Uh Oh..... Stiefmo's weighing in..... Evenflow get ready....

No but really Evenflow, I love a number of albums on your list, which I find surprising after our vastly differing musical tastes. Most notably Ten, Blue + Pinkerton, and Nick Drake and Bad Religion, however none of those would make my top 15. So without further delay, let the roasting begin.


1. Brand New - The Devil and God are Raging Inside Me
2. Bayside - Sirens and Condolences
3. Jimmy Eat World - Bleed American
4. Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin 1
5. Kanye West - College Dropout
6. Coheed and Cambria - In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth 3
7. Cake - Fashion Nugget
8. New Found Glory - Self Titled
9. Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers - Full Moon Fever
10. Van Halen - Van Halen 1
11. Rage Against the Machine - Self Titled
12. Kings of Leon - Because of the Times
13. Otis Redding - The Dock of the Bay
14. Alkaline Trio - Crimson
15. Common - Be

Other Notables without order.
Weezer - Blue
Brand New - Deja Entendu
Death Cab for Cutie - Transatlanticism
Foo Fighters - The Colour and the Shape
Incubus - Morning View
Modest Mouse - Good New for People Who Love Bad News
Minus the Bear - Highly Refined Pirates
Saosin - Translating the Name (EP)
The Postal Service - Give Up
Huey Lewis and the News - Greatest Hits (Greatest Hits Records Count Don't They?)

I love the passion in this thread. I'll argue with people in the religious threads and the movie threads until I'm blue in the face, but I'm not about to start up with anyone here. I'll just find my own little patch of ground and dig in.

I'm a guitarist, so I have to pick a couple of albums that show a strong influence on my playing to this day. I'd go with Zoot Allures by Frank Zappa and 1984 by Van Halen, which have had the longest-lasting and most obvious impact on me as a musician. There are a lot more albums by these musicians and their contemporaries, but those are the big ones. I suppose I also have to give a nod to Back In Black, since the title riff was the first thing I ever learned.

Aside from those, here are a few titles in my collection.

Synergy, by Dave Weckl (drum-heavy jazz fusion, verging on progressive rock)
Animals, by Pink Floyd (whether I prefer this or Wish You Were Here depends on the direction of the wind)
City, by Strapping Young Lad (the pinnacle of heavy metal in all its grandeur)
Passion & Warfare, by Steve Vai (a master class in weird rock guitar)
Moving Pictures, by Rush (leanest and most sure-handed of all Rush albums)
Blood Sugar Sex Magik, by RHCP (the Peppers' best balance between song craft and balls-out energy)
Golden Soul, by Lao Tizer (infectious jazz compositions, with Tizer's remarkably restrained piano work)
Get Out of My Yard, by Paul Gilbert (rock guitar in high spirits, fun for the whole family)
Diary of a Madman, by Ozzy Osbourne (Rhoads' swansong and Osbourne's finest hour)
Songs in the Key of Springfield (a treasure trove for lovers of both music and the Simpsons)
Liquid Tension Experiment 2 (showy progressive rock, and I slightly prefer the second to the first)
and the first five Black Sabbath albums.

Haha it's cool man, in hindsight I was pretty dick-ish in that basketball thread when I first started out here, turned out you were right anyway.

System of a Down and Rage Against the Machine are my two favorite bands, I always go back and forth when I try to pinpoint as to which one I like better. I actually like "Mezmerize" a little bit more than "Hypnotize" myself, although "Hypnotize" has my favorite SOAD song on it ("Holy Mountains"), the variety they provide in "Mezmerize" is breathtaking. From the catchy "B.Y.O.B." (which was marketed as a pop song on MTV when I came out, which I found funny), to the booming "Sad Statue", to a simple, silent, but still angry anti-Hollywood ballad "Lost in Hollywood", "Mezmerize" is a perfect album for me. Although I still love "Hypnotize", just not as much. Don't even get me started on "Toxicity", I made the switch from rap to rock at the start of middle school, and "Toxicity" was my gateway into the hard rock world. I don't think I've heard an angrier chorus than "Deer Dance", and the drum-work Dolyman provides in the song "Toxicity" is just flat-out sick.

