Musical Perfection [Archive]

Abominari

08-14-2008, 07:48 AM

The purpose of this thread is for you, lovely AllRPG forum goers (and not so lovely), to list all of those albums you've been listening to over the years, which have stood the test of time and earned the ephemeral classification as "perfection."

These are the works that you are always coming back to. The ones with which you really wouldn't change a thing. Maybe they put you in a mindspace warped lightyears from reality. Maybe they get you all hot and bothered, singing reminders of those warm nights sliding with your lover on the bearskin run. Maybe they just rock your ****ing cock off.

Whatever it is, you consider them perfect. For whatever reason. And even if you don't believe in "perfection" (I don't), they come as close as you might imagine a thing could without causing the universe to implode.

Oh, and the important part: you're not limited to five, ten, or twenty. But I would like you to pick at least five of them to discuss further. Elaborate on why you feel the way you do. Maybe tell a story relevant to your experience.

Or write something original that is meant to capture the essence of those albums, or how you feel about them.

Or something even more interesting. Mix and match. It's up to you.

I'll post my own list later today (Thursday).

PS. If it's about sliding around on the bearskin rug with your lover, please also provide photos of the event (or a suitable reenactment) as a visual aid. ;)

Cyrus the virus

08-14-2008, 04:44 PM

I've never really encountered a perfect album. The closest thing would be Master of Puppets, for my particular tastes. I like every song on it. Or Powerslave.

As for a perfect song, I've only got one: Sultans of Swing. I think it's perfection.

Hyde

08-15-2008, 03:58 AM

She Wants Revenge - Self Titled. Totally amazing album from front to back.

Also:
Joy Division - Permanent, for fans of Joy Division
ANY VAST Album, but most notably Turquoise & Crimson
And perhaps Interpol - Antics

Phakiel

08-15-2008, 04:44 AM

http://hanyoonseok.com/myimg/cdcover/the_fat_of_the_land_cdcover.jpg

Abominari

08-15-2008, 05:00 AM

Why not Music for the Jilted Generation, Phakiel?

I don't like music
The "perfection" thing was really meant more to relate to your enthusiasm to the work, rather than some kind of objective analysis of its parts. Like, some of my "perfect" albums have tracks that I don't care for, but it doesn't kill my boner.

Phakiel

08-15-2008, 05:13 AM

Why not Music for the Jilted Generation, Phakiel?

Fat of the Land has a special meaning to me since it was the first cd I picked up from a store on my own. Do like MftjG, but Fat of the Land is just magical to me.

Jarrid

08-15-2008, 07:26 AM

I prefer Fat of the Land over Generation. I like both of them, but Fat was the first Prodigy CD I had listened to, and it kind of stuck with me ever since then.

I am going to go ahead and list my main five that I put in the other thread and extend on that. I love this thread, btw.

Massive Attack - Mezzanine
The first song I heard off of this CD was on a Romeo and Juliet stick figure flash animation playing during the end credits, and it was Teardrop. I pretty much geeked out and and to find the band as quickly as possible. I had a few tracks downloaded from the CD, but it was not until a year or two later that I finally went out and bought it. I listened to every track, and still to this day, I will play it almost every other week. Bristol, ftw.

Dieselboy - The Dungeonmaster's Guide
The first time I listened to the opening of this CD, I was like, "What the **** is this?" but I was extremely intrigued by it. After the intro and when the music started going crazy, I literally went nuts. This CD basically got me in to drum n' bass music. I think it is ingeniously mixed, and it still sends chills down my spine. Great tunes.

Pink Floyd - Animals
I first heard this while I was extremely baked (go figure). I fell in love with it instantly. Even though it is only five (three main ones, really) tracks and including the times when they had Sid, I still think it is their best CD. I listened to this all the time driving back in forth while I was commuting to a college about two years ago. I still listen to it whenever I can.

King Crimson - Court of the Crimson King
I saw the album cover for this CD, and I immediately told myself, "I have to listen to this." Yeah, great decision on my part. Epitaph is my favorite track. Very influential band in music history. I really do not have to say anything else about this CD, though. Speechless.

Curtis Mayfield - Superfly
Wonderful sounds, great lyrics, incredible vibes, and everything else that I enjoy in music. Curtis Mayfield IS superfly.

