What are your favorite --- not stereotypical --- albums?

[retrofade]

I don't want to see Abbey Road, Nevermind, Thriller, Purple Rain, or any other stereotypical "best" albums everyone lists. 

I have two that I always come back to and can listen to over and over again, and I love every song. 

 

For me, Horrorscope was so different at the time as a follow-up album. I don't want to compare it to another of my favorites, Weezer's Pinkerton, but it was so different from a band in their sophomore effort. They got experimental after hitting it huge with a big hit, and I think that Eve 6 knocked it out of the park like Weezer did... though Weezer was widely panned for their album, Eve 6 got an even bigger hit (Here's To The Night) from theirs than they had in their first album. Fun fact, I went to their first LA concert in years back in 2010 at the Troubadour... and sat behind Max's (lead singer and bassist) grandfather, who rocked out during it. 

I first discovered Anberlin at that very same venue, the Troubadour in West Hollywood, in 2004. They were opening along with Bayside for The Juliana Theory. I loved them so much that I bought their first two albums at the venue. Their album Cities is a masterpiece for me. There's no bad song on it, and I've listened to it back to back many times in my life. It doesn't feature my favorite song of theirs, but it's a cohesive album I can listen to without ever getting bored. 

So yeah, what albums might not be critically acclaimed but that you think are great? I'm listening to Horrorscope as I post this. 

[grandjean87]

This month marks 50 years since I got turned on to the Austin scene.   Jerry Jeff Walker's Viva Terlingua recorded live in Luckenbach, Texas will always be a go to album for me.  Only 9 songs, one throwaway, and Jerry Jeff gave one to his band member (that became the theme for PBS's long running Austin City Limits).  But, it was just so different in that long ago time and the other tracks like the theme song were gold.  It was also a window into the future of the young Texas scene.

The "Big Bang of Texas Music.”  Really good 9 mt. audio report in link.

https://www.texasstandard.org/stories/jerry-jeff-walker-viva-terlingua-exhibit-wittliff-collections-texas-state-university/

I've got more.  Might pick one or two after some posts by others. 

[retrofade]

On 5/18/2024 at 7:28 AM, grandjean87 said:

This month marks 50 years since I got turned on to the Austin scene.   Jerry Jeff Walker's Viva Terlingua recorded live in Luckenbach, Texas will always be a go to album for me.  Only 9 songs, one throwaway, and Jerry Jeff gave one to his band member (that became the theme for PBS's long running Austin City Limits).  But, it was just so different in that long ago time and the other tracks like the theme song were gold.  It was also a window into the future of the young Texas scene.

The "Big Bang of Texas Music.”  Really good 9 mt. audio report in link.

https://www.texasstandard.org/stories/jerry-jeff-walker-viva-terlingua-exhibit-wittliff-collections-texas-state-university/

I've got more.  Might pick one or two after some posts by others. 

Not generally my style, but I'm giving it a listen right now. 

[Slapdad]

On 5/18/2024 at 9:28 AM, grandjean87 said:

This month marks 50 years since I got turned on to the Austin scene.   Jerry Jeff Walker's Viva Terlingua recorded live in Luckenbach, Texas will always be a go to album for me.  Only 9 songs, one throwaway, and Jerry Jeff gave one to his band member (that became the theme for PBS's long running Austin City Limits).  But, it was just so different in that long ago time and the other tracks like the theme song were gold.  It was also a window into the future of the young Texas scene.

The "Big Bang of Texas Music.”  Really good 9 mt. audio report in link.

https://www.texasstandard.org/stories/jerry-jeff-walker-viva-terlingua-exhibit-wittliff-collections-texas-state-university/

I've got more.  Might pick one or two after some posts by others. 

That album set in motion so much in terms of Texas music. Pat Green, one of the biggest Texas music names along that timeline, is playing at Luckenbach in July. It's still a great stop in the middle of nowhere for a show. We stopped in a few years ago as short detour along the Whiskey Trail after Garrison Bothers and it's just a little outpost....the post office is still there and the general store is a bar....with a great outdoor venue. Koe Wetzle, one of the better Texas acts in a while, IMO, played out there a time or two as well. 

