My Favourite Rock Albums
New 8.5/10. Yay
9.5/10
1. Vampire Rodents - Lullaby Land (1993)
2. Faust - Faust (1971)
3. The Red Crayola - The Parable of Arable Land (1968)
9.0/10
4. Soft Machine - Third (1970)
5. Captain Beefheart & The Magic Band - Trout Mask Replica (1969)
6. Klaus Schulze - Irrlicht (1972)
7. The Residents - Not Available (Supposedly 1974, released 1978)
8. The Velvet Underground - The Velvet Underground & Nico (1967)
9. Tim Buckley - Lorca (1970)
10. Royal Trux - Twin Infinitives (1990)
11. Tangerine Dream - Zeit (1972)
8.5/10
Chronologically
Parson Sound - Parson Sound (1968)
Van Morrison - Astral Weeks (1968)
Nico - The Marble Index (1968)
Frank Zappa - Absolutely Free (1969)
Third Ear Band - Alchemy (1969)
Colosseum - Valentyne Suite (1969)
Nico - Desertshore (1970)
Frank Zappa - Burnt Weeny Sandwich (1970)
The Residents - Meet The Residents (1974)
Robert Wyatt - Rock Bottom (1974)
Suicide - Suicide (1977)
Pere Ubu - The Modern Dance (1978)
Pop Group - Y (1979)
Jon Hassell - Dream Theory In Malaya (1981)
Peter Gabriel - Passion (1989)
Lisa Germano - Geek The Girl (1994)
Nine Inch Nails - The Downward Spiral (1994)
The Swans - Soundtracks For The Blind (1996)
Hash Jar Tempo - Well Oiled (1997)
The Mars Volta - Frances The Mute (2005)
Joanna Newsom - Ys (2006)
8.0/10
Chronologically
Frank Zappa - Freak Out! (1966)
The Doors - The Doors (1967)
Pink Floyd - Piper At The Gates of Dawn (1967)
Pink Floyd - A Saucerful of Secrets (1968)
The Velvet Underground - White Light/White Heat (1968)
King Crimson - In The Court of The Crimson King (1969)
MC5 - Kick Out The Jams (1969)
Frank Zappa - Uncle Meat (1969)
Tim Buckley - Starsailor (1970)
Peter Green - The End of The Game (1970)
Captain Beefheart - Mirror Man (1971)
Can - Tago Mago (1971)
The Taj Mahal Travellers - July 15th, 1972 (1972)
Neu! - Neu! (1972)
Popol Vuh - Hosianna Mantra (1973)
Gong - Flying Teapot (1973)
Stephan Micus - Implosions (1977)
The Residents - Eskimo (1980)
The Dead Kennedys - Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables (1980)
Glenn Branca - The Ascension (1981)
Tom Waits - Swordfishtrombones (1983)
Butthole Surfers - Psychic, Powerless...Another Man's Sac (1984)
Husker Du - Zen Arcade (1984)
Tom Waits - Rain Dogs (1985)
Foetus - Nail (1985)
Talk Talk - Spirit of Eden (1988)
Techno Animal - Ghosts (1991)
My Bloody Valentine - Loveless (1991)
Babes In Toyland - Fontanelle (1992)
Today Is The Day - Willpower (1994)
Autechre - Chiastic Slide (1997)
Amon Tobin - Bricolage (1997)
Dirty Three - Ocean Songs (1998)
Dirty Three - You Love What You Are (2000)
Solex - Low Kick and Hard Bop (2001)
Carla Bozulich - Evangelista (2006)
Elegi - Varde (2009)
Most of the alterations appear to be downwards. I think you used to have Twin Infinitives as an 8.5. Any particular reason you now find it to be better?
I just got overwhelmed by it last night, it's definitely a 9.
Are the entries under "pending" albums you are undecided on, or albums you plan on listening to?
Undecided, and there are more still, but those have the highest chance of making an appearance on this list.
Have you heard "American IV: A Man Comes Around" by Johnny Cash? I'm fairly relunctent to give it a rating as it's mainly an album of covers but it's some of the must emotional folk/blues I've heard. Specifically, check out "Hurt", "Personal Jesus" and "First Time Ever I saw Your Face". Eclectic track selection done perfectly by Cash.
Lol your rock/classical taste is pretty much Scaruffist these days. It's only your electronic music tastes that differ to a noticeable extent.
