Masterpiece Albums

Discussion on new albums, developing listening skills, critical listening to others' work, as well as TOMB members' MP3 links, online recording critiques

Moderator: cgarges

Post Reply
User avatar
JGriffin
zen recordist
Posts: 6739
Joined: Thu Jul 31, 2003 1:44 pm
Location: criticizing globally, offending locally
Contact:

Post by JGriffin » Thu Dec 06, 2007 9:04 am

RefD wrote:*is tempted to start a thread called "Widely Acclaimed Albums That Are Actually Shite"*
We've had a few of those...
"Jeweller, you've failed. Jeweller."

"Lots of people are nostalgic for analog. I suspect they're people who never had to work with it." ? Brian Eno

All the DWLB music is at http://dwlb.bandcamp.com/

User avatar
8th_note
buyin' gear
Posts: 524
Joined: Tue Oct 19, 2004 4:58 pm
Location: Vancouver, WA
Contact:

Post by 8th_note » Thu Dec 06, 2007 8:36 pm

I've discovered a lot of good music through these kinds of threads. There's at least 15 or 20 albums that I'll need to check out from this one. "Masterpiece Albums" is a good way to put it. I'll break mine down into two categories; Well Known and Off The Beaten Path. I'm going to try to not include anything that's already been mentioned.

For me a masterpiece is more than one of my favorite albums. It either defines a period of time in music, defines a genre, or has an element of genius that leaves me shaking my head when the last song's over.

Well Known:
Supertramp - Crime of the Century
Joni Mitchell - The Hissing of Summer Lawns
Derek and the Dominos - Layla
Zero 7 - When It Falls
The Bronx - White Drugs
Anita Baker - Rapture
David Crosby - If I Could Only Remember My Name
Decemberists - Castaways and Cutouts
The Doors - L.A. Woman
Chicago Transit Authority
John Hiatt - Slow Turning
Chris Isaak - Heart Shaped World
k.d. lang - All You Can Eat
Janis Joplin - Pearl
Little Feat - Feats Don't Fail Me Now
Morcheeba - Who Can You Trust?
Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers - Damn The Torpedoes
Refused - The Shape of Punk to Come
Josh Rouse - 1972
Bonnie Raitt - Nick of Time
Roxy Music - Avalon
Santana - third album
Todd Rungren - Nearly Human
Bob Seger - Night Moves
Traffic - The Low Spark of High Heeled Boys
Talking Heads - Speaking in Tongues
Steppenwolf - self titled
Simply Red - Picture Book
Stevie Ray Vaughn - Texas Flood
Dave Brubeck - Time Out
War - The World is a Ghetto
Jennifer Warnes - Famous Blue Raincoat



Off The Beaten Path:
As Tall As Lions - self titled
Rick Derringer - All American Boy
Marshall Tucker Band - self titled
China Crisis - Flaunt the Imperfection
Valerie Carter - Just a Stones Throw Away
Savoy Brown - A Step Further
Foghat - self titled
Kevin Gilbert - Thud
Col. Bruce Hampton and the Aquarium Rescue Unit - self titled
Mickey Hart - Mystery Box
Nate Ouderkirk - Perfect Wave
The Brian Setzer Orchestra - Dirty Boogie
Janis Siegel - At Home
Lionel Hampton - For the Love of Music
Dee Dee Bridgewater - Live in Paris
Clarence Gatemouth Brown - Standing My Ground
Collins, Cray, Copeland - Showdown
John Lee Hooker - The Healer

OK, that's probably overdoing it but maybe there's a few in there that might be a discovery for those of us who have to continually get our new music fix.

BlueMoonshine
gettin' sounds
Posts: 103
Joined: Thu May 31, 2007 12:28 pm
Location: Floyd, VA
Contact:

Post by BlueMoonshine » Fri Dec 07, 2007 10:02 am

visible cow wrote:Ry Cooder & V.M. Bhatt - A Meeting by the River. They met a few hours before recording this album....some of the most inspired improvisations ever.
wholeheartedly agree!

