Essential Albums

[Mike McC]

Simple premise. What do you think are essential albums that everyone should listen to, ones with near perfect tracklists, that you can listen to over and over again? No specific orders, no set limits, just post albums you personally think others should check out.

Here's my list:
Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, by Wilco
Back in Black, by AC/DC
Illinois, by Sufjan Stevens
Dead Man's Party, by Oingo Boingo
Gorillaz, by Gorillaz
London Calling, by The Clash
Madvillainy, by Madvillain
Rush of Blood to the Head, by Coldplay
Stop Making Sense, by Talking Heads

I will probably think of more, when I get home, to

[Lumenskir]

Since I Left You - The Avalanches
You Forgot It In People - Broken Social Scene
Born to Run - Bruce Springsteen (Although I think Born in the U.S.A. might be the better album, I think the age range of the forum means Born to Run hits closer to home)
Hell Hath No Fury - Clipse
Discovery - Daft Punk
The Earth is Not a Cold Dead Place - Explosions in the Sky
The Soft Bulletin - The Flaming Lips
College Dropout - Kanye West
Black on Both Sides - Mos Def
Takk - Sigur Rós

[Osterbaum]

I was gonna say London Calling, but you beat me to it.

I suppose I could come up with more though. Atleast one.

Riot on an Empty Street - Kings of Convenience

[Yrcrazypa]

No mention of these amazing albums?
Dark Side of the Moon - Pink Floyd
The Wall - Pink Floyd
A Night at the Opera - Queen
News of the World - Queen

[Masked Jedi]

I think Give Em Enough Rope is a lot more essential than London Calling.

Oh, and Blood on the Tracks.

Sgt. Pepper's too.

And Animals.

[Mondt]

For metalcore types...

Nocturne - The Human Abstract
Self-Titled - Killswitch Engage
Alive or Just Breathing - Killswitch Engage

Some stuff just as mainstream, but in my opinoin has probably the best album set up in terms of song progression ever:

One-X - Three Days Grace

More to come as I think of them, but I'll probably forget abotu this post and never bother with it again.

[Lost in Time]

In Absentia - Porcupine Tree

It just has the perfect blend of hard riffs, soothing vocals and thought provoking lyrics. I can never get tired of listening to it, and I listen to it a lot.

Also: Volume II - Hurt. Almost for the same reasons.

[Rant_S_S]

Andrew Bird - Armchair Apochrypha(Pretty new, but easily his best album)
Arctic Monkeys - Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not
Blink 182 - Dude Ranch
Bob Dylan - Bringing It All Back Home
Brand New - Deja Entendu
Bright Eyes - Lifted Or The Story Is In The Soil, Keep Your Ear To The Ground
Death Cab For Cutie - Transatlanticism
Godspeed You! Black Emperor - Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven
Incubus - Morning View
Jimmy Eat World - Bleed American
Joan of Arc - Joan Of Arc, Dick, Cheney, Mark Twain
Joy Divison - Unknown Pleasures
Manchester Orchestra - I'm Like A Virgin Losing A Child
Miles Davis - Kind of Blue
Modest Mouse - Good News For People Who Like Bad News
Mogwai - Come On Die Young
Saves The Day - Stay Who You Are
Say Anything - ...Is A Real Boy
Sneaker Pimps - Bloodsport
Sonic Youth - Daydream Nation
Taking Back Sunday - Tell All Your Friends
The Ataris - So Long Astoria
The Beatles - Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band
The Doors - The Doors
The Jesus And Mary Chain - Automatic
The Matches - Decomposer
The Number Twelve Looks Like You - Mongrel
This Will Destroy You - This Will Destroy You
Thrice - Identity Crisis
Thursday - Full Collapse
Weezer - The Green Album

[Vault Of Thrones]

Also: Volume II - Hurt. Almost for the same reasons.

See, I loved Volume I, but I just couldn't get into Volume II, maybe I'll give it another try, but everyone should definately listen to:

Hurt - Volume I (maybe II also)

There are some albums that I feel you have to listen to with headphones on to get the full affect of it:

Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon
Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Herea

Hurt with headphones only adds to the awesomeness.

[PraetorZorak]

Boston - Boston
Time Out - The Dave Brubeck Quartet
S&M - Metallica
Eye in the Sky - The Alan Parsons Project

[Fifthfiend]

Simple premise. What do you think are essential albums that everyone should listen to, ones with near perfect tracklists, that you can listen to over and over again? No specific orders, no set limits, just post albums you personally think others should check out.

Here's my list:
Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, by Wilco
Back in Black, by AC/DC
Illinois, by Sufjan Stevens
Dead Man's Party, by Oingo Boingo
Gorillaz, by Gorillaz
London Calling, by The Clash
Madvillainy, by Madvillain
Rush of Blood to the Head, by Coldplay
Stop Making Sense, by Talking Heads

I will probably think of more, when I get home, to

Since I Left You - The Avalanches
You Forgot It In People - Broken Social Scene
Born to Run - Bruce Springsteen (Although I think Born in the U.S.A. might be the better album, I think the age range of the forum means Born to Run hits closer to home)
Hell Hath No Fury - Clipse
Discovery - Daft Punk
The Earth is Not a Cold Dead Place - Explosions in the Sky
The Soft Bulletin - The Flaming Lips
College Dropout - Kanye West
Black on Both Sides - Mos Def
Takk - Sigur Rós

