I posted this photo on Instagram and tagged it "The Holy Trinity." A day later I received a message from an old friend who said, "I actually like your choices for the Trinity---just wanted to see where you would go if you had to expand it a little."
After thinking about this for a bit, I was truly stumped. I didn't know where I would go, which I found a bit odd. In the world of social media, and quite frankly, long before it, lists are/were everywhere! We love lists!
10 Worst Rolling Stones Songs
5 Best Burgers In NYC
10 Movies That Ed Lauter Isn't In
5 Worst Kennedys
I've made many and yet, I was without an answer on how I would expand the "Trinity."
What is interesting about my "Holy Trinity" is that they were only cemented as my permanent "Holy Trinity" about five years ago. If anyone had asked me for my ten favorite records of all time say, in 1999, I would imagine three of them would have been Beatles records, a Todd Rundgren, a Bowie or two, maybe "Exile On Main Street" and "What's Going On." But about five years ago, after years of searching, I finally acquired original MONO copies of my trinity. It was during this run that I discovered a few things about those three records:
a) These three original MONO pressings sound better than anything I have heard before
b) These three records have so much going on all the time, I never seem to tire of
listening to them. Whereas, I could go a year or longer without
hearing "Exile On Main Street" or "Ziggy Stardust," and not miss either.
c) These three records arguably sound like nothing else, not even other records by the bands themselves. Even with the limited output of The Zombies, what's happening on "O&O" is very different than the R&B inspired music that came before it.
d)
Though both "The Who Sell Out" and "Piper At The Gates Of Dawn" are admittedly not perfect, (Odessey
& Oracle" is indeed perfect, to my ears,) I still find the missteps incredibly
rewarding, unlike say, "Run For Your Life" on "Rubber Soul," which I really don't like at all. I mind "Silas Stingy" less. These three records never get boring. I never feel the need to skip a tune. I play them more than I play any other records I own, and they always get played in their entirety.
So,
to answer the question about expanding the list, I am not sure I can
in any order, or if I can even limit myself to the "next three." These three
remain solid in their position and all else that falls under can change
position at any time. Taking it one step further into confusion, I feel like at some point I could list a number of records that are technically better than my Holy Trinity, but at this place and time, I don't feel the need to, certainly not while I am still getting maximum pleasure out of the three.
Now, it's your turn. Just three. Only three. What are your three records that are cemented forever as your Holy Trinity? Please elaborate, and if you just wish to post without explanation, that is fine, too.
One more little favor, let's make this about how great your three records are. I am really not interested in knowing that you like "Ummagumma" better than "Piper" or that you think "The Who Sell Out" is overrated.
(Issues with comment notification are still happening, so I need to publish manually, hence the delay. Don't worry if your comment doesn't appear immediately. It will eventually.)
46 comments:
For now I'm just sticking with rock. That could change by this afternoon. That's the trouble with (my) lists.
The Beatles - Rubber Soul
Richard & Linda Thompson - Pour Down Like Silver
Brian Eno - Taking Tiger Mountain By Strategy
Tony
I've had my Holy Trinity defined for several years now and like you, the origin was a post on social media. I created a list of my Top 10 albums, but quickly realized that only 3 of them made my Top 10 list each and every time; the others were how I felt on a particular day or in a particular mood. Like you, I never tire of these. Sometimes I don't listen to the whole thing in one setting, but that is more a function of how much time I have to listen to music than anything with the individual albums themselves. My list:
Bruce Springsteen - Born to Run. This one runs deep for me and this album has been a constant in my life since I was in junior high. Too many stories to tell about where & how this album has been a part of my life, but I will share one. Growing up, my best friend & I would listen to this album and talk about how cool it would be when we finally got to see Bruce live and how epic Jungleland would be in concert. Many years and 30+ shows together later, we were driving home from a Bruce show and Mike asked me if I remembered that. In one instant, a lifetime of friendship and memories was all pulled together into one thread.
