Classic Rock 101
As requested by woink, here's a list of 20 albums to provide a crash course in pre-1989 rock. I'm sure there are albums I've left off here (if they are by the doors or stones, it's intentional) and unfortunately it's impossible to create a list like this without including greatest hits albums. I've tried to provide a mix of early and late, rock and
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b: Yes, I guess I understand this.
c: I think especially in the tumultuous time period that this list encompasses you can't rely on Greatest Hits to illustrate the influence a particular artist has on his/her surroundings. What makes so many of these albums and artists so good, is that they all (more than any generation) wrote music that was influenced and in turn influenced the world. Take the white album for instance. Songs like USSR/Revolution/Helter Skelter? reflect the craziness of the late sixties...something that is totally lost when they are played along side a "Love me do" or a "Hold you hand" or a "Pinket-Smith" on an album like "1". Yeah sure "1" gives us a broad spectrum of time but it completely strips a song and the band of meaning. The context in which albums (especially in this time period) are made brings so much to the music and the artists. Anyway, you've heard my spiel. Obviously doing a list like this is difficult/impossible because people will always disagree...thats what makes them good, the discussion. I'm not arguing those bands should be off the list!! All I'm saying is that if you specify that you're going to 25 albums, why not leave off greatest hits, we can tune into ZLX for those.
d: I own one. In my defense its been relegated to the archives along with the prized Rembrandts. Anyway, I'm not saying they're a bad thing, you just can't use them as a proper gauge on a particular band, or its influence on a time period. And the mere fact that there are three proves that they are ridiculous!!
btw, using "seminal" boosts the cred factor to this list like 1000% :)
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I could have sworn you owned "Classics Live I", "Classics Live II", and "Big Ones".
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also for the record, i'm not planning to listen to any greatest hits albums. i was at the record store monday evening and was suddenly unprepared to choose between "A Night at the Opera" ($18), "A Night at the Opera" with bonus 5.1 surround remastered dvd audio ($25), and a Queen greatest hits (I, II, and III) compilation ($30 or so).
i very reluctantly went with the single album that included the bonus dvd, but i've been listening to it non stop... mind blowing is an understatement. and there's definitely fantastic stuff on it that i would have missed by going with the greatest hits album. we've had this conversation before, and i'm also a big believer in attempting to get the album experience whenever possible. (as a side note, the surround mix has to be heard to be believed, so that was well worth it to me)
'crash course' does imply that things are going to be skipped in the interest of providing a better general base... but considering i'm basically starting from zero, i feel like i'm also in a good position to take on entirely unknown albums one at a time and process them as a whole new beast. and i know i'll appreciate them (and subsequently their more popular tracks) a hell of a lot more that way.
to that end, when i first suggested this i was definitely envisioning a list of literally like 50 or more albums (albums) that i could wade through. it's a tall order, and i didnt expect to see a list in a day or two... but i think between the three of you and elemenoh (and a couple of people here at work) i'm getting a really good catalogue to run through. i'm going to try and buy 1 album every week or 2. i'm looking at elton john for next week.
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I'll start over.
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