Payn's Ponderings... Top 10 Essential Albums

[payn]

Given that Sweet Baby James is at over 850...I predict at least 700 albums in the list will be worse than that (for me).....I'm clearly going to enjoy this more for the nostalgia than the actual rankings....

Well, Motely Crew just landed on the list so... Yeap, these things are a crapshoot you just gotta sit back and enjoy.

 

[payn]

Oh hell yeah the Libertines!

 

[Mercurius]

Wow, skimming through this thread and it really strikes me how different my tastes are from the hivemind of ENWorld, which seem to constellate towards rock, metal, alt, and bits and pieces mixed in.

Without thinking too much about it, and with the caveat that I could replace some of these with a couple dozen others, my "desert island albums" are, in order of date...

List 1: A Possible Essential Album List (c. 2022)
Ravi Shankar - Ragas & Talas (1959)
Pharoah Sanders - Jewels of Thought (1970)
Funkadelic - Funkadelic (1970)
Alice Coltrane - Journey in Satchidananda (1971)
Herbie Hancock & the Headhunters - Man-child (1975)
Roy Ayers Ubiquity - Mystic Voyage (1975)
Embryo - Apo Calypso (1977)
Jamiroquai - Traveling Without Moving (1995)
The Bulgarian Voices/Angelite & Huun-Huur-Tuu - Fly, Fly My Sadness (1996)
MeShell Ndegeocello - The Spirit Music Jamia (2005)
Aqua Bassino - Rue de Paris (2006)
Anderson .Paak - Malibu (2016)
Yussef Kamaal - Black Focus (2016)

I know, that's thirteen, but I couldn't decide which to cut, and really there are already a bunch more that could be on that list.

Honorable Mentions (couldn't find a place, or didn't have a single album--other than a compilation--that stood out, but I'd really like them on the list): Miles Davis, John Coltrane, James Brown, Don Cherry, The Headhunters, Shakti, Steve Coleman & the Five Elements, Curandero, Atjazz, St Germain, Sade, Kerri Chandler, A Tribe Called Quest, Slum Village, Kendrick Lamar, Erykah Badu, Tora, etc....

List 2: Old Favorites & Guilty Pleasures (circa 1993)
I include this second list as more of a "blast from the past" - and I think it resonates more with the general trend of this thread.

Pink Floyd - Meddle (1972)
King Crimson - Larks' Tongues in Aspic (1973)
King Crimson - Starless and Bible Black (1974)
Joy Division - Closer (1980)
Bauhaus - The Sky's Gone Out (1982)
The The - Soul Mining (1983)
The Smiths - Louder Than Bombs (1984)
New Order - Substance (1987)
The Cure - Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me (1987)
Nine Inch Nails - Pretty Hate Machine (1989)
Dead Can Dance - Into the Labyrinth (1993)

 

[payn]

The Current's list is almost into the 200's. Since hitting the 300's the consistency of great albums has been steadily going up. Still some head scratchers tho. When they did this the first time the top 10 was as you expect Beatles and Rolling Stones. About 5 years ago it was The Clash and Nirvana. It will be interesting to see how it goes now. (Nirvana Nevermind already dropped on the list so listeners most not be pinning for it as much)

 

[payn]

...and Rain Dogs just hit at 182. Thats just not low enough!

 

[Zaukrie]

Nevermind already dropped? Yikes.

I've always wondered how close the votes are.... Like, did all the albums in this range get ten votes and it's randomly ordered?

 

[payn]

Nevermind already dropped? Yikes.

I've always wondered how close the votes are.... Like, did all the albums in this range get ten votes and it's randomly ordered?

Correction, In Utero dropped already. Nevermind will likely be top 25.

 

[Zaukrie]

Correction, In Utero dropped already. Nevermind will likely be top 25.

That makes more sense.

 

[payn]

Interesting... Suftjan Stevens and Violent Femmes slid about 50 spots back from 5 years ago on the list.

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

Violent Femmes slid about 50 spots back from 5 years ago on the list.

Why can't I top just one list?
Why can't I top just one list?
Believe me,
Some of these bands you wouldn't miss
But I know when you add it up I’ll top you list