Fifth Dimension

By Dylan Hicks Fri., Jan. 27 2006 at 2:13 PM

Categories: Music

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Here's a Friday afternoon time waster that I first ran into on the "I Love Music" discussion group. Pick a favorite musical act that you think has made (at least) five truly great albums, and rank those albums in order of preference. Lists cannot exceed five albums! There won't actually be any consequences for exceeding five, but just play fair. Also, greatest-hits albums don't count, which I realize punishes all sorts of great pre-album artists and singles specialists, but let's cover those folks in another time-wasting exercise.

Also, if someone does, say, the Rolling Stones, and you also want to do the Rolling Stones, that's fine.

I'll start, with the Rolling Stones:

1. Let It Bleed
2. Aftermath
3. Exile on Main St.
4. Sticky Fingers
5. Beggar's Banquet

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ross, you're right on about "come" and "emancipation." listen to "come" and "dirty mind" back to back. "come" is stronger (not just longer). we could split hairs, because in terms of brashness o' the times, "dirty mind" is more signficiant, etc. but "come" is a more nourishing listen the whole way through. i'm with mediawhore's U2 list. The Jam 1. Sound Affects 2. The Gift 3. All Mod Cons 4. In The City 5. This Is The Modern World
Randy Newman: 1. Sail Away 2. Good Old Boys 3. Trouble In Paradise 4. Little Criminals 5. 12 Songs
Ross, I don't understand where the Pet Shop Boys response is, especially since it *appears" to be there when I look at the HTML version. Here is that passage: I think "Very" is great and lord knows I played it about a billion times when it came out. But, in retrospect, I think "Please" and "Actually" are stronger records. I did catch "It Couldn't Happen Here" shortly after it was released (I think I rented it on VHS) but haven't seen it since. The Pet Shop Boys _hate_ it, which is probably why it's not on DVD. Anyway, I highly recommend pulling out "Introspective" and listening to "It's Alright." Even though it's a cover, it's one of my favorite PSB songs -- and the version on "Introspective" is the best one of all (a remixed, not-as-good version of the song has since showed up on various compilations and such). One more PSB bit -- they worked with Trevor Horn on their upcoming album, "Fundamental," and it's supposed to be a return to the sound of "Very." (Just like, I suppose, "Release" was supposed to be "Behaviour II.") --Ross
FWIW, I wrote a long (and surely boring) response to Dylan's PSB query that appears to have been eaten by City Pages' blog software. But unless you are well-versed in PSB bsides from 1990, you're not missing much.
How did it take that long to get to a U2 list? And how can you loathe The Joshua Tree? It's all personal taste I guess, and I know the MTV crowd overplayed four or five of those songs, but "One Tree Hill" and "Running to Standstill" get me every time. Here's a couple more takes: U2 1. All That You Can't Leave Behind 2. The Joshua Tree 3. Achtung Baby 4. Boy 5. War Beck 1. Odelay 2. Mellow Gold 3. Guero 4. Midnite Vultures 5. Mutations Jayhawks 1. Hollywood Town Hall 2. Rainy Day Music 3. Sound of Lies 4. Tomorrow the Green Grass 5. Smile Old 97's (getting a little obscure here) 1. Too Far to Care 2. Wreck Your Life 3. Hitchhike to Rhome 4. Early Tracks 5. Drag it Up Anybody up for doing a top 5 Ryan Adams discs from 2005?
