What is truly the best album of all time?

[HUFMJCMaverick9]

I don't just mean one of your favorites or what the media thinks. I mean an album that you can listen from cover to cover and enjoy each song. For me its Linkin Park's Hybrid Theory. For being a "Rock" album, all the sounds they used blended perfectly. They timing of transitions was perfect. The order of the songs couldn't have been better. The lyrics are such true and deep meaning. Linkin Park not only nailed it solid for one of their own albums but every album. So whats your thoughts?

 

[Larry]

I know this might sound like an easy a-typical response but in all reality "Thriller" is the greatest album of all time. No matter who you are, what your tastes, what you generally listen to; not only do you know at least a few songs from the album, but you can't resist their greatness and you can't help but get into at least those main tracks. However, this is an album you can easily listen to from start to finish and not find one bad track. They are all good songs and it was a carefully crafted album to ensure just that. I've listened to virtually every genre of music ranging through all the eras and I can't say that there is any other album (outside of other Michael Jackson albums) that I can say the same for and actually listen to start to finish and say "Every track on the album was great". You can almost always find at least a couple tracks that just don't really click with you or that you simply don't like. "Thriller" is not that album. I'm not saying that you'll come to that conclusion listening to it once, because sometimes you have to listen to a song more than once to really appreciate it and feel it. I didn't listen to the entire album for years simply because I wasn't familiar with some of the tracks on it, but once I did and I really listened to the other songs I didn't know, I came to the stunned conclusion that "Thriller" is fucking awesome from start to finish with not one bad track or one disposable track. Every song on it works perfectly with the album, and taking any of them away would take away from the album itself. So, jot that down in your notebook and if you haven't actually listened to all the tracks on "Thriller" go look them up and listen to them on YouTube. You will likely be pleasantly surprised and find tracks you've not really heard that you really like.

 

[davidwells]

I am a hard core rock fan. I think the best album ever is Guns n Roses's "The Spaghetti Incident". Thriller is no doubt an all time classic but some how I can't bring myself to betray Guns n Roses, the best band under the sun.

 

[Fizzy]

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Despite the incredibly broad subject of this thread, only one album came to mind when thinking of the best album of all time. Most people don't know Dream Theater and it really is a shame considering how talented the band is. I've heard musicians describe their work as some of the most technical music they've ever seen written or played. Every album they have produced has been a masterpiece and this is widely considered their Magnum Opus. There isn't an album in existence with better story telling than this and I say that with 100% confidence. I can't do it justice with words, to get the true feeling, you need to give it a listen and i'd recommend it to anybody no matter your taste in music. It's that good. Is it the best album ever? To me it is and if this post gives one person the initiative to listen to it in its entirety, i'll be a happy man.

 

[MINISTRYrising]

there is no contest here it has to be through the eyes, by the band flaw. the best album ever by far.

 

[Whatarush!]

I would have to say my fav. album would be linkin park meteora. I have never owned a CD where I could just go and push random on it and Love everyone song in it.

Everything they do on there is great from Techno to Rap to heavy Rock. I love it's def my fave CD to chill and listen to.

But looking on this, this isnt about your fav album its about the best one of all time.

So reading through it all I agree with Ba Bomb! Thriller is the best album. I sure there will never been another singer that will have a million albums sold in the first week. If there is , go right a head and correct me but that is a tough thing to beat.

 

[SorgFamily]

I am a hard core rock fan. I think the best album ever is Guns n Roses's "The Spaghetti Incident". Thriller is no doubt an all time classic but some how I can't bring myself to betray Guns n Roses, the best band under the sun.

I know this is all opinions but seriously? This isn't even the best GN'R album let alone the greatest of all-time. It's just an album of covers. I'd take the Lies album over the The Spaghetti Incident. But I guess if it floats your boat.

For me it's a toss up. There are a lot of albums I can listen to start to finish that I would gladly spend the rest of my life stranded on a desert island with. Derk and the Dominos: Layla, Panic at the Disco: Pretty Odd, The Beatles: Abbey Road, White Album, Sargent Pepper's, Led Zeppelin: I, II, III, IV, Houses of the Holy, Physical Graffiti, Pink Floyd: Dark Side of the Moon ...........etc.

I guess if I had to choose one I'd go with Layla. Clapton and Allman on one album? Too much. The improvisation on the longer jams (Key to the Highway, Have You Ever Loved A Woman, Tell the Truth) are insane. This album is why Clapton is regarded as he is. He was great in Cream but this is the last time he ever preformed like this. After this album he withdrew crippled by heroin and later alcohol. After he made his comeback with 461 Ocean Boulevard he was all about songwriting and not the flashy solos that made him who is. Don't get me wrong, I love Tears in Heaven, Father's Eyes and Change the World but they don't hold a candle to anything off Layla. That to me is the greatest album of all time.

