Your Five Favorite Albums of All Time

[Pyroph]

Honorable mention:

Steven Wilson - Insurgentes
Opeth - Blackwater Park


5. King Crimson - In the Court of the Crimson King



Pretty much what kicked it off for prog, and what an amazing album.

4. Pink Floyd - Animals



This album is magical for me. It has a real nostalgia sound for me, and really comes off as a great musical art that no one will be able to replicate as well as Floyd.

3. Dream Theater - Images and Words



Not a lot to be said. Pretty much a flawless album from start to finish.

2. Chroma Key - Dead Air for Radios



Stunning first album from Moore, really shows off his talent.

1. Porcupine Tree - Stupid Dream



My favorite PT album. Everything about this album has what I love from PT. Great lyrics, catchy choruses, vocals and musicianship.

[Mebert78]

1) Queensr˙che - Promised Land
2) Dream Theater - Awake
3) Fates Warning - A Pleasant Shade of Gray
4) OSI - Office of Strategic Influence
5) Chroma Key - Dead Air for Radios

[Nihil-Morari]

I don't feel like going back and quoting, but Marc, you have got yourself and awesome top 5. Incredible!

[The Letter M]

I don't feel like going back and quoting, but Marc, you have got yourself and awesome top 5. Incredible!

Thanks! I sometimes feel like I've fallen in love with the current, modern, "mainstream" side of prog, and while that may be true, these bands and artists have created some GREAT music that millions of proggers world wide love and adore.

Those five bands are pretty  much in my top 10 bands of all time, along with Rush (my first favorite band, and would've been another Honorable mention with Permanent Waves), Porcupine Tree, Genesis, Yes, and Pink Floyd.

-Marc.

[sonatafanica]

4. Modest Mouse - Good News for People Who Love Bad News

Really? Even over Lonesome Crowded West?

I don't have that one yet. All I have are Good News, Moon and Antarctica, This is a Long Drive, and the No One's First EP.

[KevShmev]

4. Modest Mouse - Good News for People Who Love Bad News

Really? Even over Lonesome Crowded West?

I don't have that one yet. All I have are Good News, Moon and Antarctica, This is a Long Drive, and the No One's First EP.

Don't waste your time.  The Lonesome Crowded West blows.  Get We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank instead.

[sonatafanica]

4. Modest Mouse - Good News for People Who Love Bad News

Really? Even over Lonesome Crowded West?

I don't have that one yet. All I have are Good News, Moon and Antarctica, This is a Long Drive, and the No One's First EP.

Don't waste your time.  The Lonesome Crowded West blows.  Get We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank instead.

I'm pretty sure I'm going to stick with what Sigz says. I've heard a few of the tracks on that album and it seems to be good.

[KevShmev]

That's cool, but don't say I didn't warn ya.

[Plasmastrike]

Choosing the albums was hard enough, but ranking them is even harder!

1

There's just something about this album that is amazing. The vibe/atmosphere, the instrumentation, the artwork. Perfection.

2

I believe this is DT firing on all cylinders. This album covers so many emotions while exploring so many new musical ideas. KM's keys really prod at me and demand my attention and all the members really shine!

3

The last Opeth album with their classic lineup, and wow was their output good. This album's rhythmic drive is amazing. I love the obscure tuning and unique songwriting. It just stands out as a gem in the Opeth discography.

4

An absolute sonic adventure. Listening to this on a good sound system from start to finish puts this album in a league of its own.

5

Thrash metal perfection. This album is sentimental to me because Megadeth was the first band I was truly heads-over-heels for (EDIT: and still am ) Also, this is the album that I was constantly trying to mirror when learning guitar, my passion.

Honorable Mention

It's such a shame that PT didn't make it on the top five. This is my favorite album to listen to when I'm just chilling at night. It's so relaxing and unique.

[GuineaPig]

5.

4.

3.


2.


1.

[Quadrochosis]

Wow, so many Animals fans here! I'm so excited to see that! I've always considered it to be the most underrated album of all time.

[Sigz]

4. Modest Mouse - Good News for People Who Love Bad News

Really? Even over Lonesome Crowded West?

I don't have that one yet. All I have are Good News, Moon and Antarctica, This is a Long Drive, and the No One's First EP.

