Dire Straits Communique (1979) - Holds together more solidly as an album than the debut.
Bruce Kaphan Slider: Ambient Excursions For Pedal Steel Guitar (2001) - Really redefines what one can expect from the instrument, in the process probably inspiring a whole subgenre.
John Lurie Fishing With John soundtrack (1998) - In places, Coltrane for the modern era, in other places, a big goof.
Uncle Tupelo Still Feel Gone (1991) - Banjo and hard-rock guitar make comfortable bedfellows.
The Court And Spark Bless You (2001) - Quite possibly my favorite album of Cosmic American Music, to use Gram Parsons’ phrase. Sounds really good in a CD changer between #4 and #2 above.
The Band The Band (aka “The Brown Album”) (1969) - I wish more albums were recorded this way.
Otis Redding Live In Europe (1967) - I don’t count this as a compilation because the live performances really do knock out the studio versions.
The Minutemen Double Nickels On The Dime (1984) - A generous helping of riffs, played just enough and not to excess. Damned catchy, and more so as time goes on.
The Replacements Let It Be (1984) - The Midwest reinvents punk in its own odd image, and bless them.
Viktor Krauss Far From Enough (2004) - Good ingredients, from Viktor’s sister Alison to longtime musical friend Bill Frisell on guitar.
Ooh, always a tough question. Here are mine, in no specific order:
Tom Waits - Nighthawks At the Diner
Mike Ness - Cheating At Solitaire
Portishead - Dummy
The Clash - London Calling
Snoop Doggy Dogg - Doggystyle
Royal Crown Revue - Mugzy’s Move
Neko Case - Blacklisted
The Pogues - Rum, Sodomy, and the Lash
The Cure - Disintegration
Ben Folds - Live
Well, since you said albums, I’ll add mine, with the caveat that I’m mostly into singles… or was, back when they made them anyway. Also, some of my favorite bands haven’t made the best albums - for example, there’s not a single New Order album I like as a whole, but I’ve actually worn out two copies of the Substance CD. So even though I really like New Order or The Smiths, I don’t really like any of their albums, but I’m not gonna put someone’s “greatest hits” against someone else’s general releases. That’s hardly fair! Anyway, my list:
1 - Madonna – Ray of Light (1998)
2 - Duran Duran – Duran Duran (1981)
3 - This Mortal Coil – It’ll End In Tears (1986)
4 - Paul Oakenfold – Tranceport (1998)
5 - Cocteau Twins – Victorialand (1986)
6 - Saint Etienne – Tiger Bay (1994)
7 - R.E.M. – Fables of the Reconstruction (1985)
8 - The Glove – Blue Sunshine (1983)
9 - Sex Pistols – Never Mind The Bullocks (1977)
10 - 10,000 Maniacs – In My Tribe (1987)
I have a Top 20 Album List on my wesbite… I actually think that the bottom ten are more interesting than the top ten, but I tried my best to keep all of these albums in perspective… which is hard. I mean, if I listened to an album 24-7 for three years back in the 80s, where does that fit, even if I don’t really like Duran Duran anymore?
While you will be able to tell very quickly that I am only thirty years old, screw you all anyway, because in case you didn’t get the memo, I am the arbiter of all that is worthwhile in music. Got me a business card and everything.
In order, plus or minus three spaces (and the first four might just be completely interchangeable in order):
Soul Asylum, Grave Dancers Union- perhaps the most complete back-to-front alt-rock record of the era. No bad songs, some middle material better than the singles.
Pearl Jam, Ten- the best record of my generation, hands down. This record was my voice screaming and everyone else’s right along with me.
Nirvana, Smells Like Teen Spirit- Angry, disillusioned, and so alone. Just like everyone else, and that was what made it beautiful. It would have taken me a lot longer to figure out that I wasn’t the only lonely, fucked-up person in the world had it not been for this record and the movement I saw behind it, the group of which I became a part almost immediately.
Tori Amos, Little Earthquakes- Thoughtful and visceral. Everything I was too afraid to feel or to embarassed to voice, this record helped me get through. It is impossible to listen to this record and not be moved by it.
