Lost classic albums?
#1
DVD Talk Hall of Fame
Thread Starter
Lost classic albums?
With the arrival of the internet and the proliferation of album review sites and "critics" (sometimes of dubious value), I think it's hard for quality music to fly below the radar these days. The immense funnel and filter generally means that someone, somewhere will have heard anything good and, through the magic of Google, the secret gets out.
This was definitely not the case when I was a kid. Lots of great music came and went but for whatever reason never got any recognition beyond obscure ;zines and such. Anyway, I thought I'd make a list of some great albums from years past that I love that on one ever seems to talk about:
1. The Gun Club "Fire of Love": this band played a stripped down, fired up version of blues rock that seems to have heavily influenced The White Stripes, the Pixies and a variety of other bands... except that The Gun Club was genuinely scary and raw where their followers sometimes seem to be striking a pose. Jeffrey Lee Pierce, the band's guitarist, was a genuine madman and this album is unforgettable from beginning to end. The follow-up "Miami" is actually just as good.
2. Unrest "Perfect Teeth": the band did everything from dreamy folk-rock ala Galaxie 500 to frenetic pop-punk to shoegaze on this record. They master all of these styles, the album is filled with great songs. Perhaps because the band couldn't be easily pigeonholed, no one bought it and this was their last album. To me, this album perfectly encaptulates the entire alt rock scene of the mid ninties. It's up there with "Siamese Dream" as the album that most defines that era to me. If you were a DJ at a college station in about 1994, you owned and loved this album. It's a time capsule.
3. Little Feat "Little Feat" I first heard Little Feat's "Dixie Chicken" and "Sailing Shoes" (their third and second albums, both rightly regarded as classics) twenty years ago, but I'd never heard their debut until this year. What was I thinking. It's an absolute triumph of country/folk/southern rock. The band consists of master musicians, the lyrics are vivid and down to earth and the songs are knotty and catchy at the same time. Give this a listen if you like Lynyrd Skynyrd, the Flying Burrito Brothers or Dr John, it's up there with anything they ever did. How it flopped is beyond me.
4. American Music Club "Everclear" This is the best album by one of the great undiscovered bands of the early ninties. It's downbeat and yearning with evocative songs of breakups, drinking and desperation. Mark Eitzel's voice is sort of like Leonard Cohen's or Richard Thompson's and its resonance makes the songs even better. This album was somewhat famous when it came out and was on everyone's "best of" list, no one seems to talk about it now.
5. Pharcyde " Bizarre Ride to the Pharcyde" At the time this album struck people as a bit of a joke: it's deliberately messy and comic. The more you listen to it though, the more the backing tracks sound dense and visionary, the more the complexity of the rhymes sink in. This album has enough good ideas for three excellent albums. Also, it's still funny, twenty years later. IMO, this is up there with De La Soul's first album or Tribe Called Quest's "Low End Theory" as a classic of alt rap.
6. Gentle Giant "Free Hand" I think Gentle Giant is perhaps the most technically accomplished and complex of the golden-era British prog bands. They made dense, medieval-inspired songs with stacked poly-harmonic vocals, insanely complicated structures, shifting time signatures and ever-changing dynamics. I hear echos of their music today in bands like Mars Volta or Porcupine Tree. Rush got a lot from them as well. This 1974 album is their peak , IMO. It's engaging and even catchy despite the prog tendancies. You will never hear finer musicians or a better recording, IMO. If you like Peter Gabriel-era Genesis, check this out.
7. Chainsaw Kittens: "Flipped out in Singapore" like a glamed-up Smashing Pumpkins. It even has the Butch Vig production. Trashy, poppy, loud and a little scary. They had a little of Sweet's crunch, the New York Dolls' swagger and the Flaming Lip's plains-state weirdness. They were also really fucking nuts. To me, this is an alternate soundtrack to "Silence of the Lambs": unsanitary and gleefully sick. So many bands I hear these days would kill to make this album.
