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1047 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die (Chronolgical Order)

It'sOnRandom

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I own one of these books too and have listened to a lot of them but no idea how many. So many great records to discover. Running over the list, these would would be my personal "listen before you die" highlights (although there are tons more I love too)...

Miles Davis – Kind Of Blue (1959)
Bob Dylan – Highway 61 Revisited (1965)
The Beach Boys – The Beach Boys Today! (1965)
The Sonics – Here Are The Sonics (1965)
The Monks – Black Monk Time (1966)
Love – Forever Changes (1967)
Nico – Chelsea Girl (1967)
The Doors – The Doors (1967)
The Velvet Underground – The Velvet Underground And Nico (1967)
Simon & Garfunkel – Bookends (1968)
The Who – Tommy (1968)
The Zombies – Odessey And Oracle (1968)
Dusty Springfield – Dusty In Memphis (1969)
Flying Burrito Brothers – The Gilded Palace Of Sin (1969)
Isaac Hayes – Hot Buttered Soul (1969)
Johnny Cash – Johnny Cash At San Quentin (1969)
Led Zeppelin – Led Zeppelin II (1969)
Scott Walker – Scott 4 (1969)
Cat Stevens – Tea For The Tillerman (1970)
John Lennon – Plastic Ono Band (1970)
Nick Drake – Bryter Layter (1970) (aka THE GREATEST ALBUM EVER!!!)
The Stooges – Fun House (1970)
Harry Nilsson – Nilsson Schmilsson (1971)
Marvin Gaye – What’s Going On (1971)
Big Star – No 1 Record (1972)
David Bowie – Hunky Dory (1972)
Lou Reed – Transformer (1972)
The Rolling Stones – Exile On Main Street (1972)
Gram Parsons – Grievous Angel (1973)
Iggy & The Stooges – Raw Power (1973)
Bob Dylan – Blood On The Tracks (1974)
Kraftwerk – Autobahn (1974)
Neil Young – On The Beach (1974)
Bruce Springsteen – Born To Run (1975)
Patti Smith – Horses (1975)
Tom Waits – Nighthawks At The Diner (1975)
David Bowie – Low (1977)
Ian Dury – New Boots And Panties! (1977)
Iggy Pop – Lust For Life (1977)
Kraftwerk – Trans-Europe Express (1977)
The Modern Lovers – The Modern Lovers (1977)
Elvis Costello – This Year’s Model (1978)
Kraftwerk – The Man Machine (1978)
Joy Division – Unknown Pleasure (1979)
Pink Floyd – The Wall (1979)
Talking Heads – Fear Of Music (1979)
The Clash – London Calling (1979)
The Specials – Specials (1979)
The Undertones – The Undertones (1979)
AC/DC – Back In Black (1980)
Dexys Midnight Runners – Searching For The Young Soul Rebels (1980)
Motorhead – Ace Of Spades (1980)
Talking Heads – Remain In Light (1980)
Prince & The Revolution – Purple Rain (1984)
Dexys Midnight Runners – Don’t Stand Me Down (1985)
The Pogues – Rum, Sodomy And The Lash (1985)
The Smiths – The Queen Is Dead (1986)
Guns N’ Roses – Appetite For Destruction (1987)
Pet Shop Boys – Actually (1987)
Prince – Sign ‘O’ The Times (1987)
Beastie Boys – Paul’s Boutique (1989)
Coldcut – What’s That Noise? (1989)
De La Soul – 3 Feet High And Rising (1989)
Happy Mondays – Pills ‘N’ Thrills And Bellyaches (1990)
A Tribe Called Quest – Low End Theory (1991)
Primal Scream – Screamadelica (1991)
Teenage Fanclub – Bandwagonesque (1991)
Nirvana – In Utero (1993)
Manic Street Preachers – The Holy Bible (1994)
The Prodigy – Music For The Jilted Generation (1994)
Guided By Voices – Alien Lanes (1995)
Jeff Buckley – Grace (1995)
The Chemical Brothers – Exit Planet Dust (1995)
Fun Lovin’ Criminals – Come Find Yourself (1996)
Radiohead – OK Computer (1997)
Spiritualized – Ladies And Gentlemen, We Are Floating In Space (1997)
The Divine Comedy – A Short Album About Love (1997)
Pulp – This Is Hardcore (1998)
The Magnetic Fields – 69 Love Songs (1999)
Badly Drawn Boy – The Hour Of Bewilderbeast (2000)
Lambchop – Nixon (2000)
Radiohead – Amnesiac (2001)
Ryan Adams – Gold (2001)
The Hives – Your New Favourite Band (2001)
The Strokes – Is This It? (2001)
The White Stripes – White Blood Cells (2001)
Jurassic 5 – Power In Numbers (2002)
The Coral – The Coral (2002)
Rufus Wainwright – Want One (2003)
The White Stripes – Elephant (2003)
Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Fever To Tell (2003)
The Libertines – The Libertines (2004)
Richard Hawley – Coles Corner (2005)
Sufjan Stevens – Illinois (2005)
Lupe Fiasco – Food & Liquour (2006)
LCD Soundsystem – Sound Of Silver (2007)

