Greatest Rock Album of ALL Time

[reorx24]

Well, according to VH1's list of the 100 greatest Rock and Roll Albums, that honor belong to Revolver by the Beatles (www.vh1.com/shows/dyn/the_greatest/62193/episode.jhtml)

Q Magazine offered a number of similar lists, on various dates, and in 1997, the reader-voted greatest album was OK Computer by Radiohead, but when the poll was redone in 2003, the honor this time went to Nevermind by Nirvana. (http://www.rocklist.net/q100.html)

Ive seen other such "definitive" lists vote on the greatest rock album, and the above albums, as well as Exile on Main Street, Blonde on Blonde, Pet Sounds and other masterpieces all take top honors on different occasions.

There are various criteria, including its influence in rock history and music in general, its timelessness, its impact on initial release, and of course, just how much it rocks. Based on the first criteria alone, I'd have to rule out OK Computer (Although I LOVE that album to death) and go with the more groundbreaking albums.

IMHO, its a toss up between Revolver and Abbey Road, but I'd give it to Revolver because it marked the amazing transformation of the fab four from 60's boy band to immortal rock geniuses.

just my two cents.

What's your vote?

[povvy]

Classic? Pink Floyd's "Animals"
Current? Tool's "?nima"

Patrick.

[zerock]

smashing pumpkins - mellon collie and the infinite sadness, i wouldnt say the greatest, but its up there.

[Timmy Yak]

Metallica - Black Album of course.

[stonersmurf22]

Ok this album might not have been the most influential, but Disturbed's The Sickness was definetely the greatest album ever. I heard some of the songs while at a friends house a year or two ago, and I had to get the album. Although I've bought many cd's since then, I still always find myself going back to Disturbed, and having listened to the entire album at least 7000 times, I would have to say that I still love it and it NEVER gets old!

[TheSunTheSea]

Originally posted by stonersmurf22
Ok this album might not have been the most influential, but Disturbed's The Sickness was definetely the greatest album ever. I heard some of the songs while at a friends house a year or two ago, and I had to get the album. Although I've bought many cd's since then, I still always find myself going back to Disturbed, and having listened to the entire album at least 7000 times, I would have to say that I still love it and it NEVER gets old!


HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

[Timmy Yak]

TSTS, please do not laugh at stonersmurf. He is only basing his opinion on what he thinks is the best album. Now would you like it if someone laughed at your choice? I didn't think so. ;)

[stonersmurf22]

YA! Juzt cuz iem frum south dukotu dus not maek mee sum stuepud hik!

[Timmy Yak]

LOL!!!:D :D

[TheSunTheSea]

Sorry mate, I didn't mean to sound demeaning, but anyone with a BROAD taste in music will tell you that there are 100s of better rock bands than Disturbed

[stonersmurf22]

Hey I listen to a broad range of music! As I write this, I just got done listening to TATU! Which is a russian duet of lesbians! But the music is actually good! Not as good as Disturbed, but NOTHINg is THAT good... And I also listen to lots of other rock music, and i have found that nothing comes close... And that includes alot of the old music im forced to listened too... NOTHING beats Disturbed, thats all im tryin say!

[NiTRO]

Ok. I think I might be able to name a few albums, which, IMHO are better than anything that Disturbed has ever put out... ;)

Pixies - Doolittle
The Replacements - Let it Be
The Cult - Love
The Beatles - The White Album
Depeche Mode - Black Celebration
Metallica - Black Album
Prince - Sign 'O' the Times
Johnny Marr + The Healers - Boomslang
The Smiths - Hatful of Hollow
Curve - Doppelganger
Queens of the Stone Age - Songs for the Deaf
The The - Dusk
Red Hot Chili Peppers - Blood, Sugar, Sex, Magik
Led Zeppelin - II
Smashing Pumpkins - Gish
Sonic Youth - Goo
Soundgarden - Badmotorfinger
Nirvana- Nevermind
Candlebox - Lucy
Pearl Jam - 10
Alice in Chains - Dirt
Mad Season - Above
Stone Roses - Second Coming
Sublime - 40oz to Freedom
Swervedrive - Ejector Seat Reservation
The Verve - A Northern Soul
Afgan Whigs - 1965
Aimee Mann - Bachelor Number 2
Beck - Sea Change
Flaming Lips - The Soft Bulletin
Bob Marley - Legand
Chris Issac - Forever Blue
Coldplay - A Rush of Blood...
Ice Cube - Death Certificate
Dr. Dre - The Chronic
The English Beat - I Just Can't Stop It
Foo Fighters - The Colour and the Shape
Guns N' Roses - Appetite for Destruction
Interpol - Turn on the Bright Lights
Tori Amos - Under the Pink
Iggy & the Stooges - Raw Power
Nebula - Charged
Jane's Addiction - Nothing's Shocking
The White Stripes - Elephant
New Order - Power, Corruption & Lies
Pink Floyd - The Wall
Poe - Haunted
AC/DC - Back in Black


I guess I could go on forever...

