FOT Forum
The Best Show on WFMU => Dear Tom => Topic started by: oldcore on June 02, 2017, 10:46:02 AM
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Dear Tom,
What are some double albums (2lp/2cd) that do not have a single bad song on them?
My choices: Genesis- The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway
Fucked Up- Hidden World
Super Chunk- Incidental Music (yes I know this is a collection of B sides but still there are no bad songs on it)
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The Smiths - Louder Than Bombs (comp, but still fair play right?)
Morrissey - Bona Drag (comp again, but fair?)
Husker Du - Warehouse (would say Zen Arcade too, but Dreams Reoccurring/Reoccuring Dreams knocks it out)
Soundgarden - Superunknown (never had the vinyl, but definitely a double... Spoonman is borderline and Black Hole Sun i'd be happy to never hear again but still good songs imho)
Rolling Stones - Exile (I mean, c'mon)
Led Zeppelin - Physical Grafitti (ditto)
Bob Dylan - Blonde On Blonde (and again!)
The Brian Jonestown Massacre - Methodrone (i know, i know... not gonna be a popular opinion on here)
The Brian Jonestown Massacre - Take It From The Man! (ditto)
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I think Tom really likes "Freak Out!" by the Mothers of Invention and the Grateful Dead's self-titled live album (1971). Pretty sure I read that somewhere.
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The Smiths - Louder Than Bombs (comp, but still fair play right?)
Morrissey - Bona Drag (comp again, but fair?)
Husker Du - Warehouse (would say Zen Arcade too, but Dreams Reoccurring/Reoccuring Dreams knocks it out)
Soundgarden - Superunknown (never had the vinyl, but definitely a double... Spoonman is borderline and Black Hole Sun i'd be happy to never hear again but still good songs imho)
Rolling Stones - Exile (I mean, c'mon)
Led Zeppelin - Physical Grafitti (ditto)
Bob Dylan - Blonde On Blonde (and again!)
The Brian Jonestown Massacre - Methodrone (i know, i know... not gonna be a popular opinion on here)
The Brian Jonestown Massacre - Take It From The Man! (ditto)
You didn't like Dreams Reoccurring and Reoccurring Dreams? While I'll admit I probably wouldn't pay a lot of attention to those songs based on their own merit....I personally felt they were a really effective addition to the album as a whole. For me personally, even though they were never my favourite tracks on the album by any stretch of the mind, it was still a huge deal to me as a young person getting into punk and hardcore to hear that album for the first time and see how far they diverged from a "punk" sound on a lot of the tracks, those two included. I think if those tracks hadn't been included, the sense that the band was pushing so hard against the confines of what that sort of music could sound like wouldn't have been as apparent, and the album would've lost a lot of impact
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I wouldn't say i don't like them. I totally get what you're saying and as works of art i think they're interesting. Sort of like Revolution #9 on the White Album, I like that they exist and they do add to the scope and character of the album - totally changing the overall work by their inclusion and showing how far they were willing to push the genre
My only point being that when i listen to the album for fun, i'm far more likely to skip past these tracks or leave them off the playlist.
Revised opinion: Zen Arcade = perfect double album
(The White Album cant even hold a candle to it)
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I wouldn't say i don't like them. I totally get what you're saying and as works of art i think they're interesting. Sort of like Revolution #9 on the White Album, I like that they exist and they do add to the scope and character of the album - totally changing the overall work by their inclusion and showing how far they were willing to push the genre
My only point being that when i listen to the album for fun, i'm far more likely to skip past these tracks or leave them off the playlist.
Revised opinion: Zen Arcade = perfect double album
(The White Album cant even hold a candle to it)
Oh okay I feel what you're saying then—I think I'm actually in agreement with you then. Sort of how I feel about most Bad Brains albums: they wouldn't be the same without the reggae tracks, and in fact the albums wouldn't be as good without them—but on the same token you'll probably never catch me throwing on "Leaving Babylon" by itself haha.
Ya never much understood why people like the White Album so much....it's got some great songs on it, including my personal favourite Beatles song—but it also has so, so much garbage
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I wouldn't say i don't like them. I totally get what you're saying and as works of art i think they're interesting. Sort of like Revolution #9 on the White Album, I like that they exist and they do add to the scope and character of the album - totally changing the overall work by their inclusion and showing how far they were willing to push the genre
My only point being that when i listen to the album for fun, i'm far more likely to skip past these tracks or leave them off the playlist.
Revised opinion: Zen Arcade = perfect double album
(The White Album cant even hold a candle to it)
Oh okay I feel what you're saying then—I think I'm actually in agreement with you then. Sort of how I feel about most Bad Brains albums: they wouldn't be the same without the reggae tracks, and in fact the albums wouldn't be as good without them—but on the same token you'll probably never catch me throwing on "Leaving Babylon" by itself haha.
