Complete Albums

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short ornery norwegian said:
a few -
The Wild, the Innocent and the E Street Shuffle - Bruce Springsteen
Astral Weeks - Van Morrison
Every Picture Tells a Story - Rod Stewart

Who's Next by the Who is a tough call. "My Wife" is not a great cut, but everything else on that album is a freakin classic.

John Prine's 1st album has a couple of songs I could live without, but most of that album is brilliant.

And in the just for fun category - Bat Out of Hell by Meatloaf. A great college party album in the day.
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Oooh, hadn't thought of Bat out of Hell. I'd put that in.
 

Ope3 said:
I tried to adhere to the 1 album per artist deal as well, but made an executive decision on the Beatles, well just cuz. Help is also a soundtrack, so maybe that's as good of a reason as any to allow a 2nd choice.

Interesting call on Wilco's AGIB, for no other reason than the polarizing approximately 12 minutes of distortion noise tacked on to Less Than You Think. It does have a powerful lead in effect into The Late Greats.

I agree with your assessment on the era 1965-75. I think I was short changed, by being born in 1969, I was more familiar with those artists' Greatest Hits packages instead of the original LPs.
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Born in '72 and I share your lament-in fact, it was well into my twenties when I figured out that artists such as The Beatles, The Stones, The Who, on and on and on had more to offer than just what I heard on the radio and the idea that the best songs on albums were often ones that didn't garner airplay.

The silver lining to that is that I continue to discover music from that period that is brand new to me-a good example is Little Feat, who I never listened to you until the last year or so. Also classic albums such as Parallel Lines or Remain in Light are really fresh for me, even if some of the songs I've been hearing since my pre-teen years. Given what's happened to the whole idea of the album/CD in recent years, it's nice to have some fresh old music to explore.
 

Nokomis said:
Revolver has already been named twice. Did you guys forget Yellow Submarine is on that album? :)
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When I listen to it in the context of the full album it serves to heighten my anticipation for She Said, She Said which is on my short list of favorite John Lennon songs.

Side note, I probably would not think of Yellow Submarine as harshly if not for repeated occasions in elementary school being forced to sing it in music class & homeroom. We should have taken on a real challenge like Tomorrow Never Knows. Imagine 4th graders tackling that one...
 

saintpaulguy said:
Miss Williams Guitar gets the skip button.
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I'm ok with that one. It was cool to see live, for Gary's guitar work at least. That and Bad Time woke me to realize that in addition to being a fine singer and writer, he's got the guitar chops.
 


Just to mix it up a little, here are some female artists from the 21st century with complete albums.

Back To Black - Amy Winehouse
Once I Was An Eagle - Laura Marling
Horehound - The Dead Weather
 

2pac - all eyez on me
the doors - self titled
sublime - self titled
skynyrd - pronounced
wagner - das rheingold
blues traveler - travelers and thieves
 

Nokomis said:
Just to mix it up a little, here are some female artists from the 21st century with complete albums.

Back To Black - Amy Winehouse
Once I Was An Eagle - Laura Marling
Horehound - The Dead Weather
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I noticed that in hindsight as well, in retrospect I need to add Carole King's Tapestry at the very least.
 

WilliamsArenaGuy said:
For starters:

Tom Petty - Full Moon Fever
U2 - The Joshua Tree
REM - Life's Rich Pageant
Green Day - American Idiot
Cowboy Junkies - Black Eyed Man
Jayhawks - Hollywood Town Hall
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Gotta strongly disagree with you on Tom Petty, WAG. Even he admitted that Zombie Zoo sucks. Damn the Torpedoes is the Petty album I would put in there.
 



s
Frink said:
Gotta strongly disagree with you on Tom Petty, WAG. Even he admitted that Zombie Zoo sucks. Damn the Torpedoes is the Petty album I would put in there.
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OK. That's funny because that is definitely the song I like the least and would skip. I just like the rest so much I overlooked it. So I'll agree with you.
 

Ope3 said:
When I listen to it in the context of the full album it serves to heighten my anticipation for She Said, She Said which is on my short list of favorite John Lennon songs.

