Rolling Stone's Top 500 List of Albums

Pitbull1253

I realize it is dead in this message group but what the hell. Let's talk about something other than weight loss. I have started working my way through the list mentioned in the discussion title. I realize how subjective any list is so I certainly don't see it as the be all and end all of the best albums of all time. I recently have gotten into better sounding audio (nice headphones, DAC, Digital Music Player) and what better way to enjoy them than listening to some of the best albums of the past 50 or so years. I am 48 years old so a lot of this music is familiar to me. More than the music I certainly know almost all of the artists but I have never listened to many of them. Typically I listen to heavy metal (NWOBHM, Death, Thrash, MetalCore), pop, rap and a touch of classical. What has struck me listening to many of these albums is how good the production value on some of these albums is even if I truly don't like the music. The following are some examples of bands I have never listened to yet have enjoyed while going through this list.

Beach Boys - Petsounds
Marvin Gaye - What's Going On
Bob Dylan - Highway 61 revisited, Blonde on Blonde, Blood on the Tracks
Michael Jackson - Thriller - Obviously know almost every song from pop radio but production is spot on!
Van Morrison - Astral Weeks
Joni Mitchell - Blue
David Bowie - The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars
Ramones - Ramones
Johnny Cash - At Folsom Prison
Lou Reed - Transformer
Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath, Heaven and Hell, Paranoid
Grateful Dead - American Beauty

With the exception of Sabbath I had listened to no album by any of the above mentioned artists. No that I have started this little project I have found that I prefer to listen to albums as a whole rather than random songs. I get a much better feel for the artist if I listen to the whole work.

So what are you guys listening to?

PlunderingSteelGorilla

I bend my ear toward hard, heavy, loud and powerful music. But love the blues too. Classic country twang and dance/rave are about the only things I prefer not to listen to.

I never listen to "50 Best" "Top 100" "All Time Greatest" simply because it is so subjective and I find I do not like 48 of the 50.

The current artist list on my phone is:
Black Label Society
Biohazard
Bo Diddley / Chuck Berry
Bobaflex
Cage9
Channel Zero
Clutch
Corrosion of Conformity
Crowbar
Desasterkids
Eye Empire
Faith NoMore
Five Finger Death Punch
Gothminister
Hatebreed
Headshot
John Lee hooker
Kid Rock
Marilyn Manson
The Mecan'tiks
Megahertz
Ministry
Muddy Waters
The Murder of my Sweet
The Texas Hippie Coalition
Sonic Booze Machine
Spineshank
Sum 41
Supermassiv
Taproot
Too Slim and the Taildragers
ZZ Top

d_thomas02

I can listen to anything. Currently my truck radio is tuned to the local Latino station. Brassy with lots of accordion.

Other genres I listen to are country, classical, hard rock, ... basically anything.

I have no tunes on my smartphone, but when working on overhauling motors or equipment I have Pandora tuned to Smooth Jazz.

Pitbull1253

@PlunderingSteelGorilla There is a lot on your list that merges with what I like. I will be using your list to find some new music this week at work. I agree with you that the "Best of" lists are very subjective. That said, I am about 100 albums into the list and there are very few that I just didn't like (The Smiths and Portishead jump out).

Pitbull1253

@d_thomas02 Our preferred genres do not intersect very much. I do like a bit of classical and hard rock and I really like neoclassical metal. I love guitar players that have been influenced by classical music such as Yngwie Malmsteen. Jazz is a form of music I have not been able to get into. I have listened to a little Miles Davis as he has a couple of albums on the Rolling Stone Top 500 list and I did like those. Any suggestions on where to start developing an appreciation for jazz?

d_thomas02

Pandora has a smooth jazz channel with a nice variety. I prefer the instrumentals. Kenny G, Richard Elliot, Walter Beasley, Gerald Albright, Jeff Lorber.

Pretty much only listen to it when spinning wrenches. Kinda puts me in the Zen Zone.

Pitbull1253

Thanks. That gives me a starting point. I will say Kenny G. takes me back a few years.

PlunderingSteelGorilla

Pretty sure I will never intentionally listen to Kenny G.

I don't mind Jazz, but it always reminds me of an doctors office waiting room. White noise to stop the silence, but nothing to "feel".

d_thomas02

no worries. I like hair bands too. lol