Greatest Classic Rock Studio Double-LP?

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Roland Stone, Aug 24, 2003.

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  1. Roland Stone

    Roland Stone Offending Member Thread Starter

    Greatest Double-LP Studio Set of the Classic Rock Era?

    I seem to have inherited prix's poll bug lately. But they do tend to lead to declarations of passion, which I enjoy, so I thought I'd test my knowledge and post a poll of the greatest Classic Rock-era double-LP studio sets. (I had a long drive today to compile a list in my head.)

    Why selections only from a liberally defined Classic Rock era? Nowadays almost every new release is pretty much a double-LP: note that Fleetwood Mac's recent SAY YOU WILL clocks in longer than their bold TUSK, one of the selections above. But in the CD era, artists just release fewer records, or pad out their discs with material that would have been relegated to the outtakes reel in the LP era.

    In the LP era, a double-disc set was a major statement, and, I think, a bit of a risk, since, with a few exceptions, artists were asking buyers to shell out twice the normal price, a real test of their fans' loyalty. A CD pretty much costs the same whether it's thirty minutes or eighty minutes.

    More restrictions: no live albums, anthologies, or various artist soundtracks. I made an exception for SEX MACHINE, since it's a live-in-the-studio set of new performances of relatively new songs. I did decide to include only one selection from an artist, to avoid vote-splitting, with the exception of The Who, who have two very big double-LP sets, neither of which could be ignored.

    I apologize if I neglected your favorite. Don't be shy about announcing my inadequate research! I tried to include the usual suspects and forum favorites, but didn't have a book handy. (Yeah, I know, I left off WHEELS OF FIRE, but that one was a borderline case, and I couldn't see taking one of these off to put in another Eric Clapton-related title.)
     
  2. Adam9

    Adam9 Русский военный корабль, иди на хуй.

    Location:
    Toronto, Canada
    Lots of great albums in that list...but Exile is an album that defines rock'n'roll from its sweaty hot Delta roots with covers like Robert Johnson's "Stop Breakin' Down" to ****-licking country like "Sweet Virginia" to funky gospel like "Shine a Light" to straight out ballsy 70's rock like "Rocks Off". One of the most atmospheric albums, double or single, ever made.

    Honourable Mention to an album that didn't make the list: Physical Graffiti-Led Zep with power and grace.
     
  3. KLM

    KLM Senior Member

    I voted for The Who's Quadrophenia. This is one of my all time favorites and really helped me growing up in my teen years.

    I would say you left off Led Zeppelin's Physical Graphitti. Again another stellar album IMHO.....
     
  4. Roland Stone

    Roland Stone Offending Member Thread Starter

    Good call! It's on there now, though out of alphabetical order. Look for it along with the other I-forgot titles at the bottom of the list.
     
  5. Ed Bishop

    Ed Bishop Incredibly, I'm still here

    My God, what a choice......

    Well, Ron, my friend, this was NOT easy, let me tell you....but to be fair, I had to pick ONE and one only, and that had to be the amazing ELECTRIC LADYLAND....and for one big reason: it ends with "All Along The Watchtower" and "Voodoo Chile(Slight Return)"....if you can find two better tracks to end any album in world annals, well, I can't think of any....but to leave out EXILE and WHITE alone was painful enough.....TUSK is criminally underrated....LAYLA is brilliant....we could go on and on...but LADYLAND is mine. Curiously, while most prefer the original UK naked ladies cover, I like the US cover better, don't ask me why, don't know....


    ED:cool:
     
  6. SteveSDCA

    SteveSDCA Senior Member

    Location:
    San Diego
    I have to agree Physical Grafitti should have been included
     
  7. Steve Hoffman

    Steve Hoffman Your host Your Host

    It's on there.
     
  8. Roland Stone

    Roland Stone Offending Member Thread Starter

    And whoever edited in The Allman Brothers . . . maybe EAT A PEACH, but isn't LIVE AT FILLMORE a live album including previously recorded LP material? In addition to two Allman titles splitting votes, I don't want every double-LP live album ever cut on the list.

    Edit: EAT A PEACH was left in, but LIVE AT THE FILLMORE was deleted. We can have a live album poll/thread later.
     
  9. Michael

    Michael I LOVE WIDE S-T-E-R-E-O!

    I have to go with the White Album...A great list, but for me, nothing tops my first listening experience of that LP! A favorite of my Mom's also!:(
     
  10. reb

    reb Money Beats Soul

    Location:
    Long Island
    Voted for Quadrophenia. Nothing else recorded even sounds remotely close to these cuts.
     
  11. Matt

    Matt New Member

    Location:
    Illinois
    "Live At Fillmore" is arguably the greatest live album ever released; I'd have to think it over and compare it to others, but it's definitely a contender, so leave it be.

    1999 is also a great one, but Sign O' The Times is Prince's masterpiece. It came down to that, London Calling, Blonde on Blonde, Layla, and Exile for me, the best work any of them did (love the White Album, but it's probably my fourth or fifth favorite Beatles album. Maybe sixth, I love all of them), but I went with Exile. If I had to pick one album that defined rock n' roll, it would be Exile.
     
  12. Adam9

    Adam9 Русский военный корабль, иди на хуй.