There's a bunch more, but that's good enough for now.
This was definitely not the case when I was a kid. Lots of great music came and went but for whatever reason never got any recognition beyond obscure ;zines and such. Anyway, I thought I'd make a list of some great albums from years past that I love that on one ever seems to talk about:
1. The Gun Club "Fire of Love": this band played a stripped down, fired up version of blues rock that seems to have heavily influenced The White Stripes, the Pixies and a variety of other bands... except that The Gun Club was genuinely scary and raw where their followers sometimes seem to be striking a pose. Jeffrey Lee Pierce, the band's guitarist, was a genuine madman and this album is unforgettable from beginning to end. The follow-up "Miami" is actually just as good.
2. Unrest "Perfect Teeth": the band did everything from dreamy folk-rock ala Galaxie 500 to frenetic pop-punk to shoegaze on this record. They master all of these styles, the album is filled with great songs. Perhaps because the band couldn't be easily pigeonholed, no one bought it and this was their last album. To me, this album perfectly encaptulates the entire alt rock scene of the mid ninties. It's up there with "Siamese Dream" as the album that most defines that era to me. If you were a DJ at a college station in about 1994, you owned and loved this album. It's a time capsule.
3. Little Feat "Little Feat" I first heard Little Feat's "Dixie Chicken" and "Sailing Shoes" (their third and second albums, both rightly regarded as classics) twenty years ago, but I'd never heard their debut until this year. What was I thinking. It's an absolute triumph of country/folk/southern rock. The band consists of master musicians, the lyrics are vivid and down to earth and the songs are knotty and catchy at the same time. Give this a listen if you like Lynyrd Skynyrd, the Flying Burrito Brothers or Dr John, it's up there with anything they ever did. How it flopped is beyond me.
4. American Music Club "Everclear" This is the best album by one of the great undiscovered bands of the early ninties. It's downbeat and yearning with evocative songs of breakups, drinking and desperation. Mark Eitzel's voice is sort of like Leonard Cohen's or Richard Thompson's and its resonance makes the songs even better. This album was somewhat famous when it came out and was on everyone's "best of" list, no one seems to talk about it now.
5. Pharcyde " Bizarre Ride to the Pharcyde" At the time this album struck people as a bit of a joke: it's deliberately messy and comic. The more you listen to it though, the more the backing tracks sound dense and visionary, the more the complexity of the rhymes sink in. This album has enough good ideas for three excellent albums. Also, it's still funny, twenty years later. IMO, this is up there with De La Soul's first album or Tribe Called Quest's "Low End Theory" as a classic of alt rap.
6. Gentle Giant "Free Hand" I think Gentle Giant is perhaps the most technically accomplished and complex of the golden-era British prog bands. They made dense, medieval-inspired songs with stacked poly-harmonic vocals, insanely complicated structures, shifting time signatures and ever-changing dynamics. I hear echos of their music today in bands like Mars Volta or Porcupine Tree. Rush got a lot from them as well. This 1974 album is their peak , IMO. It's engaging and even catchy despite the prog tendancies. You will never hear finer musicians or a better recording, IMO. If you like Peter Gabriel-era Genesis, check this out.
7. Chainsaw Kittens: "Flipped out in Singapore" like a glamed-up Smashing Pumpkins. It even has the Butch Vig production. Trashy, poppy, loud and a little scary. They had a little of Sweet's crunch, the New York Dolls' swagger and the Flaming Lip's plains-state weirdness. They were also really fucking nuts. To me, this is an alternate soundtrack to "Silence of the Lambs": unsanitary and gleefully sick. So many bands I hear these days would kill to make this album.
There's a bunch more, but that's good enough for now.
#2
Re: Lost classic albums?
Thanks for the list. I'll check some of these out.
Not sure Little Feat is a lost classic. They have a fairly big decent size following though that album is overlooked.
