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

cbl said:
5. Marvin Gaye - What's Going On: I first listened to this album after multiple spins of Mos Def's The New Danger...the song "Modern Marvel" always stood out for me so I dug into it a bit and discovered it was a tribute to Marvin and sampled different tracks from What's Going On. The album itself, unfortunately, is as honest, significant and real today as it was in '74.
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4. Jeff Buckley - Grace: I will never forget laying on Hope Dickens' dorm room bed as a 19-year old and listening to this album for the first time. that moment was monumental in my musical evolution. a singular voice and talent taken too early.
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3. 13th Floor Elevators - The Psychedelic Sounds of the 13th Floor Elevators: I feel this is probably the most under-appreciated album in the broader arc of musical significance conversations...it literally sparked a genre...and to have a personality like Roky Erickson and his amazing and tragic story as frontman, I'll never understand the lack of universal acclaim.
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2. Mos Def and Talib Kweli are Black Star: put simply, my all-time favorite hip-hop album. it's equally social conscious and fun.
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1. Sun Kil Moon - April: quite simply, I think it's the prettiest album ever made and the perfect balance of Mark's incredible honest story telling ability with beautiful instrumentation (the latter has slipped considerably for me in recent years). I can admit, this probably found me and resonated at just the right time in my life and thus it's stuck with me more through time, but I can still put this on and every time be drawn in
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Never listened to Sun Kil Moon. Streaming this now; really good.
 
cbl said:
5. Marvin Gaye - What's Going On: I first listened to this album after multiple spins of Mos Def's The New Danger...the song "Modern Marvel" always stood out for me so I dug into it a bit and discovered it was a tribute to Marvin and sampled different tracks from What's Going On. The album itself, unfortunately, is as honest, significant and real today as it was in '74.
View attachment 73128

4. Jeff Buckley - Grace: I will never forget laying on Hope Dickens' dorm room bed as a 19-year old and listening to this album for the first time. that moment was monumental in my musical evolution. a singular voice and talent taken too early.
View attachment 73129

3. 13th Floor Elevators - The Psychedelic Sounds of the 13th Floor Elevators: I feel this is probably the most under-appreciated album in the broader arc of musical significance conversations...it literally sparked a genre...and to have a personality like Roky Erickson and his amazing and tragic story as frontman, I'll never understand the lack of universal acclaim.
View attachment 73130

2. Mos Def and Talib Kweli are Black Star: put simply, my all-time favorite hip-hop album. it's equally social conscious and fun.
View attachment 73132

1. Sun Kil Moon - April: quite simply, I think it's the prettiest album ever made and the perfect balance of Mark's incredible honest story telling ability with beautiful instrumentation (the latter has slipped considerably for me in recent years). I can admit, this probably found me and resonated at just the right time in my life and thus it's stuck with me more through time, but I can still put this on and every time be drawn in
View attachment 73133
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Hell yes, Black Star is in my top 10! One of the first hip-hop albums I listened to front to back, absolutely blew my mind at the time and even still now
 
BjorgenFjorgen said:
Yeah, a different Sun Kil Moon album probably would have cracked my top 10 if it didn't come out that he was such a fuckhead.
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Yeah up until almost two years ago another complete arsehole would have been pushing mine, no more. An now arseholes old band has two high up but I just can’t quit them...
 
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I allowed for some artist double-ups on my list. I also probably didn't think about this long enough, I guess I went with initial gut reaction 50 favorites. Or something. It's fine. I stand by each of the 50.

Anyway, there's an artist here in my 36 to 40 that also appears higher on my list.

Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats - Tearing at the Seams
Joni Mitchell - Blue
Vince Guaraldi Trio - A Charlie Brown Christmas
Pink Floyd - The Wall
Fleetwood Mac - Rumours
 
Settled in and submitted my list to our host and received confirmation, so I will unveil 5 at a time like many have been doing! Thanks again, @Woob_woob.

50) Laurie Spiegel - The Expanding Universe [progressive electronic, new age, ambient]
The Expanding Universe | Laurie Spiegel | Unseen Worlds

A vision of interstellar space, experimentation, and intrigue through synthesis. It seems unfathomable that this was possible through analog electronics in the late 70s.

49) Fugazi - Repeater [post-hardcore]
30 Years Ago, Fugazi Firmly Established Their Legend with Repeater | Consequence of Sound

They took what they concocted on their previous two EPs and kicked overdrive here. The performances here are so tight and no one moment feels unnecessary in the 35min runtime.

48) Bowery Electric - Beat [experimental electronic, trip hop, shoegaze]
Beat | Bowery Electric

There is a disturbing aura hidden beneath the title track as the album kicks off. The repeated phrase "words are just noise" presents an unsettling atmosphere grouped with a trip hop backing, and out of sync clicks. Lyrical variation is sporadic, with several tracks purely instrumental to reinforce the idea of the aforementioned phrase.

47) Weezer - Pinkerton [power pop, alternative rock]
Pinkerton': Rivers Cuomo Embraced His Dark Side And Made Weezer's Masterpiece

The band may not have liked it (Rivers Cuomo in particular), but the fans would disagree! Through the more animalistic cuts like "Why Bother?" and "Getchoo," it made it difficult to not sympathize with the band.

46) The Beatles - The Beatles [psychedelic rock, pop/rock]
Masterpieces Don't Age and 'The White Album' is No Different – The Michigan Times

We can argue all day which Beatles album reigns above the others, but this one is the most versatile, and is easiest to identify who wrote what. Catchy, experimental, risque, tender and many other adjectives.
 
I think the way I'm going to choose to do this is one album per artist. And try to focus on favorites versus best of. I found my list very predictable and unfocused when I got past 10-15 doing it as a best of.
 
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