Don't waste your time.  The Lonesome Crowded West blows.  Get We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank instead.

There are no words to express the rage.

[Plasmastrike]

Wow, so many Animals fans here! I'm so excited to see that! I've always considered it to be the most underrated album of all time.

Dude, I was thinking the same thing. I'm surprised to see how often it's popping up, albeit happy.

[thecrowing]

4. Modest Mouse - Good News for People Who Love Bad News

Really? Even over Lonesome Crowded West?

I don't have that one yet. All I have are Good News, Moon and Antarctica, This is a Long Drive, and the No One's First EP.

Don't waste your time.  The Lonesome Crowded West blows.  Get We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank instead.

There are no words to express the rage.

I firmly disagree with KevShmev?

[Sigz]

uhhh yeah you might want to edit that.

[Nihil-Morari]

You might want to do that indeed.

[Fluffy Lothario]

10. Van Morrison - Astral Weeks
9. Black Sabbath – s/t
8. Dave Matthews Band - Before These Crowded Streets
7. Yes - Close to the Edge
6. Soundgarden - Superunknown

5. Sigur Rós - ( )


I feel like with this album, Sigur Ros attempted to create music which was as pure an expression of emotion as possible, unfiltered by subject matter and thematic content. The songs are untitled (or they were upon initial release, and for me remain so). The lyrics are a mere few words in an invented language repeated through the whole album, meaning the singing is reduced to nothing but sound. The voice becomes not the means by which the singer tells us how he’s sad that his girlfriend is gone, or why we should look after the environment, but just another instrument. And the music is glacial, picturesque and vast in a way that suggests our own dimensionless inner landscapes. What you’re left with is an album where there is nothing direct that you can cling to, but nothing that might obstruct you from drawing close to the album either. It passes by you like a slow mist in which your own feelings can be reflected… regardless of whether you care about the environment or that bitch recently headed off down the road.

4. Bob Dylan - Bringing It All Back Home


I can’t think of an album on which the two sides are as contrasting as on this album. On Bringing It All Back Home, Dylan begins, or rather continues with even more radical steps, to reconstruct folk as he sees fit. Side A is a rollicking assault of electric guitars and strangely upbeat rants. Folk’s earthliness and sense of principle are almost gone, either replaced by or somehow redrawn in the light of an urban absurdity. Side B is closer to traditional folk, but still in a world of its own, inhabited by mystical figures, princes, angels and presidents, where the light and dark of the world are so great and kaleidoscopic that they become staggering and perhaps beyond our ability to grasp at all. This album would possibly still make this list were it an EP with just Side B’s 4 tracks on it.

3. Miles Davis - Bitches Brew


The primal yet somehow gorgeous gloom of this album has accompanied me on so many trains, planes, cars and buses, I can hardly listen to it without seeing fields and forests rushing past. Perhaps my favourite aspect of this album is that whether the sound has built to a cacophony or whether it’s lost in one of its quieter lulls, you can normally focus in and still find 5-10 instruments minimum moving amongst each other. This also has to be one of the longest albums I’ve ever heard with so little to drag it down.

2. Tool – Lateralus


This must be one of the most uncharacteristic metal albums ever, one built not around themes of darkness, fantasy, war, anger and hate, but around meditation, enlightenment, empathy and communication. Of course, metal’s shadow still hangs over the music, and many of Maynard’s lyrics, as he contemplates the obstacles he will face (Schism, The Grudge) and personal failures he will suffer (Ticks and Leeches) in pursuing such a path. But the final message is positive, and the result is a towering statement.

1. Keith Jarrett – The Köln Concert


In this performance in 1975, Jarrett single-handedly dismissed fusion and electric jazz, and triumphed. In just over an hour, Jarrett proved that jazz could still be unabashedly acoustic AND contemporary. This album is the stately, shimmering antithesis to the dark, rebel call of Bitches’ Brew. Jarrett’s solo performance is just as determined, dynamic and exciting as the ensemble on BB, and all the more remarkable because the waves of music are being created by him alone. The music is improvised the whole way, not a single note was planned in advance, but Jarrett is teeming with spontaneous ideas. To pick a highlight, of the two ‘parts’ to the performance, Part I has more high points and is slightly more consistent, although perhaps only because Jarrett tends to build to the climaxes more gradually and patiently in Part II.

