Prolific bands/arists with one super special album that will always mean the world to you but you don't really care for the rest of their relatively sizable discography

This may have been done before but as the unwieldy title shows, it's not an easy concept to encapsulate into an easily searchable phrase...

This isn't about albums you like a little, this is a sore thumb of a release that would be a Desert Island Disc for you, something that when you make up to album lists you know it'll be on there, maybe in the number one slot. And it's by a band with a half dozen other albums or more - some of them possibly more critically acclaimed or bigger sellers than the one you hold so dear - but the best you can get from listening to them is vehement ennui that you're just wasting your time not listening to that other album you adore.

For me, Boys and Girls in America is literally one of my favorite albums ever. I still play it once or twice a month and it never gets old. Yet despite a decent discography, that is the only album I ever really listen to by The Hold Steady. Sometimes I try and check out Stay Positive on Spotify but it doesn't click. I dutifully listen to anything new the band or Craig Finn releases but nothing comes close.

Does anyone else have albums you consider some of your all-time favorite music but nothing else they have done even comes close to working?

The first Violent Femmes album.

for me, the one that really sticks out is the psychedelic furs' all of this and nothing. kind of cheating, as it's a compilation, but i don't completely love any of the albums that stuff comes from. that compilation is perfect, though.

Helloween - Keeper of the Seven Keys, Part 1. Part 2 is ...decent, but nowhere near those heights, I guess I liked Walls of Jericho, but I like little else in their catalog. but Keeper is the only one I return to at fuckin' all.

Rage - Perfect Man. there is zero other album of theirs that hits anywhere like this one. it's usually the only one I listen to

I guess LedZep 'Houses of the holy' would go here, for me.

link wray - link wray

Queen - A Night at the Opera

Spoon - Transference

Bruce Springsteen - Nebraska

Meat Puppets, "Up on the Sun".

Blonde Redhead - Melody of Certain Damaged Lemons. Never gave a fig for anything else I heard by them.
David Crosby - If I Could Only Remember My Name (although I do like the Byrds)
Ian Dury - New Boots and Panties!! - couple more singles are good I suppose but he really dropped off in quality after this.
Traffic - Mr. Fantasy, after which Dave Mason left and they turned into a choogly rock band.

Me too, Treblekicker.

Good question! I'll need to think on it.

Duran Duran - Rio is absolutely & completely this for me

that's probably because all the other Duran Duran albums are basically crap.

Not inclined to disagree! But that album, man. I don't know how they found something so beyond themselves and sustained it for the entire dura(tio)n.

the first Duran Duran album is not crap

you're right. it's exceptional all the way through, and somehow perfectly isolated & distinct from everything else they put out (Rio, that is).

I don't care much for the first one, but I know a lot of folks really like it.

Nas – Illmatic

Big Science is accidentally like this for me. It is a huge album in my life but I've been sorta scared to explore her discography more, as though I'm worried about being disappointed.

^^^this was my other potential answer

keep getting told to listen to that 4-disc live thing. one day

I have a few of these:

Fairport Convention – Liege & Lief
The Human League – Travelogue (bit of a stretch, as they were really a different band after this)
Radiohead – OK Computer
The Cure – Pornography

Bruce Springsteen - Nebraska

Telefon Tel Aviv is the big one for me. That first album is indelible, listened to it hundreds of times. Never made it through another one more than once or twice. :(

This is gonna be laughably obvious, but... Metal Machine Music.

modern lovers

there's a recurring theme on The Snow Goose by Camel that I absolutely love and think is like the greatest prog ever but I haven't really liked anything else they've done

System of a Down - Toxicity
Smashing Pumpkins - Melon Collie and the Infinite Sadness

Anthony Braxton - For Alto

I enjoy, to varying degrees, some of his other records -- some are near-great, some unspeakably bland -- but this one is uniquely special. He dug deeper on this than on most of his subsequent records.

Destroyer - Kaputt

John Mayer - Continuum

(come at me, I dare)

For me, Boys and Girls in America is literally one of my favorite albums ever. I still play it once or twice a month and it never gets old. Yet despite a decent discography, that is the only album I ever really listen to by The Hold Steady. Sometimes I try and check out Stay Positive on Spotify but it doesn't click. I dutifully listen to anything new the band or Craig Finn releases but nothing comes close.

Does anyone else have albums you consider some of your all-time favorite music but nothing else they have done even comes close to working?

― Loud guitars shit all over "Bette Davis Eyes" (NYCNative), Monday, November 23, 2020 11:18 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

have you tried Separation Sunday? that's where I would go not Stay Positive which was already the decline..Separation Sunday is better or as good as Boys and Girls

...or the whole Lifter Puller discography who were a way better band than Hold Steady

Big Science is a great answer but for me, this is Tusk.

Graham Parker - Squeezing Out Sparks

more and more, even though I was super into them and have multiple albums...I don't listen to Guided By Voices often anymore, so when I do I always reach for Bee Thousand

definitely some hair metal bands would fit this category for me, except they're knocked down by the 'prolific' requirement.

for example, Skid Row, really only Slave to the Grind, but that one is sick.

Richard and Linda Thompson - I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight. Plenty of other R&L Thompson and even R Thompson stuff is "good" but there isn't really another album I love.

Not the same thing exactly, but there are a lot of prolific artists with 3-5 albums I like, but I still probably listen to just one ~75-90% of the time I listen to that artist.

Joni Mitchell - Blue
Miles Davis - Kind of Blue
John Prine - s/t
Patty Griffin - Impossible Dream
Ghostface Killah - Fishscale
Kraftwerk - Trans Europe Express
Grouper - Dragging a Dead Deer Up a Hill

Also, Separation Sunday is the best Hold Steady album.

I can't think of an album that quite fits this for me, but I like Taylor Swift's Lover a lot, and everything else she's done (including folklore) leaves me cold.

I can't think of an example that is quite as extreme as the situation in the original post, but the closest is Vespertine by Bjork. As mentioned, The Snow Goose by Camel is also much better than their other records.

Emperor In The Nightside Eclipse - that thing is transcendental. They tried to recapture that magic when they reformed, they tried to do other stuff afterwards, it all failed miserably.

Not the same thing exactly, but there are a lot of prolific artists with 3-5 albums I like, but I still probably listen to just one

yes this is a very real thing

Goldfrapp- Felt Mountain
Literally cannot stand anything else she's done

Pink Floyd - DSOTM
Few scattered tracks I like on other albums but find most of the rest of their discography icky

Nas – Illmatic

― pomenitul, Tuesday, November 24, 2020 5:01 AM

fucken a!

one undisputed classic followed by literal garbage trucks of albums.

Graham Parker - Squeezing Out Sparks

Yeah, this is the only one I own. Earlier albums are okay imo, and then none of the bazillion followups matched what he hit on with this one.

Nas – Illmatic
― pomenitul, Tuesday, November 24, 2020 5:01 AM

fucken a!

one undisputed classic followed by literal garbage trucks of albums.

― Totally different head. Totally. (Austin), Tuesday, November 24, 2020 11:59 AM (sixteen minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

herb opinion

I will ride for It Was Written, Stillmatic, God's Son, s/t, Life is Good, and Lost Tapes

I think this pretty much sums up Power, Corruption & Lies for me.

king's disease is good

that is actually the only one I haven't heard, besides the Lost Tapes 2

I even had the one he did with Damian Marley, which i liked lol

I will ride for It Was Written, Stillmatic, God's Son, s/t, Life is Good, and Lost Tapes

― Lover of Nixon (or LON for short) (Neanderthal), Tuesday, November 24, 2020 10:21 AM

or, as i like to call it, "the parade of garbage trucks."

As mentioned, The Snow Goose by Camel is also much better than their other records.

Probably because they don't sing on it

Nas – Illmatic
― pomenitul, Tuesday, November 24, 2020 5:01 AM

fucken a!

one undisputed classic followed by literal garbage trucks of albums.

― Totally different head. Totally. (Austin), Tuesday, November 24, 2020 11:59 AM (sixteen minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

herb opinion

― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Tuesday, November 24, 2020 1:16 PM (one hour ago) bookmarkflaglink

But sir, Herb Opinion was the name of her accountant!

Hiss Golden Messenger - Bad Debt
Yellow Swans - Going Places
Destroyer - Rubies
Burzum - Filosofem

Here's another one : Mutantes (2nd album)

It might be that you love the first one you hear, and album one has the 'hits' but it seems to me the complete and perfect album.

I even had to track down a mono original! Cost me ten quid!

I think this is Roisin Murphy Overpowered for me

Honestly I can say this about DJ Shadow - Endtroducing. There are individual tracks I like a lot on a couple of the other ones, but that's the only album of his that really means anything to me. I think he has enough records at this point to count as "prolific."

'disintegration'

that Hiss Golden Messenger album is a good answer

Jean-Michel Jarre – Oxygène

Not sure if he has quite a half dozen other albums (including soundtracks, probably), but for me this would be Thomas Dolby's The Golden Age of Wireless. I've tried a few times with The Flat Earth and it hasn't moved me yet.

information society self titled release and mike and the mechanics self titled release and sigue sigue sputnik flaunt it!

Thought of one, and this opinion might piss some of the metalheads off...

But the only Wolves in the Throne Room album I listen to is Black Cascade. I have most of the others, and I just don't think they're anywhere close to as interesting as BC.

I know there’s a more interesting album as an answer that I hope I’ll be able to remember eventually but in the meantime Tim Hecker’s Harmony in Ultraviolet does SO much for me but everything else he ever put out is just fine. Idle appreciation of everything else but absolute love for that one.

But the only Wolves in the Throne Room album I listen to is Black Cascade. I have most of the others, and I just don't think they're anywhere close to as interesting as BC.

