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Post by the carnabys on Apr 3, 2008 14:06:56 GMT
Top 50 Albums to change Rock 'n' Roll
Over the past few months, I have been helping compile a list of 50 Albums that changed Rock 'n' Roll.
Basically, we asked Musicians, Gig-goers, Venue Owners, Music Buyers, Sound Men, Roadies, Managers and That Bloke In Ya Local That Claims To Know Everything.
The results, as one would expect, were very favourable on The Beatles. We asked all contributors to choose ten albums, in order that they feel are deserving of the title.
Just be interested what people on here thought too. The guide lists 10 Albums by The Beatles plus one solo offering of both Lennon and McCartney.
Fellow Liverpudlians The La's sneak into the Top Ten, joint with the legendary Bob Dylan who's Bringing It All Back Home surprisingly makes the list.
The term 'Rock 'n' Roll' was left open to those voting and whilst I would not consider some artists as rock 'n' roll, they have been included non-the-less.
The list has been made-up of over 100 views....here is our TOP 50
1. Revolver - The Beatles 2. Sgt Pepper - The Beatles 3. Definitley Maybe - Oasis 4. Rubber Soul - The Beatles 5. Never Mind The Bollocks - The Sex Pistols 6. Please, Please Me - The Beatles 7. Pet Sounds - The Beach Boys 8. Velvet Underground & Nico - The Velvet Underground 9. The Sun Recordings - Elvis 10. The La’s - The La’s =. Bringing It All Back Home - Bob Dylan 12. Blonde On Blonde - Bob Dylan 13. Highway 61 - Bob Dylan =. Morning Glory - Oasis 15. A Hard Days Night - The Beatles 16. The Stones Roses - The Stone Roses 17. Are You Experienced - Jim Hendrix 18. The White Album - The Beatles 19. Electric Ladyland - Jimi Hendrix 20. The Rolling Stones - The Rolling Stones 21. Who’s Next - The Who 22. The Ramones - The Ramones 23. Urban Hymns - The Verve 24. Surfin Safari - The Beach Boys 25. The Specials - The Specials 26. Rise & Fall Of Ziggy Stardust - David Bowie 27. Let It Be - The Beatles 28. Led Zep II - Led Zepellin 29. Abbey Road - The Beatles 30. Let It Bleed - The Rolling Stones 31. Freewheelin’ - Bob Dylan 32. The Queen Is Dead - The Smith 33. Exile On Main Street - The Rolling Stones 34. London Calling - The Clash 35. John Wesley Harding - Bob Dylan 36. Catch A Fire - Bob Marley 37. Butterfly - The Hollies 38. Ok Computer - Radiohead 39. Help - The Beatles 40. Exodus - Bob Marley 41. Otis Blue - Otis Redding 42. RAM - Paul McCartney 43. Mr Tambourine Man - The Byrds 44. Is This It? - The Strokes 45. Beatles For Sale - The Beatles 46. Dark Side Of The Moon - Pink Floyd 47. Piper At The Gates - Pink Floyd 48. Be Here Now - Oasis 49. Plastic Ono Band - John Lennon 50. Folsom Prison Blues - Johnny Cash
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Post by Bobber on Apr 3, 2008 14:12:17 GMT
Yeah alright. Here's another list. I don't consider Otis Redding and The Specials to be rock & roll for a start. And I will put a questionmark behind titles like that of Oasis. Did Morning Glory really change rock & roll?
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Post by the carnabys on Apr 3, 2008 14:16:08 GMT
Yeah alright. Here's another list. I don't consider Otis Redding and The Specials to be rock & roll for a start. And I will put a questionmark behind titles like that of Oasis. Did Morning Glory really change rock & roll? No...and likewise I don't conisder Radiohead to be rock n roll...but its open to everyones interpretation isn't it? From a What's The Story point of view, I guess its fair to say that both that and Definitley Maybe influenced a lot of people to pick up a guitar in the first place.
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Post by The End on Apr 3, 2008 14:35:23 GMT
It's not the worst list I've ever seen, unusual to see Please Please Me so highly placed! - nice to see their early material is getting the recognition it deserves.
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Post by the carnabys on Apr 3, 2008 14:57:04 GMT
It's not the worst list I've ever seen, unusual to see Please Please Me so highly placed! - nice to see their early material is getting the recognition it deserves. Well when you consider albums that changed rock 'n' roll, then it certainly deserves a place as it was a defining moment....!
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Post by The End on Apr 3, 2008 15:33:10 GMT
Exactly!