More that I'm thinking of that haven't been mentioned many times already:

Emmylou Harris - Wrecking Ball

SonVolt - Trace

Paul Simon - Graceland

Gillian Welch - Soul Journey

Ryan Adams - Heartbreaker

Ellis Paul - Translucent Soul

frozenfoodaisle
pluggin' in mics
Posts: 37
Joined: Sat Jul 15, 2006 12:28 am
Location: Chicago
Contact:

Post by frozenfoodaisle » Fri Dec 07, 2007 12:48 pm

Here are some masterpiece albums that I listen to alot lately:
Charles Mingus-The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady
Fiery Furnaces-Blueberry Boat
Menomena-Friend or Foe
The Smiths-Strangeways, Here We Come(such an under rated album!)

Great topic!

numberthirty
steve albini likes it
Posts: 315
Joined: Sat Jul 12, 2003 11:39 am

Post by numberthirty » Sun Dec 09, 2007 12:39 am

There are a few mid/early nineties records that came to mind when I saw this thread.

First off, Gentleman by The Afghan Whigs. This record may be as well I think a band ever managed to get every bit of poential out of a record.
It's usually in a dead heat with Big Star's Third record in that respect.
The record has a theme that ties the group of songs together. The performances are amazing. It's also a beautiful sounding record. Needless to say, I could probably go on and on. Why this record hasn't been the subject of some sort of deluxe reissue is beyond me.

Second, Uncle Tupelo's March Record. Given that the band had made a pair of records as an electric trio, the beauty of this acoustic record is amazing. It was also recorded in just a couple of days. Bonus points for the Pete Buck feedback part.

Third, Uncle Tupelo's Anodyne. Made after The March Record, the band replaced it's drummer. Two other members were added and, Anodyne was recorded live. Given that the line-up had not been together that long, it's a really amazing feat that they played as well as they did.

Last, Eveything Sux By the Descendents. After years of playing as ALL, Everything Sux features Milo Aukerman's return on vocals. Factor in the performances of members from previous Descendents line-ups and All vocalist Chad Price and, this record really comes off like a geeks wish list come true.

Danly
takin' a dinner break
Posts: 173
Joined: Fri Sep 22, 2006 12:34 pm
Location: new york

Post by Danly » Sun Dec 09, 2007 2:14 pm

sad to see no one's listed Broken Social Scene's "You Forgot it in People". Amazingly cohesive album that gives me the same feeling as Darkside.. plus my favorite drum sounds, well mixed... lots of buried fun stuff in the background, people talking, dropping amps on the beat with the reverb cranked. Listened to it everynight when I went to sleep for a year or two.

junomat
re-cappin' neve
Posts: 652
Joined: Sat Jul 19, 2003 2:17 pm
Location: Baltimore, MD
Contact:

Post by junomat » Wed Dec 12, 2007 8:56 am

Soul Coughing - Ruby Vroom
The Flaming Lips - Transmissions of the Satellite Heart
Verve - A Northern Soul
Sun Ra - Space is the Place
Tortoise - MIllions Now Living Will Never Die
Trans Am - Futureworld
Laurie Anderson - Mister Heartbreak
Herbie Hancock - Sextant
Frank Zappa - You Can't Do That on Stage Vol 2 / Joe's Garage / Hot Rats
Prince - Dream Factory / Sign o The Times
Lou Reed - Transformer
Hum - You'd Prefer An Astronaut

Ack! This is hard!

User avatar
JGriffin
zen recordist
Posts: 6739
Joined: Thu Jul 31, 2003 1:44 pm
Location: criticizing globally, offending locally
Contact:

Post by JGriffin » Wed Dec 12, 2007 9:43 am

numberthirty wrote:First off, Gentleman by The Afghan Whigs. This record may be as well I think a band ever managed to get every bit of poential out of a record.
It's usually in a dead heat with Big Star's Third record in that respect.
The record has a theme that ties the group of songs together. The performances are amazing. It's also a beautiful sounding record. Needless to say, I could probably go on and on. Why this record hasn't been the subject of some sort of deluxe reissue is beyond me.
Oooh, good choice. I love that record.
"Jeweller, you've failed. Jeweller."

