Top 25 Favorite Albums of All Time

[Norah]

I'm seeing way too much Automatic for the People in this thread.

[obligatory "IRS REM was better" post]

Reckoning or GTFO.

[doug rr]

this is impossible with only 1 from an artist

1-Bob Dylan blood on the tracks
2-stones exile on main street
3-zep presence
4-bowie hunky dory
5-beatles magical mystery
6-neil young rust never sleeps
7-fleetwood mac rumours
8-crosby still nash ST
9-REM automatic
10-miles davis too hard I cant do it
11-Coltrane see above
12-Haydn Symphonies Christopher Hogwood
13-jimi axis bold as love
14-beach boys pet sounds
15-cream disraeli gears
16-allman bros at fillmore east
17-pink floyd the wall
18-simon and garfunkel bridge over troubled water
19-elton john honkey chateau
20-ray charles modern sounds in country and western music
21-talking heads remain in light
22-funkadelic maggot brain
23-merle haggard down every road
24-steve miller fly like an eagle
25-beck sea change

thats all off the top of my head and I have forgotten way too many

[i got bugs]

Yea I'm def gonna have to go 2 per artist off the top of my head

[RussellManiac12]

mastodon - crack the skye
between the buried and me - colors
metallica - master of puppets
high on fire - blessed black wings
flaming lips - the soft bulletin
kiss - music from the elder
the contortionist - intrinsic
days of the new - s/t
counting crows - august and everything after
interpol - turn on the bright lights
radiohead - kid a
soundgarden - badmotorfinger
black keys - brothers
neutral milk hotel - in the aeroplane over the sea
opeth - blackwater park
dido - no angel
isis - panopticon
arctic monkeys - whatever people say i am, thats what i am not
imogen heap - i megaphone
gin blossoms - new miserable experience
corrosion of conformity - deliverance
at the drive in - relationship of command
bon iver - for emma, forever ago
everclear - sparkle and fade
fleet foxes - s/t

[Kevin Davis]

The one-per-artist rule probably skews things a bit but what the hell:

Pearl Jam - Yield
Nirvana - Nevermind
Smashing Pumpkins - Siamese Dream
Bob Dylan - Blood on the Tracks
Vince Guaraldi Trio - A Charlie Brown Christmas
Miles Davis - In a Silent Way
Elvis Costello - This Year's Model
Tom Waits - Alice
Van Morrison - Veedon Fleece
Wilco - Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
REM - New Adventures in Hi-Fi
Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon
Thelonious Monk - Solo Monk
Bill Evans - You Must Believe in Spring
Robin Holcomb - Robin Holcomb
The Decemberists - Her Majesty the Decemberists
The Flaming Lips - Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots
Mark Knopfler - The Ragpicker's Dream
Brad Mehldau Trio - House on Hill
The Who - Quadrophenia
Jay-Z - Reasonable Doubt
Johnny Cash - American Recordings
Neil Young - Rust Never Sleeps
The Beatles - Anthology 2
Green Day - Insomniac

[i got bugs]

The toughest thing about 2 per artist is do I leave out led zeppelin 3 or 4

[darth_vedder]

The toughest thing about 2 per artist is do I leave out led zeppelin 3 or 4

4. Definitely 4. 3 is the superior album.

[i got bugs]

The toughest thing about 2 per artist is do I leave out led zeppelin 3 or 4

4. Definitely 4. 3 is the superior album.

yea I think so too.. 4 is a few great songs n filler but 3 flows much better as an album from start to finish

[McParadigm]

So you guys are making lists of your favorite albums that aren't actually lists of your favorite albums because you applied arbitary rules that make it a favorite artists list instead.

Yeah?

[LoathedVermin72]

So you guys are making lists of your favorite albums that aren't actually lists of your favorite albums because you applied arbitary rules that make it a favorite artists list instead.

Yeah?

Yeah, basically. I don't believe in the one-per-artist rule and I'm not sure why so many people are applying it.

[Kevin Davis]

Not quite -- there are a few artists on my list (Vince Guaraldi, Robin Holcomb) that have made one album that mean the world to me, but those artists wouldn't qualify as anything close to my favorite artists overall. Likewise, there are a few (John Coltrane, Zeppelin, Radiohead) that would rank way up on my favorite artists list, but haven't produced a singular work that are as meaningful to me as any of these.

The one-per-artist thing I assume is just to make the list more fun -- I would assume that most people would have a lot of repeat appearances if they were really honest with themselves, as one of the major criteria for what determines our favorite artists is that those artists have produced multiple albums that mean something to us.

[Heathen]

Yeah come on people please take pointless exercises more seriously.

[McParadigm]

I'm sure it's all done in the name of the greatest and most boundless joy.

[malice]

Yeah come on people please take pointless exercises more seriously.

i mean, it's ranking stuff for fuck's sake. show some respect, huh?

[mastaflatch]

let's rank stuff from pointful to pointless.

[LoathedVermin72]

Fuck everything

[epilogue]

Not quite -- there are a few artists on my list (Vince Guaraldi, Robin Holcomb) that have made one album that mean the world to me, but those artists wouldn't qualify as anything close to my favorite artists overall. Likewise, there are a few (John Coltrane, Zeppelin, Radiohead) that would rank way up on my favorite artists list, but haven't produced a singular work that are as meaningful to me as any of these.

The one-per-artist thing I assume is just to make the list more fun -- I would assume that most people would have a lot of repeat appearances if they were really honest with themselves, as one of the major criteria for what determines our favorite artists is that those artists have produced multiple albums that mean something to us.

I wonder if I'll ever fail to marvel at just how much Kevin Davis gets it. I hope not. I hope not.

[epilogue]

let's rank stuff from pointful to pointless.

[Birds in Hell]

Not quite -- there are a few artists on my list (Vince Guaraldi, Robin Holcomb) that have made one album that mean the world to me, but those artists wouldn't qualify as anything close to my favorite artists overall. Likewise, there are a few (John Coltrane, Zeppelin, Radiohead) that would rank way up on my favorite artists list, but haven't produced a singular work that are as meaningful to me as any of these.

The one-per-artist thing I assume is just to make the list more fun -- I would assume that most people would have a lot of repeat appearances if they were really honest with themselves, as one of the major criteria for what determines our favorite artists is that those artists have produced multiple albums that mean something to us.

I wonder if I'll ever fail to marvel at just how much Kevin Davis gets it. I hope not. I hope not.

Yes, everything KD said and I'd even give some of the same examples (LZ, Radiohead). I think I may've been the first to apply the 'no repeat artists' rule but it was simply to make it a more interesting exercise for me, I didn't expect it would suit everyone (or even anyone) else.

[mastaflatch]

alright, if I don't care about multiple albums by one band:

The Beatles - The Beatles
The Beatles - Revolver
The Beatles - Magical Mystery Tour
The Beatles - Rubber Soul
The Beatles - Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
The Beatles - With The Beatles
The Beatles - Abbey Road
The Beatles - A Hard Day's Night
The Beatles - Help!
The Beatles - Please Please Me
The Beatles - Beatles For Sale
The Beatles - Live At The BBC
The Beatles - Past Masters Vol.2
The Beatles - Live At the Hollywood Bowl
The Beatles - Yellow Submarine
The Beatles - Let It Be
The Beatles - Past Masters Vol.1
The Beatles - Anthology Vol.2
The Beatles - Anthology Vol.3
The Beatles - Live At the BBC Vol.2
The Beatles - Anthology Vol.1
The Beatles - Love
The Beatles - Hey Jude
The Beatles - Let It Be...Naked
The Beatles - Live At the Cavern 1961