Album which you have listened to most?

Tools for setup and evaluation: MFLS Steely Dan Aja, Steely Dan Katy Lied, Nautilus Joan Baez Diamonds and Rust.
Pink Floyd DSOM I played this far too many times in the 70's and just don't ever listen to it anymore.
Hey Philjolet: King Crimson Islands - Good Call!! my favorite King Crimson, what a poetic transporting album.. I always think I'm on some Greek Island.

Only three? No promises! :-) You ask for LP’s that engender an emotional; response and I could list a hundred. How about three from each of several separate categories? Even at that it is damn hard and I will leave out many –depends on the mood as to what I find best. All of these, though, induce strong emotions in me upon listening and I’d never say no if they were offered in the queue. I have tried to restrict my suggestions to those that are not blatantly obvious “best-sellers” (e.g. Sgt. Pepper’s/Dark Side of the Moon/Led Zep IV, etc.) BTW, kudos to Lugnut for mentioning G. Allman's "Laid Back" and I feel I must mention it also - it is sorely underrated and an all-time favorite for melancholy moods - I recently had to buy a mint first pressing since my son absconded with my original copy!

50’s-60’s Jazz
Art Pepper – “Intensity”
Art Pepper – “Smack Up”
Miles Davis - “Steamin’”

70’s Jazz/Fusion
Chick Corea – “Again and Again (The Joburg Sessions)”
Weather Report – “8:30”
Brand X – “Livestock”

60’s Rock
Beatles – “Revolver”
King Crimson – “In the Court of the Crimson King”
Velvet Underground – “White Light, White Heat”

Motown
Supremes – “With Love”
Marvin Gaye – “What’s Goin’ On”
Stevie Wonder – “Innervisions”

70’s Rock
Steely Dan - “Pretzel Logic”
Yes – “Fragile”
Spirit – “Twelve Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus”
There are dozens in this list, alone.

Country Rock
Pure Prairie League – “Bustin’ Out”
Ozark Mountain Daredevils – “Men From Earth”
Poco – “Indian Summer”

70’s R&B/Soul
War – “The World is a Ghetto”
Al Green – “Let’s Stay Together”
O’Jays – “Backstabbers”

80’s Rock
Donald Fagen – “The Nightfly”
R.E.M. – Document
The Clash – “London Calling”

Bluegrass
Nitty Gritty Dirt Band – “Will the Circle Be Unbroken”
Flatt and Scruggs – “Country Music”
Dillards – “Decade Waltz”

Classic Female Vocals
Carol King – “Tapestry”
Jennifer Warnes – “Shot Through the Heart”
Aretha Franklin – “Lady Soul”

Relatively Current-
Steely Dan – “Everything Must Go” (superb)
Marlena Shaw – “Live in Tokyo”
Coldplay – “Rush of Blood to the Head”

I hesitated to post so many, but maybe it is a good thing for the sake of variety. As some will equally find for my choices, I would not let the choices of some others come near my platter. Moral: "To each his/her own!" :-)

1. dave brubeck quartet with jimmy rushing: excellent, but short recording that I can still listen to almost every week,in fact it is playing as we speak.

2. ben harper - fight for your mind: this is listened to alot although some tracks do get past over, I even have a copy for listening in my car. This has alot of different tracks on it. Sometimes I just put on the guitar intro of track 12 and listen to it quite a few times in a row.

3. midnight oil - acoustic nights: this was made on the oxygen label and recorded during the unplugged craze a few years back. even though the are doubles of some tracks, it was recorded in two different venues, I often listen to it all the way through

Eric Clapton "Unplugged"
Eagles "Hotel California"
Pink Floyd everything from Meddle and after

I have to break the rules and add one

Joe Zawinal - The Rise & Fall of the Third Stream

I think anything this man touches is magic (including Weather Report) and this is my current favorite, ever evolving and tuneful, very tasteful

Oh, I almost forgot, I almost never tire of the 20hz test tone on the Stereophile Test CD 1. It's an audiophile classic.

