Classic albums you completely missed.

[Woodinblack]

I have had that a lot recently after joining a band that plays motown and 50s-60s stuff,  (and started a thread about it) and I know very little of it, so when they say 'don't worry its a standard', it is stuff I really don't know. And in a way that is nice as not only do I discover new things, I discover it by playing it. Luckily most of it is easy enough to wing. In fact there is a lot of stuff I know in the last few years from playing in cover bands that I never heard before, some good and some not so good (and some, like oasis, that I wont do).

Most rock based stuff from the 70s onwards I have heard though, I was always around groups of people who liked rock music, so pretty well all 80s rock and a lot of 70s rock where it was something a friend of mine liked. Strangely not the Stones and Who, I never knew anyone who listened to that sort of stuff, was considered old stuff (even though most people like zepplin etc) and a lot of american stuff that didn't really feature like springsteen or grateful dead. So those listed groups I would have never heard a whole album and only recognise 'hit' songs (apart from grateful dead - wouldn't recognise anything from them).

[Barking Spiders]

For me it's easier to name classic rock and pop albums I do have some time for though they're few and far between. From the 60s on the only ones I like are some 70s Elton John, Bowie's Station to Scary period, S & G's Bridge Over, Graceland and err that's all I can think of right now. All that rawk stuff does nowt for me. After hearing Kraftwerk's Autobahn for the first time when I was about 12 in the early 80s , it made electric guitar led music sound pretty prehistoric to my ears. However, I still have  most of the hip hop, funk and electronica albums in the 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.

[Count Bassy]

2 hours ago, PaulWarning said:

one mans classic album is another mans "nah, not my cup of tea"

I'm not sure about this. There are some albums out there that I think most people would acknowledge as a classic, whether they personally like it or not. eg: Sargeant Peppers, Transformer.

I guess it depends what you call a classic album, perhaps I'm thinking Iconic rather than classic.

[BigRedX]

A lot of "classic" albums from the 60s and 70s are one or two great songs (which were invariably released as singles) and a lot of self-indulgent blues-based drivel. And a lot of it IMO hasn't aged very well. By all means acknowledge the individual classic songs, but don't label an album as "classic" when at least half of it is filler.

[Skinnyman]

I was pretty much a musical snob until I turned fifty and actually learned to play an instrument. Up to that point my musical tastes ended around 1977 and were heavily prog and folk influenced. I studiously avoided anything American, metal, punk, funk, pop or disco - and generally any song less than twenty minutes long. Learning to play an instrument and joining a band made me open my ears to a lot of classic albums I'd missed first time round and I'm now listening to things I would have burned thirty years ago.

I shudder at the memory of being such an opinionated kn@b for all those years (still a kn@b, mind, just with fewer entrenched opinions).

I wish I'd had a teacher like Muzz's....

[dmccombe7]

Was never a big Zep fan back in the day but got to like them as i got older.

There are some bands i didn't buy specific albums but went for their greatest hits the Stones being a prime example.

Have most of what i regard as classic albums or at least something from a classic band.

Zep, Deep Purple, Rainbow, Rush, Sabbath, Dio, Maiden, Genesis, Floyd, Simon & Garfunkel, Allman Bros, Doobies, the list goes on and on but the topic is a bit subjective with regards what you believe is a classic band or album.

Dave

 

[lozkerr]

14 hours ago, Frank Blank said:

I found the ‘1001 albums you must listen to before you die’ list. Began working my way through but got bored 😐. I’d heard a fraction of the albums I managed to get through, I’m quite proud of that!

I've got 34 of those albums, some of which I've only listened to once or twice and most of which I missed the first time around. The only one I feel I did miss out on is Parallel Lines.

[lozkerr]

2 hours ago, Count Bassy said:

I guess it depends what you call a classic album, perhaps I'm thinking Iconic rather than classic.

I think you've nailed it. If you did a poll of random people and asked them to name a 'classic' punk album, I would expect most of them to name Never Mind The Bollocks. Or Dark Side Of The Moon if you asked about concept albums, Sergeant Pepper if you asked for a Beatles album, and so on. They might not necessarily be musically the best, but they're the ones people remember.

[PaulWarning]

47 minutes ago, lozkerr said:

I think you've nailed it. If you did a poll of random people and asked them to name a 'classic' punk album, I would expect most of them to name Never Mind The Bollocks. Or Dark Side Of The Moon if you asked about concept albums, Sergeant Pepper if you asked for a Beatles album, and so on. They might not necessarily be musically the best, but they're the ones people remember.

yep, bands 'classic albums' are perhaps the most accessible for non fans, i.e. Sgt Pepper and the Clash's London Calling for instance.

I thought Dark Side of the Moon was drivel along with Tubular Bells, but hey, can't argue that they're classic albums, wouldn't do for us all to like the same thing would it?

[Barking Spiders]

47 minutes ago, BigRedX said:

A lot of "classic" albums from the 60s and 70s are one or two great songs (which were invariably released as singles) and a lot of self-indulgent blues-based drivel. And a lot of it IMO hasn't aged very well. By all means acknowledge the individual classic songs, but don't label an album as "classic" when at least half of it is filler.