The Replacements, Tim- It’s hard to explain the gamut of emotions this record brings out in me, but it’s a soundtrack to all the impotent anger a kid can feel, an ode to the shitty feeling that you get when you realize that you are powerless, regardless of the fact that your caretakers don’t know what’s best for you and are indifferent to the fact that they do not, and a sad, sad reflection on teenage misanthropy.
Beth Orton, Central Reservation- Haunting and beautiful I’ve owned it since the day it came out, and I still don’t think I’ve plumbed its depths. I love this record.
Bruce Springsteen, Greetings From Asbury Park- Our generation’s Dylan gets his start. Since I can’t pick a compilation, I’m going with this one.
Guns-n-Roses, Appetite for Destruction- You find me a genuinely harder record, I’ll gladly listen to it.
Public Enemy, It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back- Rap is vindicated as an art form. Message, music, everything that rap’s detractors said it could never be.
Joss Stone, The Soul Sessions- because I can’t really think of a tenth and every time I try to take this one out of my car stereo, I can’t. She’s amazing. I will buy her original-material record the day it comes out.
I would have to think long and hard about this question for my final answer but here is a quick and dirty list.
Robbie Robertson - Showdown in Big Sky
U2 - Joshua Tree
Radiohead - OK Computer
Paul Simon - Graceland
Led Zepplin - IX
Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon
Elton John - Good Bye Yellow Brick Road
Beatles - White Album
Beck - Odelay
Peaches - The Teaches of Peaches
Abbey Road – The Beatles
English Settlement – XTC
All Things Must Pass – George Harrison
Dusk – The The (Matt Johnson)
Nuada – Candidate
Spilt Milk – Jellyfish
Talking Heads: '77 – Talking Heads
Repercussion – The dB’s
Surfer Rosa – Pixies
Parklife – Blur
Rankings expire at approx. 1:20 P.M. EST, 7/7/04.
I’m very impressed. Most of these lists have in common only their wildly various nature. Dopers are far more eclectic in their tastes than I would have guessed. You’d all probably really appreciate Seattle’s KEXP (kexp.org, streams live in 5 formats), about the only truly eclectic radio station left in the US.
My list (the first nine are numbered accurately; the rest all tie for tenth and are in alphabetical order):
[ol]
[li]**Jane Siberry ** When I Was a Boy[/li][li]**Mary Margaret ** O’Hara Miss America[/li][li]**Jeff Buckley ** Grace[/li][li]**Kate Bush ** The Dreaming[/li][li]Victoria WilliamsLoose[/li][li]**The Geraldine Fibbers ** Butch[/li][li]**Holly Cole ** Temptation[/li][li]**Lucas ** Lucas with the Lid Off[/li][li]**Nobukazu Takemura ** Child’s View[/li][li]**Beastie Boys ** Ill Communication[/li][li]**David Bowie ** Scary Monsters[/li][li]**The Creatures ** Boomerang[/li][li]**Danielle Dax ** Dark Adapted Eye[/li][li]**Peter Gabriel ** Security[/li][li]**Diamanda Galas ** The Sporting Life[/li][li]**Marvin Gaye ** What’s Goin On[/li][li]Astrid Hadad¡Ai![/li][li]**Lauryn Hill ** The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill[/li][li]**Ingrid Karklins ** Anima Mundi[/li][li]**L7 ** Hungry for Stink[/li][li]**k.d. lang ** Shadowland[/li][li]**Magnetic Fields ** 69 Love Songs[/li][li]**Kirsty MacColl ** Kite[/li][li]**Nightmares on Wax ** Smoker’s Delight[/li][li]**NIN ** The Downward Spiral[/li][li]**Stina Nordenstam ** Memories of a Color[/li][li]**Jo Carol Pierce ** Bad Girls Upset by the Truth[/li][li]**PJ Harvey ** To Bring You My Love[/li][li]**Prince ** Dirty Mind[/li][li]**Queen ** The End of the World News[/li][li]**Radiohead ** Kid A[/li][li]**Ruby ** Saltpeter[/li][li]**Tricky ** Maxinquaye[/li][li]**XTC ** English Settlement[/li][li]**Dwight Yoakam ** Hillbilly Deluxe[/li][/ol]
Europe '72 (Grateful Dead) - Sure it was doctored in the studio, but it captures them at the top of their game in lots of ways. Reckoning is also a terrific choice, and I’d opt for that except my selection is longer.
