Five-star albums

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Most of favourite artists have at least one album I'd call 5 star.

BLONDIE - Blondie, Plastic Letters & Parallel Lines
CURVE - Doppelganger, Come Clean & Gift
SIOUXSIE & THE BANSHEES - The Scream, Kaleidoscope & Peepshow
FALLING JOYS - Wish List & Psychohum
CLOUDS - Penny Century & Thunderhead
ROXY MUSIC - Roxy Music, For Your Pleasure & Avalon
LUSH - Gala, Spooky & Spit
ROLLINS BAND - End Of Silence & Weight
MODELS - Alphabravocharliedeltaechofoxtrotgolf & Local And/or General
BRMC - BRMC & Take Them On, On Your Own
KING CRIMSON - In The Court Of Crimson King
KATE BUSH - Hounds Of Love & Sensual World
DAVID BOWIE - Space Oddity, Ziggy Stardust & Scary Monsters
DOT ALLISON - Afterglow
SUZANNE VEGA - 99.9F
SONIC YOUTH - Daydream Nation, Goo & Dirty
 
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JackOutback said:
I was prompted to start this thread because Go Farther in Lightness by Gang of Youths fits the bill for me. Even though it's newly released, I've had it on constant rotation. Also saw them on the weekend and it's possibly the happiest I've ever been at a gig.
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Just an excellent call on this. The GOY album is ******* phenomenal - best album I've heard in a really long time, perhaps the the best Australian album since Sunset Studies, and absolutely 5 stars.

And I'm not someone who has hundreds, or even dozens of 5-star albums.

A lot of mine have already been mentioned in the thread, but going through the music on my phone (so in alphabetical order) -
An Awesome Wave (alt-J),
Sunset Studies (Augie March),
Whatever and ever amen (Ben Folds Five),
Lemonade (Beyonce... a massive outlier on this list, and on what I usually listen to - but I stand by it.)
For Emma, forever ago (Bon Iver)
Space Oddity (Bowie)
Rumours (Fleetwood Mac)
Grace (Jeff Buckley)
Boxer (The National)
Murder Ballads (Nick Cave)
Dolittle (Pixies)
Internationalist (Powderfingers)
OK Computer (Radiohead)
Benji (Sun Kil Moon)
 
nobbyiscool said:
Just an excellent call on this. The GOY album is ******* phenomenal - best album I've heard in a really long time, perhaps the the best Australian album since Sunset Studies, and absolutely 5 stars.

And I'm not someone who has hundreds, or even dozens of 5-star albums.

A lot of mine have already been mentioned in the thread, but going through the music on my phone (so in alphabetical order) -
An Awesome Wave (alt-J),
Sunset Studies (Augie March),
Whatever and ever amen (Ben Folds Five),
Lemonade (Beyonce... a massive outlier on this list, and on what I usually listen to - but I stand by it.)
For Emma, forever ago (Bon Iver)
Space Oddity (Bowie)
Rumours (Fleetwood Mac)
Grace (Jeff Buckley)
Boxer (The National)
Murder Ballads (Nick Cave)
Dolittle (Pixies)
Internationalist (Powderfingers)
OK Computer (Radiohead)
Benji (Sun Kil Moon)
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I loved The Positions and so there was a lot of pressure for this album to be good, the fact that it was a double-length album was concerning because so few bands nail the double album. I remember being 1 or 2 minutes into Fear and Trembling and knew I was listening to something special. The fact that there is not a bad song in 88 minutes is amazing.

Good list, btw, rate most of those very highly.
 
5 star albums? I care for the albums that made me think of music in new ways, even if they had the odd mis-step.

1. King Crimson - In the Court of the Crimson King.
2. Steven Wilson - The Raven that Refused to Sing.
3. Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavillion.
4. Boards of Canada - Geogaddi.
5. Tangerine Dream - Phaedra.
6. Chrome - Red Exposure.
 
DEVO said:
Most of favourite artists have at least one album I'd call 5 star.

