YOUR 20 most favourite rock/metal albums

[Turbine Freight]

1. Bowie - The Man Who Sold The World.

 

2. Bowie - Low.

 

3. Heart - Little Queen.

 

4. Heart - Dog & Butterfly.

 

5. Blue Oyster Cult - Cultosaurus Erectus.

 

6. Blue Oyster Cult - Mirrors.

 

7. Diamond Head - White Label Promo.

 

8. Y&T - Earthshaker.

 

9. Judas Priest - Killing Machine.

 

10. Scorpions - Virgin Killer.

 

11. U.F.O. - Obsession.

 

12. Fleetwood Mac - Fleetwood Mac ( Buckingham/Nicks era).

 

13. Montrose - Montrose.

 

14. Starz - Violation.

 

15. Journey - Evolution.

 

16. Megadeth - Rust In Peace.

 

17. Hanoi Rocks - Back To Mystery City.

 

18. Thin Lizzy - Bad Reputation.

 

19. Budgie - Power Supply.

 

20. Kansas - Song For America.

[Steevo]

but yeah, hate to be a goober about this, but it's pretty much impossible for me to narrow it down to just 20

 

Hard but not impossible, that's why I like these kind of lists, the challenge.

[Steevo]

To me there's a big difference between what I consider the most important rock albums and what I consider are my favorite rock albums. Which are you looking for?

 

Brought to you by "Goober's Mountain Out Of A Molehill Enterprises", Driving Folk To Exasperation Since 2004!

Get ready for a spreadsheet list of top 20 by decade and/or top 20 by sub-sections of rock. ;)

 

lol, I understand that kind of detail sometimes and aware how difficult these lists are for some.

[rushgoober]

Recently I did a top 100 list, so here's that. If you're not interested in all 100, just look at the top 20:

 

1. Love - Forever Changes (1967)

2. Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young - So Far (1974 - material from 1969/1970)

3. Genesis - Selling England by the Pound (1973)

4. Jefferson Airplane - After Bathing At Baxter's (1967)

5. King Crimson - Lizard (1970)

6. Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band - Trout Mask Replica (1969)

7. The Moody Blues - On the Threshold of a Dream (1969)

8. Syd Barrett - The Madcap Laughs (1970)

9. Yes - Tales from Topographic Oceans (1973)

10. Can - Tago Mago (1971)

11. The Beatles - Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967)

12. Pink Floyd - The Dark Side of the Moon (1973)

13. Rush - Hemispheres (1978)

14. Rush - Signals (1982)

15. Robert Wyatt - Rock Bottom (1974)

16. Faust - The Faust Tapes (1973)

17. Grateful Dead - Anthem of the Sun (1968)

18. The Jimi Hendrix Experience - Electric Ladyland (1968)

19. Pink Floyd - The Piper at the Gates of Dawn (1967)

20. Pink Floyd - The Early Singles (1967-1968)

21. Led Zeppelin - IV (1971)

22. Rush - Moving Pictures (1981)

23. Amon Duul II - Dance of the Lemmings (1971)

24. 13th Floor Elevators - Easter Everywhere (1967)

