The essentials NO-ONE should be without!

[The Drizzle]

[COLOR=DarkGreen]Yeah so i was thinking to myself one fine day while listening to Dark Side of the Moon by Pink Floyd "hey this is an album that should be in everyones music collection, its a pure classic and is really great and awesome and rockin."

that got me to thinking, "what are some other essential albums that absolutely NO-ONE should be without?" so i compilied a list of albums(dont worry, its not that many...yet) that, yes, absolutely no-one should be without. enjoy!

Pink Floyd-Dark Side of the Moon
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Ok, no-brainer. There is a reason why this is the greastest selling album of all time. This band was one of the most influencial bands ever, and this is them at their finest. Unlike in later albums, Roger Waters didnt take the role of control freak and let everyone contribute, and the results are stellar. David Gilmour pours some of his musical genious in here, with some of the most influencial riffs in rock(money, brain damage) There is an amazing vocal solo by Claire Torry in "Great Gig in the Sky". Its just amazing. Plain and simple.

Radiohead-O.K. Computer
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I LOVE this album. It was compared a lot to Pink Floyd when it came out, and rightfully so. i dont care what anyone says, i love Thom Yorkes voice. Every song brings up different emotions when i listen to it. A conceptual album about the way machines dehumanize people that's almost entirely un-electronic, it takes a few listens, but its really worth it. It isnt catchy or doesnt really have any singles(paraniod android, ya i know) but thats why its so great. It makes me love music.

Guns N Roses-Appetite for Destruction
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An album for the rockers everywhere. This was hailed by many as one of the greatest hard rock albums of all time. Now im not the biggest GnR fan, nor the biggest hard rock fan, but this album just takes you and kicks your ***. Every track just knocks you out with legendary riffs and solos. And to top it off, it has one of my favourite tracks of hard rock(sweet child of mine).

Im sorry i planned on having at least a couple more but im getting to tired to do this right now(sleepings a *****, aint it?)...so ill try and finish later

in the meantime i want to hear what you people think of this and give an album or two that you think is a classic and that absolutely no-one should be without aaaand, this is an absolute MUST: you have to explain yourself . i would love you all if you did it.

oh, and one more rule NO and i mean NO: linkin park, evanescence, simple plan, good charlotte etc. I dont want your favorite bands CD just so you can glorify it, I want a CD that has influenced and inspired, that some people consider more than just an album. I understand that some people like those artists, but they arent what im looking for(i like linkin park to, well maybe hybrid theory, but it would have to be a damn good expination)[/COLOR]

[Fall]

I think Metallica should be included in a "requirement" collection.

ReLoad
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Really shows what Metallica are capable of.

Metallica ("The Black Album")
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A showcase of Metallica, at their peak. On the same level as ReLoad, really shows what they're capable of.

I don't think I'd be the same person if I had never heard of Metallica, and especially these albums. There are some songs on both these albums that I can really relate to. [b]My Friend Of Misery[/b], [b]The Unforgiven[/b], [b]Nothing Else Matters [/b]and [b]Enter Sandman[/b] on Metallica ("The Black Album"), and [b]The Memory Remains [/b](best song ever created in the histroy of everything) and [b]The Unforgiven II[/b] on ReLoad, are songs that play a serious role in who I am. These songs are played atleast twice a day, in my everyday life. [b]The Memory Remains[/b], atleast 4 times. I couldn't stand not hearing Metallica for a whole day, I'd go mentally insane.

:smoke:

[Kamuro]

[SIZE=1]I really don't feel like getting album photos so I'll just give some titles lol. Now, my two aboslute favorite genres are Hardcore and Acoustic, so I'll list a CD from both.

[B]Atreyu - Suicide Notes and Butterfly Kisses[/B]
I know you guys are geared more towards the old school feel, hence the Pink Floyd. And Atreyu is merely a few years old, but I'll keep telling you guys over and over again that this album is truly amazing. It will be on any list I have, forever lol. Melodies, breakdowns, lyrics, they have it all, and although it's less so in the new album, this one is amazing. The drummer sings and plays at the same time, truly you unique, and the screamer is incredibly talented. I've seen them plays shows for hours and his voice stays strong the entire night. I could name their real names and give as much information as you like but I'm sure you guys have hear enough rambling from me about this band lol.

