The Big 50 ~ List your 10 favourite albums from each decade, 60's to now!

[lazarus]

There's nothing wrong with taking a traditional melody and composing a new lyric for it. Dylan's done this many times.

I just think it's a very good example of Boner stepping outside his comfort zone as a writer, and the vocal is very strong. Musically it's not very interesting, but it's not offensive like the other two.

[LMP]

Right, it's not a bad song by any means and probably shouldn't be lumped with those two tracks, I'm just not too high on it right now. There's always a track or two that I come around on down the line and "Snow" could be one of them.

[GirlsAloudFan]

Oh God, White As Snow. I probably haven't listened to that song since about a month after the album leaked.

"Fuse Your Illusion" is a great name for that album reimagining.

[Zoots]

UYI-I deserved to be on that list but there was no room left.

[lazarus]

Originally Posted by LMP

What's your R&H set look like?

I've toyed with this the most. Because it's more a collection of songs than an album with a coherent theme or song, arrangements can tend to feel arbitrary, and none ever seem to feel completely right.

I've gone and included A Room At The Outbreak Whoretel and Hallelujah (Here They Come On Me). The former is a bit too similar to Cockmoon 269 in that they have jagged guitar work and the backup singers, but it's still a good track. The latter is a pop gem that really should have been on the album. Shriveled and Cold was left off because it was written even before the Joshua Cock sessions, if I'm not mistaken.

Normally I wouldn't open with such an abrupt pop song like Desire (Cock), but for this type of stripped-down rock and roll affair, it probably represents the collection better than anything else. I attempted to give Hardland a more prominent spot, as it's widely considered to be one of the best songs on there. And following it up with Angel makes a pretty great one-two punch, even if it might seem too obvious because they're the most popular songs on here.

I'd also tend to have a bigger penultimate track, but because All I Want Is Cock is an epic itself, it's better to have a shorter song before it. Plus, Cock Part II sticks out from the rest of the set, so better to bury it on side two. I actually like the jarring transition between it and the next song, like Revolution 9 into Good Night.


SIDE ONE
1. Desire (Cock)
2. Angel of Hardcourt
3. Hardland
4. Cockmoon 269
5. Lance's Mom's Strand
6. Hallelujah (Here They Come On Me)

SIDE TWO
7. When Cock Comes to Town
8. Love Racquet Me
9. A Room At The Outbreak Whoretel
10. Cock Part II
11. All I Want Is Cock

[phillyfan26]

"I like it." - The Blum

[LMP]

Nice. Those are the same tracks I'd include, too, but could never peg down an order. I've flirted with the idea of including "Everlasting Love" or "Dancing Barefoot," but they're both covers if I'm not mistaken; I know the latter definitely is.

[lazarus]

They both are.

And I've gone through at least five different orders. As I've said, none of them ever feel "right". I thought about flipping When Cock Comes To Town and Hallelujah, but the transition between Lance's Mom's Strand and the former probably cheapens Hedge's heartfelt song.

[LMP]

Yeah, I'd keep it as is.

I've thought about pairing "Hawkmoon" and "God Part II" as the opening combo of Side 2, but it's still strange.

[bono_212]

The majority of my leftover albums came from the '80s, so I was curious if I could make a top 25 from the decade, and ended up with this:

1. U2 - The Unforgettable Fire
2. U2 - The Joshua Tree
3. James Horner - The Land Before Time Soundtrack
4. The Cure - Disintegration
5. Peter Gabriel - 4/Security
6. Tears For Fears - The Hurting
7. Tom Petty - Full Moon Fever
8. The Cure - Head on the Door
9. Bruce Springsteen - Born in the U.S.A.
10. Big Country - The Crossing
11. John Mellencamp - The Lonesome Jubilee
12. Echo & the Bunnymen - Ocean Rain
13. Genesis - Invisible Touch
14. John Mellencamp - Scarecrow
15. Peter Gabriel - So
16. Crowded House - Crowded House
17. Bruce Springsteen - Tunnel of Love
18. Peter Gabriel - Peter Gabriel 3
19. The Cure - Pornography
20. U2 - War
21. R.E.M. - Life's Rich Pageant
22. Heart - Heart
23. Pet Shop Boys - Please
24. ABC - The Lexicon of Love
25. Erasure - The Innocents