25. Fairport Convention - What We Did On Our Holidays (1969)

26. The Moody Blues - In Search of the Lost Chord (1968)

27. King Crimson - In the Court of the Crimson King (1969)

28. The Moody Blues - Days of Future Passed (1967)

29. Jefferson Airplane - Surrealistic Pillow (1967)

30. Simon & Garfunkel - Bookends (1968)

31. The Beatles - The White Album (1968)

32. The Rolling Stones - Flowers (1967)

33. The Zombies - Odessey & Oracle (1967)

34. Faust - Faust (1971)

35. Banco Del Mutuo Soccorso - Io Sono Nato Libero (1973)

36. Yes - Close to the Edge (1972)

37. Jefferson Starship/Paul Kantner - Blows Against the Empire (1970)

38. Rush - Permanent Waves (1980)

39. The Mothers of Invention - Freak Out! (1966)

40. Bobb Trimble - Harvest of Dreams (1982)

41. Camel - Moonmadness (1976)

42. Caravan - If I Could Do It All Over Again, I'd Do It All Over You (1970)

43. The Kinks - The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society (1968)

44. Popol Vuh - Spirit of Peace (1985)

45. Premiata Forneria Marconi (PFM) - Per Un Amico (1972)

46. Joni Mitchell - Blue (1971)

47. Yes - Time and a Word (1970)

48. Astra - The Weirding (2009)

49. Astra - The Black Chord (2012)

50. Nektar - A Tab in the Ocean (1972)

51. Amon Duul II - Yeti (1970)

52. Relatively Clean Rivers - Relatively Clean Rivers (1976)

53. Daevid Allen - Now is the Happiest Day of Your Life (1977)

54. Lazy Smoke - Corridor of Faces (1969)

55. Yes - Tormato (1978)

56. Harmonium - Si On Avait Beson Dune Cinquieme Saison (1975)

57. The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band - Volume 3: A Child's Guide to Good & Evil (1968)

58. Gong - You (1974)

59. The Who - Who's Next (1971)

60. The Byrds - The Notorious Byrd Brothers (1968)

61. Rush - Rush (1974)

62. Camel - Mirage (1974)

63. Simon & Garfunkel - Parsley, Sage, Rosemary & Thyme (1966)

64. Tangerine Dream - Electronic Meditation (1970)

65. Jean-Michel Jarre - Rendezvous (1986)

66. The Future Sound Of London - Lifeforms (1994)

67. Premiata Forneria Marconi (PFM) - Storia Di Un Minuto (1972)

68. Rush - Grace Under Pressure (1984)

69. Steve Hillage - Fish Rising (1975)

70. Lush - Split (1994)

71. Mandrake Memorial - Puzzle (1969)

72. The Jimi Hendrix Experience - Are You Experienced? (1967)

73. Sun Ra - Strange Celestial Road (1980)

74. Popol Vuh - Hosianna Mantra (1972)

75. Kiss - Double Platinum (1978)

76. Spirit - 12 Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus (1970)

77. Heldon - II: Allez Teia (1975)

78. Ya Ho Wa 13 - Savage Sons of Ya Ho Wa (1974)

79. The Who - The Who Sell Out (1967)

80. Credence Clearwater Revival - Cosmo's Factory (1970)

81. Simon & Garfunkel - Sounds Of Silence (1966)

82. Country Joe & The Fish - Electric Music for Mind and Body (1967)

83. Tangerine Dream - Force Majeure (1979)

84. The Innocence Mission - Birds of My Neigborhood (1999)

85. Anglagard - Hybris (1994)

86. David Van Tieghem - These Things Happen (1984)

87. The Pretty Things - S.F. Sorrow (1968)

88. Last Exit - Iron Path (1988)

89. Le Orme - Contrappunti (1974)

90. Cocteau Twins - Victorialand (1986)

91. Bread Love & Dreams - Amaryllis (1971)

92. Joni Mitchell - Court and Spark (1974)

93. Cat Stevens - Tea for the Tillerman (1970)

94. Sigur Ros - Agaetis Byrjun (1999)

95. John Coltrane - Sun Ship (1971)

96. The Velvet Underground - Velvet Underground & Nico (1967)

97. Clearlight - Clearlight Symphony (1975)

98. Van Der Graff Generator - Pawn Hearts (1971)

99. Ya Ho Wa 13 - Penetration: An Aquarian Symphony (1974)

100. Il Rovescio Della Medaglia - Contaminazone (1973)

Edited May 25, 2013 by rushgoober

[Lorraine]

1. Days of Future Passed - The Moody Blues

2. Deja Vu - Crosby Stills Nash & Young

3. Beggars Banquet - The Rolling Stones

4. Child Is Father To The Man - Blood Sweat & Tears

5. Court of the Crimson King - King Crimson

6. Who's Next - The Who

7. Quadrophenia - The Who

8. Ars Nova - Ars Nova

9. Billion Dollar Babies - Alice Cooper

10. Close To The Edge - Yes

11. To Our Children's Children's Children - The Moody Blues

12. Question of Balance - The Moody Blues

13. Every Good Boy Deserves Favor - The Moodly Blues

14. Seventh Sojourn - The Moody Blues

15. Beat Crazy - Joe Jackson

16. Aja - Steely Dan

17. Ice House - Ice House

18. Pyromania - Def Leppard

19. Grace Under Pressure - ??? (The name of this band escapes me at the moment.)

20. Moving Pictures - Same unknown band above did this album too.

 

These aren't in any chronological order, and my list could go on, but you asked for twenty, and even doing that was a hard task as I could have included many more.

