# *Your favourite record and what it means to you!



## editor (Jul 11, 2002)

*Your favourite record and what it means to you!*

Here's a chance for you aspiring writers to get your words onto urban75 and be seen by an audience of millions!

List one album that you couldn't live without and then write a short piece (around 500 words) to tell the world what it means to you and why it's so precious.

It might be an album that you cried to, danced to, laughed to, made fantastic luuurve to, or simply a record that continues to light up your life. 

It doesn't matter if it's as trendy as the latest Hoxton remix album or a long-loved Bucks Fizz singalong: I want passion and soul, not trendiness!

The best responses will be posted up on urban75 'proper' in a new feature called - surprisingly enough - My Best Album: Ever!

Please post your contributions here and as soon as there's enough good entries, I'll start posting them up in the main site.

*Please note:* : this thread is *only*  for posting up your contributions and any debate/off topic ramblings will be deleted. Please only write about *one*  album at a time.

If you feel passionate about several albums, you are welcome to post up as many entries as you like.

So what are you waiting for? Fame and glory awaits you!


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## chieftain (Jul 11, 2002)

Galliano

In pursuit of the thirteenth note

“Lick, roll tear and then they crease, they make each joint a bit of a masterpiece!”

It’s the only Galliano record I’ve ever liked and they never surpassed it which is a shame really considering how much I like it but boy I’m glad they got this one so right!

It started when I was about 19 years of age. I stumbled across the excellent smoking themes of this album by chance in a strangers car as I was transported from a rave to a house in a self induced fragile mental state by some new mates I had meet during the night of a Freedom party in east London. As I sat smoking with my new spars we listened to the music and lyrics coming from this hissing C90 cassette tape. In particular “stoned again” and “five sons of the mother” hit the spot and would not leave me, blocking out even the thumping baselines that had been carved on to my eardrums from the previous night. It was a record I had to have!

From that day on after a good search through a few Hertfordshire record shops a copy of the Album was purchased, taped (the vinyl dashed for safe keeping) and introduced as a smoking soundtrack for me and my teenage friends as we partied, played and amongst other things generally smoked our way to our early twenties.
During this time before we had places to toke we used to go out in to the country side and park up in any secluded spots for a good weed smoking session, this is when the music really came into its own and provided a soundtrack which both warmed and lit up the dark and empty surrounding’s of the middle of nowhere on a winters night and added chill to the sunsets and well being of the long summer evenings which always followed. 

I think I can honestly say I have listened to this at least one of if not all the tracks on this recording on every imaginable type of music player be it tape or record deck, walkman CD player or car stereo, home midi system or party sound system and it always soothed me no matter where or when that may have been.

Well after a good decade of taking a weed smoke everyday and what with me nearing the thirty mark I no longer smoke green or party so much but I do still at certain times put on Galliano’s “In pursuit of the thirteenth note” to remind myself of the mellow times and friendships I have had whilst also providing a point of reference for the future. 

In short the record makes me laugh, think, sing and always provides a leveller from which to plan my next move safe in the knowledge that no matter what I will always have some fine memories and the “five sons of the mother to keep me safe from harm”. 

500 words by chieftain


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## ck (Jul 11, 2002)

"Soul II Soul" : "Club Classics Vol. One"

I bought the album on tape for my Dad way back in May of 1989 when I still lived in Scotland.  I don't think he ever heard it back then as I was constantly paying it , I loved it so much.

I moved down to London in August of that year and it seemed to be the soundtrack of the summer.  And , what a summer it was ; hot , hot , hot !

It seemed to be that pirate radio station was happening in a big way , and with the likes of "Centreforce" frequently playing tunes from the album , it was never far away from my mind.

Since then , I have heard the album (or "LP" as they used to be known as kids) umpteen million times and I still can't get enough of it.

As with many first albums , there has been nothing from Soul II Soul since which has even touched the sides but I have since bought it on every possible format.

Since my Dad passed away , the album has taken on another special meaning and it would be the one I took away with me on that desert island.

(Bloody cruel question though Mike ; there are many other albums which I love so much , but this has to be the one...)


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## Blagsta (Jul 11, 2002)

shouldn't this be in the music forum?


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## bluestreak (Jul 11, 2002)

*in 499 words...*

Pop Will Eat Itself – This Is The Day… This Is The Hour… This Is This!

Being as Nirvana’s Nevermind is too obvious and the Manics’ The Holy Bible would show everyone just what sort of teenager I was I’ve decided to sing the praises of the first record that got me there… (blue thumps his chest manfully).

As a child I used to listen to the chart rundown on the radio all the time, and used to record tracks off it to make my own little mix tapes full of whatever pop dross was around at the time, with the occasional bit of hair metal thrown in cos Def Leppard had charted that week or something.  Then one week I heard it… PWEI’s ‘Can U Dig It?’  One week on the chart at number 38 but I was hooked.  That riff, those cartoony samples, a transformers reference.  I listened to that song time and time again, rewinding the tape and listening again until it wore out.  What did you do?  Well, I saved my pocket money until I could rush to Our Price in Ilford High Road and buy that lovely piece of vinyl that I’d been staring at for weeks.  It was every bit as good as I’d imagine, and looking at it now, battered and long-suffering, I have no regrets.  Without this I’d probably have never got into good music.  It rocked (‘Def Con One’), it rapped (‘Preaching To The Perverted’), it sampled movies I’d only heard of (Bladerunner in ‘Wake up! Time To Die… ‘, and The Warriors in ‘Can U Dig It?’) and movies I knew and loved (Transformers The Movie in ‘Shortwave Transmission on “Up To The Minuteman Nine”!’).  I mean, what could I not love.  It had a song about James Brown running from the police (‘Not Now James, We’re Busy), a song about being chained up and screwed (‘Satellite Ecstatica’) and lots of drug references.  I felt like the most dangerous kid at school, no-one else had ever heard of them and I didn’t care.  It was 1989, I was eleven, no-one liked me and I didn’t care cos I had PWEI on the stereo and had taken the first steps towards enlightenment.  Ten years later to commemorate the event I got myself a PWEI tattoo.  No regrets, no way.  This band were light years ahead of their time.  They made pop punk records in 87 that sound like nu-punk does today, they invented nu-metal in 94 and destroyed it again in 95.  But this record stands out as their legacy.  It was as obtuse as possible, packed with samples and references, shunning the pop tendencies of previous releases whilst avoiding the unlistenable aspects of the industrial scene which they were blatantly ripping off at times.  As far as I’m concerned this was one of the defining moments in my cultural life, it influenced everything the young Bluestreak did.  Nothing affected me as much until Nevermind.  You need to hear this record.


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## Citizen66 (Jul 13, 2002)

In Gorbechev we trust - The Shamen.

I defy any man woman or beast to take a potent amount of halucinogenics with this playing on the stereo and not come out the other end a changed person.


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## Red Alex (Jul 13, 2002)

*god know how words this is but....*

The album that changed my musical outlook was Rage Against the Machine and the self titled first album.  I bought it last year and it just blew my mind.  Before that I was a shoe gazing indie boy whose record collection consisted of Oasis and Cast etc.  But when I bought this my mind opened to both hip hop, hard rock and punk.  The way they combine the three genres is just ace, the standout track Killing in the name of is truly a revelation which just rips yer balls off when you hear it for the first time and what a great line "fuck you won't do what you told me" is.  Zack De La Rocha's vocals are just great the way he can flip from rap to hard rock screaming in the same song is just great.  Unlike many of the later rap metal dickheads, Rage carry off a combination of genres to great effect underpinned by some truly amazing bass playing (as a crap bass player i can appreciate that) and the guitar work of Tom Morello whose work is up there with Page, Gilmour, Clapton etc as one of the great guitarists.  Another reason why this album stands out is the raw passion behind it.  When zack sings its like a blast of energy because you can tell he means it unlike the fred durst's of this world who just whine and pocket the cash of twelve year olds.  Probably the best album they ever did and one of the greatest ever.

Alex


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## TinyCrendon (Jul 15, 2002)

<horrendously patronising voice> Look for God's sake I'm a pro...get out of my way YOU BLOODY AMATEURS...this is how a top journo to the stars does it.

Change - Miracles
Vis is da best fingy long player eva coz its nice and dancey and welll ahed of itz time (1981) and has lots of nice tracks on it and was made by these two italian homo blokes who is now dead but still well the funky groundbreakers and Luther Vandross and Fonzi Fornton and Diva Gray and Jocelyn Shaw (chic/luther vandross) did sung on it and Heaven of My life is really fuckinge great all da tracks are good. Change are the best band ever in hiostroy.


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## rubbershoes (Jul 15, 2002)

You clearly plagairised that, Adam. It's more erudite than we expect from you.


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## Wolfie (Jul 15, 2002)

Velvet Underground - White Light White Heat.
I had my school tie, cap and blazer stuffed in my satchel. The grey flannel trousers and white nylon shirt gave the game away though - I was skiving off school. I was in the town's only record shop leafing through the LPs when I spotted one with black printing on a black background. I was a teenager - what could be more appealing? This was the days when record shops had listening booths, like the telephone "acousti-booths" on railway stations but made out of hardboard. So I asked to listen to the record.
I had never heard anything like it. What an amazing noise. Crunching screaming angry mysterious. With lyrics about getting your brain messed up. A story about someone who ends up with a a big pair of cutters through their skull. And a 17 minute song about a drug fuelled orgy with sailors. 
I was never the same again. I came out of that booth a changed person. In my memory I went straight home, died all my clothes black and left home the next day. I think it probably took a little longer than that but the effect was profound and permanent. This record changed my life although I haven't manage to find a drug fuelled orgy with sailors yet, I still live in hope ...


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## inflatable jesus (Jul 16, 2002)

*Incesticide by Nirvana*

All of my favourite pieces of music are only my favourites because I associate them with things. Summer, by Mogwai. I associate that with my girlfriend because I told her to download it when we first began our fledgling internet romance. Born Slippy is the sound of being pilled out of my mind, in a club at 4am, waiting for that comedown to hit. 

Incesticide by Nirvana always reminds me of my early teenage years. I discovered Nirvana when I was 14. And I fell in love.

I still can't put my finger on what it was that appealed to me so much. Maybe it was because it was different from everything else that I had heard on the radio. As my parents may or may not have commented - It wasn't music, it was just noise.

The again, maybe it was Kurt Cobain's lyrics. He had that spectacular ability to articulate the thoughts and feelings of millions of angsty, pouting teenagers. To say all the things that you wish you could. His lyrics were clever, funny, and crucially; He made being angry cool. What teenager could resist that?

I listened to my Incesticide/Bleach tape constantly on my walkman. It accompanied me wherever I went. Tearing along the streets on my skateboard, getting involved in hopeless teenage romances. At school I would conceal my headphones in my shirt sleeve so that I could listen to Nirvana in class. I imagined that Kurt Cobain would be proud of my petty acts of rebellion.

Despite my best attempts, I didn't grow up to be Kurt Cobain. I’m not a famous singer in a band. I think my teenage self would probably be dissapointed about that. But perhaps he would be encouraged by the fact that I still occasionally dig out that same bleach / incesticde tape and practice pouting in my mirror.


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## Silicon (Jul 17, 2002)

'Quadrophenia' - The Who

As adolescence dragged me kicking, screaming and crying into adulthood, 'Quadrophenia' provided the only music that knew how to stoke my rage; music and lyrics that I clung to like a frightened cub clinging tightly to it's mother. This music pierced my conscience, it screamed at me, told me to run away, run as fast as I could from the depression, loneliness and confusion that had suddenly snatched me from my idylic childhood.

How vividly I remember those tearful summer evenings, when I would sneak out of my parents house and wander for miles, clutching my stolen bottle of vodka, my precious personal stereo, and my beloved 'Quadrophenia' tape. Where I went and who I met I would never truly know. 

Fuelled by the neat vodka, I would run around in the dark, crying at strangers, weeping under bridges, trying so hard to understand the confusion and misery that had taken me prisoner, often crashing flat on my face on the hard pavement. But always with Pete Townshend's lyrics and dazzling guitar riffs spinning and thudding through my brain.


"L-o-o-o-v-e, rain on me, rain on me?"


How I ever got home I'll never know. I remember waking up in the mornings, I remember the vomit, the blood, the vodka-burnt lips, the shaking and the pounding headaches that would last for days. I remember the stomach churning guilt when lying to my mother about where I'd been. 


"Can you see the r-e-a-l me-e-e-e, mother? Mother!!!?"


Maybe I identified with the film, maybe just the lyrics; I just didn't know anything anymore. Except that this album 'cared' for me, the music _understood _ me and what I was going through. My bedroom in those days was usually thick with the odour of sleep, loneliness and dead tears, but always filled with the tinny, bashing sound of my personal stereo at full volume, spilling those beautiful, hard songs into my head, one after the other, over and over and over again.


"I went back to my mother, I said, 'I'm crazy ma, help me!'
She said, 'I know how you feel, 'Cos it runs in the family.'"


I was lost in that nasty little vodka-sluiced gutter for a number of years; adrft, directionless, and dangerously lonely. Listening to those same songs today makes me want to forget my early adulthood, not remember it. Yet without them I know things would have been much worse. So I would just like to say, "thanks, Pete". Thanks for being by my side when I was alone and when I needed you most. God bless.


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## pk (Jul 19, 2002)

*Excellent choices above, esp. Citizen and Adam*

I think music is so subjective to circumstance - who you are and where you were at a particular time, how you felt whilst melody played in the background - but the one album that never fails to haunt my very soul is an album by a girl called Angela Conway, released under the name A.C.MARIAS on Mute records.

The name of the album is called "One Of Our Girls (Has Gone Missing)"

Part of the immediate charm of this album for me is that when I first heard it, the sound was far more distant than intended, as I had only got a copy of it from a friend on an old cassette tape (this was 1989) and it was a poor recording indeed.
The dynamics of the LP are such that there are sections of quiet calm reflection, which on an old analog tape just sound like a hiss.

The first thing to tell you about it is that it was produced by the people who brought you by the people who created Wire, and assisted by Barry Adamson.
It also includes a cover of the track "Time Was" by Canned Heat.

The sound of this album is like nothing else you have ever heard.
Think the Cocteau Twins, then add some twisted orchestration, a spy thriller, and a lost little girl and you get the picture.
The instrumentation is reflective of the relatively early use of sampling, there are slightly awkward loops, and guitar stabs, that have obviously been processed by some rudimentary equipment but this all adds to the LP's brutal magic.
Every single track is something special, often playful and innocent, and at other times wilful and sinister.

The lyric is of lost love, or new love, the childlike fascination of romance, simple pleasures in simple surroundings. Throughout the album there is Angela's voice, reminding the listener that there are yet secrets in love.

It is to me an early style of post-dance chill-out music similar in many ways to Portishead, but instead of hip-hop breaks scratched, there are less derivative sounds that bind the rhythm together.

In my mind I am in the ruins of a castle, or a Scottish loch, kissing a beautiful woman whilst the Earth stands still, whenever I hear the slower tracks, and on a colourful street in West London, chatting to friends in the almost hysterical throes of an acid trip whenever I hear the more upbeat tracks.

I love this album, not least because I spent eight years trying to find it - because my friend had written "Ace Maria" on the old cassette in error.

So it was treasure lost and found.

Thank you Angela Conway.


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## Voley (Jul 20, 2002)

*'Never Mind The Bollocks Here's The Sex Pistols'* 

I was 13 when I first heard ‘Never Mind The Bollocks’. Previously, my musical tastes had stretched to Adam And The Ants and The Police, both pretty mainstream but with punky roots. I'd seen the Ants live and had been totally blown away by the live experience, the barrage of sound, the screaming girls, the crowd surges. I was into rock ‘n’ roll. But even then I knew there was something better out there.

It was my uncle that recognised this, lending me 'Never Mind The Bollocks'. It had an immediate effect on me. As soon as I heard the jackboot drumming and Steve Jones’ sheet metal chords at the beginning of 'Holidays In The Sun' I knew this was what I'd been looking for. The hairs stood up on the back of my neck, goosepimples broke out all over my arms and a shiver that felt like a fucking glacier ran right down my spine.

Then this whiney, pissed-off sounding fella started singing about ‘a cheap holiday in other people’s misery’ and it happened all over again. I wouldn't feel this way again until a good few years later when I realised I was finally gonna get a shag.

Listening to The Sex Pistols for the first time was an awe-inspiring experience for me: the urge to leap around my bedroom, splintering furniture and destroying everything in my wake was almost uncontrollable. I listened to that opening track over and over, not daring to listen to the rest in case it was disappointing. It wasn't: the next song was 'Bodies' and it was hair-on-end, glacial-shiver time again. And I hadn't even got to 'Pretty Vacant' or 'Anarchy In The UK' yet.

The amount of rampant profanity was very important to a 13 year old lad, too. I was brought up in a hippy household where the odd 'fuck' or 'bollocks' was acceptable, as was smoking dope, taking the occasional day off school and generally doing whatever the hell you felt like. Creativity was positively encouraged, but only if it conformed to a liberal, hippy doctrine. It's quite hard to rebel in those circumstances but The Pistols gave me an outlet. Sticking 'God Save The Queen' on at top volume tested the limits of my parents’ tolerance in ways I'd never before dreamed possible. My folks couldn't relate to it, no matter how hard they tried. Watching my Mum's arsehole of a partner pretend to tap his foot along to 'No Feelings' and watching him squirm at the lyrics to 'Bodies' was heavenly. I once caught him listening to Eric Clapton and quoted my favourite line from 'New York' at him: "You're condemned to eternal bullshit." Wondrous.

When you're 13 years old and bored, this is what you want to shout at the top of your voice:

Don't be told what you want 
Don't be told what you need. 
There's no future 
There's no future 
There's no future for you.

I fucking love the Sex Pistols. I mean it maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan.

There'd be a gap of another 6 or 7 years before I heard another album that would have such a profound effect on me. It had the words 'NeverMind' in the title, too. But I’ll leave that one for someone else…


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## wiskey (Jul 23, 2002)

*Paul Simon - Gracelands.* 

It started off as a cracked, warped cassette kicking around the floor of my parent’s car when I was young. I insisted on putting it on at every opportunity, every journey was accompanied by the mix of South African beats, American country and general merriment.

Sadly that first cassette disappeared and I moved on to his other albums (particularly Rhythm of the Saints) continuing the endless demands to listen to him for every journey, much to my parent’s distress. They tried to get me as involved with music from around Africa and the world, but I was hooked. 

In 1991 I went to see Paul Simon live, it was my first ‘proper’ concert and I vividly remember the whole experience. This only fuelled my interest in music from South Africa, I assume that my parents had resigned themselves to a few more years of Paul Simon but they never complained. 

I managed to obtain most of the original Gracelands album on cassette some years later and actually managed to wear the tape out. By this point I had been listening to Paul Simon for about 8 years and this album was the holy grail, because I had such a rocky history of actually managing to keep a copy of it I decided to buy it on CD. I managed to keep that for about 3 months before somebody ‘borrowed’ it, I went back to my faithful old copy of Rhythm of the Saints. 

Gradually I grew into liking other music, my social life exploded and I became a teen of the nineties, my music was now Drum and Bass and Hardcore, but still I kept playing Paul Simon, I used to put it on when my friends weren’t around. Eventually I forgot to take it out of the tape deck and someone started listening to it, they really got into it and I bought another copy of Gracelands on CD, everybody wanted a copy of it.

I was 17 the next time Gracelands appeared in my life (the previous CD having died an unfortunate death in an incident involving candle wax) and I had just walked into the house of my Danish exchange Student. It was one of those times where you stop, take a deep breath, and look around you… the first thing I saw was a copy of Gracelands and a book on Paul Simon, there they were, just sat on the table. It was a moment of realisation; I wasn’t the only teenager in the world to be a bit different.

I resolved to get another copy of the CD back home but funds were low, eventually I was given a copy, which I still have. I still listen to it regularly. This album has changed with me, as I have changed my outlook on life the songs have changed too. I still remember the first playing of it after I dug it out from under the car seat. It’s still fantastic.


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## calum (Jul 24, 2002)

for me it was astral weeks, the old van morrison album. i'm tempted to say there may be better ones, or more obscure ones but this one has stayed with me since i was 16. 

in the throes of a lou reed/vu obsession as a gawky indiekid i read lester bangs's book, psychotic reactions and carburettor dung to find out more about lou. but what struck me was the intense lyricism of his essay on astral weeks. i didn't know much van morrison and certainly wouldn't have associated a guy who did a duet with cliff richard with the intensity described by bangs.

he finished comparing the opening lines of the album with lorca's poem stranded. debatable but i loved the bizarreness of the imagery and the idea of being lost a trying to find a way back resonated in my awkward teenage heart (and still does as i'm little further along that road 13 years later...).

so the following sunday i set out for a stroll down the high st to pick up the album (i also bought patti smith's horses, which i still love) and bought the record, hoping to hear these strange lyrics. i hadn't really thought about folk or jazz or fusions like that before, being more used to the whine of feedback. but from the first moments the guitar and gentle bobbing acoustic bass kicked in and van's plaintive ramblings rolled over me i was hooked. it took me almost six months to listen to side two properly. and then six months to go back to side one. 

for me it's got awe inspiring songs but i love it as a whole album. it's a  piece of intimacy, of loss and hope of rebirth, of unrequited love, of decay and gardens all misty wet with rain. listening to it feels like the most personal and poignant journey and it has accompanied mine through some strange times.

it's celtic soul and it's universal, though all may not like it. but to record that in 2 days with miles davis session musicians at the age of 22 made me stoned in wonder at him stoned in wonder. 

but i almost never play it in front of people, it feels far too intimate and most of my friends would rather hear something more social. i get embrassed by the passion i have for this album in the face of people's indifference, but that won't stop me cherishing it.


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## Vixiha (Jul 25, 2002)

My Desert Island Disk would be _Whitesnake 1987_.  The desperation and loneliness of _Crying in the Rain_ and _Here I Go Again_, remind me of the worst of times.  Then come the more upbeat _Bad Boys_ and _Children of the Night_ which remind me of the good old days.  _Still of the Night_ and _Give Me All Your Love_ bring up lustful memories and stir up the heat.  I could never forget falling in love to _Is This Love_ and _Straight for the Heart_.  And the passionate request of _ Don’t Turn Away_ almost makes me cry.  All nine songs are great.


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## rubbershoes (Jul 25, 2002)

*E2-E4 by Manuel Gottsching*

If I could take only one record to my desert island there is no doubt in my mind what it would be. “Ooh stick you” by Daphne and Celeste is one of the most irritating records ever made and I would rather eat my own foot than listen to it. By contrast, E2-E4 by Manuel Gottsching is so beautiful that eating my own foot may be a pleasant experience if I could do it to this record.

E2-E4 is an hour long instrumental track created in 1984. The basic keyboard rhythm is joined by sequenced sounds and guitar that create subtle but simple layers of sound. It gradually builds and then subsides - effortless and entrancing.

It has been described as the forerunner of ambient house but it is much more than that. It was a favourite at the Paradise Garage and has been sampled on many dance tracks notably Sueno Latino.

“One size fits all” says the scarf seller outside the tube station. E2-E4 matches his superfluous patter. The thematic variation is comparable to J.S. Bach but the rhythm is  house. E2-E4 can be enjoyed by both maiden aunts and natty ravers. 

An hour of bliss. What else would I have played at my wedding?


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## Spudhead (Jul 25, 2002)

The Prodigy - The Prodigy Experience

I just can't think of anything that's had more of an influence on dance music in general or me in particular.

Even in '92 it defined what rave/breakbeat/tweaks and fucking big bass was about. I was 15 at the time and remember standing in a field listening to Out Of Space and thinking that I had indeed better start paying close attention because this was going to define a lot of what I was about during my teenage years.

10 years on, and it's THE rave album - exactly as originally intended. And it's not only a nostalgic trip back to the days; it's a collection of tracks that are guaranteed to raise the fucking roof in almost any club you'd care to mention. You can put on Out Of Space, Wind It Up, Fire, Charly, Your Love - any of 'em - in with Techno, D&B, HipHop, virtually anything and know people are going to get up and start dancing like fucking nutters.

It's what it was, is, and always will be about, and I want it played at my funeral. Really, really loud.


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## STFC (Jul 25, 2002)

*The Stone Roses*

by The Stone Roses

I got into the Roses late, around the time of One Love. When I bought the album and listened to it for the first time, I was filled with regret - why hadn't I been into them from the start, why hadn't I bought everything they had ever done, why hadn't I been to see them live?

Never before had I listened to an album which was virtually perfect - most have 3 or 4 good tracks and that's it - and without the backwards version of Waterfall (a brave move but doesn't do it for me) and Elizabeth, My Dear (not my cup of tea politically) the word "virtually" would have been surplus to requirements.

From Mani's plodding bass on the intro to I Wanna Be Adored to the last bars of I Am The Resurrection, The Stone Roses give you everything anyone could ever want from an album. Love, hate, joy, sadness, introspection, arrogance...you name it, it's all in there somewhere, all held together by some of the best bass playing, drumming, guitar work, lyrics and vocals (Ian Brown could never be described as the greatest singer of all time, but who else could possibly have sung these songs?) ever recorded.

This is without a doubt my favourite record, and one which I never tire of hearing. It still sounds as good now as it did the first time I heard it, but even now, I am still left with those same feelings of regret.


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## joe piece (Jul 26, 2002)

*Mighty Bosstones "Let's Face it"*

it is just one of those collections of music that captures everything that I love about music, it is loud and gets the blood going each time.  Each track is brilliant.

It is hard to explian why this means so much to me, I just can't put it into words.  Given to me by an Ex she is long gone but the love for the music has never strayed.


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## Miscellaneous (Jul 26, 2002)

It has to be "Original Pirate Material" By The Streets. 

The lyrics map out most of my -and my friend's- lives to date.  "Stay Positive" is brilliant as it is helping me through some rough times and it keeps me on Focus to see the good things in life, not just the negative. "It's Too Late" has personal significance because my ex boyfriend was always late to meet me, and was narcissistic and was just like the bloke in the song. and I finally left him because of it.


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## fen_boy (Jul 27, 2002)

My favourite record ever has to be Orbital's brown album.
In my opinion this contains the finest 30 minutes of electronic music ever written - tracks 3 through 6 - Lush 3-1, Lush 3-2, Impact and Remind.

I could get all wanky and sentimental about it, but can't really do justice to the pleasure it has given me.

mmmmm.... that's a bit wanky in itself isn't it.

Anywho, it still rocks....

The Earth is Burning!

fbx


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## Kaka Tim (Jul 27, 2002)

Londons Calling - the Mighty Clash.

This record grabbed me from the first time I heard it as a spotty 12 year old - right from the peerless intro of the very first track.
This was music with something to say, it was insistant and fizzing with desperate energy. 

What was it they were trying to get accross? 
I couldn't quite make it out but they were seemed to be pretty  down on governments and cops and that was O.K by me - although, to be honest, I'd have voted 'Clash' on the basis of the bassline from 'Guns of Brixton' alone.

Saved up dinner money for two weeks and then buried my head  under the record player speakers whilst religiously following the lyric sheets.

I emerged two weeks later with a head full of music - punk, rockabilly, reggae, ragtime, ska and all points in between played with passion and delight. All  shot through with pithy lyrics, urban folkstories and  what seemed to me in my Essex backwater like communications from the frontline.

"London Calling to the far-away towns
Now war is declared and battle comedown" 

Defininately the first item to be saved from my LP collection in the event of a fire.

One of the greatest ever  record sleeves as well.


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## J-Bob (Jul 28, 2002)

New Order "Low-life"

I was a mere lad of 13 when I came across this whilst rummaging around my elder brother's bedroom. I recall being shocked by the super loud snare intro to 'Love vigilantes', and finding it hard to decide wheter the lyrics were actually really crap or really good (often a problem with New Order!).

It was really my introduction to a world of electronic/rock music, a passion that still follows me today. I loved the variation in tempo, Barney's unashamedly miserable lyrics ("Oh, how I cannot bear the thought of you...."), Hooky's melodic bass wanderings, the rhythmic supremacy of Stephen Morris' drum programming and playing, the dramatic washes of synth from Gillian Gilbert.

Once you discover one thing a group has produced, you then eagerly devour everything else they've done. Give this,  I would say "Power, Corruption and Lies" is their best album, but this was the one I heard first and for that reason its meaning is greater, so it gets top place with me.


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## Sunray (Jul 31, 2002)

Leftfield – Leftisim

Initially I thought thinking of a single album would be difficult, maybe impossible, I like so much music.  The question intrigued me and I decided to give some thought to the notion a single album could have qualities that make it somehow better than any other.  Then it dawned on me.

I discovered Leftisim 5 years ago, its from a time when people were finally mastering the craft of electronic dance music.

One of the particular downsides to electronic music for me is that it lacks passion.  No amount of effort can replace the sound of a ‘band’ giving their all to music they love, it’s a sound that cannot be created electronically.  Paul Daily and Neil Barns never entertained such defeatist thoughts. They have created a series of musical tracks that are injected with such energy and beauty its source is irrelevant.

Every time I have listened to this album, I hear something new. There is a baseline or beat that catches your ear and like it or not, you are drawn into another place in which time passes slightly faster.

The worst part of this album is that it ends and what an end  21st Century Poem is.   When silence fades in there is something missing and its more than just the music.

I could never be without this work of genius


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## editor (Jul 31, 2002)

Just a quick update to say that I'll shortly be posting up the best of these on the site 'proper' shortly - so if you want to edit your piece, do it now!

I'm afraid short articles won't be included (they're more suited for the boards).

Thanks for everyone's efforts so far!


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## kea (Jul 31, 2002)

oooh aren't you gonna tell us who the lucky winners are????


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## editor (Aug 5, 2002)

Hey, you're all winners here! 

I've now posted up my first draft of the page here and included all the reports mailed here - except the very short reviews (I did warn you!).

Hopefully, it'll encourage a few others to get typing!


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## squirmy (Aug 5, 2002)

my favourite record is a john lennon best of 'lennon, legend'.

some of my all time favourite tunes are on this album, inlcuding 'Imagine'

but the one song that means most to me is 'Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy)

i remember me dad holding me when i was a kid, singing this song to me, and ever since, on hearing the song, it brings a tear to my eye. probably cos he moved away when i was a nipper, and so he never really got to see me grow up, dispite seeing him during school holidays etc.

anyways, back to the album D)

the song 'woman' was written for me girlfriend, ever since i told her how much that song reminds me of her she cries on hearing it, bless her cotton socks.

theres not one song on the album that i'd skip, probably the only album like that in me collection.

what more is there to say about it, other then WOW?


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## Paulie Tandoori (Aug 5, 2002)

For music to be great, it should touch you, reach out to you, say something that makes sense of a feeling or an energy or an emotion in a way that is otherwise hard to explain. So imagine my unconfined joy when, at the tender age of 18 years, I found “The Revolution Starts At Closing Time” by Serious Drinking. Here was a band who sang about booze, footie, girls and TV, often all in the same song. From the punky drums that accompany “Spirit of 66”, a stirring rendition of the names of the England team of that very year with a chorus of “We’re gonna win the World Cup in Spain, We’re gonna win the World Cup again” (oh well) through to “Weird Son of an Angry Bastard” (pretty self-explanatory), this album takes in some ska-tinged punk-style sing-along shout-along cry-along tunes that still, some 20-odd years later, make me feel happier about the world generally in a way that not much else can. 

You’ve got “Love on the Terraces”, a paean to a girl called Sharon who our joyous singer met when the match got lively and fighting broke out all around these Romeo and Juliet figures. There’s “Countdown to Bilko” about killing time before our favourite Sergeant appears on the box, followed, appropriately enough, by “Really Good Bloke” – sample lyric “He’s a really good bloke, he can share a joke” and then the “TV song” all about not paying your license fee (latent anarchist as well obviously).

And then, what has up to now been a good album playing well suddenly bodyswerves past two tackles, does a Cruyff-turn and becomes a great album. First, an amalgamation of an old Wire song “12XU” that merges into “Bobby Moore was Innocent” which features the great man himself imparting advice which I sadly failed to heed. As for the lyrics, well, what about “Tina worried sick at home, Bobby couldn’t find a phone, News at Ten and Tina heard, Bobby could be doing bird, Bobby Moore was innocent, Bobby Moore was innocent, Bobby Moore was innocent, OK”. 

And then, my first ever encounter with a hidden track. Forget about poncy CD-style hidden tracks, this had no mention on the sleeve but there it nestled, a song called “Hangover”. The best song, bar none, on the subject. Our singer wrestles with the fact that he’s overdone the sauce, tries to convince himself that he’s “gonna stop drinking, I must stop drinking” before exploding into “16 pints of lager, 14 vodkas too, hardly bloody surprising, I forgot what I said to you, hangover this morning, it’s dark and it’s thick, I’ve got to give up drinking, I feel so bloody sick”. Class.

The second side of this fine piece of vinyl is more reflective with it’s themes of love lost, listening to the radio, summer arriving and general fun and frolics, and it ends with the mournful “Am I coming over to yours, are you coming over to mine?” Well, are you?


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## loud 1 (Aug 6, 2002)

jeff buckley-grace

i stumbled across mr buckley way back in 95,i remember flickin through tv channels and hearing this song (grace),and i was absolutly gob smacked,at the time i was in my first band and trying to find direction,and i think i found it all in that one song!,the way it builds and builds until the end when jeff stays holding one note for what seemed like forever.

funny thing is i didnt at the time know who sang it!,none of my freinds had ever heard the tune or jeff buckley,so after a while it just slipped into the back of my mind.
then a few years ago a female freind played me this album,and up popped that song,the day after i rushed into town and bought the album.....every song blew me away,and not a day goes past that i dont listen to it.

ive spread 'the word' of jeff buckley onto all of my freinds,and it seemed to have exactly the same effect it had on me all them years back.Everyone has at least one song that they can relate too,either happy or sad.

But now he's gone,like so many inspiering artists,jimi hendrix, kurt cobain,rod hullD ).

but the memory never goes.


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## Nine Bob Note (Aug 7, 2002)

Linkin Park: In the End



> I tried so hard,
> And got so far,
> But in the end,
> It doesn't even matter.
> ...



Bootiful. Sums my worthless existence up perfectly.


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## unclekellan (Aug 9, 2002)

*Mythical Kings and Iguanas by Dory Previn*

given that i almost never buy whole albums but largely think in terms of singles or single tracks this is quite hard

i guess album wise it would be 
Mythical Kings and Iguanas by Dory Previn

I first heard it at an all night party when i was 13. I had been allowed to go on special dispensation of my parents. I had just co-founded liecester Youth Cnd and my co-organiser was a 19yr old student at the poly.
she was having a birthday party and i was allowed to go.
my parents were very liberal.
i guess most of the people there were in the 20s or 30s as the girl in question was a 1st year social work student and most of the other students were alreay emploed in departments and were doing PGSoc dips.
The mythical kings and inguanas album spoke clearly to my state of brain - tho janis ian album (the one with 'i learned the truth at 17' on it) comes a close second.
i imagine i freaked out quite a few people at the party, but no one was wierd to my face. and the girl whose flat it was, sister looked after me. and in the morning - this sister put on the dory previn album in question - and we all sang along to the misfortunes of the girl who 'hung herself from the second or third letter O'
the album, whilst deleted, has a charm all of its own - and those that know of it, let alone own it - are a little club all of their own.

dory previn only wrote one other album - reflections in a mud puddle ( i have that as well) and then she met someone, fell in love and announced that she was now so happy and felt good she couldn't write anymore. her work is/was melancholy and cycnical in matters of emotions.
both her albums are out of print.


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## Cid (Aug 12, 2002)

Difficult question, but overall it would be Nirvana-Nevermind.

That was the first truly 'alternative' album that I bought, and it really changed my life in many ways - I stopped viewing the world as I had done before (the sort of naive, childish way) and realised that there was a hell of a lot more going on than I had ever realised.Unfortunately Cobain died soon after I bought the album (musicians  ), but it really had kicked my arse into gear - and suddenly there was a whole new world of music open to me.


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## Epico (Aug 14, 2002)

Not the easy choice in the world, but here goes.

Faithless

Reverence/Irreverence

"Wicked" "Massive" "Phat" were words I probably used when I hear the club mix of the now classic ‘Insomnia’ when it was played constantly on Radio One and in the smoke infested under-18 clubs my mates and I used to frequent. I trotted down to some massive megastore in Plymouth and exchanged my cash for this, the first, Faithless album.

I was a greasy fourteen-year-old when I brought this album. I was expecting 10 tracks (and 9 remixes) of ‘Bangin’ choons’ - so imagine my displeasure when I got the album home to find that this album was philosophical and earthy, with some very down tempo beats. 

It took a long time for me to come around to even like this album. But four years on and Maxi Jazz’s poignant lyrics coupled with Rollo & Sister Bliss great musical skills and Dido’s amazing voice makes this album one of those that I just could not bear to be parted from.

Track four ‘If loving you is wrong’ found fame in a Boddinton’s advert (you know the one - the one with the male cow with udders) and I reckon it must rank as one of the best songs to have sex to and remains one of my lead reasons for wanting to have a regular girlfriend.

The lyrics on this album along with the lyrics on the other two Faithless albums in my opinion make Maxi Jazz one of the greatest

Salva Mea for me is the one that means the most. I have been known to put this track on when I’ve had a bad day and just lie back and let the euphoric beats and the grounded lyrics clense me of what ever the shit was that’s weighing me down. The single line that sums up days like this: ‘Just below my skin I’m screaming’. 

As a bloke trying hard to maintain my macho image I have to say that I have cried myself to sleep listening to this album. It isn’t very often I freely admit to crying but this album acts a great emotional release.

I don’t know how to close this piece, so I’ll just say this: I love it.


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## mains (Aug 16, 2002)

*sorry*

sorry I messed up here, please delete


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## Ich bin ein Mod (Aug 18, 2002)

*Mosely Shoals - Ocean Colour Scene*

Came out just as i was getting into music properly (stop laughing at the back!) and provided the soundtrack to my summer. Had the tape player on constantly whilst playing day long games of football up to 20 a side right up till sunset and so even the orangey colour of the cover evokes memories for me. Everyone knows about "The Day We Caught The Train" and that riff from "The Riverboat Song"(used by TFI Friday) but the whole album ebbs and flows brilliantly which is shown most by the closing two tracks, "You've Got It Bad" and "Get Away". The first is a fastpaced rocking song full of intricate guitar work by (the most underrated guitarest in Britain) Steve Craddock whilst the latter comes in at eight minutes and gently floats along touching your senses. A truly great album that is even better live. Go see them while you still can.