I'm more of a fan of old Incubus myself, both "Fungus Amongus" and "S.C.I.E.N.C.E" are insanely original funky albums. The bass breakdown seen in the song "Redefine" on "S.C.I.E.N.C.E" near the end is incredible. Their recent stuff isn't bad, I like "Anna Molly" and "Dig" off of "Light Grenades", but their conversion into a more mainstream rock band sound was a tad disappointing for me at least, seeing how awesome they were in their first couple albums.

As far as Disturbed, I'll admit I wasn't a fan of them first. I originally thought "Ten Thousand Fists" was a late addition into the "boo politics" field Green Day inserted themselves in when they made "American Idiot". However, after really listening to that album, I became a fan, the opening track really blasts off. "Believe" is a great album, I've actually started listening to that a lot lately, mainly because the only soft song the band ever did, "Darkness", is beautiful in so many aspects, Draiman really has strong control over his voice, which sounds like a jungle animal ready to pounce one minute, than a soft whisper the next. Hard to beat. "Indestructible" was a huge surprise for me, I thought "Ten Thousand Fists" would be a tough to outdo, but "Indestructible" breathed fire throughout the whole album. Lyrically it's not anything incredible, but the thing that drew me to the band originally were Draiman's gruff vocals. "The Night" and "Perfect Insanity" are the standout tracks from this album, the chorus of "The Night" is magnificently put together in haunting fashion, while "Perfect Insanity" has a machine-gun vocal pace that Draiman executes completely, especially the rapid-fire ending. I know a lot of people dislike this band, probably because the reputation of them is probably that one little "Ru ah ah ah ah" line Draiman yelps in "Down With the Sickness", which I guess I could see as being a little off-putting.

As far as "Battle of Los Angeles" by RATM though, why only the first half? You didn't like the screeching guitar intro of "Ashes in the Fall" or the call for freedom for Mumia in "Voice of the Voiceless"? The only average song on that whole CD for me was "Born As Ghosts". "Maria" is also one of, if not my favorite song from Rage.

I think the second half of 'Battle Of L.A.', while not terrible by any means, is simply not as strong as the first half. I think that occasionally the way an album is set up can hinder it's replayability, and here it seems they took the lazy way out and front-loaded the album with amazing singles and put the rest of the songs on the second half. If it were more even, I would be more lenient, even though I still think that the sings on the second side are much less developed than the first 5 tracks.

I won't argue on Disturbed. Their somewhat-blighted reputation simply allows me the opportunity to make people seem silly when they question the band's abilities; I show them the song 'Believe' and wait for Draiman to sing the line 'Burn your lie into me'. They are an extremely emotional band, which people will never casually find out by listening to their regrettable first album, which deserves to be maligned. Their debut only served to exaggerate them to the point of self-parody, isolated moments of brilliance aside.


As for you, Kyle, birthing this thread only to abandon it and ignore my response to your question, woe to you, sir. Woe to you. A curse on your tap water and housepets!

Here's the weird thing with me, the bands that are my favorites, I usually love most of their stuff (with a rare exception being Metallica's "St. Anger"). Surprisingly Evenflow, a lot of people I know that don't like Disturbed but have listened to their stuff have told me that their first album is their strongest. I disagree, although I still like the first album, despite excessive barking by Draiman, some of the beats are pretty cool (the start of "Fear" comes to mind). You can obviously tell the band has matured a lot since then.

"Believe" is actually a tough song for me. I myself am a Christian, and the whole song is basically an outcry against Christianity and how it's a "lie", at least that's how I interpreted it, maybe I'm missing some underlying meaning. However, I love the song from a musical standpoint, especially that line you mentioned, basically a perfect combo of that soft whisper turned into a rabid shriek that I mentioned earlier.

As far as "The Battle of Los Angeles", I don't know, maybe nostalgia is the reason I have stayed faithful to many of the bands I started to like when I was a kid. But I see what you're saying about the second half, although "Ashes in the Fall", "Maria", and "Voice of the Voiceless" are perfect songs to me, but certainly "Born As Ghosts", "War Within a Breath", and "New Millennium Homes" are inferior tracks to what the first half slams you with.