Van Morrison - Into the Music. Van may have better known albums in his catalog, but I'd be hard pressed to find one that moves me as much as this. The closing sequence of And The Healing Has Begun/It's All in the Game/You Know What They're Writing About is my absolute favorite suite of songs by any artist. I have all of Van's albums except Bang Masters, the skiffle album, and Hard Nose the Highway (lost it a long time ago), so I know my Van. I go through periods where I become obsessed with a particular album or period of his. But this is the one that always makes the Top 10 list.
Michael McDermott (S/T) - I love songs about characters, and this album is filled with them: the unlucky gambler in Say Hey Charlie Boy, Suzie and her brand new hat, Deidre the dancer, the protagonists remembering the 'Summer Days' of their youth and how they were going to be 'Legendary', Mary...they are all here. Michael's 3rd album is his Born to Run. The opening song, Bells, is to me as much an invitation as Thunder Road. Near the end he pours his heart out when he sings "I'm gonna wash my hands in the water/I'll dry them in the garden's dirt/I'm too tired for sleeping/I'm too wounded to hurt". All in all, it's a magnificent ride.
Tough challenge! Off the top of my head, my trinity might be:
Beggars Banquet
(The Kinks are the) Village Green Preservation Society
London Calling
but I'm still thinking.
Good topic Sal! My trinity:
Bruce Springsteen: Born to Run
The Who: Quadrophenia
Rod Stewart: Every Picture Tells a Story
Rory Gallagher's 1st solo album - every track a gem with 57 varieties of blues on one LP from the smooth jazz-like feel of "Can't Believe It's True" to the full tilt rocking of "Sinner Boy".
Frankie Miller - "Once in a Blue Moon". Again a standout debut album with Brinsley Schwarz as his back up band with at least one song that Ray Charles thought was worth covering. A shamefully neglected album.
Bob Dylan - "Highway 61 Revisited". The perfect Dylan album and itself a part of the Holy Trinity of Dylan albums - "Bringing It All Back Home", "Highway 61" and "Blonde On Blonde".
They always say the music that defines you is the music you loved when you were 16? Something like that? My choices fall around this general time frame. These, to me, are each *perfect* albums and I have never ever gotten tired of any of them. The first two are sacrosanct. The third, I debated, but realized it’s the one I consistently reach out for when it comes around to “what do I want to hear that’s not the other two?” And, yes, all were on my “other 100”, but, now, clearly I see a year later that these are clearly the pinnacle of my “first 100”.
“Get The Knack”: Why? It’s the songs, the production, the guitar solos, the cockiness of the lead vocals. I’m a broken record (hah) about this record, but my opinion has never changed about it since the day I heard it. It’s a template for what every power-pop record should be. You might be burned out on “My Sharona”, but, man, if that solo doesn’t reel you in every time, you need to rethink your life. This album contains my absolute favorite “side 1” of all time — there is not a duff song on this album. It’s pop/rock perfection.
“Alice Cooper Goes To Hell”. Why? Your post references “Maximum Pleasure”. There are great songs here. There is a story. There is Dick Wagner and Steve Hunter. There is the brilliant production by Bob Ezrin. It’s funny, it’s riff-tasctic in parts, it rocks, it’s mellow, and it’s a variety of vocal performances by Alice and full of bombastic choruses. You mention finding something new every time you listen to your trinity. THIS is that album for me.
“Look Sharp” by the Joe Jackson Band. Why? The thing that stands out to me about this album is the bass playing and how aggressive it is in the mix and the interplay between the drums and guitar. Graham Maby is awesome on this album and when I played bass, this album was an eye-opener for what I wanted to do with the instrument and “One More Time” is one of my favorite album openers (and songs to play on the guitar.). This is a solid, tight, joyous 11 songs (37 minutes!). There are no songs on this album I would get rid of (even “Instant Mash”). “Is She Really Going Out With Him?” Is still one of the greatest singles ever.
(It broke my heart not to include “We Are The Pipettes”, "English Settlement" or “Paul Stanley” on this list — all of which lost the death match/coin toss for spot #3…but now you have my next 3...)
Damn the catholic church for limiting this to three. But omitting greatest hits records (The Four Tops), the three that if I had had vinyl all these years would have worn out the most needles (but not necessarily would have been the best records I own) would have been:
Pet Sounds, Tumbleweed Connection and Utopia Parkway.
