# Greatest Rock Album Ever?



## shangoyal (Sep 22, 2013)

There are tons and tons of great albums, but you have to name just one. Not even two or three. Just the very greatest album in your opinion. Depending on whatever you think fits -- impact, composition, entertainment value, influence... and so on.

My pick is: Are You Experienced by The Jimi Hendrix Experience


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## Blake (Nov 6, 2013)

Led Zeppelin - _IV, Houses of the Holy, or Physical Graffiti_.

or

Pink Floyd - _Dark Side of the Moon, Wish You Were Here, or Animals._

I can't name just one. It just cannot be done.


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

I heard Sgt. Peppers recently and while it didn't affect me the way it did when I first heard it, it still stands the test of time very well.


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## GreenMamba (Oct 14, 2012)

Blonde and Blonde, if I must choose just one today.


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## shangoyal (Sep 22, 2013)

GreenMamba said:


> Blonde and Blonde, if I must choose just one today.


It's funny that only yesterday I listened to BoB in full (except Rainy Day Women, which is just silly) and really got a knock out of the whole experience. Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands has to be greatest closer on any album.


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## tdc (Jan 17, 2011)

Led Zeppelin IV


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## ptr (Jan 22, 2013)

*Television*: Marquee Moon (1977)

/ptr


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## science (Oct 14, 2010)

Wow, I thought that I would be the maverick who mentioned _Led Zeppelin IV_ and _Dark Side of the Moon_ rather than Sgt. Pepper, but since all those are taken I'll have _The Doors_.


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## Whistler Fred (Feb 6, 2014)

If I was to pick just one, it would be "Close to the Edge." Yes at their best with their strongest line-up, with music that challenges and entertains at the same time. And that organ solo in "Seasons of Man"! Great stuff!

Granted, the lyrics are more evocative than comprehensible, but I'd still take that over the "Lay-a-little-luv-on-me-baby" inanity.


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## tdc (Jan 17, 2011)

science said:


> Wow, I thought that I would be the maverick who mentioned _Led Zeppelin IV_ and _Dark Side of the Moon_ rather than Sgt. Pepper, but since all those are taken I'll have _The Doors_.


Huge fan of The Doors here, their best songs are as good as Zeppelin's best I think, the difference is all Doors albums have some filler tracks imo. The way I hear it there is virtually no filler on Zeppelin's first 6 albums.


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## Stavrogin (Apr 20, 2014)




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## Winterreisender (Jul 13, 2013)

I think _Close to the Edge_ by Yes is a very good choice, although I have always been a little more partial to _Relayer _myself.

Another perpetual favourite is _Astral Weeks_ by Van Morrison, although I suppose that's not really rock, is it? Nevertheless, Wiki calls it as a "song cycle or concept album with lyrics described as impressionistic, hypnotic, and stream-of-consciousness," which is a view I wholly endorse.


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## tdc (Jan 17, 2011)

shangoyal said:


> My pick is: Are You Experienced by The Jimi Hendrix Experience


Hendrix was great. In my mind I classify him in some ways closely to Frank Zappa - an innovative creative genius and a master on the guitar. But ultimately there are only a handful of Hendrix and Zappa songs I like hearing on a regular basis.


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## science (Oct 14, 2010)

shangoyal said:


> My pick is: Are You Experienced by The Jimi Hendrix Experience


I should've done this one.


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## shangoyal (Sep 22, 2013)

tdc said:


> Hendrix was great. In my mind I classify him in some ways closely to Frank Zappa - an innovative creative genius and a master on the guitar. But ultimately there are only a handful of Hendrix and Zappa songs I like hearing on a regular basis.


In my mind, it's about how much you love the songs you love. Taste can hardly be quantified or talked about without a heavy dose of compromise. That is why I wanted to ask for that one record you think rules. When I listen to the Hendrix album, it feels like he is saying everything everybody else is saying, but better. Just talks to me.


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## Blake (Nov 6, 2013)

Well, Hendrix was amazing. I had a really sweet poster of him hanging up in my old room for the longest time. See, how can you pick just one?