I like their other albums but I agree that Black Cascade stands head and shoulders above them.

i prefer Thrice Woven and Celestial Lineage to the rest, but I love them all (excluding the ones I haven't heard)

i only liked mobys play too!

Celestial Lineage is probs my next up, Neanderthal, but I still just never listen to it because I could be listening to Ahrimanic Trance on repeat.

honestly the more I think about this the more i realize I could probably get by with one album by most artists I like

Truer than not as far as I'm concerned. Guess I'm just not that much of a stan, barring a few notable exceptions.

Surprised no one's mentioned Neil Young.

Surprised nobody's mentioned ICP itt yet

ICP? Of, like, juggalo fame?

Wait, they had that song about miracles, right.

yeah, I think it was from Fiddler on the Roof?

juggalo on the roof

If I had some Faygo
iggy shiggy diggy figgy iggy piggy piggy pie

Afghan Whigs - Congregation

Surprised no one's mentioned Neil Young.

― healthy cocaine off perfect butts (the table is the table)

I have, over the years, said that Trans is the only Neil Young record I'd rep for, but the truth is that I don't listen to that one that much either, so it doesn't really work here.

Despite saying in other threads that I get bored easily and always want the next sound, for properly prolific bands I'm having a hard time thinking of a time when I only like one. Like, I might only ever go back to the Tindersticks' first album but I love the second one too. The closest I can come right now to thinking of one is Beyond the Valley of Ultrahits by Richard Youngs, and even that's not because I dislike the rest of it (I find him patchy generally so often can't be bothered to check out the albums I don't know, and I have a weird sentimental attachment to BTVOU).

The Chameleons - Script of the Bridge.

I might only ever go back to the Tindersticks' first album but I love the second one too

Yeah, I also hesitated for this very reason. I like bits of Curtains too, but have no intention whatsoever of exploring their subsequent output.

Unrest - Imperial f.f.r.r.

Air is another one. I love Moon Safari but have never been drawn to what came after.

Roedelius is this for me, I like a lot of his stuff but the one I always reach for is Jardin Au Fou

I almost said Air but I do like about 1/2 of walkie talkie

Air's first EP (Premiers Symptômes - 1997) would be my OPO release of theirs.

The AMOR record that Youngs appears on (from 2018) is really good, emil.y, if you haven't checked it out. Apparently a new AMOR record is set to be released in January, I am stoked!

honestly the more I think about this the more i realize I could probably get by with one album by most artists I like

The Chameleons - Script of the Bridge.

― stirmonster, Tuesday, November 24, 2020 5:08 PM

appreciate the chams mention but. . . WAT?

Sun City Girls "Torch of the Mystics"
Broadcast "Tender Buttons"

Her discography isn’t extensive per se, at least not yet, but FKA twigs kind of falls in this category for me. EP2 is spellbinding. The rest leaves me cold.

all I need from air is the video for “le soleil est pres de moi”

appreciate the chams mention but. . . WAT?

I have "What Does Anything Mean? Basically" and "Strange Times" but I just never have any desire to ever put them on while I must have listened to "Script..." hundreds of times.

Transilvanian Hunger might be this, although I never actually listened to most of Darkthrone's many many albums.

R.E.M. - Murmur

I guess Reckoning will do in a pinch, but I'm probably skipping some songs on the second side; and with only 10 of them on there, it starts looking pretty slight as soon as you start making cuts.

Heh, this is more like the rule than the exception for me. It would be way easier to list examples of the inverse.

the first three songs on what does anything mean are completely classic.. “perfume garden” is my chams OPO... not really into the rest of the album. strange days is really good though. script by far my fav of the three. 2cents.

Idk why, but "one super special album" is what's always interested me. Discographies are not a thing i care about.

Maybe as a result of weird buying habits growing up, being overly selective, preferring to check out new artists, prioritizing limited/obscure releases that wouldn't be available for long.

Oh yeah, Candlemass. Epicus Doomicus Metallicus is all-time but Messiah Marcolin's vox do nothing for me and Johan Längquist's comeback, while solid, just isn't on that level.

Tom Waits - Swordfishtrombones
Tricky - Maxinquaye
Dr John - Gris Gris

When Tower Records closed, their dead stock from their New England stores went to Building 19 at super discounts, so I bought The (International) Noise Conspiracy's Armed Love for 98 cents. It's not just my favorite TiNC album, it's one of my favorite albums of all time. Every time I hear it I get really super excited to become an anarchocommunist. I can't think of the last time I even listened to a different TiNC album; maybe Survival Sickness in like 2005, and it was okay.

Matthew Sweet - Girlfriend

Screaming Trees Change Has Come ep. Bought that when I was 13 based solely on the subpop label on the cassette spine. Totally set the vibe for me for that summer. But I never got around to checking out their other albums until later, and nothing else has ever stuck.

Grant Green - Alive
Squarepusher - Music is rotted one note
Bobby Hutcherson - San Francisco
Dusty in Memphis
Ray Charles - Soul Brothers/Soul Meeting

All I need from neil young is "everybody knows this is nowhere" and "Decade". I've tried with the other canonical albums and Trans but no dice.

this is honestly proving to be a pretty useful thread for discovering where to start with artists i've never gotten around to

For me this is Sinéad O'Connor's The Lion and the Cobra. A perfect album that I still love today. Her second album gets all the critical praise but I was soooo disapointed when it came out. It's so boring, even the rockers don't rock. I do love "The Last Day of Our Acquaintance" though.

Weird, I was thinking about mentioning Strange Times for this thread, but the Chameleons aren't THAT prolific, and I've only heard their 80s output. Almost every song on Strange Times is phenomenal, and the other albums have 1-2 songs at the same level

you guys are just naming your favourite albums by artists at this point

I love Music Is Rotted One Note so much!

It is kind of hard to think of other examples of this, because when I only like one album by a band, I tend to stop listening after the next couple albums don't hit. But there are a bunch of bands where I only like TWO of their albums and I listen to everything else they do to find that third gem

could we get a stricter definition of "relatively sizable" in the OP?

And it's by a band with a half dozen other albums or more - some of them possibly more critically acclaimed or bigger sellers than the one you hold so dear - but the best you can get from listening to them is vehement ennui that you're just wasting your time not listening to that other album you adore.

I missed the “vehement ennui” part - guess I take back my post (didn’t realize we had to hate the rest of their discography)

'Blood on the Tracks' qualifies for me, if we need to have 'vehement ennui' for the other albums in an artist's back catalogue.

Someone in Dylan's life has pricked his ego enough on that album for him to become regally peeved, whereas I have to force myself to concentrate when listening to his other LPs.

didn’t realize we had to hate the rest of their discography

Neither did I. Hmm… I may not have an answer then.

Yeah, it's rare that an artist has the ability to make an album that I really love and then shows no evidence of the same skills on any of their work.

I don't hate the rest of Roisin Murphy's discography, but none of it has caught me the way Overpowered has, somehow it's too diffuse to catch my attention and I don't ever think to put it on. But Overpowered is a desert island disk for me.

^^^^^

this is honestly proving to be a pretty useful thread for discovering where to start with artists i've never gotten around to

Honestly I can say this about DJ Shadow - Endtroducing. There are individual tracks I like a lot on a couple of the other ones, but that's the only album of his that really means anything to me. I think he has enough records at this point to count as "prolific."

― longtime caller, first time listener (man alive), Tuesday, 24 November 2020 22:18 (yesterday) link

Yes but can't say I've ever really even dabbled in his other stuff seriously.

Archer Prewitt's Wilderness.

This would be Dust by Screaming Trees and The Smell of Our Own by Hidden Cameras. First Tindersticks album also a good shout.

Ftr,, the only necessary Wolves in the Throne Room album is Two Hunters.

Dr John - Gris Gris

― mahb, Wednesday, November 25, 2020 2:09 AM (ten hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

^good one

I shouldn't speak for the OP, but "vehement ennui" doesn't say "hate" to me so much as a boredom compounded into sadness at how much more pleasure you get from that one album in comparison to whatever other one you're listening to at the moment.

Chinaski, I think Black Cascade blows everything else out of the water.

I do think, though, that I am also slightly biased because I've lived and spent a lot of time in Cascadia, and there's a tone on that album that I think only makes sense if one understands where it's coming from.

I've never set foot in Cascadia yet I share your opinion, so…

You've surely been in Vancouver, pom?

or elsewhere along the west coast of Canada?

No, never. I head back to Europe whenever I get a chance to travel.

Go East, Young Man

A Montreal-Vancouver flight is like 5h30, that's only 1h20-1h30 less than Montreal-Paris…

Wild! It's...I dunno, I mean I really love Vancouver and the rest of the west coast, think it far superior to the east coast in nearly every way. (I will honestly say that I'd rather go to BC than anywhere in Europe, but oh well, that's just me).

I get that, but I was born in Europe and have lived there for many years, whereas I have no ties whatsoever to the West Coast. Nor am I especially drawn to it tbh, although I would like to visit it some day, when the opportunity arises.

I just thought of another one: I love Anais Mitchell's Hadestown but I couldn't care less about her other releases.

(Sorry for derail— totally get it, pom. My family all on the east coast— most of my friends are out west. I kind of hate it here!)

Squarepusher is an interesting one, for me the album would be Hard Normal Daddy but really I could make a CD-R with all my favorite tracks (mostly just the 1st track of a bunch of his albums and EPs) and never want to listen to anything else again

Died Pretty - Every Brilliant Eye
The Dillinger Escape Plan - Calculating Infinity (actually I could live with just the Running Board EP)
Of Montreal - The Gay Parade

The Cardigans - Life

Lou Reed & John Cale - Songs For Drella (goes for both artists)

it's a wonderful album, but gee that's a lot to leave on the shelf!

