OK, so my collection has not really been talked about. Perhaps many of you feel it is too mainstream. I approached this competition as trying to find 10 desert island discs; in other words, discs that I love which can be played over and over. I can honestly say that each time I listen to these albums, I enjoy them even more than the previous time. Perhaps the masses can be right---well, sometimes at least.

1. The Beatles: Ultimate Box Set [box set]
- Contains all of the Beatles studio albums, plus Past Masters Volume 1 and 2. Pretty much everything you would ever need or want from the Beatles (aside from the Anthology sets). The box set to End all boxsets. Includes: Please Please Me, With the Beatles, A Hard Day's Night, Beatles for Sale, Help!, Rubber Soul, Revolver, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, The White Album, Yellow Submarine, Magical Mystery Tour, Abbey Road, Let it Be, & Past Masters Volumes One & Two.


2. Guns N' Roses: Appetite for Destruction (1987)
-Allmusic rating: 5 stars
- In my opinion, one of the best, if not THE best, debut albums of all time. Pure, balls-out rock and roll. Choice cuts include: Welcome to the Jungle, It's So Easy, Mr. Brownstone, Paradise City, and of course, Sweet Child of Mine. "You know where you are? You in the jungle, baby......"


3. 2Pac: All Eyez On Me (1996)
- Allmusic rating: 5 stars
- If I remember correctly, this is the first major double-cd hip-hop album. Tupac, fresh out of jail, is so ferocious on the mic that you can feel his rage. Also announced to the world that producer Dr. Dre was still in the game. This album changed hiphop forever. Choice cuts include: Ambitionz as a Rider, Got My Mind Made Up, How Do You Want It, 2 of Amerikaz Most Wanted, I Aint Mad Atcha, Can't C Me, and California Love.


4. Wilco: Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (2002)
- Allmusic rating: 4 stars
- If you are a fan of great music, this album is for you. Somehow manages to be original/inventive and yet still pleasing to listen to you. Choice cuts include: I am Trying to Break Your Heart, Kamera, I', the Man Who Loves You.


5. Weezer: Weezer ("Blue Album") (Deluxe Edition) (1994)
- Allmusic rating: 5 stars
- I can't tell you how much I love this album. Rivers Cuomo is a brilliant songwriter, and this intelligent yet catchy songs can really rock. Choice cuts include: Buddy Holly, Undone — The Sweater Song, In the Garage, The World Has Turned and Left Me Here, and "Surf Wax America.


6. Beck: Odelay (1996)
-Allmusic rating: 5 Stars
- The album that showed the world that Beck was no novelty act, this album blurred and blended genres like few others had before. Choice cuts include: Devil's Haircut, New Pollution, and Where It's At. "I got two turntables and a microphone." Word whiteboy, word.


7. A Tribe Called Quest: The Low End Theory (1991)
- Allmusic rating: 5 stars
- "Here we go, yo, here we go, yo, so what's so what's the Scenario." As catchy and as crossover genius that Scenario was, it was the rest of the album that really put Tribe on the map across the country. Intelligent lyrics over heavy jazz-based grooves. Just a complete album, with so many nuances that you can still hear and learn new things, even 14 years later. Choice cuts: Buggin Out, Verses From the Abstract, Check the Rhyme, Jazz (We've Got) and Scenario.


8. Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds: Live at Luther College (1999)
- Allmusic rating: 4 stars
- As a late 90s college kid, it was impossible to ignore the DMB phenomenon. Which is why I used to hate the DMB phenomenon. This album changed my mind. Just Tim and Dave playing acoustic guiatars while Dave sings. Very beautiful acoustic music and really lets the songwriting shine through (and without any kind of 8 minute sax and bongo solo). One of the best live albums I have ever heard. It's just so intimate. Give it a shot, even if you don't like the Dave Matthews Band. Choice cuts inlcude: On Swet World, #41, and Say Goodbye.


9. Bob Marley: Legend (1984)
- Allmusic rating: 5 stars
- Ok, so this is a greatest hits album. No wait, it is THE greatest hits album. This really captures the essence of Marley, and the songs connect in a way that most compilation albums can only dream of. In fact, this is the only Marley album (including the original studio albums) to get the coveted "checkmark." My favorite tracks: Is this Love, No Woman, No Cry, Get Up, Stand Up, and Redemption Song.