Side note, I probably would not think of Yellow Submarine as harshly if not for repeated occasions in elementary school being forced to sing it in music class & homeroom. We should have taken on a real challenge like Tomorrow Never Knows. Imagine 4th graders tackling that one...
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Reminds me of the Langley School Project-are you familiar with it? No Tomorrow Never Knows but their cover of Space Oddity is really something, I found the whole CD quite enjoyable.
 


Almost every Beatles album for me.

Stone Roses 1989 debut is as good as it gets.

Electric Warrior by T-Rex.

Physical Graffiti by Led Zepplin. Double album and still no clunkers.

The Ramones Rocket to Russia.
 



Warehouse - Husker Du.
Never Mind the Bollocks - Sex Pistols
If I Should Fall From Grace with God - The Pogues
Exile on Main Street - Rolling Stones
 


The Clash- London Calling. I have listened to it hundreds of times and never skipped a track.

Blue Oyster Cult - Secret Treaties. Oddly, I don't think it's their best album. That would be Tyranny and Mutation but Secret Treaties doesn't have a weak song on it, where Tyranny has one that I often skip, Wings Wetted Down.

Bowie - Ziggy Stardust.
 

short ornery norwegian said:
a few -
The Wild, the Innocent and the E Street Shuffle - Bruce Springsteen
Astral Weeks - Van Morrison
Every Picture Tells a Story - Rod Stewart

Who's Next by the Who is a tough call. "My Wife" is not a great cut, but everything else on that album is a freakin classic.

John Prine's 1st album has a couple of songs I could live without, but most of that album is brilliant.

And in the just for fun category - Bat Out of Hell by Meatloaf. A great college party album in the day.
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Shit, I forgot Who's Next!
 

coolhandgopher said:
Reminds me of the Langley School Project-are you familiar with it? No Tomorrow Never Knows but their cover of Space Oddity is really something, I found the whole CD quite enjoyable.
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I knew about the Space Oddity cover, by going through a youtube hole looking for versions of it. I was not familiar with the other covers they did. I will have to check it out, nice list of tunes.

Side note, U2 used Space Oddity as their walk up music during the 360 Tour. It was just so cool to see the band walk out of the visitors tunnel at TCF Bank stadium to it before ripping into Even Better Than the Real Thing. I really can't wait until concerts are a thing again.
 

Ope3 said:
I knew about the Space Oddity cover, by going through a youtube hole looking for versions of it. I was not familiar with the other covers they did. I will have to check it out, nice list of tunes.

Side note, U2 used Space Oddity as their walk up music during the 360 Tour. It was just so cool to see the band walk out of the visitors tunnel at TCF Bank stadium to it before ripping into Even Better Than the Real Thing. I really can't wait until concerts are a thing again.
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That was a great night.
 


coolhandgopher said:
I wavered on selecting AGIB for that reason, but it’s grown on me over the years and the rest of the album has such a great collection of songs-and as you mentioned, sonically it just works . Honestly though, tomorrow I could claim Summer Teeth as my favorite/most complete Wilco album it just depends on the mood for me.
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No argument from me on either AGIB (which took a while to grow on me, post Jay Bennett) or Summerteeth. The band walks a fine line, seemingly with ease at experimenting with styles while taking care to not put any filler on their albums. Others which I would say are "complete" are Mermaid Ave 1 and Sky Blue Sky. Above all of those though to me are Yankee Hotel Foxtrot and the one I went with, Being There.

Being There if it was only Disc/Album #1 would still be my favorite of theirs, just a perfect collection songs that resonate whether I am listening to the album itself or watching a live performance (any of the 10 tracks). Disc #2 is more than gravy, there are fewer live staples, except for Sunken Treasure and Kingpin. It's not often played, but The Lonely 1 still can capture the audience as if was written yesterday, when Tweedy was just a fan.
 
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Best album is The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Will The Circle be Unbroken. You couldn't get a better set than this album produced.
 