Just catching up here... Dylan wrote: >>> Ross, that Pet Shop Boys list is probably how mine would go, too, except I might move "Very" up, and I'd need to go back to "Introspective," which I haven't heard in a long time. Ross, have you ever seen their movie, "It Couldn't Happen Here"? It's pretty cool. >> Ross, have you ever listened to 'Secret Life of Plants'? Critical and commercial disaster, but it's a gorgeous set of music. Me, I'm partial to some of his earlier Wonderwork... <<< One of my siblings had it when I was a wee lad and all I remember is that I hated it. (And from the ages of about 5 to 7, I thought "Boogie on Reggae Woman" was the best song in the world.) That said, I haven't heard the album in 25 years and it's the _only_ Stevie Wonder album from the '70s I haven't gone and picked up on CD. Maybe I should. As for Stevie Wonder's earlier stuff, I agree in that his early singles are amazing -- but I don't think his albums really got good until the early '70s. And for at least five years there, he was basically unbeatable. Jim: Very interesting to see both "Come" and "Emancipaton" on your Prince list(!) I think they're both very underrated -- and as hoary a cliche as this may be, the latter would have been a much bigger hit if it were trimmed down by a third (or even two thirds). There's a lot of gems in there. Let the nerdery continue: Talking Heads: 1. More Songs about Buildings and Food 2. 77 3. Fear of Music 4. Remain in Light 5. Naked Brian Eno: 1. Here Come the Warm Jets 2. Another Green World 3. Taking Tiger Mountain (by Strategy) 4. Before and After Science 5. Wrong Way Up Roxy Music: 1. Country Life 2. Roxy Music 3. For Your Pleasure 4. Stranded 5. Avalon T. Rex: 1. The Slider 2. Electric Warrior 3. Zinc Alloy 4. Futuristic Dragon 5. Tanx Dylan: 1. Blood on the Tracks 2. Bringing it all Back Home 3. Highway 61 Revisited 4. Desire 5. Blonde on Blonde Prince: 1. Sign 'O' the Times 2. 1999 3. Around the World in a Day (I have a very big soft spot for "Pop Life") 4. Dirty Mind 5. Emancipation Velvet Underground: 1. The Velvet Underground 2. Loaded 3. White Light/White Heat 4. The Velvet Underground and Nico 5. VU Lou Reed: 1. Metal Machine Music (if only because it's probably the most talked-about album no one has actually listened to all the way through, and it was such a memorable fuck you to his fans and critics that it'll be mentioned in every obit once that miserable old bastard dies) 2. Sally Can't Dance 3. Transformer 4. Berlin 5. The Blue Mask Jesus and Mary Chain: 1. Barbed Wire Kisses (I know it's a compilation of bsides, but it's still their best album by a mile) 2. Psychocandy 3. Honey's Dead 4. Darklands 5. Automatic The Cure: 1. Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me 2. Pornography 3. Three Imaginary Boys 4. The Head on the Door 5. Bloodflowers Morrissey: 1. Vauxhall and I 2. Your Arsenal 3. Viva Hate 4. You Are the Quarry 5. Ringleader of the Tormentors
I love that U2 list, mainly 'cause I loathe The Joshua Tree and love Boy. I'll have to give Achtung another chance. Under a Blood Red Sky also qualifies as a great album in my book... And maybe the new one? Which I was completely wrong about in my review of a year ago, by the way?
Cool De La list, Pete. I think "Buhloone" is really underrated. I love "Let Love In," too, Tony. Creedence Clearwater Revival: 1. Willie and the Poorboys 2. Cosmo's Factory 3. Green River 4. Bayou Country 5. Pendulum
Another day, another list: Guided By Voices: 1. Bee Thousand 2. Under The Bushes, Under The Stars 3. Universal Truths & Cycles 4. Alien Lanes 5. Isolation Drills Tom Waits: 1. Rain Dogs 2. Bone Machine 3. Frank's Wild Years 4. Big Time 5. Sworfishtrombones Nick Cave: 1. Let Love In 2. Abatoir Blues / The Lyre of Orpheus 3. Henry's Dream 4. Live Seeds 5. No More Shall We Part Springsteen: 1. Darkness on the Edge of Town 2. Born To Run 3. The River 4. Tunnel of Love 5. The Ghost of Tom Joad U2: 1. War 2. Achtung Baby 3. The Unforgettable Fire 4. All That You Can't Leave Behind 5. Boy
i should be shot. i totall forgot "darkness on the edge of town."
