# What do you consider to be the Greatest Albums of All Time **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 5, 2013, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-consider-to-be-the-greatest-albums-of-all-time/649392 "2013-02-05T15:52:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2013, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-consider-to-be-the-greatest-albums-of-all-time/649392/21 "2013-02-05T18:21:34Z")
> [@Jimbabweosu](#): > > Pet Sounds… absolutely (wasn’t it influenced by Sgt. Pepper’s?) Other way round. _Pet Sounds_ came out first and the Beatles tried to rise to beat it. > [@](#): > > Paul Simon. > -Graceland. It gave me chills the first time I heard it, and it still does. It’s not a cliche- it is hauntingly beautiful. Argueably one of the top five albums of all time. Brilliant wrting, brilliant arranging, brilliant collaboration. Seconded, absolutely. I was limiting myself to 60s rock, because I know it so much better, but every decade has amazing work. Another 80s album that is stunning is Roxy Music’s _Avalon_. One of the few albums coming out of that period to be utterly timeless. It’s the soundtrack to an infinitely pleasurable dream. ---
**Author:** ![ads95](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5daacb/32.png) [@ads95](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ads95)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2013, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-consider-to-be-the-greatest-albums-of-all-time/649392/22 "2013-02-05T18:30:47Z")
Most of mine have already been listed (not surprisingly) I’ll add (unless I missed it) _ **Appetite for Destruction** _ - Guns N’ Roses I can enjoy it as much today as I did when it was released in 1986. It is timeless. ---
**Author:** ![I\_Made\_French\_Toast\_For\_You](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/858c86/32.png) [@I\_Made\_French\_Toast\_For\_You](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Made_French_Toast_For_You)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2013, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-consider-to-be-the-greatest-albums-of-all-time/649392/23 "2013-02-05T18:36:00Z")
I heartily endorse _Pet Sounds_ and _The Velvet Underground & Nico_, and will add: David Bowie, _Ziggy Stardust_ Patti Smith, _Horses_ Talking Heads, _Talking Head:77_ Pixies, _Surfer Rosa_ Lauryn Hill, _The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill_ ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2013, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-consider-to-be-the-greatest-albums-of-all-time/649392/24 "2013-02-05T18:39:37Z")
Most of my choices have been named but I’ll throw in a few that have not: “So,” Peter Gabriel “Synchronicity,” The Police “Ill Communication,” Beastie Boys “Fully Completely,” The Tragically Hip “Songs in the Key of Life,” Stevie Wonder ---
**Author:** ![SeldomSeen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7ba0ec/32.png) [@SeldomSeen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeldomSeen)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2013, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-consider-to-be-the-greatest-albums-of-all-time/649392/25 "2013-02-05T18:42:06Z")
Suggest a few from the “country” side, some well-known, others not so much… 1. Willie Nelson; _Redheaded Stranger_ 2. Emmylou Harris; _Wrecking Ball_ 3. John Prine; _Lost Dogs & Mixed Blessings_ (Yes, I know 2 and 3 are not exactly country music. They’re difficult to classify…maybe “Americana”?) 1. Ian Tyson; _Cowboyography_. My personal all-time favorite, hardly known here in the states, but I believe it went multiple-platinum in Canada. Not “country” really, more like Western Folk. A couple of others get an honorable mention; Springsteen’s _Nebraska_, and Dire Straits’ _Brothers in Arms_ SS ---
**Author:** ![Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/face_intentionally_left_blank/32/288_2.png) [@Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Face_Intentionally_Left_Blank)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2013, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-consider-to-be-the-greatest-albums-of-all-time/649392/26 "2013-02-05T18:52:24Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > _Rumours_ - Fleetwood Mac > > _Born To Run_ - Bruce Springsteen > > _Dark Side of the Moon_ - Pink Floyd > > _Time Out_ - Dave Brubeck > > _Surrealistic Pillow_ - Jefferson Airplane > > I tried to avoid ones that had been named, otherwise _Pet Sounds_ would have topped my list. _Rumours_ was great. Still listen to it all the time. _DSOTM_ is an old favorite. _The Wall_ is going to get mention, but I find myself listening to _Wish You Were Here_ more often. I’ll probably get a lot of groans for this one, but _Bat Out of Hell_ is a longtime fav. Not a bad song on it, and I think it was a fairly unique blend of 50’s rock with 70’s rock/pop. Neil Young’s _Everyone Knows This is Nowhere_ is another one I like to listen to from start to finish. In this era of mp3s, it’s easy to cut and paste and not have the full experience of listening to a whole album, or even the same artist in the same sitting. It’s a curse and a blessing, but I try to listen to whole albums from time to time. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2013, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-consider-to-be-the-greatest-albums-of-all-time/649392/27 "2013-02-05T19:01:41Z")
If forced to choose just one, I’d go with **Paul Simon’s Graceland**. I listened to it endlessly when it was released and never tired of it; I could put it on right now and I know it would still sound fresh. Absolute perfection from beginning to end. A few others not yet mentioned: Imperial Bedroom - **Elvis Costello** After the Gold Rush - **Neil Young** Plastic Ono Band - **John Lennon** Speaking in Tongues - **Talking Heads** Love and Theft - **Bob Dylan** Loaded - **The Velvet Underground** mmm ---
**Author:** ![crypto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b3f665/32.png) [@crypto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crypto)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2013, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-consider-to-be-the-greatest-albums-of-all-time/649392/28 "2013-02-05T19:05:27Z")
Fleetwood Mac - Rumours Pink Floyd - The Wall Def Leppard - Hysteria Counting Crows - August and Everything After The Police - Syncronicity, Ghost in the Machine Michael Jackson - Thriller Madonna - Erotica Nirvana - Nevermind Kansas - Point of Know Return Doobie Brothers - Minute By Minute ---
**Author:** ![Fenris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fenris/32/498_2.png) [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2013, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-consider-to-be-the-greatest-albums-of-all-time/649392/29 "2013-02-05T19:28:35Z")
I’m not a Dan Fogelberg fan normally but _The Innocent Age_ is a fantastic album. Most of the songs are memorable and when you listen to the whole album, it’s just incredible. The Zombies _Oddysey and Oracle_ is this completely different sound from the “normal” Zombies. Like the one Chuck mentioned, the Zombies were breaking up and wanted to go out with a bang. “Brief Candles”, “Beechwood Park”, “A Rose For Emily” all stand out. I normally don’t count “Greatest Hits” albums (it’s cheating, that’s why) but _Footsteps In The Dark: Cat Steven’s Greatest Hits vol. 2_ is a special case. It was the only place (for years) that you could get the songs from “Harold and Maude”, so there’s like 5 original songs on the “Greatest Hits” album. I love a bunch of the other stuff that was mentioned… _The Wall Pet Sounds Thriller Sgt. Pepper’s_ Huh–I don’t think anyone listed _Tommy_ by the Who. Add that to my list. Also, the original recording of _Jesus Christ, Superstar_. That opening electric guitar still sends shivers up my back. ---
**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:** [February 5, 2013, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-consider-to-be-the-greatest-albums-of-all-time/649392/30 "2013-02-05T19:29:52Z")
_Get Happy!!_ - Elvis Costello & The Attractions _Entertainment!_ - Gang Of Four _Loveless_ - My Bloody Valentine _Revolver_ - The Beatles _Sign ‘O’ The Times_ - Prince _New Day Rising_ - Husker Du _Let It Be_ - The Replacements _The Clash_ - The Clash _Paul’s Boutique_ - Beastie Boys _Psychocandy_ - The Jesus & Mary Chain _Double Nickels on the Dime_ - Minutemen _Violent Femmes_ - Violent Femmes _The Who Sell Out_ - The Who _I Can Hear The Heart Beating As One_ - Yo La Tengo _Rum, Sodomy & The Lash_ - The Pogues _Murmur_ - R.E.M. _Fear of Music_ - Talking Heads _Unknown Pleasures_ - Joy Division _In Color_ - Cheap Trick _Dig Me Out_ - Sleater-Kinney _Crazy Rhythms_ - The Feelies _16 Lover’s Lane_ - The Go-Betweens _Skylarking_ - XTC _I Just Can’t Stop It_ - The (English) Beat ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2013, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-consider-to-be-the-greatest-albums-of-all-time/649392/31 "2013-02-05T19:30:29Z")
The greatest Heavy Metal album, Queensryche, Operation: Mindcrime. ---
**Author:** ![casdave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@casdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/casdave)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2013, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-consider-to-be-the-greatest-albums-of-all-time/649392/32 "2013-02-05T19:48:19Z")
Personally I find '_Wish you were here_ is better than _Dark side of the moon_ Here are some for you, Silk Degrees - Boz Scaggs Paranoid - Black Sabbath Jazz - Queen Revolver - Beatles, for me this is their best album Parklife - Blur Aja - Steely Dan Bridge over troubled waters - Simon & Garfunkle Appetite for destruction - Guns ‘n’ roses American Pie - Don Maclean Hotel California - Eagles The Doors - The Doors Innervisions, but it could easily be Higher Ground - Stevie Wonder Tea for the tillerman - Cat Stevens Music for the jilted generation - The Prodigy - I guess that for you Americans this probably passed you by, but for hard electro rock this was seminal Breakfast in America - Supertramp The Nightfly - Donald Fagen Piano Man - Billy Joel A trick of the tail - Genesis Trampolina - Mavericks Parallell lines - Blondie Goodbye Yellow Brick road - Elton John Come on , come on - Mary Chapin Carpenter Ingenue - K D Lang That’s a pretty varied selection, and some fine stuff too ---