10. Goldie: Timeless (1995)
- Allmuic rating: 5 stars
- I love drum n bass/jungle. and had a hard time choosing among my favorites. This album really shows the beauty of this genre of music. Best cuts: Timeless/Inner City Life, Saint Angel, Sea of Tears. Definitely worth a listen.




So, there you go. Please give my collection serious consideration, and even if you don't vote for me, please check out some of these albums if you are not familiar with them.

Cheers, ryu.

^^
I thought Biggie had the first double album.

Pac's album came out in a early '96, Biggie in mid-late '97. So Pac was first. I like Biggie as a lyricist as much as Pac, but Pac had better production and beats, especially when you compare the double albums of the two artists.

Wow... The first 2-disc hip hop album came out in 1996? I find that hard to believe, but cannot prove otherwise.

Let's not forget Wu-Tang Forever came out in 1997 as well.

I updated my post with an average year of my choices.

Average Year of Albums chosen: 1983.4

Just to clarify, I did get everyone's average year. Hence, we're both in "the Class of '83"...

For best-of, greatest hits albums I picked the middle year of the release dates for these songs. (So, I did not use 1987 as the year for New Order). For any box sets, I did the same. For soundtracks, I used the year of the soundtrack even if some of the recordings are older. For classical music, I used recorded date, not date of composition. If there was no middle-year, I rounded one year down.

I still find it amazing that tripwire & Hollowgen never overlapped in years picked.

Ahh... wasn't sure if you did it, or went of what people posted. Since I didn't post one originally, thats why I thought I wasn't on the player by year list.
And why I posted my own average year of album.

1. Boo Radley's: Wake Up, Boo! (1995)
2. Chemical Brothers: Dig Your Own Hole (1997)
3. DJ Shadow: Endtroducing (Deluxe Edition) (1996)
4. The Who: Tommy (Deluxe Edition: SACD) (1969)
5. Pet Shop Boys: Actually (1987)
6. Morcheeba: Big Calm (1998)
7. Yaz: Upstairs at Eric's (1982)
8. Elton John: Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (Deluxe Edition: SACD) (1973)
9. Richard Wagner: Der Ring des Nibelungen (Ring Cycle) / Conductor: Sir Georg Solti [BOX SET] (1848-1874)
10. The Muppet Movie (soundtrack) (1979)

now in regards to Richard Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen what dates are you wanting - he wrote them 1848-1874, this performance/version was recorded in 1983. The CD release date: 10/14/1997
?

For those unfamiliar with the faint you can download a few of their songs from http://www.thefaint.com/audio/

The only pick of mine that most people likely wouldn't know is Jonatha Brooke.

You can listen to her songs at Jonatha Brooke - Plumb

Click on picture/title to go to AMG.


The Doors - The Complete Studio Recordings


Miles Davis - Bitches Brew
"...Bitches Brew is, by its very nature, mercurial..."


The Smiths - The Queen is Dead
"...The Queen Is Dead is the Smiths' great leap forward, taking the band to new musical and lyrical heights..."


Sigur Rós Ágćtis Byrjun-
"...one wonders why such a tiny country as Iceland can musically outperform entire continents in just a few short minutes..."


Led Zeppelin - IV (or Zoso)
"...a monolithic record, defining not only Led Zeppelin but the sound and style of '70s hard rock..."


Tricky - Maxinquaye
"...an album of stunning sustained vision and imagination... It remains fascinating even after all of its many paths have been explored..."


Frank Sinatra - Francis Albert Sinatra & Antonio Carlos Jobim
"...a subdued, quiet album that used the Latin rhythms as a foundation, not as a focal point... ...one of his most rewarding albums..."


Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark - Dazzle Ships
"...Dazzle Ships is pop of the most fragmented kind, a concept album released in an era that had nothing to do with such conceits. On its own merits, though, it is dazzling indeed, a Kid A of its time that never received a comparative level of contemporary attention and appreciation..."


Genius/GZA - Liquid Swords
"When I was little, my father was famous, he was the greatest samurai in the empire..." [opening dialogue sampled from Lone Wolf and Cub that opens the album]


Electrelane - The Power Out
"...eerie [and] passionate..."

"Kids table." Love it.