Definitive albums

Remove this Banner Ad

JackOutback

JackOutback

Hall of Famer
Veteran 30k Posts 10k Posts
Sep 15, 2011
31,636
48,180
AFL Club
West Coast
While discussing the work of Green Day, a friend pointed out that you only truly need two Green Day albums: Dookie and American Idiot. Their other work might have ranged from mediocre to decent, depending on your personal taste, but those are the two albums that had the most impact and the most success. Which got me thinking, for bands with more than one successful album, which would you define as their definitive work? I'm thinking anyone from the Beatles to AC/DC to Pearl Jam, Oasis, Muse, Killers etc. Name a band and nominate the definitive album and why.
 
JackOutback said:
While discussing the work of Green Day, a friend pointed out that you only truly need two Green Day albums: Dookie and American Idiot. Their other work might have ranged from mediocre to decent, depending on your personal taste, but those are the two albums that had the most impact and the most success. Which got me thinking, for bands with more than one successful album, which would you define as their definitive work? I'm thinking anyone from the Beatles to AC/DC to Pearl Jam, Oasis, Muse, Killers etc. Name a band and nominate the definitive album and why.
Click to expand...

AC/DC - High Voltage
 
Voyager V

 

Log in to remove this ad.

Often depends on the market. For instance, Australians, Americans, Poms, etc. would all have differing opinions on the likes of Crowded House, INXS, Oasis, etc. based upon the albums that hit biggest in those markets. Morning Glory (stateside success, singalong anthems, confirmation) vs Definitely Maybe (zeitgeist, record breaking debut, consistent classic) in particular is a good reference point, and Crowded House and INXS both found increased attention in Britain when their North American audiences fell off. I feel it's important to be aware of these biased narrative experiences in retrospectives, particularly the hegemonic.

Other interesting ones would be along the likes of Neil Young and Dire Straits, whose most famous albums are not necessarily fan favourites.
 
Roobs321 said:
Often depends on the market. For instance, Australians, Americans, Poms, etc. would all have differing opinions on the likes of Crowded House, INXS, Oasis, etc. based upon the albums that hit biggest in those markets. Morning Glory (stateside success, singalong anthems, confirmation) vs Definitely Maybe (zeitgeist, record breaking debut, consistent classic) in particular is a good reference point, and Crowded House and INXS both found increased attention in Britain when their North American audiences fell off. I feel it's important to be aware of these biased narrative experiences in retrospectives, particularly the hegemonic.

Other interesting ones would be along the likes of Neil Young and Dire Straits, whose most famous albums are not necessarily fan favourites.
Click to expand...
Oasis is a good one; Definitely Maybe and Morning Glory the two obvious choices, though I think would plump for Definitely Maybe.

Pearl Jam has three contenders: Ten, Vs and Vitalogy. My personal favourite is probably Vitalogy, by a whisker, but I think Ten would still be the definitive album. Alive, Even Flow, Black and Jeremy all massive hits.
 
Queen are so boring to me,just sounded so cheesy,just can't get into them at all.

Massive Attack's Mezzanine,Radiohead's Ok Computer,Nirvana's Nevermind ,three that ring a bell for me.

Siamese Dream,Smashing Pumpkins.

Badmotorfinger,Soundgarden.

Rage Against The Machines debut also.

King Crimson's In The Court Of The Crimson King pretty much started the prog revolution.

For jazz rock,Mahavishnu Orchestra's The Inner Mounting Flame.

Aussie albums,the standout for me,Ariel's ,A Strange Fantastic Dream, Skyhook's ,Living In The 70s.
Midnight Oil,Place Without A Postcard,The Drone's,Feelin' Kinda Free.

Split Enz,Dizrythmia,probably True Colours was bigger but Dizrythmia put the band on everyones senses.
 
Last edited:
Blondie - Parallel Lines. Became a blueprint for early 80's popular music.
 
Pulp - Different Class
 
Janes Addiction: RDLH

Jane%27s_Addiction-Ritual_de_lo_Habitual.jpg


Made the commercial mistake of creating a masterpiece with their second album. Inevitably dissipated after this point.
 
