The N&G Top 500 Albums of All Time!!!

gaporter said:
This is my attitude too: rather than feel embarrassed for not listening to an "important" album, I'd rather look at it as there's just more music for me to listen to! (That said, you should probs listen to Debut 👀)

One thing that's bringing me some trouble is knowing that I don't have a lot of the experience others on here do. Most users have about double the history with music that I do and so I feel like comparing their lists to mine will sort of expose that I don't really have many landmark albums or legacy artists included in mine, not even necessarily as a statement but just because there's soooooo muuuuuch music out there that its impossible to hear it all. I'm sure albums that others feel belong on everyone's list won't even touch mine just because I've never bothered to listen to them 😕
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I’ve done these kind of lists many times over the years , tbh mainly for my own enjoyment, inspired by local radio doing these kind of run downs on bank holiday weekends ...my choices in 1986 would have been radically different to 1997 , and again different now .... my own criteria is pretty simple ...(no comps or live stuff, 1 album per artist/band and studio only) ...if I was washed up on desert island which 50 albums would I want with me to the last the rest of my life ...so enjoyment is paramount..my albums I guarantee put a smile on my face whenever I play them ..and are what I would call faithfuls , some challenge me , some don’t ..but they have all stood the test of time ...but some of my 1986 choices are still in, as are some of my 1997 choices .... and I dare say in 2030 some might change again ... the joy of music is there is always something new to discover ..or something old to rediscover...I’m probably enjoying rereleases a lot more now than current new stuff (that recent Prince reissue is superb) ..but up until 2010 I had no jazz in my collection, I only started on a bit of a Brit Folk 60’s/70’s kick in the last two years ....I surprised myself with some bands / albums that I didn’t even give a look in this time around ..
 
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bettim84 said:
Alright, time for the slow trickle to begin... here are some honorable mentions that did NOT make the list:

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(I’d like to use the spoiler tag for these but unfortunately the tool bar features have not been working on my phone browser over the past couple of weeks!)
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G N' R not hitting my list was a bit of a surprise for me. I used to love it, but haven't really dipped back into it for a long time. Zeppelin as well - I got into them through the Remasters compilation, so they've always been a Greatest Hits band to me.

The one major album missing due to my no greatest hits rule - Grace Jones - Island Life. Huge album for me growing up, that won't make the list.
 
Well I finally sat down with purpose to work on my list. It's crazy how fast I got to 54, which means four have to come off the list, and I probably still haven't thought of a few. I have just a couple selections from this millennium, I am leaning heavily on albums that I have loved for decades.

I have a few live albums and one X-mas record.

And I haven't even ranked them yet...that's going to be tough.
 
bettim84 said:
Hmm... you’re forgetting about the fact that up until the turn of the century access to music was scarce. Before mp3 downloads and streaming, if you were not willing to pay for CDs or records, you were mostly stuck with radio or (!) MTV. Maybe a friend could hook you up with a cassette tape or burned CD, but generally speaking SOMEONE had to buy an album before ANYONE could listen to it.

My point is that being young (assuming that’s what you consider yourself) is arguably an advantage, because you’ve had more opportunity to check out more music than another person who was exactly your age 25 years ago. Streaming allows you to dab into music genres that in the past you may have considered to be off limits.



That’s kind of what I’ve been telling myself as I compile my top 50. I’d bet that 6 months from now I would churn out a different list.
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This is a very valid point, and one that I had not considered previously. If you were raised in a non-music loving family, you had to get your recommendations from friends, magazines, radio, and your weird mushroomy Uncle. LOL
 
Back in high school, there was like 1 kid who used to make bank cuz he had fast internet and could download at lightning speeds. He'd burn whatever you want on a CDR for a few bucks.

Other than that, before then, all the music I saved to buy or I'd dub my friend's tapes / CDs.
 
zomgbear said:
Back in high school, there was like 1 kid who used to make bank cuz he had fast internet and could download at lightning speeds. He'd burn whatever you want on a CDR for a few bucks.

Other than that, before then, all the music I saved to buy or I'd dub my friend's tapes / CDs.
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Yeah, I can't even imagine being a teenager getting into music today. $10 a month for almost anything I'd ever want to listen to. "Back in my day" it was a gamble spending $25 on a CD based on a magazine article or mention in the liner notes of some other album, and then ripping my friends' similarly small collections to my iTunes or, later when we were all away at school, sending each other individual mp3s over MSN Messenger. I wonder how much my love of stuff from those days is based on the significantly different investment I had to put into it.
 
BjorgenFjorgen said:
Yeah, I can't even imagine being a teenager getting into music today. $10 a month for almost anything I'd ever want to listen to. "Back in my day" it was a gamble spending $25 on a CD based on a magazine article or mention in the liner notes of some other album, and then ripping my friends' similarly small collections to my iTunes or, later when we were all away at school, sending each other individual mp3s over MSN Messenger. I wonder how much my love of stuff from those days is based on the significantly different investment I had to put into it.
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Yeah I feel the same way. I have a deeper connection to the music in the 90s / early 2000s most likely due to what I had to do to get the music - I dug way more into it than I do with albums today.
 
Gavaxeman said:
I used to save my lunch money (chips were only 20p) and pocket 80p a day which by the end of the week was nearly an album....

...my parents thought I was being bullied!
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Luckily, my dad worked in the estates departments in the Glasgow hospitals, where there was a source that could get good bootleg copies of new releases. Up until I started getting CD's myself i could get new releases on tape for buttons!
 
Thackeraye said:
G N' R not hitting my list was a bit of a surprise for me. I used to love it, but haven't really dipped back into it for a long time. Zeppelin as well - I got into them through the Remasters compilation, so they've always been a Greatest Hits band to me.
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Yeah, Appetite for Destruction was my favorite album when I was 16-17. I had a cassette tape that I kept flipping from side to side, listening to it on repeat when I was a depressed exchange student. I even wrote an article on the school newspaper professing my love for it.

On a social setting I can probably still vibe to it but in my own head space it just makes me feel icky. Maybe that’ll change someday. It’s definitely a top-50-worthy album.

On related personal head space news, I think I have a new #1 record for the first time in 15 years or so.
 
bettim84 said:
Yeah, Appetite for Destruction was my favorite album when I was 16-17. I had a cassette tape that I kept flipping from side to side, listening to it on repeat when I was a depressed exchange student. I even wrote an article on the school newspaper professing my love for it.

On a social setting I can probably still vibe to it but in my own head space it just makes me feel icky. Maybe that’ll change someday. It’s definitely a top-50-worthy album.

On related personal head space news, I think I have a new #1 record for the first time in 15 years or so.
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It's a very important album for me - it got me started down the loud guitar music path when it came out. There's just something about it now that means I don't go back to it as often as that importance would suggest. I think you're right, there is definitely something about it that feels a little "off" about it now; a whiff of hair-metal hairspray that doesn't do it any favours...
 
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