Good luck with the challenge! I seem to remember 'Louis Prima – The Wildest (1957)' being a blast early on the list.

I find it really embarassing I've heard barely any of these :(
 

It'sOnRandom

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3. Elvis Presley - Elvis Presley (1956)
Elvis_Presley_LPM-1254_Album_Cover.jpg


Well this was fun! I really am enjoying this album, I had to listen twice cause I enjoyed it so much.
Never really been a fan of Elvis but listening to this made me want to listen to the other albums.

Fav Tracks: Blue Suede Shoes, One-Sided Love Affair, Tutti Fruitti.
Least Fav Track: I'll Never Let You Go (Little Darlin')

Will I return to this album?: Hell Yes!!

Overrall Rating: 7
 
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TM2YC

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I've never listened to much of Elvis' career but I can recommend this live album:

s-l640.jpg


Has one of the great 6-7 minute versions of 'Suspicious Minds' he'd do live:

 

It'sOnRandom

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4.Frank Sinatra - Songs for Swingin' Lovers! (1956)
Songsforswinginlovers.jpg


For some weird reason, I actually enjoyed this album quite a bit, it was a lot more refreshing than the previous Frank Sinatra album, the instrumentals were a lot more fun and playful, and his voice is even better.

Fav Tracks: You Make Me Feel So Young, Too Marvelous For Words, Anything Goes
Least Fav Track: Old Devil Moon

Will I return to this album?: Yes

Overrall Rating: 6
 
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It'sOnRandom

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5. The Louvin Brother - Tragic Songs of Life
Tragic_Songs_of_Life_1.jpg

This one is okay, I found personally the instrumentals got boring as it went further into the album. However it definitely started off good.

Fav Tracks: Kentucky
Least Fav Tracks: What Is Home With Out Love

Will I return to this album?: Probably Not

Overrall Rating: 4/10
 
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Last Impressions

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Some corkers in that list but i'd switch a few up....Happy Mondays Bummed instead of Pills n Thrills, Spiritualized - Lazer Guided Melodies instead of Ladies & Gentleman, PJ Harvey Dry instead of Stories in the city. I'm excited for you - to go back and listen to some of these albums again for the first time would be so cool. I have a lot of memories piled up in a lot of these albums in that list. Great to see albums like John Grant Queen of Denmark and Fever Ray in the 1047
 

It'sOnRandom

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As people have been suggesting it a lot, I'm gonna jump around the list a little. Each day I'll do a couple albums from different decades. One from 50's than 60's, 70's (etc; )

Happy Mondays Bummed instead of Pills n Thrills, Spiritualized - Lazer Guided Melodies instead of Ladies & Gentleman, PJ Harvey Dry instead of Stories in the city. I'm excited for you.

I have actually listened to Spiritualized's Ladies & Gentleman We Are Floating In Space, so when it comes to that, i'll listen to your suggestion instead :)
 

It'sOnRandom

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6. Miles Davis - Birth Of The Cool (1956)

Birth_of_the_Cool.jpg


This one is quite boring to my ears, nothing really pops out and It all really just sticks to one sort of sound.

Fav Tracks: N/A
Least Fav Tracks: N/A

Will I Return To This Album?: No

Overrall Rating: 2 or 3
 
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It'sOnRandom

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I underrestimated the amount of time this challenge would take :)
 

Moe_Syzlak

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6. Miles Davis - Birth Of The Cool (1956)

Birth_of_the_Cool.jpg


This one is quite boring to my ears, nothing really pops out and It all really just sticks to one sort of sound.

