Anton's rather different TOP 50 favorite records of all time thread - Part 2

Not on my list, but YES, that's a great record! And I can clearly see where you're coming from here. I'm a known sucker for "heart on the sleeve" troubled records and this one is like an epitome of this. However I was to choose my favorite Marvin LP it would be probably "I want you".

 

That's another one that is almost a must on my list, given my obsession with all things Spector (and mid 70's Spector especially). A truly magical one for sure!

 

Slopes, that's another spectacular guess and my respect for it! If only I was allowed (by me) to give a hint or two...

 

Drewbie, when I started this Top 50 I was intending to put Sojourner box set in my Top 10, it's one of my favorite packages of music of all time. An epic that deserves to be heard by, well, everyone! However I know it's not a good idea to put a box set (and it works so strong as a box set as you, I'm sure, know) amongst the regular LPs. But as Matthew Sweet once said ("The World needs more Neil Young") I can only paraphrase that the world needs more Jason Molina!

 

Izozeles, that's an interesting guess. I wasn't ever a full blown Duran fan honestly though I like a few of their LPs for sure. This one included. My favorite Duran however is the one that everybody loves to hate - their covers album Thank You.

 

Tis true, she opened the door for a lot of new acts, but she did see a lot of the old ones off too! Not her fault, of course. Madonna had some great records, and wrote/co-wrote the majority of them too. I don't think you can write her off as just manufactured product. Those songs hold up even today.

 

I somehow don't think 'Totally Hot' will make the list... I seem to recall Anton saying 'Physical' was the perfect pop album in another thread.. So, I think we could have seen the last of ONJ on here. It's not right, but it's probably how it's going to be!

 

When is the next one due, BTW?

 

Fairly convinced 'Figments Of Emancipation' (the Doctors Of Madness) will be in there. Probably no 3.

 

Does anyone know where this version comes from ?

 

This is an unlisted bonus track on her 2002 Australian duets album '(2)'

 

Thanks for the list

 

What an epic thread

 

Indeed, and I expect a few more curve balls in the top 5. It wouldn't surprise me at all to see John Denver followed by Van Halen....

He admits to being an old metal head, and while I can't see any 80s speed metal making his top five, we might see something from the Scorpions.

 

Take it to the bank, baby! This whole thread has been building up to Totally Hot. It's my Smooth Jimmy Apollo Lock Of The Week!

 

What if he comes with The Cure, Faith?

 

The irony of course is that I used to be rather infamous for my severe dislike of Van Halen around here...

 

All right, number 5 is just around the corner. The list so far looks like that:

50. Songs:Ohia - Magnolia Electric Co (2003)
49. Herman Brood and His Wild Romance - Street (1977)
48. Opal - Happy Nightmare Baby (1987)
47. Ultravox! - Ha! Ha! Ha! (1977)
46. Suede - Coming Up (1996)
45. Doctors of Madness - Late Night Movies, All Night Brainstorm (1976)
44. Black Sabbath - Vol 4 (1972)
43. Julee Cruise - Floating into the Night (1989)
42. Neil Young - Time Fades Away (1973)
41. Ride - Nowhere (1990)
40. The Only Ones - The Only Ones (1978)
39. Bruce Springsteen - Greetings from Asbury Park, NJ (1973)
38. The Walkabouts - Nighttown (1997)
37. The Rolling Stones - Goats Head Soup (1973)
36. Charlie Bleak - Let Me In (1976)
35. Felt - Forever Breathes the lonely word (1986)
34. Velvet Underground - White Light White Heat (1968)
33. Carpenters - Horizon (1975)
32. Grant Lee Buffalo - Mighty Joe Moon (1994)
31. GILLAN - Mr. Universe (1979)
30. Meat Puppets - Meat Puppets II (1984)
29. Joan Baez - Diamonds and Rust (1975)
28. The Good, The Bad and The Queen (2007)
27. Sparks - Big Beat (1976)
26. Pulp - Freaks (1987)
25. KISS - Music from The Elder (1981)
24. Dion - Born to be With You (1975)
23. The Feelies - Crazy Rhythms (1980)
22. Richard and Linda Thompson - Shoot out the Lights (1982)
21. Black Sabbath - Technical Ecstasy (1976)
20. Lou Reed - Lou Reed (1972)
19. Chris Bell - I am the Cosmos (Recorded 1974-1975, Released 1992)
18. The Vaselines - Dum-Dum (1989)
17. Cher - Dark Lady (1974)
16. Dennis Wilson - Pacific Ocean Blue (1977)
15. The Bangles - All Over the Place (1984)
14. Olivia Newton-John - Have You Never Been Mellow (1975)
13. Iggy and The Stooges - Raw Power (1973)
12. Mazzy Star - She Hangs Brightly (1990)
11. Robert Wyatt - Rock Bottom (1974)
10. Yoko Ono - Approximately Infinite Universe (1973)
9. Big Star - Third/Sister Lovers (Recorded 1974, Released 1978)
8. Marianne Faithfull - Broken English (1979)
7. Bruce Springsteen - Born to Run (1975)
6. Olivia Newton-John - Physical (1981)