BLONDIE - Blondie, Plastic Letter & Parallel Lines
CURVE - Doppelganger & Come Clean
SIOUXSIE & THE BANSHEES - The Scream, Kaleidoscope & Peepshow
FALLING JOYS - Wish List & Psychohum
CLOUDS - Penny Century & Thunderhead
ROXY MUSIC - Roxy Music, For Your Pleasure & Avalon
LUSH - Gala, Spooky & Spit
ROLLINS BAND - End Of Silence & Weight
MODELS - Alphabravocharliedeltaechofoxtrotgolf & Local And/or General
BRMC - BRMC & Take Them On, On Your Own
KING CRIMSON - In The Court Of Crimson King
KATE BUSH - Hounds Of Love & Sensual World
DAVID BOWIE - Space Oddity, Ziggy Stardust & Scary Monsters
DOT ALLISON - Afterglow
SUZANNE VEGA - 99.9F
SONIC YOUTH - Daydream Nation, Goo & Dirty
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BRMC touring soon. I've not seen them live before. You?
 
Well, this might be controversial

U2 The Joshua Tree
Michael Jackson Thriller
The Clash London Calling
Nirvana Nevermind
Fleetwood Mac Rumours
The Eagles Hotel California
Pink Floyd DSOTM
Prince Purple Rain
Bruce Springsteen Born in the USA
Meatloaf Bat out of hell
Dire Straits Brothers in arms
Def Leppard Hysteria
U2 War

Man, I could go on..
 
Arctic Monkeys - Whatever people say I am that’s what I’m not
The Cure - Wish
Elliott Smith - Either/or
Royal Blood - Self titled
Oasis - Defintiely Maybe
Nick Drake - Pink Moon
QOTSA - Songs for the deaf
Bloc Party - Silent alarm
 
HARKER said:
5 star albums? I care for the albums that made me think of music in new ways, even if they had the odd mis-step.

1. King Crimson - In the Court of the Crimson King.
2. Steven Wilson - The Raven that Refused to Sing.
3. Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavillion.
4. Boards of Canada - Geogaddi.
5. Tangerine Dream - Phaedra.
6. Chrome - Red Exposure.
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I'd put Music Has The Right To Children Right Up There too. I cannot split that and Geogaddi - both awesome albums.

Merriweather Post Pavillion took me ages to get into but once it did it became a staple. Can't even imagine creating a song like Daily Routine
 
La Dispute said:
I'd put Music Has The Right To Children Right Up There too. I cannot split that and Geogaddi - both awesome albums.
Merriweather Post Pavillion took me ages to get into but once it did it became a staple. Can't even imagine creating a song like Daily Routine
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This is exactly what draws me towards movies/music albums or themes/songs etc.
It's when you can't conceive where the origin of the idea emanated from, as it's foreign to normal ideas.

Love you addressing this. :thumbsu:
 

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By no means a comprehensive list, but some that come to mind from the past 10-15 years or so:

Arctic Monkeys - Suck It and See
Arctic Monkeys - Humbug
Blood Red Shoes - Fire Like This
Brand New - Science Fiction (Best album of 2017)
California X - California X
Cancer Bats - Hail Destroyer
Cloud Nothings - Here and Nowhere Else
Deftones - Koi No Yokan
Gallows - Grey Britain
Gary Clarke Jnr - Live
The Gaslight Anthem - The '59 Sound
Interpol - Antics
Japandroids - Celebration Rock
The Joy Formidable - The Big Roar
The Last Shadow Puppets - Everything You've Come to Expect
Manchester Orchestra - Cope
The National - High Violet
Queens of the Stone Age - ...Like Clockwork
Royal Headache - High
White Lung - Paradise (Best album of 2016)
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Show Your Bones

Might not be to everyone's tastes, but for me, they're albums that are playable from start to end regardless of mood, without the desire to skip anything.
 