Velvet Underground: 1. White Heat/White Light 2. Velvet Underground & Nico 3. Velvet Underground 4. Loaded 5. VU
I'd also add: The Minutemen [five albums worth of great songs spread out over various lengths]: 1. Double Nickels on the Dime 2. Paranoid Time 3. The Punch Line 4. What Makes a Man Start Fires 5. Buzz or Howl Under the Influence of Heat Fugazi: 1. Fugazi [or 13 Songs if you're going to quibble] 2. The Argument 3. Red Medicine 4. Repeater 5. In on the Kill Taker De La Soul: [I actually think all seven albums are great, but don't hold me to this ranking] Buhloone Mindstate AOI: Bionix 3 Feet High and Rising De La Soul Is Dead Stakes Is High Art Official Intelligence: Mosaic Thump The Grind Date
Argh, this is like starting 500 arguments at once... The Clash: 1. Sandinista! 2. London Calling 3. The Clash [UK version] 4. Combat Rock 5. Give 'Em Enough Rope The Beatles: 1. Sgt. Pepper's 2. The Beatles [the White Album] 3. Rubber Soul 4. Abbey Road 5. Revolver Husker Du: 1. Zen Arcade 2. New Day Rising 3. Flip Your Wig 4. Everything Falls Apart 5. Metal Circus A Tribe Called Quest: 1. Midnight Marauders 2. The Low End Theory 3. People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm 4. Beats, Rhymes and Life 5. [maybe that remix album; otherwise "Find a Way" is almost good enough to justify The Love Movement]
Ornette Coleman: 1. The Shape of Jazz To Come 2. Change of the Century 3. Science Fiction 4. Free Jazz 5. In All Languages
I'd like to point out that Britt Robson has deemed my Sonny Rollins list pedestrian, and yet Britt Robson hasn't issued a Sonny Rollins top five of his own. What does this say about Britt Robson? I'll try this Wu-Tang Clan top five, but someone more expert than I on their work could surely improve on it: 1. Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) [group] 2. Return to the 36 Chambers [ODB] 3. Only Built for Cuban Linx [Raekwon] 4. Genius/GZA, Liquid Swords 5. Nigga Please [ODB]
Kinks: 1. Something Else 2. The Village Green Preservation Society 3. Arthuer 4. The Kink Kontroversy 5. Lola vs. the Powerman & the Money-Go-Round, Vol. 1
Zappa/Mothers 1. Hot Rats 2. We're Only In It For the Money 3. Freak Out! 4. Lumpy Gravy 5. Uncle Meat
Inspired by some of Jim's: Bruce Springsteen: 1. Darkness On the Edge of Town 2. The Wild, the Innocent, and the E Street Shuffle 3. Born In the U.S.A. 4. Born To Run 5. Nebraska The Clash: 1. The Clash (U.S. version) 2. London Calling 3. Sandinista! 4. Give 'Em Enough Rope 5. Combat Rock My Husker Du list is the same as Jim's Jim's Cohen top two also the same as mine, but I'm not qualified to do a Cohen top five. "Taxman" also my favorite Bragg. "Fear and Whiskey" my favorite Mekons, but I only know three of their records. "Late for the Sky" also my favorite Browne. Jim, I think you underrate "Running On Empty," though, as we've discussed earlier.
why doesn't the rest of the world have conversations about this shit, instead of oprah and james frey? did that sentence make sense? you know what i mean. poor poor pitiful music geeks. sigh...
