[pigmode]

Lol, you're right (I won't tell Kurt Colbain if you won't). To this day I despise Greg Allman, and I find it hilarious that Cher left him a broken man. Still I'm into music, not musicians. The 70's rocked. The 80's is where it becomes acceptable for men to wear mascara.

 

[meithkiller]

Quote:

Originally posted by mcbiff You really only need one album from the eighties: Guns N' Roses - Appetite For Destruction. In fact, IMO that's the only album you need PERIOD.

G-N-R's Appetite is definitely in my top 10 80's list, but you can't forget about Def Leppard - Hysteria, Boston - Third Stage, or Tom Petty - Full Moon Fever. All classsic good old eighties rock and roll. I can definitely listen to any of those three all the way through instead of resorting to the skip forward button or a greatest hits album.

-Keith

 

[gloco]

Quote:

Originally posted by pigmode Lol, you're right (I won't tell Kurt Colbain if you won't). To this day I despise Greg Allman, and I find it hilarious that Cher left him a broken man. Still I'm into music, not musicians. The 70's rocked. The 80's is where it becomes acceptable for men to wear mascara.

I happened to like Duran Duran and those other English new wave/pop bands. Cool stuff, early Metallica was amazing. I cant think of any other year where we had so much great music like 1984...Prince, Van Halen, Tina Turner, Cindy Lauper (followed by the Goonies movie in '85 YAY). So many others here too, hell, even VH1 made a documentary regarding 1984 as a great year in music. I cant think of any other year in my lifetime that spoke volumes for how diverse popular music can/could be.

George

 

[nick danger]

gimme a pigmode or two! where are the 70s? where did they go -a great time to be around.

the 80s - diversity we had and it was a good thing, maybe the only good thing. the 80s were depressing from the late 70s to late 80s. Disco's ugly carcass lasted too long in the pop realm. And very few bands rose above it. Alternative or other.

REM tried...and for making it through that mess they deserve some credit. Hits here and there: tina turner, duran duran, bowie again with the mascara, the cure. but just minor stuff.

I'm still waiting for the resurrection - it made me RUN from rock to jazz and blues - plenty of time to discover what really matters!

Well, I'll at least mention irrespective of year of origin:
JEFF Beck
Peter Gabriel
Bjork
Neville Brothers...still
zappa
rush
tool
ronnie earl
jonas hellborg....love that name
U2

 

[Musiclover4]

George,
Are you joking? I have to disagree. The early 70s was the greatest period in the history of rock. The Allman Brothers Band were fantastic with Duane Allman, who is my favorite guitarist of all time. After Duane died there really wasn't much reason to listen to them, but Live at the Fillmore East is unmatched by any other album in my opinion. Jim Morrison and Jimi Hendrix died young, but they left a huge legacy of great music. Zeppelin and the Who were other great bands who lost key members, but they were around for a long time and were so influential to so many artists of our time. Eric Clapton, the Stones, and the Grateful Dead were all at their peak throughout the early 70s. Those artists would only get worse during the 80s, although the Dead did have resurgence here and there. Santana had some great albums in the early 70s, especially Abraxas. And, of course, PINK FLOYD!

Seriously though, I think the late 60s/early 70s was the strongest musical period. The corporate rock that started taking over the late 70s showed the negative musical direction that would turn into the worst musical decade, the 80s. To me, the 80s were about over-the-top stage production, groupies, and hair bands becuase most of the bands couldn't rely on the music. While some of it is just different taste (I'll take Phish over Metallica anyday), generally I don't think that the level of musicianship or inspiration was nearly as high as say the early 70s. This reminds me of an argument I have been in about Van Halen before. Eddie Van Halen may be a very talented guitarist and great in a technical sense, but I just don't think he plays with the same feeling as someone like Duane Allman, Jeff Beck, Roy Buchanan, Jimi hendrix, Carlos Santana, etc. In one of the Albert King cds I have with him playing with Stevie Ray Vaughan he says to Stevie "They play fast but they ain't got no soul." To me this is exactly what it is about, and why and don't like the 80s and most metal.

I do think there were some good acts in the 80s, namely Guns N Roses. Slash was a fantastic guitarist, and he is one of my all-time favorites. You can take or leave Axl Rose, but he did have a great vocal range and he did write a few brilliant songs. I also really like Izzy Stradlin, who was their most consistent songwriter. I also like Jane's Addiction. The Police were ok, but Stuart Copeland is such a great drummer that I think they are noteworthy even if you don't like Sting.

If you can't stand the whole jam-band scene (as great as I think it is) then definiitely check out some jazz and blues. Some artists from all genres that I would recommend are Stevie Ray Vaughan, Los Lobos, Social Distortion, the Who, Blind Melon, Albert Collins, Santana, Joe Satriani, and Roy Buchanan.