Ohhhhh, Tortoise s/t for me

XP - Absolutely and I've heard a lot of it - how could you not? - but I've never really been compelled to listen to or own anything else of theirs.

Kataklysm - Sorcery

they largely became a diff band later

also Belle & Sebastian "Push Barman..."

Gris Gris & Murmur (I do love a lot their other stuff but like, I get it) are good answers. Probably’ll get me fp’d but mine might actually be ATLiens

I shouldn't speak for the OP, but "vehement ennui" doesn't say "hate" to me so much as a boredom compounded into sadness at how much more pleasure you get from that one album in comparison to whatever other one you're listening to at the moment.

Gris Gris as the only worthwhile Dr. John album seems to be a common ILM opinion, and it makes me sad. He’s definitely one of my most played artists.

Even his late career Lockdown album is good!

Yes it is! I get how Gris Gris is its own swampy masterpiece (although the first four records all mine that groove to lesser success) but if you’re not down with In The Right Place or Gumbo I just dunno. Sad!

Maresn3st as a fellow Drella lover, I recommend "Street Hassle" and "Paris 1919"

(ctrl+f "zappa" 0 results)

not sure what to make of this.

he doesn't have one lovable album?

XXXP - Thanks MatthewK!

Jim O’Rourke - Bad Timing

Daydream Nation

Kid A.

FZ's career/discography had so many phases and each phase had so many albums, it's not surprising not to see his name here.

Until I read his I thought you were talking about Fischer Z :D

I guess I just never listen to or think about Zappa, why would I want to do either?

Interesting subject. As I'm aging, lots of examples like that. Maybe, as a former encyclopaedically-curious enthusiast suffering media-burnout on various fronts, I don't want to retain new information so much any more? If, for example, I stumble upon a new artist via some well-written and stimulating review and end up loving the album in question, often I no longer become a fan for life, or do so but neglect checking out the following work(s) - specifically so, I think, because I want that work that transfixed me to remain unique in my heart, a signpost instead of risking it being contextualised by wider knowledge and such. Julia Holter's 'Ekstasis' is the example I'm thinking of right now, also Italian indie artpop band Baustelle's 'Amen'. As I'm writing this it seems to me a pretty nonsensical thing to do, to do with a cosy feeling of romantic possessiveness more than anything.

It wouldn't be advisable. xp

Re: Zappa, when I was a young teenager, I sort of liked some of what I knew (mostly the first greatest hits and one or two others), but as I got older, I just found the whole schtick increasingly tiresome.

I have a burning desire to not-hate FZ, and have listened to everything as a result, and I definitely enjoy "Uncle Meat" unequivocally, but wouldn't go so far as to say that it "means the world to me" or that it's "super special". It's a really good album by a prolific artist I otherwise dislike

Ha was just about to check that out because of your review, but then my fingers somehow mysteriously led me to the official Zappa song for people who hate Zappa.

Maresn3st as a fellow Drella lover, I recommend "Street Hassle" and "Paris 1919"

― assert (MatthewK)

I thought about Paris 1919 as my version of this for John Cale. But I think rather than experiencing dislike or ennui about other Cale records, I just haven't sought them out, so I can't rule out finding another one that I'd love. I just feel like Paris 1919 is so special to me that there's no point in looking further, I've already got what I came for.

Related phenomenon: you really really love an album by an artist but don't seek out anything else by that artist for fear of being let down.

I did that with Skip Spence, but it turns out Moby Grape is pretty dull.

xpost: yeah, that too.

Paris 1919 towers over Cale's other records, imo... I remember reading in "What's Welsh For Zen" that it alone was the album he wrote before entering the studio, and it shows. He's got some 4-6 other albums that I absolutely adore, though

Not sure if there’s a thread but talking Zappa in here reminds me of artists who were part of great things one way or another but whose own work is *insert substantial percentage here* bullshit

I did that with Skip Spence, but it turns out Moby Grape is pretty dull.

Other way round for me.

sun kil moon - ghosts of the great highway

Daydream Nation is a big one for me but I’ve been too scared to admit it on ilm lol

I love that album so much, though

I like bits and pieces of other sy here and there

I think the most obvious one here is Devo, although there's stuff scattered around the rest of their discography I only care about the first one really

fine, miss out on freedom of choice.

I would put Daydream Nation firmly in my all time top 10 but I don't think I've ever made it through any other SY albums from start to finish

amazing, Sister sounds pretty much like a third disc of Daydream to me

I think the most obvious one here is Devo, although there's stuff scattered around the rest of their discography I only care about the first one Freedom of Choice really

Devo is the answer to this thread for me too. I've tried multiple times to get into their other albums, but the debut is the only one I've ever liked.

nine inch nails - the downward spiral is another one I guess. The ones before I find to be merely ok, the ones after I mostly can't stand. This is probably mostly nostalgia though, I was just the right age for that album when it was released.

many xposts, but re: laurie anderson's Big Science, be like me and give Mister Heartbreak (1984) a chance! if you remember the surprise of finding that Big Science was really solid and consistently good beyond O Superman, than you might feel the same way about the follow-up. "blue lagoon" is a real good time

Urging all Devo naysayers to enjoy the pre-debut Ryko comps

Are We Not Men? fans who ignore Freedom Of Choice are absolute mentalists. It is their duty now to listen to it.

I love all Devo albums, even the later 80s ones not on Warner Bros and the more recent one too.

Are We Not Men? fans who ignore Freedom Of Choice are absolute mentalists. It is their duty now to listen to it.

Ignoring it is not a good idea, however the first album is a different entity from their later albums, I can understand people only liking that one.

KM OTM
actually by weird fate I got into Mister Heartbreak before Big Science

Soft Machine's Volume Two, which is the bee knees. I guess quite a few people are less interested in the post-Robert Wyatt era, but for whatever reason I virtually never even listen to The Soft Machine or Third either. I shan't claim that this necessarily makes much sense.

^ bee's knees

Wasn't quite a bit of Mister Heartbreak adapted from her United States mega-project, the same as Big Science?

I will make it my solemn duty to listen to Freedom Of Choice today. I do know a few songs off it and they are good

Yep! The giant USA thing (4xLP, as a listening experience) is what both big science and Mister Heartrbreak draw from.

I went pretty deep on the performance history of Laurie Anderson's United States for a research project in undergrad. I came away feeling sad there isn't more surviving documentation of the full two-night, 8-hour piece (though there was a lovely book full of photographs and texts, produced as a sort of exhibition catalog to accompany the premier of the full 4-part United States in 1983) -- or if there is and it's out there, I couldn't find it.

What the heck, I dug out the final presentation I put together for that class and uploaded it to Google Drives; if anyone's interested you can get it here. I would recommend downloading the file, as the embedded video links don't seem to display right in Google Slides. Don't wanna toot my own horn but I think I did good work in assembling the bibliography and crafting a narrative (check the slide notes)

Working on Anderson was such a labor of love. I miss being in school!

Simple Minds – New Gold Dream

I thought about posting Simple Minds, but Sons/Sister is the one (two) I hold dear.

Matt #2 asked: Wasn't quite a bit of Mister Heartbreak adapted from her United States mega-project, the same as Big Science?

Two songs heard on "United States Live" were re-recorded for "Mister Heartbreak" as studio recordings: "Langue d'Amour" (a.k.a. "Hothead") and "Blue Lagoon".

All songs on "Big Science" are on "United States Live", and are mostly faithful to the studio recordings but "Sweaters" is a bit different - the live version has a mouth harp, and the studio version has bagpipes and drums (among other sounds).

"Language Is a Virus" and "Difficult Listening Hour" from "United States Live" were also re-used on the live show "Home of the Brave".

Also, several of her songs (studio recordings) on the compilation "You're the Guy I Want to Share My Money With" (1981) were also in "United States Live". And "New York Social Life" was on the compilation "New Music For Electronic And Recorded Media" (1977) before being featured in "United States Live".

TV personalities - '& don't the kids just love it'
Was a desert island album for me between the age of 15 and 25 or so, though i've lost interest in it since. Was obsessed enough to investigate their discography further, which i hardly ever used to do. I pretty much had one album by everybody.
I actively dislike more Television Personalities albums than I like and I've never loved any of their others apart from maybe a couple of early singles.

not even Mummy Your Not Watching Me? I like that as much as And Don't The Kids Just Love It, if not more

Mummy you're not watching me is def my 2nd fave but it's a *very* distant second

For me this is Steely Dan Aja. The Classic albums documentary promised much and the album delivered. I'm not interested in hearing any other Steely Dan records.

but aja was a smooth highway that led to the city of gaucho

Cheers Karl, on it now and it's great, yeah, it's almost as if the entire premise of the thread is silly.

Sidetrack, but I've always mentally split the original run of Dan albums into three distinct parts

The first three
The middle three
Gaucho

Aja is Aja, sure, but I mostly don't fuck with middle ones. Listen to the first three and Gaucho all the time tho.