Andrew Bird - Armchair Apochrypha(Pretty new, but easily his best album)
Arctic Monkeys - Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not
Blink 182 - Dude Ranch
Bob Dylan - Bringing It All Back Home
Brand New - Deja Entendu
Bright Eyes - Lifted Or The Story Is In The Soil, Keep Your Ear To The Ground
Death Cab For Cutie - Transatlanticism
Godspeed You! Black Emperor - Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven
Incubus - Morning View
Jimmy Eat World - Bleed American
Joan of Arc - Joan Of Arc, Dick, Cheney, Mark Twain
Joy Divison - Unknown Pleasures
Manchester Orchestra - I'm Like A Virgin Losing A Child
Miles Davis - Kind of Blue
Modest Mouse - Good News For People Who Like Bad News
Mogwai - Come On Die Young
Saves The Day - Stay Who You Are
Say Anything - ...Is A Real Boy
Sneaker Pimps - Bloodsport
Sonic Youth - Daydream Nation
Taking Back Sunday - Tell All Your Friends
The Ataris - So Long Astoria
The Beatles - Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band
The Doors - The Doors
The Jesus And Mary Chain - Automatic
The Matches - Decomposer
The Number Twelve Looks Like You - Mongrel
This Will Destroy You - This Will Destroy You
Thrice - Identity Crisis
Thursday - Full Collapse
Weezer - The Green Album

Just as a suggestion but instead of just listing bunches of albums maybe you could pick out a few of what you consider to be particularly important or meaningful ones and say what's so essential about them?

I mean I'm saying inasmuch as this is a thread about albums you think other people ought to listen to, "band name + album name" is not a super effective way to convince people they ought to go do that.

Also:

Weezer - The Green Blue Album

FTFY

[Osterbaum]

Can't say I have a good reason why anyone should listen to what I suggested.

Except, you won't know, unless you do.

[The Mirror Emperor]

I think if some are interested in the main roots of rock/metalcore/metal/heavy metal/whatever, they should probably turn their attention to:

Dark Side Of The Moon- Pink Floyd
Paranoid- Black Sabbath
Master Of Puppets- Metallica
The Black Album- Metallica
Back In Black- AC/DC
Led Zeppelin IV- Led Zeppelin
Nevermind- Nirvana
Machine Head- Deep Purple
Appetite For Destruction- Guns N Roses
The White Album- The Beatles

because those albums re-defined the genre at the time they were released and has had major influences in the rock/metalcore/whatever albums of today, and if they have that much impact, they're worth listening to and purchasing. But what I think has a major influence of the metal scene of today would be this album (solely):

Vulgar Display Of Power- Pantera

Any other album of the genre is superfluous, in my opinion.

[Wyndon]

If you're into Sublime, Incubus, Jack Johnson, Ben Harper, Ben Folds, Dispatch, State Radio, or anyone that has a really nice acoustic sound....

Selections for Friends - Jason Mraz

Picks out his best live songs (hard choice. To put it in perspective, I have ~900 Jason Mraz live songs. Each one is different from the next, even though he performs roughly the same ~60 songs over and over again. He....is a brilliant musician, and a very passionate artist. Makes each performance memorable and very different. Even has ~35 live-only songs, that aren't on albums, and most of the songs on albums have additional verses in his live performances). Very very beautiful album. Warning: Music is about love (not love between a man and a woman, though he does sing about sex a lot, but moreso, a love of humanity and a love of existence), drugs (read: Jason Mraz smokes a lot and references it a lot), and happiness. :)

[facelift]

Black Flag - My War
Pink Floyd - A Saucerful of Secrets
Slayer - God Hates Us All, Reign In Blood
Mr. Bungle - Mr. Bungle, Disco Volante, California (all of them)
Faith No More - Angel Dust
Fantomas - Fantomas, Delirium Cordia
Naked City - Torture Garden
Massive Attack - Mezzanine, Protection
Down - Down II: A Bustle In Your Hedgerow
Melvins - Bullhead, Stoner Witch

[Bobbey]

Well, I'm actually happy that two people know what Kind of Blue (Miles Davis) and Time out (Dave Brubeck with Paul Desmond) are and I bet there are others also. Those two albums are important if you want to get to know the essential standards of Jazz. Other important albums that regroup an important number of standars are Giant Steps (John Coltrane) and Something Else (Cannonball Adderly). Giant Steps is an important album because Trane is my God and Cannonball's sound is so silky on his album, it's impossible not to like him. In a whole, those 4 four albums make a good starting list for people who aren't familiar with Jazz.

If you're courageous enough, you can try to listen to Bitches Brew by Miles Davis, but I wouldn't recommend it for someone who doesn't understand that type of music because it might give them a bad idea of what Jazz is (this album represents Free Jazz and Jazz Fusion).

Also: Rubber Soul and Revolver by the Beatles. Great songs.

[Warumono]

Brand New - Your Favorite Weapon
Mars Volta - Deloused in the Comatorium
Dir en Grey - Withering to Death
The Raveonettes - Whip It On
Taking Back Sunday - Where you want to be
Linkin Park - Reanimation
Eminem - Slim Shady LP
Particle - Launchpad
^^

[GARUD]

I'm almost insulted nobody mentioned Maroon 5's album "Song's about Jane", or Kat Deluna's "9 lives".

[Cid Highwind]

Pink Floyd's The Wall

Mudvayne- L.D. 50