Steely Dan: 1. Countdown to Ecstasy 2. Pretzel Logic 3. Aja 4. Katy Lied 5. Can't Buy a Thrill John Prine: 1. Sweet Revenge 2. John Prine 3. The Missing Years 4. Bruised Orange 5. Storm Windows
THIS IS FUN!!!!!!! Tom Waits: 1. Bone Machine 2. Raindogs 3. Mule Variations 4. Frank's Wild Years 5. Nighthawks at the Diner Billy Bragg: 1. Talking With The Taxman About Poetry 2. Workers' Playtime 3. Brewing Up With... 4. Don't Try This At Home 5. William Bloke Leonard Cohen: 1. I'm Your Man 2. The Future 3. Songs From A Room 4. Songs Of Love and Hate 5. New Skin For The Old Ceremony Mekons: 1. The Mekons Rock 'n' Roll 2. Fear and Whiskey 3. Curse Of The Mekons 4. Honky Tonkin' 5. The Edge Of The World The Clash: 1. The Clash 2. London Calling 3. Sandinista 4. Give 'em Enough Rope 5. Combat Rock 'Mats 1. Sorry, Ma 2. Let It Be 3. Pleased To Meet Me 4. Tim 5. Hootenanny I feel a great need to mention "Stink," if only for the great lost "Go." Bruce Springsteen: 1. Tunnel Of Love 2. Nebraska 3. Born To Run 4. The River 5. Born In The U.S.A. Prince: 1. Purple Rain 2. 1999 3. The Gold Experience 4. Come 5. Emancipation Husker Du 1. Zen Arcade 2. New Day Rising 3. Flip Your Wig 4. Warehouse: Songs and Stories 5. Candy Apple Grey Jackson Browne: 1. Late For The Sky 2. For Everyman 3. Saturate Before Using 4. The Pretender 5. I'm Alive
Bob Dylan: 1. Highway 61 Revisited 2. Blonde On Blonde 3. Blood On the Tracks 4. Another Side of Bob Dylan 5. Bringing It All Back Home (And the Dylan bonus lists) Top Five, classic period (1962-1969) 1. Highway 61 Revisited 2. Blonde On Blonde 3. Another Side of Bob Dylan 4. Bringing It All Back Home 5. The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan Top Five, mid period (1970-1980) 1. Blood On the Tracks 2. The Basement Tapes (arguably belongs in "classic period," but I'll go by release date) 3. New Morning 4. Before the Flood 5. Desire Top Five, back forty (1981-present) 1. Infidels 2. Time Out of Mind 3. "Love and Theft" 4. Empire Burlesque 5. Shot of Love
Dar Williams: 1. Mortal City 2. My Better Self 3. The Beauty of the Rain 4. End of the Summer 5. The Green World
The Beach Boys: 1. The Beach Boys Today! 2. Pet Sounds 3. Summer Days (And Summer Nights!!) 4. All Summer Long 5. Wild Honey
Sonny Rollins: 1. The Bridge 2. Saxophone Colossus 3. A Night at the Village Vanguard, Vol. 1 4. Way Out West 5. Plus Four
The Led Zepplin one was awesome.
Al Green: 1. The Belle Album 2. I'm Still in Love with You 3. Let's Stay Together 4. Call Me 5. Gets Next to You
Oh for fuck's sake: 1. Who's Next 2. The Who Sings My Generation 3. A Quick One 4. The Who Sell Out 4. Live at Leeds
Wait a minute! No "truly great" fifth Who record but you post five R Kelly discs? For shame...
I thought about including "The Sun Sessions" since it was sort of viewed as a regular album when it came out in '76, but decided it's a collection and shouldn't count. "For LP Fans Only" includes a few Sun singles, so I thought that would at least hint at that stuff. I still think the '76 "Sun Sessions" comp plays better than the later double or Sun sequence on the '50s boxed-set.
Yeah, Dylan, Elvis Is Back is terrific: dark and mature, right after the Army and his Mom's death. Also, I guess we can't count the Sun Sessions as they were only released on 45s originally. 1. Elvis Is Back 2. Elvis 3. King Creole (actually, two EPs, I think) 4. From Elvis In Memphis (another comeback!) 5. Back In Memphis
Picking up on Justacoolcat's Friday list, here's my P. Funk five: 1. Urban Dancefloor Guerillas (P. Funk All-Stars) 2. Maggot Brain (Funkadelic) 3. Mothership Connection (Parliament) 4. One Nation Under a Groove (Funkadelic) 5. Cosmic Slop (Funkadelic)
I'd go along with that Pavement list, excpet I like "Crooked Rain" better than "Slanted...." And if EPs are okay (I used one for R.E.M.), I might put "Perfect Sound Forever" at number 5.
