Atticus

More YouTube links of late:

I think we should start a thread and DISCUSS this album (Pet Sounds)

How did you put it on as your ringtone after you recorded it onto your phone?

 

Thanks!

 

Peace

Depends on your phone. I'm using a blackberry, so after I used that website, it sent me an email, that had an internet link. I clicked on that link, which opened the song, then saved it on the blackberry under my ringtones...

11 David Bowie

The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars (1972)

 

Bowie's revolutionary mix of hard rock and glam pop was given an otherwordly look and feel by his coquettish alter ego Ziggy. It's not so much that every act that followed dyed their hair orange in homage to the spidery spaceman; more that they learned the value of creating a 'bubble' of image and presentation that fans could fall in love with.

 

Without this ... we'd be lost. No Sex Pistols, no Prince, no Madonna, no Duran Duran, no Boy George, no Kiss, no Bon Jovi, no 'Bohemian Rhapsody' ... I could go on.

LH

Anyone else willing to sacrifice this album in order to eliminate Bon Jovi?

The 50 albums that changed music

Sunday July 16, 2006

The Observer

1 The Velvet Underground and Nico

The Velvet Underground and Nico (1967)

Though it sold poorly on its initial release, this has since become arguably the most influential rock album of all time. The first art-rock album, it merges dreamy, druggy balladry ('Sunday Morning') with raw and uncompromising sonic experimentation ('Venus in Furs'), and is famously clothed in that Andy Warhol-designed 'banana' sleeve. Lou Reed's lyrics depicted a Warholian New York demi-monde where hard drugs and sexual experimentation held sway. Shocking then, and still utterly transfixing.

Without this, there'd be no ... Bowie, Roxy Music, Siouxsie and the Banshees and the Jesus and Mary Chain, among many others.

SOH

2 The Beatles

Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967)

There are those who rate Revolver (1966) or 'the White Album' (1968) higher. But Sgt Pepper's made the watertight case for pop music as an art form in itself; until then, it was thought the silly, transient stuff of teenagers. At a time when all pop music was stringently manufactured, these Paul McCartney-driven melodies and George Martin-produced whorls of sound proved that untried ground was not only the most fertile stuff, but also the most viable commercially. It defined the Sixties and - for good and ill - gave white rock all its airs and graces.

Without this ... pop would be a very different beast.

KE

3 Kraftwerk

Trans-Europe Express (1977)

Released at the height of punk, this sleek, urbane, synthesised, intellectual work shared little ground with its contemporaries. Not that it wanted to. Kraftwerk operated from within a bubble of equipment and ideas which owed more to science and philosophy than mere entertainment. Still, this paean to the beauty of mechanised movement and European civilisation was a moving and exquisite album in itself. And, through a sample on Afrika Bambaataa's seminal 'Planet Rock', the German eggheads joined the dots with black American electro, giving rise to entire new genres.

Without this... no techno, no house, no Pet Shop Boys. The list is endless.

KE

4 NWA

Straight Outta Compton (1989)

Like a darker, more vengeful Public Enemy, NWA (Niggaz With Attitude) exposed the vicious realities of the West Coast gang culture on their lurid, fluent debut. Part aural reportage (sirens, gunshots, police radio), part thuggish swagger, Compton laid the blueprint for the most successful musical genre of the last 20 years, gangsta rap. It gave the world a new production mogul in Dr Dre, and gave voice to the frustrations that flared up into the LA riots in 1992. As befits an album boasting a song called 'Fuck tha Police', attention from the FBI, the Parents' Music Resource Centre and our own Metropolitan Police's Obscene Publications Squad sealed its notoriety.

Without this ... no Eminem, no 50 Cent, no Dizzee Rascal.

KE

5 Robert Johnson

King of the Delta Blues Singers (1961)

Described by Eric Clapton as 'the most important blues singer that ever lived', Johnson was an intensely private man, whose short life and mysterious death created an enduring mythology. He was said to have sold his soul to the devil at a crossroads in Mississippi in exchange for his finger-picking prowess. Johnson recorded a mere 29 songs, chief among them 'Hellhound on My Trail', but when it was finally issued, King of the Delta Blues Singers became one of the touchstones of the British blues scene.

Without this ... no Rolling Stones, Cream, Led Zeppelin.

SOH

6 Marvin Gaye

What's Going On (1971)

Gaye's career as tuxedo-clad heart-throb gave no hint he would cut a concept album dealing with civil rights, the Vietnam war and ghetto life. Equally startling was the music, softening and double-tracking Gaye's falsetto against a wash of bubbling percussion, swaying strings and chattering guitars. Motown boss Berry Gordy hated it but its disillusioned nobility caught the public mood. Led by the oft-covered 'Inner City Blues', it ushered in an era of socially aware soul.

Without this ... no Innervisions (Stevie Wonder) or Superfly (Curtis Mayfield).

