for about a 40-50 year period until fairly recently, music was sold mostly in albums; sets of 10-20 songs, not all of which were necessarily good. theres thousands of great individual songs, but albums that you can play from start to end without wanting to skip a song or two are few and far between. not necessarily hit songs, just a nice groove from start to finish. lets name a few!
off hand: bad religion AGAINST THE GRAIN jurassic 5 QUALITY CONTROL nas ILLMATIC fugazi RED MEDICINE pink floyd DARK SIDE and WALL and ANIMALS beatles ABBY ROAD nofx PUNK IN DRUBLIC
naming dance albums is cheating, as they are made specifically to avoid lulls!
I HATE the idea of listening to songs out of order or out of context, and really fight against this idea that the "album" is dead. The album is a great concept, and when done well the songs should work together. My contributions: Minutemen - "Double Nickels on the Dime"
Godspeed You! Black Emperor - "Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven"
The Mars Volta - "De-Loused in the Comatorium"
The Toasters - "Don't Let The Bastards Grind You Down"
every album is listen-straight-through. if you don't listen to whole albums, you're doing music wrong. but my favorite album for lying down in the dark with good headphones is probably 1991's Bivouac by Jawbreaker. 240p youtube doesn't do it justice; i highly recommend you grab some FLACs
For those who are addicted I made a Spotify play-list of albums recommended here:
http://open.spotify.com/user/nosse_/playlist/0Xz1rsLPuNTQ5SK... Whopping 1084 tracks and three days of music. Still missing because spotify doesn't have it all:
pink floyd DARK SIDE and WALL and ANIMALS
beatles ABBY ROAD
Lift Yr. Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven - Godspeed You! Black Emperor
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band - The Beatles
Transatlanticism - Death Cab for Cutie
Modal Soul - Nujabes
Common Market - Common Market
Eureka- Jim O'Rourke
King Crimson - In the Court of the Crimson King
Bruce Haack - The Electric Lucifer
Klaatu - Hope
No other way to listen to music. Great post, to which I will add --. Covered in this thread already: In the Aeroplane over the Sea - Neutral Milk Hotel
Illmatic - Nas
Graceland - Paul Simon
Paul's Boutique - Beastie Boys
Abbey Road - The Beatles
Pet Sounds - The Beach Boys
The Wall - Pink Floyd
Oh Inverted World - The Shins (good call thenewgreen)
Lift Yr. Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven - Godspeed You! Black Emperor Woefully ignored: Merriweather Post Pavilion - Animal Collective
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band - The Beatles
Selected Ambient Works 85-92 - Aphex Twin
Funeral - Arcade Fire
Blood on the Tracks - Bob Dylan
For Emma, Forever Ago - Bon Iver
Transatlanticism - Death Cab for Cutie
Good News for People Who Love Bad News - Modest Mouse
Evil Urges - My Morning Jacket
Modal Soul - Nujabes
Ten - Pearl Jam
Kid A - Radiohead
Illinoise - Sufjan Stevens
Is This It - The Strokes And so many dozens of others.
A formidable list. I can't believe I didn't put Illinois on my list or Funeral. I could go on...
Paul Simon - Graceland. Probably the greatest album cover-to-cover I've ever listened too.
Andrew Bird - The mysterious production of eggs
St Vincent - Strange mercy
Fruit Bats - Mouthfulls
Ratatat - Ratatat
Outkast - Southerplayalisticcadillacmuzik
Common Market - Common Market
Tobacco - Fucked up Friends
Dosh - The Lost Take
Soundgarden - Badmotorfinger To name a few. So many more. But I can agree with the original sentiment, perhaps a well put together album that you can listen to all the way through is becoming less relevant due to the fact that the album is no longer atomic, but rather the song is, and generally you mix and match songs.
I like your list rozap, in particular Mouthfuls. I don't think it enough people know that album. There is no doubt that the single has taken over as the dominant force in music. Not a lot of people listen to albums anymore. But I bet people have been saying that ever since they started releasing singles on vinyl. There will always be people that gravitate towards great bodies of work the the complete album. And there'll always be artists celebrate the album as a total body of work. I would put a couple predictable ones on my list: Yankee Hotel Foxtrot -Wilco
Sea Change- Beck
Beatles- Abby Road
Also
Oui -Sea and Cake
Oh Inverted World -the Shins
The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust -David Bowie
Pet Sounds - The Beach Boys
Eureka- Jim O'Rourke And on and on and on.... Sooooo many. Those are the first to come to mind. Love all of them.
A few off the top of my head : Harry Nilsson - The Point
Todd Rundgren - A Wizard, A True Star
Yes - Close to the Edge
My Chemical Romance - The Black Parade
Boston - Boston
Fat Freddy's Drop - Based on a True Story
Emery - The Question Lincoln Park - Meteora Charles Mingus - Ah Um Oscar Peterson - We Get Requests Hank Mobley - Workout Miles Davis - Bitches Brew
I have always been a fan of singles & play lists. There aren't many full albums that I can listen to start to finish. But here are a few: They Might Be Giants - Flood (I wore out the cassette driving from Detroit to Salt Lake City, can still sing along to every song 25 years later)
Violent Femmes - Violent Femmes
The Black Keys - Brother
I have to say one of my biggest gripes about other peoples music collection is when you get excited they have an artist only to open up the folder and find that they only have the one big song off the album and none of the good stuff. Maybe its a result of pirating whole albums and never was good at making cohesive playlists but there is nothing more I enjoy then playing whole albums....or at least large chunks. Andrew Bird - Nobel Beast
Portugal the Man - Church Mouth
Portugal the Man - Its Complicated Being a Wizard
Kay Kay and His Weathered Underground - S/t
Good Old War - Only Way to Be Alone
Motel Motel - New Denver
Rx Bandits - The Resignation
The Roots - Undun among others that have been stated here already.