Fav Tracks: N/A
Least Fav Tracks: N/A

Will I Return To This Album?: No

Overrall Rating: 2 or 3
😬 This is one of my favorite albums of all time. 🤷‍♂️
 

DigModiFicaTion

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@It'sOnRandom Birth of the Cool is pretty loungey feeling. Not really my thing either. If you want Miles Davis at his absolute (subjectively speaking) best I'd recommend listening to Kind of Blue. I'd put it in the top 5 albums of all time and would be hard pressed not to list it as #1. Musically speaking, it's a pure masterpiece.

 

LastSurvivor

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For any list like this I always check to see if Queensryche's Operation Mindcrime is on there... if it's not, then I lose all interest :D
 

Jrzag42

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I skimmed the list a bit. A few notes.
First off, I feel like Toxicity should be there in place of System of a Down's self titled album.
Second, something I feel less strong about, but still, I think Iowa should be there instead of Slipknot's self titled album.
Third, glad to see plenty of Nirvana on the list.
Fourth, why is there no Styx on the list? That's a massive oversight, I feel. They're one of my favorite bands, but beyond my personal taste, they're on the radio all the time, I've heard them in movies and TV, and I'm willing to bet that everyone knows at least one Styx song. I would say that they're a pretty significant band generally. These kinds of lists are bound to have some filler, I guarantee there's plenty of albums that are less deserving of a spot on the list than a Styx album. Now, which Styx album should be included? I have no idea, my personal favorite (Kilroy Was Here) isn't the most popular and I totally accept that, but I'm not sure which ones are especially popular. Perhaps Grand Illusion, I don't know.
 

It'sOnRandom

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I'm gonna be honest, I might have to wait a few weeks til i come back to this.
 

It'sOnRandom

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114. Jimi Hendrix - Electric Ladyland (1968)

1795880


Finally made a return to the list and what a banger to start off with. Never been a fan of the ol' Hendrix, due to just thinking it was pretentious guitar stuff that rockheads would go crazy over for it's admittedly great guitar work. But I was wrong entirely. This has some absolutely great tracks, that I was not expecting to enjoy as much as i did. While I don't think I'll return to this a hell of a lot, I enjoy this quite a bit and find it quite easy to lay back to and use as great background music.

Overall Rating:
8/10


1018: Justice - Cross (2007)

LTY3ODguanBlZw.jpeg


Had only heard the track "D. A. N. C. E" before hearing this album, but that song alone explains what is so great about Justice's debut album. Brilliant dance tracks throughout that never fail to capture my attention or to get me groovin'. This will be one I revisit quite a lot in the future.

Overall Rating:
8.5 - 9/10
 

It'sOnRandom

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102. The Velvet Underground - The Velvet Underground & Nice

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After seeing one of the tracks from this album pop up in a spotify playlist a few years ago, I was super intrigued to listen to the whole of this thing as that album cover for some reason is just so memorable. I'd heard about how influential it was was, so of course I was intrigued to check it out, and to be fair, it lived up to the expectations. Every track has a great reason for being there, aging surprisingly well with each track. "Heroin" maybe one of the greatest songs I have ever heard, an absolutely beautiful track that's a pretty hard listen too. Really enjoyed this one.

Overall Rating: 8.75/10
 
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It'sOnRandom

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205. Can - Tango Mago (1971)

Can_-_Tago_Mago.jpg


Never heard anything by Can but I'd heard the name going round for quite a while, primarily due to the fact that James Murphy (LCD Soundsystem) absolutely loves them. I was pretty surprised to see them on the list, not once, but three times, and see them managing to get a pretty high score on a site I use named albumoftheyear.org. Now while this isn't entirely my thing, I still very much appreciate the great elements of this record. Fantastic rhythms that change up regularly to make a fun and exciting listen. My only problem is that after the half way mark I think the record loses steam with the track "Aumgn" not fully building that energy back til the closing track. This is definitely a record I more appreciate than actually enjoy, but that still doesn't mean I don't think it's great.

Overall Rating: 8/10
 

It'sOnRandom

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609. Sisters of Mercy - Floodland (1987)

The_Sisters_of_Mercy_-_Floodland_cover_art.png


I'll admit I've never been all that big into the goth rock type stuff, and even after this record I still wouldn't say I'm a big fan. However, I do appreciate this genre far more after this album. Great grooves that are very exciting and enjoyable when done right. My only major faultswith this record is that a lot of these songs do sound extremely similar making it pretty hard to individualise between tracks. Due to this very similar style throughout, it's also kind of tiring even at only 40 minutes. There's some great stuff on here, but I've just gotta admit, it's not entirely my thing.

Overall Rating: 7/10
 
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