Rank the Albums of your Favorite Musical Artists

[vanguard96]

Michael Jackson
1. Thriller
2. Bad
3. Dangerous
4. Ben


Iron Maiden
1. Number of the Beast
2. Piece of Mind
3. Powerslave
4. A Matter of Life and Death
5. Seventh Son of a Seventh Son
6. The Book of Souls

Off the Wall and Killers are my favorite albums respectively for MJ and Maiden. Not on your top lists? Any reasons why?

[vanguard96]

David Bowie
1. Hunky Dory
2. Low
3. Blackstar
4. Diamond Dogs
5. The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust

What is your favorite song on Hunky Dory?

[vanguard96]

Few more:

Roxy Music
1. For Your Pleasure (1973)
2. Avalon (1982)
3. Stranded (1973)
4. Roxy Music (1972)
5. Country Life (1974)
6. Siren (1975)
7. Flesh + Blood (1980)
8. Manifesto (1979)

Roxy Music is my favorite 70's band. For Your Pleasure is a great album. I alternate between Stranded and their debut as my top choice album. Avalon is a great work as well - very different in character from the Eno or even Jobson era albums. If the "Pyjamarama/Pride and Pain" single were included in For Your Pleasure though perhaps it would push it to the top. I love that single - Paul Thompson's drums especially. I don't think any band likewise had as consistent an oboist as McKay. Sax yes, but not also oboe. Manzanera with Roxy, with Eno, with 801, with Ferry, and on his solo project is just awesome too - a great textural guitarist. Yes, Ferry often talked about having a guitarist like PF's David Gilmour but I think that does Manzanera a major disservice. Tracks like "Cindy Tells Me" and "Amazona" - just brilliant.

Have you read any RM books?

I have The Thrill of It All: Bryan Ferry and Roxy Music by David Buckley and I've read Re-Make/Re-Model: Becoming Roxy Music by Michael Bracewell.

Buckley's book has a lot of direct sources but he is quite critical of Ferry's solo work - even saying it is worse than any RM album. Bracewell's book is not for the casual fan and is more academic in nature but I definitely learned quite a bit about their start and their inspirations. He does not really take positions on the music and its more of a pre-history up to the release of the first album.

[vanguard96]

Here's a few - with Prince & Roxy Music I can't limit it to 3.

Prince
1. Purple Rain - deluxe edition on order
2. Dirty Mind
3. 1999
4. Sign 'o' the Times
5. Controversy
6. Around the World in A Day
7. Parade
8. Diamonds & Pearls
9. Prince
10. Symbol Album

Roxy Music
1. Stranded - for now
2. Roxy Music
3. Country Life
4. For Your Pleasure
5. Avalon
6. Siren
7. Flesh + Blood
8. Manifesto!

Brian Eno
1. Before & After Science
2. Here Come the Warm Jets
3. Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy)

John Barry
1. Lion In Winter
2. You Only Live Twice
3. The Last Valley

Jerry Goldsmith
1. Planet of the Apes
2. Rudy
3. The Blue Max

Jean Michel Jarre
1. Oxygene
2. Equinoxe
3. Zoolook

Tangerine Dream
1. Phaedra
2. Stratosfear
3. Force Majeure

Vangelis
1. Bladerunner
2. Spiral
3. L'apocalypse des animaux

Parliament
1. Mothership Connection
2. Funkentelechy vs The Placedo Syndrome
3. The Clones of Dr. Funkenstein

Funkadelic
1. Maggot Brain
2. Cosmic Slop
3. America Eats Its Young

Chaka Khan
1. What 'Cha Gonna Do For Me
2. Chaka Khan
3. Chaka

Rufus
1. Ask Rufus
2. Rufusized
3. Masterjam

Michael Jackson
1. Off the Wall
2. Thriller
3. Bad

Iron Maiden
1. Killers
2. Iron Maiden
3. Powerslave

Camel
1. The Snow Goose
2. Stationary Traveler
3. Mirage

King Crimson
1. The Court of the Crimson King
2. Red
3. Discipline

David Bowie
1. Low
2. Station to Station
3. "Heroes"

[vanguard96]

Michael Jackson
1. Thriller
2. Bad
3. Dangerous
4. Ben


Iron Maiden
1. Number of the Beast
2. Piece of Mind
3. Powerslave
4. A Matter of Life and Death
5. Seventh Son of a Seventh Son
6. The Book of Souls

Off the Wall and Killers are my favorite albums respectively for MJ and Maiden. Not on your top lists? Any reasons why?

Haven't listened to enough of those albums.

DiAnno Maiden is great sort of punkish & less theatrical than Bruce.
As for Off the Wall it doesn't have the pretense of say Dangerous or HIStory
Just pure unadulterated, youthful MJ. Obviously if you don't like commercial disco then it may not work for you

[vanguard96]

Bands in bold are those I've heard everything by, which you could crudely class as narrowing to my favourite bands, but the truth is I'm just as passionate about many of the albums for artists where I've lost interest in their future work/direction or have put some of their work off for later.

The Smiths: Meat Is Murder > The Queen Is Dead > The Smiths

So you don't rate Strangeways Here We Come too highly? Were you a fan at the time and pissed off because they had already broken up when this came out?

Do you not count Hatful of Hollow as a full album? It has some studio items on it - it also crosses over with the Louder than Bombs compilation.

I love "Last Night I Dreamt Somebody Loved Me" and "Girlfriend in A Coma" from Strangeways album. As for The Queen is Dead the run from Cemetry Gates to the end of the album (minus Vicar in Tutu) is magic - though I personally prefer "Headmaster Ritual", "How Soon is Now" and "Barbarism Begins At Home" to the best songs from The Queen is Dead so it is a push for me - with Meat is Murder having better highs but The Queen is Dead having more ace songs.

[vanguard96]

King Crimson
1. The Court of the Crimson King
2. Red
3. Discipline

Come on man. How can you not include Larks tongues in aspic among at least the top three King Crimson albums?
[/quote]

I did give it a higher rating on RYM than Discipline - maybe I was thinking about the final comment from my review too much:)

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I see you like Piece of Mind the best for Iron Maiden - the choruses on that album are a bit of a disappointment for me and I vastly prefer Burr to Nicko on drums - so the first three albums are up there along with the mythic Powerslave.

My RYM review:

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[vanguard96]

Tangerine Dream
1. Phaedra
2. Stratosphere
3. Force Majeure
4. Sorceror OST
5. Zeit

Kate Bush
1. The Kick Inside
2. Hounds of Love
3. Never For Ever
4. The Dreaming
5. Lionheart