Edited to add: bollocks to all that pretentious shite there are so many reasons why this record means so much to me that ill never be able to properly convey them in words. The "brilliance of my fleeting mind" can't cope with it.


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## Johnny Canuck3 (Aug 19, 2002)

The Beatles - Magical Mystery Tour.

I had just moved to a new neighborhood. I'd left elementary school behind, was at a Friday night party with the local junior high socialites, who had taken a liking to my differentness. A new friend put on Magical Mystery Tour. It was psychedelic. I liked it, it had my name on it. I knew there was no going back. I necked with a good looking blonde girl in the rumpus room with a single red light on, while the other kids sat and watched.


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## arfy (Aug 20, 2002)

THE CLASH - LONDON CALLING

Bit of a tough one this as there are so many albums which have had a huge affect on me at different stages of my life , it could have been the stone roses , the la's , massive attack , the pogues or a dozen others but the one that wins through is London Calling , I bought a second hand copy of this in a second hand shop when i was 14 years old , at the time i thought the best bands around were the smiths or the jesus and mary chain , at the time this was the limit of musical taste in my mates although some of us were just getting interested in electro and hip hop , i discovered the clash through one of my cousins who used to take me to the match and he had given me a tape with the first album and give'em enough rope on and i had been blown away with the energy and attitude that burned allthe way through both albums .
One day i was with a couple of my mates looking through the record section of a local second hand shop when i saw the cover , now at this time i didn't know the clash had done any more than what i'd already heard on that tape , I had to have it , How much mate ? 2 and half quid mate , after a brief begging session with my mates and parting with my ciggy money for the day i left the shop with a pretty battered copy of London Calling

The rest is history for me I had never heard anything before or since which has affected ne so profoundly as this double album , every track throws up something different , reggea , ska , jazz ,latin rhythms , rockabilly , rock and roll , soul etc etc

album has been with me ever since , getting me interested in politics , history , styles of music i'd never been open to before , its been the soundtrack to my life ever since , but to that year in particular , it was never off my record player during 1985

the year i discovered London Calling
the year i discovered teenage girls
the year i discovered drugs
the year everton pissed the league and stormed europe

the only one that has never caused me tears has been London Calling !


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## Ich bin ein Mod (Aug 21, 2002)

Would have to couple "London Calling" with "Sandinista". Not the most popular of choices but listen to it in its entirety and marvel at how over five slabs of vinyl how the Clash combined all of the best music of the 20th century.

And laugh at the thought of seeing Joe Strummer rapping on "The Magnificent Seven". "Italian Mobster shoots a lobster" is quite possibly the best ryhme ever.


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## Stinky Monkey (Sep 11, 2002)

*Where You Been*

This subject is one that instantly intrigued me and at the same time has been driving me slowly up the wall ever since I saw it. How cool would it be, I thought to myself, for me to put into words what my favourite album is and why it's so special to me? With any luck I'd be able to do it in a really clever way that made me look witty, articulate, knowledgeable and, above all, a bit cool. (You'll soon find out that this is far from what happens)

Then the problems started. I am, even at the best of times, a fickle little bastard. I am one of those people who have a bucketload of albums to choose from and who will complain about having nothing to listen to. I also get bored very easily. One week's flavour of the month (eh?) will get nothing but scornful looks the next week cos I'll have played it to death and got sick of it. 
So how do I pick a favourite?
The first thing I didn't want to do was tread on other people's toes by doing an album that someone else has done as a favourite. It'd be like saying, "Yeah your reason for liking it's good, but wait til you get of load of why *I* like it." A little to big headed for the way I work.
I also didn't want it to be a sort of "this album changed my life" type thing because I don't think any one album has done that to me. I can relate an album to a time in my life (in much the same way as Rob Gorden can autobiographically sort his music collection in High Fidelity). However, I don't really think that any one album has picked me up, shaken me and put me down with my eyes suddenly opened to a new style of music/way of life.

So where does that leave us? More than likely it leaves the reader impatiently tapping their fingers waiting for me to get to the point and me to, finally, announce my favourite album.

The coveted prize of being my favourite album goes to:

Where You Been by Dinosaur Jr.

From the opening riffery of Out There to the soaring faux stadium rock type of the final track, I Ain't Saying, this album has it all. It even has Start Choppin on it. A song that really is too good to be true. I honestly don't believe there is a duff track on the album. Every track is different, yet has a re-assurringly familiar feel to it. 9 times out of 10 there are more musical ideas on one track than I have had in my entire life. All the riffs are clever without sounding overworked or over-complicated. Sickeningly, all the guitar solos not only work, but make most mere mortal guitar players curse their sausage fingers and lack of talent. There's no Yngwie Malmsteem, 192 notes per minute, fretboard wankery though. These are melodic solos that everyone wishes they wrote because they just sound right.
J Mascis has one of those smooth stoner type voices that sounds incredibly soothing. It's nice to hear his drawl contrasting the heavier songs and beautifully complimenting the slower, more mellow songs.
There doesn't seem to be any deep message behind the lyrics. At no point did I feel as if they were speaking directly to me. They, just like everything else, work to compliment the songs. It all fits together to make a good noise and that can't be a bad thing can it?
I am struggling to put into words how good I feel this album is. The fact that, 8 years after first hearing it, I'm regularly drawn back to it is a testament to it's safety blanket type status in my record collection.
It really is one of the few albums that, having discovered, I don't think I could live without.

(My apologies for the length of the post Mr Editor, sir )


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## Nou Camp (Sep 20, 2002)

*CHRIST THE ALBUM - CRASS*

In 1982 Crass released a new LP, "Christ the Album". Forty songs on two records that came boxed in an all-black cover, embossed with the infamous Crass logo on the front. It came with a 30x58cm poster by anarchist artist and Crass member Gee (G Sus). The music was Crass's usual fair - noisy chain-saw distorted guitar, manic crashing drums and angry words spat out by Steve Ignorant and Eve Libertine. This band had truly been there from the beginning, seeing punk emerge as a threat and then nosedive into the shit that was to become "The Greatest Rock and Roll Swindle" of the Sex Pistols and the like.

But for me, it wasn't the actual music that changed the direction my life was taking - I already had most of the previous releases on Crass records. It was the 26-page booklet that came with it (written by Crass members) entitled "A Series of Shock Slogans and Mindless Token Tantrums". This booklet told the story of Wally Hope, the guy who was involved with setting up the original Stonehenge Free Festival. He'd already helped the famous Windsor Free Festival, where the authorities had decided they were not going to tolerate a few thousand hippies camping in the grounds of the Royal Family (their capital letters not mine!) and clamped down hard. The booklet goes on to describe the emergence of the Free Festival scene, Crass's part in it, and also the death of Wally Hope, drugged and murdered by the State. For me, it really opened my eyes to the possibility that hey, maybe not everything's okay with the world, maybe there is a secret State out there waging war on anyone who dares stand up and tries to change things.

Crass went on to inspire thousands of us (all over the globe) to form bands of our own, pushing a D-I-Y agenda and to live outside the straightjacket of traditional Rock 'n' Roll. Anyway, after first buying that record in 1982 I decided I wasn't ever gonna get a job - I hitched up to London a year later, got involved with squatting, bands, peace camps, anarchism and spent a glorious 16 years (uninterupted) on the dole. In 1998 I was finally forced to get a job and on my first day found out that my new foreman was the son of Crass guitarist Phil Free!


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## Stibs (Oct 1, 2002)

Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables - the Dead Kennedys

In my youth, I was a punk/crusty type.  Never missed a New Model Army gig (you know the sort.).  When I moved to London from Liverpool, 3 years ago, I left most of my CDs at my mother-in-law's house and hadn't heard the Kennedys since.

FFfRV reminds me of my time working on fair grounds.  We used to play the "crushed little kids" track over the tannoy.

The wall of sound guitars just lift you up and carry you along.  The bass lines give me goose pimples.

In my late 20s I have found the need for quieter music.  I listen to Radio 3, for God's sake and avoid Radio 2 because I fear that I might like it.

I will be 30 this month.

Recently, however, I acquired Xolox and downloaded "Holiday in Cambodia."  It was like I was 17 again.  I just rode along on that relentless bass.

I immediately went out and bought another copy of FFfRV.  I play it over and over again.  It has become a kind of aural Viagra.

Early mid-life crisis anyone?


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## jaksragingsmile (Oct 3, 2002)

*fav albumn????!!!*

almost like the archtypical loaded question, everytime i have had someone ask me this, in person, it has usually been to sum up a measure of me , as a person, to define a perception of my character. i wonder if anyone else has ever felt that?

Anyway............without question, my favourite album, and i truely believe that it is, for many reasons, must be METALLICA'S ride the lightning.

perhaps it epitomises what i feel was in the air at the time. Maybe it was just spending too much time trying to remember the words, constantly making my ears bleed, blarreing it on my walkman, or to get my head around realising the particular kind of anger that it drew from me, but...man, not many experiences can match the first time i listened to this heavy, gothic and at times somber meld of antatgonistic tunes.

A friend introduced this to me in nineteen ninety, first playing the famous FADE TO BLACK to me, and at first, i just wondered "what is this doing to him?". 
It did'nt seem to me that anyone going through any kind of turmoil in their life, especially at the mid teens, could reasonably contain the kind of AGGRESSION that the album bore, but at tyhe same time, there was a kind of beauty to the construction of the of the ebb and flo of the power cords, and a very unusual harmonic rising from the bass guitar (CLIFF BURTON, WHO DIED IN 1988).

IT SCARED ME.
It also intrigued me.
And it has since been a comfort, at times, to me.
Like the best fo friends, it never changed (as albums once made, are never unmade), except to grow in my estimations over the years.

a real light, in the glorious past of the now musically anerexic pop rock band, that once reached out to take every convrt on a journey for the land of the free.


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## Kid_Eternity (Oct 8, 2002)

damn it to hell!iwas gonna do a ride the lightening "review"aswell,ah well looks like you got there first jack me old mate!
a few corrections though(cannot believe you made any mistakes when it came to the 'Tallica boys but there you go...)
it was '89 when i introduced em to you and cliff(R.I.P) died on september 26th 1987.
 
ai


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## porno thieving gypsy (Oct 8, 2002)

Run DMC - Raising hell


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## stupid kid (Oct 10, 2002)

From the muddy banks of the wishka - Nirvana

This album is everything to me. Not just for the music contained on it.
Back in the year 2000 I was a very a different person, I had been In trouble with the law, expelled from grammar school and I was deeply depressed. I'd just finished yr.10, Just had to go to work experience for two weeks. At a fucking solicitors. After 4 days, I was getting pretty fucked off, went home and turned the TV on to see 'Smells like teen spirit' by Nirvana. It wasn't the first time I'd heard them, and I didn't quite catch most of the lyrics but I just connected with the anger of the song in a way I'd not connected with any song before. I felt energised by it. 

The next day, I was payed in full for 2 weeks expenses (£10). After signing 3000 pieces of paper with the name 'James Dodd' I finished work and went to spend my money. I found a copy of muddy banks for £10. As I listened to it at home, something inspired me to phone up James and Charles Dodd of blackheath and tell them, somewhat explictly that I wouldn't be on monday. It was a man called Kurt screaming at the top of his voice.

Whenever I felt that things were going wrong for me, I just listened to the album, because it still inspires me, and makes me feel... right. I Guess if you're not me, you can't understand just how this record makes me feel, or you may have an album that makes you feel a certain way when things aren't so good. well, this is mine.

edited for grammar


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## dum dum (Oct 10, 2002)

Mori Kante , Yeki Yeki .Never fails to move me.


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## 2tone (Oct 11, 2002)

COIL - Love's Secret Domain 

This record was never off my turntable (well cd player) when i first heard it 89/90, awesome record that manages to effect you on many different levels, the myths that surround the making of it rank amongst the strangest i've heard (the band were taking alot of LSD (hence the title) at the time).  My all time favourite track on it is 'Dark River' I can think of nothing else that moves me in the way this track does, beautiful.  Marc Almond pops up near the end with the track 'Titan Arch', an epic Lovecraftian hymn.  There is also alot of  humour within it, something Coil manage to do in their own distinctly sinister way.


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## noelgetshorter (Oct 11, 2002)

Songs in the key of life  Stevie Wonder 1976

The album that was the culmination in stevies unprecedented and still unsurpassed series of albums starting with music of my mind in 1972 through talking book, innervison and fullingness's first finale. Wonder was on a quest to relate all the thoughts in his mind into music, restricted by his sight music was his primary source of expression. And what expression it was. Every track carries an overwhelming message that is carried on an unfrogettable tune. Although I've never been religous Have A Talk With God  seriously made me consider talking to something I don't believe in. Village ghetto land carries all stevies usual political message but delivered with a kind of regret and sadness rather than anger. In sir duke stevie unleahes a celebration of music itself which I deny anyone to listen to and not tap a foot. He shows his lyrical power in pastime paradise "They've been wasting most there days. In remembrance of ignorance oldest praise. In the hand of anyone else isn't she lovely would come across as sickly but with stevie its heartwarming. Stevies message was simple, love and he drives it home in such a joyous way that you cannot listen to the album without feeling lifted. Stevie said in his intro to the album "if I were a pyramid give me the key in which I am to sing, and if it is a key that you too feel, may you join and sing with me" Well I for one am certainly singing with you.


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## Idris2002 (Oct 11, 2002)

If you have a record that really means a lot to you it goes beyond "favourite" I think.

I always have a favourite record at one particular time - for a while it was Mercury Rev's All is Dream. Now it's Tchaikovsky's No. 1 Piano Concerto in B flat Minor

But the records that mean the most to me are the Waterboy's _This is the Sea_ and Billy Bragg's _Brewing up with Billy Bragg_


What makes a record, or any work of art really great is whether or not it transports you to another place, either in a place your life could have taken you but didn't, or in a place where you were once a long time ago.

I mean place both metaphorically and literally, btw.


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## aurora green (Oct 16, 2002)

My favourite album of all time, the one that has had the most profound influence on me is Prodigys' 'Music for a Jilted Generation'
On my 30th birthday, in 1994, I made my first ever visit to a protest site. Claremont road E11.
Site of then then proposed M11 extention.  I guess Id been watching the campaign on tv and I think it was a kind of  a mixture of birthday panic combined with sustained curiosity that brought me there, and I found myself literally stepping into another world. 
The terraced street of squatted houses was closed to traffic, barricaded at each end. The only cars remaining had been speared with scaffolding poles or filled with earth and sprouted with flowers, the trees were decorated and had tree houses, the houses painted, the place was alive with art and vision. Out of one houses sprouted a huge tower and within this structure, was a sound system.
And it was while I was taking all this in that I heard the Prodigy for the very first time. It blasted out of the tower... "what we're dealing with here is a total lack of respect of the law..."
It was the very first techno I'd ever heard. My mind  really was glowing.
This music was the perfect accompanyment to the anarchic, utopian, visionary world that had intoxicated me.
The lyrics expressed rejection of authority and the prevailing order, and yet had answers.
They had the poison and the remedy... 
In  'Break & Enter' a womans sings, "give the planet love" accompanied by the sound of smashing glass.  This was direct action in musical form.
Nothing has ever moved me so much since, and thus started a long love affair with both the anti-road movement and techno.

To this day when I get up to go on an action, or come home from a political event, I will open all the windows in my council flat and blast it out top volume as a kind of battle cry, a message to everyone of the possibilties...'Fuck 'em and their laws..'


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## John Quays (Oct 16, 2002)

*Get it all out while you still can...*

The Principle of Evil Made Flesh: Cradle of Filth (1994)

My initiation into black metal and the first album that just blew me away. I'd never been much into Metallica or Slayer, finding them a bit tinny and thrashy (well, they were thrash...) or just knowing too little about them, but the raw agression on this one was frightening. There were passages that chilled my blood, of utter warp-speed metal and super-dramatic blakk metaaall screaming. There were genuinely resourceful, blasphemous and romantic lyrics and a gorgeous booklet with quotations from Swinburne, Nietzche, (yeah well, I was just 18) and so forth, plus the most glorious hammy outro and occasional spoken-word bits. I saw them later that year at Rio's in Bradford, booked a B&B room and all that... I was utterly astonished. Five young men (only slightly older than me I now realise), backs turned to crowd. Then, the crashing opening of the title track and the musicians whirl round snarling... keyboardist in goat's head mask... all I knew was that I had, in some way, to BE them, or express what they were expressing, or something. 'Vempire' was a cool follow-up and 'Dusk...' terrific, but after that... 

I wore corpsepaint to parties, looked down on Goths, who, it seemed to me, had just missed the point; bought the shirts and tried to explain politely to friends - to this day I've never met another fan.

Since that summer I've seen CoF all over the shop, but now they're going for the fat and dirty dollar. Hey, I'm pleased for them and all, but I don't think they'll ever become my vision of true British black metal again. Supreme Vamyric Evil...

Otherwise, I'm an indie fan, really you know...


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## Lollybelle (Oct 18, 2002)

Blue, Joni Mitchell (1971)

Being a mere slip of a thing, I only heard of this album about 5 years ago through another of my favourites, Boys for Pele by Tori Amos (one of the reviews for that said "This is her Blue" so naturally, I had to see where the comparisons lay).

It means so much to me simply because of its sheer beauty, in the melodies of the songs themselves, the lyrics (she is the goddess of all lyricists, they get you in the gut and then take you to the sky), and her stunning soprano in the years before it started to sound a bit smoke-addled.  I never really start to love an album until I know it as well as my hometown, I have to be able to sing every single word by heart before it starts to feel like a friend, and this is the holy grail amongst them, an emotional journey through love, loss, excitement, leaving home, the life of a child.  The only way to listen to it, for me, is alone, in a room with a window, and everyone else out so I can sing as much as I want to - I've never wanted to share this one with anyone else.  When I've been heartbroken, her songs about love feel as though she's singing about everything that I've lost.

Being unable to sing or play any of it online, my words won't describe the tracks anywhere close to Joni's own, so here's a few of the lyrics that I love and which still make me weep...

"Oh, I am a lonely painter, I live in a box of paints,
 I'm frightened by the devil, and I'm drawn to those ones that ain't afraid,
 You remember that time that you told me, you said "Love is touching souls", surely you touched mine cos,
 Part of you pours out of me in these lines from time to time,
I met a woman, she had a mouth like yours, she knew your life, she knew your devils and your deeds and she said,
 "Go to him, stay with him if you can, but be prepared to bleed"
You are in my blood, you're my holy wine, you taste so bitter, and yet so sweet,
Oh I could drink a case of you, darling, and I would still be on my feet, oh I would still be on my feet"


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## shoddysolutions (Oct 21, 2002)

*KLF - Chill Out*

Way back, way back in the warehouse days of glory ... we used to party ... 'til the break of dawn. Then, after the break of dawn, we used to 'Chill Out'. Chilling out was an essential part of the process, not the bland lifestyle option it is now. And not surprisingly, 'Chill Out', the pinnacle of the KLF's musical achievements, was top of its hit parade.

The beauty of 'Chill Out' is not simply that it is a pioneering live DJ mix album, nor that it manages to truly traverse musical barriers by combining Elvis, Acker Bilk, a few stray sheep and some guttural tribal chanting. Its true genius is in the way it successfully encapsulates that altered state familiar to anyone who returned to a mysterious house with a bunch of strangers, having necked lots of drugs, hugged everybody and waved their arms manically for hours on end with their eyes bulging like a company director's share porfolio. 

'Chill Out' was the soundtrack to which a million reefers were smoked, several million friendships formed, and several tons of crap spoken as conversation gradually took the inevitable downward spiral until a half dozen human vegetables were left babbling inanely about 70s children's television for the twenty-third time that year . Even now I can faintly hear shrieks of laughter echoing round a council flat in Stoke-on-Trent at the mere mention of Noggin the Nog, as Elvis croons 'In the ghetto' over a slide guitar in the background.

In those days we lived as one family, there was no division between house or garage and the music, not the DJ, was the star. 'Chill Out' and its sheer simplicity are a reminder of happier and more innocent times, post-acid house hysteria but before the commercial takeover of clubland and the aggressive marketing of both club and drug culture to a passive generation of consumers.

'Chill Out' is not original music, but unlike the formulaic DJ compilations falling off the shelves in your local HMV store is so much better than the sum of its parts. If you only ever buy one 'mix' album, buy this one. 'Chill Out'. Over and out.


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## pixie-iso (Oct 22, 2002)

right dudesthis isn't 500 words, but it is my favourite album...i know i know it sounds like a school essay.. force of habit i suppose!!

Well, my favourite album of all time is Marvin Gaye's what’s going on, I first heard some of it when Robert Elms did a show about Vietnam protest songs on greater London radio. One of the songs that caught my attention was inner city blues (makes you wanna holler) I agree with Robert elms that its possibly one of the best songs on the album.  It was written when Marvin Gaye’s brother came back from Vietnam and instead of getting a hero's welcome; like most other Vietnam war veterans he found that he was looked down on and shunned from society. This album is a wonderful historical document, and the words still ring true, for me anyway!! I’m doing an artwork at the moment using the inner city blues song.
I love to put the whole album on and sing along to every single word all the way through, it's beautiful music as well as interesting lyrics, even now I’m finding little bits and details in the music that impress me. Surprisingly it’s this kind  of music that got me into folk music as well, I started to become interested in music that had something to say, and something I agreed with. Bands like rage against the machine manage to combine music with politics, but in such an aggressive way that I think undermines their message. People like Alabama 3, Joan Baez and Woody Guthrie I have all got into partially because of this Marvin Gaye album. It’s also made me admire my uncle a bit more as well because he’s got it!!


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## corporate whore (Oct 24, 2002)

*Primal Scream - Screamadelica*

"Today on this program you will hear gospel,
And rhythm and blues, and jazz"

As spoken by Jessie Jackson at the Watts Summer Festival in 1972, and as sampled by Primal Scream on 'Come Together', the mid point of my choice, Screamadelica. 

If only the Reverend had known, he could have gone on to add "...and dub, and good time boogie woogie, and techno". But, as he did say: "all those are just labels, we know music is music"

This is a best-weekend-of-your-life album, fuelled by E - well, it was 1991.... 

Abandoning the Sonic Flower Groove of their previous outings, Primal Scream set controls for the heart of the party, deftly combining productions by men steeped in dance music (Weatherall) and the finest rock'n'roll (Jimmy Miller).

The motive was clear from the start - gospel-tinged opener 'Movin' on Up', a clarion call to shake off the shackles of the mid-80s and start partying: "I'm movin' on up now, yeah I'm out of the darkness, my light shines on". 

The theme continued - 'Slip Inside This House' exorted everyone to 'sweep the shadows from your eyes, sweep the realm of dark aside', and, when you have, you're 'gonna dance to the music all night long, gettin' high gettin' heavy, gettin' gone' ('Don't Fight It Feel It').

The Scream were now 'Higher Than The Sun', and hit the listener with the killer double header of 'Come Together' and 'Loaded' before descending through the beautiful, Jimmy Miller-produced 'Damaged' ('I never felt so happy') and 'I'm Coming Down' ('I see the world through bloodshot eyes') and closing it off with Jah Wobble's bass in a reprise of Higher Than The Sun'

With the benefit of hindsight one could dismiss Screamadelica as the work of chancers - no other British band has moved so deftly with changing trends - but even if it is, what the hell? A glorious mix of the old and the new, a lost weekend, getting so high, you never wanted to come down.

Just what is it that you want to do?
We wanna be free
We wanna be free to do what we wanna do
And we wanna get loaded
And we wanna have a good time
That's what we're gonna do
No way baby lets go
We're gonna have a good time
We're gonna have a party


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## charliecrocker (Oct 28, 2002)

*Paul Weller days of speed* 

Quite a new album but already without doubt the best thing to be burned onto disk. Weller is a god and this proves it. Everybody go out now and buy this cd.If the hairs on the back of your neck do not stand up during english rose well I am afraid you are dead and should seek medical help forthwith.

Sorry I could not get the 500 word out but I am at work and should be doing something else.


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## exosculate (Nov 3, 2002)

Just wanted to say - I am truly quite moved by some of the album reviews on this thread.

If music was taken away from me - I would no longer feel alive.


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## bertifrew (Nov 3, 2002)

I love music. 
Different peices of music mean different things to me, some happy some not so happy.
my favourate album at the moment is the new chillies one. "by the way".......melodic and funky at the same time.......
i wait however with baited breath for the new pearl jam cd to come my way next week.......


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## umeboshi (Nov 8, 2002)

Very difficult to choose (and some great choices, Songs In the Key *is* amazing), but one that's meant alot to me on and off over the years, and I'm currently obsessing over is:

*Patti Smith - Horses*

I don't know where to begin with this.  As soon as I hear the first few heavy chords of 'Gloria',I get shivers down my spine.  I love Patti's gravelly voice, and the opener of 'Jesus died for somebody's sins.... but not mine'  just transports me.  

She takes rock 'n roll, gospel, folk, punk, mixes in touches of ska and New Orleans jazz and mixes them up into something that always sounds elemental...The slow building energy in tracks like Land, dragging out the build-up until you can hardly bear it, before exploding.

"Car stopped in a clearing,
Ribbon of life, it was nearing.
I saw the boy break out of his skin.
My heart turned over and I crawled in."(Break It Up)

I guess the overriding thing I get from this record is a feeling of *empowerment* Of someone taking charge of their anger, passion, commitment and making something incredibly powerful and beautiful from it.  I love the androgyny that this record is soaked in, as well as the fact that it pulls this off while also being a scream of righteous feminist anger.  'Horses' is the sound of a woman allowing herself the anger and power that women are so often denied, and harnessing it for creativity in a way that was and is 10-a-penny for male musos but is bloody hard to succeed at as a woman.  And was as sexy as fuck.

Then there's Robert Mapplethorpe cover (I love the fact that they were lovers when they made this image, now _there's_ some pillow talk I'd like to have heard) is just stunning.

Phew.  That was fun. 

(Oh, and I saw her a couple of months ago and she was amazing.   *swoon* And did I say *was* sexy as fuck? D'oh me. )


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## sound (Nov 13, 2002)

*love forever changes*

LOVE FOREVER CHANGES

Here's some facts you probably don't agree with: Love were the most astonishing band ever and Forever Changes the best album ever. Well here's how I see it anyway........... 

Well they didn't even look like a band at all. Just the disperate bunch of late sixties, west coast smack heads, hippies and hot dog stand robbers they were. Age 14 and i'm staring into their album covers and looking at another world, albeit a world I longed to be part of. But by God they sounded good. Put The Byrds, Hendrix and Bacharach in a large pot and melt them down with about 10 tonnes of acid and you're getting near. You've probably heard Alone Again Or on Radio 2. You probably think its a nice catchy throw away pop song. It is, but there's more. A lot more.

Forever Changes is their most ambitious and most accomplished album. On one level its easy listening. On another it contains the cleverest lyrics and most affecting melodies ever commited to vinyl. On yet another its a complete soundtrack to the experience of drug taking. And on a last awesome level it is nothing short of the sound of a man losing his mind, engaging in a last fatal dialogue with his own consciousness. Forever Changes was OUR album. Me and my bunch of mates. No-one else in our town listened to this and if we had found someone who did, we would have become friends straight away. Simple as that.

We loved it so much we actually had tracks each. I'm a bit ashamed at the age of 36 to be admitting this now, but there you go. And these tracks WERE US. I think we meant they encapsulated the spirit of each of us. Oh I don't know what we meant but shit we meant it. My track was called The Daily Planet and it starts with some infectious chords, goes into what appears to be a straightword melody and then goes all wonky in a good way. There are no weak tracks on this album and it does things I simply have never heard before or since. On Maybe The People Could Be The Times, Arthur Lee emits the last word of each verse and then begins the next one with it. It sounds fussy, over-clever but its not and I've run out of room...............


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## Ice (Nov 14, 2002)

I tend to have a few different albums that i listen to. Each seem to have their own purpose. Music is such a way to come close to something in your own way as the effect can be that of such positive mood or helpful depression (yikes).

Right now I have the Pete Yorn CD flowing. I see him as an incredible artist as he mixes all types of emotions and seems to be in touch with so much of the joy and pain that everday life can bring. I particularly like tracks 6,9,14. Of course, i like the whole Cd but those are my favorites. 14 is incredible as he sounds very much like radiohead. It almost hurts to listen to it sometimes because it feels so right. I guess that is why music can be so moving. 
I also enjoy a group called OAR. Of a revolution. They are incredible and if you can get your hands on it, i would highly reccomend them. They are kind of a mix of John Mayer/Dave Mathews (horns and such) with a great home sound. Anyways,, there is my two cents..


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## bertifrew (Nov 17, 2002)

*the jam in the city*

In 1983 i left school at the age of 16. Musicaly the 1980s were not all that good, especialy after '82. I had been listening to the chart music of the time desparetly trying to find something that excited me. i had a vague memory of punk in the seventies and i decided that i would try to find something that would maybe be a 'modern' equivelant-i was unsuccessful-. While at a party during the christmas period of 1982 i was thumbing through the records in the hosts collection when i came across a jam record. The jam to me at this time was the bitterest pill and the beat surrender. The records cover was stark tyled walls and grafitti,not much like the almost soul or r&b image of the jam at the end of their exsistance in '82.
To a corous of much shouting and general verbal abuse, i changed the record from the mushy early eighties pop shite to the opening punky electric guitar of paul weller, closely folloewd by the base of bruce foxton. I was transfixed and promptly bought a copy for myself. I played that album to death for months to come and it was closely followed by sound affects and dig the new breed. 
I will forever remember the songs on that album and how through listening to the jam i eventualy moved toward the who, zeppelin, hendrix ect.
Even today in the city holds a special place in my heart. I credit it with opening my mind to guitar music in general. It was the start of a musical adventure that has taken me from germany to reading to scone castle(thats in fife) to the barralands(thats in glasgow).


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## Dubversion (Nov 24, 2002)

*



			Here's some facts you probably don't agree with: Love were the most astonishing band ever and Forever Changes the best album ever.
		
Click to expand...

 * 

i think you might be right, sound..

or a contender, anyway..


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## dark_mavis (Nov 29, 2002)

So few words, so many albums.  This isn't my favourite album of all time, or even my second favourite, mainly because words can't describe what Deserters Songs by Mercury Rev and The Sophtware Slump by Grandaddy do for me.  Anyway, my choice is In/Casino/Out by At The Drive-In.  I bought this album I suppose about a year after hearing Relationship of Command.  Now loud post-punks stuff really isn't meant to be emotional.  It wasn't designed to be.  This album does it.

Theres a point where the sound of a raging guitar played over a thumping bass and a singer screaming which hits perfection, and this album hits it more often that any album I've ever heard.  I think that point can only really be reached by absolute love by a band for the music it is playing.  From the moment where Cedric's vocals come storming in to that moment where the guitars stop and the rhythem section has a field day this album is a true work of love.

There's only one way to listen to it, with a friend, playing air guitar and screaming at the top of your voice.  Drinking beers.  Smiling.  Shouting.  It is the only album I've ever heard which can explode.  From beautiful silence to the most angry frustrated piece of music you've ever heard.  It's like music which wants to jump out of your stereo.

And there's Napoleon Solo.  My Number One favourite song of all time.  Anger, sadness, hurt.  Everything.  "This is for ever." Words can't describe how the lyrics are thrown at you.  How the drums guide you through.  How the guitars thrash.  This song is everything every song should be.  Who says punk shouldn't be able to make you cry?

Oh, and they have huuuuge afros.  What more reasons do you need?


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## indielad (Dec 8, 2002)

*My Favourite Album*

*The Libertines - Up The Bracket*   

 I bought the album a copule of months ago after hearing a couple of the songs on the evening session. I had heard that the album was quite good so I went along and bought it. When I got home and banged it on the hi-fi I was amazed the pure confusion and emotion put into every song just blew me away. The album seems to have all the qualities you can dream of while what makes it perfect is its inperfection. I dont think it has been off my cd player for more than a day since I bought it. I cant wait for the next one.  

I recomend it to anyone into alt music. It is amazing!!!


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## indielad (Dec 8, 2002)

*My Favourite Album*

*The Libertines - Up The Bracket*   

 I bought the album a copule of months ago after hearing a couple of the songs on the evening session. I had heard that the album was quite good so I went along and bought it. When I got home and banged it on the hi-fi I was amazed the pure confusion and emotion put into every song just blew me away. The album seems to have all the qualities you can dream of while what makes it perfect is its inperfection. I dont think it has been off my cd player for more than a day since I bought it. I cant wait for the next one.  

I recomend it to anyone into alt music. It is amazing!!!


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## g force (Dec 10, 2002)

Mate I have but three words for you (no, not "no fucking way")

These Animal Men 

I rest my case 

Oh, and before anyone says, what's you favourite album then, there's no point in my saying Forever Changes is one of them as it's already been explained why it's such a classic. My reasons for loving it are much the same.


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## IAmEvilHomer (Dec 18, 2002)

'Grand Prix' by Teenage Fanclub

Spent the summer after finishing school riding around in a crap fiesta with a mate listening to this on a crappy stereo in the back seat. It just seemed to really strike a chord with the feeling of that summer, being out of school and wondering at what lay ahead.

We ended up driving through a riot in Belfast too, but even that didn't spoil the mood of the album.


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## Yeshua (Dec 18, 2002)

*The Orb's Adventures Beyond The Ultraworld*



> What makes a record, or any work of art really great is whether or not it transports you to another place, either in a place your life could have taken you but didn't, or in a place where you were once a long time ago.


 posted by Idris2002

...and this album fits that definition perfectly!


I have listened to this album at least once a week for the last 11 years. It never gets boring!

From the fantastic Little Fluffy Clouds and comedy Flash Gordon samples through the floating Spanish Castles in Space to the dub of Perpetual Dawn.
"Once there was a young man....rough round the edges but with stars in his eyes"
..and the samples of Minnie Ripperton's 'Loving you' at the end  still leave me speechless.
A beautiful, touching record that you know a lot of love went into.

This album works on it's own but is fantastic with a bit of psychadelic assistance.

Ahhh, those sunny afternoons in the early 90's driving to the beach with this on the car stereo.


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## Dubversion (Dec 18, 2002)

and there i was expecting you to post Kenny Loggin's Greatest Hits...


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## Yeshua (Dec 18, 2002)

Nah, that's no.2

Imagine jumping out of bed in the morning to a radio alarm that plays Footloose!

Now that would be class!


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## Streathamite (Dec 27, 2002)

OK, now please remember I am quite old, in tha


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## Bomber (Dec 28, 2002)

*Bob Marley & the Wailers ~ Live ~*

I mean come on !!  I am 45 years old for heavens sake I've forgotten more music than I care to remember { Does that make sense ?} and to write something like this without honorary mentions for "Exile on Main Street / Whats goin on / There's a riot goin on etc etc. is damn near impossible , however one track ,  the first one I always think of when fantasising about being on desert island discs is 'No Woman no cry' . It makes me tingle every time I hear it and although it talks of being in a yard in Trenchtown its subject matter can so easily be transposed to fit wherever you want it to. I find it totally uplifting ....... but wait Bob Marley Live is an album chock full of pearls of musical and lyrical wisdom ...  "The one good thing about music, is when it hits you feel no pain "  ....... the number of times I have punched the air to that line !! 
' Get up stand up' is a protest song that tells you straight what you should do sang by someone who did just that. This album came at a time when music was in the doldrums and so many of us needed something fresh and daring. I recall the minor rumpus I caused when I presented it at the college radio for playing at lunchtime .... "Reggae ??"  they screamed !!  That is until Eric Claptons inferior version of "I shot the Sheriff" started to get airplay and ears started to turn ........   if you have never heard it then find it .. beg , steal or borrow ...... still blows my socks off to this day !!


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## sponge (Dec 30, 2002)

*Red hot Chili Peppers - Blood Sugar Sex Magik* 

- fucking masterpiece. John Frusciante's guitar playing is amazing. Sir Psycho Sexy is amazing ... its about a million times better than their new piece of shite "by the way" .... awful!!!


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## gusto (Jan 2, 2003)

Nitzerebb - That Total Age

Long ago when Def Leppard and N.W.A. were my mainstays, a friend of mine invited me to go see this band called Depeche Mode.  Once the opening band came on and started in with 'Alarm,' it was over for the leppard.  

now, 12 years later, i still bust out That Total Age at full volume at least once every other day.  That album started me on the path of questioning radio music and actually preferring music that has some substance.  

Definitely a must have.


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## 5T3R30TYP3 (Jan 5, 2003)

*CapDown + King Prawn*

CapDown (short for capitalist downfall) have had a massive impact on my life, the same can be said for King Prawn. These two bands instantly made their way into my good books with songs about peace and unity, legalizing the herb, civil disobedience, positivity, globalisation, police brutality, overconsumption, pollution, racism, and so many other things. songs like 'unite to progress', 'civil disobedients', 'dealer fever', 'racist copper', 'poison in the air', 'dole drums', 'american funded genocide', 'ska wars'... the list goes on and on. To pick a favourite would be stupid. i would highly recommend them - king prawn are found at http://www.kingprawn.co.uk and capdown can be found at http://www.householdnamerecords.co.uk (which is where i found the link to this site). capdown play punk and hard-edged ska tunes (not like the ska-punk stuff you see on mtv) and get a bit reggaed-up at times, and king prawn play reggaed-up punky ska... it's hard to describe their styles but even if you dont like ska or punk or reggae, i would still recommend checking them out just for the lyrical content and stuff. ok bedtime for me i am far too stoned and tired for this. bye bye now.


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## Gumbert (Jan 8, 2003)

For me it has to be Kraftwerk  I was brought up on Frank Zappa, Beefheart, Sonny Terry, Screamin Jay Hawkins but when mi dad brought in Trans Europe Express in ‘77’ my mind went to another level. Bang went all the guitar sounds and showroom dummies was the thing to be into (and we break the glass), and I was only eight. You just can’t beat Endless Endless for the sheer musical poetry. It’s a track that just washes over me. Like hearing the orb, beyond the ultraworld or KLF’s chill out first time but this is a class above and well ahead of its time. 

