Author Topic: 500 greatest albums  (Read 15812 times)

The Holy Saint, Grand High Poobah, Master of Monkeys, Ehlers

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Re: 500 greatest albums
« Reply #45 on: December 10, 2003, 10:33:03 PM »
Ok, I think Cake and Beck really deserve to be on here, but it's so hard to narrow it down, and since I have mixed feelings about tracks on all of their albums, we'll give them a nod here and get to the list. This is by no means final or definitive, but it's in my feelings, what you need to be listening to, based mostly on Artistic Accomplishment. In no particular order:

1.   The Kinks, "To the Bone." mostly accoustic, nearly all live, with two new songs. Ray and Dave finally accept they'll never have number one hits again and showcase what they can do with all their songs for the last 40 years. Features also live shreds on "All Day and All of the Night" and "You Really Got Me," That double the tempo AND the length of the original power rock hits (not as good as the samples from "One for the Road," but pretty solid.

2.   U2, "October." Before U2 got it into their head they were either American or Political or mainstream or something, they recorded this little number in the early 80s. "Gloria" is the clear highlight, but it also has "Fire" and "Stranger in a Strange Land." The former gave them a TON of live milage and the latter is just really nicely done.

3.   Led Zeppelin IV. Also known as Runes or Zoso, it has no real name. But "Black Dog," "Rock and Roll," and "Stairway to Heaven." Need I say more? The whole album is this good.

4.   Eric Clapton, "From the Cradle." While he's a brilliant at the Rock/Blues thing and did amazing work with the Yardbirds and Cream, this is the culmination of his career, imo. Pure Blues but treated as rock, he doesn't pop it like he did on Journeyman and doesn't hype it like he did on "Unplugged." Solid, baby.

5.   Bob Dylan's 30th Anniversary Concert. Doubt Bob's influence? Listen to Neil Young, Eric Clapton, Tom Petty, Eddie Vedder, willie Nelson, The Clancy Brothers, Johnny Cash, and George Harrison, along with tons of others, prove you so wrong it'll hurt. Live. All from one night, with no tour to pick and choose from.

6.   Jethro Tull, "Thick as a Brick." Yeah, the predicted the "not really one long 45 minute song" criticism when they recorded it -- addressing it on the cover, even. But it's still brilliant, lyrically and musically.

7.   Miles Davis, "Bitch's Brew." By my count, only Joe Satriani has as much versatility and ability to fuse genres, and he's actually got not quite as much. THis album shows both the vitality of jazz and the possibilities of rock. Some of the most brilliant playing ever is heard here too.

8.  Peter Gabriel, "Up." Wasn't sure whether I should do this one, "Us," or perhaps one of his early albums with Genesis, there's brilliant stuff all around, but this is the one that has the most mature and clearly envisioned material, whereas with Genesis he was just playing around. "Us" has better lyrics, but "Up" has better music. Hard... so hard.

9.   R.E.M., "Life's Rich Pageant." No shiny people here. In fact, very little happy. But lots of amazing vision and mood. It's almost like 80's southern indy rock haiku. Clear evocations of mood and scene, your own interpretations to be filled in.

10.  Blue Oyster Cult, "Some Enchanted Evening." "Don't fear the Reaper," "Godzilla," yeah. all it misses is a couple of the more obscure hits. This was a great album from the guys who invented heavy metal. If they were smart, Metallica would bow down and pay homage to these guys.
« Last Edit: December 10, 2003, 10:38:26 PM by SaintEhlers »

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Re: 500 greatest albums
« Reply #46 on: December 10, 2003, 11:20:21 PM »
Quote
If they were smart, Metallica would bow down and pay homage to these guys.
'

Uh, they do.  Their cover of Astronomy is far superior to the original, and in the album (Garage inc.) Metallica has great things to say about the Cult.

I own two BOC albums (greatest hists compolations) and I'm afraid I was dissapointed in them.  Reaper is very good, but Godzilla is a bit too silly for my tastes.  The rest of the songs blend together to me.  

As for the  being the 'guys who invented heavy metal...' Well, Deep Purple was around for a good six years before BOC released their first studio ablum.  I'd have to go with Purple as founders--and as the superior band.
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Fellfrosch

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Re: 500 greatest albums
« Reply #47 on: December 11, 2003, 12:46:07 AM »
That's a really good list, SE, and not nearly as oldie-centric as mine (I have strong biases, and I admit them). I can't help but think, however, that choosing October over Joshua Tree is just a way of saying "look, I'm different." It is a great album, though, and I really can't argue with anything on your list.