NS

7 Patti Smith

Horses (1975)

Who would have thought punk rock was, in part, kickstarted by a girl? Poet, misfit and New York ligger, Patti channelled the spirits of Keith Richards, Bob Dylan and Rimbaud into female form, and onto an album whose febrile energy and Dionysian spirit helped light the touchpaper for New York punk. The Robert Mapplethorpe-shot cover, in which a hungry, mannish Patti stares down the viewer, defiantly broke with the music industry's treatment of women artists (sexy or girl-next-door) and still startles today.

Without this ... no REM, PJ Harvey, Razorlight. And no powerful female pop icons like Madonna.

KE

8 Bob Dylan

Bringing it All Back Home (1965)

The first folk-rock album? Maybe. Certainly the first augury of what was to come with the momentous 'Like a Rolling Stone'. Released in one of pop's pivotal years, Bringing it All Back Home fused hallucinatory lyricism and, on half of its tracks, a raw, ragged rock'n'roll thrust. On the opening song, 'Subterranean Homesick Blues', Dylan manages to pay homage to the Beats and Chuck Berry, while anticipating the surreal wordplay of rap.

Without this ... put simply, on this album and the follow-up, Highway 61 Revisited, Dylan invented modern rock music.

SOH

9 Elvis Presley

Elvis Presley (1956)

The King's first album was also the first example of how to cash in on a teenage craze. With Presleymania at full tilt, RCA simultaneously released a single, a four-track EP and an album, all with the same cover of Elvis in full, demented cry. They got their first million dollar album, the fans got a mix of rock-outs like 'Blue Suede Shoes', lascivious R&B and syrupy ballads.

Without this ... no King, no rock and roll madness, no Beatles first album, no pop sex symbols.

NS

10 The Beach Boys

Pet Sounds (1966)

Of late, Pet Sounds has replaced Sgt Pepper's as the critics' choice of Greatest Album of All Time. Composed by the increasingly reclusive Brian Wilson while the rest of the group were touring, it might well have been a solo album. The beauty resides not just in its compositional genius and instrumental invention, but in the elaborate vocal harmonies that imbue these sad songs with an almost heartbreaking grandeur.

Without this ... where to start? The Beatles acknowledged its influence; Dylan said of Brian Wilson, 'That ear! I mean, Jesus, he's got to will that to the Smithsonian.'

SOH

11 David Bowie

The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars (1972)

Bowie's revolutionary mix of hard rock and glam pop was given an otherwordly look and feel by his coquettish alter ego Ziggy. It's not so much that every act that followed dyed their hair orange in homage to the spidery spaceman; more that they learned the value of creating a 'bubble' of image and presentation that fans could fall in love with.

Without this ... we'd be lost. No Sex Pistols, no Prince, no Madonna, no Duran Duran, no Boy George, no Kiss, no Bon Jovi, no 'Bohemian Rhapsody' ... I could go on.

LH

12 Miles Davis

Kind of Blue (1959)

A rare example of revolutionary music that almost everyone liked from the moment they heard it. Its cool, spacey, open-textured approach marked a complete break with the prevalent 'hard bop' style. The effect, based on simple scales, called modes, was fresh, delicate, approachable but surprisingly expressive. Others picked up on it and 'modal jazz' has been part of the language ever since. The album also became the media's favourite source of mood music.

Without this ... no ominous, brooding, atmospheric trumpet behind a million radio plays and TV documentaries.

DG

13 Frank Sinatra

Songs for Swingin' Lovers (1956)

The previous year Sinatra had cut In the Wee Small Hours, a brooding cycle of torch songs that was arguably pop's first concept album. Once again working with arranger Nelson Riddle, he presented its complement; a set of upbeat paeans to romance. Exhilarating performances of standards like 'I've Got You Under My Skin' defined Sinatra's urbane, finger-snapping persona for the rest of his career and pushed the record to number one in the first ever British album chart.

Without this ... the 'singer as song interpreter' wouldn't have been born, karaoke menus would be much diminished.

NS

14 Joni Mitchell

Blue (1971)

Though Carole King's Tapestry was the biggest-selling album of the era, it is Joni Mitchell's Blue that remains the most influential of all the early Seventies outings by confessional singer-songwriters. Joni laid bare her heart in a series of intimate songs about love, betrayal and emotional insecurity. It could have been hell (think James Taylor) but for the penetrating brilliance of the songwriting. Raw, spare and sophisticated, it remains the template for a certain kind of baroque female angst.

Without this ... no Tori Amos or Fiona Apple - and Elvis Costello and Prince have cited her as a prime influence.

SOH

15 Brian Eno

Discreet Music (1975)

Brian Eno, it is said, invented ambient music when he was stuck in a hospital bed unable to reach a radio that was playing too quietly, giving him the eureka moment that set the course not only for his post-Roxy Music career as an 'atmosphere'-enhancing producer, but for the future of electronic music.

Without this ... we wouldn't have David Bowie's Low or Heroes, the echoey guitars of U2'S The Edge, and no William Orbit, Orb, Juana Molina. To name but a few.

