My head aches just thinking about this! I’m completely in awe of all those able to distil 25 from, in my case, almost 5,000 candidates (and I know many of you have far more).
I’m afraid I’ll just have to ‘lurk’, and garner a little listening inspiration here and there.
Sorry, it’s not a question of time, I just can’t grade to the degree of granularity that would be required! I find it almost impossible to pick my ‘favourite’ Stones, Beatles, Floyd, Crimson etc. albums, which is why I end up owning virtually all of them!
Exactly! It’s partly what drove the post; to see if you couldn’t distill such a difficult and personal thing from hundreds, if not thousands, of works into this. I think that’s why so many qualify the list by stating, ‘today’, or ‘might be different tomorrow’. The other part is curiosity…I really am interested in what everyones’ tastes are, and learn a TON along the way. There are some crazy-experienced music people on here.
This a fantastic thread and thank you for everyone who has responded with their choices so far. I am still thinking it through but will deliver the goods in due course along with the familiar caveats of others.
Great thread. After a few days consideration here’s my list:
David Bowie - Ziggy Stardust
David Bowie - Young Americans
Black Sabbath - Sabbath Bloody Sabbath
Bob Dylan - Highway 61 Revisited
Bob Dylan - Blonde on Blonde
The Clash - London Calling
ELO - Out Of The Blue
Grateful Dead - Terrapin Station
The House Of Love - The House Of Love
Marillion - Misplaced Childhood
Charles Mingus - Pithecanthropus Erectus
Charles Mingus - Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus
Pink Floyd - Animals
Pink Floyd - Meddle
Queen - A Night At The Opera
Rolling Stones - Exile On Main Street
Ryan Adams - Love Is Hell
Underworld - Dubnobasswithmyheadman
Bach - Goldberg Variations (Schiff)
Bach - St. Matthew Passion (Gardiner)
Bach - Mass in B Minor (Gardiner)
Beethoven - Complete Piano Sonatas (Brendel)*
Mozart Requiem (Karajan)
Miles Davis - Bitches Brew
Van Morrison - Astral Weeks
Actually I reckon that on any given day only about five of these would change - most of these are definitive in my view and would still be on the list.
*Perhaps a bit of a cheat going for the complete piano sonatas but if I had to choose just one it would be No. 29 - the mighty Hammerklavier!
So tough and I’m sure I’ll disagree with myself tomorrow, but here goes in no order of preference,
Frankie Goes to Hollywood - Welcome to the Pleasuredome
Miles Davis - Kind of Blue
Miles Davis - Sketches of Spain
Pink Floyd - The Final Cut
Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here
Tori Amos - Boys for Pele
Suzanne Vega - Suzanne Vega
Joni Mitchell - Blue
Janette Mason - D’Ranged (if you haven’t heard this give it a go, could be a random find)
Peter Gabriel - You Scratch My Back, I’ll scratch yours (limited edition both albums in one!)
London Grammar- If you wait
Daughter - If you leave
Bob Moses - Days Gone By
KRUDER & DORFMEISTER - The K&D Sessions
Damien Rice - O
Simple Minds - New Gold Dream
Lo Moon - Lo Moon
Talk Talk - Colour of Spring
Latin Quarter - Modern Times
Radiohead - The Bends
The Cure - Disintegration
Massive Attack vs Mad Professor - No Protection
Red House Painters - Rollercoaster
Wild Beasts - Present Tense
The XX - The XX
Recent discovery for me this year and don’t know how it ever passed me by, rarely off the deck, knew it had to be in the 25 when it’s one of the albums I’ve bought a spare of …
Somehow Jeff Buckley didn’t make my list and that’s a hard one to rationale, given the Talk Talk on yours check out Lo Moon if you’ve not come across them. Some top tunes on your list.
Well there have been 25 people who provided lists so far. So I picked one from each of the other 24 and added one new one for myself for a second listing that looks like this… (in the order as they were posted, just for a little fun on a very rainy and cool day)
The Beatles—Abbey Road
Olafur Arnalds - Island Songs
Radiohead - OK Computer
Tori Amos, Little Earthquakes
Miles Davis - Kind of Blue
Bill Frisell - East West
Yes - Fragile
Stevie Wonder - Songs In The Key Of Life
Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon
Sinead O’Connor - Faith And Courage
Steely Dan - Can’t Buy a Thrill
Marvin Gaye - What’s Going On
Elton John - Goodby Yellow Brick Road
Lyle Lovett - Joshua Judges Ruth
White Album - The Beatles
Anouar Brahem - The Astounding Eyes of Rita
U2 - Joshua Tree
Tord Gustavson Trio - The Ground
Yes - Close to the Edge
The Who - Who’s Next
Kate Bush - The Dreaming
Paul Simon - Graceland
ELO - Out of the Blue
Damien Rice - O
The Doors - The Doors
Culture - Two Sevens Clash
Dieuf-Dieul de Thiès - Aw Sa Yone
Dur-Dur Band - Volume 1 & 2
Linton Kwesi Johnson - Forces of Victory / Bass Culture
Joy Division - Unknown Pleasures
Sonny Rollins - The Bridge
John Martyn - Inside Out
Joni Mitchell - The Hissing of Summer Lakens
Urban Dance Squad - Mental Floss for the Globe
J.J. Cale - Naturally
Gyedu-Blay Ambolley - Simigwa
Bembeya Jazz National - Hommage à Dembe Camera
The Cowboy Junkies - The Trinity Session
Parliament - Mothership Connection
Jimmy Smith - Back at The Chicken Snack
Justin Hinds (with John Brown’s Body) - Live at The Grassroots
Kenny Burrell - Midnight Blue
Nahawa Doumbia - La Grande Cantatrice Malienne Vol. 3
Orchestra Baobab - A Night at Club Baobab
Primus - Frizzle Fry
The B-52’s - B-52’s
The Pogues - Rum Sodomy & The Lash
Zuco 103 - Tales of High Fever
Arthur Blythe - Lenox Avenue Breakdown
Martin Hayes & Dennis Cahill - Live in Seattle
Nice to see Tori getting some love, surprised how little she seems to crop up on this forum, I’ve always been a massive fan since the start and her live performances are stellar.
I had Damien Rice in my list in no small part to the performance put in by Lisa Hannigan on the album, simply stunning.