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## Alypius (Jan 23, 2013)

The first record I bought as a kid was in 1967. It was The Doors' magnificent debut. I bought Hendrix's _Are You Experienced?_ and _Axis: Bold as Love_, The Doors' follow-up _Strange Days_, and Cream's _Disraeli Gears_ later that year. I love so many of the great rock albums of the late 60s and early 70s, but my top choice would be much more recent: Radiohead's _Kid A_ from 2000. It was a fearless breaktaking departure from their earlier sound, wildly experimental, brilliantly memorable; Radiohead were among the leaders of the rock world before it and spent the next years at its pinnacle, continuing to create forward-thinking, edgy yet profoundly memorable works. I would number Radiohead's _In Rainbows_ a close second, but chose _Kid A_ because of its influence and historical importance.










I almost chose one that is little known: Talk Talk's _Spirit of Eden_ or its dazzling follow up _Laughing Stock_. A case could be made for either. More on this on another occasion.


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## norman bates (Aug 18, 2010)

Van Morrison - Astral weeks (actually a folk album played by jazz musicians, so I don't know if it counts)
or Robert Wyatt - Rock bottom


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

I can't pick a greatest but this one is really kicking out some hard driving music:


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## Blake (Nov 6, 2013)

Alypius said:


> I almost chose one that is little known: Talk Talk's _Spirit of Eden_ or its dazzling follow up _Laughing Stock_. A case could be made for either. More on this on another occasion.


It's amazing how much of a leap Talk Talk made. I could care less about their first two 80's synthpop albums, but from The Colour of Spring onwards is so nice.


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## Morimur (Jan 23, 2014)

Tago Mago by CAN...


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## Vaneyes (May 11, 2010)

My 6-Pack:

1.) *Rolling Stones Greatest Hits* 2.) *Abbey Road* 3.) *Sgt. Pepper's* 4.) *Are You Experienced* 5.) *Who's Next *6.*) J. Geils Band Live Full House*


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## Morimur (Jan 23, 2014)

Trout Mask Replica by Captain Beefheart...


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## Morimur (Jan 23, 2014)

soundtracks for the Blind by SWANS...


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## Mesa (Mar 2, 2012)




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## Blake (Nov 6, 2013)

Lope de Aguirre said:


> Tago Mago by CAN...


Krautrock fan, aye? How about some Agitation Free?

http://www.last.fm/music/Agitation+Free?utm_source=last.fm&utm_medium=application&utm_campaign=last.fm_desktop_application&utm_content=2.1.36&utm_term=OSX


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## senza sordino (Oct 20, 2013)

I can't possibly pick THE Greatest Rock Album. 
I think Led Zeppelin IV and Dark Side of the Moon and Sgt Pepper are masterpieces. 

And Electric Ladyland, Abbey Road, Close to the Edge, Wish You Were Here also qualify. 

A Night at the Opera, Tommy, War (U2), Led Zeppelin II are also right up there. 

As I look at my list, I suppose those first three I chose are the best. And further, I would have probably picked those same three ten and twenty years ago and thirty years ago.


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## Schubussy (Nov 2, 2012)

Even if Moonchild does drag on.


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## samurai (Apr 22, 2011)

Vaneyes said:


> My 6-Pack:
> 
> 1.) *Rolling Stones Greatest Hits* 2.) *Abbey Road* 3.) *Sgt. Pepper's* 4.) *Are You Experienced* 5.) *Who's Next *6.*) J. Geils Band Live Full House*


I'll take a quaff from that anytime! :cheers:


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## neoshredder (Nov 7, 2011)

There isn't such thing as the greatest rock album. No album has exceeded all others. 
Alright I'll pick Pink Floyd - The Wall as the greatest. But it is really hard to say they are greater than my others on the list. 

I can give a list of my top 10 though. But I bet everyone's list will be different. 
Bon Jovi - Slippery When Wet
Def Leppard - Hysteria
Tesla - Mechanical Resonance
Pink Floyd - The Wall
Metallica - Ride the Lightning
Metallica - Master of Puppets
Van Halen I
Guns N Roses - Appetite for Destruction
Boston - Self Titled
Scorpions - Love at First Sting


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## samurai (Apr 22, 2011)

norman bates said:


> Van Morrison - Astral weeks (actually a folk album played by jazz musicians, so I don't know if it counts)
> or Robert Wyatt - Rock bottom


_*Into the Mystic*_ is classic song from a classic album! Great choice.:clap:


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## neoshredder (Nov 7, 2011)

Fine I'll pick Pink Floyd - The Wall since I can only pick one according to the OP.


