That One Album.

Drop by and talk about anything you want. This is where all cheese-related discussions should go
User avatar
Theremin
Posts: 7603
Joined: 30 Nov 2008, 12:24
First Video: A girl must have some secrets.
Location: Bristol, England

That One Album.

Postby Theremin » 03 Jan 2010, 08:46

I know most people here have an interest in music, and some are musicians themselves, so I was wondering, what album of music means the most to you?

Not the 'best ever' or even your favourite, but the album that, for you:

-Best encapsulates what you like about music.
or
-Holds some special significance for you.
or
-Is obscure and deserves attention.
Last edited by Theremin on 03 Jan 2010, 10:02, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
iamafish
Posts: 4804
Joined: 22 Feb 2009, 10:28
First Video: Crime and Punishment
Location: Oxford/Worcestershire, England
Contact:

Re: That One Album.

Postby iamafish » 03 Jan 2010, 09:02

In Absentia - porcupine tree

superb album! has all the elements of music that i like; catchy tunes, strong lyrics, proggy elements, some indie bit to it as well and an really nice heavy undertone without managing to feel clogged or overburdened. And yet porcupine tree are consistently ignored by the media despite being one of the most talented bands around at the moment.

Edit: oh and The Soft Bulletin by The Flaming Lips. not as musically astute, but so goddamn happy!!!!! If ever i need cheering up i just whack this album on and BAM, instant happy. (actually this works with most Flaming Lips records)

note: i will keep editing this until i have fun out of brilliant albums that too few people have heard of :P
Last edited by iamafish on 04 Jan 2010, 08:43, edited 1 time in total.
Thoughts From a Fish Bowl<------ my blog...

My Twitter

iamafish never wrote:the male trouser snake is evidence that evolution has no sense of aesthetics
User avatar
Vigafre
Posts: 3920
Joined: 27 Jul 2009, 13:07
First Video: Halo: The Future of Gaming
Location: Oklahoma
Contact:

Re: That One Album.

Postby Vigafre » 03 Jan 2010, 09:34

Lupe Fiasco's "Food and Liquor"

Lupe is kind of nerdy, yet is also a really good hiphop artist. I'm nerdy and I like hiphop. Lupe also isn't one of those "bitch ass nigga" kind of rappers and more intellectual, so I appreciate his music a lot, lot more. The album talks about some intellectual and nerdy subjects, as does his second album, which I also like a whole lot.
User avatar
Tinasaur
Posts: 259
Joined: 04 Nov 2009, 13:25
First Video: Forget About It
Location: Sweden

Re: That One Album.

Postby Tinasaur » 03 Jan 2010, 09:59

I don't know how obscure it is but it certainly is significant to me.

Six Degrees of Inner Turbulense by Dream Theater

I didn't have that much of a versatile taste in music while growing up because my parents weren't into music and the most interesting tunes I could find were the chart hits they played on public television and they were frowned upon in our house for being too noisy.
I gradually found music outside of the home as I grew older but frankly it was mostly music that people around me liked and though I did pick out my favourites it was never really my music.

This album was the first to look me in the eyes and grab my soul like the lyrics and the music was composed just for me. The music is so finely crafted, it conveys the emotions the text elaborates and that is what I want to hear in the music I listen to. Some tunes are favored more than others but as a whole Dream Theaters music has never let go of the grip it has on me and I always come back to this particular album. The first riffs of About to Crash (Reprise) always gets me pumped, Misunderstood conveys my frustration in the world and Solitary Shell just makes me smile. <3
User avatar
Alja-Markir
Trebuchet Enthusiast
Posts: 5699
Joined: 04 Feb 2007, 21:03
Location: Deep In Space

Re: That One Album.

Postby Alja-Markir » 03 Jan 2010, 10:01

This isn't the album that means the most to me, per se, but it is one of the many that do mean a lot.

MONO - Walking Cloud And Deep Red Sky, Flag Fluttered And The Sun Shined

MONO is a Japanese post-rock group that plays incredibly powerful instrumental music. Their songs are very long: they slowly and skillfully build in beautiful and intricate layers until they reach a terrifying ferocity of power and volume. They stagger the listener with raw emotion masterfully made into musical form by true artists.

