Rank you favourite band/group/artist's best albums and Top 3 tracks on each.

[Manute for Ever!]

We have a lot of music debates on ISH, everyone has their favourite artist's, so I thought it would be cool to find out what you see in them.
Here's the deal; Write a Top 5, Top 10, Top whatever list and also you three favourite songs off each album (link to the song would be cool, too). Try to give a bit of background info about each album, too.
I'll get the ball rolling, but I have two favourite bands, Ween and Kyuss. I will begin with a Top 5 for Kyuss (only had five albums), then I will do a Top 10 for Ween (that will take a while).

AND, YES, I HAVE WRITTEN THIS MYSELF.


Kyuss

http://www.mclub.com.ua/images/art/artist_2792.jpg

Any stoner rock fan knows Kyuss, if not, then they will be more than aware of the bands that have formed from the demise of Kyuss, most notably Queens of the Stone Age and Brant Bjork and the Bro's, but also Eagles of Deathmetal, Fu Manchu and Mondo Generator among others. Kyuss were active from 1989-1995 and far ahead of their time. Playing with various lineups, The only members to be on every album were vocalist John Garcia and guitarist Josh Homme. Kyuss started out playing parties in the desert with gasoline powered amps and a sh!t-load of beer to playing festivals in a short ammount of time
In terms of a reunioin, everybody seems up for it except Homme:

The offers come in all the time. They're getting more and more expensive, and more and more elaborate. The money is crazy, but I've never been tempted – I don't really care about the money, I never have. That's not what KYUSS was about, so to punctuate the end of our sentence with that would be blasphemy. KYUSS fans are so ****in' rad, they're ****in' badass — but to me, reunions are just not necessary. It's not what it was, it's what it is, and KYUSS was a really magical thing — and if you weren't there, well, you weren't. That's just the luck of the draw. I don't feel the urge to do it for somebody who didn't have the opportunity to see us, or just didn't take the opportunity to see us. I'll let other bands alter their great legacies. KYUSS has such a great history that it would be a total error. I like that nobody saw KYUSS, and that it was largely misunderstood. That sounds like a legend forming to me. I'm too proud of it to rub my dick on it.
http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=72065

I'd do it for free beer again.
http://www.nonelouder.com/profiles/blog/list

Members:
John Garcia
Josh Homme
Alfredo Hern

[Manute for Ever!]

Ween


http://www.highergroundmusic.com/u/shows/3/ween32.jpg

Ween have been making music since 1984, originally playing as a two piece with pre-recorded drums/synths/bass and made their major label debut in 1990. Later, around 1994, they started using a full live band. Around the same time, their overall song-writing and musicianmanship improved greatly, allowing for a wider range of influences to become apparent. The music they have been recording for the last 15 years has crossed genres, from country, to sea-shanties.

Current Members:
Dean Ween (pseudonym for Mickey Melchiondo)
Gene Ween (pseudonym for Aaron Freeman)
Dave Dreiwitz
Claude Coleman Jr.
Glenn McClelland

Ween have recorded six independent albums, 10 studio albums, as well as releasing six live albums. This list is only of the studio recordings

The Bottom 5:

10. GodWeenSatan: The Oneness, 1990
http://benchlandblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/ween-godweensatan-300x300.jpg

Dean and Gene were barely out of their teens when they released this fairly immature album. Sure, there are some good tracks, but you have to wade through 26 songs to find the seven or eight good ones.

Top 3 tracks:
1. Squelch the Weasel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JopF7ZJPdCo I actually really like this song

2. I'm in the Mood to Move
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uw1vJdoErD0

3. L.M.L.Y.P.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FfPUvy3YkGo A tibute to Prince

9. Pure Guava, 1992
http://www.biocrawler.com/w/images/1/1a/Ween-PureGuava.jpg
Ween's major label debut, much the same as GodWeenSatan, only less songs (only 19 this time). Really only known for push the little daisies, but there is some good stuff to be found within.

Top 3 tracks
1. Reggaejunkiejew
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QiG9TSfFA9M

2. Tender Situation
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_iXLZKYvKYs

3. Pumpin' 4 the Man
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_oI7c07t0iA

8. 12 Golden Country Greats, 1996
http://kgmadman.files.wordpress.com/2009/09/ween-12goldencountrygreats.jpg

12 Golden Country Greats (which only contains 10 songs) was recorded in Nashville and is the first album they have recorded to concentrate on one musical genre. Some of the session musicians for this album include country legends such as the Jordanaires, Buddy Spicher, Charlie McCoy, Hargus "Pig" Robbins, and Russ Hicks. Very interesting concept and a great album.

Top 3 top
1. I'm Holding You
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FK65IZIduf8 Live acoustic version

2. I Don't Wanna Leave You on the Farm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B5Ni8UKI198

3. Mister Richard Smoker
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DYEO_WZUGcY

7. Chocolate and Cheese, 1994
http://images.uulyrics.com/cover/w/ween/album-chocolate-and-cheese.jpg

Aside from having their best album cover, a lot of people consider this Ween's best album. Me personally? I really like it, but there are six that I like better. This was the album they released after Pure Guava and the album where they turned a corner musically. Doesn't even sound like the same band.

Top 3 tracks
1. Voodoo Lady
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJVLR9lyopg Great video. Wanted to find the clip from "Live in Chicago, but couldn't find it.

2. Baby B!tch
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1z1UdU2Ypg

3. Freedom of '76
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_vsJuxYGwg Great video

6. The Pod, 1991
http://www.leonardcohenfiles.com/ween.jpg

One of the first things you will notice about this album is that the cover is identical to The Best of Leonard Cohen:
http://www.leonardcohenfiles.com/covergreatest2.jpg
Instead of writing about this album, I'll just quote the liner notes:

"Recorded by Dean and Gene Ween on a Tascam four-track cassette recorder between January and October 1990. All songs recorded at the Pod, where we lived for a year and 10 months. (with our cat Mandee) The Pod was scenically located on Van Sant Road in Solebury Township, Pennsylvania. Our apartment was a haven for flies because it sits in the middle of a horse farm. In the time this album was completed, we filled up 3,600 hours of tape, and inhaled 5 cans of Scotchgard. This album was then produced and mixed by Andrew Weiss (our pal) at the Zion House of Flesh, Hopewell, New Jersey. Straight to DAT Mang. Mean Ween played the bass on “Alone” and that’s him on the cover doin’ up some nitrous oxide powered bongs. We got evicted on October 1, 1991. But Dave Ayers says he’s gonna help us out. Cover and art designs by Logorhythms."


Top 3 tracks
1. Demon Sweat
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nH5MYq8p91g

2. Doctor Rock
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_mwie9ECjg

3. Sketches of Winkle
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PwDgWvkmR8Y

[chains5000]

Great idea.
I have no access to youtube from work, so I'll post later something on Faith No More
Pearl Jam is my favourite band but I'm sure someone else will make a Pearl Jam list.

[Manute for Ever!]

Ween continued...

~The Top 5:

The Mollusk, 1997
http://transhumanhighway.files.wordpress.com/2009/04/mollusk.jpg

This album is very similar to Chocolate and Cheese with a subliminal nautical theme. Nothing that particularly stands out, just another solid Ween album.

Top 3 tracks:
1. Buckingham Green
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-oYMsoCc1g Great live clip

2. Mutilated Lips
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0s8fBQJEuvM

3. Waving My Dick in the Wind
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-54wAE7nJI

4. La Cucaracha, 2007
http://image.iodalliance.com/release/198379-72.jpg

La Cucaracha is an album that covers all genres and is all over the place like a spastic woman's lipstick, never sticking with one sound for more than one song. Very hard to pick best songs because they're all great, but I'll try:

Top 3 tracks:
1. Woman and Man
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwaaECMOo0E

2. Object
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCSGM5mBrWY Whoever made this video got the vibe perfect

3. Your Party
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0ISF95axZQ

3. Quebec, 2003
http://www.thecriticscorner.com/Covers2/WeenD3-Cover.jpg

Befor the release of this, their eighth studio album, Ween stated that they were getting back to the "Browner side". Read: weirdness, both of the creepy and happy variety. Probably the least cohesive release they have made since The Pod, but a far better album.

Top 3 tracks:
1. The Argus
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5U9wf1Z74tU

2. Tried and True
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QN_wubzjtnc&feature=related Live

3. Gonna Be a Long Night
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGRl2lOUQrc&feature=related The ultimate party song.