It's killing me to leave out Moondog Matinee.
Tough to pick just 3 as I hard a hard enough time picking 20 on FB. But for now these:
Pink Floyd- Animals
Van Morrison- Astral Weeks
Radiohead- OK Computer
I'm just wondering Sal, since all three are British bands. What would you choose as an American trinity?
This is a challenge but here goes:
All Things Must Pass - George Harrison
Goodbye Yellow Brick Road - Elton John
The Beatles - 1968
I like your choices and can see how they make a trinity. I would substitute The Kinks "Village Green" for The Zombies.
Little Feat "Sailin Shoes", The Kinks Kronikles, Television "Marquee Moon".
Why would you substitute the record I called perfect in my trinity? It's my trinity.
1. The Janet Lawson Quintet (1982)
2. Pleasures of The Harbour - Phil Ochs (1968)
3. Einstein On The Beach - opera composed by Philip Glass.
All absolutely essential to my mental stability in the world of Trump, Brexit and North Korean posturing.
This is very hard. But today I'll say:
"Who's Next"
"The Band" (the self-titled 2nd album)
"Marshall Crenshaw" (the self-titled debut)
But it might be different tomorrow.
For a music fan, this excercise feels like piloting the last helicopter of evacuees off a Saigon rooftop in 1975. I exaggerate, but you get the point -- all those you have to leave behind. How can I do that to my beloved Clash, Who, Kinks, Beatles, Nick Lowe, R.E.M. (early releases), Police, New Pornographers, Pretenders, and 10 or so Soul/R&B and power pop bands?
1) Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band - Born to Run
2) Elvis Costello & the Attractions - Get Happy
3) The Jam - SNAP! (Is a compilation cheating? Hey - it was my intro to the band prior to knowing their proper releases.)
All good choices previous to mine, so to add,
My Aim is True - Elvis Costello
Lola Versus Powerman and the Moneygoround, Part One.-Kinks
Heat Treatment- Graham Parker & the Rumour
The best/greatest album controversy, I've always loved this. Much like a sports team, is the best team the one with the best players or the one that gels and has chemistry, though may not have the individual best players? I always felt it was the team that had a few big stars, but enough utility players to be successful was better than the team with only individual stars. Albums, much like baseball teams also rely on the batting order. Rearrange the songs on an album and the experience is completely different.
With that said, my trinity has always been a dynamic duo plus one. As I've matured (actually only grown older, never maturing), the third spot has evolved with me.
Number one since the days before male pattern baldness set in has been Physical Graffiti. This might be in contrast to the above, but the epic songs here are too numerous, thanks in part to being a double album. The varied genre's on this album that all mesh to make me want to hear all four sides in order in one sitting are too much to pass up. Yes, there are a number of uncredited covers, as with any Zeppelin album, but as usual, they are taken to levels unpredicted by the original writers, save for Boogie With Stu.
This album, I believe, had Bonham at his best. I tell any aspiring rock drummer to listen to In My Time of Dying. Even though the drums don't come in until about the 4 minute mark, the next seven minutes shows the definitive way a drummer can take over a song with the heavy beats, the timing changes, that frickin’ bass drum and the pauses, it's unbeatable. After three sides of greatness, side four ends the album with some of my favorites, The Wanton Song and one of the best 'last songs' of any album, Sick Again. Every time I listen to this album, it’s 1977 all over again, with the Bronx Zoo and the Summer of Sam. (Yes, I know it came out in ’75).
Number two since the days of paddle ball at 254 has been Queen II. Their first album broke new ground and was a precursor of greatness to come. But, it was only a knock on the door of a new sound, and didn’t exactly break the door down. With II, the shackles came off. It was the equivalent of ‘We’re here, we’re queer, get used to it’. And, oh boy, I did. The breadth of sound, the story telling, the song writing, Roger Taylor’s falsetto coordinating with Freddie’s vocals are unmatched. And, yes, this is one of those albums where the order of the songs and their continuity play a large part in the experience. There isn’t anything I would change on this album.
