Vintage HiFi Audio Forum

General Banter => The Circular File => Topic started by: SunnyDaze on April 23, 2013, 10:31:17 AM

Title: What Are Your Top 10 Albums?
Post by: SunnyDaze on April 23, 2013, 10:31:17 AM
All too often in this hobby, we become overwhelmed by how cool we think our gear is and we forget why our gear exists in the first place; to play the greatest tunes ever laid down.

Not counting greatest hits compilations, soundtracks, and the like, what are your top 10 albums of all time? Granted, this list changes often for most everyone, but, it's just for fun, so why not? Plus some of us might discover some new tuneage by reading what others like.

I'll start off with my top 10:

1 - The Beach Boys - Pet Sounds (Stereo)
2 - Yes - The Yes Album
3 - Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon (Early '72 Mix)
4 - The Band - Music From Big Pink
5 - Mott the Hoople - All the Young Dudes
6 - Rod Stewart - Every Picture Tells A Story
7 - The Rolling Stones - Sticky Fingers
8 - Elton John - Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
9 - Supertramp - Breakfast in America
10 - Steely Dan - Can't Buy A Thrill
Title: Re: What Are Your Top 10 Albums?
Post by: Slim-Shaddy on April 23, 2013, 11:24:09 AM
Ok, I'll give it a shot. I don't think I'll ever have a definitive top 10, but these are just 10 of my most listened to... really in no particular order.

1: Genesis-Selling England by the Pound
2: Supertramp-Crime of the Century
3: Pink Floyd-Wish you were here
4: Led Zeppelin- II
5: Elton John-Tumbleweed Connection
6: Radiohead-Kid A
7: Steely Dan- Gaucho
8: Weezer-Red
9: War-The World is a Ghetto
10: Tears for Fears-Sowing the Seeds of Love

This list will probably change within 5 minutes.
Title: Re: What Are Your Top 10 Albums?
Post by: SunnyDaze on April 23, 2013, 11:33:41 AM
Gaucho is FIRE. That album is absolutely top notch.

Title: Re: What Are Your Top 10 Albums?
Post by: ST-Rider on April 23, 2013, 02:31:35 PM
This list seems to always be in flux, but here goes:

1: Sign O The Times - Prince
2: Kind of Blue - Miles Davis
3: The Sermon - Jimmy Smith
4: Paul's Boutique - The Beastie Boys
5: The Magnificent Void - Steve Roach
6: Listening Tree - Tim Exile
7: Blade Runner Soundtrack - Vangelis
8: The Prayer Cycle 2 - Jonathan Elias
9: Music is a Rotted One Note - Squarepusher
10: Joe's Garage - Frank Zappa

Title: Re: What Are Your Top 10 Albums?
Post by: SunnyDaze on April 23, 2013, 02:38:59 PM
Paul's Boutique is an amazing work!
Title: Re: What Are Your Top 10 Albums?
Post by: ST-Rider on April 23, 2013, 02:56:23 PM
Paul's Boutique is an amazing work!

Yeah, that's the pinnacle of sample based work. It's so dense. It reminds me of Lovesexy by Prince, another dense smorgasbord of sound.
Title: Re: What Are Your Top 10 Albums?
Post by: MacGeek on April 23, 2013, 05:00:36 PM
All right, here goes and not necessarily in order:

1) Steely Dan-Aja
2) The Doobie Brothers-Toulouse Street
3) The Sheffield Track Record
4) Michael Jackson-Off the Wall
5) Grover Washington Jr.-Winelight
6) Joe Sample-Carmel
7) Erich Kunzel and the Cincinnati Pops-Round-Up
8) Dave Grusin-The Gershwin Collection
9) Tower of Power-Direct
10) Loggins and Messina-Full Sail

Can I add about 20 or 30 more?



Title: Re: What Are Your Top 10 Albums?
Post by: Sir Thrift-a-Lot on April 23, 2013, 08:05:13 PM
It changes all the time...

1. The Beatles - Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
2. Fleetwood Mac - Rumours
3. Lucinda Williams - Car Wheels on a Gravel Road
4. Matthew Sweet - Girlfriend
5. Marvin Gaye - What's Going On
6. CSNY - Deja Vu
7. Steely Dan - Aja
8. Paul Simon - Graceland
9. Doobie Brothers - Captain and Me
10. Beach Boys - Smile
Title: Re: What Are Your Top 10 Albums?
Post by: geoffr on April 23, 2013, 08:38:11 PM
Beach Boys "Surf's Up"
Beatles "White " album
Stones "Sticky Fingers"
Dead "American Beauty"
Zappa "One Size Fits All"
Dave Van Ronk "Someone Else, Not Me"
Who "Quadraphenia"
CSN "Crosby, Stills, and Nash"
Leonard Cohen "The Future"
Allman Bros. "Live at the Filmore"
Tom Waits "Bone Machine"
Title: Re: What Are Your Top 10 Albums?
Post by: rgpit on April 23, 2013, 09:22:35 PM
Man ... Only ten? Here are ten

