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GAF, give me your Top 5 favorite albums

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Agalloch - Pale Folklore
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Between the Buried and Me - Colors
Godspeed You! Black Emperor - Lift Your Skinny Fists like Antennas to Heaven
The Mars Volta - Frances the Mute
Pain of Salvation - BE
 

Lambtron

Unconfirmed Member
1. The Wrens - The Meadowlands
2. Ween - The Pod
3. New Kingdom - Paradise Don't Come Cheap
4. Cannibal Ox - The Cold Vein
5. The Raveonettes - Chain Gang of Love
 

TheExodu5

Banned
If I had to pick just a single Opeth album, it would be Still Life since it has a pretty wide range, but if I'm being perfectly honest, I need to go with my 3 favorites instead. Even though they're from the same band they're wildly different, so I don't feel too bad including them all.

In no particular order (including a link to my favorite song off each album):

 

Jzero

Member
Man you can't just make me pick 5 albums, there's too many genres. These probably aren't even my top 5, just my favorites that come to mind (in no particular order).

Fuck it, i added 6.
 
If I were going off the top of my head right now,

Streetlight Manifesto- Everything Goes Numb
Iron Maiden- Brave New World
Mastodon- Leviathan
Amon Amarth- Twilight of the Thunder God
High on Fire- Blessed Black Wings

Almost any other album from any of those bands could wind up in there fairly easy, and a dozen other albums besides.
 

JCX

Member
Death Cab for Cutie - Plans
Janelle Monae - The Archandroid
MGMT - Oracular Spectacular
Kanye West - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
Arcade Fire - The Suburbs
 

RustyO

Member
Making a top 5 is damn near impossible; so heres ten in alphabetical order. I'll have to come back and elaborate on these later...

Edit: what they say:
Listing only five favorite albums should be a crime.


Black Market Music - Placebo

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Blood on the Tracks - Bob Dylan

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Born In The U.S.A. - Bruce Springsteen (Could replace with Born To Run, but am listening to this right now)

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Chill Out - The K.L.F

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Doolittle - Pixies

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Graceland - Paul Simon

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Hounds of Love - Kate Bush

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Northern Exposure - Sasha & Digweed / Various Artists

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Rum, Sodomy & the Lash - The Pogues

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The Queen is Dead - The Smiths

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3. The Cure - Disintegration
4. Sisters of Mercy - First and Last and Always

1. Paul Simon - Graceland

My peoples.

Some things people have posted that I will definitely have to go check out.
 
Always tough to simmer it down to 5

1. Beatles - Revolver
2. Smashing Pumpkins - Siamese Dream
3. Metallica - Master of Puppets
4. Megadeth - Rust in Peace
5. The Roots - Things Fall Apart

As soon as I submit this I'll regret the order and what I listed because I'll think of a bunch of others.
 
in no particular order:

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Dream Theater - Images and Words (ex. Under a Glass Moon / Take The Time)
i will admit that i don't like this album especially for it's composition, rather it's just an absolute joy to play petrucci's shit on guitar. lots of good memories associated, i guess. it's pretty good progressive rock if you aren't familiar with the band. fun to listen to, fun to play.

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World's End Girlfriend - Seven Idiots (ex. Bohemian Purgatory I-III / Helter Skelter Cha-Cha-Cha)
as the intro track suggests, it goes through the divine comedy in reverse. wonderfully energetic music. lots of breadth in styles, instruments and samples used throughout, and it's very well mixed. it gets pretty weird towards the end, and there are probably not many people who will appreciate it (the offering inferno in particular is something i can only listen to once in a blue moon). it really is great music, and i think it's pretty accessible before he goes nuts in thematic hell.

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World's End Girlfriend - Hurtbreak Wonderland (ex. Bless Yourself Bleed / Dance for Borderline Miscanthus)
i like this dude so much he gets two spots.
a wonderful mix of noise, samples, electronic beeps n boops, guitar, strings, and horns that culminate in pretty awesome pieces. most of the songs are slow burns, in contrast to his other album above. but when they flare, they're spectacular. dance for borderline miscanthus is the only noise track i can listen to on repeat, so mega brownie points there.

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The Flashbulb - Kirlian Selections (ex. Melann / (Cherokee Script) )
a cohesive, well realized, well mixed electronic/idm/whatever album. always a treat to listen to. the way he strings the tracks together is pretty amazing.
there really isn't much i can say about this album, it's better experienced than described.