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The Strokes - Is This It
Bloc Party - Silent Alarm
The National - Alligator
The National - Boxer
The National - High Violet
Arcade Fire - Funeral
Arctic Monkeys - Favourite Worst Nightmare
Arctic Monkeys - Humbug
Foals - Antidotes
The Black Keys - Rubber Factory
Neutral Milk Hotel - In The Aeroplane Over The Sea
Jamie T - Panic Prevention
The Ocean Party - Light Weight
Car Seat Headrest - Teens Of Denial
Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend
Vampire Weekend - Modern Vampires Of The City
Sufjan Stevens - Illionois
Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues
Led Zeppelin - Houses Of The Holy
The xx - I See You
The Stone Roses - The Stone Roses
Glass Animals - How To Be A Human Being
Modest Mouse - The Moon & Antarctica
 
Everything has been said almost..
Just wanted to include a few..

Madvillian + MF Doom - Madvilliany
The Clash - London Calling
Queens of the Stone Age - Songs for the Deaf
The Shins - Chutes Too Narrow
Outkast - Stankonia
Dj Shadow - Entroducing
Oasis - Definitely Maybe
No Doubt - Tragic Kingdom
Interpol - Turn on the Bright Lights
The Beatles - Abbey Road
Nirvana - Nevermind
Velvet Underground - Nico
My Bloody Valentine - Loveless
 
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La Dispute said:
I'd have their first as a classic album, but none of the others would go close in my list.

What do you like about those two in particular?

Humbug does have some good songs though.
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I've been a fan from the start, I just find their first (and a lot of their second) a bit played-out (I've been to a lot of indie club nights over the years), and I've kind of just grown out of them as well. They resonated at the time, but I've moved on, and really have to be in the mood for them to get into hearing those tunes now.

The two I mentioned just have some really well-crafted songs, both lyrically and musically, and are just a fair bit more mature overall. Not so much "of the scene" and "of the time", just straight good rock albums. I compare their evolution as a band and of Alex Turner as a songwriter to that of The Kinks and Ray Davies.

I was really puzzled in particular by the lukewarm reception that 'Suck It and See' got from a lot of people (and how 'AM' was treated as some sort of "return to form" by comparison). To me it's clearly their best album, and easily one of the best albums of the last decade.
 
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Damon_3388 said:
I've been a fan from the start, I just find their first (and a lot of their second) a bit played-out (I've been to a lot of indie club nights over the years), and I've kind of just grown out of them as well. They resonated at the time, but I've moved on, and really have to be in the mood for them to get into hearing those tunes now.

The two I mentioned just have some really well-crafted songs, both lyrically and musically, and are just a fair bit more mature overall. Not so much "of the scene" and "of the time", just straight good rock albums. I compare their evolution as a band and of Alex Turner as a songwriter to that of The Kinks and Ray Davies.

I was really puzzled in particular by the lukewarm reception that 'Suck It and See' got from a lot of people (and how 'AM' was treated as some sort of "return to form" by comparison). To me it's clearly their best album, and easily one of the best albums of the last decade.
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Suck It and See missed out on 5 stars from me purely because of the song Brick By Brick, probably my least favourite Arctic Monkeys track and just seems so lazy.

Hellcat on the other hand, is one of my favourites.
 
A few off the top of my head.......

Iggy and The Stooges - Raw Power
The Clash - The Clash
Pixies - Surfer Rosa
Dead Kennedys - Fresh fruit for rotting vegetables
Rowland S Howard - Teenage Snuff Film
Died Pretty - Doughboy Hollow
Scientists - Blood red river
Sonic Youth - Goo
The Saints - Eternally yours

That'll do for now.
 
Arctics like early Echo & the Bunnymen generally have a body of work which you can throw a blanket over. I adore all 9 of those albums, appreciably different as well. Whatever... might be their "classic" release, but among fans I wouldn't be surprised if they all tie at 20% favouritism. Exactly the same opinion regarding Suck it and See, the differing reaction narrative to that and AM were bemusing.
 
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