 

[Uncle Phatso]

This thread serves no purpose other than for people to bicker at each other. What is the best album of all time? No one has the answer for that, no genre of music is the same. It would take an unbiased machine to figure that out. What type of album, Instrumental, rap, metal, rock? Because even that can not be answered, but to answer your question would be like answering what came first? No one really knows, you can't answer that question based on heart alone.

To answer what is the top selling album of all time, and maybe to sort of answer your question. Because believe it or not music is a business. Thriller has sold the most albums ever. But even that is just based on popularity and what the people like that bought that album.

No one will ever have this answer... /thread

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

There is no way that anyone could make a suggestion that would be the correct answer. A person who listens to nothing but heavy metal is not going to believe that "Thriller", "(What's The Story) Morning Glory?" or "All Eyez On Me" are the best albums ever made, just as someone who listens to classic rock will agree with someone who claims that the recent Rihanna or Jessie J albums are masterpieces.

It is all personal opinion, and that is why music is great. There are so many genres, so much variety and never a wrong answer when it comes to what is good and what isn't. Are you wrong to still love Limp Bizkit? No. Are you wrong to still listen to Abba, Elvis Presley or music from the 50s? Of course not. What you like is personal to you.

For me, I would have to say the greatest album of all time is "Definately Maybe by Oasis, my favourite band of all time.

Regularly voted as one of the top albums ever made by UK music magazines, "Definately Maybe" is what launched the Oasis phenomenon during the mid 90s. Songs such as "Rock 'n' Roll Star", "Live Forever", "Cigarettes And Alcohol", "Supersonic" and "Slide Away" still pack dancefloors in indie clubs today, and are regarded as some of the songs which defined a generation. This album made people believe that you can escape your working class roots and make it to the top.

It is a special album. Not a day passes when I don't listen to at least one of the tracks of that album- just this morning I had "Columbia" on in the car.

Give it a try, you will not regret it. There is no way you cannot listen to that album and not feel like you can achieve anything you set your mind to.

"In My Mind My Dreams Are Real"

"Tonight....I'm A Rock 'n' Roll Star"

 

[smizzy]

The easy answer is always going to be a Beatles, Rolling Stones, MJ, or Led Zeppelin album, and it's a fair argument considering each of these talents have played a role in shaping music.

But for me, none of their work TOUCHES this.

Spoiler

How did Radiohead sit around and think, let's make music that has a sound no one has ever heard, put it with some of the eeriest but masterful lyrics ever written, and be able to actually execute the plan.

Kid A track to track is masterpiece. I've yet to hear another band perform better music or hear another artist come close to Yorke's vocal/lyrical performance. Ironically, as I consider this Yorke's greatest vocal performance, it was the result of Radiohead trying to get the focus away from his voice and more on the music. What an album!

 

[Galvatron]

To me the greatest album ever is Nirvana's In Utero. As with all music, this is just my opinion. I just like every song on the album (even the unreleased ones put out on the With The Lights Out box set). Simply put, I can listen to this anytime since it came out in 1993 and it never gets old to me.

 

[hatehabsforever]

Easy choice here. The best band, so it's reasonable to assume that they would produce the best album of all time.

If you like instrumental material, there's no better than YYZ. Tom Sawyer and Limelight are both classics. And Red Barchetta is an absolutely fantastic song. There's no better a series of four songs than these four.

Rush has produced a number of other tremendous albums as well, but Moving Pictures is simply the best of the best.

 

[smizzy]

To me the greatest album ever is Nirvana's In Utero. As with all music, this is just my opinion. I just like every song on the album (even the unreleased ones put out on the With The Lights Out box set). Simply put, I can listen to this anytime since it came out in 1993 and it never gets old to me.

Phewww, hot pick, my man.
Nirvana does happen to be favorite band - and I think you have a good argument there.

Serve the Servants: is one of the most underrated songs Kurt had wrote. There's so much meaning behind quite literally every line.
Scentless Apprentice: probably the most I headbang/ air drum/ air guitar to any Nirvana song. Love the quirky lyrics too! "Like most babies smell like butter, his smell smelled like no other." Classic Kurt!
Heart Shaped Box: this song drew me into Nirvana when I was 11. Goes without saying, one of their great songs and an even better video with the mind of Kurt at work.
Rape Me: Lashing out at MTV and Vanity Fair, what a strong song!
Frances Farmer Will Have Her Revenge On Seattle: Actually among my top 15 Nirvana songs.
Dumb: Again, classic Kurt song writing.
Very Ape: Short and strong. Among my top 20.
Milk It: "DOLL STEAK" Kurt's screech is bone chilling. In my top 10 Nirvana songs. The guitar picking at the beginning is great. Phenomenal song.
Pennyroyal Tea: Good lord I want this single added to my Nirvana collection. Another great, complimentary song to a great album.
Radio Friendly Unit Shifter: Mixed feelings on this one. It lack something I can't put my finger on. Probably the weakest song on the album, but still, a strong song.
Tourettes: No one screeches like Kurt. Tremendous song.
All Apologies: Amazing. Simply put.

Track for track, In Utero makes a case for one of the best of all time.
Good post, galvatron.