Number three has changed through the decades. In the 70’s I would’ve said something silly like ‘Get Your Wings’. In the 80’s ‘A Farewell to Kings’ would have been on the list. In the 90’s it was ‘Quadrophenia’ or ‘London Calling’ (I like double albums). But, for the last 15 years or so I’ve had Aenima as my go-to number three. It was Justin Chancellor’s first album with the group (bass player), and it brought a sound that just elevated them well above 90’s grunge. The flow of this album with the interludes of sound, for me at least, play into the greatness of the epic songs they precede, such as Forty Six and Two, Eulogy and Aenima.
Who knows, in a few years, Humble Pie, Smokin’ might make the list.
Ok, this is insanely difficult. Sal gives his reasons why he picked the three, acknowledging that two of his selections are not perfect, yet he gives his reasons for selecting them.
I often say, and probably said it here before, that music is intensely personnel and how you may hear a record may be subject to your mood, circumstances or other factors. For me, it probably was when music was exploding for me in 1969 -1973 (college years). Hearing records that I associated with new and exciting times, enhances my enjoyment of them 45 years later.
Also, I do agree with Sal that those records bubbly under my holy trinity will fluctuate and that is a good thing.
Finally, I will concede that these are definitely not the three best albums ever made, but I don't care.
1. The Band - The Band
2. Van Morrison - Tupelo Honey
3. Jackson Browne - Saturate Before Using
My apologies to the hundreds of other artists that I might have listed on another day.
joe
Talking Heads - Fear of Music - Powerful, soulful, at times deeply disturbing and often funny as shit. Their high-water mark. In particular, "Memories Can't Wait" is Martian Rock of the first order; this beats any bible verse I've ever read:
"Take a walk through the land of shadows
Take a walk through the peaceful meadows
Don't look so disappointed
It isn't what you hoped for, is it?"
No, it sure as hell isn't.
*
Neil Young - Tonight's the Night - Same as above, without the funny. Deadly fucking serious, in fact; these songs lodge themselves somewhere deep inside your soul and refuse to leave.
Please take my advice.
(Check out the live record from this tour that was recently released; songs come across as a bit less threadbare, they are weightier onstage without losing any of their ominous power.)
*
Elvis Costello - Get Happy - still kills me after all these years, 20 kick-ass tunes, little 3-minute bursts of Motown-y wonder, Bruce Thomas channeling James Jamerson on meth. Just a big, fun record, impeccably produced with distinct unfussiness by The Basher. EC never sounded this off-the-cuff again, he began to see himself as a Serious Composer, which led to 7-minute songs with string quartets that make you want to walk into the ocean.
*
Ask me tomorrow for three different records, probably. Fun though!
Ok here goes. Right off the top of my head I would have to say
Band on the Run - McCartney and Wings
Born to Run - Springsteen and the E Street Band
My Aim is True - Elvis Costello and the Attractions
I guess I'm stuck pretty squarely at 16 also. Hurt not to include some Queen.
Some days it's
Astral Weeks
Blood On The Tracks
Marquee Moon
some days it's
Exile On Main Street
Tonight's The Night
Ramones
Pet Sounds, Forever Changes, Sgt Pepper's - because if I was ever stranded on that proverbial desert island I could listen to these for ever.
i recently had a handyman over to quote some work that was beyond me and he had to see my mess of a collection. Later he asked me what would be the album i would listen to on my death bed. Borrowing from Doonesbury, i said pet Sounds. He said he was not familiar with it. I didn't go on about it. At this point, it has drawn you in or they are just a surf band.
So my trinity is not sonically copacetic like I feel Sals is. But they are the 3 that always get played on road trips, first on cassettes, then CDS now streaming. My wife sings along to them and am sure upon my passing, they will be kept by her, along with about 20 other albums, mostly from her teens, before me. So these albums did make their mark on her when nearly 40 years of music have not.
Blood on the Tracks- an album we both bought just before meeting each other. The GOAT songwriters greatest album.
Born to Run- the album that got her up to my dorm room. She had read Time/Newsweek but had not heard it
And PS- not of the time space as the first two. But Discovered about the same time period by me when coupled with So Tough. The album that can make me cry.