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Kashiwa Daisuke - Program Music I (ex. Stella / Write Once, Run Melos)
a two track masterpiece from kashiwa daisuke. somewhat similar to world's end girlfriend, but much more orchestral. beeps, sharp noises, strings, horns, driving percussion, it has it all. i absolutely adore both songs, and would probably list it as my current favorite album. it can get a tad self-indulgent in both songs (particularly stella), so be warned, but it's absolutely worth a listen (and more) if you ever have the time.
 

nomster

Member
  • Pearl Jam - Vs.
  • Coheed & Cambria - Second Stage Turbine Blade
  • DreamTheater - Scenes from a Memory
  • Baroness - Blue Record
  • Mastodon - Crack the Skye
 

Bodacious

Banned
Ask me on another day, I'll have different answers.

#5
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#1
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I'm not counting bootlegs and classical music, which I listen to a lot more than 'albums' these days. I'll take Karajan conducting Tchaikovsky's 1st Symphony over any of that junk I listed. Same goes for Pink Floyd on October 17, 1971.
 
1. The College Dropout - Kanye West
2. illmatic - Nas
3. My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy - Kanye West
4. The Chronic 2001 - Dr Dre
5. Reasonable Doubt - Jay Z
 
Can't do top 5 because it's quite fluid depending on how I'm feeling at the time but the top 3 are most definitely these:


women - public strain
liars - drums not dead
interpol - turn on the bright lights

Women and Liars because they are brilliant pieces of art and Interpol for the massive part it played influencing my tastes from that point onwards.
 

Oozer3993

Member
In no order, because that might kill me:

Kanye West - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy

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What if Kanye went to 11? He attempted this Spinal-Tap-ian feat for his 5th studio album, and it was amazing. It has a little bit of everything. There's old school Kanye soul sampling, there's brilliant use of auto-tune, there's even a damn skit expertly woven into a track. An orchestral interlude? Got that. Jay-Z, Raekwon, John Legend, even Bon Iver? Got all of them. A Gil Scott Heron spoken word piece? It closes the album. And nothing symbolizes this "everything including the kitchen sink" approach quite like the amazing "All of the Lights." Thundering horns that make you feel like you could run through a wall, a mid-tempo piano lick, a hook from Rihanna, and appearances from another 10 artists like Kid CuDi, Ryan Leslie, and even Elton John. It shouldn't work. None of it should. But somehow, Kanye wove together everything masterfully.

Taylor Swift - Speak Now

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You're not supposed to follow up your Grammy Album of the Year award winning album with one that is almost universally considered to be better. But that's just what Taylor did. The first single, "Mine," is a wonderful marriage of the country leaning pop of Fearless with Taylor's maturing songwriting. "Mean," inspired by a ridiculous rant from a critic about Taylor's performance at the 2010 Grammy Awards, is an absolutely brilliant slice of full blooded country. The fact that it won 2 Grammys itself is just the icing on the cake. And it's performance as part of the Speak Now Tour is one of the most incredible concert experiences you could ever have. Fan favorite "Enchanted" is a magnificent Disney Renaissance love song just looking for it's movie. "Dear John" a complete genius level evisceration of another musical artist, right down to the aping of his bluesy style. And I haven't even mentioned the amazing "Last Kiss," "Never Grow Up," or "Ours."

Justin Timberlake - FutureSex/LoveSounds

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God tier producer Timbaland, at the absolute height of his game, with maybe the only mainstream pop star that would and could handle that level of crazy. "My Love" might be the best pop song ever made. That beat is patently ridiculous. And "LoveStoned/I Think She Knows" somehow contains both a bouncy dance track and a neurotic lament.

Kacey Musgraves - Same Trailer Different Park

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She's one of the cheekiest and most clever songwriters working today. She works comfortably within Americana/Country but deals with subjects that would normally be taboo for those genres. A venue full of country radio workers gave her a loud ovation for a song condoning pot use and same sex relationships. She inspired multiple articles wondering if she was the savior of country music when she had all of one officially released single to her name, the brilliant "Merry Go 'Round."

Kanye West - Late Registration

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Rappers aren't supposed to bring in one of Fiona Apple's favorite producers to work on their album. But Kanye rarely does what he's supposed to do. Late Registration feels like what Kanye wanted The College Dropout to sound like. The sound is similar, but everything is polished to a bright sheen. Kanye flits easily between insanely catchy pop ("Gold Digger"), and dark introspection ("Addiction"). He even got NaS and Jay-Z to appear on the same album back when that was a noteworthy achievement.
 

alazz

Member
These things change, but in no particular order

Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga - Spoon

Remain in Light - Talking Heads

One Size Fits All - Frank Zappa

What's Going On - Marvin Gaye

There Goes Rhymin' Simon - Paul Simon

Ask me on another day, I'll have different answers.

I'm not counting bootlegs and classical music, which I listen to a lot more than 'albums' these days. I'll take Karajan conducting Tchaikovsky's 1st Symphony over any of that junk I listed. Same goes for Pink Floyd on October 17, 1971.