Edited May 27, 2013 by Lorraine

[goose]

Iron Maiden – Killers

 

:haz:

[goose]

Jane's Addiction: Nothing's Shocking, Ritual de lo Habitual

Great picks! :ebert:

Love both but was surprised by Ritual's popularity. There's some seriously dark material on that.

Love seeing them listed! "Classic Girl" is one of my favorite songs by anyone. :cheers:

[Steevo]

_{I really enjoyed reading these. Thanks to those who posted, I know it was hard for some (inc me)}

[goose]

All those nonsensical sub-sections get to be tedious. I had never heard of 'math rock' until about a month ago. But apparently it's been around for over a decade. There is absolutely no reason for subsections other than for sales

Nonsense! Subgenres serve the purpose of helping people elevate their sense of self-importance and providing them reasons to dismiss multiple artists' music off-hand.

[Tony R]

Van Halen - Van Halen

Rising - Rainbow

Obsession - UFO

A Million Vacations - Max Webster

Machine Head - Deep Purple

Still Got The Blues - Gary Moore

Are You Experienced? - Jimi Hendrix

Who's Next - The Who

Starz - Starz

Jailbreak - Thin Lizzy

Caravanserai - Santana

Black Holes & Revelations - Muse

IV - Led Zeppelin

Sloe Gin - Joe Bonamassa

Taken By Force - Scorpions

Ghost - Ghost

Ted Nugent - Ted Nugent

Black Country Communion 2 - BCC

Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath

Crack The Skye - Mastodon

 

 

[Lorraine]

Recently I did a top 100 list, so here's that. If you're not interested in all 100, just look at the top 20:

 

1. Love - Forever Changes (1967)

 

Now how could I have left this one out?

[Rick N. Backer]

In no particular order, and somewhat off the top of my head:

 

1. The Beatles ("the white album")

2. Van Halen - Fair Warning

3. Black Sabbath - Heaven and Hell

4. Def Leppard - Pyromania

5. The Beatles - Abbey Road

6. Black Sabbath - Paranoid

7. Led Zeppelin - II

8. Soundgarden - Superunknown

9. Stone Temple Pilots - Core

10. Rush - Permanent Waves

11. Rush - Moving Pictures

12. The Rolling Stones - Exile on Main Street

13. The Jimi Hendrix Experience - Are You Experienced?

14. Iron Maiden - The Number of the Beast

15. AC/DC - Back in Black

16. UFO - Lights Out

17. Deep Purple - Burn

18. Rainbow - Rising

19.Guns N Roses - Appetite for Destruction

20. Audioslave - s/t

 

I stayed within the OPs parameters regarding "solo" albums, although I wrestled with including Blizzard of Ozz and Diary of a Madman. When Blizzard was released, Ozzy said he had formed a band named Blizzard of Ozz.

 

The White Stripes' excellent Get Behind Me Satan, should be in there, but top 20 is tough to crack, and that's arguably a solo act too.

Edited May 28, 2013 by Rick N. Backer

[rushgoober]

All those nonsensical sub-sections get to be tedious. I had never heard of 'math rock' until about a month ago. But apparently it's been around for over a decade. There is absolutely no reason for subsections other than for sales

Nonsense! Subgenres serve the purpose of helping people elevate their sense of self-importance and providing them reasons to dismiss multiple artists' music off-hand.

