Classic Rock 101

[following]

As requested by woink, here's a list of 20 albums to provide a crash course in pre-1989 rock. I'm sure there are albums I've left off here (if they are by the doors or stones, it's intentional) and unfortunately it's impossible to create a list like this without including greatest hits albums. I've tried to provide a mix of early and late, rock and

Comments

[boog0r]

Alright honky. For the most part, I'd agree. Some possible changes?

10. The Police - Synchronicity
11. Dire Straits - Brothers in Arms
14. U2 - The Joshua Tree
16. Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon

There is NO NEED for two Aerosmith albums. =)

[following]

fyi, I'm by no means saying pump should be on anyone's list of 20 best classic rock albums... but I dont know, there was something about that album. And pre and post Permanent Vacation Aerosmith are two ENTIRELY different bands.

And you wont find a bigger dire straits fan than me, and brothers in arms was my favorite album of all time when I was 7. But I feel like "so far" and "money for nothing" just don't showcase mark's guitar and they kinda overshadow the rest of the album. anyway, that's just me.

[elemenoh]

I might reccommend...
Tom Petty and the Hearthbreakers - Full Moon Fever
Simon and Garfunkel - Bridge Over Troubled Waters
Neil Young - Harvest
Elton John - Honky Château

and, because I'm biased,
Joni Mitchell - Blue
Steely Dan - Aja

Didn't Achtung Baby come out in '91?

[following]

Yeah, achtung baby breaks the rule for the list. So does Joshua tree. But matt still hasn't actually listened to either album and both are arguably "classic" rock, so...

Can't believe I left off Petty.

[enomalas]

Some additional suggestions, not covered by Simon's list:

Hippies:
Crosby, Stills & Nash [self-titled] (1969)
George Harrison - All Things Must Pass (1970)
Cat Stevens - Mona Bone Jakon (1970)

Glam Rockers:
David Bowie - The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars (1972)
Lou Reed - Transformer (1972)

Punks:
Patti Smith - Horses (1975)
The Ramones [self-titled] (1976)

Erasmus?

[brendansays]

unfortunately it's impossible to create a list like this without including greatest hits albums.

WTF?! Greatest hits "albums" suck! First of all, greatest hits compilations are not albums, they are just records/discs/(or in the case of PUMP, tapes). How is it impossible to leave them out?

In my opinion the ratio of Clapton/Aerosmith to Beatles/GARFUNKEL/DYLAN!!!! highlights the crash in crash course.

dylan blows harmonicas

[following]

a. matt requested no early beatles and already knows the white album, so what's missing? revolver? eh.
b. I'm assuming when I was commissioned to write the list, matt was expecting a certain prejudice towards clapton/aerosmith. and jeez, i recant the pump inclusion.
c. I dont see how you can write a manageable list that covers such a wide spectrum of time without including compilations. In the cases of bands where the album was seminal (see Led Zeppelin, Beatles) or particularly representative of their work as a whole (see Dire Straits, Police), I've included the album. How many Cream/Seger/Stevie Ray Vaughn albums have you listened to all the way through? I'm guessing none, but you can't argue that they should be off this list.
d. you own like 3 aerosmith greatest hits albums.

Re: dylan blows harmonicas

[brendansays]

a: Sorry, didn't know woink requested this

Re: dylan blows harmonicas

[following]

I agree if I had included a compilation like "1", you would have every reason to discount this list. I dont think the greatest hits albums on here are really the equivalent of that.

I could have sworn you owned "Classics Live I", "Classics Live II", and "Big Ones".