Conference marvin::uk_music

    I've not had most of my albums more than 5 years, so it's difficult to
    judge which ones still sound fresh.
    
    Saying that, I have to plug `The Best Of Blondie'.  It's just full of
    great arrangements of catchy guitar/synth pop.  I've always liked
    Debbie Harry's voice, but the drumming (Clem Burke?) is superb, but
    it's so far down in the mix it's a shame.
    
    I also have a thing about Kraftwerk.  All of the 6 albums I own of
    theirs do things for me no matter how long I listen to them, but I
    think it must be an aquired taste.  They are a bit minimilistic at
    times for most people.
    
    It's funny how lots of the so-called classic LP's seem so sugary
    nowadays.  `Rumours' and `With The Beatles' do my head in after a
    couple of plays.
    
    
    matty

    
    One of my all time classic albums that I regularly go back to must be 
    The Smiths by The Smiths, there are some wonderful songs on this album
    which I never seem to get tired of hearing.  One thing that I think
    influences peoples classic albums is what they associate with the
    particular record i.e. what the record makes them remember.  For
    example The Smiths brings my 5th year and lower 6th form days flooding
    back, not just the good times, but I can smile at the bad times now and
    realise they weren't that bad.
    
    Tim
    ---

    I agree with Tim that associations are as important as anything.  The
    Smiths are on of my favourite groups, yet I comletely and utterly hate
    their first album, it was such a let down after the Peel Sessions.
    
    My faves - Queen is Dead (Smiffs), Closer - Joy Division, Kind of Blue
    - Miles Davis.  These records must be close to transparent with the
    high usage they've received.  They are few things more enjoyable than,
    when you are feeling a bit low, putting on Closer very loud and turning
    the lights out...as long as you dont get caught by your other half!!
    
    Mikef

    Rumours - Fleetwood Mac
    
    Tusk - Fleetwood Mac
    
    Ain't living long like this - Rodney Crowell
    
    Transfiguration of Blind Joe Death - John Fahey
    
    6 and 12 string guitar - Leo Kottke
    
    Paradise and Lunch - Ry Cooder
    
    Into the Music - Van Morrison
    
    Elvis Presley - Elvis Presley
    
    Feats don't fail me now - Little Feat
    
    Dixie Chicken - Little Feat
    
    etc etc 
    
    
    andy

    
    Re .3
    Mike,
    Your other half finds herself open to bribery on the Joy Division
    count;
    but Rush... no chance, pal!
    Leonie.
    

    ohh nooo......I shouldn't have shown her how to use notes!!!  Is there
    to be no peace for me...Can I bribe a moderator to ban her?
    
    Mikef

    Still stand the test of time for me are :-
    
    Clash - the 1st Lp, still portrays the mood of the time
    
    Roxy Music - 1st LP, considering its age (1972) its still an
    adventurous LP, with classics like 'Ladytron' still fresh
    
    Focus - Hamburger Concerto - a successful mix of classic'n'rock
    
    Bob Marley & the Wailers - Natty Dread, Live & Exodus
    
    Free - Heartbreaker, dont ask me why (I dont particularly like 'rock'
    any more, but it still sounds good) .
    
    SAHB - Framed - for purely nostalgic reasons...Let Glasgow Flourish.
    
    Paul

    There's another vote here for that first Roxy lp. What a classic! I'd
    file it under 'timeless', as it still sounds fresh now, and doesn't
    evoke any one particular era.
    
    Bob (Medley)

    RE: IMMSA's note.  I quite fancy getting a Ry Cooder LP someday.  The
    music for Paris Texas was dead good.
    
    matty

    re .3
    
    Great to see Miles Davis' "Kind of Blue" in a classic list.
    How about Miles' "ESP", one of my favourites, and
    Marvin Gaye's "What's goin' on".
    
    martin

    What about Jeff Waynes 'War of the Worlds'. This (IMO) is a classic,
    wonderful story, narrated by the master, and classic music. The first
    time I heard this (I was 8 or 9), and is scared the crap out of me.
    
    It still blows my mind even now !!!
    
    		(forget the crap remix jobbie)
    
    					Andy.	

    Re -1
    
    Anyone like me who when hearing a piece of music equates it to a
    circumstance or people ??
    Re war of the Worlds, I cannot hear it without thinking of a colleague
    of mine who got into hi-fi in a big way but insisted on playing
    everything too loud...he was always going into Laskys with blown
    speakers or amp, and was always upgrading. Anytime I went to hear his
    new speakers etc, he would always play War of the Worlds at max volume.
    As a result hearing WOTW reminds me of painful ear-bleeding volume
    experiences of 12 (?) years ago and spoils the album for me...should I see 
    a shrink about this ??
    Paul

    Here's another one I still play and love a lot; the first Modern Lovers
    album, produced in part by John Cale.
    
    If you don't enjoy crass rock&roll-y songs, badly played and sung, with a 
    very basic production, this record is not for you. But for the rest of
    you, it's 1,2,3,4,5,6.... roadrunner roadrunner!!!
    