2. Shinola, Vol. 1, 2005
http://jasoncopland.com/uploaded_images/ween-763739.jpg

Shinola is predominantly a collection of rarities and demo's that the band had recorded over their career. Of the 12 songs on the album, only three were actually brand new.

Top 3 tracks:
1. Gabrielle
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EFbTbSsb6f0

2. Did You See Me?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=54nzysVNe5w Originally recorded for The Mollusk

3. The Rift
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lxRMNxZmxlU Originally recorded for Chocolate and Cheese

1. White Pepper, 2000
http://images.uulyrics.com/cover/w/ween/album-white-pepper.jpg

White Pepper is pretty much Ween's equivelent of the Beatle's "White Album", hence the name. It's not quite as experimental as some of their other albums, but also not formulaic. A perfect balance between the bizarre and the beautiful.

Top 3 tracks:
1. Back to Basom
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CSg2zQl0hk4

2. Falling Out
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jcdu0tIYsNU&feature=related This video has the best audio, the song has nothing to do with Kill Bill

3. Stay Forever
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uqnvLzsWUWQ Again, chose this video for the audio quality

[Manute for Ever!]

Great idea.
I have no access to youtube from work, so I'll post later something on Faith No More
Pearl Jam is my favourite band but I'm sure someone else will make a Pearl Jam list.

I was thinking of a general Mike Patton one, but that is just impossible.

[JtotheIzzo]

Brilliant thread.

I love the fact you broke Ween down the way you did. Probably the best band of this generation and my favorite band too.

My favorite Ween era was:

Pure Guava ... Chocolate and Cheese... The Mollusk.

These were put out in the mid nineties, and I think the band was at it's apex blending its early bizarreness with its more polished sound of today.

I really love the country album too, as well as Quebec, Shinola, La Cucaracha and White Pepper. But the three above are more impressionable and have real feeling.


A lot of the early studio stuff is too raw, but when they put a rock spin on it at live shows (I've been to three) it kicks total ass.

F*ck Ween is awesome.

you omitted Craters of the Sac (though much the same as Shinola) and their work with 'The Shlt Crek Boys'. There is a live album of Ween and The Shlt Creek Boys live in Toronto on the interwebs somewhere (I DL'd it likefive years ago) freakin awesome, they do a cover of Billy Joel's 'Piano Man' where Gener busts out laughing halfway through. Check it out.

[JtotheIzzo]

trip off this Manute...I have this theory that a lot of Ween albums are tribute albums to certain genres of music.

Country Album (obviously)
Chocolate and Cheese (70's 80's funk and cheesy soul, hence the name)
The Mollusk (sea shanties and 70's folk)
White Pepper ('solid gold' style 'FM music', ie a more polished radio sound)
Shinola (prog rock)
Quebec (a Ween tribute to Ween)


what do you think?

[Manute for Ever!]

Brilliant thread.

I love the fact you broke Ween down the way you did. Probably the best band of this generation and my favorite band too.

My favorite Ween era was:

Pure Guava ... Chocolate and Cheese... The Mollusk.

These were put out in the mid nineties, and I think the band was at it's apex blending its early bizarreness with its more polished sound of today.

I really love the country album too, as well as Quebec, Shinola, La Cucaracha and White Pepper. But the three above are more impressionable and have real feeling.


A lot of the early studio stuff is too raw, but when they put a rock spin on it at live shows (I've been to three) it kicks total ass.

F*ck Ween is awesome.

Nice, a fellow fan. What was the origin of "All of my Love" on the Live in Chicago DVD? That song is awesome.

[JtotheIzzo]

Nice, a fellow fan. What was the origin of "All of my Love" on the Live in Chicago DVD? That song is awesome.

That was a Zepplin cover.

They throw in the odd cover at live (I edited my first post above) shows.

Their best cover IMHO is Band on the Run by Wings from a concert in 91 in New Hope Pa. freakin brilliant.

here it is:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2HlfmiJ7Qkk


here is the Piano Man one:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rcVyeqtzV8E

[hayden695]

Since I never buy albums or download them (just songs usually) I will rank my favourite songs.

Corb Lund

1.Truck got stuck

2. Good Copenhagen

3.All I wanna do is play cards/ Time to switch to whiskey.

Just a bunch of good drinking songs, don't have much info on the shyt but if ya dig country even a little and like your liquor, get some f*cking Corb Lund playing and you will have a great time.

BTW I think I am related to the guy.

[HylianNightmare]

Metallica

1.http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Q0RIUEKrwmI/SbjvO_mtkpI/AAAAAAAABNU/YzLiSTgQt5M/s400/Master_Of_Puppets-Frontal.jpg

1. Master of Puppets
2. Battery
3. Welcome Home (Sanitarium)

2.http://www.blogus.com.ar/blog/images/metallica_andjusticeforall.jpg

1. One
2.

[Agent_Zero]

this is a great way for some of us to update our iPods.

[MarloStanfield]

Manute I'm from the same hometown of Ween, New Hope, PA. Population 10k.

Deaner lives at this local bar called John and Peters. I've seen Ween, The Moist Boyz, Chris Harford and the merry man dozens of times.

Sometimes I'll go to the bar on a random week night and there will be like 5 people at the bar and Dean will go rip on the guitar and sh*t. Cool stuff.

I'm not even a huge fan by any means but lots of people I know are downright obsessed with them. I see Gene at the local pool and grocery store too.

You guys will get a kick out of this:

http://www.brownietroopfs.com/cgi-bin/xblog.cgi

[Meticode]

K-Os

1. Atlantis: Hymns For Disco
http://www.aendlosschloufe.ch/bilder/k-os_atlantis.jpg
1.) Valhalla
2.) ELEctrik HeaT - the seekwiLL
3.) The Rain

2. Yes!
http://www.madeinthecity.ca/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/kos-yes-2009-300x300.jpg
1.) The Aviator
2.) 4 3 2 1
3.) Burning Bridges

3. Joyful Rebellion
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_2Quynf82878/SfIpz-mycdI/AAAAAAAAAT0/tKuz6kStsYA/s320/KOsJoyfulRebellion200529290_f.jpg
1.) Crabbuckit
2.) Man I Used To Be
3.) The Love Song

[Manute for Ever!]

trip off this Manute...I have this theory that a lot of Ween albums are tribute albums to certain genres of music.

Country Album (obviously)
Chocolate and Cheese (70's 80's funk and cheesy soul, hence the name)
The Mollusk (sea shanties and 70's folk)
White Pepper ('solid gold' style 'FM music', ie a more polished radio sound)
Shinola (prog rock)
Quebec (a Ween tribute to Ween)


what do you think?
The bolded ones I definitely agree with, Chocolate and Cheese makes perfect sense, too. :cheers:


That was a Zepplin cover.

They throw in the odd cover at live (I edited my first post above) shows.

I knew it sounded familiar.

My friends band, Digger and the Pussycats, played with Ween at the Golden Plains festival back in Australia this year, they had an all access pass for me, but I couldn't get back to Oz. They said Dean and Gene were really cool, really down to earth guys. Also let my mates backstage at the Melbourne Ween show (which was 3 hours!).


Manute I'm from the same hometown of Ween, New Hope, PA. Population 10k.

Deaner lives at this local bar called John and Peters. I've seen Ween, The Moist Boyz, Chris Harford and the merry man dozens of times.

Sometimes I'll go to the bar on a random week night and there will be like 5 people at the bar and Dean will go rip on the guitar and sh*t. Cool stuff.

I'm not even a huge fan by any means but lots of people I know are downright obsessed with them. I see Gene at the local pool and grocery store too.

You guys will get a kick out of this:

http://www.brownietroopfs.com/cgi-bin/xblog.cgi

I'm envious, if I'm ever in New Hope, I'm going straight to that bar.
I've seen that site before, some pretty funny ****.

[MarloStanfield]

http://www.mickeysfishing.com/

[Qwyjibo]

For me Wilco and Radiohead are 1a and 1b when it comes to music.

