joefrog91

The Cure - Disintegration, Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Head on the Door

The Smiths - The Queen is Dead, Louder than Bombs, The Smiths

New Order - Low-Life, Brotherhood, Technique

Depeche Mode - Black Celebration, Violator, Some Great Reward

The Beatles - Sgt Pepper, Abbey Road, Revolver

The Pixies - Doolittle, Surfa Rosa, Trompe le Monde

Bjork - Vespertine, Homogenic, Debut

Weezer - Pinkerton, Blue Album, Red Album

Erasure - The Circus, Chorus, Wild!

Pet Shop Boys - Please, Very, Introspective

pezsoup

1. Afghan Whigs Black Love, Gentlemen, 1965

2. Drive-By Truckers The Dirty South, Decoration Day, Southern Rock Opera

3. Neko Case Blacklisted, Furnace Room Lullaby, Fox Confessor Brings the Flood

4. They Might Be Giants John Henry, Flood, Lincoln

5. Social Distortion Social Distortion, Somewhere Between Heaven and Hell, White Light White Heat White Trash

6. Guided By Voices Bee Thousand, Alien Lanes, Under the Bushes Under the Stars

7. Elvis Costello My Aim is True, Blood and Chocolate, Brutal Youth

8. Slobberbone Everything You Thought Was Right Was Wrong Today, Barrel Chested, Slippage

9. Crooked Fingers Red Devil Dawn, Dignity and Shame, Crooked Fingers

10. REM Life's Rich Pagent, Automatic for the People, Document

DonTHX1378

My list:
AFI Sing the Sorrow, Black Sails in the Sunset, The Art of Drowning

Bruce Springsteen Born to Run, Nebraska, Magic

David Bowie Hunky Dory, Aladdin Sane, The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars

The Doors The Doors, Strange Days, Waiting for the Sun

Metallica Master of Puppets, Metallica, Ride the Lightning

Rancid And Out Come the Wolves, Lets Go, Life Won't Wait

Sleater-Kinney The Woods, The Hot Rock, All Hands on the Bad One

Slayer Reign in Blood, Seasons in the Abyss, Hell Awaits

Social Distortion Somewhere Between Heaven and Hell, Social Distortion, White Light White Heat White Trash

Weezer Blue Album, Green Album, Pinkerton

DrRingDing

If you wanted to make this more statistical, you could weight the albums by giving those listed first 3 points, second 2 points and last 1 point, but that would assume that everybody had posted each artist's album in their order of preference.

If people had listed their top ten artists in order too... (I'm in violation of that, as it's hard for me to put any of the below artists above the others...)

Anyhow, here's what I can think of, considering how quickly things can change. In order to figure out this list, I had to pull a list of my albums and figure out which artists had multiple albums I considered unbeatable. I realized that I have way more artists who have one or two albums that are excellent, but the rest of whose catalogue only approaches "great" (not "unbeatable") - Paul Simon's "Graceland" is an excellent album, for example, whereas I think the rest of his catalogue is great, I don't know any other albums of his by heart. All of the below I could sing along with song to song, probably.

For this reason, I'm only listing 7 artists/groups.

Beatles (---my choices are apparently unsurprising, it seems---)
1) Abbey Road
2) Revolver
3) Rubber Soul

Radiohead
1) Kid A
2) OK Computer
3) The Bends

Bob Dylan
1) Blood on the Tracks
2) Time Out of Mind
3) Highway 61 Revisited

The Slackers
1) Redlight
2) The Question
3) Wasted Days

U2
1) Rattle and Hum
2) War
3) Joshua Tree

Neil Young
1) After the Gold Rush
2) Harvest
3) Comes a Time

Led Zeppelin
1) I
2) II
3) Houses of the Holy

Red Medicine

Jawbreaker
Dear You
Bivouac
24-Hour Revenge Therapy

Fugazi
The Argument
Red Medicine
In on the Killtaker

Ted Leo and the Pharmacists
Hearts of Oak
The Tyranny of Distance
Shake the Sheets

Dillinger Four
Midwestern Songs of the Americas
Situationist Comedy
C I V I L W A R

The New Pornographers
Twin Cinema
Mass Romantic
Challengers

Hüsker Dü
Zen Arcade
Flip Your Whig
New Day Rising

Pavement
Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain
Wowee Zowee
Terror Twilight

Okkervil River
The Stage Names
Black Sheep Boy
Down the River of Golden Dreams

The Replacements
Pleased to Meet Me
Tim
Let It Be

Mission of Burma
The Obliterati
Vs.
Signals, Calls and Marches

Hokeyboy

Wow I didn't realize people were listing their choices ... I'll add everything to the spreadsheet and give a revised total in a few.