[Cute Irish Bono]

I will do the other decades later. My favorite from the 90s are. 1. U2 acthung baby 2. U2 zooropa 3. U2 pop 4. Jeff buckley grace 4. The verve a northern soul 5. Radiohead the bends 6. Blur parklife 7. Guster parachute 8. Weezer green album 9. Apollo 440 getting high on your own supply 10. Aztec camera frestonia. The 2000s. 1. Band of horses everything all time 2. Bigger lovers this affair never happened 3. Bigger lovers honey in the hive 4. Arcade fire funeral 5. Keane hopes and fears 6. Jet get born 7. Broken social scene forgiveness rock record. 8. Ryan adams rock n roll 9. Spoon gimme me fiction 10. Verve forth. 1980s. 1. U2 joshua tree 2. U2 war 3. U2 october 4. New order power corruption and lies 5. Tears for fears songs from the big chair 6. Peter gabriel security 7. Talking heads speaking in tongues. 8. Tears for fears the hurting. 9. Talking heads remain in light. 10. Peter gabriel 3.

[The Panther]

I’m gonna try this “by-each-year” thing... might be interesting:

1960: John Coltrane Giant Steps / Elvis Is Back!
1961: John Coltrane My Favorite Things
1962: Joan Baez In Concert / The Beatles Live! At the Star-Club in Hamburg, Germany
1963: The Beatles Please Please Me / The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan
1964: Bob Dylan The Times They Are A-Changin’ / The Beatles A Hard Day’s Night (UK) / Beatles For Sale (UK) or Beatles ’65 (USA)
1965: The Beatles Help! (UK) / Bob Dylan Bringing It All Back Home / John Coltrane A Love Supreme / The Paul Simon Songbook / The Byrds Mr. Tambourine Man / Fred Neil Bleecker & MacDougal / The Beatles Rubber Soul
1966: Bob Dylan Blonde On Blonde / The Beatles Revolver
1967: The Doors / Bob Dylan John Wesley Harding / Aretha Franklin I Never Loved A Man The Way That I Love You / The Beatles Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band / The Byrds Younger Than Yesterday
1968: The Beatles (White Album) / Van Morrison Astral Weeks / The Doors Waiting For The Sun
1969: The Beatles Abbey Road / The Rolling Stones Let It Bleed / Simon & Garfunkel 1969 Live / Joni Mitchell Clouds

1970: John Lennon Plastic Ono Band / George Harrison All Things Must Pass / Simon & Garfunkel Bridge Over Troubled Water / Joan Baez One Day At A Time / Cat Stevens Tea For The Tillerman
1971: Joni Mitchell Blue / John Lennon Imagine / Neil Young Live At Massey Hall / Marvin Gaye What’s Going On / The Rolling Stones Sticky Fingers
1972: Stevie Wonder Talking Book
1973: The Wailers Burnin’ / Stevie Wonder Innervisions / George Harrison Living In The Material World
1974: Joni Mitchell Court & Spark / Bob Marley & The Wailers Natty Dread
1975: Bob Dylan Blood On The Tracks / Bob Marley & The Wailers Live! / Joan Baez Diamonds And Rust
1976: Stevie Wonder Songs In The Key Of Life / Bob Dylan Desire
1977: Bob Marley & The Wailers Exodus
1978: Bob Marley & The Wailers Kaya / The Police Outlandos d’Amour
1979: The Clash London Calling / The Police Regatta de Blanc / Van Morrison Into The Music