Ya never much understood why people like the White Album so much....it's got some great songs on it, including my personal favourite Beatles song—but it also has so, so much garbage
The White Album is my favorite Beatles album and one of my favorite all-time albums. But I'd never call it "perfect".
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Oh, how about Soft Machine's Third? That one's really good.
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Double Nickels on the Dime
Physical Graffiti
KISS Alive!
Exile on Main Street
Grant Hart - The Argument
Space Ritual
America Eats Its Young
Almost every Swans albums
Sun Ra Singles comp
London Calling
Quadrophenia
Amon Düül II - Yeti
Times Square Soundtrack
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I've never really listened to the Soft Machine, but have had strong recommendations to do so. Would Third be the place to start?
Mike, interesting list... I have had Double Nickels for some time, but still haven't gotten into it yet. Its one of those things that i'm convinced will click but just hasn't yet for wahetever reason...
The one that jumps out to me the most though is the Grant Hart album... love love love Husker Du but have only checked out Bob's solo albums... are they all good? gonna go and give The Argument a listen. thanks for the good word!
and a big YES to Space Ritual... forgot about that one.
IMPORTANT PUBLIC NOTICE REGARDING AN OVERSIGHT FROM ORIGINAL POST:
I know its technically an album plus an EP, but my need to include Guided By Voices in any music conversation impels me to include what might actually be my favourite album that requires a gatefold cover...
GBV - UNDER THE BUSHES UNDER THE STARS
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I've never really listened to the Soft Machine, but have had strong recommendations to do so. Would Third be the place to start?
Third is generally their "best regarded" album, but the first two might be a little more accessible, particularly if you enjoy 60s psych-rock.
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Mike, interesting list... I have had Double Nickels for some time, but still haven't gotten into it yet. Its one of those things that i'm convinced will click but just hasn't yet for wahetever reason...
The one that jumps out to me the most though is the Grant Hart album... love love love Husker Du but have only checked out Bob's solo albums... are they all good? gonna go and give The Argument a listen. thanks for the good word!
If you don't like these tracks, maybe they're not for you:
Minutemen
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KxjEi4tgvU0 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KxjEi4tgvU0)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFavZbUKaWc (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFavZbUKaWc)
Grant Hart
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DEk8o-mj9QA (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DEk8o-mj9QA)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Zi3zQr3A-4 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Zi3zQr3A-4)
not off the double lp but off Grant's LP before that one:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NTH4Zu8gleA (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NTH4Zu8gleA)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qeZ73UvcRns (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qeZ73UvcRns)
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I need to check out the Grant Hart albums. I love "The Main", which was on the great comp record SST Acoustic.
Also, big second to Under the Bushes. It's always been my favorite GBV by a long shot, yet I never really hear folks point it out as their best.
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Royal Trux Singles, Live, Unreleased comes immediately to mind. Wu-Tang Forever is really close but has that one terrible track.
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Also, big second to Under the Bushes. It's always been my favorite GBV by a long shot, yet I never really hear folks point it out as their best.
Just saw Tobin Sprout in S.F. and he did "It's Like Soul Man". Was amazing
https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/tobin-sprout/2017/cafe-du-nord-san-francisco-ca-33e530f9.html (https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/tobin-sprout/2017/cafe-du-nord-san-francisco-ca-33e530f9.html)
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oh man! that must have been so great!!
i was just listening to his new album two seconds ago... (gone back to the latest Best Show... Benny Goodman's clarinet just faded out)
the new album's really good
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also thanks for the recommendations on Minutemen and Grant Hart... appreciate the effort
I can report that after listening to those two Minutemen tracks i just let youtube keep picking random tracks of Double Nickels... really really like em... i can see how that candid confessional style would have been so game changing at the time... feels very close listening to them, like they're your buddies (that doesn't look as good on the page as it did in my head)... i'm gonna enjoy getting to know that album for sure
as for Grant Hart, I had already gone and had a listen to The Argument and Hot Wax... really digging on them! The Argument just seems so improbable as a concept that would actually work but it does... and its surprising me how almost operatic (in structure not sound) and very Bowie-esque it is... a real surprise when i'd only listened to his Husker Du stuff...
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oh my god, i just realised THE BIGGEST OVERSIGHT. sounds hyperbolic but i'm really not being that when i say that this one is first on my list of perfect double albums...
Elton John - Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
cannot be beaten for me. like i said, i can't believe i forgot about it... was the first album i fell in love with (four years old lying on the lounge room floor singing with giant black headphones on... that triple gatefold sleeve and those illustrations laid out... my parents and their friends laughing at this kid singing loudly and amateurishly along to their favourite album to get wasted to when they were teenagers...)
the best part is, it just gets better and better... I love more now than i did then... and that's saying something
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Sing to God by the Cardiacs
as far as im concerned it blows every other rock double album out of the water