Hokeyboy

01/29/2010 - Top albums update!

#1 - 18 votes

• The Beatles Abbey Road
• The Beatles Revolver

#2 - 14 votes

• The Beatles Rubber Soul

#3 - 11 votes

• Pink Floyd Dark Side of the Moon

#4 - 8 votes

• Rolling Stones Sticky Fingers

#5 - 7 votes

• Bob Dylan Highway 61 Revisited
• Bruce Springsteen Born to Run
• Led Zeppelin Houses of the Holy
• Led Zeppelin IV
• Metallica Master of Puppets
• Pink Floyd Wish You Were Here
• The Who Who's Next

#6 - 6 votes

• Led Zeppelin III
• Led Zeppelin Physical Graffiti
• Led Zeppelin II
• Metallica Ride The Lightning
• Radiohead Kid A
• Radiohead OK Computer
• Rolling Stones Let It Bleed
• The Beatles Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band
• The Who Quadrophenia

#7 - 5.5 votes (Why do people list "ties"? C'mon take a stand already!)

• U2 The Joshua Tree

#8 - 5 votes

• Black Sabbath Black Sabbath
• Iron Maiden Number of the Beast
• Iron Maiden Powerslave
• Kiss Hotter Than Hell
• Pavement Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain
• Radiohead The Bends
• REM Life's Rich Pageant
• Rolling Stones Exile on Main Street
• Velvet Underground The Velvet Underground & Nico

#9 - 4.5 votes (blergh!)

• Pink Floyd The Wall

#10 - 4 votes

• Bob Dylan Blonde on Blonde
• Bob Dylan Blood on the Tracks
• Led Zeppelin I
• Megadeth Rust In Peace
• Neil Young After The Gold Rush
• Neil Young Harvest
• Nirvana In Utero
• Nirvana Nevermind
• Pavement Slanted and Enchanted
• Pearl Jam No Code
• Pink Floyd Piper at the Gates of Dawn
• Pink Floyd Animals
• Pink Floyd Meddle
• Pixies Doolittle
• Pixies Surfer Rosa
• REM Document
• The Beatles The Beatles (White Album)
• The Clash Give 'em Enough Rope
• The Clash London Calling
• The Who Tommy
• U2 Achtung Baby
• Velvet Underground White Light/White Heat

Hokeyboy

Here's a list of all bands/artists and the number of votes they received in total:

