# Top 10 Electronic albums of all time: **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 5, 2008, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-10-electronic-albums-of-all-time/444016 "2008-04-05T01:04:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2008, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-10-electronic-albums-of-all-time/444016/41 "2008-04-08T16:48:22Z")
[QUOTE=Tool of the Conspiracy] I’m not a big electronic fan, so I’ll nominate only three that I don’t see mentioned yet: **Nine Inch Nails** _Pretty Hate Machine_ **Machines of Loving Grace** _Concentration_ **Depeche Mode** _Violator_ I love Portishead, but I don’t consider them electronic. (Others could say the same about NIN and MLG.) [/QUOTE] Pretty Hate Machine is certainly an electronic album. Portishead I am unsure how much of it is electronic and how much instrumental. Machines of Loving Grace, particular concentration is a heavily rock album, though I agree it’s an amazing album, their best on IMO. Depeche Mode - Violator is the first CD i ever had, and it’s always an amazing album. **Darth Nader** Music to Play in the Dark is great, but not something I would instantly think of to listen to. Air is certainly a great band as well. 😉 I’ll give an honorable mention to Alien Sex Fiend who puts on a great live show. They were the last thing I saw at Coney Island High here in the city. They are on tour this summer with 6.16 in NYC. ---
**Author:** ![Yookeroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yookeroo/32/323_2.png) [@Yookeroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yookeroo)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2008, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-10-electronic-albums-of-all-time/444016/42 "2008-04-08T16:57:09Z")
[QUOTE=Tool of the Conspiracy] I love Portishead, but I don’t consider them electronic. (Others could say the same about NIN and MLG.) [/QUOTE] When I made my list, I was ignoring artists like Portishead & NIN because I was thinking of them as different genres. I was going for a narrower definition of electronic. But I want to make it clear that I’m not arguing against these choices. I’m not looking to turn the thread into a discussion of what constitutes electronic. That’s less interesting than seeing everyone’s list. And the lists show a pretty amazing diversity. ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2008, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-10-electronic-albums-of-all-time/444016/43 "2008-04-08T17:46:46Z")
[QUOTE=Yookeroo] When I made my list, I was ignoring artists like Portishead & NIN because I was thinking of them as different genres. I was going for a narrower definition of electronic. But I want to make it clear that I’m not arguing against these choices. I’m not looking to turn the thread into a discussion of what constitutes electronic. That’s less interesting than seeing everyone’s list. And the lists show a pretty amazing diversity. [/QUOTE] Yeah, I debated putting KMFDM in for that reason, but Symbols is a highly electronic album. In Industrial circles, KMFDM, NIN and Machines of Loving Grace would be considered, “Coldwave”, which is like metal mixed with electronics. ---
**Author:** ![Fourth\_Wall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Fourth\_Wall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fourth_Wall)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2008, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-10-electronic-albums-of-all-time/444016/44 "2008-04-08T20:28:00Z")
[QUOTE=Kuboydal] I may have seen Todd Rundgren playing piano at a bar last year. Everyone had heard of him… but that was about it. One guy claimed that the mystery person seemed to know all of Rundgren’s songs and another guy walked up to him and claimed he was dead. [/QUOTE] I would assume that someone who mentioned Lou Reed, Mike Oldfield, and Pink Floyd probably has at least a passing knowledge of who Todd Rundgren is, but I could be wrong because it’s obvious from the other lists listed here that the majority of y’all posting are under 35. I imagine my list betrays my age, but considering that all the albums I listed were made within 5 years of the invention of the first Moog synth, I guess my list could be considered Roots Electronica. Some of you youngins’ might want to check out some of the stuff I listed if you want to hear where it all started. ---
**Author:** ![ouryL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ouryl/32/6067_2.png) [@ouryL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouryL)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2008, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-10-electronic-albums-of-all-time/444016/45 "2008-04-08T23:23:07Z")
[QUOTE=Fourth Wall] 1. Roger Powell - _Cosmic Furnace_ 2. Jan Hammer - _The First Seven Days_ 3. Walter Carlos - _Switched-On Bach_ 4. Todd Rundgren - _Initiation (2nd side)_ 5. Tomita - _Snowflakes Are Dancing_ 6. Tangerine Dream - _Phaedra_ 7. Jean Yves (M. Frog) Labat - _M. Frog_ 8. Todd Rundgren - _A Wizard, A True Star_ 9. Stardrive (Robert Mason) - _Intergalactic Trot_ 10. Larry Fast - _Electronic Realizations For Rock Orchestra_ 11. Malcolm Cecil / Robert Margouleff (TONTO) - _Zero Time_ [/QUOTE] Switched-On Bach by Wendy(nee Walter) Carlos was the Granddaddy of Electronic music. The one that started it all. It won THREE Grammies. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![fusoya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecccb3/32.png) [@fusoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fusoya)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2008, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-10-electronic-albums-of-all-time/444016/46 "2008-07-06T16:41:44Z")