1.    Beggar's Banquet               Rolling Stones
2.    Exploring The Scene      The Poll Winners
3.    Chester and Lester              Chet Atkins and Les Paul
4.    Portraits                         Clark Terry
5.    Santana                         Santana
6.    Dark Side of the Moon      Pink Floyd
7.    The Dance                  Fleetwood Mac
8.    Walking in Space              Quincy Jones
9.    Happy Trails                 Quicksilver Messenger Service
10.    L.A. Woman                             The Doors
Title: Re: What Are Your Top 10 Albums?
Post by: Reverend on April 23, 2013, 09:46:36 PM
Drive Like Jehu - "Yank Crime"
Cows - "Sexy Pee Story"
Fugazi - "13 Songs"
Zeni Geva - "Trance Europe Experience"
Rocket from the Crypt - "Scream, Dracula, Scream!"
Bad Brains - "Bad Brains"
Billy Cobham - "Spectrum"
New Bomb Turks - "Destroy - Oh - Boy"
Buddy Rich/Max Roach - "Rich vs. Roach"
Pavement - "Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain"

Title: Re: What Are Your Top 10 Albums?
Post by: SunnyDaze on April 23, 2013, 11:45:29 PM
Man ... Only ten?

1.    Beggar's Banquet               Rolling Stones


Ron, that's a FANTASTIC album. One of the greatest album covers ever as well.

Also, have you ever heard the Early '72 version of DSOTM? Tom, Ed, and myself all agree that it's better than the Alan Parsons release we're all familiar with.
Title: Re: What Are Your Top 10 Albums?
Post by: Sir Thrift-a-Lot on April 23, 2013, 11:51:14 PM
I'm fond of the AP quad mix.
Title: Re: What Are Your Top 10 Albums?
Post by: SunnyDaze on April 24, 2013, 12:00:49 AM
I've never heard it.

The Early '72 has a lot of significant differences. No Clare Torry non-lexical solo, a lot of the sound effects are different, etc...

I'd love to hear the quad mix, do I need a quad receiver / amp / stylus?
Title: Re: What Are Your Top 10 Albums?
Post by: rgpit on April 24, 2013, 08:37:52 AM

[/quote]

Ron, that's a FANTASTIC album. One of the greatest album covers ever as well.

Also, have you ever heard the Early '72 version of DSOTM? Tom, Ed, and myself all agree that it's better than the Alan Parsons release we're all familiar with.
[/quote]

I don't think I've heard it.
Title: Re: What Are Your Top 10 Albums?
Post by: Sir Thrift-a-Lot on April 24, 2013, 08:43:14 AM
No Clare Torry non-lexical solo

That's the highlight of the album.
Title: Re: What Are Your Top 10 Albums?
Post by: Sir Thrift-a-Lot on April 24, 2013, 08:45:41 AM

I'd love to hear the quad mix, do I need a quad receiver / amp / stylus?

It's "out there" on a DVD-A, so it plays on a home theater setup.   IIRC, it never had a legitimate release.   If you Google around and can't find it, I can burn you one.
Title: Re: What Are Your Top 10 Albums?
Post by: Sir Thrift-a-Lot on April 24, 2013, 08:54:06 AM
More info...

http://www.quadraphonicquad.com/QQ-PFQ.htm (http://www.quadraphonicquad.com/QQ-PFQ.htm)

http://www.stereosociety.com/FourSides.shtml (http://www.stereosociety.com/FourSides.shtml)

The DVD-A states that it is sourced from the original quad master, not ay 8 track.   It "came out" not long after the band used their current engineer to do the 5.1 SACD.   It is widely speculated that Parsons himself created the leak out of spite, and that very well may be.
Title: Re: What Are Your Top 10 Albums?
Post by: Sir Thrift-a-Lot on April 24, 2013, 09:00:37 AM
One more...

http://www.quadraphonicquad.com/forums/showthread.php?6271-DSotM-underground-DVD-A (http://www.quadraphonicquad.com/forums/showthread.php?6271-DSotM-underground-DVD-A)

Hearing this will make people go buy surround systems.   This and the quad of Nilsson Schmillson are my two favorite surround mixes ever, and both are from the 70s.
Title: Re: What Are Your Top 10 Albums?
Post by: Anders on April 25, 2013, 06:25:22 AM
My Top Ten:

1 Mannheim Steamroller Fresh Aire 1
2 Mannheim Steamroller Fresh Aire 2
3 Mannheim Steamroller Fresh Aire 3
4 Mannheim Steamroller Fresh Aire 4
5 Amanda Mcbroom Growing Up in Hollywood Town
6 James Newton Howard and Friends
7 Flamenco Fever
8 More Music from Peter Gunn Living Stereo
9 Casino Royale soundtrack from 1967
10 Holst Suites on Telarc LP

I could keep going but these are what I can think of right now.
Title: Re: What Are Your Top 10 Albums?
Post by: lolimsober on June 11, 2013, 08:33:45 PM
my top ten right now would probably be

swan lake - Tchaikovsky
lonesome crowded west - modest mouse
kid a - radiohead
long live - asap rocky
blue sky and the devil - trampled by turtles
the sounds of silence - simon and garfunkel
teen suicide - dc snuff film "Oh, My God" - Teen Suicide (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMXPNpwc_ZA#)
to be close to you - julia brown Julia Brown - Library (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-pUYNSf9w7Y#ws)
transformer - lou reed
posthumous release - coma cinema Coma Cinema - Greater Vultures (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HqmnE8V91hY#ws)


a lot of those are shitty lofi things that my friends are doing. but they're actually REALLY good.