Getting in to mi teens Kraftwerk were still the main geezers then Planet Rock came along and Bambaatta said he was into Kraftwerk and the whole electro thang harked back to these German pioneers…Much respect for Hashim, Nucleus etc and the other massive one at the time Malcolm X : No sell out produced by Keith Leblanc who then hooked up with Sherwood and brought out THE MIGHTY TACKHEAD  and ‘I discovered drugs’. Leaving the International in Manchester with tinitus for a week, luved ‘em. Then House arrived and I went a little crazy at the Blackburn Warehouse daze and haven’t stopped  But I’ve always played Trans Europe Express to come down what a record…

Rendezvous on the Champ elle’se 
leave Paris in the morning
By TEE

In Vienna we sit 
In a late night Café
Straight connection TEE

Station to station 
And to Dusseldorf city
Meet Iggy pop and David Bowie

Beees fuckin Knees…..TEE


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## LEN (Jan 10, 2003)

> _Originally posted by Gumbert _
> *
> 
> Station to station
> ...


                                   Nice one,Gumbert!                                                       Reading your message,I saw the cassette of Trans-Europe Express sitting on the floor in my living room (probably  been sitting there unnoticed for months) & I've just stuck it on -  forgot how good it is.Cheers for the Tackhead link too - been looking for on-U Sound info for a while...                     ...(sings)even the greatest stars...


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## Feelgood (Jan 27, 2003)

The Cranberries: Everybody Else Is Doing It So Why Can't We

      I think that the reason music is as popular as it is, is because certain songs remind people of poignant moments of their life, and this is certainly true of this album. Whenever i'm feeling pissed off or upset with the world i just press play and i am transported into a world where i feel nothing but tranquility and warmth.


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## Dubversion (Jan 28, 2003)

when im feeling pissed off and desperate, i just put on a cranberries tape and then i just get transported into a fantasy land where dolores o'riordan is tied to a railway track and the 8.15 from Stockport is just seconds away..


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## rosie (Jan 30, 2003)

FLESH by David Gray

i think this is the album that has most impressed me and affected me. i love writing (if i could do it well)! and this album has some of the best lyrics i personally have heard in years. lyrics mean a lot to me for a song to have quality and you dont get much higher quality than when you listen to this, IMHO. hes got really clear and poignant messages and expressed so eloquently and simply i just get totally stunned by it every time!

absolutely beautiful, nice lazy acoustics and all very genuine-sounding. i think the fact this was made before he was famous also adds to its appeal. i can never listen to this album without going through each and every song with admiration.

mmmmmm!


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## ViolentPanda (Jan 31, 2003)

JOY DIVISION - Unknown Pleasures.

I know They had a reputation for being "depressing", but the combination of the heavily reverbed drums, Peter Hook's attacking bass, and Barney Summers' sparse guitar, along with with Ian Curtis' deep and slow voice, like he's surfacing from an opium haze, delivering those desolate lyrics, has just kept me listening to it since I first bought it 24 yrs ago. 

When I listen to this album I "see" images in my head that have the same sort of beauty as a pre-raphaelite painting (if that makes any sense). Unattainable beauty.


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## chegrimandi (Feb 3, 2003)

*favourite record*

Generation Terrorist - Manic Street Preachers

awakened a lot of thoughts in me head about the way the world was run and for who's benefit.....and for that I will always be thankful....shame they sold out...though I hope there isn't an enduring lesson in there somewhere


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## chazegee (Feb 5, 2003)

Here goes, Guns and Roses, Appetite for Destruction, I'm a brave man.
       First heard it 13 years ago when I was 13. Most of the stuff I listened two then I couldnt enjoy now save for a seriously ironic grin on my face. This bastard however (I'm taking my jacket off now,) even this morning i was to be seen cock rocking to it wearing just my shreddies. From the opening police sirens of welcome to the jungle (Moving to Brixton has made this even more poignant,) to the closing sex drenched punk of Rocket queen. There is hardly a dull moment.
        As in all the class acts, an album that can be enjoyed on many levels. The raw energy and attitude has imho yet to be suppased, yet is underpinned by incredibly developed orchestration which would put any of the Motown greats to shame. Any rock'n'roll band is hugely dependant on the Chemistry of the axe man and singer, when i saw them live, I nearly Shat! One word for you people, "Soulgasm" Axl, the vocal theatrics of Meatloaf, but somehow....good! Slash, not even featured in the Top 10 guitarists program! I want blood. For fucks sake, the album even has a classic ballad, Sweet chid'o'mine.....ok I'ts basic stuff, but rael passionate. And all of this, succeding in coming out of the void that was the 80's......Brilliant.


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## flypanam (Feb 8, 2003)

when i was younger there was a certain 'yoof' movement which exploded out of the north of England. It praised getting wasted and wearing stupid clothes. Living in a small town in rural Ireland it caught on really well. I was down at the local disco, fantasing over some of the girls in my class, and there were the 'Hairyies' the metal fans, and the 'Baggies' every where, it was arse and it didn't feel right.

i hate metal esp thrash, and i hated baggy even more. On a foray into Dundalk i bought The Stone Roses album, and i couldn't believe people liked this stuff. it said nothing to me and really lacked a emotional commitment.

Anyway, a cousin of mine was over from london and he said that he was buying all his old Punk records on CD and he brought his favorite record over. The Gang of Fours 'entertainment' the cover just stood out the red background, cowboy robbing an indian, the anti fat white capitalist pig inside cover. it rock my world.

Then he put it the CD player and 'ether' came on the short sharp chords played at an amazing speed, the spat out lyrics, the bass and drums struggling to keep up amd not explode. I got the tingle. 'i found that essence rare' is the best example of a political song ever, you can have the anger, and the expressions but more importatntly you need the tune. They had it all.

The rest of the record flew by in what seemed like 10 minutes. all anger and outrage, yet really hopeful, something that thrash ofr baggy could never give cos escapism was all they offered.

i still get that tingle when i play entertainment, i still have not got bored of it, hearing the first couple of bars is not good for my blood pressure, it still makes me angry, and most importantly of all makes me feel that things can be beautiful if an effort is made.


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## intox (Feb 9, 2003)

Tool - Aenima

means everything to me..listen to it and you'll see why!


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## calum (Feb 9, 2003)

*infected by the the*

it's easy to look back at the my teen years with a certain embarrassment at their naive excesses, of style, sentiment and spots. but what catches me is how one or two things really stand up today as well as they did then.

which is not to say the the's infected album doesn't sound dated. it's rooted in anti-thatcherite rage and the electronica production values of that era. and yet it's laced with a self doubt and loathing that resonates still on a personal level and that the politics of that era find unnerving familiarity with these war mongering times.

i'm not sure which side of it i prefer more, the personal or political. but then neither ultimately has to dominate the other and neither does on the album. what really elevates it for me though, is that it can do self loathing and righteous without descending into noise. it's not afraid to be loud, but controls its howls to make some seriously good songs. that it can be articulate and no less emotional and immediate for that is no mean achievement. 

i'm genuinely not sure where to classify them, not that they really need categorised. it's post punk, but still poppy, but kind of electro. and yet none of those really come close.

and i love the fact that it many ways it is a concept album. it's a rail against a time and a place and a self and shows how these things are not in isolation of each other. that the problems that infect society, infect the soul.

coloured blue in every sense throughout with fantastic artwork from his brother andy johnson, i find myself surprised to still love with the teenage passion i had 12 years ago.


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## Streathamite (Feb 13, 2003)

PULP "Different Class"
It befalls to certain LPs to perfectly capture their time-this is one of them. Cocker has the gift of all great Lyricists: He effortlessly and instantly sums up pin-sharp pictures of time & place in the mind, whilst also communicating the full emotional force attached. And this is perfectly balanced by his bands' cheesy70's-cum-rich, multilayered sound. "Mis-shapes" is a damn-near perfect articulation of the resentment of the outsider, as well as a manifesto for revolutionary nerd-dom everywhere, whilst "I SPY" is pure North V South Classwar, cutely disguised as a love song, but filled with the rage and loathing that clearly drives Cocker on-the same anger you can feel in the (admittedly wildly over-played) common people. Cocker has a positive side too-"Something Changed" is pure blissfulness-a near-perfect love poem born aloft on chiming guitars-it's just that noone does misanthropy and grumbling as well or as exuberantly as Pulp.
Cocker's masterpiece!
It's also an LP with an achingly sad heart - the cynical comedown blues of "sorted for Es and wizz" and the sheer "I'll be alright (sob)" vulnerability of "Disco 2000" and "I spy" attest to this. But the verve and brio of Pulp's delivery make this an LP that stays in your heart forever. 
Pulp-for real people with real feelings everywhere


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## Splat (Feb 14, 2003)

Smells Like Teen Spirit  

first tune i ever played on my guitar


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## Darkness (Feb 15, 2003)

Metallica - ...And Justice For All
My last girlfriend bought this for me for christmas '01.  At first I only wanted it because a) it was another CD for my Metallica collection, and b) it had One on. 

Now this is my favourite CD in the whole wide world because I think, as a guitar player, it shows discipline in "controlling" your instrument, and also the way that the guitar, bass and drums all link in the in the "machine gun" section of One, is just phenominal.

Darkness


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## seb (Feb 17, 2003)

It has to be Clash,the 1st album.Iwas 12 or 13,pretty much listening to Bob Marley and some reggae stuff when a friend of mine lent me that record.And that just blew my mind away!I wouldn't be the person I am now if I did'nt have discovered that music 20 years ago!
Strangely I can clearely remember the day I was given that record,that was the beginning of a long love story with Rock n'Roll and everything that goes with it.


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## Tin Spam (Feb 25, 2003)

*Rancid - Let's Go*

The first proper punk album I ever owned, I can truly say it changed the way I looked at music. It's sad I rarely listen to it any more, it was perfect for that time in my life and I've moved on. I'd still recomend it to anybody though as long as you "Turn It Up, Fucking Loud" 

It's also good to see Paul Simon get a mention, Graceland is one of those rare albums that is truly perfect, I love every song.


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## bathonian (Mar 12, 2003)

my most fav album has to be the Smashing Pumkin's 'siamese dream'.
that whole album just takes me away, the tunes from the poppy getnleness of 'today' to the near arual astral projection of 'hummer' just elevates my mood somewhere else.
if i could find that album's equivalent in a girl i'd be very happy indeed!


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## loud 1 (Mar 14, 2003)

alright ive give u one but heres the other album.........

mansun-attack of the grey lantern....


this album will be forever ingrained into my mind kinda 'post' listening......


i just remember the summer of 98 and getting access all area passes through the post a day before the reading festival....

driving down in a skate sticker stained astra feeling like god.....

being showen in the 'private' entrance and parking up as the sun started to set.........

and pulling out the tent as mansun played on the main stage.....couldnt see um,just hear um...........but it set the mood for my weekend.....

blew me away.......

i later met the singer paul draper in a recording studio cafe and told him this story.........not in a fan/rok star way,(im already a rok star!hehehe),just in a way like  a "remeber reading" kind a way......

and he said the same about the sun cumin down and everything being hazy........

wierd aye!!!!


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## sinisterdexter (Mar 24, 2003)

*guns n roses - appetite for destruction*

i've listened to this record probably double that I have any other record. it was the first metal album i ever listened.......recently though Refused have taken over my live, just when i was becoming ever so slightly jaded with the epi-fat punk scene up crop Refused on my radar 18 months ago, it's changed the way I look at every album now.......there are so many other incredible albums though


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## Orang Utan (Mar 28, 2003)

*LFO - Frequencies*

My favourite record is Frequencies by LFO cos it made me realise how funky and lush electronic and instrumental music was. I remember an NME cover with a picture of them smashing up Stratocasters and Marshall Amps.
  After that there was no looking back. I dropped punk and hardcore like the rotting dead horse it was (and is) and went almost exclusively techno for years and years. It's only recently that I've got back into guitar-base music and that's usually because of the electronic sampler-age aspect of it.


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## mains (Apr 6, 2003)

OMG Orang Utan you are so spot on with that post mate, that pretty much sums it up for me.  Frequencies is the best British electronic album ever made imho.  Unlike Orbital or the Prodigy LFO managed to pull that Kraftwerk trick of making things sound futuristic - and by 1991 that was bloody hard.  Rattlingly high pitched percussion, super sub bass and icy cold thin strings and DISTORTION(wahey!), all married to great basslines, hooks and melodies.  Amazing album, I still think it sound bang up to date, though I liked Advance too.


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## demandred (Apr 7, 2003)

*difficult one*

As a teenager, jilted generation by the prodigy was a total classic and is fondly remembered (loved the inside cover and intro, parents hated them natch. which was important to me at that age  ).

The next big musical leap was metallica - master of puppets. The moment I heard the intro to battery I was hooked. This is such a powerful album. Still one of my favourites.


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## Stobart Stopper (Apr 13, 2003)

This Used to Be My Playground by Madonna....the bit where she sings........"and before you know, you're feeling old...."

That's me!


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## SonicZ (Apr 21, 2003)

I hear ya - Stobart!

Still love George Michael's _Older_ - and for the same reason.  And for the fact that he is still SEXY!   My only regret is that I wasn't the one in the CA Restroom he gazed upon.


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## dlx1 (May 15, 2003)

Debbie Malone / Rescue me 

12" 89 on Krunch An all time fav tune. buzzy tune / feeling good 

(around 500 words) not going to happen 

opps Edit: Ablum you say. 

probbly Orb UF-ORB 92 or Beloved Blissed out

happy time


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## charlotte (May 25, 2003)

the sun is often out - longpigs

it just encapsulates any emothion you will ever experience. its one of those records that you pick up and put on when your upset or lonely or happy or angry and it fits perfectly.
when i was about 11 my mother brought it home and put it on the cd player. it was on for exactly one playthrough before i took it up to my bedroom and squirreled it away.
the songs range from heartfelt bittersweet love songs - my love for you goes on and on - to singalong indie classics  - she said - to indefineable songs like sally dances. crispin hunt has a voice which ranges from gravelly sexy to an angst ridden whine - neither of which can be described as a bad thing.
it was the album which brought me and my boyfreind together - after hanging around in the sidelines for years i lent him the cd and 5 days later we were going out


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## Solidarnosc (May 28, 2003)

*"Dig your own hole" by The Chemical Brothers.*

"Dig your own hole" by The Chemical Brothers.

Not only did the brothers work it out, they saved dance music.

There has always been some anomisity between fans of the Chemical Brothers and fans of MSP ever since Nicky Wire called them "twats". Now I think that's a piss-poor way to thank two people who lovingly remixed your work at your request, and this and the fact that I love the Chems makes me think that the twat here is Nicky Wire (apart from the fact that the Manics suck).

But anyway, that's not the reason why "Dig Your Own Hole" is The Greatest Album Ever (Not Just In The Opinion Of Solidarnosc). At the time when the Chems formed in the Acid-dominated days of Madchester and the Hacienda ("The only reason why we chose to study at Man Uni was because of the Hacienda" - Ed) the Dust Brothers, as they were then called, managed to create a fusion of acid, electronica, rock, psychedila AND managed to make it not sound like a pile of shite. "Exit Planet Dust" was, for it's time, a milestone in the emerging breakbeat scene. But for their finest work, we look to "Dig Your Own Hole". 

This is not some random house party music. This album is something to be savoured. Like Congac. 

From the first track, "Block Rockin' Beats" you are taken into a musical wonderland, with Tom and Ed acting as the cheshire cats, leading you deeper and deeper through the rabbit hole. "Block Rockin' Beats" is the best first track I have ever heard for an album, as it's uncomprimising guitar riffs and riotous SFX and that vocal make it the perfect, if not misguided, introduction. 

This album is best described as a schizophrenic - as you leave the chaos of the first tracks and enter the "first quarter" zone of "Dig your own hole", "Elektrobank" and "Piku". The pace is slower but the paranoia and darnkess is stregthened - as if the Prozac is starting to kick in. 

It's probably worn off by the second era - "Setting Sun" (the video to this is one of the best of all time), "It Doesn't Matter", "Don't Stop The Rock" and "Get Up On It Like This" are like the part of a rollercoaster when you've just finished the big drop. It's frantic, it's hard, it's dark, and I love it. 

We wind down with the final part - "Lost in the K hole", "Where do I begin" and the epic "Private psychedelic reel" - the after taste of the congac, if you will. Regret, remorse - and a slight dig at Maggie Thatcher ("Iron Lady" on "Lost in the K hole") make this album pure ectasy for the ears.

A must for any music fan.


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## davey (May 29, 2003)

Embraceable You - Billie Holiday

Basically, this double album I bought in 1987 was a re-issue of some Verve sessions recorded in 58 or 57. I'd had most of the recording on cassette for three years and just last year bought another version on CD as the vinyl had worn out.

In 20th Century popular music, I would say that, without a doubt, this woman was the greatest singer. She may not have been the greatest voice but she used her voice like Miles Davis used his trumpet or Charlie Parker his sax. She was an amazing musician.

By the time this recording was made, Holiday's voice was rough and raw, torn by smack and booze. She'd lost her license to perform in New York and less than two year later would be dying with a police guard standing over her bed. I can't separate the woman and her recordings, her life and what it did to her voice or the way she uses it. And she is surrounded by great musicians. Ben Webster especially on tenor sax is the perfect foil - his velvet tone and soft breath envelop the jagged edges of Holiday's voice and hold it because it's so delicate now. I once played the title track to a friend, not a great jazz fan, after a spliff and when Webster's sax comes it, he said "Holy Fuck!" the richness of tone just hit him between the eyes. 

Alongside them is Harry "Sweets" Edison who brings along a humour and sexuality expecially on "Comes Love".

These track aren't the best know that Billie Holiday recorded, they don't include "Strange Fruit" or "Fine and Mellow" or "God Bless the Child". Some think it's too sentimental and some think the voice is too far gone. But I'll never stop playing and laughing with it and crying along to it. 

It is amazing to me that a woman who had lived through such ugliness could record something of such beauty.


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## Clintons Cat (Jun 4, 2003)

Soul Archive Released By Windmill Records.

When my parents bought me my first Second hand Record player this was one of the albulmns that they picked up amongst a bulk lot of old dusty albumns,Most of them were Pick of the Pops style. But this albumn stood out featuring the following tracks,

Letter Full Of Tears Gladys Knight and the Pips
Love Is Strange,Betty Everret And Jerry Butler
The Shoop Shoop Song,Betty Everret
Oh What A Night,The Dells
Dance By The Light Of The Moon,The Olympics
Stay In My Corner-The Dells

Let It Be Me,Betty Everret And Jerry Butler
Church Bells May Ring,The Willows
Steal Away,Jimmy Hughes
You Talk To Much,joe jones
every beat of my heart, Gladys Knight and the Pips
Say that you love me,the impressions.

Listening to it then,i was aware that here was an albumn unlike anything i had ever heard before,I was to ignite a passion for Soul Music that burns in my heart to this very day,
Jackie Wilson,Otis Reading,Smokey Robinson,James Browne,Sam Cooke,Martha Reeves,Commodores,four tops,temptations,edwin star,curtis may,Isley brothers my love for all your records stems from this source.


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## ion (Jun 6, 2003)

*Less Than Jake*

The year is 1997, I am only a young kid (somewhere between 9 and 11 ish, hehe.) but I am already turning into something of a fan of "alternative" fan. When everyone else was listening to the spice girls, I was listening to Ocean Colour Scene, Oasis and Stone Roses. Sorta wierd I guess, but thats what you get when you have a family like my own. My dad has always been a rock fan, loving classic stuff and being contendor for worlds biggest Meatloaf fan, and my Uncle has always been a punk, following local bands in the 70s etc etc.

Anyway, so I'm getting bored of indie by now, I know its a step in the right direction, but its just not far enough. What follows im 100% positive was fate. 

I'm browsing some crappy local record shop, which sells everything really, like HMV but crappier. It has only one stand with the headphones to listen to music before you buy. As I am entering the fine establishment I see some young guy with a really cool set of piercings pop the headphones back on the stand and walk out. Being as how I was looking to expand my musical experiences, I went over the look at what he had been listening too. I picked it up, read the name "Less Than Jake", thought "thats wierd" then left the store having never even listened to them

So now, its 1998, Little fish-big pond (secondary school) and I am once again looking for new music. One day after school I head down to another crappy local record shop, while scurrying though various records, I see the name Less Than Jake. It being as wierd as it was, stuckin my mind. I bought the CD on the spot, it just felt right. I hadnt ever heard it before, and only "ska" I knew was 80s two-tone stuff my dad had showed me. Needless to say, I got home and loved the CD. I bought more and more, eventually ending up with a few vinyl, a few rare cds, lots of imports and then the usual albums. This band changed my life.

I started dressing more like a punk, started hanging out with punks, and made a new best friend. I introduced her to LTJ, and she fell in love with them too. Being the "on the road" band that they are, it wasnt long before they were round my way. I experienced my first real concert thanks to them, and by coincidence it was my birthday (the only way my parents would ever let me go). My best friend managed to get me the best present ever, she found a place we could hide and when the place was empty we came out and met the band while they were packing up. The band were great, I got to meet my idol, Roger, the bassist and they all signed loads of crap. What a day.

Well anyway, this has already been far too long, but anyway, me and the friend now arent friends at all. She hates my guts because I had a disagreement with her boyfriend, and then she picked him over me. So there is some heartache there, but the album still reminds me of some of the greatest times of my life, and of a friend who I wish I'd never lost.

Actually bring a tear to my eye, but anyway, thanks Less Than Jake, and thanks for reading folks.

(Apologies for any spelling / grammer. Its late and I've had a week of exams)

- Ion


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## poet (Jun 26, 2003)

OK Computer by Radiohead, for being so deeply, deeply ambivalent. Perfectly captures feeling depressed about not knowing how you're feeling.


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## Nibbs (Jul 6, 2003)

Van Morrison's 'The Healing Game', takes me straight back into the deep pain, sorrow and fear I felt when I realised that my past had been a complete and utter calculated deception.  My parents were not the people I had been lead to believe they were.  If I wanted to live I had to cut all ties with my mother, father, younger brother and all the others connected with them.  As I write, the pain of that time comes flooding back.  The one person who stayed with me throughout that unbearable time, guided me to 'The Healing Game' to help me through.  The words in the album seemed tailor made to my situation and so I felt less alone, knowing that someone else had clearly felt that plethora of emotions: vulnerability, fear, aloneness, despair, loss and so on.  Most importantly, a genuine sense of hope resonated from the music.

My friend told me to trust him, that I would survive the pain I felt at the horrific truth before me and although I was on the edge, I remember listening to the words through tears of despair 'If you love me you will find the key'.  I felt totally unloved and totally incapable of trusting anyone but my friend and the music, offered me my only lifeline.  Very heavy times, still not right but the power of the reassurance in the words contained in that album were able to reach my soul and to reach the part of me that wanted to live and to keep on fighting.  I played the album over and over and I was able to grasp that these feelings would pass and that healing would gradually help me to a better place.  I am in a slightly better place and as I listen to the album now I feel the words warming me.  I am glad I now know the truth about my past but it hurts severely.  I just wish that I had had parents who were able to offer me one memory of being wanted and loved.  Not much to ask.  I found the comfort I needed, through the music in this album, it kept me half sane, it helped me wanting to be alive.  I am alive and I deserve a decent quality of life, just as others do in a similar situation to me.  My friend is still helping me get through, the kindness in his heart is breathtaking.  I won't give up now.


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## hitechlolife (Jul 10, 2003)

FUTURE SOUND OF LONDON - LIFEFORMS.


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## Traitor Ohio (Jul 11, 2003)

*Metallica - Ride The Lightning*

First off...Metallica, rock on boys!

I'll start like this. There was a boy who went to his friends house, there he tasted first hand the sublimity of Metallica...S&M to be precise, then the his father lent him his first ever Metallica album...The Black Album/Master Of Puppets tape...it was loved and played religiously even copied for his own listening pleasure...that boy is/was me. 

Soon Metallica became a BIG part of my life, every day the same tape would play over and over...until on day I purchased Ride The Lightning...then things changed for the better. 

The floors shook. Ceilings wobbled. Windows broke. Glass shattered. But still I played Ride The Lightning louder than the CD player would allow. Finally ears bleeding,  eyes running, sweat pouring it went back in its case forgotton about, until one day it was stolen and I realised how much I loved that album, and only recently have I replaced it. And now its the only music I will listen to. For Whom The Bell Tolls has become my anthem, my song my favourite ever. 

By this time Metallica were my life, my entity, my only reason for living...my love continued to grow as rare items began to be purchased (my prized possesion is my Harvester Of Sorrow LP Single)...This album...Ride The Lighning...has become my album that has relaxed me, hyped me, quietened me, understood me, listened to my rage filled version of F.W.T.B.T. and is the only object/possesion to be ranked in my number 1 spot of all time greatest lifetime purchase. I love thee Metallica! 

*Wipes away a tear*

Traitor Ohio
---------------

"This is your life, and its ending one minute at a time..."


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## the scouser (Jul 15, 2003)

Back in 1978, a mate passes me a record - a single by crass called 'shaved women' - and told me knowingly they were 'anarchists' He played it and then pulled out an LP called 'feeding of the 5000' - to a 15 yr old rebel without a cause it seemed to actually say something to me - I'd never heared a record with so much political content - and soon got myself a copy and became a 'fan' of the band.

The record may sound dated to some nowadays - but for its time it was original as fuck - they even had a rythm guitarist tuning his guitar to an open E chord - i was impressed. They used distorted guitars - and had two or sometimes 3 female singers with 2 blokes who sang - or more shouted!. They also had a video technician at gigs and someone to run tapes with samples.

Feeding of the 5000 opened up with what was alledged to be blasphomy - then went into a song called 'Do they owe us a Living' the chorus of which was the catchy refrain of 'Of course they fucking do' - Crass swore more than any band i'd heard! Classic tunes included General Bacardi - '

The generals sip bacardi whilst the Privates feel the pain' 

The robbers round here liked a song called 'Securicor' - 

'I walk around with a big alsation
I'll rearrange you with no provocation
I'm the bugger who has got the lead
And you'll have to be smart if you wanna get past me

Securicor care
Securicor care
Securicor scares the shit
Ouf of you
do you wanna come closer?'

Crass were smart fuckers - way ahead of the times - they were using samples of radio and political commentary and Feeding of the 5000 has lots of this between tracks. 

Remember - this ws 1978 - just 3 years before the unemployed exploded with anger and frustration in the riots/uprisings of 81.

Below is from Reject of Society

'You give us concience money
now you start to worry
The Frankenstein monster you created
turned against you now your hated'

And who can forget

'Coronation street is on TV again
Grey puke fucking shit
The army say they seek peace in Ireland
And they'll see to it.'

(from Angels)

I loved that LP - played it to death and knew all the lyrics off by heart - it was great to hear a band to say Thatcher sucked - and worse! - it made me think about politics and later on i was pretty active, from a rebel with no cause, to one with at least a reason to give for being so. 

Crass got a lot of stick mainly due to them being pacifists - but each to there own - They stood up and said more than most - there anti war stance was excellent and they always sold there records way cheaper than the major distributors. Gigs were cheap and an unforgettable experience. What Crass started - other groups picked up on - Crass used video and some simple yet stunning light shows with an energetic performence to put across a political message.

Crass took punk to another level - away from the commercial arena and in a way they succeeded for a short while - having given hundreds of bands and artists the chance to perform live or be released on record. What money they made was ploughed back. They done tons of benefit gigs.

'Yes thats right punk is dead
It's just another cheap product for the consumers head
Bubble gum rock on plastic transistors
Schoolboy sedition backed by big time promoters'

Punk is dead from feeding of the 5000.

No-one can deny this band had a major impact on the UK music scene and the world in many respects.


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## feyr (Jul 16, 2003)

Infest, Papa Roach

it may not be the best written album in the history of music, but what it may lack in skill,it certainly makes up for in passion. it appeals to the angst ridden,death obsessed  teenager in me. i was living away from home, in a place i didnt know well, juggling college,a job and all the things that come with living in your own home, at an age when most of my mates were still bumming around, enjoying the lack of responsability that comes with teenage living. the first time i listen to the album, i cried. i felt i could relate to every song, the anger and optimism of 'infest', the despair of 'broken home', the scared bravado of 'last resort'. but it was 'binge' that really got me. 
"All I need is a bottle ,
And I don't need no friends, no 
Wallow in my pain 
I swallow as I pretend
To act like I'm happy 
When I drink till no end, no
I'm losing all my friends
I'm losing in the end 

when i heard those lyrics, i could keep it in any longer. i sat on my bed and cried. everything that i'd been keeping inside, all my worries,all the pain and anger, all the hate that i had towards myself just poured out. i cried until there was nothing left. then i found a bottle of JD, and put the cd back on. i drank, i jumped around my room, i screamed along to the lyrics. it felt great! for the first time in ages,corny as it might sound, i felt truely alive. 3 years on, i'm still juggling uni,a job and now a family too, but now i know how to stay in control. everyday, i stick my papa roach on the cd player, and scream along to it, as i do my chores. so ok, its not exactly rock and roll, but i love it.


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## sojourner (Jul 17, 2003)

*Mythical Kings and Iguanas by Dory Previn*



> _Originally posted by unclekellan _
> *The mythical kings and inguanas album spoke clearly to my state - and those that know of it, let alone own it - are a little club all of their own.
> 
> *



woofuckinhoo!!me eyes nearly popped out when i read this! my boyf introduced this album to me, and i fell in love with it immediately. i only know of 3 people who have heard it, us 2, and one of me mates...i never ever get tired of listening to this, wow!


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## Dazy Boy (Jul 31, 2003)

<b>Talking Heads – Fear Of Music</b>

I’ve listened to this album I don’t know how many times. I got it back in around ’95 after finding it listed in one of those “Top 50 Albums Of All Time” compilations in some magazine. I had some of their other stuff and liked it, and the first few listens I thought “yeah, this is ok, but what’s the fuss about?” Then it just grew on me, like all great albums do.

There was something about its’ overall sound, a kind of disconnectedness from normality and the mundane that really put a hook in me. Even the title is a contradiction – I love music, why should anyone fear it? But crazily sometimes I do. Then there’re the tracks. “Cities”, with the repeating lyric “I will find myself a city to live in” spoke directly to me in my indecision and excitement about where to go and what to do with my life. In “Mind”, the lines “science won’t change you” and others evoke for me the contemporary cultural dilemmas of living in the modern world.

The whole album is about concepts that are rich in content and challenge traditional thought, and there’s nothing else that gets my mind buzzing in the same way. I didn’t get laid to it, or drop my first tab listening to it, but it’s there in my head, and when I put it on I feel like I am doing a trip without the aid of chemicals. On that note, the last track, titled “Drugs” is one of the most purely sublime, eerie songs I’ve ever heard. It perfectly captures the inherent weirdness of drug experiences, and is almost trance-like in affect.

I’ll mention one other line, in “Life During Wartime” David Byrne sings “Transmit a message to the receiver, hope for an answer someday” – doesn’t sound much, but to me it has a perfect symmetry about it, a tautology in that the only person you can transmit a message to <i>is</i> the receiver. It’s touches like this which bring me back to this album again and again. Intelligence in music is rare, and this album has got it all for me.


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## ninthcouncil (Aug 4, 2003)

ViolentPanda got there first but....

When you look for your favourite album, your favourite anything, you have to empty your mind. Get rid of all the intellectual shit, get rid of all the received impressions, get rid of all the things that people have told you ought to like and you believed them. Lose the technique, lose the politics, lose it all. What is still there, what won't go away, what is part of you and can't be erased?

Yeah. I can't lose "Unknown Pleasures" either. It's part of me, and I'll never lose it without becoming someone else. I don't need to play "New Dawn Fades" ever again. Every little granule of it is burnt into my brain, along with the rest of the album and a few other things, like the bassline to "A Forest" by the Cure, or my partner's sleeping face. (Am I getting too sentimental? Fuck you. Some things matter.)

The only other record that comes close is "Rain Dogs" by Tom Waits, another record I need never play again....


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## Dubversion (Aug 4, 2003)

about once a week i have a look at this thread and decide it's really time i gave it a shot.

but i just can't bloody do it. total mental block. both about what the record would be, and what i'd find to say about it.

totally tongue tied.

which isn't terribly in character


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## chazegee (Aug 6, 2003)

Surely a Chumbawumba noomber Dub


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## oi2002 (Aug 17, 2003)

Trombipulation: Parilament 

A very silly 80s funk record, from the Clinton collective.  

I was tossing out all the crap bought in the musical wilderness that was the 80s, only Clinton's stuff and my Art Blakey collection put up any resistance.


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## YojimboUK (Aug 18, 2003)

Wire -- The Ideal Copy

Not the best Wire album, nor even the best post-1985 Wire Album, but The Ideal Copy helped me work my way through the detonation and fallout of my first seriously soul-screwing relationship. It's lyrical, it's poignant, it's intelligent, it's surreal, it's cruel, it's got fierce energy, and it's cynical as Hell on a Monday. What the boy needed, is what I'm saying.

   Unrefined, the final scam
   It didn't rhyme, it didn't matter
   A soundtrack for your silence
   Insincere

which pretty much sums up the relationship as well. Why do I keep falling in love with mad women?

The new Plump DJs joint rox da hoss too.


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## Miscellaneous (Sep 25, 2003)

Evanescence's Hello sums up my favourite record to date.


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## Sooty (Oct 2, 2003)

*Blue Lines - Massive Attack*

This was the first full album I listened to and liked every song on it.  I was more a singles type gal and never owned an album when I was younger.

When I met my boyfriend (now husband) we use to lie in his room and listen to his albums whilst getting canned and having the most amazing sex.  Whenever I hear this album now I am automatically transported back to the summer of '95 to a little room, in a little suburban town in Manchester.

To me it was just so...NEW.  I was use to listening to Rod Stewart, Motown and lots of mainstream pop.  Blue Lines made me realise that there was a whole world of music out there that I wasn't use to.  You couldn't really dance to it, you couldn't really sing to it - but you could float to it and just feel it.


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## Numbers (Oct 23, 2003)

never too late

*Al Green - True Love Collection*

The music drips with so much soul that your fingers get sticky! Every song is a gem of early seventies (Disco-free) soul.   AL Green put so much feeling & emotion into his work you are still blown away by the quality these Records still have.  The Man could show many Artists & Groups out now how it truly is done.   His voice is what soul & feeling is all about.

My wife and I love the track *God blessed our love* to bits and had it as our opening dance/song at our wedding.


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## Masseuse (Oct 23, 2003)

The Stone Roses.

This album opened me up to music and its emotional effects.  It was the first music I ever bought, ever _chose_ for myself, the first that had any meaning in my life.  My family was a bit nutty - didn't "believe" in music and it was actively discouraged as an activity in any way.  The only record we had in the house was Band Aid's "Do they know it's Christmas", bought as a christmas present for me because it was for a "good cause" - the irony of us not owning a record player seemingly not a cause for concern.

<violins please>   

The Stone Roses brought forth lots of feelings about being "stuck" in Manchester and the whole Madchester thing made fucked up kids like me feel a part of something bigger than ourselves.  It's a cliche, but we really did feel like we were the centre of the universe for a while rather than a sidelined province.

For me and thousands like me it was an album you could go nuts with, laugh with, cry with.  Took me away from the world I hated and gave me breathing space.  Guitar that wrenched at your soul and a singer who knew exactly how to press myriad buttons.

Ian Brown - the most beautiful monkeyman in the world.  

Of my three brothers one is now in a band and the one is a sound engineer.  Well done mum and dad.


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## Traitor Ohio (Oct 25, 2003)

*An answer to a previous statement?*

Well I posted an article on Metallica's Ride The Lightning, which is still my number 1 album, I have some more additions to my favourite albums. 

Everybody has heard of Pink Floyd right? I hope well so! Well I first got into them from a tape my mother gave me of The Wall: Live In Berlin 1991 and I loved it, played it over and over. But then my interest widened in the bands other albums. My father (yes the same one who lent me Metallica's Black Album) lent me two tapes of Floyd they were: The Final Cut and Obscured By Clouds. Man, life took a new direction. The Final Cut has become a cult classic in my mind, little known but lyrically and musically brilliant, it is possibly the most underrated P.F. album to date, don't get me wrong albums such like The Wall and Dark Side Of The Moon (also by P.F.) are legendary but in my mind they will never match up to the sheer brilliance of T.F.C. which coincedentally was the last album P.F. made with Roger Waters (hence The FINAL Cut). 

Now, I still love Metallica and all/most heavy metal bands but I have a new found softer side and this includes bands such as: P.Floyd, Led Zeppelin (Houses Of The Holy, OMG!) et al 
But I still think that, even though I respect Metallica for all they have/haven't done they in my mind have not influenced music today as heavily as I feel Pink Floyd have done. 

"Long live Prog Rock and h/metal in a cruel and corporate world."

A solemn Traitor Ohio.


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## Yu_Gi_Oh (Nov 14, 2003)

*Pearl Jam- Verses*

When I first heard Pearl Jam I was stunned into silence, something that was unusual when I was 14.  The music was a revaloution to my tastes and a catalyst for new friendships, I was amazed that I'd been missing out on such musical splendour!  I still believe that if someone likes Pearl Jam then they can't be all bad and if they don't appreciate Pearl Jam than they're slightly lacking in some department.
  The best album, in my opinion, that Pearl Jam did is Verses, it's the most anthemic, the most passionate, it has the best riffs.  It's the album for all occasions; I cried to 'Rear view mirror' when I got dumped and was feeling better by the end.  When I've argued with my Mum I've listened to 'Daughter'.  Around my mates house it's the album we turn up loud and all sing along to, if anyone is leaving town for a while we all end up singing 'Old Woman...'.  It is *the* album for emotional moments, the one I'll always use to cheer up my boyfriend, the musical equivilent to a cup of tea and a spliff.
  If I didn't have Pearl Jam I would have cried longer and harder I'm sure, they Rock and they are the last word in grunge.  Move over Nirvana.