 

Number 5

GUIDED BY VOICES - BEE THOUSAND (1994)




I've been hearing about this record and the band of course for a long time. And to be honest, I was drawn to GBV like a moth to a flame. Must be an inner resistance to my own audiophilia. Being an audiophile for over 15 years now and having spent tens of thousands of dollars on equipment and cables, having changed tens of systems I never truly felt as happy as a music lover as I did in my humble youth when all the listening was done on crappy poor generation cassettes through a vintage Grundig Cassette Recorder. I truly got a lot more kicks from the music as a teen without any sound quality whatsoever. Yes, I was blown away one day in 1998 when a friend showed me his (rather modest by modern Hi End measures) Vandersteen based tube system. It was a shocking experience that sent me straight to audiophile...well, hell. Years passed and with each new system my enjoyment of music was getting seriously reduced. I couldn't even listen without that final dream Power Cord on my preamp or with my fridge plugged in as it recuded dynamics and gave harsh highs. Not to mention a crappy remaster or a poor original pressing. Yeah, I know the doctors were ready for poor audiophile me with their needles and mandatory lobotomy as I slowly lost all my love for music itself. Audiophilia is a horrible illness since it doesn't only reduce one's love for favorite music to endless headpain but it also brings a lot of unnecessary listening into one's leasure time. People feel like they need to listen to all sorts of boring "audiophile" records, since they, you know, sound so good and impressive on their megabuck systems. An Iggy Pop fan suddenly finds himeself listening to Telarc CDs and some dreadful blues singer because the cymbals sound ring so natural, and the piano is so damn warm and analogue like.... Well and then one day you just yawn at the very sight of your record collection full of gorgeous sounding MFSLs, SACDs and rare old japanese pressings.


Enter lo-fi


Being an old Velvets fan I knew that this raw recorded music may captivate me stronger than anything else out there. The moment I read about GBV's magic in some 90's rock encyclopedia I knew I had to hear that band. Yet it took me ages to finally do it, an odd youtube clip aside. And boy, I was glad I did! Quite an odd feeling when you listen to a cult classic and feel that it truly deserves all the praise and is not some hipster beloved empty bubble as most cult classics are. Unlike the previous entry in this list Bee Thousand was a perfect listen for a GBV beginner and has rarely left my CD player since. The glory of such intentionally crappy recorded music is that you don't need ANY decent system to enjoy it, like quite a few records mentioned earlier it's a musical orgasm in it's pure form. Nothing draws you attention from the glorious tunes and lovely guitar noize.... Regarding the album itself - let's just say that if it was recorded in, say, 1969 everybody by now would have a copy and there would be hundreds of cover versions. It's that good. The melodic craft, the atmosphere, the imagery, the vibe - all you need from a great rock'n'roll record is here in full force. Over the last months alone I played it tens of times and it just refuses to grow old. It may stay with me for years to come. It's the perfect way out of audiophile inferno. If you can overcome the fact that it's 20 songs (a lot more in the director's cut) were recorded on a cassette recorder and it's from 1994. If you never heard it out of some prejudice against 90's lo-fi indie culture - do it. Now.

 

And I'm out!

 

Ha ha, well-said.

 

Another fascinating choice. I've heard about them them over the years but really never gave them much attention. Listening to this release now and sounds interesting.

 

I know it's lo-fi, but are these guitars delicious or what?

 

The only thing better than Physical is the Xanadu soundtrack!