I think Music is even more subjective than movies(if that's even possible?who knows) but just like Movies I think there are a lot of independent artists/bands that are great even if they aren't well known. that being said I do like quite a few well known bands

Anathallo-Floating World
7 members,trumpets,trombones,bells and your normal guitar/bass/drums. not ska

favorite song
"Hanasakagigii Four" http://www.playlist.com/searchbeta/trac ... e%20Ash%29


Lovedrug-Pretend You're Alive
"Rocknroll" http://www.playlist.com/searchbeta/tracks#Rocknroll

Death Cab For Cutie-Transatlanticism
http://www.playlist.com/searchbeta/trac ... ger%20Seat

the second "Passenger Seat" is the right song

The Postal Service-Give Up(no surprise right?)
http://www.playlist.com/searchbeta/trac ... g%20Better

Radiohead-Ok Computer( it may be a cliche choice but the first time I heard this song I was hooked)
Subterranean Homesick Alien http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DE6PF41UUHc

Muse-Absolution
Hysteria http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZR_UkJV-wE

Immanu El-They'll come,They Come (very comforting music to me. its post-rock. hopefully someone is firmiliar with that genre)
"astral days" http://www.playlist.com/searchbeta/tracks#astral%20days

Damien Rice-O
Older Chests is my favorite by a mile
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ogVor9uZoo

The Dear Hunter-Act II:The Meaning of & All Things Regarding Ms. Leading
"Black Sandy Beaches" http://www.playlist.com/searchbeta/trac ... %20beaches

Regina Spektor-Begin To Hope
"Samson" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cKZ5XSKRBJ0

I could easily give 10 more but I already fell like I've overdone it so sorry if this is to many

Well, thanks for answering my question, Evenflow, but I don't know what you wanted me to say there?

I was watching 'Closer' today, and besides being struck by how thoroughly I enjoyed the film on the third viewing (it's a very good film which, despite imperfections, is one of the best poison-pen letters to the illusory nature of love - I'm thinking it could have a place on my Top 100 list in the next year), I also relished the delicate and earthy charms of Damien Rice's music, which could probably be described as beautifully raw or elegantly rough. I think I might give the album a real spin one day.





Oh, I expected a slight debate, but I was just being faux-irritated with you, nothing serious. No punishment will be meted out to your pets and/or houseplants

My top 20...

20. The Beatles - White Album
19. Nick Drake - Five Leaves Left
18. Metallica - Metallica
17. U2 - The Joshua Tree
16. The Beatles - Abbey Road
15. The Beach Boys - Sunflower
14. Led Zeppelin - Houses Of The Holy
13. Radiohead - Kid A
12. AC/DC - Back In Black
11. The Beatles - Rubber Soul
10. Radiohead - Hail To The Thief
9. Metallica - Master Of Puppets
8. Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin IV
7. Pink Floyd - The Dark Side Of The Moon
6. Nirvana - Nevermind
5. The Beach Boys - Pet Sounds
4. Radiohead - In Rainbows
3. The Beatles - Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
2. The Beatles - Revolver
1. Radiohead - OK Computer

A list after my own heart...hooray for Nick Drake!

And I would be remiss if I didn't add some Stevie Ray Vaughan. My favorite? Probably The Sky Is Crying, or maybe In Step.

you should give it a try. I agree with your discription and that's why I love his music so much

In Step is probably my favorite Stevie Ray, but the extended edition in particular. The live version of "Life Without You" with the stage rap is an overwhelmingly strong ending.

Absolutely beautiful. I love his speech, and it makes me sad every time I hear it, to think Stevie turned his life around and got clean, only to be tragically killed in that helicopter crash.

And Riviera Paradise is an amazing piece of work. Stevie's versatility on guitar is astonishing.

Some favorites of mine. A Top 31

1: Beatles-Revolver
2: Pearl Jam-Vitalogy
3: NIN-The Fragile
4: Outkast-Stankonia
5: Led Zeppelin-II
6: U2-Achtung Baby
7: Radiohead-The Bends
8: Beck-Odelay
9: Marvin Gaye-What's Going On
10: Tori Amos-Little Earthquakes
11: Smashing Pumpkins-Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness
12: Bob Marley-Burnin'
13: The Fugees-The Score
14: Wilco-Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
15: Miles Davis-Kind Of Blue
16: Public Enemy-Fear Of A Black Planet
17: NWA-Straight Outta Compton
18: Queens Of The Stone Age-Songs For The Deaf
19: White Stripes-White Blood Cells
20: Johnny Cash-At Folsom Prison
21: Sam Cooke-Portrait Of A Legend
22: Dr. Dre-The Chronic
23: Beastie Boys-Paul's Boutique
24: Elvis Costello-This Year's Model
25: The Who-Quadrophenia
26: 2Pac-Strictly 4 My N*****
27: Sleater-Kinney-One Beat
28: Mary J Blige-My Life
29: Flaming Lips-Yoshimi
30: Prince-Purple Rain
31: Green Day-Warning

That's only a sampling.

