Music: Best Albums of the Year Series: 1900 - 1964

[Saturated Fats]

1965: The Beatles - Rubber Soul
1966: The Beatles - Revolver
1967: The Beatles - Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
1968: The Beatles - The White Album
1969: The Beatles - Abbey Road
1970: Black Sabbath - Paranoid
1971: Led Zeppelin - IV
1972: Neil Young - Harvest
1973: Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon
1974: Supertramp - Crime of the Century
1975: Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here
1976: Eagles - Hotel California
1977: Fleetwood Mac - Rumours
1978: (TIE) The Police - Outlandos d'Amour / The Cars - The Cars / Van Halen - Van Halen
1979: Pink Floyd - The Wall
1980: AC/DC - Back in Black
1981: Rush - Moving Pictures
1982: Iron Maiden - The Number of the Beast
1983: Metallica - Kill 'em All
1984: Metallica - Ride the Lightning
1985: Tears for Fears - Songs from the Big Chair
1986: Metallica - Master of Puppets
1987: Guns 'n Roses - Appetite for Destruction
1988: Metallica - ...And Justice for All
1989: Pixies - Doolittle
1990: Megadeth - Rust in Peace
1991: Nirvana - Nevermind
1992: Alice in Chains - Dirt
1993: Nirvana - In Utero
1994: Weezer - The Blue Album
1995: Oasis - (What's the Story) Morning Glory?
1996: (TIE) Soundgarden - Down on the Upside // Rage Against the Machine - Evil Empire
1997: (TIE) Radiohead - OK Computer // Foo Fighters - The Color and the Shape
1998: (TIE) Lauryn Hill - The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill // System of a Down - System of a Down
1999: Red Hot Chili Peppers - Californication
2000: Radiohead - Kid A
2001: The Strokes - Is This It
2002: Queens of the Stone Age - Songs for the Deaf
2003: The White Stripes - Elephant
2004: (TIE) Madvillain - Madvillainy // The Killers - Hot Fuss // Green Day - American Idiot
2005: Coldplay - X & Y
2006: Tool - 10,000 Days
2007: Radiohead - In Rainbows
2008: (TIE) Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes // Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend
2009: Them Crooked Vultures - Them Crooked Vultures
2010: The National - High Violet
2011: No definitive winner
2012: (TIE) Kendrick Lamar - good kidd, M.A.A.D. city // Deftones - koi no yokan
2013: The National - Trouble Will Find Me
2014: Behemoth - The Satanist
2015: Kendrick Lamar - To Pimp a Butterfly

2016 - Now: Radiohead - A Moon Shaped Pool (6 votes)

(deep breath) JAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

I promise to do the decade vote-offs as long as you guys will participate. Even if that means you have to vote for something the normies love. You know who you are!

Click to read more...

 

[WetcoastOrca]

Dylan: The Freewheelin Bob Dylan
Dylan: The Times They are a Changing
The Kinks: s/t
Miles Davis: Kind Of Blue
Sam Cooke: Night Beat
The Beatles: A Hard Days Night
Robert Johnson: King of the Delta Blues Singers
Elvis: s/t



Other:
1. Animals s/t
2. Peter, Paul and Mary s/t
3. The Supremes: Where Did Our Love Go.
4. Chuck Berry: Chuck Berry is On Top
5. The Everly Brothers: s/t
6. The Ronettes: Presenting the Fabulous Ronettes
7. Roy Orbison: Lonely and Blue
8. Johnny Cash: Johnny Cash with His Hot and Blue Guitar

 

[Pranzo Oltranzista]

I know who I am! ;-)

Thanks again for keeping up with this, it was a blast.

Let's go for a very long list, but it covers a lot of ground, and I love the oldies - and well, it was so much fun to make! Got me to discover amazing material. Of course, I had to give the pre-65 honors to Mingus. Oh Yeah being the very best album of the whole bunch, with The Clown not too far behind.