Easiest question I've been asked all week, because my trinity has stayed the same for forty years:
Eli & the 13th Confession -- Laura Nyro
What's Going On -- Marvin Gaye
Pet Sounds -- Beach Boys
"Eli" is the most perfect, and "Pet Sounds" the most flawed, but Pet Sounds cuts the deepest.
O&O is easily in my top ten.
Dave F.
Too difficult to really choose, but the three that first come to my mind are:
The Beatles: Revolver
The Byrds: Younger Than Yesterday
Cream: Disraeli Gears
Great selections so far (and second The Band, Elvis Costello and Van Morrison selections particularly) adding my two cents...
Van Morrison "Wavelength"
XTC "Oranges & Lemons"
The The "Soul mining"
An easy one for me despite the many contenders for this reason;
I had the clever idea some years ago to painstakingly digitise my vinyl and
was faced with many long winter nights of sitting at the computer.
However, boredom struck very soon and common sense prevailed, so the task was abandoned after
just three transfers of albums I just had to have outside the home at any time I liked on my iPod.
1) Misty In Roots - Live At The Countervision
The most infectious of all live albums let alone a reggae masterclass such as this.
Not a year goes by when this does not get played to lift spirits.
If I had a time machine......
2) The Butts Band 2nd Album
Crusing through the streets of Bath in a friend’s Ford Cortina listening to this on the cassette player.
The remnants of The Doors (Krieger, Densmore) team up with one of the greatest white singers of all time Jess Roden.
3) Sharks - Jab It In Your Eye
Andy Fraser of Free has departed at this point but Busta Cherry Jones and Spedding created an album which holds it’s own 40 years later.
Sorry Bruce.
Dave L,
Berlin, Germany
My two bob's worth of Desert Island Discs:
Pink Floyd - Atom Heart Mother (for the memories it always brings as I float merrily along to the title track and Fat Old Sun in particular. Plus I love cows!)
Led Zeppelin - Led Zep II (blew my socks off from the moment the needle hit track one side one & it still does. No cows, though).
Beatles - Sgt Pepper (got played all summer long back in '67 & one of which I'll never tire. Thought I could see a cow hidden in the photo montage on the cover).
Hard to pick just three, but I'll do a trinity.
The Beatles Rubber Soul
The Beach Boys Today!
The Hollies Butterfly
The Who - Quadrophenia. Almost every time I listen to this I listen to it in it's entirety and for someone with my attention span, that is really monumental.
Led Zeppelin - IV. This album help shape my moral fabric when I was a teenager. Here is a band that is on the verge of becoming huge and what do they do? Release an album without a title in order to put the focus on just the music and not on who made the music. I still wish Rock and Roll opened side two, though.
Pete Townshend - Who Came First. I loved it when I was a young sprout and have grown to love it even more now that I'm an older sprout.
Randy
These comments are fantastic! Some truly inspiring thoughts. And such passion! Thanks guys!
Pete Townshend and Ronnie Lane--Rough Mix
Rough Mix expanded my view of Townshend as a songwriter and singer (and I was already a giant Who fan) and made me fall in love with the work of Ronnie Lane. And that sent me off in search of his solo records, Faces, Small Faces, etc etc etc
Warren Zevon--Warren Zevon
Great songs, masterful playing that put a dark edge on the California vibe. I had never seen this LA, but I sure could feel it.
Elvis Costello and the Attractions--Blood and Chocolate
I could put about 10 Elvis albums here, but this is the one I return to the most. The raw rock coming so soon after King of America, the always great words. When I reach the end of this album, I want to put it on again (like Roxy Music's Siren, which could have made this list too).
The hard part about this is that it takes time to really narrow it down to 3 (especially at work!). So I'm being hasty and this will probably change in 24 hours but here is my submission.