Traffic - Mr. Fantasy, after which Dave Mason left and they turned into a choogly rock band.

arguably dave mason was the choogliest member of traffic ??

no worries ulsterbus! i mean, i went through the same thing with steely dan. now i'm just in full blown "PINK FLOYD RULES" mode, which is how you're supposed to love music i think.

also, i could have said the same thing about me and cocteau twins until earlier this year. i had been into heaven or las vegas for a few years, but for some reason never gave much time to anything else they did. they turn out to be THE exemplary "but you _actually_ should hear their non-album tracks on the eps. not to diss ned and disco inferno (who RULE), but i think it's even more true of that pair of Cocteaus. it's been Cocteau Fever for me in 2020, a poorly shaved 37-year old child, just the same as the youtube LBI posted (#onethread) of the local news broadcast of american cool kids waiting in line to finally get to watch the Cocteau duo jam to the drum machine in person. a handful of people that i deeply respect (in a musical opinion way) have pulled me away from the campfire to talk about the two Cocteaus and how much I would definitely like them. i thought i already "knew" what the rest of their catalog sounded like, based on Heaven, in the same way that when a new AAA open world video game comes out, i basically know what will happen. i will quit after 35 hours. it turns out that there are at least 3500+ hours to be spent in exploring the Cocteau couple's pre-Treasure work alone.

so don't feel too bad about steely dan! just know that there's way more beyond (before, actually) Aja and Gaucho. steely dan RULES. there's nothing technically beyond Aja, though - that's their last release

#theyearofmagicalthinking
#2020
#onethread
Zach

Meat Puppets, "Up on the Sun".

― Naughty Boys Hoo! (Tom D.), Tuesday, November 24, 2020 4:46 AM (three days ago) bookmarkflaglink

good answer. didn't come to me right away but i suspect this is true for me, too.

what's weird is that it's true for me, too, even though it seems like II should be much more of a thing because of Nirvana. But "Up on the Sun" is the one I own and spin, and for some reason I don't go beyond it even though I like it. I should give repeated listens to II

xposts also ask me tomorrow and i'll tell you aja is better than gaucho. i am determined to play the drum solo of the title track within a couple months, as a weird surprise for my partner. i will definitely nail it

btw, if you are TRULY listening to Gaucho right now, alt. Ulsterbus, then you may have a scotch whiskey in hand. personally, i do not, although i am also listening to Gaucho at the moment, but that's because i'm holding a regular whiskey. if you don't drink, or if you are avoiding alcohol, i'm sorry to bring this up, but also you shouldn't be listening to Gaucho. that album has ruined many people's lives. so let me raise a glass to you tonight, as you, like me in the midst of Cocteau 2-band-members-only-fever, are listening to a set of lyrics that feature the word "Spangled" in them, and none of them in reference to the weird-ass national anthem of the united states

hat tip to unperson's great piece he mentioned earlier (https://www.stereogum.com/2108300/best-steely-dan-songs/lists/10-best-songs/), which of course is the reason that steely dan black friday happened for me yet again tonight

i'm listening to "countdown to ecstasy" right now, my favorite SD album, but i'm going to post about it an another thread

what's amazing (5 posts in a row, 100+ times, unlocked) is that time out of mind isn't on unperson's list, and is almost as good as gaucho. nothing against the list, it's just like...i mean. you're not going to the bar without every single one of these songs there with you. there isn't a long enough list

xp FUCK, budo - i was going for 5 in a row! come ON

stuck on 99 like a fucking loser now, great

I've just switched from beer to coffee cos it's nearly 6am here. Third World Man right now, it's a great album.

alt. ulsterbus gets it

*driving back to aja, which rules*

When the sidewalks are safe
For the little guy

goddamn

"lady madonna" quote in "your gold teeth" is one of the best beatles interpolations ever, yeah? is "your gold teeth" the best song on "countdown to ecstasy"? is it in YOUR steely dan top ten ?? it's in mine

i don't even know. steely dan is in r.e.m. territory for me: anyone can have their ten and unless it catastrophically misguided, i'll probably be like "sweet list"

what i'm saying is, please post your top ten steely dan. i will think it's a sweet list

and not only that, but i'll make a mini-playlist on spotify and listen to it in order, in full, even though there's overlap with unperson's list, which i did the same. such is the power of the steely dan duo

it's really 2-member bands that stick out for me: steely dan, the everly brothers, and the cocteau twins

FIVE IN A ROW, x 100 fuck yeah

FUCK YEAH

hell yeah

CHEERS ALTERBNATIVE ULSTERBUS
CHEERS BUDO JERO

there are only two people in the world, at any given moment, and right now it's you two while we watch. you are in a band and you're twins. so post your shit once you get a decent recording, and whatever you do, don't pick at that scab

my steely dan top ten is "countdown to ecstasy" + dirty work + peg

+ a drum machine

i fucking LOVE dirty work

katy lied>countdown to ecstasy>aja>royal scam>pretzel logic>gaucho>can't buy a thrill

"I'm a fool to do your dirty work, oh yeah" should be a protest call-and-response anthem

CHEERS UPPER MISSISSIPPI SH@KEDOWN

CHEERS JOHNNY FEVER
CHEERS Deflatormouse
and CHEERS COLONEL POO x1000000

CHEERS

CHHERS x 5, 101

fuck i love my country

Zach Etcetera is a Steely eyed missile Dan

CHEERS mATTHEWk

2

3

4

5 FUCK YEAH

no one can type faster than me and listen to prolific bands with me

and i will take ANY of you in a typing contest. i do 80+ wpm on a black friday and i don't even give a shit

Rock on, Karl, glad you've seen the Cocteaus light. I'm tempted to change my display name to John Stockton just for you.

My answer to this question is Neil Finn. I adore his solo album "Try Whistling This" but don't give a wit for any of his Crowded House or other solo work.

CHEERS Gerald McBoing-Boing!

Pink Floyd's Animals rules so much but none of their other stuff comes anywhere near it for me

wtf ufo are you serious? animals rules, but...pink floyd RULES

lmao, here 4u KM

what's weird is that it's true for me, too, even though it seems like II should be much more of a thing because of Nirvana. But "Up on the Sun" is the one I own and spin, and for some reason I don't go beyond it even though I like it. I should give repeated listens to II

Proves it isn't weird as it's happening on at least two continents! I take some credit for starting a minor Sun worshipping cult in Glasgow: I bought the album in a sale on an off chance and everyone I played it for became instant fans of it. I remember when the Meat Puppets were playing in London and it turned out they were going to do "II" in its entirety and some of my friends were, like, "What they playing that for?"

Another vote for 'Up on the Sun' by the Meat Puppets. Also, I love 'Let's Kill Saturday Night' by Robbie Fulks - one my favourite Alt Country albums yet I have no inclination to listen to the rest of his sizeable discography. Possibly because it was his one and only major label release and is quite atypical?

Karl, I hope you've gotten into Victorialand. That's my fave Cocteaus record.

wrt Robbie Fulks, I have the same thing but only with the title song of that album, and I haven't & don't want to hear anything else of his, because I doubt its Springsteen crunch is much like the rest of that album let alone the rest of his oeuvre.

it's really 2-member bands that stick out for me: steely dan, the everly brothers, and the cocteau twins

Cocteau Twins's "Garlands" occupies the inverse of this thread's thesis, for me... I never understood why that debut was so looked-down upon, I've rinsed that album more times than Heaven & Las Vegas (although not nearly as much as Blue Bell Knoll and Victorialand... probably about the same as Treasure)

Re: Meat Puppets, I feel the same way about the rest of their discography, except the one album of theirs I consistently enjoy is II.

I love Garlands

Meat Puppets II is probably my favourite but I like the first album and Up On The Sun as well although they could all be made by different bands

II is one of the few albums I still love as much as I did at 16. I love UOTS title track and Two Rivers but the rest just seems ok to me. heard the 1st album way too long after my hardcore phase to really get it. haven’t even tried with the later stuff

The Incredible String Band is the kind of thing I really hate, but I absolutely love The Hangman’s Beautiful Daughter entirely due to the state I was in when I first heard it. in the right mood it still sounds like magic. their other stuff sounds to me like how I imagine that album would sound if I heard it for the first time now, and I don’t like it

garlands RULES

and yes, table, Victorialand is sometimes my very favorite of all. in the event of a cocteau-two-band-members poll sequel, i would strategically vote for victorialand tracks to get them higher up in the countdown. i think it takes a lot of courage to just not use bass for most of an album.

Not a single album, but really any album where Robbie Basho sings is nigh-unlistenable to me— the Guitar Soli and Art of the Acoustic Steel records, however, are incredible.

Karl, what's really funny about that particular record is that it was recommended to me...by a bassist!

lol, that's awesome! i like that bassist. :)

basically i like anyone who recommends victorialand to other people

imagine robin guthrie calling harold budd "Harry Cocteau" during the recording sessions. i don't know what either of them sound like or their temperaments, but this probably did happen

(during the sessions for the moon and the melodies, i mean)

Enter The Wu-Tang (unless you're counting the various 90s solo albums as Wu-Tang albums)

Karl, it was the singer and bassist for my favorite punk band of the past decade, Nü Sensae!

I nearly put "Treasure" by The Cocteau Twins too but I do listen to "Garlands" from time to time.

xp oh Nu Sensae were brilliant! didn't know anyone else on ILM liked them tbh

Colonel Poo, I think I might be one of their biggest fans in the world, tbh. They were absolutely *astounding* live, and both the original members were also very sweet people. Of course, now one of them has a much higher profile lol, but that was always where he was going.

My one-and-done Meat Puppets album is Huevos, though I like Up on the Sun too (and kinda hate everything else they did; I remember literally snapping the tape of Monsters and throwing it in the trash).

Oh yeah, Robbie Fulks. The first one I heard (and completely adore) was the utterly singular Couples in Trouble. So unfortunately, no matter how good his other albums may be, they're not the album I'm hoping for.

Thought that I would be able to find a load of examples for this but, I'm mainly thinking of Bachelor No. 2, or The Last Remains of the Dodo by Aimee Mann. Though I do also listen to the largely overlapping Magnolia soundtrack.

Soft Machine's Volume Two, which is the bee knees. I guess quite a few people are less interested in the post-Robert Wyatt era, but for whatever reason I virtually never even listen to The Soft Machine or Third either. I shan't claim that this necessarily makes much sense.

