6 albums that blew me away before 1990. No particular order.

[FarrahWaters]

Originally Posted by SeattleUte

The pianist/conductor Vladimir Ashkenazy's "Mozart's Great Piano Concertos." Okay, I'm showing my age now, but no, I don't mean to be pretentious.

Hmm, I might have to check the Ashkenazy out. I have yet to really hear a performance of these that has been particularly memorable, or made me want to own the Mozart piano concertos.

Some memorable albums are:
Kind of Blue- heard it in high school. Miles Davis, Coltrane, Bill Evans, Paul Chambers, I mean come on...

Glenn Gould's Goldberg Variations(Bach) He plays the Aria beautifully, and the rest of the variations with precision and vigor. His own humming heard in the recording doesn't bother me. Interesting fellow, Glenn Gould...

Beethoven late string quartets, especially the Grosse Fugue Can't remember the performer, but changed the way I thought about classical music.

Anything by Clifford Brown and Max Roach I've never heard such a pure tone out of a trumpet.

that's what comes to mind now.

[outlier]

Originally Posted by non sequitur

BTW, my avatar is the album cover of one my other favorite albums of all time. Ten points to anyone who can identify it.

The ELP at the bottom and 70's style on your list kind of gives it away for an easy Amazon search. OTOH, it's pretty cool cover art. Apparently someone over there thinks it was "a conductor's wet dream". I'm not sure if that piques my interest. But maybe.

o

[MikeWaters]

as a younger man I listened to Led Zeppelin IV and Dark Side of the Moon hundreds of times.

I actually had a tape that I would use when riding my bike. LZ IV on one side and Depeche Mode Violator on the other.

....I know rock purists would not agree with that combination.

I also listened to a lot of New Order in high school. Technique was the first album I owned. And then I got the older stuff.

[Archaea]

I knew I liked you. Somebody with music tastes with which I can relate and remember. :lol:

Originally Posted by non sequitur

This list may date me, but what the hell.

1. Dark Side of the Moon - Pink Floyd
Top to bottom, one of the most solid albums of all time. Not a bad track on the album. If you have never listened to this album stoned, then you have sadly missed out on one of life's unique pleasures..
2. IV - Led Zeppelin
This may be THE classic rock and roll album of all time. The standard by which all other albums are measured. As we speak, the ringtone on my cell phone is Black Dog. Other songs of note: Misty Mountain Hop, Stairway to Heaven (who hasn't made out to Stairway to Heaven?), The Battle of Evermore, Rock and Roll, When the Levee Breaks. It doesn't get any better than this.
3. Sticky Fingers - Rolling Stones
It's almost impossible to single out just one Rolling Stones album, because there so many excellent ones to choose from. This one gets my nod just because Wild Horses and Moonlight Mile are two of my favorite Stones songs, and because the album cover is one of my favorites of all time.
4. Tea for the Tillerman - Cat Stevens
Cat Stevens is, without a doubt, my favorite radical muslim rock and roll singer of all time. It's a shame he got religious, because as a song writer he was in a class of his own. This album contains some classics: Where do the Children Play, Hard Headed Woman, Father and Son, On the Road to Find Out, Miles From Nowhere, Wild World.
5. Rock and Roll Animal - Lou Reed
This album would make the list for no other reason than that the intro for Sweet Jane contains one the best guitar solos ever. This album also holds a special place in my heart because it is the first album that my mother ever threw out (there were more to follow). I think she was willing to overlook the punk/transvestite on the cover, but she drew the line when she saw the track titled Heroin: "When I put a spike into my vein, then I tell you things aren't quite the same...". I'm not sure why she objected to that.

BTW, my avatar is the album cover of one my other favorite albums of all time. Ten points to anyone who can identify it.

[non sequitur]

Originally Posted by outlier

The ELP at the bottom and 70's style on your list kind of gives it away for an easy Amazon search. OTOH, it's pretty cool cover art. Apparently someone over there thinks it was "a conductor's wet dream". I'm not sure if that piques my interest. But maybe.