Radiohead:
http://www.jeffgothelf.com/journal/media/1/20080815-radiohead.jpg

1. OK Computer (1997)
- Paranoid Android, Airbag, Let Down

2. Kid A (2000)
- How to Disappear Completely, Idioteque, Everything In Its Right Place

3. The Bends (1995)
- Street Spirit, Fake Plastic Trees, Planet Telex

4. In Rainbows (2007)
- Reckoner (the best Radiohead song IMO), All I Need, Nude

5. Hail to the Thief (2003)
- There There, I Will, Sail to the Moon

6. Amnesiac (2001)
- You and Whose Army, Pyramid Song, I Might Be Wrong

7. Pablo Honey (1993)
- Creep, Stop Whispering, Anyone Can Play Guitar



Wilco:
http://showclix.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/wilco.jpg

1. Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (2002)
- I Am Trying to Break Your Heart (best Wilco song IMO), War on War, I'm The Man Who Loves You

2. Summerteeth (1999)
- A Shot in the Arm, Via Chicago, Can't Stand It

3. Being There (1996)
- Monday, Misunderstood, Kingpin

4. A Ghost Is Born (2004)
- At Least That's What You Said, Spiders (Kidsmoke), The Late Greats

5. Wilco (The Album) (2009)
- Wilco (The Song), You Never Know, One Wing

6. AM (1995)
- Casino Queen, I Must Be High, Box Full of Letters

7. Sky Blue Sky (2007)
- Impossible Germany, You Are My Face, Either Way

[Manute for Ever!]

A friend just sent me this, a Ween song I hadn't heard:

http://www.homestarrunner.com/brainkriegween.html

[goldenryan]

THE HIVES

Veni Vidi Vicious
(Die, All Right!,Hate to Say I Told You So,Main Offender)

Tyrannosaurus Hives
(Abra Cadaver, No Pun Intended,A Little More for Little You)

The Black and White Album
(You Dress Up for Armageddon,Try It Again,Won't Be Long)

[Lebowsky]

For me Wilco and Radiohead are 1a and 1b when it comes to music.

Radiohead:
http://www.jeffgothelf.com/journal/media/1/20080815-radiohead.jpg

1. OK Computer (1997)
- Paranoid Android, Airbag, Let Down

2. Kid A (2000)
- How to Disappear Completely, Idioteque, Everything In Its Right Place

3. The Bends (1995)
- Street Spirit, Fake Plastic Trees, Planet Telex

4. In Rainbows (2007)
- Reckoner (the best Radiohead song IMO), All I Need, Nude

5. Hail to the Thief (2003)
- There There, I Will, Sail to the Moon

6. Amnesiac (2001)
- You and Whose Army, Pyramid Song, I Might Be Wrong

7. Pablo Honey (1993)
- Creep, Stop Whispering, Anyone Can Play Guitar



Wilco:
http://showclix.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/wilco.jpg

1. Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (2002)
- I Am Trying to Break Your Heart (best Wilco song IMO), War on War, I'm The Man Who Loves You

2. Summerteeth (1999)
- A Shot in the Arm, Via Chicago, Can't Stand It

3. Being There (1996)
- Monday, Misunderstood, Kingpin

4. A Ghost Is Born (2004)
- At Least That's What You Said, Spiders (Kidsmoke), The Late Greats

5. Wilco (The Album) (2009)
- Wilco (The Song), You Never Know, One Wing

6. AM (1995)
- Casino Queen, I Must Be High, Box Full of Letters

7. Sky Blue Sky (2007)
- Impossible Germany, You Are My Face, Either Way

Reckoner is such an incredible song. That whole album is a gem, but that song is just something else.

[Lebowsky]

Great thread.


The Thermals

(from wikipedia)
The Thermals were formed in 2002 by Hutch Harris and Kathy Foster, who had been band mates before, most notably the aptly named group Hutch & Kathy. Their first album, More Parts per Million, was released in 2002 with band mates Jordan Hudson (on drums) and Ben Barnett (on guitar) [1]. Their follow up ****in A was mixed by Death Cab For Cutie member Chris Walla, although the sound remained much the same [2]. Ben Barnett had dropped out of the band by this point, so Hutch Harris took over on guitar for this album.

Their third album, The Body, The Blood, The Machine, would win them the most recognition, appearing on multiple top album lists for 2006 (including NPR's, The AV Club's and Pitchfork's)[3]. Jordan Hudson dropped out of the band during the recording of another planned third album, so Kathy Foster took over percussion duties in the recording studio, with Lorin Coleman playing on tour [4]. Produced by Brendan Canty of Fugazi, it was a politically charged concept album designed to showcase a path of religious tyranny that America might take [5].

Their most recent album Now We Can See was released on a new label, Kill Rock Stars and produced by label associate John Congleton, with Foster still working as the percussionist on the album. Westin Glass joined the group as a drummer after the album was finished and supported them on tour. He is the band's current percussionist.

The body, the blood, the machine (2006)

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_IVdRWdexISk/RvfpkLJmObI/AAAAAAAAACI/rpyj6KYyj-g/s320/The%2BBody,%2BThe%2BBlood,%2BThe%2BMachine.JPG

A pillar of salt (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4Iobo18U9w)
Here's your future (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPsdjlPVaJU)
Power doesn't run on nothing (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4UomLKlVzY)

More parts per million (2003)

http://d.imagehost.org/0824/The_thermals_More_parts_per_million-2003.jpg

A passing feeling (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=77L9fwOKWvo)
No culture icons (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cf5wlXR9q3c)
Goddamn the light (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=krqeCs26PkI)

****in A (2004)

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41AVZ9B36FL._SL500_AA240_.jpg


How we know (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5SKUt5C89g)
Forward (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rl2wBIHqdKg)
Let your earth quake, baby (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ispVZ3Qu5co)

Now we can see (2009)

http://auralstates.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/the-thermals-now-we-can-see-300x300.jpg

Now we can see (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJu611UdfxA)
You dissolve
When I was afraid


Next posts: Calexico, Love, The flaming lips

[RidonKs]

i generally keep pink floyd at the very top of my list, so i suppose i'll go with that - although i've distanced myself from them a wee bit over the past month or so. i've tried to rank the albums in my head, and always failed, so this will be a bit of an experiment.



1. http://www.hcplive.com/_micro/pmdlive/_picture/folder_14/pink-floyd.jpg

the 'shine on you' suite bookending this album might just be the greatest song the group ever wrote. a totally magical opening that includes one of the most incredible build-ups in the history of music, and which leads into that iconic four note riff - i'm listening to it right now and still blown away. i prefer the opening five parts, but the latter half hits home just as well. the instrumentation, from organ to sax to that entrance of the timing of the percussion (nick mason had to be among the top of the business in that regard). that leads us into 'welcome to the machine' another pure waters masterpiece that is practically spine-chilling. obviously 'wish you were here' needs no introduction. musically this is one of floyd's most typically classic rock albums, and incorporates a little less jazz and funk than its counterparts. now there is an issue, and it happens to be with that floydian (can i do that?) cohesion that became such an enormous part of their sound - 'have a cigar' doesn't really fit. it's a pretty rockin funk track thats got cool lyrics and a classic gilmour solo (although the synth throughout is a little overdone and somewhat annoying) - but right smack dab between 'machine' and 'wish you were here', it breaks apart the album. maybe not a terrible thing for certain bands to incorporate some versatility, but for a band like floyd and a guy like rogers to create an album that doesn't flow perfectly together - its a flaw.

with all that said, its musically the absolute best floyd has done in my opinion. lyrically its less blatant than 'the wall' or even 'dark side', and a little more refined and abstract. it keeps to a theme, but it requires concentration on the part of the listener to understand that theme. nothing wrong with making the audience work.

ranked tracks:

1. shine on you crazy diamond
2. wish you were here
3. welcome to the machine
4. have a cigar



2. http://s51.radikal.ru/i132/0812/6d/7a67bda2ccc2.jpg

okay, the masterpiece. it was actually incredibly difficult to grant this track second standing over what will come next. very difficult. but if i had to order them, this is the way i'd do it.

so what do we have with dark side - sure as hell a broader theme than wish you were here. it deals with everything from life to death, rise to fall, greed to wisdom, and of course, sanity's slow destruction into madness. the thematic scale is grand and the music provides a perfect accompaniment. so lets begin.

we open with an entire mess of sounds, each symbolically representing... something - a heartbeat, a ticking clock, pissed off voices, a cash register, a helicopter, maniacal laughter. turns out each sound is taken from a certain track on the remainder of the album. so what does the opening combined tracks 'speak to me' and 'breathe' stand for? perhaps a synthesis of your life. the lyrics are the most beautiful and second only to brain damage in hard-hitting metaphorical message. 'long you live and high you fly, but only if you ride the tide, balanced on the biggest wave, race towards an early grave'. wow.