Walking Cloud is an album that tells a story, although what that story is seems to differ for each listener. For myself, I hear a story of the people of Japan, a somber reflection on all that has happened since the end of the second world war.

The opening track, "16.12", for me is a lament. Fumimaro Konoe, Japan's prime minister, had opposed the war from the start, but at every turn was unable to change the course of a nation utterly bent on war. Stricken by grief at his repeated failures to broker peace before and during the war, and after seeing Japan decimated by two nuclear strikes and an unprecedented total surrender, Prime Minister Konoe took his own life on December 16, 1945. (16.12.1945)

The closing track, "A Thousand Paper Cranes", in my mind tells of a similar story: the story of Sadako Sasaki, a young girl who survived the destruction of Hiroshima as an infant, yet ten years later lay in a hospital bed dying of radiation induced leukemia. An old Japanese legend promises that anyone who folds one thousand origami cranes would be granted a single wish. Sadako, in her dying days, undertook the effort in hopes of being granted her one wish. Accounts vary: some say she died before she could finish her task, others say she folded well over a thousand cranes, but nevertheless her wish to live never came true. Either way, so moved were those around her that she swiftly became a tragic symbol of hope for a despairing post-war Japan. Over the years, her story has inspired countless people to fold their own cranes and offer them at her memorial, all with the same wish: peace amongst all people and an end to war.

A third song speaks to me, "Halcyon (Beautiful Days)". Perhaps the most soothing of the tracks, Halcyon is beautiful and soft, evoking a dreamlike sensation of a remembered happiness, distant and muted, though not forgotten. It seems to be less a specific event and more a feeling that something has been lost, perhaps forever. Innocence? Peacefulness? What halcyon days does the song harken back to? The times before the war, before nationalism and conquest and inglorious defeat? Perhaps the days after reconstruction, before the economic slump of the 70s, when Japan was beginning anew and hope was flowering for a brighter future? Perhaps these halcyon days never really happened? Maybe they were merely dreamed up, days long wished for that no one ever really knew?

The other tracks, while no less beautiful or powerful than these, evade understanding for me. I puzzle over the scant hints within each song's name, but I simply do not know what "Two Candles, One Wish" refers to; or just what "Mere Your Pathetique Light" means and why it invokes a french spelling; or just what, exactly, "Ode" is an ode to. All the songs contain so much feeling, I'm almost certain each has some powerful story behind it. Yet until I see the references which are hidden from me by time, language, culture, and chance, I'll never truly understand the emotions this music stirs in my soul.

~Alja~
User avatar
Theremin
Posts: 7603
Joined: 30 Nov 2008, 12:24
First Video: A girl must have some secrets.
Location: Bristol, England

Re: That One Album.

Postby Theremin » 03 Jan 2010, 16:15

A personal favourite of mine that most people haven't heard of is:

These are Our Children by I Monster

This is a mellow, rambling and deranged little album of electronic pyschaldelia. It's full of strange and catchy little pieces of music that utilize audio clips and nature sounds instead of traditional vocals that build a disjointed and occasionally outright bizarre narrative using the old movie structure of 'Introduction, Interlude, and Prologue'. It's something that's wonderful to move to because each song tends to have a catchy rhythm and a well-defined mood.

Sometimes mawkish, sometimes weird, occasionally outright perverse, it's no longer sold, but can be downloaded free and legally here:

http://imonsterblog.blogspot.com/2008/0 ... nload.html
User avatar
NachoManLance
Posts: 442
Joined: 27 Nov 2007, 07:16
First Video: The Stages
Location: San Jose, CA
Contact:

Re: That One Album.

Postby NachoManLance » 03 Jan 2010, 16:34

Daft Punk's "Alive 2007"

It holds some special significance to me in that it was the first album I blasted loudly in my then new car, and it just felt perfect. It's the best of Daft Punk I've ever heard.
Image
http://twitter.com/NachoManLance

<Witty quote that induces a chuckle>
User avatar
Arius
Posts: 7228
Joined: 23 Jun 2009, 03:38
First Video: Max Effect
Location: Inside You
Contact:

Re: That One Album.