1. Charlie Mingus – Jazz Workshop Pithecanthropus Erectus (1956) / Charles Mingus – The Clown (1957) / Charles Mingus – Mingus Ah Um (1959) / Charles Mingus – Oh Yeah (1962) / Charles Mingus – The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady (1963)
2. Pierre Henry, Pierre Schaeffer & Michel Philippe Arthuys ‎– Panorama Of Musique Concrète (1956) / Pierre Henry, Pierre Schaeffer & Michel Philippot ‎– Panorama Of Musique Concrète No. 2 (1956)
3. Michael Siegel – The Sounds of the Junk Yard (1964) (this is so ahead of its time, it's noise-ish, it's drone-ish, mind-blowing)
4. Karel Appel – Musique barbare (1963) (same, hard to believe this came so early – Appel was a reknown artist with other media, this being his only musical project)
5. The Beach Boys – Surfin' Safari (1962) / The Beach Boys – Surfin' U.S.A. (1963) / The Beach Boys – Surfer Girl (1963) / The Beach Boys – Little Deuce Coupe (1963) / The Beach Boys – Shut Down Volume 2 (1964) / The Beach Boys – All Summer Long (1964) (no matter what you think of 'surf rock' music, these albums are very consistent and have a real strong signature – if I had to pick a favorite from these, I'd probably go with All Summer Long, but you couldn't go wrong with any other one – I don't think lots of people realize how much The Beach Boys were better than The Beatles in early 60s)
6. Nina Simone – Forbidden Fruit (1961) (This is I think my favorite of her pre-1965 recordings, but Nina can't do a bad album so everything's great, 1959 was a particularly good year, with 3 amazing albums)
7. Miles Davis – Kind of Blue (1959) (I guess this is everybody's introduction to good jazz, remains a monster of a record – MD has a few other very good albums pre-1965, but nothing this important)
8. Otis Redding – Pain In My Heart (1964) (one of my favorite voices of all time)
9. Milton Babbitt - Ensembles for Synthesizer (1964)
10. Jacques Brel – No 4 (1959) / Jacques Brel – Jacques Brel (1962) / Jacques Brel – Jacques Brel (1964)
11. Dion & The Belmonts – Presenting Dion & The Belmonts (1959) (when you're thinking “great oldies tunes”, this album is what's playing in your mind – they have another lesser album, and Dions has a lot of stuff on his own, including Drip Drop, a single with the Del-Satins which is one of my favorite songs of the period – 100x better than The Drifters' version)
12. Jerry Lee Lewis – The Golden Hits of Jerry Lee Lewis (1964)
13. Willie Dixon With Memphis Slim – Willie's Blues (1960)
14. John Lee Hooker – Burning Hell (1964) (and quite a few other great albums)
15. Ray Charles – Ray Charles (1957) / Ray Charles ‎– Genius + Soul = Jazz (1961) (pre-1965, RC has a few instrumental albums that are good but too soft to my tastes, and a lot of good songs ruined by terrible back vocals... These two albums are IMO his best ones, the very first one has the best songs, and G+S=J is his best album as a whole, with a little more crunch and none of the cheaper stuff)
16. Karlheinz Stockhausen ‎– Kontakte (1964)
17. The Beatles – With the Beatles (1963) (I put the other Beatles albums a little down this list, I feel this one is by far their best pre-1965 album – huge fan of the group, but these albums have a lot of weak songs)
18. Chuck Berry – After School Session (1957)
19. Sarah Vaughan – Sarah Vaughan (1955)
20. Etta James – At Last! (1960)