I will add more later whenever I am not about to pass out.

EDIT: first first first first. Had to throw some more in there.

Abominari

08-17-2008, 10:16 AM

Please note that the links for the additional clips (those without descriptions) are provided merely for the availability of sound clips and not because I feel these are good, reputable places to buy music. If you like what you hear, you may or may not be better off plopping your money down with another vendor.

Luciano Cilio - Dell'Universo Assente
http://www.die-schachtel.com/editions/ds7.htm
Please see the link for generous audio samples from the album. This is one of my all-time favorites, a desert island keeper, one of select few I'll take to my grave. The release on Die Schachtel is actually a compilation of everything Luciano Cilio accomplished before his death -- one album plus some odds and ends. But it flows like a single album, and it's mind-meltingly gorgeous. Minimalistic, experiencing the album is back-floating blind and completely nude in a vast expanse of the ether. Sink in with a pair of good headphones. Relax in the space between the notes, rest on the decay of the piano keys, and the vivid imagery will rise in gentle waves and carry you home.

Tim Hecker - Harmony in Ultraviolet
http://brainwashed.com/common/htdocs/discog/krank102.html
An album, one of the few, permitting me to use the 'repeat' function on my CD player. Looping for hours and days and weeks, the album is one big symphony of dreams and emotions. It's the slow, beautiful decay of the universe. The album doesn't feel created so much as captured, as if we've spent the entire history of mankind knowing that this was out there but only now are we able to trap it for examination. Essential trip to ride from start to finish.

Supersilent - 6
http://www.musiconline.no/shop/displayAlbum.asp?id=27958
http://www.boomkat.com/item.cfm?id=12774
One of the amazing things about Supersilent (who among my top five favorite groups ever, and are awesome on every one of the other seven releases in their catalogue) is just how simply they're able to destroy so many other acts trying so hard to achieve art by meticulously composing every element of their works; Supersilent are an improv group, every live performance is constructed on the spot and "songs" from the releases are never performed but when captured originally by the recording devices. The chemistry of the group is amazing, and listening to the tracks and following the delicate mental processes behind their playing is a marvelous thing to behold. You can virtually hear them listening to each other.

Even when playing glacially slow and moody pieces, the band's performances have an immediacy and independence and edge and creative fire that shines though -- a Wyatt's Torch, visible for hundreds of miles, in the musical landscape.

The Psychic Paramount - Gamelan Into The Mink Supernatural
http://robosexual.typepad.com/glob/2007/09/the-psychic-par.html
http://www.thrilljockey.com/catalog/?id=100677
Have you ever wondered what it would feel like if you and God and Satan were together at a concert? And that concert was on the back of a supersonic train? A supersonic train orbiting the sun? And God was totally high and he doused you in holy water and lit your SOUL on fire? Listen to this album. Tons of distortion that feels like the particles around your ears melting from awesomeness.

Eric Malmberg - Den Gatfulla Manniskan
http://www.hapna.com/H22.html
Low-tech, ridiculously gorgeous recording of Hammond organ. Malmberg was one half of Swedish band Sagor & Swing, and his music here (his first solo album, from 2005) is like the long-lost soundtrack to some beautiful silent sci-fi film from the 1960s. Meant to be "a travel into the human psyche" as per the track titles -- which are all Swedish.

Some others:

Totsuzen Danball - Can I?
http://www.p-vine.com/app.php/mo/Shop/ac/ProductDetail/id/2673

Lula E Ze Ramalho Cortes - Paebiru
http://www.emusic.com/album/Pa%C3%AAbir%C3%BA-Pa%C3%AAbir%C3%BA-MP3-Download/11162760.html

Bruce Haack - The Electric Lucifer
http://www.amazon.com/Electric-Lucifer-Bruce-Haack/dp/B000OV0W94

Alice Coltrane - Journey In Satchidananda
http://www.amazon.com/Journey-Satchidananda-Alice-Coltrane/dp/B000003N9Y/

Louis Armstrong - Louis Armstrong Plays W.C. Handy
http://www.mp3fiesta.com/louis_armstrong_plays_w_c_handy_album67754/

Siouxsie and the Banshees - JuJu
http://www.amazon.com/Juju-Siouxsie-Banshees/dp/B000000OPL/

I'll definitely post more later.

