What are the most ambitious albums you've ever heard?

[russwest0]

Whether they were WAY before their time, completely different from the popular music at that time, going against what every fan and music critic expected from them, or just creating a new genre, lets see them. Also, please try not to include more than one album from each artist you include.

My list:

The Velvet Underground and Nico (1967)
Full Album (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6tsamNxGC9U)
http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/ciu/52/a6/560c419328a0198cf1dee110.L._SY300_.gif


To quote Brian Eno: "while the first Velvet Underground album may have sold only 30,000 copies in its early years, everyone who bought one of those 30,000 copies started a band."

Pink Floyd - The Wall (1979)
Full Album (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5oKcrbzeT4)
http://www.progarchives.com/progressive_rock_discography_covers/364/cover_2530151082009.jpg

Nirvana - In Utero (1993)
Full Album (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLDGnp-xwfo)
http://wac.450f.edgecastcdn.net/80450F/loudwire.com/files/2013/07/Nirvana_InUtero_12x12_zps78003f94-300x300.jpg

My Bloody Valentine - Loveless (1993)
Full Album (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhxXn60Z0yk)
http://www.slicingupeyeballs.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/mbv_lovless-300x300.jpg

Smashing Pumpkins - Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness (1995)
Full Album (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WOy3jaBqIMU)
http://www.netphoria.org/covers/MellonCollie.jpg

Radiohead - Kid A (2000)
Full Album (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PSrMeiWSZ9M)
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/b/b5/Radiohead.kida.albumart.jpg

The Postal Service - Give Up (2003)
Full Album (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GKwyV-LK14)
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41VRTUJzwPL._SL500_AA300_.jpg

MGMT - Congratulations (2010)
Full Album (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=abGKohswrvk)
http://www.riotradio.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/MGMT-Congratulations.jpg

[DwnShft2Xcelr8]

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/3/35/Eminem_-_The_Slim_Shady_LP_CD_cover.jpg

It didn't have any "I'm a real gangsta! Bang bang! Throw ya hood up!" tracks. Breath of fresh air in the hip hop scene at the time.

[~primetime~]

Nevermind was much more groundbreaking than In Utero was...Nevermind was seen as the album that killed heavy metal/hair metal

[rufuspaul]

http://www.8ball.co.uk/media/catalog/product/cache/1/thumbnail/700x/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/j/o/joy_division_-_closer_wht_mens_cu_7.jpg

[Nick Young]

Kid A is just like all electro that's been made since the 80s-never got the hype. Has the world never heard of Kraftwerk yo?

[~primetime~]

It didn't have any "I'm a real gangsta! Bang bang! Throw ya hood up!" tracks. Breath of fresh air in the hip hop scene at the time.
and IMO the most groundbreaking album of that type was The Chronic

yeah there was NWA and some others that were "gangsta rap" before the The Chronic...but The Chronic was the one that pushed gangsta rap into the mainstream and create a plethora of artists to follow in it's footsteps.

[~primetime~]

Appetite for Destruction is up there too, that album was a game changer

Axl Rose is one of the most unique vocalists ever...you've probably never heard anyone do a Guns and Roses song at a karaoke bar because the only person that can sound like Axl Rose is Axl Rose.

[ZeN]

My List


The Antler - Hospice (2009)
Full Album (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xSi_FE52TAY)

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-oY-McyRsct0/Trm4K6dPrtI/AAAAAAAAABE/qO7b2nN71kk/s320/the%2Bantlers%2Bhospice.jpg



TELEVISION - Marquee Moon (1977)
Full Album (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WfO9lpbbW_4)

http://therisingstorm.net/audio/marqueemoon.jpg



The Dead Weather - Horehound (2009)
Full Album: Live @ Prive - Epic Performance (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRyYk0FBOXU)

http://cdn.mos.musicradar.com/images/artist-news/the-dead-weather/dead-weather-horehound-630-80.jpg

[nathanjizzle]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=19wThYrco60
http://oi59.tinypic.com/309sok8.jpg

[russwest0]

Nevermind was much more groundbreaking than In Utero was...Nevermind was seen as the album that killed heavy metal/hair metal

yeah Nevermind had a bigger impact but I think the music of In Utero was more ambitious.