Postby Arius » 03 Jan 2010, 16:43

For me, it's closer to "Those Fifty Albums"

Music is a big part of my life and psyche. So, entire genres will change with my moods. And my moods will change with genres.

Right now, When Your Heart Stops Beating - (+44) holds the most significance to me.

The entire album feel like moving on, but still fondly remembering what you had.
H̼̮̖͓̻ͮ̀ͬ̓e̟̦͉̾̔̀ͣ͆̄ ͚̤̈̉ͦ̎ͭ̚c̰̠͚̜̹ͪ̐̎̃ͅo̗͌͛ͥ͑m̍ͬͥ̚e͍̱̲̤͚̹͔͛s͚̱̤͚̲̭̗̃̎ͭ̚.̘̫̖̮̠͒̔.̝̹̟̳͚̂̆̋͌̐̚.̬͓̰̃̑
User avatar
Theremin
Posts: 7603
Joined: 30 Nov 2008, 12:24
First Video: A girl must have some secrets.
Location: Bristol, England

Re: That One Album.

Postby Theremin » 03 Jan 2010, 16:49

Feel free to post multiple times, if you like. Really anything noteworthy or significant to you is fair game here.

'That One Album' is more a title than a rule :)
operagirl95
Posts: 1485
Joined: 14 Dec 2009, 14:07
First Video: n

Re: That One Album.

Postby operagirl95 » 03 Jan 2010, 18:45

I listen mostly to "classical" (school work) and soundtracks (my choice).
Two soundtracks really helped me through last semester: PoTC: World's End and Elizabeth:The Golden Age.

Neither are world changing musically, but have inspiring themes that are slightly minor. I love music that can lift the spirit and acknowledge that life sucks in the same breath. I'd listen to them on my commute to keep morale up.
Favorite segments: PoTC from "What Shall We Die For" to the end, the Divinity and Destiny themes of Elizabeth (plus the ending which just rocks my world).
User avatar
Niko88
Posts: 347
Joined: 21 Mar 2009, 17:21
Location: Green Bay
Contact:

Re: That One Album.

Postby Niko88 » 03 Jan 2010, 22:21

Grand by Matt and Kim

It is a really genuine album. It is two friends making great music. Not a lot of back up vocals or extra instruments. Just Matt playing his keyboard and singing and Kim banging on her drums and having a great time. They aren't super huge yet and I hope they have a lot of success without loosing their charm.
Why do I love the blinking street lights so much?
User avatar
ThrashJazzAssassin
Posts: 2229
Joined: 01 Apr 2009, 03:25
First Video: The Lich King's New Wrath
Location: In an ordinary sofa, in an ordinary room....
Contact:

Re: That One Album.

Postby ThrashJazzAssassin » 04 Jan 2010, 03:36

iamafish wrote:Blackest Eye - porcupine tree

Psssst! I think you meant In Absentia.
User avatar
elvor
Posts: 1184
Joined: 26 Apr 2009, 00:36
First Video: It's Very Simple
Location: Bath, UK

Re: That One Album.

Postby elvor » 04 Jan 2010, 04:37

Mezmerize/Hypnotize - System of a Down

(It's one album, shut up) :P

This was the album that really got me into music. It was the first one I bought and really enjoyed just listening to, and SOAD were the first band I considered myself a 'fan' of.

They really need to get back together.
User avatar
Nodge
Posts: 57
Joined: 02 Dec 2009, 09:45
First Video: Little people, I think
Location: Manchester, UK

Re: That One Album.

Postby Nodge » 04 Jan 2010, 04:47

Andrew Bird and the mysterious production of eggs probably deserves your attention.
<- It's Glucose Oxidase. Yes, it is a very happy enzyme.
User avatar
epocalypse
Posts: 2870
Joined: 19 Nov 2009, 12:17
First Video: omnilingual (not including unskippable)
Location: the county of los angeles, the city of los angeles, whichever state los angeles is in.
Contact:

Re: That One Album.