Ryujin

08-17-2008, 10:56 AM

Godspeed You! Black Emperor - f#a#∞
Pronounced (f sharp a sharp infinity). This has got to be one of the most well-composed albums I've ever heard, as far as being one body of work that fits together. It only has three tracks, but they're all very long, from 10 to 20 minutes. It's a very experimental sort of work, incorporating a number of unique instruments along with sound bytes and some very creative composition. The result is something entirely unique and beautiful. It's kind of like a classical piece with modern instruments and sensibilities. The music paints a very vivid and powerful image using almost no words. It's one of the few instrumental albums that I can listen to all the way through, doing nothing but listening to it, and fully enjoy it over and over. I suppose the big reason this album is so important to me is that it really opened up my eyes to a whole slew of musical possibilities that I'd never even considered.

Crimson King - The Court of The Crimson King
Basically all the stuff Jarrid said.

Pink Floyd - The Wall
When I first listened to The Wall, I was in about 5th grade, and I was a lonely depressed outcast who hated my school and all the people in it. I listened to The Wall and suddenly it made me look at things totally differently. There are so many things about the album that I wouldn't grow to appreciate until I was older, but when I was twelve years old, just the lines, "We don't need no education. We don't need no thought control.", those lyrics literally changed my life and the way I looked at the world. It was the start of a big rebellious streak that I'm still on a bit, but more importantly than that, it made me realize that I didn't need to be popular or well-liked or any of those things. I didn't need their approval. And that's just the start of all the ideas I started to consider over the following years thanks to this album. I can literally say that it changed my life.

Elton John - Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
What is there to say? It's one of the most well-recorded albums I've ever heard. Every track is golden, and every musician who recorded on the album was in their absolute prime at the time, in my opinion. I've never gotten sick of a single track, no matter how many times I've listened to it.

umm.... there's lots more, but I can't think of any right now. I'll probably post more later.

Devil King

08-17-2008, 12:47 PM

Radiohead- The Bends
This was my first introduction to one of my favorite bands. What an introduction, indeed. It left me spellbound the first time I heard it. Songs like 'Fake Plastic Trees' conjured images in my head of how overwhelmed our society has become by shallowness and superficiality while 'Fade Out' bewildered, yet enticed me. In my opinion, it's Radiohead's 'warmest' sounding record. It's a great collection of songs that never grows old, it's an album I can put on whenever I'm feeling down and it makes me feel as if I'm not alone. I prefer this over OK Computer, and Kid A. By far.

The Smashing Pumpkins - Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness
I have had a long relationship with this record, a steady one, I assure you. One full of undying love and bitter sweetness. It recalls vivid memories of love that has passed me by, every song on here reserved a moment of my life. Good and bad. Now this is an album I want to be buried with to take with me into the afterlife. That's how high I put this thing on the scale. I won't even start with the music itself, lest I go on rambling sounding like a crazy (ADD) person does when they forget to take their Ritalin. It speaks for itself. As for the naysayers? They can go castrate themselves with a rusty spoon.

Jeff Buckley - Grace
I'm big on Leonard Cohen, so it's no surprise that I love this. However comparing Jeff and Leonard is something that many people do too often, I'm not. Jeff had a very angelic voice, it turned me on to different male vocal styles. My favorite song on here, 'Corpus Christi Carol' is haunting. It sticks to me like glue. There's so much heartache, so much heartbreak, that this is an album that literally breaks, and aches me if I get into it too much, which I oftentimes do when I listen to this masterpiece. I wish Jeff was still around. . .

Tool - Lateralus
Where to start? It's so mind-numbingly complex that it doesn't even phase you the first time you hear this, or the second time, or the third. When I first heard this, I hated it. Thought it was overhyped, garbage. How wrong I was. 'Reflection' is a trance-inducing piece, that brings to mind star filled skies and empty echoing desserts. The 'rock' tracks on here don't usually want to make me 'rock' out, but instead ponder on the perfect musicianship these guys have. Oh, and check out the lyrics.