The Beatles - 69
Pink Floyd - 39.0
Led Zeppelin - 36
Rolling Stones - 27
Bob Dylan - 24
Bruce Springsteen - 24
The Who - 24
U2 - 24.0
Kiss - 21
REM - 21
Metallica - 18
Radiohead - 18
Iron Maiden - 18
Black Sabbath - 15
Pavement - 15
Velvet Underground - 15
Pearl Jam - 15
Queen - 15
Megadeth - 12
Nirvana - 12
Pixies - 12
The Clash - 12
AC/DC - 12
Alice Cooper - 12
Billy Joel - 12
Rush - 12
Sonic Youth - 12
The Smiths - 12
Elvis Costello - 12
Neil Young - 12
Depeche Mode - 9
DreamTheater - 9
Flaming Lips - 9
Jimi Hendrix - 9
Pet Shop Boys - 9
Replacements - 9
Social Distortion - 9
Talking Heads - 9
The Cure - 9
Type O Negative - 9
Van Halen - 9
Weezer - 9
White Stripes - 9
David Bowie - 9
Miles Davis - 9
Opeth - 9
Phish - 9
Prince - 9
They Might Be Giants - 9
The Police - 8
Sting - 7
Aimee Mann - 6
Beck - 6
Belle and Sebastian - 6
Boston - 6
Brian Eno - 6
Deep Purple - 6
Genesis - 6
Guided By Voices - 6
Guns N Roses - 6.0
Motley Crue - 6
Neko Case - 6
Nightwish - 6
Nine Inch Nails - 6
Oasis - 6
Okkervil River - 6
Queensryche - 6
Rancid - 6
Seal - 6
Sleater-Kinney - 6
Smashing Pumpkins - 6
The Band - 6
The Killers - 6
The Orb - 6
Tom Petty - 6
Tom Waits - 6
The Kinks - 6
H.I.M. - 5
Arcade Fire - 4
10,000 Maniacs - 3
Abba - 3
Aerosmith - 3
Afghan Whigs - 3
AFI - 3
a-Ha - 3
All - 3
Allman Brothers Band - 3
Animal Collective - 3
Antonio Carlos Jobim - 3
Athlete - 3
Bad Company - 3
Beastie Boys - 3
Big Country - 3
BiKiNi KiLL - 3
Bill Evans - 3
Blind Melon - 3
Blue Oyster Cult - 3
Bob Marley and the Wailers - 3
Bob Seger - 3
Bobby Fuller - 3
Bon Jovi - 3
Bruce Cockburn - 3
Bruce Hornsby - 3
Byrds - 3
Cat Stevens - 3
Cheap Trick - 3
Cocteau Twins - 3
Coheed & Cambria - 3
Concrete Blonde - 3
Corey Hart - 3
Corrosion of Conformity - 3
Crooked Fingers - 3
Curt Boettcher - 3
Danzig - 3
Decemberists - 3
Dillinger Four - 3
Dio - 3
Disturbed - 3
Donna Summer - 3
Drive-By Truckers - 3
Easybeats - 3
Eliza Carthy - 3
ELO - 3
Elton John - 3
Erasure - 3
Extreme - 3
Failure - 3
Fear Factory - 3
Fleetwood Mac - 3
Foo Fighters - 3
Frank Zappa - 3
Franz Ferdinand - 3
Front Line Assembly - 3
Fugazi - 3
George Harrison - 3
George Lynch - 3
Godsmack - 3
Grateful Dead - 3
Green Day - 3
Grover Washington Jr - 3
GusGus - 3
Helmet - 3
His Name Is Alive - 3
Hollies - 3
Humble Pie - 3
Hüsker Dü - 3
Idlewild - 3
INXS - 3
Jackson Browne - 3
Japan - 3
Jawbreaker - 3
Jethro Tull - 3
Joe Sample - 3
John Cale - 3
John Coltrane - 3
John Forte - 3
Journey - 3
Judas Priest - 3
Kansas - 3
Killing Joke - 3
King Crimson - 3
Kings Of Leon - 3
Lacuna Coil - 3
Lewis Taylor - 3
Lightning Seeds - 3
Liz Phair - 3
Loreena McKennitt - 3
Luke Haines - 3
Madonna - 3
Manic Street Preachers - 3
Marillion - 3
Marvin Gaye - 3
Mastodon - 3
Michael Jackson - 3
Michael McDermott - 3
Mission of Burma - 3
Mott The Hoople - 3
Muse - 3
My Morning Jacket - 3
Nada Surf - 3
Neal Morse - 3
New Order - 3
Old 97's - 3
Orbital - 3
Patti Smith Group - 3
Porcupine Tree - 3
Portishead - 3
Pretty Things - 3
Rammstein - 3
Randy Newman - 3
Richard Thompson - 3
Rise Against - 3
Rob Zombie - 3
Rollins Band - 3
Savoy Brown - 3
Scorpions - 3
Shadows Fall - 3
Shakira - 3
Simple Minds - 3
Siouxsie & the Banshees - 3
Slayer - 3
Slobberbone - 3
Sly & The Family Stone - 3
Soundgarden - 3
Spock's Beard - 3
Spoon - 3
Squeeze - 3
Stan Ridgway - 3
Sterolab - 3
Steve Vai - 3
Stevie Wonder - 3
Strange Advance - 3
Super Furry Animals - 3
Ted Leo & The Pharmacists - 3
Ten Years After - 3
Tesla - 3
Testament - 3
The 69 Eyes - 3
The Avett Brothers - 3
The Beach Boys - 3
The Corrs - 3
The Dave Brubeck Quartet - 3
The Doors - 3
The Eagles - 3
The Gathering - 3
The Gossip - 3
The Hold Steady - 3
The Hooters - 3
The Jam - 3
The Jayhawks - 3
The Jesus and Mary Chain - 3
The Kaiser Chiefs - 3
The Mars Volta - 3
The National - 3
The New Pornographers - 3
The Polyphonic Spree - 3
The Posies - 3
The Ramones - 3
The Slackers - 3
Thievery Corporation - 3
Tindersticks - 3
Tom Cochrane - 3
Tori Amos - 3
Transatlantic - 3
UFO - 3
Ulver - 3
Umphrey's McGee - 3
Underworld - 3
Vangelis - 3
Ween - 3
Weird Al Yankovic - 3
Whitesnake - 3
Wolfgang Press - 3
Wolves in the Throne Room - 3
Wu Tang Clan - 3
X - 3
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - 3
ZZ Top - 3
Bobby Lyle - 2
Irene Kral - 2
Mos Def - 2
Mountain - 2
Sex Pistols - 2
Sugarland - 2

monkey7247

Great thread, finally forced me to pick up some Radiohead.