Stones - Sticky Fingers. They are my favorite band (actually going to see them next week in Scotland...sorry Sal if that costs me a few notches of respect) and it's got everything I want from them; sex, blues, country, jams, and w/ Brown Sugar one of the best guitar riffs ever
Clash - London Calling. Like most suburban kids in the 70's I did my fair share (and still do) of listening to Zep, Who, YES, and Jethro Tull (don't really listen to them anymore). But as CREEM magazine began championing the emerging punk/new wave bands I began to move away from some these stalwarts. I never really like the Pistols. But I did love Ramones, Talking Heads, The Jam, etc. In the early to mid-80s, I was a DJ at my college radio station so I rode the wave of those great bands that appeared at that time; Echo, P-Furs, REM, Dream Syndicate and more. So much great music! But "London Calling" is the one that I cling to. Maybe it was the line from the title song - "phony Beatlemania has bitten the dust" - the first time I heard that on the radio it stopped me. To this day, that song thrills me. Along w/ other gems like "Death or Glory", "Clampdown", "Train in Vain"...there is not a dud on this double album. In fact, in my humble opinion, it is the best double album of all time.
Cure - Disintegration. Another band that I latched onto in college but when this record came out, I was living in SF. I moved out there w/ my old girlfriend and shortly thereafter, she dumped me. I didn't have any friend in SF and was frankly in a bad place. This record was my soundtrack for that time. I listened to it non-stop for weeks. It's probably the only record I can recall that really caught how I was feeling emotionally and is still resonates.
This is os tough because on any given day it can change based on mood, weather, etc.... But here goes.
The Beatles - Abbey Road
Todd Rundgren - Something/Anything
Roy Wood - Mustard
No wait.... aww fuck it. That's it
Born to Run
Get Your YaYa's Out
Hard Day's Night
I have decided I need a back-up trinity - perhaps to play on odd numbered dates, so here goes:
Nobody, absolutely nobody should sing Beatles material save the originators. However, I am willing to bend the rules ever so slightly for a couple of attempts, these being:
1. Cathy Berberian's 1967 album of "Beatles Arias". The album consisted of twelve of Berberian's distinctive operatic-style cover versions of songs by The Beatles, scored for a small chamber ensemble, consisting of a string quartet or wind quintet with harpsichord or organ. She was inspired to create it while singing along to her 13-year-old daughter's Beatles records. Further exploration of Berberian's music is recommended, particularly with her interpretations of the avant-garde composer Luciano Berio's works.
2. My second essential Beatles songs album is Joshua Rifkin's 1965 release "The Baroque Beatles Book". Interestingly, or not, the orchestra on the recording is credited as the "Baroque Ensemble of the Merseyside Kammermusickgesellschaft".
Both of these albums bring a refreshingly different perspective to material, which generally in hands of anyone other than The Beatles is overwhelmingly hackneyed, mundane, and mostly results in infantile pastiche, if not direct copies.
3. The third part of my back-up trinity will be a compilation of Scott Walker songs from Scott 1 thru Scott 4, taking in all the Brel songs as well as Scott's own compositions. There are a number of compilations available, but none is entirely satisfactory, so I have a compendium of my own making - but all or any combination of songs from those 4 albums would suffice.
. . . but then again, what about some jazz! Guess that will have to wait for another lifetime!!
Hi Sal, thanks for the gun against my head... ;-)
1. The Beatles - White Album
2. JonI Michelle - Miles of Aisles. Cheating on this one as it encompasses a few other tough choices (Blue / Court and Spark)
3. Keith Jarrett - Solo Concert, Bremen / Lausanne
rob
I don't play the classics much at home; the bookcase is crammed so tight that it's a pain to pull them out. my top 3 forever companions that are in constant rotation:
Ride - Nowhere. recorded mostly live with the warts left in. There are other shoegaze albums that are more noteworthy (Loveless, Giant Steps, Souvlaki), but none rocked harder, including nods to classic rock (the "Rain" bass riff on the opener, the "When the Levee Breaks" beat on "Dreams Burn Down"). The drummer wails even on the slower tunes. One of the few albums were the bonus cuts on the cd actually add to the whole experience.
John Doe Thing - Freedom Is... I lived in San Diego for a few years at the beginning of the '00s. JD brought his trio down to play The Casbah at least once a year, leaning heavily on this album and Kissingsohard. He's written a lot of good songs since then, but the first Thing album pretty much set the template for them.
Cheri Knight - The Northeast Kingdom. this was the Blood Oranges' bassist backed by "Jerusalem" era Earle and the Dukes. every time I see this in a bin, I buy it and find someone who needs it.
