# My thoughts on albums everybody has already heard.(recommendations accepted) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** music\ **Created:** [August 26, 2013, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-thoughts-on-albums-everybody-has-already-heard-recommendations-accepted/667217 "2013-08-26T17:18:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 13
**Author:** ![woodstockbirdybird](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/woodstockbirdybird/32/7905_2.png) [@woodstockbirdybird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/woodstockbirdybird)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2013, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-thoughts-on-albums-everybody-has-already-heard-recommendations-accepted/667217/241 "2013-10-01T17:27:34Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > Slight slow-down here lately, but I am still finding new albums and listening to them. I am also, as always(now anyway), re-listening to previous choices and so forth. > > Anyway: > > \*\*Update: > > Prince - Sign O’ the Times > \*\* > > Now this one was a puzzler for me. I liked Purple Rain quite a bit, but this one was not as good for me. I find myself impressed with Prince’s talent even when some songs don’t work for me. I was massively impressed with some songs, though, and I am definitely curious enough to find more Prince albums in the future. I can’t believe he has 32 of them, though. The man does not stop. > > Disc 2 is the far superior disc on this album. I mean, it’s no contest. Outside the title track, I found most of Disc 1 to be forgettable. I don’t think Prince had enough for two discs, though I now see that combined, they only add up to about 79 minutes, the length of one full CD. However, I assume he split them for a reason and view them that way. > > Disc two contains: I could never take the place of your man, U got the look, The Cross(the best song on the album, by the way), Beautiful Night, and Adore. > > Those tracks alone make the disc a classic. Again, Prince has turned out to be a surprise for me. I’m impressed with the man’s talent. > > Not sure what is next, though. I’ll have to re-read the thread and find suggestions. > > As always, I’m open to more suggestions as well. I’d recommend _Parade_ as your next Prince album - it’s underrated, and does a much better job of the psychedelic pop than the previous album, _Around The World in a Day_ (which mostly sucks). _Dirty Mind_ and _1999_ are also worth checking out. Disc one of _Sing ‘O’ The Times_ has some stuff that grows on you - Play in the Sunshine, Housequake, Starfish and Coffee, Forever In My Life - but I agree Disc 2 is better. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2013, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-thoughts-on-albums-everybody-has-already-heard-recommendations-accepted/667217/242 "2013-10-02T00:05:27Z")
I’m listening to Darkside of the Moon. It’s going to take some time re-listening to understand. It’s weird. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2013, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-thoughts-on-albums-everybody-has-already-heard-recommendations-accepted/667217/243 "2013-10-10T00:33:11Z")
\*\*Update: Pink Floyd - Darkside of the Moon\*\* I’ve been listening to this album a few times over the past week or two and I’ve delayed writing it up. I have no idea what I’m missing, but this album does almost nothing for me. I don’t get it and it almost strikes me as “you had to be there” kind of things. I keep trying to get into it, but nope, it’s not working. I know it’s kind of a “stoner” album, but I also know that people like it on its own. After waiting quite awhile to write it up, I have very little to say about it. I can’t think of one single track that perked my interest, including Money(the most famous track maybe?). A total miss for me. Should I try a different Pink Floyd album? ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2013, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-thoughts-on-albums-everybody-has-already-heard-recommendations-accepted/667217/244 "2013-10-10T00:39:55Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > \*\*Update: > > Pink Floyd - Darkside of the Moon\*\* > > I’ve been listening to this album a few times over the past week or two and I’ve delayed writing it up. > > I have no idea what I’m missing, but this album does almost nothing for me. I don’t get it and it almost strikes me as “you had to be there” kind of things. I keep trying to get into it, but nope, it’s not working. I know it’s kind of a “stoner” album, but I also know that people like it on its own. > > After waiting quite awhile to write it up, I have very little to say about it. I can’t think of one single track that perked my interest, including Money(the most famous track maybe?). > > A total miss for me. > > Should I try a different Pink Floyd album? Well, I’m pretty sure we can strike any prog upthread. As for Floyd, “The Wall” might still work for you, it’s pretty different from DSotM. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2013, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-thoughts-on-albums-everybody-has-already-heard-recommendations-accepted/667217/245 "2013-10-10T00:48:24Z")
The thing about it is that for me it’s basically 3 compositions: the entire first side, money, then the rest of side 2. The songs on the first side either intentionally glide into each other or feel to me more like movements of a symphony than tracks on an album. The heartbeat in the beginning blends perfectly with the earnestness for companionship on Breathe. To me, the confused despair of the next instrumental track is an “answer” to Breathe’s search: no, you can’t find a perfect shelter. Followed by Time, a commentary on people who futilely search for something they can’t put their finger on all their life, which blends in perfectly with the previous track by itself starting in confused noise. Then of course the first side ends the way all life ends: when our vanities and fears dissipate when our life ends. That’s just what I came up with off the cuff: it’s more of a justification for a series of songs I already love rather than a reason. ETA: however, DSotM is only barely in my top5 floyd albums. The Wall is my favorite album ever and is just as accessible as DSotM. It has much better musical work and lyrics all around (except arguably the drums.) ---