Buckethead - Electric Tears
One of Buckethead's softer releases. It's still a mindfuck. So surreal, so weird, so beautiful, I lose myself in it everytime. Vocals and drumming would only get in the way if they were present. Buckethead churns out some of the loneliest and eloquent melodies on here.

Honorable Mention:
Antony and the Johnsons - I am A Bird Now
Smashing Pumpkins - Siamese Dream
Bright Eyes - Lifted or The Story is in the Soil, Keep Your Ear to the Ground
Morphine - Cure for Pain

I'll probably include some more later.

BAMAJAMA

08-18-2008, 04:05 AM

AC/DC-Back in Black Not a single track on that album I don't like.

Pink Floyd-Dark Side of the Moon See above

Def Leppard-Hysteria Again see above

Led Zepplin-Led Zepplin IV Ditto

Nickelback-All the Right Reasons This is the latest album to fit the , like all songs category for me

There are others but this will do

Polygon

08-18-2008, 04:47 AM

Hmm, I'd have to make a decent sized list for all of them so I'll just list a few off the top of my head.

Bread - On The Waters and/or Baby I'm A Want You. They're old I'm old, but there are only a few songs that I don't absolutely love and there aren't any that I won't listen to.

Def Leppard - Hysteria. For the same reason as BAMAJAMA.

Pink Floyd - Ditto.

Led Zeppelin - Remasters. It almost has all of my favorite Zeppelin songs on it. One that comes to mind is Traveling Riverside Blues.

Live - Awake.

Old Man Johnson - A Conversation With Tom Foolery. Great album you've never heard of.

The Offspring - Smash.

Matron

08-18-2008, 05:06 AM

Def Leppard- Hysteria (sheesh great minds think alike!)

Guns N Roses- Appetite For Destruction. I discovered this one in 9th grade, I think, and blasted it all the time, one of my favorite albums ever.

VAST- April. Hyde introduced me to him, and this is my favorite, I love every song on it, it sings me to sleep time every night now.

Rob Zombie- American made Music to Strip By- All Zombie's best songs, reworked and totally cool? win!

Pink Floyd- The Wall and Dark Side of the Moon. I put both of these together, because when I start listening to Floyd, I always have to listen to both of these.

Abominari

08-18-2008, 07:31 AM

Pink Floyd- The Wall and Dark Side of the Moon. I put both of these together, because when I start listening to Floyd, I always have to listen to both of these.
How do you feel about Wish You Were Here and Animals?

Godspeed You! Black Emperor - f#a#∞
Pronounced (f sharp a sharp infinity).
How do you feel about Godspeed's other releases?

It's one of the few instrumental albums that I can listen to all the way through, doing nothing but listening to it, and fully enjoy it over and over.
What've you got against instrumental music?

Tool - Lateralus
Where to start? It's so mind-numbingly complex that it doesn't even phase you the first time you hear this, or the second time, or the third. When I first heard this, I hated it. Thought it was overhyped, garbage. How wrong I was. 'Reflection' is a trance-inducing piece, that brings to mind star filled skies and empty echoing desserts. The 'rock' tracks on here don't usually want to make me 'rock' out, but instead ponder on the perfect musicianship these guys have. Oh, and check out the lyrics.
To be honest, I think Tool's lyrics are actually the weakest link in their chain. The band is pretty damned overhyped, and I'm tired of people responding with things like, "OMG, but it's so complex! Like, also, Danny Carey is, like, the best drummer ever!!!" Once you bounce yourself out of top 40 radio it's hard to drive your Volvo through any parking lot without hitting lines of shopping carts brimming with "complex" music, and complexity is not de facto positive or negative character of any music. For every awesome "complex" band, you have to deal with one that's complex and awful (like Dream Theater). But man, Maynard's lyrics?
I guess they're not nearly as bad as Billy Corgan's, anyway.

Ryujin

08-18-2008, 08:42 AM

How do you feel about Godspeed's other releases?

I enjoy all of their music very much, but f#a#∞ is my favorite, with Antennas To Heaven coming in at a close second. f#a#∞ just strikes me as their most compelling work.

What've you got against instrumental music?

