Greatest album ever?

[Legion]

Here is one for you guys. What, if you had to choose, is the greatest record/ album of all time? The one record where the band/artist/ producers just got it so right that it could never be topped.

It's a tough one, because I automatically want to separate my choices into genres. I mean, how can you compare the best jazz album against the best heavy metal, etc?

Still, see if you can narrow it down.

I'm still deciding....

 

[Mendel]

Off the top of my head, I can think of three: Michael Jackson's Thriller, The Beatles Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, James Taylor's Greatest Hit. Perhaps, we should indeed select one for each genre.

 

[American1911]

Impossible to only pick one, but Dylan's Blood on the Tracks is in the running.

 

[American1911]

The nomination wouldn't be complete without an entry from:

 

[American1911]

However my pick is:

 

[Judge Dredd]

Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon" probably does it for me. Iconic doesn't cover it, and the conspiracy theories with The Wizard of Oz just give it more legs.

Simple Minds' "New Gold Dream 81-82-83-84" just works so well even though the band went through huge upheavals at the time. Cameos from Kirsty Maccoll and Herbie Hancock are absolutely to be treasured.

At the moment, I'm very much enjoying Underworld's "Barking". As hard as I try, I just can't put it aside.

 

[maxman]

This is a very difficult task!
I can think of many albums that stand alone on their recording merits (mixing and producing) like the RHCP Blood Sugar Sex Magik.
There are albums that just captured a time and place perfectly or some that make my toes tingle because they are true works of art.

I dunno. This one is going to take some time to figure out.

 

[duotone]

http://rateyourmusic.com/customchart

OK Computer by Radiohead tops this list.

 

[Beerman]

For me, it would be "Who's Next". Not a bad song on the album and several are classics.



Beerman

PS. Is it really fair, in discussions of this sort, to include any "greatest hits" album??

 

[djh]

I have pretty broad musical tastes and I struggle to get past this one:

​

 

[Agravic]

U2 - The Joshua Tree



a difficult choice to choose one, as my tastes are quite diverse
but this is the one that came to mind first
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[boogieman_]

Gorillaz - Plastic Beach.

Errr... A UK mono of Sgt. Peppers would probably win it for me though.

Neutral Milk Hotel - In the Aeroplane Over The Sea. Best ever. It takes about 3 listens to be hooked for life on this one. It is challenging for some but others are instantly loving this. The way he uses his voice almost as an instrument is amazing. Not the amazing that gets overused so much, but the real genuine AMAZING!

 

[Comet]

Van Morrison: Astral Weeks

 

[UngerWoo]

Van Morrison: Astral Weeks

+1

I was coming to post Astral Weeks and give a plug for Big Star's Radio City (Sister Lovers is at or near the top, too)

 

[johnniegold]

I guess in order to be the greatest ever, the album would have to have had a great impact on the music scene and perhaps change the way we listened to and thought about music.

50's- Elvis Presley - Elvis Presley
60's- The Beatles - Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band
70's- Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon
80's- Michael Jackson - Thriller
90's- Marriage, Kids, Mortgage, Soccer.

 

[Vickers]

 

[Haggises]

Oh my. Do I go for Night at the Opera or Queen 1?
Number of the Beast or Ride the lightning?
Love Over Gold or Tea for the Tillerman?
Bat out of Hell or 2112?
First and Last and Always or Floodland?


i think I end up with Queen 1. 4 tracks in a row epitomize how good Queen could really be, and the rest are better than most filler.
plus having the greatest rock song of all time in Liar, gives added weight.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oU7rqB9E_0M

 

[rockviper]

Toss up for me between.

and

 

[oakeshott]

I was given this album as a gift from a co-worker in 1984. He'd played jazz professionally for 13 years in NYC and described it alternatively as "the most musical" and the "only perfect" album ever made. I've found nothing in the intervening decades to dispute his opinion.

It's simply called "John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman". In Austin, TX I asked a beautiful piano player at a hotel bar if she could do at tune from this album and her eyes widened and she asked "do you play". Its powers go beyond the album the album cover.

 

[NeverOne99]