25 Country Albums You Need to Hear (Even If You Hate Country Music)

boring. typical. blah blah blah.

There are some real "oh ffs"s on that list huh?

Do they mean "especially if you hate country music"?

Oh man this could ruin the special relationship between EW and ILXor.

hey, that's not a country album, etc, etc, blah blah blah.

even by the ridiculous standards of that list, how the hell did they miss ray charles? he's the ultimate and original genre-crossover type thing they're apparently looking for.

Thing is, people who "hate country music" hate pop-crossover country WAY more than the "real" stuff.

Wd probably vote Haggard on this but I don't even think that comp is the best Best of.

Dierks Bentley

Isn't that a car?

if he never releases an album called 'holistic detective agency' i will be vv disappointed

yeah Hag is my choice but I don't know that compilation. At first I was lol @ Robbie Fulks on this but then I realized, maybe that's just what people who hate country would like to hear, country with a wink that lets you know it's all a joke anyway.

Would vote for Merle if anyone'd ever put out a definitive collection. Also, *Gold* shortchanges Hank, I think. Go for the full 40.

There's some great stuff on there. There's also Elvis Costello.

or this (xpost)

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41RTVN6Z62L._SL500_AA240_.jpg

depressing

lol @ big & rich

My problem with these things is that it projects an album-focused view on country, which limits the kinds of things you can pick. Like what Patsy Cline album would you pick? They're all full of covers + the big singles. Or you go with a compilation, which is hard to compare with, uh Big & Rich or whatever.

the ROCKIST view of country! not crazy about that term but here it fits.

(checks watch for arrival of contemporary "country" defenders)

I actually dig lots of contemporary country but making the album primary misses the singles-focus of country, like the way that there are songwriting guns-for-hire and backing-bands-for-hire rather than Beatles-style units.

apparently if you don't write most/all of your own songs, have a badass, larger-than-life, timeless rockstar image (bonus points for an early death), or have ties to the alt.country scene, then the rock crowd won't have much love for you. no Connie Smith, Hank Snow, and no CW McCall = much sadness all around.

a lot of the best country hits are by one-off acts with crappy discographies, so yeah, the LP is a vv frustrating and limiting format to fall back on here.

there are a MILLION great country albums!

scott of course there are, but I'm just bitching about making them the focus of how to turn on a country hater to country.

there are all kinds of merle haggard albums - NOT comps or best-ofs - that people not that into country could love.

it's just laziness. on the part of the magazine. but like i said, boring list, etc, blah blah blah.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3244/2696964392_aa3f4f9442.jpg?v=0

A really good one for this list woulda been the original Will The Circle Be Unbroken by the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. It's pretty hard not to love.

Also Scott's right about Haggard having albums that would stand up just fine in place of the comps - Burritos too.
What this list needs more are some good multi-artist comps of hit singles so these country-hating strawmen can hear Red Sovine and Jerry Reed and Wanda Jackson, etc. This list is a pretty low on fun stuff.

25 Polka Albums You Need To Hear (Even If You Hate Polka Music)

totally off-topic, but I learned just recently that Wanda Jackson's "Fujiyama Mama" (opening couplet: "I've been to Nagasaki, Hiroshima too/the same I did to them baby I can do to you") was a chart-topping hit in Japan. unreal.

Haruomi Hosono's cover of it is pretty great even so, and I'm sure he was in on the, er, joke.

The list is so crap, it really should just be ignored, but one obvious omission that is also a great first country record is Will the Circle Be Unbroken

Whoops....just spotted Brio post.

How about 25 Country Albums/Songs That Would Drive Haters of Country Up The Wall?

haha

i've never heard a whole country album

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

My friend's grandpa (who is in his 90s) Says 'Johnny Cash? I call him Johnny TRASH,' not even as a joke!

I like Lee Hazlewood, no idea where he stands with this concept.

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