**Author:** ![Labdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/439d5e/32.png) [@Labdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labdad)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2013, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-consider-to-be-the-greatest-albums-of-all-time/649392/33 "2013-02-05T19:49:48Z")
Many, many of my favorites already listed. I don’t think I’ve seen “Willy and the Poor Boys” by Creedence, “A Salty Dog” by Procol Harum or "Highway 61 Revisited by Bob Dylan. Those three will always be in any top 10 list I make. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2013, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-consider-to-be-the-greatest-albums-of-all-time/649392/34 "2013-02-05T19:57:41Z")
> [@casdave](#): > > Aja - Steely Dan > The Nightfly - Donald Fagen Add these to my list, please. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2013, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-consider-to-be-the-greatest-albums-of-all-time/649392/35 "2013-02-05T20:03:45Z")
_Kind of Blue_ and _Birth of the Cool_, Miles Davis _Dave Brubeck Quartet at Carnegie Hall_ _Getz/Gilberto_, Stan Getz, Joao and Astrud Gilberto _Brasileiro_, Sergio Mendes _Talking Timbuktu_, Ali Farka Toure with Ry Cooder _Elegant Gypsy_, Al Dimeola and Paco de Lucia _Rumours_, Fleetwood Mac _Sgt. Pepper, Revolver, and Rubber Soul_ (in that order), The Beatles _Are You Experienced?_, Jimi Hendrix Experience ---
**Author:** ![detop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bcef8e/32.png) [@detop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/detop)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2013, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-consider-to-be-the-greatest-albums-of-all-time/649392/36 "2013-02-05T20:07:55Z")
> [@cjepson](#): > > Excellent picks – all on my list as well. I’ll add another dozen: > > snip\> > _Bursting at the Seams_ – Strawbs > \ I prefer their _Hero and Heroine_ instead. My turn : _Tommy_ - The Who _Seasons_ and _Lord of the Ages_ - Magna Carta _Harvest_ - Neil Young _Highway 61 Revisited_ - Bob Dylan _Ladies of the Canyon_ - Joni Mitchell _Past, Present and Future_ - Al Stewart _These Eyes_ - Guess Who _Thick as a Brick_ - Jethro Tull There’s more, but it will do for now. ---
**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:** [February 5, 2013, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-consider-to-be-the-greatest-albums-of-all-time/649392/37 "2013-02-05T20:09:24Z")
Having just seen it played live a couple of times, I’ll add another vote for _Quadrophenia_. ---
**Author:** ![Art\_Rock](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/art_rock/32/525_2.png) [@Art\_Rock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Art_Rock)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2013, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-consider-to-be-the-greatest-albums-of-all-time/649392/38 "2013-02-05T20:23:16Z")
1. Hounds of love - Kate Bush 2. Selling England by the pound - Genesis 3. Wish you were here - Pink Floyd 4. Fear of a blank planet - Porcupine Tree 5. Kayak, bard of the unseen - Kayak 6. Scarlets walk - Tori Amos 7. Love over gold - Dire Straits 8. A trick of the tail - Genesis 9. As time goes by - Bryan Ferry 10. Graceland - Paul Simon ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2013, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-consider-to-be-the-greatest-albums-of-all-time/649392/39 "2013-02-05T20:24:14Z")
> [@Fenris](#): > > The Zombies _Oddysey and Oracle_ That’s in my top ten list, too. Oh, screw it, I’ll give my top ten: 1. Loveless - My Bloody Valentine 2. Pet Sounds - The Beach Boys (#1 & #2 were switched the other way around last time a top ten albums discussion came around, but these two are pretty much cemented here.) 1. Revolver - The Beatles 2. London Calling - The Clash 3. Marquee Moon - Television 4. Pretenders - Pretenders 5. Chairs Missing - Wire 6. Entertainment - Gang of Four 7. Kinks - Village Green Preservation Society 8. Zombies - Oddysey and Oracle (the first dance at our wedding was to “This Will Be Our Year.”) Led Zeppelin IV dropped off my list from a few years ago, but they’d be the 11 spot. For a guy born in 1975, this is perhaps a bit too 60s-80s heavy but, well, that’s what I like. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2013, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-consider-to-be-the-greatest-albums-of-all-time/649392/40 "2013-02-05T20:42:46Z")
Am I the only Rush fan still livin’? Moving Pictures - **RUSH** gorramit!! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-consider-to-be-the-greatest-albums-of-all-time/649392.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-consider-to-be-the-greatest-albums-of-all-time/649392.md?page=3)