Your top 10 albums of a particular type of music.

[Pepotamo1985]

The self-titled first one is too samey and 'Rated R' is too all over the place (but both still brilliant). 'Songs For The Deaf' is the pinnacle.

Complete agreement. Their eponymous is a delightfully sun scorched riffathon, but there's a set formula which is stuck to pretty rigidly throughout. Rated R is a slipshod mess (Better Living Through Chemistry is utterly essential whatever the weather, however). SFTD is a masterpiece, really; no amount of superlatives may do it justice.

[bennyprofane]

1985 to 1995, american guitar music devises and survives Grunge


1. sonic youth - daydream nation (also dirty) ---------- best album ever.  dirty is a great great rock album, but less awesomely whole and with less interesting structures.
2. come- eleven eleven (also don't ask don't tell) ------ scary rattling atmosphere, incredible primitive but perfectly interlinked dual guitar playing.  don't ask don't tell is more palatable and has good rock songs, but badly paced, with a bit of filler.
3. nirvana - in utero --------- very sracastic, bitter, funny album with some vicious driving momentum behind simple melodies.  It's a whole album with the ethos of In Bloom, but no song quite as likeable as that.
4. big black - songs about fucking (also rich man's 8-track tape) ------- the most aggressive guitar sound in the world.  SaF has more interesting songs, Rich Man's has a heavier sound and better riffs.
5. dinosaur jr - your living all over me ------ patchy as fuck, but pretty, driving, liquid, hard, all at once.   Yearning is what they do well, and they do it best at angry high speed/volume.  2 or 3 genuinely great guitar solos too.
6. pixies - surfer rosa (also doolittle) -------- I kind of agree with Steve Albini that they're a jumped up college-rock band, but the albums actually have a huge amount of variety  and obvioulsy a good number of classic tunes.  
7. the god machine - songs from the second storey -------- deeply po-faced, but really quite intense.  Lots of prog and classic rock in there.  The slow songs are without exception absolutely fantastic.  Can't find the second album ANYWHERE.
8. hole - live through this --------- lots of people hate this or think it's a half-arsed sell-out or underwritten or whatever.  Don't understand that, it's a superb collection of singleworthy songs, with a reasonable edge.
9. mudhoney -superfuzz bigmuff+eps ------------- dumb.  But the EPs are great, and the mini-album has some soaring moments.
10. jesus lizard - liar (also goat) ----------- amusingly one-note angry, but such a tight crashing rhythm that you can't smirk.  Sharp as well as heavy.


;;;;;;;;;;;;;;-------------- reserves who weren't quite grunge enough.
codeine - frigid stars ----- like an evil Sunday Morning wading through cement.
slint - spiderland ---------- 2 awesome songs, 2 excellent ones, 2 may as well not exist.  No-one afterward plays with momentum so well.
superchunk - no pocky for kitty -------- 3/4 utter gash, but in Tower and Throwing Things it has the only punk-pop songs that fit the word 'majestic'
bikini kill - CD version of the first 2 records. ----- more than just 9 versions of Rebel Girl
pavement - slanted and enchanted ------ The Fall.  but with gorgeous fuzz melodies.

[actwithoutwords]

top ten canadian post rock records:

1.levez vos skinny fists comme antennas to heaven- godspeed you black emperor!
2.he has left us, but shafts of light still grace the corners of our rooms- a silver mt zion
3.&yet&yet- do make say think
4.those who tell the truth shall die, those who tell the truth shall live forever- explosions in the sky
5.f#a#infinity- godspeed
6.yanqui UXO- godspeed
7.sings reign rebuilder- set fire to flames
8.born into trouble as the sparks fly upward- a silver mt zion
9.recording a tape the colour of the light- bell orchestre
10.the earth is not a cold dead place- explosions in the sky

[Al Tha Funkee Homosapien]

Explosions in the Sky are from Austin, Texas.

[actwithoutwords]

shite. that's a bit embarrassing isn't it. i wonder why i thought they were canadian?
there goes my credibility.

[Paaaaul]

Just a note to say - anyone who put Nas' Illmatic in their top tens will be hunted down with sharp dogs.
I bought it a few days ago on it's showing here and must say it's incredibly dull.

# Fairly limp rhymes, huh,
  and a few more crimes
  Like lazy beats
  and no hook-y  treats #

I can imagine it would half come to life while "smokin' bud on yo'  porch", but not enough for me to get excited at the prospect.

The huntings will be in alphabetical order.

