# Required listening. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 31, 2004, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/required-listening/262372 "2004-08-31T04:56:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Ilsa\_Lund](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a6a055/32.png) [@Ilsa\_Lund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ilsa_Lund)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2004, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/required-listening/262372/1 "2004-08-31T04:56:11Z")
Everyone list one album that you think everybody should hear at least once in their life. Kinda like a favorite albums thread, only with just one. Don’t worry about building up to anything, though. (For instance, someone new to The Rolling Stones should probably listen to _Forty Licks_ and _Let It Bleed_ before _Exile On Main Street_, but the latter would be the most important of the three. List it rather than the others.) (Note: The Beatles go without saying, so don’t everyone list _Abbey Road_ and _Revolver_) I’ll start: Radiohead - _O.K. Computer_ ---
**Author:** ![fishbicycle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aeb1de/32.png) [@fishbicycle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fishbicycle)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2004, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/required-listening/262372/2 "2004-08-31T04:58:40Z")
Just one? Man, this is so hard! King Crimson - Discipline ---
**Author:** ![Stark\_Raven\_Mad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Stark\_Raven\_Mad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stark_Raven_Mad)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2004, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/required-listening/262372/3 "2004-08-31T05:01:22Z")
WA Mozart - Requiem ---
**Author:** ![Ilsa\_Lund](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a6a055/32.png) [@Ilsa\_Lund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ilsa_Lund)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2004, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/required-listening/262372/4 "2004-08-31T05:01:26Z")
Ok, make it five. Four more: The Rolling Stones - _Exile On Main Street_ Joan Armatrading - _Joan Armatrading_ Jeff Buckley - _Grace_ Bob Dylan - _Bringing It All Back Home_ ---
**Author:** ![fishbicycle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aeb1de/32.png) [@fishbicycle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fishbicycle)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2004, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/required-listening/262372/5 "2004-08-31T05:09:22Z")
Thanks! OK, four more: So Long Bannatyne by The Guess Who Universal Juveniles by Max Webster Tinseltown Rebellion by Frank Zappa Rockpile by Dave Edmunds (ask me tomorrow and they’ll all be different!) ---
**Author:** ![LifeOnWry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/96bed5/32.png) [@LifeOnWry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LifeOnWry)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2004, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/required-listening/262372/6 "2004-08-31T05:14:22Z")
Young Americans by David Bowie Dark Side Of The Moon by Pink Floyd A Day At The Races by Queen Peter Cincotti by Peter Cincotti Automatic For The People by REM ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2004, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/required-listening/262372/7 "2004-08-31T05:20:37Z")
I’m not into music enough to be able to list five that I think are must-have so I will list the three I would have had to choose between for number one. Those would be : Undertow, Aenima, and Lateralus… all by Tool. I’m an unabashed fanboy and everyone ele should be too. ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2004, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/required-listening/262372/8 "2004-08-31T05:28:49Z")
Tom Waits - _Nighthawks At the Diner_. ---
**Author:** ![buns3000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c89c15/32.png) [@buns3000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buns3000)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2004, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/required-listening/262372/9 "2004-08-31T05:31:35Z")
Forever Changes - Love Marquee Moon - Television #1 Record/Radio City - Big Star Loveless - My Bloody Valentine ---
**Author:** ![Roland\_Orzabal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c2a13f/32.png) [@Roland\_Orzabal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roland_Orzabal)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2004, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/required-listening/262372/10 "2004-08-31T05:41:42Z")
Can’t go wrong with O.K. Computer, but if we’re going with Radiohead, I’d have to pick Kid A. While the individual offerings (song-wise) aren’t quite as high-quality, the album as a whole is far more coherent and, IMHO, representative of Radiohead’s “style”. As for my own recommendation: The Seeds of Love, by Tears For Fears. Yes, I know you’ve heard Sowing the Seeds of Love, but that’s the single off the album, and those of you who know music know what _that_ means. The rest of the album is a true work of complex and beautiful art, with Orzabal’s genius shining through at its finest. ---
**Author:** ![edwino](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@edwino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/edwino)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2004, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/required-listening/262372/11 "2004-08-31T05:51:00Z")
As per OP, one album: Stereolab, _Emperor Tomato Ketchup_ Just because no one else will pick it. But if you were going to ask me four more, I’d say _Moon and Antarctica_ by Modest Mouse, _Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain_ by Pavement, _Pet Sounds_ by the Beach Boys, and _Hour of the Bewilderbeest_ by Badly Drawn Boy. And _Revolver_ by the Beatles. ---
