[MattTCG]

I have several albums on my "near perfect" list:
 
1. Muddy Waters: Folk Singer
 
2. Cowboy Junkies: Trinity Revisited
 
3. Alison Krauss: Forget About It
 
4. Miles Davis: Kind of Blue 24/96
 
5. Jill Barber: Mischievous Moon
 
And many more...

 

[shiorisekine]

For me the list is like this:

Everything Steven Wilson

Dream Theater- Black Clouds and Silver Linings

Animals As Leader- Self Titled

Ocean- Pelagial

Orbs- Asleep Next To Science

Between The Buried and Me- Colors

Best,

Andre

 

[swspiers]

What a great thread.  Paying attention to music and recordings is far more productive than obsessing over equipment!
 
My first entries, in no particular order:
 
1) Master of Reality- self titled.  This is a fairly little-known band whose second album actually had Ginger Baker on drums.  But this is one of the best Redbook CD's that I own, and "Kill the King" is one of my references for depth and detail.  Excellent Texas blues/rock.
 
2) King Crimson- Lizard. The Steven Wilson re-master is brilliant, taking a so-so album and turning it in to a masterpiece.  All of the Crimso remasters are outstanding, but this one is mind-blowing in how it turned out.  I would list all of the remasters, but I'm trying to restrain myself.
 
3) Cowboy Junkies- Trinity Session Yes, Trinity Revisited may be technically superior, but the original is stunning in the lack of pretense. 
 
4) Porcupine Tree- In Absentia  Again, I could list them all, but "Trains" is a reference recording for me, both main stereo and headphones.
 
5) Kyuss- Welcome to Sky Valley I'm going on a limb with this one, and it is certainly not an audiophile recording.  But it is as close to a live recording as one can get, and still be in the studio.  There is a ton of depth amidst the distortion, and this is the defining album of the whole Stoner/Doom/Dessert Rock genre.  But one has to REALLY be into down-tuned distortion to 'get it'
 
Thanks for all the suggestions so far.  I hope there are thousands more to come...

 

[Mifi]

Tonight this is my top 3.
 
Dave Brubeck; Time out(http://www.hdtracks.com)

Batik; the Old Man and the Sea (http://www.soundliaison.com/)

me'shell ( CD)

 

[SilverEars]

Oh my, this is so rediculous!!!!  Never heard anything like this.  
 
Paul & Linda McCartney - RAM (1971) [Remaster 2012] {UNLIMITED Edition}
 

 

[potterma]

  What a great thread.  Paying attention to music and recordings is far more productive than obsessing over equipment!
 
My first entries, in no particular order:
 
1) Master of Reality- self titled.  This is a fairly little-known band whose second album actually had Ginger Baker on drums.  But this is one of the best Redbook CD's that I own, and "Kill the King" is one of my references for depth and detail.  Excellent Texas blues/rock.
 
2) King Crimson- Lizard. The Steven Wilson re-master is brilliant, taking a so-so album and turning it in to a masterpiece.  All of the Crimso remasters are outstanding, but this one is mind-blowing in how it turned out.  I would list all of the remasters, but I'm trying to restrain myself.
 
3) Cowboy Junkies- Trinity Session Yes, Trinity Revisited may be technically superior, but the original is stunning in the lack of pretense. 
 
4) Porcupine Tree- In Absentia  Again, I could list them all, but "Trains" is a reference recording for me, both main stereo and headphones.
 
5) Kyuss- Welcome to Sky Valley I'm going on a limb with this one, and it is certainly not an audiophile recording.  But it is as close to a live recording as one can get, and still be in the studio.  There is a ton of depth amidst the distortion, and this is the defining album of the whole Stoner/Doom/Dessert Rock genre.  But one has to REALLY be into down-tuned distortion to 'get it'
 
Thanks for all the suggestions so far.  I hope there are thousands more to come...

Nice to see appreciation for Kyuss.  

 

[vertical]

What a great thread.  Paying attention to music and recordings is far more productive than obsessing over equipment!

Yes, agreed!

 

[JohnnieP3]

5) Kyuss- Welcome to Sky Valley I'm going on a limb with this one, and it is certainly not an audiophile recording.  But it is as close to a live recording as one can get, and still be in the studio.  There is a ton of depth amidst the distortion, and this is the defining album of the whole Stoner/Doom/Dessert Rock genre.  But one has to REALLY be into down-tuned distortion to 'get it'

I completely agree with you on this. This record is far from HiFi, but I find myself going back to it again and again, if only to listen to Gardenia a little too loudly. I'll push this through Can Opener and play with the Eq a little, but somehow the recording quality fits the history of Kyuss and where they started.

