Hopefully this is more collaborative and fun than contentious.
What is an album(cd, digital, record, whatever) that you can press play and not touch until it ends? Below are 5 of mine that I can just press play on and have been influential on me. They are a healthy mix of genre and time period. Oddly though, nothing from this century. I have a ton of music from this last 20 years, but its all digital format and single songs vs full albums. Tech really did change how music is consumed by many of us.
17 off if you cant deal with the long post. <--getting it started on the right foot!***
Bob Marley and the Wailers- Legend
- Its a greatest hits album and I distinctly remember playing it all the way thru all the time back with CDs were a thing. I was too young to heave heard him when he was alive, so this was a great way to hear his stuff from the early 70s to early 80s and got me into learning a ton of history about his life and views.
14 incredible songs one after another.
Nirvana- MTV Unplugged in New York
- Released when I was 13 and 7 months after Cobain killed himself. I remember seeing the broadcast version of it shortly before Cobain died and it was incredible. They did a few hits, but it was mostly lesser known songs and a couple covers. The version of All Apologies is something I will never forget- Dave Grohl's brushed drums really gets it started and Cobain's singing along with the cello combine to make something where the pain of the song can be felt. After Cobain died, MTV went into overdrive and played the broadcast like hourly(it seemed).
The album is absolutely one that can just play from start to finish. And it ends with a cover of Lead Belly's Where Did you Sleep Last Night that is so powerful in its raw emotion. Cobain's vocals are haunting and sad.
Wyclef Jean- The Carnival featuring Refugee Allstars
- This was Clef's debut solo effort and it is a concept album where Clef is on trial and songs are used to defend him. There are these silly skits between songs were characters are testifying during the trial. It came out when I was 16 and was transformative in its creativity. The CD hits hard on culture with some Spanish influence, some R&B, some rap, and a few song sung in his native Haitian Creole.
Every song and every skit is played straight on thru. I butcher the Haitian Creole songs but I will sing along to them even.
Phish- A Live One
- This was my introduction to Jam Band music when I was a freshman in HS as it had just been released a couple months earlier. 2 CDs with only 12 songs in total because so many were long as can be.
It opens with an incredible version of Bouncing Around the Room and closes with a near 13 minute long version of The Squirming Coil. I know every single piano key stroke in that song's long solo. It is one of the few things that will be locked in my long term memory when I am old and forgetting everything else.
Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band- Live 1975-85
- Another live album. Another greatest hits compilation...at least greatest hits of a specific 10 year span. I grew up on The Boss and have known every radio friendly(so not the 8min long versions) song since I was probably 6. This album hits all of those and so much more.
Its 40 songs of non-stop energy and stories.
- The Born to Run recording is legendary. So much energy.
- His interlude stories during Growin Up are something I memorized long ago and have annoyed my wife for almost 25 years by repeating during the songs(that she tolerates).
- The version of This Land is Your Land and his talk at the start introduced me to who Woody Guthrie is and some context to what Guthrie's intent was when writing that song. Bruce pays tribute to the song perfectly.
- This album's versions of I'm On Fire, My Hometown, Jersey Girl, Because the Night, Rosalita, and so many more are what is burned into my mind when I think of the songs.
- The first song of the entire album is an acoustic version of Thunder Road and it is the song I sang basically every night to both my kids for the first 6 years of their lives. Both knew the lyrics in full before they could read. There is no better song that has been recorded.
What is an album(cd, digital, record, whatever) that you can press play and not touch until it ends? Below are 5 of mine that I can just press play on and have been influential on me. They are a healthy mix of genre and time period. Oddly though, nothing from this century. I have a ton of music from this last 20 years, but its all digital format and single songs vs full albums. Tech really did change how music is consumed by many of us.
17 off if you cant deal with the long post. <--getting it started on the right foot!***
Bob Marley and the Wailers- Legend
- Its a greatest hits album and I distinctly remember playing it all the way thru all the time back with CDs were a thing. I was too young to heave heard him when he was alive, so this was a great way to hear his stuff from the early 70s to early 80s and got me into learning a ton of history about his life and views.
14 incredible songs one after another.
Nirvana- MTV Unplugged in New York
- Released when I was 13 and 7 months after Cobain killed himself. I remember seeing the broadcast version of it shortly before Cobain died and it was incredible. They did a few hits, but it was mostly lesser known songs and a couple covers. The version of All Apologies is something I will never forget- Dave Grohl's brushed drums really gets it started and Cobain's singing along with the cello combine to make something where the pain of the song can be felt. After Cobain died, MTV went into overdrive and played the broadcast like hourly(it seemed).
The album is absolutely one that can just play from start to finish. And it ends with a cover of Lead Belly's Where Did you Sleep Last Night that is so powerful in its raw emotion. Cobain's vocals are haunting and sad.
Wyclef Jean- The Carnival featuring Refugee Allstars
- This was Clef's debut solo effort and it is a concept album where Clef is on trial and songs are used to defend him. There are these silly skits between songs were characters are testifying during the trial. It came out when I was 16 and was transformative in its creativity. The CD hits hard on culture with some Spanish influence, some R&B, some rap, and a few song sung in his native Haitian Creole.
Every song and every skit is played straight on thru. I butcher the Haitian Creole songs but I will sing along to them even.
Phish- A Live One
- This was my introduction to Jam Band music when I was a freshman in HS as it had just been released a couple months earlier. 2 CDs with only 12 songs in total because so many were long as can be.
It opens with an incredible version of Bouncing Around the Room and closes with a near 13 minute long version of The Squirming Coil. I know every single piano key stroke in that song's long solo. It is one of the few things that will be locked in my long term memory when I am old and forgetting everything else.
Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band- Live 1975-85
- Another live album. Another greatest hits compilation...at least greatest hits of a specific 10 year span. I grew up on The Boss and have known every radio friendly(so not the 8min long versions) song since I was probably 6. This album hits all of those and so much more.
Its 40 songs of non-stop energy and stories.
- The Born to Run recording is legendary. So much energy.
- His interlude stories during Growin Up are something I memorized long ago and have annoyed my wife for almost 25 years by repeating during the songs(that she tolerates).
- The version of This Land is Your Land and his talk at the start introduced me to who Woody Guthrie is and some context to what Guthrie's intent was when writing that song. Bruce pays tribute to the song perfectly.
- This album's versions of I'm On Fire, My Hometown, Jersey Girl, Because the Night, Rosalita, and so many more are what is burned into my mind when I think of the songs.
- The first song of the entire album is an acoustic version of Thunder Road and it is the song I sang basically every night to both my kids for the first 6 years of their lives. Both knew the lyrics in full before they could read. There is no better song that has been recorded.
