Best Album Ever?

My husband says Led Zeppelin IV.

My vote goes Hotel California by the Eagles. I first heard it on the Original Vinyl at my neighbor's house under a black light and my first taste of wine.

I think I am with Melissa on this one, but there are way way too many greats to choose from!

Abbey Road for sure.

The Unforgettable Fire - U2, followed by everything else - U2 (Sorry, I don't have a picture yet.)

Eric Clapton/No Tears In Heaven

Good Lord, this is like being asked which of your kids is your favorite (says a woman with no kids, but you get the point).
It's a four- or five-way tie for me.
U2, Achtung Baby
Elvis, '68 Comeback Special
Eagles, Hotel California
Jackson Browne, The Pretender
Bruce Hornsby & the Range, The Way It Is

That is impossible to answer. There are too many good ones, but a favorite of mine is the Beatles~Abbey Road.

'Revolver' was pretty great.

Rolling Stones: "Sticky Fingers"
Beatles: "Revolver" oand "Rubber Soul"
Dylan: "Highway 61 Revisited"
The Who: "Who's Next"
Spirit: "The Twelve Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus"
Grateful Dead: "American Beauty"
Lou Reed: "Rock 'n' Roll Animal"

There is no greatest album; too much depends on the circumstances of the first hearing as well as on all the subsequent hearings.

I can't pick just one but I can narrow it down to two: Hotel California by the Eagles, and Abbey Road by the Beatles

I truly enjoy classic rock, and believe that many people are correct that have commented. Beatles 'Abbey' and 'Rubber' are great, nothing wrong with Led Zeppelin IV or Eagles 'Hotel California'. People will probably hate me, but my favorite album is from my teenage years. Probably not familiar but that's okay with me, Dr Dre "The Chronic". Original was released in 1992? Anyways this album was great for many reasons, unfortunately it seemed to provoke the violence and blood shed between East Coast and West Coast rivals. Namely the loss of 2Pac and Notorious BIG, who passed away ten years ago today.

Sorry to upset you music buffs out there... But I have heard that many people always favor the music from their adolescent period?

"Late For the Sky"--Jackson Browne or

"Stranger in Town"--Bod Seger

it depends on my mood today I was listing to David Bowie of all the old music. I liked Dark Side of the moon ok or Pink Floyd

Well, I'll have to say Luigi Boccherini's "String Quartets Opus 2 Nos. 1-6, by the Sonare Quartet.

I think Styx...Paradise Theater

So many great choices here. I've heard most of them and like most of them too.

I think Matthew has a point that most of us tend to favor the music we grew up with, or perhaps the music of our college/coming of age years. Although I'll have to admit that when I was going through that period, I was listening to mostly older stuff.

Even today, I find that I tend to venture back instead of forward. I like some modern music, but tend to be more moved by newly-discovered gems of the past.

Just one of the best: Diamonds & Rust by Joan Baez

There are so many different styles of music I enjoy, there's no way I can pick any one release over another. I have several "favorite" albums, but if I'd have to choose from them all, I'd say it would have to be "Once Upon An Island" the soundtrack from a Caribbean island "opera". I occassionally play this when I'm falling asleep; then re-play it in the morning when I awake as it's relaxed me so much to send me off to dreamland, I didn't get the chance to hear it all again before I fell asleep.

Too many to name but I've got my thinking cap on...of course, I love Bob Seger, Joan Baez - all the Beatles - I guess Eric - it depends on the era - the time...the place...too many favorites and still finding some...I guess I still play lots of Eagles, nd of course Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix is way up there...maybe I'll come back if something sticks in my mind. Salud.

Matthew, that's a good point. With me it generally works a little differently: if there was something in my life that I particularly associate an album with, I'm likely to marry my personal feelings to the album.
That said, the only album from my teens is Hornsby, but I still known what you mean.

Well guess I am odd man out..I love all Broadway and Movie Musical Soundtracks, I couldn't pick a favorite one though, I love them all. I am also a later in life Queen freak..as my friends call me. I think I liked their Greatest Hits and the last one(I think) Made in Heaven.

Dark Side of the Moon

I like so many it's impossible to narrow it down to just one, but I do love The Beatles White Album...........oh!!!!!! And anything Steve Miller Band..........and Dr. Hook: Couple More Years.............I rest my case!!!! Just too darn many!!!!!!!!!!!

