003-04-02T02:05:30Z")
Screw Blender and their easy answers. 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_ ---
**Author:** ![Qwertyasdfg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/ecc23a/32.png) [@Qwertyasdfg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qwertyasdfg)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2003, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blenders-500-cds-you-must-own-god-help-us/165831/12 "2003-04-02T02:39:53Z")
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: ---
**Author:** ![vl\_mungo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/bc8723/32.png) [@vl\_mungo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vl_mungo)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2003, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blenders-500-cds-you-must-own-god-help-us/165831/13 "2003-04-03T02:13:37Z")
Being bored I decided to do a Canadian list… 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_ Blues: Clay George - _S/T_ ---
**Author:** ![11811](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/1/9d8465/32.png) [@11811](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/11811)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2003, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blenders-500-cds-you-must-own-god-help-us/165831/14 "2003-04-03T04:18:34Z")
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 ---
**Author:** ![RawkStah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/46a35a/32.png) [@RawkStah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RawkStah)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2003, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blenders-500-cds-you-must-own-god-help-us/165831/15 "2003-04-03T05:43:10Z")
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. 'Nother vote for “Paul’s Boutique”. ---
**Author:** ![look\_ninjas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b2d939/32.png) [@look\_ninjas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/look_ninjas)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2003, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blenders-500-cds-you-must-own-god-help-us/165831/16 "2003-04-03T06:09:55Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![coyasicanbe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bcef8e/32.png) [@coyasicanbe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coyasicanbe)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2003, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blenders-500-cds-you-must-own-god-help-us/165831/17 "2003-04-03T17:29:42Z")
Holy Crap! A Young Fresh Fellows sighting! But sorry vl\_mungo, if you’re going to take just one, it has to be Topsy Turvy. ---
**Author:** ![Alias](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a88e4f/32.png) [@Alias](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alias)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2003, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blenders-500-cds-you-must-own-god-help-us/165831/18 "2003-04-04T01:33:52Z")
**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 ---
**Author:** ![Tarrsk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/97f17d/32.png) [@Tarrsk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tarrsk)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2003, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blenders-500-cds-you-must-own-god-help-us/165831/19 "2003-04-04T04:22:31Z")
So many “alt rock” albums and not one mention of Radiohead’s wonderful _The Bends_ or _OK Computer_? ☹