If I were being honest all 3 records would be Springsteen records. But that's not exciting. In fact, whenever I make lists, I take Springsteen off. Because his records from "The Wild, The Innocent and the E Street Shuffle" through "Tunnel Of Love" are so ingrained in who i am that it's impossible to release them from my life and view them objectively. Impossible.
Similarly I leave the Beatles off the list because the Beatles are aliens and perfect and I can't wrap my head around criticism of them. So they never make my "best of lists" because then ALL of the Beatles albums would be on there.
So, that said, this is my 3:
Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul- "Men Without Women"- I know that it's Springsteen adjacent, but to me this record is everything. Everything. The soul, grit and determination in this record is where the Clash and Motown meet for me. The lyrics are street wise and double fisted. It's all heart. I love this album.
The Replacements- "Pleased To Meet Me"- I know. It's the one after Bob left. But to me this is their high point.
R.E.M- "Automatic for the People"- the high point of one of the best American bands of all time. And the most beautiful album I own.Full stop
This is hard...but I chose 'The Holy Trinity'as follows, based on 'I can listen to these again and again from the beginning till the end.
Pet Sounds/The Beach Boys (Their one and only perfect album)
Vol.2/Soft Machine (it's a toss up between first and second)
A Girl Called Eddie/A Girl Called Eddie (great songs, great arrangement/production)
Depends on my mood, the followings can be substituted.
Rubber Soul/The Beatles
First/Procol Harum
Uncle Meet/The Mothers of Invention
Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere/Neil Young
Thought I had left a comment but maybe not.
On any given day it may change but for today it's
The Beatles - Abbey Road
Todd Rundgren - Something/Anything
Roy Wood - Mustard
No wait ... Aw, fuck it, that's it.
Glad to see that Guy called Tak listed A Girl Called Eddy. One of my favorite albums of all time and probably the most unknown except for him, me and you,
Bob Dylan - Highway 61 Revisited (Nothing need be said)
Smokey Robinson & The Miracles - Going To A-Go-Go ("America's greatest living poet", according to someone who knows a thing or two about the subject, at the height of his powers)
Howard Tate - self titled (The sweetest soul singer few have ever heard. A perfect record)
Bob Dylan - Highway 61 Revisited (Nothing need be said)
Smokey Robinson & The Miracles - Going To A-Go-Go ("America's greatest living poet", according to someone who knows a thing or two about the subject, at his peak)
Howard Tate - self-titled (The sweetest soul singer few have ever heard. Just about a perfect record).
I...can't! I CAN'T! My head hurts trying to name three. Three? My most played? most beloved? Most important? Argh. The only one I know would be there is Bruce Springsteen's "Nebraska." After that, all the albums start looking up at me with pleading eyes: aren't you gonna pick me? Don't pick her! You haven't listened to her in YEARS! Pick me! But maybe Joni Mitchell's "Blue?" Endlessly playable and perfect and deep and moving after the thousandth spin. But just one more? No. Sinatra? But the most played "Come Fly With Me" or the most perfect "Francis Albert Sinatra and Antonio Carlos Jobim" or my first love "In The Wee Small Hours? But what about Richard and Linda Thompson's "Shoot Out The Lights" which weirdly it took me a YEAR to "get into" just like R.E.M.'s "Murmur" so what do I know? Emotionally, maybe Prefab Sprout. Intellectually...no, that's boring. Something left field so I don't seem predictable? No, that's boring too and too clever by half though god knows I've played Boulevard of Broken Dreams' "It's The Talk Of The Town" a thousand times and 99.9% of the people in the world have never heard of it. So when in doubt I start scrolling through my own lists and immediately latch onto the greatest Greatest Hits album of all time and a hugely influential one and it just felt right "Oh that's the one!" and certainly one of the first I bought and is it any surprise the three come from my formative years of the early 70s to the early 80s though god knows I cherish albums from the 40s and the oughts? So they are:
BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN -- Nebraska
JONI MITCHELL -- Blue
SIMON AND GARFUNKEL -- Greatest Hits
Bruce Cockburn - Stealing Fire
CSNY - 4 Way Street
Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath
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