Postby epocalypse » 04 Jan 2010, 05:46

for me it's not so much an actual album as a single song in various versions:

My Favorite Things
I've listened to versions of this song all my life, and am working on my own JazzUke arrangement of it (I'm finally good enough at an instrument to do so) but that fucking song... I can't tell you my favorite book, movie, comic, or painting, there have just been too many of each that have had an awesome impact on my life, but this song, whether sung by mother or played by Coltrane (I recommend hearing as many Coltrane versions as you can, the progression through out his career of the song is amazing; the amount of expression out of a single song...). still, some cuts of the Coltrane version are album length, so let's just go with that
Time flies when I launch grandfather clocks from my trebuchet.
Arius wrote:Epocalypse? More like Epicalypse, amirite? -Arius
and now, here's a link to new animated film, broken_test_zero's blog, and here'sa link to our facebook page.
my personal site
User avatar
iamafish
Posts: 4804
Joined: 22 Feb 2009, 10:28
First Video: Crime and Punishment
Location: Oxford/Worcestershire, England
Contact:

Re: That One Album.

Postby iamafish » 04 Jan 2010, 08:44

ThrashJazzAssassin wrote:
iamafish wrote:Blackest Eye - porcupine tree

Psssst! I think you meant In Absentia.


i dont know what you mean... i wrote in absentia, i did seriously...

ooo embarrassing
Thoughts From a Fish Bowl<------ my blog...

My Twitter

iamafish never wrote:the male trouser snake is evidence that evolution has no sense of aesthetics
User avatar
octopimpostor
Posts: 870
Joined: 26 Nov 2009, 00:10
First Video: Halo
Location: Missouri
Contact:

Re: That One Album.

Postby octopimpostor » 04 Jan 2010, 09:07

Linkin Park's Meteora.
just awesome music.
My total fail count: 6
Dubious_wolf wrote:
octopimpostor wrote:My total fail count: 7...8

[/quote]
Link to my desert bus video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pGrIfi2ORK8
my other video that will soon be a series is here. REAL VIDEOGAME CHARACTERS http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cj2T7wIymsk
User avatar
Matt
LRR Crew
Posts: 9742
Joined: 14 Mar 2004, 00:19
Location: Victoria, BC
Contact:

Re: That One Album.

Postby Matt » 04 Jan 2010, 10:21

Death Cab for Cutie - transatlanticism.

This album was the soundtrack of my life for a period of years. It ranges in emotion from a near fantasy-level of contentedness in love (passenger seat) to a deep. Soul crushing sadness (transatlanticism), to a simple, relatable akward inability to achieve ones plans for their life (sound of settling).

The album is haunting, and chillingly beautiful, and the track "We looked like giants" rates easily among my top 5 songs of all time.

The album is great for putting to words the mid-twenties anxiety of a single male, or hopeless romantic, pining for the life he thought he imagined as a child, that he thought he'd have by now, and seeing that for all his romanticism and high hopes life doesn't always work out as planned.

Brilliant album.

-m
Image

I am not angry at you.
User avatar
Mad Madam Mimm
Posts: 2818
Joined: 14 Jun 2009, 12:30
First Video: Omnilingual
Location: Merry Ol' England. An almost interesting place. Almost.
Contact:

Re: That One Album.

Postby Mad Madam Mimm » 04 Jan 2010, 10:27

Monsterican Dream- Lordi

yeah, yeah, laugh it up. Seriously though, something about the band just connects with me, and I think this was their best album. Maybe it's a kind of catharsis with it, but whenever I'm out of sorts emotionally... it's liek I need it to calm me. I don't know why.
Yaxley wrote:I think life occasionally needs someone to ask "Okay, seriously guys. What the hell is going on?"

2 Students, 1 Alien (1 cat, 1 blob and several supporting characters, not to mention weekly sillies)

Tap-dancing Transvestite Ventriloquist
User avatar
epocalypse
Posts: 2870
Joined: 19 Nov 2009, 12:17
First Video: omnilingual (not including unskippable)
Location: the county of los angeles, the city of los angeles, whichever state los angeles is in.
Contact:

Re: That One Album.