LH

16 Aretha Franklin

I Never Loved a Man the Way I love You (1967)

'R-E-S-P-E-C-T. Find out what it means to me!' Is there a more potent female lyric in pop? Franklin's Atlantic Records debut unleashed her soulful ferociousness upon an unsuspecting public, and both the singer and her album quickly became iconic symbols of black American pride.

Without this ... Tina Turner, Mariah Carey, girl power would not exist, and rudeboys would not spit 'res'pec' through kissed teeth.

EJS

17 The Stooges

Raw Power (1973)

Produced by David Bowie, who also helped re-form the band, Raw Power was the Stooges's late swansong, and their most influential album. The Detroit group were already legendary for incendiary live shows and first two albums, but Raw Power, though selling as poorly as its predecessors, was subsequently cited as a prime influence by virtually every group in the British punk scene.

Without this ... no punk, so no Sex Pistols (who covered 'No Fun'); no White Stripes.

SOH

18 The Clash

London Calling (1979)

The best record to come out of punk, or punk's death knell? On this double album, The Clash fused their rockabilly roots with their love of reggae, moving away from the choppy snarls of the scene that birthed them. This was the album that legitimised punk - hitherto a stroppy fad - into the rock canon. Its iconic cover, and songs about the Spanish Civil War brought left-wing politics firmly into musical fashion.

Without this ... would the west have come to love reggae, dub and ragga quite so much? We certainly would have no Manic Street Preachers ... or Green Day, or Rancid ... or possibly even Lily Allen.

KE

19 Mary J Blige

What's the 411? (1992)

When the Bronx-born 'Queen of Hip Hop Soul' catapulted her debut on to a legion of approving listeners, she unwittingly defined a new wave of R&B. Before Mary, R&B's roots were still firmly planted in soul and jazz (ie Aretha Franklin and Chaka Khan). The emergence of hip hop and this album from Blige and her mentor and producer Sean 'Puffy' Combs (aka P Diddy) gave birth to a new gritty sound, informed by the singer's harrowing past.

Without this ... no R&B/soul divide, which means no TLC, Beyonce, or Ashanti, to name just three.

EJS

20 The Byrds

Sweetheart of the Rodeo (1968)

At one inspired stroke, Sweetheart vanquished the cultural divide between acid-munching, peace-preaching long hairs and beer-swilling, flag-waving good old boys by creating the enduring hybrid of country-rock. Allying rippling guitars and silky vocal harmonies with a mix of country tradition ('I Am a Pilgrim') and Gram Parsons originals, the record irrevocably altered the perspective of two previously averse streams of Americana. The group even cut their hair to play the Grand Ole Opry.

Without this ... no Hotel California, no Willie Nelson, no Shania Twain.

NS

21 The Spice Girls

Spice (1996)

The music business has been cynically creating and marketing acts since the days of the wax cylinder, but on nothing like the scale of the Spice phenomenon, which was applied to crisps, soft drinks, you name it. Musically, the Spice's Motown-lite was unoriginal, but 'Girl Power', despite being a male invention, touched a nerve and defined a generation of tweenies who took it to heart.

Without this ... five-year-olds would not have become a prime target for pop marketeers. Most of all, there'd be no Posh'n'Becks.

NS

22 Kate Bush

The Hounds of Love (1985)

On Side One our Kate strikes a deal with God, throws her shoes in a lake and poses as a little boy riding a rain machine. Turn over, and she's drowning, exorcising demons and dancing an Irish jig. All this to a soundscape that employs the shiniest synthesised studio toys the Eighties had to offer in the service of one women's unique yet utterly English musical genius. Listen again to the delirious cacophany of 'Running Up That Hill', and it sounds like God struck that deal.

Without this ... Tori Amos would have spawned no earthquakes, Alison Goldfrapp would lack her juiciest cherries and romance would have withered on the vine.

JB

23 Augustus Pablo

King Tubby Meets Rockers Uptown (1976)

Jamaica's invention of dub - a stripped-down, echo-laden instrumental remix of a vocal track - was spawned principally on the B-sides of local reggae hits and in the island's competing sound-systems, with technician-engineer King Tubby as its master creator, a man who could 'play' the mixing console. This collection of ethereal melodies by melodica maestro Augustus Pablo distilled the art into album form. It would be years before the West caught up.

Without this ... no DJ remixes, no house, no rave.

NS

24 Youssou N'Dour

Immigres (1984)

The charismatic N'Dour, Senegal's top star, changed the West's perception of African musicians, just as he had revolutionised Senegalese music. Nothing sounded like the fusion on Immigres, with its lopsided rhythms, whooping talking drums and discordant horns, topped by N'Dour's supple, powerful vocals. Immigres also redefined the role of West African griot, addressing migration and African identity.

Without this ... N'Dour wouldn't have met Peter Gabriel, there'd have been no African presence at Live 8. In fact, 'world music' would not exist as a section in Western collections.

