Favorite AlbumsFollow

Yeah, this subject has been hashed through a million times. Well, to make a long story short I have taken on a project that will possibly result in a new record store in my home town. This record store will have probably 800 or so CD's that are always in the catalogue, which I think of as "if I walked into a CD store and they didn't carry that album, I would think they were crap." Beck's Odelay, Beatles Sgt. Pepper, blah blah. Then the store will have probably 300 or so CD's that consists of stuff that has come out in the past 2 years or so that may or not make it to the regular catalogue eventually. Another 300 CD's will consist of hard to find albums, and stuff that is important to this part of the world. For instance, local bands and alot of delta blues and bluegrass. These numbers could change, it is all just guessing from the get-go.

The record store is going to be part of a video rental store that specializes in foreign and cult flicks. We carry a large amount of new releases and such, but the video store really survives on "I couldn't find that at Blockbuster." We also carry a small selection of strange toys, hard to find comic books, and beer.

Taking all of that into consideration, what albums are a necessity in your life? If you think it is an odd album that alot of people don't know about, even better. I will look into everything and run it all past the people working with me on this. The person who previously owned the video store was my uncle who passed away last summer. Before the video thing, he was the co-owner of a record store in town that is now out of business. Before that, he booked bands for a bar in town. Music was an important part of his life, and I really want to make this happen for him. One issue I have is that he was a fan of Ska, Dub and the like which I know next to nothing about. So, if anyone can point me in the right direction with that, very awesome.

The long and short of it? What are your favorite albums?


Edited because word processors have made me forget how to spell.



Edited, Sat May 6 14:28:42 2006 by Katarine

The Ramones- Ramones

Heh, you mentioned some labels such as Sun and Chess that I definatly have covered. I am an hour south of Memphis, and Sun, Stax, Hi, and others will be big in the catalogue.

If this is a cult-related shop, anything by Blue Oyster Cult.

Since you're in southern territory, any good classic album by the Allman Brothers - I have the self-titled Allman Brothers and Idlewild South double CD.

Anything Queens of the Stone Age and Kyuss.

I'd recommend Blind Melon's self titled album. They're kind of Led Zeppelin inspired folk/blues rock music, all of it good.

Most people know the single "No Rain", but pretty much anything they did was amazing.

Please. If we're going to do geography, then go with Boston.

Go for any Talking Heads album.

They Might Be Giants' album, Flood. (but any of theirs will do as well)

I'll agree with Eske, Blind Melon is an awesome CD.

Okay... at least 11 albums, minimum of three each from Kansas, Chicago, and Boston.

For the love of god, though, keep Manhattan Transfer out of your store. :-)

Bonnie Raitt - Streetlights at least;
Paul Simon - Graceland

Some Bowie, of course. Some John Lee Hooker. Koko Taylor and Ruth Brown will be covered in the Chess collections, I assume.

There's just so much... I see Al Green mentioned; I'd add Marvin Gaye and some other Motown artists in there as well, of course; Aretha at the very least.

I wouldn't want to live without my copy of the Violent Femmes self-titled album.

Haunted by Poe

Standing at the Edge by Casey Stratton yay! Saw Casey in a small show he did here in town just last night, got to catch up and relive our high school glory days when we did choir and plays together. Unfortunately, he doesn't make any money off "Standing at the Edge" because that was part of the deal he made to get out of his contract with Sony. So if you like that one, support him and go to http://www.caseystratton.com and get his new disc, "Divide" which he DOES make money off of.

The Way We Walk Live, Vol. 2 -- The Longs by Genesis I love the "Oldies Medley" and "Domino." "Home By The Sea" rocks too.

Def Leppard's Greatest Hits collection (another yay! Seeing them in concert at the end of August!)



Edited, Sun May 7 13:46:15 2006 by Ambrya

Edited, Sun May 7 14:08:33 2006 by Ambrya

Alot of these are great selections, and it helps. Some of them (haha, won't mention who) has reminded me that I -have- to look at music that I wouldn't be caught dead listening to myself. I think that is the hardest part of this. I am a soul, blues, and funk junkie. Particularly soul and blues out of the deep south, although there are some blues artists out of Chicago that I listen to as well. I also listen to alot of...what genera would it be? Alternative? People like Radiohead, Beck, White Stripes, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, etc. Beck is my hero. Those are my favorites, but I also get into moods where I listen to alot of classic rock, rap, and harder rock. So, I have a wide variety I listen to, I just have some rather large holes. For instance, contemporary country. I would ask Codyy to chime in, but he would just yell "Faith Hill" over and over and over again.