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## fubert (Nov 14, 2003)

totally agree with rachel....

we used to listen to it all night when on nightshift. leash and rearview mirror are ace.


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## Yu_Gi_Oh (Nov 14, 2003)

Well then Fubert, you too *ROCK* !


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## coldharbardread (Nov 18, 2003)

*Exodus, because the words and the music are hynpotic. Reminds of the good old days.*


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## cevets (Nov 21, 2003)

*Moody Blues - Days of Future Passed*

This remains my favorite album, although there are many that come a very close second.  The music, lyrics, poetry all resonated with me in my younger days when the album was released and still today.  My son, now 21, also found it to be compelling when he first listened to it at age 15.


Cold hearted orb that rules the night,
Removes the colours from our sight,
Red is gray and yellow white,
But we decide which is right.
And which is an illusion?
Pinprick holes in a colourless sky,
Let insipid figures of light pass by,
The mighty light of ten thousand suns,
Challenges infinity and is soon gone.
Night time, to some a brief interlude,
To others the fear of solitude.
Brave Helios wake up your steads,
Bring the warmth the countryside needs.

Breathe deep the gathering gloom,
Watch lights fade from every room.
Bedsitter people look back and lament,
Another day's useless energy spent.
Impassioned lovers wrestle as one,
Lonely man cries for love and has none.
New mother picks up and suckles her son,
Senior citizens wish they were young.
Cold hearted orb that rules the night,
Removes the colours from our sight.
Red is grey and yellow white.
But we decide which is right.
And which is an illusion???.


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## Rock Bottom (Dec 1, 2003)

*Subhumans - The Day the Country Died*

Picture the scene....It's the early 80's. Thatcher and Reagan are in power, funnelling funds to vicious dictators, squashing trade unions - as a result, emaciating a once proud working class - and slowly taking over the media. The apathetic public continues to lead their banal existences without thought for the consequences of the actions of their governments.

On both sides of the Atlantic, small groups of angry young men decide to pick up their guitars, make as much noise as possible, and try and wake people up from their blissful illusion. In America, The Dead Kennedys became so threatening to the establishment that they were reportedly under 24 hour observation by the FBI. On this side, we had the Subhumans, the grandfathers of the modern protest movement, for whom the self-styled anarchists on urban75 owe a massive debt if they are aware of it or not.....

I first picked up this record in about 1990, eight years after it first came out. The first thing that struck me was how much focused anger and energy it carried, from the opening power chords of "All Gone Dead", to the desperation of "I Don't Wanna Die", to the sadness of "No More Gigs", finally culminating in possibly the poignant comment on the apathetic nation we have become, "Black and White". It is hard to work out what vocalist Dick feels strongest about, taking on all range of topics such as apathy, cigarette dependance, drugs, police, and cultural death. Each topic is dealt with sincerely, and the emotion shines through in Dick's voice. Such is the effect of a listening, that afterwards, you feel like getting off your arse, and trying, in a small way, to improve the society you live in.

Since this golden period of protest punk, most of the exponents have disappeared, and noone has taken their place. It is a pity, because their rallying cries have never been more necessary, as toothless protests are no longer headed by those in power. Listening to this album, or to The Dead Kennedy's "Bedtime for Democracy", it suddenly sounds as fresh as it must have done 20 years ago.

Subhumans put out a few more albums after this, which had their moments, but they never again reached the heights of TDTCD. Soon after, they stopped washing, grew their hair, changed their name to Citizen Fish and became the unacceptable face of protest rock, resembling and sounding like the diabolical Levellers. Instead, remember them as they were - Angry, Loud, Important.


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## Lin (Dec 11, 2003)

Queen - Queen II

why??? dunno it just is....every song's is a gem, even Loser in the End is bareable (who told Roger Taylor he could sing   )


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## jusali (Dec 12, 2003)

*GU009*

My choice has to be Global Underground 009 Sasha in SanFrancisco
I first came across this album after a pretty nasty un-provoked kicking and eventual hospitalisation in good old brick lane. I'd always been a rave/techno/house/electronica (Electronic dance music OK!) fan and was always on the look out for more. I'd been to see sasha play numerous times in Shellys up in Stoke and wasn't vastly enamoured with his record choices but hey.
So I was in Virgins with the weirdest concussion and the ugliest face (think orangutang on heat) and happen to run into this on the shelves, it was odd to see a Sasha compilation and odder to see a tracklist that meant S.F.A to me but I thought fuck it I'll give it a go. I took it home and during that period had complications with my head and various visits to hospital but this CD became my security blanket.
Unlike most club based compilations this immediatly fished me in with an ambient scenario setting the scene as the first track which is obviously some audio footage taken from the streets then it slowly mutates into the first piece of music. The oddest bleep loop that seems to go on and on echoing and perfectly complimented by the other samples and a subtle beat that can be dismissed by the mind or could be devastating on a rig. the effect of the music with my concussion I must admit was a sublime and pretty trippy experience i was well on the road to an affair with this album that although I didn't see it would be my security blanket for a long time.
After that I started going with a lovely lady who is now Mrs Jusali who lived in Bristol I bought myself a little golf gti and every weekend I would bomb down to Bristol with my trusty Sasha taped off so I could play it in the car. I remember building a load of rollies for the journey and loading a few Russian Roulette stylee  and spending  my time driving on down to my love. Accompanied by standout tracks that always seemed to happen in similar places, Van Bellen's mix of Protect your mind always played as I was bombing through the underpass from docklands towards tower bridge a melancholy vocal "Fighting for a way of life...........Can you feel it........" with echo delays and a beautiful little bass stab that sounded like raindrops but with the most exquisite chord change that kinda breaks your heart. This then mixed in to Classified Projects, Ressurection again almost the exact same bassline but this time it becomes happy and a a bit more gritty nasty trance trippin. Funnily enough aggro enough to get me through parliament square. Then Medway's Ressurection the drop, the breather wailing diva, ibiza strings and pads that has you imagining sunsets and feeling chilled with a big fuck of grin on me face (sometimes I'd be lucky enough to get the loaded singley aswell mmmm bliss). Then out of no-where in would come in the real aggressive stuff synth stabs, simple melodies and lots of moodiness, ideal for being on the M4 and I'd literally floor in as I felt little rushes come in through the tracks Sneaky alien and Travel Bulgarian moody posey progressive house/trance without being to Gatecrasher if you get my drift. Naturally most of the journey was M4 busy, lots of idiots and lots of delays a few nasty crashes and this cd perfectly complimented it. A natty little race with a similar motor whilst quivvers Everything's not you playing, again a vocal, male this time lamenting a breakup with his partner but reassuring himself he's happy without her "cause i don't need to drown my sorrows, i can wait until tomorrow oh oh oh " it fades and again another heavy right footed moment and that gentle push of acceleration and the rush as this badass bassline takes over and re-introduces you to that grittiness you'd forgotten about only seconds before. 
I only ever had the first Cd on tape but I used to play both equally as much at either home at that time. I have all the individual tracks on vinyl (a bit anal I s'pose) and even today they're stand out classic tracks in the progressive type scene. Just go on ebay and look for Freaky Chakra's platform and you'll be paying in excess of twenty quid for it there's at least 7 tracks or so commanding silly money. Which shows a healthy interest even now in this sublime album. 
Since I've moved to Bristol I still love music of this ilk unfortunately my friends don't geddit but most are the types not entirely affected by music in the way i am. I've been raving since 1989 and collecting music on and off since then I must have thousands of house, trance etc classics but still nothing really has the maturity the fluidity and the pure beauty this album conveys to me. I often sneak it on at dinner parties (I sneak or I get "not that rave stuff it's too much.....) and people are always saying " I love stuff like this but I can never find it....????" whether they are charming me or not is another story.............
Sasha Global Underground 009 San Francisco I salute you

T/L....
1/01  -  Intro 
1/02 Freaky Chakra -  Platform 
1/03 Attaboy -  Solid Space Business 
1/04 DJ Sakin & Friends -  Protect Your Mind
  remix by Van Bellen 
1/05 Classified Project -  Resurrection 
1/06 Medway -  The Resurrection E.P. 
1/07 Slickmick -  Lecture 
1/08 Sneaky Alien -  Blue Stream 
1/09 Funk-Funktion -  Empress II 
1/10 Travel -  Bulgarian
  remix by Incisions 
1/11 Joi Cardwell -  Soul To Bare
  remix by C. Hornbostel 
1/12 Quivver -  Everything's Not You (Quivver's Space mix) 
1/13 Morgan King -  I'm Free
  remix by William Orbit 
1/14 Libra Presents Taylor -  Anomaly-Calling Your Name
  remix by Albion 
2/01  -  Intro 
2/02 Narcotik -  Blue 
2/03 Der Dritte Raum -  Hale Bopp 
2/04 Illuminatus -  Hope 
2/05 Dave Kane -  Clarkness 
2/06 Eclipse 8 -  Acoustic Principles 
2/07 Mana -  Psionic 
2/08 Breeder -  The Chain 
2/09 Paragliders -  Change Me 
2/10 Breeder -  Twilo Thunder 
2/11 Jark Prongo -  Movin' Thru Your System 
2/12 DJ Tomcraft -  The Mission 
2/13 Tilt -  I Dream (Tilt's Resurrection Mix)  

Jus


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## DR377 (Dec 15, 2003)

Sublimes-40 oz. to freedom

this albuum was never finished becuase of the untimely death of bradley(heroin addiction) he was writing great music and if they still had time to finish it before his death it makes me wonder what it could have been


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## sistermidnight (Dec 17, 2003)

*Everyone has had great choices so far*

Here is  mine:

The Clash - Self-titled (U.K. version)
When I was eleven, if you asked me my favorite band I would probably have said "that band that sings Fade to Black." I was not, needless to say, very music-savvy.
As it should go, the Sex Pistols came first for me. Somewhere in my memory was a vague recollection of some guy with an awful, annoying voice, snarling "Eeeee-Emmm-AAAY!" I did not know then who Johnny Rotten was. When I found out who Johnny Rotten was, and re-discovered my love for Nevermind the Bollocks, leftover from my older brother's punk phase, I was officially born into the world of music.
Punk was a little different from the anthems of my childhood, "Crazy" by Patsy Cline and "Call Me Al" by Paul Simon, but I learned quickly. I decided to go out and buy an album by The Clash, and I bought the first one I saw, which happened to be the self-titled. For about a year, I never went a single day without playing it.
I was suddenly in it up to my ears. I read biographies and interviews. Posters and pictures became fixed to my wall. I developed a large crush on Paul Simonon and a larger crush on Joe Strummer. I also developed a love for  many other bands, including The Adicts, The Exploited, G.B.H., The Buzzcocks, The Stooges, The New York Dolls, Patti Smith, Subhumans, Chelsea, Sham 69, The Germs, and The Slits.
The Clash is still my favorite ever album. From the blistering heat of tracks like "White Riot" and "London's Burning" to the pure emotion in "Garageland," the album is 14-odd perfect songs. While The Clash would go on to strongly influence me with all of their other albums, most especially "Give 'Em Enough Rope" and "London Calling," their self titled will always be the most important to me, forever engraved in my mind as my first love in the musical realm.

Honorable mentions:
The Who - Quadrophenia
The Smiths - The Smiths
Rolling Stones - Between the Buttons
Joy Division - Unknown Pleasures
The Adicts - Songs of Praise
The Buzzcocks - Love Bites
David Bowie - Ziggy Stardust


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## larryjnr (Dec 17, 2003)

Right after careful consideration I think it has to be Massive Attack blue lines.  I remember my brother playing them and being fairly ambivalent about it - far more into jumping around to Ride at the time.

Then as I got older and started to fall in and out of love this album was always there as a security blanket (safe from harm) a reminder of the first rush you get when you realise you are falling in love (unfinished sympathy) and then the wonderful feeling of sitting on a rooftop in Bristol with me mates and a spliff and Horace Andy singing hymn of the big wheel.  I can hardly type with the goose bumps on my arms!

Not only that it opened up dub and reggae to me, got me interested in soundsystems and introduced me to Tricky.  And if anyone dares to call it coffee table fodder I will force you into a room with Morcheeba playing continuosly for 2 days - you might be able to tell the difference then.

I still like jumping around to going blank again by Ride though!


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## Polygon (Dec 21, 2003)

my promo copy of
 dj die - drop bear
cos it's well rare


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## Nixon (Dec 30, 2003)

Placebo -Without You Im Nothing and The Pixies-Surfer Rosa.
Both helped me through my little life so far.


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## R.I.C.O. (Dec 30, 2003)

"Different Class" by Pulp.

I discovered Pulp in 2001 after not reallypaying much attention to them (I was always more of a Blur / Madness / chirpy band man). After a heavy ganja smoking session with a friend's houemate, listening to "Different Class", my favourite album changed from "Emergency on Planet Earth" by Jamiroquai to that album, and my music tastes have changed slightly to more soulful stuff. It starts with a bang with "Mis-shapes" (a fine song for revolutionaries), then "Pencil Skirt" (a perfect song for those feeling inadequacy), the masterpiece that is "Common People" (the definative song of the britpop era), "I Spy" (with its dark, soulful and mysterious undertones), and "Disco 2000" (another great song).

But my favourite song off the album is "Something Changed", a beautiful song with great strings. It reminds me of the summer, looking into the sunset with a glass of rum and a nice spliff. "Sorted for E's and Wizz" is another masterpiece, and we all know what that's all about!


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## Martin999 (Dec 30, 2003)

THROBBING GRISTLE  -Mission Is Terminated 12" / V/A - Nice Tracks LP (two record-set), Expanded Music, Italy, 1983

Sorry for going for a completely obscure one here, but this is genuinely my favourite record of all time. I  bought this on the strength of the cover (featuring a Nuremberg rally with the Pope's head in a barbed-wire crown of thorns superimposed on top - something The Shamen nicked for their Gorby LP cover?). I managed to get it cheap as it had coffee stains all down the back cover - little did I know that at the tail-end of 2003 I'd be sitting on a computer writing about it.

This set was released as  a 'freebie' with an Italian fanzine called 'Red Ronnie's Bazaar' (never mind free flexi discs, just give us a double album on the cover!). The Throbbing Gristle tracks are stunning, maybe the best thing they ever recorded (which is saying a lot), two live tracks that sound like dead souls being sucked from a gaping grave, plus a studio piece ( 'Medicine for Catholic Sex') comprising a porn soundtrack intercut with ominous church bells, organ music, orgasmic groans, heavy breathing and electronic mayhem.

But the 'Nice Tracks' compilation was something else. On first listens, it sounds like chaos incarnate - disjointed, all over the place, crude cuts and tracks and field recordings jarring  into each other. After a few listens, I felt like I'd heard Luis Bunuel arranging a Phil Spector album. 

'Nice Tracks' kicks off with a band called Confusional Quarter massacring the Italian national anthem - this version has to be heard to be believed. Other samples on this manic soundtrack of an album include a little girl discussing ice cream, Elvis sobbing and wondering where his career's gone, news reports of Nazi Germany's annexation of the Sudetenland, sex pants and groans, Spaghetti Western soundtracks, a car exploding, a drunken Mark Perry (Alternative TV) gatecrashing a Police (the group) promo party and screaming 'YOU'RE JUST A BUNCH OF FUCKING CUNTS!', bizarre piano music, members of Throbbing Gristle ordering pizza, Ari from The Slits reading some sort of political manifesto, Psychic TV doing a soundcheck, geisha girls, a girl singing 'Femme Fatale' to herself (live on a  tube train), Mexican funeral rites, warped disco, and some homemade electro from people and bands who've never been heard of again.

Normally, DIY music compilations can result in really awful tracks, but every single song here has a beauty and passion that's life-affirming. OK, sounds soppy, but this is an album with heart, and listening to it reminds me of all the non-existent surreal film soundtracks I've played in my head over the years. Hot summers in Peckham, cold winters sitting round in my flat, listening to the sound of alien worlds, places I'd never explored, people I'd never meet and who'd never get a mention in the annals of pop. Give me this on a desert island and I'd be sorted.


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## miss peep (Dec 30, 2003)

...can't remember the name of the man who sang it but it goes..

.." I can see clearly now the rain has gone,i can see all obsticles in my way...gone are the dark clouds......



gonna be a bright,bright,sunshiny day..."  

My mum used to play it to me and my sis when we were little,always makes me want to cry and smile at the same time...you know all tingley.


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## Dubversion (Jan 3, 2004)

johnny nash did the famous version, miss peep, but there have been lots of covers..


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## loud 1 (Jan 20, 2004)

white zombie.


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## moetec (Jan 27, 2004)

*ahhhh!!!*

 had to be sashas airdrawndagger.  it was so fluent, melodic and uplifting and redefined the words producing an album.  i will forever cherish it.


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## jinxy (Feb 5, 2004)

*MOBY - Play*

"Why does my heart feel so bad, Why does my soul feel so sad"

It’s not often you can find an album you can play from start to finish without having to skip tracks, but PLAY is so well composed that each song is almost a continuation of the previous, no abrupt change in tone or mood so no matter how your feeling you can just let PLAY take you away. 

With well orchestrated instruments, (almost all played by MOBY himself) tweaked with production excellence, all over some eerie and moving vocals, PLAY put MOBY into international stardom. With almost every track on this album being used in either film or television, MOBY has forged a respectful name for himself in music history. 

I picked up PLAY about 3 years ago on a trip back to New Zealand. I had made the trip to comfort my father as he went through chemotherapy, and as you could imagine I wasn’t in the best of spirits and heard from a friend that this album may help calm the nerves. The night I arrived, after seeing my dad in hospital, my brother, sisters and I headed for a relatives farm for the night. Needing something to subside the emotions, my brother and I sat on the deck over looking a quiet valley, popped a bottle of Jimi and let MOBY do the rest. 

PLAY, the best album, ever.


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## upsidedownwalrus (Feb 5, 2004)

There are a few albums I would nominate - "Nevermind", Massive Attack's "Protection" and Joy Division's "Closer", but those are perhaps a bit too obvious.  So instead I'm going to attempt to describe my feelings about an album by one of music's most influential, yet underappreciated, bands of the last 20 years, Sonic Youth's Daydream Nation.

Sonic Youth have been around a long time and done a lot of mainly very good music (which sometimes lapses into some awful self-indulgent mess).

The first album, of theirs that I heard was "Dirty".  This was around about the time that NEvermind was at the height of its popularity, and Sonic Youth clearly were attempting to (quite rightly as grunge would probably not have existed without them) cash in on the success of grunge.  Dirty was a good album, but not a fantastic one.  So for a fair while I always regarded SY as just one of the older grunge bands, good but not in the same league as Nirvana or Soundgarden.  Then, around the summer of 1994, I was beginning to get a bit bored of listening to rock alone, and started going into other sorts of music, reggae, dub, ambient, stuff you could lose yourself in as well as rock out to.  I got "Daydream Nation" from the library. The first few times I listened to it, I thought, yes, decent album, I'll copy this.  

Yet after that, the more I played it, the more that I realised that this is an album of almost incomparable brilliance.  Its the ethos of punk married to the experimentation of jazz and the depth of classical.  The only other thing that comes close is God Machine's "Scenes from the Second Storey" (another rock album which transcends the genre by being deep and atmospheric as well as heavy).

From the moment the first tinkly guitar sounds kick in, and Kim Gordon breathes "Spring desire... spring desire... we will fall" to the abrupt ending of the final track Trilogy, this album is a maze-like wonderland of incredible scope, colour and vision.

The defining moment of listening to this album and the moment that it will always make me think of, was when I was travelling in India in 1995.  We were staying in Pushkar, and were getting the bus from there over to Jaisalmer.  It was a very, very happy time for me generally.  Before we got on the bus we drank a bhang lassi  (yoghurt drink with hash in) which started kicking in when the bus left.  At the same time that it kicked in, "Teenage Riot" began on my walkman.  I can never remember hearing any song in such clarity or understanding what it meant so clearly, the feeling of travelling, school's over kids, we're travelling, we're going on a voyage, we're going to the beach.

Even to this day I can never get bored of this album, and still find I hear it in new ways that I hadn't noticed previously.


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## Pilgrim (Mar 23, 2004)

I'd have to choose 'Led Zeppelin IV'. 'Rock & Roll' and 'Stairway To Heaven' just blew me away and they still do. Sounds just as fresh and inventive with every listen. Although the live version of 'Stairway...' on the movie 'The Song Remains The Same' soundtrack album is even better than the original album version.

Most of today's stadium rock bands owe a debt to Zeppelin of one kind or another, even those who aren't honest enough to admit the fact. The Darkness, Guns'N'Roses, Queen, I could go on.

A few years ago my life reached its absolute lowest, I remember walking into a record shop and seeing a copy of 'Remasters' on the shelf. I already knew of, and loved, 'Stairway...' of course and then i heard 'Rock & Roll' on a pub juke box. I was hooked from the off.

The sheer exuberance of 'Rock & Roll' was, and still is, enough to lift me out of my darkest, lowest moods. 'Stairway...' sounded like a call to arms, an appeal to our highest tendencies instead of our lowest. I needed that badly, and sometimes still do.

I ended up picking up the complete collection on vinyl and storing them away, safe from fingermarks and scratches. The great thing about Zeppelin is that they could pull off seemingly anything. Long songs, short songs, different styles, different tempos, they could do it all and more. Not like the current wave of so-called 'Nu' metal. They had style, grace, great songs and didn't mind playing a three hour set with encores. Try getting a modern band to play for three hours, then come back onstage for another thirty minutes, it isn't likely you'll succeed.

They were one of the biggest-selling acts of all time, and some of their single-gig attendance records stand to this day. They'll be forever remembered as one of the greatest, if not the greatest, rock bands of any era.

Thanks guys.


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## Dr_Benway (Mar 25, 2004)

Pilgrim said:
			
		

> Most of today's stadium rock bands owe a debt to Zeppelin of one kind or another, even those who aren't honest enough to admit the fact. The Darkness, Guns'N'Roses, Queen, I could go on.



But that's a list of crud bands.  If you went on would you eventually hit some good ones?

Led Zeppelin were good, then they stopped because something happened to the world and rock and roll switched sides.  Traitorousosusos whore that it is.

My favourite record is Surfer Rosa by The Pixies.  It doesn't mean anything, except that one day we're all going to die.


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## herman (Mar 31, 2004)

*This is the saddest thread*

I have read and contributed to so many threads on so many forums over the paste few years and few I have come across have provoked such emotion.

I find as the years go by time seems to speed up, days turn into weeks into months and years so quickly.  Work takes up so much time and my regular night shift means that I sleep through the best bit of the day.  For this reason I find myself looking back with nostalgia to days when for me were not so tough.  Each memory has a soundtrack.  My first date, my first job, the day I started at the comprehensive and everything else good and bad that has happened to me. For each moment there is a groove.

Sometimes on a night shift the radio may blast out a particular tune. I am transported to another time.  A magical memory maybe or even one of those embarrassing moments of which I'd rather not be reminded.

Reading through some of the contributions I hear great tunes in my head and feel compelled to dust down a few records that may not have seen the light of day for a number of years.  I will revel in the scratches and pops, each with their own story, a paticular party or maybe a clumsy miscue as a kid on my Marshall Ward bought snooker table, one of my suprise Christmas presents over my South Wales valleys childhood.

For this reason choosing a favourite record and why is probably one of the toughest questions I have ever been posed.  I am pretty sure of many thing , fairly sure of others and not sure at all of others, but to choose a favourite record and why is asking me to look into my past and dig out the most magical of moments, when I first heard the song that made me feel great, not good, but great.  When for one moment the cares and concerns of the world  were lifted.

I love music and have hundreds of albums some good, some fantastic and others that have not stood the test of time as well.  However there is one song that stands out, head and shoulders above every other. Its the record that maybe captured the mood of a time unlike any other.  It is bleak and miserably, dark and unforgiving.  It should not point to a great time in my life. Thatcher had been elected as Prime Minister, 3,000,000 had been put out of work.  My dad was laid off and things were tight at home. However to me none of this mattered, I was a teenage schoolboy, discoveing girls and space invaders and had a lifetime ahead of me.  It was too soon to worry about work, marriage, mortgage or even O levels which would come later.  It was all fairgrounds, fights, 10p in the Invaders and pointless hours spent hanging around the cafe.

It all made sense when I heard the record that changed my life forever.  It was the record that taught this man what the world was going to be about. That record was 'Ghost Town' by the specials.

From that opening keyboard intro (thank you Mr Dammers) to the vocal outro,  through the changes of tempo and key Ghost Town truly is a magical, though sometimes scary ride.

We didn't know at that time what Thatcher was capable of, we were just kids. Within 3 years our families would be on strike. Within 5 years our pit vallage had become the Ghost Town as boards went up on the shops in the once thriving communities.

From 'Ghost Town' onwards in I was a dedicated 2-Tone fan.  Madness, The Selecter and even the sadly too brief catalogue of the Bodysnatchers. I loved them all and worshipped at the alter of Ska.  

Did I say this was the saddest thread?
Sure it is, I have a lump in my throat as I type this.

And I bet you thought I was going to chose 'Save all your kisses for me' by Brotherhood of Man.  Ah, that sets off another trail of memories, and is another story altogether....

[note Ghost Town was not an album by The Specials but a number 1 single, all that my 50p weekly pocket money could stretch to:  Albums came into my life maybe 2 or 3 years later but none had an impact on me quite like Ghost Town. I would be a liar if I tried to convince you otherwise]


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## upsidedownwalrus (Apr 5, 2004)

Hey Herman, do you remember the Specials' second album, More Specials?

A sadly overlooked album IMO, it had some great songs on that weren't on any of the "Best Of" albums, like "Man At C&A".  Shame its a not very well known album, and is quite hard to get hold of.


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## herman (Apr 5, 2004)

*Do nothing*




			
				RenegadeDog said:
			
		

> Hey Herman, do you remember the Specials' second album, More Specials?
> 
> A sadly overlooked album IMO, it had some great songs on that weren't on any of the "Best Of" albums, like "Man At C&A".  Shame its a not very well known album, and is quite hard to get hold of.



And of course "I can't Stand it" the Rhoda Dakar/Terry Hall duet that has stood the test of time pretty well and Stereotype, the song that set the sound for the Funboy 3.

Another great overlooked albumn was "Celebrate the Bullet", the second Selecter albumn.


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## Skim (Apr 7, 2004)

*The Smiths: "The Queen is Dead"*

It was 1987, I was 15 and growing up in a small village in north Plymouth on the edge of Dartmoor. Ponies, cream teas, full of Devon goodness. Nowhere near the urban sprawl of Manchester, where The Queen is Dead was conceived, a city which I didn't visit until only two years ago. But this album transcends the time and place from which it came to speak to a whole generation of cardigan-wearing teenagers over the land. I was one of them. 

Liking The Smiths made me a slightly dowdy teenager, although I didn't go the whole hog and do the hearing aid/bunch of gladioli combination. I liked them because they set me apart at school, marked me out  as the kind of person who, well,  liked The Smiths. ''Ugh, slit yer wrists music,'' most others would groan. I wrote the band's name on one of my exercise books and someone wrote ''are shit'' on it in return. I didn't care. 

When I heard The Queen is Dead for the first time, I'd never found such an exciting opening to an album in my life -- and it remains one of my favourites. The Take Me Back to Dear Old Blighty song fading into the drums, the feedback, the lead guitar. To hear an opening lyric like ''her royal highness with her head in a sling'' satisfied my teenage rebellion and quite probably influenced my later republican leanings. Even now it sounds fresh:

''I said, Charles don’t you ever crave
To appear on the front of the Daily Mail
Dressed in your mother's bridal veil…''

Up until this point in time I'd been into Lloyd Cole and the Commotions, and as something of a bookish, shy teenager I'd found lyrics to relate to. But with The Smiths, I was getting something more raw, more egdy. And while Lloyd Cole was singing in abstract terms about American novelists, Morrissey was singing words that somehow spoke to me in my bedroom in Devon. And, of course, the tunes were fantastic.

On the whole people it seemed people either loved or hated Morrissey. And if you hated him, you'd always say he was glum. Every Day is Like Sunday didn't really do him much favours, admittedly. But haven't these people ever heard Frankly, Mr Shankly? Or Vicar in a Tutu? 

There are sad moments of course. Slow, heart-crushing songs of despair and resignation, like Never Had No One Ever and I Know It's Over, which I sang to but didn't understand at 15 then finally cried to for the break-up of a very brief relationship at 27 which ''never really began, but in my heart felt so real''. Awww.

And alongside the tear-jerkers there are perfect guitar pop moments, poetic like Cemetery Gates or just funny and weird, like Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others or Bigmouth Strikes Again. My favourite of all is There Is A Light Which Never Goes Out. It sums up wanting to leave home so well, and that's how it was for me and Andrew, my friend with who I shared so many of these tunes the first time I heard them. When I learned to drive we'd cruise around in my mum's Fiesta, never, never wanting to go home. (I didn't want to crash into a double decker bus, though, or be killed by a ten-ton truck.)

When I finally made it to Manchester, in the summer of 2002, it was for a wedding reception. I didn't have time to visit the Salford Boys' Club, but instead I ended up on a parquet dancefloor dancing to The Smiths with a load of Mancunians my age who used to dance to those songs too. Once upon a time we'd all listened to the albums in our bedrooms, either feeling deeply moved or madly singing ''I am the living sign'' into a hairbrush. Now we were all grown-up and gyrating around a hotel function room as if adulthood had never happened. The Queen was dead, but Mozza-worship was still very much alive...


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## phuckthewar (Apr 23, 2004)

Fuck'n'a, how many times have I tried to come up with a good (definitive) answer to this question...? 

Best I can muster, really, in terms of endurance at least (lots of faves have come and gone)....boils down to three, really. Maybe four. Discs that've literally changed my life.

Joy Division "Unknown Pleasures" might've been the most influential.....bought in the waning weeks of my high school career, when I was a crap guitarist without a band & had pretty much given up practicing. Had been on a steady diet of pistols/sham/uksubs, plus a lotta forgettable other no-talent shit & wasn't at all inspired. Then got that disc and found music that spoke directly to me, that had everything I _wanted_ in music in it...power, passion, mystery, an incomparable singular sound....started playing my guitar more, & gradually directed me towards actually writing/recording, then getting a band, then touring, then putting out records, then writing music crit shit for pubs....all of this instead of following a nice career track into a corporation like I was supposed to. Now, 20+ years on, I'm back recording again, back in a bnad again, gonna put out a disc again....and still listening to "unknown pleasures" and drawing inspiration and strength from it. yeah. it changed things.

second entry: a million miles further away stylistically, but it's been the soundtrack to some of the best moments in my life...."LC" by durutti column. listened to it on the beach in lake forest, illinois.....listened to it in my shit apartment in kalamazoo, michigan....listened to it in my car going to texas...it played in the background during drunken all night conversations with friends, while fucking/sleeping/waking/eating...played it while writing, drawing, painting...played it in a million solitary hours, when I just wanted to tune into something simple and quiet and beautiful and have space for my mind to work. Still love it. and occasionally, usually at about 2 in the morning, and often while sitting in front of this horrid electronic box I'll put it on, and everything smooths out sooooo nicely. Thank you, Vini.

last sweepstakes entry: "The Last Stiff Compilation Album". Bought it cheap at a store in DC, adn it became fodder for a million comp tapes. Not so many great or standout songs (though some great artists), but tracks by John Coper Clarke, Motorhead, Damned, Madness, even Lori & the Chameleons became permanently etched into my mental jukebox, with the repeat button pressed...now at 20 years plus as well.

That said: What I really can't get enough of right now is the latest Killing Joke album, "mezzanine" by massive attack, tricky's "pre-millennium tension," and steve earle's "transcendental blues". with a bit of time they'll probably rank right along the others.


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## bezzer (May 11, 2004)

*Blur - leisure*

It’s just everything a guitar indie band should sound like; it’s the bench mark… like the price of a barrel of North Sea Brent oil or the metric meter in Paris, it’s the pure standard (but) which is by no means average...


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## Bomber (May 13, 2004)

*Get yer Ya Ya's out !!*

Circa 1973/4: Me & a mate had strolled into the record shop in Lewis's department store. It was managed by two twin set and pearl dear's typical of the 70's dept.store in those days {Mrs Slocombe out of Are you being Served}  I was full of intent and in posession of two quid with which to buy an album. We browsed a while until I finally pulled out the album I was looking for. I took it to 'Mrs.Slocombe' and asked if she would play me a track. 
_"Is everybody ready ? We hope you all have a fantastic time, the greatest rock n roll band in the World ..... The Rolling Stones !!! The Rolling Stones !" _ .. upon which the Ass kickin-est riff known to man blared out causing Mrs.Slocombe' to reach for the volume control as she and her colleague looked on aghast at two scruffy loon panted acne cases making like Mick Jagger up & down the easy listening aisle !! 
 'Get yer Ya Ya's out' is my 'crutch' album, the one I reach for when I'm sad, angry or just when I feel like plain old gettin' down !! I know it like an old friend and it never fails me.  It captures the ambience of what a 70's concert was really like, and that I guess is why it is so precious to me. "We're gonna do one more then we gonna go" .......  cue "Street Fightin' man" and bedlam !! Gotta love it !


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## onzy (May 21, 2004)

*The Pixies; surfa rosa & come on pilgrim*

when i first watched fight club my favourite part was the credits, just because of the song that was playing; where is my mind.  for ages afterwards i would play the credits over and over agin until the tape almost disintegrated.  jus when my craving for more from the pixies was at its worst i happened to bring up the subject with one of my best mates who instantly said 'yeah, the pixies are one of my fav bands' one copied cd later i was hooked.  ever since i've had the album in my possession ive never looked back.  i must of played that album everyday for as long as i can remember and even now it sends shivers down my spine.  for ages i felt like the member of an exclusive track as my other mates would be oblivious to the references stef and i made to the album.  i found myself judging people on whether they knew of the pixies or not.  i feel its my duty to tell the world about the album that changed my opinion of music forever.  recently the pixies have rejoined and i strongly urge eveyrne to go and see them live as you have been fortunate enough to be given a second chance. the whole album is summed up for me in the line 'come on pilgrim you know he loves you, levitate me' and the album has certainly levitated me.


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## livetillyoudie (May 26, 2004)

*The Smiths - The Smiths*

this is definitely one of my favourite records and The Smiths are up there with the Pixies, Nirvana and The Cure as my all time essential life changing bands. i found the smiths self titled debut record amongst my dads old Lps just over a year ago and it became the soundtrack to my life and to my infatuation with a pretty creature called catharine. ironically i managed to get the girl but morrisseys lyrics of miserable rejection and lonliness still fuel my teenage angst.

*"Then, on the sand
Another man, he takes her hand
A smile lights up her stupid face
(and well, it would)

I lost my faith in Womanhood"* - _Pretty Girls Make Graves_

i suppose because its always reassuring to know that when your feeling shitty morrissey is always there to remind you that he felt shittier. If your interested pretty girls dont always make graves and im still with catharine and were going to see morissey at leeds festival this year.


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## kalidarkone (May 26, 2004)

dum dum said:
			
		

> Mori Kante , Yeki Yeki .Never fails to move me.


YES YES YES I agree and I have been tryin to get hold of it for ages.


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## Cheesypoof (May 27, 2004)

The Clash by The Clash.

Nuff said.


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## Karma (May 29, 2004)

Mezanine by massive attack (if I've misspelt it, it's because i'm a wee bit rat-arsed)

Just a really beautiful album which helped me through a load of shit I was going through when it was released.


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## MightyAphrodite (May 31, 2004)

*The Eagles - Hotel California*









I first heard this album when i was probably around 8 or 9 years old, which didn't mean much THEN , but later into my teens when i invaded my parent's record collection i came across it and put it on- i was blown away .There isn't one single song on the whole album that i can't relate to a certain time in my life. The lyrics , the music , the whole thing has a way to move me to tears, make me feel really good, make me nostalgic about important times that are long gone , but never forgotten. I can remember riding around with all my friends in the middle of summer belting out Hotel California ( we thought we were SO cool back then !) , i can remember crying my eyes out to Try and Love Again after a failed love from my youth, i can remember my best friend making me MENTAL because she never would sing the CORRECT lyrics to Life in the Fast Lane, i can remember hearing Wasted Time and thinking , god  life is so much like  that at times . I've heard SO many albums during my life, but this is the one that's always been a constant for me, i've went through numerous cassettes and cd's of this particular album, but i'm proud to say , i've got the origional to this day , the one i took SO many years ago from my folks. With all the digital technology that we have now , and how much enhancement they can do to music these days, i'll admit it DOES sound good that way , but nothing can beat that tha-dum-tha-dum of the needle on the record right before i hear- on a dark desert highway......


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## on_the_fly (Jun 4, 2004)

Steve Blake - Get A Rush (K 90 Mix) 

It reminds me of driving to see the woman i love so very much, and always will....  

Make tears come in my eyes, but still ove to play it a lot...


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## liberty (Jun 10, 2004)

The Mexican by Babe Ruth ... Because it makes me feel just so


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## red3k (Jun 16, 2004)

Joni Mitchell - Blue

I love it when I'm happy and I love it when I'm sad. I've been listening to it for over 15 yrs. God help anyone within a mile radius.


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## bsumm (Jul 4, 2004)

My favorite record has to be Radiohead's "The Bends."  To me, that is the greatest guitar album that I've ever heard.  What's so amazing about the band is that they changed their sound so much, with much less guitars, and are still badass.


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## Flavour (Jul 19, 2004)

it's a tough call this one... my favourite LP is probably "Unknown pleasures" or "substance" by Joy Division... 

outstanding songs that deserve a mention:
The Smiths - Half A person, This night has opened my eyes, there is a light that never goes out
Billy Bragg - A New England


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## Xanxtuary (Jul 25, 2004)

My all-time favourite song for purely self-grindulgent reasons has to be Peggy Lee's Fever.  I will NEVER tire of hearing that song.

Close second is The Cult's Edie (Ciao Baby), ditto.

As for songs which have meaning for me and my beloved, then it has to be the following:


Ripples by Genesis

Critical Mass by Threshold

Wind at my Back by Spock's Beard

Ever

*Progpriestess Xanxtuary Hogweed*


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## bellz (Aug 6, 2004)

It has to be The Pixies, Surfer Rosa. 

