LP starter kit - Pick your best 10 records for a beginner

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by SJR, Sep 7, 2017.

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  1. SJR

    SJR Big Boss Man Thread Starter

    Hi, I'm new to the forum and to the wonderful world of vinyl and was wondering if you guys could recommend 10 records for someone starting out on the format (vinyl).
    For a bit of fun, which 10 LP's would you pick which sound better than on CD/digital format (and also look cool/ have great cover sleeves, inserts etc).
    I'm typically into classic 60's/70's Rock (Beatles, Dylan, Bowie, Kinks, VU, Tom Waits, Neil Young etc) and indie/alternative from 80's-now (Radiohead, National, Arcade Fire etc).
    I'm hopefully picking up my system at the w/end (Rega Planar 2, Rotel A12 Amp, Elac Debut B6 speakers).
    Please post your suggestions...
    Thanks
    SJR
     
    Last edited: Sep 7, 2017
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  2. lightbulb

    lightbulb Not the Brightest of the Bunch

    Location:
    Smogville CA USA
    I'd recommend the recent vinyl reissue of Neil Young's "Decade".
     
  3. landerstnkb

    landerstnkb Forum Resident

    Location:
    Massachusetts
    I'd say spend some dough and pick up The Mono Collection by The Kinks. Nine albums from their debut to Arthur and the greatest hits collection known as The Black Album. The set looks and sounds great!!
     
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  4. Disionity

    Disionity Forum Resident

    Location:
    Missouri, USA
    Awesome, man. Welcome to the club. Judging by your tastes these would be some good must-haves:

    Bob Dylan - Highway 61 Revisited; or Blonde on Blonde Mono edition

    Beatles - Revolver; or Sgt. Pepper Mono edition

    Radiohead - Kid A (try to get the recent 12" from the U.K. if you can)

    Any 70's Floyd record (DSOTM, WYWH, Animals, The Wall).

    Talking Heads - Remain in Light

    Nirvana - In Utero 45RPM remaster

    White Stripes - Icky Thump

    Also, I know you were looking for mostly rock stuff, but I think it's good to diversify your listening tastes so here's other suggestions:

    Van Morrison - Astral Weeks
    Nick Drake - Pink Moon
    Miles Davis - Kind of Blue
     
  5. landerstnkb

    landerstnkb Forum Resident

    Location:
    Massachusetts
    I was going to make the same suggestion:D
     
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  6. landerstnkb

    landerstnkb Forum Resident

    Location:
    Massachusetts
    You can't go wrong picking up Intervention Records recent Joe Jackson releases either. Look Sharp!, I'm The Man, and Night And Day all sound amazing!!
     
  7. SJR

    SJR Big Boss Man Thread Starter

    Cool, I've got them all on CD but as they're one of my favourites I'll check them out on vinyl.
     
  8. Big Swifty

    Big Swifty Forum Resident

    When I got back into vinyl around 10 years ago, I couldn't wait to hit the second hand vinyl shops in my area. Within a week or two, I had these records in my collection:

    The Beatles - Rubber Soul
    Neil Young - Harvest
    Steely Dan - Aja
    David Bowie - Hunky Dory
    Yes - Close To The Edge
    Blood, Sweat & Tears - s/t
    Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here
    Marvin Gaye - I Want You
    Van Halen - s/t
    Beach Boys - Friends

    These can be had for not much money and formed the basis of my ever-expanding collection.
     
  9. BroJB

    BroJB Large Marge sent me.

    Location:
    New Orleans
    I pulled out my 70's vintage vinyl of Ziggy Stardust last night and was blown away by how great it sounds. After years of mostly listening to it digitally, the big analog sound is overwhelming.

    I'm sure the reissue of it is great. But I can't imagine how it could better than the original.
     
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  10. weirdo12

    weirdo12 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Toronto
    Captian Fantastic and The Brown Dirt Cowboy - Elton John
     
  11. SJR

    SJR Big Boss Man Thread Starter

    Thanks, I'm a big fan of all those you've listed and have them on CD.
    I recently bought the big Sgt Pepper deluxe box set but also definitely want Revolver as its my fave. I also got the recent OK Computer box to go with my In Rainbows, King of Limbs and Moon Shaped Pool boxes (I bought them all before even owning a turntable! That's the collector in me). Love Dylan and have the complete Mono set on CD (those 2 being my favourites) and Floyd (who I guessed must sound amazing on record, so I'll pick up those too).

    I also like Van the Man (although only that album) and enjoy acoustic music like Nick Drake which I also have on CD. Not really been into jazz but something about listening on a turntable seems to make sense, lol!
     
  12. SJR

    SJR Big Boss Man Thread Starter

    Awesome! I've read good things about the 2012 remaster vinyl so will look at that. I recently got the 2 box sets on CD which sounded fine to me.
     
  13. Bananas&blow

    Bananas&blow It's just that demon life has got me in its sway

    Location:
    Pacific Beach, CA
    Congrats on the new system. Get those speakers placed well in the room and you have a fantastic starter system you could enjoy for many years to come. You are going to get a ridiculous amount of suggestions from this forum. I'll throw 10 at you though:

    Frank Zappa - Hot Rats
    Stones - Exile on Main St
    AC/DC - High Voltage
    Neil Young - On the Beach
    Paul Simon - There Goes Rhymin' Simon (an amazingly well recorded album.)
    Santana III or Abraxas, you can spend a lot on expensive re-issues or just buy the original LP's and be blown away.
    Rod Stewart - Never a Dull Moment (the funnest faces album that was spoken very highly of by our host)
    Iron Maiden - Piece of Mind
    Elton John - Tumbleweed Connection
    The Cars - Candy-O ( I used to laugh about the simple pop of the Cars. The I listened really closely and found the brilliance). All 3 of their first 3 albums sound amazing and have a lot to offer.

