@tylermunns you are so right about Willie, he is a national treasure as far as I am concerned. Like you, I think he is underrated, maybe more that a tad.
100 Albums You Would wish for...from a Genie
This thread was inspired by this thread:
https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/building-a-100-album-vinyl-collection-3-must-have-albums-are
Please add to the above list. Thanks!
Okay, here is my premise for this:
I find an very odd, really old record in the $.99 cent bin in the back corner of some old, dusty record store. I pull the LP from the sleeve and a Genie appears. He says I can have any equipment/gear I want. Speakers, amp, preamp, etc. Just name it, (mbl Master Reference System and a custom room for it please.)...
...but, I can only have 100 albums forever to play on it. No "Best Of" or "Greatest Hits". No Box Sets or Compilations. Soundtracks are fine if original score, no Compilations. Double and Triple LP’s count as one album. (This Genie was very detailed in his instructions. He kinda looked like Donald Fagen).
What 100 albums would they be?
(I know I fudged on a rule or two, on a few of mine).
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Allman Brothers-Idlewild South
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Amazing Rhythm Aces-Too Stuffed To Jump
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April Wine-Harder, Faster
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Atlanta Rhythm Section-Red Tape
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Bad Company-Straight Shooter
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The Band-The Last Waltz
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The Beatles-Abbey Road
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The Beatles: Rubber Soul
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Jeff Beck-Live At Ronnie Scott’s
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Blackberry Smoke-The Whippoorwill
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Blackfoot-Strikes
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Karla Bonoff-Restless Nights
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Boston-Boston
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Jackson Browne-Late For The Sky
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Jimmy Buffett-Songs You Know By Heart
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Charlie-Lines
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Chicago-Chicago Transit Authority
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Eric Clapton-461 Ocean Boulevard
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Eric Clapton-Slowhand
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Marc Cohn-Marc Cohn
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Shawn Colvin-Fat City
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Cowboy Junkies - The Trinity Sessions
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Creedence Clearwater Revival-Cosmo’s Factory
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Crosby, Stills & Nash-Daylight Again
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Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young-Deja Vu
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Christopher Cross-Christopher Cross
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Miles Davis- Bitches Brew
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Miles Davis - Kind of Blue
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Dire Straits-Making Movies
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Doobie Brothers-Toulouse Street
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Eagles-The Long Run
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Electric Light Orchestra-Out Of The Blue
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Emerson, Lake & Palmer-Works Volume 1
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Melissa Etheridge-Brave And Crazy
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Donald Fagen-The New York Rock And Soul Review
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Donald Fagen-The Nightfly
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Fleetwood Mac-Rumours
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Foghat-Foghat
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Genesis-Invisible Touch
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Hall & Oates-Private Eyes
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George Harrison-All Things Must Pass
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Head East-Flat As A Pancake
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Heart-Dreamboat Annie
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John Hiatt-Slow Turning
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Hootie And The Blowfish-Cracked Rear View
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Bruce Hornsby & The Range-The Way It Is
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Indigo Girls-Nomads, Indians & Saints
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J. Giles Band-Bloodshot
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James Gang-Straight Shooter
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Jefferson Airplane-Red Octopus
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Billy Joel-The Stranger
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Elton John-Goodbye Yellowbrick Road
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Rickie Lee Jones-Rickie Lee Jones
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Kansas-Leftoverture
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Kiss-Dressed To Kill
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Mark Knopfler -Shangri La
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Alison Krauss-Forget About It
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Little River Band-First Under The Wire
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The Liz Barnez Band-Inkmarks On Pages
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Shelby Lynne-Just A Little Lovin’
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Pat Metheny & Lyle Mays-As Falls Wichita, So Falls Wichita Falls
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Steve Miller-Book Of Dreams
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Joni Mitchell-Hissing of Summer Lawns
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Van Morrison – Moondance
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New Riders Of The Purple Sage-The Adventures Of Panama Red
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Stevie Nicks-Bella Donna
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Tom Petty-Damn The Torpedoes
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Poco-Legend
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The Police-Zenyatta Mendatta
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Queen-The Works
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REO Speedwagon-Ridin’ The Storm Out
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Robbie Robertson-Robbie Robertson
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Linda Ronstadt-Simple Dreams
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Roxy Music -Avalon
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Rush-2112
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Sawmill Creek-Wild Western Windblown Band
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Bob Seger-Night Moves
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Paul Simon-Still Crazy After All These Years
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Bruce Springsteen-Born To Run
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Steely Dan-Aja
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Steely Dan - Gaucho
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Steely Dan-Two Against Nature
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Styx-Crystal Ball
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Cat Stevens - Tea for the Tillerman
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Joss Stone-The Soul Sessions
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Supertramp- Crime of the Century
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Richard and Linda Thompson- Shoot Out The Lights
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Toto-Hydra
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Traffic-Low Spark Of High Heeled Boys
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Trooper-Knock ’Em Dead Kid
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Robin Trower-Bridge of Sighs
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The Wallflowers-Bringing Down The Horse
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Joe Walsh-The Smoker You Drink, The Player You Get
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Wings-Band On The Run
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Wings-Venus And Mars
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The Wonderful Sounds of Female Vocals
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The Wonderful Sounds of Male Vocals
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Yes-Fragile
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Warren Zevon-Warren Zevon
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ZZ Top-Tres Hombres
This is just for fun. I found a ton of albums off the thread, listed at the top, that I had forgot about. Was hoping to find even more. If you want to participate, cool! If not, please don’t.
