Essential Studio Albums

[liebzz]

Van Halen - Women and Children First

Van Halen’s third album seems to double down on what makes the band great. Big riffs, fast solos, and songs that generate a party atmosphere. That perfect fit of David Lee Roth and Eddie Van Halen hits its stride, especially in the first half - And the Cradle Will Rock, Everybody Wants Some!, and Romeo Delight are vintage VH. In the second half, Take Your Whisky Home, and the acoustic Could This Be Magic? serve as highlights. An upgrade I think from Van Halen II, but not yet near the heights of that first one.

The Essential Track: And the Cradle Will Rock

Up Next: Black Sabbath - Heaven and Hell

[coptheriotact]

I’ve been listening to a bunch of early 80s albums over the last few weeks that I’ve always wanted to

Peter Gabriel, the wipers, pati smith, replacements, misfits, killing joke etc

Thanks for the inspiration liebzz!

[liebzz]

I’ve been listening to a bunch of early 80s albums over the last few weeks that I’ve always wanted to

Peter Gabriel, the wipers, pati smith, replacements, misfits, killing joke etc

Thanks for the inspiration liebzz!

It’s really fascinating to me because despite my vague awareness of many of these albums, I sort of always listened to rock music from 1964-1977 or so, and then pick up in 1991, at least in terms of the bulk of my listening. I had plenty of albums in that period from 1978-1990, but it was a fraction of my total listening. I am really happy I am focusing in more here because there’s so much great stuff from this period.

[liebzz]

Black Sabbath - Heaven and Hell

This is their first album in the Ronnie James Dio era, and the reality is if they had moved on from the Black Sabbath name without Ozzy, I think this album would have even greater esteem. Divorcing yourself from the weight of those expectations finds an excellent album, granted one where some of the themes feel like Ozzy’s missing, but Dio deserves credit for being himself and still fitting right into what the band was doing here. There are moments too where it could almost also sound like Rainbow, but the distinctiveness of Sabbath is there enough. Two songs in particular are real great highlights for me here, the title track and Lonely Is the Word, maybe the two where you are thinking of this as a distinctively new band and not Black Sabbath with Ronnie James Dio.

The Essential Track: Heaven and Hell

Up Next: Ozzy Osbourne - Blizzard of Oz

[liebzz]

Ozzy Osbourne - Blizzard of Ozz

Exiled from Black Sabbath, Ozzy finds himself with a new band, most prominently with Randy Rhoads. The results find him moving forward with an album that eclipses even much of what he did with Black Sabbath. For all of Ozzy’s ability to be a force of nature, and that’s certainly here on Crazy Train, Mr. Crowley, Steal Away (The Night), and Suicide Solution, Ozzy’s ability to show vulnerability and his humanity in the songs rings hits just as hard, as on the Sabbath eulogy Goodbye to Romance, and Revelation (Mother Earth). At times, there’s an almost caricature level vision of Ozzy between the dark imagery and his unique vocals, but showing what’s underneath that while still banging out incredible hard rock (credit to his band for this), that’s the sort of stuff he earned his legend on.

The Essential Track: Crazy Train

Up Next: Motörhead - Ace of Spades

[Jorge]

Kinda wild that "Crazy Train" doesn't open that album

[bada]

Van Halen - Women and Children First

Van Halen’s third album seems to double down on what makes the band great. Big riffs, fast solos, and songs that generate a party atmosphere. That perfect fit of David Lee Roth and Eddie Van Halen hits its stride, especially in the first half - And the Cradle Will Rock, Everybody Wants Some!, and Romeo Delight are vintage VH. In the second half, Take Your Whisky Home, and the acoustic Could This Be Magic? serve as highlights. An upgrade I think from Van Halen II, but not yet near the heights of that first one.

The Essential Track: And the Cradle Will Rock

Up Next: Black Sabbath - Heaven and Hell

In A Simple Rhyme is the best Who song not by the Who.

[liebzz]

Motörhead - Ace of Spades

There’s a very specific revelation as you progress through this album: the amount to which Mike McCready was influenced by Motörhead and specifically the solos of “Fast” Eddie Clarke is astounding. It’s almost as if you can hear him playing the solos. This is with good reason, as this album is a fantastic display of uncompromising and unrelenting hard rock. Ace of Spades is their iconic song, so that essential piece is unquestionable, but really the whole of this album delivers one song after the next. Fast and Loose, (We Are) the Road Crew, Fire Fire, and The Chase Is Better Than the Catch were other favorites here. We’re gonna stay loud for just a bit longer…

The Essential Track: Ace of Spades

Up Next: Iron Maiden

[liebzz]

Iron Maiden

Well, this album was pretty mind blowing. Prowler serves notice off the bat that with a level of aggressiveness that I don’t think we’ve heard at all on this journey. Pure speed. Remember Tomorrow though follows and immediately brings well structured writing to the equation, making this not just some rapid fire speed metal album, but something with range and power together. Phantom of the Opera is sort of the middle point where the two meet in near perfection. There’s not a single weak link here as the band powers through one great song after the next, proving even prior to the Bruce Dickinson era, this band was something special.


