[salannelson]

Led Zeppelin IV
Rush - Moving Pictures

 

[scytheavatar]

Custom chart - Rate Your Music

 

[asketx]

Seems like the list is missing some Grateful Dead!
Some worth checking out include:-
Live/Dead
Workingman's Dead
American Beauty

From the trippy to the acoustic beauty.

 

[Redo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by asketx /img/forum/go_quote.gif Seems like the list is missing some Grateful Dead! Some worth checking out include:- Live/Dead Workingman's Dead American Beauty From the trippy to the acoustic beauty.

I have all three! Good albums.

 

[Azathoth]

Jimi Hendrix Experience - Electric Ladyland, Are You Experienced
Thin Lizzy - Jailbreak, Live and Dangerous
Kiss - Alive!
Deep Purple - Machine Head, Made In Japan
Queen - Sheer Heart Attack
Led Zeppelin - II, IV

Mandatory.

 

[Justin Uthadude]

I’ve got 2¢. I’ll give it a shot.

I believe certain albums deserve to be in anyone’s library of Classic Rock, not only for their musicality, but also for their historical significance. Some of my choices and why:


One single group produced 3 of rock’s greatest guitarists; Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck and Eric Clapton. I think you should have at least one album from each.

My suggestion for Jeff Beck would be Truth. It also introduced us to his scrawny, raspy-voiced, hair tinting lead singer who also went on to have a great career. Might want one of his albums. Maybe his first onw or Atlantic Crossing.

Nothing says Jimmy Page like his album that started a genre; ZepI. Besides, it has one of the greatest cover songs in history on it – Babe I’m gonna leave you.

Picking a Clapton album is tough, but what other guitarist can you combine with a heroin addict and a bassist who only plays with one finger and get a group that rises to the top like cream? A good choice would be Wheels of Fire. A double album that has one disc in the studio, so you see what they are like with retakes and all prettied up, and a live album with a 15:53 balls to the wall version of Spoonful that makes you wish you were there.

If I remember correctly, there was a time when Linda Ronstadt was the biggest selling female vocalist in history. Simple Dreams went triple platinum, maybe that one? Also, her backup band had a few hits after they left her. I’d suggest One of These Nights or Hotel California.

There was a time when San Francisco was a hotbed of new rock bands. I’d suggest something in your collection from that era. Grateful Dead, Janis Joplin and Big Brother or Surrealistic Pillow from Jefferson Airplane seem like contenders.

To show that rock isn’t all guitars, and actually has fabulous harmonizing vocals, I would have something from the Beatles, Beach Boys or Crosby, Stills & Nash; maybe Queen, but that’s with tons of overlays. Heck, Queen deserves an album in your collection for too many reasons to describe.

And what classic rock collection would be complete without something from the only band that is older than the combined ages of all of Obama’s czars? That’s right – the Stones. My choice would be Let it Bleed. C’mon now, Can’t always get what you want, Gimme Shelter, Midnight Rambler and more?

No one had heard anything like what Jimi Hendrix could make a guitar do. I dare say no one has since. He probably single-handedly doubled the sales of Stratocasters for Fender. My recommendation: Electric Ladyland.

I think the album that can lay claim to being the first “crossover” album would be Bayou Country by Creedence Clearwater Revival. Heck, old people were playing that album on radio stations I wouldn’t get caught dead listening to. Great album, and Tina Turner did a great cover of Proud Mary.

Black Sabbath are in a league of their own, even if they spawned a million copycats, and bands to this day can’t help but name themselves with ‘black’ or ‘death’ in it. Besides, how else would we have Ozzy?

An album went 8X Platinum with lyrics like this?: "you ain't seen nothin' till you're down on a muffin then you're sure to be a-changin' your ways". You gotta have a copy of Toys in the Attic by Aerosmith.

Top of my head, those are some suggestions.

 

[Aardvarks]

Here are some classic rock and pop rock albums , no compliations that may be considered.

1 Small Faces - Ogdens Nut Gone Flake

2 Fleetwood Mac - Rumours and self titled

3. Black Sabbath - self titled

4. Bad Company - Bad Co and Straight Shooter

5. Meatfloaf - Bat out of Hell

6. Wishbone Ash - Argus

7. Camel - Snowgoose and Raindances

8. Supertramp - Crime of the century and Paris 'Live'

8. The Who - Who's Next and Live at Leeds

9. Cream - Disraeli Gears

10. Carole King - Tapestry

11. Montrose - self titled

12. The Flaming Lips - Transmissions from the satellite heart

13. Genesis - Selling England by the pound, Lamb lies down on Broadway, Foxtrot

14. Green Day - Dookie

15. Vangelis - Heaven and Hell

16. Mike Oldfield - Tubular Bells

17. Led Zeppelin - BBC sessions and every other album

18. Yes - Fragile, Close to the edge, Relayer, Tales from Topographic Oceans

19. Emerson Lake and Palmer - self titled, Brain salad Sugery, Tarkus, Pictures at an exhibition

20. Pink Floyd - all of the original albums

21. The Velvet Underground - Andy Warhol, Loaded

22. Lou Reed - Transformer

23. Elton John - Dont shoot me I am just the piano player, Goodbye Yellow Brock road

24. Radiohead- Pablo Honey, OK Computer, The Bends

25. The stone roses - self titled

26. Rush- Self titled, Fly by night, 2112, Farewell to kings

27. The Sex Pistols - never mind the Bollocks

if you want classic chill out kroutrock

28. Tangerine Dream - Phaedra, Rubicon

more

29. Rainbow - Rainbow Rising ( this has Stragazer)

30. Wilco - Yankee Hotel Foxtrot

Enjoy

 

