# That \*outstanding\* album of an artist/band **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** music\ **Created:** [November 6, 2026, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-outstanding-album-of-an-artist-band/1034562 "2026-11-06T16:52:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2026, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-outstanding-album-of-an-artist-band/1034562/121 "2026-11-07T22:07:53Z")
post deleted in observance of last few posts. ---
**Author:** ![Al128](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/al128/32/16541_2.png) [@Al128](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Al128)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2026, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-outstanding-album-of-an-artist-band/1034562/122 "2026-11-07T23:01:11Z")
> [@ShadowFacts](#): > > > [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](#): > > > > Has this thread morphed into a “favorite album” thread rather than the “outstanding album” as described in the OP? > > It has, sadly, to its detriment. no hard feelings, we are in Café S, anyway and debating outstanding albums was the goal … .. I was, however, looking for those **tentpost albums** that make people who are not necesarily fans of a group purchase a given album … (I for one, don’t really dig Metallica, but I purchased the black album when it came out … b/c lots of great songs) … that was the kind of albums I was thinking about … but, again … happy to hear about what people consider their outstanding albums. ---
**Author:** ![We\_re\_wolves\_not\_werewolves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@We\_re\_wolves\_not\_werewolves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/We_re_wolves_not_werewolves)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2026, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-outstanding-album-of-an-artist-band/1034562/123 "2026-11-07T23:03:56Z")
> [@Al128](#): > > - PETER GABRIEL: So what??? No way. Security (maybe, not sure he has one though) ---
**Author:** ![Al128](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/al128/32/16541_2.png) [@Al128](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Al128)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2026, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-outstanding-album-of-an-artist-band/1034562/124 "2026-11-07T23:09:02Z")
as per my OP, it def. qualifies … It was a huge commercial success, and introduced PG to many people who haven’t heard his music before …I bought when it came out in the mid-80ies … and haven’t purchased (or really liked) any PG album before or after. Seems it was one of the most successful disc to be launched in the year and had plenty of songs on airplay and in the charts. By the definition of OP, no other PG album comes close … ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2026, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-outstanding-album-of-an-artist-band/1034562/125 "2026-11-07T23:38:09Z")
Schildt’s Wiki page was actually founded to highlight his computer programming work, oh, and by the way, he was in a prog band in the late 1970s. ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2026, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-outstanding-album-of-an-artist-band/1034562/126 "2026-11-08T01:38:27Z")
> [@We\_re\_wolves\_not\_werewolves](#): > > > [@Al128](#): > > > > - PETER GABRIEL: So > > what??? No way. Security (maybe, not sure he has one though) I don’t think he does. _So_ was his big commercial breakout album but that’s not the same as a definitive, “outstanding” album. The distinction between personal favorite and the OP’s description of “outstanding album” are quite different. And “best-selling” or “highest rated” album is also different. I quite like the idea the OP started with and how there are some artists (many? most?) that don’t even have an “outstanding album” like **Gabriel** , IMO, also **Genesis, the Beatles** , and plenty more. ---
**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 8, 2026, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-outstanding-album-of-an-artist-band/1034562/127 "2026-11-08T01:57:20Z")
**The Jayhawks** _Hollywood Town Hall_ ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2026, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-outstanding-album-of-an-artist-band/1034562/128 "2026-11-08T02:02:18Z")
My yardstick has been the album I’d suggest to someone asking for a recommendation/introduction to the artist’s oeuvre. That’s why I posted Who’s Next instead of my absolute favorite Who album, Quadrophenia. In that same spirit I would suggest Blow By Blow to someone asking for a Jeff Beck album. I believe it _is_ a standout in his catalog in that would most appeal to a casual listener (even though it’s not my favorite album of his…that would be _Guitar Shop_) ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2026, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-outstanding-album-of-an-artist-band/1034562/129 "2026-11-08T02:39:27Z")
> [@blondebear](#): > > Kiss: Alive! Yes! Such a great “live” album! ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2026, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-outstanding-album-of-an-artist-band/1034562/130 "2026-11-08T02:50:38Z")
> [@dorvann](#): > > My first thought was Guns n Roses - _Appetite for Destruction_ > > I am surprised it has NOT been mentioned yet I was just going through this thread to make sure someone mentioned _Appetite for Destruction_. It was one of the best rock albums of the 1980s and I’m still not sick of any on the songs on it. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2026, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-outstanding-album-of-an-artist-band/1034562/131 "2026-11-08T13:02:07Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Wild how totally divergent tastes can be. Several posters have mentioned albums that I don’t think of the _outstanding_ album because others are much better. What I’m seeing more of is posters calling one of Dylan’s or Springsteen’s or the Rolling Stones’ albums their ‘outstanding’ album. Each of these artists and bands had multiple great albums, rather than having one outstanding album that’s head-and-shoulders above the rest of their work. Hell, this is true even for an artist like Billy Joel. Someone said _The Stranger_ was his outstanding album. Now I’m very much a fan of this album; it’s the album where I fell in love with his stuff back in 1978. But is it so much better than, say, _River of Dreams_ that it’s his one really outstanding album? I don’t think so. > I’ll just single out Blood, Sweat & Tears. I know that Al Kooper fanatics have disparaged David Clayton Thomas for 50 years. But the _Blood, Sweat & Tears_ album with him as lead has better song choices - Kooper does not remotely compare to the songwriters they picked, better production, better arrangements, and even better vocals. I’d disagree, but my real point is that you don’t have to dis one to like the other. BS&T is really a different band with Kooper as front man than it is with David Clayton-Thomas as the front man, even though most of the members of the band are the same. I enjoy both bands for different reasons. But no question, their eponymous album is the outstanding album of the DCT BS&T. And _Child Is Father to the Man_ is the outstanding album of the Al Kooper BS&T, because it was not just a very good album, it was their only album. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-outstanding-album-of-an-artist-band/1034562.md?page=6)