**Author:** ![SPOOFE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@SPOOFE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SPOOFE)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2004, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/required-listening/262372/12 "2004-08-31T05:54:49Z")
Talking Heads - _Remain in Light_ David Byrne - _Look Into The Eyeball_ Roger Waters - _The Pros and Cons of Hitchhiking_ Pink Floyd - _Animals_ Air - _Moon Safari_ ---
**Author:** ![Freejooky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ba8739/32.png) [@Freejooky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freejooky)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2004, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/required-listening/262372/13 "2004-08-31T07:02:23Z")
I’d say - Neutral Milk Hotel - “in the aeroplane over the sea” Nick Drake- “bryter later” the Magnetic Fields - “69 Love Songs” John Zorn/Naked City - self-titled Leonard Cohen - “songs of love and hate” ---
**Author:** ![Mockingbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c68b51/32.png) [@Mockingbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mockingbird)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2004, 7:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/required-listening/262372/14 "2004-08-31T07:24:35Z")
Let it All Out/Pastel Blue - Nina Simone A Kiss in the Dreamhouse - Siouxsie and the Banshees Be Yourself Tonight - The Eurythmics Music for the Masses - Depeche Mode Diva - Annie Lennox ---
**Author:** ![Dancer\_Flight](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dancer_flight/32/7601_2.png) [@Dancer\_Flight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dancer_Flight)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2004, 7:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/required-listening/262372/15 "2004-08-31T07:29:50Z")
The One: _Beautiful Midnight_ (Canadian Release, Please) by **Matthew Good Band** While _The Last of the Ghetto Astronauts_, _Underdogs_ and _The Audio of Being_ all have rockin’ tracks, I find that _Beautiful Midnight_ is more consistant in quality of the tunes. The other Four: _Little Earthquakes_ by **Tori Amos** – Classic **Tori** , by far and away the pinnacle of the stuff I’ve heard from her. _Fumbling Towards Ecstacy_ by **Sarah McLachlan** – The darkest album and the first one where she had full control over it. Also from before she got happy and married so is more “angsty” [in a very good way]. _Crash! Boom! Bang!_ by **Roxette** – Not too overproduced, good ballads and rockers. Seems more mature than the first 4 albums, not as “dancey” as the latter two. While I like the greatest hits compilations, the non-single tracks from C!B!B! are gems. _Gravity_ by **Our Lady Peace** – Not as “weird” as the previous albums, this is unapologetic alterna-pop-rock with catchy hooks and some decent lyrics and ballads thrown in. A good starter for those unaquainted with **Raine Maida’s** vocal idiosyncracies. -DF ---
**Author:** ![Gamaliel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b487fb/32.png) [@Gamaliel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gamaliel)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2004, 7:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/required-listening/262372/16 "2004-08-31T07:31:57Z")
The Velvet Underground and Nico Fear of a Black Planet The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars Never Mind the Bollocks, Here’s the Sex Pistols London Calling The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan Bridge Over Troubled Water Pearl ---
**Author:** ![SolGrundy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbce88/32.png) [@SolGrundy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SolGrundy)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2004, 8:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/required-listening/262372/17 "2004-08-31T08:09:55Z")
Ah, five is cheating! A real man would only pick one and stick with it. So, here’s my one. Not necessarily my favorite album ever, but I think everybody should be required to listen to it at least once: Emergency Broadcast Network - _Telecommunication Breakdown_ ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2004, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/required-listening/262372/18 "2004-08-31T12:03:22Z")
The Pretenders: _Pretenders_ ---
**Author:** ![Mycroft\_Holmes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a5b964/32.png) [@Mycroft\_Holmes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mycroft_Holmes)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2004, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/required-listening/262372/19 "2004-08-31T12:12:02Z")
Brazil Classics 1: Beleza Tropical. Some of the best songs from Caetano Veloso, Jorge Ben, Maria Bethania, Gilberto Gil (the current Minister of Culture in Brazil), Chico Buarque, and Milton Nascimento all on one CD!!! ---
**Author:** ![picker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/picker/32/13969_2.png) [@picker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picker)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2004, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/required-listening/262372/20 "2004-08-31T12:14:24Z")
Mark Knopfler _Sailing to Philadelphia_ [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/required-listening/262372.md?page=2)