Marvellous G's Top Fifty Albums - FINISHED

[Gorille85]

FUCK YES. Don G is probably my favourite opera, such amazing stuff. Although I always ignore the very last finale bit (the last 5-10 minutes ish) and end it after the really epic part where he gets dragged to hell. I saw a student production that ended on that bit and it so epic it gave me chills all down my spine. Whereas the actual ending that Mozart didn't even want to add on but had to to fit the convention of "happy endings" at the time is just cheesy and annoying.

Interesting stuff!

[Marvellous G]

Yeah, I highly recommend Don Giovanni to anyone remotely interested in classical music, it's about all my classical-averse brain can handle.  ON WITH THE LIST

41.   Nas – Illmatic (1994)



- Despite making, as Jay-Z famously called him out on, ‘one hot album every ten year average,’ when Nas did step it up, he really, really stepped it up. Illmatic is that rarest of things; an absolute staple of a genre, that manages to be completely relevant and enjoyable to this day at the same time. With genre classics such as The World Is Yours and N.Y. State of Mind, this is an essential hip-hop album that anybody who doesn’t think they like the genre just has to check out.

40.   Bonnie Prince Billy – I See A Darkness (1999)



– More props to TheVoxyn for this recommendation. This album confuses me; every single review I’ve seen has placed it in the top 10 or so albums of its decade, but very few people seem to have actually heard of it. Well thank God that Voxyn did recommend it, it’s absolutely worth all of the hyperbole; Will Oldham’s voice is one of the most perfectly suited to narrate the tales of American dreams gone awry since some other artists that will appear later one, and his lyrics and instrumentation are effortlessly heart-breaking but, at the same time, feel weirdly hopeful. And once again, the title track is one of the best songs of all time.

39.   Stevie Ray Vaughan – Texas Flood (1983)



– I’ll say it now, SRV is, in my opinion, the greatest guitarist of all time. Whilst he was tragically taken from us too soon in a helicopter accident, his legacy as one of the all-time greats was ensured thanks to albums like this. Chock-full of future genre stalwarts, the guitar work on display here is, from the perspective of a guitarist, nothing less than astonishing. Whether it’s the insane technicality displayed at points in the title track and Pride & Joy, or the emotion that drips from the standout track Lenny, the work SRV left behind for the world to hear on Texas Flood makes it doubtful that, for me, anyone will ever overtake him as a guitarist. Well, maybe there’s been one recent contender, but more on that later.

Not that I don't love all the albums I've listed thus far, this starts to get to what I think is some really good stuff pretty soon...

[Fluffy Lothario]

Yeah, I highly recommend Don Giovanni to anyone remotely interested in classical music, it's about all my classical-averse brain can handle.  ON WITH THE LIST

That's the great thing with Mozart though. A lot of his stuff is very accessible, which isn't something you can say about a lot of the big classical names.

SRV was my favourite guitarist for a very long time. There are several guitarists I think I'd hold over him now, but he's still right up there. And Texas Flood was the best thing he ever did in the studio.

I could never get into Bonnie Prince Billy. It's annoying, because his stuff is definitely the sort of thing I normally get into.

[Ravenheart]

What I like the most about your list, Tom, is that there are many albums here that weren't on past lists and likely won't be on many, if any at all, future lists. It keeps things interesting. 

[Zantera]

What I like the most about your list, Tom, is that there are many albums here that weren't on past lists and likely won't be on many, if any at all, future lists. It keeps things interesting. 

Tom is one of the people with the widest music-taste I know, so I agree with pretty much all of this.

[jsem]

Don Giovanni? 

If I'd make a top 50 albums and I could include classical works, I wouldn't know where to begin and how long they'd have to be to be included. I mean, some works are hours long - yet some are very short. What criteria does it have to fill to be considered an album? Too much to take into account.

[MetalManiac666]

(Probably Fairly Generic)

wat

[zxlkho]

This has been a pretty Sputnik list so far.

That isn't a bad thing at all though.