[B]The Early November - The Acoustic EP[/B]
I know a lot of fans of this band, but a lot of people miss this certain EP. It contains some of the best acoustic music I've ever heard. When times get hard it's best just to relax and time flow by for a bit, and theres no better CD to do it to. Sure, its not metal, and it's not screaming. But the message is clear, it's easy to relate to, and it's fun to listen to. Ridicule all you want Jake, I love it! lol[/SIZE]

[Jake of Bodom]

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[U][B]Children of Bodom - [I]Follow the Reaper[/I][/B][/U]
Follow the Reaper is (IMO) one of the greatest albums to appear on the Finnish metal scene. An interesting mix of Black, Power, Melo-death and Speed metal is beautifully and skillfully excecuted by the Bodom crew, better here than on the rest of their catalogue. Songs like "Kissing the Shadows", "Northern Comfort", "Children of Decadence", and the classic "Hate Me!" showcase the overwhelming talent of the sextet. Guitar and keyboard solos and lightning-fast harmonies run amok. This album is a must-have for all who appreciate amazing guitar work.

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[U][B]Iron Maiden - [I]Powerslave[/I][/B][/U]
How could Iron Maiden go without making on to a "must-have" list? Powerslave is a no-brainer: "Aces High", "2 Minutes to Midnight", and of course "Rime of the Ancient Mariner" are all on this disc. Iron Maiden is (IMO) one of the greatest bands of all time, and this album is a must-have for any collection.

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In Flames - [I]Whoracle[/I]
In Flames helped to pave the way for the respectable Gothenburg Melodic-Death Metal scene. Their soaring, mile-high riffs and beautiful melodies set them apart. Whoracle, their fourth album, is thought by many to be the pinnacle of their career. "Jotun", "Food for the Gods", "Gyroscope" and "Dialogue With the Stars" start off this disc. All that, plus an awesome cover of Depeche Mode's "Everything Counts" and you've got a classic on your hands.

[satan665]

[QUOTE=Fall]I think Metallica should be included in a "requirement" collection.

ReLoad

Really shows what Metallica are capable of.

Metallica ("The Black Album")

A showcase of Metallica, at their peak. On the same level as ReLoad, really shows what they're capable of.

I don't think I'd be the same person if I had never heard of Metallica, and especially these albums. There are some songs on both these albums that I can really relate to. [b]My Friend Of Misery[/b], [b]The Unforgiven[/b], [b]Nothing Else Matters [/b]and [b]Enter Sandman[/b] on Metallica ("The Black Album"), and [b]The Memory Remains [/b](best song ever created in the histroy of everything) and [b]The Unforgiven II[/b] on ReLoad, are songs that play a serious role in who I am. These songs are played atleast twice a day, in my everyday life. [b]The Memory Remains[/b], atleast 4 times. I couldn't stand not hearing Metallica for a whole day, I'd go mentally insane.

:smoke:[/QUOTE]

I respect that these are your favorite Metallica albums, but I think most people would agree that Reload wouldn't be the album to look to when summing up Metallica. I'd say Master of Puppets was the pinnacle of Metallica's greatness. That or it went downhill from there.

[Goodbye, Face]

In no particular order...

[size=1][b]He is Legend - I am Hollywood[/b]
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These guys have an interesting sound that even those outside of the hardcore/metal scene could enjoy. This cd is decidedly uplifting to listen to. They're even more fun to see live.

[b]Kylesa - Kylesa[/b]
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An... interesting band to say the least. They have three vocalists, one being a girl. They're definitely metal, but they throw lots of other influences like punk and hardcore.