I absolutely LOVE Faust: Faust. I've listened to that album at least 6 times (which never happens with me).
Hell yeah. Now time for the rest of krautrock (it's only small, so shouldn't take long to cover) : Neu!, Can, Kraftwerk etc =)
Ah you've finally seen the light. Faust is the greatest album of all time not the 3rd :)
Hey, 90% of the lists I see on this site are almost the exact same as the Scaruffi list. I mean, Why do you people even bother making such lists when the original still exists and has more visitors than yours?
Hello, actually, I bother because I want to. This isn't actually indentical (How dare I? Seriously, the audacity to make such a thing is unbelievable.), and it hasn't always looked this way, it's a gradual thing. It's also a personal thing, and I never told you to come and look. Some listologists actually enjoy discussing music they have in common and making recommendations, I'm sorry you don't.
Yeah it has a lot of Scaruffist albums, but the order is actually different on a lot (I don't see Irrlicht 2nd on his) of it, just like yours.
And speaking of similarity, have you seen most populist opinions? They nearly always consist of: 4 Beatles Albums, Dark Side, Led Zep, Bob Dylan, Bowie and Beach Boys etc. Should they also not bother?
I approved this because it appeared like it might be a content discussion rather than a personal attack, albeit snarky (the use of "you people" is always a bad sign). I see from other comments awaiting moderation that this is just going to go downhill so I killed 'em. Take it somewhere else if you're going to look down your nose.
I apologise for my hostile reply as well Jim, it was a bad time to insult my opinions as I believe that hadn't been a great day, to put it mildly. Thanks anyway, in future I shan't be so hasty to reply with the same viciousness that people use on me :)
I apologize too, for telling my opinion with such a snarky comment, and by the way, I see you love Peter Gabriel's "Passion" like me!
Very cool, thanks guys. rhayader18, I've taken you out from under moderation based on the quality of your olive branch. :-)
Rick Astley? Surely not.
1 word: Perfection.
Word.
Agreed. In fact, I'd say neptune should raise it to at least a 10.5.
This must be like Scaruffi and that cheesy eurodance song from 2005.
Doobi Dam Dam is a poor man's Never Gonna Give You Up, the true rival to Sister Ray ;)
I'm scaring myself here, but I listened to it a couple nights ago and it actually was pretty good to me this time...maybe even 6ish (as opposed to the 3.5 or 4 I thought it was before)...I mean I am actually starting to find it kind of idiotically emotional...frightening I know...if this keeps up I'll have some explaining to do.
Even better, for the hell of it I checked out Meatloaf's "I Would Do Anything For Love" song from the 90's (when I was a young 'un I thought it was the best) and that was surprisingly good...very much in the vein of Steinman's Original Sin (one of my favorites).
Of course neither of these can touch Astley. The voice. The charisma. The dancing. The look. It's all just too much.
His music videos are astonishing...
There's a slew of them on youtube. Wow.
Haha, you guys disgust me.
You just don't get it. It's all about emotion...
Sadly, the emotional profundity of Astley's earth-shattering LP has been lost to me, but rest assured guys it's still a high 7.5 ;)
Rock Bottom certainly has slipped for you over time, from first to seventh. Perhaps you need to listen to it six times in a night with no sleep ;)
LOL perhaps I do, though it's no criticism on Rock Bottom per se, it's just I feel the works above it surpass its greatness. It is still a 9, and a high one at that. Do you like Twin Infinitives?
Turns out, Slipknot didn't used to be so bad. Their debut (without Corey Taylor), Mate. Kill. Feed. Repeat. is actually pretty impressive - almost like Shit and Shine slowed down with a little more melody (ok a lot more, the latter don't really possess much). Scaruffi only reviews from their self titled and later, and he gives it a 7/10 (a vastly overrated album), though I think if he gives that rating to the weaker, he may have given the first a 7.5 (or 8.0). I personally think it's hovering between 7.0/7.5 territory, with some really great songs (Tattered and Torn and Gently), both of which are put into a poppier format in their later releases.
Anyone else heard/like?
One Conclusion: Frank Zappa is (was) God.
He was. And still is.
I'm tempted to put on ...And Justice For All and/or Kill Em All on here, any thoughts?
Woo!