[Brutus Beefcake]

1985 to 1995, american guitar music devises and survives Grunge

Where are the Melvins and the Wipers?

[Al Tha Funkee Homosapien]

Just a note to say - anyone who put Nas' Illmatic in their top tens will be hunted down with sharp dogs.
I bought it a few days ago on it's showing here and must say it's incredibly dull.

# Fairly limp rhymes, huh,
  and a few more crimes
  Like lazy beats
  and no hook-y  treats #

I can imagine it would half come to life while "smokin' bud on yo'  porch", but not enough for me to get excited at the prospect.

The huntings will be in alphabetical order.

I guess that's me first then. Dull heh? Well different strokes and all that.

[Paaaaul]

Nothing personal with the alphabetical thing, just an easy system to work out quickly.

[bennyprofane]

bennyprofane wrote:
1985 to 1995, american guitar music devises and survives Grunge



Where are the Melvins and the Wipers?

the melvins missed the cut, and all 3 of my favourite wipers albums (ie the first 3)are from before 1985.  But they were considered, don't worry.  Same goes for Husker Du as for the Wipers (actually i just checked and flip your wig and new day rising are both 1985, so Husker should probably be number 6 with those 2 albums.)[/quote]

[Al Tha Funkee Homosapien]

No place for The Replacements?

[mrClaypole]

Top ten reggae and ska albums.........
1 Lee scratch perry - return of the super ape.
2 King tubby - meets the rockers uptown.
3 toots and the maytals - monkey man
4 various - blue beat specail
5 various - club ska 67
6 Jimmy Cliff/ various - The harder they come OST
7 Prince Buster - this is the words of the prince (rare as rocking horse shit)
8 The specials - more specials (more muzakky)
9 Desmond Dekker - black and Dekker
10 Various - trojan tighten up vol 2

[SurferGhost]

Ohh, alright then.

My Top Ten 1960s UK Pop/Psychedelic (in no particular order)

The Who  -  The Who Sell Out
The Kinks  -  The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society
Pink Floyd  -  The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn
Small Faces  -  Ogden's Nutgone Flake
Beatles  -  Revolver
The Pretty Things  -  SF Sorrow
Skip Bifferty  -  Same
July  -  Same
Eric Burdon And The Animals  -  Winds of Change/The Twain Shall Meet (I might be a filthy cheat, but you can get it as a twoferone CD)
The Jimi Hendrix Experience  -  Axis: Bold As Love

[Go With The Flow]

The self-titled first one is too samey and 'Rated R' is too all over the place (but both still brilliant). 'Songs For The Deaf' is the pinnacle.

...SFTD is a masterpiece, really; no amount of superlatives may do it justice.

Another agreement. That's why SFTD is my number 1!

5. QOTSA - QOTSA (self titled)

Is this album deleted these days?  I've been looking around for it in major record stores all over, but it's never in stock.  [Yes, I know it's easily gettable from various places on the net...]

I've always seen it on sale in HMV, and a lot of the time in Virgin Megastores as well.

[nw83]

Another Top 10 hiphop...

1. Public Enemy - Fear Of A Black Planet
2. A Tribe Called Quest - Low End Theory
3. Gang Starr - Moment Of Truth
4. Wu-Tang Clan - 36 Chambers
5. Public Enemy - Apocalypse '91
6. A Tribe Called Quest - Midnight Marauders
7. Ultramagnetic MCs - Critical Beatdown
8. Tupac - Strictly 4 My Niggaz*
9. Ice T - Original Gangster
10. Ice Cube - The Predator

Very under-rated album... great lyrics (like early Ice Cube - militant pro-Black and street-smart) and great beats (very Bomb Squad, lots of noise).

Jay-Z's The Blueprint narrowly missed the cut, ahead of Illmatic and Ready To Die.

[The Plaque Goblin]

After deciding to get a couple of hip-hop albums I have compiled the following out of the 11 lists...