**Author:** ![Bootis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e8c25b/32.png) [@Bootis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bootis)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2013, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-thoughts-on-albums-everybody-has-already-heard-recommendations-accepted/667217/246 "2013-10-10T01:01:06Z")
> [@NAF1138](#): > > Have you listened to any Ozzie or Black Sabbath yet? If not that is where I would go first. Start with: > > Ozzie Osborn’s _Blizzard of Ozz_ album > & > Black Sabbath’s _Paranoid_. listen to NAF1138, he speaks the truth. Based on what you’ve liked so far, Black Sabbath’s _Paranoid_ is absolutely essential for you, not only because it will blow you away, but it’s also important historically, because _no_ other band was as influential to virtually every Heavy Metal band that followed. Sabbath’s first couple albums were also great, but Paranoid is when they found their voice. To think that these songs were recorded in 1970 is truly mind blowing. ---
**Author:** ![NAF1138](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naf1138/32/3245_2.png) [@NAF1138](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NAF1138)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2013, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-thoughts-on-albums-everybody-has-already-heard-recommendations-accepted/667217/247 "2013-10-10T01:14:18Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > Should I try a different Pink Floyd album? I love Pink Floyd, but I find DSotM to be sort of meh. Try _Wish You Were Here_. Skip the first track, listen to the whole album except the last track, then go back and do a second listen to the whole album with the Shine On You Crazy Diamond opus bookends included. You need to get a feel for what they are doing before you tackle those tracks, but most of their most soulful work is on that album with not a single dud track on it. If you like it, check out _The Wall_ which is also great but a bit of a time investment if you are going to listen to it right. If not, you haven’t invested more than about a half hour of your life and now you know you don’t like Pink Floyd. Edit: Also, have you tried listening with headphones? As a side note, you might actually like the early stuff with Syd Barrett on the album _Piper at the Gates of Dawn_ but that is almost a totally different band in terms of their sound. So it’s not really representative. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Ed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Just\_Ed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Ed)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2013, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-thoughts-on-albums-everybody-has-already-heard-recommendations-accepted/667217/248 "2013-10-10T01:15:50Z")
> [@Bootis](#): > > Sabbath’s first couple albums were also great, but Paranoid is when they found their voice. _Paranoid_ _is_ one of their first couple albums (second, actually), but yeah, I’d agree as to their importance to Heavy Metal. (Even more mindblowing is the claim they recorded their first album in a single day!) ---
**Author:** ![Bootis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e8c25b/32.png) [@Bootis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bootis)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2013, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-thoughts-on-albums-everybody-has-already-heard-recommendations-accepted/667217/249 "2013-10-10T01:29:35Z")
> [@Just\_Ed](#): > > _Paranoid_ _is_ one of their first couple albums (second, actually), but yeah, I’d agree as to their importance to Heavy Metal. (Even more mindblowing is the claim they recorded their first album in a single day!) Damn that’s right, I always forget Paranoid came before Master of Reality, which seems less sophisticated to me somehow, but also less bluesy so I guess it makes sense ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2013, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-thoughts-on-albums-everybody-has-already-heard-recommendations-accepted/667217/250 "2013-10-10T05:00:39Z")
I’ve been following along in this thread for weeks now, but I’m hesitant to make any recommendations because most of what I’d recommend wouldn’t fall into the category of “albums everybody has already heard”. Still, it’s been fun to read **Mahaloth** ’s take on things and also fun to see what people are recommending and why. ---
**Author:** ![Ken001](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/43a26b/32.png) [@Ken001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ken001)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2013, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-thoughts-on-albums-everybody-has-already-heard-recommendations-accepted/667217/251 "2013-10-10T06:42:03Z")
Baron Von Tollbooth and the Chrome Nun. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2013, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-thoughts-on-albums-everybody-has-already-heard-recommendations-accepted/667217/252 "2013-11-02T16:29:49Z")
**Update - kind of** I have certainly slowed down, but am by no means quitting the experiment. I have been busy and have been also listening to albums I already liked. While I take a brief break, I thought I’d turn the tables and “assign” a few albums out that I consider classics and mandatory listening. I won’t rank them, but will say a bit about some. Please feel free to post thoughts here on these albums. 🙂 **Nightwish** - Dark Passion Play - I do not like Nightwish before this album, but love them since. I don’t like operatic music, but enjoyed Anette Olzon. **Nightwish - Imagenerum** - This is the best album from Nightwish and a true classic. Skip “Slow Love”, though; it does not belong on the album. If you must choose a track, try Rest Calm and listen to it all the way through. \*\*Within Temptation - The Heart of Everything \*\*- great album. Try it. **Within Temptation - The Unforgiving** - less than the previous album, but still amazing. I should note that Within Temptation is my favorite band. I would listen to everything they released except their first album, which was wildly different. **Sepultura - Roots** - This, to me, is the best heavy metal album of all time. I don’t love it as much as I did when it came out(my style has changed), but is there really any heavy metal album as solid as this? Just try the first track and be blown away. Roots Bloody Roots is the best metal track ever recorded. **Alice in Chains - Dirt** - Every single track is a classic. I miss Layne more than any other rock singer/performer. \*\*Nirvana - Unplugged \*\*- heartbreaking to hear, but wonderful. I have many more, but the above should help out. Most are available on Youtube if you want to listen without purchasing…though I do not know the legality of that. Especially check out the two Nightwish and Within Temptation albums, as I would imagine they are far less known. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2013, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-thoughts-on-albums-everybody-has-already-heard-recommendations-accepted/667217/253 "2013-11-02T16:50:28Z")
Do your parents know you listen to heavy metal? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Ed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Just\_Ed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Ed)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2013, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-thoughts-on-albums-everybody-has-already-heard-recommendations-accepted/667217/254 "2013-11-02T16:54:03Z")
All I can say upon a cursory first listen to some of your suggestions is that I’m kind of surprised any of my own suggestions struck a chord with you at all (we seem to have very different tastes). That said, Within Temptation reminds me an awful lot of Evanescence, so that’s maybe another band you could look into when you have the time. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2013, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-thoughts-on-albums-everybody-has-already-heard-recommendations-accepted/667217/255 "2013-11-02T17:20:04Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > Do your parents know you listen to heavy metal? 🙂 For the edification of future generations, please note that [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=706636) is currently … um … current. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2013, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-thoughts-on-albums-everybody-has-already-heard-recommendations-accepted/667217/256 "2013-11-02T17:54:31Z")
> [@Just\_Ed](#): > > That said, Within Temptation reminds me an awful lot of Evanescence, so that’s maybe another band you could look into when you have the time. Nah, Within Temptation is quite a bit different from Evanescence, though I get the comparison at first. Within Temptation isn’t depressing or mopey, for one. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2013, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-thoughts-on-albums-everybody-has-already-heard-recommendations-accepted/667217/257 "2013-11-29T16:31:32Z")
\*\*\*\*:BUMP: OK, so I’m ready for some more albums. What is the best **Rush** album to listen to? I’ve heard, and again I am not kidding, zero songs from this band. I know nothing of Rush except “it’s a band that people like”. What album should I start with? ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2013, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-thoughts-on-albums-everybody-has-already-heard-recommendations-accepted/667217/258 "2013-11-29T16:49:28Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > \*\*\*\*:BUMP: > > OK, so I’m ready for some more albums. > > What is the best **Rush** album to listen to? I’ve heard, and again I am not kidding, zero songs from this band. I know nothing of Rush except “it’s a band that people like”. What album should I start with? ::grabs popcorn:: This should be interesting. I don’t have sufficient Rush cred to start this discussion. And I suspect it will be a long discussion 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Accidental\_Martyr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ce7236/32.png) [@Accidental\_Martyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Accidental_Martyr)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2013, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-thoughts-on-albums-everybody-has-already-heard-recommendations-accepted/667217/259 "2013-11-29T17:04:19Z")
People pretty much either love or hate Rush. In my experience, there isn’t much in between. _Moving Pictures_ is probably their most well known album. It contains “Tom Sawyer” (which I find hard to believe you’ve never heard.) it also has “Limelight” which is one of my favorite Rush songs. I’ve always liked them and was a pretty big fan in high school but I haven’t kept up with them recently. I saw them in 1985 on the _Power Windows_ Tour. ---
**Author:** ![NAF1138](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naf1138/32/3245_2.png) [@NAF1138](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NAF1138)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2013, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-thoughts-on-albums-everybody-has-already-heard-recommendations-accepted/667217/260 "2013-11-29T17:53:56Z")
\*2112 \* _All The Worlds a Stage_ and _Moving Pictures_ are the ones that have already been recommended in the thread. There was a little mini debate about how accessible 2112 is (it’s their most critically acclaimed album, but some said that it wasn’t a good starting point and that Moving Pictures was a better start). For my money, if you want to listen to the famous stuff listen to 2112 and then just download the single of Tom Sawyer as an individual track. But it sort of depends on if you are just trying to get a touchstone or if you are trying to get into the band. And then take all of that with a lump of salt because I’m not any kind of Rush fan. _2112_ is the only album of theirs that I have heard as an album (I have heard one off tracks of other stuff) and also the only album that I would be able to name just off the top of my head. I think it fits your thread title request better than any of their other albums. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-thoughts-on-albums-everybody-has-already-heard-recommendations-accepted/667217.md?page=12) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-thoughts-on-albums-everybody-has-already-heard-recommendations-accepted/667217.md?page=14)