NS

25 James Brown

Live at the Apollo (1963)

This remains the live album by which all others are measured, and is still the best delineation of the raw power of primal soul music. It propelled James Brown into the mainstream, and paved the way for a string of propulsive hits like 'Papa's Got a Brand New Bag' (1965) and 'Cold Sweat' (1967). The catalyst for many great soul stylists, from Sly Stone to Otis Redding, it also provided an early lesson in dynamics for the young Michael Jackson.

Without this ... great chunks of hip hop - which has sampled Brown more than almost any other - would be missing.

SOH

26 Stevie Wonder

Songs in the Key of Life (1976)

This influenced virtually every modern soul and R&B singer, brimming with timeless classics like 'Isn't She Lovely', 'As' and 'Sir Duke'. The 21-tracker encompassed a vast range of life's issues - emotional, social, spiritual and environmental - all performed with bravado and a lightness of touch. No other R&B artist has sung about the quandaries of human existence with quite the same grace.

Without this ... no Alicia Keys, no John Legend - contemporary R&B would be empty and lifeless.

EJS

27 Jimi Hendrix

Are You Experienced (1967)

Looking and playing like a brother from another planet, Hendrix delivered the most dramatic debut in pop history. Marrying blues and psychedelia, dexterity and feedback trickery, it redefined the guitar's sonic possibilities, while beyond the fretboard pyrotechnics burnt a fierce artistic vision - 'Third Stone From the Sun' made Jimi rock's first (and still best travelled) cosmonaut.

Without this ... countless guitarists and cock-rockers might not have been (Stevie Ray Vaughan, Lenny Kravitz, even Miles Davis owes him), but most of all, without Experienced, there'd be no Jimi experience.

NS

28 Prince and the Revolution

Purple Rain (1984)

Prince had been plugging away with limited success for several years when the man in tiny pants reinvented himself as a purple-clad movie star. Like Michael Jackson, he felt that the way to gain crossover appeal was to run the musical gamut: in this case, from the minimalist funk of his earlier albums to the volume-at-11 rock of Jimi Hendrix. The title track is a monumental, fist-clenching rock ballad that, perversely, whetted our appetites for far worse examples by Christina Aguilera among others.

Without this ... no Janet Jackson, no Peaches, and certainly no Beck.

LH

29 Pink Floyd

The Dark Side of the Moon (1973)

Sounds like it was pretty tough to be in Pink Floyd in the early 1970s. You had all the money you could spend (ker-ching!) but you thought that was vulgar. You didn't get on with your bandmates because they all had superiority complexes. You couldn't enter the recording booth without having an existential crisis. Piper At The Gates of Dawn, their debut with the late Syd Barrett, turned out to be influential in a more positive sense (David Bowie, Blur).

Without this ... there'd be no Thom Yorke solo mumblings, and much less prog rock (if only ...).

LH

30 The Wailers

Catch a Fire (1973)

Alongside The Harder They Come (movie and soundtrack), Catch a Fire changed the perception of reggae from eccentric, lightweight pop to a music of mystery and power. Dressed in a snappy Zippo lighter sleeve, and launched with rock razzmatazz, it delivered a polished, guitar-sweetened version of what Bob Marley, Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer had made when white audiences weren't listening. By turns militant, mystic and sexy, it helped make Bob Marley the first Third World superstar.

Without this ... no Aswad or Steel Pulse, no native American or Maori or African reggae bands.

NS

31 The Stone Roses

The Stone Roses (1989)

Until the late Eighties, Manchester was thought to be a forbidding, dour place where the ghost of Ian Curtis still clanked about. The Stone Roses' concatenation of sweet West Coast psychedelia and the lairy, loved-up rave culture was as unforeseeable as it was seismic. Ecstasy pulled the sniffy rock kids away from their Smiths records and into clubland; the result was an album whose woozy words and funky drumming sounded as guileless as it did hedonistic.

Without this ... well, a bit of the Roses remains in the DNA of every British guitar band since.

KE

32 Otis Redding

Otis Blue (1965)

Until Stax Records and Otis Redding arrived, the Southern states were a place you had to leave to make it (unless you were a country singer). Recorded weeks after the death of Redding's idol, Sam Cooke, the album cast Otis as Cooke's successor, an embodiment of young black America with white appeal - alongside Cooke's 'A Change is Gonna Come' was the Stones's 'Satisfaction'. With terrific backings from the MGs and the Markeys horns behind Otis's rasping vocals, it defined 'soul'.

Without this ... no Aretha Franklin singing 'Respect', no Al Green, and no Terence Trent D'Arby.

NS

33 Herbie Hancock

Head Hunters (1973)

It definitively wedded jazz to funk and R&B, and did it with such joyful confidence that it launched a whole new, open-minded approach to the music. Equally important was the use of electronic keyboards, then in their infancy, which vastly expanded the range of available textures. Head Hunters kickstarted the stylistic and ethnic fusions that have enlivened jazz for 30 years.

Without this ... suffice to say, almost everything in the jazz-funk idiom can be traced back to this.