Marco

Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here
Beatles - Abbey Road
Led Zeppelin 2

Thanks for the fantastic response! You guys are really dependable in everysense of the word.

Mine:

Peter Gabriel - 3rd, Security
XTC - Nonsuch, Skylarking
Pink Floyd - The Wall, Animals
Patrick O'Hearn - Ancient Dreams, Indigo
Dire Straits - Making Movies, Love Over Gold
Brian Eno - Apollo, The Pearl
The Clash - London Calling, The Clash
Miles Davis - Kind of Blue, In A Silent Way

I'll add some of my favorites that haven't already been listed:
1. ELECTRIC FLAG (1st album)
2. EAST-WEST (Paul Butterfield Blues Band)
3. FOREVER CHANGES (Love)
4. BYRDS GREATEST HITS (Byrds)
5. YARDBIRDS GREATEST HITS (Yardbirds)

1. Dire Straights- On Every Street (great sounding disc, and has some great tracks that encompass many of their other albums styles)
2. U2- Joshua Tree (a classic rock album, not much else to say)
3. Maroon 5- Songs About Jane (their first release, and recorded well enough you get a good idea of how great their live shows are, awesome blue-eyed soul/funk)
4. Paco De Lucia- Siroco (awesome flamenco guitar, and a great recording)
5. Supertramp- Crime of the Century ( probably their best album, and the half-speed mastered vinyl I have sounds incredible)

Sbrtoy,

Of the five you mention I have the Dire Straits on CD, U2 on both vinyl and CD and Supertramp on vinyl. I agree with you that these are incredible sounding albums.

Another album which I have on both vinyl as well as CD is Dire Straits - Brothers in Arms which actually beats all the above in almost every department.

1.) Kind of Blue- Miles Davis
2.) Strollin'- Chet Baker
3.) These Are The Vistas- The Bad Plus

All of these are Fantastic!. Also liking some I see from other respondents... like Brubeck, Monk and Metheny. Good to know others out there are listening to jazz.
Italian vinyl dealer came into our store here in Atlanta last week looking for southern rock told me there was not that great a demand in Europe for jazz anymore. Gotta' think he's wrong.

Ahmad Jamal - "I remember Duke, Hoagy & Strayhorn" on Telarc. Great, natural sounding piano recording and an outstanding performance.

Andre Previn & Thomas Stevens "play a classic american songbook" on DRG. An unusual combo of trumpet and piano by two excellent performers - great late nite listening.

Shirley Horn - "I thought about you" on Verve. A live performance - classic Horn.

Are you finding out how NOT objective the public's taste is, and how EVERY subjective it is :-)

For instance, Time Out, and Kind of Blue are not that great (I do have them in my collection). Just popularly thought of in that way. There has always been a cultural phenomenon about what is selected by the public to be revered. It never makes any sense. The phenomenon is just accepted, especially by marketers.

Like the Mona Lisa. If that painting is so great, why is it that forgers create copies so close to the original that it take lasers, xray, and chemical analysis to determine the forgery from the original. It is almost superstitious. One guy made one painting and it is somehow superior to ALL others?

Kind of Blue is one of the first attempts at model structure. By a guy who was already accepted by the public as the jazz authority. I am sure many other virtuoso artists did not agree that he should singularly hold that title.

A classical DJ did a special feature on his show. He played examples of some of the very best performances ever recorded. He played artists who were, for one reason or another (appearance?), never accepted by the public for their superior talent.

Have you ever heard of Nina Simone? Who sang better? How about 'Eddie who?'...Eddie Harris. He said, 'if I don't have the chops, come and blow me off the stage. But no one ever does. Yet I am thought of as not so good a player.'

Beethoven and Mozart both had trouble with public acceptance. Check out the movie 'Amadeus'. It tells this story.