    Many classic Metal bands sound significantly better on vinyl than anything you can find on CD, especially the god awful re-issues:

    Van Halen
    Iron Maiden
    Judas Priest
    Metallica
    Rainbow

    Just to name a few.
     
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  14. SJR

    SJR Big Boss Man Thread Starter

    Great list! Thanks
     
  15. CraigBic

    CraigBic Forum Resident

    Location:
    New Zealand
    The Beach Boys Pet Sounds
    The Beatles Abbey Road
    The Beatles Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band Mono
    The Beatles The White Album Mono
    Bob Dylan Highway 61 Revisited
    Bob Dylan The Free Wheelin Bob Dylan
    Pink Floyd Darkside of the Moon
    Fleetwood Mac Rumours
    The Who Tommy
    David Bowie
    Blackstar

    It's not my best compiled list, I just thought this would be a good first 10 Albums.
     
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  16. SJR

    SJR Big Boss Man Thread Starter

    Thanks mate! It's exciting and overwhelming all at once. Great suggestions. I'm listening to On The Beach now, albeit through my laptop! I'm not a big metal head so I'd probably not venture down that road.
     
  17. Bananas&blow

    Bananas&blow It's just that demon life has got me in its sway

    Location:
    Pacific Beach, CA
    Fine, get the ZZ Top cinco box instead of metal! All 5 sound terrific and they are all great albums. If you want I can spend another $2,000 for you in a flash! Especially with the vinyl prices in Au.
     
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  18. tvstrategies

    tvstrategies Turtles, all the way down.

    Waiting for Columbus, Little Feat
    Lotus, Santana

    And when you need a break from rock, try the Brandenberg Concertos by the Collegium Aureum, RCA VICS-6023, double album from about 1962. You find the best stuff for next to nothing in the least expected places. I found this at the Seattle Public Library's annual book sale, for a dollar. Pristine - someone must have donated their classical music collection to the Library. 20 bucks went a long way that day.
     
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  19. alexpop

    alexpop Power pop + other bad habits....

    Dip into the forum search engine, a treasure trove on information related to your search interests.
    Have fun, post many.
     
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  20. David-Shea

    David-Shea Toastmaster General

    Location:
    Drake, ND
    1. The Beatles- Revolver
    2. The Rolling Stones- Let it Bleed
    3. Van Halen
    4. Jimi Hendrix- Band of Gypsys
    5. Faces- Long Player
    6. David Bowie- Station to Station
    7. KISS- Alive!
    8. Alice Cooper- Billion Dollar Babies
    9. The Who- Who's Next
    10. Peter Frampton- Comes Alive!
     
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  21. TLMusic

    TLMusic Musician & record collector

    Obviously a "Classic Rock" oriented list:



    The Beatles - Revolver (mono reissue)

    Radiohead - Kid A (original Parlophone or new U.K. reissue)

    Steely Dan - Aja (old US AB copy is the best, but all copies sound good and will show off your stereo)

    Fleetwood Mac - Rumours (Hoffman / Gray reissue)

    David Bowie - Ziggy Stardust (original UK is what you want, but the recent reissue will do nicely)

    Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon (if you stick around the Forum long enough, you'll end up with ten copies like the rest of us :))

    Neil Young - After the Gold Rush (original US Warner Brothers if possible)
    Beach Boys - Pet Sounds (AP stereo reissue, I know I said it :hide:)

    Yes - Fragile (AP Hoffman/ Gray reissue)

    Bob Dylan - Blonde on Blonde (yes, that MoFi is expensive, but very fine, if you happen to like Dylan...)




    Any vinyl copies will do of these tried and true albums. However, the versions I've listed are among the best if you want optimum sound quality, but might be expensive, especially in Australia. The descriptions might all sound like code, but I'll try to explain, if you're interested.
     
    Last edited: Sep 7, 2017
  22. Brian Lux

    Brian Lux One in the Crowd

    Location:
    Placerville, CA
    Welcome aboard, SJR!

    Several good suggestions here already so I won't add 10 but a few not mentioned yet you might like:

    Dinosaur Jr, You're Living All Over Me (Pre-break up) and Farm (Post-reunited).
    Pearl Jam, Yield
    The Replacements, Let it Be
     
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  23. SJR

    SJR Big Boss Man Thread Starter

    I'm definitely interested, thanks. I'm familiar with all (own on CD) barring Steely Dan and Yes.
     
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  24. BroJB

    BroJB Large Marge sent me.

    Location:
    New Orleans
    Since every collection needs some rawness, here are some punk & garage gems to own:

    The Sonics - Boom!
    The Sex Pistols - Bollocks
    The Clash - first LP
    The Stooges - any of the first three
    The Modern Lovers
    MC5 - Kick Out the Jams
    NY Dolls - first LP
    Television - Marquee Moon
    Rocket From the Crypt - Scream, Dracula Scream
    Bad Brains - first LP
    Heartbreakers - LAMF
    Ramones - Get all the first 3
    Buzzcocks - Singles Going Steady
    Damned - Damned, Damned, Damned
    Rancid - ...and Out Come the Wolves

    And play 'em loud.
     
  25. weirdo12

    weirdo12 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Toronto
    Stuff that not crazy hard to find that sounds good too:

    Nils Lofgren - Nils Lofgren
    Rickie Lee Jones - Rickie Lee Jones
    Jackson Browne - Late For Sky
    Grateful Dead - American Beauty
    Carol King - Tapestry
    Muddy Waters - Folk Singer
    Fleetwood Mac - Rumours
    Ted Nugent - Ted Nugent
    Neil Young - Comes A Time
    Albert King - Born Under A Bad Sign
     
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