DG

34 Black Sabbath

Black Sabbath (1970)

A mere 30 minutes long, this was none the less the album where heavy metal was first forged. Its ponderous tempos, cod-satanic imagery (bassist Geezer Butler was a Roman Catholic and Dennis Wheatley fan), Tony Iommi's sledgehammer guitar riffs and Ozzy Osbourne's shrieking vocals all went on to define the genre and shaped most arena rock of the Seventies and Eighties.

Without this ... no Spinal Tap, no grunge or Kurt Cobain and, of course, no Osbournes.

NS

35 The Ramones

The Ramones (1976)

'Fun disappeared from music in 1974,' claimed singer Joey Ramone. To restore it took he and his three 'brothers' just one album and 16 tracks, all under three minutes. Brevity was the New York punk rockers' first lesson to the world, along with speed, a distorted guitar thrash and a knowing line in faux-dumb lyrics. In an era of 'progressive' rock pomposity and 12-minute tracks, the Ramones' back-to-basics approach was rousing and confrontational.

Without this ... no fun.

NS

36 The Who

My Generation (1965)

Alongside the equally influential Small Faces, The Who were the quintessential British mod group. Long before they recorded the first rock opera, Tommy, they unleashed a stream of singles that articulated all the youthful pent-up frustration of Sixties London before it started to swing. Their 1965 debut album, My Generation, included the defiant and celebratory 'The Kids Are Alright' and the ultimate mod anthem, 'My Generation', with its infamous line, 'I hope I die before I get old.' Angry aggressive art-school pop with attitude to burn.

Without this ... no Paul Weller, no Blur and, God help us, no Ordinary Boys either.

NS

37 Massive Attack

Blue Lines (1991)

Obliterators of rap's boundaries, Massive Attack pioneered the cinematic trip hop movement. After graduating from one of Britain's premier sound systems, the Bristol-based Wild Bunch, Andrew 'Mushroom' Vowles and Grant 'Daddy G' Marshall joined forces with graffiti artist 3D. Massive Attack's debut LP spawned the unforgettable 'Unfinished Sympathy' and remains a modern classic.

Without this ... no Roots Manuva, no Dizzee. In fact, there would be no British urban music scene to speak of.

EJS

38 Radiohead

The Bends (1995)

In parallel with Jeff Buckley, Radiohead's Thom Yorke popularised the angst-laden falsetto, a thoughtful opposite to the chest-beating lad-rock personified by Oasis's Liam Gallagher. Sounding girly to a backdrop of churning guitars became a much-copied idea, however, one which eventually coalesced into an entire decade of sound.

Without this ... Coldplay would not exist, nor Keane, nor James Blunt.

KE

39 Michael Jackson

Thriller (1982)

Pure, startling genius from beginning to end, Michael Jackson and producer Quincy Jones seemed hellbent on creating the biggest, most universally appealing pop album ever made. Jones introduced elements of rock into soul and vice versa in such a way that it's now no surprise to hear a pop record that mashes up more marginal genres into a form that will have universal relevance.

Without this ... no megastars such as Justin Timberlake or Madonna, no wide-appeal uber-producers such as Timbaland or Pharrell Williams.

LH

40 Run DMC

Run DMC (1984)

Before them came block-rocking DJ Grandmaster Flash and the Godfather, Afrika Bambaataa, but it was Run DMC who carved the prototype for today's hip hop MCs. Their self-titled debut - the first rap album to go gold - was rough around the edges and catchy as hell. As Rev Run spat, 'Unemployment at a record high/ People coming, people going, people born to die', the way was paved for conscious and political rap.

Without this ... no Public Enemy, Roots and Nas.

EJS

41 Chic

Chic (1977)

The Chic Organisation revolutionised disco music in the late Seventies, reclaiming it from the naff Bee Gees and ensuring the pre-eminence of slickly produced party music in the charts for the next three decades. Its main men Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards patented a sound on their 1977 debut that was influential on bands from Duran Duran to Orange Juice. They also created a hit-making formula that mixed dance beats with monster hooks.

Without this ... no Destiny's Child.

LH

42 The Smiths

The Smiths (1984)

Yearning, melodic, jangly, and very northern, The Smiths' first album was quite unlike anything that had gone before. It helped that Morrissey was a one-off and that Johnny Marr had taken all the best riffs from Sixties pop, punk and disco and melded them into his own unique style. But there was something magical about their sound that endless successors have tried to replicate.

Without this ... there'd be no Belle and Sebastian, no Suede, no Oasis, and no Libertines - at the very least.

LH

43 Primal Scream

Screamadelica (1991)

Thanks to producer Andrew Weatherall and some debauched raving, this former fey indie outfit enthusiastically took on dance music's heady rushes. It was a conversion bordering on the Damascene, but one being mirrored in halls of residence, cars, clubs and bedsits all around the nation. Screamadelica brought hedonism crashing into the mainstream.