The first time I visited Köln, I broke off from my group of friends for an hour or so and made a pilgrimage to find the Kölner Oper, where this album was performed. I managed to convince the folks in charge to show me the hall where it took place. I wasn’t allowed to take photos, but I’ll cling to the memory of that room forever.

[Dr. SeaWolf]

1. Moving Pictures - Rush
2. Blackwater Park - Opeth
3. Sabbath Bloody Sabbath - Black Sabbath
4. Wind & Wuthering - Genesis
5. Images and Words - Dream Theater

Honorable Mention:  Operation Mindcrime - Queensryche

[antigoon]

I picked up ( ) by Sigur Ros after seeing it on a bunch of your list. Listening now, don't know what to expect

[contest_sanity]

EDIT:

Censored for now until I do my top 50 albums; don't wanna give myself away.

[Marvellous G]

10. Van Morrison - Astral Weeks
9. Black Sabbath – s/t
8. Dave Matthews Band - Before These Crowded Streets
7. Yes - Close to the Edge
6. Soundgarden - Superunknown

5. Sigur Rós - ( )


I feel like with this album, Sigur Ros attempted to create music which was as pure an expression of emotion as possible, unfiltered by subject matter and thematic content. The songs are untitled (or they were upon initial release, and for me remain so). The lyrics are a mere few words in an invented language repeated through the whole album, meaning the singing is reduced to nothing but sound. The voice becomes not the means by which the singer tells us how he’s sad that his girlfriend is gone, or why we should look after the environment, but just another instrument. And the music is glacial, picturesque and vast in a way that suggests our own dimensionless inner landscapes. What you’re left with is an album where there is nothing direct that you can cling to, but nothing that might obstruct you from drawing close to the album either. It passes by you like a slow mist in which your own feelings can be reflected… regardless of whether you care about the environment or that bitch recently headed off down the road.

4. Bob Dylan - Bringing It All Back Home


I can’t think of an album on which the two sides are as contrasting as on this album. On Bringing It All Back Home, Dylan begins, or rather continues with even more radical steps, to reconstruct folk as he sees fit. Side A is a rollicking assault of electric guitars and strangely upbeat rants. Folk’s earthliness and sense of principle are almost gone, either replaced by or somehow redrawn in the light of an urban absurdity. Side B is closer to traditional folk, but still in a world of its own, inhabited by mystical figures, princes, angels and presidents, where the light and dark of the world are so great and kaleidoscopic that they become staggering and perhaps beyond our ability to grasp at all. This album would possibly still make this list were it an EP with just Side B’s 4 tracks on it.

3. Miles Davis - Bitches Brew


The primal yet somehow gorgeous gloom of this album has accompanied me on so many trains, planes, cars and buses, I can hardly listen to it without seeing fields and forests rushing past. Perhaps my favourite aspect of this album is that whether the sound has built to a cacophony or whether it’s lost in one of its quieter lulls, you can normally focus in and still find 5-10 instruments minimum moving amongst each other. This also has to be one of the longest albums I’ve ever heard with so little to drag it down.

2. Tool – Lateralus


This must be one of the most uncharacteristic metal albums ever, one built not around themes of darkness, fantasy, war, anger and hate, but around meditation, enlightenment, empathy and communication. Of course, metal’s shadow still hangs over the music, and many of Maynard’s lyrics, as he contemplates the obstacles he will face (Schism, The Grudge) and personal failures he will suffer (Ticks and Leeches) in pursuing such a path. But the final message is positive, and the result is a towering statement.

1. Keith Jarrett – The Köln Concert


In this performance in 1975, Jarrett single-handedly dismissed fusion and electric jazz, and triumphed. In just over an hour, Jarrett proved that jazz could still be unabashedly acoustic AND contemporary. This album is the stately, shimmering antithesis to the dark, rebel call of Bitches’ Brew. Jarrett’s solo performance is just as determined, dynamic and exciting as the ensemble on BB, and all the more remarkable because the waves of music are being created by him alone. The music is improvised the whole way, not a single note was planned in advance, but Jarrett is teeming with spontaneous ideas. To pick a highlight, of the two ‘parts’ to the performance, Part I has more high points and is slightly more consistent, although perhaps only because Jarrett tends to build to the climaxes more gradually and patiently in Part II.