Nirvana was the biggest band in the world and had an insurmountable amount of pressure to make Nevermind Part Two, but instead they said "fukk you, we'll do whatever the fukk we want" and then they made another timeless classic

[joe]

How do you mean ambitious, OP? What makes the albums you listed ambitious?

[CeltsGarlic]

Nevermind was much more groundbreaking than In Utero was...Nevermind was seen as the album that killed heavy metal/hair metal

this

[CeltsGarlic]

Kid Cudi - Satellite Flight

lol jk

[ZeN]

Nevermind was much more groundbreaking than In Utero was...Nevermind was seen as the album that killed heavy metal/hair metal
OP didn't state groundbreaking he said ambitious. In Utero has an overall consistency in melody and overall sound that it felt almost like a concept album. Plus, it aimed to be unlike the previous album without deviating from the bands strengths.

People may recall Nevermind more because it was the star making album. Yet it held a lot pandering with radio specific tunes like Smells Like Teen Spirit and anthem songs like Lithium.

Even Kurt thought so, which is why he and the band decided to not give a shit on In Utero and do whatever they wanted.

Inside the makind of Nevermind (http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/how-nirvana-made-nevermind-20130305)

[QUOTE] Mixing the record, the band and producer hit another snag. "Kurt kept trying to bury his voice," says Vig. "I kept arguing, 'You can't do that. Your vocal performance is as intense as the drums and the bass and the guitar.'"

Vig eventually won the argument, but his mixes didn't make it onto the album. [B]The band decided to hire an outside engineer. Andy Wallace, who'd worked with Slayer, gave Nevermind its incredible sonic sheen

[rufuspaul]

http://blogs.phoenixnewtimes.com/uponsun/U2-Achtung-Baby.jpg

U2 took a big risk in the early 90s and produced their best album imo. From Pitchfork:

"Achtung Baby is rightly known as one of rock's greatest reinventions because it was so complete. Sure, U2 changed their sound from chiming melodics to lurching, distorted rhythm. But they also changed their attitude, their demeanor, their look, their ideas on how to deal with celebrity."

[Jailblazers7]

http://cps-static.rovicorp.com/3/JPG_400/MI0000/041/MI0000041050.jpg

[~primetime~]

OP didn't state groundbreaking he said ambitious. In Utero has an overall consistency in melody and overall sound that it felt almost like a concept album. Plus, it aimed to be unlike the previous album without deviating from the bands strengths.

People may recall Nevermind more because it was the star making album. Yet it held a lot pandering with radio specific tunes like Smells Like Teen Spirit and anthem songs like Lithium.

Even Kurt thought so, which is why he and the band decided to not give a shit on In Utero and do whatever they wanted.

Inside the makind of Nevermind (http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/how-nirvana-made-nevermind-20130305)
okay, fair enough...good insight

I was thinking of albums that broke new ground rather than "ambitious"

not even really sure what ambitious means here...in the OP he does say:


"Whether they were WAY before their time, completely different from the popular music at that time, going against what every fan and music critic expected from them, or just creating a new genre, lets see them."


to me Nevermind fits into that...

[russwest0]

okay, fair enough...good insight

I was thinking of albums that broke new ground rather than "ambitious"

not even really sure what ambitious means here...in the OP he does say:




to me Nevermind fits into that...

yeah my description may have not been the best but zen hit the nail on the head in regards to how I feel about that.