My love for the Pixies began when my friend who lived next-door-but-one had taped some tracks off the John Peel show and said "you've GOT to come round and listen to this band I've discovered". We sat on his bedroom floor, heads pressed to his tape recorder as "Debaser" ripped out. I couldn't wait for "Doolittle" to be released.

As soon as I got it, there was our soundtrack to a fantastic summer, cycling like maniacs all over the New Forest, shouting out the Pixies at the tops of our voices and debating about just what those bizarre lyrics really were.

Then, my friend bought the earlier "Surfer Rosa", and that was it! The combination of Black Francis' profane roar, Kim Deal's luscious feminine but tough voice, angry drums and wild, hot Spanish sounding guitars still sends shivers down my spine. 

The EP "Come on Pilgrim" sounds even more raw. I just love "Nimrod's Son", the way everything cuts out except Black Francis singing "You are the son of a motherf***er!" The self-censorship is a little joke to myself because I used to try to remember to quickly turn the sound down when my mum was around so as not to offend her (not a very rebellious teenager!)


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## Lord Hugh (Aug 6, 2004)

Strapping Young Lad - City.

Bit strange for a favourite album I'll admit, but it's the only album that will make me walk through town with a smile on my face, a feeling of power overcoming everything else & pulsing through my veins. Gave me the push through anger energy to say fuck off to bad thoughts & feelings & all that. Still makes me want to scream.


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## Flashman (Aug 7, 2004)

Someone said they found a Smiths record amongst their fathers LP collection; damn do I feel old right now.

Por moi:

Cocteaux Twins - Victorialand: Takes me away to that magical place every time.
Dylan - Blood on the Tracks: HIS greatest effort.
Bowie - Low, Hunky Dory: Indefatigable.
Mahler's 4th: Surprisingly uplifting.
Belle and Sebastian - All of it. Huzzah.
Delgados - Hate: Brrrrrrr, the tingle factor.
The Smiths - The Queen is Dead: nuff said.
The Pogues - for when oim drunk.
Sinead o' Connor - The Lion and the Cobra: Ahhhh Sinead so.....
Wagner - Gotterdammerung: one could build a nation on the romantisism of it.

#1 - Tallis Fantasia by R.V.Williams: the most majestical thing I will ever hear.


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## Major Tom (Aug 10, 2004)

RenegadeDog said:
			
		

> Hey Herman, do you remember the Specials' second album, More Specials?
> 
> A sadly overlooked album IMO, it had some great songs on that weren't on any of the "Best Of" albums, like "Man At C&A".  Shame its a not very well known album, and is quite hard to get hold of.



I just bought this album in Sainsburys, as part of very small box set with The Specials. It's obviously been re-released. The videos to Ghost Town and Rat Race are on it too. 

And you're right - despite everyone I hear saying the first album was the best, I've always prefered this one myself.


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## SubZeroCat (Aug 16, 2004)

At the moment its Just like Honey by The Jesus and Mary Chain.

I first heard it in Lost in Translation, a good film, but more importantly the scene it was played in was amazing. And the song itself is just so lovely (makes me go ahhh)

Heard it last night for the first time in ages when very pissed and I nearly cried


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## Xanxtuary (Aug 17, 2004)

This isn't (and can't be) a one-record deal ...

First, my enduring all-time favourite *The Lamb lies down on Broadway* by Genesis ... first heard in mid-teens and I will always love it ... recently taken on new meaning listening to it with my beloved Grinspector Hogweed, who has similarly loved it for most of his life.

Second, one of our specials *Critical Mass* by Threshold ... the music we fell in love listening to ... the whole concept of reincarnation and the thirteenth lifetime ... awesome.

Third, the album I bought Hogweed for his birthday *Dark Matter* by IQ ... a long-awaited new studio release ... it was a really special moment seeing him open the parcel ... and then later on hearing it for the first time ... everytime I hear it now (either alone or with him) it recaptures that special moment in time.

Hopelessly romantic and nostalgic

Ever

*PXH*


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## Sunspots (Aug 18, 2004)

Xanxtuary said:
			
		

> *The Lamb lies down on Broadway* by Genesis ...



I'm not taking the piss or anything, but yesterday I realised that the _'Transylvania'_ pre-set ring tone on my Nokia phone reminds me of something off that album!


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## no1yumyum (Aug 24, 2004)

*depends on the day me thinks*

undefined Stevie Wonder, Dancin' In the Key of Light.


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## SubZeroCat (Aug 25, 2004)

At the moment I'm loving:

Max Tundra - Lysine
Jamelia - See it in a boy's eyes
The Mountain Firework Company - The Exit's Out The Back
Cinematic Orchestra feat. Roots Manuva - All Things To All Men
Adem - These Are Your Friends

and for laugh factor A Scholar and A Physician (Midnight Pizazz) - McLearning


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## Dhimmi (Aug 25, 2004)

editor said:
			
		

> Here's a chance for you aspiring writers to get your words onto urban75 and be seen by an audience of millions!



1965-1980  Basement 5

Nineteen eighty was a very special year for many lucky enough to have seen it through. For me it had many highlights one of which was being able to stop going to the place called school. The other was the wide range of music that available at the time, once you discarded disco pap. In this year I saw the Fall for the very first time, and every band on the 2-tone label. You might remember me, I wore a red tartan suit and looked incredibly happy. Music has been a continual bad influence on my education, something I'll remain thankful for the rest of my days. 
There was an incredible amount of sparkling vinyl around too, generally courtesy of Rough Trade and tons of hand-me-downs, for me most often old Trojan releases which had been worn smooth by the stylus of an Uncle long before I ever got to play them.  
Being a lad of meagre earnings of ten to fifteen quid a week at the time with schoolboy jobs  I spent the lot on either clothes, shoes or vinyl, mainly everything that Joy Division or the Fall happened to release. One of the few albums to penetrate the cash barrier was 1965-1980 by Basement Five. The moment I heard this I knew it was special and if I were to play it now I'd still think it were unique, with the added benefit of singing along to each and everysong as if it were imprinted within my DNA. 
I'm no fan of writing about music, much easier to have folk listen to it and make their own minds up, but I have to describe it you because the chances are you have never heard of this band nor this album. Well, more shame you, or more precisely more shame the music business. 
Basement Five are a singularity like wot Stephen Hawkings talks about. They are the ultimate hybrid of punk and reggae in a surly and absolutely bored way. They typically picked urban delights for the contents and titles of their jolly songs ranging from "Riot", "No ball games" and "Immigration". The best of these is "Last White Christmas" which is incredibly sinister despite sounding as if it could be a Bing Crosby tribute. 
The most impressive part of this album in 1980 was it's the ultimate punk and reggae combination ever, and at the time if you liked one you liked the other. Might not make sense, it's a working class thing. 
Bear in mind I'd just been spreading RAR, SKAN and ANL leaflets at school. combine this with Basement Five which I confidently predicted would be the next big thing, and we'd have that fascist nonsense gone forever. Nearly quarter of a decade later we're no closer, but Basement Five remain one of the best bands you never heard of.  If you want to pretend you know them they're the "thinking man's UB40" or if your ears aren't painted on go buy the CD it's a cheapo and even has another album on it at a price that makes me worry about how much the bugger cost me in real terms way back then. 

This album plus the follow up "In Dub" are available on the Island Masters label IMCD145.


----------



## Dhimmi (Aug 25, 2004)

Cheesypoof said:
			
		

> The Clash by The Clash.
> 
> Nuff said.



Hardly five hundred words...


----------



## Dubversion (Sep 8, 2004)

I agonised over this, and decided there were actually 3 possible criteria for your favourite album: the one you’ve played the most (which due to age and such, would either be The Smith’s The Queen Is Dead or Van Morrison’s Astral Weeks); the one you’re most impressed or amazed by in some way (this time, I’d probably go for Astral Weeks again); or the one that simply means the most to you, even though you know its flaws and its problems and its peculiarities.

In which case, I have to go for Sparklehorse’s debut album *Vivadixiesubmarinetransmissionplot…*






I’d had the album for a while – when I was a journo, things had a habit of ending up on a shelf while I got around to them – and while I knew it was good, it hadn’t really taken up residence in my brain in any significant way… and then, in the winter of 1997, all my shit hit the fan at once (rather like now, in fact)… Walked out on a home and a girlfriend and promptly lost my job as well… and just lost myself in a blizzard of base speed and coke and pills and bad techno..

But then.. But then.. at 4am. Or 8am. Or whenever I crawled home, I started listening to the Sparklehorse album. Over and over and over…and realised I had never heard anything like it… Recorded by a jaded, disillusioned recovering smackhead, in a shed recording studio, it seemed at times to flirt with the alt.country tag (whatever that is!) but was really something other.. scarily slow, stilted ballads where the singer/mainman Mark Linkous sounds like he’s about to nod out.. caustic, blaring guitar numbers that could sound like 1980s Tom Waits and 1970s Neil Young, often at the same time.. the most intriguing and elliptical lyrics, which rarely made any logical sense but had an amazing sense of mood and at times had a kind of Bunuel/Dali quality (“you play great keyboards of horses’ teeth)…

The mood, overall, being one of desperate sadness. Songs like ‘You Are The Most Beautiful Widow In Town’, ‘Sad And Beautiful World’, ‘Someday I Will Treat You Good’.. 

Saturday is a fine example.. over a desperately sweetly melancholic backing, Linkous claims that 



> “you are a car
> you are a hospital
> I'd walk to hell and back
> to see your smile
> on Saturday”



But in the end, as great as all this is, it’s the production that gets you. I’ve never been someone hung up on production – Steely Dan make me puke my ring and I’ve never been one to obsess about snare sounds – but this is different. The care, the love, the attention to detail is just breathtaking.. every spare moment has little squiggles of noise, little distortions and jerks that surprise you even on repeated listenings. There are brief track segues of toy trains and men discussing guns and barely heard answerphone messages.. ghosts in the machine and things slipping in through the ether.. 

And on those horrible winter mornings where I wondered what the fuck I was going to do to get off my friend’s sofa and back into the world, this album took over my brain and became like part of my DNA, part of how I looked at things…

A few Sparklehorse live shows added to the wonder and the awe. Then two more albums – Good Morning Spider and It’s A Wonderful Life which were great, but not as great.. I hear he’s working with Fennesz now, which would be interesting.


But that album, it will never let me down.



> *Sad & Beautiful World*
> 
> sometimes I get so sad
> sometimes you just make me mad
> ...


----------



## hammerntongues (Sep 29, 2004)

You bastard Dub , I wasn`t planning to go out lunchtime !


----------



## Dubversion (Sep 29, 2004)

hammerntongues said:
			
		

> You bastard Dub , I wasn`t planning to go out lunchtime !




i hope you like it. it's not a quick fix album, you really have to get into it i think.. but i reckon it'll get you 


excellent headphones album as well


----------



## Wolfie (Sep 29, 2004)

I've got it on now - Shirl's verdict - "it's a bit fuckin' weary"


----------



## hammerntongues (Sep 30, 2004)

Dubversion said:
			
		

> i hope you like it. it's not a quick fix album, you really have to get into it i think.. but i reckon it'll get you
> 
> 
> excellent headphones album as well



my local store didn`t have it unfortunately so I`ve got to wait 7 days for Amazon £5.97 S/hand copy to arrive but it still cost me £17 , placed comfortably in between two other Sparklehorse cd`s right in the S  (for skag ?) section was Land - Patti Smith 1975-2002 compilation just begging to be bought.


----------



## liberty (Oct 10, 2004)

Painted Black - Fits the time


----------



## rorymac (Oct 12, 2004)

Wolfie said:
			
		

> I've got it on now - Shirl's verdict - "it's a bit fuckin' weary"



I played it to Mrs Ferik and she said ... 'that's bloody shit .. Sparklehorse you say ..bloody mad name lol ... bloody awful rubbish' . 

Yeah right .. like she'd know   

I think Low is my favourite album .. it's the only one I have left.
That and Snowy White's Bird of Paradise. I think that's shite ..I used to have hundreds of reject copies of that and a Back Street Crawler album. Thief mates just thought .. aah I'll just take some of these .. rory doesn't even know how many of them there are ..if I ask him he'll just say no ..would you look at the dough in that piggybank etc  
I fuckin do know how many there are ..fuckin one Snowy White, One Low and No Back Street Crawler. I still have loads of copies .. of Graham Parker's 'Heat in Harlem' .. I'll give you one Wolfie cos I just know you like that x
I used to have Spiral Scratch too and 'There's the rub' by Wishbone Ash and a very rare Mahavishnu orchestra record. I'm getting pissed off now. 
The Mekons 'where were you'... fuckin hell I had that too and a Fischer Z single. I asked Paul Morley once if he liked Fischer Z thinking he'd be well impressed and his exact words were .. 'No I think they are unbelievably shit' ..  and get this .. I was stood next to him watching U2 at the Leeds Futurama and I said something like 'Fuckin shit them eh Paul .. do you remember me BTW ?' and he looked at me like I was an idiot and his exact words no kidding were 'I think U2 are one of the best bands in the world ..they're going to be huge'. He and Bono had on the exact same trenchcoats. 'Fantastic show Bono' said I later  'blew the banshees right off'. 
'yeah thanks but the banshees were awesome ... PAUL ... BONO ..hey man great to see you blah blah blah wanky nonsense etc' ....  I'm not making this up ..well I wouldn't make myself look like such a tool would I. It might be boring as shite and completely irrelevent but it's true   
And then !!!! lol .... I saw Dave Formula and Barry Adamson and they had the same trenchcoats and all of them had the collars turned up like Bowie on Low.
Magazine .. Second hand daylight .. I had that before it came out and that's one of my favourites too. I didn't even stand next to them .. my mate was pissin himself at me and then the wanker goes off with Mark E Smith like they're best mates .. no introduction or fuckall ..spiteful bloke from Cork he was ... just cos I didn't believe he knew him ... he didn't look like much of a pop star to me anyway ... him and Fergal Sharky wore the same dolly anoraky duffle coat type thing same as the bloke from Microdisney. 
tendril's artefact is my current favourite and some other very obscure dance stuff that has yet to catch on like. oh fuck yeah   
I had a box load of Camus 'Word Up' and 'Grand master flash white lines' ..at least 20 or 30 each and the lot are gone. I hated that White Lines me.
That's it. 
LOL .. I only have the cover of Snowy White's Bird of Paradise .. I'd have given it to you otherwise Wolfie  :-( x


----------



## MarkMark (Oct 15, 2004)

Time to throw my Hat into the ring with this 

Bebel Gilberto - Tanto Tempo






She is without doubt my favourite ever female singer. Her Dad was a well known brazzilian Bossa artist (Joao Gilberto) with heaps of really good music to his name and in more recent times this delightful chip off the old block has been producing her own tunes. 

Most of it's in portuguese but you'll find yourself somehow feeling what the songs are about all the same. Just as well as I don't speak a damned word of it but no matter. If life has given you a really shitty day (or not) then I seriously recommend running bath and putting this on the CD player and you should emerge smiling again about 11 tracks later.


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## hammerntongues (Oct 20, 2004)

Dubversion said:
			
		

> i hope you like it. it's not a quick fix album, you really have to get into it i think.. but i reckon it'll get you
> 
> 
> excellent headphones album as well



Yep certainly my kind of music , thanks . Sometimes you have to try hard to like something ,if that makes sense , but it got me on the first listen.
Sad and Beautiful World is my stand out track after only a couple of listens but I don`t think there is a single track to `skip`. Morose maybe , dreary no way.


----------



## Machen (Nov 7, 2004)

*Patti Smith's Dream of Life*

I have no time for her other stuff, and generally find her boring as a person, but this is the album of the 1980s!

Emotional, political, personal, sublime, peerless... powerful. 'People Have the Power' is the track most people may know from this disc, but check the rest out: unlike anything else!!

What it means to me personally? Well, let's say I found myself listening to this constantly when a certain person disappeared on me... grief/hope...nostalgia/anger. A powerful record which pisses all over stuff like The Smiths, or Joy Division etc.


----------



## ska invita (Nov 14, 2004)

Favourite music is usualy down to good memories, and thats why everyone loves the music they grew up with. One of my favourite albums from the good old days that no one has mentioned (perhaps cos its not all that..) was Dee-Lite's World Clique. Its such an optomistic record...really captured that time for me.

But the one album I love above all else is this one:




Miles Davis and Gill Evans - Porgy and Bess

I know it might sound a bit pretentious to call that, but trust me its special. The original Porgy and Bess is not really something I'm into: I just cant take operatic singing. But this instrumental version is amazing. Miles had to be scraped off the streets of Paris, and momentarily shaken out of his heroin blues to record this. Gill Evans string arrangement is rich, sweet and sentimental - not usually things I look for in music, but there is something genuinely soul-stirring about this record.

The story of Porgy and Bess is tragic enough: a crippled man falls in love with a prostitute, they find true love, but she runs off with a dealer... Its about love in the face of adversity.
I think the combination of so many talents that went into creating this album, going back to Gershwin, makes it all add up into something breathtaking.

Above all else I love this because it reminds me of the love of my life...we sometimes listen to it on the road - its full of love songs, but with a melancholy twist running through it from start to end. 
At the right time it can be a bit of a tearjerker...but never sad...just bitter sweet.
its BIG!


----------



## Gumbert (Nov 14, 2004)

niksativa said:
			
		

> was Dee-Lite's World Clique. Its such an optomistic record...really captured that time for me.
> 
> But the one album I love above all else is this one:
> 
> ...


word


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## maya (Nov 14, 2004)




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## CK1977 (Nov 22, 2004)

*Errr some favourites............*

Steve Parks - "Moving In The Right Direction"

Big fave of Jazzie's B way back when the "SOUL II SOUL" Africa Centre clubnight was on, he use to rinse this record  

It's One of my all time faves for that very reason and brings a postive vibe to the dancefloor, it's a beautiful Mid tempo 80's rare groove record.

Marvin Gaye - "What's Goin On"

Timeless Soul classic from the "Voice", a record that means so much to me and my family as it's gives off a strong "Political" message that still means as much today as it did when it was produced.  The arrangement and backing vocals are the tighest of any Soul record i've ever heard, IMHO.

Nu Yorican Soul - "The Nervous Track"

Produced by Louie Vega and Kenny Dope aka Masters At Work.  A record that melts influences of music as it's a crossbread of House, Latin/Nu Yorica and Breaks.  If ever I'm djing, I'll always play this track no matter where I'm playing and it's also a great track to listen to on a lazy Sunday afternoon.

Bob Marley - "No Woman, No Cry"

One word "Classic"


----------



## ivebeenhigh (Nov 25, 2004)

Wilco - I am trying to break your heart

Jeff Tweedy is a lyrical genius and this is the one that speaks to me the most - theres a whole long story as to why but that would get a little boring.


----------



## Sevaserve (Dec 1, 2004)

Hyperballad by bJORK

Because no-one ever knows the shit you have to go through each morning just to be able to participate in the human race.


----------



## fuBganger (Dec 6, 2004)

Grace by Jeff Buckley

reminds me of that cool summer before uni, heartbreak and exhiliration at the same time. Generally is the first record that moved me.

Debussy's Au Clair De La Lune has now crept into that category as well for me. Scarily wonderful piece, especailly when its just the piano version. Terribly disappointed that its now the music for that excruciatingly long Chanel No5 ad.


----------



## CherryRipe (Dec 7, 2004)

fuBganger said:
			
		

> Grace by Jeff Buckley
> 
> reminds me of that cool summer before uni, heartbreak and exhiliration at the same time. Generally is the first record that moved me.
> 
> Debussy's Au Clair De La Lune has now crept into that category as well for me. Scarily wonderful piece, especailly when its just the piano version. Terribly disappointed that its now the music for that excruciatingly long Chanel No5 ad.




I just bought the legacy edition of Grace this afternoon, his version of Hallelujah is the most incredibly moving song I ever heard...


----------



## angel77 (Jan 8, 2005)

*Suede*

The first suede album, because it was the first album that said something to me about my life. I was 16 or so and living in Downham, and here was was a record talking about escaping the shitty grey satalite towns, to off towards the bright lights in search of (sleazy)sex, drugs and rock n roll? For everyone who felt different growing up in a boring place, surrounded by boring people going about their boring lives, they were our band.


----------



## invisibleplanet (Jan 13, 2005)

*sing-a-long-a-stockhausen*

My favourite recording is Karlheinz Stockhausen's 'Stimmung' (meaning "Tuning"), and features only the human voice as it progresses through an amazing array of sounds and vibrations - a truly astounding treat for the ears, and i find it difficult to resist intoning along to it.


----------



## nathansears (Jan 13, 2005)

*The Madcap Laughs- Syd Barrett*

Got to be this one for me. 

Despite being in the middle of a very severe nervous breakdown, acid induced or otherwise, Syd managed to produce the most human collection of tunes imaginable.

With it's haphazard recording and production (due to Syd's mental state) it is a minor miracle that they managed to record anything at all but with a bit of help from members of Soft Machine and a few of his former band mates, he managed to create an album that ironically is the complete antithesis of the emotionless dirge Floyd were churning out.

An album of unhinged, teetering on collapse, lyric sheet turning, edge of your seat ,out- take laden, at times disturbing, deranged genius.


----------



## Soundwave (Jan 13, 2005)

this may sound bit chidish but my most fav record well album is the transformes the moive soundtrack!

Full of 80's cheesey rock always brings back wikid childhood memories 
all the songs hav feel good titles Like "you got the touch" n "nothing gonna stand in our way" plus sum weird al yankovich!  ive manged to get it played in my local bar once or twice 
the faces of the ppl is a laugh they've just thought of the hardest thing in the world .. they they understand what they was thinking about ment then They hit the floor!! 
Always brings me up!!

Every1 should have a copy for shure cheeseyness


----------



## steve one (Jan 17, 2005)

*New Order 'Technique'*

The best band ever? Possibly. The most underated band ever? Definitely! They manage to take two musical directions,and combine them perfectly. No other New Order album does this better than the 1989 release 'Technique'. Mixing the guitar driven tracks with acid house electronica they heard in the world famous nightclub The Hacienda (which they owned),and Ibiza they created the perfect album to fuse rock and dance. Tracks as diverse as 'Fine Time',an out and out house record sit next to classic New Order guitar riffs (All The Way) and create the perfect 40 minutes of music. Its fair to say that music today owes a major debt to New Order,and anyone wanting to investigate their influencial sound should start here,although be warned-you will only want more and more New Order.


----------



## phildwyer (Jan 17, 2005)

'Sweet and Dandy' by Toots and the Maytals.


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## rubbershoes (Jan 18, 2005)

*New order*




			
				steve one said:
			
		

> Mixing the guitar driven tracks with acid house electronica they heard in the world famous nightclub The Hacienda (which they owned).




Almost. They were on factory records which was owned by Tony Wilson who also owned the hacienda. 

</pedant>


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## treefrog (Jan 18, 2005)

*Portishead-Dummy* 

Every so often you hear a song, an album, a chorus that changes your musical direction and even the way you look at the world. My musical epiphany occurred ten years ago, when I first heard the magnificent "Glory Box" on Now Something or Other in 1994. In 1994 I was 11 and going through could be classed as a difficult period. I'd recently testified in court, my friends had alienated me for being too wrapped up in the above and I genuinely felt that nobody in the world felt like I did. I was in my room, listening to this crappy compilation tape when, as if from nowhere, a load of weird samples and _that voice_ came out the speakers. The lyrics, the sadness, it all fit perfectly. I listened to it again and again and again, wallowing in it, feeling for the first time that there were others who felt as sad as me. The next day I found the album in my local library and listened to it constantly, usually using it as a soundtrack to writing in my journal, crying  or simply staring at the ceiling trying to make sense of my life. My mother described it as "music to slit your wrists to", but I loved it for precisely that reason. Beth Gibbons voice spoke of pain, isolation and loneliness, something I needed to hear to know that I was not alone, that others out there were hurt, melancholic and confused. I needed that wake-up call, and have used the album ever since to remind myself that things aren't so bad and even if they are, they can produce real beauty.


----------



## Eland (Jan 19, 2005)

well i have to say a tidy boys album that was recorded live was the one that brought me and a lot of my freinds in 2 hard house . unfortunatly ive never seen it anywhere i think its no longer available legally . tracks include wot the fuck the ulstamate m,ake me sway technical difficlty, life on mars any 1 else heard any tracks or no how to get hold of any on vinyl would love wot the fuck on vinyl to add to my collection 
oh and a newq artist called shystie would like to big her uip lovin her rappin shes raw! get her album if you like dizzee youll love her! dimonds in the dirt!


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## eventually (Jan 20, 2005)

Find it impossible to have just one favourite record.So this probably will be the first of many chronologically influenced posts.

Boney M - Nightflight to Venus; not the most conventional introduction to music, accompaniment to car journeys, my sister and I singing in the back. how did my parents suffer it for so long, .Took years to find it on vinyl -50p- and I still enjoy it as much as when I was 3.

Look out for Amon Tobin new album soon. 

Re: Miles Davis - Doo Bop completed posthumously by Easy Mo Bee.
Cityscape sounds, helped draw me from brittany to brixton and introduced me to Bitches Brew, Sketches of Spain, Kind of Blue, On the Corner. 

Miles Davis autobiography written with Quincy Jones, makes an interesting read, you apppreciate more his musical talent although find little love for Miles the junkie.


----------



## Badgers (Feb 10, 2005)

Impossible because of constantly changing moods etc....

The one that I will put forward is: 

Comfortably Numb - Pink Floyd


----------



## rubbershoes (Feb 10, 2005)

Rozi said:
			
		

> *Portishead-Dummy*
> 
> Every so often you hear a song, an album, a chorus that changes your musical direction and even the way you look at the world. My musical epiphany occurred ten years ago, when I first heard the magnificent "Glory Box" on Now Something or Other in 1994. In 1994 I was 11 and going through could be classed as a difficult period. I'd recently testified in court, my friends had alienated me for being too wrapped up in the above and I genuinely felt that nobody in the world felt like I did. I was in my room, listening to this crappy compilation tape when, as if from nowhere, a load of weird samples and _that voice_ came out the speakers. The lyrics, the sadness, it all fit perfectly. I listened to it again and again and again, wallowing in it, feeling for the first time that there were others who felt as sad as me. The next day I found the album in my local library and listened to it constantly, usually using it as a soundtrack to writing in my journal, crying  or simply staring at the ceiling trying to make sense of my life. My mother described it as "music to slit your wrists to", but I loved it for precisely that reason. Beth Gibbons voice spoke of pain, isolation and loneliness, something I needed to hear to know that I was not alone, that others out there were hurt, melancholic and confused. I needed that wake-up call, and have used the album ever since to remind myself that things aren't so bad and even if they are, they can produce real beauty.



a fine choice there Rozi.

it's an outstanding album, without a doubt. i diagree with your mother though.i don't see it as depressing at all, but as atmospheric . you, know, i think i'll put it in my player for tomorrow


----------



## planet boy (Feb 17, 2005)

*fave record*

It's too difficult to choose only one fave.  Could write about at least 5 that mean a lot to me tho'!
Agree with the choices for The Clash, The Sex Pistols, Jeff Buckley, The Beatles.
Need bit more time. Might go for Electric Ladyland or Led Zep first album...


----------



## planet boy (Feb 17, 2005)

*fave album*




			
				IHB said:
			
		

> Impossible because of constantly changing moods etc....
> 
> The one that I will put forward is:
> 
> Comfortably Numb - Pink Floyd



I agree, moods count for a lot!
Dark Side Of The Moon is a damn fine album too.


----------



## tangerinedream (Mar 24, 2005)

I reckon I'd have to go for the imposibly pretentious Godspeed you black emperor!'s FhashAhashinfinity (can't find the right keys!!!) 

It marked a wierd time for me, I'd gone through a tremendous long term depression - I'd left home for the first time and I was taking far to many drugs. I spent far too much time sitting thinking, and getting really very scared. I heard GYBE on radio three, I bought the album from ALANS in Wigan (the best record shop ever - anyone ever been? It's a skate shop now sadly)
All I can say is I became obsessed with that record, listening to it over and over again, lying on the floor, riding the ebb and flow of the textures, surfing along passages of music, driven by the incredible intensity of the climaxes. It was honest music, incredible, strange and beautiful. I joined a discussion group on GYBE, and though it seems sad, I found somewhere to speak of the unbearable isolation I felt. 
The dark music seemed to mirror my life, yet had hope, no matter how bad I felt, there would be moments of equal happiness, for every dirge, every off key drone, there would be climax, a chresendo. I read what qoutes I could find by the band, "This is not music for people who take drugs" "This is not music for lying and crying"- God that helped me. I don't hate drugs - I just can't cope with them. I didn't need to lie down or cry, I needed to live! 
I listened to it over and over again, I wrote long sprawling stories about nothing, I found a space in that record, A place I could go that was safe, a place where I could always rely on being there. I found a world of music, incredible, impasioned music by artists who never chased success, artists whose music I trust, I love, - At the beginning of this was GYBE! and for that I will alway love them - Today, no matter how bad I feel if I go and lie down in the dark and play Moya I always feel better. 
I can't put into words what this record means to me and I think that is the greatest thing about it. It somehow comunicates something about thinking differently or not believing in the world, without leaving you feeling hopeless or alone. - It always makes me feel somehow less alone. 
Though I could choose many other records to eulogise, I think if I had to save one, it would be this one.


----------



## tangerinedream (Mar 24, 2005)

Rozi said:
			
		

> *Portishead-Dummy*
> 
> Every so often you hear a song, an album, a chorus that changes your musical direction and even the way you look at the world. My musical epiphany occurred ten years ago, when I first heard the magnificent "Glory Box" on Now Something or Other in 1994. In 1994 I was 11 and going through could be classed as a difficult period. I'd recently testified in court, my friends had alienated me for being too wrapped up in the above and I genuinely felt that nobody in the world felt like I did. I was in my room, listening to this crappy compilation tape when, as if from nowhere, a load of weird samples and _that voice_ came out the speakers. The lyrics, the sadness, it all fit perfectly. I listened to it again and again and again, wallowing in it, feeling for the first time that there were others who felt as sad as me. The next day I found the album in my local library and listened to it constantly, usually using it as a soundtrack to writing in my journal, crying  or simply staring at the ceiling trying to make sense of my life. My mother described it as "music to slit your wrists to", but I loved it for precisely that reason. Beth Gibbons voice spoke of pain, isolation and loneliness, something I needed to hear to know that I was not alone, that others out there were hurt, melancholic and confused. I needed that wake-up call, and have used the album ever since to remind myself that things aren't so bad and even if they are, they can produce real beauty.



I got that record the other day and wandering star has blown my mind - I found my old Tricky records and was amazed how good they were, I never really gave Portishead a chance at the time and I really wish I had done. She sounds so fragile, yet so strong and like I say, wandering star is unreal!!


----------



## ebird (Mar 24, 2005)

David Bowie - "Heroes" is my favourite tune of all time.

It's got amazing, unplifting lyrics, but in a very english way, in a "Hey, we could do this, but lets not push ourselves, Hero for a day? That'll do"

"Though nothing
Will keep us together
We could steal time
Just for one day
We can be Heroes
For ever and ever
What d'you say"

How could you turn down an offer like that?


----------



## papanoelys (Mar 28, 2005)

the mighty wah, with the song the story of the  blues


----------



## countermagicx (Apr 7, 2005)

not very sure, but probably means nothing to me


----------



## Edcase (Apr 9, 2005)

'Hydra' by Crossfire- on the Spy Technologies album on DSC14. 

(Note that I'm taking 'record' in its literal context here, i.e. a piece of vinyl, not necessarily my favourite ever tune- although this'd certainly rank high on that list too). 

Stripped-down, minimal, relentless techno-influenced drum'n'bass. There seems to be a strange subsection of people who gain real happiness from hard, dark, fast music- although I love all forms of music to some extent it's this kind of filth that I find really hits a chord with me. 

'Hydra' is just epic- no huge epic breakdowns or heartfelt vocals, in fact I think the reason I love it so much is because it manages to affect me so much without relying on such crutches. Every time I listen to it I get really excited by it, its very simplicity I find life-affirming. Many favourite records conjure up a particular emotion- be it love, sadness, etc- however 'Hydra' just makes me feel glad to be alive, despite being one of the most apocalyptic pieces of music I've ever heard.

I'm rambling now... I recently got in touch with Crossfire (www.crossfirerecordings.com) and he's sending me some of his new tunes, can't wait to see what he's come up with...


----------



## huwgprice (Apr 15, 2005)

*bootsy*

Bootsy's rubber band - stretching out

Wow!


----------



## rorymac (Apr 19, 2005)

papanoelys said:
			
		

> the mighty wah, with the song the story of the  blues



Here in my pocket I've got the story of the blues, 
try to belive me cos' could be front page news,  :-/ !
I said I live it like it hasen't happend yet
I can thinking on everyone how I'm the one the one they're trying to get. :-/ !
To tell...
(Story of the Blues)
First they take your pride,  
then turn it all inside, lol
and then you realise you got nothing left to lose. 
So you try to stop,
try to get back up, lordy x
and then you realise you're telling the Story of the Blues.
Felling browbeaten day after day,
I think It's over but I just can't get away.
You said forget it,
well don't go jump to the gun, different gravy x
you're laugthing this time next time you might be the one :-/ 
To tell...
(the story of the blues)
First they take you're pride,
then turn It all inside,
and then you realise you got nothing left to lose.
So you try to stop,
try to get back up
and then you realise you're telling the Story of the Blues.
Repet chourse....
What they say about me when they tell
the Story of the Blues.


----------



## beanstar (Apr 30, 2005)

*BOUNTY KILLER - DEPTH CHARGE*

I can remember hearing on the radio donkeys years ago & it took my about 8years to find out who it was & what is was called.  I was sat at a mates house and he just starting playing on the decks..........I was sooo excited, I could have soiled myself!!!!  




			
				editor said:
			
		

> Here's a chance for you aspiring writers to get your words onto urban75 and be seen by an audience of millions!


----------



## DIMPLES (May 20, 2005)

*The Stone Roses*

The Stone Roses, The Stone Roses, because it is the best album in the world ever.

Not a duff note or word on it.  Still sounds like the freshest, most perfect piece of music ever  (to me).  My life would literally be competely different without it.  

Last year I realised I had been in love with Ian Brown for over half my life.  It made me very happy that I got the chance to tell him so . . . .   can't wait for the new track.


----------



## konsh (Jun 28, 2005)

*Outta Here*

Outta Here By BDP

wowo what a tune sez it all

the story of hip hop
disses peoples for being materialist and well tells KRS1 ' s life story

banging tune


----------



## Emale (Jun 30, 2005)

Bob Marley "Exodus" "Rastaman Vibration"
Boz Scaggs "Dig"
Joe Sample "Carmel"
EVERYTHING by Larry Carlton
Led Zepplin "II" "Houses of the Holy"
Al Green "Still in Love with You"
Arethan Franklin "Lady Soul"
Joe Jackson "Night and Day" "Look Sharp"
Herbie Hancock "HEad Hunters"
EVERYTHING by Grover Washington Jr
Marvin Gaye


----------



## JLN88 (Jul 12, 2005)

Thunder Lightning Strike by The Go Team. Yep, its only a year old and is just samples, but its full on danciness.


----------



## Jairzinho (Jul 19, 2005)

*A Storm in Heaven- The Verve*

Although of course they were called 'Verve' at the time, this album is completely trascendental and a world away from their latter anthemic style that emerged through 'A Northern Soul' and was emphatically confirmed on 'Urban Hymns'.
It means so much for me because of memories- when i heard it for the first time it sounded like nothing before- almost like a dreamworld. What i appreciate most is the way the band manage to unfold a definitive and unique aesthetic- a piece of music that rolls through a different time-space axis, a shimmering and alternatively bright and dark sphere of distorting guitars, faded voices and heartfelt confusion (on the part of Ashcroft at least). The musicanship is excellent- Ashcroft's latter day whine is more contained and gentler, while Nick McCabe on guitar is clearly feeling the effects of all those E's and Acid the band were getting through in the early 1990s. Traditional song structure is done away with to explore the complexities of instrumental interaction and although a little self-indulgent at times, retains the balance required to produce identifiable patterns, noticeably on 'See you in the next one' and 'Slide Away'. John Leckie's production also deserves a special mention for forging the band's raw qualities into the mystical and ethereal vision that they held out for.
I have no idea of what the album is about. I listened to it regularly during long and sometimes traumatic smoking sessions, and got the feeling that it may have been about a severe mental breakdown or psychological experience that forced a detachment from the 'real world'- it certainly has a distant quality about it, and on 'The Sun, The Sea' and 'Blue' there is a very prescient schizophrenic atmoshpere. Lyrics such as 'Concealed in a chrome dream/ I was a crease in the shirt that this world wears' seem to me indicative of a malign influence.
All in all a thoroughly rewarding experience- while exploring darkness, there is a real beauty in the album and is a triumph of effort in creative imagination and musicianship.

Other Albums up there:

'Loveless'- My Bloody Valentine
'Unknown Pleasures'- Joy Division
'Nowhere'- Ride
'Technique'- New Order
'Screamadelica'- Primal Scream
'The Bends'- Radiohead
'The Notorious Byrd Brothers'- The Byrds


----------



## BCB (Jul 20, 2005)

STFC Loyal said:
			
		

> by The Stone Roses
> 
> I got into the Roses late, around the time of One Love. When I bought the album and listened to it for the first time, I was filled with regret - why hadn't I been into them from the start, why hadn't I bought everything they had ever done, why hadn't I been to see them live?
> 
> ...




an inspired choice..bravo


----------



## percival scrote (Aug 15, 2005)

*Village Green Preservation Society - The Kinks* 


It has to be this album for me , which originally saw the light of day in 1967 , and was promptly ignored by the vast majority of the record buying public .Each tune tells its own little narative ...Ray Davies' wit and playfulness has never been more present than on this album . I love the bands musicianship on tunes like "Wicked Annabella " and the like ...As with a lot of Davies' writing , he is trying to hark back to the archaic in  his writing , to a time which may have existed , but more likely than not didn't ,much rather he is harking back to a state of mind rather than a specific place ...He used to write about his family and also the things that he observed going on around him ...not many songwriters were doing this at the time ... a great album


----------



## percival scrote (Aug 15, 2005)

here are some more 

beach boys - pet sounds

beatles  - revolver 

underworld - beaucoup fish 

paul mccartney - ram

mark hollis - mark hollis 

talk talk - laughing stock 

television - marquee moon

fairport convention - unhalfbricking

pentangle - cruel sister

incredible string band - the hangmans' beautiful daughter

nick drake - pink moon

peter gabriel - up

polyphonic spree - the beginning stages of the polyphonic spree

robert wyatt - rock bottom

their we go ....... muso episode over .


