what was the last 'classic album' you got and were knocked out by?

also Nick Drake - Bryter Later - but I already knew most of the songs on that, so it wasn't quite such a revelation.

:-) :-) I'm most happy to hear that!

pre-1990: Poison, Open Up And Say Ahh....

Also that Joe Cuba Sextette Diggin' the Most I just got is pretty great, except for the English language tunes. But the tracks that Cheo Feliciano sings on are uniformly very good.

i more or less have all of his records and i have the feeling otb is his best studio album. it's the most intense of his folky/soft songwriter albums. there are no real standouts except the first song which i knew from decade. it's all pretty much made of one stone. by the way neil did many shit and average albums. most of his 90s (except ragged glory, dead man was ok) and a lot of his 80s releases (trans, reactor, landing on water etc., hawks + doves was ace) should be mentioned here.

Classic albums I first heard in 2023:

Painted From Memory, Bacharach and Costello - at the time, I was put off by what he was doing after Spike, but this is beautifully textured and crafted without seeming overthought and overwrought.
Big Plans for Everybody, Let’s Active - I heard and loved their other two records at least twenty years ago, I guess I kept this one unheard knowing I'd like it when I finally did.
Long Division, Low - created out of almost nothing, the album is not perfect but the best songs are.
The Natch'l Blues, Taj Mahal - "good-time" music where I actually had a good time listening to it.
Everybody is Fantastic, Microdisney - it's so exciting to discover a new "voice" knowing there's an entire career to search out.
Odyssey of Iska, Wayne Shorter - terribly ominous abstract instrumental exploration.
I Spider, Web - late 60s blues-going-prog is usually kind of dreary - this is really spirited, passionate, imaginative and energetic.

did the usual back-catalogue cd rummage in the local shop whist home for christmas and some of those will qualify (2 for £10)

Blondie - Blondie
Sparks - Kimono My House
Brian Eno - Another Green World
Television - Marquee Moon

and the last one wins by some distance i think. i knew more of it than i would've thought (6/8ths), probably because radcliffe plays a track from it every month or so when he gets a free choice. not too sure about the voice for extended periods but...

(as for the others, the blondie wasn't punk enough for me, although i did enjoy rifle range. the sparks singles were great but the rest was a bit too musical theatre. the eno is pleasant enough and includes the Arena theme which is all-time)

previous to that i bought and listened to, for the first time, get this, Dark Side Of The Moon...

Surely you are familiar with at least 6/8ths of Dark Side?

yeah, but not as an lp, only as individual tracks, if that makes sense. (and it is meant to be listened to as two sides rather than n tracks because it's all sequenced together)

I think I've listened to the entire album, start to finish, once.

I 'discovered' it myself only two years ago (yes I was familiar with most of the songs individually), then slept on it again, then a couple of weeks ago I listened to it front to back five times in two days.

I've always dug a couple of Pentangle albums, but their entire 60s/70s run is really landing for me right now. Listened to them all on a four-hour solo car journey yesterday; dirges, dances, the lot.

Come to think of it, I don't think I've ever listened to Dark Side front to back...

I went to a Dark Side laser light show in LA once, where they just play the album with some smoke machines and lasers.

My recent discovery is Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana, the 1968 Jochum recording. I can see where Zeuhl got some inspiration for the unhinged vocal stylings.

> Surely you are familiar with at least 6/8ths of Dark Side?

listening to it again, not really. two singles, one of which has a big swear in the middle of it meaning it's unlikely to be played on radio 2. first side isn't exactly full of bangers. (i do like the synth track).

Breathe came up on shuffle yesterday but the end is very abrupt on the CD. i either need to rip it as two sides (too long) or add my own fades. there's also a touch of the fuzzy thing people are talking about in that other thread, even though this is supposedly remastered.

I listened to Joy Division's Unknown Pleasures all the way through for the first time on Sunday, having owned a copy for decades (the 2CD "deluxe edition" that comes with a bonus live disc). I wouldn't say I was blown away by it, but I did like it better as a whole thing than I'd liked the few songs I was previously familiar with. Curtis's vocals have always annoyed me, but maybe listening to them while it was -20 degrees outside helped.

