# Recomend Some Non-Classical Albums



## Captainnumber36 (Jan 19, 2017)

I'm looking for interesting, colorful, "artsy" music albums that are fantastic, iyo, from start to finish. Right now I'm listening to Tom Waits' album "Alice".

I need to explore music from scratch again!


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## Captainnumber36 (Jan 19, 2017)

The albums I have so far that I want to re-visit include:

Bitches Brew - Miles Davis
King of Limbs - Radiohead
Before These Crowded Streets - Dave Matthews Band
Poses - Rufus Wainwright
Magical Mystery Tour - Beatles
Apostrophe - Zappa


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

If you like Apostrophe, you may want to listen to One Size Fits All, and Overnite Sensation. And you can explore a myriad of other musical directions in the Zappa, and Miles Davis catalogs. Miles is mostly electric after 1970, acoustic before that.

For high quality songwriter/musicians in addition to Tom Waits you may want to listen to Joni Mitchell, Richard Thompson, Bruce Cockburn. Also Rufus's father Loudon Wainwright is a great songwriter, and is very funny. Try So Damn Happy Live, or Loudon Wainwright's 3rd album III for starters.


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## Metairie Road (Apr 30, 2014)

two killers from the 1970's

*John Martyn - Solid Air*





*Elvis Costello - This Years Model*





Best wishes
Metairie Road


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## Dr Johnson (Jun 26, 2015)

Steely Dan:

_Can't Buy A Thrill
Countdown To Ecstasy
Pretzel Logic
Katy Lied
The Royal Scam
Aja
Gaucho_


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## jegreenwood (Dec 25, 2015)

Shoot Out the Lights - Richard and Linda Thompson
Belly of the Sun - Cassandra Wilson
Hot Fives and Sevens - Louis Armstrong
Telluride Sessions - Strength in Numbers
Only the Lonely - Frank Sinatra
The Band (Brown Album) - The Band
(and for some fireworks)
Friday Night in San Francisco Di Meola, McLauglin and de Lucia


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## SONNET CLV (May 31, 2014)

Artsy, you say?

I would recommend DNA, the album _A TASTE OF DNA_.















Arto Lindsay, Ikue Mori, and Tim Wright set the world straight in this all out assault on pop music. It's a timeless record that will only grow more meaningful each year ... until the universe finally implodes, or does what universes do at the end of time.

And while the universe is on your radar, take a listen to the Half Japanese classic _Our Solar System_:









The brothers Jad and David Fair are at the top of their form in this compendium of songs you owe it to yourself to hear. With titles like "Because I Love You", "E.S.P.", "Classical Music", and "Knocked Down On The Dancefloor" you will engage in a universe of experience. If you survive, you can take on their amalgamated mixture of two classic pieces titled "Hall Of The Mountain King/Louie Louie", which is beyond belief great music. And if by some chance you survive that, you're ready for the final track on the album, the take-no-prisoners cut titled "Thing With A Hook", and you'll be hoping the thing finds you before your mind explodes from this tasty musical repast.

But you _did_ say you wanted artsy. So you have to take on at least one Nurse With Wound album, and I recommend _The Sylvie and Babs High-Thigh Companion _ for no other reason than that it's about as artsy as you gets. And once you've heard _this_, you never forgets.









Earlier I mentioned the end of the universe. Well, long after that, you'll still have _Sylvie and Babs _throbbing in your skull. Which will make you something of a god figure, and face it! We can all use a little uplifting every now and then.

Uplifting? Maybe I'm thinking a little too much about Babs, there on the right.

In any case, these are my three artsy documents for your musical appreciation. At least for today!