    Location:
    Toronto, Canada
    Now what about "Metal Machine Music"?:D
     
  13. Metralla

    Metralla Joined Jan 13, 2002

    Location:
    San Jose, CA
    I think the White Album will win this poll by a mile, and the second place is of more interest to me. I voted for The Wall, as I think that this is one that could not have been reduced to a single album, or even split onto two separate single albums - it's a concept that needed 4 full sides to be completely developed.

    Regards,
    Geoff
     
  14. stever

    stever Senior Member

    Location:
    Omaha, Nebr.
    My favorite on the list is, "Exile on Main Street," for a lot of the same reasons John listed above. "Blonde on Blonde," would be second.

    And as much as I like the Beatles I DON'T like their, "White Album." Do you folks really think it's the best rock double LP? I don't hear it at all!

    Ron, you may have forgotten a big one that's in my top three: Elton's, "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road."
     
  15. Roland Stone

    Roland Stone Offending Member Thread Starter

    Another good call . . . Our man, Holy Zoo, is working right now to correct my oversights.
     
  16. Michael

    Michael I LOVE WIDE S-T-E-R-E-O!

    For me, it's a personal love:) That's what music is all about..what touches -'ones' soul...:thumbsup:
     
  17. Gary Freed

    Gary Freed Forum Resident

    White Album sticks out in my mind the most.
     
  18. Sput

    Sput Boilerphile In Memoriam

    Location:
    Not in Michigan
    Songs In The Key Of Life, while not Classic Rock, is too good not to get my vote.
    No album on that list captures the total artist more purely than Stevie's Songs.
     
  19. Gary

    Gary Nauga Gort! Staff

    Location:
    Toronto
    If you do, please don't forget Marshall Tucker / Where We All Belong.

    Thanks!

    :nauga:
     
  20. Michael

    Michael I LOVE WIDE S-T-E-R-E-O!

    Another unmentioned double LP...Crosby Stills Nash & Young...4 Way Street...I really loved that set also!
     
  21. chrischross

    chrischross New Member

    Location:
    Vancouver, WA
    I agree with Geoff -- I figured the White Album would win going away, so I went with London Calling just to be different. A consistent all-killer, no-filler release, which goes against the grain of the usual double-LP's penchant for the experimental.
     
  22. quadjoe

    quadjoe Senior Member

    I voted for Elton John's GBYBR even though I'm an ardent Beatles fan. The Beatles (aka White Album), while a great record, does have a couple of songs that I usually skip when listening, so I can't say it's the greatest Double Lp (I do expect that it will win the poll, though). Yellow Brick Road on the other hand, doesn't have a bad cut (IMHO), and I never skip any of it when I listen.:thumbsup: :thumbsup:
     
  23. Roland Stone

    Roland Stone Offending Member Thread Starter

    TUSK, HYMNS TO THE SILENCE, and HERE MY DEAR are personal favorites, and there are several titles that deserve more votes than I expect they'll get (especially SONGS IN THE KEY OF LIFE), but for me it comes down to ELECTRIC LADYLAND or EXILE ON MAIN STREET.

    Both Jimi Hendrix and The Rolling Stones managed to fully immerse listeners in the music of the past while remaining utterly vital and contemporary, without a hint of nostalgia or condescension or overreach.

    Jimi's classic had a better view of the future, I think, while the Stones's acknowledged masterpiece had a broader grasp of the past. In the thirty-some years since they were released, I don't think we've heard better music than these two sets.
     
  24. CM Wolff

    CM Wolff Senior Member

    Location:
    Motown
    After much agonizing, my final 3 came down to The River, London Calling, and Hymns to the Silence.

    Hymns to the Silence it is. Van Morrison's greatest work. Ever.
     
  25. levi

    levi Can't Stand Up For Falling Down In Memoriam

    Location:
    North Carolina
    London Calling kicked my butt like no album before or since. I take nothing away from Exile, Quad or the White Album ... great records by the masters. Quadrophenia and Catcher in the Rye, in particular, somehow made sense of the world ... even when I was in 9th grade.

    but I'll never forget the night I heard LC for the first time. I had come home from college one weekend in 1980. It was late, I was beat, desperately needing a bed, but there was this album leaning against one of the speakers in the basement rec room my brother and I shared.

    what the hell is that? I thought, looking at the grainy black and white photo. it looked like a space man chopping wood.

    I couldn't go to bed without playing something like that. just one side, I thought. in headphones. then I'll hit the sack.

    roughly 20 minutes later, with the coyote yelps of Rudie Can't Fail still ringing in my ears, I faced one of the toughest musical decisions I had ever encountered in my young life.

    do I do the safe, smart, sure thing? simply pick up the needle and place it back at the beginning of what might very well be the greatest first side of music ever recorded? or do I push bravely onward?

    Spanish Bombs ... jesus, what a hook! Lost in the Supermarket! Clampdown! Guns of Brixton!

    by now I was feverish. there's more?! I think the dam broke on Side 3's Death or Glory ... still, for my money, the most passionate 4 minutes of roaring guitars and drums this sweet world can ever hope to produce. Now every cheap hood strikes a bargain with the world and ends up making payments on a sofa or a girl. is there a truer line in rock and roll?

    Side 4 is just a romp. Four Horsemen, I'm Not Down, Revolution Rock. and bongo jam's a speciality.

    I rushed into my brother's room at 2 a.m. and shook him. I could hardly talk. What the ... Eric ... where did you ... have you ...

    WHO THE HELL ARE THESE GUYS?

    I don't suppose I can vote more than once ...
     
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