Makes sense.

Table you might also like Basho’s Twilight Peaks

Soft Machine 1, 2, 3 are all perfect afaic, read a review of Third the other day which said that Slightly All The Time was the weak point on the LP, don't think I can remember encountering a more wrong opinion than that.

I like 1 and 3 but 2 is not really like anything else they did - or anyone else did, for that matter - also it seems the most Wyatty of their albums.

I thought of another example of this phenomenon: I've heard five Keith Jarrett albums, plus two compilations, and I'm still investigating, but the only one I really appreciate is his pipe organ improvisations, Hymns/Spheres.

Thanks for that Basho rec, Evan!

You're very welcome :)

OMD - Dazzle Ships

I thought of another example of this phenomenon: I've heard five Keith Jarrett albums, plus two compilations, and I'm still investigating, but the only one I really appreciate is his pipe organ improvisations, Hymns/Spheres

That's interesting, because 9 times out of 10 ppl would say The Köln Concert is the answer to this for Jarrett.

That's it for me, though I like some of his studio records, too.

On some basic level, I don't like his "feel" on the piano (or the vocalizations). I like Hymns/Spheres because it reminds me of early 70s Tangerine Dream or Klaus Schulze.

On some basic level, I don't like his "feel" on the piano (or the vocalizations).

Agree, for the most part. I like his 1970s quartet with Dewey Redman, Charlie Haden and Paul Motian (another person I usually don't like), but Jarrett solo is just too much of a thing I'm not very into. He's not quite a boogie-woogie player with ambitions, not quite a classical dork who wants to boogie...he's somewhere in between. And he's got less blues feeling than almost anyone I can think of offhand.

Dark Intervals is where it’s at.

Count me in for Meat Puppets II as well. I'd also say I have this relationship to The Kinks are the Village Green Preservation Society.

The Donnas, who went from bratty Ramones/Nikki Corvette worshippers to The Runaways to Motley Crue in the space of three records. Love the debut, not much interest in any of the rest.

I'm puzzled how someone could love VGPS and not at least appreciate the previous album, Something Else by the Kinks. It's true that with Arthur, their style took a turn to the heavily emphatic that could put people off.

Circle Jerks - Group Sex

that is a perfect answer

True of so many first gen hardcore bands! And not always their debut, though almost always. I especially love TSOL's Beneath the Shadows and could ditch everything before and certainly after.

Circle Jerks is a perfect answer

Pink Floyd's Animals rules so much but none of their other stuff comes anywhere near it for me

― ufo, Saturday, 28 November 2020 08:08 (three days ago) link

whoa, I think we may have found it. El Dorado. Atlantis. The holy grail. An actual unique music opinion on ILM.

I really like Something Else but I think VGPS is a pretty big cut above

The Kinks are kind of the band version of this to me, I don't really listen to any British Invasion stuff nor any 60s music in general outside of some early prog records, but I have all the time in the world for That One Era of the Kinks

ditto for Gordon Lightfoot, I don't listen to any folk or country but I know like 11 of his albums by heart

The VGPS thing makes sense to me because the album is such a distinct and cohesive work of art; I can see going, "Okay, I don't get much out of this and that and the other aspect of The Kinks, but when they all come together in exactly this way I love it."

I treasure Grand prix, and yet do not particularly like anything else Teenage Fanclub ever did, like I actively dislike "the Concept."

Lily Dale OTM; it also has to do with the context in which I first heard the album, on crackly old vinyl on an ancient turntable in 2005. That for me heightened the way the album is already interrogating nostalgia. I've heard Something Else, Arthur, and other stuff from that period, and I think it's all OK stuff, but none of it hit me quite the way VGPS did as a cohesive statement.

And the rest of the Kinks discography I couldn't care less about.

Realizing with a lot of mine that these have a unified sound of their own, effective sequencing, and a grand structure.

Meshell Ndegeocello – Bitter

The Style Council – My Ever-Changing Moods (not streaming and perfectly sequenced, so even Cafe Bleu with most of the same songs doesn't work the same)

Shriekback – Oil and Gold

Emmylou Harris – Wrecking Ball

Oasis – (What's The Story) Morning Glory?

The Doors – L.A. Woman

Electrelane – Axes

Illmatic, Enter the Wu Tang (plus Cuban Links and Liquid Swords as solo records), Matthew Sweet's Girlfriend have all been mentioned and fit this for me.

There are a dozen Teenage Fanclub albums but I only ever listen to Bandwagonesque.

Teenage Fanclub is a good one though it's not desert island or anything for me, but the rest of their albums that I've heard, I can't past the weak singing and mid-tempo lumbering. Those faults are already there on Bandwagonesque but I guess it crunches enough to stick with me. I guess I remember liking a couple of the pre Bandwagoneque singles too.

Also not desert island but I think of the Posies along similar (though inverted) lines: I like Dear 23 but the other albums just annoy me, even the crunchier one(s?).

Pleasantly surprised to see Max Florian mention Julia Holter - Ekstasis upthread. I treasure this album but have not been able to get into any of her much more acclaimed subsequent records. This is presumably a challops around here?

one listen to teenage fanclub's "hang on" was enough for me (it's "school" by nirvana", which is also "20th century boy")

i think one of the only other songs i've heard by them was also a direct ripoff. i don't mind bands ripping each other off, that's timeless, but two in a row come on

i think it's fine to lift riffs, but it's cool to throw in a reference in the lyrics, or just put the original song in parentheses, as a nod

That's only the first 30 seconds of Hang On, which soon becomes a mid-tempo ballad. I always took it as a joke instead of a rip-off.

yeah Teenage Fanclub used to sell t-shirts that said "100% Recycled Music"

Oh wow I just thought of a good one, Joanna Newsom's "Milk-Eyed Mender". Saying I "don't really care" for Divers would be inaccurate, it's a spectacular record and I listen to it often, but nothing compares to the debut

this is honestly proving to be a pretty useful thread for discovering where to start with artists i've never gotten around to

― ILXceptionalism (Tom D.), Wednesday, November 25, 2020 10:33 AM (six days ago)

Totally!

Also, it serves as a "You say you don't like ____, but have you heard their (Transference/Let's Kill Saturday Night/etc.) record? It's a departure you might dig..."

yeah, i have one. and Justice for All is that record for me

def feels a bit like cheating because i cared about everything prior to aJFA. the black album too, in a way; and i used to be in the st.anger's snare is good for you camp. don't think about any of those recs no more

will allways have time for aJFA

Christmas in the Heart

I have tried hard with every era of Dylan and never really found a way in emotionally until this came out. I love it more than anything else- it has fans on here but most people irl would think I was being ironic if I admitted this

"post a controversial opinion" is thattaway, friend.

bevis frond - new river head
legendary pink dots - the maria dimension

I find this phenomenon is quite rare in metal, but Dimmu Borgir Stormblåst (the 1996 version) is a fantastic record, the rest of their 25 year discography is several notches below, and many of their albums are downright awful, and so is nearly everything the members have been involved in.

so many things I want to disagree with in this very interesting thread but I'll refrain because xmas

Instead I will merely submit Time (The Revelator) as my entry as it is the first record I thought of when I saw the thread title. But I've heard very, very good things about the recent Gillian and David Bandcamps so maybe that'll change in 2021

I'm a kinda like that with Welch, but with Hell Among the Yearlings as the one I return to. I really heart that one. I never really even heard anything from that fourth (?) LP (the blue one) onwards though. So, similarly, I'm prepared to believe I may have missed something crucial.

my grandpa stopped listening to Dylan when he went electric but he digs the Xmas album

I looove Suede's debut, but the entirety of their subsequent output leaves me cold.

lol

while I do agree it's considerably better than everything else they did, i also like or love 4 of their other albums

5 if we're counting sci-fi lullabies disc 1

I haven't revisited Dog Man Star and Coming Up in more than a decade, though, so maybe I'd change my tune if I gave them another shot. I'll consider it…

DMS and SFL 1 imo

Oh I finally thought of one for this thread: Flaming Lips. I love Transmissions from the Satellite Heart a lot but, aside from a smattering of good songs and the fun factor of the full Zaireeka experience, basically the entire rest of their discography has fallen flat for me.

Oh scrolling through I saw Moby mentioned and I would say Ambient is great and the ambient tracks he did on other albums are great and I wish he'd just stuck to that sound instead of all the other things he did.

Leonard Cohen almost fits the bill. The Songs of Leonard Cohen does mean the world to me, and most of Songs of Love and Hate as well, but I'm kind of indifferent to the rest. Or rather: there is much to love beyond those two albums on a song-by-song basis.

Fugazi is the example that springs to mind but certainly there are more.

When I was younger it was often “this whole catalogue is fire” and these days it’s more “gimmie this one certain LP.”

Red Medicine, specifically.

(Some of the other records are good but not near that level. In On The Kill Taker doesn’t work for me at all.)

I can't really get into Gary Numan beyond The Pleasure Principle, but that perfect album is enough for me.

Moby mentioned and I would say Ambient is great and the ambient tracks he did on other albums are great and I wish he'd just stuck to that sound instead of all the other things he did

icydk he has released two four-hour ambient albums as free downloads in recent years

chap, fwiw, i've never been able to get into his post-Pleasure Principle albums, although i do like Telekon and is has a cool cover. but going backward - Replicas, especially - is really rewarding if you like Pleasure Principle, imo

Oh I finally thought of one for this thread: Flaming Lips. I love Transmissions from the Satellite Heart a lot but, aside from a smattering of good songs and the fun factor of the full Zaireeka experience, basically the entire rest of their discography has fallen flat for me.