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BlueMeanie
For A Number Of Things
I am he as you are he as you are me and we are all together
Posts: 606
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Post by BlueMeanie on Apr 3, 2008 15:34:39 GMT
Like all other lists of this kind, it suffers from the fact that some people either don't listen to the question, or will just choose their favourites no matter what. I can't agree that Please Please Me changed the face of popular music (let's call it that, instead of Rock n Roll). The album is OK but hardly groundbreaking. 'She Loves You' changed the face of popular music. Oasis? They may have inspired a new generation, but that doesn't make it anything original. The La's? Sorry, but... RAM really is someone picking their fav McCartney album. Funny also, that the man most often credited with being the major influence on the Britrock movement in the 90's, Paul Weller, doesn't get a look in. Correct me if I'm wrong but, no Kinks, or Small Faces? How many people did you ask?
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BlueMeanie
For A Number Of Things
I am he as you are he as you are me and we are all together
Posts: 606
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Post by BlueMeanie on Apr 3, 2008 16:00:04 GMT
Another one I just spotted. Elvis - The Sun Recordings. How could this have changed the face of Rock n Roll when it's a compilation that came out in '76?
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Post by The End on Apr 3, 2008 16:18:57 GMT
How many people did you ask? It says over 100 in the original post. But let's not shoot the messenger!
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BlueMeanie
For A Number Of Things
I am he as you are he as you are me and we are all together
Posts: 606
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Post by BlueMeanie on Apr 3, 2008 16:35:49 GMT
How many people did you ask? It says over 100 in the original post. But let's not shoot the messenger! No, not having a go at The Carnaby's. That's just not enough people to make it subjective. I mean, to begin with, there's not 50 albums that changed the face of popular music/rock n roll. There's maybe 15. Every time I look at the list I see something else that makes a mockery of it's original intentions. The Specials? Like that hadn't been done before. And where's Nirvana?
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alexis
I'll Be On My Way
Posts: 447
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Post by alexis on Apr 3, 2008 16:38:32 GMT
I would have put "With the Beatles" (or "Meet the Beatles" as it was in the States) way high up there, it didn't even chart!
But, nice work, Carnaby's!
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Post by The End on Apr 3, 2008 16:44:30 GMT
I can't agree that Please Please Me changed the face of popular music (let's call it that, instead of Rock n Roll). The album is OK but hardly groundbreaking. 'She Loves You' changed the face of popular music. I think Please Please Me DID change pop music - any album that spends 30 weeks at number one would surely have a big influence - no other group has surpassed that! It spearheaded the Mersey invasion breaking ground for the other Liverpudlian groups which in turn spurned the "beat group" era. In my opinion that is quite an achievement - the first of many!
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Post by The End on Apr 3, 2008 16:48:40 GMT
No, not having a go at The Carnaby's. That's just not enough people to make it subjective. I mean, to begin with, there's not 50 albums that changed the face of popular music/rock n roll. There's maybe 15. Every time I look at the list I see something else that makes a mockery of it's original intentions. The Specials? Like that hadn't been done before. And where's Nirvana? I agree there aren't 50 albums that changed Rock/Pop - as you said earlier, it is probably that people don't listen to the question and allow personal favourites to cloud their judgement. I always find polls equally frustrating and fascinating - always a good source of debate though
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BlueMeanie
For A Number Of Things
I am he as you are he as you are me and we are all together
Posts: 606
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Post by BlueMeanie on Apr 3, 2008 17:16:04 GMT
Looking at it again, it looks like many of those 100 were from the same demographic. So many Beatles and Dylan albums, that you never see in these type of lists. There's nothing much in there that looks out of place, the way it should. It looks like one persons list of their favourite albums.
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Post by Bobber on Apr 3, 2008 18:08:34 GMT
I'm sorry, but lists like these are totally random to me and don't tell me anything.
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Post by nyxfreyja on Apr 4, 2008 23:42:28 GMT
I'm sorry, but lists like these are totally random to me and don't tell me anything. They certainly are random. But the concept is interesting - albums that CHANGED Rock n Roll. RnR is a quite specific genre: we don't think it means much in this context. Perhaps the wider term "Rock" is better. Pepper is not rock n roll, but we think everyone would agree that Pepper is "rock". Whatever, surely we can point to some really influential albums. Here's our call ... in no order of merit. (1) Please Please Me has GOT to be influential. Look at what was popular back in late 50s and early 60s. Our mother has played us a lot of this stuff - omg, most of it's pretty dire. But even to our ears PPM has a freshness and energy that must have left people breathless. And according to our mother (who was there, you know?) it certainly did. (2) The Dylan trio of Bringing It All Back Home/Highway 61 Revisited/Blonde On Blonde has surely got to be one of rock's great moments. In a relatively few months, these albums - bang bang bang - redefined what you could say in a song, how you could sing it, how you could play it. Dylan had pointed the way for several artists - including Beatles (especially Lennon) - to say something in their songs. And Dylan on these albums took everything another level higher, showed that the way could lead to fantastic music. (3) We don't think Pepper is as "good" an album as it is sometimes painted. But influential? Oh yes. It showed classy style AND classy substance in one package: AND what you could do in a studio - the sounds, you know - to make songs live and breathe and get right in your face. Pepper influential? How could it not be?! There are many other influential albums, but we don't want to hog the space (actually we do, but we are still newbies, & it mght seem impolite). Ta for reading.