[b]Circle Takes the Square - As the Roots Undo[/b]
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^Not quite what the box looks like, at least the front of it. This is my favorite band. Period. They have an artful approach to their writing and their frontman, Drew Speziale is an amaing with ink, he drew everything on the cover and also draws for Kylesa. They're hardcore and very talented at it. It's a stereotype that Hardcore and Metal lacks talent, when people say that, I let them listen to "Crowquill."

[b]Norma Jean - Bless the Martyr and Kiss the Child[/b]
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Another one of my favorite cd's. I'm actually listening to it while I'm typing this. This is a more popular band, so most of you should already know what they sound like.

[b]The Sound of Animals Fighting - Tiger and the Duke[/b]
I couldn't find a cover image immediately, I apologize. This cd only has four actual songs on it, but they're great songs. It's Electronica/Emocore by a band made up of 16 people. Their main singer is the guy from Saosin and Circa Survive, while one of their guitarists and their drummer are from RX Bandits. It's a very interesting sound and sounds great if you have surround sound.

[b]Coheed and Cambria - The Second Stage Turbine Blade[/b]
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I love this band. The singer, Claudio Sanchez, is quite different from anything else you've heard. The band is quite talented and they have interesting lyrics. Their music videos are also fun, lol.[/size]

I guess that's it. I hope I help anyone looking for new bands! ^_^

[Semjaza]

I agree with The Drizzle's picks offhand, although I'd replace OK Computer with The Bends personally.

This is pretty difficult. Usually when I think essential I think of older albums, but I'll see what I can mix into here without writing way too much.

David Bowie's Hunky Dory and The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and The Spiders From Mars: David Bowie is my favorite musician and these are easily two of his absolute best albums. Amazing from start to finish.

The Rolling Stones' December's Children (And Everybody's): A phenominal band with a huge amount of great records. This is my personal favorite. It has a very rough, garage band sound to it.

Beck's Odelay and Sea Change - Two albums from the same artist that cannnot be more different. Odelay is just freaking crazy and is probably the best Summer album of all time. Sea Change is one of the most depressing and beautiful albums I've ever heard.

At the Drive-In's In/Casino/Out - The best album from a really great rock band that was mostly focused in the late 90s. They're broken up now, but some of the members are probably most known for being in Mars Volta right now.

B.B. King's Live at the Regal - The unquestionable king of the blues. The fact that the best of his many great albums is a live recording really showcases how freaking talented this guy is.

The Beach Boys' Pet Sounds - Most people think of random, dorky surf rock when they think of The Beach Boys, which is understandable. Still others think of the horrible Kokomo. However, what you should be thinking about is Pet Sounds, an amazing album with a more mature edge to it for the band. Many considered this the best produced album of all time (not best album ever, best produced lol).

Beastie Boys' Paul's Boutique - One of the earlier albums that proves that sampling is an art that should be protected. At the time of its release it was largely isunderstood, but over time people realized how amazing and important it is.

Madvillian's Madvillainy - As far as I'm concerned MF Doom is the best rapper out there. He formed Madvillian with Madlib and produced Madvillainy, which is probably MF Doom's best album. There's not much to say. I'd not recommend a single rap album higher than this one.

Say Anything's Is a Real Boy... - One of the best rock albums of recent years from one of the most talented guys in music right now. Phenominal writing, great music and a wonderful sense of irony and sarcasm.

The Beatles' Revolver - A lot of people name other albums before this, but this is my personal favorite Beatles album. There's not much to say other than that you should have this damn CD already.

Black Sabbath's Paranoid - Despite how much of a charicature Ozzy is today, Black Sabbath was responsible for some of the best hard rock, early metal albums in existance. Paranoid is probably the best of them.

Blue Oyster Cult's Secret Treaties - A seriously underrated band aside from some of their singles (like Don't Fear the Reaper). This is easily their best album and one of the best albums ever recorded in the history of rock music.

The Who's Who's Next - The Who are, without a doubt, one of the top bands of all time. They played recently at Live 8 and had one of the best sets there. They're still amazing. Who's Next is one of their many amazing albums and I cannot recommend it enough.