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

Hounds of love - Kate Bush
Scarlet's walk - Tori Amos
Fear of a blank planet - Porcupine Tree
Wish you were here - Pink Floyd
So - Peter Gabriel
Love over gold - Dire Straits


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## ST4 (Oct 27, 2016)

Meshuggah - Destroy Erase Improve (the most important album of the 90s, even though "Catch 33" is their masterpiece)
Venom - Welcome To Hell
Leonard Cohen - Songs Of Leonard Cohen
Melvins - Houdini
Enya - Watermark
Napalm Death - Scum
Buena Vista Social Club (selftitled album)
Orthrelm - OV
Ben Levin Group - Freak Machine
Surfjan Stevens - Carrie & Lowell
War - Why Can't We Be Friends?
2pac - Me Against The World
Eric Dolphy - Iron Man
John Zorn - Nosferatu
At The Drive In - Relationship Of Command
Black Flag - Damaged
Cardiacs - Sing To God
David Bowie - Station To Station
Diamanda Galas - Litanies Of Satan 
The Doors - The Doors
Tom Waits - Mule Variations



Them report back to me?


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## Kajmanen (Jun 30, 2017)

Kettel & Secede - When Can
Seals & Crofts - Unborn Child
Biosphere - Substrata
Porcupine Tree - In Absentia
Lights Out Asia - Eyes Like Brontide
Skalpel - Skalpel
Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues
Talk Talk - Colour of Spring
Bersarin quartett - I,II.III
David Sylvian - Secrets Of The Beehive
Paolo Fresu/Omar Sosa - Eros


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## Captainnumber36 (Jan 19, 2017)

I have just fallen in love with Leonard Cohen's spoken word material. His last album "I Want it Darker" and "I'm Your Man" are awesome!


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

Art Rock said:


> Love over gold - Dire Straits


Just re-purchased this one. It's good, but just a tad below Brothers In Arms. I really like the stripped down early Straits with the twin bouncy guitar rhythms. Been listening to a lot of Mark Knopfler lately. Golden Heart, and Shangri-la.


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## jegreenwood (Dec 25, 2015)

Captainnumber36 said:


> I have just fallen in love with Leonard Cohen's spoken word material. His last album "I Want it Darker" and "I'm Your Man" are awesome!


In my opinion, Cohen's lyrics are comparable to those of our most recent Nobel Prize winner, and he is as good, if not better overall, at melody. (Does anyone in popular music use the waltz as often as he does?) His voice can put me off. There are, however, a great variety of covers. Sometimes I'll just search for a Cohen song title in Tidal. Generally I'll find a dozen or more different versions to sample.

(Although, I now severely limit the my listenings to "Hallelujah.")

Edit - For "I'm Your Man" I have a cover by Bill Pritchard from one tribute album and a out and out rock and roll cover by Elton John on another. A lot of people don't like the Elton John, but the his vocal on the bridge blows me away.

Another cover favorite - R.E.M. doing "First, We Take Manhattan."


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## Captainnumber36 (Jan 19, 2017)

jegreenwood said:


> In my opinion, Cohen's lyrics are comparable to those of our most recent Nobel Prize winner, and he is as good, if not better overall, at melody. (Does anyone in popular music use the waltz as often as he does?) His voice can put me off. There are, however, a great variety of covers. Sometimes I'll just search for a Cohen song title in Tidal. Generally I'll find a dozen or more different versions to sample.
> 
> (Although, I now severely limit the my listenings to "Hallelujah.")
> 
> ...


I really love his voice actually!


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## Merl (Jul 28, 2016)

Heres a mixed bag - from folk to prog to post-rock......good luck. All albums I own.

Maybeshewill - Not for the Want of Trying
Alan Parsons Project - Tales of Mystery and Imagination
Pineapple Thief - Magnolia
Leftfield - Leftism
Tool - Lateralus
Bjork - Homogenic
Roy Harper - Stormcock
Nick Cave - Murder Ballads
The Mars Volta - Deloused in the Comatorium
King Crimson - Discipline
Cocteau Twins - Treasure
This Will Destroy You - This Will Destroy You


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## Merl (Jul 28, 2016)

Heres a mixed bag - from folk to prog to post-rock......good luck. All albums I own.