i won't go through each and every track. some of the messages are clear as day, others aren't. the business of 'on the run', the forever iconic 'time' (not to mention an incredible reprisal of 'breathe' at the end), the search for the heavens in 'great gig', propensity for greed in 'money', othership in 'us and them', and a slow decay into madness during the remainder of the album, the is finalized with one of the great dual song transitions moving from insanity in 'brain damage' directly into the ultimate godly perspective of 'eclipse' - and the final message at the end which needn't be spelled out, if only because of the numerous connections and conclusions any given mind could make. 'and all thats to come, and everything under the sun is in tune, and the sun is eclipsed by the moon'. what is the sun? what is the moon? figure it out for yourself.

ranked tracks:

1. brain damage / eclipse (i refuse to separate them)
2. time
3. breathe / speak to me (again)
4. the great gig in the sky (has another track like this ever been created since? if it has, i'd like to hear it)
5. money
6. us and them
7. on the run
8. any colour you like (coincidentally the only track in which waters had to part in writing)



3. http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/74/Pink_Floyd-Animals-Frontal.jpg

nothing like a bloated pig flying over a filthy factory. if you created a sort of pink floyd scale based on their traditional sounds, this album would easily be in the far radical spectrum - and do trust that isn't anything close to a bad thing. the more i think about it, the more i consider this record a sort of synthesis between old pink floyd (saucerful, piper, live ummagumma) and the sound for which they would later become famous. i don't know how to describe it any other way. a lot of hard hitting rock, but there is a tinge of soothing floydian melody that the listener can't help but notice.

conceptually, this album is... interesting. again, whereas wish you were here presents a complex weave of themes to be understood only upon contemplation, animals rubs its message in your face. not in a completely spelled out fashion, but certainly to more of an extent than the aforementioned two albums (but not as much as the wall).

'dogs' is undoubtedly among the greatest tracks floyd has ever written. its a lesson in instrumentation and transition from as many unique sounds as it uses. so many tempo changes with how many gilmour solos? 3? 4? and 17 minutes long folks. a masterpiece if there ever was one. 'pigs' is the most lyrically complex and difficult to figure out track. 'sheep' is okay (in comparison to the rest of the album anyways - clearly great on its own).

and we have another bookended album, this time with both front and back pieces exactly the same musically, and written/performed entirely by mr. waters. a self-proclaimed love song, and as strange of one as you'll likely find. it presents a wonderful metaphor though, if you're willing to read far enough into the lyrics.

ranked tracks:

1. dogs
2. pigs
3. pigs on the wing
4. sheep







bleh, maybe i'll finish this some other time. lol


edit: as a side note, one of my favourite melodic transitions (i guess thats what it would be called) ever occurs in dogs. there are two notes there that are absolutely jawdropping in the context of the rest of the song, and particularly the 4-5 minutes that are directly prior.

link (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GhZeYjpSXCQ)

to get the full gist, i'd start right around 3:40 when gilmour starts his solo. you're going to want to keep listening until at least 6:00 - but by then, you should know exactly what i'm talking about. jesus it sounds good.

[mbell75]

http://davekellogg.files.wordpress.com/2008/12/rush-2112.jpg

1. 2112-Its 21 minutes long so just as good as 3 songs :D

http://albumcovers.toomanyvoices.com/img/rush-movingPictures-301x300.jpg

1. Red Barchetta
2. Limelight
3. Tom Sawyer

http://img.snowrecords.com/lp/1/5697.jpg

1. Prime Mover
2. Time Stand Still
3. Mission

[i seen hippos]

1. http://www.hardsounds.it/PUBLIC/private/img_album/3761.jpg

1. Doom Mantia
2. Wizard in Black
3. Son of Nothing

2. http://images.uulyrics.com/cover/e/electric-wizard/album-dopethrone.jpg

1. We Hate You (GOAT rock song)
2. Dopethrone
3. Vinum Sabbathi

3. http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_qmicN86KAxQ/RxUiUzRkhNI/AAAAAAAAHbQ/OdHTt4VUNSk/s320/Electric+Wizard.jpg

1. The Chosen Few
2. Dunwich
3. Torquemada 71

4. http://img11.nnm.ru/9/f/8/f/7/9f8f7109171a6592a904960ad93de5ef_full.jpg

1. Black Butterfly
2. Devil's Bride
3. Electric Wizard

5. http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_070ftZsgxeE/RuCy1k8Td3I/AAAAAAAAACc/wOhFuLqAdd8/s320/welive.jpg

1. The Sun Has Turned to Black
2. Flower of Evil
3. Eko Eko Azarak

6. http://www.auralexploits.com/ebay_images/lp/ElectricWizard_LetUsPrey_DblLP_1.jpg

1. A Chosen Few
2. Master of Alachemy
3. We, The Undead

[Maniak]

Guns N Roses

Im going to pick 4 albums(Use Your Illusion I and II, Chinese Democracy, and Appetite for Destruction.)

Im not going to rank the albums in order from best to worst, though.

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Gwt2llCjqTE/SH26ILLUPJI/AAAAAAAACoA/t8MsDjkZ-z0/s400/1991%2BUSE%2BYOUR%2BILLUSION%2BI.jpg

1.November Rain
2.Live and Let Die
3.Don't Cry

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_k-Fm2vJ8Fw4/SKLbcHaR0_I/AAAAAAAAAUw/NLtaUiQOyAo/s400/guns_n_roses_use_your_illusion_2_a.jpg

1.Knockin' On Heavens Door
2.You Could Be Mine
3.14 Years

This album was great. I cant leave out mentioning Civil War, Yesterdays, Get In The Ring, So Fine, and Dont Cry(Alt Lyrics)

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_vaqCjVyoA_c/Sncns3d-CzI/AAAAAAAACwU/gt1NbnNq-Ss/s400/appetite_for_destruction.jpg

This is one of the greatest albums ever. Ranking this is impossible. Sweet Child O' Mine is #1, but after that, its a tie between...

Welcome to the Jungle
It's So Easy
"Nightrain"
"Out ta Get Me"
Mr. Brownstone"
Paradise City"
My Michelle"
Think About You"
You're Crazy
Anything Goes
"Rocket Queen"

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_uWRqa6nhvjk/SIW139vQLCI/AAAAAAAAAvw/DeifzoQgdFo/s400/Guns%2BN'%2BRoses%2B-%2BChinese%2BDemocracy%2B(2007).jpg

Obviously not their best album, but still has some very underlooked songs...

1.Better
2.Chinese Democracy
3.There Was A Time

HM to Shacklers Revenge, Street Of Dreams, If The World, Scraped, Sorry, IRS, and This I Love.

[Manute for Ever!]

i generally keep pink floyd at the very top of my list, so i suppose i'll go with that - although i've distanced myself from them a wee bit over the past month or so. i've tried to rank the albums in my head, and always failed, so this will be a bit of an experiment.



1. http://www.hcplive.com/_micro/pmdlive/_picture/folder_14/pink-floyd.jpg

the 'shine on you' suite bookending this album might just be the greatest song the group ever wrote. a totally magical opening that includes one of the most incredible build-ups in the history of music, and which leads into that iconic four note riff - i'm listening to it right now and still blown away. i prefer the opening five parts, but the latter half hits home just as well. the instrumentation, from organ to sax to that entrance of the timing of the percussion (nick mason had to be among the top of the business in that regard). that leads us into 'welcome to the machine' another pure waters masterpiece that is practically spine-chilling. obviously 'wish you were here' needs no introduction. musically this is one of floyd's most typically classic rock albums, and incorporates a little less jazz and funk than its counterparts. now there is an issue, and it happens to be with that floydian (can i do that?) cohesion that became such an enormous part of their sound - 'have a cigar' doesn't really fit. it's a pretty rockin funk track thats got cool lyrics and a classic gilmour solo (although the synth throughout is a little overdone and somewhat annoying) - but right smack dab between 'machine' and 'wish you were here', it breaks apart the album. maybe not a terrible thing for certain bands to incorporate some versatility, but for a band like floyd and a guy like rogers to create an album that doesn't flow perfectly together - its a flaw.

with all that said, its musically the absolute best floyd has done in my opinion. lyrically its less blatant than 'the wall' or even 'dark side', and a little more refined and abstract. it keeps to a theme, but it requires concentration on the part of the listener to understand that theme. nothing wrong with making the audience work.

ranked tracks:

1. shine on you crazy diamond
2. wish you were here
3. welcome to the machine
4. have a cigar



2. http://s51.radikal.ru/i132/0812/6d/7a67bda2ccc2.jpg

okay, the masterpiece. it was actually incredibly difficult to grant this track second standing over what will come next. very difficult. but if i had to order them, this is the way i'd do it.