[tru blu]

Trying to think of essentials that haven't been mentioned thus far…

Derek and the Dominoes - Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs

The Rolling Stones - Sticky Fingers


…and a couple of ringers…

The Stooges - Fun House

Television - Marquee Moon

 

[fatcat28037]

A couple of my favorites...........

America - History, aka America (1975)
Eric Clapton - Slow Hand (1977)
Credence Clearwater Revival - Cosmo's Factory (1970)
Dire Straits - Brothers in Arms (1985)
Greateful dead - Shakedown Street (1978)
Bruce Springsteen - Greeting from Asbury Park (1972)
Neil Young - After the Gold Rush (1970)

There are also a pile of compilation and 'best of' cds that are worth having.

 

[Prog Rock Man]

There has not been enough suggestions for The Rolling Stones IMHO. Pretty much everyone of their albums is classic rock music, even their fashionable at the time psychedellic 'Satanic Majesties' is worthy of mention

I would add Deep Purple and 'In Rock' and 'Machine Head' to the list, as both are important early rock albums as the genre began to split up into all its different forms, such as heavy metal.

 

[tru blu]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Prog Rock Man /img/forum/go_quote.gif There has not been enough suggestions for The Rolling Stones IMHO. Pretty much everyone of their albums is classic rock music, even their fashionable at the time psychedellic 'Satanic Majesties' is worthy of mention.

You haven't been here too long, have you? Good luck stumping for the Stones on Head-fi. Quite a few folks around here seem to think that band is overrated, if you can imagine it…that's always amazed me.

 

[Prog Rock Man]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tru blu /img/forum/go_quote.gif You haven't been here too long, have you? Good luck stumping for the Stones on Head-fi. Quite a few folks around here seem to think that band is overrated, if you can imagine it…that's always amazed me.

Ah, maybe they are afraid for their daughters..........

 

[jbergan]

Most have been listed already, but these are some albums I couldn't live without.

Genesis - Nursery Cryme, Foxtrot, Selling England By the Pound, The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway

Yes - The Yes Album, Fragile, Close to the Edge

Van Der Graaf Generator - Pawn Hearts

King Crimson - In The Court of the Crimson King, Larks' Tongues in Aspic, Starless and Bible Black

Emerson Lake & Palmer - Emerson Lake & Palmer, Tarkus, Brain Salad Surgery

Pink Floyd - Piper at the Gate of Dawn, Meddle, Dark Side of the Moon, Wish You Were Here, Animals

Rush - 2112, Permanent Waves, Moving Pictures


This is often overlooked, I love all the people that listed it:
Can - Tago Mago

 

[Pepsi]

Quote:

Originally Posted by baka1969 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Here's a partial list: Allman Brothers- Eat a Peach The Beatles- White Album, Revolver, Sgt Pepper Bob Dylan- Blonde On Blonde, Blood On The Tracks Boston- Boston Chicago- Chicago Transit Authority, Chicago II The Clash- London Calling David Bowie- Ziggy Stardust Fleetwood Mac- Rumors Frank Zappa - Freak Out, Hot Rats Jefferson Airplane- Surrealistic Pillow Jethro Tull- Aqualung, Thick As A Brick Jimi Hendrix- Electric Ladyland John Lennon- Imagine King Crimson- In The Court Of The Crimson King Led Zeppelin- Zoso, Physical Graffiti Miles Davis- Bitches Brew The Moody Blues- Days Of Future Passed Pink Floyd- Meddle, Dark Side, Wish You Were Here, Animals, The Wall, Piper At The Gates OF Dawn, Ummagumma, A Saucerful Of Secrets Queen- A Night At The Opera The Sex Pistols- Nevermind The Bollocks Steely Dan- Aja Yes- Close To The Edge

I second all these. A few to add:
ACDC - Back in Black, Highway to Hell, For those about to rock we salute you, High Voltage

Guns n Roses - Appetite for Destruction

Van Halen - The Best of Both Worlds

Aerosmith - Pandoras Box

 

[festivus528]

Some lesser-known but still must have albums:

Blind Faith - Blind Faith
Grand Funk Railroad - Grand Funk
Mountain - Mountain, Climbing!


edit:
And ZZ Top - Rio Grande Mud, Tres Hombres