The 10 Most Essential albums of the 60s any music fan should own!

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Zootlesque said:
Hey Marty, you prefer Rubber Soul to their later albums?

Yeah, I think I do. As with some other artists mentioned here (The Jimi Hendrix Experience, Rolling Stones) it's a toss-up between a couple of amazing albums. Revolver, Sgt. Pepper or Abbey Road may be slightly better, but I think I prefer Rubber Soul on the whole.
It's the first album where they really hit their stride in terms of songwriting and experimentation. Granted, there aren't many obvious experiments on Rubber Soul, but it certainly is standard pop either. Also, the album has a playfulness that's kinda missing on their later albums. So you can't go wrong with that one. :)
 
Popmartijn said:
So you can't go wrong with that one. :)

Hey I have all of them except for Beatles For Sale. :wink: I've always considered Abbey Road my favorite but it does have Come Together which is a little meh for me. Revolver on the other hand is perfect! :drool:
 
Beatles for Sale is my favorite pre-Rubber Soul album. No Reply, I'm a Loser, Baby's In Black, Mr. Moonlight...

I think I like it more than Help, though the latter has a couple tracks that best anything on there.
 
These should keep you busy for a while, Zoots.

But I gotta add my 2 cents :wink:

Restating a few plus a few others:

Doors - S/T
Cream - Disraeli Gears
Beatles - take your pick up to Abbey Road. I like Hard Day's Night
Jimi Hendrix - Can't go wrong here for but I'd start with Are You Experienced
Buffalo Springfield - S/T or Retrospective
Crosby, Stills & Nash - S/T
Rolling Stones - Take your pick again from what's been mentioned, Beggars, Bleed. I like Aftermath also
Frank Zappa & the Mothers should be investigated. VP listed a couple goodies
Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits
Kinks - Collection of older hits or either of Laz's picks
 
LemonMelon said:


It sounds WORSE. Much, much, worse. But it's an experience, Danny. Nico has some songs that are total shit, mixed with some classics, while White Light is sheer mayhem, with no real breaks, and it coheres very well. It's also incredibly influential, though probably less so than Nico. I rank it considerably higher, though I may be in the minority.

PS: The Doors are horribly overrated.


Wow :lol: itunes was on shuffle the other day, and on came Run, Run, Run and I just remembered how bad it sounds... but thanks for your input, I do plan on gettting it a bit further down the road. :up:

Heroin :drool: :drool: :drool:
 
Zootlesque said:


Hey I have all of them except for Beatles For Sale. :wink: I've always considered Abbey Road my favorite but it does have Come Together which is a little meh for me. Revolver on the other hand is perfect! :drool:

I threw on Revolover the other day, and it's an absolute joy to listen to. There's hardly any bad tracks. My favourites are She Said She Said, Tomorrow Never Knows, & And Your Bird Can Sing.
 
No particular order:

1) Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention, Freak Out!

2) The Beatles, The Beatles (White Album)

3) Captain Beefheart, Trout Mask Replica

4) The Velvet Underground, White Light/White Heat (one of the five best records of the last 50 years)

5) The Shaggs, Philosophy of the World

6) Hendrix, Are You Experienced?

7) James Brown, Live at The Apollo

8) Creedence Clearwater Revival, Cosmo's Factory

9) Bob Dylan, Blonde on Blonde

10) The Small Faces, Ogden's Nut Gone Flake

This list could change wildly, though, from one minute to the next. This sort of thing is really tough to do for an entire decade...especially for a decade as tumultuous, music-wise, as the '60s. I see these ten years as being the beginning of the end for the pop single, so it kind of had a lot of individual songs which were better than any one album on this list...but songs which, themselves, came from either average or simply dreadful albums. People still didn't quite know how to make full use of the album format, either, but they had a ball figuring out exactly how it was going to be done (see something like Ogden's Nut Gone Flake for one way of going about it--I don't even enjoy the record all that much, but as far as its place in relation to the "maturation" of the LP format, it's utterly indispensable). Great stuff, great music, great times...but somewhat maddening, to pigeonhole. The times, they truly were a-changin'. No doubt.

Another fascinating record to listen to is Magical Mystery Tour, by The Beatles. History now looks back on it, I think, as one of the bands best collection of songs, but few people remember that that's actually what it is--it wasn't an LP, but rather a compilation of two EPs. Really interesting stuff, and, in retrospect, quite historically important.
 
Popmartijn said:
:hmm: Lemme see... Many of my favourites have already been mentioned. And they're probably all famous albums, but for a very good reason. :) But I figure that more mentions hopefully convince some to actually pick up those records.

(one album per artist, BTW)

The Beach Boys - Pet Sounds
Bob Dylan - Highway 61 Revisited
The Beatles - Rubber Soul
The Jimi Hendrix Experience - Electric Ladyland
The Doors - The Doors
The Velvet Underground & Nico - The Velvet Underground & Nico
The Rolling Stones - Beggar's Banquet
Aretha Franklin - I Never Loved A Man
Otis Redding - Otis Blue: Otis Sings Soul
Love - Forever Changes

twas the golden age of R&B and soul. It's sad to see so many enthusiastic lists void of the genre.

but you my friend, create hope. Otis & Aretha. What amazing albums.
 
COBL_04 said:
I have the Essential Bob Dylan, and sadly apart from a bunch of about 10 or so tracks I can't say I'm that keen on it, though I spotted today 61 Revisited for $10, so I'll grab that next time I'm there.

Yes, grab that Highway 61 Revisited for cheap! I have to concede that Dylan might initially be a bit difficult to get into (and his current voice is a majorly acquired taste) but it's well worth it. The stuff he at times came up with is mesmerizing!
So please make the effort, because if you get it, the results will be very rewarding. :up:
 
gohaw said:
twas the golden age of R&B and soul. It's sad to see so many enthusiastic lists void of the genre.

but you my friend, create hope. Otis & Aretha. What amazing albums.

It was indeed the golden age of soul (together with the early Seventies), but it has to be said that most of that brilliance was on singles. Soul albums were often very patchy, with a few singles and lots of filler. Their maturation to good albums came some years after pop/rock made that step. But, as I said, by then you're already in the late Sixties/early Seventies.

:)
 
Popmartijn said:


It was indeed the golden age of soul (together with the early Seventies), but it has to be said that most of that brilliance was on singles. Soul albums were often very patchy, with a few singles and lots of filler. Their maturation to good albums came some years after pop/rock made that step. But, as I said, by then you're already in the late Sixties/early Seventies.

:)

Yes.
 
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