Ope3 said:
No argument from me on either AGIB (which took a while to grow on me, post Jay Bennett) or Summerteeth. The band walks a fine line, seemingly with ease at experimenting with styles while taking care to not put any filler on their albums. Others which I would say are "complete" are Mermaid Ave 1 and Sky Blue Sky. Above all of those though to me are Yankee Hotel Foxtrot and the one I went with, Being There.

Being There if it was only Disc/Album #1 would still be my favorite of theirs, just a perfect collection songs that resonate weather I am listening to the album itself or watching a live performance (any of the 10 tracks). Disc #2 is more than gravy, there are fewer live staples, except for Sunken Treasure and Kingpin. It's not often played, but The Lonely 1 still can capture the audience as if was written yesterday, when Tweedy was just a fan.
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I love Being There. No one has said A.M. but I love that too. I'd listen beginning to end.
 

tikited said:
And...
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And...The Beatles released 22 studio albums in seven years, including a 30-song marathon. Not one clunker? For every 'While My Guitar Gently Weeps' there's a 'Rocky Raccoon'.
 


tikited said:
Almost every Beatles album for me.
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Ok, here's my thought on The Beatles: Just because you can, doesn't mean you should. They tried anything and everything. The Beatles wrote some of the best songs in history, but their albums seem like a hodgepodge of random songs thrown together, instead of a "complete" album -- a cohesive set of songs centered around a common theme. Even though I love many Beatles songs, I really only ever listen to Sgt. Pepper's and Abbey Road completely.
 

Nokomis said:
Ok, here's my thought on The Beatles: Just because you can, doesn't mean you should. They tried anything and everything. The Beatles wrote some of the best songs in history, but their albums seem like a hodgepodge of random songs thrown together, instead of a "complete" album -- a cohesive set of songs centered around a common theme. Even though I love many Beatles songs, I really only ever listen to Sgt. Pepper's and Abbey Road completely.
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That's fine. The Beatles are the greatest group of all-time. I don't think that is even debatable at this point. A person doesn't have to like them, but you can't argue that any other band comes close to the popularity, success, influence, etc. that they have had.

I don't really know what a complete album is I guess. If we are just going by an album that is consistently good throughout then the Beatles do very well with that definition. If you are looking for a album that has a theme running through it...then I think we are talking about a concept album.
 

Nokomis said:
Ok, here's my thought on The Beatles: Just because you can, doesn't mean you should. They tried anything and everything. The Beatles wrote some of the best songs in history, but their albums seem like a hodgepodge of random songs thrown together, instead of a "complete" album -- a cohesive set of songs centered around a common theme. Even though I love many Beatles songs, I really only ever listen to Sgt. Pepper's and Abbey Road completely.
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What is there to dislike on Help!? I point to that album as being the first where George's songs aren't just throw-ins, I Need You and You Like Me Too Much are among the best he ever wrote. The songs Help!, Ticket to Ride and Yesterday are all time classics and all the rest are all really good to great. It is a complete collection of rock songs.

The "common theme" part, well nobody really even thought of that as a thing until the Beach Boys Pet Sounds, to which the Beatles answered with the aforementioned Sgt. Pepper's. I don't know if the common theme part made the Beatles full records better, just different.
 

tikited said:
I don't really know what a complete album is I guess. If we are just going by an album that is consistently good throughout then the Beatles do very well with that definition. If you are looking for a album that has a theme running through it...then I think we are talking about a concept album.
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Ope3 said:
The "common theme" part, well nobody really even thought of that as a thing until the Beach Boys Pet Sounds, to which the Beatles answered with the aforementioned Sgt. Pepper's. I don't know if the common theme part made the Beatles full records better, just different.
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Yeah, I meant theme as in style or feel -- group of songs that fit well together. Blackbird followed by Piggies is just too disjointed for me.
 

'Breakfast in America' by Supertramp is one of my favorites, a complete album, and often dismissed among the lexicon of all-time greats.

A few years ago I bought a half dozen records off a guy at a flea market, including BiA and Rubber Soul. The guy says, "Rubber Soul is a great album; every song is really good." I said, "Oh yeah? That's how I feel about Breakfast in America". He just gave me a puzzled look and turned to put the cash away. I got the feeling he thought I was teasing him, but I was being serious.
 

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