It is Friday again, and I have just posted a cocktails list – so I thought what better way to pass our time whilst drinking our cocktails than discussing music with other listversers! So, here we have our third installment of “Your View”. This time we have a slightly more controversial topic! I am sure that we can all thrash this one out and come up with some great choices!
What is the best Rock Album in History?
I must confess to being much more of a light pop music type of person (second to Classical) so this is a very tough one for me. However, having given it some thought, I give my vote to the Beatles Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.
Remember to give your reasons for your selection – we are looking for the BEST.
I would like to add that I disagree with the polling thing. Not everybody likes the same thing, and this forum gives an opportunity for people to discuss less common occurrences, and less heard of bands.
I think the world agrees that it’s Sgt. Pepper’s
but in my opinion its gotta be London Calling by The Clash
Yeah, uh I think I used Appetite for Destruction under my car to catch the oil drips. No, wait, I used it to scrape up dog crap in the yard. Oh, I forgot that put it in my bird cage for my parrot to ***** on, but he refused until I put some proper ***** paper to line the cage. After all, he’s got standards.
my props to The Blackening by Machinehead – fav. song Halo!!!
City of Evil by Avenged Sevenfold isn’t bad… think about that…
But ‘A fever you cant sweat out’ by P!ATD (Panic! At the Disco) is the overall bestest
marquee – “how can anyone look at the history and say anything besides dark side of the moon? 14 years on the charts!”
If you want statistics to determine the best album, then – according to RIAA figures – here are the top 2 albums based on all-time sales figures :
Their Greatest Hits 1971-1975 – Eagles (28m sold)
Thriller – Michael Jackson (23m sold)
Dark Side is 9th equal (15m). However, The Wall is 3rd (22m)
Panic! at the Disco! you gotta be *****ting me, right? Not even comparable to most the albums on this list
I could name so many…from Hard Rock to Heavy Metal to Prog to Alternative. But I go also with
Led Zeppelin – IV
since it is their best album and without Led Zeppelin there would be no Rock Music as we’ve got it today
Runner-ups:
Iron Maiden – The Number of the Beast
Metallica – Ride the lightning
Dream Theater – Images and Words
Red Hot Chili Peppers – By the way
Tool – Lateralus
and so on…
it’s a toss up between The Best of Nelson: The Millennium Collection and Forever More: The Greatest Hits of John Tesh.
hmmmm
Yay more tool fans!
OK computer by Radiohead!
eric: another Tool fan, right on!!
Though I love both Nirvana and Pink Floyd, Nirvana was less impactful for their music than for the time period when their music came out. People were sick of and strung out from all the crappy pop and hair metal that came out of the 80′s, and grunge music was a totally fresh thing. The emergence of this music, or something similiar, was bound to happen anyway, and if not Nirvana, than someone else would have some along. Floyd’s DSotM was a FANTASTIC album, no doubt, but being among the most successful albums of all time doesn’t equate with being the best rock album of all time. If that were the case, Frampton Comes Alive would be high in the running for best rock album of all time, and there is only 1 song on that album that I thought was worth a goddamn. Anyway, thats my take on the situation.
eric – “without Led Zeppelin there would be no Rock Music as we’ve got it today”
Huh ???
Actually you may be right. Without them music today might even be better than it is
TOP FIVE TODAY:
This Year’s Model- Elvis Costello
Highway 61 Revisited- Bob Dylan
A Hard Day’s Night- The Beatles
Layla- Derek and the Dominoes
Are You Experienced? Jimi Hendrix
kiwiboi:
Whoa…whoa…whoa. Hold everything. Ladies and gentlemen….the ladies and gentlemen in the back, be quiet for a moment please!
How in the blue hell could rock music POSSIBLY be *better* if Led Zeppelin never existed? There were essentially the first proto-heavy metal band….without Led Zeppelin’s influence, so many of the great artists you love might not exist. You may not like the Zep, but most of your favorite artists do, and (like Alice in Chains) Led Zeppelin is one of the most influential and highly imitated rock bands of all time!
Metallica’s black album – agree, though I hate that band now because of their position on music sharing.
Tool – any of them rank in my opinion, love that band!
Any classic rock band’s music (except for Rush and U2; GOD! I hate those two bands. Rush is just as pretentious and even more mediocre when compared to U2) is awesome.
My picks though, are a little different, just because I like to rub people raw. What can I say, I’m sadistic…
ICP – “Hell’s Pit”
This album has some great flow to its songs, as they each roll one into the next with a smoothness that most others ought to envy. They attack the religious hypocrisy in the world in this album, sending a positive message of intolerance for hypocrisy and a complete contempt for those who would victimize the innocent.
ICP is a band I definitely support on their principles. In a time when so many others sell out to make it, they not only made it the hard way, they actually stand by their principles on drugs, crime, and other things.