Yep, I've heard a good number of so-called great rock albums by big names. Most have some songs I can appreciate if not actually like but which clearly also have too much mediocre content to make them truly great. I'm thinking Led Zep 4 and Sgt Pepper for starters.  Can even the most diehard Beatles fan think stuff like Fixing A Hole, Getting Better, When I'm 64, Lovely Rita and Good Morning are anything but disposable mediocre pop ditties?

[Bob Lord]

Exile On Main Street. And when I finally heard it, it wasn't what I expected. A badly produced, rambling mess, albeit with an amazing atmosphere and a real sense of what the Stones were all about at that weird point in the late 60s early 70s

Never listened to any full album by Rush, Yes or Peter Gabriel era Genesis. God knows, I've tried. I just can't get through them

Never heard a Deep Purple or Black Sabbath album all the way through either. Am not proud of it tho

Edited January 4, 2019 by Bob Lord

[spongebob]

Most 'classic' albums pass me by. Just associate them with the never-ending polls in Mojo magazine. Sure, there's maybe a few, but.....

If I saw someone's record collection filled with such records, I would immediately jump the conclusion that they have zero imagination, and are just listening to what they think they should be.

No offence....! 🤐

[Powertripper]

I keep encountering 'classic' albums. As a millennial mostly interested in the music of the 70's the guidelines for a so-called 'classic album' are a bit loose, what defines it? How well it sold, or how culturally significant it was?

[Guest oZZma]

37 minutes ago, spongebob said:

Most 'classic' albums pass me by. Just associate them with the never-ending polls in Mojo magazine. Sure, there's maybe a few, but.....

If I saw someone's record collection filled with such records, I would immediately jump the conclusion that they have zero imagination, and are just listening to what they think they should be.

No offence....! 🤐

Same here.

[Dad3353]

12 hours ago, AdrianP said:

I've never listened to a Grateful Dead album. In fact I've never knowingly listened to a Grateful Dead song nor could I even name one of their songs or albums. Their entire musical output has utterly passed me by.

Edit: The Allman Brothers are another band like that. Never listened to anything they've ever done. Up until recently, I didn't even know that the Top Gear theme was one of their tracks. I'd always assumed it was a Ronnie Hazlehurst jungle or something.

Here you go; enjoy...

 

[thepurpleblob]

I'd just like to add... my musical tastes widened a hell of a lot after I started playing in covers bands.... playing all sorts of stuff I thought I didn't like 😛

Edited January 4, 2019 by thepurpleblob

[FinnDave]

4 minutes ago, thepurpleblob said:

I'd just like to add... my musical tastes widened a hell of a lot after I started playing in covers bands.... playing all sorts of stuff I thought I didn't like 😛

I think the same experience had the opposite effect on me - I discovered all sorts of music I never knew I disliked!

[thepurpleblob]

1 minute ago, FinnDave said:

I think the same experience had the opposite effect on me - I discovered all sorts of music I never knew I disliked!

...that too 🤣

Stevie Wonder is mostly dreadful - who knew 😯

[AndyTravis]

Just now, thepurpleblob said:

 

Stevie Wonder is mostly dreadful - who knew 😯

I was only saying to Mrs T the other day how delightful his best is and how utterly shite the rest is.

[arthurhenry]

9 hours ago, lozkerr said:

I've got 34 of those albums, some of which I've only listened to once or twice and most of which I missed the first time around. The only one I feel I did miss out on is Parallel Lines.

To my surprise I've got 68 of them, including 3 from the 90s and 0 from the 2000s. Although talk of physically owning albums is apparently old fashioned.

[lozkerr]

33 minutes ago, arthurhenry said:

Although talk of physically owning albums is apparently old fashioned.

I'm happy to be old-fashioned in that respect; when something is pulled from Spotify or YouTube, I still have it to hand. There's a certain satisfaction in knowing that my music collection isn't subject to the whims of some faceless American data hoover. I like to think of it as sticking it to The Man, 21st century style 😊

[Ricky 4000]

34 minutes ago, Powertripper said:

I keep encountering 'classic' albums. As a millennial mostly interested in the music of the 70's the guidelines for a so-called 'classic album' are a bit loose, what defines it? How well it sold, or how culturally significant it was?

Yeah, significance, influence, public / critical / peer acclaim ... sales often comes into it for obvious reasons, but not always... I don't think 'The Velvet Underground and Nico' sold well at the time, although it is some critic's #1.

If you're interested in "album culture", a quick google of 'what makes a classic album' would net you far better results from salivating muso gernos than I could give you. 😁

I hope the above doesn't seem like a condescending reply - because it isn't meant to be. 👍

[Woodinblack]

 

2 hours ago, arthurhenry said:

Although talk of physically owning albums is apparently old fashioned.

It is. Although I have bought 3 albums in the last 3 days. One because of a post on here!

[Dad3353]

29 minutes ago, Woodinblack said:

It is. Although I have bought 3 albums in the last 3 days. One because of a post on here!

Indeed; the last albums I bought were, in fact, recorded by BC members, and jolly good they are, too..! Thanks again, Pinball..! 

[dmccombe7]

11 hours ago, FinnDave said:

I think the same experience had the opposite effect on me - I discovered all sorts of music I never knew I disliked!

I'd never heard The Grateful Dead until you joined a tribute and posted a track of theirs while back. Surprised me how good they were. I knew off them but hadn't actually listened to them for some strange reason. I'll blame you Dave.