----------



## lucy5 (Aug 17, 2005)

I dont have one favourite,  but the five that came to my head first..

Neil Young - After the goldrush
The Verve - Urban Hymns
New Order - Substance
Bob Dylan - Before the flood
Joy Division - Unknown Pleasures


----------



## Dubversion (Aug 17, 2005)

editor said:
			
		

> List one album that you couldn't live without and then write a short piece (around 500 words) to tell the world what it means to you and why it's so precious.
> 
> !



^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^


i think people are losing the point of this thread


----------



## liberty (Aug 24, 2005)

Superstylin makes me happy


----------



## tastebud (Aug 24, 2005)

liberty said:
			
		

> Superstylin makes me happy


please don't tell me you were listening to it today?
i listened to it very loudly on my mp3 player this afternoon, to stop thoughts about the job i applied for.
it cheered me up, and stopped the thoughts for about 2 minutes.


----------



## trevbus (Aug 25, 2005)

Quite simply;

The Man Don't Give a Fuck by the Super Furry Animals.

Not only is it a truly great tune but it also reminds me that *all governments are liars and murderers.*


----------



## BadlyDrawnGirl (Sep 1, 2005)

trevbus said:
			
		

> Quite simply;
> 
> The Man Don't Give a Fuck by the Super Furry Animals.



That's a fuckin' ace tune. The 22-minute live version from last year was no bad thing either.  




			
				trevbus said:
			
		

> Not only is it a truly great tune but it also reminds me that *all governments are liars and murderers.*


*Yes. *


----------



## *Miss Daisy* (Sep 21, 2005)

Van Morrison  -  Sweet Thing   
its my fav at the moment,,but i change my mind all the time,,depends how I'm feeling at the time


----------



## Loosely Kotched (Oct 21, 2005)

stupid kid said:
			
		

> From the muddy banks of the wishka - Nirvana
> 
> and makes me feel... right.
> 
> edited for grammar



tourette's


----------



## \\-(*o*)-// (Oct 22, 2005)

_Smashing Pumpkins _-Hummer.

And,

_Air_- All I Need


----------



## ariel (Oct 27, 2005)

*shot by both sides*

the best record ever made should be REAL LIFE by MAGAZINE, 1979. I can't face the prospect of writng anything about it so can only suggest you go out and buy it.


----------



## Sweaty Betty (Oct 27, 2005)

Safe from Harm- massive attack

Reminds me of a time when i was carefree and living on the edge ironically.


----------



## RedCelt (Nov 11, 2005)

ariel said:
			
		

> the best record ever made should be REAL LIFE by MAGAZINE, 1979. I can't face the prospect of writng anything about it so can only suggest you go out and buy it.



Magazine were great.

My joint favourite albums :

The Sisters of Mercy : Floodland

Joy Division : Unknown Pleasures


----------



## Hollis (Jan 13, 2006)

*Led Zeppelin II*

Its great and I can play air guitar to it.


----------



## Leon (Jan 13, 2006)

BCB said:
			
		

> an inspired choice..bravo



I second that. The Roses rule.

For me they give me the sound of being 17. I'd cry if someone told me I could never listen to them again. Can't see how that'd happen, but anyway.

Maybe if Ian Brown was was done for child porn, I dunno. But I'd still listen to them.


----------



## Dubversion (Jan 13, 2006)

if i hadn't already written a bloody essay about Sparklehorse's Vivadixiesubmarinetransmissionplot, i'd consider switching my vote to In An Aeroplane Over The Sea  by Neutral Milk Hotel


----------



## yak (Jan 15, 2006)

*mf doom operation doomsday*

operation doomsday is def one of the best hip hop albums to come out of the us. although it came out in like 99 alreay, i only heard it last year and that shit is tight like nuns think they are.


----------



## Reno (Jan 22, 2006)

*I Can Hear the Heart Beating As One* by *Yo La Tengo*

I discovered Yo La Tengo when I was living in San Francisco during the the mid-90's. A friend took me to a gig at a beautiful little venue called The Great American Music Hall. The people who came on stage did not look like rock stars. They were a plain looking married couple from New Jersey and burly bloke with long frizzy hair. Then they started to play and Yo La Tengo became one of the things that makes life worth living for me. No posturing or attitude or superficial rock'n'roll glamour, just sheer passion for the music. At the end they gave an encore which consisted of a 30 minute guitar freak out by Ira Kaplan called I Heard You Looking which I found so emotionally overwhelming, I cried through most of it out of sheer bliss.

I love most of Yo la Tengo's albums but I Can Hear the Heart Beating As One is probably my favourite, combining the more experimental approach of the past with the quiet and intimate music that was to come. Then again, maybe it's the one that I love the most, because it was the first one I bought. In any case it is the perfect mixture of the tender and the dissonant, sugar and spice and it never becomes cloying or to abrasive. They don't hit the obvious emotional buttons that other rock bands do, so I never become tired of listening to the same songs, because musically there is always something new to discover. Unlike with most rock bands when I hear their music I feel like they are people I'd like to hang out with. Their very lack of posturing, attitude and surface glamour is what makes them so fucking cool.


----------



## tbaldwin (Feb 5, 2006)

Shuddup ya face Joe Dolce Vita.
This remains my favourite record. Its a searing indictment of the travesty of epistemoloigal and ontological thought behind libertarian socialism.It pulls my head in all directions in my aim to counter the spurious book reading non thinking worms on u75.


----------



## Dj TAB (Mar 6, 2006)

shoddysolutions said:
			
		

> Way back, way back in the warehouse days of glory ... and so on.......
> 
> Well written, perfectly and succinctly summed up - almost worth getting bezzed up for.......


----------



## Dj TAB (Mar 6, 2006)

*Fave record!?!?!?!?!*

Ok - I first read this thread this morning, and to be honest this question has been throbbing in my head for most of the day. Well here I am after 7pm, still pontificating wildly.......

My first issue was pre or post recreational substances, I decided to go for prior to discovering naughty things since it is likely that my judgement remained unimpaired throughout this period and may have declined in recent years! (the lovely lady reading this as I type thinks that I may have refined....)

Anyway I must concur with those who have said stone roses, klf chillout, orbital brown album as they are all way up there in thier own league as far as classics go....

So what album has eventually surfaced as the favourite I hear you cry....The Cure Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me

Just popping it on to play now and settling into The Kiss - instantly bringing back memories of teenage insomnia, lying under the covers in bed with it blaring through a trusty Sony walkman. Moving swiftly on into Hot Hot Hot, a slice of fantastic funk, not bad for a supposedly dour bunch of lippie-wearing goths.

All I want demonstrated admiral synth lines, after which we drift into If only tonight I could sleep, heavy with eastern influences, madly atmospheric, and sounding hot and humid.....

After How beautiful you look tonight comes the very poppy Why can't I be you, probably sums up my schooldays in more ways than I'd like to contemplate. One more time over and we're into Like cockatoos then The Perfect Girl....I don't know why but there's a whiff of unrequited love.......probably scarred for life you know....

Just Like Heaven, if ever a track did what it said on the tin, I don't think my cassette is listenable to in this section since I re-wound it soooooo many times......One More Time was probably the only way they could have followed Just Like Heaven.

Torture, Catch and The Snakepit lull you before Shiver and Shake, then Fight, a lovely angst-ridden anthem for a hormonal teen.

This album just has it all, good funky tunes, upbeat poppishness and mellow notes topped with Robert Smiths' uniquely quirky approach to vocals. What does it do for me? -well bring back huge chunks of childhood experiences as well as the emotions that went with them. Even today there are bits that make me bounce happily round the rug, applaud, smile, wince and a whole pile of other stuff.

I'll finish now, but I do hope you all dig it out and enjoy listening to it again.


----------



## OriginalSinner (Mar 21, 2006)

Is Rage against the Machine - Rage against the Machine.

Why?

Because it shows me that some things don't change.


----------



## Leica (Apr 1, 2006)

*Lou Reed, Transformer (1972)*

This record reminds me of the days when I was impatient to find out what the future would be like. It opens with an unresolved contradiction:

_Vicious, you hit me with a flower
You do it every hour
Oh, baby you're so vicious_

The force of the record is born from this contradiction. Back then I could see it between the harshness suggested by the record cover, and the mellowness of the songs.

In _Andy's Chest,_ Andy Warhol in his childish voice opens his treasure chest and describes the imaginary things and beings that fly out of it.

_you made me forget myself
I thought I was someone else_

It is a performance. Transformer is the mask. Lou Reed picks it up and becomes someone else, like in Caroline Says, Lisa Says, Sally Says, Sweet Jane. He is Harry, Jeanny, Kathy, Holly, Candy, Little Joe, Sugar Plum Fairy, Jackie, and many more.


----------



## Cheesypoof (Apr 1, 2006)

parade by prince.

magnificent and i am always at a loss for words to explain why.

its....otherworldly, it starts and stops, resplendent with romance, love affairs, tragedy, beauty, hope and life, in spades. its beautiful, it tells a story and  the journey leaves me in tears at the end every time.


----------



## Margin Walker (Apr 2, 2006)

Surfa Rosa by the Pixies

A quality album every song a classic

They were one of the first proper bands i got into when i was younger.

The album will be 20 years old next year, but if it was released tomorow it would still sound way ahead of its time.


----------



## Dubversion (Apr 2, 2006)

surely Margin Walker is better?


----------



## Margin Walker (Apr 2, 2006)

Dubversion said:
			
		

> surely Margin Walker is better?


 
It`s close


----------



## nick1181 (Apr 2, 2006)

Invisible Touch : Genisis

I've been a big Genesis fan ever since the release of their 1980 album, Duke. Before that I really didn't understand any of their work. It was too artsy, too intellectual. It was on Duke where Phil Collins' presence became more apparent. 

I think "Invisible Touch" is the group's undisputed masterpiece. It's an epic meditation on intangibility, at the same time it deepens and enriches the meaning of the preceding three albums.

In terms of lyrical craftsmanship and sheer songwriting, this album hits a new peak of professionalism. 

Take the lyrics to "Land of Confusion." In this song, Phil Collins addresses the problem of abusive political authority. "In Too Deep" is the most moving pop song of the 1980s about monogamy and commitment. The song is extremely uplifting. Their lyrics are as positive and affirmative as anything I've heard in rock.


----------



## Dubversion (Apr 2, 2006)

is that verbatim from American Psycho?


----------



## nick1181 (Apr 2, 2006)

(blushes. gets coat)


----------



## Dubversion (Apr 2, 2006)

. :d


----------



## Groucho (Apr 2, 2006)

*Sugarcubes. Life's Too good*

I was sitting on the floor in 1988 when Billy Bragg introduced me to the video of Birthday. This group were not brand new, but I had not seen or heard of them before then. The song was brilliant and I immediately fell in lust with Bjork. 

Next day I rushed out and bought the album. I could only listen to it a couple of times before taking the train to London for a meeting taking place in the ULU building. In the student union bar after I quite literally bumped into a poet dressed all in black with a black net over her face and bright red lipstick. She had been singing along to Birthday as some cool student had chosen the track on the jukebox. 

Back home I listened to The Sugarcubes album over and over. I also briefly dated the poet before the incident with the toads pretty much finshed that off. (She wrote and said she really liked me and wanted to keep in touch by letter, but didn't want to ever see me again. I still have the letter).

All the songs on this classic album are fanfuckintastic. delicious demon, blue eyed pop, f***ing in rythm and sorrow. My initial lust for Bjork soon developed into something more intense. One day she will phone, and my life will be complete. I just know the toad thing wouldn't have bothered her.


----------



## nick1181 (Apr 2, 2006)

Singing along to Birthday? Jesus.


----------



## roxyfoxy (Apr 2, 2006)

Dubversion said:
			
		

> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
> 
> 
> i think people are losing the point of this thread



GOLDIE TIMELESS

This cd as a whole makes a lot of sense, even when not all tracks are really good. the 1st track is way too long, but "sea of tears" is brillant. a classic album and one of the most interesting in the 90's. 

great construction of very long compositions, and a sense of freedom, of space, of greater-than-life. Quality album i love it


----------



## blackadder (Apr 2, 2006)

'The Beautiful Ones' by Prince, not only is it a top song, but I proposed to wifey while Prince was singing it at a concert in Paris.   I'm a romantic bastard arnt I.


----------



## roxyfoxy (Apr 2, 2006)

*Maxwell Urban Hang Suite*

I have like many others, too many to mention, but Maxwell his lyrics are so slick i adore his sensual funk and seductive sound. I think if i had to choose fav track it would have to be Asension (Dont ever wonder) only because the lyrics remind me of me !   P.S I named my persian cat after him ! 

 Oooooh...

It happened the moment, when you were revealed
'cause you were a dream that you should not have been
A fantasy real
You gave me this beating baby
This rhythm inside
And you made me feel good and feel nice and feel loved
Give me paradise

1-so shouldn't I realize
You're the highest of the high
If you don't know, then I'll say it
So don't ever wonder
(repeat 1)

So tell me how long
How long it's gonna take until you speak, babe
'cause I can't live my life
Without you here by my side
Ooh...
You gave me the feelin', feelin' in my life
(rpt 1)


One more of his tracks il mention which have beutiful lyrics

Til The Cops Come Knocking


Didn't you dig the way I rubbed yo back girl 
Wasn't it cool when first I kissed yo lips 
Was it enough to penetrate yo dark world 
Or were you embarrassed about the way you freaked 
Well I wanna hold you 
I wanna know you baby 
If it's alright 

1 - Gonna take you in the room suga' 
Lock you up and love for days 
We gonna be rockin baby 
Till the cops come knockin 
Pappa gonna have to leave 
A message on the telephone baby 
There won't be no stoppin' me 
Till the cops come knockin' 

Six on a Thursday night and you be jonesin baby 
For a brother to hold you tight and keep on goin 
Last lover came and went 
Didn't even hug n' kiss you n' caress you 
Gimme a call it's cool the M's all open 
Im open wider than oceans 
I'll be your lotion 
If it's alright 

Gonna take you in the room suga' 
Lock you up and love for days 
We gonna be rockin baby till the cops come knockin 

Repeat 1 

Please you tease you eat you 
Make you feel so good inside 
Loving you long if that's alright? 

Gonna take you in the room suga' 
Lock you up and love for days 
We gonna be rockin baby till the cops come knockin 


Just to mention aswell i have shared his albums with many men along the way, but the feeling of Maxwell never ever reminds me of anybody else when i play it ever. Like some music can Classic


----------



## Mr Toothache (Apr 6, 2006)

I met my present girlfriend at an Oasis gig!
"Wonderwall" is our song


----------



## Cheesypoof (May 21, 2006)

'Parade' by Prince is the most romantic record ever made. It is a magical whirlwind of relentless inspiration, also the soundtrack to the French set film 'Under the cherry moon' in which Prince starred with Kristian Scott Thomas. The music is a masterpiece of sexy funk, quirky humour, tender love songs and heartbreaking orchestral brilliance that has you in tears by the end, every time xxxxxxxxx

xx

xxxxxxx

xx

Tracklisting to Prince and The Revolution's 'Parade'

1.  Christopher Tracy's Parade
2.  New Position
3.  I Wonder U
4.  Under the Cherry Moon
5.  Girls and Boys
6.  Life Can Be So Nice
7.  Venus De Milo
8.  Mountains
9.  Do U Lie?
10.  Kiss
11.  Anotherloverholenyohead
12.  Sometimes it Snows in April


----------



## scooby (May 26, 2006)

Nitin Sawhney: Beyond Skin

Listened to it on a boat going up a river on the Mexico/Guatemal border a few years ago and whenever I hear it I get nostalgic for mosquito bites, caymen, dirty clothes, sunburn, and of course some of the friendliest people around.

If that makes sense to anyone else


----------



## Treebeak (May 26, 2006)

Papua New Guinea - FSOL

My 21st B'day at Glasto 

Fuck, posted under g/f acc.. she was like 11...

(Posted by Kanda!)


----------



## Clapham Omnibus (Jun 5, 2006)

Dani California Chilli Peppers.
Just becaause I like it. Sorry to be so boreing


----------



## Teepee (Jun 5, 2006)

Slave to the wage by Placebo

I just think it's magnificent


----------



## muser (Jul 25, 2006)

ebird said:
			
		

> David Bowie - "Heroes" is my favourite tune of all time.
> 
> It's got amazing, unplifting lyrics, but in a very english way, in a "Hey, we could do this, but lets not push ourselves, Hero for a day? That'll do"
> 
> ...



magical post, had never thought of it in that way.


----------



## muser (Jul 25, 2006)

angel77 said:
			
		

> The first suede album, because it was the first album that said something to me about my life. I was 16 or so and living in Downham, and here was was a record talking about escaping the shitty grey satalite towns, to off towards the bright lights in search of (sleazy)sex, drugs and rock n roll? For everyone who felt different growing up in a boring place, surrounded by boring people going about their boring lives, they were our band.



spot on


----------



## k_s (Jul 26, 2006)

1979 by the smashing pumpkins. firstly because its an absolute masterslass in arranging a rock song; it fades in from nowhere before exploding into a perfect, driving riff which gets even more intense at just the right point and trickles away to nothing at the end. Secondly because its about what it feels like to be young but to know that what you feel can't last- it would be a bittersweet song were it not for Billy's howling refrain: _but we don't even care..._


----------



## Uma (Oct 22, 2006)

*Van Morrison - Astral Weeks*

I know it will always appear on someone's top ten, but if I had to pick one, I would go with this one.  It embodies all I love about music now and back then.  It represented a change in Van's musical creativity, embracing jazz, blues, folk and classical works and was a real poetical yet personal representation of his growing up in Ireland.  I love The Way Young Lovers Do - it expresses all that's wonderful about falliing in love - all the unknown and heartfelt desires 'if I ventured in the slipstream, between the viaducts of your dreams, where immobile steel rims crack and the ditch in the back roads stop, could you find me? Would you kiss a my eyes?  To lay me down, in silence easy, to be born again.'

I mean, what words. If I could be there now, doing that, falling in love like that...

and Sweet Thing - ' 'Hey, it's me, I'm dynamite
And I don't know why
And you shall take me strongly
In your arms again
And I will not remember
That I even felt the pain'.

This for me expresses the utopia that you feel when falling in love, feeling like you're on top of the world and nothing can deflate you.   

It also reminds me of a period in my life when I went out with a poet and we had a little stall in Belsize Park selling old bits of furniture and jewelry and we would return home, having sold nothing and get drunk listening to Van the Man and looking out the window at the leaves.

Call me romantic, but I'd swap that any day.  

If ever anyone plays this record, it goes straight to the heart felt wonderful memories of my past. Painful, yet personal and precious.


----------



## Dubversion (Oct 22, 2006)

lovely stuff, Uma 

that album gets me in very similar ways. Nothing much beats it


----------



## Augie March (Nov 3, 2006)

*Eels - Electro-Shock Blues*

Admitedly, I only started listening to the Eels because I fancied a girl who like them. The girl I never got, but the band I did and feel instantly in love with Mr.E's beautiful music.

Electro-Shock Blues was the Eels 4th album, released in 1998 and following on from their mainstream breakthrough Beautiful Freak. As a 16 year old with no money, I craved to have the album, but was far too scared to light finger it from my local HMV.

When Christmas came though, imagine my adolescent shock when I opened up my CD case shaped present from my parents to discover that they'd brought it for me.

I'd never asked for it.
I'd never mentioned to them I liked the Eels.
I couldn't even believe they knew who they were.
Yet they still knew.

It was a Christams gift I never forgot and easily the best of my young years (sorry Optimus). I listened to the whole album  that day and it was a gut-wrenching classic. Through a world of depression, suicide and tragedy there is an incredible expression of beauty and love of life.

Amazing album and a wonderful reminder of my childhood.


P.S. It still rocks my world.


----------



## madamv (Nov 3, 2006)

*Japan  -  Adolescent Sex* 1978   
	

	
	
		
		

		
			





Too young to get this when it was released, a mate passed this treasure to me when I was 13.  Just the right age to create an alternative music listener I believe.  

She was two years older than me and was, to quote Jarv 'allowed boys in her room'.  She was cocky and brash and apparently I was her first girli crush, which I didnt learn about until many years later when she introduced me to her girlfriend.   She smoked at home and played this album constantly, mostly because it had rude lyrics and therefore pissed her parents off.  

My parents were also equally horrified at the 'get it up, get it up, get it up take it much higher' lyrical content, but it was in the age of 'Frankies - Relax' so they accepted my changing music taste.  

Dave Sylvian doesnt like this album apparently. That makes me feel sad that I like it so much.   It was the first Japan album I bought and it turned me onto his voice big style.  It also turned me onto punky/gothy music and image.  I had discovered there was a world of non chart music out there and having no elder brother to teach me about Peel Sessions, I had to rummage around gleaning bits of information from the elder kids at the park about music that wasnt being played on Radio One at lunchtime.

The album has lots of groovy harshness to it.  I cant find another way to describe it, but am sure google would find plenty of more articulate reviews.   Their cover of 'Dont rain on my parade' is gritty and spat out, the music casts up images of standing under a bus shelter in a down pour.  I didnt know it was a cover until some time later, exclaiming excitedly that Babs had done a Japan song.  I was so pleased for them  

By the time I found them, David was totally gorgeous.  Typical image of the era - Nick Rhodes ish, and Japan later had a cracking hit covering 'Second that Emotion'.  My favourate track by Japan is Nightporter.  This is alot of Japan fans fave too, but a moving, subtle epic of a track none the less. 

Not really that good at big writing stuff, trying to get my 13 year olds excitement and feelings on a PC isnt second nature to me.  However, I totally recommend a listen, and also their later stuff although its not that similar except for David Sylvians spooky voice.


----------



## Biscuit Tin (Nov 5, 2006)

I have often looked a this thread and  thoughtto choose a single favourite is really difficult there are so many! There is one that stands out though, it's a reggae compilation called Staggering Heights by Players and Singers. I have been listening to for almost 20 years now and I never get bored with it. It has deep baselines, querky steel drums - great variety of sounds. It is also reminiscent of a particularly good time in my life.


----------



## Paulaviki (Nov 21, 2006)

loud 1 said:
			
		

> jeff buckley-grace
> 
> i stumbled across mr buckley way back in 95,i remember flickin through tv channels and hearing this song (grace),and i was absolutly gob smacked,at the time i was in my first band and trying to find direction,and i think i found it all in that one song!,the way it builds and builds until the end when jeff stays holding one note for what seemed like forever.
> 
> ...



I was only introduced to Jeff Buckley this year but Grace has barely left my CD player since, it truely is a beautiful album and he was so gifted.  He would have been 40 this year and it makes you wonder how far he would have gone had he lived.........but most definitely my favourite record.


----------



## ringo (Nov 21, 2006)

The Drifter - Dennis Walks [Moodisc (JA) / Crab (UK) 1969]
An awesome piece of music, recorded at Studio 1 and produced by Harry Mudie. The driving bass line never fails to grab me, the drumming is solid and energetic, while the soaring militant horn refrain lifts it to a truly triumphant crescendo, giving it top marks in those most crucial elements of Jamaican music. Walks never bettered it in his long career, despite returning to it in the slower roots, early dancehall and fully digital periods, and his voice suits perfectly the slightly sorrowful lament of the regretful prodigal son. 
Such has my obsession become for this tune that I started a few years ago to collect every recut of the song and rhythm. I've compiled a discography, numbering over 100 tunes now, from King Tubbys dubs to a Prince Jammy one rhythm LP. So far I've been able to buy about 55 of them on original vinyl, the quest continues.


----------



## CaviarCigarets (Dec 11, 2006)

So I was a scrawny, shy 15 year old kid in a dull town with not that many friends. I'm doing work experience in an estate agents and one day we're driving out to a big house to do a valuation. It's a stupidly hot day as a song comes on the radio. I ask what it is. It's "There Is A Light That Never Goes Out" by The Smiths from The Queen Is Dead. The opening riff flows through my body and the melody enraptures me before Stephen Patrick Morrissey's voice quietly intones;

*"Take me out tonight, 
where there's music and there's people and they're young and alive".*

That lunchtime I go into the record shop and find the album and buy it and listen to it three times that evening.

Music changed from being a background noise to fill in for gaps in conversation to something of art and beauty. Other songs I play more, other songs have sent shivers down my spine, other songs I have had to yelp out screams of disbelief because of the way they have melded sounds, but that album, fuck me, it's amazing.

A slightly pretentious second post I know!


----------



## Uma (Dec 15, 2006)

Dr Gonzo said:
			
		

> *Eels - Electro-Shock Blues*
> 
> Admitedly, I only started listening to the Eels because I fancied a girl who like them. The girl I never got, but the band I did and feel instantly in love with Mr.E's beautiful music.
> 
> ...


This is lovely - I can see your face opening the gift.  We all feel the same sometimes.


----------



## AquaWolf (Jan 26, 2007)

Just at this moment in time, as my music playing habits are influenced greatly by my emotions. My favorite song of the moment is Alanis Morissette - Bent For You
I chose this song because of it's lyrics, I hold them dear the heart at the moment as with my mentality it feels like I'm trying to pull blood from a stone from my friends, family and even my hon.


"_You're unsure and you're not ready so that must mean I want you
You're unavailable and disinterested and to you I look for comfort

A million times in a million ways I will try to change you
A million months and a million days I'll try to somehow convince you

I have waited for you and adjusted for you and I'm done
I have deferred to you and enabled you and I'm done

You're too young or you're too old or you're simply not inclined
You're asleep or you're withholding be that my cue to crave you

Several times in several ways I'll try to squeeze love from you
Several hours and several ways I'll feast on scraps thrown from you

I have bent for you and I've deprived for you and I'm done
I have depressed for you and contorted for you and I'm done
I have stifled for you and I've compromised for you and I'm done
I have silenced for you and sacrificed for you and I'm done

It won't be long before I am reclaimed
It won't take long and I'll be on path again
It won't be easy for us to disengage
I'm at the end of self deprivation stage

Aou're afraid of every woman afraid of your inner workings
You cringe at the thought of living under the same roof as me god' and everything

A million times and a million ways I've tried to alter to match you
Several times every several days I've tried to uncrush on you_"


----------



## skullz (Jan 29, 2007)

*all eyes on me*

my favorite record of all time is all eyes on me by 2pac.
Evry song u hear he raps about reality wat he saw and did he rap about his life


----------



## figbella (Feb 4, 2007)

Orbital - Belfast

I know it's a bit cheesy but I remember this song from when I was at uni and I'd just been out doing pills for the first time. It was a brilliant experience and we all piled back my mate's house and he put this on. We were sitting, smoking and discussing our night and I knew from that moment that this was the way forward for me.

I had to walk home up a huge hill on a very frosty winter morning but I felt incredible - tired yet still wired with all these mad thoughts running through my head and I still get a big smile whenever I hear this song and think of that night.

Also Killers - Mr Brightside (Thin White Duke Remix). Reminds me of the night I proposed to my fiancee as it was playing in the background when I asked the question.


----------



## Cheesypoof (Feb 11, 2007)

indielad said:
			
		

> *The Libertines - Up The Bracket*
> 
> I bought the album a copule of months ago after hearing a couple of the songs on the evening session. I had heard that the album was quite good so I went along and bought it. When I got home and banged it on the hi-fi I was amazed the pure confusion and emotion put into every song just blew me away. The album seems to have all the qualities you can dream of while what makes it perfect is its inperfection. I dont think it has been off my cd player for more than a day since I bought it. I cant wait for the next one.
> 
> I recomend it to anyone into alt music. It is amazing!!!



AGREED!!!!!


----------



## DotCommunist (Feb 12, 2007)

I haven't thought about the Eels in years    i must download some of their stuff.


----------



## Old Slow Hand (Feb 15, 2007)

*Queen - Greatest Hits Vol 1*

Everybody has this in their collection. Will always put you in a great mood when played.

If I was stuck on a desert island, the sound of Freddie rocking in my ears would bring utter bliss!


----------



## Dubversion (Feb 15, 2007)

Old Slow Hand said:
			
		

> Everybody has this in their collection.



i don't.


----------



## Rainingstairs (Feb 16, 2007)

i have a bunch of favorite albums! i thing this topic should focus on a genre


----------



## Jim Colyer (Feb 17, 2007)

My favorite record is Dancing Queen by ABBA.  I sing it karaoke.  When people hear Benny Andersson's opening strains, they head for the dance floor.  It is an inspiring song.

ABBA video http://jimcolyer.com/papers/entry?id=44


----------



## sarahsays (Feb 23, 2007)

Atmosphere- Seven's Travels


----------



## Jim Colyer (Mar 20, 2007)

Dancing Queen by ABBA

People go wild when I sing it karaoke.


----------



## Taxamo Welf (Apr 22, 2007)

oh, 'all lost in the supermarket' by the clash. Ironically, i don't think much of the clash at all and don't really count them in the cannon of decent british punk bands. I don't get the claims to genius people lay at their feet, and find strummer massively frustrating for having amade up voice and a made up background. Their first album is unlistenable.

But 'all lost...' sounds beautiful to me. I love the way it rolls with a danceable tempo throughout and then just trails off. That makes me feel that the guy is lonely and lost, but still going on, not distressed enough that anyone would notice and not narcissistic enough to really notice himself. I can empaphise with the feelings of alienation and the image of a reclusive lover it brings up; the specifics of the lyrics, whcih my be coincidence, also are important to me. It ham-fisted stuff, but its way before wanky people moaned on about consumer culture non stop as opposed to genuine politics - so the idea of being 'lost in the supermarket' and 'unable to shop happily' is quite prescient. I look at it like someone who is trying to do everything that they think they should do to be happy and valued, but it hasn't worked. 

the kids in halls and the pipes in the walls/
making noises/
for company.

*Long distance callers make long distance calls*/
and the silence/
makes me lonely. 

the line i've highlighted, i absolutely love. He feels like everyone else is doing something, fitting in or having a role, but he has none.

I also like the fact that this song actually seems to be true to their fucking backgrounds, unlike the other crap where they claim to be 'guttersnipes' or somesuch crass bollocks. It reflects their true backgrounds and it doesn't detract from the anger of the song at all. For me, its the only time i see their anger genuine.

Its a beautiful song, but i wouldn't want it associated with me cos its not how i feel about my childhood and i don't feel lost.


----------



## Taxamo Welf (Apr 22, 2007)

oh balls you meant 'album'.

No. No idea, don't listen to albums. Maybe Pulp 'different class'?


----------



## Taxamo Welf (Apr 22, 2007)

madamv said:
			
		

> *Japan  -  Adolescent Sex* 1978


 good name


----------



## Pink-Elephant (Apr 27, 2007)

American Life - Madonna
I'm a huge Madge fan anyway...but this album is great, it came out around the time I found out I was pregnant with my son......


----------



## Negativland (Apr 27, 2007)

madamv said:
			
		

> *Japan  -  Adolescent Sex* 1978



Cool to see this show up. I like the New Romantic Japan a lot more than trashy Japan, but the title track of this album is just about the best glam-disco thing ever, along with 'same old scene'


----------



## TremulousTetra (May 21, 2007)

A gender crossing knee stap lay while burlesque Filipinos masqueraded and mannerisms were slaughtered.  The appearance of nothing broke the deafening silence in the darkest sunshine and tremulous carnivores storked their prey of spore-bearing fruiting bodies of fungi.  This could only invoke the cladding of crimson!

The dance broken from the chains of the rhythm smashed the confines of rhyme and reason to engender bliss in motion.  The corpulence of the reed like synthesis no longer hearkened back to tango.  The flailing sheaths of moribund negros new no greater ecstasy as sensibilities were crashed.  And there,,, in the darkest hour,,,,, lay god!

Would fruit no longer be sown?  Would dawn ever break on a day of wonder?  Would globules a mitigating disaster ever become dextrous or more frightening?

These questions may never be answered, but that they were asked, seems reward enough. 

Madness:  Welcome to The House of Fun


----------



## avu9lives (May 31, 2007)

Greensleeves does it for me tonight,  takes me back to pleasant lands/times, puts a smile on my face : )

eek a mouse - ban ban biddy ban bam , fisherman dub, love


----------



## hammerntongues (Jun 12, 2007)

Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars 

Up until this album my collection comprised of KTel compilations and Buddy Holly`s greatest hits Vol 1 & 2 which I had stolen from Pitsea market.
It was given to me by my cousins boyfriend and from the first play I was hooked , it didnt make any sense whatsoever and that was part of the attraction , sleeve notes with lyrics to pour over and try and analyse.
 In those early days albums were only bought for birthdays and Christmas presents so there were months between new ones , as a consequence of hundreds of listens , it remains today the only album that I know the lyrics from start to finish.
Starting out with the apocolyptic 5 Years , it was the earliest time I recall questioning anything other than my immediate surroundings , the future and what it held in store , Moonage Daydream and  Starman with their other-worldy lyrics , Star and Ziggy with their enticement into the rock n roll lifestyle , right on through to the closing Rock n Roll suicide and its depressing start but uplifting close " give me your hands cause  you`re wonderful ".

It was also the album which brought about the music snob in me , something that I had and my mates didn`t , and it felt great .


----------



## Jaseface (Jun 21, 2007)

*The World of Twist-Quality Street*

I was going to put Hunky Dory by David Bowie but it seemed a bit obvious like taking Shakespeare and The Bible to the desert island. So I chose the brilliant bizarre boho slant on the Madchester scene  the World of Twist their ace take on The stones "She's aRainbow " is still ace, and the rest of it sounds unlike anything else.Sad to say we won't see them again as singer Tony Ogden has sadly past away but lovely music shows that scally scene wasn't just about strutting walks and mad for it gesturing.


----------



## Meltingpot (Aug 6, 2007)

hammerntongues said:
			
		

> Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars
> 
> Up until this album my collection comprised of KTel compilations and Buddy Holly`s greatest hits Vol 1 & 2 which I had stolen from Pitsea market.
> It was given to me by my cousins boyfriend and from the first play I was hooked , it didnt make any sense whatsoever and that was part of the attraction , sleeve notes with lyrics to pour over and try and analyse.
> ...



Ziggy Stardust's one of my favorites too - just rocks from beginning to end. Probably my absolute favourite is Kate Bush's "The Kick Inside"; partly happy memories of uni in the late 70's, and the music is so wonderfully ethereal.


----------



## SpookyFrank (Nov 26, 2007)

Manic Street Preachers - Know Your Enemy

I'm going to go for one nobody else is likely to pick, because it had such a big effect on me when I first bought it and it still has a warm fuzzy place in my heart. Once a genuine manics obsessive, I can no longer listen to most of their albums because I've realised they're actually quite shit. The exceptions being The Holy Bible; which is fantastic but I can't actually listen to it anymore because its too fucking dark and it's not at all healthy for me; and Know Your Enemy.

This album is clumsy as fuck. It contains an inexplicable disco number, a highly ill-advised Nicky Wire lead vocal and some of the worst lyrical couplets in my whole record collection in the song 'Royal Correspondant'. But all its flaws just make me love it even more, expecially when compared to the polished commercial turds which make up the rest of the Manics' post-Richey output. Somehow, despite having no two songs remotely simillar, the album maintains a particular tone throughout. The lyrics are often either vague or overblown, but somehow the message gets through. It was the uncertain political ranting mixed with Nicky Wire's strange cynicism which first shoved my cluttered teenage brain in the direction of alternative politics. There's a long way to go from soundbite socialism to where I am now, but listening to the manics and their unfashionable politics definitely started the ball rolling, and changed my life completely.

Then of course, there's loads of tunes. Know Your Enemy also coincided with me wanting to become a musician and my attempts to teach myself to play any instrument I could lay my hands on. The first guitar riff I learnt was 'His Last Painting' from Know Your Enemy. This record dispenses with the boring string sections and clean production that made 'Everything Must Go' sell so many copies to people's dads, replacing them with everything bar the kitchen sink by way of different sounds. This shouldn't work but it does. For a while the Manics were able to make music for fun, to see what they could get away with, and they ended up with an album that's genuinely enjoyable to listen to because you can hear the mad enthusiasm behind everything they're doing. And because this is a manics album, there's great pop melodies underlying everything. 

The first time I saw the Manics live was when they were touring this album, and it was the first time I saw a rock band play like they meant it, like they loved every note and every line of every song. I've seen them a couple of times since then and they've been getting steadily duller, which isn't surprising if you listen to their last few records  

Yeah, so most people will probably hate this record but I love it  

Honourable mentions go to:
Tom Waits- the heart of saturday night
David Bowie- ziggy stardust
Pulp- we love life
Echo and the Bunnymen- ocean rain
Spritualized- laser guided melodies
Super Furry Animals- all their albums


----------



## brokenyolk (Dec 1, 2007)

Dubversion said:
			
		

> i don't.



yeah but you have that boot version of we will rock you uptown top ranking, so you are a rock opera fan, oh yes, you are.


----------



## Detroit City (Dec 1, 2007)

Wish You Were Here by The Floyd

My best friend died in '86 from a massive brain hemorrhage when we were both 21.  We used to listen to that album when we were indulging in some "substances" and it really tied us together.   And I really do wish he was here cause I know we'd still be close.

I have never found another friend like him.


----------



## badco (Dec 1, 2007)

Beuatiful south-need a little time

The song doesn't mean anything special to me I just think the lyrics are bang on

Suppose if you know the song you'll know what I mean


----------



## albionism (Jan 27, 2008)

CLOSER by Joy Division.  Because it wasn't just art, Ian Curtis meant it.