Slipknot – “Vol. 3: (The Subliminal Verses)
Where can I begin with this album? In some places it is such a huge departure from their past work that it has surely alienated some of the more ignorant among their fans. Songs such as “Vermillion pt. 2″ are so peaceful that they seem to be a different band entirely. Others, like “Circle” are hypnotic and can also make one physically ill, as I can attest from nearly puking every time I listen to this song. However, I still love it, there’s just something about it. This album came out after a near suicide attempt by the lead singer, in response to his wife’s ultimatum to reign in the extremism in his music and the drug use.
KoRn – “Take a Look in the Mirror”
Another great album, though this one is so depressing that it’s amazing that it hasn’t brought about a huge rash of suicides. One song in particular, hits home especially hard for me; “Counting on Me”, it summed up my feelings at the time and in many ways still does.
I highly recommend any of these bands, as well as many others, to anyone.
Islanderbst: I mentioned Modest Mouse way, waaaay above, but you know, good rock bands don’t get credit these days. They’re not profitable because they usually don’t garner a quick buck. That being said, I love that Zutons cd… conjures images of The Beatles and The Who… Red Hot Chili Peppers are good, they’ll probably still be big in 10 years. Most of the good music these days is “underground” and therefore dies out because of lack of commercial success. So it goes.
I don’t really want to get into an offshoot of the main topic, but I happen to like Rush.
You, Shadow, go on to tell us about Slipknot and Korn in a discussion about the greatest rock album of all time and you ***** on Rush and U2?
I didn’t know Jr. High got out this early. Consider myself rubbed raw.
bucslim: There is no *****ing drummer better than Neil Peart! *smashs table, looks at bloody hand* It ain’t easy bein cheesy….
Haha…..seriously though, Rush…friggen spectacular band. Geddy Lee is some sort of demi-god, I’m sure of it. Who else do you know of that can play sick, crazy-ass basslines WHILE singing WHILE playing the synthesizer/sampler with his feet? Not to mention listening to Neil Peart’s skills behind the skins makes my dick stiff.
Slick,
Yeah, I got a rodney for them back in the day. Lately I really haven’t cared much for their stuff. But before Power Windows they pretty much friggen ruled. Seen em 5 times in concert.
Ya forgot for all the ***** Geddy does on stage while being the ugliest mofo to ever walk the planet.
Im saying Pink Floyd: The Wall, without a doubt. Metallica’s Black Album is a close second, then AC/DC Back In Black, all of them are all time classics.
No offence, but Bono has one of the greatest voices ever! Even if you dont like his mucis, you cant egnore all of the amazing humanitarin( spelled wrong) work hes done.
WITH OUT A DOUBT, BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN IS THE GREATEST ROCK STAR EVA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Wait, Spinal Taps Black Album is the best EVER! LOL!
bucslim:
Hahaha….yeah, you’re definately right about that. For Geddy to rock out all that equipment while rocking out that ugly mug just adds to the whole rock-n-rollness of it all. Some of the best musicians of all time might have fallen from the highest branch of the ugly tree.
TMO- modest mouse=good
and there are some good bands out there now. ive got hope for jet, hothotheat, and the bravery that they can keep it going
itd just be nice to experience some group just come out all groundbreaking and blow up into the stratosphere, like beatles, stones, or zep did before my time
Just some of my favs
Pink Floyd- Darkside of the Moon
The Moody Blues- Days of Future Past
Queen- Night at the Opera
Styx- Killroy Was Here
Led Zepplin- Physical Graffiti (mainly for Kashmir)
The Beatles- Abbey Road
Between the people advocating some pretty damn shallow bands and those confusing influence for goodness there is not much hope in this list so far…
any specifics, sephiral? or are you gonna keep us guessing.
1. Led Zeppelin – Physical Graffiti
2. Pink Floyd – The Wall
3. Queen – A Night At The Opera
4. Black Sabbath – Heaven and Hell
5 Liquid Tension Experiment – Both
I think jfrater pretty much ended the discussion with his suggestion, Sephiral. Most of the rest of this is *****in and moaning about peoples faves. Pretty standard around the listuniverse universe.
Beatles – Revolver
Led Zep – II
Deep Purple – Machine Head
Black Sabbath – Paranoid
Slayer – Reign in Blood
Ok Computer – Radiohead and Automatic For The People – REM.
Okay, the ones I’ve seen listed that I agree with are:
Metallica – Black Album
Beach Boys – Pet Sounds
The Eagles – Hotel California
Led Zeppelin – Physical Graffiti
Queen – A Night At the Opera
But I’m gonna toss myself to the wolves here, and I’m completely aware of that, but… To me, the best rock album of all time is Aerosmith’s Nine Lives. Aerosmith is my all-time favorite band. Get A Grip was considered their comeback album, but I think they REALLY did it right with Nine Lives, and it was the last good thing they put out. I think Nine Lives combines a little bit of every sound they’ve taken on through the years, and takes it to a new level. I know it’s blasphemy to take a band who’s been around as long as Aerosmith and say their 1997 album is the best damned thing they’ve done, but it’s my honest opinion. Nine Lives is the best rock album of all time.