[QUOTE=mswas] Infected Mushroom is good live, but unfortunately the only play in New York at the big guido clubs. They’re a little too mainstream to be enjoyable live. [/QUOTE] Yeah, seriously. I saw Infected Mushroom live at Webster Hall in NYC last night, and although their performance was great (it was my first electronic show, so I had no idea what to expect…for being electronic, they had a great guitarist, as well an electric drum kit and a keyboardest whose fingers looked like they should have fallen off within the first 10 minutes) but otherwise it was probably the WORST concert I’ve ever been to. Webster Hall tries to double as a dance club (you need a colored wristband to enter the concert hall) and between the ravers and concert goers, it was well beyond the fire marshall’s limits. Not to mention how cramped that place is, especially on the stairs. Also the AC was dead, and they were charging $5 for tap water. And the show was supposed to start at 11 but they didn’t even open the doors until 1230…and when we tried to inquire what was going on, we were rudely told to ‘mind your business and wait upstairs or feel free to LEAVE’. When the doors finally did open, there was a stampede that almost turned into a The Who in Cincy incident. And we get inside only to have a really really lame DJ ‘perform’ for 90 min straight. Rumors started flying that Infected Mushroom wasn’t even performing and the club was trying to tire the concertgoers out so we would leave rather than riot or demand refunds. So FINALLY they go on at 2am…and in a way, it was still worth it. I need to start a new thread on worst concert experiences… Viciouse Delicious definitely deserves to be on the list, btw. ---
**Author:** ![Anastasaeon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Anastasaeon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anastasaeon)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2008, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-10-electronic-albums-of-all-time/444016/47 "2008-07-06T17:46:26Z")
Numbered only so I know I got to ten, but in no particular order: 1. **Air** - \*Moon Safari \* (it’s the classic for me, while all their other albums are impressive enough, I adore the first one best) 2. **Assemblage 23** - _Storm_ 3. **Aphex Twin** - _Selected Ambient Works 85-92_ 4. **Pet Shop Boys** - _Very_ 5. **Sterolab** - _Emperor Tomato Ketchup_ 6. \*\*Doktor Kosmos \*\* - I’m having a hard time picking one in particular. I’m almost feeling cheeky enough to say _Cocktail_, but not quite. I’ll just let it hang there. 7. **KMFDM** - I’ll go with _Symbols_, but I’m fast becoming a big fan of _Hau Ruck_. 8. **Pig** - Toss up between \*Geniune American Monster \* and _Praise the Lard_. 9. **Ministry** - yeah, I’ll get behind _Twitch_. Heh. 10. There are so many other good bands out there to choose from, but because I haven’t seen them mentioned, and I know it’s cheeeeeeeese, but I’ll throw them a bone: **Razed in Black** - _Damaged_. There, I said it. You know my horrible guilty pleasure. I’m using a fairly loose definition of electronic for this list, as likely noted. ---
**Author:** ![Eutychus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Eutychus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eutychus)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2008, 11:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-10-electronic-albums-of-all-time/444016/48 "2008-07-07T11:11:49Z")
[QUOTE=Biffy the Elephant Shrew] _Gesang der Jünglinge_ would certainly qualify, but it isn’t an album. I can’t think of a lot of whole albums of Stockhausen’s music that I would characterize as electronic (as opposed to instrumental music that incorporates electronics to greater or lesser degrees). [/QUOTE] Well, there’s the Wednesday Greeting from Mittag aus Licht. And one vote for the obscure Beaver and Krause “In a Wild Sanctuary” ---
**Author:** ![Maeglin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8baadc/32.png) [@Maeglin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maeglin)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2008, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-10-electronic-albums-of-all-time/444016/49 "2008-07-07T13:57:43Z")
[QUOTE=fusoya] Yeah, seriously. I saw Infected Mushroom live at Webster Hall in NYC last night… [/QUOTE] Despite what I posted above about my experience seeing Infected Mushroom, I gave some serious thought to going to this show. I did not make it. Bullet dodged. ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2008, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-10-electronic-albums-of-all-time/444016/50 "2008-07-07T15:12:38Z")
Let’s not forget the originals, the grandfathers of electronic music in rock. [The United States of America](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_United_States_of_America_(band)) Only one album, released in 1967, but it was a classic. ---
**Author:** ![fusoya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecccb3/32.png) [@fusoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fusoya)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2008, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-10-electronic-albums-of-all-time/444016/51 "2008-07-07T15:31:33Z")
[QUOTE=Maeglin] Despite what I posted above about my experience seeing Infected Mushroom, I gave some serious thought to going to this show. I did not make it. Bullet dodged. [/QUOTE] If they ever do come back around this way again, I would highly recommend seeing them, just as long as it’s a venue you’re familiar with…I can personally vouch for the Bowery Ballroom, NorthSix, Southpaw, Warsaw, Roseland (although that place has crazy expensive drinks too), The Knitting Factory, and Nokia (probably my favorite venue in the city now) within NYC as places I could see them playing at. Irving Plaza used to be fine (although that wooden floor gets pretty uncomfortable to stand/mosh on after a while) but since The Fillmore took it over, I have no idea how they’re running things now. For the record, this was the setlist: ## Riders on the Storm (The Doors cover) Cities of the Future Deeply Disturbed (brand new song) Muse Breako RMX Suliman IM the Supervisor (brought out these neon umbrella dancers, who stuck around for the rest of the main set) Becoming Insane Vicious Delicious Special Place ## I Wish (WAY WAY more rocking an intense live than on the album!) Converting vegetarians ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2008, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-10-electronic-albums-of-all-time/444016/52 "2008-07-07T16:38:44Z")
I can’t think of ten, but I am surprised that \*\*Crystal Method \*\* didn’t make anyone’s lists. 1. \*\*Crystal Method \*\* _Las Vegas_ 2. **Prodigy** _Fat Of The Land_ 3. \*\*Chemical Brothers \*\* _Dig Your Own Hole_ 4. **KMFDM** _Symbols_ 5. **NIN** _Pretty Hate Machine, Downard Spiral \* and_ Broken\* That’s about the extent of my knowledge as far as full length electronica recordings go. I have a few compilation CD’s with the likes of the **Propellerheads** , **Atari Teenage Riot** , etc on there that I like a lot but I don’t own any of their full-length stuff. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-10-electronic-albums-of-all-time/444016.md?page=2)