An album I’ve always liked a lot. Not top 20-worthy though
Ornette Coleman Golden Circle vol 1
John Coltrane Love Supreme
Miles Davis In a Silent Way
Bill Evans How My Heart Sings
Charles Mingus Mingus Ah Hum
Albert Ayler Live in Greenwich Village
Thelonious Monk Genius of Modern Music vols 1 and 2
Abdullah Ibrahim Very Best Of
Andrew Hill Compulsion!!!
Archie Shepp/Dollar Brand Duet
Art Blakey Moanin’
Keith Jarrett Koln Concert
Art Pepper Road Game
Cecil Taylor Love for Sale
Dizzy Gillespie Live on the French Riviera
Eric Dolphy Out to Lunch
Sonny Rollins On Impulse
Gil Evans Individualism
Jimmy Smith Further Adventures of Jimmy and Wes
Pharaoh Sanders Creator Has A Master Plan
3 Likes
A mighty fine top 20, Richard.
1 Like
In no particular order. All albums I never tire from playing that have become old friends.
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Gone to Earth – David Sylvian
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Ancient Heart – Tanita Tikaram
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Incantations – Mike Oldfield
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China – Vangelis
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Fever Ray – Fever Ray
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The Final Cut – Pink Floyd
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Koyaanisqatsi – Philip Glass
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Local Hero OST – Mark Knopfler
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My Life in the Bush of Ghosts – Brian Eno and David Byrne
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Remain in Light – Talking Heads
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Lionheart / Alternating with ‘Hounds’ – Kate Bush
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Broadcasting from Home – Penguin Cafe Orchestra
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On the Beach – Chris Rea (guilty pleasure)
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Abbey Road – The Beatles
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Steve McQueen – Prefab Sprout
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OST Howards End – Richard Robbins
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Kid A – Radiohead
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Perils from the Sea – Mark Kozelek & Jimmy La Valle
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Casualties of Cool by Casualties of Cool (Devin Townsend & Ché Aimee Dorval)
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Bryter Layter – Nick Drake
2 Likes
Black - Wonderful Life
Roxy Music - Flesh & Blood
Texas - Southside
Yello - Flag
B52’s - B52’s
Lightning Seeds - Jollification
Radiohead - The Bends
Morcheeba - Big Calm
Sade - Diamond Life
INXS - Kick
Japan - Gentlemen Take Polaroids
FYC - The Raw & The Cooked
Depeche Mode - Violator
Placebo - Sleeping With Ghosts
The Chameleons - Script of the Bridge
Simple Minds - New Gold Dream
Black Grape - It’s great when you’re straight
Churches - The bones of what you believe
Big Country - The Crossing
The Clash - London Calling
5 Likes
In no particular order and limiting each artist to one entry, though ask me next week and you’ll probably get a different answer 
David Bowie - Diamond Dogs
Joy Division - Closer
New Order - Power Corruption and Lies
Radiohead - OK Computer
Simple Minds - New Gold Dream
Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon
The Blue Nile - Hats
ABC - The Lexicon of Love
Cowboy Junkies - Trinity Session
Kate Bush - The Kick Inside
Talk Talk - Spirit of Eden
The Cure - Faith
Human League - Travelogue
Peter Gabriel - So
Paul Simon - Graceland
The The - Soul Mining
Lou Reed - Transformer
Siouxsie and the Banshees - The Scream
Christine and the Queens - Chris
The Smiths - The Queen is Dead
2 Likes
10cc Sheet Music, yeah definitely…
2 Likes
It seems nobody much likes any music from this century? I am older than many on this forum but I get as much pleasure from discovering new music/artists as I do from ‘old’ favourites such as Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Van Morrison, Dire Straits…
2 Likes
If the thread was called The Best 20 Albums, I’d probably agree with you. But …Bossa Nova is one of my favourite albums and favourites are subjective.
eric truffaz, kamaal williams, avishai cohen, aaron parks, jowee omicil, omar sosa, medeski, liv warfield, shelby lynn, meshell ndegocello …could be on my list too.
Oops. Didn’t spot Dummy in your list! Even closer than I thought.
I’m going to hazard a guess for my current top 10 mixed in with my previous top 10 that I’m rediscovering! This is the current list, no particular order
- Steven Wilson: Hand. Cannot. Erase
- Marillion: Marbles
- Big Big Train: The Underfall Yard
- Pendragon: Not of this World
- Eloy: Dawn
- Pink Floyd: The Wall
- Rush: Power Windows
- Marillion: Script for a Jesters Tear
- Yes: 90125
- Magenta: Seven
I like plenty of music from this century, I even included one album from last year on my list. I’d hazard a guess that most of us on here are middle-aged white men (like me) and the lists posted are the music we grew up with that has stood the test of time.
1 Like
I too like many current artists/releases but l it will take years of listening before I could say they have made it into my top 20 albums.
I do feel the golden age of the album has passed though and I do not rate many albums so highly since about 2010.
- Graceland Paul Simon
- Wish you were Here Pink Floyd
- St Pepper The Beatles
- Nothing Like the sun Sting
- Breakfast In America Supertramp
- The Beekeper Tori Amos
- Tapastry carol King
- Ten New Songs Leonard Cohen
- Seeds of love tears for Fears
- Wind & Wuthering Genesis
- Tommy The Who
- Close to the Edge Yes
- Give out but don’t give In Primal Scream
- olour The Christians
- So Peter Gabriel
- Is this the life we really want Roger Waters
- Deaper Understanding The war on Drugs
- I see you The XX
- Urban Hynms The Verve
- Whats going on Marvin Gaye
I wonder if people have answered this question with their CURRENT top 20, being those they are playing today, this week or this month. Or have people listed their all time top 20, meaning those which you’d select if you could only ever have those 20 titles, rather like a desert island choice?
I presented more of an all time top 20 list. I realise a current list would be very different.
2 Likes
Yeah I listen to plenty of new stuff as well. Some of it very good.
I now have a lot of records so the days of playing an album to death and really getting into them are long gone.
Also being a vinyl man I prefer the recordings made prior to the CD age in general.
I forgot an album that should be in my top 20.
Sparks - Kimono My House.
Ok, here goes…
- Voivod - Dimension Hatross
- Van Der Graaf Generator - Pawn Hearts
- Marianne Faithfull - Broken English
- Marillion - Fugazi
- Rush - Moving Pictures
- Primus - Sailing Seas of Cheese
- Pink Floyd - Meddle
- B-52s - Wild Planet
- Slayer - Reign in Blood
- Fairport Convention - Leige and Life
- Robert Rich - Calling Down the Sky
- Kraftwerk - Transeuropa Express
- Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath
- Marduk - Wormwood
- The Doors - The Doors
- Bo Hannson - Magicians Hat
- Tangerine Dream - Ricochet
- 1200 Micrograms - 1200 Micrograms
- Jethro Tull - Thick As a Brick
- Motörhead - Ace of Spades
Oh my,forgot the Smiths and Nick Drake!!!