And if you REALLY wanna stretch the boundaries for rock, Arlo Guthrie’s Outlasting the Blues was an amazing album…
I think Uncle Meat by Frank Zappa is the best album I’ve ever heard. My personal favorite is In Utero by Nirvana, but I always go back and forth between that and Are You Experienced by Hendrix. Frank Zappa and Jimi Hendrix are the only rock musicians I would call genius’.
Led Zepplin IV or Metallica Ride the Lightning
but there are some others that deserve to be on the list
I would definitely say Pink Floyd’s The Wall. After that, maybe The Who By Numbers.
My favorite rock album is The Eagles Greatest Hits. I may be young, but I enjoy good music…
The Velvet Underground with Nico
Can’t say anything about albums I never heard, of course. Of the ones I heard: AC/DC – Back in Black. I liked it when I was young, I still like it.
–
Jeremy
Rubber Soul
man, this is very difficult.
IMHO, not in this particularly order:
Pink floyd – Darkside of the moon
Beatles – Sgt’s Peppers lonely hearts club band
beach boys – pet sounds
the doors -the doors
creedence clearwater revival – green river
rolling stones – sticky fingers
the who – who’s next
david bowie -ziggy stardust
queen -a night at the opera
ozzy osbourne – blizzard of ozz
metallica – master of puppets
the cure – disintegration
U2 – joshua three
ac/dc – back in black
led zeppelin -led zeppelin IV
nirvana- nevermind
velvet underground -velvet underground
the stooges -the stooges
the ramones- the ramones
elvis presley- elvis
red hot chili peppers – blood , sugar, *****, magik
jane’s addiction – ritual de lo habitual
guns and roses -apetite for destruction
eagles – hotel california
frank zappa – we’re only it for the money
obviously this list has some notorious omissions
cheers!
Led Zep IV and Sgt. Peppers
PERIOD
“Revolver” “Rubber Soul”… I can’t decide.
“Nevermind” was awesome as well
nevermind-nirvana
by the way- rhcp
OK Computer-Radiohead
So many records. So many great albums…
But, after much deliberation, I’m going to have to agree with Kyle and Stan on this one-
Disintegration is the best album ever.
In every conceivable way, from beginning to end, absolutely perfect.
I have to say that
A Night At The Opera by Queen
is just absolutely fantastic.
Fleetwood Mac-Rumours
Bob Dylan-Blood on the tracks
there are too many to choose from!!
i thought In Utero was better than Nevermind, and i also like the Division Bell better than Dark Side of the Moon.
(not saying that i dislike those albums though!)
it’s pretty much impossible to pick just one. and are we rating on impact on music and people, or just good music? there’s a very big difference.
-odelay- freaking awesome
-Highway 61 revisited- i think we’ve figured out my name, haha
-the fragile- there’s is only one song that sucks on that (double disc) album.
i can’t even listen to The Wall, it irritates me too much. it’s really whiny.
-rid of me- also gets one of my votes
i don’t know… screw this. i can’t choose.
Just one listen to this should calm some souls..
Dark Side Of The Moon
Of all the Beatle’s albums that I could say… I think Sgt. Pepper deserves it the most. I would name check the white album and abbey road though. Clapton’s 24 Nights is an EXCELLENT live album, and probably my personal favorite of all time. Pet Sounds by The Beach Boys is also fantastic.
Personally, I can’t stand Pink Floyd OR Led Zeppelin. But that is just me. I like music I can listen to without feeling like I need to be on drugs to enjoy it. Sgt. Pepper’s nicely toes the line.
Maybe being from the Detroit area influenced me a bit while growing up, but I would say Bob Seger’s “Nine Tonight” album is his best with “Live Bullet” following close behind it for showing the power that he tackled the songs with in concert.
Grand Funk Railroad would also be in the list with “Closer to Home.”
Non-Detroit related, I would say that either Jimi Hendrix’s “Axis: Bold as Love,” or “Are You Experienced?” would have to be on the list. Stevie Ray Vaughan’s “In Step” would be high on the list.
I can understand Zeppelin or even Floyd on the list, but The Beatles? Sorry, they never did do much for me.
And though his sound isn’t technically purely rock, I would say that if nothing else, an honorable mention should be given to Hank Williams, Jr. for his “Hank Live!” album. If you haven’t heard it, don’t knock it.
Clapton’s 24 Nights is indeed great (as is expected). I remember years ago coverting an audio cassette of 24 nights to mp3.
#slipstick: Glad you mentioned Grand Funk Railroad for they have been universally derided for being too simplistic and tame. They were a good tight band..pure classic rock and very much underappreciated..
zoso is probably the greatest rock album of all time as led zeppelin is the greatest rock band of all time. led zeppelin 2 is also an awesome album. heartbreaker rocks
Led Zeppelin III
Beatles-White Album
Pink Floyd-Dark Side of the Moon
You don’t need to be on drugs to enjoy Floyd /or/ Zeppelin.
AC/DC-Back in Black
Pink Floyd-The Wall
Those 2 are my faves
Also any Classic Rock