I see ambitious as being just bands completely disregarding the expectations, wants, pressures, and all of that shit and doing whatever the fukk it is they want and making timeless music.

i was going to add a description for each album (which I may edit in when I add a few more albums) but I got lazy.

for me personally I'm more of a fan of concept albums and also a huge fan when pop bands reverse the trend and make an underground sounding album

[ducktape]

pixies - surfer rosa
http://cdn.riffraf.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/pixies-surfer-rosa-25-500x500.jpg

sonic youth - daydream nation
http://cdn.riffraf.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/SonicYouth-DaydreamNation.jpg

nirvana - in utero
http://jaimeville.files.wordpress.com/2013/09/jaimeville-com-nirvana-in-utero.png

patti smith - horses
http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_kydd0ogRGx1qavu1p.jpg

pj harvey - rid of me
http://assets.rollingstone.com/assets/images/list/c063033bb97abf96b8c1664432a649d383e720fe.jpg

the smiths - the queen is dead
http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/ciu/38/df/4dc481b0c8a0ed752531d110.L.jpg

siouxsie and the banshees - juju
http://meepzine.files.wordpress.com/2013/10/juju.jpg

ramones - ramones
http://cdn.riffraf.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/ramones-500x500.jpg

the beatles - magical mystery tour
http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/ciu/16/e7/b47ba2c008a0b37d1216c010.L.jpg

the kinks - the kinks are the village green preservation society
http://cdn.riffraf.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/villagegreen.pngg]

[NumberSix]

pixies - surfer rosa
http://cdn.riffraf.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/pixies-surfer-rosa-25-500x500.jpg
This honestly has to be one of the most overrated albums ever. I honestly believe people just like it because of the album cover.

I get some people like the Albini production.... sorry, "recording" style, but there's a reason why anytime someone releases a single from an album he produced, they re-record it.

[DonDadda59]

http://www.8ball.co.uk/media/catalog/product/cache/1/thumbnail/700x/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/j/o/joy_division_-_closer_wht_mens_cu_7.jpg

Great call. Been getting into Joy Division lately.

http://ec2.images-amazon.com/images/P/B0000AGWFX.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg

[ducktape]

This honestly has to be one of the most overrated albums ever. I honestly believe people just like it because of the album cover.

I get some people like the Albini production.... sorry, "recording" style, but there's a reason why anytime someone releases a single from an album he produced, they re-record it.
it's experimental, catchy, has great songwriting, has great guitar-playing. it's okay if you don't like any of those things.

[hateraid]

http://blogs.phoenixnewtimes.com/uponsun/U2-Achtung-Baby.jpg

U2 took a big risk in the early 90s and produced their best album imo. From Pitchfork:

"Achtung Baby is rightly known as one of rock's greatest reinventions because it was so complete. Sure, U2 changed their sound from chiming melodics to lurching, distorted rhythm. But they also changed their attitude, their demeanor, their look, their ideas on how to deal with celebrity."

:applause:
My top 5 favorite albums of all time

I'd like to add to the list Travelling Wilburys Vol.1

[NumberSix]

it's experimental, catchy, has great songwriting, has great guitar-playing. it's okay if you don't like any of those things.
Yes, I'm generally don't like "great songwriting". That's it. :rolleyes:

[ducktape]

Yes, I'm generally don't like "great songwriting". That's it. :rolleyes:
In a 1988 interview, Frank Black gave this explanation of his songwriting process:

"Eighty percent of it's baloney, yeah... I write the songs by singing a whole bunch of syllables along with the chord progressions, and they become words. A bunch of five words might mean something, or stand for something. But the five words after it, or preceding it, sure as hell won't have anything to do with them."

It seems that the point of Pixies lyrics is not to get at specific meanings or themes, or even to follow a steady structure. For example, even though Black talks about singing "syllables along with the chord progressions," those syllables don't usually end up matching from verse to verse. Take how the second line of the first verse, "try this trick and spin it, yeah," is only seven syllables, while the second line of the second verse, "animals were hiding behind the rock," is ten. The two lines have almost the same melody, but are still structurally unique. This affects how they are sung, and contributes to the idiosyncratic vocal style Black is known for.

We here at Shmoop like some ambiguity in works of literature and music, but sometimes a work doesn

[T_L_P]

I actually think White Light, White Heat was more ambitious than Nico.