----------



## Dr. Furface (Feb 14, 2008)

Jaseface said:


> I was going to put Hunky Dory by David Bowie but it seemed a bit obvious like taking Shakespeare and The Bible to the desert island. So I chose the brilliant bizarre boho slant on the Madchester scene  the World of Twist their ace take on The stones "She's aRainbow " is still ace, and the rest of it sounds unlike anything else.Sad to say we won't see them again as singer Tony Ogden has sadly past away but lovely music shows that scally scene wasn't just about strutting walks and mad for it gesturing.


Yeah, World of Twist were great - I bought the lp when it came out, but then a few months later I was burgled and the bastards took all my fucking albums and cd's (obviously thieves with great taste!) and I never bought it again. Must try to find it on Slsk 

Here's their great appearance on bbc's Snub tv show...
http://youtube.com/watch?v=aHxsjPYVH8w


----------



## Spod (Apr 19, 2008)

Very difficult to say as I love different styles of music (rock, soul, dance) for different reasons and moods. For a long time it was Deep Dish-Penetrate Deeper album from 1993. Nothing profound behind it, just the best deep-house music ever. Rockwise, maybe Led Zep 3.


----------



## trevhagl (Jun 4, 2008)

BARSE - If You Can't Fuck em Cut Em Up CD

Glorious OTT punk rock with excellent musicianship and demented/hilarious lyrics , and fine singalong tunes. Touches of BUZZCOCKS and COCK SPARRER. 

Listen to some of it on www.myspace.com/barsefilth

I can't really begin to tell you the lyrics,....simply nuts.


----------



## Chocolatbutton (Jun 7, 2008)

Italian Jazz version of Bob Marley 'Legend' - Lazy Hazy Dayz in Ketapontins (",) xXx


----------



## tendril (Jun 11, 2008)

Chocolatbutton said:


> Italian Jazz version of Bob Marley 'Legend' - Lazy Hazy Dayz in Ketapontins (",) xXx



You heard that too? That was just too bizarre...


----------



## Chocolatbutton (Jun 15, 2008)

Lol..

Was quiet disturbing, 'spec after the 3rd loop..! 

After much deliberation, me thinks the real all time fave has to be 'The Art of Noise - Moments In Love' (ambient house version) xXx

How you doin Tetris.?  C U on Friday  xXx


----------



## tendril (Jun 16, 2008)

Chocolatbutton said:


> How you doin Tetris.?  C U on Friday  xXx



aye, lookin' forward to seein ya there


----------



## extra dry (Jun 22, 2008)

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=u7edztkuz5o

just passing my driving test and taking my fathers motor for a dash around country lanes in the summer of 93....so many memories


----------



## mozzy (Jun 22, 2008)

*Pink Floyd - Dark Side of The Moon*

I first discovered this Album when I was 14 and was quite ill and felt as if nobody understood what it was like to be at deaths door at this age. Luckily for me, my sisters boyfriend introduced me to weed and Pink Floyd - and wow!! 

Listening to this, I felt for the first time that somebody else knew what I was going through and the way this is beautiful album is sequenced, finishing off with Great Gig in the Sky gave me hope that there are better places to escape to when it all seems too much and unbearable. Thank you Pink Floyd for giving me hope and utter peace!! 

This album really structured my taste and development in music and inspired me to better things. I love all of Pink Floyds music, ranging from Syd barretts influence to David Gilmore's. Shine on you Crazy Diamond and The Wall are also my fav's too.

Other favourites are:-

Paul Weller - Days of Speed

Portishead - Dummy

Massive Attack - Mezanie

The Verve - A Storm in Heaven

Enigma - THe Cross of Changes

The Stranglers - All Live and All of the Night

Primal Scream - Screamadelica

The Stone Roses - A Storm in Heaven

Gomez - bring it On


----------



## EddyBlack (Sep 25, 2008)

Ray Charles - What'd I say

Just tremendous.


----------



## ElectraE (Oct 10, 2008)

Felix Laband  Dark Days Exit

It is beautiful electronic ambient music, he is only 23 years old, but when you listen to his music you can't believe that something so complex and genius was made by someone so young ! When I listen to this album I get the chills...! This is a recommendation, also.


----------



## RubyBlue (Jul 6, 2009)

I'll also go for Ziggy Stardust - a close second though is Marc Bolan - Metal Guru reminds me of a mate who is now dead - he loved T-Rex - he was a transvestite who actually lived as a woman but was straight - he lived with my mate Margaret (who I met him through) He was called Petra and he was so very very dear to me and whenever I hear Metal Guru - or indeed - anything by T-Rex - I think of him


----------



## ericjarvis (Jul 6, 2009)

I'm not sure I can really pick one. There are two that stay consistently as favourites. 

I guess Screamadelica doesn't really count since it's a favourite because it's mates I used to gig around with finally making some completely out of this world music. I think it would be one of my favourite albums anyway, but there's no way to tell. I just feel completely on a wavelength with it. It takes bits from all the places my head had been over the decade and a bit before it was recorded, and makes most of it make some sort of sense.

The other is Brenda Fassie's album Myekeleni. Again there's more to it than great music, though it is also one of the most brilliantly varied sets of songs ever put together by one artist. There's jazz in there, along with reggae, mbaqanga, bubblegum, drum and bass, kwela, isicathamiya, and kwaito. It's the whole world of music focused through Soweto. The added poignancy is that, like me, Brenda Fassie was asthmatic. Shortly after I bought this particular album she died from heart failure following an asthma attack.


----------



## Bubble wrapped (Aug 2, 2009)

Mine would have to be , simple and dripping with soul, makes me tingle.


----------



## Bassism (Aug 30, 2009)

Deffo one of my favs FFRR Lenny Fontana Chocolate Sensation xx mmmm ye either side you choose


----------



## Bassism (Aug 30, 2009)

albionism said:


> CLOSER by Joy Division.  Because it wasn't just art, Ian Curtis meant it.



ye this x


----------



## Kidblast (Sep 14, 2009)

*Boo! Wake up.*

I know it's not very popular but the 'Boo Radleys - Everythings alright forever' is my favourite album for nostalgic reasons. It's a lovely wash of shoe gazey noise. 

 wait for the horn!

Check the album if you like that sort of thing.


----------



## trevhagl (Sep 15, 2009)

BARSE - IF YOU CAN'T FUCK EM CUT EM UP

Great tunes, hilarious lyrics, and all done DIY on an 8 track yet great production . BUZZCOCKS meets COCK SPARRER meets KILLJOYS meets OI! but with depraved lyrics and great cover showing a royal portrait with Barse's heads on. 
Gash the singer/mainman topped himself a month after it was recorded, thankfully he'd sent the tapes to Hells Tone (Finland) beforehand and it emerged the year after.

www.myspace.com/barsefilth
(although most of the tracks are from other albums)


----------



## El Jefe (Sep 15, 2009)

yeh, we know



trevhagl said:


> BARSE - If You Can't Fuck em Cut Em Up CD
> 
> Glorious OTT punk rock with excellent musicianship and demented/hilarious lyrics , and fine singalong tunes. Touches of BUZZCOCKS and COCK SPARRER.
> 
> ...


----------



## trevhagl (Sep 15, 2009)

keep em coming!!

Shame the geezer doing the site didn't put more from that album though ("Turn Around & Hate Me" is the only one off it...


----------



## Brinxmat (Sep 15, 2009)

Detroit City said:


> Wish You Were Here by The Floyd
> 
> My best friend died in '86 from a massive brain hemorrhage when we were both 21.  We used to listen to that album when we were indulging in some "substances" and it really tied us together.   And I really do wish he was here cause I know we'd still be close.
> 
> I have never found another friend like him.



Just two lost souls, swimming in a fish bowl, year after year...


----------



## tbaldwin (Sep 15, 2009)

Leo Marjane En Septembre Sous La`pluie.....It changes from day to day.......Yesterday it was VENGEANCE by New Model Army.....


----------



## Greenfish (Sep 19, 2009)

The Times They Are A'changing by Bob Dylan.

Hard to explain the affect this had on me.  It seemed to convey some of my most deeply held views in an other-worldly, earth-shattering poetic way. It was the first time I realised what the artist as a genuis is truly capable of.  It didn't really conform to anything, genre wise, other than his own pure feeling, thought, and personal history. I was into Oasis and other indy bands at the time, and it just made them seem so lightweight. The album is now being studied by English literature proffesors in unis across the world.  Will still be in a 1000 years time, if you ask me.

And it isn't even the BEST Dylan album.

Cheers, 

Greenfish.


----------



## nicksonic (Sep 19, 2009)

can i have two?

ok, since no-one answered i'll assume i can.

the future sound of london - papua new guinea : epitomises all that's amazing about amazing electronic music.

rozzer's dog - the pusher, the pimp and the panther : the pinnacle of acid techno, with or without drugs.


----------



## Flanflinger (Nov 25, 2009)

Dark Side Of The Moon.

When it was released we used to play it endlessly during art classes at school. Even now when I hear it I think back to those days and remember the laughs we had. Sadly some of those school mates are no longer with us, but the memories are and that makes that album special for me.


----------



## bridgy45 (Nov 25, 2009)

Bat out of hell   meat loaf.
I dont think theres anyone in my generation that hasnt had this in their collection at one time ! Every song was brilliant and related to some teenage angst at the time


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Nov 25, 2009)

Hey you the rocksteady crew - it means . . . . er . . . I just really like it.


----------



## colbhoy (Jan 16, 2010)

The Undertones - The Undertones







In 1979, at the age of 12, I was on holiday with my family. My older brother and I had enough money to each buy an LP and my brother had narrowed it down to two albums; The Undertones debut album and Scared to Dance by The Skids. He very thoughtfully allowed me to have first choice (of his two choices!) and I chose The Undertones album because I just liked the innocent posing of the band  on the cover.  

This was my first ever album and I played it constantly when I got home. I loved it right from the start and The Undertones became my favourite band (and still are). Even though I am now 42 and my musical tastes have changed over the years, I still have a special feeling when listening to anything by The Undertones and have particular fond memories of this album, their and my first!


----------



## Ceej (Feb 15, 2010)

It could equally have been New Boots and Panties but I've taken the road less travelled and gone for:

*Power in the Darkness  - Tom Robinson Band*.

In '78 I was 17, living alone in London, ripping up my clothes, shoving safety pins through my face and having the time of my life. Worked with a couple of RAR activists - massive Clash fan and ended up at the legendary Anti-Nazi gig in Victoria Park. And saw Tom Robinson.

His music threw me - political, millitant, angry, radical -  and intelligent, wry, witty and, heaven help us - amusing. He looked like a Bay City Roller and swore like a Pogue, the music was poppy, the message was anything but, and the inner sleeve had a stencil for a black power salute and details of the Gay Switchboard. TRB were one of the first to ally themself with RAR and Tom himself was one of the first openly gay performers - he was out there, and I loved him for it. All my mates wrote him off as socially responsible, but essentially a lightweight. But they didn't know Tom like I did.

I played the record incessently and at the time barely owned an article of clothing or furniture without the stencil on it. Tom spoke with my teenage voice -  Up against the wall, better decide which side you're on, you gotta survive, winter of '79.... to me, this is what we were up against in 78, this was fighting the good fight, this was our battle cry and our anthem.

TRB weren't the Sex Pistols or the Clash, but in their own little way, they were as radical and as trailblazing and opened my mind to a different way to protest, with words and humour and ridicule rather than hurling dustbins at shop windows. Their music still speaks to me.

Last year at a Miles Hunt gig, he told a story of jamming with Tom in New York, and covered 'Up against the Wall'. Miles was surprised that I was word perfect, and we spoke afterwards, and sang a little bit of 'Winter of 79' to each other -  I can't sing to save my  life, but I hope Tom would be proud of me.


----------



## Bassism (Mar 7, 2010)

i find this the most impossible question ever to answer. There all my favs at one point or another. I dont fill my boxes wi crap. I fill em wi my soul x


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## Ms_Yuletide (Mar 31, 2010)

Real Live Dead One
used to have this on cassette years ago, still reminds me of those headbanging c-tape days


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## Bassism (Apr 11, 2010)

how many are we allowed i mean really? What a fukin question to ask sumone. Tut tut. Da hool dextrous mix love parade theres one for you. Watch ya bass bins i'm tellin u


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## Bassism (Apr 13, 2010)

fuk me i killed teh thread fuk it. Nina jayne pale face like a feather, meks me melt wi the right subs x


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## Bassism (Apr 13, 2010)

sara parker my love is deep ...always records i learned to mix wi gotta be my favs even salt n pepper double pack push it now thats sumat i learned to mix wi, boring in a sense but gud for me... Am i too young for this thread or just off mi hed??


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## last request (Apr 16, 2010)

Blink 182- First Date, was me and my first gf's song


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## rockers (May 13, 2010)

My current fave is Aretha Franklin-Songs Of Faith.  It's her debut album recorded in a church in Detroit when she was 14.  Backed just with either piano or organ.  All gospel songs.  Her voice is simply incredible.  So raw and powerful.  The soul just pours out.  Inspirational stuff.


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## Paulie Tandoori (Jul 30, 2010)

late night vodka 

even better


----------



## VolatileMolatov (Aug 7, 2010)

London Calling has to be the essential part of my record collection,certainly the most played


----------



## Red Paul (Aug 13, 2010)

Fields of France.


----------



## gavman (Aug 16, 2010)

i'm also going to be naughty, and nominate two


the sheltering sky, king crimson
sex with a new lover on a summer's night...open windows, smells of grass and flowers

and
a side, warrior on the edge of time, hawkwind. it's all one trip really, be wrong to separate




for being absolutely spanked, lying on a hill on a clear night looking at the stars..a tune to plan an evening around, to go for a spaceflight


----------



## MissAlice (Dec 2, 2010)

Moondance by Van Morrison. Cropped up at birthday parties, the beginnings of romances.. I never put it on myself but it appears at nice little moments throughout life.


----------



## Paulie Tandoori (Dec 3, 2010)

i used to love this thread


----------



## gloworm (Apr 11, 2011)

Bargain Store by Dolly Parton, the greatest woman songwriter. For those of you of a certain age who have found true love after a long relationship gone wrong with one person  (23 years in my case ) im sure will identify with these lyrics.  
He has certainly replaced the missing part of my broken heart!
I apoloogise to to those of you that i have sung this track to.....but its very special to me x


----------



## Clair De Lune (Apr 11, 2011)

Because it is the only album I own which I _have_ to listen to all the way through, it's seamless.


----------



## chriswill (Apr 11, 2011)

Clair De Lune said:


> Because it is the only album I own which I _have_ to listen to all the way through, it's seamless.



I'm listening to Fugazi now, I'm not even sure how I found them!

As for my favourite record ever I'd have to go NOFX Punk In Drublic. It just takes me back to good times with good friends.

Love every track


----------



## Clair De Lune (Apr 11, 2011)

It definitely wasn't me recommending them whilst on an all night meph sesh, oh no


----------



## antifa_hooligan (Jun 20, 2011)

Motorhead - Iron Fist

Just perfect in every single way. Dirty, aggresive, groovy, sleazy and LOUD. When i was younger and squatting I used to have a framed pic of Lemmy that I took around with me and it was always the first thing that was put in place anytime I found a new place to live. I lost it somewhere along the way but still have all my motorhead vinyl, although Iron Fist was the party album so I doubt it will bear many more spins before falling to pieces.


----------



## Casual Observer (Aug 8, 2011)

The Stooges – Funhouse

Released in 1970, purchased by me in 1984 and my favourite record ever since. This one is an absolute monster. It should really be included as a ‘thank you for purchasing’ freebie inside the box of any new record or CD player. A solid and unfussy bass and drums combo lay a sparse and hard foundation while Iggy’s plaintive wanton howling has never sounded better. The real genius here, though, comes from guitar of the mighty Ron Asheton. This is the Stooges’ second album and Ron’s playing has come on a bomb and he’s now at the height of his powers.  Tough dirty riffing and wailing wah drenched solos fill the room.  The first side is relentless – Down On The Street/Loose/TV Eye/Dirt –every song perfect. You can’t recover from that and no one would expect you to. Side two starts in the same vein with ‘1970’ then things get truly weird with two tracks of extended free jazz lunacy. Like all great records (and there haven’t been that many over the last 50 years if we’re being honest), this one was made in isolation – no one else was making music remotely like this in 1970 and no one has come close since.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Aug 10, 2011)

Gosh hard to pick one.
There are three that made me sit up and want to jump up.

World Domination Enterprises - Let's Play Domination
The Dwarves - Blood Guts and Pussy
Guitar Wolf - Love Rock


----------



## campanula (Aug 16, 2011)

hard to choose one - can't believe the wonderful John Martyn has not been lauded on this thread - Bless the Weather is an album of gentle bliss. Martyn's voice floats lazily above crystalline chords, with the instrumental Glyndebourne signalling Martyn's  enthusiastic echoplex guitar sound which would attain full gleaming virtuosity on Solid Air. For sheer longevity, I reach for Stormcock, Roy Harper. In truth, Harper is an artist who can give rise to major irritation on days when his nasal vocals are not really the ticket. Even so, I played this record continually during the summer heatwave of 1976. Living in boho comfort in a tiny Cambridge squat, 'Me and my Woman' sounded almost numinous, drifting around the half-dozen backgardens we had knocked together. We had peach trees and an aged russet apple which was turned into cider (we hired a press), there was loads of decent hash and many music wars. We had an Eagles, Steve Millar and Steely Dan camp, a small, but vociferous punk movement and a few hippy types who would drag out the Increds at every opportunity. Most afternoons, I would haul an armchair outside, get into prime loafing mode and play Stormcock as the heat (and the dope) made us all lethargic, dreamy and yearning.


----------



## krtek a houby (Aug 17, 2011)

O gods, this is always a changeable feast. It depends on the mood I find myself in. Currently, it's got to be Tom Waits "Nighthawks at the Diner". I just want to be there at that moment in time, taking in the atmosphere and being bewiched by Waits' drawl and schtick.


----------



## mona88 (Nov 1, 2011)

Taylor Swift - Mine. This song tells the story of puppy love with no results. I've experienced the same situation before, so every time I listen to it, I'll feel deeply touched and think of my first love.


----------



## Dr Alimantado (Nov 2, 2011)

Exodus - first album that got me into reggae. I used to play it on a loop on a tape recorder round about when it came out , when I was around 15. It was my erstwhile  (if that's the word I want) hippy mum's  tape. Natural mystic was the opening number & I love that opening

Nice thread.


----------



## purenarcotic (Nov 3, 2011)

Porcupine Tree - Trains

It doesn't matter what mood I'm in, or what's happened, somehow this song fits.  I've listened to it literally thousands of times over the years and I never get bored of it.

Always the summers are slipping away...


----------



## friedaweed (Nov 29, 2011)

Harvest - Neil Young.

I discovered it at the same time I discovered I had to grow the fuck up as a young obnoxious cunt. I can this smell the sea air from where I was living when it all happened. That and the Johnston's magnolia paint I was throwing up to earn a living.

Shortly after I packed it in and bought a pick up (Volkswagen LT van) and took it down to LA (Sennen Cove). Surfed the winter through and went back home to me Ma and ended my running off down south to bury my head in the sand. That's when I got Floyd.

She definitely loved me all up


----------



## kodokan (Dec 3, 2011)

Levitation by Hawkwind.

In 1984, I was 14. My self and my friends spent the summer prowling the streets, drumming houses, schools and sometimes prowling the deserted steets at night robbing cars, must have done at least 150 cars that summer. We spent our gains on designer clothes, if we could not rob them and acid, speed and hash.

A friends older sister was 26, she was really cool, she knew alot about drugs and life, we used to skin up in her front room and listen to Hawkwind, her husband was a Hells Angel doing life for stabbing someone to death in the Swan in Stockwell.

I remember taking acid listening to Levitation by Hawkwind, it was amazing, the colours, the sounds, the whole journey.

It was a great summer, I went from my first kiss to losing my virginity to my mates sister in the space of a week, happy innocent times.

In the darkness I will shine
Cast not shadows or define
Walk on water float on air
There is no other to compare

[Chorus:]
I have this fascination
No cause for a deviation
It's called levitation

There is no cause to start and scream
Nor rub your eyes this is no dream
Although I sit upon this chair
I rise and float up in the air

[Chorus]

Magnetic force repel attract
Once it starts there's no turning back
I offer you this chance to learn
Take it now there's no return


----------



## past caring (Dec 6, 2011)

I fucking knew it.


----------



## southside (Dec 9, 2011)

This is my favourite song, no explanation required.



It says it all really.

Ah well, mustn't grumble.


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## dirty dingus (Dec 23, 2011)

The The - Giant. Listening to Soul Mining while sitting on the red dirt at the side of the Nullarbor Highway in the baking heat trying to hitch a lift to Sydney. A blue scrapper Holden pulls up and Aussie Wayne saves my bacon and takes me on a 3 day treck across the outback. He got all my c90 tapes at the end of the trip for his decency.  Every time I listen to it I always drift back to those crazy days as a 19 year old being out n about.


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## Perroquet (Jan 12, 2012)

The Silver Jews - Bright Flight. Singing 'Tennessee' with my wife is still one of my favourite things to do.


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## Orang Utan (Jan 12, 2012)

dirty dingus said:


> The The - Giant. Listening to Soul Mining while sitting on the red dirt at the side of the Nullarbor Highway in the baking heat trying to hitch a lift to Sydney. A blue scrapper Holden pulls up and Aussie Wayne saves my bacon and takes me on a 3 day treck across the outback. He got all my c90 tapes at the end of the trip for his decency.  Every time I listen to it I always drift back to those crazy days as a 19 year old being out n about.


Have you heard the Pilooski re-edit of it?


----------



## Totan (Jan 18, 2012)

Burial - Untrue is my favourite record.  The mood and emotion in those tracks is unbelievable.


----------



## Meltingpot (Jan 27, 2012)

Don't know about "favourite" (because that changes according to my mood), but this is a _seriously_ wonderful song. I have to fight back the tears when I hear this one;



I first heard it about a year ago on Paul Gambacchini's Saturday evening show on Radio 2. After it had finished playing he said, "You can't follow that one, but here's the next record anyway." I think he was probably right. The world is at least a little bit better because that song exists and gets played and heard.


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## Orang Utan (Jan 27, 2012)

Whoever made that video needs to be strangled with their own kaftan


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## Meltingpot (Jan 27, 2012)

Orang Utan said:


> Whoever made that video needs to be strangled with their own kaftan



LOL. Tbh, part of the reason I posted that video was to wind up the hippy-haters on here  I do love the song though.


----------



## Tattoo Snafu (Feb 3, 2012)

*Mos Def - Black On Both Sides (1999)*

Bought it purely because it got a good review in NME (9/10). Hadn't really listened to that much rap or hip hop and only really liked indie at the time.

This album has so many great motown and old skool hip hop samples and his rhymes flow really smoothly.

Favourite tunes are Fear Not of Man

Hip Hop

Ms Fat Booty

Know That


Don't really like wanking on about music too much, I just like these tunes a lot and have listened to them probably more than any other album so I chose this. My second favourite is S&M by Metallica because it's like a best of, but better. I love grandiose epic sounding music and I think the symphony complemented their sound perfectly, No Leaf Clover is my favourite on it, so powerful and great lyrics too.



Stopped regularly listening to albums in their entirety about five years ago. Why listen to filler when you can easily compile amazing playlists?


Shortlist:
S&M - Metallica
Incesticide - Nirvana
The Mouse & The Mask - Dangerdoom
RATM - RATM
Sigh No More - Mumford & Sons
The Bends - Radiohead
Grace - Jeff Buckley
I Speak Because I Can - Laura Marling
Morning Glory - Oasis
Lungs - Florence + The Machine
Deftones - Adrenaline
Begin To Hope - Regina Spektor


----------



## gentlegreen (Mar 10, 2012)

This whole album never fails to move me - since I first heard the Burundi drummers on "Boho Dance" on the radio in 1976 .. very little of the music I listen to has lyrics - partly due to the perfection I find in these -  and the subject matter would usually leave me cold - I dislike literature generally and especially tales of power and wealth and social mores ... but before the summer is out, I am likely to be encountered singing along to the whole album on my way home from a bike ride.


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## johnripper1987 (May 5, 2012)

Mine is Pink Floyd - Dark Side of The Moon


----------



## Chris P. Bacon (May 30, 2012)

Anything Hank Williams Sr wrote......no, absolutely no current music.....


----------



## Kanda (May 30, 2012)

Rocking Chair - oasis.

Get over it


----------



## SpookyFrank (May 31, 2012)

...the song I sing to myself under my breath to keep me on my feet whenever I feel that everything's completely and irrevocably fucked.


----------



## krink (May 31, 2012)

I don't think there has been a better album than this. every single track is perfect and it sounds just as good now. It was probably the first time I understood what 'cool' really was:

Blondie - Parallel Lines


----------



## winterinmoscow (Jun 21, 2012)

I hope it's okay to add a voice for a classical record: Shostacovitch 5th symphony. I can see all life in there: fear, paranoia, happiness, certainty, beauty, impatience, self-doubt.... I love it, and that's before I discovered the circumstances under which it was written (composer facing a possible deportation to Stalin's gulags)

I also discovered it at a very difficult time in my life, and I go back and back to it

Even if you've never listened to anything classical, I recommend giving it a go.


----------



## sheothebudworths (Jun 27, 2012)

Dr Alimantado said:


> Natural mystic was the opening number & I love that opening


 
Breaks my heart, that song!

Mine, always....


----------



## sheothebudworths (Jun 27, 2012)

And just cos it's great....


----------



## shagnasty (Aug 20, 2012)

Iodine in my coffee by muddy waters reminds me of my ex wife


----------



## Frances Lengel (Sep 11, 2012)

The Chameleons - Script Of The Bridge coz they were from Langley which is an overspill estate to the north of manchester and the street signs up there are the same as a lot of the places I hung about as a kid. Same design of houses as well. Plus the singer out of the Chameleons said he got his inspiration for a lot of his songs from taking acid and walking round this place called Tandle Hill Park where you could look down on the orange bathed beauty of most of the north manchester suburbs. Me and my mates did that. We never wrote any songs though.


----------



## Part 2 (Sep 27, 2012)

good choice^


----------



## Zac Stardust (Oct 6, 2012)

Slint's Spiderland. From start to finish, one of the most eye-opening experiences of my life.


----------



## Kanda (Oct 6, 2012)

Too many but Orbital - Belfast stands out... Happy times in the sun with a beautiful woman about 7 years ago. Now back together with her


----------



## Brubricker (Oct 21, 2012)




----------



## Ketamoid (Oct 26, 2012)

Those in the know will be able to tell from my username I'm a fan.

And a music fan.

*And out of every album, this is the one that had the most profound, revelatory, punched-in-the-gut, life-affirming effect upon me. (and also on the people sat in the room the first time we all heard it)*

*Bizarrely at the time, I had bought this album via a strange route. I had read a review in Melody Maker/ NME/either/both of the bands first single...a 22 minute 3 phased meandering epic wonderfully titled 'SCUM' - The reviewer totally flummoxed by the complexities and nuances of it (apparently)...recorded in a crypt, under a church, in inner city London. *

*Just reading his almost desperately lost for words description of it, the fact that it had the best song title ever, the fact that they had released a single 22 minutes long (?!?), the fact that Bark Psychosis is just such a fucking great name for a band. I had to find out more. The finding out more was a random purchase of HEX when it came out.*

*To set the scene. Its 1994. There has been a party for the last 5 years. Drugs are getting harder. Comedowns are getting longer. But there is a sense of beauty and peace and reflection. An appreciation of music. Simply because we were all taking that comedown time to properly listen to it  again.*

*Post-club night, all back to mine, drop a few papers, roll a few other papers, room full of folks. I stick it on, not even heard it before, none of us. By the end of the haunting, tear-inducing piano introduction of The Loom, that whole room was transfixed - and taken away for the duration of the album.*

*I'm still as lost for words as that first reviewer I read. Its a night time album. Its a journey that never stays on track. Its film-noir and streetlights and drizzle. Its heart tuggingly tender and wrist-slittingly angsty. Its wrapped in off-kilter, minor-chord weirdness and and lurches between bombastically triumphant and depressingly introspective. But for every low swing there is hope. *

*"You gotta go on!"*

*Nobody knew WTF had just occurred at the end, we just went back to track one and did it all again.*

*and again*

*and again.*

*Once I fell in love, and started to find out more. *

*These were a bunch of 17-19 year old kids!!!?? *

*They did record under a church ?!??*

*They started out doing Napalm Death covers and utter white noise experiments??!!*

*And like all good bands - they pretty much fell apart making this masterpiece - an album that Simon Reynolds piece in the Melody Maker credited as the starting point for the whole new genre-to-be - 'Post-Rock'*

*As an aside almost. Shortly after its release I was on a mission to see this played live. They were on tour, I had the crew from that room and an extra couple of car loads of randoms convinced by all our babbling about this band - and we all pulled up outside the Princess Charlotte in Leicester. Plenty of drinks, etc, and a good buzz of expectancy.*

*Support band comes on, we get some guy on a keyboard and few lights playing THE most smashing DRUM AND BASS we have heard in a while. Everybody is totally hyped.*

*We wait*

*...and wait...*

*Then get kicked out of the pub by the staff.???*

*"We came to see Bark Psychosis!"*

*A quick chat to the drum and bass guy sets us straight.*

*He is Graham Sutton, the main man in Bark Psychosis, who pretty much split up in the van on the way down. Show must go on. He has become Boymerang that afternoon. And will take a ten year hiatus in D&B before the second coming of Bark Psychosis with 2004's Codename Dustsucker, an album which makes the wonder of Hex happen all over again.*

*Please seek. Turn the lights off. Imbibe. Headphones only. See you on the other side.*

*By the way...it is dark, it is majestic, it is cold, it is confusing, it is so beautiful it cuddles you, but never relax in the cuddle - cos it will fuck you in the face. Then cuddle you again.*



From my shortlist..

Screamadelica - Primal Scream
100th Window - Massive Attack
Every Man and Woman Is A Star - Ultramarine
Infected/Soul Mining - The The
Specials - Specials
Odelay - Beck
Audience With The Mind - House of Love
Shape Of Punk To Come - Refused
Ladies and Gentlemen, We are Floating In Space - Spiritualised
Kisses/Fractures - Dolium
Gargantuan - Spooky
DubNoBassWithMyHeadMan - Underworld
The Sun Is Often Out - Longpigs


----------



## Flipp (Nov 22, 2012)

Maya - Banco De Gaia
Memories abound whenever its played. When I got together with the missus [95] we ended up with a vinyl [hers] and a CD [mine] version...still got both...

Floyds - DSOTM would be there but I can't listen to it anymore...but when I do I fall in love with it all over again...


----------



## Ming (Jan 5, 2013)

Sparky's Dinner by The Surfing Brides. Not a bad track on the whole thing. I used to see them live every Sunday at The Station Tavern by Latimer Road tube station. Never played a bad gig (i roadied for them for a bit) and they were much better live than recorded. One of the great lost bands. Martin Clunes was a huge fan (and Bill Nighy) and he put them in his first film Staggered.



This one's a Brides track (Sean is the vocalist/main songwriter)


----------



## Ming (Jan 5, 2013)

Bit more (there's only these 2 tracks on Youtube!)


----------



## kittyP (Jan 5, 2013)

Mogwai - My Father My King 

It is to me just orgasmic perfection


----------



## TheGreatSage200 (Jan 7, 2013)

Ming said:


> Sparky's Dinner by The Surfing Brides. Not a bad track on the whole thing. I used to see them live every Sunday at The Station Tavern by Latimer Road tube station. Never played a bad gig (i roadied for them for a bit) and they were much better live than recorded. One of the great lost bands. Martin Clunes was a huge fan (and Bill Nighy) and he put them in his first film Staggered.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


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## Ming (Jan 7, 2013)

Wow another Brides fan! As you say happy days!


----------



## SpookyFrank (Jan 7, 2013)

Another entry. Just a masterclass in songwriting this one, not a word wasted.


----------



## Favelado (Jan 14, 2013)

I would like to have a crack at a decent post for this thread. The problem is I'd like to do a compilation. The band in question released singles and albums separately and then brought out a record that put all the singles together in the same place.

Am I allowed?


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## Orang Utan (Jan 14, 2013)

Why wouldn't you be allowed?


----------



## Favelado (Jan 14, 2013)

Orang Utan said:


> Why wouldn't you be allowed?


 
Well - it might just be a bit crap to choose a compilation as your favourite. Maybe it needs to be a single, coherent piece of work to really qualify.


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## Orang Utan (Jan 14, 2013)

It's entirely up to you!
If it's your favourite record, it's your favourite record


----------



## Part 2 (Jan 31, 2013)

winterinmoscow said:


> I hope it's okay to add a voice for a classical record: Shostacovitch 5th symphony. I can see all life in there: fear, paranoia, happiness, certainty, beauty, impatience, self-doubt.... I love it, and that's before I discovered the circumstances under which it was written (composer facing a possible deportation to Stalin's gulags)
> 
> I also discovered it at a very difficult time in my life, and I go back and back to it
> 
> Even if you've never listened to anything classical, I recommend giving it a go.


 
I've only been to one classical concert and it was to see this at Manchester Bridgewater Hall. I was in awe of the building and spent too much time people watching so never took much notice of the music tbh. I've just downloaded it to have a listen though, I remember my mate saying what a great piece of music it is.


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## winterinmoscow (Feb 5, 2013)

Chip Barm said:


> I've only been to one classical concert and it was to see this at Manchester Bridgewater Hall. I was in awe of the building and spent too much time people watching so never took much notice of the music tbh. I've just downloaded it to have a listen though, I remember my mate saying what a great piece of music it is.


 
I hope you like it. I love it - it makes me feel less alone!


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## Dr. Furface (Mar 6, 2013)

Perroquet said:


> The Silver Jews - Bright Flight. Singing 'Tennessee' with my wife is still one of my favourite things to do.


I love their final album Lookout Mountain, Lookout Sea. Sadly it was the first of theirs I'd ever heard, and then Berman promptly called it a day. I was gutted. I really hope he'll get them back together some day. Definitely one of my top 10 albums the 21st century.


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## Ras Malai Bait (Apr 4, 2013)

Culture - Harder Than The Rest

it means behave decently and respectfully, but dont let people push you around....


----------



## RedDragon (Apr 4, 2013)

When I first discovered jumping on the bed felt really great.


----------



## RubyBlue (Apr 18, 2013)

One of them - not the only - True Faith - New Order - reason why? Just listen  I have the remix which is 10 minutes - love it


----------



## MrSki (Apr 19, 2013)

Brings a tear to my eyes ever time.



Beautiful.


----------



## Ras Malai Bait (Apr 28, 2013)

Ras Malai Bait said:


> Culture - Harder Than The Rest
> 
> it means behave decently and respectfully, but dont let people push you around....


----------



## phildwyer (Apr 29, 2013)




----------



## mwgdrwg (Jul 4, 2013)

Could be this. The first 12" I ever bought, I still have it. I was a fucking cool little 13 year old ready to take on the world and do my own thing


----------



## illuminatus (Jul 8, 2013)

Difficult to pick one : Florence and the Machines , "Ceremonials" ; Fleetwood Mac "Rumours"... Raw emotion at its best


----------



## Casual Observer (Jul 12, 2013)

RedDragon said:


> When I first discovered jumping on the bed felt really great.



I bought that when it came out and other stuff around that time like the Damned, Clash, Sex Pistols and what not. I was about 10 years old at the time and ruined all the singles by inexplicably felt tipping my name and primary school class on the sleeves.


----------



## 8Sam0 (Jul 22, 2013)

Refused's The Shape of Punk to Come had a huge effect on me as a teenager. It's so experimental, but at the same time still a hardcore album. It's intensity at times is astonishing. Lyrically it's such a great statement of intent for a band that burned itself out soon afterwards. Even the band's aestheic at the time was so well crafted. Stylish and dangerous. It was all so pointed and vicious, in the best possible way.

I got into older punk bands later, the Clash and Stiff Little Fingers in particular, but Refused were the first band to really grab me that way.


----------



## Pants Man (Jul 29, 2013)

'I Am the Walrus', growing up listening to the Beatles thanks to my parents


----------



## plurker (Aug 16, 2013)

This is a hard choice, but I have to award it to Manu Chao's first solo album _Clandestino_

I was living in San Antonio in 1999, working as a promoter for one of the UK house music superclubs. I spent my days/early evenings working flyering teams, and seeing the pissed-up kids on the 'West End strip' drinking their fishbowls of shit vodka, throwing up into KFC buckets etc.

I spent pretty much every night doing the 'sunset thing' at Cafe Mambo, then moving onto a VIP party in a club/villa of some description - constant schmoozing and boozing etc,.

All great BUT after a month or so I needed respite.

I popped into a little locals bar one evening, which I'd walked past daily on my walk to work. It was called Es Canto, on Carrer Santa Rosalia (googlemaps says it's still there but looks way bigger now!). I ordered a carajillo, and a plate of food. The barman was cool, and I speak a little Spanish so we got chatting about music - they were playing some Congos, and so we chatted about reggae initially and then and he was telling me about this amazing album by Manu Chao.

He put it on and instantly I was transported away from the lager-booze-trance-booze-footie-booze-chips hell that is San Antonio, and into another world. The stripped-back acoustic sounds worked perfectly, the mix of reggae/latin beats and singing in a mix of English/Spanish/French/Maghreb  just did it for me - exactly what I needed to escape the Ibiza madness.

I sat in the bar and listened to the album twice through that night, then asked the barman to burn it for me which he did, and it became the soundtrack to my summer. I listen to Clandestino (or his other albums going back thru Mano Negra) at least once a fortnight to this day.


----------



## Chick Webb (Aug 31, 2013)

The type of people who come around here don't have ONE favourite album, surely?

Some current favourites of mine are:
Judas Priest - Painkiller
Satyricon - Now Diabolical
Bathory - Hammerheart
Deicide - Once Upon the Cross

I'd be too shy to tell ye lot what they mean to me in detail because ye'd laugh.  But it's mainly the usual heavy metal thing of a great feeling of being uplifted.   I will admit though that Hammerheart is giving me a lot of thoughts at the moment that I've been robbed of my birthright of paganism generations before I was born by interlopers.  Which is weird for an atheist.