Why does Video Game music suck so badly now? It used to be of this ridiculous profundity:
1 & 2 (let the second video play for 25 seconds, and then enjoy heaven)
NB: Holy shit! Ninja Gaiden rules
Reasons why My Bloody Valentine own: Exhibit A.
That is quite simply epic and it has shot to my second favourite MBV track after I Only Said
How was the Holocaust section when you saw them?
Well, when I saw them I didn't have this EP only their two albums but I do remember them playing this. It was awesome, seeing as it was at a festival and a good chunk of people watching them were not fans that section in particular sent them away in droves. As I mention on my artists I've seen page I would like to see them again in an indoor smaller venue with exclusively MBV fans for an even better atmosphere. Basically the set up Animal Collective had.
This may be very random, but I was wondering your opinion on the artist Dead Can Dance , and specifically their album Within The Realm of a Dying Sun . The album itself is Modern Classical/Experimental/Ambient, and it came out around '87 I believe. Let me know your opinion :)!
It may just be me, but both the man's and woman's voice move me more than most I've heard.
Apologies for very late reply. I haven't heard them sorry, but I'll definitely check them out soon. (:
Major upheaval soon; some additions, a few dropouts and major placement changes. It's almost too much to cope with.
Kick Out The James. Haha, cheers Matt.
Woops...lol.
What's your opinion of Zen Arcade?
Turn on the news...
Oh Hiya Lester. Notice any familiarities between him and a certain italien? It seems Scaruffi has influences aswell...
Only just found the other L Bangs? I thought he was common knowledge? I think he's possibly the second best critic of rock music, although his aesthetic isn't as diverse as Piero's, for instance I couldn't imagine him talking too favourably on Robert Wyatt or The Residents (seeing as he tends to favour noise rock, punk aesthetic and free jazz).
Suicide is the & Nico of the 70's.
Did Parable of Arable Land just jump up to a 9.5? If so, awesome. It's been very interesting seeing the evolution of your list.
I've being toying with adding Evangelista to my list as well, but I can't quite decide. The title track is an absolute masterwork, epic and terrifying, but the rest of the album doesn't to seem "come together" as well as I would like. I think it's a pacing issue, something to do with the track order. It's pointless criticizing an album as stunning and evocative as Evangelista, but I still can't quite get over the feeling that it's not quite as great as some of the "lower rung" entries in my list.
Yeah it was quite recent, it's funny because I didn't even used to like it that much compared to other Scruffy albums.
Evangelista does suffer a bit from the whole White Light/White Heat syndrome, but I think though it has weaker tracks they are still very good. The worst song is probably Steal Away. What did you think of Hello, Voyager?
"White Light/White Heat syndrome", that's a good way of putting it. I actually like Steal Away well enough (probably my 4th favorite track on the album). I enjoyed Hello, Voyager, but I couldn't get over feeling that it wasn't a fully finished album. Maybe that "stipped-down" style just doesn't suite Bozulich as well.
William Basinski's Disintegration Loops may not be great art, but it sure is beautiful (:
Greatest artsits?
1. Tim Buckley
2. Frank Zappa
3. The Residents
4. Pere Ubu
5. The Velvet Underground
Greatest songs?
1. Phantasmagoria In Two
2. Venus In Furs
3. War Sucks
4. Paint It Black
5. California Uber Alles
Suites?
1. Lorca
2. Sister Ray
3. Alifib
4. Moon In June
5. Halleluwah?
Are any of these correct? Accurate in the slightest? Who knows? Who the fuck even cares?
Artists
1. Pere Ubu
2. Frank Zappa
3. Can
4. Nick Cave
5. Bob Dylan
Songs
1. Modern Dance
2. Good Morning, Captain
3. Something I Learned Today
4. Venus In Furs
5. The Mercy Seat
Suites
1. Sister Ray
2. Sleep
3. Halleluwah
4. Trilogy
5. Miss Fortune
Artists
1. Frank Zappa
2. Velvet Underground
3. The Residents
4. Tim Buckley
5. Captain Beefheart
Songs
1. Phantasmagoria In Two (I'm still in the 'honeymoon period' for this song where I get shivers on every listen. Still I expect it to remain top 5)
2. Venus In Furs
3. Janitor Of Lunacy
4. Scavenger
5. The Becoming
Suites
1. Sister Ray
2. Alifie
3. Satz Ebene
4. Birth Of Liquid Plejades
5. Moon In June