[Arch Benemy]

I tried to like Illmatic, I really tried, but it just didn't click with me. Think I'll give it another shot soon though. SRV though = 

[PixelDream]

Dude, in the first post you had Bohren & Der Club of Gore. That definately makes me want to follow the list. Have you checked out their album 'Black Earth'? I think I like that album even better than 'Sunset Mission'. But that aside, next post there's both 'Mezzanine' and 'Untrue'. Your taste in music is awesome. And I'm so glad I'm into Burial. The better side of dubstep music. I love Submotion Orchestra as well, check that out if you haven't.

[Marvellous G]

Dude, in the first post you had Bohren & Der Club of Gore. That definately makes me want to follow the list. Have you checked out their album 'Black Earth'? I think I like that album even better than 'Sunset Mission'. But that aside, next post there's both 'Mezzanine' and 'Untrue'. Your taste in music is awesome. And I'm so glad I'm into Burial. The better side of dubstep music. I love Submotion Orchestra as well, check that out if you haven't.

I haven't actually got round to Black Earth yet because Sunset Mission kind of gave me my slow-jazz 'fix' for last Winter, but I'll be sure to pick the first one up now you mention it! I need to check out Submotion Orchestra too, I've heard awesome things about them, so they're definitely on 'the list.'

And as for being generic, I mean these are kinda genre staples I'm listing as I haven't really had the time in my music life to go too in depth to different genres yet, and Ryan's right, this list is pretty standard Sputnik stuff at the minute.  Don't worry though, the top 10 get progressively less revered/popular/good - 2 of my top 5 in particular might garner a fair amount of hate.  Will try and update again tonight, but ploughing through some holiday homework atm.

[zxlkho]

Standard Sputnik is generally pretty top tier stuff anyway, so that's a good thing.

[Sigz]

Cool stuff so far. Mezzanine in particular is fucking awesome.

Can't get into Burial though.

[zxlkho]

I loooooove Untrue so much.

[Fluffy Lothario]

Dude, in the first post you had Bohren & Der Club of Gore. That definately makes me want to follow the list. Have you checked out their album 'Black Earth'? I think I like that album even better than 'Sunset Mission'. But that aside, next post there's both 'Mezzanine' and 'Untrue'. Your taste in music is awesome. And I'm so glad I'm into Burial. The better side of dubstep music. I love Submotion Orchestra as well, check that out if you haven't.

I haven't actually got round to Black Earth yet because Sunset Mission kind of gave me my slow-jazz 'fix' for last Winter, but I'll be sure to pick the first one up now you mention it! I need to check out Submotion Orchestra too, I've heard awesome things about them, so they're definitely on 'the list.'

And as for being generic, I mean these are kinda genre staples I'm listing as I haven't really had the time in my music life to go too in depth to different genres yet, and Ryan's right, this list is pretty standard Sputnik stuff at the minute.  Don't worry though, the top 10 get progressively less revered/popular/good - 2 of my top 5 in particular might garner a fair amount of hate.  Will try and update again tonight, but ploughing through some holiday homework atm.

Genre staples are normally genre staples for a reason. In my experience, most music which rises to the surface within its genre in terms of popularity or critical acclaim is better than most music that doesn't, so I've never seen the appeal of milling through countless little-known bands whose music most likely won't be as good as the recognised forerunners. Not to mention that anyone with a wide enough taste of music can easily stick to genre staples and never get bored anyway.

[Marvellous G]

Yeah I guess, it's just 17 year old me wants to get more into classical and hip-hop, etc, I just don't quite have time yet.  ANYWAY, moar updates, and it's still a bit more Sputnik-y for just a while longer  :

38.   Madvillain – Madvillainy (2004)



– This is another hip-hop album that would definitely appeal to people who don’t even like hip-hop; the lyrics are abstract and poetic, the instrumentation is concise and restrained, and the samples are nothing less than genius. The short track lengths mean that Madvillainy goes down more easily than the monster listens that some similar albums offer, and you’re left able to get a quick fix of awesomeness whenever you want, and with tracks like Shadows of Tomorrow, ALL CAPS and Rainbows, there is no shortage of awesome here.