Some others:

http://www.retrorebirth.com/images/blog-history/bob-dylan-blonde-on-blonde.jpg

http://colchesterarts.files.wordpress.com/2012/10/53686998_b8222ba376.jpg

http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/ciu/df/d9/1bdeeb6709a0a9cb35f64110.L.jpg

Only rap albums I would consider being part of this group are:

http://www.earwormrecords.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Madvillainy.png

http://www.xxlmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/gza.jpg

[RedBlackAttack]

Nice lists so far.

A few that came to mind...



http://www.progarchives.com/progressive_rock_discography_covers/3906/cover_394265122010.jpg

Miles Davis - Kind of Blue (Full Album) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMPL_ACKmHk)




http://blogs.citypages.com/gimmenoise/Miles-Davis-Bitches-Brew.jpg

Miles Davis - Bitches Brew (Full Album) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dc7qiosq4m4)




http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/61nP7s9US5L.jpg

Can't Find the full "Blues" album on Youtube, but here's how it starts. Innovative guitar work all over this album. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPtv14q9ZDg)




http://thehighfidelityreport.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/nick-drake-pink-moon.jpg

Nick Drake - Pink Moon (Full Album) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3sQv04CFSdE)




http://jonesandb.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Enter+the+WuTang+36+Chambers+PNG.png

Wu Tang Clan - 36 Chambers (Full Album) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-zG9Zh3qr8&list=PLUsuG2MT64-cuONuulwbyZ8Yq6Q6sUwEP)




http://sleevage.com/wp-content/uploads/2006/09/tool_aenima.jpg

Tool - Aenema (Full Album) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ckdw1kJn3E8)

[NumberSix]

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/61nP7s9US5L.jpg
Not really an album.

[christian1923]

The Marathon - Nipsey Hussle

Street Lottery - Young Scooter

[FKAri]

The most ambitious albums that I can think of are ones that collapsed under their own weight and pretension.

Some of the more successful ones:

Velvet Underground & Nico
Tommy
Purple Rain
Ziggy Stardust
Dark Side of the Moon
etc.

[Suguru101]

http://s50.podbean.com/pb/465a84b20f9ab78e09c19bbecc29a9b4/541a3e7f/data1/blogs40/439090/uploads/nightwish_portada.jpg

Nightwish created/defined Symphonic Metal with this album.

Ghost Love Score is kind of the perfect unity of both genres.

[Just2McFly]

Janet Jackson - Velvet Rope

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/78/Janet_Jackson_-_The_Velvet_Rope.jpg

[Milbuck]

Kid A by Radiohead comes to mind immediately. Had no idea what to think when I first heard it, it's grown on me since.

Amnesiac as well, although I liked it from the start.

[ZeN]

http://s50.podbean.com/pb/465a84b20f9ab78e09c19bbecc29a9b4/541a3e7f/data1/blogs40/439090/uploads/nightwish_portada.jpg

Nightwish created/defined Symphonic Metal with this album.

Ghost Love Score is kind of the perfect unity of both genres.

:applause:

[BigBoss]

http://kosmix.co/static/1d9e0ce6f2d060feaa3e56b6acbad8c5.jpg

I love this album.

[Suguru101]

:applause:

Have you heard their other albums? Have a favorite?

[RedBlackAttack]

Not really an album.
Not in the sense that it was an official Hendrix release while he was living. However, the ambitiousness comes from the guitar work displayed in the compilation. His interpretations of "Born Under a Bad Sign" and "Mannish Boy" are absolutely nothing like the originals and display a guitar style/sound that changed the way people look at the relationship between a guitarist and their gear (amps, pedals, etc). I always felt like "Blues," unlike the more popular Experience albums, was the best example of his innovative style.


Some of the most ambitious albums ever released completely flopped, like Neil Young's "Trans," wherein he used a voice modulator to, in part, mimic the sound of disabled people who need those kinds of devices to communicate.

It received horrendous reviews and is considered the album to skip in his collection. Ambition can sometimes have great results, but it can also go the other way.