Blood on the Tracks (Bob Dylan) - Even if I’m stranded on a desert island, I’m going to want to hear Bob Dylan, and I think this is his best work. Personal and pissed off.
Ella Sings the Gershwin Songbook (Ella Fitzgerald) - An American treasure performing American treasures.
Travels (Pat Metheny) - I’m going to be on this desert island a really long time, and I’m going to want to think back on a very magical night when I saw Pat Metheny plat at Wolf Trap in Northern VA. “Are You Going With Me?” Hell, yeah.
Horowitz in Moscow (Vladimir Horowitz) - The perfect antedote for Blood on the Tracks .
Live at the Apollo (James Brown) - This one should need absolutely no explanation. I’m going to want to get up offa that thang - and dance 'til I feel better…Get up offa that thang, try to relieve so of that pressure.
He Stopped Loving Her Today (George Jones) - Even on a desert island I’m going to find a beer, just so I can listen to this and cry.
Who’s Next? (The Who) - I don’t have to worry about bothering the neighbors, and my speaker cones are made of out indestructible material…so fuck you.
Let It Bleed (The Rolling Stones) - Didn’t you hear me? I said “FUCK YOU!”
American Beauty (The Grateful Dead) - I’m going to die on this desert island some day, and when I’m fading fast I hope that “Ripple” is playing. “If I knew the way…I would take you home…”
Runners up are:
Pearl Jam - Vs.
Wilco - Summer Teeth
The Clash - London Calling
Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here
A Tribe Called Quest - Midnight Marauders
A Tribe Called Quest - Beats, Rhymes and Life
Rage Against the Machine - Evil Empire
Talib Kweli - Reflection Eternal
Led Zeppelin - II
" " - Physical Grafitti
The Who - Who’s Next
Jimi Hendrix Experience - Axis: Bold as Love
" " - Electric Ladyland
Queen - A Night at the Opera
Well, my “top ten” list of albums varies quite often. But at least a few of these discs tend to be in my active rotation at any given time:
“Lady in Satin” by Billie Holliday
“Kind of Blue” by Miles Davis
“Volunteers” by Jefferson Airplane
“For the Roses” by Joni Mitchell
“Horses” by Patti Smith
“Remain in Light” by Talking Heads
“So” by Peter Gabriel
“Our Time In Eden” by 10,000 Maniacs
“Eventually” by Paul Westerberg
“Rufus Wainwright” by (of course!) Rufus Wainwright
Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band - The Beatles (It’s impossible to choose between Beatles albums, really - I just picked this because of “A Day in the Life.”)
This is tough, since I grew up on rock and transitioned to jazz. Lessee:
Miles Davis, “Birth of The Cool”
Ali Farka Toure/Ry Cooder, “Talking Timbuktu”
The Beatles, “Revolver”
Hendrix, “Are You Experienced?”
Al Dimeola/Paco De Lucia, “Elegant Gypsy”
Stan Getz, “Getz/Gilberto”
Dave Brubeck Quartet, “Live At Carnegie Hall”
Eagles, “Hell Freezes Over” Sort of a “best of” album, but not quite
Paul Simon, “Graceland” and “Bookends” (with Art)
Chet Baker, “Stella By Starlight”
I think I’m cheating myself here, but my memory doesn’t work so
Through the Looking Glass - Siouxsie and the Banshees
We Two Are One - the Eurythmics
In The Garden - the Eurythmics
Viva Hate - Morrissey
Music for the Masses - Depeche Mode
Violator - Depeche Mode
The Dark Adapted Eye - Danielle Dax
Pastel Blue/Let It All Out - Nina Simone
Tropical Brainstorm - Kirsty MacColl
Best Shots - Pat Benatar
