I’m off on holiday tomorrow and will have basically no internet for over a week. So naturally I’m downloading all the media I can think of, just in case of downtime.
Thought it might be fun to solicit some musical suggestions from you lot to help expand my mind. So here we are. What’s your ultimate all-time #1 album?
My tastes are pretty eclectic* so feel free to suggest basically anything, and maybe I’ll update after holiday and judge what I thought of them all. Or maybe not, you know, that sounds like potentially quite a lot of effort.
Cheers in advance!
* mostly on the alternative / rock side of things but also love various kinds of dance sub-genre on occasion and of course the genre-that-isn’t-a-genre-at-all, Eurovision
Wish you were here by Pink Floyd
One?!
You mean one from (almost) every year right? With the average scores from Rate Your Music for comparison? I never leave the house without mine.
/ Bob Dylan - The Free Wheelin’ Bob Dylan (1963) RYM 3.95 / Bob Dylan - Highway 61 Revisited (1965) RYM 4.16 / Bob Dylan - Blonde on Blonde (1966) RYM 4.15 / The Velvet Underground - The Velvet Underground & Nico (1967) RYM 4.22 / Johnny Cash - Live at Folsom Prison (1968) RYM 4.13 / Neil Young - Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere (1969) RYM 4.04 / Neil Young - After the gold rush (1970) RYM 4.08 / Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin IV (1971) RYM 4.10 / David Bowie - Ziggy Stardust and The Spiders From Mars (1972) RYM 4.26 / Neil Young - On the beach (1974) RYM 4.08 / Neil Young - Tonight’s the Night (1975) RYM 3.94 / Tom Waits - Small Change (1976) RYM 3.77 / Joy Division - Unknown Pleasures (1979) RYM 4.11 / Talking Heads - Remain in Light (1980) RYM 4.26 / The Smiths - Hatful of Hollow (1984) RYM 4.08 / Kate Bush - Hounds of Love (1985) RYM 4.16 / Tom Waits - Rain Dogs (1985) RYM 4.04 / The Smiths - The Queen is Dead (1986) RYM 4.12 / The Smiths - Louder than Bombs (1987) RYM 4.14 / Sonic Youth - Daydream Nation (1988) RYM 4.04 / Beastie Boys - Paul’s Boutique (1989) RYM 3.93 / Sonic Youth - Goo (1990) RYM 3.80 / My Bloody Valentine - Loveless (1991) RYM 4.25 / Tom Waits - Bone Machine (1992) RYM 3.97 / Sonic Youth - Dirty (1992) RYM 3.70 / Portishead - Dummy (1994) RYM 4.16 / Manic Street Preachers - The Holy Bible (1994) RYM 3.82 / The Smashing Pumpkins - Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness (1995) RYM 3.88 / DJ Shadow - Endtroducing (1996) RYM 4.13 / Godspeed You! Black Emperor - F♯A♯∞ (1997) RYM 4.15 / Modest Mouse - The Lonesome Crowded West (1997) RYM 4.08 / Godspeed You! Black Emperor - Slow Riot for New Zerø Kanada (1998) RYM 4.16 / Tom Waits - Mule Variations (1999) RYM 3.86 / Godspeed You! Black Emperor - Lift Yr. Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven! (2000) RYM 4.21 / Avalanches - Since I Left You (2000) RYM 4.05 / Radiohead - Kid A (2000) RYM 4.25 / Deftones - White Pony (2000) RYM 3.96 / Daft Punk - Discovery (2001) RYM 4.05 / Destroyer - Streethawk: A Seduction (2001) RYM 3.72 / Johnny Cash - American IV: The Man Comes Around (2002) RYM 3.86 / Boris - Feedbacker (2003) RYM 3.99 / MF DOOM - Madvillainy (2004) RYM 4.33 / Wolf Parade - Apologies to the Queen Mary (2005) RYM 3.64 / Boris - Pink (2005) RYM 3.87 / J Dilla - Donuts (2006) RYM 4.11 / Tom Waits - Orphans (2006) RYM 3.88 / Destroyer - Destroyer’s Rubies (2006) RYM 3.73 / Burial - Untrue (2007) RYM 3.98 / Animal Collective - Strawberry Jam (2007) RYM 3.81 / Radiohead - In Rainbows (2007) RYM 4.28 / Portishead - Third (2008) RYM 3.94 / Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavillion (2009) RYM 3.74 / Gorillaz - Plastic Beach (2010) RYM 3.82 / Death Grips - Exmilitary (2011) RYM 4.12 / Ty Segall - Goodbye Bread (2011) RYM 3.33 / Death Grips - The Money Store (2012) RYM 4.08 / Godspeed You! Black Emperor - Allelujah! Don’t Bend! Ascend! (2012) RYM 3.73 / Deafheaven - Sunbather (2013) RYM 3.72 / Iceage - You’re Nothing (2013) RYM 3.42 / Swans - To Be Kind (2014) 4.03 / Death Grips - Jenny Death (2015) RYM 4.01 / Danny Brown - Atrocity Exhibition (2016) RYM 4.13 / Radiohead - Moon Shaped Pool (2016) RYM 3.94 / Death Grips - Bottomless Pit (2016) RYM 3.91 / Li gua Ignota - Caligula (2019) RYM 3.77 / Sunn O))) - Life Metal (2019) RYM 3.38 / The Strokes - The New Abnormal (2020) RYM 3.73 / Lingua Ignota - Sinner Get Ready (2021) RYM 3.81 / Big Thief - Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You (2022) RYM 3.93
…sorry for the wall of text.