HMs:
Howlin Wolf – Moanin' in the Moonlight (1959) / Howlin Wolf – Howling Wolf Sings the Blues (1962) / Howlin Wolf – Howlin Wolf (1962)
The Ornette Coleman Double Quartet – Free Jazz (1961)
Bobby Lewis – Tossin' & Turnin' (1961) (I've discovered the title track on a fan tribute video for A Nightmare On Elm Street in the early days of the Internet and it was just brilliant)
Brenda Holloway – Every Little Bit Hurts (1964)
John Cage – The 25-Year Retrospective Concert Of The Music Of John Cage (1959)
Screamin' Jay Hawkins – At Home With Screamin' Jay Hawkins (1958)
Sam Cooke ‎– My Kind Of Blues (1961) (not always a fan of Cooke's voice, but this album, with an overall more downbeat mood, is very good – I just realized there was a Netflix movie about his mysterious death, next on my list)
John Coltrane – Coltrane's Sound (1964)
Thelonious Monk Quartet – Misterioso (1958)
Moondog – Moondog / Moondog – More Moondog (1956)
Billie Holiday – Body and Soul (1957) / Billie Holiday with Ray Ellis and His Orchestra – Lady in Satin (1958)
The Everly Brothers – The Everly Brothers (1958)
Aretha Franklin ‎– Unforgettable - A Tribute To Dinah Washington (1964) (You could go with either one of her pre-65 albums, but I think this one is her sexiest)
Eartha Kitt – The Romantic Eartha (1962) (the lady is also an actress, played in Erik the Viking (!) - not sure it's her best album, haven't heard everything, but tough to beat with a few Kurt Weill songs and she flashes her sexy accent singing in French – she does it more extensively on other albums)
Little Richard - The Fabulous Little Richard (1959) (I know Here's Little Richard is the consensus better album, but I prefer this one by quite a margin)
The Beatles – Please Please Me (1963) / The Beatles – Beatles for Sale (1964) / The Beatles – A Hard Day's Night (1964)
Robert Johnson – King of the Delta Blues Singers
Ella Fitzgerald ‎– Sings The George And Ira Gershwin Song Book (1959 – 5 volumes) (Ella has a lot of good stuff from that period, the duos with Louis Armstrong are hard to put aside, but this project is just colossal)
Roy Orbison – Lonely And Blue (1961) / Roy Orbison – Crying (1962) / Roy Orbison – In Dreams (1963)
The Isley Brothers ‎– Shout! (1959) / The Isley Brothers ‎– Twist & Shout (1962) / The Famous Isley Brothers ‎– Twisting And Shouting (1963)
The Contours – Do You Love Me (Now That I Can Dance) (1962) (if you're looking for something to shake that ass, this is the one)
Bob Dylan – The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan (1963)
The Crickets – The "Chirping" Crickets (1957)
The Kinks – Kinks (1964)
Blind Gary Davis – Harlem Street Singer (1961)
Ornette Coleman – The Shape of Jazz to Come (1959)
The Dave Brubeck Quartet – Time Out (1959)


Very special HM:
Serge Gainsbourg – Du chant à la une (1958)
Serge Gainsbourg – No 2 (1959)
Serge Gainsbourg – L'étonnant Serge Gainsbourg (1961)
Serge Gainsbourg – Serge Gainsbourg No 4 (1962)
Serge Gainsbourg – Gainsbourg confidentiel (1963)
Serge Gainsbourg – Gainsbourg percussions (1964)
None of these albums is particularly good, but Gainsbourg has all the best songs pre-1965: Ce mortel ennui, Black trombone, Ces petits riens, Les amours perdus,...

Curiosities:
Joe Meek & The Blue Men – I Hear a New World: An Outer Space Music Fantasy (1991) (I put this here because it should really be considered as a 1960 album - parts of it are just ridiculous, but others are truly amazing – and in between you have stuff that would have made a great film soundtrack)
Jean Dubuffet – Expériences musicales (1961) / Jean Dubuffet & Asger Jorn – Musique Phénoménale (1961) (considering my tastes in music in later years, this is one of the most important albums from this list and should be highly ranked – it's just so freakin' long and most of it is pretty boring... the good parts are amazing, but few and far apart)
Jean-Jacques Perrey – Prélude au sommeil (1958) (not very good, but impressive that it came so early)
Alfred Wolfsohn – Vox Humana: Alfred Wolfsohn's Experiments in Extension of Human Vocal Range (1956)
Boris Vian – Chansons possibles et impossibles (1956) (not a great fan, but some very important French songs)
Jim Fassett – Symphony of the Birds (1960)
Various Artists – Angola Prison Spirituals (1959)
John Cage & David Tudor – Indeterminacy: New Aspect of Form in Instrumental and Electronic Music (1959)
Tom Dissevelt & Kid Baltan – The Fascinating World of Electronic Music (1959)
Raymond Scott – Soothing Sounds for Baby (1964 – 3 volumes) (this is not ironic, and all kind of weird)
Elisabeth Waldo and Her Concert Orchestra – Rites of the Pagan: Mystic Realm of the Ancient Americas (1960)
Harm A. Drost – Speech After the Removal of the Larynx (1964) <----------------------------
John Fahey – Death Chants, Breakdowns and Military Waltzes (1963)
Allen Ginsberg – Allen Ginsberg Reads HOWL and Other Poems (1959)
Philly Joe Jones Sextet – Blues for Dracula (1958) (it's very good, just not good enough to really distinguish itself from a lot of good jazzy records of the time, you'll wish the vampire was more than an introduction)
Max Roach – We Insist! (1961)
Alan Watts – This Is IT (1962)
Various Artists – Erotica: The Rhythms of Love (1962) (no comment?)
The Marcels – Blue Moon (1961) (overall not my style at all, but only for their version of Blue Moon, used as a wonderful counterpoint to the emotional ending of An American Werewolf In London)