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## shangoyal (Sep 22, 2013)

samurai said:


> Into the Mystic is classic song from a classic album! Great choice.:clap:


Into the Mystic is on Moondance! Both of them are fine albums. I have never heard a Van Morrison song I didn't like.


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## Winterreisender (Jul 13, 2013)

shangoyal said:


> I have never heard a Van Morrison song I didn't like.


Then you probably haven't heard this one.


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## MJongo (Aug 6, 2011)

Specifically the longer mono mix:


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## shangoyal (Sep 22, 2013)

MJongo said:


> Specifically the longer mono mix:
> View attachment 43458


Yeah this is a good album. A little scary at times!


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## jim prideaux (May 30, 2013)

Van Morrison-Its too late to stop now, live double that I have known since I was 14 and it first appeared-I know if I return to it the whole thing just delivers, and the one track Caravan!

but what about the Clash, London Calling?.....or the second Band album?....Revolver?...The Royal Scam?..don't ask me!!!!!


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## Svelte Silhouette (Nov 7, 2013)

Pepper's over-rated except as a condiment and the White Album overblown making those albums either side my favourite Beatles ones with Revolver starting what Abbey Road finished off so well though Greatest Album is taking that a bit far.

DSOTM's follow-up was a bit lacklustre with one main song and The Wall overblown so that makes Animals my favourite Floyd though Greatest Album is taking that a bit far.

Unfortunately The Stones are a bit like Dire Straits in being formulaic even though both were brilliant at what they did so no Greatest Album from these either.

Bands like Yes and Genesis attempted to be too like classical music adding pretentiousness as a veneer to something without substance. Deep Purple even did a Concerto for Group and Orchestra in the 60s whilst their keyboard player had a couple of later bites at that cherry in the 70s and 80s. No Greatest Album from any of these either in my view.

The man who sold the world gets my vote as no-one has mentioned the man who reinvented himself more often than I've had hot dinners.

What makes a Greatest Album?
If sheer diversity then Abbey Road moves from gentle pop ballad through the roots of heavy rock
If musicianship with at least some diversity then it'd have to be Zep's Zoso 
If classical pretentions then Yes's Yessongs was the classic lineup's best live outing
If sheer energy then Frampton Comes Alive whose Do you feel like we do has never been eclipsed
If pomp and circumstance then Kiss's Love Gun
If sheer beat then Donna Summer's Bad Girls
If vocal harmonies then The Beach Boys' Pet Sounds 
If outrageous cover art then Scorpions' Virgin Killer or Lennon's Two Virgins brown paper wrapped
If something else then someone else's something else

It really is an impossible choice not unlike The Greatest Classical Album as I couldn't even name the Greatest Symphony without citing 20 or more.


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## Winterreisender (Jul 13, 2013)

PoisonIV said:


> Bands like Yes and Genesis attempted to be too like classical music adding pretentiousness as a veneer to something without substance.
> ...
> 
> If classical pretentions then Yes's Yessongs was the classic lineup's best live outing


I am always a bit puzzled by this associating "classical" with "pretentious." Why is it pretentious to look beyond traditional blues guitar and verse-chorus rock songs? I have never really been convinced by this anti-snob narrative that sneers at anything that attempts to blur the boundary between pop and classical.

PS I'm not defending monstrosities like ELP's _Pictures at an Exhibition_. I'm talking about pieces where the classical influence is more subtle :lol:


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## norman bates (Aug 18, 2010)

MJongo said:


> Specifically the longer mono mix:
> View attachment 43458


I would have difficulties choosing between this and Not available. Amazing stuff.