I'm rubbish at making lists like this, but I'll give it a go:

The Streets - Original Pirate Material
The Stone Roses - The Stone Roses
Dr Dre - 2001
Eminem - The Slim Shady LP
Rage Against The Machine - Self Titled
Slipknot - Self Titled
Five Pointe 0 - Self Titled
Kasabian - Self Titled (I think it is anyway)
Korn - Self Titled
Killswitch Engage - Alive or Just Breathing (It may not be called this, I can't remember)

Well I'm afraid I can't make a "fav albums" list, since I listen to a lot of Baroque/Classical/Romantic/20th Century orchestral suff, dramatic film scores, jazz, funk, r'n'b, 70s prog. rock and modern gospel.
I'm not that much into the 80s (lots of hollow "gay - style over content" stuff there, ooops I am being politically incorrect - sorry), and some of the sacred names in rock/pop music don't do much for me.
But some of the much loved albums actually do a LOT for me - and some of them I have still in vinyl.

-I agree with Ken: the first five Black Sabbath Albums are awesome and pioneering.
-who doesn't love the untitled Led Zeppelin IV album?
-I am not exactly a fan of U2, but they definitely created a great contemporary sound.
- The Beatles: love their late stuff - perhaps my fav. track is "Strawberry Fields" - and believe me I heard them all carefully. Very mature, way ahead of its time.
- Pink Floyd. Some of the material is dragged out and I find "The Wall" as an album overrated. But Dark Side of the Moon and Wish You Were Here are impeccable.
I can see the power in Slipknot: Joey Jordison definitely is an ace drummer. But "quote from Lethal Weapon III and IV) I'm too old for this shit.
Red Hot Chily Peppers - some awesome killer grooves. All musicians are ace - but spare me Anthony Kiedis. his voice is annoying (IMHO).

Oh well here I go again: rambling instead of coming up with a decent list. Sorry lads!

I have over 1000 albums in my collection, so it's difficult for me to make a "best of" list. However, here's a selection of albums that I like a lot:

1. The White Album - The Beatles
2. It's Great When You're Straight, Yeah! - Black Grape
3. Highway 61 Revisited - Bob Dylan
4. Darkness On The Edge Of Town - Bruce Springsteen
5. Locust Abortion Technician - Butthole Surfers
6. London Calling - The Clash
7. Green River - Creedence Clearwater Revival
8. Violator - Depeche Mode
9. Brothers In Arms - Dire Straits
10. Down By The Jetty - Dr. Feelgood
11. Teenage Depression - Eddie & the Hot Rods
12. My Aim Is True - Elvis Costello
13. Howlin' Wind - Graham Parker
14. New Day Rising - Husker Du
15. Kick - INXS
16. Electric Ladyland - Jimi Hendrix
17. Unknown Pleasures - Joy Division
18. Physical Graffiti - Led Zeppelin
19. Car Wheels On A Gravel Road - Lucinda Williams
20. Thriller - Michael Jackson
21. I Do Not Play No Rock And Roll - Mississippi Fred McDowell
22. Nevermind - Nirvana
23. Definitely Maybe - Oasis
24. Speakerboxx/The Love Below - Outkast
25. No Code - Pearl Jam
26. Pretenders - Pretenders
27. Sign O' The Times - Prince
28. Fear Of A Black Planet - Public Enemy
29. Let It Be - The Replacements
30. Exile On Main St. - The Rolling Stones
31. Floodland - Sisters Of Mercy
32. The Queen Is Dead - The Smiths
33. Daydream Nation - Sonic Youth
34. Cool For Cats - Squeeze
35. Innervisions - Stevie Wonder
36. The Stone Roses - The Stone Roses
37. Raw Power - The Stooges
38. Suicide - Suicide
39. Fear Of Music - Talking Heads
40. Marquee Moon - Television
41. Achtung Baby - U2
42. Vienna - Ultravox
43. The Undertones - The Undertones
44. White Light/White Heat - The Velvet Underground
45. Elephant - The White Stripes

In no particular order....