37.   The National – Boxer (2007)



– The National are a band that were, for me, actually pretty hard to get into. When I first heard Boxer, I didn’t really ‘get it;’ the lyrics were mumbled and repeated phrases seemingly too often, and the instrumentation seemed a bit flat and uninspiring. After a few listens, though, all of these oblique parts of the album seemed to come together perfectly, and I fell in love. Matt Berninger’s depressing vocals are almost always laced with sardonic wit, and the music, the drumming in particular, is subtly brilliant when given time to shine. Also, everybody should listen to Apartment Story right now, that song is frigging incredible.

36.   Godspeed You! Black Emperor – Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas To Heaven (2000)



 – Well, here is another album that sort of ‘had to’ be here. And there’s a reason that this receives such ludicrous amounts of praise from almost every corner of the music world; it’s damn good. We’ve all heard the positives of this release countless times before, so I’ll just focus on why I have it this 'low;' it really does drag at points. Sure, when I’m in the mood for it, it’s actually the greatest thing of all time, but I don’t often have 87 minutes (yes, 87) to set aside to focus on an album. Consequently, I often end up using this album as background music of a sort, but when I suck it up and give it the attention and time that it deserves, it’s every bit the masterpiece that so many claim it to be.

[zxlkho]

I thought you would have Boxer a bit higher tbh.

and Skinny Fists would be top 5 for me.

[Zantera]

Lift Your Skinny Fists! 

[kári]

Nice, nice.

[Gorille85]

Lift Your Skinny Fists! 

[Fluffy Lothario]

I need to make a list at some point of the 20-30 top hip hop albums. I have a vague idea of what albums to look up, but at the moment, I just have a big long list of artists and it's a bit overwhelming.

And yeah, as great as it is, you really do have to be in the mood for Lift Your Skinny Fists.

[Marvellous G]

Yeah, the only hip-hop stuff that I like, or is on this list, is pretty standard for the genre, I really wanna delve into it further at some point. An honourable mention that's not on here is A Tribe Called Quest's 'The Low End Theory,' that was the kind of laid back stuff I was after.

[Marvellous G]

Moar albums:

35.   Sigur Ros – () (2002)



– Sigur Ros are a band that I’ve always felt that I should like a lot more than I actually do. Luckily, they do have one album that I love an appropriate amount, and it’s not, like it is for many others, 2005’s Takk. Instead, () is their most emotional release by far for me, and that’s what Sigur Ros are all about. With the gloriously upbeat first half of the album, they manage to put into music what so many before them have put into inferior words, and then with the emotional downturn of the second half, the album becomes a dark, convoluted beast that can alternately destroy and uplift the listener in equal measure. And I really can’t say that for Takk.

34.   Kanye West – My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (2010)



– Haters gonna hate, but this album really was worth the hype. Because it’s really, really damn good. MBDTF (lolDTF) sees Kanye bringing together every aspect of his schizophrenic career up to this point together, for one of the most insane ego-trips ever seen in public. But I’m inclined to let him off this time; songs like Dark Fantasy, Runaway, Blame Game and the absolutely awesome POWER show that West really can justify all of his self-promotion when he really puts his mind to it. And as the man himself says, this is the perfect theme music for everyone’s (least) favourite superhero.

33.   Vangelis – Blade Runner OST (1994)



– Yes, more noir. Blade Runner is one of my favourite films of all time, and one of the key reasons for that is the incredible soundtrack. Blade Runner Blues in particular is probably the best musical summation of a film that’s ever been committed to CD, and the whole soundtrack features 80s synthy goodness, with a pleasingly large side helping of cheesy jazz that errs just on the right side of AWESOME. This might be one of the weakest picks on my list objectively, but the mental association I have with the film it complements means that I absolutely love this album whenever I put it on.

[zxlkho]

I really really really don't understand how people like Kanye at all.

Also ( ) should be way higher

[Gorille85]

( ) is one of my favorite albums and that Kanye West one is super good!!

[Zantera]

Sigur Rós!

[Marvellous G]

I guess () might seem low to some, but I just really don't get that level of praise that it gets. I think it's incredible, but not top 34 album quality for me. I also get that loads of people find MBDTF overrated, but I think purely on a song-for-song basis it basically sounds like a greatest hits collection (in a good way  ) and it has this awesome, ridiculous, overblown but brilliant consistency as an album that earns it its spot here for me.