― Vladislav Bibidonurtmi (Old Lunch), Wednesday, February 3, 2021 7:45 AM (two hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

i feel like this is so justified even though i do love several post-transmissions flaming lips albums

whenever i revisit transmissions it is like... the best pop psychedelic guitar rock experience ever

i don't think i've ever done a bigger 180 on a band than the flaming lips

they were one of my favorite bands at one point and i was totally into the soft bulletin now i kinda want to punch their music in the fuckin face

(not talking transmissions era, post)

something so grating about the put-on wide-eyed naivete coming from these grizzled old druggie rocker dude creeps

I liked them better when they were creeps, like a wannabe Butthole Surfers too scared to take it all the way; I stopped paying attention after Hit to Death in the Future Head.

chap, fwiw, i've never been able to get into his post-Pleasure Principle albums, although i do like Telekon and is has a cool cover. but going backward - Replicas, especially - is really rewarding if you like Pleasure Principle, imo

yeah those 3 are really great, I'd almost extend it to Dance as well but that one's a little weird

I'll vouch for his last two albums, yes they're pretty goth in a way that won't appeal to synthpop fans, but it's really just a black coat of paint - songwise they're pretty similar to his best albums

Blonde Redhead - Melody of Certain Damaged Lemons

Fugazi is the example that springs to mind but certainly there are more.

When I was younger it was often “this whole catalogue is fire” and these days it’s more “gimmie this one certain LP.”

― Everything's Blue In This Whorl (Raymond Cummings), Wednesday, February 3, 2021 9:57 AM (four hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

Red Medicine, specifically.

(Some of the other records are good but not near that level. In On The Kill Taker doesn’t work for me at all.)

― Everything's Blue In This Whorl (Raymond Cummings), Wednesday, February 3, 2021 10:03 AM (four hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

Mostly the same for me, except for me the only album I listen to is The Argument.

Neil Young “Everybody Knows this is Nowhere” fits the Bill for me. I like other individual songs but no other complete album of his pleases me from beginning to end.

icydk he has released two four-hour ambient albums as free downloads in recent years

― shivers me timber (sic), Wednesday, February 3, 2021 11:06 AM (two hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

Whoa, thank u for this. Just when you thought it was safe to ignore Moby for the rest of his natural life.

Shabazz Palaces - Black Up is an album which I was obsessed with but I haven’t been particularly excited about anything else released after it. I don’t hate their follow-ups but they don’t feel as concise and inventive.

I realized Dinosaur Jr. is one of these… I love their first album, and that’s the end of the road for me.

icydk he has released two four-hour ambient albums as free downloads in recent years

― shivers me timber (sic), Wednesday, February 3, 2021 11:06 AM (two hours ago)

Whoa, thank u for this. Just when you thought it was safe to ignore Moby for the rest of his natural life.

― Vladislav Bibidonurtmi (Old Lunch), Thursday, February 4, 2021 6:26 AM (three months ago)

Since this post, I noticed that he has pandemic-released ten filmed ambient improvs on youtube, also compiled into one 95-minute video (as well as a 112-minute regular album)

(mostly piano pieces, some synth & guitar, not as good as the Long Ambients albums)

Revisiting/catching up with the Deerhunter catalog, I think they fit this bill as well... Microcastle is so great – hooky, warm, inviting vibe, good-to-great songs, one of the coolest breakdowns ever (at the end of "Nothing Ever Happened") – and none of their others really push the same buttons for me, even though each one maybe shares a few of these qualities.

(NB: I haven't heard their very first album)

i don't think i've ever done a bigger 180 on a band than the flaming lips

they were one of my favorite bands at one point and i was totally into the soft bulletin now i kinda want to punch their music in the fuckin face

― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Wednesday, February 3, 2021 9:34 AM (two years ago) bookmarkflaglink

(not talking transmissions era, post)

― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Wednesday, February 3, 2021 9:34 AM (two years ago) bookmarkflaglink

something so grating about the put-on wide-eyed naivete coming from these grizzled old druggie rocker dude creeps

― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Wednesday, February 3, 2021 9:35 AM (two years ago) bookmarkflaglink

The whole vibe for me from Yoshimi and on is like…what if Dave Grohl wanted to be Willy Wonka?

Do not care at all for Yoshimi, apart from In The Morning Of The Magicians, which is a god-tier FL song.

embryonic was pretty good

I gave up on them after Hit To Death… and now I can’t even remember what I liked about the stuff I liked. I have vague memories of them as a kinder, gentler Butthole Surfers?

I'm sure there's other Ellington I should check out (and I'm sure I'm about to hear what). But for several decades now, I've been pretty content to just replay this one:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/d/d8/Moneyjungle.jpg/220px-Moneyjungle.jpg

That's kind of the ultimate "[Artist] For People Who Don't Like [Artist]" album. It sounds nothing like any of his other work, so...yeah, you should explore further.

Best Ellington LP to start with (and I'm afraid this will be very much a challops) is the Ken Burns compilation.

This one - https://www.discogs.com/release/1892265-Duke-Ellington-Ken-Burns-Jazz-Duke-Ellington

:P disagree - newport!

I listened to Newport just this week, yes agreed it is great, but still just a snapshot of this one moment. Those first 25 years before LPs became a thing are astounding and need to be heard more.

Honestly, yeah. That Ken Burns-branded compilation is really good. Not nearly enough, of course, so I would go with the 4CD Proper Box Masterpieces 1926-1949.

I have learned over the years not to recommend 4CD sets to people. But yes, that is one of the greatest 4CD sets I can imagine existing.

Closest Ellington to Money Jungle (which was also my gateway) is Afro-Eurasian Eclipse. And the Conny Plank session of the same material. But for the pre-album era, that 4cd looks great.

There’s no bad Ellington. I’ve picked up plenty of cheapie 90s CDs and rando 70s LP collections, and they’re totally grooving at the very least and always have genius moments.

For something single volume, there’s plenty of comps that gather those sides on disc one. This was the one in my life

https://www.discogs.com/master/479927-Duke-Ellington-And-His-Orchestra-Early-Ellington-1927-1934

Adding to the love for that Ellington box, it's a beaut.

4CD Proper Box Masterpieces 1926-1949.

looking at Proper Box on discogs - that is a lot of amazing-looking box sets

first violent femmes, big science, nebraska are all classic answers

i love lonesome crowded west but never listen to any other modest mouse

I don't get Nebraska at all, years ago I saw it described here as "the Springsteen album for people that don't like Springsteen" but nope not even that for me.

Whereas The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle, on the other hand...

Anthem of the Sun and esp. the first Jerry Garcia album (side two) are all I take from the Dead.

Has Springsteen ever really made a “four guys in a room” album? I think that’s where the “Springsteen album for those who hate Springsteen” factor would kick in

Throwing Muses thread reminds me that their first album is all time for me but I've never bothered with the rest of their discography.

I think lots of these bands suffer from all-time debuts and very good follow-ups which simply can't compare but are still worth the effort to know.

Trying to think of a sophomore effort that rose far above the debut. I suppose Power, Corruption and Lies might count.

I got really into the Steve Miller Band's Circle of Love last year because I'd already loved Macho City for years and that's most of the album. Don't care about anything else.

Artist For People Who Don't Like Artist" album

Is there a thread for this, or a comprehensive list somewhere?

I can think of a lot of artists who have acclaim or potential or both, but I can't be bothered to do an exhaustive research project about

Has Springsteen ever really made a “four guys in a room” album? I think that’s where the “Springsteen album for those who hate Springsteen” factor would kick in

I can't think of something I'd enjoy less than a 'four guys in a room' Springsteen album.

If he ever got to make the tinny electronic album in the mid-90s he'd intended to then that would probably have the advantage over The Wild, the Innocent for me.

Trying to think of a sophomore effort that rose far above the debut. I suppose Power, Corruption and Lies might count.

I think this is a separate thread already, but The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan is a classic example.

The Feelies, "Crazy Rhythms". I literally have never heard so much as another note of their music.

I came to them late — the first (and only) album of theirs I ever heard was Only Life, which I liked but it seemed like the perfect soundtrack to a mood I was almost never in.

the rest of the Feelies catalogue is great - their first comeback album was kind of boring but the second one was way better. none of it scratches the same itch as Crazy Rhythms though. idk what really does outside of maybe the first couple of Devo albums

Yeah, I have listened to some of the Feelies later albums and it's mostly snoozeville compared to Crazy Rhythms. Though I wouldn't necessarily call them "prolific" with 6 albums in 42 years.

Yes, not exactly qualified for this thread!

i love lonesome crowded west but never listen to any other modest mouse

― na (NA), Thursday, February 9, 2023 9:01 AM (four hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

So funny, first thing that came to mind for me was The Moon and Antarctica. I love that album to pieces and still play it fairly regularly, but any MM from after that just sounds like a retread, and when I've tried to get into Lonesome Crowded West or anything else earlier it's never clicked. I think I passed the stage of my life where that kind of music grabs my interest

I bought their first album when it came out and still think it sounds really good (when it's played)... I never really glommed onto anything afterward, beyond a song or two here and there.

malkmus/pavement
slanted and enchanted

I definitely have a few all time, top 30 desert island favourite albums where for all intents and purposes they’re pretty much the only album I listen to from that artist - though less because they of the quality of the others and more because that one album just captures everything I want from them.

Sinead’s The Lion and the Cobra, yes, but also The Comsat Angels’ Sleep No More and Rickie Lee Jones’ Pirates - both of which are sophomore releases that effectively crowd out my affection for their predecessors (in the case of Jones I would listen to The Magazine much more than her first album).

The Loud Family’s Interbabe Concern too.