Frances the Mute - the Mars Volta

Amputechture - the Mars Volta

Madvillainy - Madvillain

Mandala - RX Bandits

And the Battle Begun - RX Bandits

The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady - Charles Mingus

Kind of Blue - Miles Davis

Bitches' Brew - Miles Davis

A Love Supreme - John Coltrane

A Farewell to Kings - Rush

Hemispheres - Rush

2112 - Rush

In the Court of the Crimson King - King Crimson

Larks' Tongue is Aspic - King Crimson

Lifestylez ov da Poor and Dangerous - Big L

The Big Picture - Big L

MM..Food - MF DOOM

Paranoid - Black Sabbath

Technical Ecstacy - Black Sabbath

Bringing it All Back Home - Bob Dylan

Highway 61 Revisited - Bob Dylan

Exodus - Bob Marley

Superfly - Curtis Mayfield

DJ Muggs vs. The GZA - GZA and DJ Muggs

Liquid Swords - GZA

Enter the 36th Chamber - Wu-tang Clan

At Last! - Etta James

Red Clay - Freddie Hubbard

Funkadelic - Funkadelic

Free Your Mind and Your Ass Will Follow - Funkadelic

Band of Gypsies - Jimi Hendrix

Experience Hendrix - Jimi Hendrix

At Folsom Prison - Johnny Cash

100% of Dub - King Tubby

Criminal Minded - KRS One

The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill - Lauryn Hill

Remasters - Led Zeppelin (I know greatest hits are cheating...but c'mon)

Upsetters 14 Dub Blackboard Jungle - Lee 'Scratch' Perry

The Cool - Lupe Fiasco

Food and Liquor - Lupe Fiasco

Blunted in the Bombshelter - Madlib

Shades of Blue - Madlib

Lysol - The Melvins

Blackstar - Mos Def and Talib Kweli

Illmatic - Nas

After the Gold Rush - Neil Young

Ready to Die - The Notorious B.I.G.

Ten - Pearl Jam

Peeping Tom - Peeping Tom

Animals - Pink Floyd

Atom Heart Mother - Pink Floyd

Dark Side of the Moon - Pink Floyd

The Wall - Pink Floyd

Wish You Were Here - Pink Floyd

Meddle - Pink Floyd

The Piper at the Gates of Dawn - Pink Floyd

It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back - Public Enemy

The Unseen - Quasimoto

The Battle of Los Angeles - Rage Against the Machine

Sublime - Sublime

40 oz. to Freedom - Sublime

Toxicity - System of a Down

Aenima - Tool

Lateralus - Tool

10,000 Days - Tool

The Low End Theory - A Tribe Called Quest

Midnight Marauders - A Tribe Called Quest

Live at Leeds - The Who

There are others but I'm bored of writing them out, lol. At least this gives a glimpse into my eclectic tastes...

pfft, here's a list of at least a few albums that are stand out to me as particularly great and have stood the test of time. i guess we can call them favourites.

neutral milk hotel - in the aeroplane over the sea
lawrence arms - apathy and exhaustion
minor threat - out of step
black flag - damaged
the wonder years - upsides
alkaline trio - goddamnit
the beatles - revolver
van morrison - astral weeks
the smiths - queen is dead
the smiths - strangeways, here we come
the cure - disintegration
against me! - reinventing axl rose
grade - under the radar
glassjaw - everything you ever wanted to know about silence
animal collective - strawberry jam
damien rice - o
arcade fire - funeral
archers of loaf - icky mettle
at the drive-in - relationship of command
jawbreaker - dear you
sonic youth - daydream nation
pixies - doolittle
bane - give blood
beach boys - pet sounds
beatles - abbey road
sufjan stevens - illinoise
beirut - gulag orkestar
frank turner - love, ire & song
bjork - debut
bob dylan - blonde on blonde
bob dylan - blood on the tracks

and loads more, i can't be bothered to think of anymore. my music taste spans all genres, there's no world music or post-rock (mogwai, explosions, sigur ros) in that list but i love records by those dudes and from countless other genres. music is my other passion be

This seemed like as good a thread as any for this-- 5 Famous Musicians who are Thieving Bastards

Includes Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple and Metallica.