Postby epocalypse » 04 Jan 2010, 10:32

Gorillaz

the self titled first album, for being so much more than simply a cd, but beginning this epic collision of multiple art forms and so thoroughly blurring the line between reality and fiction. I love that about it, can't wait to see what happens with the third cd.

And going back to my first post, what, no other jazz fans?
Time flies when I launch grandfather clocks from my trebuchet.
Arius wrote:Epocalypse? More like Epicalypse, amirite? -Arius
and now, here's a link to new animated film, broken_test_zero's blog, and here'sa link to our facebook page.
my personal site
User avatar
Jillers
Posts: 3006
Joined: 14 Oct 2008, 19:26
First Video: How to Talk LIke a Pirate
Location: Somewhere on top of garbage
Contact:

Re: That One Album.

Postby Jillers » 04 Jan 2010, 10:38

There are so many songs that are significant to me, but one album? I'd have to go with a tie between Baobabs in the Basement and Two New Sciences by The Fireflies - an indie band that has since broken up (all the band members are friends, they just all wanted to go in different directions). I saw their second ever show, when they were still called The Baobabs, in college (they all met and started at SUNY Purchase, where I went), and those years were some pretty great years all things considered. It was when I truly started figuring out who I was, and making real friends, and it was when I became comfortable in my own skin. There were ups and downs of course, but I look back at my times at Purchase very very fondly, and whenever I pop in either album (the sound is a cross between David Bowie and the Flaming Lips) I am instantly reminded of those good times and bad times. What the Fireflies did well was make great catchy pop music that instantly cheered you up, while having lyrics that could be downright depressing at times, which is a great metaphor for life when you think about it.
Also, you should go and download a song called All The Aliens. It is not cheerful, but it is one of the best songs I've ever heard.
Team Cybershark

[subliminal] visit Geeking Out About [/subliminal]


~End Transmission~
User avatar
Theremin
Posts: 7603
Joined: 30 Nov 2008, 12:24
First Video: A girl must have some secrets.
Location: Bristol, England

Re: That One Album.

Postby Theremin » 04 Jan 2010, 10:48

epocalypse wrote:Gorillaz

the self titled first album, for being so much more than simply a cd, but beginning this epic collision of multiple art forms and so thoroughly blurring the line between reality and fiction. I love that about it, can't wait to see what happens with the third cd.

And going back to my first post, what, no other jazz fans?


I'd like to explore the genre, but I'm not sure where to to start.

Any suggestions, epoc?
User avatar
Matt
LRR Crew
Posts: 9742
Joined: 14 Mar 2004, 00:19
Location: Victoria, BC
Contact:

Re: That One Album.

Postby Matt » 04 Jan 2010, 10:56

Miles davis?

-m
Image

I am not angry at you.
operagirl95
Posts: 1485
Joined: 14 Dec 2009, 14:07
First Video: n

Re: That One Album.

Postby operagirl95 » 04 Jan 2010, 10:58

epocalypse wrote:And going back to my first post, what, no other jazz fans?


Depends on the jazz. :D
User avatar
Mad Madam Mimm
Posts: 2818
Joined: 14 Jun 2009, 12:30
First Video: Omnilingual
Location: Merry Ol' England. An almost interesting place. Almost.
Contact:

Re: That One Album.

Postby Mad Madam Mimm » 04 Jan 2010, 11:01

operagirl95 wrote:
epocalypse wrote:And going back to my first post, what, no other jazz fans?


Depends on the jazz. :D


I'm a fan of jazz and Rhythm And Blues (which is what RnB is originally supposed to stand for... separate rant), but I like tracks more than albums I think.
Yaxley wrote:I think life occasionally needs someone to ask "Okay, seriously guys. What the hell is going on?"

2 Students, 1 Alien (1 cat, 1 blob and several supporting characters, not to mention weekly sillies)

Tap-dancing Transvestite Ventriloquist

Return to “General Discussion”



Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 37 guests