For all his body of work, stretching out through 5 decades now, 'Goodbye Yellow-Brick road' still stands the test of time, as Elton John's signature work. upload_2017-5-22_12-57-9.jpeg

While 'Synchronicity' for the Police, was definitely their Magnum Opus. upload_2017-5-22_12-57-59.jpeg

Difficult choice between 'The Dam At Otter Creek' upload_2017-5-22_12-55-55.jpeg & 'Secret Samadhi' upload_2017-5-22_12-56-30.jpeg for Live....But I'd go the latter as representative of their zenith.....Everything they did thereafter was commercial shite, like so many other bands before them, they lost the plot once the money & fame came a rolling in.
 
Last edited:

(Log in to remove this ad.)

Cat Stevens- Tea for the Tillerman.


Cat Stevens, 'Tea For The Tillerman' (1970)
Herb Alpert: "The first time I saw Cat Stevens was at [famous L.A. nightclub] the Troubadour. It was like, 'Holy s**t, this guy is the real thing!' He was a unique, amazing artist that had that special 'hit' quality; he and his guitar just captured you with his songs. During 'Father and Son,' the audience stood up and gave him a standing ovation – in the middle of the song! People just didn't do that. He had tremendous appeal."

Moss: "Tea for the Tillerman absolutely exploded: it was a huge, amazing record. In 1970, between that album, Carole King and the Carpenters, we were really flying! Tillerman immediately went to Number One, and dominated both AM and FM radio. It was an incredible period, in the midst of the Vietnam War, with a country divided; the music played a big part in giving us some emotion about how we felt about what's going on. Cat Stevens songs like 'Wild World' really connected with that spirit: they occupied that space in a very important and influential way, but were also just so appealing. You could reside in 'Wild World' in a real sense."

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/l...t-stevens-tea-for-the-tillerman-1970-19691231
 
smasha said:
Queen are so boring to me,just sounded so cheesy,just can't get into them at all.

Massive Attack's Mezzanine,Radiohead's Ok Computer,Nirvana's Nevermind ,three that ring a bell for me.

Siamese Dream,Smashing Pumpkins.

Badmotorfinger,Soundgarden.

Rage Against The Machines debut also.

King Crimson's In The Court Of The Crimson King pretty much started the prog revolution.

For jazz rock,Mahavishnu Orchestra's The Inner Mounting Flame.

Aussie albums,the standout for me,Ariel's ,A Strange Fantastic Dream, Skyhook's ,Living In The 70s.
Midnight Oil,Place Without A Postcard,The Drone's,Feelin' Kinda Free.

Split Enz,Dizrythmia.
Click to expand...
Agree on Pumpkins, Rage and Radiohead, though I think Superunknown for Soundgarden. Giving that a listen over the weekend, I forgot just how many hits were packed on that album.
 
JackOutback said:
Agree on Pumpkins, Rage and Radiohead, though I think Superunknown for Soundgarden. Giving that a listen over the weekend, I forgot just how many hits were packed on that album.
Click to expand...
Yeah,very even split between those but Badmotorfinger put Soundgarden on the map.
My fav Pumpkins is actually Melon Collie but Siamese Dream broke the band Worldwide.
 
jason pm said:
Cat Stevens- Tea for the Tillerman.


Cat Stevens, 'Tea For The Tillerman' (1970)
Herb Alpert: "The first time I saw Cat Stevens was at [famous L.A. nightclub] the Troubadour. It was like, 'Holy s**t, this guy is the real thing!' He was a unique, amazing artist that had that special 'hit' quality; he and his guitar just captured you with his songs. During 'Father and Son,' the audience stood up and gave him a standing ovation – in the middle of the song! People just didn't do that. He had tremendous appeal."

Moss: "Tea for the Tillerman absolutely exploded: it was a huge, amazing record. In 1970, between that album, Carole King and the Carpenters, we were really flying! Tillerman immediately went to Number One, and dominated both AM and FM radio. It was an incredible period, in the midst of the Vietnam War, with a country divided; the music played a big part in giving us some emotion about how we felt about what's going on. Cat Stevens songs like 'Wild World' really connected with that spirit: they occupied that space in a very important and influential way, but were also just so appealing. You could reside in 'Wild World' in a real sense."

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/l...t-stevens-tea-for-the-tillerman-1970-19691231
Click to expand...

