Five-star albums

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Mar 13, 2015
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The Arctic Monkeys debut album is so underrated it's not even funny. It's easy to assume that it's just average but I listened to it the other day and it's just so impressive musically, the forgotten 'classic'.

People will auto clutch at Certain records but that one deserves high praise.
 

Richard Cranium

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Apr 16, 2008
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The Arctic Monkeys debut album is so underrated it's not even funny. It's easy to assume that it's just average but I listened to it the other day and it's just so impressive musically, the forgotten 'classic'.

People will auto clutch at Certain records but that one deserves high praise.
A Certain Romance is, in my opinion, one of THE greatest ever album closers, too. Just a perfect summation of everything that album is about, lyrically and musically.
 

two up

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May 13, 2010
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The Arctic Monkeys debut album is so underrated it's not even funny. It's easy to assume that it's just average but I listened to it the other day and it's just so impressive musically, the forgotten 'classic'.

People will auto clutch at Certain records but that one deserves high praise.
Not underrated by me, a clear 5 star and all time classic.
 

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Was deemed back in the day A stereo wet dream for Hi Fi snobs.
Did lol.
Perfect nomination.

That’s quite fitting.

I have a hand made valve amp that is every hi fi snobs wet dream
 

Lyttelton Ranger

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Mar 10, 2008
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Of all the music I have listened to over the years, these are the albums I keep coming back to

Cocteau Twins - Treasure
The Smiths - The Smiths
Pink Floyd - The Wall
Faithless - Outrospective
Moby - Play
Stereolab - Dots and Loops
The The - Soul Mining
Manic Street Preachers - Everything Must Go
Magnetic Fields - 69 Love Songs
Kate Bush - Hounds of Love
Nick Drake - Bryter Layter
Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds - The Good Son
Sinead O'Connor - Lion and the Cobra
Split Enz - True Colours
 
Of all the music I have listened to over the years, these are the albums I keep coming back to

Cocteau Twins - Treasure
The Smiths - The Smiths
Pink Floyd - The Wall
Faithless - Outrospective
Moby - Play
Stereolab - Dots and Loops
The The - Soul Mining
Manic Street Preachers - Everything Must Go
Magnetic Fields - 69 Love Songs
Kate Bush - Hounds of Love
Nick Drake - Bryter Layter
Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds - The Good Son
Sinead O'Connor - Lion and the Cobra
Split Enz - True Colours

you're showing your age

some great albums in there though
 
Sepultura - Chaos AD

Meshuggah - Destroy Erase Improve

Strapping Young Lad - City

Faith No More - Angel Dust

Refused - the shape of punk to come

At the drive in - relationship of command
 

Ron The Bear

Up yer arse, AFL
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Powerslave - Iron Maiden

Imperious and immaculate. Band turned to synthesizers for the next album and never reached this peak again. Even the minor tracks like Flash Of The Blade and the instrumental Losfer Words are great.
 

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Oct 6, 2017
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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.
Pleasantly surprised by the love for King Crimson by a few. And some love for Tangerine Dream( saw them live many many years ago.)
 
Apr 27, 2008
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Chael Sonnen: Moral Champion
Powerage - AC/DC
Back In Black - AC/DC
Rust In Peace - Megadeth
Master of Puppets - Metallica
Load - Metallica
Appetite for Destruction - Guns n Roses
New Jersey - Bon Jovi
The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust - David Bowie
Obsolete - Fear Factor
Kick - INXS
A Matter of Life and Death - Iron Maiden
The Number of the Beast - Iron Maiden
Prowler - Iron Maiden
Mechanical Animals - Marilyn Manson
Bat out of Hell 2: Meat Loaf
The General Electric - Shihad
Siamese Dream - Smashing Pumpkins
The Crusade - Trivium
Life is Killing Me - Type O Negative
 
Sep 19, 2007
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The Eagles - The Long Run

Possibly one of THE most complete albums I've listened to.

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MC Bad Genius

No, not THAT MC Bad Genius. The other one.
Apr 15, 2008
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This is an old thread bump right here! It makes for good reading again though.
For an album to get 5 stars from me it needs to have no dud tracks (of course it can have "filler" tracs - but none that I would always skip past), it must be full of songs that mean something to me, should definitely sound great (even if that sound is really lo-fi) and can put me in the right mood no matter how I'm feeling at that point.

So my list is:

Weezer - Blue. I put this on the other night around 1am and strummed along on an acoustic and it was the best night I've had in ages!

Spoon - Kill The Moonlight. You only realise how amazing this album is when you listen on headphones. Blows my mind every time.

Ben Folds Five - Whatever And Ever Amen. Wall-to-wall hits and probably the most virtuosic pop star in history. I'd rate him higher than any guitar god you care to name ... plus he flogs them all with his songwriting to boot.

Sufjan Stevens - Seven Swans. It's probably not his "best" album, but it's a slab of 5-star perfection to me that will instantly calm me down. I think I might put this one on when I get home today actually.

Eels - Electro-Shock Blues. I can't even begin to describe this album. It's a paradox of complete and utter despair mixed with a strange sense of hope. Heart-breaking from start to finish, but somehow there is life and humour in there too.

Beck - Midnite Vultures. I would go out to clubs more if they played this album from start to finish. It's not as cool as Odelay, but there are more ideas bursting out of almost every song than you'll find in a lot of acts' whole career.

I've got tonnes of albums that would be 4.5 stars (Revolver, In Rainbows, Ramones debut, almost every other Beck album, Check Your Head, Evil Empire, Halcyon Digest, Hunky Dory, Kid Sam's only album etc etc etc), but those 6 are the only ones that I'd bestow a perfect rating on.
I was pretty harsh only giving out a 5-star rating to only six albums though. To the above list I'd bump up a few of the 4.5s and add in some other ones:

Beck - Sea Change (perhaps the most moving break-up album ever and some of his dad's string arrangements are absolutely incredible)
Vampire Weekend - Self-titled (I'm not sure any musical artist has put out a debut album that so perfectly announces themselves to the world)
Ramones - Self-titled (I take everything I said about VW back, the Ramones debut does it better)
The Meters - Look-Ka Py Py (hands-down the funkiest band of all time and while all their albums are killer, I probably only choose this one as the 5-star rating because I heard it first)
Beastie Boys - Check Your Head (basically the whole album could be So What'cha Want 15 times and I'd still give it 5 stars)

And of more recent albums, the one that has lodged itself in my brain is Designer by Aldous Harding. It's absolutely brilliant and will be one of my favourites for a looooooooooong time. Interestingly, it was produced by John Parish, who did a bunch of work with Eels, so it's not really surprising I loved it so much.
 
Mar 9, 2007
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Vampire Weekend - Self-titled (I'm not sure any musical artist has put out a debut album that so perfectly announces themselves to the world)
There's a few that spring to mind. Naturally with the artists that really flick my switch, they're all several decades old:

My Generation - The Who
Are You Experienced? - The Jimi Hendrix Experience
The Doors - The Doors
Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin

Funnily enough, as much as I love each of these albums, I only rate the Hendrix debut as 5 stars.
 
Way too ******* hard!
Some I class as fives, but to be honest, don’t get much rotation anymore. Some are forgotten, then get a spin and wow! This is perfect.
A few locked in-
Edit! I started going through my phone and listing some, then realised I was listing my all time favourites, not all I would consider five stars, perfect from start to finish.
As I said, way too ******* hard. Sorry!
 
Last edited:

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