Stonersmurf I do respect your opinion but far from agree with it and I had to weigh in here with some other options from many different generes all of which would be a better choice than Disturbed. This is what these forums are all about, sharing experience and opinions so please don't be offended. At the same time please feel free to check out any one of these albums because while I find TATU entertaining from the "make out" point of view, I would say that Disturbed is much better than they are. :D

[Timmy Yak]

Nitro, you do have some good ones on there, but there are some that won't beat Disturbed's second album, Believe. Sorry no offense, but Tori Amos and Sonic Youth? :eek:

[pingin]

Originally posted by Timmy Yak
Nitro, you do have some good ones on there, but there are some that won't beat Disturbed's second album, Believe. Sorry no offense, but Tori Amos and Sonic Youth? :eek:

Goo is a great album and thoroughly deserves its place in Nitro's list. methinks anyway...

[pingin]

Originally posted by NiTRO
The Smiths - Hatful of Hollow

fantastic album but if I picked just one Smith's album it would be the Queen is Dead.

Curve - Doppelganger
not so sure about that...

Stone Roses - Second Coming
i think the first album is better again. no cd collection should be without it.

[stonersmurf22]

Hmmm Yeah Disturbed probably didn't make the greatest rock album in history. Unfortunately, I am just a little punk kid who can't understand how people call the beatles rock? Maybe back then, but now they sound alot more like modern-pop music... So in retrospect, Disturbed wasn't the best rock, but if you take in consideration that I've been listening to music for about 3 years now, you gotta admit that Disturbed ROX!

[pingin]

Originally posted by stonersmurf22
I am just a little punk kid who can't understand how people call the beatles rock?

next you'll be telling us that "Bookends" (#93) and "Bridge over Troubled Waters" (#33) by Simon and Garfunkel are also not great rock and roll albums! :D

[stonersmurf22]

Garfunkel?
Isn't that the cat?

[caterinka]

Okay, guys, let's keep this on topic and kill the bashing. Each of us is entitled to our own opinions regarding music, and if I don't see some genuine respect for the opinions of others, I'll lock it down.

[pingin]

Originally posted by stonersmurf22
Garfunkel?
Isn't that the cat?

no, that's Garfield! Simon and Garfunkel were a folksy duo from the 60s - pretty good stuff but definitely not what most people would class as rock and roll.

[pingin]

Originally posted by caterinka
Okay, guys, let's keep this on topic and kill the bashing. Each of us is entitled to our own opinions regarding music, and if I don't see some genuine respect for the opinions of others, I'll lock it down.

bashing? :confused:

[Timmy Yak]

A big problem is that people like to throw any band into the Rock and Roll catagory. The thing is no one really refers to it as that anymore. Now it is referred to as just Rock, hence why bands like Disturbed, Linkin Park and such are in it. Rock and Roll refers to, I feel, anything 1970 and earlier. Anything after that is thrown into Rock. This is why Pop was created. It's short for Popular. Britney, Justin, and now the Beatles, Simon and Garfunkel, and Elvis are categorized in this group. Anything with a hard sound is now considered Rock. Anything soft or light is considered Pop.

[stonersmurf22]

Sorry if anything i said was "bashing". I just don't particualry care for some of the older rock varieties. Of course, the older stuff just paved way for the new stuff, so itsss all good.
O yeah btw, I knew that garfunkel wasnt a cat, just a bad sense of humor;)

[eustacescrubb]

A big problem is that people like to throw any band into the Rock and Roll catagory.

It might be helpful to remember that categories, by definition, are not naturally-occuring; they are human mental constructs whose purpose is to help people talk about more than one instance of a thing at a time. The duck-billed platypus, for example, is not miraculous because it doesn't fit neatly into a category like "mammal" or "reptile"; rather, the catergories have a limited use, and the platypus falls outside their scope.
The same is true of "Rock and Roll" or "Rock" or whatever. The category was made up by DJs who needed a cool way to euphemise the sexuality of the music they were playing (same thing goes for Jazz, btw), and thus has little, descriptively speaking, to do with the content or nature of the music it indicates. Add to that the fact that all genres of popular music are decided by marketers, and well, the categories just are too fluid and meaningless to get upset over.

[ashawley]

Way to pull out the oft neglected and misunderstood, Duck-Billed Platypus there John. ;)

Adam

[NiTRO]

There's no bashing here and nobody seems offended...just good healthy debate and opinion. Disagreement isn't bashing is it?

Fantastic album but if I picked just one Smith's album it would be the Queen is Dead.

I equally like The Queen is Dead as an ultimate album. I was trying not to repeat the same band. For instance, I could have gone on forever with Led Zeppelin ultimate albums, AC/DC, or any number of other bands. But "Hatful" and "Queen" are definitely my two fav Smiths albums and both IMO are ultimate.

As far as Disturbed goes, I'll have to take a closer listen to Believe.

[tntracy]

Very good post, John - you make a very good and valid point. A lot of the music I listen to crosses several genre boundaries, as blurry as these boundaries may be.

