Three Albums that Changed the Direction of Music

"Meet the Beatles" - Obvious reasons - changed everything

"Robert Johnson - King of the Delta Blues" - This 1961 Columbia 'compilation' of his 78s from the '30s Texas sessions was instrumental in launching the '60s blues movement... A big influence on the rolling stones and many others.

"Carole King's Tapestry" - Godmother album of the '70s soft rock songwriter movement. Many million selling albums followed.

 

Nice thread idea!

For me it would be;

- Sgt. Pepper, maybe not the first but definitely the most famous and influential concept album
- Thriller, back to back hits, great production, the definitive emergence of the king of pop
- Illmatic, changed lyricism in hip-hop for good, great beats and intricate wordplay, one of the few classic hip hop albums on the level of a rock, pop or jazz classic

 

The Velvet Underground & Nico - S/T

The Sex Pistols - Never Mind The Bollocks

Roxy Music - S/T

 

Elvis Presley (1956)
Are You Experienced
The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust...

 

The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan - first singer-songwriters album
Sgt. Pepper's.. Made album the medium
Led Zeppelin I - finished the single as an important medium (and I'm not sure that's a good thing).

 

Elvis - Sun Years
Velvet Underground & Nico
My Life in the Bush of Ghosts

and 4th place would go to Kraftwerk - Trans Europe Express.

 

The Beatles - Sgt Peppers
Marvin Gaye - What's Going On
Nirvana - Nevermind

And I only like one of those albums!

 

"Anarchy In The UK" plus the two following singles had already totally changed the landscape way before that album came out.

 

If just considering the "rock and roll era" (popular music since 1955), then I might nominate:

Elvis Presley: Elvis Presley 1956
Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band: The Beatles 1967
Are You Experienced?: The Jimi Hendrix Experience 1967

It's extremely hard to say that just three albums changed the direction of music over the last half century. Like most everything, change is always a group effort. Other albums could be rightfully added. Yet I find it hard to come up with another three that have been as pivotal, at large, in marking a shift, as the three above.

Three others that I could have easily added if truly considering signpost albums that initiated or even launched a significant change in style, genre or direction (even if just in retrospect):

The Freewheelin Bob Dylan
Love It To Death: Alice Cooper
Nevermind: Nirvana (A change I am not a fan of, yet a momentous shift is a momentous shift...)

 

Elvis Presley - Elvis Presley (1956)

Miles Davis - Bitches Brew (1970)

Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath (1970)


There's so many more out there.....

 

Meet the Beatles
John Mayall's Bluesbreakers with Eric Clapton
Hendrix-Are You Experienced?

 

Eno/Byrne - My Life in the Bush of Ghosts
VU - Velvet Underground & Nico
Ultravox - Systems of Romance
Throbbing Gristle - Jazz Funk Greats

Whoops - looks like someone already beat me to some of these. Just shows how influential they were....

 

One that hasn't been mentioned yet:

Run-DMC: Raising Hell

Or I guess one could argue their debut, but the "Walk This Way" cover was arguably rap's big breakthrough -- and certainly its biggest hit to that point.

 

Velvet Underground & Nico first and foremost,then,
Eno - Another Green World
John Cage - Sonatas and Interludes for Prepared Piano

 

please please me / Meet the Beatles ( depends on country of origin ) - obvious reasons
Rubber Soul ( UK version ) ask Brian Wilson even though that was the usa version
Sgt Pepper obvious reasons

Sorry to pick three Beatles albums, had i been allowed more than three I would have added Songs for Swinging Lovers, Elvis's first, Highway 61 Piper at the gates, DSOM and maybe Hunky Dory....

 

My top three have already been mentioned. These could be added to the conversation along with Fleetwood Mac's Rumours and Stevie Wonder's Talking Book.

 

VU & Nico
Sweetheart of the Rodeo
Hot Buttered Soul

..... among so many

 

Louis Prima - The Wildest
Raymond Scott - Soothing Sounds for Baby, Vols. 1-3.
Les Baxter - Ritual of the Savage

 

as far as the band, I think big pink had more impact than the brown album.

 

miles davis - kind of blue
Jefferson airplane-surrealistic pillow
fairport convention-liege and lief

 

Good call - Surrealistic Pillow

 

these probably didnt have as huge an impact as some of these others offered, but, they did change the way a lot of musicians played and thought about their instruments (at least for a little while)

Van Halen - this had a major impact on the hard rock guitar player community, good or bad

Ramones first album - same thing in the opposite direction. altho the sparse thing had already been done by multiple acts, nobody put it together with such sound and fury and simplicity like those guys. I'm not sure of the timing, but where I lived in the States, we got the Ramones first before the sex pistols. Might have been different where you lived.

I'm trying to think of what was the first mega-successful disco album, but I'm not sure what it was. Saturday Night Fever? Spirits Having Flown? I dunno but that changed things at least for a little while. A lot of rock bands in my area stopped playing rock, ditched the distortion, started playing clean funk sounding stuff.

 

Miles Davis - In A Silent Way Brian Eno has noted this as an inspiration for his ambient music. Could also be seen as a blueprint for fusion and even new age, but transcends them all.

Cocteau Twins - Treasure Shoegazing begins here. Often imitated but no one did it better.

Malcolm McLaren - Duck Rock Incorporated African pop before Paul Simon, appropriated scratching before Herbie Hancock, and the overall vibe anticipates world music crossovers like Deep Forrest.

 

I'm going to go a bit more modern...

Wu-Tang Clan - Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)
Radiohead- Kid A
Panda Bear - Person Pitch

 

Changed the direction of music? A picture is worth a thousand words. I'll leave it at that.