Yes, Brandon, Kicking Television! One of the best live albums in forever. (Also, I just heard the new Loose Fur recently; there's a great Jeff Tweedy-lead song about Jesus smoking crack. And: does anyone have the Feeling Minnesota soundtrack? I've been trying to find an MP3 of Wilco's "Blasting Fonda.") I'll shut up now. PAVEMENT (Strangely, they get weaker as time goes on. Sad.): 1. Slanted and Enchanted: Luxe and Reduxe 2. Crooked Rain Crooked Rain: L.A.'s Desert Origins 3. Wowee Zowee 4. Brighten the Corners 5. Terror Twilight
"Stop Making Sense," and any other album of previously unavailable concert recordings, is legit. My T. Heads list is as follows: 1. More Songs About Buildings and Food 2. Remain In Light 3. Speaking In Tongues 4. 77 5. Fear Of Music
Talking Heads 1. Stop Making Sense 2. Remain In Light 3. Speaking In Tongues 4. Naked 5. Little Creatures Not sure if 'Stop Making Sense' gets disqualified based on the type of record it is (live, no new tracks), so here's an alternate. Also, good to get their first record in the mix, I think. 6. Talking Heads: 77
Elvis Presley: 1. Elvis Presley 2. From Elvis In Memphis 3. Elvis 4. For LP Fans Only 5. Elvis Is Back!
Led Zeppelin: 1. IV 2. II 3. I 4. III 5. Houses of the Holy
Dylan-- When you said you had a 'Fifth Dimension' thread going, I figured you meant the band... So here goes, my five favorite 5D tracks: 1 (Last Night) I Didn't Get To Sleep 2 Stoned Soul Picnic 3 Wedding Bell Blues 4 Aquarius/Let The Sunshine In 5 Blowing Away I have to compliment your, and Jim's, high ranking of 'Aftermath' in the Rolling Stones albumhood, but I'd place 'Between the Buttons' first... Ross, have you ever listened to 'Secret Life of Plants'? Critical and commercial disaster, but it's a gorgeous set of music. Me, I'm partial to some of his earlier Wonderwork... For my contribution, here are my five fave glam rock bands: 1 (tie) David Bowie and the Spiders from Mars Roxy Music 3 New York Dolls 4 Sparks 5 T Rex Cheers Nick
A couple of these are on the warts-and-all side of "truly great," but whatever. R. Kelly: 1. Happy People/U Saved Me 2. Chocolate Factory 3. R. Kelly 4. R. 5. 12 Play
Karl's Tribe Called Quest list is exceptional in that it represents thier entire catalog, excepting anthologies and remix albums, etc. If you exclude live albums, and the Doug Yule-led studio album, and consider "V.U." a standard studio album that just came out long after the fact (all of these qualifiers make sense to me), you can make a similar list for the Velvet Undergound: 1. The Velvet Undergound & Nico 2. V.U. 3. The Velvet Underground 4. White Light/White Heat 5. Loaded (boxed-set remix preferred)
Early Genesis is good, but I cannot believe that Abacab and Invisible Touch wouldn't be on the Genesis list. Slayer: 1. Reign in Blood 2. Haunting the Chapel 3. Seasons in the Abyss 4. Show No Mercy 5. South of Heaven Robert Palmer: 1. Riptide 2. Heavy Nova 3. 33 & a Third 4. Don't Explain 5. Clues
Prince: 1. Sign O' the Times 2. 1999 3. Dirty Mind 4. Lovesexy 5. Controversy
Van Morrison: 1. Astral Weeks 2. His Band and the Street Choir 3. Tupelo Honey 4. Into the Music 5. Saint Dominic's Preview
My Van list is pretty close to that. I'll post it later. Frank Sinatra: 1. Songs for Only the Lonely 2. Songs for Swingin' Lovers 3. A Swingin' Affair! 4. In the Wee Small Hours 5. Come Dance with Me
Van Morrison: 1. Astral Weeks 2. Veedon Fleece 3. His Band and Street Choir 4. Tupelo Honey 5. Into the Music It's hard not to include Back On Top, St Dominic's Preview, Inarticulate Speech of the Heart, and It's Too Late to Stop Now. Then there's Moondance and Blowin' Your Mind! He can put together an album's worth of good songs, but he can also create whole albums that reach for something else completely.