Oh, and by the way, check out my list at Phishhook to see how far my live concert collection has come since you did that b&p for me. Specifically, I have another Radiohead show, 9-16-2000 that sounds pretty good in case you are interested. http://www.phishhook.com/lists/Musiclover4

 

[Russ Arcuri]

Must-own rock albums -- I'm leaving out greatest hits compilations because there's too much great music you miss out on if you don't actually buy the albums. In no particular order:

Rush, 2112
Rush, Permanent Waves
Rush, Moving Pictures
Rush, Signals
Rush, Grace Under Pressure
Rush, Hold Your Fire
(There's LOTS of great Rush stuff out there, but I'm arbitrarily limiting my list to 6 here.)

The Police, Zenyatta Mondatta
The Police, Ghost in the Machine
The Police, Synchronicity

Peter Gabriel, So
I'd list Passion here too except it's not rock

Van Halen, Diver Down
Van Halen, 1984

Guns & Roses, Appetite for Destruction

Pearl Jam's first two albums

Nirvana, Nevermind

Tom Petty, Full Moon Fever

U2, The Unforgettable Fire
U2, The Joshua Tree
U2, Achtung Baby

Led Zeppelin IV

These are all off the top of my head. I'll list some more when I think of them. I really do believe these are all must-own rock albums.

 

[acidtripwow]

For Rock I like the following:

Tool - any CD except the latest (also look up A Perfect Circle)
Pantera - "Far Beyond Driven" - one of the best Rock CDs ever
System Of A Down - "Toxicity"
Staind - "Break The Cycle"
Gov't Mule - any CD - this is not really Hard Rock but Southern Rock/Blues


Of course there are many more.

 

[Xevion]

I will do the decade thing:'

70s - Emerson Lake and Palmer - Pictures at an Exhibition (Or Brain Salad Surgery)

80s - Joe Satriani - Surfing with Aliens

90s - Dream Theater - Images and Words

00's - Therion - Deggial


That is a pretty odd assortment of music, those four CDs will give you a whole lot to listen to, potentially introduce you to entirely new styles of music, and are still within the "rock" category in some way.

 

[gaineso]

The Airplane, Country Joe and the Fish, Big Brother & the Holding Co.(Janis), Hendix, Morrison, Jimmie Paige, Eric Clapton, Ginger Baker, etc. There were way to many greats to name them all.

The 80's and most of the 90's suck for what's normally called rock. The was some great music by a few groups, but few and far between and mostly way to commercial. Some awesome blues work though. Stevie Ray, Skynyrd a few others for popular blues.

Check out guys like Albert Collins, Johnny Copeland, Robert Cray, to name my favs. Many others. Check out Showdown if you can find it. I got the MoFi Anadisk LP. There's a CD around too.

Johnny Lang seems to show that there's a great future for Blues.

Music grows, changes. A lot of so called experts don't recognize 20th century classical either. Guys like Stravinsky are not considered Masters by some narrow minded a**holes. I'm trying real hard to open my mind to what's being recorded today, and especially some of the not quite ready for big commercial contracts, bands where the talent hasn't been corrupted.

BTW, VH1 had a special, rerun, of one of the great females yesterday. Tina Turner. Wow. Still going into her 60's, and has more raw talent and energy and "IT" in one finger than Britney, J-Lo and the rest will ever dream of. IMHO or IMNSHO.

 

[gloco]

I have to agree with you gaineso regarding rock and the 80's, but some bands which were Metal were definitely a part of my life:

Metallica: Ride/Master--two amazing albums...plain classics!

Megadeth: Rust in Peace--yikes, i think this was released in '90, still a great Metal album

Iron Maiden: live after Death--this is a classic live album, find the LP if you can, its the full concert

Judas Priest: Painkiller-- ok not 80's but still one of THE best Metal albums!

Plus, i'm a big fan of the 70's swedish rock/folk band, Shocking Blue, anyone here ever hear of them? I have a skynyrd bootleg, but it may actually be a commercial release...i think the concert was held in Scotland. I've been curious to branch out into blues, since i like Keb Mo, but i really dont know where to start. As for Classical, my sister has a collection that she had to buy for school, which i previously picked up on tape, its a great collection of Classical music, so my heart does have a place for that genre as well. Oh yea, has anyone ever listened to Freedy Johnston?

George

 

[gloco]

By the way, i'm probably gonna grab a piece of paper and start jotting down all the cds you guys have been praising...just wanted to let you all know i appreciate the recommendations!

George

 

[Xevion]

I must disagree about the 90s for rock. While the mainstream crap is just as bad, if not worse then it has always been, there is a ton of excellent music being released these days, you just need to find it. It isn't as hard as finding a needle in a haystack either, more like a, um, yeah

.

Groups that mostly came from the 90s, play something like rock, and are good musicians:

Blind Guardian
Dream Theater
Symphony X
Nightwish
Opeth
Royal Hunt
Skyclad
Flogging Molly
Therion
Radiohead
King's X

Just to name a few. Some of them might have sterted in the 80s, but the vast majority of their musical carreer being the 90s, counts as a 90s group.