Best way to close these polls, an old song as an homage to old songs.

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

 

[Teemu]

Couldn't settle on ten so here's thirty

Woody Guthrie - Dust Bowl Ballads (1940)
Charles Mingus - Mingus Ah Um (1959)
The Louvin Brothers - Satan Is Real (1959)
Charles Mingus - Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus (1964)
Elvis Presley - Elvis Presley (1956)
Frank Sinatra - Songs for Swinging Lovers! (1956)
Louis Prima - The Wildest! (1956)
Peggy Lee - Black Coffee (1953)
The Beatles – A Hard Day's Night (1964)
Merle Travis - Folk Songs of the Hills (1947)
The Louvin Brothers - Tragic Songs of Life (1956)
Everly Brothers - Songs Our Daddy Taught Us (1958)
Buddy Emmons - Steel Guitar Jazz (1963)
The Beatles – Beatles '65 (1964)
The Dave Brubeck Quartet - Time Out (1959)
Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong - Ella & Louis (1956)
Sonny Rollins - Saxophone Colossus (1956)
Charles Mingus – The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady (1963)
Eddy Arnold - Cattle Call (1963)
Patsy Cline - Patsy Cline (1957)
The Louvin Brothers - The Family Who Prays (1958)
Miles Davis - Kind of Blue (1959)
Johnny Cash - Johnny Cash with His Hot and Blue Guitar! (1957)
Lester Young & The Teddy Wilson Quartet - Pres & Teddy (1959)
Peggy Lee - Rendezvous with Peggy Lee (1948)
Horace Silver Quintet - Vol. 4 (1955)
Woody Guthrie - Woody Guthrie (1944)
Ornette Coleman - The Shape of Jazz to Come (1959)
Anita O'Day - Anita Sings the Most (1957)
Huey "Piano" Smith & His Clowns - Having a Good Time (1959)

1959 man...

 

[Mescaleroman]

Phil Ochs - All the News That's Fit to Print
the Animals - s/t
Roy Orbison - In Dreams
Manfred Mann - The Five Faces of Manfred Mann

 

[frisco]

Other than Elvis Presley, In The Wee Small Hours:
I Walk The Line-Johnny Cash
Bitter Tears-Johnny Cash
Elvis-Elvis Presley
Elvis Golden Records Vol. 1-3 I know these are compilations but many of the hits were single-only releases.
No One Cares-Frank Sinatra
Ben-Hur Soundtrack
Rick Is 21-Ricky Nelson
Johnny Cash With His Hot And Blue Guitar-Johnny Cash
Songs For Swingin' Lovers-Frank Sinatra
Blue Hawaii Soundtrack-Elvis Presley
Pat's Great Hits-Pat Boone Compilation with unreleased singles-only songs.
Jailhouse Rock Soundtrack-Elvis Presley
Where Are You?-Frank Sinatra
Gunfighter Ballads And Trail Songs-Marty Robbins
The Fabulous Johnny Cash-Johnny Cash
Elvis Is Back!-Elvis Presley
Johnny's Greatest Hits-Johnny Mathis Compilation with many hits only single-only releases
Heartbreak Hotel Soundtrack-Elvis Presley
Magnificent Seven Soundtrack
Calypso-Harry Belafonte
Nice N' Easy-Frank Sinatra
Ride This Train-Johnny Cash
For LP Fans Only-Elvis Presley
Sings For Only The Lonely-Frank Sinatra

My Best-Carey

 

[Tasty Biscuits]

(deep breath) JAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

 

[plank]

OK, this is what I've got.