I must admit that ELP holds a special place in my heart because an ELP concert was the last pre-mission concert I attended (and by "pre-mission concert" I mean a concert in which a roach clip was not required). Journey opened for ELP that night (Journey introduced Steve Perry as their new lead singer that night). My two best friends and I attended this concert, knowing that we would submit our mission papers in the ensuing months. We decided we had better go out in style, and definitely got our money's worth that night.

[outlier]

Originally Posted by MikeWaters

I also listened to a lot of New Order in high school. Technique was the first album I owned. And then I got the older stuff.

IMHO, New Order's the 80's synth-dance band whose 80's music as aged most gracefully. What I'm saying is, their best 80's songs don't sound all that corny to me today (whereas a lot of others do).

First album I ever got was the Thompson Twins Into the Gap. (I hear they're common-law-married sheep farmers in New Zealand now.)

o

[mpfunk]

Originally Posted by non sequitur

Journey opened for ELP that night (Journey introduced Steve Perry as their new lead singer that night).

Are you sure it was not Foreigner that opened for ELP that night, afterall no one can really tell the difference between Journey/Foreigner.

[il Padrino Ute]

Originally Posted by outlier

IMHO, New Order's the 80's synth-dance band whose 80's music as aged most gracefully. What I'm saying is, their best 80's songs don't sound all that corny to me today (whereas a lot of others do).

First album I ever got was the Thompson Twins Into the Gap. (I hear they're common-law-married sheep farmers in New Zealand now.)

o

New Order made a rather smooth transition from Joy Division after Ian Curtis hanged himself. I can't believe I had such a brain cramp and failed to mention this band. I'm listening to disc 2 of Substance as we speak.

Into the Gap is a fun Thompson Twins album. I saw them at Park West in '88 and have to say that it was one of the shows that I've enjoyed more than most.

Again, I'm not only one of the originals of the New Wave sound - graduated high school in 1982 - but I'm pretty much stuck in it. Even if mp disapproves.

Dark Side of the Moon is a great album, as is The Wall - Comfortably Numb is one of the best songs ever, IMO.

And we may as well throw in Frampton. His voice box was great - my kids think he's making his guitar talk. perhaps someday, I'll tell them how he does it.

On a side note, I taught myself to play the bass line from John Cougar Mellenkamp's "I Need a Lover" the other day. One of my prouder moments, if I must say.

[SoCalCoug]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

non sequitur wrote:
BTW, my avatar is the album cover of one my other favorite albums of all time. Ten points to anyone who can identify it.

The ELP at the bottom and 70's style on your list kind of gives it away for an easy Amazon search. OTOH, it's pretty cool cover art. Apparently someone over there thinks it was "a conductor's wet dream". I'm not sure if that piques my interest. But maybe.

Dang! I was going to guess the Carpenters.

[SeattleUte]

Originally Posted by FarrahWaters

Hmm, I might have to check the Ashkenazy out. I have yet to really hear a performance of these that has been particularly memorable, or made me want to own the Mozart piano concertos.

Some memorable albums are:
Kind of Blue- heard it in high school. Miles Davis, Coltrane, Bill Evans, Paul Chambers, I mean come on...

Glenn Gould's Goldberg Variations(Bach) He plays the Aria beautifully, and the rest of the variations with precision and vigor. His own humming heard in the recording doesn't bother me. Interesting fellow, Glenn Gould...

Beethoven late string quartets, especially the Grosse Fugue Can't remember the performer, but changed the way I thought about classical music.

Anything by Clifford Brown and Max Roach I've never heard such a pure tone out of a trumpet.

that's what comes to mind now.

I'd be interested to hear if you agree with me about Ashenazy and the Mozart piano concertos. I've never heard them done by anyone I love nearly as much as Ashkenazy's rendition. This is my favorite thing to listen to in the world.

Then you should try Ashkenazy doing Sergey Rachmonov. It's the greatest easy listening music ever.

I agree about Glen Gould/Goldberg Variations and Miles Davis/Kind of Blue. My wife introduced me to the former, which she regards as one of those life changing kind of "albums."

For great classical music it's hard to top Murray Perahia doing Bach's piano concertos nos. 3, 5, 6 and 7. Very accessible; good for kids.

This past summer I got Wagner's Ring into my blood.