[grandjean87]

On 5/18/2024 at 10:21 AM, Slapdad said:

That album set in motion so much in terms of Texas music. Pat Green, one of the biggest Texas music names along that timeline, is playing at Luckenbach in July. It's still a great stop in the middle of nowhere for a show. We stopped in a few years ago as short detour along the Whiskey Trail after Garrison Bothers and it's just a little outpost....the post office is still there and the general store is a bar....with a great outdoor venue. Koe Wetzle, one of the better Texas acts in a while, IMO, played out there a time or two as well. 

That album was the soundtrack of the '70s and early '80s in hippie country bars and parties even up here in Idaho.  I remember a Jerry Jeff concert in 1981 in Sun Valley and it's us and some cowboy friends singing the chorus to Up Against the Wall Redneck Mother at the top of our lungs. 

I did see Pat Green in Boise once.  But, back to Viva Terlingua, I'm just hoping there is a re-release w/some of the 16 track recordings from its recording that missed the original album.  

[Slapdad]

As luck would have it, I've been revisiting one of my favorite lesser-known albums, The The's Mind Bomb. He (Matt Johnson essentially is The The) just put out is his first album in 24 years, so I wandered back to his old stuff. Mind Bomb has stood the test of time more so than his other albums (Soul Coughing and Infected were bigger hits, but sound dated now) as has Dusk. Infected, however, featured Johnny Marr, ex-Smiths guitarist, and the drummer from ABC, and one song with Sinead O'Conner (her best work, IMO). 

Another under-the-radar album that I love from the same era is Peter Murphy - Deep. There's one song that may be familiar to people (Cuts You Up), but the former Bauhaus singer is in rare form on this album (though I do like Holy Smoke and Cascade a lot too)....his voice sounds like David Bowie meets Niel Diamond. It's incredible, as are his shows...well, when he was younger. He would perform much of it hanging upside-down.  

 

 

[thelawlorfaithful]

On 5/18/2024 at 7:28 AM, grandjean87 said:

This month marks 50 years since I got turned on to the Austin scene.   Jerry Jeff Walker's Viva Terlingua recorded live in Luckenbach, Texas will always be a go to album for me.  Only 9 songs, one throwaway, and Jerry Jeff gave one to his band member (that became the theme for PBS's long running Austin City Limits).  But, it was just so different in that long ago time and the other tracks like the theme song were gold.  It was also a window into the future of the young Texas scene.

The "Big Bang of Texas Music.”  Really good 9 mt. audio report in link.

https://www.texasstandard.org/stories/jerry-jeff-walker-viva-terlingua-exhibit-wittliff-collections-texas-state-university/

I've got more.  Might pick one or two after some posts by others. 

I’ve posted these guys before. While never making it far beyond the Austin scene they did grab a prominent cameo in season 1 of Friday Night Lights. Their style changed quite a bit throughout their four records but their third, In All Their Splendor, is the best, mostly due to guitarist Christian Braafladt. The guy knows how to tell a story and every song he writes on the album is a banger. Their second album Lonesome and Loosin’ is a pretty good country rock Austin type album as well. Their final album was an interesting departure with one undisputed banger “Cherry Chapstick” also written by Braafladt.

[retrofade]

After listening to @grandjean87's suggestion, I revisited Brett Detar's A Bird in the Tangle and Too Free to Live. He's the lead singer of The Juliana Theory, a band I mentioned in my OP. He also played guitar for the metalcore band Zao in the mid-90s.

While he may have played metal and emo, these two albums are country/Americana, and were so different from what I was expecting when he released them that I didn't give either one a fair shot. I'm glad that I did... because it's good stuff. The vocals that I remember from my #3 can listen to it over and over again (that I nearly mentioned in my OP) Emotion is Dead, but in a bluesy/Americana style that I'm appreciating more and more these days. 

 

 

[Posturedoc]

The Boomtown Rats: “The Fine Art of Surfacing.”

I first listened to this album the year it came out (1979) as a sophomore in high school while hanging out with my stoner friend up the street. He was a couple years older and wiser—musically, at any rate. He turned me on to a lot of solid music as we sat in his room and got loaded (divorced, working mother of three boys/laissez-faire parent wasn’t around much to supervise her partying crew). Anywho, after not listening to it for decades, I cued it up on Prime Music about a year ago as I was working out in my orchard and I cant get enough of it. Sure, nostalgia is part of the attraction, but the music is solid all the way through. 

Not my favorite song on the album, but the one most likely to be recognized by those unfamiliar with the Rats.