The Essential Track: Phantom of the Opera

Up Next: Judas Priest - British Steel

[E.H. Ruddock]

Oh man excited for the Judas Priest review

[Ello Sailor]

Judas Priest is aggressively mid

Spoiler: show

[liebzz]

Judas Priest - British Steel

This is the last of a nice run of excellent British metal albums. This one also has a bit of range, living in a space really between metal and punk it seems. The 2 obvious classics, Breaking the Law and Living After Midnight, are both really solid and fun. You Don’t Have to Be Old To Be Wise is also a great highlight. Rapid Fire, Grinder, United, and Steeler also quite good. Metal Gods sounded like it almost had electronic elements going on and had a great sound, and I also thought The Rage stuck out - it reminds me of another song but I just can’t place which one. Pretty much all of this is enjoyable, and I frankly didn’t realize Living After Midnight was theirs. I’ll go with Breaking the Law since I feel like that’s their iconic song.

The Essential Track: Breaking the Law

Up Next: AC/DC - Back in Black

[wease]

[liebzz]

Rivaling the Big John gif.

[liebzz]

AC/DC - Back in Black

Unbeknownst to me, this is apparently the second best selling album (Michael Jackson’s Thriller being #1) of all time. I was mildly shocked by this. Yes, the title track, You Shook Me All Nighy Long, and Rock ‘n’ Roll Ain’t Noise Pollution are iconic, but the rest of this is kind of light. Full of the sophomoric rock tropes that follow AC/DC, this is a good album and fun. Brian Johnson is eerily similar sounding to Bon Scott, though maybe Bon Scott is his nuts were tied to a running car battery. It’s all in good fun though and I still took a lot of enjoyment out of this.

The Essential Track: You Shook Me All Night Long

Up Next: Dead Kennedys - Fresh Fruit For Rotting Vegetables

[liebzz]

Dead Kennedys - Fresh Fruit For Rotting Vegetables

So this one I didn’t really enjoy all that much. I get that they are influential and even why, but something just wasn’t mostly clicking for me. Seemed a lot like shock value for the attention. The exception for me was Holiday in Cambodia which hit the punk rock spot I was hoping for. Outside of that, it just didn’t connect.

The Essential Track: Holiday in Cambodia

Up Next: Elvis Costello & the Attractions - Trust

[liebzz]

Dead Kennedys was album #700 for this thread, so I am back with another list of favorites:

100. The Band
99. Credence Clearwater Revival - Bayou Country
98. Dire Straits - Making Movies
97. Heart - Little Queen
96. Led Zeppelin
95. Led Zeppelin - Presence
94. Santana III
93. Black Sabbath - Vol. 4
92. Bob Marley and the Wailers - Catch a Fire
91. Iron Maiden
90. The Beach Boys - Pet Sounds
89. Muddy Waters - Hard Again
88. Tom Waits - Heartattack & Vine
87. Bob Marley and the Wailers - Exodus
86. Fleetwood Mac - Rumours
85. The Doors
84. Miles Davis - Birth of the Cool
83. Thelonious Monk - Brilliant Corners
82. Dr. John - Gris Gris
81. Cannonball Adderly - Something Else
80. Funkadelic - One Nation Under a Groove
79. Charles Mingus - Mingus Ah Um
78. Lee Morgan - The Sidewinder
77. Bob Dylan - Bringing It All Back Home
76. Peter Gabriel - 3: [Melt]
75. Ozzy Osbourne - Blizzard of Ozz
74. Lynyrd Skynyrd - Skynyrd’s First: The Complete Muscle Shoals Album
73. Rolling Stones - Some Girls
72. Allman Brothers Band - Brothers and Sisters
71. The Beatles - Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band
70. Black Sabbath - Master of Reality
69. Led Zeppelin II
68. Jimi Hendrix - Axis: Bold As Love
67. Led Zeppelin III
66. Miles Davis - Kind of Blue
65. Ornette Coleman - The Shape of Jazz to Come
64. Charles Mingus - Pithecanthropus Erectus
63. Miles Davis - A Tribute to Jack Johnson
62. Van Morrison - Astral Weeks
61. Dr. John - Dr. John’s Gumbo
60. Dr. John - In the Right Place
59. Miles Davis - In a Silent Way
58. Jerry Garcia - Garcia
57. Television - Adventure
56. Thelonious Monk - The Genius of Modern Music Vol. 1
55. John Coltrane - A Love Supreme
54. King Crimson - In the Court of the Crimson King
53. Bruce Springsteen - The River
52. Pink Floyd - The Wall
51. Lynyrd Skynyrd - Pronounced Leh-Nerd Skin-Nerd
50. Derek and the Dominos - Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs
49. Lynyrd Skynyrd - Second Coming
48. Rolling Stones - Beggars Banquet
47. The Who - Who’s Next
46. The Kinks - Lola Versus Powerman and the Moneygoround
45. Van Halen
44. Black Sabbath - Paranoid
43. Allman Brothers Band
42. Allman Brothers Band - Idlewild
41. Allman Brothers Band - Eat a Peach
40. Neil Young & Crazy Horse - Rust Never Sleeps
39. Credence Clearwater Revival - Cosmo’s Factory
38. Rolling Stones - Let It Bleed
37. The Kinks - Arthur or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire
36. Tom Waits - Closing Time
35. Neil Young - After the Goldrush
34. Marvin Gaye - What’s Going On
33. Television - Marquee Moon
32. Bruce Springsteen - Darkness on the Edge of Town
31. Bob Dylan - Blood on the Tracks
30. Grateful Dead - American Beauty
29. Neil Young - Harvest
28. Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers - Damn the Torpedoes
27. George Harrison - All Things Must Pass
26. Bob Dylan - Highway 61 Revisited
25. The Beatles - Rubber Soul
24. Bob Dylan - Blonde on Blonde
23. Led Zeppelin IV
22. The Who - Quadrophenia
21. Tom Waits - Nighthawks at the Diner
20. Bruce Springsteen - The Wild, The Innocent, and the E Street Shuffle
19. Thelonious Monk - The Genius of Modern Music Vol. 2
18. Miles Davis - Sketches of Spain
17. John Coltrane - Blue Train
16. The Clash - London Calling
15. The Beatles - Abbey Road
14. Pink Floyd - Animals
13. Led Zeppelin - Physical Graffiti
12. The Beatles - Revolver
11. The Beatles
10. Neil Young - On the Beach
9. Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon
8. Rolling Stones - Sticky Fingers
7. Jimi Hendrix - Are You Experienced?
6. Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here
5. Rolling Stones - Exile on Main Street
4. Charles Mingus - The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady
3. Miles Davis - Bitches Brew
2. Jimi Hendrix - Electric Ladyland
1. Bruce Springsteen - Born to Run

[wease]

AC/DC - Back in Black

Unbeknownst to me, this is apparently the second best selling album (Michael Jackson’s Thriller being #1) of all time. I was mildly shocked by this. Yes, the title track, You Shook Me All Nighy Long, and Rock ‘n’ Roll Ain’t Noise Pollution are iconic, but the rest of this is kind of light. Full of the sophomoric rock tropes that follow AC/DC, this is a good album and fun. Brian Johnson is eerily similar sounding to Bon Scott, though maybe Bon Scott is his nuts were tied to a running car battery. It’s all in good fun though and I still took a lot of enjoyment out of this.

The Essential Track: You Shook Me All Night Long

Up Next: Dead Kennedys - Fresh Fruit For Rotting Vegetables

No, no, no. Ain’t Noise Pollution is fucking fire. Back In Black rocks the roll. Shook Me is lame.

[Higgs]

AC/DC - Back in Black

Unbeknownst to me, this is apparently the second best selling album (Michael Jackson’s Thriller being #1) of all time. I was mildly shocked by this. Yes, the title track, You Shook Me All Nighy Long, and Rock ‘n’ Roll Ain’t Noise Pollution are iconic, but the rest of this is kind of light. Full of the sophomoric rock tropes that follow AC/DC, this is a good album and fun. Brian Johnson is eerily similar sounding to Bon Scott, though maybe Bon Scott is his nuts were tied to a running car battery. It’s all in good fun though and I still took a lot of enjoyment out of this.

The Essential Track: You Shook Me All Night Long

Up Next: Dead Kennedys - Fresh Fruit For Rotting Vegetables

No, no, no. Ain’t Noise Pollution is fucking fire. Back In Black rocks the roll. Shook Me is lame.

There's a standing order in my house that whenever Rock and Roll ain't Noise Pollution comes on I'm allowed to play it at max volume regardless of time of night or who happens to be there. Love that song.

[Higgs]

Also, that Judas Priest album cover has always freaked me the fuck out.