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Top 10 Rock Albums Every Music Fan Should Own


JohnRogers
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It’s not like I don’t agree that these are all essentials, but rock has expanded to mean so much more since most of these came out, and a lot of other, later essentials have been left off.

 

Oh, except The Last Waltz. The Band is great and all but I’ve never listened to that record and I’ve never seen half the hullaballoo around it as I have for the other albums on this list.

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I own four of them, maybe 5?  I think I have an Abbey Road copy around somewhere?  I know I have Who's Next, Rumours, Led Zeppelin IV  and Sticky Fingers. I have never really liked Pink Floyd or the Doors enough to buy them.  

 

I would argue that Led Zeppelin II is as good as IV in it's own way, closely followed by III,  and that Let It Bleed is a little better than Sticky Fingers but that's just being picky. :laugh:  I agree, Paranoid should be on there somewhere.  The Last Waltz is pretty good as well, not that wild about the movie it gets looonnnng.  I like the White Album and Rubber Soul better than Abbey Road but again, oranges and oranges ! :biggrin:

Edited by blueschica
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I have five,  Zep, VH, Floyd, Mac and Abbey Road.   Used to have Who's Next and Ziggy on cassette

 

Agree with the Band being  one that doesn't belong on this list.  And yes, EP, the list reflects a pretty narrow scope of rock music. As I think about it, these albums are so iconic... do you even need to own them?  You can probably just borrow copies in every format from your neighbors on either side or down the street

 

:cheers:

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15 minutes ago, goose said:

I have five,  Zep, VH, Floyd, Mac and Abbey Road.   Used to have Who's Next and Ziggy on cassette

 

Agree with the Band being  one that doesn't belong on this list.  And yes, EP, the list reflects a pretty narrow scope of rock music. As I think about it, these albums are so iconic... do you even need to own them?  You can probably just borrow copies in every format from your neighbors on either side or down the street

 

:cheers:

 

 

whenever i read essential lists for rock.  it's the same albums really......iconic though they may be.......others exist, lol

 

i think it's the same group of aging boomer critics that write these as well:zzz: lol

 

Mick

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24 minutes ago, goose said:

I have five,  Zep, VH, Floyd, Mac and Abbey Road.   Used to have Who's Next and Ziggy on cassette

 

Agree with the Band being  one that doesn't belong on this list.  And yes, EP, the list reflects a pretty narrow scope of rock music. As I think about it, these albums are so iconic... do you even need to own them?  You can probably just borrow copies in every format from your neighbors on either side or down the street

 

:cheers:

I was actually thinking of clarifying that. These are essential listens, but not essential to own. For instance, if you listen to The Doors and discover you just can’t get into the whole psychedelic, death obsessed, moody existential lyrics, then there’s no reason to go out and buy it!

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11 minutes ago, bluefox4000 said:

 

 

whenever i read essential lists for rock.  it's the same albums really......iconic though they may be.......others exist, lol

 

i think it's the same group of aging boomer critics that write these as well:zzz: lol

 

Mick

I mean goodness they didn’t even get to the mid 80s. What a shame.

 

EDIT: Actually they didn’t even get to the 80s at all!!!

Edited by Entre_Perpetuo
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10 hours ago, blueschica said:

I own four of them, maybe 5?  I think I have an Abbey Road copy around somewhere?  I know I have Who's Next, Rumours, Led Zeppelin IV  and Sticky Fingers. I have never really liked Pink Floyd or the Doors enough to buy them.  

 

I would argue that Led Zeppelin II is as good as IV in it's own way, closely followed by III,  and that Let It Bleed is a little better than Sticky Fingers but that's just being picky. :laugh:  I agree, Paranoid should be on there somewhere.  The Last Waltz is pretty good as well, not that wild about the movie it gets looonnnng.  I like the White Album and Rubber Soul better than Abbey Road but again, oranges and oranges ! :biggrin:

I agree you could replace LZ IV with LZ II, Sticky Fingers with Let it Bleed, and Abbey Road with the white album with respect to my personal preference about those bands' discographies.  But as a general proposition I can't disagree with the article that all of the albums, except The Last Waltz, are essential.

