what are your most favored recordings ?

In no particular order:

Johnny Mathis - Open Fire, Two Guitars - incredible voice, clean guitar, no gimmiks

Allman Brothers - Live at Fillmore East - IMO One of the best live recordings ever and I grew up on it

Beatles - Rubber Soul - Love the imagery that it invokes

Mahavishnu Orchestra - Inner Mounting Flame - This is how I got into Jazz

Emmylou Harris - Wrecking Ball - The voice, the production, nuff said

thanks sogood51 foir the link. i listened to a couple of songs. all i can say is wow.

i need to think of my favorite selections. it's hard because i may be in the mood for jazz or classical, new age, etc. at different times.

i guess away of looking at the question is to ask:

if someone confiscated all but 5 recordings, what would they be ??

i will try to answer this question. for simplification, i will stick to my cd collection--about 1050 recordings.
i have some esoteric stuff and the best sounding discs are not necessarily my favorites.

Dead Lovers Sarabande 1
Dead Lovers Sarabande 2,
Songs From The Inverted Womb,
Es Reiten Die Toten So Schnell,
La Chambre D'echo

All by Sopor Aeternus.
The reason is that they all emotionally move me more than any other person/group I know (or music I have in my collection). It is the most soulful, passionate and intense music, beautifully written, played and sung. The lyrics are simply superb, although unless you speak German one needs to get the translations (no worse that a lot of operas) from the cd cover or website.
Best played in a darkened room...........Very gothic.

Goldberg Variations, JS Bach, Murray Perahia: Outstanding playing and very good recording. I love this piece, and I think Perahia's version is the best.

24 Preludes and Fugues for Piano, D Shostakovich, Keith Jarrett: A 20th century descendant from the Goldbergs, fully their equal.

Live at Maybeck Hall, Gene Harris: OK, OK, so I like solo piano recordings. This is great "mainstream" jazz, superb recording (like many of the Concord "Maybeck" recordings), currently nosing out Bill Evans' Sunday at the Village Vanguard.

The Harder They Come, The Harder They Fall (Soundtrack), Jimmy Cliff and others: It's got the reggae beat, the tunes, the words, and the soul. The Stones' Sympathy for the Devil is a close runner up.

Cole Porter Songbooks, Vol I and II, Ella Fitzgerald: Didn't have to type "Fitzgerald," did I? Along with the rest of the Songbooks, these are Great American Music.

And, since I'm over the limit anyway:

I've Got the Room Above Her, Paul Motian: the most interesting jazz drummer (also on Sunday at the Village Vanguard) because he makes the drums into a musical instrument. Outstanding recording.