I cannot think of a case where I literally only like one album in circumstances where I have heard others, though.

Wishbone Ash's "Argus" is this for me, though I must admit I've only made a few limited forays into their vast catalog, apart from that album.

Argus is far and away their best album imo, but the first two are really good, and give There's The Rub a shot if you haven't.

Lana Del Rey's Born to Die is one of my most listened albums but I've never checked out anything else she's done, not even the Paradise EP. No real reason why

can't believe no one has mentioned Rancid

Paul Williams - Someday Man

I mean, he and Roger Nichols were gifted, but I'd mostly prefer listening to other people sing his/their songs. His flop of a debut with a bunch of Wrecking Crew(-adjacent) personnel, however, sounds like the canonical ideal of the syrupy singer-songwriter album to my tiny brain lol.

Rancid is a good one - I listened to And Out Come The Wolves and Only Built 4 Cuban Linx a ton while delivering pizzas in college but have no interest in the rest of either artist's catalog.

Led Zeppelin - Houses of the Holy

This isn't 100% strictly true for me but I'd recommend Appleseed Cast - Low Level Owl Vol 1&2 to anyone that likes dreamy/hazy indiepop or inspired atmospheric post-rock, because despite their overall sound that album (on CD in two separate parts for some reason) totally transcends the "midwest early 00s emo" write-off that would be reasonably fair to tag the rest of their discography with.

i also liked low level owl the most, but anyone who likes those two would surely like a lot of Mare Vitalis as well

I know I've mentioned a few bands in here already, but the Stones are prob the best true answer for me – given how strongly I feel about Exile (i.e., "super special" truly covers it). Of course there's other Stones stuff I like here and there, and I'll throw on Tattoo You from time to time... but otherwise I can largely leave most of it.

Oh yeah, stones 'satanic' and that's it pretty much

i also liked low level owl the most, but anyone who likes those two would surely like a lot of Mare Vitalis as well

― President of Destiny Encounters International (Karl Malone), Wednesday, February 15, 2023 2:31 PM (ten minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

Ha! Yeah that's literally the only other one I actively like. But it's not anywhere near as experimental as Low Level Owl, regardless of length.

Yeah, it’s the only other one I like (or liked - tbh I haven’t really listened to them in quite some time) too! And definitely one that I tended to just listen to a track or two and then skip ahead to LLO

I used to love Mare Vitalis but the last time I heard it I was like “sheesh the vocals yikes”... The first few songs from two conversations are totally incredible, some of their best hooks.

Richard Hawley - Truelove's Gutter

I used to love Mare Vitalis but the last time I heard it I was like “sheesh the vocals yikes”... The first few songs from two conversations are totally incredible, some of their best hooks.

― not too strange just bad audio (brimstead), Wednesday, February 15, 2023 3:00 PM (twenty-seven minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

Hmm this instantly rings a bell. Like KM I admit it's been awhile since I've actually listened to it.

I'm sure I should be able to come up with others if I think a bit harder, but this is coming up all power-pop at the moment: I love Sloan Navy Blues and Teenage Fanclub Grand Prix and do not care if any of the other records they done jump into a flaming pile of dogshit.

I really love Beneath the Shadows by TSOL, their foray into paisley underground, while all their other forays, even the early hardcore is pretty weak.

Roy Harper - Stormcock
Joe Jackson - Look Sharp
Anything Jonathan Richman has done after the Modern Lovers debut
Genesis - Abacab
Andrew Lloyd Webber - Phantom

I’d prefer too for that post to get more of a “here are five things that mean the world to me” reading, rather than an “I am slagging off the rest of the catalogue of these artists” reading

Psychic TV – Dreams Less Sweet
Marianne Faithfull – Broken English
John Coltrane – Ascension
Rolling Stones – Their Satanic Majesties Request

if you like ascension you have to like other 65-67 coltrane surely (it's one of my least favourites of that era, maybe for similar reasons you like it idk)

seconded satanic majesties, it doesn't exactly mean the world to me but it's way more fun than the dick waving stuff I'm supposed to prefer from them

fgti, Abacab is a really strong choice for this thread.

Exactly the point in their career arc when they fucking rocked. Before? Mostly too artsy. After? Mostly too poppy.

But for me the Joe Jackson standout is Night and Day.

I haven't actually heard any other late period Coltrane, I guess I should rectify that

yeah the Stones have never really done anything for me except for that one outlier

I haven't actually heard any other late period Coltrane, I guess I should rectify that

Try Meditations and Sun Ship.

My relationship is actually the inverse of this thread - I dug a lot of Coltrane but just never quite understood A Love Supreme. Utterly could not find a way into it and gave the CD to a jazzier friend

Same. I've posted this elsewhere, but even though I'm a Coltrane fanatic, A Love Supreme is not among my favorite records of his. I can think of at least 5-10 Trane records -- many by the quartet -- that I prefer by a not-insignificant margin (among them, the live recording of A Love Supreme from Antibes, 1965 -- it shows that the studio recording was a blueprint for what it could be in live performance).

For the purposes of this thread, Rashaan Roland Kirk's Rip, Rig, And Panic. I absolutely love it, but haven't been able to find much similar to it in his discography. Mingus's Oh Yeah is the only Kirk record I've found that was comparable.

Yeah I’m lying about Joe Jackson I think. I listen to Night and Day just as often, it’s just not as huge for me I guess

and in a yellow taxi turned to me and smiled

we'll be there in just a while

if you follow me

My favorite Coltrane album by far is Giant Steps. I also like Soultrane and My Favorite Things quite a bit. A Love Supreme would be far down the list.

For the purposes of this thread, Rashaan Roland Kirk's Rip, Rig, And Panic. I absolutely love it, but haven't been able to find much similar to it in his discography. Mingus's Oh Yeah is the only Kirk record I've found that was comparable.

This is a good call but Bright Moments is pretty darn great, too, if you've never heard

Radiohead. PABLO HONEY.

I also like Soultrane

o nate coming through with the just right recs! that one *is* great.

outdoor otm as well— bright moments is so killer!

Vespertine by Bjork
The Snow Goose by Camel
Hymns/Spheres by Keith Jarrett

Thought of another: Common Sense by John Prine. In all of these cases, I'd take the record I love over the other half-dozen I've heard by them.

...the other half-dozen in totality, that is.

For me this is J. Robbins, the first Burning Airlines is a huge personal classic, but I've never clicked with any of his other bands or albums.

I feel like Burning Airlines isn't THAT different from Jawbox

Anything Jonathan Richman has done after the Modern Lovers debut

big same. I am friends with some superfans and always feel envious somehow, like I'm missing something, but I think maybe for me that particular ship has sailed

I think A Love Supreme is every bit worthy of its reputation but I'm not here to proselytize. I can't really deal with any Trane after '65, though

ALS is as good as its reputation but many of his other recordings are better than theirs and should be up there with it - similar problem as Miles with KoB

Michelle Shocked's Short Sharp Shocked. It's not the only good music she made, but it's the only one that I've ever felt like putting on.

David Murray - Interboogieology
Aphex Twin - Selected Ambient II
Kraftwerk - Ralf & Florian
Mary McCaslin - Way Out West
Kate Wolf - Lines On The Paper

Autechre - Tri Repetitae
B52s debut

I loved and was kind of obsessed with The Boo Radleys' Everything's Alright Forever, tried halfheartedly to get into their next few albums, but they never clicked. Just wasn't what I wanted from them, I guess. Not saying I won't try again some day, though.

This thread has been super fun. I have a big list full of albums to try.

Primal Scream - Exterminator

Liked bits of Vanishing Point. Have zero interest in the big hit album. But oh man, Exterminator is something else!

I like Evil Heat too, but I'm not sure anyone else does.

Spacemen 3 - The Perfect Prescription

Oh yeah that's a good one

more and more, even though I was super into them and have multiple albums...I don't listen to Guided By Voices often anymore, so when I do I always reach for Bee Thousand

I will merely submit Time (The Revelator) as my entry as it is the first record I thought of when I saw the thread title. But I've heard very, very good things about the recent Gillian and David Bandcamps so maybe that'll change in 2021

Red Medicine, specifically.

(Some of the other records are good but not near that level. In On The Kill Taker doesn’t work for me at all.)

I realized Dinosaur Jr. is one of these… I love their first album, and that’s the end of the road for me.

*hot garbage. No hits on Kill Taker.

some of these artists are not exactly prolific

Apart from Guided By Voices.

I think that proviso was added so there weren't a whole bunch of suggestions of records like Marquee Moon and the New York Dolls.

I don't see how someone could pick one Fugazi and completely dismiss the rest. I could see either loving or hating them, but they were so consistent!

They really weren't. The first EP was great, the second EP was pretty good, Repeater was a masterpiece, Steady Diet of Nothing was trash, and they kinda recovered gradually after that.

Maybe because they were my entrypoint, but Steady Diet and Kill Taker are my favorites by them and the first ones I always reach for when I'm on a Fugazi kick.

I kinda only like the instrumental soundtrack

instrument

Mayo Thompson's Corky's Debt to His Father is quite special for me, whereas I've been somewhat nonplussed by the half dozen Red Krayola albums I've heard (I like, but don't love God Bless...).

I was going to say Rocks falls into this category for me, but that's not true, I really like most of Aerosmith's stuff through Night in the Ruts.

But Rocks is head and shoulders above everything else except Toys in the Attic.

I don't see how someone could pick one Fugazi and completely dismiss the rest. I could see either loving or hating them, but they were so consistent!

otm. Apart from the disappointment that was Steady Diet (whose songs were exponentially more powerful live — you’d never guess they were from a sub-par record), everything from Kill Taker on is a marked (and usually thrilling) improvement over its predecessor.