As a case in point of how hard it can be to "pigeon-hole" many artists, click on some of the genre buttons on the main page at All Music Guide (www.allmusic.com) and check out all the types under each genre (the genre buttons are the three rows of yellow buttons under the search box). Also, look up some artists you like - not only are they categorized by "Genre", but also by "Style", with several of those listed for each artist.

It is very hard to categorize art by it's very nature!

Tom

[stonersmurf22]

Nitro, if you wanted to really listen to Disturbed, I would definetley suggest The Sickness. Now, I like Prayer alot, but I felt that The Sickness was better. It just had something to it whitch made you want to get up and jump around and act stupid... in other words, great music!

[reorx24]

Actually, it would seem that rock transcends boundaries as no other type of music does. For example, Duke Ellington and Louis Armstrong would never fall under "rock", since they perenially are classified under "jazz". But other jazz artists, like Ella Fitzgerald and Miles Davis have multiple albums in the VH1 Top 100 rock albums list.

The line is much more blurred between r&b and rock, with Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, James Brown and even Tina Turner having "rock" albums. And of course, since rapmetal is now the biggest thing since sliced bread, its precursors such as N.W.A and Public Enemy, (who wouls have scoffed at the time of being labelled as "rock" bands") they are there too.

I too have trouble reconciling what is really rock what separates rock from pop (if there is any at all). I agree that these are but creations of the media and marketing people. But most importantly, i listen to all of them and appreciate what they have done to shape music as it is today. I mean, look at magazine advertisements and tell me what the difference is among hard rock, rock and roll, classic rock, heavy metal, and slow rock.

Ntw, I think Disturbed kicks major ### too, and i kinda liked Sickness more than Prayer. Voices and Stupify get major airplay in my 'pod.

Rock On People!!!

[TheSunTheSea]

Nitro, you're spot on! You can't compare a "band" like Disturbed to that of The Smith's caliber. Queen Is Dead is one of the greatest albums of all time. Unfortunately, the kid who mentioned Distbured as the best rock band is just that...a kid. I don't really blame him/her for thinking Disturbed "ROX". He/she just hasn't been exposed to any REAL rock bands like:

Pavement
The Smiths
Nirvana
Radiohead
The Beatles
Stone Roses
The Verve
Oasis
Ride
Smashing Pumpkins
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Weezer
David Bowie
REM
Depeche Mode
Rage Against the Machine
Jeff Buckley

Now, THESE are real artists

[stonersmurf22]

Wait Wait Wait. Just cuz im a kid does not mean i have not been exposed to those bands. In fact, I've been listening to at least half those bands since I was 5. Of course, I didn't really start LIKING music till a couple of years ago, but I've still been exposed too alot of the best and most popular rock music of all time. Of course, most could name 28979832 bands which are better rock bands than Disturbed, but I cant, so I just thot i shud share my love for Disturbed with the world!
BTW I would just like to mention that I DO think alot of the bands you listed do ROCK.Especially Nirvana and Red Hot Chili Peppers (But thats just my opinion;)

[NiTRO]

Fair enough. "Smurf", I don't know your age (22?) but you make some valid points and hold your ground well. The boys in Disturbed are lucky to have you as a fan! :)

[TheSunTheSea]

Smurf:

Sorry for sounding hostile. The beauty about music is that it's versatile and that everyone can have their favorite.

[eustacescrubb]

Now, THESE are real artists

Now, I don't particulalry enjoy Disturbed, and I like about 60% of the bands in your list, TheSunTheSea, but come on - who gave you the right to decide who are and are not "real" artists? I mean, I personally can't stand the Smiths (Morrissey gets on my nerves) but I'm not going to jump from the fact that I don't like them to the assertion that they're not "real" artists.

[Jackonicko]

Rock: (Not pop, not metal, but rock).

Exile on Main St (Stones)
Hendrix in the West
Your new favourite band (the Hives)
Never Mind the Bollocks (Sex Pistols)
Who's Next (The Who)
Combat Rock (the Clash)
In Rock (Deep Purple)
Led Zep II (Led Zeppelin)
Let it Rock (Georgia Satellites)
Move it On Over (George Thoroughgood)
1, 2, 3, 4 (Ron Wood)
Main Offender or Talk is Cheap (Keef!)

and, though I hesitate to plug it again, the best album in my collection:

'Second Coming' by the Stone Roses

[ironchef9000]

......LONDON CALLING!!!!!!!!!

[Bakerman]

I will jump into the fray with these choices (not in any order):

The Beatles: Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
Bob Dylan: Hiway 61 revisited
Rolling Stones: Let it Bleed
Beck: Odelay
Led Zeppelin: Physical Graffitti
U2: The Joshua Tree
John Lennon: Plastic Ono Band
Nirvana: Nevermind
Frank Zappa/Mothers: You can't do that on stage anymore Vol. 1
David Bowie: Scary Monsters
Grateful Dead: D-I-C-K's Picks Vol 18
The Who: Live at Leeds (1995 Remaster)
Pink Floyd: The Wall

[shadowknight]

Classic: Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon

Modern: Radiohead - O.K. Computer