 

I find sub genre designations EXTREMELY useful in terms of just being descriptive. For example, I really like an album or a group, find out it's got a certain sub genre designation and it helps me find other potentially great music that is in a similar vein. Yes, sometimes albums or groups defy easy categorization or span multiple genres and/or sub-genres, but I still find it incredibly helpful beyond it just being a marketing technique.

[rushgoober]

1. Days of Future Passed - The Moody Blues

2. Deja Vu - Crosby Stills Nash & Young

3. Beggars Banquet - The Rolling Stones

4. Child Is Father To The Man - Blood Sweat & Tears

5. Court of the Crimson King - King Crimson

6. Who's Next - The Who

7. Quadrophenia - The Who

8. Ars Nova - Ars Nova

9. Billion Dollar Babies - Alice Cooper

10. Close To The Edge - Yes

11. To Our Children's Children's Children - The Moody Blues

12. Question of Balance - The Moody Blues

13. Every Good Boy Deserves Favor - The Moodly Blues

14. Seventh Sojourn - The Moody Blues

15. Beat Crazy - Joe Jackson

16. Aja - Steely Dan

17. Ice House - Ice House

18. Pyromania - Def Leppard

19. Grace Under Pressure - ??? (The name of this band escapes me at the moment.)

20. Moving Pictures - Same unknown band above did this album too.

 

These aren't in any chronological order, and my list could go on, but you asked for twenty, and even doing that was a hard task as I could have included many more.

 

We definitely have very compatible musical tastes. :cheers:

[rushgoober]

Recently I did a top 100 list, so here's that. If you're not interested in all 100, just look at the top 20:

 

1. Love - Forever Changes (1967)

 

Now how could I have left this one out?

 

[rushgoober]

Van Halen - Van Halen

Rising - Rainbow

Obsession - UFO

A Million Vacations - Max Webster

Machine Head - Deep Purple

Still Got The Blues - Gary Moore

Are You Experienced? - Jimi Hendrix

Who's Next - The Who

Starz - Starz

Jailbreak - Thin Lizzy

Caravanserai - Santana

Black Holes & Revelations - Muse

IV - Led Zeppelin

Sloe Gin - Joe Bonamassa

Taken By Force - Scorpions

Ghost - Ghost

Ted Nugent - Ted Nugent

Black Country Communion 2 - BCC

Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath

Crack The Skye - Mastodon

 

For someone so involved in progarchives, I'm astounded how your top 20 list is such straight-ahead rock. Nothing wrong with that of course - just surprising...

[Lorraine]

Recently I did a top 100 list, so here's that. If you're not interested in all 100, just look at the top 20:

 

1. Love - Forever Changes (1967)

 

Now how could I have left this one out?

 

 

Rushgoober, do you know if they ever put out a CD for that one? Off the top of my head, and relying on my increasingly poor memory, the only two songs I remember are "You Set The Scene" (that was that very last song on the album) and the "Good Humor Man" which is the song that I heard on the radio in 1968 that drew me to them.

[rushgoober]

Recently I did a top 100 list, so here's that. If you're not interested in all 100, just look at the top 20:

 

1. Love - Forever Changes (1967)

 

Now how could I have left this one out?

 

 

Rushgoober, do you know if they ever put out a CD for that one? Off the top of my head, and relying on my increasingly poor memory, the only two songs I remember are "You Set The Scene" (that was that very last song on the album) and the "Good Humor Man" which is the song that I heard on the radio in 1968 that drew me to them.

 

Is there anything that HASN'T been put out on CD by now?

 

Yes, it exists on cd, AND it's one of those rare cd's that contain bonus tracks that are actually really good, including the post-Forever Changes 1968 single, etc. The original version of the CD had a high pitched sound on it that was from the original masters, but was later corrected. There are several versions available on CD, but any one from the last few years will do. The whole album is really phenomenal IMHO...

[Lorraine]

Thanks for the info! I will check it out on Amazon.

 

I'm just reading about it on Wiki and I am surprised the album is now one of the de facto albums of the sixties. I don't think I ever ran into more than two people (including myself) that even heard of it when I was growing up, and I grew up in the NYC metro area.

Reading the song list, I remember "Andmoreagain". The others do not ring a bell without hearing the album.