so what do we have with dark side - sure as hell a broader theme than wish you were here. it deals with everything from life to death, rise to fall, greed to wisdom, and of course, sanity's slow destruction into madness. the thematic scale is grand and the music provides a perfect accompaniment. so lets begin.

we open with an entire mess of sounds, each symbolically representing... something - a heartbeat, a ticking clock, pissed off voices, a cash register, a helicopter, maniacal laughter. turns out each sound is taken from a certain track on the remainder of the album. so what does the opening combined tracks 'speak to me' and 'breathe' stand for? perhaps a synthesis of your life. the lyrics are the most beautiful and second only to brain damage in hard-hitting metaphorical message. 'long you live and high you fly, but only if you ride the tide, balanced on the biggest wave, race towards an early grave'. wow.

i won't go through each and every track. some of the messages are clear as day, others aren't. the business of 'on the run', the forever iconic 'time' (not to mention an incredible reprisal of 'breathe' at the end), the search for the heavens in 'great gig', propensity for greed in 'money', othership in 'us and them', and a slow decay into madness during the remainder of the album, the is finalized with one of the great dual song transitions moving from insanity in 'brain damage' directly into the ultimate godly perspective of 'eclipse' - and the final message at the end which needn't be spelled out, if only because of the numerous connections and conclusions any given mind could make. 'and all thats to come, and everything under the sun is in tune, and the sun is eclipsed by the moon'. what is the sun? what is the moon? figure it out for yourself.

ranked tracks:

1. brain damage / eclipse (i refuse to separate them)
2. time
3. breathe / speak to me (again)
4. the great gig in the sky (has another track like this ever been created since? if it has, i'd like to hear it)
5. money
6. us and them
7. on the run
8. any colour you like (coincidentally the only track in which waters had to part in writing)



3. http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/74/Pink_Floyd-Animals-Frontal.jpg

nothing like a bloated pig flying over a filthy factory. if you created a sort of pink floyd scale based on their traditional sounds, this album would easily be in the far radical spectrum - and do trust that isn't anything close to a bad thing. the more i think about it, the more i consider this record a sort of synthesis between old pink floyd (saucerful, piper, live ummagumma) and the sound for which they would later become famous. i don't know how to describe it any other way. a lot of hard hitting rock, but there is a tinge of soothing floydian melody that the listener can't help but notice.

conceptually, this album is... interesting. again, whereas wish you were here presents a complex weave of themes to be understood only upon contemplation, animals rubs its message in your face. not in a completely spelled out fashion, but certainly to more of an extent than the aforementioned two albums (but not as much as the wall).

'dogs' is undoubtedly among the greatest tracks floyd has ever written. its a lesson in instrumentation and transition from as many unique sounds as it uses. so many tempo changes with how many gilmour solos? 3? 4? and 17 minutes long folks. a masterpiece if there ever was one. 'pigs' is the most lyrically complex and difficult to figure out track. 'sheep' is okay (in comparison to the rest of the album anyways - clearly great on its own).

and we have another bookended album, this time with both front and back pieces exactly the same musically, and written/performed entirely by mr. waters. a self-proclaimed love song, and as strange of one as you'll likely find. it presents a wonderful metaphor though, if you're willing to read far enough into the lyrics.

ranked tracks:

1. dogs
2. pigs
3. pigs on the wing
4. sheep







bleh, maybe i'll finish this some other time. lol


edit: as a side note, one of my favourite melodic transitions (i guess thats what it would be called) ever occurs in dogs. there are two notes there that are absolutely jawdropping in the context of the rest of the song, and particularly the 4-5 minutes that are directly prior.

link (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GhZeYjpSXCQ)

to get the full gist, i'd start right around 3:40 when gilmour starts his solo. you're going to want to keep listening until at least 6:00 - but by then, you should know exactly what i'm talking about. jesus it sounds good.

I love The Wall, love Dark Side of the Moon, but I never had a chance to hear Animals. A friend just lent it to me an HOLY ****!!! You weren't wrong! :cheers:

[RidonKs]

I love The Wall, love Dark Side of the Moon, but I never had a chance to hear Animals. A friend just lent it to me an HOLY ****!!! You weren't wrong! :cheers:
nice man. its a relatively underappreciated floyd record, considering it was released during their reign over english rock. i really need to get it on vinyl, but its impossible to find a used copy. same deal with 'with you were here'.


i won't do enormous write-ups for the next three. suffice to say they're a small step down from the top three, in my opinion. only a small step though.



4. http://pagesperso-orange.fr/religionnaire/artistes/pink_floyd/art/the_wall.jpg

everybody knows this one. the ultimate concept. in reality, its not the best concept album out there, but it is the best story-based concept out there. right alongside 'a prince among thieves' and 'operation: mindcrime'. very consistent sound throughout. its not quite as unique or complex musically as the three albums i listed above, and that's why it takes a bit of a backseat. still, to write an entire double album as good through and through as this is quite the accomplishment. kudos mr waters.



5. http://www.waste.org/~polaris/graphics/meddle-cover.jpg

it kicked off the pink floyd sound of all four aforementioned albums. 'echoes' remains one of the bands greatest accomplishments, even with the few minutes of scary mess smack dab in the middle. it runs together nicely, and while i don't think there's a specific concept, the lyrics are quite profound - particularly on 'pillow of winds' and 'fearless', as well as 'echoes'. i hated the upbeat jazz joint 'san tropez' upon first hearing it, and have since come to love it. overall a very very solid album.

ranked tracks:

1. echoes
2. fearless
3. san tropez
4. a pillow of winds
5. one of these days
6. seamus



6. http://www.pianored.com/images/FinalCut.jpg

apparently a number of the songs here were originally included in waters idea for 'the wall' - but the band didn't bite, and they ended up being rejected. and upon hearing this album, you can really really see just how well they fit in with 'the wall', only to an extreme. this is, for all intents and purposes, a waters solo album - and it captures his true visionary sound as well as any other album does. in this case, its to the detriment of the album. rogers writes incredibly emotional music, but often with the same basic structure - i have a feeling it was when gilmour and mason and wright gave their input that the music took on more of a jazzy or funky appearance - a typical sound that is all over 'dark side' and 'wish you were here' and 'meddle'. with sole writing duties for this album, rogers went a little bit too far, and by rejecting the input of his bandmates, he created an album that lies just too far outside of the bell curve. its hard to explain, and you'd have to listen to it to know what i mean. examples of this over the top sound can be heard in 'paranoid eyes', 'your possible pasts', 'the post war dream', and even 'the gunners dream' (which is still absolutely gorgeous by the way).

its also got a comfortably numb pt 2, that was without any doubt meant to be included by waters in the wall. the title track of the album uses the exact same structure and instrumentation, but just doesn't do it as well as 'comfortably numb'. the criticism from the rest of the band, mainly gilmour is sort of accurate here - the songs, in some cases, are just a bit too similar. with that said, its still an incredible album, and far and away the most political that floyd has ever produced.

best songs:

the gunners dream
two suns in the sunset (wonderful metaphor)
paranoid eyes
get your filthy hands off my desert

[Dasher]

I will produce a Top 5 for Prince as his discography is very deep. I am partial to his early work, and consider his peak to be the ten year stretch from 1978-1988. These years began with For You and ended with Lovesexy. Ask me next week, and my order may be different.

My top 5 are as follows:


Dirty Mind Top Tracks:"Dirty Mind", "When You Were Mine", and "Sister"
Purple Rain Top Tracks:"Purple Rain", "Darling Nikki", "I Would Die 4 U", and "The Beautiful Ones"
Sign O' The Times Top Tracks: "Strange Relationship", "I Could Never Take the Place of Ur Man", "Starfish and Coffee", and "If I Were Your Girlfriend"
For You Top Tracks: "Just As Long As We're Together", "For You", "Soft and Wet", and "Baby"
Controversy Top Tracks: "Do Me, Baby", "Controversy", and "Annie ChristianHM:1999, Batman, Musicology, Parade, Around the World in a Day, The Black Album, and Diamonds and Pearls

[IInvented]

Tupac Amaru Shakur

1. Me Against the World
2. All Eyez on Me
3. 7 Day Theory

1. Pain Featuring Stretch
2. My Block Remix
3. Changes

Eminem

1. The Marshall Mathers LP
2. The Eminem Show
3. The Slim Shady LP

1. Stan Featuring Dido
2. Lose Yourself
3. Till I Collapse Featuring Nate Dogg

Nas

1. Illmatic
2. It Was Written...
3. Stillmatic

1. Nas Is Like
2. One Mic
3. N.Y. State of Mind

[Manute for Ever!]