Maybeshewill - Not for the Want of Trying
Alan Parsons Project - Tales of Mystery and Imagination
Pineapple Thief - Magnolia
Leftfield - Leftism
Tool - Lateralus
Bjork - Homogenic
Roy Harper - Stormcock
Nick Cave - Murder Ballads
The Mars Volta - Deloused in the Comatorium
King Crimson - Discipline
Cocteau Twins - Treasure
This Will Destro You - This Will Destry You


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## Xaltotun (Sep 3, 2010)

I'll go for a slightly different angle than others here - just because this is the stuff I know and I think it would fit your criteria.

The Incredible String Band: The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter
Comus: First Utterance

these are from the turn of the 60's/70's. 
And one newer one:

Rome: Flowers From Exile.


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## Agamemnon (May 1, 2017)

The most fantastic "artsy" albums I know:

The Beatles: White Album
The Velvet Underground: The Velvet Underground & Nico
Captain Beefheart: Trout Mask Replica
Pink Floyd: Atom Heart Mother
Roxy Music: Roxy Music
David Bowie: Hunky Dory
Neil Young: Tonight's The Night
Pere Ubu: The Modern Dance
Einstürzende Neubauten: Kollaps
Palais Schaumburg: Palais Schaumburg
Tom Waits: Swordfishtrombones
The Red Chord: Fused Together In Revolving Doors


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## Captainnumber36 (Jan 19, 2017)

Agamemnon said:


> The most fantastic "artsy" albums I know:
> 
> The Beatles: White Album
> The Velvet Underground: The Velvet Underground & Nico
> ...


I do love Swordfishtrombones!


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## Agamemnon (May 1, 2017)

Yes, Swordfishtrombones is my favorite album of the 80's. Being raw and pure music, it is also a huge contrast with the typical music (plastic synthi-pop and other sterile genres) of the 80's.


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## Captainnumber36 (Jan 19, 2017)

Agamemnon said:


> Yes, Swordfishtrombones is my favorite album of the 80's. Being raw and pure music, it is also a huge contrast with the typical music (plastic synthi-pop and other sterile genres) of the 80's.


Didn't he release a few albums in the 80s? Franks Wild Years, Rain Dogs?


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## Captainnumber36 (Jan 19, 2017)

I don't really love the White Album, though. I'm not big on the Beatles in general. I do love The Doors however, very artistic band I feel with a very unique sound.


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## Agamemnon (May 1, 2017)

Captainnumber36 said:


> Didn't he release a few albums in the 80s? Franks Wild Years, Rain Dogs?


Yes, he did! But Swordfishtrombones is my favorite.


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## Agamemnon (May 1, 2017)

Captainnumber36 said:


> I don't really love the White Album, though. I'm not big on the Beatles in general. I do love The Doors however, very artistic band I feel with a very unique sound.


Yes, The Doors are great too (but maybe a little less artsy).


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## Captainnumber36 (Jan 19, 2017)

Agamemnon said:


> Yes, The Doors are great too (but maybe a little less artsy).


I actually find The Doors to be more artsy. I think a big part of what gave them a unique sound was Ray Manzerick (spelling?).


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## Agamemnon (May 1, 2017)

Captainnumber36 said:


> I actually find The Doors to be more artsy. I think a big part of what gave them a unique sound was Ray Manzerick (spelling?).


All right, I should have included The Doors' debut album.


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## Rach Man (Aug 2, 2016)

OK, Captain (and any others who might want to listen) here are a few albums that I think are absolutely stellar, for the most part from top to bottom.

1. Streetlights - Bonnie Raitt
Here she is singling ballads at a young age when her voice was so sweet. Some of these songs will bring you to tears, especially _Streetlights_, _Everything That Touches You_, and the best cover of John Prine's _Angel From Montgomery_. But the entire album is really good.