[Lorraine]

Steevo, sorry. Didn't mean to hijack your thread. I'll go quietly now. :)

[Steevo]

Steevo, sorry. Didn't mean to hijack your thread. I'll go quietly now. :)

 

No! I want people to discuss, it's how we learn

[Tony R]

Van Halen - Van Halen

Rising - Rainbow

Obsession - UFO

A Million Vacations - Max Webster

Machine Head - Deep Purple

Still Got The Blues - Gary Moore

Are You Experienced? - Jimi Hendrix

Who's Next - The Who

Starz - Starz

Jailbreak - Thin Lizzy

Caravanserai - Santana

Black Holes & Revelations - Muse

IV - Led Zeppelin

Sloe Gin - Joe Bonamassa

Taken By Force - Scorpions

Ghost - Ghost

Ted Nugent - Ted Nugent

Black Country Communion 2 - BCC

Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath

Crack The Skye - Mastodon

 

For someone so involved in progarchives, I'm astounded how your top 20 list is such straight-ahead rock. Nothing wrong with that of course - just surprising...

 

I deliberately didn't pick any Prog bands.

[Steevo]

Van Halen - Van Halen

Rising - Rainbow

Obsession - UFO

A Million Vacations - Max Webster

Machine Head - Deep Purple

Still Got The Blues - Gary Moore

Are You Experienced? - Jimi Hendrix

Who's Next - The Who

Starz - Starz

Jailbreak - Thin Lizzy

Caravanserai - Santana

Black Holes & Revelations - Muse

IV - Led Zeppelin

Sloe Gin - Joe Bonamassa

Taken By Force - Scorpions

Ghost - Ghost

Ted Nugent - Ted Nugent

Black Country Communion 2 - BCC

Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath

Crack The Skye - Mastodon

 

For someone so involved in progarchives, I'm astounded how your top 20 list is such straight-ahead rock. Nothing wrong with that of course - just surprising...

 

I deliberately didn't pick any Prog bands.

 

So it's not a true list? :(

[rushgoober]

Van Halen - Van Halen

Rising - Rainbow

Obsession - UFO

A Million Vacations - Max Webster

Machine Head - Deep Purple

Still Got The Blues - Gary Moore

Are You Experienced? - Jimi Hendrix

Who's Next - The Who

Starz - Starz

Jailbreak - Thin Lizzy

Caravanserai - Santana

Black Holes & Revelations - Muse

IV - Led Zeppelin

Sloe Gin - Joe Bonamassa

Taken By Force - Scorpions

Ghost - Ghost

Ted Nugent - Ted Nugent

Black Country Communion 2 - BCC

Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath

Crack The Skye - Mastodon

 

For someone so involved in progarchives, I'm astounded how your top 20 list is such straight-ahead rock. Nothing wrong with that of course - just surprising...

 

I deliberately didn't pick any Prog bands.

 

How come? If I tried to do a top 20 album list without any prog albums I'd be dead because part of me would kill the part trying to do that... unless I was specifically listing 20 fave psych albums, 20 fave ambient albums, etc. Otherwise - dead.

[Tony R]

Van Halen - Van Halen

Rising - Rainbow

Obsession - UFO

A Million Vacations - Max Webster

Machine Head - Deep Purple

Still Got The Blues - Gary Moore

Are You Experienced? - Jimi Hendrix

Who's Next - The Who

Starz - Starz

Jailbreak - Thin Lizzy

Caravanserai - Santana

Black Holes & Revelations - Muse

IV - Led Zeppelin

Sloe Gin - Joe Bonamassa

Taken By Force - Scorpions

Ghost - Ghost

Ted Nugent - Ted Nugent

Black Country Communion 2 - BCC

Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath

Crack The Skye - Mastodon

 

For someone so involved in progarchives, I'm astounded how your top 20 list is such straight-ahead rock. Nothing wrong with that of course - just surprising...

 

I deliberately didn't pick any Prog bands.

 

So it's not a true list? :(

 

The requirement was for "rock/metal" and this is my "rock/metal" list.