I’m by no means expecting everyone to add a list of 100 titles. I thought it was a blast, but did take some time. I've also had a blast going back and relistening to a lot of these. Man, I sure missed them.
Play if you want...
(This is by no means a final, definitive list. Probably hundreds of more albums await...)
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- 118 posts total
@vandy357 I remember seeing an advanced-age version of Willie on Austin City Limits a few years back and his fluidity as a performer with his guitar and voice was just remarkable. Beautiful. A true artist. |
One real "problem" for me is that a fair amount of my favorite music was recorded "indifferently" or worse. And if a system is a little "too good" (i.e ruthlessly revealing), those kind of recordings may become somewhat unpleasant to listen to. In my experience, a very transparent tweeter like a planar-magnetic, electrostatic, or ribbon may not make poor recordings unlistenable, but a metal-done tweeter might. I think that is a result of the tendency for some metal domes to "ring" a little. That is of course a broad generalization, so no offense intended, metal dome tweeter owners. 😊 Do many of us work towards building a system transparent enough to serve the music well, but not so unforgiving that less-than-superb recordings lead us to not listen to them as much as we would like to? When Audiogon member Simon (folkfreak) had me over to his Portland home to hear his outstanding system, the sound of the tweeters in his Magico Q3 loudspeakers (augmented with Townshend Audio Maximum Supertweeters) contributed to a tonal balance I am not accustomed to. I had heard Magico’s before (I don’t remember which model), but in a bigger room and at a greater listening distance (in Simon’s old room the distance was about six or so feet, maybe a little more. Is that correct Simon?). And Simon’s room was very neutral (it was fitted with ASC products, including the WallDamp used in the construction of the room’s structure), "cooler" than the somewhat warm room I listen in. I hadn’t before heard the Townshend tweeter, and of course had no knowledge of the spl/crossover frequency, etc. it was being used at. The LP’s I brought along (Richard & Linda Thompson’s Shoot Out The Lights on UK Hannibal Records and Cat Stevens’ Tea For The Tillerman on UK Island) sounded probably the over-all best I have ever heard them (both are excellent recordings), with not a trace of hardness, glare, or other nasties (Simon’s ARC and VTL electronics share in the credit 😉). But the higher frequencies were more prominent than I am accustomed to. Interestingly, Simon---having traded his Q3’s for M3’s---no longer feels the need for the Townshend tweeters. I have long felt that the popularity of the Vandersteen Model 2 (well earned and deserved, imo) was in part due to it’s slightly forgiving nature (in comparison to some competing loudspeakers); that is, just slightly on the warm side of neutral. Vandersteen owners may prefer them to, for instance, Wilson’s for that very reason. Vandersteen’s can be listened to for hours with no listening fatigue, even with somewhat bright recordings. I’ve never owned a pair, but have heard many hours of music through them. |
Everything sound better in a well optimized and well embedded system... If not, there is a synergy problem or perhaps an acoustic factor not well done... Everything sound good in my 2 system even the worst recording ... They sound better than they ever did... Then..........
One of the reason for this "problem" is that many audiophile confuse musical natural sounding system with "more detailed" one and especially brighter one...
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@bdp24 This is a great point you make about super-revealing gear causing less-than-stellar recordings to be more pronounced in their less-than-stellarness. |
- 118 posts total