Hokeyboy

By extraction, this list can be inferred as the favorite bands as voted by us:

1. The Beatles - 69

2. Pink Floyd - 39

3. Led Zeppelin - 36

4. Rolling Stones - 27

5.
Bob Dylan - 24
Bruce Springsteen - 24
The Who - 24
U2 - 24

6.
Kiss - 21
REM - 21

7.
Metallica - 18
Radiohead - 18
Iron Maiden - 18

8.
Black Sabbath - 15
Pavement - 15
Velvet Underground - 15
Pearl Jam - 15
Queen - 15

9.
Megadeth - 12
Nirvana - 12
Pixies - 12
The Clash - 12
AC/DC - 12
Alice Cooper - 12
Billy Joel - 12
Rush - 12
Sonic Youth - 12
The Smiths - 12
Elvis Costello - 12
Neil Young - 12

Binger

Metallica

1. Ride the Lightning
2. Master of Puppets
3. ...And Justice For All

Guns N' Roses

1. Appetite For Destruction
2. Use Your Illusion I
3. Use Your Illusion II

Iron Maiden

1. The Number of the Beast
2. Powerslave
3. Piece of Mind

Pink Floyd

1. Dark Side of the Moon
2. The Wall
3. Wish You Were Here

Rolling Stones

1. Sticky Fingers
2. Let It Bleed
3. Beggar's Banquet

The Connells

1. Boylan Heights
2. Fun & Games
3. Ring

Megadeth

1. Peace Sells...But Who's Buying?
2. Rust in Peace
3. Countdown to Extinction

U2

1. The Joshua Tree
2. War
3. Rattle and Hum

Billy Joel

1. Piano Man
2. The Stranger
3. An Innocent Man

The Doors

1. The Doors
2. L.A. Woman
3. Strange Days

Fist of Doom

RagingBull80

I might as well join in on the fun.

These are really in no order.

Brian Eno
Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy)
Here Come the Warm Jets
Another Green World

The Beatles
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
The Beatles
Revolver

Jethro Tull
Thick as a Brick
Aqualung
Stand-Up

Pixies
Surfer Rosa
Come on Pilgrim
Doolittle

David Bowie
Low
Hunky Dory
Ziggy Stardust

The Velvet Underground
The Velvet Underground & Nico
White Light/White Heat
The Velvet Underground

John Cale
Fear
Slow Dazzle
Paris 1919

Kraftwerk
Autobahn
Radio - Activity
Trans Europe Express

Joy Division
Unknown Pleasures
Closer
Still

Pink Floyd
Dark Side of the Moon
Meddle
The Piper at the Gates of Dawn

Robot Rock

Sleater-Kinney
The Hot Rock
The Woods
Dig Me Out

Queens of the Stone Age
Queens of the Stone Age
Songs for the Deaf
Era Vulgaris

Dinosaur Jr
You're Living All Over Me
Green Mind
Bug

The Minutemen
The Punch Line
Double Nickels on the Dime
Buzz or Howl Under the Influence of Heat

Sonic Youth
Sister
Daydream Nation
Murray Street

Michael Jackson
Off the Wall
Thriller
HIStory

Creedence Clearwater Revival
Willy and the Poor Boys
Cosmo's Factory
Green River

Ween
The Mollusk
White Pepper
Chocolate and Cheese

Neil Young
Rust Never Sleeps
Zuma
Harvest

Melvins
Bullhead
Stoner Witch
Gluey Porch Treatments

Jaymole

I would love to contribute, but it is awfully hard coming up with a list based on the rules. Now if it was "name your 30 favorite albums", then it would be much easier. Some of my favorite albums may not necessarily be from one of my 10 favorite bands...not that I can even figure out which 10 artists those are.

Hokeyboy

But we're not asking for your 30 favorite albums. We're asking for your top 3 albums by your top 10 favorite bands/artists. Subtle difference, but it's not rocket science We've had 1542 votes so far! And if you cant figure out your 10 favorites, just pick any 10 of your favorites and go from there. We're easy...

yoshimi

Bob Dylan- Highway 61 Revisited, Blonde On Blonde, Bringing It All Back Home

The Beatles- The White Album, Abbey Road, Revolver

The Flaming Lips - Embryonic, In A Priest Driven Ambulance, Clouds Taste Metallic

Iron Maiden -Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son, Somewhere In Time, Powerslave

Alice Cooper - Love it To Death, Killer, Billion Dollar Babies

Black Sabbath - Master Of Reality, Sabotage, Sabbath Bloody Sabbath

Metallica - Ride The Lightning, Master Of Puppets, Kill Em All

Johnny Cash- American Recording, Folsom Prison, San Quintin

Miles Davis- Bitches Brew, In A Silent Way, Tribute To Jack Johnson

Radiohead - Ok Computer, Amnesiac, Kid A

Mordred

Cool thread idea.

