Objectively, what do you think is the best album of all time?

I couldn't answer for certain, there's very many contenders, but Highway 61 Revisited always springs to mind when I get asked what my favourite album is.

 

John Coltrane - A Love Supreme (1965)

 

I've just looked at the tracklist on Discogs, it's nowhere near as great as it should be!

 

The Triffids/Born Sandy Devotional.

Seriously!

 

I agree with DSOTM and WYWH.

For me there are three....

Aja - Steely Dan
Layla - Derek and the Dominos
Led Zeppelin II

But if I had to pick one of those it would have to be Aja.

 

It is not even really my style of music but it is hard not to say it isn't this Album. Perfect concept, perfect arrangements and the Voice at the peak of his powers. Arguably the first "concept album" as opposed to a collection of songs. Released April 1955:

 

Darn!. Well I took a punt on a cheap joke. Should have payed more.

 

Revolver.
Masterful, progressive songwriting - stuffed with melody and invention.
Technically, a watershed moment.
Eclectic in scope.
Beautifully sung.
Great ensemble work.
Dynamite artwork.
Reveals the strengths of each member while being greater than the parts.
Accessible without being obvious.

Just a staggering work of art.

 

May seem obnoxious, but it touches on so many styles and feels in its 40 minutes that it can't help but touch on whatever your favorite late 60's and early 70's album does, and also what it doesn't do. Beatles + Stones + Pink Floyd + a touch of Led: psych songs, pop songs, chill songs, rockers, mini-suites, expansive epics, jazz inflections, drum solos, some of the best guitar tone ever, great singing by multiple people, fantastic lyrics and a compelling concept runs through it all. According to David Gilmour it inspired Dark Side of the Moon, and so in a way OK Computer as well which "borrows" a section of In the Square for the "What's that?" section of Paranoid Android.

 

Aside from the troll answers, I see some decent candidates being listed. Clearly it's difficult even for one person to narrow their choice down to one, so you'd expect a lot of apparent disagreement, but I think it's possible for his thread to come up with a legitimate shortlist.

For me the word best is liberating because we're not looking for greatest, where high profile & influence have to be considered. Best is an assessment of merit alone. I think OK Computer should be in the discussion.

 

Any such exercise is by its very nature somewhat subjective, and so taking into account my love of basic rock 'n' roll of the 'rootsier' type - that also pulls into the fold all the disparate threads of American music that formed it to realize a colossal but at the same time amazingly coherent and cohesive whole, I can't go with anything other than Exile On Main Street.

 

There's getting away from it now, you think the best album of all time includes Nickelback and Razorlight!

 

I love Coltrane but simply don't get the love for this album. Hartman sounds like one of those easy forgettable club singers (a bit like when Earl Coleman did those tracks with Charlie Parker)

 

Why use the word "objectively", when there are a billion tastes and a million styles? Anyone tells me that such-and-such is "objectively" the best album of all time, I run for the hills, laughing.

But here, I find it odd that you pick Hounds of Love "objectively", even though you posted just earlier that The Ninth Wave from that very record is your "favorite conceptual piece."

 

Forever Changes, nosing out Marquee Moon.

 

sgt peppers lonely hearts club band - changed rock and roll forever and is as good today as it was then.

timeless.

 

Yeah, definitely. The OP said I didn't have to like it.

 

Yeah...but do you like it ?

 

Objectively: Pink Floyd Dark Side Of The Moon
Subjectively: Weezer The Blue Album

 

I'm the second to nominate "Kind Of Blue". Yay!

A complete game changer and massively influential, critically acclaimed and commercially successful album. For rock fans who only have one jazz album, it's usually the one of choice. How many albums in other genres can stake that claim?

 

See post #3 in this thread. Someone beat you to it

 

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