Without this ... no lad culture - it was no accident that a mag founded in 1994 shared its name with Screamadelica's defining single, 'Loaded'.

KE

44 Talking Heads

Fear of Music (1979)

There's something refreshingly jolly about the modern-life paranoia expressed by chief Talking Head David Byrne on this album that moany old Radiohead could learn from. Opening track 'I Zimbra' splices funk with afrobeat, paving the way for Byrne and Eno's mould-breaking My Life in the Bush of Ghosts album a few years later.

Without this ... Paul Simon's Graceland might never have been made.

LH

45 Fairport Convention

Liege and Lief (1969)

The birth of English folk-rock. Considered an act of heresy by folk purists, this electrified album fragmented the band. No matter, the opening cry of 'Come all you roving minstrels' proved galvanic.

Without this ... no Celtic revivalists like the Pogues and Waterboys or descendants like the Levellers.

NS

46 The Human League

Dare (1981)

Until Dare, synthesisers meant solemnity. Phil Oakey's reinvention of the group as chirpy popsters, complete with two flailing, girl-next-door vocalists, feminised electronica.

Without this ... and Oakey's lop-sided haircut, squads of new romantics and synth-pop acts would have been lost.

NS

47 Nirvana

Nevermind (1991)

You might argue Nirvana's landmark album changed nothing whatsoever. All their best seditious instincts came to nothing, after all. And yet Nevermind still rocks mightily, capturing a moment when the vituperative US underground imposed its agenda on the staid mainstream. Without this ... no Seattle scene, no Britpop, no Pete Doherty.

KE

48 The Strokes

Is This It? (2001)

Five good-looking young men hauled the jangling sound of Television and the Velvet Underground into the new millennium, reinvigorating rock's obsession with having a good time.

Without this ... a fine brood of heirs would not have been spawned: among them, Franz Ferdinand and the Libertines.

KE

49 De La Soul

3 Feet High and Rising (1989)

Ten years after hip hop's arrival, its original joie de vivre had been subsumed by macho braggadocio. Three Feet High made hip hop playful again, with light rhythms, unusual sound samples and its talk of the D.A.I.S.Y. age ('Da Inner Sound Y'all') earning the trio a 'hippy' label.

Without this ... thoughtful hip hop acts like the Jungle Brothers and PM Dawn wouldn't have arrived.

NS

50 LFO

Frequencies (1991)

Acid house was sniffed at as a fad until it started producing 'proper' albums. Frequencies was its first masterpiece. Updating the pristine blueprint of Kraftwerk with house, acid, ambient and hip hop, it made dance music legitimate to album-buyers.

Without this ... no success for Orbital, Underworld, Leftfield, Chemical Brothers or Aphex Twin.

KE

Is it true that there is no spam being sent to you? Either to your email or phone?

 

I just don't want to get stuck with a bunch of junk mail I dont need.

 

Thanks for the help!

 

Peace

you know, ever since I did these downloads (I've also done one of the funky keyboards, etc. at 2:00 minutes into war on war, and also a great clip of Bennet's solo from a live version of "I've Got You"), I've just been waiting to get spammed out the wazoo or have my phone explode, etc., but so far, NOTHING.

simple process, no fallout (yet). I'll keep everyone posted in case something is lurking in the dark, etc. (or until I get my bill, etc.)

Reni posted this one http://mobile17.smashsworld.com/ a while back and it worked great for me. Upload any mp3, and it'll send it back to your phone as a ringtone.

Already did "I'm Always in Love" and "Hesitating Beauty." Great, now another thing to take up my free time...

thanks for the tip!

and kot taking jeff to task for firing coomer the way he did really falls into the big woop category. you'd have to have your head stuck pretty far up your ass to defend that.

my point had nothing to do with the obviousness of that particular decision, it was one freakin' example of an inclusion in the book of-

Actually, nevermind, posting in this particular thread is like talking to a wall. actually, it's more like this:

Whether Kot calls out Jeff for firing Ken Coomer isn't exactly relevant to what Brian Henneman thinks of the way he presents Jeff's and Jay's relationship in Uncle Tupelo, is it?

some previous posts had to do with whether the author had a slant in favor of Jeff and against Jay. I was simply stating that the book didn't hide items which cast Jeff in a negative light. So yes, I think it's relevant...

Did you expect more intelligence from a Republican?

what an open-minded, non-objectifying point of view.

wrong Jay.

 

Jay Farrar is from Uncle Tupelo.

 

Jay Bennett (The one you refer to) is from Wilco.

aaaahhhh. I wrote that after spending 14 hours in the hospital with my grandmother yesterday and was obviously not very coherent.

but still, even with the different Jay, I didn't file like there was a "character assassination" going on--of anyone. The book basically describes how Jeff and Jay were heading in different directions, wanting different things out of the/a band. It's not as though the book paints Jeff only in a good light. The author clearly calls him out for the way Coomer was dismissed...