Led Zeppelin: IV, III, Physical Graffiti
Metallica: Master of Puppets, Ride the Lightning, ...and Justice for All
UFO: Lights Out, Obsession, Strangers in the Night
Opeth: Blackwater Park, Still Life, Ghost Reveries
Old 97's: Too Far to Care, Fight Songs, Drag It Up
Testament: Practice What You Preach, The New Order, Souls of Black
Stevie Ray Vaughan: The Sky is Crying, Texas Flood, Couldn't Stand the Weather
Scorpions: Lovedrive, Love at First Sting, Face the Heat
Savatage: Hall of the Mountain King, Gutter Ballet, The Wake of Magellan
Yngwie Malmsteen: Rising Force, Trilogy, The Seventh Sign

Jaymole

I understand that, but for some reason it is very hard for me. A favorite album list would be much easier.

Although I can't say these are my 10 favorite bands, this is the best I can do:

The Beatles
Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
Magical Mysterry Tour
Revolver

The Stone Roses
The Stone Roses

The Jam
All Mod Cons
Setting Sons
Sound Affects

Sleater Kinney
The Hot Rock
One Beat
The Woods

The Clash
London Calling
The Clash
Sandinista!

The Smiths
The Queen is Dead
The Smiths
Strangeways, Here We Come

The Libertines
Up the Bracket
The Libertines

Prima Scream
Vanishing Point
XTRMNTR
Screamadelica

XTC
Skylarking
Black Sea
Drums & Wires

The Rakes
Capture/Release
Klang
Ten New Messages

redhenry

ABBA: A rrival, ABBA, Super Trouper
Erasure: Cowboy, Nightbird,I Say I Say I Say
ABC: Lexicon Of Love, Alphabet City, Traffic
Beatles: Abbey Rd, The Beatles, Rubber Soul
Chris Rea: Shamrock Diaries, The Road To Hell, On The Beach
Chris De Burgh: The Getaway, Into The Light, Spanish Train
RIchard Clapton; Glory Road, Prussian Blue, Distant Thunder
Fleetwood Mac: Rumours, Fleetwood Mac, Tango in the Night
Pink Floyd; The Wall, Wish You Were Here, Momentary Lapse of Reason
Morrissey/Smiths: The Queen is Dead, Bona Drag, Vauxhall and I

NORML54601

Artists in no particular order:

The Beatles - Help, Rubber Soul, With the Beatles
Colin Hay - Topanga, Wayfaring Sons, Going Somewhere
Elliott Smith - XO, From a Basement on the Hill, Either/Or
Pink Floyd - Piper at the Gates of Dawn, Wish You Were Here, A Momentary Lapse of Reason
Jethro Tull - Songs From the Wood, Aqualung, Thick as a Brick
Bob Dylan - Blood on the Tracks, Highway 61 Revisited, Time out of Mind
Bonnie 'Prince' Billy - Ease Down the Road, I See A Darkness, Agnes, Queen of Sorrow (EP)
Ryan Adams - Love is Hell part 2 (EP), Heartbreaker, Gold
Tom Waits - Closing Time, Rain Dogs, VH1 Storytellers
Ani DiFranco - Dilate, Little Plastic Castle, Knuckle Down

funstan

Elvis Costello-This Year's Model, Armed Forces, Get Happy
U2-Achtung Baby, The Joshua Tree, How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb
The Replacements-Tim, Let it Be, Pleased to Meet Me
X-Wild Gift, Los Angeles, Poor Little Critter on the Road (Technically the Knitters)
R.E.M.-Murmur, Life's Rich Pageant, Document
The Beatles-Revolver, The White Album, Sgt. Pepper
The Ramones-The Ramones, Rocket to Russia, Leave Home
Husker Du-New Day Rising, Warehouse: Songs and Stories, Zen Arcade
The Pogues-Rum, Sodomy, and the Lash, If I Should Fall From the Grace of God, Peace and Love
Los Lobos-By the Light of the Moon, Will the Wolf Survive, The Town and the City