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alexis
I'll Be On My Way
Posts: 447
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Post by alexis on Apr 5, 2008 0:02:23 GMT
I'm sorry, but lists like these are totally random to me and don't tell me anything. They certainly are random. But the concept is interesting - albums that CHANGED Rock n Roll. RnR is a quite specific genre: we don't think it means much in this context. Perhaps the wider term "Rock" is better. Pepper is not rock n roll, but we think everyone would agree that Pepper is "rock". Whatever, surely we can point to some really influential albums. Here's our call ... in no order of merit. (1) Please Please Me has GOT to be influential. Look at what was popular back in late 50s and early 60s. Our mother has played us a lot of this stuff - omg, most of it's pretty dire. But even to our ears PPM has a freshness and energy that must have left people breathless. And according to our mother (who was there, you know?) it certainly did. (2) The Dylan trio of Bringing It All Back Home/Highway 61 Revisited/Blonde On Blonde has surely got to be one of rock's great moments. In a relatively few months, these albums - bang bang bang - redefined what you could say in a song, how you could sing it, how you could play it. Dylan had pointed the way for several artists - including Beatles (especially Lennon) - to say something in their songs. And Dylan on these albums took everything another level higher, showed that the way could lead to fantastic music. (3) We don't think Pepper is as "good" an album as it is sometimes painted. But influential? Oh yes. It showed classy style AND classy substance in one package: AND what you could do in a studio - the sounds, you know - to make songs live and breathe and get right in your face. Pepper influential? How could it not be?! There are many other influential albums, but we don't want to hog the space (actually we do, but we are still newbies, & it mght seem impolite). Ta for reading. Dear nyxfreyja - I agree with everything you have said, to a Tee! Re: PPM - I wonder (instead of doing more productive things), on the covers of others' songs, how different the Beatles were from other Liverpool groups at the time. Sure they had PPM the song on the album, and Love Me Do under their belts. But the Cavern and Hamburg were still very close in their rearview mirror, and they certainly were one of many at those venues ... were they so different from the others at that early stage? BTW - I'd be grateful if you did not refrain from hogging the board out of a sense of propriety; it would be make me feel a little less guilty for doing the same. Finally, I have to ask - are you the Borg?
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BlueMeanie
For A Number Of Things
I am he as you are he as you are me and we are all together
Posts: 606
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Post by BlueMeanie on Apr 5, 2008 9:01:07 GMT
Here's a few that should be there:
Elvis Presley - Elvis Presley Rolling Stones - Rolling Stones Jimi Hendrix - Are You Experienced Bob Dylan - Bringing It All Back Home The Clash - The Clash Nirvana - Nevermind Kraftwerk - Kraftwerk/Trans Europe Express Frank Zappa - Freak Out!
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Geoff
I'll Be On My Way
Show Me That I'm Everywhere And Get Me Home For Tea
Posts: 135
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Post by Geoff on Apr 5, 2008 14:51:36 GMT
It's outside the purview of the topic (albums), but it might be worth adding that if you want to talk about some of the most consequential music in rock's development, you have to talk about singles from the fifties. Elvis, Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Buddy Holly, Gene Vincent and all the rest were primarily singles artists. It was really later, and thanks to people like Dylan and The Beatles, that albums became rock's dominant medium.
It might be worth saying, too, that in recent years it's become more of a "singles" market again: I suspect people download individual songs they like more than whole albums.
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Post by the carnabys on Apr 5, 2008 19:41:57 GMT
I agree with most of the comments above.
I personally had The Kinks and Small Faces included in my top ten. But this is done on the votes I received and unfortunately, I do not have access to thousands of folks to make the surveys more conclusive. But the feature will run never-the-less.
People did not read the question correctly but I can't help that.
As for The La's, they were certainly a huge inspiration and influence on me. Other than any Beatles albums, The La's by The La's was the most important album in my life and my musical education and for our band. Love them cheeky la's.
In an ideal world, the likes of Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly and The Kinks would be up there....but this list is based on albums...not singles, era's or artists.
And bandsm such as The Kinks and Rolling Stones for that matter, were bands to produce awesome greatest hits and top singles...but never for me producced a killer of an album like The Beatles....!
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