I will produce a Top 5 for Prince as his discography is very deep. I am partial to his early work, and consider his peak to be the ten year stretch from 1978-1988. These years began with For You and ended with Lovesexy. Ask me next week, and my order may be different.

My top 5 are as follows:


Dirty Mind Top Tracks:"Dirty Mind", "When You Were Mine", and "Sister"
Purple Rain Top Tracks:"Purple Rain", "Darling Nikki", "I Would Die 4 U", and "The Beautiful Ones"
Sign O' The Times Top Tracks: "Strange Relationship", "I Could Never Take the Place of Ur Man", "Starfish and Coffee", and "If I Were Your Girlfriend"
For You Top Tracks: "Just As Long As We're Together", "For You", "Soft and Wet", and "Baby"
Controversy Top Tracks: "Do Me, Baby", "Controversy", and "Annie ChristianHM:1999, Batman, Musicology, Parade, Around the World in a Day, The Black Album, and Diamonds and Pearls

By far my favourite Prince song

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_zosWSlMaUTQ/Se348U3fQyI/AAAAAAAAAAc/M0evii52ZGE/s320/Prince_PurpleRain.jpg

[Manute for Ever!]

Brilliant thread.

I love the fact you broke Ween down the way you did. Probably the best band of this generation and my favorite band too.

My favorite Ween era was:

Pure Guava ... Chocolate and Cheese... The Mollusk.

These were put out in the mid nineties, and I think the band was at it's apex blending its early bizarreness with its more polished sound of today.

I really love the country album too, as well as Quebec, Shinola, La Cucaracha and White Pepper. But the three above are more impressionable and have real feeling.


A lot of the early studio stuff is too raw, but when they put a rock spin on it at live shows (I've been to three) it kicks total ass.

F*ck Ween is awesome.

you omitted Craters of the Sac (though much the same as Shinola) and their work with 'The Shlt Crek Boys'. There is a live album of Ween and The Shlt Creek Boys live in Toronto on the interwebs somewhere (I DL'd it likefive years ago) freakin awesome, they do a cover of Billy Joel's 'Piano Man' where Gener busts out laughing halfway through. Check it out.

Fixed:

Craters of the Sac, 1999
http://static.rateyourmusic.com/album_images/d78b61c15c89eb960e6fd1fa78d8aeed/108014.jpg

This was an MP3-only release of demos, most of which came from 'The Mollusk' sessions. Several of the tracks later appeared in remixed form on 'Shinola Vol. 1'.

Top 3 tracks:
1. Put the Coke on my Dick
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpnAJ-zvHj8

2. The Pawns of War
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TlNVT1zrgwY

3. Makin' Love in the Gravy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SySvvUMLAas

[Se]

Hey chains, thanks for leaving Pearl Jam to me!

1. Ten
http://www.clevelandleader.com/files/pearljam-ten.jpg

It's not my first choice for number 1 Pearl Jam album, but it's the most significant, so I put it in 1st. These guys really showed the world that grunge music could have melody, and the ability to produce anthem-like music. Kurt Cobain was a hater at first because he was jealous. He knew his own music was lousy.
Top 3 songs for me:
1. Oceans - My favorite song ever. It always lifts my spiritis.
2. Alive - Pearl Jam's signature song in my mind. I love how epic this song is.
3. Even Flow - Just because it has an awesome riff. I always wanted to play this with my band, but was afraid of butchering it.
Special mention goes to Black.

2. No Code
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_7f5-6p2MdS0/SBI750gK43I/AAAAAAAAAyg/ypDG3bNPWpA/s320/Pearl+Jam+-+No+Code+(1996).jpg
1. Off He Goes - Wonderfully deep song. Pretty good campfire song in my experience.
2. Hail Hail - Just a fantastically kick-ass rock song. Very fun riff to play.
3. Red Mosquito - I love how Vedder captured the mood of being trapped in a hotel room, sick with a mosquito. The guitars on this song are great.
Special mention to Around the Bend & Sometimes.

3. Binaural
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_7f5-6p2MdS0/SBI8MkgK45I/AAAAAAAAAyw/EXMmjTRK0Cs/s320/Pearl+Jam+-+Binaural+(2000).jpg
1. Nothing as It Seems - Great job by Jeff Ament on this song. It's spooky, layered and kicks ass.
2. Of the Girl - Another non-Vedder song, written by Stone Gossard.
3. Grievance, great hard-rock song.
Special mention to Parting Ways & Soon Forget (I love ukulele)

[G-Funk]

Tupac Shakur

All Eyez on Me

Only God Can Judge Me
I Aint Mad At Cha
Shorty Wanna Be A Thug


R U Still Down

Remember Me
Hellrazor
Only Fear Of Death

Better Dayz

Who Do You Believe In
Better Dayz
Ghetto Star



Nate Dogg

Classics

Never Leave Me Alone
My World
Hardest Man in Town


Suga Free

Ghetto Gospel

Why U Bullshittin'?
On My Way
If U Stay Ready

[Bano114]

SYSTEM OF A DOWN

http://userserve-ak.last.fm/serve/_/3513059/System+of+a+Down+80.jpg

TOXICITY
1. Aerials
2. Chop Suey!
3. Toxicity

SYSTEM OF A DOWN
1. Suite-Pee
2. Sugar
3. War?

Steal This Album!
1. Mr. Jack
2. **** the System
3. Innervision

Mezmarize
1. Violent Pornography
2. Cigaro
3. B.Y.O.B.

Hypnotize
1. Lonely Day
2. Hypnotize
3. Viscinity of Obscenity

[pete's montreux]

How did I not participate in this originally? Great idea. I'll do this for several bands someday soon.

[knobs]

yeah, this was fun. i spent quite a while on that floyd write-up, but it was really fun to do. i'm not sure if i'm still down with those rankings...

i think 'the wall' is better than i gave it credit for. it's so incredibly cohesive musically, with reused riffs and melodies interspersed throughout both sides. that 'brick' theme runs more rampant in that album than most probably realize upon cursory listens.

[pete's montreux]

yeah, this was fun. i spent quite a while on that floyd write-up, but it was really fun to do. i'm not sure if i'm still down with those rankings...

i think 'the wall' is better than i gave it credit for. it's so incredibly cohesive musically, with reused riffs and melodies interspersed throughout both sides. that 'brick' theme runs more rampant in that album than most probably realize upon cursory listens.

I just re-read your posts and I only disagreed with two things: I thought Sheep and One Of These Days were too low. However, I think I remember you saying a while ago you weren't a huge fan of Sheep, but why is OOTD's so low?

[pete's montreux]

I'm starting my write-up on Led Zeppelin right now in a txt file that I will post eventually.

[knobs]

'sheep' is really good, but there's just no way it's better than either 'dogs' or 'pigs'. and while it's definitely a better overall song than the bookend double, that simple melody and the waters love song holds a special spot in my heart. 'sheep' might be better, but as an opener/closer, i really don't think it gets much better than that, especially for so simple an acoustic tune.

'one of these days' kinda breaks down in the middle a bit to me and gets carried away - i tend to get a little bored with it. the intro is dope though.

[pete's montreux]

One Of These Days boring!? You crazy, son. I do agree it kind of lulls in the middle there, but the energy at the end and It's climax is incredible. I try not to listen to it while driving because it pumps me up. I think it might be my favorite song of theirs overall. How I would love to find an extended live version, say 25 minutes or something. I have that PF bootleg site but I haven't really delved that much into it.

However, I have been posting regularly on Royal Orleans and I found someone who I'm going to ship my external hard drive to and they will upload their entire collection, which is a lot smaller than I thought it would be. I thought I was going to have to buy another terabyte drive, but nope, I've got plenty of room. I should be doing that in a couple of weeks. I'm excited, it will be like hearing them for the first time all over again. I've got a plethora of dates in my head that I will listen to first.

[Fallguy20]

Green Day

Best Album: http://www.crabsodyinblue.com/dookie.jpg


This is one of the landmark albums of the 1990's. It is clearly a tribute to and revival of the punk music of the late 1970's, but Dookie also helped sweep away the dominance of dark, brooding post-grunge in the rock world. The album only gets better with time and has become a touchstone for a new generation of punk pop in the new millenium.