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35 minutes ago, Entre_Perpetuo said:

I mean goodness they didn’t even get to the mid 80s. What a shame.

 

EDIT: Actually they didn’t even get to the 80s at all!!!

 

Not past the 70's.  you KNOW it's boomers.

 

"Music after 79?.........i can't hear you!!!!! Lalalalala:laugh:

 

Mick

Edited by bluefox4000
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48 minutes ago, Entre_Perpetuo said:

I was actually thinking of clarifying that. These are essential listens, but not essential to own. For instance, if you listen to The Doors and discover you just can’t get into the whole psychedelic, death obsessed, moody existential lyrics, then there’s no reason to go out and buy it!

So much this!  Other groups > Doors to me. Good point about essential listening.

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Off the top of my head, here's a list of 10 essential CDs to keep in your car for any mood:

 

The Beatles - Sgt. Pepper*

The Stones - Let it Bleed*

Sabbath - Paranoid

Van Halen - s/t*

AC/DC - Back in Black

Aerosmith - Toys in the Attic

Def Leppard - Pyromania

Nirvana - Nevermind

Rush - Moving Pictures

Ozzy Osbourne - Blizzard of Ozz

 

*Not my favorite by the band, but the album by them I suppose is more universally beloved than my favorite.

 

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13 minutes ago, blueschica said:

So much this!  Other groups > Doors to me. Good point about essential listening.

 

not a doors guy.  BUT i love the debut.  but the sound they have gets more cheesy to me every album.

 

Also i have a hard time getting over what a psycho morrison was.

 

Mick

 

 

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2 hours ago, goose said:

I have five,  Zep, VH, Floyd, Mac and Abbey Road.   Used to have Who's Next and Ziggy on cassette

 

Agree with the Band being  one that doesn't belong on this list.  And yes, EP, the list reflects a pretty narrow scope of rock music. As I think about it, these albums are so iconic... do you even need to own them?  You can probably just borrow copies in every format from your neighbors on either side or down the street

 

:cheers:

 

"Scuse me: do you have a cup of Fleetwood Mac I could borrow?" :tongue:

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I happily live without most of these.

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On 6/23/2023 at 6:53 PM, Entre_Perpetuo said:

It’s not like I don’t agree that these are all essentials, but rock has expanded to mean so much more since most of these came out, and a lot of other, later essentials have been left off.

 

Oh, except The Last Waltz. The Band is great and all but I’ve never listened to that record and I’ve never seen half the hullaballoo around it as I have for the other albums on this list.

 

I agree that these are pretty cliche 70's choices, and "rock" is such a wider palette than these type of lists give credit for.

 

Personally, I think most of these belong on a top 100 list for sure, but for me Van Halen is in no way a top ten album or band.  They're just on a different tier from The Stones, Beatles, Fleetwood Mac, etc.  My opinion, of course.

 

I think the thing with the Last Waltz is...it's the most "rock" of their output, in terms of being the closest thing to hard rock.  So, if you're gonna have a list with Zep and Van Halen on it, there isn't another Band record that remotely fits...and I think whoever the hell wrote the list feels that The Band is important enough that they belong on a list with The Beatles, Stones, Who etc (which I agree with).  But to your point about rock "expanding"...the Band, along with Dylan (who's not on the list!) essentially created the Americana or Roots Rock genre, which clearly has HUGE influence and ripples through modern rock music.  But if you put Big Pink or the self-titled album (which would be my pick) on a list like this, it seems not "rock" enough to be included. 

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I do think Rumors is an essential listen. It may not be as heavy as a lot of our preferences, but it’s one of the most important record albums of all time, and with one of the most interesting stories behind it. It’s one of those things you need to hear for context more than anything else.

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7 minutes ago, Entre_Perpetuo said:

I do think Rumors is an essential listen. It may not be as heavy as a lot of our preferences, but it’s one of the most important record albums of all time, and with one of the most interesting stories behind it. It’s one of those things you need to hear for context more than anything else.

 

one of the most important pop/rock albums ever made IMO.  it deserves it's place. and they fact they hated each other at the time and made THAT is both hilarious and impressive.

 

Mick

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