Beatles... Rubber Soul
or
Jefferson Airplane... Surrealistic Pillow

Emmylou Harris, Pieces of the Sky
Gordon Lightfoot, Don Quixote
Ian & Sylvia, Northern Journey
Mary Black, By the Time It Gets Dark
all make my list, along with loads of others, of course

Easy peasy, the greatest album of all time is a split choice of the two greatest debut albums of all time, " The Stone roses" by The Stone Roses and " Definately may be " byOasis and i guess I love "Live at San Quentin prison" by Johnny Cash. Actually I could write a massive list, but its great to read what other people have put to.

Hello to all,

My taste is music is so broad. Really makes this a tough question. In no particular order.
1. Little Charlie and the Nightcats - Deluxe
2. Frank Zappa - The Grand Wazzo
3. Chick Corea - The Leprechaun
4. Roger Waters - Radio KAOS
5. Outcast - Love Below
6. John Prine - Best of
7. Cake - Comfort Eagle

Try them, I think you'd like them.

Namaste, Wayne

Intesting comments. Many excellent choices, but I must insist that most of the world's best music was composed prior to U2, and the Beatles, for that matter. My adolescent years occured in the early seventies, but the best music came before that era as well. There is some great stuff out there, but we are still rehashing early Rock-n-Roll, and more importantly, American Blues. The electric guitar gave musicians a new sound. It didn't make them better song writers.

Wow, there are a lot of them.

Clash - London Calling

Yo Yo Ma Plays Haydn

Debbie Does, ooops, scratch that (pardon the album pun)

Frampton Comes Alive

Most eclectic mixes of Aerosmith

Houses of The Holy by Led Zep

Some of Bill Cosby's early comedy albums

The beat could go on, and on, and on....

Beginnings, The Allman Brothers

Frampton comes alive

Wow this is a hard one for sure. Here are a few of my favorites, although I wouldn't necessarily classify some of them as the best of all time.

Joshua Tree- U2
Fleetwood Mac- Rumours
Third Eye Blind- Third Eye Blind
Vitalogy- Pearl Jam
Hot Rocks- Rolling Stones
Jagged Little Pill- Alanis Morrisette
Tapestry- Carole King

I'm with those that said the time and stage of my life probably has more to do with my musical choices... I don't know that I could even keep it to top 10 favorites... lets see... Lucinda Williams 'Car Wheels on a Gravel Road'
Steve Earle 'Essential Steve Earle' and 'Jerusalem' (which is also my all time favorite song!), 'Baldry's Out' by Long John Baldry (another all time favorite song is 'A Thrill' a Thrill') 'Hotel California', 'Best of Sam Cooke' 'Best of Al Greene', 'Live at Cibolo Creek Country Club' by Ray Wylie Hubbard, Springsteens tribute to Bob Seeger lived in my car CD player for months after it came out! 'Poet: a Tribute to Townes Van Zandt', 'Riding with the King' Eric Clapton + BB King...
Like I said my top 10 list would fast become a top 20+

I love so many of them

hands down
no contest
Loveless, by My Bloody Valentine, has it by a country mile!

This is a really tuff question as there is so many different kinds of music that i enjoy, n oldies is the first one, soul music always had a great beat :) music u could dance by , bob seager, the beatles were ok, liked led zepillin better stairway to heaven, n elivis of course like jail house rock , and there is todays music sara brightman is good too there are just too many to list but i think music reaches out to ur soul :)

i would have to go with counting crow - august and everything after! this music and other music by the group take me to my soul! i love thier music and lyrics! they move me, along with jack johnson and johnny cash!

The test of time bears out, for me Johnny Winter And. The blues though, must be in your soul.

For me, The Beatles - White Album is likely the finest ever produced. This is featured in M-U-S-I-C Memories. Thanks for sharing.

I went with "Graceland" by Paul Simon.

I'd like all of you to consider writing up your suggestions for submission to my blog, "The Best Of Everything," which you can check out at

http://tboe.blogspot.com.

Mine is a more modern. "So" by Peter Gabriel
Great songs like "Sledgehammer" and "In Your Eyes" make up this great album.

Definitely Hayley Westenra's Pure or Treasure!

Svend Asumussen, The Fiddling Viking and His Strings. Hands down.. End of discussion.

Oksana, Hmmm ... she happens to be visiting us here on Gather tonight!

Hehe! I happened to know that, that's why I joined! :) I don't know if I'll be able to come, but I'll try (really hard).

I was there! And she answered my question! :)

I love so many albums across the music genres, I would be hard-pressed to come up with one single album.

Nice, Oksana! I got in a few minutes too late. Still left a comment, but she'd already whisped away.

The greatest album ever recorded hasn't been recorded yet.