I decided I'm being too strict about the Replacements: 1. Let It Be 2. Pleased to Meet Me 3. Tim 4. Hootenanny 5. Sorry Ma... (but probably more likely to listen to "All Shook Down" than some of these others.)
All right, this thing is rockin'! Jim, that would have been fun. We were on a tight schedule and it looked like a long wait. I'm compelled to respond to some of weekend's lists: I idolize the Replacements and A Tribe Called Quest and consider myself a good-sized Who fan, but in all cases I can't find a fifth album to pass my "truly great" test. I agree with Greg that "All Shook Down" is underrated, but I think "Let It Be" is pretty much as great as folks say it is. "Pleased to Meet Me" my second favorite, though I wish it weren't so trebly. "Who's Next" also my fave, followed by "My Generation." My top two Tribes mirror Karl's. "Hunky Dory" my fave Bowie. Costello: 1. This Year's Model 2. King of America 3. Armed Forces 4. My Aim Is True 5. Get Happy Ross, that Pet Shop Boys list is probably how mine would go, too, except I might move "Very" up, and I'd need to go back to "Introspective," which I haven't heard in a long time. Ross, have you ever seen their movie, "It Couldn't Happen Here"? It's pretty cool. Wonder: 1. Songs in the Key of Life 2. Innervisions 3. Talking Book 4. Fullfillingness' First Finale (but worst title ever by a major artist?) 5. Hotter Than July
I love this shit! David Bowie: 1. Aladdin Sane 2. Diamond Dogs 3. Ziggy Stardust 4. Young Americans (I'm a relatively recent convert -- give it a shot, it's much better than you remember) 5. Scary Monsters Elvis Costello: 1. Imperial Bedroom 2. Get Happy 3. Almost Blue 4. Trust 5. Blood and Chocolate Pet Shop Boys: 1. Behaviour 2. Actually 3. Introspective 4. Please 5. Very Stevie Wonder: 1. Fulfillingness' First Finale 2. Songs in the Key of Life 3. Talking Book 4. Innervisions 5. Music of My Mind Madonna: 1. Bedtime Stories 2. Like a Prayer 3. Like a Virgin 4. Madonna 5. Music Rolling Stones: 1. Sticky Fingers 2. Exile on Main St. 3. Black and Blue 4. Let it Bleed 5. Beggars Banquet Solo Beatles: 1. All Things Must Pass 2. Band on the Run 3. Plastic Ono Band (Yoko Ono's) 4. Plastic Ono Band (John Lennon's) 5. Fly
A Tribe Called Quest 1. The Low End Theory 2. People's Instinctive Travels And Paths Of Rhythm 3. The Love Movement 4. Midnight Marauders 5. Beats Rhymes & Life
The Replacements: 1. Pleased To Meet Me 2. All Shook Down 3. Tim 4. Let It Be (always thought it overrated) 5. Hootenanny
The Who 1. Who's Next 2. Quadrophenia 3. The Who Sell Out 4. The Who Sing My Generation 5. Tommy
dylan i saw you and nina on lake street last night! we wuz eating thai. you shoulda stayed; we coulda drunk. Rolling Stones 1. Aftermath 2. Beggars' Banquet 3. Exile On Main Street 4. Sticky Fingers 5. Some Girls 6. Got Let It Bleed If You Want It
Genesis: 1. Selling England By The Pound 2. The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway 3. Foxtrot 4. Nursery Cryme 5. Wind & Wuthering
Amazon tells me the Loose Furs album doesn't come out until March, so I'll have to wait to pick it up then. Ah well. Top 5 Greatest Hits albums (now I'm really stretching the rules): 1. The Very Best of Marvin Gaye 2. The Very Best of Otis Redding 3. Replacements, All For Nothing/Nothing For All 4. The Clash, The Story of The Clash 5. The Very Best of Elvis Costello
Brandon, I will, I promise! Hey, you might like this new album called "Born Again in the U.S.A." by Loose Fur, which is Jeff Tweedy, Jim O'Rourke, and Glenn Kotche doing a stakes-are-low side-project thing. It has a couple of pretty great songs.