Ballads is the Coltrane LP that always works for me.

i agree with beard papa about fugazi, but their first two records really are far more popular than the rest of their discography

i agree with beard papa about fugazi, but their first two records really are far more popular than the rest of their discography, at least at this point in time

honestly a little baffled by steady diet being called sub-par and trash, that is an incredible record and the received wisdom on it is completely confusing to me

not saying that anyone here is just parroting the conventional take, I just came to it when its reputation was already set and couldn't believe people really thought this was their "shitty" album

Neue Jesse Schule – have you heard Kangaroo! or Amor and Language? (Corky's is unique, but those are the two other Mayo/RK things that may be easiest to get into.)

not saying that anyone here is just parroting the conventional take, I just came to it when its reputation was already set and couldn't believe people really thought this was their "shitty" album

I came to Fugazi as "Ian from Minor Threat's new band" and heard the first three records (plus the Three Songs 7") in sequence as they were released, and then my younger brother bought Steady Diet and I just couldn't believe how much more turgid and dull it seemed than what had come before.

same for me - thought the first three were amazing, nothing that followed ever really grabbed me even though i tried my hardest to make myself love them

Steady Diet felt like a step down at the time. Not a dramatic one, but they sounded self-conscious -- what seemed effortless on Repeater felt forced. Kill Taker was a stunning rebound, though. I was lucky enough to see them once just after Steady Diet came out, and twice after Kill Taker.

Came to it later so my view was probably tinted by its reputation, I expected it to be a major step down and not "better songs on average than the second half of Repeater, but with weaker performances/production."

my thought on fugazi is this:

despite their obvious consistency, they still made some boring (read: not bad per se) albums. 13 songs then repeater +3 are damn solid and i easily understand how anybody could hold that material in extremely high regard.

after that, some boring albums. maybe i'm just not that big of a fan, but the material between repeater and red medicine doesn't bring me any enthusiasm and it never has. those are not bad albums, but they do strike me as `second tier.` red medicine through the argument is my favorite material and when i do go back to the band, it's that stuff.

Heron Oblivion might be my favorite record of the past ten years, but I've never connected with the many other things Meg Baird does, not for trying. I love the voice, but I think I needed Ethan Miller to feel the voice.

If I'm being honest the only Fugazi albums I listen to are Repeater and The Argument.

I feel like Burning Airlines isn't THAT different from Jawbox

― Muad'Doob (Moodles), Saturday, February 25, 2023 6:03 PM (five days ago) bookmarkflaglink

Probably, but that first BA album is so razor sharp, with everything perfectly in its place, plus absolutely incredible drumming.

Btw not liking A Love Supreme is a crazy opinion to me, as I've always felt it's a showcase of the quartet in all its best modes (no pun intended) - uptempo, midtempo rubato, the mozambique thing, all with great themes and solo moments.

yah seems like a super contrarian opinion, maybe an overcorrection from it being the only trane album on a bunch of rock lists

been 30+ years since I read psychotic reactions but didn't Lester Bangs also hate A Love Supreme? I think he said it was too much like easy listening or something. not lester's finest moment tbh

think his favourite was Ascension though, so if that's where he was coming from...

Spacemen 3 - The Perfect Prescription

I'd have thought if you rate that one then you'd find plenty to love on their other albums too.

While I do quite like a lot of Todd Rundgren's output, A Wizard, A True Star is the only one I really love. So doesn't entirely fit the thread remit but it's head and shoulders above the rest for me.

The Holy Bible from Manic Street Preachers for me.

Re: A Love Supreme. Shrug. I have listened to a great many albums, and that was one that I just couldn't get into. I tried. It resisted me. I moved on.

At the time I wasn't really thinking in terms of its place in the pantheon or whether it had been overpraised. I didn't know what a challops or a controp were at the time.

Glad to hear it makes other people happy though. Bop on, y'all.

I'm actually surprised no one's actually named a Zappa album yet. Hot Rats seems like the perfect answer here for obvious reasons

I remember Vektroid saying she can't stand Zappa's stuff but regardless still loves the album Jazz From Hell. That's gotta be an all-time weird answer to this question.

_Spacemen 3 - The Perfect Prescription_

I'd have thought if you rate that one then you'd find plenty to love on their other albums too.

I remember Vektroid saying she can't stand Zappa's stuff but regardless still loves the album Jazz From Hell. That's gotta be an all-time weird answer to this question.

yeah when she said that I listened to it and thought "whoa kinda sounds like R + 7"

i only heard 'night school' off jazz from hell last month and now it's the first and only zappa album i've ever been interested in buying

Carole King’s Tapestry is my #1 pick for this

I thought I hated all Zappa, and every time somebody would say "oh but you have to listen to [album]" I'd listen to it and it'd just be dick jokes in 15/8 and I'd want to go back in time and scream at the guy

Then somebody finally recommended Uncle Meat and I gotta say... it's great. I guess it's still dick jokes in 15/8 but for some reason it works for me

(ctrl+f "zappa" 0 results)

not sure what to make of this.

― Totally different head. Totally. (Austin), Wednesday, November 25, 2020 9:18 PM (two years ago) bookmarkflaglink

he doesn't have one lovable album?

― Evan, Wednesday, November 25, 2020 9:54 PM

Uncle Meat is … kind of the right answer? For me the One Zappa Album is “Money” but I couldn’t blame anyone choosing anything before Just Another Band From LA. After which you could also choose almost anything, but it would mark you as most likely an irredeemable asshole.

If I had to choose one Zappa song, it’d be “Dog Breath In the Year of the Plague” but I also understand that that’s likely some sort of weird accident of neuropsychomusicological lightning-strike; by any objective measure it’s unlikely to make anyone’s Zappa Top 25

and yet

and yet

Neue Jesse Schule – have you heard Kangaroo! or Amor and Language? (Corky's is unique, but those are the two other Mayo/RK things that may be easiest to get into.)

Re: A Love Supreme. It's just never done much for me, but that's true of lots of esteemed records. Maybe my taste is a bit idiosyncratic, I don't know. I played it again tonight. It's ok, don't get me wrong, but not a record I reach for. Coltrane seems to spend too much time in a plaintive register which I find not terribly appealing, and McCoy Tyner's comping grates in kind of a static, repetitive way. The rhythm section seems to be always narrowly avoiding finding a groove. And just about when the last track does start getting going, the record's over.

Spacemen 3 - The Perfect Prescription

I'd have thought if you rate that one then you'd find plenty to love on their other albums too.

― groovypanda, Thursday, 2 March 2023 20:51 (yesterday) link

yeah, i realized i misread the thread title after posting. but in terms of the entire spacemen 3/spectrum/spiritualized catalog i'm content for the remainder of my days with just that one.

the first Marina and the Diamonds album

the correct zappa album to pick is One Size Fits All

been 30+ years since I read psychotic reactions but didn't Lester Bangs also hate A Love Supreme?

Nope. Just checked, and the only Trane album he mentions is Africa/Brass (which he apparently loved).

Personally, I never loved A Love Supreme. I much prefer The John Coltrane Quartet Plays… and Sun Ship, as quartet albums go. It’s not a bad or even slightly-not-good album by any stretch, but I felt like its fullest realization happened on the 1965 Antibes show — it really sprang to life in live performance.

I've got a dozen Zappa LPs I haven't listened to since 1994 (anyone want a Thing-Fish?) and yet I do occasionally spin Weasels Ripped My Flesh, where the puerile bits aren't completely absent, but don't distract from a broad representation of this strengths. Not super special to me, but does remind me of where my mind was at 16.

ok its funny that now like 10 different Zappa LPs have been mentioned. I think for me this actually wasn't Hot Rats but rather We're Only In It For the Money, one of the few Zappa albums where the satire actually kind of lands

If I had to choose one Zappa song, it’d be “Dog Breath In the Year of the Plague”

that's a good choice, it's stuck in my head all the time. I always thought "Oh No" was the perfect representation of all his strengths, plus it's real short so if you don't like it you don't have to endure much. fucking dumb lyrics though

"Hot Rats" is the only Zappa album I own, but it doesn't fit the thread because a) it doesn't mean the world to me and b) there's interesting stuff spread across some of his other albums (especially the Mothers stuff).

I hate the Mothers records. But I hate Piper At the Gates of Dawn too, which kinda sets me apart from most Pink Floyd fans.

(xp) Yes, there's a few Zappa albums I like a lot, a few that are quite good and more that are OK but none that I could describe as being "super special".

Dog Breath also a personal favorite. "Fuzzy dice... Bongoooos in the back". Catchy as hell and the production is unusually interesting.
Apart from that Money, Hot Rats and Uncle Meat is probably all I need.

Re. Spacemen 3: I also misread the thread title - thought we were doing bands where one album is all you need by them (no matter how great / similar the rest of their output might be)

I've recently gotten way into There Is Nothing Wrong With Love... I've owned it since '95 or '96, always liked a little, thought it had a few good songs, whatever... but it's suddenly snapped into focus, and I think it's just a total classic.

Meanwhile, I can't make it thru Ultimate Alternative Wavers (it's too rough)... Built to Spill Caustic Resin is pretty good (especially track 4, the Kicking Giant cover); and "Still Flat" (on The Normal Years, also with Caustic Resin, is another great track. That's about it. And when it comes to the band's post–TINWWL career; I'm all too familiar w/it, and it ain't for me. That one album was the sweet spot – a meld of jam-band sensibility, twisty guitars, and skewed pop that totally hits. It's like they were moving along a spectrum from rickety indie-rock to Neil Young gtr workouts, and the two beams converged for that one shining moment.

Talking Heads: 77
Mudhoney - Superfuzz Bigmuff