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## tdc (Jan 17, 2011)

Some of my honorable mentions:

U2 - _Achtung Baby_
The Smiths - _Hatful of Hollow_
Pink Floyd - _Meddle_ and _Piper at the Gates of Dawn_
Stone Temple Pilots - _Core_
Days of the New - _Orange_
All of The Doors albums (with Jim Morrison)

My favorite Prog rock album with evocative lyrics --> The Mars Volta - _Deloused in the Comatorium_


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## cwarchc (Apr 28, 2012)

Florestan said:


> I can't pick a greatest but this one is really kicking out some hard driving music:


Fine choice, I'll have to go and dust off my vinyl copy for a spin


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)




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## science (Oct 14, 2010)

Perhaps no one has taken _Pet Sounds_. I like that one pretty well.


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## shangoyal (Sep 22, 2013)

Yeah, I'll also add _What's Going On_.

And _Highway 61 Revisited_.


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## Guest (Jun 6, 2014)

What is 'rock'? Given the diversity of the suggestions so far, at what point does rock become something else?

Did somebody post this link already?


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## scratchgolf (Nov 15, 2013)

I'd rate Zepp II and Physical Graffiti above Zepp IV. Both make a strong case. My favorite Floyd is The Final Cut but I would place The Wall higher on a greatest of all time list. Also the Dead's American Beauty would be high on my list. Radiohead's OK Computer and The Bends are up there as well. For a more recent album, KoL - Because of the Times is an absolute masterpiece, start to finish. Another vote goes to In the Aeroplane Over the Sea, for all you indie dorks. Phenomenal album! Still, my final vote goes to......

Smashing Pumpkins - Siamese Dream


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## Svelte Silhouette (Nov 7, 2013)

MacLeod said:


> What is 'rock'? Given the diversity of the suggestions so far, at what point does rock become something else?
> 
> Did somebody post this link already?


Maybe when it becomes a hard place :lol:


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## SONNET CLV (May 31, 2014)

We are talking _greatest _rock album ever. Right?


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## StephenTC (Apr 24, 2014)

*Deep Purple - Machine Head*

for a greatest ROCK album I submit:

Highway Star
Maybe I'm a Leo
Pictures of Home
Never Before
Smoke On The Water
Lazy
Space Truckin'


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

View attachment 58674


An absolute gem from start to finish.


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## Albert7 (Nov 16, 2014)

I couldn't just choose one so I ended up choosing five of them:

1) Beatles' The White Album
2) The Beach Boy's The Smile Sessions (unfinished)
3) Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon
4) Radiohead-- arguably any album of theirs is a masterpiece
5) Wilco- Yankee Hotel Foxtrot


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## Kivimees (Feb 16, 2013)

One of many.


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## brotagonist (Jul 11, 2013)

The greatest rock albums of all time are:

Rammstein : Herzeleid, Sehnsucht, Mutter, Reise Reise
Einstürzende Neubauten : Ende Neu, Silence is Sexy, Perpetuum Mobile
Brian Eno : Taking Tiger Mountain (by Strategy)
Roxy Music : Roxy Music, For Your Pleasure, Stranded
Frank Zappa : Freak Out, Cruising with Ruben and the Jets
Velvet Underground : Velvet Underground & Nico, Loaded, White Light/White Heat
Art Bears : Winter Songs, The World as it is Today
Black Sabbath : Master of Reality
Talking Heads : Fear of Music, More Songs about Buildings and Food
Peter Hammill : Nadir's Big Chance
Nico : The Marble Index
Chrome : Red Exposure
Cabaret Voltaire : Red Mecca
Bryan Ferry : The Bride Stripped Bare
Captain Beefheart : Safe as Milk
Can : Monster Movie, Tago Mago
Van der Graaf Generator : Still Life, World Record, Godbluff, The Quiet Zone/The Pleasure Dome
Nick Cave : Kicking against the Pricks, Murder Ballads, Your Funeral... My Trial
David Lynch & John Neff : Blue Bob


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## Guest (Dec 16, 2014)

Time was my single desert island disc would have been Pawn Hearts by VdGG. 
But I think it's been supplanted with Elixirs by Guapo.


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

I could never name a favourite five albums, much less a single one I think is the best ever based on criteria such as originality, cultural impact, standing the test of time etc. The most I could manage would be to attempt to nominate my favourite album by my favourite artists, and that would still be hard work in most cases - my choices would be subject to change just as often in the present day as they were 35 years ago when me and my schoolmates used to argue incessantly about it.