Bonnie "Prince" Billy's I See a Darkness - Also known as Will Oldham.You'll see this one pop up from time to time in the Top 10 albums of all time on a lot of more indie-based lists. It's really amazing but will take time to grow on you due to its pacing.

That's all I feel like typing right now. lol

[Gen. Andronicus]

It's rather interesting to see peoples pick for "best albums ever", or whatnot. I actually find it rather tedious to seperate in my mind what I really hold as great, something that everyone should cherish, and what my current hot pick is. But I'll try for both.

[B]Essentials that have lasted the test of time (comming from my viewpoint):[/B]

Joy Division-- [i]Closer[/i]

A band that was extremely ahead of it's time, and sadly not ever fully recognized (at least not to the extent I think they should have) for their great music. This album probably has the best and most sadly moving final songs, leaving you sad that it was truely their "closer" (hmmm?).

Sunny Day Real Estate-- [i]Diary[/i]

Though I may prefer [i]How It Feels to Be Something On[/i] as the superior album of this band, I can't deny that [i]Diary[/i] was their defining release. Many of today's current crop of emo or indie rock bands consider this band to be an influence, and I would feel that's rightfully so.

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds-- [i]Tender Prey[/i]

Again, this album may not be MY first pick when choosing a out of his pack (though, it probably comes in a close second), I fully realize that even though I feel [I]Murder Ballads[/i], Cave's concept album about death and murder, was much more briliantly formed, it's dealing with may not appeal to everyone. [i]Tender Prey[/i] is by far not as gruesome, yet still shows his amazing capability to write great story songs. It also helps that Cave has a voice like a god.

Zao-- [i]Where Blood and Fire Bring Rest[/i]

Okay, this is where I admit that during the first part of my musical identity phase, I picked up an ear for hardcore/metal music. Ashamed, no. But rather take it as a disclaimer that I would recomend this to anyone who likes hardcore/metal or extreme rock types of music, whatever you want to call it, but it's not for everyone. In my humble opinion, it's a flawless work of sonic art, by one of my favourite bands.

[B]Essentials that are being tested by time (comming from my viewpoint):[/B]

The Fall of Troy-- [i]The Fall of Troy[/i]

This is my current favourite band, however because of there relatively short existence as a band, as well as people (they aren't even old enough to legaly drink), I must see if they hold up. This album showcased the bands amazing musical talent, as well as their fantastic songwritting skills. I like them a lot. New CD on Aug. 16th.

Fiery Furnaces-- [i]Blueberry Boat[/i]

This band makes me feel like i'm eating canddy that will make me wiser the more I eat. Epic, fun, and very zany. It would be an interesting show...


Well, that's all I want to write about right now. I tried my best to seperate my "fleeting flings", from the albums that really mean something. But who know, everything could change given a few more years.

[instantramen14]

[QUOTE=Gen. Andronicus]
Joy Division-- [i]Closer[/i]

A band that was extremely ahead of it's time, and sadly not ever fully recognized (at least not to the extent I think they should have) for their great music. This album probably has the best and most sadly moving final songs, leaving you sad that it was truely their "closer" (hmmm?).
[/QUOTE]
I absolutely agree with this. Joy Division is one of those must listen to bands. I think they weren't fully recognised because Ian Curtis died in the 80's. Although they're not big on the mainstream, they're huge in the underground goth rock circle.

[Semjaza]

Bumping this because I'm interested in seeing more responses. This is one of the more interesting music threads here.

I also wanted to say that Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon is not the best selling album of all time. It's not even in the top 10. Their Wall album is number 3 or so, but not Dark Side of the Moon.

As far as I know, Michael Jackson's Thriller and The Eagles' Greatest Hits album are still at the very top and have been for years.

Dark Side of the Moon was on the charts for an insanely long period of time though.

[Jake of Bodom]

Oh my God, I totally forgot one of the most important ones!