I had trouble getting past the first couple of tracks on Unknown Pleasures for a long time, even after being fond of Closer for years. Now I have no idea exactly why.

Found my copy of High Tide Sea Shanties and put it on for the first time in a while.
Crushingly heavy and apparently not as extreme as they were live.
Blooming essential innit.

Simply Saucer Cyborgs Revisited playing now. & it is still as trepanningly good as when I first heard it 28 years or whatever ago. Edgar Breau's guitar still as gosh darn as ever.is this still in print in some form? It is on Spotify at least.

I’ve been “caning” to mega therion by Celtic Frost and it’s just completely stolen my soul this winter. I was previously familiar with morbid tales which I also love, but this is next level. The new drummer they got here really kicks ass, the songs got more complex and he really brings the right dynamics to the picture. Awesome!

Marvin Gaye, "Here, My Dear".

Had avoided it because of its reputation as a (relative) disappointment and because of the idea of a double album of someone whinging about alimony and their ex-wife didn't exactly appeal. I was wrong though.

It's funky, and I love Gaye's synth work.

10cc - Sheet Music

How did this band escape my radar for so long? Like I had no idea The Worst Band In the World is pretty much all of the source material for Dilla's Workinonit. Impeccably recorded, joyful and just bouncing with energy, chic and cheek-iness. Guessing this vibe doesn't last much longer on future albums given what I've briefly read, but plan on listening their debut and The Original Soundtrack. Kinda reminds me of Wizard era Rundgren and the Beatles. But in the best way possible. Something tells me They Might Be Giants dug them a lot.

Man Original Albums box.
Listened to 4 of them so far. Might be s/t yet but all pretty great. Nice psych prog stuff from a band I've known of but not been familiar with for decades.
I read Andrew Lauder memoir Happy Trails where he talks about them quite a bit and wanted to hear the lps he mentions. So got this when I saw it.
Pretty great.

T2 the It Will All Work Out In Boomland
Box set. I did half know the main l.p. and it is pretty great heavy prog. Other 2 discs are both pretty good too.

octobeard, definitely give How Dare You a go too, there’s no loss of quality there. :)

hell yes to that T2 album, so classic. cool to hear the extra discs are good too, I need to spring for that eventually.

The Associates - Fourth Drawer Down

(Also, T2 and 10cc obv classique)

Man Original Albums box.
Listened to 4 of them so far. Might be s/t yet but all pretty great. Nice psych prog stuff from a band I've known of but not been familiar with for decades.
I read Andrew Lauder memoir Happy Trails where he talks about them quite a bit and wanted to hear the lps he mentions. So got this when I saw it.
Pretty great.

Funny that you mention this, I am going through the exact same box. I've had Maximum Darkness, the live album with John Copollina, for awhile, but this is my first deeper dive into them. I've only made it through the first three albums, they all have highlights but I do like the S/T best too I think. I also picked up the similar box with their five live albums, excited to go through this.

In the past few years I've had a lot of fun digging into those UK bands that drew heavily from West Coast psych and country rock, like Man, Mighty Baby and Help Youself.

Alchemist on s/t seems to be the one track that doesn't work for me so far. Maybe I need to listen on headphones. But seems not to have anything happening.
I had a great live set from Germany in 1970 that reminded me of Mirror Man Beefheart but haven't heard anything similar so far.
But generally great band from this.

Mighty Baby are great. I loved the Action from the time the Edsel compilation came out. Lauder talks about that too.
Good to have the box sets of the 2 eras of the band.

& I probably need to know Help Yourself better. I have one 2fer CD which is good.
Not sure what the pairing is.

Lauder also talked about Cochise who I've heard a little bit of since. Sound interesting. Individual take on country rock.

Yeah "Alchemist" felt too much like random experiments stitched together, was hard to keep my attention throughout.

This was the Help Youself box I got, from Esoteric: https://www.cherryred.co.uk/help-yourself-esoteric-recordings-present-the-complete-studio-albums-of-help-yourself/

I'll have to check out Cochise.

happy trails rools

Abbey Lincoln - Abbey Is Blue

Holy crap, how have I missed out on this amazing album until now? And is there really no dedicated Abbey Lincoln thread?