You may as well just give in to your own subjectivity and select music that touches you in some special way when listening to the radio.

You will never get a straight response, or a rational view, from the public. At one memorable moment in history the Dutch were paying a small fortune for a tulip bulb.

Though they do make very good employees, voters, and customers, and are made good use of by those who want to rise above it all. (Bill Gates? He did not create anything. He purchased DOS from a couple of guys you created in their garage, went to IBM, and the rest is history :-)

Be yourself. Its the best you can do.

Yes, Privateparty....you just said what I was thinking.

This thread shows the many variety of tastes out there.

On a similar thread a while ago, 'everyone' mentioned Peter Gabriel's "UP" album. Welllll, I just hadda have it! Bought it....put it in the ole CD player and....YUCK!

Other occasions, did same, and LOVE the music (Steely Dan's latest "2 against Nature")

Well, I guess it just shows to go you different strokes....etc.

Now then, MY personal favorites (for what it's worth)....

1) Finger Paintings by Earl Klugh
2 Parkening Plays Bach by Christopher Parkening
3) Into Dark by Andrew York

These would be 3 to get into if your collection has no classical guitar. Earl Klugh plays with a quartet...Parkening is strictly solo classical guitar that on the Bach album sounds like God himself is guiding his hands....and Andy is the best contemporary writer/performer for classical guitar of our time, performing his own songs and also an interpretation of the Bach Cello Suite. His creation "Sunburst" is worth the price of the CD and has been recorded by the most famous world class guitarists of today.

Enjoy!

Privateparty,

I agree with what you say. I happen to like some artists who are mentioned in this thread hence I may check them out, its worth the risk. OTOH some artists mentioned I cannot stand them so I will certainly disregard them. (By mentioning the artists/albums which I do not like, I may well create confusion which could lead to flame wars, the last thing I would like to do on this board)

I also happen to like many albums but I do not expect others to appreciate as much as I do. We have to respect each others opinion. After all music is about emotions, and if you read my original post I did mention "Not necessarily the best sounding but the one which you are emotionally attached to"

All in all, I find that this thread has a lot to offer. So thank for your valuable input, which is greatly appreciated!

Abbey Road, Dark Side of the Moon, Heart Like a Wheel

Hey Quad,

I bought 'making music' and also 'primal magic'.... So, you see, these posts do get some action because of what we type.... I would never have know about these otherwise.

Good music.

John

John,

What is your opinion on the track 1 on album "Making Music"?

Your post above in this thread mentioned that you bought Peter Gabrial's "UP" and you simply said "YUCK". As for Making Music and Primal Magic you went ahead and bought them! Why? How did you make up your mind that this audiophool (Quadophile) could be trusted with music recommendation ? I am gald you liked them, otherwise I would surely be in touble! :-)

I have no idea how much of good music is out there that we are missing, I bet what we have is like a drop in the ocean. By sharing good music, we all get to listen more of the variety and I believe that is what we are precisely doing on this thread.

Happy Listening!

Spirit: 12 Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus
Neil Young: Harvest
The Who: Who's Next
Stones: Exile on Main Street
Byrds: Sweetheart of the Rodeo
Led Zeppelin: Physical Graffiti

Hendrix: Electric Ladyland
Derek and the Dominoes: Layla
CSNY: 4 Way Street
Grateful Dead: American Beauty
Jethro Tull: Aqualung
Eric B. and Rakim: Paid in Full

an introduction into early music-naxos, music of medieval france by sonus chanterai-dorian, migration by peter kater and r.carlos nakai-silverwave records--oh and magnificat by chanticleer ;-) enjoy and be prepared to weep tears of joy

Sneakin' Suspicion by Jack Semple
Time Loves A Hero by Little Feat
Close To The Edge by Yes...listening to any recordings by these artists may change your life...they certainly did mine!!