Not a thing, I love instrumental music and there are some instrumental pieces that are among my favorite pieces of music. It's just that I usually use it as background music while I'm doing something else. I mean, there's a big difference between hearing a song and listening to it, right? I love hearing instrumental music, but most of it I can only intently listen to a few times before losing focus on it a bit. But f#a#∞ I've just laid in bed and listened to beginning to end many times, and I never get tired of it.

For every awesome "complex" band, you have to deal with one that's complex and awful (like Dream Theater).

Not to mention the fact that some of the greatest songs in the world are also some of the simplest.

Jarrid

08-18-2008, 09:38 AM

Thank you for the links in your post, Abominari. I am going to have a pleasant time today at my father's house with a faster connection checking them out.

Ryujin: My favorite of Godspeed You! Black Emperor is their EP[ I]Slow Riot for New Zer? Kanada[/I] and album Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven. I love them both. Great group of people, too.

Here are some more picks of mine that I would like to add and share:

Stevie Ray Vaughn and Double Trouble - Texas Flood
This album was played so many times when I was a child. My best friend's parents would always have a blues album playing at parties, and this one would be put in every now and then. When I became older, I went ahead and bought this album. He is just great on so many levels, and I really do enjoy Texas Flood so much. I think he was an amazing singer, guitarist, and he makes me feel what he felt through his music, which is what a lot of artists and bands lack. Also, the Live from Austin, Texas DVD is really entertaining. I am sure it has been done before by guitarists plenty of times before him, but when he plays Texas Flood during the song's solo, he tosses the guitar behind his back and starts playing it, and then after that, he tosses it back over to finish the solo and rest of the song. I nearly creamed myself.

Muddy Waters - The Anthology (1947-1972)
More blues. I am not a big fan of buying greatest hits or anthologies, but a few years ago, I remembered listening to Muddy Waters when I was a child, and when there was a guitar around at parties, one of my best friends would always sing Hoochie Coochie Man. The music store only had this album, and I do not regret buying it at all. All of the tracks on here are amazing. In my opinion, Muddy Waters has to be one of the most influential artists in history. He is quite amazing, and I think everyone should give him a shot if you have not.

Miles Davis - Kind of Blue
Miles Davis. Wow. I do not know where to begin with this guy's talent and creative mind. I listen to this album all the time. It is just incredible from the first second to the last. There are so many great Miles Davis' albums out there, and unfortunately, I have not listened to all of them. Bitches Brew is next on my list, and today (Monday) I am going to go out and find it. It is really hard to say what is the better one with a lot of his albums. Just amazing.

From Monument to Masses - The Impossible Leap in One Hundred Simple Steps
I think this album is just wonderful. The entire album contains no lyrics at all but quotes from famous speeches by figures like Martin Luther King Jr., H. Rap Brown, Noam Chomsky, and a few more as well as movies old and new. It is obviously a very political driven album, but the music is great. Whenever I get pissed off, I always play it, and I get that sense of wanting to do something about everything. I would not change a thing about it.

David Bowie - The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars
There are a few tracks from different Bowie albums I like, but this one particular album stands out the most. Of course, it is probably the most popular one, but I still find it to be awesome. Just a classic rock album I have always enjoyed listening to every once in a while. I will also mention that Seu Jorge also does a lot of great covers of a lot the songs on this album when he did the Life Aquatic soundtrack. I have also been wanting to buy this album. I would love to frame it along with quite a few other classic rock and blues albums.

And the last one for right now. . .

Portishead - Roseland NYC Live
When I first started listening to Portishead, I was pretty depressed. If there is one singer that can sing about some pretty depressing shit, it is Beth Gibbons. I like all of their albums respectfully (took a while for me to get used to the new one), but I find this to be their best. Not only does it include a live orchestra behind them, but I think their performance as a group was just badass. All of the tracks were awesome, and Sour Times still kicks my ass harder than ever. I love her voice, and also the bands down tempo jazz influence with an extra kick. Portishead is another Bristol band that makes it in on my favorite band/group list. The DVD is badass, too.

