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Ten Most Important Albums in Rock History by watchmojo.com


wvu80

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I'm not an "Elvis" guy, but shouldn't the King of Rock n' Roll have an album somewhere that influenced the generation of rock which was to come?

I don’t know, maybe the "B" movie industry as I seem to think of Elvis more in the context of Viva Las Vegas; Blue Hawaii; Girls! Girls! Girls!; Paradise Hawaiian Style; The Trouble with Girls; G.I. Blues; among many other movies …….

His first LP, Elvis by RCA was all covers, like Carl Perkins' Blue Swede Shoes, Little Richard, etc. I don't know that his music influenced anyone musically. It obviously influenced his fans immensely.

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One of my all time favorite groups, along with Marshal Tucker, Outlaws. Molly H, CDB, Wet Willie, ABB.

Many might ont agree with me on this. I see the progression as first Country Rock,

Sir Douglas Quinter, the Byrds with Gram Parsons, Gram with Mick and Keef on Exile, Flying Burrito Brothers. From there you have both ZZ Top come out in 69, and CCR had many southern,swamp rock songs. From there LS evolves, ADD band goes from R&B to blues jam band to southern rock.

Mojo lists them very high in their main book, but I am guessing not to influential.

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NO, It seems like the list is aimed towards the MTV crowd

Mark

Perhaps... It could also be that they want more hits and were being provocative to get them.

Never mind.... It was (partially) a popularity contest of subscribers at watchmojo.com

Dv9fiZy.jpg

http://watchmojo.com/suggest/Top+10+Most+Important+Albums+in+Rock+History

I don't think it much matters that the list is from their web pape members, it is a great list to start with and get the discussion rolling. After me beat this list to death we can post another one done by music critics and musicians like the Rolling Stone lists. They provide explorations as to why they are where they are and I think woukd require more thought and reflection as to one something is not in the top ten, etc.

I hope we can continue with the great thoughts I have already seen in here to seenwhere it takes us, and try a new list. I prefer this type of discussion over any other here, except in the few rare instances that I can provide some advice or help to another member.

Travis

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"It seems that any of the below could be inserted somewhere in the list above....."

I agree, but you have to keep it to ten, what are you going to cut and why?

"Deep Purple – Machine Head was one of those albums that were instrumental in laying the foundation for heavy metal." I woild agree on this and cut the Black Sabbath, the Zeppelin stays."

"Pearl Jam – Ten was the original grunge album before it caught on and has spawned classics still getting radio time today." I don't know enough about who influenced who in this sub-genre, so I would defer and cut Nirvana."

"Michael Jackson - Thriller as it must have spawned something?" I would say tons, but he is Pop, not rock, and so I have chosen to block out music that is not clearly rock, so this a Brubeck, although one of my favorites, i will save when we do a jazz list.

ÑThe Ramones - The Ramones had to be the fathers of punk rock." Also a favorite, Rocket to Russia. However, my personal understanding of how punk got to be is by listening to Garage in the 60s like the Seeds, then MC5, and then, the real inventers of US punk, the Stooges/Iggy Pop. From there you get the Ramines, Patty Smith, X, LA, Dead Kennedys, and beyond.

"The Rolling Stones - Exile On Main Street that paired the great Keith Richards on his five-string rhythm guitar and the blues sound of Mick Taylor." I agree 100%

Dave Brubeck - Take Five is probably what brought Jazz into the mainstream.

Grateful Dead - Live-Dead showed us how music could be created on stage rather than in the studio. A tough one, they certainly spun off a lot current bands at the Time, New Ryders, International Submarine, and beyond. Are they a top ten?

The Doors - The Doors debut album sure was a hypnotic experience with front man Jim Morrison. My favorite band of all time. Did they influence anyone? Not what people listened to, everbody listened to them, what where you can hear them in the music, or even songing style?

Great comments you have, and manny, manny things to think about.

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His first LP, Elvis by RCA was all covers, like Carl Perkins' Blue Swede Shoes, Little Richard, etc. I don't know that his music influenced anyone musically. It obviously influenced his fans immensely.

 

I think you hit the nail on the head.  Elvis as "the king of R&R" had some hits and he was popular with fans, but I can't think of any of his albums that were groundbreaking.

+++

 

I'm not sure which group I would pick, but album ART was also raised almost to cult-like admiration in the 70's.  Earth Wind and Fire comes to mind for sheer greatness, but there were many others that copied each other in trying to out-do the others. 

 

I wonder who was the first, or at least, the most influential?