We match up pretty nicely, particularly about classical and bootlegs. Every different recording is new; different ensembles different interpretations, different audiences different performances.
 
In no particular order:

Neutral Milk Hotel - In the Aeroplane over the Sea
Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues
Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes
Los Campesinos! - Hold on Now, Youngster
Destroyer - Streethawk: A Seduction

I would give pretty much anything for another Fleet Foxes record. Anyway, honorable mentions that barely missed the cut:

Four Tet - There is Love in You
M83 - Hurry Up, We're Dreaming
Vampire Weekend - Modern Vampires of the City
Bob Dylan - The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan
Bon Iver - Bon Iver
 

Olly88

Member
I can't do just five, so here's 10. If I was to do the list again I could probably change some of them, but here it is anyway (in no real order).

Misfits - Static Age
The Stranglers - Black and White
The Stranglers - The Raven
The Damned - Phantasmagoria
The Doors - The Doors
Bad Religion - Against the Grain
Oingo Boingo - Only a Lad
Ramones - Ramones
Social Distortion - Somewhere Between Heaven and Hell
Rancid - ...And Out Come the Wolves

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Rum, Sodomy & the Lash - The Pogues

The Pogues, nice one!
 
Not in any particular order.

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Arcade Fire - Funeral

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Death Grips - The Money Store

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The Velvet Underground - The Velvet Underground & Nico

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Alice Cooper - Trash

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Frank Zappa - Hot Rats
 
Swans - Soundtracks for the Blind
Envy - A Dead Sinking Story
Angels of Light - How I Loved You
The Angelic Process - Weighing Souls With Sand
Alcest - Souvenirs d'un autre monde
Suffocate for Fuck Sake - Blazing Fires and Helicopters on the Front Page of the Newspapers. There's a War Going On and I'm Marching in Heavy Boots
 

Tashi

343i Lead Esports Producer
That's tough man. In no order:

U2 - Achtung Baby
U2 - Joshua Tree
Nas - Illmatic
Kings of Leon - Because of the Times/Aha Shake Heartbreak
Company of Thieves - Ordinary Riches/Running From a Gamble
 

zerotol

Banned
Tough question. There's only one record that i would always put in my top 5, and that's Exile on Main St. The rest would be ones that I'd probably not agree with tomorrow, or whenever. Exile is the only constant one for me.
 

NotLiquid

Member
This is way too hard for me as it's always interchangeable and I prefer listing Top 10s. But I'll do my best here anyways.

Deftones - White Pony

I love, love how raw this album is. Deftones are one of my favorite rock bands and this album is just all the reasons I love them wrapped in one solid package. Digital Bath, Korea, Change and Pink Maggit are killer tunes that are hard not to love.

Radiohead - Amnesiac

I'm just going to say it - I find this album better than Kid A. Considering Radiohead are already a pretty depressing band to listen to, it's fascinating how the melodies and effects can blend in to create some appealing music, or at very least some that I can actually kick back and chill to. It's depressing music for relaxation.

Blackfield - Blackfield

Steven Wilson is one of my absolute favorite musicians and producers of all time. Between this, Fear of a Blank Planet and The Raven That Refused To Sing, I wasn't sure which album from which one of his associated acts I should have settled with. In the end though, I always come back to listen to this album and although it has the most standard song progression, the original Blackfield album feels like an album where two incredibly talented songwriters band up to create something absolutely beautiful. It's got the most beautiful melodies and chords of any Steven Wilson effort. Glow, Pain and Summer are just amazing.

The Prodigy - Music For The Jilted Generation

A classic that hasn't aged at all with time - one of the best underground rave/jungle albums of it's age and still remains such to this day. The beats are killer and it's hard as hell not to just jam to. Any fans of the electronic scene owe it to themselves to listen this album.

Soilwork - The Living Infinite

I never imagined that a melodic death metal double album could be this intense. This memorable. This entire album has some of the best riffs I've ever heard and some of the most timeless choruses, songwriting and instrumentation. It's an instant classic.
 

I have a hard time with "favorite albums" because many of my favorite bands have been around for a great long time, and my favorite songs end up coming from many albums. Queen is one such example.

The five albums that I picked are some of the only albums that I could start from the beginning, and just listen to from start to finish without a single drop in emotional satisfaction. They all tell their own story of love, loss, life, pain, arrogance, etc.
 
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1. Nine Inch Nails - The Fragile
Through the 80s my favorite band was New Order. When NIN debuted with Pretty Hate Machine, my musical world completely changed. Trent has been my favorite artist since that point, and this (IMO) is his crowning achievement. The first disc is perfect and the second one is close. The flow of this album is still stunning, and the whole work is beautiful and haunting.