I've been thinking about my list, because I'm not entirely pleased with it. I've decided to remove Revolver, bump up the rest of the list, and put "The Best of the Temptations" at number 10. Yeah, I know, it's another oldies group. Sorry.
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The Holy Saint, Grand High Poobah, Master of Monkeys, Ehlers

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Re: 500 greatest albums
« Reply #48 on: December 11, 2003, 07:33:28 AM »
part of why I say BOC invented Heavy Metal is because their manager DID invent the term.
I also find it vastly amusing that you find "Godzilla" goofy but not "No Leaf Clover" which is considerably more cliche.

Revolver is far from the Beatles' best album, though it is very good.
As for October, I've always liked October better than Joshua Tree. To me it embodied more waht U2 was about Originally, It fits nicely with Boy, War, and even the Wide Awake in America EP. After Unforgetable Fire and Joshua Tree, The only place to go was Achtung Baby, which is far far away from their roots. (Rattle and Hum being essentially Joshua Tree, pt 2).
« Last Edit: December 11, 2003, 09:49:33 AM by SaintEhlers »

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Re: 500 greatest albums
« Reply #49 on: December 11, 2003, 06:23:26 PM »
My problem with 'Godzilla' is the music.  It just sounds goofy to me.  As for No Leaf, I still don't get your dislike of that song.  Granted, the version I really like is the live symphonic one, but I still don't find the lyrics cliche.  You may have heard the phrase before, but I never have--which implies to me that it isn't over-used, and therefore can't really be a cliche.
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Re: 500 greatest albums
« Reply #50 on: December 11, 2003, 07:26:00 PM »
I've seen it on a hundred different shirts, with at least 4 different genre based variations (involving dragons and such) always told as a joke. Hearing Metallica trying to sound tough and dark with a gravelly voice singing it is hilarious beyond measure. *shrug.* Read more music and fantasy merchandise text, is all I can say.

I can see why you might think the music is goofy, but if you put it back in the context of mid-70's metal, it's considerably less so.

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Re: 500 greatest albums
« Reply #51 on: December 11, 2003, 08:49:17 PM »
I know the line in question, but what I don't know is who used it first. How old is No Leaf?
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Re: 500 greatest albums
« Reply #52 on: December 11, 2003, 09:31:14 PM »
???

Are you talking about the freight train line?  What is that doing on fantasy T-shirts?
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Re: 500 greatest albums
« Reply #53 on: December 12, 2003, 01:50:43 PM »
The "light at the end of the tunnel is just a freight train coming your way" line has been reprinted as "just a firebreathing dragon coming your way." I'm no historian, as I said above, but I'd be very surprised if the fantasy parody was not based directly on the Metallica song.
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The Holy Saint, Grand High Poobah, Master of Monkeys, Ehlers

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Re: 500 greatest albums
« Reply #54 on: December 12, 2003, 03:27:17 PM »
was it a B-side or something originally? Because Metallica's own discography on their site doesn't list it as a title of a song on an album until S&M, though I know there was a single in 2000 for "No Leaf Clover."

It would have to be on one of their first three albums to convince me. I happen to know that T-shirts with that phrase were being marketed by 1986 - and I don't believe that was the first time the phrase was used. So really, unless it's on one of the first two, you've got shirts marketed before the song is released, though maybe they had written it before then. I, unlike Fell, would hardly be surprised if it didn't come directly from the Metallica song.

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Re: 500 greatest albums
« Reply #55 on: December 12, 2003, 05:09:05 PM »
No Leaf is one of their infamous 'Live Only' songs.  

Anyway, I've never seen those T-shirts.  However, I'd also never heard the phrase before I heard No Leaf.  I wouldn't be surprised if it came from somewhere else, and Metallica used it.  However, I hold to my premise that it's not a cliche (at least to me) if it isn't over-used.

Perhaps it was regional.  You do come from different section of the country from myself.
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The Holy Saint, Grand High Poobah, Master of Monkeys, Ehlers

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Re: 500 greatest albums
« Reply #56 on: December 12, 2003, 05:17:16 PM »
actually, it's not so much that it's cliche, but that it's much more often used as a joke by people who think it's hip to be pessimistic. So hearing Metallica trying to growl it out makes it lose a lot of the impact they intended.

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Re: 500 greatest albums
« Reply #57 on: June 05, 2009, 01:45:47 AM »
I personally don't think that compilation/greatest hits/live albums should be included on a list like that.  Just me.

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Re: 500 greatest albums
« Reply #58 on: June 07, 2009, 01:14:17 AM »
PW, read the FAQ, PLEASE, before resurrecting other old threads.  If you'll notice, the last post here was almost 6 years ago!
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