Many more to come. I may just do an entire post on some of my favorite classical composers. There are just too many! :p

Devil King

08-18-2008, 05:27 PM

To be honest, I think Tool's lyrics are actually the weakest link in their chain. The band is pretty damned overhyped, and I'm tired of people responding with things like, "OMG, but it's so complex! Like, also, Danny Carey is, like, the best drummer ever!!!" Once you bounce yourself out of top 40 radio it's hard to drive your Volvo through any parking lot without hitting lines of shopping carts brimming with "complex" music, and complexity is not de facto positive or negative character of any music. For every awesome "complex" band, you have to deal with one that's complex and awful (like Dream Theater). But man, Maynard's lyrics?
I guess they're not nearly as bad as Billy Corgan's, anyway.

Why do you ask so many questions?

I had a feeling you were going to say something to that effect, seeing as how you're a musical elitist and all that biz. And it's a given that complexity doesn't make music better. (Duh)

Just because something is overhyped doesn't mean it's crap by default.

And just for the record, I don't listen to the radio.

Indigo

08-18-2008, 05:33 PM

i wrote a few paragraphs last night but the internet went down before I could post it.

I'm not doing it again.

Basically no band or artist has achieved perfection in my book.

Poofy

08-18-2008, 05:45 PM

Summoning - Oath Bound: One of the first bands that got me interested in the Metal scene, all because of this album. It is the very epitome of what symphonic black Metal should be. Not only does it contain some of my favorite songs from the entire genre, there are no songs that I would intentionally skip listening to if they came up on shuffle.

Ice Ages - Buried Alive: Darkwave perfected. Probably the most atmospheric band I know of off the top of my head, and this album demonstrates why.

Agalloch - The Mantle: Best. Folk Metal. Band. EVAR.

moogle

08-18-2008, 07:00 PM

Hmm, here's something to think about. There may be albums I consider more technically "perfect" than others, though they may not appeal to me as much. I mean, I can appreciate classical music or extremely hard death metal without really caring for the sound; it's merely an appreciation on the technical level. I think I'll just list my favorite all-around albums. Let's see...

The Mars Volta - De-Loused in the Commatorium
This was the kind of music I had been waiting for. I wasn't sure what to think of it the first time I heard TMV. My reaction, at first, wasn't "Wow, that was good" but "let me hear that track again." The more I listened, the more I fell in love. I could list almost every TMV album here, but...

The Mars Volta - Frances the Mute
I would rank this equally with De-Loused, otherwise I would have only put my favorite album on this list. The thing with Frances is that I love all the songs (even if you include the title track that was excluded from the album, which would probably be my second favorite track if they could have fit it), but the album could have been so much better if they scrapped most of the ambient noise. I don't mind a little, but they went a little over the top here. The latest album, The Bedlam in Goliath, addresses pretty much every problem I had with Frances, but the songs don't flow as much, they feel almost too disjointed. And Amputechture was easily the worst.

Dogs Die In Hot Cars - Please Describe Yourself
This is a fun album. Everything just fits. Upbeat and often absurd, the lyrics are the perfect compliment to the music.

I'll add more later. I'm going through everything and there are about 10 more albums I'd like to list.

Jarrid

08-18-2008, 11:35 PM

Why do you ask so many questions?

I think he is just trying to provoke conversations and discussions to make it more interesting, and possibly try to get a few of us thinking about why we like this or that or if one has listened to this CD and that one instead of this.

Yeah, the Tool comment may had seemed harsh, but it really just seemed like he was talking about Tool fans in general, in my opinion, because I know quite a few people that act that way, but hell, I like Tool as well. I thought Lateralus was a great CD. Yeah, he did repeat and comment on a few things that were said in the original post about people saying it is "complex" music for example, but he gave his entire opinion on the band itself, and all the hype that surrounds them (there are shit tons), and he is entitled to that. It looks like an attack, but I do not think that is the real intention, and about Abom being a music wiz, I do not think he is trying to come off like that. He surely has some different opinions than the masses about music and bands that a lot of us like, but I do not mind him criticizing what I listen to, though. It is not going to make me change my selection or taste at all. If at all, it will make me discover more artists out there.

I am sure there are a few bands that he likes that I think completely blows. I just have not listened to any of the bands he has listed, so I cannot really give a comment.

However, I could be wrong about some of this. :p

Devil King

08-19-2008, 03:14 AM

Yeah.

I'm just defending my opinion(s).