Basket Case
When I Come Around
Longview
*bonus: Welcome to Paradise



Second Best Album: http://blogs.houstonpress.com/rocks/green%20day%20americanidiot.jpg


The second to last release from Green Day is their most complex, fully-realized work to date, and it's probably the most ambitious rock record since Wilco's Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. Like the much-lauded alt-country pioneers, Green Day has twisted the conventions of its chosen genre into something that stands apart from its contemporaries. It's a concept album - yes, a full-length story told over the course of a record's running time, framed by two nine-plus minute, multi-part epics. It's the most defined statement about suburban angst yet made by a group that has made singing about suburban angst a specialty. And it's also a really good listen, full of catchy melodies and the kind of musical complexity you might not expect out of a punk band. It is now a broadway show.


Homecoming
Holiday
Whatsername
*bonus: Boulevard of Broken Dreams



Third Best Album: http://www.filtersage.com/uploads/Nimrod.jpg


Green Day's infectious brand of thrashy power-pop is full of references to the generation of punk which preceded them, with adenoidal vocals spinning tales of youthful angst against a backdrop of hard, fast riffs. The difference, of course, is that Green Day is having more fun than the Buzzcocks would ever have admitted to. NIMROD catches the band updating their sound while holding onto the speed and recklessness that made their previous albums so exciting.


Good Riddence (Time of Your Life)
Nice Guys Finish Last
Scattered
*bonus: Haushinka

[lakers_forever]

Beatles

Abbey Road

Golden Slumbers/ Carry that weight/ The end - Medley
Something
Here Comes the Sun.

Or Because, Come together. I love them all

White Album

While my guitar gently weeps
Helter Skelter
Blackbird


Revolver (Yep, the amazing Sgt Pepper is only my 4th favourite)

Here, There and Everywhere.
I'm only sleeping
Tomorrow never knows.

[johndeeregreen]

AC/DC

5. "Powerage"

Tracks: "Sin City," "Gone Shootin'," "Rock n' Roll Damnation."

Notes: Was in a tie with "Let there Be Rock" for the #5 spot, and it kills me to leave the album with “Whole Lotta Rosie” and long-time concert finale (the title track) off, but to me this record is rife with underrated and sometimes completely unknown tracks. Of the listed tunes, one has a Young bros signature riff that is criminally underrated (“Gone Shootin’”), one is notable for the solidarity and sheer power of its rhythm section (“Sin City” – and that’s to say nothing about a smokin’ Angus Young guitar solo), and one is just a classic AC/DC-type tune. It’s very easy to leave this album out of the discussion when comparing their best, but it’s still a very solid collection in its own right.

4. “Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap”

Tracks: “Ride On,” “Squealer,” “Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap”

Notes: “Ride On” contends for my favourite AC/DC track. To shamelessly plug myself, I covered it on guitar on my Youtube channel. It represents the blues feel that was largely left behind when Brian Johnson came along and the group made its conversion to a straight R & R group. Some ferocious licks from Angus in that solo, and it’s low, laid-back tone that doesn’t represent any innuendo whatsoever is a fresh departure from their usual motifs.

The other two are more prototypical; the title track is just, for all intents and purposes, a classic. As for “Squealer,” it’s a decidedly slimy tune about seduction, but the real showpiece is the 3 minute plus guitar solo that proves Angus can traverse the pentatonic scale with the best of ‘em.

3. “Back in Black”

Tracks: “Hells Bells,” “Rock and Roll Ain’t Noise Pollution,” “You Shook Me All Night Long”

Notes: Nearly every song from this album is a classic. The fact that it’s arguably the GOAT rock and roll album while still only garnering a third spot on this list truly is a testament to the quality R&R these guys have cranked out over the years.

Why is it at #3? I prefer the harder-edge of the Bon Scott years and prefer his crooning to that of Brian. This album was produced very differently than anything before it, and has a ton of anthems on it. Some of the brothers’ greatest riffing comes on this album, as well; “Hells Bells,” “Back in Black,” “You Shook Me,” and “Noise Pollution” have all entered the lexicon of immediately-recognizable and oft-imitated leads.


2. “Highway to Hell”

Tracks: “Night Prowler,” “Girls Got Rhythm,” “Highway to Hell”

Notes: Extremely difficult choices to make as it may be the most solid AC/DC album cover-to-cover. Great mix of rockers and terse blues tunes. Bon is at the top of his game on this album and most AC/DC fans will have this rated at #1.

1. "High Voltage"

Tracks: “High Voltage,” “The Jack,” “Live Wire”

Notes: This album also features “TNT” and like the aforementioned “H2H” is incredibly solid from top to bottom. Highlighted by a very raw, very powerful sound and clear enthusiasm for the music. It’s a shame more of these don’t get played live.

[Jackass18]

Wu-Tang Clan

10. Ironman

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/75/Ironman.jpg

5. Assassination Day
4. Motherless Child
3. Daytona 500
2. All That I Got Is You
1. Winter Warz

9. Legend of the Liquid Sword

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/3/39/GzaLegend.jpg

5. Did Ya Say That?
4. Knock, Knock
3. Auto Bio
2. Fame
1. Animal Planet

8. Tical 2000: Judgement Day

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/71/Tical_2000.jpg

5. Torture
4. Suspect Chin Music
3. Dangerous Grounds
2. Party Crasher
1. Judgement Day

7. Return to the 36 Chambers: The Dirty Version

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/b/bf/Odb_welfare.jpg

5. Hippa to da Hoppa
4. Raw Hide
3. Baby C'mon
2. Brooklyn Zoo
1. Shimmy Shimmy Ya

6. Beneath the Surface

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/12/Gzabeneaththesurface.jpg

5. Publicity
4. Crash Your Crew
3. Amplified Sample
2. Breaker, Breaker
1. Beneath the Surface

5. Wu-Tang Forever

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/d/d8/Wu-Tang_Forever.jpg

5. As High as Wu-Tang Get
4. Reunited
3. The City
2. A Better Tomorrow
1. Triumph

4. Tical

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/e/e6/Tical.jpg

5. Sub Crazy
4. Method Man
3. Stimulation
2. Tical
1. Release Yo' Delf

3. Only Built 4 Cuban Linx...

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/17/Raekwon_only.jpg

5. Criminology
4. Glaciers of Ice
3. Ice Cream
2. Spot Rusherz
1. Verbal Intercourse

2. Liquid Swords

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/e/e2/GZALiquidSwords.jpg

5. Gold
4. Shadowboxin'
3. B.I.B.L.E.
2. Cold World
1. Liquid Swords

1. Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/53/Wu-TangClanEntertheWu-Tangalbumcover.jpg

5. Da Mystery of Chessboxin'
4. Can It Be All So Simple
3. Tearz
2. Wu-Tang Clan Ain't Nuthing ta **** Wit
1. C.R.E.A.M.

[Jackass18]

The Smiths

5. The Smiths

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/13/The_Smiths_The_Smiths.jpg

5. Pretty Girls Make Graves
4. What Difference Does It Make?
3. I Don't Owe You Anything
2. Still Ill
1. This Charming Man

4. The Queen Is Dead

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/e/ed/The-Queen-is-Dead-cover.png

5. Cemetary Gates
4. The Boy with the Thorn in His Side
3. Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others
2. Bigmouth Strikes Again
1. There Is a Light That Never Goes Out

3. Louder Than Bombs

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/6a/LouderThanBombs.jpg

5. Ask
4. Sheila Take a Bow
3. Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now
2. William, It Was Really Nothing
1. Panic

2. Hatful of Hollow

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/15/HatfulofHollow84.jpg

5. Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now
4. Handsome Devil
3. How Soon Is Now?
2. This Charming Man
1. William, It Was Really Nothing

1. The World Won't Listen

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/a/a0/TheWorldWontListen.jpg

5. Ask
4. The Boy with the Thorn in His Side
3. Bigmouth Strikes Again
2. There Is a Light That Never Goes Out
1. Panic



CCR

5. Bayou Country

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/3/37/Creedence_Clearwater_Revival_-_Bayou_Country.jpg

3. Penthouse Pauper
2. Born on the Bayou
1. Proud Mary

4. Pendulum

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/4b/Creedence_Clearwater_Revival_-_Pendulum.jpg

3. Pagan Baby
2. Hey Tonight
1. Have You Ever Seen the Rain?

3. Willy and the Poor Boys

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/8/85/Willy_and_the_poor_boys.jpg

3. Down on the Corner
2. The Midnight Special
1. Fortunate Son

2. Green River

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/04/Creedence_Clearwater_Revival_-_Green_River.jpg

3. Commotion
2. Green River
1. Bad Moon Rising

1. Cosmo's Factory

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/42/Creedence_Clearwater_Revival_-_Cosmo%27s_Factory.jpg

5. Run Through the Jungle
4. Travelin' Band
3. Up Around the Bend
2. Who'll Stop the Rain
1. Lookin' out My Back Door

[brooks_thompson]

3. http://www.scene-stealers.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/beachboys_smile_cover.jpg

the purple chick edit of this is much better than the brian wilson version released in 2003.