I'll add Chris Bell - I Am the Cosmos. Though it is much better known these days, I always recommend it because it's probably my favorite album that hardly anyone I know has heard. I consider it as good as many late era Beatles albums.
Not sure Little Feat is a lost classic. They have a fairly big decent size following though that album is overlooked.
I'll add Chris Bell - I Am the Cosmos. Though it is much better known these days, I always recommend it because it's probably my favorite album that hardly anyone I know has heard. I consider it as good as many late era Beatles albums.
#3
DVD Talk Ultimate Edition
Re: Lost classic albums?
I like this tread! I'm checking out some of these The Gun Club "Fire of Love" sound right on my alley. Chris Bell its pretty cool too
My suggestions would be Latin American bands but don't be fooled these its not Salsa. These are awesome Rock/Pop groups. And the way I see it is you don't have to understand all the lyrics to appreciate the musicianship. After all I was listening to The Beatles way before I learned English.
1-Cafe Tacuba- Cuatro Caminos I call these guys my Mexican Flaming Lips, one cause they are very trippy, two cause you have no idea what they are going to come up next and three cause they fucking cool ppl.
http://www.amazon.com/Cuatro-Caminos...3726797&sr=1-3
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL9407A264A3446E8A
2-Los Tres- Unplugged They were a heavy rock band but when they did the MTV Unplugged they turned Rockabilly. It took me years to find each track of the album and later the videos but what a pleasure.
http://www.amazon.com/Unplugged-Tres...3726035&sr=1-1
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL0E1B6E7B56E0FF04
3-Gustavo Cerati- Bocanada If you were born anywhere south of the US. Soda Stereo was the most popular Rock band right after The Beatles and sometimes more than them. The man behind their work Cerati and this is one of his most famous solo works.
http://www.amazon.com/Bocanada-Gusta...3727143&sr=1-2
4-We All Together This is a seventies Peruvian band that would sing in English they did some McCartney covers and had some originals that rival the quality of European and American bands of the same era.
http://www.amazon.com/We-All-Togethe...3727520&sr=8-2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zbo3WUzAO5Y
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bbbM2WNMdic
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6TDU5JZvFbU
I included some Youtube links to playlists and videos so that you guys can get an idea
My suggestions would be Latin American bands but don't be fooled these its not Salsa. These are awesome Rock/Pop groups. And the way I see it is you don't have to understand all the lyrics to appreciate the musicianship. After all I was listening to The Beatles way before I learned English.
1-Cafe Tacuba- Cuatro Caminos I call these guys my Mexican Flaming Lips, one cause they are very trippy, two cause you have no idea what they are going to come up next and three cause they fucking cool ppl.
http://www.amazon.com/Cuatro-Caminos...3726797&sr=1-3
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL9407A264A3446E8A
2-Los Tres- Unplugged They were a heavy rock band but when they did the MTV Unplugged they turned Rockabilly. It took me years to find each track of the album and later the videos but what a pleasure.
http://www.amazon.com/Unplugged-Tres...3726035&sr=1-1
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL0E1B6E7B56E0FF04
3-Gustavo Cerati- Bocanada If you were born anywhere south of the US. Soda Stereo was the most popular Rock band right after The Beatles and sometimes more than them. The man behind their work Cerati and this is one of his most famous solo works.
http://www.amazon.com/Bocanada-Gusta...3727143&sr=1-2
4-We All Together This is a seventies Peruvian band that would sing in English they did some McCartney covers and had some originals that rival the quality of European and American bands of the same era.
http://www.amazon.com/We-All-Togethe...3727520&sr=8-2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zbo3WUzAO5Y
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bbbM2WNMdic
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6TDU5JZvFbU
I included some Youtube links to playlists and videos so that you guys can get an idea
#6
DVD Talk Legend
Re: Lost classic albums?