    Bob

    re -1 Agree with you there Bob - great lp.  Also, he (JR) has a good
    compilation  lp out which has the single version of Roadrunner (rougher
    than the lp version).
    
    Mikef

    It also has one of my favourite songs on it, namely the almost
    pathetically touching 'Hospital'. This song once reduced my friend
    Simon to tears in public.
    
    Does anyone remember the live JR & ML album? Admittedly, it's not as
    good as the first one, but it has its moments. I put this one in the
    'non-classic but I listen to it occasionally for nostalgic reasons'
    bracket, because...... I was at that gig! Poor old JR had to put up
    with a lot of heckling from various members of the Clash that night.
    
    It was a good gig, but I don't think the album stands the test of time
    in the way that the first one does.
    
    Bob

	Another vote for the Modern Lovers 1st LP.

	
	D��e

	PS. "Morning of our lives" from the live album regularily wakes me
	    up on my alarm/cassette/radio each day. Unfortunately it rarely
	    helps me to get out of bed...

    The Cale connection; I can listen to any of John Cale's earlier albums
    again and again, (I'd recommend any of his Island label lps) but the one 
    that I really love above all others is Paris 1919, which must be about 
    20 years old now.
    
    It's lush, it's mysterious, it's beautifully produced so it won't hurt
    your ears, but that doesn't mean it's a wimp-out, and the songs are just 
    wonderful and evocative. Lyrically, it's obscure but not pretentious,
    and the arrangements suit the songs perfectly. This album hasn't got a
    dud track on it. It's also unlike any of his other lps, which by
    comparison tend to be a lot heavier.
    
    Bob

	Into this category must fall 'The Crack' by the Ruts which still 
	receives a lot of play.

	This album goes all over the place in terms of style.
	The excellent 'Babylons Burning'; the churning 'SUS'; the reggaeish
	'Jah War'; the thrash of 'I'll do what I wanna do' , the mood
	of 'It was cold'; the power of 'Back-Biter'; the crapness of
	'Human Punk'. What can I say. If you don't own this album then
	it would be an admirable addition to any record collection.


	Eck.	

    I'm playing this one even as I write - it's the first album by the
    mighty Undertones!
    
    Any album with classics like Teenage Kicks and Here Comes The Summer
    has to be a good one, but it also has other stonkers like Listen In and
    Jimmy Jimmy.
    
    They just sound so young and fresh and like they are having a
    gerrreaaaat time just doing it! The true spirit of rock&roll, or more
    specifically punk, maybe.
    
    Bob
    
    p.s. I have it on tape. As a filler at the end I have 'Mars Bars'. This
    one cracks me up every time.

    re.9
    
    Anytime you want to talk Ry Cooder and his albums...give me a shout.
    
    andy

    The album that best stands the test of time in my opinion has to be the 
    Stooges first, from back in 1969. Few "new-wave" bands from the 70's/80's
    could claim they weren't influenced in some way by the Stooges, (especially
    Americans). This album sounds every bit as good today as it did then.

    D���

    
    There's always the tendency to latch onto obscure albums in this sort of
    discussion so just to establish a benchmark...
    
    Sgt Pepper STILL takes some beating. I listened to it again the other
    day on CD and it still sounds fresh and original. I can hear that intro
    to Lovely Rita now. Brilliant. THE benchmark album. Also Hard Days
    Night. I still remember the day my friend came in with this album and
    we spent the next week listening to it virtually non-stop. Do ANY
    albums these days really have this quality of music?
    
    As for the more obscure stuff. Well the album that stands out in my
    collection is Another Page by Christopher Cross. I have all his albums
    and this is the best. Hated it at first but isn't that always the way
    (Beatles excepted)?
    
    Richard

    
    How can you set a benchmark when this topic is about personal
    preferences.
    
    > Do ANY albums these days really have this quality of music?
    
    Surely quality isn't what we are talking about, and using one person's
    classic to judge others by isn't the idea, this is like saying my taste
    is better than yours....
    
    I'd say the idea behind this topic is just to discover what people
    like and see what we all have in common.  Sgt Pepper is widely
    acknowledged as being a great album but how can you compare all other
    albums to this when some show no resemblance what so ever e.g. rap
    music.
    
    Tim
    ---

    Influenced by this topic, I delved into the 'Oldies' section of my 
    predominantly vinyl collection, dusted them off and vowed to listen to
    them whenever I got the chance.
    
    Managed to listen to Free's Heartbreaker LP, and really enjoyed it.
    It must be 10 years since I last played it and, although my musical
    tastes have changed since then, I found that most of the tracks had
    lasted the test of time. I used to cut out any reviews of any LP I was
    intending to buy, and stick it on the inner cover. Its interesting to
    note how music critics approach to reviewing has changed.
    In the good old days, they used to describe most of the tracks, quote a
    few lyrics, and say what they liked and disliked about the LP.
    Nowadays its nearly impossible to determine whether they have actually
    played the damn thing or not, far less whether they liked it or
    not.....come back Charles Shaar Murray, all is forgiven.
    