Wu-Tang Clan - Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) -7 mentions.
GZA - Liquid Swords -4
Nas - Illmatic -4
A Tribe Called Quest - Low End Theory  -3
Notorious B.I.G. - Ready To Die -3
Dr. Dre - The Chronic -3
Raekwon - Only Built 4 Cuban Linx -3
A Tribe Called Quest - Midnight Marauders -2
Beastie Boys - Ill Communication -2
Beastie Boys - Paul's Boutique -2
Common - Resurrection -2
Company Flow - Funcrusher Plus -2
De La Soul - Feet High & Rising -2
Dr. Octagon - Dr. Octagonecologyst -2
Eminem - The Marshall Mathers LP -2
Ice Cube - AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted -2
Ice Cube - The Predator -2
Jurrassic 5 - Jurassic 5 -2
Mos Def  - Black on Both Sides -2
Public Enemy - It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back -2
Public Enemy - Fear Of A Black Planet -2
Public Enemy - Apocalypse '91 -2

[ccbaxter]

Top Ten Beatles Solo Albums In My Opinionation:

1. Flaming Pie – Paul
2. All Things Must Pass – George
3. McCartney – Paul
4. John Lennon & The Plastic Ono Band
5. Brainwashed – George
6. Imagine – John
7. Double Fantasy – John
8. Driving Rain – Paul
9. Chaos & Creation... – Paul
10. Vertical Man – Ringo

Sorry, Ringo.

Good list. And yet, on the other hand...

1) Wings, "Band On The Run"
2) John Lennon and Plastic Ono Band, "John Lennon and Plastic Ono Band"
3) Paul McCartney, "Tug Of War"
4) George Harrison, "All Things Must Pass"
5) Paul McCartney, "Chaos And Creation In The Backyard"
6) Paul McCartney, "Ram"
7) John Lennon, "Walls And Bridges"
8) John Lennon and Yoko Ono, "Double Fantasy"
9) Wings, "London Town"
10) George Harrison, "Cloud Nine"

(EDIT: Sorry for lumping Wings in as "solo Paul"...)

And another... Cosmic American (soul) Music...

1) Gram Parsons, "Return Of The Grievous Angel"
2) The Byrds, "Sweetheart Of The Rodeo"
3) Flying Burrito Brothers, "Gilded Palace Of Sin"
4) Gene Clark, "No Other"
5) Wilco, "Summerteeth"
6) The Jayhawks, "Rainy Day Music"
7) Emmylou Harris, "Wrecking Ball"
8) Ryan Adams, "Heartbreaker"
9) Mercury Rev, "Deserter's Songs"
10) Jim White, "No Such Place"
Honourary salute: Billy Bragg and Wilco, "Mermaid Avenue"

[Part Chimp]

Top 10 CBGBs albums (may it soon rest in peace):

1. The Ramones  - The Ramones
2. Television - Marquee Moon
3. Suicide - Suicide
4. Blondie - Blondie
5. Patti Smith - Horses
6. New York Dolls - New York Dolls
7. Richard Hell & The Voidoids - Blank Generation
8. The Dead Boys -  Young, Loud & Snotty
9. Bad Brains - I Against I
10. Talking Heads - 77

[Al Tha Funkee Homosapien]

After deciding to get a couple of hip-hop albums I have compiled the following out of the 11 lists...

Wu-Tang Clan - Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) -7 mentions.
GZA - Liquid Swords -4
Nas - Illmatic -4
A Tribe Called Quest - Low End Theory  -3
Notorious B.I.G. - Ready To Die -3
Dr. Dre - The Chronic -3
Raekwon - Only Built 4 Cuban Linx -3
A Tribe Called Quest - Midnight Marauders -2
Beastie Boys - Ill Communication -2
Beastie Boys - Paul's Boutique -2
Common - Resurrection -2
Company Flow - Funcrusher Plus -2
De La Soul - Feet High & Rising -2
Dr. Octagon - Dr. Octagonecologyst -2
Eminem - The Marshall Mathers LP -2
Ice Cube - AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted -2
Ice Cube - The Predator -2
Jurrassic 5 - Jurassic 5 -2
Mos Def  - Black on Both Sides -2
Public Enemy - It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back -2
Public Enemy - Fear Of A Black Planet -2
Public Enemy - Apocalypse '91 -2

What, do you want recommendations out of those lot about which to get?

[RHX]

Might as well put my own personal top 10 hip-hop albums here then:

1. Little Brother - The Minstrel Show
2. Mos Def - Black On Both Sides
3. Nas - Stillmatic
4. Jay-Z - The Black Album
5. Canibus - Rip The Jacker
6. Ludacris - Back For The First Time
7. Snoop Doggy Dogg - Doggystyle
8. Eminem - The Marshall Mathers
9. Little Brother - The Listening
10. Jedi Mind Tricks - Violent By Design

2Pac would be on here, but he's never had a great album, just great songs surrounded by filler. Same for Notorious BIG.