1980: Prince Dirty Mind / The Police Zenyatta Mondatta / Bob Marley & The Wailers Uprising
1981: The Police Ghost In The Machine
1982: Prince & The Revolution 1999 / Bruce Springsteen Nebraska
1983: R.E.M. Murmur / U2 War / The Police Synchronicity
1984: Prince & The Revolution Purple Rain / U2 The Unforgettable Fire / Bruce Springsteen Born In The U.S.A. / Depeche Mode Some Great Reward
1985: Sting The Dream Of The Blue Turtles
1986: The Smiths The Queen Is Dead / R.E.M. Lifes Rich Pageant / The Housemartins London 0 Hull 4
1987: Prince Sign O’ The Times / U2 The Joshua Tree / Sinéad O’Connor The Lion & The Cobra / Sting ...Nothing Like The Sun / Sting And the Gil Evans Orchestra Last Session (international release, but N.A. bootleg)
1988: The Pogues If I Should Fall From Grace With God / U2 Rattle & Hum / Tracy Chapman
1989: The Stone Roses / Indigo Girls / The Grapes Of Wrath Now And Again / De La Soul 3 Feet High & Rising / Galaxie 500 On Fire / New Order Technique

1990: Depeche Mode Violator / Sinéad O’Connor I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got / The Blake Babies Sunburn / The La’s / George Michael Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1
1991: My Bloody Valentine Loveless / U2 Achtung Baby / Sting The Soul Cages / Prince and the NPG Diamonds & Pearls / Paul McCartney Unplugged: The Official Bootleg
1992: R.E.M. Automatic For The People / The Lemonheads It’s A Shame About Ray / Arrested Development 3 Years, 5 Months & 2 Days in the Life Of...
1993: Björk Debut / Depeche Mode Songs Of Faith & Devotion / Juliana Hatfield Three Become What You Are / Liz Phair Exile In Guyville / Sting Ten Summoner’s Tales / Counting Crows August & Everything After
1994: The Stone Roses Second Coming
1995: Björk Post / Radiohead The Bends
1996: Counting Crows Recovering The Satellites / R.E.M. New Adventures in Hi-Fi / Susanna Hoffs
1997: Bic Runga Drive
1998: (pass... okay, maybe The Miseducation Of Lauryn Hill)
1999: (pass)

2000: PJ Harvey Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea / Juliana Hatfield Beautiful Creature / Speech Spiritual People / Sinéad O’Connor Faith And Courage / Cosmic Roughriders Enjoy The Melodic Sunshine
2001: (pass)
2002: Counting Crows Hard Candy
2003: (pass)
2004: Ian Brown Solarized
2005—2011: (need more time to catch up)


This was sort of a voyage of discovery for me, thanks for the thread. Looking over the 'Rate Your Music' website, I was reminded not only of some of my well-worn favorites (see above) but also of numerous artists whose work I want to explore. While compiling this list, for example, I listened to Jerry Lee Lewis Live At The Star Club for the first time! I also recently heard Mike Oldfield's Tubular Bells for the first time... Ah, there's so much out there.

It became obvious that popular music declined precipitously when 1971 became 1972. What a drop-off in quality releases! 1973 and 1974 were weak years, as was 1978. I was surprised to see how little in the way of great releases there were in 1981 and 1982 as well. 1985 and 1986 were terrible years for rock music and for the aging rock legends, but then out of nowhere come several of my favorite LPs in 1987 and in 1989 (and 1993). Another huge drop off after 1993.

Next on my list of artists whose work I'm gonna get into: Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers, Them (with Van Morrison), Minnie Riperton, The Paul Butterfield Blues Band, Talking Heads, Mississippi John Hurt....

[Joey788]

Nice concept! Going to give this a shot as well!