I agree and I'm sure I've been guilty of it myself. Recently I've been trying to compile a better Leonard Cohen presence in my vinyl collection. I also need more Talking Heads, instead of just a few singles. My problem is that I have certain artists in digital formats but not on vinyl. A good example of this is Bowie. Conversely, my Beatles vinyl collection is formidable, but I have next to no digital versions.
The Division Bell is sort of the forgotten Floyd album. That said, not a lot of people are familiar with Animals either. -my hats off to iamfight for putting forth a pretty kick ass list of albums. -I don't think naming dance albums would be cheating though. In fact, I'd love an ask Hubski about the best dance albums. Dancing is something I LOVE but rarely seek out albums for.
its been a while..
the NO DANCE thing:
DJs create sets that set a mood over a period of time...
most rock/pop/rap/etc albums are a collection of individual songs,
set in an order to best fit that same kind of mood swing.
if you wanna go way back, opera does the same; modern music is often
short attention span.
sometimes, though, artists create an "album" and not just a collection of 12 random songs.
i was looking for the album ones. division bell? im gritting my teeth...
What do you mean by "gritting your teeth?" I knew what you were getting at for sure, I'm a fan of albums that are not just a "collection of songs." As someone that has released two albums myself, I am keenly aware of the importance of proper tracking and both sonic and lyrical continuity. Taking the listener on a journey that stems beyond a 3 minute pop-song is not an easy task, and I don't claim to have done well at it, but I always strive to. I am old enough to recall making both mixed tapes and mixed CD's when I was a kid. I think now a days, people make playlists, but it's not the same thing because there is an infinite amount of space on each list. The limitations of the format helped to craft the albums we've all mentioned. I miss making mixed tapes/cd's.
I think naming rock-opera's like The Wall, Tommy or Jesus Christ Superstar is also cheating because they're made to be listened to as a whole. There are a lot of albums that have no "lesser" numbers but some artists are much better in organizing a kind of lyrical sequence with build up, climax and catharsis all in one (even turning the record(s) over adds to this!) Pink Floyd were great at it. But let's not forget Nick Cave & the bad seeds (From her to eternity/The firstborn is dead), Joy Division (Unknown Pleasures, Closer), The Cure (Seventeen Seconds/Faith/Pornography) Arcade Fire (Funeral/Neon bible/The Suburbs) Swans (Soundtracks for the blind) Dead Can Dance (all their albums).
Wish You Were Here, also Pink Floyd, has to be listened to as a full album, with headphones on or with surround speakers. Shine On You Crazy Diamond may be too long for some, but for me, every riff on the guitar, and the ambiance and emptiness of it all truly builds up to the three "traditional" songs. Part attack on the music industry, part the feelings that come with making the music and aspects of life itself, Welcome To The Machine comes next, followed by (but not fading into; you have to flip the record) Have a Cigar, another attack on the music industry. Ending with Wish You Were Here, a song we should all be able to appreciate, and the spaced out bookend, Wish You Were Here has to be my favorite album.
Sigur Ros - Takk... ("thanks..." in english) It's kind of three sequences. Don't worry about the lyrics, it's not the point, I don't understand either. You might find "glosoli" good, but it's not nearly as good if it's not preceded by track "takk"(not very grand track in itself, but gets you in the mood). And right after glosoli you get Hoppipolla... First time I heard this album I was doing internet relay chatting in a dark room by my self and just started crying because it's so amazing to be alive. It's getting the back of my head to do that tingle as I write this. Herbie Hancock - fat albert rotunda Kind of like bottle of white wine. Nice to drink just by yourself but works well in cocktail parties too. Solid album of Jazz, which is kind of rare in so eccentric scene. Santana - Abraxas Sexy time anyone? This is my number 1. sweet lovemaking album. It's gentle yet not boring, exotic but consistent and moody while not cheesy. Don't confuse this with the modern Santana. This was that band that did music in the seventies and made their breakthrough in Woodstock. They only ever made three albums: Santana, Abraxas and Santana III. After that the guitarist started a solo career we have heard too much about. Tom Waits - Nighthawks at the diner Something I like to listen as a last one before going to bed. I think there is a place in this world for very ordinary music. Just like a culinarist might prefer simply bread and butter every now and then.
The Naked and Famous - Passive Me, Agressive You M83 - Hurry Up We're Dreaming
The Dirty South & Southern Rock Opera - Drive-By Truckers
Is there any other kind? Some specifically conceptual or "albumy" albums: The Antlers - Hospice Deltron 3030 - Deltron 3030 King Crimson - In the Court of the Crimson King Bruce Haack - The Electric Lucifer Death Grips - NO LOVE DEEP WEB Klaatu - Hope MF DOOM - any of his albums Neutral Milk Hotel - In the Aeroplane Over the Sea
Meat Puppets - Meat Puppets II The FIery Furnaces - Blueberry Boat i don't think any of these songs really work out of context Nicolas Jaar - Space is Only Noise if You can See Bad Brains - Bad Brains Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest
Days of Future Passed is the second album and first concept album by English rock band The Moody Blues, released in December 1967 on Deram Records. After two years performing as a struggling white R&B band, The Moody Blues were asked by their record label in September 1967 to record an adaptation of Antonín Dvořák's Symphony No. 9 as a stereo demonstration record. Instead, the band chose to record an orchestral song cycle about a typical working day.
I always figured the Moody Blues produced the first "concept album" i.e. "listen straight through" album. Some of you are probably familiar with the fabulous cuts "Tuesday Afternoon" or "Nights in White Satin" - they are quite wonderful when heard as part of the album.