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## SONNET CLV (May 31, 2014)

It's time to lay this thread to rest.

So ... here it is! _The_ "Greatest Rock Album ever"!*









* See Post #49 for only possible contender.


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## Albert7 (Nov 16, 2014)

SONNET CLV said:


> It's time to lay this thread to rest.
> 
> So ... here it is! _The_ "Greatest Rock Album ever"!*
> 
> ...


And Eric Dolphy does a facepalm in his grave.


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)




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## Itullian (Aug 27, 2011)

starthrower said:


>


Wondered when someone would post this one.


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

Some of my other favorites are also live albums.

Little Feat-Waiting For Columbus
Hendrix-Band Of Gypsies
Santana-Moonflower 
Zappa-Roxy & Elsewhere
The Who-Live At Leeds


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## Itullian (Aug 27, 2011)

starthrower said:


> Some of my other favorites are also live albums.
> 
> Little Feat-Waiting For Columbus
> Hendrix-Band Of Gypsies
> ...


I was gonna say Leeds. Amazing album.


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## tdc (Jan 17, 2011)

I think Zeppelin's first 6 albums pretty much tower over everything else. Not to say I don't enjoy tons of other rock albums.

Mr. Bungle - _California_ is one of my current favs.


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

For some dark stuff I like King Crimson's Lark's Tongues In Aspic, and The Great Deceiver live set.


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## Itullian (Aug 27, 2011)

I like Yessongs too


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

Anybody like Richard Thompson? I was a huge fan for many years in the 80s & 90s. I played his albums Daring Adventures, and Rumour & Sigh a zillion times.


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## EdwardBast (Nov 25, 2013)

starthrower said:


> For some dark stuff I like King Crimson's Lark's Tongues In Aspic, and The Great Deceiver live set.


I would pick King Crimson's Larks' Tongues in Aspic for the new sound worlds it creates, its overall unity, and the bold improvisatory methods that produced it. The Great Deceiver live set is wonderful for, among other things, documenting the way this band could produce music of great psychological impact and coherence on the spot, night after night, in free improvisations. (I attended the Pittsburgh performance at the Stanley Warner Theater - magical!)


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## Morimur (Jan 23, 2014)

There isn't just _one_ 'greatest' rock album, there are several: The first four releases by the Velvet Underground and Captain Beefheart's Trout Mask Replica are my picks.


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## JACE (Jul 18, 2014)

starthrower said:


> Anybody like Richard Thompson? I was a huge fan for many years in the 80s & 90s. I played his albums Daring Adventures, and Rumour & Sigh a zillion times.


Yes!!!

Doesn't _Daring Adventures_ have the song "How Will I Ever Be Simple Again" -- about the WWI vet coming home from the front? Such a poignant, sad song -- like so many of his songs! Such darkness. He's the Thomas Hardy of rock n roll.

I think my favorite Richard Thompson record is _Pour Down Like Silver_ -- when he was still with Linda.

But I love so many of them.


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## JACE (Jul 18, 2014)

For me, these are what first come to mind:

- Hendrix "Electric Ladyland"

- Santana, "Abraxas"

- The Who, "Live at Leeds"

- The Allman Brothers Band, "Live at the Fillmore East"


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

JACE said:


> Yes!!!
> 
> Doesn't _Daring Adventures_ have the song "How Will I Ever Be Simple Again" -- about the WWI vet coming home from the front? Such a poignant, sad song -- like so many of his songs! Such darkness. He's the Thomas Hardy of rock n roll.


Are you thinking of Al Bowlley's In Heaven?


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## JACE (Jul 18, 2014)

starthrower said:


> Are you thinking of Al Bowlley's In Heaven?


Nope. Just looked & confirmed that it is on _Daring Adventures_. "How Will I Ever Be Simple Again" is the next-to-last song on the record -- just BEFORE "Al Bowlly..."

YouTube link to the song.

Gorgeous.


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

Actually, both of those songs are about war vets. Seems like when many Thompson fans talk about their favorite albums, Daring Adventures rarely gets mentioned. But it's a great album! And the one right after that I love too. It's called Amnesia.