3. child is the father of the man
2. surf's up
1. heroes and villains

kind of tough to do since it was a concept album, and like their best album 'pet sounds' should really be listened to in its entirety.

2. http://therisingstorm.net/audio/today.jpg

this was the last album of new material before 'pet sounds', and it shows. the second side is a collection of 5 gorgeous ballads that finally hinted at brian wilson's true potential as a songwriter.

3. kiss me baby
2. she knows me too well
1. please let me wonder

1. http://onealbumaday.files.wordpress.com/2009/01/beach-boys-pet_sounds.jpg?w=360&h=360 eh, guess my post is too big. it's 'pet sounds'

still the end all be all for songwriting and production in the modern pop era. if you've never heard it, do it, no matter if you only love hip hop/rap or think it's too old.

3. you still believe in me
2. i'm waiting for the day
1. god only knows

[RidonKs]

bump, great thread, let's see that zep write-up pete

[BankShot]

For lack of better adjectives, I consider myself a discerning and emphatic Otis Redding fan.

Surprisingly enough, my current favorite Otis album is his posthumous effort... "The Immortal Otis Redding"

In following the direction of the OP... here are my Top-3 tracks of this album:

The Happy Song ( Dum-Dum-De-De-De-Dum-Dum)


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2L3UNYC8U5g

What can I say.... one of my all-time-favorite Otis songs. Its me and my lady's song... it jams up and down.

Hard to Handle

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ZxN9iQM7OY

Sampled and covered by the famous (Black Crows) and your average friday-night-bar-band.... the piano riff at the beginning, especially when the bass/drums join, gets me every time.

.... tough decision for my #3 off this album, so I'll give you two up-beat songs, and a slower, heartfelt jam.

You've Made a Man Out of Me

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aL4yZXTuizg

Nobody's Fault But Mine.... please listen to Steve Cropper's rhythm guitar work :rockon:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gwx3hwO9_Z0

Champagne and Wine

Listen to this song.... please... but there are no Otis-original versions of this song available. Only shitty covers. :facepalm

I'll leave you with another classic, yet underrated, Otis ballad...

Cigarettes and Coffee

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0eUE0nBbA8

Its early in the morning.... about a quarter to three.... :hammertime:

[BankShot]

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/--5RtGbzV860/TiECxwBPWqI/AAAAAAAAASY/tfDLCA9NYoc/s1600/Otis+Redding.jpg

[TennesseeFan]

http://marsvoltasweden.files.wordpress.com/2008/01/mars-volta-big.jpg


5. Octahedron
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/d/d0/Tmv-octahedron.jpg
3. Teflon (http://grooveshark.com/s/Teflon/291Bcj?src=5)
2. Halo of Nembutals (http://grooveshark.com/s/Halo+Of+Nembutals/27Ju8b?src=5)
1. Cotopaxi (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JXdjklF5LF8)


4. The Bedlam in Goliath
http://cdn.priceprobe.net/i/6649741.60524ddfdbf90a4691.09180525
5. Wax Simulacra (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C5jcgJ3RNpo&ob=av3n)
4. Aberinkula (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UyrXy1TUDlw&ob=av3e)
3. Metatron (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pafNgzGRjFk)
2. Goliath (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrwMMF2QS14)
1. Conjugal Burns (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1FVc_4iHNw)


3. Amputechture
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/e/e7/GSL126_cover_temp_461.png
5. Vermicide (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=srtZvL9CkyM)
4. Tetragrammaton (http://grooveshark.com/s/Tetragrammaton/2r2Aam?src=5)
3. Meccamputechture (http://grooveshark.com/s/Meccamputechture/fy67?src=5)
2. Viscera Eyes (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2KN87aObBOY)
1. Day of the Baphomets (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kE72rD0Pr7Q)

2. De-Loused in the Comatorium
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_O0bERzrBZx0/TJ_qvnZy1EI/AAAAAAAAAA8/ojHwC704yrQ/s1600/De-lousedintheComatorium.jpg
5. Inertiatic ESP (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=neSQgkEy_xQ&ob=av3e)
4. Drunkship of Lanterns (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LwisFsigxds)
3. Roulette Dares (The Haunt Of) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8lKUl_bO4QA)
2. Take The Veil Cerpin Taxt (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SMUEn6bQ3LQ)
1. Cicatriz ESP (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j5BM0Tln7cM)

1. Frances the Mute
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/06/Frances_the_Mute.png
3. Frances the Mute (http://grooveshark.com/s/Frances+The+Mute/3f5l8C?src=5)
2. Cygnus... Vismund Cygnus (http://grooveshark.com/s/Cygnus+vismund+Cygnus/2CZ2pT?src=5)
1. Cassandra Gemini (http://grooveshark.com/#/playlist/Cassandra+Gemini+/52068432)

[Bigsmoke]

Kendrick Lamar
A.D.H.D.
Keisha Song
vanity slave

Joe Budden
Just to Be Different
clothes of a mannequin
inseperable


my favorite artist is actually Nas but he has too many classics to just pick 3 songs.

[Eat Like A Bosh]

Tupac Amaru Shakur

1. Me Against the World
2. All Eyez on Me
3. 7 Day Theory

1. Pain Featuring Stretch
2. My Block Remix
3. Changes

Eminem

1. The Marshall Mathers LP
2. The Eminem Show
3. The Slim Shady LP

1. Stan Featuring Dido
2. Lose Yourself
3. Till I Collapse Featuring Nate Dogg

Basically exactly what I was thinking! :cheers:

My third one will be Linkin Park.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/c/c9/Linkin_park_hybrid_theory.jpg/220px-Linkin_park_hybrid_theory.jpg

Albums:
1. Hybrid Theory
2. Meteora
3. A Thousand Suns

Songs:
1.In the End
2. Numb
3. Runaway or New Divide

[Jan95]

Red Hot Chili Peppers
http://www.glogster.com/media/1/2/20/91/2209115.jpg

5. Mothers Milk
3. Nobody Weird Like Me
2. Subway to Venus
1. Higher Ground

4. Stadium Arcadium
3. Strip My Mind
2. Tell me baby
1. Hard to Concentrate

3. Californication
3. Around the World
2. Otherside
1. Californication

2. Blood Sugar Sex Milk
3. The Power of Equality
2. Suck my Kiss
1. Under the Bridge

1. By The Way
3. The Zephyr Song
2. Can`t Stop
1. Don`t forget me

This is completely personal opinion. Most of the people would not agree with this list, but this is the way I like.

[RidonKs]

but this is the way I like
hey man, you gotta like the way you like, otherwise what's to like?

[RaininThrees]

K-Os

1. Atlantis: Hymns For Disco
http://www.aendlosschloufe.ch/bilder/k-os_atlantis.jpg
1.) Valhalla
2.) ELEctrik HeaT - the seekwiLL
3.) The Rain

2. Yes!
http://www.madeinthecity.ca/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/kos-yes-2009-300x300.jpg
1.) The Aviator
2.) 4 3 2 1
3.) Burning Bridges

3. Joyful Rebellion
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_2Quynf82878/SfIpz-mycdI/AAAAAAAAAT0/tKuz6kStsYA/s320/KOsJoyfulRebellion200529290_f.jpg
1.) Crabbuckit
2.) Man I Used To Be
3.) The Love Song

:applause:

No Exit though?

Love Heaven Only Knows, Superstarr Pt. Zero.

[L.Kizzle]

http://love4mj.files.wordpress.com/2009/01/1984-pepsi-commercial.jpg
MICHAEL JACKSON / Jackson 5ive / The JACKSONS


Triumph 1980 The Jacksons
Your Ways
Lovely One
Time Waits For No One


Off The Wall 1979 Michael Jackson
Off The Wall
I Can't Help It
Don't Stop Til You Get Enough


Moving Violation 1975 Jackson 5ive
Moving Violation
Honey Love
You Were Made (Especially For Me)