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"It seems that any of the below could be inserted somewhere in the list above....."

I agree, but you have to keep it to ten, what are you going to cut and why?

"Deep Purple – Machine Head was one of those albums that were instrumental in laying the foundation for heavy metal." I woild agree on this and cut the Black Sabbath, the Zeppelin stays."

"Pearl Jam – Ten was the original grunge album before it caught on and has spawned classics still getting radio time today." I don't know enough about who influenced who in this sub-genre, so I would defer and cut Nirvana."

"Michael Jackson - Thriller as it must have spawned something?" I would say tons, but he is Pop, not rock, and so I have chosen to block out music that is not clearly rock, so this a Brubeck, although one of my favorites, i will save when we do a jazz list.

ÑThe Ramones - The Ramones had to be the fathers of punk rock." Also a favorite, Rocket to Russia. However, my personal understanding of how punk got to be is by listening to Garage in the 60s like the Seeds, then MC5, and then, the real inventers of US punk, the Stooges/Iggy Pop. From there you get the Ramines, Patty Smith, X, LA, Dead Kennedys, and beyond.

"The Rolling Stones - Exile On Main Street that paired the great Keith Richards on his five-string rhythm guitar and the blues sound of Mick Taylor." I agree 100%

Dave Brubeck - Take Five is probably what brought Jazz into the mainstream.

Grateful Dead - Live-Dead showed us how music could be created on stage rather than in the studio. A tough one, they certainly spun off a lot current bands at the Time, New Ryders, International Submarine, and beyond. Are they a top ten?

The Doors - The Doors debut album sure was a hypnotic experience with front man Jim Morrison. My favorite band of all time. Did they influence anyone? Not what people listened to, everbody listened to them, what where you can hear them in the music, or even songing style?

Great comments you have, and manny, manny things to think about.

 

 

 

I probably need to be retired to put the proper thought into a list as I do not have the time to balance it with my day job right now, but like the thread and the direction it got me thinking.  However, at this point it is more of a “brain storming” exercise for me, which is why I felt I should at least hit a few immediate highlights of “why” I was posting about a certain band and the album.  Agreed that Michael Jackson never really ventured into rock & roll in my mind either and threw it out there more for the practically universal recognition.  I went back and forth in my mind on the Dave Brubeck post and was probably thinking more from the mix of what seemed to be aspects of folk music infused with the jazz and agree not a top ten all time influential. 

 

While I believe I could make few replacements right now from my initial thoughts, I’m not sure I’m to the point of just “replacing” entries to the original list and claiming “most influential.”  For me to focus on a top ten of all time I would probably want to focus on each decade first (possibly the 1960’s through 2000’s).  Although, I did have a few direct edits to replace albums of the same band in the original list that Mustang guy posted with a few thoughts to why I felt they may be more groundbreaking.

 

For example, I don’t necessarily disagree with the Stooges replacing the Ramones on my list; however, if I take a step back, I believe that the groundbreaking album and band that spawned the likes of Iggy Pop, the Stooges, David Bowie, Patti Smith, to R.E.M., among a host of others; was the “omitted from the original list under discussion” Velvet Underground & Nico with those edgy Lou Reed lyrics about sex and drugs that had previously been essentially taboo and of course, John Cale.

 

Regarding the Beatles, I’m probably more in line with Thebes in the respect that I look at the Beatles as more of a Pop band and they most likely would not make my final list.   However, I would probably give Rubber Soul some consideration for the “groundbreaking” aspect as it was probably a shift for them to move to lyrics that question aspects of the human condition in an album-length format rather than their Pop singles of eternal optimism.  There again, I’m not necessarily suggesting that they started the trend to make it groundbreaking of all time, but it had groundbreaking aspects.

 

In one more example, if I had a list for the 1980s decade, I do not believe it would be complete without naming Guns N’ Roses album Appetite for Destruction.  To me it seemed so influential in establishing a vision of hard rock that it was somewhat like the reincarnation of the hard rock I grew up listening to that had seemed to have long gone by the wayside.  However, for an all-time influential list, I’m not so sure.

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I think the, maybe, the only way you could classify Michael Jackson's Thriller as rock would be that Eddie Van Halen played on "Beat It".

 

No Jeff Beck?

 

Dire Straits - Brothers in Arms (even Chet Atkins was envious of Mark Knopfler) ?

 

Elton John's "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road"?

 

Kansas "Leftoverture"?