And there was an album in between w/ Kenry Kaiser, John French and Fred Frith that is a great listen. Live, Love, Larf, & Loaf. It contains a couple of great Thompson songs including Drowned Dog, Black Night, and A Blind Step Away.


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## Itullian (Aug 27, 2011)

the first dozen Tull albums for me.


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

Itullian said:


> the first dozen Tull albums for me.


Only the FIRST dozen? You must be going off them a bit. :lol:


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## Itullian (Aug 27, 2011)

elgars ghost said:


> Only the FIRST dozen? You must be going off them a bit. :lol:


Broadsword is a tick under. Then it goes through the Christmas album.


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## drvLock (Apr 2, 2014)

To me, rock and heavy metal walk side by side, but are separated by as "things my father taught me to listen" and "things that evolved to what I listen now from what my father taught me to listen", so:

Things my father taught me to listen: 

Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin IV
Pink Floyd - The Dark Side of the Moon
Queen - A Night at the Opera and A Day at the Races
Deep Purple - Made in Japan
Black Sabbath - Sabbath Bloody Sabbath and Paranoid

Things that have evolved from what my father taught me to listen:

Metallica - Master of Puppets, Ride the Lightning and Kill 'em All
Iron Maiden - Iron Maiden and Killers
Rammstein - Sehnsucht and Reise, Reise
Fear Factory - Demanufacture and Mechanize


As you notice, I named some records, as I consider electing only one as something impossible.


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## millionrainbows (Jun 23, 2012)

The Greatest Rock Album of All Time, rivaling even Abbey Road: The Scottish group Forever More (later to become Average White Band), and their first of two albums on RCA, "Yours." Included in this CD release is the second album. Unfortunately, a good, authorized CD transfer has never been made. This is of Spanish origin, I think, and sounds like a vinyl dub which has been processed.


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## samsondale (Nov 22, 2013)

The Zombies' Odessey and Oracle is a great record from start to finish that I have not seen mentioned yet.


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

samsondale said:


> The Zombies' Odessey and Oracle is a great record from start to finish that I have not seen mentioned yet.


Definitely one of the best albums from that year - and a tragedy that the band put so much time and effort into it just to see it bomb in the UK and break them up.


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## samsondale (Nov 22, 2013)

elgars ghost said:


> Definitely one of the best albums from that year - and a tragedy that the band put so much time and effort into it just to see it bomb in the UK and break them up.


I saw them on tour recently and they sounded great. Colin Blunstone can still sing.


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## Albert7 (Nov 16, 2014)

It's too bad that I can' t count Portishead and Lana del Rey as rock stars since I don't consider them as such. But Dummy and Ultraviolence are already classics in their respective genres.


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## FPwtc (Dec 3, 2014)

To me the rock albums I listen to the most and seem to epitomise in their own ways two extremes of what makes rock music interesting are:

The Rolling Stones - Let It Bleed
The Stones for all their flaws really swung like no other rock band swung. They were also the only 60's rock band to reinvent the blues and understand the irony of a bunch of white university students playing "blues". Other innovations like Richards open tuned guitar layers makes this the rock album I play the most (you can also pick Sticky Fingers and Exile on Main Street not far behind). The Stones are the peak of the journey started by Elvis of building on classic blues forms to create music influenced by the 20th century and pop art and post modernism.

King Crimson - Larks' Tongues in Aspic
The complete opposite! They played with the Stones at the famous 1969 Hyde Park show but there the similarities end. I love these guys because despite the obvious pretentions they really tried to push rock music into other areas and on this album I feel they succeeded. There are classical elements (I can hear Bartok, Stravinsky and Vaughan Williams in there), English folk, free jazz, African music and of course heavy rock. To me KC represent the ability of rock at it's best to synthesis various elements and get them out into a wider culture. I got into so many cool artists by listening to KC and also artists like Frank Zappa who I would never have heard of otherwise.

And while early rockers like Chuck Berry, Little Richard and Bo Diddley never made albums in the modern sense a good greatest hits by any of them would be a contender! I also second Close to the Edge and One Size Fits All as albums I always come back to.


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## aajj (Dec 28, 2014)

^^^ Let it Bleed was the first Stones album i owned and remains one of my two or three favorites by them, along with others from their golden period of the mid '60s to early '70s.