I'm about to finish the book right now, and I think it's ridiculous to state that it is overly slanted against Jay. There is some glowing praise for Jay and his talents (playing ability, studio savvy, friendship and support between him and Jeff during some rough patches...) in the book--not to mention several accounts by others singing Jay's praises. The only negative impressions come about when things became a pressure cooker over the recording/mixing of Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, and anyone who's seen "I Am Trying to Break Your Heart" can understand how freakin' annoying he had become at that point in time. The whole band felt that way apparently, as they had a band meeting (sans Jay) and all decided together that Jay should move on--at least according to the book.

I am blown away by "let's fight." I can't wait to see what it evolves into on the new album. just an amazing song...

I just picked this up yesterday and got half way through it last night. Definitely some interesting background, and I enjoyed some uncle tupelo knowledge I didn't have beforehand, but, er...

did anyone else get the feeling that this book was in dire need of an editor? It just seems like on one page you get the most minute detail on what bar some distantly-related band used to play at, and then the next page we're leaping through a season or two of the band's (or band members') development... I don't know, just has a strange feel to it, as though perhaps the book should be about twice as long as it is and better put together.

kind of like this post really.

I agree with everything you say here about AGIB. But what's weird is one of my oldest friends just described his enthusiasm for torrenting in the same way--as a crazy addiction that is nearly ruining his marriage and is a complete obsession!!! What am I missing??? He uses Dime a Dozen. Is that what you'd recommend (I know, a thread covered this at some point recently, but I'm a slow learner).

 

I haven't used dimeadozen yet (joined it, but haven't downloaded one yet, unless I'm forgetting one). I've done one off of bt.etree. All the rest, so far, have been from this forum. Call it corny but I just trust the people on this site, and it's nice to see how many people make sure and seed something when they're done, just so that another vc'er can have it. I can't tell you how many smiles I've had over the past three weeks getting to listen (and see) some of these shows. I'm a little anxious at how devoted a fun I've become, but, well hell, life is short and I can't think of many things (artistically) that bring me the joy that this band's music does.

Every night I seem to learn (guitar) a little more, and every new concert gives me a little more to play, and a little more of a challenge.

As for my wife, she's learning to cope. When I get an invitation to Dr. Phil I'll know that it's time to curb my enthusiasm (maybe)...

Josh Lemon Lyman > Ryan Jefferson Starship Double Album Adams

"Donna, get in here!"

I find that when I'm listening to all of my wilco material--albums, concerts, demos, etc.--on the ipod, etc. that I routinely skip when it comes to a track off this album, as I've typically found 2, 3, 12 live versions that have taken the place of the original for me...

 

But you bring up an interesting point and so I shall play the album through again and see what happens.

 

I decided to put aside my torrenting (this is worse than alcohol, nicotine or [insert drug here], and it appears I may lose my wife over it if I don't learn to start using in moderation--but come on, dozens and dozens of good quality wilco/tweedy/sideproject concerts in audio and/or dvd??!!?? FOR FREE??!!!!!???? and all you have to do is keep the torrent up for awhile after downloading to keep a nice share ratio??!?!?! ok, took a xanax, I've calmed down now) for a few hours and erased it all from my head as best I could and gave A Ghost Is Born a fresh listen without distraction.

And I conclude that it is a fantastic record. Subdued at times, thoughtfully sporadic and fierce at others, interesting recording, engineering and production, contemplative and imagry-filled lyrics. Subtle arrangements and choice of instruments and tone.

I kept assuming, because of how much I've fallen in love with subsequent live versions of these songs--versions that are now permanently residing on all kinds of playlists, "all-timers" etc.--that the album just wouldn't have any luster anymore for me. hmpf.

I still think, for me at least, that it's better listened to by itself, rather than randomly plucked in shuffle rotations, etc. along with all the live stuff--but I think that's more a function of my tremendously happy memories of the live tunes (and the images and feelings the live tunes bring back to life) than anything having to do with the record itself.

geez, it's a young thread....give it time

exactly. you a-hole.

I find that when I'm listening to all of my wilco material--albums, concerts, demos, etc.--on the ipod, etc. that I routinely skip when it comes to a track off this album, as I've typically found 2, 3, 12 live versions that have taken the place of the original for me...

But you bring up an interesting point and so I shall play the album through again and see what happens.

I sure have been in a wistful searching mood lately (with hints of rambunctiousness and earth). any recommendations?

I'm sorry, last one, I just can't help it. I am unable to get anything done at work now that I've discovered this. enjoy:

Franz Ferdinand ~ Franz Ferdinand

3 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

Can't Wait to Hear What They Do Next, July 14, 2004

I bought this months ago and still can't stop listening to it. There's not one song that shouldn't be a classic.

Also, I would like to respond to Adrian from NJ (whatever that stands for) and his review of 26 May, 2004. He criticized my review of 25 April, 2004. He seems to think that my review is somehow invalid just because most of the facts I refer to are wrong.