BAMAJAMA

08-19-2008, 03:42 AM

Polygon

08-19-2008, 04:02 AM

As well as G N' R I forgot to list Stone Temple Pilots - Purple. Then again, I'm sure I forgot a lot of other albums.

Powerslave

08-19-2008, 08:08 AM

Alright, let's go with:

Iron Maiden - Powerslave & Seventh Son of a Seventh Son

My two favourite albums by my favourite band. I pretty much like ever track on both records. Powerslave is more of a straight up British Metal album, with 5 of the greatest Maiden Tracks ever, 3 of which are absolute classics (Aces High, 2 Minutes to Midnight, and Rime of the Ancient Marineer). All the tracks have the premium catchy Maiden choruses, beastly guitar work, and badass lyrics. SSOASS is a different beast, being a concept album with a kinda cool story line, it's got some of the more interesting songs (The Evil That Men Do, The Clairvoyant). It just feels very complete, and was pretty much the last great album of the classic period. Loved these since the moment I put 'em in the CD player some 5 years ago.

Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath

First time was a charm for these guys. While I like pretty much everything they did before Mob Rules (excluding 'Technical Extasy'), what I absolutely love to death from start to finish is their debut. Every song rocks. From the storm before the first dissonant chord of the title track to the final plodding verse of 'Warning', it's just pure bluesy HEAVINESS.

King Crimson - In the Court of the Crimson King

Already mentioned twice. It's just that good. My favourite's the title track.

Yes - Classic Yes

I usually don't particularly like compilations but this one rounds up basically my favourite tunes by the band (obviously excluding the 20 minute epics, which are almost albums by themselves). Heart of the Sunrise, Yours is No Disgrace, Starship Trooper, And You and I, Roundabout, and I've Seen All Good People... Gahhh.

Queen - A Night at the Opera

What can I say? I like the campiness of it. Catchy, nice, fun record to listen to. Best tracks by far: The Prophet's Song and Death on Two Legs.

Led Zeppelin - IV

Still my favourite Zeppelin record. Can't really ever get enough of Battle of Evermore or When The Levee Breaks. Ever.

Pink Floyd - The Wall

Say what you may about the overwhelming amount of filler; most of it is better than most albums nowadays. Pretty much love everything about the album. Always have, and I can't really help myself. Nobody Home, In The Flesh, Another Brick in the Wall (all of it), Waiting for the Worms, The Trial. The whole thing, even the shorter ones (The Thing Ice, Goodbye Blue Skies).

More later, probably.

Jarrid

08-19-2008, 08:14 AM

Yeah.

I'm just defending my opinion(s).

Nothing wrong with that either. :)

Oh yeah. I am going to be listening to Bitches Brew tonight by Miles Davis. I am looking forward to it. :D

Abominari

08-19-2008, 09:31 AM

It's just that I usually use it as background music while I'm doing something else. I mean, there's a big difference between hearing a song and listening to it, right? I love hearing instrumental music, but most of it I can only intently listen to a few times before losing focus on it a bit.
What is it, you figure, that makes you begin to lose focus? I only ask because I'm quite the opposite, where I get the most enjoyment and focus with instrumental music, but it's when lyrics are added that my mind starts to wander. It's great fun to hear a thing again and again and constantly look for new elements, hear the piece in a new way. I like to dive headfirst and let the music carry me downstream. Lyrics tend to get in the way, sort of stand in front of the television shouting, "Look at me! I'm right here! Hi!" And many acts promote this, blanding the music up in the background so as not to distract from the words.

I do really like Godspeed, though. Just not Yanqui -- I don't know what it is, but I really can't get into that one. Kind of feels like the band was all out of ideas by that point.

Why do you ask so many questions?
To get you talking. I like to know more about why people feel the way they do about things, because it is my belief that a person is, in ways, described by the things he or she likes. I like to see people come up with better responses to these sorts of questions than, "I like it because I think it is good and that is my opinion."

Just because something is overhyped doesn't mean it's crap by default. And just for the record, I don't listen to the radio.
Never said it was. Never said you did.

I am sure there are a few bands that he likes that I think completely blows.
Almost definitely.

BAMAJAMA

08-19-2008, 12:38 PM