[Chris99]

http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m7e1ulr6QJ1qjpnsm.jpg

My personal favorite tracks: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HIrKSqb4H4A

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=18HDfiMNlRE


Full album: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gcjhJLcIDOA

[ThePhantomCreep]

Tom Waits - Rain Dogs
Mr. Bungle
Faith No More - Angel Dust

[J Shuttlesworth]

Nice lists so far.

A few that came to mind...



http://www.progarchives.com/progressive_rock_discography_covers/3906/cover_394265122010.jpg

Miles Davis - Kind of Blue (Full Album) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMPL_ACKmHk)




http://blogs.citypages.com/gimmenoise/Miles-Davis-Bitches-Brew.jpg

Miles Davis - Bitches Brew (Full Album) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dc7qiosq4m4)

[/URL]
Yes sir :bowdown:

Some more jazz albums that come to mind:
http://bullmurph.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/au.jpg
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_O0wk-qJQm6U/TGF828Ll6kI/AAAAAAAACW4/DsnYtfFMRTw/s1600/d6de923f8da051157b70b010.L.jpg
http://www.movieposterskey.com/postersimages/bill-evans-trio-portrait-in-jazz.jpg
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/61B6e-SkJ1L.jpg

Oddly enough, all of these were recorded in the same year as Kind of Blue

1959 = GOAT year

[Akrazotile]

http://www.disneydreaming.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Jonas-Brothers-Album-Cover.jpg

[Budadiiii]

http://www.billboard.com/files/styles/review_410/public/katy-perry-410.jpg

[Akrazotile]

http://www.billboard.com/files/styles/review_410/public/katy-perry-410.jpg


:cheers:



But on a serious note:


http://media-cache-ec0.pinimg.com/736x/f8/03/70/f80370d10fdede57ca3342642b52b256.jpg

[ThePhantomCreep]

Ween's entire body of work qualifies as ambitious (and brilliant). I nominate "The Mollusk" if for no other reason that it's their best album IMO:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/b/b8/Ween-TheMollusk.jpg

[LJJ]

Emerson Lake & Palmer - Pictures at an Exhibition
ELP's famous prog-rock rendition of Mussorgsky's piano suite. It's an absolute trainwreck. At the end of their run in the 70s ELP actually toured with a symphony orchestra as their backing band.

Tool - Lateralus
Another example of ambition gone wrong. Really, really pedestrian metal wrapped in the most pretentious drivel imaginable.

Mike Oldfield - Tubular Bells
Now an example of an ambitious album that was pretty good. An album with only 2 tracks, 20+ minutes each, instrumental and didn't really have an identifiable genre at the time. Also:

Mike Oldfield plays: Acoustic guitar, bass guitar, electric guitar, Farfisa, Hammond B3,[3] and Lowrey organs, flageolet, fuzz guitars, glockenspiel, "honky tonk" piano, mandolin, piano, percussion, "taped motor drive amplifier organ chord", timpani, vocals and tubular bells.



The best music generally gets made when ambition isn't really involved.

[GimmeThat]

I find many soundtracks made by symphonic orchestras to be quite ambitious
Jazz with a close close close second only because the man power/parts its required for symphonic orchestra

as for lyrical ambition?


I think people hate Nickelback the same way many dislike Nicholas Cage

[Akrazotile]

Emerson Lake & Palmer - Pictures at an Exhibition
ELP's famous prog-rock rendition of Mussorgsky's piano suite. It's an absolute trainwreck. At the end of their run in the 70s ELP actually toured with a symphony orchestra as their backing band.

Tool - Lateralus
Another example of ambition gone wrong. Really, really pedestrian metal wrapped in the most pretentious drivel imaginable.

Mike Oldfield - Tubular Bells
Now an example of an ambitious album that was pretty good. An album with only 2 tracks, 20+ minutes each, instrumental and didn't really have an identifiable genre at the time. Also:




The best music generally gets made when ambition isn't really involved.



This.


But what the hell, I'll give this a mention

http://media-cache-ec0.pinimg.com/736x/67/3f/a2/673fa262b7dcaf01aed3b21e73b1580f.jpg

[andgar923]

This thread needs more Beatles based on the OP's requirements.