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2. Electric Light Orchestra - Out Of The Blue
My dad played this when I was young and I've always liked a lot of the songs - but when I re-listened to it beginning-to-end as an adult I was blown away. Side 3, the "Concerto For a Rainy Day" is worth it alone, but the whole thing is utterly brilliant pop music. Jeff Lynne is a genius, pure and simple.



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3. New Order - Technique
I'm always torn between this and Brotherhood for my favorite New Order record, but this one holds a special place for me since I finally saw them on this tour in 1989. Every song is fantastic and polished to a shine. I have a thing for the blending of electronics with traditional rock instruments, which is in full force here.



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4. Pop Will Eat Itself - This Is The Day, This Is The Hour, This... Is This!
PWEI were criminally under-appreciated here in the States, but they will always be one of my favorite bands ever. Who else could blend rock, pop, hip-hop, techno, punk, metal and disco and have it sound good? Smart, funny, clever, and the most elegant use of samples this side of the Beastie Boys.



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5. Sigue Sigue Sputnik - Flaunt It
In 1985 I saw the video for Love Missile F1-11 late at night on MTV. I was confused and fascinated as I'd never seen or heard anything like it. When the debut album finally hit, I ran out and got it immediately and wasn't disappointed. Of course, I really didn't understand it at that age, either. Looking back, it's even more brilliant than I knew at the time. It's basically three-chord rock in a sci-fi setting - like Eddie Cochran in the world of Blade Runner. Throw on some satire on '80s excess and you have a genius result for anyone old enough to remember the time.
 

RustyO

Member
5. Sigue Sigue Sputnik - Flaunt It
In 1985 I saw the video for Love Missile F1-11 late at night on MTV. I was confused and fascinated as I'd never seen or heard anything like it. When the debut album finally hit, I ran out and got it immediately and wasn't disappointed. Of course, I really didn't understand it at that age, either. Looking back, it's even more brilliant than I knew at the time. It's basically three-chord rock in a sci-fi setting - like Eddie Cochran in the world of Blade Runner. Throw on some satire on '80s excess and you have a genius result for anyone old enough to remember the time.

:) :) :) I LUBS you!
 

TinMachine

Neo Member
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1. Radiohead: OK Computer

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2. Joy Division: Closer

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3. Echo & The Bunnymen: Heaven Up Here

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4. The Cure: Pornography

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5. Ultravox: Rage in Eden

Hmmm..only one from the 90's and four from the 80's, I guess that reveals my age somewhat.
 

Spiders

Member
#1 Linkin Park: Hybrid Theory

#2 Red Hot Chili Peppers: Californication

#3 Stone Sour: Come What[ever] May

#4 Iron Maiden: Brave New World

#5 Stone Sour: Audio Secrecy
 
Eve 6 - All in Your Head
Peeping Tom - Peeping Tom
Alice in Chains - Jar of Flies
Tomahawk - Oddfellow
The Presidents of the United States - The Presidents of the United States.

This is a hard question by the way...
 
In no particular order:

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Elvis Costello - Imperial Bedroom

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The New Pornographers - Twin Cinema

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Stereolab - Dots and Loops

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R.E.M. - Murmur

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They Might Be Giants - Lincoln

Honorable mentions:
Elvis Costello - Armed Forces
Tortoise - Millions Now Living Will Never Die
Self - Gizmodgery
Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest
The Beatles - The Beatles
Jeff Buckley - Grace
Radiohead - The Bends
Stereolab - Emperor Tomato Ketchup
Cave In - Jupiter
Silverchair - Diorama
 

quickwhips

Member
Tom Gabel - Heart Burns
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Against Me! - Searching for former Clarity
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My Chemical Romance - Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge
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Queen - Greatest Hits
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the gaslight anthem the '59 sound
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As far as I'm concerned its the release with both of them, I consider them as a single entity.
Yeah fair enough. I heard them separately on first listens so they stuck in my head as distinct albums. Wasn't until I grabbed the discs that I realized they came together.
Did you dig Monomania?
 
1. Guns N Roses - Use Your Illusion 1 & 2
2. Pearl Jam - No Code
3. Sex Pistols - Nevermind the Bollocks
4. Manic Street Preachers - The Holy Bible
5. Nirvana - In Utero
 

Red Comet

Member
5.
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Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion

4.
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Kanye West - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy

3.
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The Beatles - Revolver

2.
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The Smiths - The Queen is Dead

1.
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Radiohead - In Rainbows

What I like to listen to fluctuates from time to time, but I think these 5 have consistently remained among my all time favorites for quite a while.
 

TheContact

Member
1 - The Killers - Hot Fuss
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2 - Foo Fighters - The Colour and the Shape
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3 - Smashing Pumpkins - Melancholy and the Infinite Sadness
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4 - Blink 182 - Enema of the State
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5 - Wiz Khalifa - Rolling Papers -
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