The first time I visited Köln, I broke off from my group of friends for an hour or so and made a pilgrimage to find the Kölner Oper, where this album was performed. I managed to convince the folks in charge to show me the hall where it took place. I wasn’t allowed to take photos, but I’ll cling to the memory of that room forever.

You, sir, have the best taste in music I have ever seen. Seriously. I'll be checking out The Köln Concert very shortly based on your recommendation here.

[Fluffy Lothario]

You, sir, have the best taste in music I have ever seen. Seriously. I'll be checking out The Köln Concert very shortly based on your recommendation here.

I dunno if I'd go that far, but I'm rather fond of it. 

And obviously, I cannot recommend The Köln Concert enough.

[TAC]

Honorable Mention:
Michael Schenker Group ....MSG (1981)


#5. Alice Cooper Goes To Hell (1976)


Alice Cooper's 2nd solo album. While many may prefer is first solo album, Welcome To My Nightmare, which IS outstanding, Go To Hell is a true concept album of Alice being sent to hell, and then at the end awakes to find it was just a dream. Not very original, but Alice vocally is top notch here. Very versitable as much as he can be. A great band..even includes LTE's Tony Levin ion a few tracks. Also the closing track, I'm Going Home, has an ending very reminicient of the ending The Razor's Edge section of Octavarium.

Best tracks.. I'm The Coolest, Going Home, Didn't We Meet

#4 Helloween ..Keeper Of The Seven Keys Pts 1 & 2 (1987-88)



I made a blind buy of Pt.1 after reading an article about them in Metal Hammer. I was not into the whole speed/thrash metal at the time and they looked like a nice clean band. I bought Pt.1 and literraly pulled my car over into the nearest park as soon as I'm Alive started. The vocals were outstanding, and I really like this kind of metal. A blueprint some the generic power metal of the 90's and 00's, but these albums are so much better. Michael Kiske's performance, particularly on Pt 2 is the greatest vocal performance these ears have EVER heard. Consider the amazing fact that he was 18 when he recorded Pt 1 and 20 when he recorded Pt 2, it's a stunning acheivement.

Best tracks..Keeper Of The Seven Keys, Halloween, We Got The Right

#3. Iron Maiden..The Number Of The Beast (1982)



About a months before I started high school, my grandfather passed away. We basically moved in with my grandmother for a couple of weeks, and my father let me go to the store and get a new tape to listen to. I grabbed The Number Of The Beast. This album blew me away, and still does everytime.
Killers was a good, even sometimes great album, but The Number Of The Beast changed everything. Contains many classics. Bruce sounds so raw and young on this, and I don't think he's ever duplicated it.

Best tracks..Halowed Be Thy Name, Children Of The Damned, 22 Acacia Avenue

#2 UFO..Strangers In The Night (1978)



I don't know where to begin with this. I was a Schenker fan first (see above). I traded a Zeppelin pin to a kid on my hockey team for this on vinyl. And amazing live album. The energy, everything comes together for this set. Upgrades all of the material from their earlier studio albums. The instrumental break during Rock Bottom is perfect. Love To Love as outstanding as is the criminally underrated I'm A Loser.

Best tracks..the 3 I just mentioned.

#1 Dream Theater..Images And Words (1992)



What can I say? This is my most listened to album of all time. It's perfect, combining the best of all of my favorite bands. I happened to see them about a month before this came out, and was blown away. I think I listened to this album for about 2 years straight!
I remember thinking, this is the music Rush should be doing..it was an updated version of what Rush had been in 1978-81. Plus it combined the metal tendencies of Iron Maiden, with even a dash of Helloween..and while I've always respected bands like Yes and ELP, I've never really been able to listen to them because of their cheesy sounbd and too much keyboards, but I do love what they do, and now I have a hard rock version of that as well. A perfect storm of all things I like about music. I think James vocal is one of the best I've ever heard, and the drumming, well..it's amazing.

Best tracks: Learning To Live, Take The Time, Metropolis Pt 1.