----------



## middleWave (Sep 5, 2013)

Chick Webb said:


> The type of people who come around here don't have ONE favourite album, surely?



i completely agree - hard to choose just one. but here's a list with the most probable favorite at the top...


vegetation=fuel (freeworm) - an unsung classic from montreal, an ode to god. electronic. acoustic. soul. do yourself a favor and listen here NOW. 

pet sounds - actually took a while to grow on me but i think some classics are like that. a breathtaking album, the human soul laid bare in all its vulnerability and beauty. 

low end theory/midnight marauders - both are pure hip hop perfection, positive young urban spirit exemplified. 

the blue album  - i don't know if this choice will be respected, but there is no weakness on this album. 

wonderwall music - george was a genius  who made this WHILE he was a beatle, and it not only blows my mind but everyone i play it for. my favorite piece of wax for sure.


----------



## eddiecurry (Sep 8, 2013)

Always hard to choose one but this always is there or there abouts.  It's just so darn happy.


----------



## plurker (Sep 10, 2013)

middleWave said:


> the blue album  - i don't know if this choice will be respected, but there is no weakness on this album.



Orbital? Weezer? Harold Melvin? Beatles? An album by Blue? 

We need more info before we can be all judgemental on yo'ass....


----------



## middleWave (Sep 11, 2013)

plurker said:


> Orbital? Weezer? Harold Melvin? Beatles? An album by Blue?
> 
> We need more info before we can be all judgemental on yo'ass....



i had no idea there were so many blue albums. 

well, it would definitely be weezer.

13 yr old junior high memories...


----------



## hash tag (Nov 13, 2013)

Silicon said:


> 'Quadrophenia' - The Who
> 
> As adolescence dragged me kicking, screaming and crying into adulthood, 'Quadrophenia' provided the only music that knew how to stoke my rage; music and lyrics that I clung to like a frightened cub clinging tightly to it's mother. This music pierced my conscience, it screamed at me, told me to run away, run as fast as I could from the depression, loneliness and confusion that had suddenly snatched me from my idylic childhood.
> 
> ...




Superb album, one of my all time tops. The film was great, not brilliant, few too many continuity errors, but hey ho.

BUT

You seem to have forgotton the "scene" with Steph and Jimmy in the Lanes, hmmm!


----------



## cantsin (Jan 27, 2014)

just discovered Red House Painters : Katy Song end of last, the sort of song that  makes you half enjoy the bit of sadness you're going through at the time, or at least put it into a wider, more life affirming context, helps you connect back to stuff you've been through in the past etc...stunning song, not sure I can name a whole lot better lyrically, the way if flows/scans etc:


----------



## Christian Reese (Apr 3, 2014)

I don't know really, I have so many favourite records. I'll just talk a little bit about Come Find Yourself by Fun Lovin' Criminals. Hopefully more people would have heard it, since it's an old album. I love that album. Every time I listen to it I go into a different world. All the songs have this slick and groovy feel to them that just make you want to lay back and chill. Every track tells a story. The album art is interesting too as it gives the music more themes to work with. I've always considered this album fun and relaxing. The themes expressed in this cd are probably more serious than they actually sound, but it's all good. That's the FLC's world and that's what they like singing about. I haven't heard any of their new songs though, maybe I should.

What do you think?


----------



## FullFathomFive (Apr 11, 2014)

When i first heard So Young/Tell Me by The Stone Roses it was like for the first time i realized there was an alternative to the mainstream, an alternative to my parents music, an alternative to the charts and the radio. I was at a party in Brentwood Essex of all places. They went on to become one of the greatest, and sort of crossed into the mainstream but ive always loved them and the scene the sprung from, and then formed in the 90s. Yes, to some degree the 'lads' adopted them and they became popular, but it wont ever effect the love i have for their music.


----------



## lance (Apr 11, 2014)

There are too many albums that mean something so just a few favorites from different genres.
Leatherface- Mush. A punk album I struggled with at first because I was younger and the recording sounded too rough for my ears but once it made sense it was just the best punk I've ever heard with the best lyrics I'd heard.
Captain Beyond - s/t album. Just fantastic hard rock from the era of good tone.
John Zorn - Lucifer. An excellent break from western style music but still familiar because it sounds melodic. Just excellent instrumentation.
Gustav Holst - The Planets. Would make a good Star Wars soundtrack if they didn't already have one. Not keen on classical music but when I find some I like then I really like it.


----------



## ibilly99 (Apr 15, 2014)

Hurt by Johny Cash for so many reasons not least it is unsurpassed for simplistic pared down brilliance. Every word he sings is from the deepest places of his complex genius heart.  And the fact that he was dying and felt the need to get down his feelings and some last songs before he died reminds us that we play the game right on until full time and extra time if we are granted it. It is widely regarded as his epitaph.

Cry every time I hear it and with goose bumps. Every time.


----------



## Orang Utan (Apr 15, 2014)

That kinda reads like it is his song.


----------



## ibilly99 (Apr 15, 2014)

Orang Utan said:


> That kinda reads like it is his song.



well he certainly made it his own ......

_When Trent Reznor was asked if Cash could cover his song, Reznor said he was "flattered" but worried that "the idea sounded a bit gimmicky." He became a fan of Cash's version, however, once he saw the music video.

“ I pop the video in, and wow... Tears welling, silence, goose-bumps... Wow. [I felt like] I just lost my girlfriend, because that song isn't mine anymore... It really made me think about how powerful music is as a medium and art form. I wrote some words and music in my bedroom as a way of staying sane, about a bleak and desperate place I was in, totally isolated and alone. [Somehow] that winds up reinterpreted by a music legend from a radically different era/genre and still retains sincerity and meaning — different, but every bit as pure._


Just listened to the original - like it a different feel to JC's  - more restrained.


----------



## Orang Utan (Apr 15, 2014)

Yeah, I think it's better and more poweful than the original, as Cash has a more powerful and authorative voice and has certainly lived the life that the lyrics look back upon, but Reznor should still be acknowledged as the creator


----------



## dessiato (Apr 15, 2014)

My favourite at the moment is Evanescence Fallen. I love all the tracks, especially this one

I love the sound and the words. It is hard to say exactly why. Part of it is that I heard a girl singing this and she did so with such amazing emotion, she had tears in her eyes as she sang.


----------



## Batboy (Apr 15, 2014)

Michael Henderson... Solid

Fuck arse funked up thump bass led instrumental  simple rhythmic drums, crunching noisy screeching guitar all played by Henderson, amazed no one has sampled it... Nearly 40 years old... Still love it.. Genius

This guy was Stevie Wonders bass player at 18, Miles Davis came along and stole him. One of the greatest bass players ever.


----------



## Orang Utan (Apr 15, 2014)

Batboy said:


> Michael Henderson... Solid
> 
> Fuck arse funked up thump bass led instrumental  simple rhythmic drums, crunching noisy screeching guitar all played by Henderson, amazed no one has sampled it... Nearly 40 years old... Still love it.. Genius


Stacy Kidd - Let love Enter:


----------



## Batboy (Apr 16, 2014)

Orang Utan said:


> Stacy Kidd - Let love Enter:




love that track... but from Henderson. the bass line on Solid the title track from album is my fave, I have never heard it sampled... I use to Dj as a teenager
Henderson did a gig with Norman Connors last month burying the hatchet after Connors  stitched him up on You are my Starship from 1976.


----------



## ShortstonAlex (Apr 21, 2014)

Mantovani and His Orchestra - Charmaine

This is one that feels like it should have been passed down through generations to me and somehow it hasn't, so it's not one of those sentimental things that remind me of a person or a particular thing.

I could have picked something that I had experienced, but this feels more like something that isn't quite there anymore, never really was there, but you can still feel that it has gone and as such feels almost liminal.

So it's appropriate for its time, when so much had been lost, without it feeling like good old days music, it makes it feel timeless. It's like the old building you walk past everyday without ever noticing, a walk in a field, or the reception area of a futuristic office block. Like old air!


----------



## stethoscope (May 16, 2014)

I've been trying to post on this thread ever since I joined... is it a New Order, or a Clash? Wait, perhaps something by 4 Hero, there again, got to be Bowie surely?! What about a 'Summer of Love' house classic, or one of many amazing hardcore tunes I've come up to at 2am in the morning?!   

It's so difficult.

I think I've decided it's this though...







I first heard Mother of the Future in the 90s, blasting out from somewhere on a glorious summers day, but it wasn't until 10 years later that I found out the version it actually was - which turned out to be by Carlos Garnett on the Black Love LP. 

Not long after I tracked down a copy in this little record shop in Camden (on the corner of one of the back streets of Camden High Street - to this day not sure what the place was called?). I still remember the moment as the guy behind the counter played it just to be sure it's the one I wanted. And if I wasn't already excited enough, I discovered for the first time the track Banks of the Nile also on the album.


----------



## samson33 (Jun 30, 2014)

Dark Side Of The Moon - Pink Floyd

This album it means a new ''season'' for me! Before this record my influences composed from heavier style.
The first listening it was disappointing. And i said:''Ι wasted my money.'' When i listened this album carefully,
stay in my CD player for 3 months!!!
After,i bought all discography of Pink Floyd.
And David Gilmour he was a reason that i started guitar lessons.


----------



## killer b (Jul 3, 2014)

you were right after the first listening tbf.


----------



## izz (Sep 5, 2014)

'Wrong', Depeche Mode. It could have been written for me and yet if you knew me you wouldn't believe it.


----------



## MrSki (Sep 7, 2014)




----------



## stacey_ (Sep 8, 2014)

Citizen66 said:


> In Gorbechev we trust - The Shamen.
> 
> I defy any man woman or beast to take a potent amount of halucinogenics with this playing on the stereo and not come out the other end a changed person.




Hello Citizen66. Did you ever catch them perform any of this album live?


----------



## cantsin (Oct 7, 2014)

dessiato said:


> My favourite at the moment is Evanescence Fallen. I love all the tracks, especially this one
> 
> I love the sound and the words. It is hard to say exactly why. Part of it is that I heard a girl singing this and she did so with such amazing emotion, she had tears in her eyes as she sang.




srsly ?


----------



## dessiato (Oct 7, 2014)

cantsin said:


> srsly ?


Yes, it's great in the car.

But at the moment I'm listening to Karmin Pulses:


----------



## Christian Reese (Oct 8, 2014)

ibilly99 said:


> Hurt by Johny Cash for so many reasons not least it is unsurpassed for simplistic pared down brilliance. Every word he sings is from the deepest places of his complex genius heart.  And the fact that he was dying and felt the need to get down his feelings and some last songs before he died reminds us that we play the game right on until full time and extra time if we are granted it. It is widely regarded as his epitaph.
> 
> Cry every time I hear it and with goose bumps. Every time.



You may know this, but I still want to mention it. Hurt is originally by Nine Inch Nails. Johny Cash's version sounds way better though


----------



## killer b (Oct 8, 2014)

i don't think anyone knew that, thanks for bringing it to our attention.


----------



## Boris Sprinkler (Oct 8, 2014)




----------



## BandWagon (Oct 8, 2014)

This is a real oldie, from 1972, which strangely enough they play on the local radio station here in rural France, and which has some excellent advice:


----------



## ibilly99 (Oct 8, 2014)

Creep by Wagner because it is a wonderful song - and the joke that was Wagner on the X-Factor who was usually rubbish really brought off the song as he was singing about himself. Cut through the bollocks about the X Factor as well.


----------



## ManchesterBeth (Dec 29, 2014)

Sun Ra - Space is the Place.

Resistance. Subversion. Destruction. Pining for an irrevocable futurity. Need I say more?

Punk... Well. It was fantastic raw music. However, certainly not how me and many I knew expressed (and continue to express) opposition to conditions that will always remain antagonistic to our existence.


----------



## Gone Girl (Dec 30, 2014)

Röyksopp - The Inevitable End

If I had to sum this album up in one word it would be "beautiful".

Such joy, melancholy and synthetic sounds that tracks cover the full spectrum of human emotions.

Without any doubt, for me, album of 2014 and completely recommended.



"Skulls" is the first track on the album and is such a powerful wow track.


----------



## phildwyer (Feb 10, 2015)

This is my favorite.  It means nothing... _or does it..._


----------



## Lewins (May 18, 2015)

Green Onions - Booker T & The MG's

50 years, where did it all go? Green Onions/Booker T & The MG's..Those opening keys on the B3/B8 Hammond, send the same euphoric rush on my senses today as they did a half a century ago.  A sense of urgency and nervousness filled with anticipation, as we headed for the sweaty Soho basements crammed wall to wall alcove to alcove with tonik mohair mods shaking large screwtop tins of drynamil. At The Flamingo (Mingo)Georgie Fame always gave  the original Bluenote and Stax recordings a good run on the hammond, a mix of Mose Allison, Big John Patton and Jiimmy MaGriff.  But nothing quite matched the amphetamine rush that the Booker T sounds brought on as you braved the perilllous acute steps that led you down into Mod Central. The tiny courtyard, extractor fans blowing from the building next door in Ham Yard, small anonymous black door and the simple cold neon light above belied the tight frenzied speed rush about to happen below. Black painted walls and a  busy assortment of vinyl to get through as night passed into the early dawn. A mood swing of uppers through the late night hours, Booker T, The Markeys, Phil Upchurch and crammed up close to the tiny stage, maybe The Animals or The High Numbers, playing live. Need to pinch myself. Did Jimmy Reed and Sony Boy Williamson really play there? As the rush becames comedown, the sounds  switch  to moody Mary Wells or Doris troy. Its 6am and now a long walk  to Micks Cafe in Fleet Street. Awash with jabbering taxi drivers sounding like they were on speed, time for mellow,time  to head out to The Blue Rooms in search of some more sounds.


----------



## Sasaferrato (Jun 6, 2015)

ibilly99 said:


> Hurt by Johny Cash for so many reasons not least it is unsurpassed for simplistic pared down brilliance. Every word he sings is from the deepest places of his complex genius heart.  And the fact that he was dying and felt the need to get down his feelings and some last songs before he died reminds us that we play the game right on until full time and extra time if we are granted it. It is widely regarded as his epitaph.
> 
> Cry every time I hear it and with goose bumps. Every time.




Yes. So incredibly poignant, recorded in that last desperate haste, in his twilight days. Recorded in the period between June's death and his own.

The American Recording series of albums is probably his best work.

I fully understand his death being so soon after June's, when you lose someone that has been your love and companion for so many years, what is left?


----------



## Sasaferrato (Jun 6, 2015)

Sasaferrato said:


> Yes. So incredibly poignant, recorded in that last desperate haste, in his twilight days. Recorded in the period between June's death and his own.
> 
> The American Recording series of albums is probably his best work.
> 
> I fully understand his death being so soon after June's, when you lose someone that has been your love and companion for so many years, what is left?


----------



## Churchillbrand (Jun 21, 2015)

I'm after a track ID of a house tune early to late 90's maybe early 00's that has a man saying rise rise rise then just before the drop he says Checkmate


----------



## hipipol (Jun 28, 2015)

East of the River Nile - Augustus Pablo
I bought my first copy in the late 70s when it came out
it, along with Joni Mitchell's Blue and John Martin's Solid Air have been constant companions ever since
But its Pablo I could never do without
it was recorded in multiple studios, remixed and finished at Tubbies probably, but I love the way you can hear some stylist twist and guess at the producer - tbf the Blackark stuff is well obvious ...
it is a thoughtful, fully realised run through all the emotions
I love it

I defy anyone to dislike it
From track one, Chant to King Selassie I ,it is perfect


----------



## The Pale King (Sep 15, 2015)

Not my very favourite but am currently listening to 'Islands' by the Band...bloody hell its good...


----------



## The Pale King (Sep 15, 2015)




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## The Pale King (Sep 15, 2015)

Wrong time of year I know but unrecognised Xmas classic n aw:


----------



## DangDarn (Oct 15, 2015)

Probably Crystal Castle II. Just an amazing follow-up to their debut album and has a lot of variety, from chillstep sounding to techno-ish, house-ish, and scream-electro.


----------



## Bonesy (Nov 11, 2015)

Without question the Stone Roses debut album. Just hits that spot and never gets old.


----------



## Pingu (Dec 13, 2015)

this will obviously change a lot (my tastes in music seem to be seasonally influenced - in spring/summer i tend to like more folky stuff and in autumn/winter more heavy stuff)

the song i am currently playing over and over though is Reich mir die Hand by a german group called Blutengel. Its hard to describe their sound. thing techno mixed with a bit of 80s and a dollop of goth and a smidgeon of german industrial metal. 

The song takes me back many years to a far less stressful part of my life. its very much rose tinted glasses as some really fucked up stuff happened to me at the same time as well but there were some seriously happy times. although the track itself i fairly modern it transports me back and if i close my eyes i can see friends faces that are now gone. silly eh?


----------



## hash tag (Dec 16, 2015)

Last of the Independents - Pretenders. I remember her breath on my face, the softness of her touch...alas...The album was the soundtrack to love.



the sun went down, the sky turned black.


----------



## redchris (Apr 1, 2016)

stacey_ said:


> Hello Citizen66. Did you ever catch them perform any of this album live?



I used ti love early Shamen, even the first album when they were a 4 piece indie band.  I had In Gorbachev We Trust on tape...lost it years ago.  great album, I'll have to find another copy.  Never saw them live though alas.  Thanks for posting the video - that's a great find.  Watching it back now it's hard to imagine just how different and new what they were doing sounded in 1989!


----------



## 50yrsInBrixton (Apr 10, 2016)

Works when I run in Brockwell Park.


----------



## londonkid (Jun 10, 2016)

The Verve - Urban Hymens - For some reason I like all the songs on this


----------



## Virtual Blue (Mar 1, 2017)

londonkid said:


> The Verve - Urban Hymens - For some reason I like all the songs on this



What kind of songs do they sing?


----------



## Bonesy (Mar 2, 2017)

Bunch of fannies.


----------



## Vitalik (Mar 27, 2017)

Guy J - Dizzy moments , music is more real language of communication and expression of human emotions than just heartless words


----------



## Sirena (Apr 17, 2017)

Back in the day (that's like half a century ago...) I must have played this tune a hundred, maybe two hundred times.

I thought it was so perfect.  Loose psychedelic blues rock extravaganza, all with a sitar influence....


----------



## Klort (Jun 16, 2017)

Great tunes, hilarious lyrics, and all done DIY on an 8 track yet great production . BUZZCOCKS meets COCK SPARRER meets KILLJOYS meets OI! but with depraved lyrics and great cover showing a royal portrait with Barse's heads on. 
Gash the singer/mainman topped himself a month after it was recorded, thankfully he'd sent the tapes to Hells Tone (Finland) beforehand and it emerged the year after.


----------



## hipipol (Aug 21, 2017)

I love this so much the ache may kill me given enough time


----------



## hipipol (Aug 21, 2017)

Heading up to Lake Vyrmy, we stopped off with some mad bugger in the woods....
soundtrack of weed and speed


----------



## krtek a houby (Aug 31, 2017)

ommuli said:


> MY FIRST SONG



Did you write it?


----------



## Stefanie Keyes (Nov 18, 2017)

Chris de burgh lady in red


----------



## Stefanie Keyes (Nov 18, 2017)

❤️


----------



## MrSki (Nov 18, 2017)




----------



## Ralph Llama (Jan 9, 2018)

*crAss - Stations of the Crass*

Used to get this out at the raves in the morning. Basically nobody has come anywhere fucking near the level at which they dissect the system and the way PR has fucked us all. It is absolutely timeless:
I remember as they where commercialising our last culture (rave) and the protest movement , listening to System and Banned from the Roxy and being knocked over by the similarities in the way they crushed us.

just look at these lyrics 






			
				CrassBigMan said:
			
		

> They're telling you to do it,
> Grow up and tow the line,
> They tell you if you do it,
> Everything will turn out fine.
> ...



I just don't understand why anarco punk has never returned to these levels of introspective analysis.


----------



## Pickman's model (Jan 9, 2018)

Ralph Llama said:


> *crAss - Stations of the Crass*
> 
> Used to get this out at the raves in the morning. Basically nobody has come anywhere fucking near the level at which they dissect the system and the way PR has fucked us all. It is absolutely timeless:
> I remember as they where commercialising our last culture (rave) and the protest movement , listening to System and Banned from the Roxy and being knocked over by the similarities in the way they crushed us.
> ...



Because there'd been enough crass navel gazing


----------



## Sasaferrato (Jan 9, 2018)

Ralph Llama said:


> *crAss - Stations of the Crass*
> 
> Used to get this out at the raves in the morning. Basically nobody has come anywhere fucking near the level at which they dissect the system and the way PR has fucked us all. It is absolutely timeless:
> I remember as they where commercialising our last culture (rave) and the protest movement , listening to System and Banned from the Roxy and being knocked over by the similarities in the way they crushed us.
> ...




The lyrics would perhaps have been better written by someone with an understanding of English. 'Tow' to pull along. 'Toe' digit attached to the foot.


----------



## Sasaferrato (Jan 9, 2018)

The Pale King said:


> Wrong time of year I know but unrecognised Xmas classic n aw:




I had forgotten about this. Fabulous!


----------



## Sasaferrato (Jan 9, 2018)

Orang Utan said:


> Yeah, I think it's better and more poweful than the original, as Cash has a more powerful and authorative voice and has certainly lived the life that the lyrics look back upon, but Reznor should still be acknowledged as the creator



I heard Johnny Cash first, and was then told it was a Nine Inch Nails song, so of course listened. I absolutely agree with you, two completely valid and authentic readings.


----------



## Ralph Llama (Jan 10, 2018)

Yes, sorry about that , it is the lyrics website I quoted that from that is to fault there I think. Punks have never really had a proper respect for grammar and spelling. Damn them ! Probably a bunch of council estate prols TBH. (was that on purpose lol)


----------



## Sasaferrato (Jan 10, 2018)

One of my favourites. 



I was 16 when it came out, and was an absolute favourite in the school club.

The set on the autochanger was:

Which way you going Billy?	The Poppy Family
My Sweet Lord.	George Harrison
Woodstock   Matthews Southern Comfort
Honey		 Bobby Goldsborough
Galveston	Glen Campbell

There was one young lady whose boast was that by the end of the set, you would have err somewhat soggy underpants.


----------



## dessiato (Jan 10, 2018)

At the moment I'm listening to the Fratellis a lot, especially the album from which this comes.


----------



## Ralph Llama (Jan 10, 2018)

Sasaferrato said:


> The lyrics would perhaps have been better written by someone with an understanding of English. 'Tow' to pull along. 'Toe' digit attached to the foot.



I will say it more clearly . The lyrics I quoted clearly use the word tow . Also this thread is called whats your favourite record and why.......... .  .   .	.	 .	  .	   .

Edited (Age deserves respect+dont wanna be banned )


----------



## Sasaferrato (Jan 10, 2018)

Ralph Llama said:


> I will say it more clearly . The lyrics I quoted clearly use the word tow . Also this thread is called whats your favourite record and why.......... .  .   .	.	 .	  .	   .
> 
> Edited (Age deserves respect+dont wanna be banned )



Well, yes. You can't just storm in and abuse me... there is a queue, you know!


----------



## spliff (Mar 15, 2018)

It's not really a fave but it's something which has been in my head for the last week or so. And why not!

I think it's pretty cool but quite sparse but it's all still there innit


----------



## Techno Viking (Apr 1, 2018)

Fucked up Techno and I love it!


----------



## Kesher (Aug 10, 2018)

Who'd have thought a song could have_ "Hashtag Cookie Jar"_  in its chorus. The Japanese debut song by South Korean band Red Velvet.  Oh so catchy:  propelled  by its  retro funky bass and percussion; and not forgetting  that cool trickling breakdown. All of which is   supported by superb, uplifting vocals. What a bop: one of their best Red side songs.


----------



## Sasaferrato (May 11, 2019)

hipipol said:


> East of the River Nile - Augustus Pablo
> I bought my first copy in the late 70s when it came out
> it, along with Joni Mitchell's Blue and John Martin's Solid Air have been constant companions ever since
> But its Pablo I could never do without
> ...




The instrument he's playing is a Hohner Melodica, here's mine.

Like myself, It is a bit ancient and battered, I've had it 45 years.


----------



## Don Troooomp (May 13, 2019)

A song, one with the same name as my first love, a girl I haven't seen for over 30years but I still think of a lot.



Hope it doesn't break the rules as much as my heart broke at the time.


----------



## redchris (Jun 30, 2019)

Citizen66 said:


> In Gorbechev we trust - The Shamen.
> 
> I defy any man woman or beast to take a potent amount of halucinogenics with this playing on the stereo and not come out the other end a changed person.



Loved the Shamen since the early indie stuff. In Gorbachev We Trust is indeed n amazing record. I used to have it on tape and tracked down a digital upload a while back as I hadn't heard it in years.  Will's death was awful and the band with Mr C in tow were never the same again unfortunately.


----------



## emmasanchez3 (Jul 6, 2019)

my favorite record is from Dolly Parton, Kenny Rogers
Islands in the Stream

Every time I listen to this song it just makes me want to dance all over the room and lighten my mood


----------



## waxoyl (Sep 23, 2019)

DILLINGER.roots rock reggae punk rock reggae..live at the music machine. played this LP none stop in the 70/80/90/and present.
living near moss side in the 1980 this was the perfect LP. blasting though the windows.i was a young punk 18/19 years old. i even ended up
getting a CB200 motor bike which i swapped for a tv set.the atmosphere on that album  and electrifying audience.just going to stick it on now
it still plays today almost on most of the tracks. but cocaine seems to stick


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## Jay Park (Nov 16, 2019)

It’s just flawless innit.

think she was on about gentrification and how it changed her life and relationships, i think, not that gentrification means sweet FA to me cos I swerve it. For many reasons.


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## FuneralAddict (Feb 6, 2020)

The bass is brilliant, the keyboard bit in the middle is mental, it's just a great groove.


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## Ponyutd (Apr 12, 2020)




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## skyscraper101 (Jun 5, 2020)

Great long running thread 

I had to pull together a list yesterday of my favourite albums and it reaffirmed my long held view that Dubnobasswithmyheadman by Underworld was still my favourite all time record.






It's just so beautiful and era defining for me. It takes me to a time when I was discovering more interesting music beyond guitar bands and metal. It seemed like a lightbulb moment in finally 'getting' a whole genre of music I'd not noticed until then. It sounded futuristic, fresh, other worldly, yet also distinctly homegrown. I love every track, every sample used, every synth, vocal, b-line and drum loop. I was 12 when it came out, and though it didn't register for a few months, as soon as I heard it, it was like a whole other window on the world just opened.

Moreover, they'd remain my favourite band for years to come with equally good follow ups in Second Toughest In The Infants, Beaucoup Fish, 100 Days Off, Oblivion With Bells and the live DVD/album. Not forgetting the best Olympic opening ceremony soundtrack I've ever heard, countless amazing gigs through the years, and mutual friends made at some of them.

ETA. I also love the backstory about how they were previously the modestly successful pop act Freur, and then they became 'Underworld' (first version) who made a couple of hideously untrendy guitar albums before they reinvented themselves As Underworld MkII with Darren Emerson to produce this masterpiece.


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## Badgers (Jun 5, 2020)

There are many from over the years. Many genres depending on my age, mood and lifestyle. 

Probably atm: 
The Mountain Goats - No Children 

For a long time:
The Subjects vs Jeff Mills - Dark Matter

Overall:
David Bowie - Heroes


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## eatmorecheese (Jul 18, 2020)

I found this one recently after not hearing it for thirty-five years. Not really sure it belongs on this thread, but for some reason this always stuck with me from age 12. Evocative and connected to the Sydney working class of my mother and wider family. Strong memories triggered. Phew.


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## rubbershoes (Aug 12, 2020)

FuneralAddict said:


> The bass is brilliant, the keyboard bit in the middle is mental, it's just a great groove.




That whole album is magnificent


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## Micky D (Oct 16, 2020)

Got me through some hard times fantastic performance picking notes out the air


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## BigMoaner (Jan 12, 2021)

The Times They Are A'Changing, Bob Dylan.

When I first heard this at 15 years old, life was never the same again. His strange weird little voice, the haunting images. The political angst. I thought I had discovered Socrates. 30 years on he's won the Nobel prize for literature. Glad to have shared the same world as Ol Bob Dylan!


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## doucheologist (Aug 14, 2021)

*Yes - Close To The Edge*

I had this album as a young teenager back in the 1970s, I have been a fan of Yes for 50 years and seen them live more times than I can remember but it’s close to 40. I have everything that Yes has ever released but there is something about Close To The Edge that puts it above every other album ever produced.


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## hash tag (Aug 14, 2021)

Oh man, a great first post. I first saw them at Loftus Road and seen them a few times since. Have also seen Rick going solo.


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## nogojones (Aug 14, 2021)

tricknologist said:


> *Yes - Close To The Edge*
> 
> I had this album as a young teenager back in the 1970s, I have been a fan of Yes for 50 years and seen them live more times than I can remember but it’s close to 40. I have everything that Yes has ever released but there is something about Close To The Edge that puts it above every other album ever produced.


Nice profile pic.


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## doucheologist (Aug 14, 2021)

Thanks!


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## krtek a houby (Aug 15, 2021)

tricknologist said:


> Thanks!



Fuck off


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## editor (Aug 15, 2021)

tricknologist said:


> Thanks!


I've edited it for you and given it the personal touch. If Enoch - or any other racist cunt - comes back, you go.


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## krtek a houby (Aug 15, 2021)

editor said:


> I've edited it for you and given it the personal touch. If Enoch - or any other racist cunt - comes back, you go.


Might want to tweak the username as well...


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## editor (Aug 15, 2021)

krtek a houby said:


> Might want to tweak the username as well...


I had to look up what it meant. Oh dear. He's got one chance left.


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## krtek a houby (Aug 15, 2021)

editor said:


> I had to look up what it meant. Oh dear. He's got one chance left.


 To explain himself.

Bit more than an edgelord, reckon.


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## Knotted (Sep 21, 2021)

Henry Cow's Unrest made a huge impact on me when I was about 20 (about 20 years after the album was released). I was into all these 60's/70's rock things. Stones, Hendrix, Sabbath, Crimson etc. and a friend into the same played me the first two Henry Cow albums.

The music made very little sense to me. It was drawing on other more avant garde/improvisional traditions. And it disoriented me, I couldn't grasp what was even going on. And that intrigued me. And very quickly it became a revolution in how I viewed music, what it could do and even what it was about.

In fact to this day having read everything I can get hold of about them, I still don't know what the ingredients are that make up this music. There's a definite free jazz component, but it's in a peculiar musical context that I can't locate outside of their music. Vaguely Zappa at his more classical, but more European than that. More folk. At the time I thought it was "ultra prog rock" but I now hear it as much proto punk as anything. There's a rawness to it as well as a dizzying complexity. To this day the harmonic language used on these albums feels distinctive and my love of it has grown from bewildered fascination to a relative comprehension that's no less bewildered. I see how it works now, but where did this music come from?

The second album Unrest was the one that took hold of me. It has Lindsay Cooper on bassoon and oboe which adds a really warm woodwind sound to the mix. It's also deeply melancholic in tone which mirrored my mood at the time. Isolated and at odds with the world. There was a time that I wouldn't go anywhere without it and would listen to it every other day or so. I guess people think of avant garde albums as albums you perhaps appreciate but that you don't really love, but I loved this. Add drummer/band ideologist Chris Cutler's philosophical/Marxist writings and it feels like being indoctrinated into a cult.  Everything had to be re-evaluated in this new light.

Listening back to it now, it's so deeply familiar I find it hard to judge it. If I'd known about, say, Ornette Coleman when I had listened to it it would not have been so revolutionary to me. But then this is something with a very different flavour even if there are parallels in terms of how the music is made. It stands not just in defiance of the world but has built up its own world on its own terms, its own micro sad utopia.

Should say that their three later albums and one earlier album that were all as excellent and went in different albeit equally difficult directions. This is just the one I have the most history with.


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## Knotted (Sep 21, 2021)

I'm not sure Unrest is my favourite album. Just one good contender. Pink Floyd's second album Saucerful of Secrets also made me rethink everything. But that's to do with when I heard it. I was about 17, never heard any Pink Floyd or Jimi Hendrix  or psychedelic rock or even the more far out Beatles before. So yes it was something very new and different to me.

Music is often thought of as having these objective good qualities that can be evaluated with personal taste considered separately. This is not a good model and leads to musical iconography. All these great albums with "finely crafted song writing", "sophisticated tasteful musicianship". Watch out for anybody ever using phrases like that. And if the artist is doing something out of the ordinary - something you shouldn't do - then they should _make it work_ so that it _elevates_ the generic sound. In which case it makes for _genius_. And then you get these icons of good taste for collectors and a part from anything it's a very conservative way of looking at it. Honing, expanding, polishing, progressing.

But the thing I like about Pink Floyd at this time was that they were do things you weren't supposed to do _and_ making it sound like you weren't supposed to do it. They didn't seem to be aiming for something "great" as such but at creating a roller coaster ride that you could choose to get on if you wanted to come along for the journey. (Of course the truth is that they were writing for acid heads at the UFO club...)

Of course Pink Floyd went onto become these monsters of classic/progressive rock with well crafted and well loved albums. Must haves for collectors and boring because of it. Earlier on they felt like they were explorers willing to speak to me on a personal basis as an explorative listener. I think that regardless of the flaws of these earlier records, that's a much more engaging approach.

I don't even like Let There Me More Light or Corporal Clegg anymore. Let's face it, they are just brash and ugly. And Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun is a piece of not especially interesting psychedelic fluff. However See Saw and Jugband Blues are two extraordinary songs that close the album. The former is queasy and all over the place and a genuinely innovative piece of song writing. The latter is Syd Barret's swansong and a thing of strange tension filled beauty and sadness. Those two songs deserve a lot more praise than they get.

But then now it sounds like I'm reviewing Dark Side of the Moon or some such. At the time the whole thing was a revelation both the terrible bits and the great bits. I never thought then and I don't think now that it was something made for other people to like at all. Just something some odd people like me might have had a thing about at some point in their lives. Like there's a secret society of us. Password - Marigolds.

So that's what goes into making a favourite album. Not something that's either any good necessarily or that you even like very much anymore. But something that at some point in your life spoke to you and made you think, "hey music could be something different".

And yes I liked Piper and Ummagumma just as much but Saucerful was my first introduction and has perhaps stayed with me a bit longer.


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## danski (Sep 21, 2021)

Knotted said:


> I'm not sure Unrest is my favourite album. Just one good contender. Pink Floyd's second album Saucerful of Secrets also made me rethink everything. But that's to do with when I heard it. I was about 17, never heard any Pink Floyd or Jimi Hendrix  or psychedelic rock or even the more far out Beatles before. So yes it was something very new and different to me.
> 
> Music is often thought of as having these objective good qualities that can be evaluated with personal taste considered separately. This is not a good model and leads to musical iconography. All these great albums with "finely crafted song writing", "sophisticated tasteful musicianship". Watch out for anybody ever using phrases like that. And if the artist is doing something out of the ordinary - something you shouldn't do - then they should _make it work_ so that it _elevates_ the generic sound. In which case it makes for _genius_. And then you get these icons of good taste for collectors and a part from anything it's a very conservative way of looking at it. Honing, expanding, polishing, progressing.
> 
> ...


Marigolds.

A mate gave me this album on original tape saying “I think you‘ll like this more than I do”
Had already heard some floyd and Barrett stuff and liked a fair bit of what I’d heard but this then totally solidified my preference for the psychedelic early stuff rather than smooth prog.


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## Knotted (Sep 21, 2021)

I was 23 when I first heard L Voag's The Way Out. I was already into industrial/noise and getting into punk and the avant garde in general. It didn't come as a shock to me when I heard it. No revelation or revolution when I heard it. It's just one of those albums that spoke to me at the time - it seemed to describe a grotty, violent, abusive world and it was angry about it. The album I heard was the CD reissue which included the Move EP and three songs by the Homosexuals. This extra material was even angrier. The entire experience sounds like a squat party gone wrong.

L Voag is one of Jim Welton's projects. All of them are arty and punky and grotty. But The Way Out was recorded at a decent studio at night after hours as such. And it's still arty, punky and grotty but it's also really lush. It's an album I come back to again and again. It has the oddest reggae song you'll ever hear and an even odder jazz-pop-punk song. Riotous horns getting faster and faster, a long series of musique concrète explorations, odd little post rock n roll ditties. Track titles like _Helping the police with their investigations, Planning - Budgeting - Shopping, Your Own Hair Your Own Chance. _Sound that scrapes at your backbone. But more than that it feels relevant and at that time I didn't feel relevant.

This is one that I like more each time I listen to it. Some of the rhythmic inventions are extraordinary and the soundscapes have this earthy tension. It's something beautiful. My god is it beautiful - but in the way that something horrific is beautiful. All of a sudden the air is clear and everything is clear and you are just confronted with the horror.


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## equationgirl (Oct 30, 2021)

Simple Minds' 'New Gold Dream' is my favourite song. It's uplifting and hopeful and never fails to live my spirits. It's full of energy.


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## _Russ_ (Dec 22, 2021)

I couldnt name just one..but they just played one that was a great favourite of mine on the Radio *Here we are nowhere - Stiff Little Fingers*

God how that spoke to me.....then I realised its 42 fucking years old..*.FORTY TWO FUCKING YEARS OLD!!!!!!!*


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## MrSki (Dec 22, 2021)

_Russ_ said:


> I couldnt name just one..but they just played one that was a great favourite of mine on the Radio *Here we are nowhere - Stiff Little Fingers*
> 
> God how that spoke to me.....then I realised its 42 fucking years old..*.FORTY TWO FUCKING YEARS OLD!!!!!!!*


You have come across as a bit of a twat but will let you off for your SLF liking. Sort the other bits out though.


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## _Russ_ (Dec 23, 2021)

No


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## MrSki (Dec 23, 2021)

_Russ_ said:


> No


Well I left the ball in your court. Just fuck off then.


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## Fairweather (Jan 15, 2022)

My wife is a Geordie, this holds memories.


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## hastobefunky (Jan 21, 2022)

Pete rock and ini`S center of attention

Pete rocks best production work imo


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