 

The Moody Blues "This is The Moody Blues"? (I know....it's a "Best Of" album)

 

Alan Parsons Project "I Robot"?.......(maybe too closely tied to Pink Floyd)

 

Santana (take your pick)...A massive introduction to "south of the border" rock.

 

Styx "The Grand Illusion" heard more than one car stereo with this cranked in the early 80's.

 

Wings "Venus & Mars" love em' or hate em',

 

Yes "Fragile"?

 

Edited by Mighty Favog
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Better just redefine this at the top 100 with all of them being tied @ # 1.  There's Moondance - Van Morrison.  Nilsson Schmillson - Hendrix - Cream - Moody Blues - Pink Floyd - The Band - INXS - All Of Motown - etc... so on - ad infinitum

 

It is not a top ten list - it is a cornucopia of delight.

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Agreed, there sure is a lot of great music and great musicians over the years; however, what aspects do you consider that make them groundbreaking and influential? 

 

Dwilawyer highlighted several very relevant points I had not considered in some of my musings and I've altered my list. Overall, I'm not sure that critical acclaim and popular with a large fan base alone would get them on my list. 

 

 

 

I think the, maybe, the only way you could classify Michael Jackson's Thriller as rock would be that Eddie Van Halen played on "Beat It".

 

No Jeff Beck?

 

Dire Straits - Brothers in Arms (even Chet Atkins was envious of Mark Knopfler) ?

 

Elton John's "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road"?

 

Kansas "Leftoverture"?

 

The Moody Blues "This is The Moody Blues"? (I know....it's a "Best Of" album)

 

Alan Parsons Project "I Robot"?.......(maybe too closely tied to Pink Floyd)

 

Santana (take your pick)...A massive introduction to "south of the border" rock.

 

Styx "The Grand Illusion" heard more than one car stereo with this cranked in the early 80's.

 

Wings "Venus & Mars" love em' or hate em',

 

Yes "Fragile"?

 

 

Better just redefine this at the top 100 with all of them being tied @ # 1.  There's Moondance - Van Morrison.  Nilsson Schmillson - Hendrix - Cream - Moody Blues - Pink Floyd - The Band - INXS - All Of Motown - etc... so on - ad infinitum

 

It is not a top ten list - it is a cornucopia of delight.

 

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One of my all time favorite groups, along with Marshal Tucker, Outlaws. Molly H, CDB, Wet Willie, ABB.

Many might ont agree with me on this. I see the progression as first Country Rock,

Sir Douglas Quinter, the Byrds with Gram Parsons, Gram with Mick and Keef on Exile, Flying Burrito Brothers. From there you have both ZZ Top come out in 69, and CCR had many southern,swamp rock songs. From there LS evolves, ADD band goes from R&B to blues jam band to southern rock.

Mojo lists them very high in their main book, but I am guessing not to influential.

 

Good points. Another ex-Byrd whose work influenced many others was Gene Clark. (Dillard & Clark). Bernie Leadon worked with Clark before he became an Eagle. Chris Hillman was important and Roger McGuinn too. Some argue they made the Eagles possible or at least paved the way for them. Their work has been described as fusing folk, country, etc

 

Somewhere in this mix there has to be room for Chuck Berry. He certainly influenced the Beatles, the Stones (see the video 'Hail, Hail Rock 'n Roll') and many others.  Fats Domino has a place in all of this too, imo.

 

I realize that not all of these guys made popular albums (and to that extent I may be getting off topic a little)  but it's easy to confuse what was popular and what was influential and 'important.' Sometimes it's not the same thing.

 

Cheers.

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You guys are starting to dig too deep into obscurity.  If you're going to do that, you might as well throw in Aldo Nova.

 

 

Didn't he do that song "the internet is just a fantasy"?   I know, "life" but for some there is no difference. :o

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One of my all time favorite groups, along with Marshal Tucker, Outlaws. Molly H, CDB, Wet Willie, ABB.

Many might ont agree with me on this. I see the progression as first Country Rock,

Sir Douglas Quinter, the Byrds with Gram Parsons, Gram with Mick and Keef on Exile, Flying Burrito Brothers. From there you have both ZZ Top come out in 69, and CCR had many southern,swamp rock songs. From there LS evolves, ADD band goes from R&B to blues jam band to southern rock.

Mojo lists them very high in their main book, but I am guessing not to influential.