The referenced King Crimson album along with Starless & Bible Black were favorites when i was a teen, i forgot about them for years, then came back to them and was surprised at how adventurous, thrilling and fresh they still sounded.



starthrower said:


> Some of my other favorites are also live albums.
> 
> Little Feat-Waiting For Columbus
> Hendrix-Band Of Gypsies
> ...


I have not heard the Santana album but the others are knockouts. Little Feat was far better live than in the studio, as this album attests. For Hendrix, "Machine Gun" is among his greatest achievements.


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

'I have not heard the Santana album but the others are knockouts. Little Feat was far better live than in the studio, as this album attests. For Hendrix, "Machine Gun" is among his greatest achievements.'

Moonflower's live sections really smoked, but the studio cuts suffer from being scattered around the album - I think it would have been better to have put them together to start the album off and then have the live stuff (which lasts for about an hour) after. I personally don't think the studio tracks are anything special (apart from the incendiary guitar work on the Zombies cover), but they are definitely better than what came on the next bunch of insipid studio albums, which to me represented a real fall from grace.


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

aajj said:


> I have not heard the Santana album but the others are knockouts. Little Feat was far better live than in the studio, as this album attests. For Hendrix, "Machine Gun" is among his greatest achievements.


To be honest, Santana's Moonflower includes several studio tracks. But overall, among the live and studio material, I feel like it's one of the better albums, along with Caravanserai.

Little Feat were actually pretty damn good in the studio as well. Earlier last year, I picked up the 5 pack classic albums set, plus Time Loves A Hero, and they're all solid albums.


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## samurai (Apr 22, 2011)

Speaking of Hendrix and *Machinegun,* I would also nominate his _*Midnight*_, as one of the darkest--and yet--swinging--pieces of work he ever penned in a tragically short career.


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## samurai (Apr 22, 2011)

I know I'll definitely be booed off the stage for this one, but I would definitely consider* Tarkus* by ELP {except for that damn song *Jeremy Bender*, which ruined the whole mood and thematic continuity of this album for me} as one of the greatest rock albums--prog rock, that is--ever produced.


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

Yeah! Tarkus is a great one! I can't get enough of Keith Emerson's Hammond organ. And I love their debut album as well. My very first rock concert was an ELP show I attended at age 16.


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## samurai (Apr 22, 2011)

starthrower said:


> Yeah! Tarkus is a great one! I can't get enough of Keith Emerson's Hammond organ. And I love their debut album as well. My very first rock concert was an ELP show I attended at age 16.


Absolutely! I saw them on their initial American tour in 1970 at Carnegie Hall when I was 19 years old. Carl Palmer's mastery of the drums simply blew me away, and still does after all these many years. Their debut album was/is simply a masterpiece.


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## Itullian (Aug 27, 2011)

samurai said:


> Absolutely! I saw them on their initial American tour in 1970 at Carnegie Hall when I was 19 years old. Carl Palmer's mastery of the drums simply blew me away, and still does after all these many years. Their debut album was/is simply a masterpiece.


Carl is amazing..........and hardly ever mentioned when drummers come up.


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

Emerson had good taste. He lifted some Bartok, and turned it into The Barbarian. I've always loved that tune. And the opener to Trilogy, The Endless Enigma, is another great piece.


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## samurai (Apr 22, 2011)

starthrower said:


> Emerson had good taste. He lifted some Bartok, and turned it into The Barbarian. I've always loved that tune. And the opener to Trilogy, The Endless Enigma, is another great piece.


Yes, indeed; *Trilogy* is also a classic album, in the truest sense of the word. Thanks for reminding me of it!


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## Vronsky (Jan 5, 2015)

Joy Division - Unknown Pleasures (1979)


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## opus55 (Nov 9, 2010)

The keyboards and drums on Toccata from Welcome back my friends to the show that never ends.. are so good they sound creepy to me


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## samurai (Apr 22, 2011)

opus55 said:


> The keyboards and drums on Toccata from Welcome back my friends to the show that never ends.. are so good they sound creepy to me


Yeah, that's one helluva an ***-kicking and musically accomplished album!


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