Professor Longhair - Rock-n Roll Gumbo
Crusaders - Free As the Wind
Oscar Peterson - West Side Story
Santana - III
Sarah Vaughn - Live in Japan
Beatles - Revolver
Steely Dan - Pretzel Logic
Genesis - Lamb Lies Down on Broadway
John Coltrane - Giant Steps
Little Feat - Dixie Chicken

Absolutely no question...MFSLabs UHQR pressing "Crime of the Century" by Supertramp...AWESOME..hope you get a chance to listen to one of these someday...pretty rare though!...

I agree with Pisbee about the UHQR of "Crime of the Century". Absolutely amazing!

Barry

IMHO some of the best pop/rock you'll ever hear.

Badfinger--pretty much any album with Pete Ham. IMHO some of the best pop/rock you'll ever hear.

1. The Who - either "Who's Next" or "Quadrophenia"

2. Frank Zappa - "Apostrophe/Overnite Sensation" (on same cd).

3. Doc Watson - "Memories"

Nostalgia has hit me hard! Currently the albums getting more platter time are

Roxy Music - Avalon
Dire Straits - Brothers in Arms
Patricia Barber - Cafe Blue

Dylan: "Blood on the Tracks" and "Time Out of Mind"
Eva Cassidy: "Live at Blues Alley"

Here are a few that I have played regularly for years.

Fleetwood Mac - Then Play On.
Genesis - Selling England By The Pound.
Dylan - Blood On The Tracks
Gentle Giant - Three Friends

Not quite so old stuff:
Hothouse Flowers- Songs From The Rain
October Project - Self titled
Toad the Wet Sprocket - Dulcinea
The Samples - Autopilot

Cowboy Junkies - Platnum/Gold Collection
Me'Shell Ndegeocello - Peace Beyond Passion

2) Exile in Guyville By Liz Phair This record is an addiction.

3) Velvet Underground--The Velvet underground. I first heard his when I met my girl. We were 16 and we still play this together, 14 years later.

talking heads,"speaking in tongues" just finished listening to the lp ,,twice,,have to agree with lugnut greg allman "laid back" is also a great album!!

genisis"a trick of the tail"sounds great

Trinity Sessions, Cowboy Junkies.
Everytime I hear Margo sing Mining For Gold, I feel the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.

Diana Krall - Live in Paris Tracy Chapman - Tracy Chapman
anything by James Taylor!

Gardengirl,

Good choices I must say, even though I would have like to include the Diana Krall album I could not due to the rules. - Albums which are over 5 years old. :)

Tracy Chapman is my reference for vocals, especially track no 6 (Mountain o' things), it has faboulous bass lines as well at the start and later into the song at around 3:35, some systems I have heard give a hint of it only but on good systems it is very prominent.

Paul Simon Hearts and Bones.

Supertramp, "Crime of the Century"
Fleetwood Mac, "Then Play On"
Jeff Beck, "Truth"
EmmyLou Harris, "Wrecking Ball"
Liszt, "Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2"

Dream Theatre - Images & Words.

Donald Fagen, "The Nightfly"

OR

The Beatles, "Abbey Road"

1. Cowboy Junkies -Trinity Sessions
2. Enya - Watermark
3. Chet Baker - Chet

To name a few. I think I should really sort out my CD's as I've got so many and some I haven't touched in years.....

this is a tough one. If we're talking about the records in my collection that have been played the most (ie since I first started playing them in the 70's), here's the top 3:
o Mike Oldfield - Ommadawn
o Genesis - Lamb Lies Down
o Boz Scaggs (his first, self titled)

These 3 probably don't have much of a lead over another 20 or so in my collection, and they aren't seeing the most play these days, but I still bring them out regularly, after 30 years.

DaDa: puzzle, 1st and best.
Mellencamp: check out some of his later stuff 2-3 years ago.
Supertramp: brother where you bound.
Los Lobos: kiko

Van Halen I
Steely Dan - "Aja"
The Cure - "The Head on the Door"