 

Good points. Another ex-Byrd whose work influenced many others was Gene Clark. (Dillard & Clark). Bernie Leadon worked with Clark before he became an Eagle. Chris Hillman was important and Roger McGuinn too. Some argue they made the Eagles possible or at least paved the way for them. Their work has been described as fusing folk, country, etc

 

 

But do you think Glenn Fry and especially Don Henley would actually admit to that? I mean, granted those two (said) they came up with some great music. But they usually claimed it as their own when someone else in the band initially wrote it seeing that band member was little more than an "employee".

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Regarding the Beatles, I’m probably more in line with Thebes in the respect that I look at the Beatles as more of a Pop band and they most likely would not make my final list.

 

The Beatles makes everybody's list of top Rock Bands (usually top 3 everywhere).  Like every band they cross over into other categories, so the Beatles could be in any list including classic rock, pop, and pop rock,  

 

Interestingly, in this list of Top 50 Rock bands of All Time, the Beatles are #2 (Elvis is #1) and the Beach Boys didn't even make the list.

Edited by wvu80
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Regarding the Beatles, I’m probably more in line with Thebes in the respect that I look at the Beatles as more of a Pop band and they most likely would not make my final list.

 

The Beatles makes everybody's list of top Rock Bands (usually top 3 everywhere).  Like every band they cross over into other categories, so the Beatles could be in any list including classic rock, pop, and pop rock,  

 

Interestingly, in this list of Top 50 Rock bands of All Time, the Beatles are #2 (Elvis is #1) and the Beach Boys didn't even make the list.

 

 

 

 

Well there you have it.  It's on an internet poll so it must be true; however, you know what they say about polls………. :rolleyes:

 

Let's think about this some more and see if we can break any new ground regarding groundbreaking and influential rock & roll albums.

 

First, we have already covered how Elvis was only a B-movie star and star of a cover band without much in the way of groundbreaking, influential album oriented rock & roll; therefore, I discard those polls you reference.

 

Second, I suspect that none of them have read the musings of legendary music critic and leading authority on the Beatles, Thebes, regarding the real low-down on the Beatles as he sees it.  I discard those polls based on this educational thread on the topic of the Beatles.

 

https://community.klipsch.com/index.php?/topic/147347-the-three-things-that-suck-most-about-the-beatles/

 

Third, while yes, I do listen to the Beach Boys from time to time, my listening is more from the stand point of reminding myself of my teenage adolescent years.  Groundbreaking and influential, maybe to the known Beach Boy fan boy, Paul McCartney, but they probably will not make my final list either.  There again, I disregard the polls referenced. :ohmy: 

Edited by Fjd
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Well there you have it. It's on an internet poll so it must be true; however, you know what they say about polls………. :rolleyes:

 

No, it's on 50 internet polls.  :P

 

Look, I am in the minority on many things, won't ya let me be in on a majority opinion just this once?  :lol:

+++

 

Not that it matters Department:  I was around when the Beatles first started.  They were the rock and roll band, not because of any poll, but because I remember.  ;)

 

And I do want to discuss the Beach Boys, in particular Pet Sounds.  Maybe later.  :emotion-21:

Edited by wvu80
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Well there you have it. It's on an internet poll so it must be true; however, you know what they say about polls………. :rolleyes:

 

No, it's on 50 internet polls.  :P

 

Look, I am in the minority on many things, won't ya let me be in on a majority opinion just this once?  :lol:

 

 

 

If I let you off that easy you know that dwilawyer would be the next hurdle.  Jeff Matthews said it best in that "we are starting to dig too deep into obscurity" and I guess that what happens when you have an attorney on one side of you and someone that has done time as a forensic white collar fraud investigator on the other side. :wacko:

Edited by Fjd
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Well there you have it. It's on an internet poll so it must be true; however, you know what they say about polls………. :rolleyes:

 

No, it's on 50 internet polls.  :P

 

Look, I am in the minority on many things, won't ya let me be in on a majority opinion just this once?  :lol:

 

 

 

If I let you off that easy you know that dwilawyer would be the next hurdle.  Jeff Matthews said it best in that "we are starting to dig too deep into obscurity" and I guess that what happens when you have an attorney on one side of you and someone that has done time as a forensic white collar fraud investigator on the other side. :wacko:

 

 

Well, not so fast.  I wouldn't call the Beatles or the Beach Boys "obscure."  At 47, I am the youngest of 5 children.  My older siblings went through the Beatles transition.  I would say the Beatles most definitely have to make that list.  I personally like Abbey Road the best, but Sgt Pepper's was the big one.

 

Nobody mentioned Who's Next.  Another huge one.

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