Yes it has!

Ok here's my list:

Bon Jovi- Slippery When Wet
Def Leppard- Hysteria
Billy Joel- Greatest Hit Vol. I and II
Nora Jones- Come Away With Me
No Doubt- Tragic Kingdom
Garth Brooks- Double Live
Alanis Morrisette- Jagged Little Pill
Josh Turner- Your Man
Josh Groban- Closer
Neil Diamond-The Essential Neil Diamond

Soundtracks:

The Jazz Singer
Phantom of the Opera
Grease
Annie

My vote goes for The Cranberries but I can't pick just one album because I love them all!

Le Mystere de Voix Bulgares.

"Loveless" by My Bloody Valentine. (The White Album is my number two.)

For me it is Pink Floyd "The Wall"

I like too many genres to say that it would be one album a few however are, Janet Jackson- Design of a Decade, Michael Jackson- Thriller and Off the Wall, The Ken Burns collection (all of them, too many to list), Santana- Supernatural, A Tribe Called Quest- Midnight Mauraders, Notorious BIG- Life After Death, Red Hot Chilli Peppers- Californiacation and so many others....in fact I think that I going to put on some Red Hot Chilli Peppers. Great topic!

Of course this depends on what style of music one likes and what standards one has. One that has been overlooked here is "Imperial Bedroom" by Elvis Costello, which I would put as equal to or better than any in the pop & rock category--but of course many would disagree with me.
On a very different note, any album by Miles Davis with his mid '60s quintet that included Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Tony Williams, and Ron Carter is as good as you're going to get in instrumental jazz.
Lately I've been obsessed with Nellie McKay, who is as talented a youngster as you're ever going to find (again in my opinion, which often differentiates from the mainstream). She's too young to have had an album out that can claim the title of greatest ever, though.

It's really not that difficult people! The Top 100 Albums of all time, based upon U.S. sales, defines the #1 LP of all time as The Eagles-"Their Greatest Hits", followed by Michael Jackson's "Thriller"...but we must weigh in the fact that the likes of Billy Joel (ug!), Shania Twain (what?), Whitney Houston (hurl), and AC/DC (just kill me!) round out the top 10 on this "elite" list. The point being...this method of choosing may be somewhat flawed! HOWEVER..the #3 best selling LP of all time is non-other than Pink Floyd's "The Wall", followed by Led Zeppelin's "IV"!! Soooooo...maybe there is something to this after all??? Ok...what's my choice, your wondering? Well...be patient, I need to set the stage a little. First of all, I am a die-hard YES fan, through and through! The original YES is one of the best rock bands of all time, in my opinion. The Beatles are right up there too, of course. I'm not an idiot! But we're not talking about the best BAND, but the best ALBUM of all time....right? Duh! (Did you know that Britney Spears' first album is #29, by the way? Guess talent doesn't ALWAYS matter in this industry...being HOT goes along way!) But I digress. Sorry bout that! Anyway, before I unveil the Best Album of all time...first just a few "Noteable Mentions". All hail Led Zeppelin's "IV" album containing the best rock SONG ever recorded by man, "Stairway to Heaven". Standing ovation for Pink Floyd's "The Wall"...if you've never heard this LP, you're not qualified to even comment on this site. And of course, The Beatles "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" and also the "White Album"...both of which became defining moments in rock history! (No, not "Rubber Soul" people...sorry!)
Ok...well here it is (drum roll please). Spice Girls - "Forever"!! No? How bout Tom Jones' "Mr. Jones"? Ok, just kidding.

Seriously now...by far, the best LP to ever be recorded by any band, at any time, and anywhere to date is....(tuh duh) Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon". "Dark Side of the Moon" was on Billboard's Top Albums list for over 300 weeks, and again in 1992 when it was digitaly re-mastered (but not as long). You've probably heard at least one of their songs whether you knew they were Pink Floyd or not. Some of their songs like "Time" ("Ticking away, the moments that make up a dull day..." ) are commonly played on the radio, but what you don't know is that what you're hearing is about 1/5th of the actual song. "Time" is 7 minutes (and change) long, and includes a very long introduction, and a reprise to the first song on the album. Floyd's known for their beautifully mixed tracks, and as any fan will tell you, colorful chord progressions. This is one amazing rock band, and one amazing album!!!

There's alot to choose from..

I'd go with:

Michael Jackson's Thriller
Beastie Boys - Licensed to Ill
A Tribe Called Quest - Low End Theory
Appetite for Destruction - Guns N Roses
any greatest hits album by stevie wonder or frank sinatra