There'd be just as strong an argument & case for 'Teaser & the Fire-Cat', I'd suggest.
upload_2017-5-22_12-52-29.jpeg
Here's some songs from that album:

Morning has broken
Peace Train
Ruby-Love
Moon-shadow
 
Procrastinator35 said:
There'd be just as strong an argument & case for 'Teaser & the Fire-Cat', I'd suggest.
View attachment 373307
Here's some songs from that album:

Morning has broken
Peace Train
Ruby-Love
Moon-shadow
Click to expand...
Yep, Love it, although IMO (see avatar) Tea for the Tillerman is an all time classic album with every song on it just brilliant. I still regularly listen to it all these years after I first bought it on vinyl, I still have it and on tape.
 
jason pm said:
Yep, Love it, although IMO (see avatar) Tea for the Tillerman is an all time classic album with every song on it just brilliant. I still regularly listen to it all these years after I first bought it on vinyl, I still have it and on tape.
Click to expand...

Their both brilliant, but If pressed I'd plump for Teaser.....I've just now put it on because of your post....so cheers for that.:thumbsu:

Man's a genius.
 
Every band that has been hugely successful for the past 50 years has a peak period that encompasses just a small time frame (overall time scale) of their career.
I'll post a few examples of major acts only if you are really picky about who you are into or want to learn about:
60's Rock: Albums were not the big thing until Peppers came along in 1967..
Beatles, Revolver, Peppers and White Album
Stones, Aftermath, Let it Bleed, Sticky Fingers
Hendrix, Are You Experienced, Electric Ladyland
Beach Boys , Pet Sounds
Doors, First album, LA Woman
Cream, Disraeli Gears, Wheels on Fire
Dylan, Highway 61 Revisted, Blonde On Blonde
Creedence Clearwater Revival, You need Green River, Willy and The Poorboys and Cosmo's Factory

70's Rock The era when albums were the big thing and bands released them every year!
Led Zeppelin, you really need Led Zeppelin 2, Symbols and Physical Graffiti, if you don't like any of these then forget the rest.
Deep Purple, you need In Rock, Machine Head and Made In Japan
Black Sabbath, you need the first 5 albums, there is no escaping this!
Jethro Tull, You need Aqualung, Thick as a Brick and if the folky stuff gives you a stiffy then Songs From The Wood
Aerosmith, you need only Toys in The Attic and Rocks
Kiss, you need Alive, Destroyer, Rock n Roll Over and Love Gun.
Status Quo, Hello, On The Level, Blue For You
PInk Floyd, You need Dark Side , Wish You Were Here and the Wall

70's / 80's Punk/New Wave/ Post punk
Pistols, Bollocks
Clash, first album
Stranglers, Rattus
Ramones, it's the first 4 plus It's Alive...again no way of getting out of this
Stiff Little Fingers, Inflammable Material ( without this album there is no Nirvana or Green day!)
Undertones, First album
Buzzcocks, Another Music in a Different Kitchen
Joy Division, Unknown Pleasures and Closer
Cure, Seventeen Seconds, Head On the Door, Disintegration
Smiths, Queen is Dead plus the compiles

Aussie stuff
Midnight Oil, You need Head Injuries, 10, 9, 8, Diesel & Dust
INXS, Kick
Icehouse, Flowers
AC/DC, Back in Black, Highway To Hell, Powerage ( My personal favourite)

So many more you could list who just have the one definitive album to their name.

Most bands we all like have only two or three albums that really capture our interest for a long period of time, we buy everything they put out, but tell me, how many times have you been disappointed and said to yourself "it's not as good as their early stuff"?
Some bands are lucky enough to have two peak periods, it's rare, but it does happen. (Example, the Rolling Stones mid 60's golden era of singles ( 1964-66, then the albums peak from 1968-74.

"The hardest thing about being a famous rock star is that people get sick of you"
 
Last edited:
It's true that musicians generally only have a peak period that encompasses two or three albums (Pearl Jam: Vs/Ten/Vitalogy, Smashing Pumpkins: Gish/Siamese Dreams/Mellon Collie, Oasis: Definitely Maybe/What's the Story, Muse: Origin of Symmetry/Absolution/Black Holes and Revelations). I'm trying to think of any musicians that had more than one peak. Green Day comes to mind, with Dookie being a smash hit, interest waning, then American Idiot taking them back to the top. Can't think of any others right now.
 
I would just state the obvious best of list choices, so i'm going with this album, not a bad song on Tragic Kingdom, brilliant album. Probably the best ska rock album ever made, better than any Specials album.

images
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.

Remove this Banner Ad

Back
Top