Wilco: 1. Summer Teeth 2. Mermaid Avenue (w/ Billy Bragg, am I cheating?) 3. Yankee Hotel Foxtrot 4. Being There, Disc 2 5. Kicking Television, Disc 1 Also, please Dylan, get to know The Bends.
I want to do Raidiohead, too, and I'd probably follow your order, but I've never really gotten to know "The Bends."
Radiohead: 1. Kid A 2. OK Computer 3. The Bends 4. Hail to the Thief 5. Amnesiac
The same reason I haven't done Louis Armstrong or Ella Fitzgerald or Gershwin for that matter. It's the compilations I love.
Thelonious monk 1)Brillian Corners 2)Thelonious Monk with John Coltrane 1957 3)Thelonius Himself 4)Monks Music 5)The Unique Thelonious
Side three, yes! I was thinking of doing Monk, but except for "Brilliant Corners" and "Monk's Mood," the albums I love the most I suppose are technically compliations, Genius of Modern Music 1 & 2, and a Prestige two-fer from the '70s.
When I try with John Coltrane, it becomes a Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Thelonius Monk puzzle I can't crack. Perhaps: 1. A Love Supreme 2. Blue Train 3. Ascension 4. Giant Steps 5. Live at Bird Land White Album, Side Three.
Who's gonna do Helmet Boy? Keith, you must like a few tunes from this new Josh Turner album, no? Couple of real downers on there, too, though.
Charlie Mingus: 1. Blues and Roots 2. Mingus Ah Um 3. The Clown 4. Oh Yeah! 5. The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady
Actually, the second Beatles Xmas message (from '64) is a pretty amazing recording. Paul: Thanks folks, don't know where we'd be without you, really. John: In the army perhaps. George: The next [film's] gonna be in color. John: Green. Funny boys, them.
Joni Mitchell: 1. Court & Spark 2. Blue 3. Night Ride Home 4. Hejira 5. For the Roses
Which is your favorite side of "The White Album"? Mine's side three.
Miles Davis: 1. Kind of Blue (conventional wisdom is correct) 2. Miles Smiles 3. Nefertiti 4. In a Silent Way 5. Steamin' with...
Beatles: 1.The Beatles Christmas Record 2.Season's Greetings From The Beatles 3.Christmas Time Is Here Again 4.Happy Christmas 1969 5.Everywhere It's Christmas . . . kidding ofcourse. 1)The White Album (so cliche, I know, and subject to change by the day) 2)Sergeant Pepper's 3)With The Beatles 4)Let It Be 5)Abbey Road
I love *A Rose* for honest and true--I'm probably more likely to listen to that than the 60s records, just 'cause of oversaturation. I think if someone were to ask me to put on some Aretha, though, I'd probably pick *Spirit." "Don't Play That Song" kills me every time.
Beatles for me (British versions) 1. Help! 2. Revolver 3. Beatles for Sale 4. The Beatles (White Album) 5. Rubber Soul
"Swordfishtrombones" was the first one I heard, and has great sentimental value for me, and still seems like the template for most of his subsequent stuff. I rented it! At the old Rent-a-Record shop in Dinkytown. Yeah, "Blood Money" is pretty great, too.