Jimi Hendrix Experience, Are You Experienced?

50 year old white male here who missed this boat with the metal heads and stokers in high school

Stoners

chaka khan - whatcha gonna do for me

Waylon Jennings - Waylon Live

I'm nominating this based on the 2-CD expanded edition, which I guess is cheating a bit. Has to be one of the best live albums I've ever heard.

despite being a 4AD fan, I somehow missed out on The Wolfgang Press back in the day. After recent ILX revive I listened to Bird Wood Cage and loved it! Got Queer on deck

chaka khan - whatcha gonna do for me

Yes map! Worth it for I Know You, I Live You alone tbh, amazing song! But lots of other good stuff on there too

Different album but ive been playing this Chaka remix a lot lately:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wX6PK9li_s4
Clouds (Moplen Classic Mix)

Lucifer's Friend
Very heavy German rock band with British singer. Weirder structures than I'd expected.
Think I'd seen copies of this around in Dublin in the 90s but think this may be the first time I've heard it through.
Hard rock with some pretty psychedelic touches.
Plus I recently acquired a somewhat decent cd player.Which means I'm hearing things in better sound. 2nd hand micro system thing.

Marvin Gaye - In Our Lifetime

Van Morrison Saint Dominics Preview
classic jazz-folk Caledonian soul lp from 1972. Jazz influenced stream of consciousness like impressionistic vistas.
Not sure why I've never had a physical copy before. His 3 lps from around this era all have some fantastic material on as do the lps leading up to them and the live lp from the era It's Too Late To Stop Now is fantastic too. As is its much later released further volume

so great

Yeah that’s a great one, one of my favorite Vans.

kinda splits the difference between mystical astral weeks/veedon fleece mode and r&b moondance/tupelo honey mode, to great effect. also one of my favs

Weird to find thè moog appearing in Almost Independence Day. Seems to be not as organic as the rest of the l.p.. though it's more of a fog than it could be. Alien presence like.

Speaking of which, after a long while of searching for Veedon Fleece in the wild I finally found it recently, on cassette tape. I rate it above Astral Weeks, for what it's worth. I guess I've never been as blown away as others by the excessive "glossolalia" (if that's what it's called) on the latter.

Veedon Fleece is his best

ah ha ha ho ho heugh

Got a copy in 2005 I was thinking was a recent reissue. Spent a lot of the first summer in Rossport listening to it. Which seemed fitting at the time.
Now seeing discos has the remaster in 2008. So not sure what story is.
But Veedon Fleece is a great l.p..
One of his best.
Live sets from same era are worth seeking out I think.

Earth, Wind & Fire - That's The Way Of The World
The Rascals - Peaceful World
Wynton Marsalis - Black Codes (From The Underground)
Sonny Rollins - The Bridge
Buffalo Springfield - Last Time Around

Television Personalities - And Don't The Kids Just Love It
I knew a lot of their songs individually but not really any of the albums as a whole. The first 3 songs in particular have been obsessing me: the Mod guitar riffs, the bass as lead instrument bits, the kitchen sink drama lyrics. magic.

Speaking of EWF, I finally saw the long-forgotten 70's film "That's The Way Of The World" in which EWF appear as "The Group", under the tutelage of hot-shot record producer Harvey Keitel. Full of tired record industry cliches/characters, but a fun watch still.

Never heard of it! Sounds good.

^^The funniest thing about that movie is how the execs keep dismissing "The Group" as, bad/uncommercial etc. yet the music irl was the core of 1975's biggest albums.

Wynton Marsalis - Black Codes (From The Underground)

This is such a great record, and some of its best qualities are in the ways it's not just retro hard bop. Like, Jeff "Tain" Watts is an absolutely thunderous drummer, with as much Keith Moon or Ginger Baker in his style as Tony Williams or Elvin Jones. And Marsalis's playing is clearly an attempt to evolve past the work of players from the 1970s like Woody Shaw or Freddie Hubbard.