1960: Elvis Presley Elvis Is Back!
1961: Ray Charles - The Genius Sings The Blues
1962: Johnny Cash - All Aboard The Blue Train
1963: The Beatles - Please Please Me
1964: The Beatles - A Hard Day's Night
1965: The Beatles - Rubber Soul
1966: The Beatles - Revolver
1967: The Beatles - Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
1968: Jimi Hendrix - Electric Ladyland
1969: The Beatles - Abbey Road

1970: George Harrison - All Things Must Pass
1971: Led Zeppelin - IV
1972: David Bowie - The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust
1973: Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon
1974: Queen - Sheer Heart Attack
1975: Bruce Springsteen - Born to Run
1976: Ramones - Ramones
1977: Sex Pistols - Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols
1978: The Police - Outlandos d'Amour
1979: The Clash - London Calling

1980: U2 - Boy
1981: The Police - Ghost in the Machine
1982: Michael Jackson - Thriller
1983: U2 - War
1984: U2 - The Unforgettable Fire
1985: Dire Straits - Brothers In Arms
1986: Metallica - Master of Puppets
1987: U2 - The Joshua Tree
1988: Sonic Youth - Daydream Nation
1989: The Cure - Disintegration

1990: Depeche Mode - Violator
1991: U2 - Achtung Baby
1992: R.E.M. - Automatic for the People
1993: U2 - Zooropa
1994: Nine Inch Nails - The Downward Spiral
1995: Radiohead - The Bends
1996: Beck - Odelay
1997: Radiohead - OK Computer
1998: R.E.M. - Up
1999: Nine Inch Nails - The Fragile

2000: Radiohead - Kid A
2001: Muse - Origin on Symmetry
2002: Beck - Sea Change
2003: Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Fever to Tell
2004: Arcade Fire - Funeral
2005: Nine Inch Nails - With Teeth
2006: Muse - Black Holes and Revelations
2007: Radiohead - In Rainbows
2008: Beck - Modern Guilt
2009: St. Vincent - Actor
2010: The National - High Violet
2011: Astronautalis - This Is Our Science

[LemonMelon]

My list is so predictable, but the heart wants what it wants:

1960 - Charles Mingus - Blues & Roots
1961 - John Coltrane - My Favorite Things
1962 - Ray Charles - Modern Sounds In Country And Western Music
1963 - Bob Dylan - The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan
1964 - Wayne Shorter - Juju
1965 - Vince Guaraldi Trio - A Charlie Brown Christmas
1966 - The Beatles - Revolver
1967 - The Beatles - Magical Mystery Tour
1968 - The Kinks - The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society
1969 - The Beatles - Abbey Road

1970 - Neil Young - After The Gold Rush
1971 - Led Zeppelin - IV
1972 - Nick Drake - Pink Moon
1973 - Led Zeppelin - Houses of the Holy
1974 - Joni Mitchell - Court And Spark
1975 - Bruce Springsteen - Born To Run
1976 - David Bowie - Station To Station
1977 - Pink Floyd - Animals
1978 - Blondie - Parallel Lines
1979 - Neil Young - Rust Never Sleeps

1980 - Peter Gabriel - III
1981 - The dB's - Stands For Decibels
1982 - Simple Minds - New Gold Dream (81-82-83-84)
1983 - R.E.M. - Murmur
1984 - The Replacements - Let It Be
1985 - The Cure - The Head On The Door
1986 - XTC - Skylarking
1987 - U2 - The Joshua Tree
1988 - The Go-Betweens - 16 Lovers Lane
1989 - The Stone Roses - The Stone Roses

1990 - The La's - The La's
1991 - U2 - Achtung Baby
1992 - R.E.M. - Automatic For The People
1993 - U2 - Zooropa
1994 - Weezer - The Blue Album
1995 - Pulp - Different Class
1996 - Belle And Sebastian - If You're Feeling Sinister
1997 - Radiohead - OK Computer
1998 - Outkast - Aquemini
1999 - The Dismemberment Plan - Emergency & I

2000 - Modest Mouse - The Moon And Antarctica
2001 - The Shins - Oh, Inverted World
2002 - Beck - Sea Change
2003 - Sun Kil Moon - Ghosts of the Great Highway
2004 - Arcade Fire - Funeral
2005 - The New Pornographers - Twin Cinema
2006 - The Roots - Game Theory
2007 - The National - Boxer
2008 - Cut Copy - In Ghost Colours
2009 - Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest

2010 - Kanye West - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
2011 - ???????????!!!

[Reggo]

I wanna play, but when I started looking through my albums, I realized I don't have one I could call a "favourite" until 1965.