    Paul

    
    
1)    Pete Atkin / Clive James.....Secret Drinker
    
       (PS....New CD & Cassette just issued which contains a compilation of 
      their 5 LP's)
    
    
2)    Santana ..... Caravanserai    
     
    
3)    Al DiMeola , Paco De Lucia, John McLaughlin .... Friday Night in San
                                                                  Francisco
4)    B-52's....B-52's
    
    
    Harv

    Layla
    
    Secrets - Robert Palmer
    
    An Evening Wasted.. Tom Lehrer
    
    Crime of The Century - Supertramp
    
    

    ZIGGY STARDUST
     (TO BE PLAYED AT MAXIMUM VOLUME)
    
    GEORGE

    Re. last ....
    
    >>  ZIGGY STARDUST
    >>  (TO BE PLAYED AT MAXIMUM VOLUME)
    
    Hear, hear!!  Fine choice, my man, but I must say that after procuring
    the CD re-issues, re-assessment of "Hunky Dory" reveals a work of real
    class, whereas IMHO a few of the tracks on "Ziggy" sound slightly dated
    (and "It Ain't Easy" *still* sounds badly out-of-place).

Re:.28	Must agree on Hunky Dory.  Superb album.

<Rant On>

	My #1 vote for a classic album must go to "A walk across the rooftops"
	by The Blue Nile.  I still find it absolutely stunning.  I know nothing
	about the theory of music, but the way that the complexity of some
	of the songs build leaves me breathless - and you get a catchy chorus
	too!  What more could a man ask for? :-)

<Rant Off>

-Brian.

	Went through my old cassette collection recently. 



	Killing Joke "Night Time". 

	I still love this one. Great stuff, very powerful, with "Love Like 
	Blood", "Eighties" and "Kings And Queens" all standing out on a 
        strong album.


	New Model Army "Veangance"

	Tremendous lyrics. They used to make me think quite a lot, especially
	"Small Town England" and "Spirit Of The Falklands". Great use of the 
	bass as a more 'upfront' instrument here.


	The Cult "Dreamtime"

	Such a shame that The Cult decided they didnt want to do this sort
	of thing anymore. Some tremendous stuff here, with a live freebie
	album on the other side of the tape. Highlights for me, the title
	track "Dreamtime", "Gods Zoo"(on the live side), "Spiritwalker" etc.
	I think this album is very cheap these days, still with the bonus 
	live side.

	Eck.

    Interesting to see Bowie albums mentioned in this topic. I guess everyone
    has a favourite Bowie album... 

    ..and mine is "Young Americans". I find other "classics" such as Ziggy
    Stardust, and Aladdin Sane sound very dated nowadays. "Young Americans"
    if released today wouldn't sound out of place. It has some really soulful
    tracks that could make it as singles even now. "Win" and "Fascination" are
    examples. This album is from 1975/6, and came somewhere between "Diamond
    Dogs" and "Stationtostation" (another good album). Its best remembered for
    the title track, and "Fame", but is well worth hearing if you haven't
    already. For me this is one of the few albums on which Bowie actually 
    shows he can sing.

    D���

    re .31
    
    My favourite Bowie album is 'Low', which still lasts the test of time,
    as I gave it a spin the other day. As I remember it was slagged off by
    the press, and was memorable for its 'UnBowielike' music...although I
    always felt that each Bowie album had a differnt feel/style to it.
    My favourite Bowie single was/is Drive in Saturday, for no other reason
    than its a damn fine song.
    Paul

    Re: Low

    In fact when NME writers compiled their "best albums of all time list" a
    couple of years ago, "Low" came out as the most liked Bowie album, followed
    by "Heroes".

    I would agree it has some of his best work, but I'm not particularily
    impressed by the side with all the instrumentals.

    D���

    
    Perhaps it was ahead of its time, and took a few years for it to become
    likeable/accesable. The Bowie/Eno track, Warzawa is very haunting, and
    one which I always felt would accompany film of the aftermath of a war
    or a bombing raid, or something similarly descructive. Still thats
    eenuff arty-farty stuff from me.
    Cheers
    paul
     

    I bought the "Heroes" album second-hand, on the off-chance that I'd
    like it, not really being a Bowie fan. Side 1 is ok, some nice toons,
    but side 2!! Wow! Loved it then, and still do. It's so strange that it
    just doesn't date.
    
    
    Rod

    Recently got a colleague to purchase some CD's for me when he was in
    the States..mostly old ones to replace old'n'worn vinyl. One of them
    was 'For your Pleasure' by Roxy Music...Ive already mentioned the ist
    Lp as being a stayer.  Anyway FYP really last the test of time I think
    it was released in 1973 and tracks like "in every dream home a
    hearthache' 'The Bogus Man' and "Editions of You" still sound great.
    Also I seem to be able to pick out Eno's synth work more clearly, which
    enhances the CD for me.
    Paul