[B][U][SIZE=4]BLACK SABBATH - PARANOID[/SIZE][/U][/B]

If you call yourself a metalhead, you better own this effing album! A true classic that's stood the test of time and is STILL influencing bands today!

[Ozymandius Jones]

[COLOR=DarkOrange]Hmm...

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[b]Pink Floyd - Dark Side Of The Moon[/b]

Just because. The music is creepy and yet relaxing at the same time; paranoid yet pretty...and the constant heartbeat in the background...[SIZE=1]there [B]is[/B] no dark side of the moon, really, as a matter of fact it's [B]all[/B] dark....[/SIZE]

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[B]The Beatles - Revolver[/B]

Many Beatles fans, myself included, will cite [i]this[/i], and not Sgt. Pepper, as the album that changed it all, and we're probably right. Themes of psychedelia and eastern mysticism that were repeated so effectively on Sgt. Pepper's were first expirimented with here. And it has something for almost all their fans. It has Paul's [admittedly, unabashedly sappy] love songs in the form of [I]Here, There and Everywhere[/I] and [I]Good Day, Sunshine[/I], George's cynicism with [I]Taxman[/I] and his expirimental sitar-work with [I]Love You To,[/I] John's just plain bizarre lyrics with [I]She Said, She Said,[/I] and his sheer [b]genius[/b] with [I]Tomorrow Never Knows[/I], and even Ringo gets to sing on my favorite novelty song of all time, [I]Yellow Submarine.[/I] ^__^

[IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v257/OzymandiusJones/sgt_pepper.jpg[/IMG]
[B]The Beatles - Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band[/B]

Without a doubt, THE most famous album of the 1960s. One of the first widely-accepted psychedellic albums, its bizzare sounds and effective mish-mash of styles made it revolutionary, changing an entire generation's way of producing music. Of course, it did it at the expense of their less-arty fans, but that's their loss.

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[B]Genesis - Foxtrot[/B]

Genesis' first huge album, and my favorite. Every song on this album is worth listening to a million times. Except that that would take you a million years, as the best song on it - [I]Supper's Ready[/I], a tale of love and the end of the world - is twenty three minutes long.

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[B]Genesis - The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway[/B]

What I believe is early-prog-rock's answer to [i]Tommy[/i], TLLDOB is the story of a New York City street punk named Rael, his journey to the Underworld, and his subsequent discovery that humans are created and there are many of him....or something like that. To tell the truth, the story just confuses me, but the music is worth it, especially [i]In the Cage[/i].

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[B]The Who - Who's Next?[/B]

Four of the most-known Who songs are off of this album - [I]Baba O'Riley, Bargain, Behind Blue Eyes[/I] and [I]Won't Get Fooled Again [/I] - and so are two of my less-popular favorites, John Entwistle's tale of an angry, vengeful wife - [i]My Wife[/i] -and what was [I believe] meant to be the finale to Pete Townshend's ambitious [i]Lifehouse[/i] project, [i]The Song is Over[/i]. With this album, The Who pioneered the use of synth, and gave rock and roll its best known scream...plus you get the not-so-hidden, not-so-subtle jab at Stanley Kubrick on the cover.

[IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v257/OzymandiusJones/who_quadrophenia.jpg[/IMG]
[B]The Who - Quadrophenia[/B]

The story of Jimmy, a young mod, who has four distinct personalities and his desperate attempts to fit in; not much I can say about this one, except that the album is worth it for [i]Cut My Hair[/i] and [i]Love Reign O'er Me[/i] alone.

[IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v257/OzymandiusJones/Who_Tommy.jpg[/IMG]
[B]The Who - Tommy[/B]

Ah, yes. The story of a young man, psychosomatically blind deaf and dumb, who becomes a messiah-like-figure upon recovering his senses. Pete Townshend's most famous work, and my personal...almost favorite. It would be better if they didn't cut John's songs out of the live performances...lovely album...

Yes, I probably have more, yes I will probably return. But those are the first I think of.[/COLOR]