 

[grandjean87]

On 5/18/2024 at 11:50 AM, retrofade said:

After listening to @grandjean87's suggestion, I revisited Brett Detar's A Bird in the Tangle and Too Free to Live. He's the lead singer of The Juliana Theory, a band I mentioned in my OP. He also played guitar for the metalcore band Zao in the mid-90s.

While he may have played metal and emo, these two albums are country/Americana, and were so different from what I was expecting when he released them that I didn't give either one a fair shot. I'm glad that I did... because it's good stuff. The vocals that I remember from my #3 can listen to it over and over again (that I nearly mentioned in my OP) Emotion is Dead, but in a bluesy/Americana style that I'm appreciating more and more these days. 

 

 

Like @thelawlorfaithful's track posting, so much great music and so little time. 

In another genre, there's an album from the prior decade that I just got back to listening to.  Born to Play Guitar -- Buddy Guy (w/some collaboration).  Some harder edge blues tracks like one w/Billy Gibbons, and this softer B.B. King tribute w/Van Morrison:

 

[FresnoFacts]

One of my favorites in the early 70s was side 2 of "Tap Root Manuscript". Side 1 was Neil Diamond pop songs like "Cracklin Rosie".

In the early 70s period dominated by pop performers like the Carpenters, BJ Thomas, and Bread, side 2 of "Tap Root Manuscript" became memorable to me because it was different. For a small town farm kid with a father who was a country western fan it was also a bit of my rebellion.

"Tap Root Manuscript" side 2 was Neil Diamond's experimentation with African sounds/themes mixed with Western sounds. Titled "The African Trilogy" it included songs like "Soolaimón" and "Missa".

I still have the vinyl album in my old collection. I got a new turntable not long ago and plan to hook it up soon to listen to my old set of vinyls.

 

[gold-n-brown]

Have always loved concept albums. Skipping the obvious ones that I have played to death (you guys know the ones).  Really like A Southern Rock Opera by the Drive by Truckers and New York by Lou Reed.

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[crixus]

 

[tailingpermit]

Lil Peep

 

[retrofade]

On 5/18/2024 at 12:23 PM, FresnoFacts said:

One of my favorites in the early 70s was side 2 of "Tap Root Manuscript". Side 1 was Neil Diamond pop songs like "Cracklin Rosie".

In the early 70s period dominated by pop performers like the Carpenters, BJ Thomas, and Bread, side 2 of "Tap Root Manuscript" became memorable to me because it was different. For a small town farm kid with a father who was a country western fan it was also a bit of my rebellion.

"Tap Root Manuscript" side 2 was Neil Diamond's experimentation with African sounds/themes mixed with Western sounds. Titled "The African Trilogy" it included songs like "Soolaimón" and "Missa".

I still have the vinyl album in my old collection. I got a new turntable not long ago and plan to hook it up soon to listen to my old set of vinyls.

 

 

I had no idea about that. My dad is a huge Neil Diamond fan... I know he has that album in his vinyl collection.

[FresnoFacts]

On 5/18/2024 at 6:33 PM, retrofade said:

I had no idea about that. My dad is a huge Neil Diamond fan... I know he has that album in his vinyl collection.

It is what I think is a creative 20 minutes of music on side 2. The album went platinum due to the side 1 pop songs (Cracklin Rosie; He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother; etc). But like George Harrison adding the sitar to the Beatles, Neil Diamond mixed in a different sound for US music on side 2.

[MissionTrails]

On 5/18/2024 at 5:50 PM, gold-n-brown said:

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Have always loved concept albums. Skipping the obvious ones that I have played to death (you guys know the ones).  Really like A Southern Rock Opera by the Drive by Truckers and New York by Lou Reed.

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Oh man, I definitely second you on 'New York' by Lou Reed. such a great late-career album that nobody talks about. 'Dirty Boulevard' is one of his best works ever. 'Beginning of a Great Adventure' about his pending fatherhood is outstanding too - so many good lines in that one.

[Someone Else]

13 hours ago, crixus said:

 

Thanks! This reminded me of something my pops used to listen to ...

 

 

[Nevada Convert]

I haven’t seen any Gospel submissions, so I will include a couple of my faves. 

 

 

[grandjean87]

Repeating old jokes isn't necessarily a sign of early onset, but it can be.