[Ciarán2]

Top 10 Breakdown Albums (in no particular order)

John Lennon and Plastic Ono Band "John Lennon and Plastic Ono Band"
"Mama don't gooooooo! Daddy come home!"

Lou Reed "Berlin"
"They're taking her children away/ Because they said she was not a good mother..."

ABBA "The Visitors"
"Now I hear them moving/ Muffled voices coming through the door/ I feel I'm cracking up."

Dexys Midnight Runners "Don't Stand Me Down"
"I've denied my beautiful heritage and gone away from my roots and come back home again/ I gave away my individuality and listened to the now generation/ But really I'm not one of those..."

Go Kart Mozart "Instant Wigwam and Igloo Mixture"
"I will crawl in gutters for a chance to plead with the man for some gear."

Pulp "This Is Hardcore"
"You can change your hair but it's the one thing you can't change/ Can't run away from yourself..."

Joni Mitchell "Blue"
"It's comin' on Christmas, they're cuttin' down trees/ They're puttin' up reindeer and singin' songs of joy and peace/ Oh I wish I had a river I could skate away on..."

Syd Barret "The Madcap Laughs"
"She said a big band is far better than yoooooooouuuuuuuuu...."

Julian Cope "Fried"
"My vacant stair which hangs above your vacant chair..."

David Bowie "Station To Station"
"It's not the side effects of the cocaine/ I'm thinking that it must be love."

The The "Infected"
"I was trying so hard to please myself I was turning into somebody else."

[rjd2]

Might as well put my own personal top 10 hip-hop albums here then:


3. Nas - Stillmatic

Typo surely? {Insert winky smiley}

[The Plaque Goblin]

He's got some dodgy counterfeit version he bought from some unscrupulous shifty-looking character.

What, do you want recommendations out of those lot about which to get?

Nah, it was just a half-baked excuse to bump the thread really. I already have a lot of these in one form or another. Never heard of that Common before though, can you recommend him/them?

Some nice new lists there, is anybody up for doing some that cover various types of electronicy-type stuff?

[RHX]

Might as well put my own personal top 10 hip-hop albums here then:


3. Nas - Stillmatic

Typo surely? {Insert winky smiley}

Nope, no typo at all, I much prefer Stillmatic to Illmatic, it's a lot more diverse and has a lot more character to it than Illmatic, where all the songs seem to blend into each other. Maybe it was just before my time, I can see why it's a great album, but I prefer Stillmatic by far.

[bomb_dog]

Seeing as there seem to be a couple of hip-hop fans here, can someone please explain to me how DJ Shadows 'Entroducing' is classed as hip-hop? It consists almost entirely of cut-and-paste records and samples, and no rapping, which most hip-hop seems to have. I'm probably being a bit naieve here....

[Al Tha Funkee Homosapien]

Well hip-hop generally gets used to mean rap music, but hip-hop culture really incorperates all sorts of things like breakdancing, graffiti, turntablism, emceeing, wearing silly clothes. In the words of KRS-One "Rapping is something you do, hip-hop is something you are". So DJ Shadow is all about turntablism and he grew out of that whole scene. So Endtroducing whilst not featuring rapping is still kind of hip-hop due to the whole asthetic and who made it.

[bomb_dog]

Thanks, I think I see what you mean....

Whatever genre it's supposed to be, I fucking love it anyway.

[The Plaque Goblin]

Some nice new lists there, is anybody up for doing some that cover various types of electronicy-type stuff?

I really would like to see some of these. Especially stuff that RAWKS!

[Maximash]

Yes, someone crank out a list of avant-garde electronica immediately.

[SagarFish]

Hip Hop (which refers to both the culture and, musically, to the cut and paste style which it was founded on.  Hence, you get hip-hoppers saying 50 cent ain't hip hop because his music is all lushly produced like modern shit r'n'b)

Nas - Illmatic
Mos Def - Black on Both Sides
Wu Tang - Enter the 36 Chambers
Cold Vein - Cannibal Ox
It Takes a Nation Of Millions to Hold us Back - Public Enemy
Critical Beatdown - Ultramagnetic MC's
93 Till Infinity - Souls of Mischief
The Low End Theory - Tribe Called Quest
Black Star - Mos Def & Talib Kweli
Like Water for Chocolate - Common

Man....10 isn't enough!  

And then there has to be notable mentions for anything to do with MADLIB, JAY DEE (RIP) and MF DOOM

So at least one of Jaylib, Madvillain, Quasimoto, Slum Village, Vaudeville Villain, Take me to your leader, need owning too!