 

[JohnnieP3]

Sorry for the double post, not sure how that happened, Fat Finger Error perhaps.

 

[swspiers]

I have a new album for y'all to consider.

" Pale Communion" by Opeth.

 

[swspiers]

Sorry for the double post, not sure how that happened, Fat Finger Error perhaps.

Because it was worth reading twice!

 

[JohnnieP3]

I offer a few humble suggestions for your listening pleasure, in no particular order and with recording quality as the primary driver:

1 - Koko Taylor's "Old School". A very good recording of one of the Queen of Blues' last records. I just love back and forth between her and the guitar in "You ain't worth a good woman"

2 - Buckethead's "Monsters and Robots". An "eclectic" blend of rock guitar and some electronic, recording quality is good and some of the songs have intentional degrading of sound quality to punctuate when other parts of a song kick in and take off. Very different and interesting.

3 - Primus' "Pork Soda". A great recording of one of the earlier albums from Les and the boys

4. Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown's "Standing My Ground". Texas Blues and Jazz. Very good recording.

5. Guitar Shorty's "Watch Your Back". A high quality recording of a great guitarist in the Texas Blues tradition. I love this one.

6. AC/DC Live 2 Disc set from 1992. For an arena rock live recording, I think this one is excellent, It's harsh, loud, and I love the soundstage and the echoey arena venue recording really makes me feel like I'm there. "Jailbreak" is amazing. Listen to this one at less than ear-bleed loud, I dare ya...

7. Allman Brother's "Play All Night: Live at the Beacon Theater 1992". A very good live recording of the lads in fine form.

8. Mark Knopfler's"Shangri-La". What a great recording of a prolific artist and a great guitar player.

9. Megadeath "Greatest Hits". It might not be your speed, but the recording quality is really good and it's nice to hear a metal band with more to say than cliched satanic themes and partying too hard.

10. Rollins Band "Weight". A good recording of an artist who hit that rare and never-seen-again time in the early/mid 90's when pop and "alternative" were played alongside each other on the radio. "Liar" put ol' Hank on the map for a lot of people.

11. Toots and the Maytals "FestivaLink & Radio Woodstock Music Present Toots and the Maytals Live at Mountain Jam NY, 6/4/10". Wow. This recording is just excellent and is one of my all time favorites of a living legend. Yes, it's true that Toots invented the word Reggae. While I like Bob Marley just fine, I love Toots. Get this one and you will too.

12. The Raconteurs "Old Enough featuring Rickey Skaggs and Ashley Monroe" (single). This recording is good, just get past the first 15 seconds where Ashley Monroe's voice is a little forward. Ricky Skaggs really adds a lot of depth to this recording, but of course he is one of the best mandolin players on the planet...

13. Robert Earl Keen "The Party Never Ends". A really nice recording of an artist I have liked for a very long time. If you're older and like me coming up on 50, this record will mean a lot to you. To this day I still find it difficult to get through "Mariano" without getting a little misty-eyed.

14. Alice In Chains "Unplugged". It's been mentioned but I'll mention it again. It's an excellent recording of a troubled band near the end of their run, and sounding as tight as ever.

While I am a big Melvins fan, I wish I could recommend any of their albums for the recording quality. I guess the closest I could get would be A Senile Animal, but that's it.

While my suggestions surely won't be interesting to a great many people, I just can't shed the musical programming of my youth...

 

[JohnnieP3]

Man, I sure killed this thread, eh?

 

[Radioking59]

13. Robert Earl Keen "The Party Never Ends". A really nice recording of an artist I have liked for a very long time. If you're older and like me coming up on 50, this record will mean a lot to you. To this day I still find it difficult to get through "Mariano" without getting a little misty-eyed...

Have you compared this live album to "No 2 Live Dinner" and/or "The Live Album"? I was just curious as they pretty much have the same songs but this one was recorded more recently.

 

[JohnnieP3]

Have you compared this live album to "No 2 Live Dinner" and/or "The Live Album"? I was just curious as they pretty much have the same songs but this one was recorded more recently.

The one I mentioned is a studio album from 2003. I have "No. 2 Live Dinner" but I didn't think the recording quality was very good. It's still fun, though. I suppose there's something to be said for the sense of "ambiance" of the small venue. I haven't heard "The Live Album".