 

[CRESCENDOPOWER]

Some of the ones that I like are:
Ozzy's No More Tears
Metallica's Black Album
Marilyn Manson's AntiChrist Superstar
White Zombie's La Sexorcisto Devil Music Volume One, Astro-Creep 2000, and Night Crawlers The KMFDM Remixes

 

[kelly]

To the guys who keep posting Rush albums, let me only add this. Everyone who likes rock music should already have every remastered Rush CD in their collection and they all sound especially great on headphones (especially "Natural Science."

But since I have confidence that you fine folks already own those CDs, we need not discuss that any further.

Here are my other favorite rock albums:

Iron Maiden: Live After Death
Simultaneously the best metal album and the best live album ever produced. Iron Maiden is one of those bands that manages to sound way better live than in the studio and this was the album taken from the tour of their career. If you've ever even thought about giving metal a chance, this is the place to start.

Beach Boys: Pet Sounds
Arguably the most influencial rock album of our time. The remastered version came out last year and has well done stereo remixes by Brian Wilson.

Deep Purple: In Rock
I think there's a remastered version of this one available in the UK but I haven't found it locally. Deep Purple can prety easily be blamed for progressive rock and heavy metal at the same time. Like Iron Maiden, they're one of the tightest rock bands to have ever existed and this was them in their prime. If you've any question, "Child In Time" alone makes this album worth owning.

Black Sabbath: Volume 4
Not quite as popular as the Paranoid album, but this was cut when Black Sabbath had achieved both musical professionalism and enough popularity to not really have to record radio hits. There's some real experimental stuff on this one and the whole album flows together. The "hits" "Supernaught" and "Snowblind" are found on this one, too.

Queensryche: Operation Mindcrime
This is my favorite concept album, beating out even The Who and Pink Floyd. You may have heard a song or two of this on the radio, but this is really a "sit down and listen to the whole album" kind of thing, which is really what I was going for on this list.

Dream Theater: Scenes From a Memory
I can't begin to describe this album. Musically, it's just untouchable. Things you didn't think were possible on guitars are done casually on this album with a band chemistry that's unheard of. It manages to be a jam session at the same time as being one of the best orchestrated works on rock music. And yeah, it's another concept album--but you may need someone to explain it to you.

The Cure: Disintegration
They were supposed to break up after this album or something and that's where the name comes from. I think they were supposed to break up every album after this one too. I love every track on this one and it never seems to get old no matter how you listen to it. I feel bad recommending some of these, like Rush, surely this is already in your collection.

Fates Warning: Awaken The Guardian
A bit more obscure than my other recommendations. Remember when all of hard rock and metal was leaning toward that high pitched sound with pretty worthless lyrics and fast guitars? This is the exact point where that begins to change--this is probably the first progressive metal album. They still have the old singer and do a lot of operatic vocals, but with intelligent lyrics and progressive music. It's almost a perfect blend of where that kind of music came from and where it ended up going. Fates Warning eventually evolves into a more Rush-like sound by recruiting Rush producer Terry Brown, but this is before all that and thus, it is your starting point.

Judas Priest: Defenders of the Faith
Also recently remastered, this is the band in their prime. Many would argue this album versus its two sister albums, British Steel and Screaming for Vengence, but Defenders of the Faith is the true summary of who Judas Priest is. "Freewheel Burning" is simply one of the best rock songs of all time and "The Sentinel" and "Love Bites" prove that 'Priest has some range. If you're only going to get one, this is the one, but feel free to grab the others too, and then go back for Stained Class just to have the first true heavy metal song, "Beyond the Realms of Death."

Ozzy Osbourne: Diary of a Madman
Someone else mentioned Ozzy but if you're going to get Ozzy, it has to be either this one or Blizzard of Ozz. The band line up is Ozzy, Rudy Sarzo on bass, Randy Rhodes on guitar and Tommy Aldridge on drums. It only lasted two albums but that's got to be one of the classiest lineups of any rock band's history. Diary of a Madman is a little more musical than its hit laden companion album, Blizzard, with songs like "Little Dolls" putting you in a different world on headphones.

So that's it--in my humble opinion, the 10 best rock albums of all time. I'm sure that's more longwinded than most of you cared for, but for me this is where rock music is at and I can't imagine a CD collection without them.

Kelly

 

[gloco]

Quote:

Originally posted by Nezer You know, a list of stuff you *do* have would be helpful to figure out what your tastes are and to ensure we don't recomend something you already have.

Gasp! I have over 1,000 cds! There's no way in hell i'm gonna list everything...

I have some 700 commerical cds then another 380+ bootlegs from trades, plus another 100 videogame soundtracks. I really do appreciate all the recommendations though, i plan on buying some tomorrow!

George