1954 - Frank Sinatra - In The Wee Small Hours
1955 - Louis Armstrong and His All-Stars - Satch Plays Fats
1956 - Louis Prima - The Wildest!
1956 - Elvis Presley - Elvis
1957 - Elvis Presley - Elvis' Christmas Album
1957 - Odetta - At The Gate of Horn
1958 - Bo Diddley - Bo Diddley
1958 - Wanda Jackson - Wanda Jackson
1958 - Howlin' Wolf - Moanin' in the Moonlight
1959 - Marty Robbins - Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs
1962 - Howlin' Wolf - Howlin' Wolf
1962- Speedy West - Guitar Spectacular
1962 - The Ventures - Play Telstar, The Lonely Bull
1962 - Ray Charles - Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music
1963 - The Beatles - Please Please Me
1963 - The Beatles - With the Beatles
1963 - Bob Dylan - The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan
1964 - Bob Dylan - The Times They Are a-Changin'
1964 - Bob Dylan - Another Side of Bob Dylan
1964 - The Beatles - Meet the Beatles
1964 - The Beatles - A Hard Day's Night
1964 - The Beatles - Beatles for Sale
1964 - The Rolling Stones - The Rolling Stones
1964 - The Rolling Stones - 12 x 5
1964 - Muddy Waters - Folk Singer
1964 - The Searchers - It's The Searchers

 

[Shareefruck]

This thread could really use some Bill Evans Trio.

Unpopular opinion-- while I like and respect some 50s Rock and Roll/sing-song-y artists, it's always seemed a bit strange to me how their albums always get so much representation on these types of album lists, considering that, to me, it's always seemed like music from these genres didn't really become great album experiences until the next era and they seemed to be more focused on individual songs, and tons of incredible Jazz albums were already way ahead of the curve in that regard.

When I try them, they rarely click for me as great albums, and the 50s usually end up pretty aggressively Jazz dominated for me. They almost have to be live concert performances (which do start to feel more album-y) to even start to move into that territory for me.

 

[plank]

and notable compilations from: Amalia Rodrigues, Buddy Holly, The Carter Family, Charley Patton, Chuck Berry, Cisco Houston, Dave Brubeck, Dean Martin, Dick Dale, Duane Eddy, Eddie Cochran, Elmore James, Ernest Tubb, Faron Young, Fats Domino, Fats Waller, Gene Vincent, Hank Williams, Henry Thomas, Johnny Cash, Lonnie Donegan, The Louvin Brothers, The Maddox Brothers and Rose, Ray Price, Robert Johnson, Roy Acuff, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Skip James, Slim Harpo, The Stanley Brothers and Woody Guthrie.

 

[Habsfunk]

Jerry Lee Lewis - Live at the Star Club in Hamburg
Do live albums qualify? Because this is arguably the greatest live recording of all time, and it came out in 1964.

 

[plank]

This thread could really use some Bill Evans Trio.

Unpopular opinion-- while I like and respect some 50s Rock and Roll/sing-song-y artists, it's always seemed a bit strange to me how their albums always get so much representation on these types of album lists, considering that, to me, it's always seemed like music from these genres didn't really become great album experiences until the next era and they seemed to be more focused on individual songs, and tons of incredible Jazz albums were already way ahead of the curve in that regard.

When I try them, they rarely click for me as great albums, and the 50s usually end up pretty aggressively Jazz dominated for me. They almost have to be live concert performances (which do start to feel more album-y) to even start to move into that territory for me.

Rock in the 50's and early 60's was geared more towards radio friendly singles as opposed to albums.

 

[Pranzo Oltranzista]

Jerry Lee Lewis - Live at the Star Club in Hamburg
Do live albums qualify? Because this is arguably the greatest live recording of all time, and it came out in 1964.

I tried to avoid them (and often couldn't), but they count if you want them to count. These threads are all about subjectivity and personal preferences. Great pick, love JLL.