Some great picks from the 70s in here. I see some brilliant Neil Young’s but not Rust Never Sleeps which is, depending on the day of the week, one of my favs.
I went through a bit of a revaluation of some classic albums recently that I never invested the time in before, in part because of the Apple TV music doc about 1971. Of those I am especially addicted to
Bill Withers - Just As I Am Aretha Live at Filmore West Janis Joplin - Pearl Led Zeppelin IV
And not from that year but absolute classics and still hold up
Elvis Costello - This Years Model Bruce Springsteen - Darkness on the Edge of Town
An also on that list Talking Heads - Remain in the Light is still incredible
Linkin Park - Hybrid Theory!
Master Of Puppets. Greatest pure metal album ever made.
A classic for a reason!
Underworld - Second Toughest in the Infants - beautiful music and very easy to listen to endlessly.
I wouldn’t listen to any album forever, but Porcupine Tree’s Deadwing is great for listening to again and again.
Ah wow yeah it’s been a long time since I listened to that one, gonna take me right back.
‘Thick as a Brick’ Jethro Tull.
More of a grower than an immediate album but, once you tune in, there’s so much going on I never get bored.
Seems like I’m gonna have plenty of listening time while we travel, so let’s see how long it takes for this one to stick!
If you want an album with a narrative Jeff Wayne’s war of the worlds is pretty brilliant and so the ‘the point’.
Mike Oldfield - Tubular Bells, probably my most enduring album (i.e. the one I’ve liked for the longest period of time while other tastes have come and gone).
Paranoid by Black Sabbath
Hex Enduction Hour by The Fall. I never understood the Fall until I heard this album… Mark E Smith’s lyrics and voice range from vicious to eerie. I was sold.
I drunkenly insisted on playing its first song ‘The Classical’ on repeat on my stag do shouting “it’s a grower! You’ll get it this time! There’s 2 bloody drum kits and the bass is great just listen properly!” (On a tiny Bluetooth speaker)
It is great though. Turn it up loud. If you don’t like it the first time, just remember to bloody listen properly lol
Obviously impossible but probably Music has the Right to Children by Boards of Canada or Journey in satchidananda by Alice Coltrane
"Music has the right " is my current go to album while working. Not a big Boards fan, but that album is perfect for background concentration.
“Beaucoup Fish” from Underworld is my go to if I need a pickup while working.
To answe OPs question, one album I could listen to forever, would be hard but a coin flip between Radioheasd In Rainbow, and Burials Untrue
I love BoC but I think if that was the only thing I had to listen to I would genuinely go mad. Mad in the ‘I keep hearing children talking to me backwards’ sense.
Their Beautiful House In The Country EP is up there in my favourites of all time
Autechre NTS sessions. It’s not my favorite album by any means. But it’s 8 hours long so it’ll take me longer to get bored of it.
“Things We Lost In The Fire” by Low.
Never heard of this, expect a review in about a week and a half :D
I’m a massive Low fan, so I’d happily take any of their albums if I have to listen to one forever. They started off as the pioneers of “slowcore” but reinvented themselves over and over. Sadly Mimi Parker died in late 2022 and her husband Alan Sparhawk wound up the band, but their distortion heavy “Hey What” was a great finale.
Sorry - I can only narrow it down to three:
The Race For Space - Public Service Broadcasting
American Idiot - Green Day
Rumours - Fleetwood Mac
Two great choices, and I assume from those that the Green Day album is good too lol, I’d stopped listening to them by that point I think. Fun fact we once saw Public Service Broadcasting live, completely by accident, they were just doing a random gig on a stage in Newcastle city centre. Was mint.
Oh wow not listened to PSB in ages, thats my day’s music sorted!