[Dark Master Of Sin]

5. All Shall Perish - The Price of Existance
I heard the opening to Wage Slaves while walking in to FYE, went to the guy at the counter, and told him I'll buy whatever album is on right now. I was hooked on my first listen, and have easily racked up another 40 or so. All Shall Perish is everything that is awesome about deathcore. Extremely complex guitar parts, vocalists who can literally do anything, a bassist who trumps most guitarists, and a drummer who holds it all together with insane double bass patterns. The album features some of my all time favorite breakdowns, and has great lyrics. My favorite songs on the album being Wage Slaves, There is No Business to be Done on a Dead Planet, We Hold These Truths and Promises. The album is just everything that's great about deathcore, from start to finish.

4. Slipknot - Vol. 3: The Subliminal Verses
So, it took a few listens to grow on me, and early on in my Slipknot fandom, I would have placed it as the 3rd best album of theirs, behind Slipknot and Iowa. But, this song now gives me chills every listen. The day Paul Gray was found dead, I played this album four times in a row, and cried, a lot. This album properly portrays many struggles I have gone through in my short 17 years, and accurately depicts the things no one should ever have to see. While, most of the lyrics were written by Corey Taylor about his ex-wife, the anger, the frustration, and the turmoil all have shown in my life. This album opens with the best opener of any 'knot album, Prelude 3.0. Then goes in to one of the greatest songs for live shows ever, The Blister Exists. This album sure as hell shows the diversity of Slipknot. Pure metal songs such as: The Blister Exists, Duality, and Pulse of the Maggots. The completely unexpected slow song, Vermilion Pt. 2. Finally, my absolute favorite song on the album, The Nameless. It is pure epic. With extremely metal drive in the verses and bridges, and an extremely melodic chorus. If you hate 'knot, if you thing maggots are faggots, and you've never given them a chance. This is the album to start with, and this album will blow your mind. It is nothing you would expect from nine men wearing masks. On a final note: RIP #2, Paul Gray, you will be greatly missed by all your fans, and you completely changed my life. Iowa is the reason I am still alive today, and your music and lyrics are the only reason depression never corrupted me.

3. Iron Maiden - Powerslave
So, I grew up with this album. Powerslave, the song, is the riff my dad always played when warming up guitar. Some parts of this album were the first bass lines he ever taught me. I had probably heard this album over 30 times before I was 16, and 16 is when I bought my own copy. Since then, I've easily added on another 30 times. Easily my most listened to Maiden album, and it scratches by Number of the Beast for my favorite Maiden album. The album is brilliant, from the amazing opener that is Aces High, to the spine chilling awesomness of Two Minutes to Midnight. It has my favorite Maiden instrumental, Losfer Words, and has the second greatest 13 minute song, ever, Rime of the Ancient Mariner. The bass lines on this album are why I play bass, and the vocals on this album are top notch. This album is just Maiden at their best, and 80s metal at it's best. So to this album, I give it a big

2. Dream Theater - Scenes from a Memory
This album was the first album I new was Dream Theater, at only seven years of age when this monster hit the shelves, I don't really remember much. My first memory of the album actually comes from watching Live Scenes from New York with my father at age 9 or so. So, what's great about this album you ask? I mean, no one likes it. Well, first off the storyline. The storyline is always fun to explain to people, and watch their face go:  . The music, so, this album probably contains five of my top twenty Dream Theater songs. My personal favorites are Fatal Tragedy, Beyond this Life, Home, The Dance of Eternity and The Spirit Carries On. This album was the second album I listened to when I decided I would personally check out Dream Theater at 14. The first being Systematic Chaos. Growing up with Dream Theater, this is the album I think I connected to the most as a child, and the album that eventually pushed me to truly listen to them. I just, absolutely love this album.

1. Dream Theater - Awake
Okay, so, this album is epic. With EASILY LaBrie's best vocal performance. The album opens with 6:00, and I love it, I love every second of the song, then goes in to one of my favorite Dream Theater songs, Caught in a Web. This album is just always great fun to listen to, and can improve my mood at anytime. It took me a while to truly get the album, but now that I have, I LOVE it. It has my second favorite Dream Theater instrumental, Erotomania, just behind The Dance of Eternity and just before Stream of Consciousness. It has one of my favorite guitar riffs, The Mirror. Voices is pure epic also. Honestly, this song has NO bad song, period. All of them would be in a top 50, and most in the top 30, and one in the top 10 (Caught in a Web). I just, I love this album, and I believe I always will.