And Blade Runner Blues (the song) with a black coffee and Rainymood should convince any doubters.

[Xanthul]

Sigur Ros FTW. Agaetis Byrjun is really growing on me lately, I don't know if it will manage to overtake () as my favorite, we'll see.

[Arch Benemy]

Been trying to get more into Sigur Ros recently. When I was like 16 I picked up Von because it has a cool cover, but didn't really like it. Recently got () though and it's instantly a lot more interesting. Need a little more time to digest it fully but it's definitely a great record.

[Durg]

33.   Vangelis – Blade Runner OST (1994)



– Yes, more noir. Blade Runner is one of my favourite films of all time, and one of the key reasons for that is the incredible soundtrack. Blade Runner Blues in particular is probably the best musical summation of a film that’s ever been committed to CD, and the whole soundtrack features 80s synthy goodness, with a pleasingly large side helping of cheesy jazz that errs just on the right side of AWESOME. This might be one of the weakest picks on my list objectively, but the mental association I have with the film it complements means that I absolutely love this album whenever I put it on.

Ok.  I'm going to have to check this out.  Blade Runner is one of my favorites too.  Plus I dig Vangelis.  I had a album by him in college and listened to it all the time.

edit:  I almost went on a rant about the Kanye West album but deleted it.  Don't want to derail your list.  I'll be respectful. 

[Gorille85]

edit:  I almost went on a rant about the Kanye West album but deleted it.  Don't want to derail your list.  I'll be respectful. 

wuuut that Kanye album is great!

[TheVoxyn]

I never read this thread before and I enter it once and see I'm mentioned a few times in the write-ups. You're welcome for the recommendations Marvellous and I'll make an exception regarding lists and read through this one .

[Durg]

edit:  I almost went on a rant about the Kanye West album but deleted it.  Don't want to derail your list.  I'll be respectful. 

wuuut that Kanye album is great!

I think I'm too old for it.  I feel like my Dad when my 16 year old Korean exchange student plays rap music in my house.  "TURN THAT RACKET OFF!  THAT'S NOT MUSIC".  I caught myself saying that a few weeks ago.   

[Marvellous G]

I guess that's kind of fair enough based on Kanye's lyrics, but if you just embrace the absurdity of it all it's brilliant OTT spectacle.  Anyway, updates...

32.   Damien Rice – O (2002)



– When deciding between this and Rice’s other great release, 9, I ran into a bit of trouble. 9 features some of my favourite Rice tracks in isolation (and Dogs, one of my favourite songs of all time) but O is, ultimately, the stronger album as a whole. It displays a surprising amount of variety for the limitations of the genre, and Rice’s vocals and lyrics are touching and emotional, even within the context of his crowded field. Older Chests in particular is one of the most touching songs I’ve ever heard, but the whole album is really an emotional journey.

31.   Arcade Fire – Funeral (2004)



– Look everybody, it’s everyone’s generic favourite indie album! Well, there’s a reason for that; Funeral is by far Arcade Fire’s best album and it really is one of the best in its genre. From the gorgeous opening chimes of first track Neighbourhood #1 to the final wails of In The Backseat, Funeral is a really, really intense ride emotionally that runs the gamut between complete despair and the hopeful joyousness of the amazing Wake Up. I’m sure everybody has heard this album by now, but those that have been conscientiously objecting to the hipster-dom which listening to this entails really need to finally give it a chance to live up to the hype. Which it does. This isn’t my favourite indie album (that’s still to come) but it is, arguably, the quintessential one.

30.   Shpongle – Nothing Lasts… But Nothing Is Lost (2005)



– Ahhh, Shpongle. I actually only listened to this album, and consequently the rest of the band’s awesome discography, because I loved the cover art for this so much. Luckily, the album completely blew me away on first listen, and I was hooked from then on. Arguments could be made for the band’s most recent, or first albums, being better musically, but this one will always hold a special place in my heart as I remember what a crazy experience it was on my first listen. Sure, I was ‘doing it wrong’ by not doing drugs and consequently being sober whenever I listen to this band and album, but judging by the mindfuck that it proves to be even then, I’m not sure that my brain could take any more craziness than this album already offers.

[Gorille85]

Three great bands I really need to explore more.