 

[Shareefruck]

Rock in the 50's and early 60's was geared more towards radio friendly singles as opposed to albums.

Yeah, that's basically exactly what I'm referring to. In my view, that seems like it should more or less disqualify them and result in barely any of those albums showing up on these lists (because how could they be as good as albums that actually focus on being a good album and are successful at that?), but they end up dominating most of them anyways, which always struck me as kind of odd.

Is it because people are judging them by historical importance and how good the artist is instead of the effectiveness of the album or something? Or do they just differ from me in that they actually get as much out of non-album-y albums or greatest hits compilations as album-y-albums, in a vaccuum? Or do they just happen to not like the genres that had already perfected album-y albums at the time.

For example, I respect the hell out of guys like Bo Diddley, Howlin Wolf, and Chuck Berry, and think certain songs from them are excellent, but I definitely don't get as much out of listening to their individual albums as I do something like Pet Sounds (which isn't a favorite by any means, but is a moderately agreeable baseline example of a good "album"-album). I'd get it if just nothing from that era was as good, so people just pick the best they can from a limited selection, but that's not really the case. Meanwhile something like Kind of Blue is more competitive with something like Pet Sounds, and there are tons of jazz albums from the same era that are competitive with, better than, or at least in the same stratosphere as Kind of Blue. So it makes sense to me that a best albums of the 50s list should just be completely dominated by Jazz albums with barely any Rock (outside of maybe some live concerts that do happen to function as a great album experience), but you generally don't see that reflected in these lists.

Just a weird thing that I've noticed and have never been able to square.

 

[Pranzo Oltranzista]

Yeah, that's basically exactly what I'm referring to. In my view, that seems like it should more or less disqualify them and result in barely any of those albums showing up on these lists (because how could they be as good as albums that actually focus on being a good album and are successful at that?), but they end up dominating most of them anyways, which always struck me as kind of odd.

Is it because people are judging them by historical importance and how good the artist is instead of the effectiveness of the album or something? Or do they just differ from me in that they actually get as much out of non-album-y albums as album-y-albums, in a vaccuum?

For example, I respect the hell out of guys like Bo Diddley, Howlin Wolf, and Chuck Berry, and think certain songs from them are excellent, but I definitely don't get as much out of listening to their individual albums as I do something like Pet Sounds (which isn't a favorite by any means, but is a moderately agreeable baseline example of a good "album"-album). I'd get it if just nothing from that era was as good, so people just pick the best they could from a limited selection, but that's not really the case. Meanwhile something like Kind of Blue is more competitive with something like Pet Sounds, and there are tons of jazz albums from the same era that are competitive with, better than, or at least in the same stratosphere as Kind of Blue. So it makes sense to me that a best albums of the 50s list should just be completely dominated by Jazz albums with barely any Rock (outside of maybe some live concerts that do happen to function as a great album experience), but that's never really the case.

Maybe there's just less people listening to these jazz albums so they don't win the popular vote? I really don't think Miles Davis lacks praise, and I'm pretty sure no snobbish music reviewer has Howlin' Wolf above Kind of Blue, so you're fine. Just don't mind the small people.

Once again, I really appreciate your enthusiasm for music, but can't stand the absolutes in which you present everything. Can't you just post your own list and maybe pick up on a thing or two from everybody else's?

 

[Shareefruck]

Maybe there's just less people listening to these jazz albums so they don't win the popular vote? I really don't think Miles Davis lacks praise, and I'm pretty sure no snobbish music reviewer has Howlin' Wolf above Kind of Blue, so you're fine. Just don't mind the small people.

Once again, I really appreciate your enthusiasm for music, but can't stand the absolutes in which you present everything. Can't you just post your own list and maybe pick up on a thing or two from everybody else's?

It's not just poll results that reflect this, though, I notice it playing out this way in the individual lists of people who are really into the jazz albums as well (and who are way more knowledgable about this stuff than I am), and I'm curious about people's thought process and how that works when it comes to this stuff (more-so than I am in posting a list for a poll-- Also, understanding how people are approaching this affects what I'd want to give a second look anyways). No disrespect intended.