Wow, this list was hard to make. I love all of Slipknots, Dream Theaters, Iron Maidens discographies. Honorable mentions other than what has been mentioned include:
Wolf - The Black Flame
System of a Down - Steal this Album
Through the Eyes of the Dead - Bloodlust
Symphony X - The Divine Wings of Tragedy
Protest the Hero - Fortress and Kezia
Iwrestledabearonce - It's All Happening
Gorillaz - Demon Days
Escape the Fate - This War is Ours
Eminem - The Marshall Mathers LP
Children of Bodom - Follow the Reaper
Avenged Sevonfold - City of Evil
August Burns Red Thrill Seeker


Longass list I know, but I'm a huge music fan.

[Arcaeus]

Nice to see The Nameless get some love.

[lonestar]

5-One for the Road- The Kinks
4-Quadrophenia- The Who
3-Scenes From a Memory- duh?
2-Subterrenea- IQ
1-Clutching at Straws- Marrillion

Off the top of my head, and many albums could be set in the 3-5 spots, but the top two are solid.

[The Letter M]

FYI, if anyone cares, I added a couple extra Honorable Mentions, just trying to cover one of my other favorite bands and my favorite albums by them - check out my revised post

-Marc.

[Zydar]

5-One for the Road- The Kinks
4-Quadrophenia- The Who
3-Scenes From a Memory- duh?
2-Subterrenea- IQ
1-Clutching at Straws- Marrillion

Off the top of my head, and many albums could be set in the 3-5 spots, but the top two are solid.

Cool to see the Kinks live album there

[TAC]

4.  Dream Theater - Live Scenes From New York
SFAM was for me in 1999 what Mindcrime was to me and many others back in 1989--it just blew my mind and really took my expectations for music to a whole new level.  As I've often said, that album works so well as a concept album because the album as a whole is so much greater than the sum of its parts.  I love the performance of it on this live set, and the rest of the set list is top-notch as well.  If we could not include live albums on this list, I would probably still have put SFAM in the #4 spot.  Again, it was such a game-changer for me and forever cemented DT as a favorite band.  Add in such a great live performance of this album along with the rest of the set, and I just had to include this in my top 5.

I agree Bosk. If I combine live and studio, LSFNY is my 2nd fave DT album, and is a Top 5 Live album for me as well. It has basically rendered my studio version of Scenes useless.

[nemesiskoen]

Wow, browsing through this topic makes it even harder compiling this list. But here's a try:

This was a no-brainer




(listening to it right now :-))


Easily the best album released in 2009



The last one was the hardest, had to pick between foxtrot, born to run and islands.

[Dr. SeaWolf]

I picked up ( ) by Sigur Ros after seeing it on a bunch of your list. Listening now, don't know what to expect

That album is incredible.  It takes a few listens to sink in though, and also to "get" the purpose of the singing, which sounds repetitive at first.

[Dark Master Of Sin]

Nice to see The Nameless get some love.

It's easily in my top three for favorite Slipknot songs.

[Mladen]

The Nameless is in my top 10 as well.

[lonestar]

5-One for the Road- The Kinks
4-Quadrophenia- The Who
3-Scenes From a Memory- duh?
2-Subterrenea- IQ
1-Clutching at Straws- Marrillion

Off the top of my head, and many albums could be set in the 3-5 spots, but the top two are solid.

Cool to see the Kinks live album there

One for the Road is an unbelievably epic album, and clearly shows why The Kinks are one of the best live acts ever, EVER.

[The Letter M]

Wait... we're allowed to include Live albums? Damnit, now I'll need to make a new list.. LOL

Can I make a Fave-Five Live Albums list?

5. Liquid Tension Experiment - Live In LA
4. Genesis - Seconds Out
3. Rush - Different Stages
2. Dream Theater - Live Scenes From New York
1. Transatlantic - Live In Europe

That was a bit tough, but the top three are definite for sure!

-Marc.