Here goes with John Coltrane: 1. "Live" at Birdland 2. John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman 3. A Love Supreme 4. Giant Steps 5. Ascension
"A Rose Is a Rose" is gutsy. You're not zommin' us on that one, are you? For Aretha, my five is: 1. I Never Loved... (also in my all-time top 5) 2. Lady Soul 3. Aretha Now 4. Young, Gifted, and Black 5. Sparkle (which I probably overrate)
I really wanted to get Swordfishtrombones in there but I've been hooked on Blood Money lately. I don't know how, I hated it the first few times I listened to it. I'm like that at times with music. On second thought I'm going to have to agree with Mule Variations at 5. How could I forget Chocolate Jesus?
I'm game... With the Beatles Rubber Soul Revolver A Hard Day's Night Sergeant Pepper's
For Waits, my five is: 1. Swordfishtrombones 2. Bone Machine 3. Rain Dogs 4. Closing Time 5. Mule Variations
OK, who's going to take on the Beatles?
ok, for the sake of brevity I've counted Funkadelic and Parliament as the same band, as they were all the same crew. 1)Standing On The Verge (Funkadelic) 2)Maggot Brain(Funkadelic) 3)Mothership Connection (Parliament) 4)Up For The DownStroke (Parliament) 5)The Clones of Dr. Funkenstein
Aretha: I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You Spirit in the Dark Lady Soul A Rose Is Still a Rose Young, Gifted & Black
Tom Waits 1)Rain Dogs 2)Bone Machine 3)Closing Time 4)Franks Wild Years 5)Blood Money I would of put The Early Years at 3, had some comilations been allowed.
They Might Be Giants 1. Lincoln 2. They Might be Giants 3. Flood 4. Mink Car 5. Apollo 18
Yeah, "Dear God" is kind of a clunker. I guess you could track down the original version that didn't include it, and not have it sully the experience.
It's fine, I just get sick of people calling it their best album. And I never need to hear "Dear God" again. They don't have any albums I really dislike (although I've never heard "Go 2").
Do you not much like "Skylarking" or just don't like it as much as the others? I like the early ones, but am more sentimental about "Skylarking" and "Oranges & Lemons."
XTC: 1. Black Sea 2. English Settlement 3. Drums & Wires 4. White Music 5. Apple Venus Vol. 1 Take that, Rundgren!
I have other friends who love "Automatic." It never really hit me. Plus, at the time I was working at a record store where it got played maybe three- or five-hundred times, and I've never really recovered from the overexposure.
Even though Automatic for the People suffers from the treacly "Everybody Hurts," I think it's under-rated. "Nightswimming" and "Find the River" are two of my favorite REM songs, and not just because the latter kinda has my name in it (okay, so it's "coriander," whatever!).
Corey, that R.E.M. list is perverse! No, just kidding, but for me, it'd be: 1. Reckoning 2. Murmer 3. Chronic Town (EP, but give me a break) 4. Lifes [sic] Rich Pageant 5. Out of Time Though I'm not sure if I really think "Out of Time" is "truly great." I kind of lost the faith on them in the early '90s, and should probably hear a few of their late-period albums.
Cool choice on "On the Beach"! One of my faves as well, though it misses my top five. I like quite a lot of his '80s stuff, and think "Landing On Water" is an especially good collection of songs that had the misfortune of being recorded badly. Also, I like some of the '90s records, but My Neil Young top five is all '70s: 1. After the Gold Rush 2. Tonight's the Night 3. Rust Never Sleeps 4. Time Fades Away 5. Zuma
REM: 1. Life's Rich Pageant 2. Automatic for the People 3. Fables of the Reconstruction 4. Murmur 5. Document
Neil Young: 1. Tonight's The Night 2. Sleeps With Angels 3. On The Beach 4. Rust Never Sleeps 5. After The Goldrush