Okay, you're right. The Beatles were quite a good group. I didn't realize that they were the ones who did some of those songs I've heard alot but didn't know the artists of. An example of what I just said is that I didn't know that The Beatles did "Hey, Jude" which I always loved (as a song). But, I didn't bet you didn't know that Led Zeppelin didn't do "Paranoid" and that it was, in fact, another English band called The Black Sabbaths. We all know some things and don't know other things. That's what makes life rich, Adrian.

And perhaps the lead singer of Joy Division was not dismissed as much as he committed suicide (if you call hanging oneself suicide).

But, this I'm right about: Franz Ferdinand is a person, not a band. Look at the name! It's a first and last name! Why would a band have one person's name? So, they could get on planes with only having to buy one ticket? I think they're too rich at this point to worry about that. And, what would happen when they actually had to sit down in the plane? No attendant is going to let the rest of the "band" stand the whole flight. And, M.C. Mobbs, who also attacked me with his criticism in his review of 29 April, 2004, stated that you can tell Mr. Ferdinand is a band because there are pictures of the four (4) band members in the compact disc packaging. Uh...Not exactly, Mr/Ms/Mx Mobbs: I only see a picture of one hip-looking youngster feeding his horse.

Both of these attackers also saw fit to criticise me for informing my public that CD stands for compact disc. They think it's obvious. Well, in case you didn't know, CD also often means Certificate of Deposit. I see no reason not to clarify.

Why?

Why am I attacked by these two (as well, incidentally, as by all my "friends" lately)? I am a great reviewer! I have a lot of reviews published in Amazon! I've never had a rejected review! I work soooooo hard for those of you who don't know good music! I try to teach you, but you just attack and bite. Stop biting me! It hurst!!! Aaaaaaaah! Why????

here's one for the brian wilson fans:

3 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

Praise Brian Wilson for He Hath Given To Us "Smile", October 11, 2004

"Smile" the latest masterwork from Brian Wilson, the genius behind "Kokomo" and other Beach Boys songs, is more than music, more than a filigree of shimmering melodies and sumptuous lyrics.

It's a Great event, a moment foretold, I believe, by Nostradamus.

In his Century XI prophecy, Nostradamus states: "One of the new Land shall upon 500 years after its founding bequeath to the people a Disk upon which shall Reside melodies deliberated upon for naih two score years. He who composes said melodies shall be knowne for having rendered Lifee ever so slightly more tolerable as the Hammer of the third Antichrist demolishes with untold horrors and torture."

The only reason I give this four instead of five stars is that I like the older version of "Good Vibrations" better than the one here.

you can't ignore this gem:

James Earl Jones Reads the Bible-KJV-New Testament by James Earl Jones

Edition: Audio CD

Price: $22.04

Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours

31 used & new from $16.99

2 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

He not only read it, he reads it aloud!, February 17, 2006

The Bible is probably one of the most famous sci-fi novels of all time. It's probably 150-200 years old and peolple (people) still freak over it like they did when MASH had that last episode. There's all kinds of fan clubs and everything even though it's all old. (Talking about the Bible still.)

But I dont' get it, yo. It's mostly about some guy who goes nuts and thinks he's the son of God. And there are no real creatures or monsters. Just like a devil, some gays, and a cyclops.

Now even though it's not music, James Earl Jone's reading the Bible...you treat it like it's a music CD even though it's not music, just put it in a CD player or something else that plays CDs and press Play, or a button that says something like "Play." (What sucks though is that in most copies of the Bible I've seen there's some ribbon you use to mark what page you're on. This CD doesn't have that, so you have to mark your spot with a piece of paper or, less advisably, a piece of toast or something.)

Anyways, when James Earl Jones (as I like to calll him) reads "I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me." I just not sure like hearing Darth Vader say something so woosy. And, later, in this part where he's sayin' who's the son of who and all that, Lord Vader actually sighs and says "yada yada" a few times. That's kinda cool.

And there's the part about the main character, Jesus, who turns water into wine. I guess that was cool to Bible fans back in the old days, but anyone can do that now, so it's sort of like eh...who cares.

But, hey, all and all it's alright. Its stood the test of time, I mean my grandma's still a fan of this thing, the pope is apparently like a huge fan... I don't know..will Lord of the Rings or Fantastic Four and all them stand the test of time? Or won't they stand the test of time?

that's got to be a joke. (either way, thanks for posting it, I'm still laughing).

reminds me of a situation involving one of my best friends from law school, who wrote a pocket idiot's guide to tailgating. His friends and family went on amazon and posted the craziest stuff. if you're bored, check it out at: amazon customer reviews

Heh, I posted a similar thread like this last year, but you're right the tapers don't get enough thanks. I know it can be a pain in the ass to have to watch over taping equipment, keeping wookies from bumping into the mikes, wishing everyone around you would STFU! Then time must be taken to listen to and convert the tapes, upload the show on the internet, all while keeping everything organized. But good quality live recordings make it all worth while, I mean whats a better souveneir than a recording of the show you just went to?

When you posted your post last year, did you find that no one else chimed in as well?