What absolutes and what small people? I'm just saying "this is how it works and makes sense to me-- how does your perspective differ and how do you justify it?" (I'm not even going to bat for Kind of Blue OR Pet Sounds, which on a personal level, I find kind of overrated-- I'm just using them as typical examples to illustrate what I'm saying that most people would get). Is it wrong to go off on a tangent like this, just out of the spirit of discussion? Mods can delete it if it's off topic-- I just find it an interesting disconnect.

 

[Pranzo Oltranzista]

It's not just poll results that reflect this, though, I notice it playing out this way in the individual lists of people who are really into the jazz albums as well (and who are way more knowledgable about this stuff than I am), and I'm curious about people's thought process and how that works when it comes to this stuff (more-so than I am in posting a list for a poll-- Also, understanding how people are approaching this affects what I'd want to give a second look anyways). No disrespect intended.

What absolutes? I'm just saying "this is how it works and makes sense to me-- how does your perspective differ and how do you justify it?" (I'm not even going to bat for Kind of Blue OR Pet Sounds, which on a personal level, I find kind of overrated-- I'm just using them as typical examples to illustrate what I'm saying that most people would get). Is it wrong to go off on a tangent like this, just out of the spirit of discussion? Mods can delete it if it's off topic-- I just find it an interesting line of questioning.

Nothing wrong with discussion, sorry if it sounded that way. I happen to think Moaning in the Moonlight (to use your Howlin' Wolf example) is a great album-s-y album, better than most jazz albums of the period. It might have been, at the time, just a collection of individual songs, 60 years later, it's an amazing and coherent collection of songs.

 

[Shareefruck]

Nothing wrong with discussion, sorry if it sounded that way. I happen to think Moaning in the Moonlight (to use your Howlin' Wolf example) is a great album-s-y album, better than most jazz albums of the period. It might have been, at the time, just a collection of individual songs, 60 years later, it's an amazing and coherent collection of songs.

Okay, great, that's the kind of thing I'm looking for. Do you think that's more or less what it is? That a lot of 50s rock albums do actually work really well as album-y albums, more than I'm giving them credit for?

 

[frisco]

I might get killed for this, but we should have went 1900-1962 just so the stupid Beatles wouldn't win another poll. I'm just exhausted by the Beatle love everywhere all the time.

My Best-Carey

 

[Shareefruck]

I might get killed for this, but we should have went 1900-1962 just so the stupid Beatles wouldn't win another poll. I'm just exhausted by the Beatle love everywhere all the time.

My Best-Carey

I like The Beatles alot (well, the Lennon/Harrison side of them anyways), but nothing they did before 1965 even comes close to justifying winning something like this, IMO. Please Please Me and With The Beatles is really underwhelming compared to other albums from this period.

 

[WetcoastOrca]

I might get killed for this, but we should have went 1900-1962 just so the stupid Beatles wouldn't win another poll. I'm just exhausted by the Beatle love everywhere all the time.

My Best-Carey

Fair point. I’m not a huge fan of all their early albums but IMO, a Hard Days Night deserves to be in the running here. Just a great album.
I actually prefer the raw energy of that album to some of their later more over produced stuff.

 

[Chili]

Only had two albums that I was familiar with: Hard Day's Night and Peter Paul and Mary self titled.

Appreciate many other great artists of the period just don't know their albums. Most already mentioned above, would add:

Nat King Cole
Perry Como
Cliff Richard
James Brown
Bing Crosby
Judy Garland
Andy Williams

 

[Eisen]

A hard day's night. Best Beatles album.

 

[Teemu]

I'm pretty much on the same page with some of the early "greats" like Here's Little Richard and The Chirping Crickets. I feel like a lot of their reputation is built on the back of their singles, and that these albums are mostly only heralded because Rolling Stone et al. had to highlight *some* albums from the decade that weren't jazz just for the sake of authenticity. Hits-and-filler was the M.O. for most labels in the early LP era. I think that's part of why I really like Songs Our Daddy Taught Us even though its far from groundbreaking--instead of trying to churn out more hits, the Everlys just wanted to lay down some tracks that they grew up loving.

 

[Megaterio Llamas]