The Kinks - Schoolboys In Disgrace
Lumped at the end of their "theatrical" period, it's an oft-overlooked album but a really strong one. The Kinks successfully merged their hooks and songwriting skills with musical storytelling to fine results. Alas, the album tanked and RCA booted them from the label (Arista picked them up almost immediately, and the band regained themselves with commercial success afterward). I wouldn't necessarily call it a "classic" album, but it's a damn good one, and of all Kinks' "theatrical" albums it's easily the most interesting (and accessible).
Lumped at the end of their "theatrical" period, it's an oft-overlooked album but a really strong one. The Kinks successfully merged their hooks and songwriting skills with musical storytelling to fine results. Alas, the album tanked and RCA booted them from the label (Arista picked them up almost immediately, and the band regained themselves with commercial success afterward). I wouldn't necessarily call it a "classic" album, but it's a damn good one, and of all Kinks' "theatrical" albums it's easily the most interesting (and accessible).
#7
DVD Talk Hall of Fame
Thread Starter
Re: Lost classic albums?
Yeah I bought the CD of that when Rhino (or was it Rykodisc?) finally released itin the late ninties. The title track is one of my favorite songs of all time. Whet could have been with that guy.
#9
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Re: Lost classic albums?
Holly & the Italians
<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/IymmLDD2GlA" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
And most of Kristy MacColl's albums, but especially Tropical Brainstorm
<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/-LzUDVp4Urk" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/IymmLDD2GlA" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
And most of Kristy MacColl's albums, but especially Tropical Brainstorm
<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/-LzUDVp4Urk" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
#11
DVD Talk Limited Edition
#12
DVD Talk Special Edition
Re: Lost classic albums?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaleidoscope_%28UK_band%29
back to the post, would Pretty Things- SF Sorrow count? I see it talked about sometimes but not really enough. I really don't think The Who would of released Tommy without it.
#13
DVD Talk Godfather
Re: Lost classic albums?
2. Unrest "Perfect Teeth": the band did everything from dreamy folk-rock ala Galaxie 500 to frenetic pop-punk to shoegaze on this record. They master all of these styles, the album is filled with great songs. Perhaps because the band couldn't be easily pigeonholed, no one bought it and this was their last album. To me, this album perfectly encaptulates the entire alt rock scene of the mid ninties. It's up there with "Siamese Dream" as the album that most defines that era to me. If you were a DJ at a college station in about 1994, you owned and loved this album. It's a time capsule.
It took me a long time to find a used copy of this album that wasn't $30+. Looks like prices have dropped now but I finally found one in the CD Exchange store in Towson (just outside of Baltimore).
<hr>
And my entry:
Basehead — Play with Toys (1992)
What does a hip-hop album sound like when it's recorded in a DC bedroom on a 4-track, using only live instruments?
Like this:
Absolutely one of my desert island albums.
#17
DVD Talk Legend
Re: Lost classic albums?
The title is doubly subjective in terms of what is "lost" and what is "classic", so it's a difficult topic to address.
One album that comes to mind is Space Flower by The Wild Swans.
One album that comes to mind is Space Flower by The Wild Swans.
#20
DVD Talk Legend
Re: Lost classic albums?
I have that on vinyl, the cover looks like bubble wrap with a lenticular plastic pic of that image in the middle. Couldn't find a decent enough picture of it though. I also have:
-kd5-
-kd5-
#23
DVD Talk Gold Edition
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Re: Lost classic albums?
Hell yes on MacColl. She definitely belongs in the "best singer/songwriters most people have never heard of" category. And her stuff is very catchy and accessible. Under the right circumstances, she could have been huge. Hard to pick a favorite album of hers, but Kite is very strong start to finish, with some excellent covers among the original songs.
#24
DVD Talk Hall of Fame
Thread Starter
Re: Lost classic albums?
I'd say albums that were really well received at the time and remain terrific but that no one ever seems to mention anymore.
#25
DVD Talk Ultimate Edition
Re: Lost classic albums?
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