"Lots of people are nostalgic for analog. I suspect they're people who never had to work with it." ? Brian Eno

All the DWLB music is at http://dwlb.bandcamp.com/

generichumanperson
alignin' 24-trk
Posts: 55
Joined: Sat Aug 11, 2007 5:54 pm

Post by generichumanperson » Thu Dec 13, 2007 9:47 pm

cant believe some of these bands didn't get mentioned:

O, yeah! Ultimate Aerosmith Hits - Aerosmith (greatest rock band in America of all time, best selling american rock band of all time, how can you ignore that?)

Poison'd! by Poison

St. Anger by Metallica - underrated.

anything by Atreyu

infinity on high - fall out boy

anything by Bon Jovi

vitalogy - Pearl Jam

anything by Avenged Sevenfold

- actually, with mentioning them, almost any new 'hardcore' band, they are all very promising and full of talent, I can't believe this new genre of 'metal' didnt get mentioned yet.

chinese democracy - guns n roses - ive heard it, trust me.

Dowda van Ded
audio school
Posts: 5
Joined: Sat Dec 15, 2007 3:17 am
Location: Minneapolis, MN

Post by Dowda van Ded » Sat Dec 15, 2007 11:41 pm

EVERYTHING by Peter Gabriel, but especially the newest one "Up" - I don't think I've ever heard so much thought and depth put into an album.
Metallica - Black Album - the songs, arrangements, sounds, and production are SO solid, even if nothing else.
Smashing Pumpkins - Mellon Collie - I have to mention it, since it is the main reason I'm doing anything I do today. I know there are criticisms, but I think there is great diversity in the songs and production techniques.

And my favorite classical albums..

Lorenzo Ghielmi (performer) - On Johann Sebastian Bach's Life, Art, and Work (Winter & Winter) - best sounding performances and recordings of any keyboard music I've ever heard. It sounds so immediate, energetic, sharp, and relevant.

William Walton (composer) - Facade (and Facade 2) on Chandos with Richard Hickox conducting the ensemble and Walton's wife Susana W. as the female reciter. By far the best performance and recording I've heard of this awesome work of art. I know some think the sound is a bit too reverberant, but I love it and it sounds very clear and sharp.

User avatar
logancircle
tinnitus
Posts: 1107
Joined: Fri May 09, 2003 8:45 am
Location: Brooklyn, NY

Post by logancircle » Sun Dec 16, 2007 1:44 am

Rarities, but goodies:

Flora Rosewinter - Laugh Library

Sheldon - Microtone River

Chesnutt Skibes - Morocco Taco Blues

Horsey vs. Poni - Holy Shit
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Studio and Field Recorder in NYC.
I like dirt.
IG: stormydanielson

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

i am monster face
buyin' gear
Posts: 524
Joined: Mon Feb 16, 2004 7:17 pm
Location: Omaha
Contact:

Post by i am monster face » Sun Dec 16, 2007 2:10 am

Two that I didn't see yet.

Live - Throwing Copper (Many people may not agree, but I love it)

Lullaby for the Working Class - Blanket Warm (just discovered this by accident the other year)

User avatar
wedge
tinnitus
Posts: 1088
Joined: Tue Jul 06, 2004 9:08 pm
Location: Washington, D.C.

Post by wedge » Sun Dec 16, 2007 9:48 am

logancircle wrote:Sheldon - Microtone River
Man... I love Sheldon... I actually think Gilded Tube is a better overall album than Microtone River, tho...

will
pluggin' in mics
Posts: 32
Joined: Sat Mar 20, 2004 4:42 am
Location: home in holland
Contact:

Post by will » Sun Dec 16, 2007 10:49 am

dwlb wrote:Tom Lehrer - An Evening With Tom Lehrer
good one! i love that stuff. :D

User avatar
shedshrine
deaf.
Posts: 1868
Joined: Tue Jun 01, 2004 5:47 pm
Location: sf bay area

Post by shedshrine » Mon Dec 17, 2007 10:50 am

i am monster face wrote:Live - Throwing Copper (Many people may not agree, but I love it)
+ one raspy 1


Ween-The Mollusk
+ one salty 1

Post Reply

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 11 guests