2. Never Been Rocked - Delbert McClinton
If you are unfamilar with Delbert McClinton and you like great rhythm and blues, try this album. Delbert has a stellar voice and he also plays the harmonica extremely well. He also has a great back-up band with him on this CD. This is solid from start to finish.
Delbert has another album that I like called _I'm With You_. There are great songs on that album, too. Plus Anson Funderburgh plays guitar. I really like Anson's guitar. He has that machine gun sound of ripping clear notes.

3. Heartbeat City - The Cars
I am a big Cars fan. But this is just a great album. I think that The Cars are a Pop/Rock band. But they do it extremely well. This is my favorite Cars album with great songs throughout with, possibly, my favorite Cars song, the title tarck, _Heartbeat City_. This is a great and very underrated CD.

4. The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway - Genesis
This is older Genesis with Peter Gabriel at the vocals. This is a double CD. Frankly I just like the first disc, but it is such a great piece of music that tells a cool story and Gabriel is sensational with the vocals.

5. Close To The Edge - Yes
I know that there are a lot of Yes fans here and they may disagree with me. But I think that this is easily the best album that they produced. There are three songs on the album. They are long songs and each one is truly spectacular. The musicians and the vocals are really outstanding, too.

6. The Rod Stewart Album - Rod Stewart
This is very early Rod Stewart, before he was famous. This is a short album, about 32 minutes. He sings great ballads on this, covers a Rolling Stones tune, and the songs have great lyrics that really hit home, at least to me they do. This is not _Hot Legs_ Rod Stewart. If you like Rod's voice, give this one a try.

7. Creatures of Love - Talking Heads
I know that many people like other Talking Heads CDs, but I think that this one is easily their best. David Byrne wrote great songs on this. No, he wrote a great musical piece. Each song connects with the previous song and then the following song. This is definitely a sleeper if you have not heard it, truly great songs.

8. Quadrophenia - The Who
This is the greatest rock album. (Notice that there is a period there ) 
In my opinion, this is the greatest rock album. It is Townsend's masterpiece. This is not just a collection of songs. It is a story that is pieced together over two CDs. Every song is really good, with many being fantastic. Townsend tells a wonderful story throughout. This is not _Tommy_. This is much better.
I like The Who. But I do feel, in some way, that they are overrated because some of their material just isn't that good and they get by because they are The Who. But this is as good as it gets in the rock genre.

Now these are my opinions and tastes. But try a few. Maybe you will feel what I feel when I listen to these CDs.


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## Casebearer (Jan 19, 2016)

I completely agree with Close to the Edge and Quadrophenia


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## Casebearer (Jan 19, 2016)

Captainnumber, I'd say listen to albums by Zappa, Beefheart, Yes, King Crimson, Joni Mitchell, Nick Cave and Tom Waits and you'll be fine for the next years.


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## EddieRUKiddingVarese (Jan 8, 2013)

King Crimson - In Wake of Poseidon 
Yes - The Yes Album
Zappa - Uncle Meat
Ariel - A Strange fantastic Dream (if you can find a copy is worth $100 here)


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## Chocolate Rain (Sep 16, 2017)

Some good "artsy" albums:

Syd Barrett: Barrett
Kevin Ayers: Shooting at the Moon
Gong: Flying Teapot
Henry Cow: Unrest
Popol Vuh: Hosianna Mantra
Soft Machine: Third
Tuxedomoon: Half-Mute
Robert Wyatt: Rock Bottom


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## Steve1087 (Sep 17, 2017)

Focus:-
Hamburger Concerto
Focus 3


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## Strange Magic (Sep 14, 2015)

Eat: _Sell Me a God_.
Tiny Lights: _Hot Chocolate Massage_. Also, _Milky Juicy_ and _Prayer for the Halcyon Fear_.


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## Barbebleu (May 17, 2015)

Try anything by Amon Düül II. Krautrock at its most artsy.


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