So here are 20 albums i consider essential listening, 10 being guitar-based, and 10 being non guitar-based. They are in no particular order.
Guitar-based:
1-Hendrix- "Band Of Gypsies" Machine Gun is still my favorite guitar performance of all time.
2-Michael Hedges- "Beyond Boundaries" An amazing collection of one of the true innovators of guitar playing.
3-Scott Henderson- "Well To The Bone" To me this is Scott's finest hour to date- can't wait for the live one!
4-Zappa- "Shut Up N Play Yer Guitar" (all three) The complexity and beauty of these records never fail to leave me shaking my head in disbelief.
5-Jeff Beck- "Who Else" Jeff runs the gamut from blues to techo and points in-between, and says more with each note than many say in their entire careers.
6-Johnny Winter- "Progressive Blues Experiment" To me, the definitive electric blues album.
7-Yngwie Malmsteen- "Rising Force" Love him or hate him, there's no denying his talent, which was best displayed on this album.
8-Wayne Krantz- "Greenwhich Mean" One of the few guys who really says something original each time he plays, at his peak.
9-Funkadelic- "Maggot Brain" The title track is my second favorite guitar performance of all time.
10-John Williams- "Bach:The Complete Lute Music On Guitar" A great performance by a truly master musician.
Honorable mentions:
Joe Diorio- "20th Century Impressions" Joe has a style and sound all his own, and it's stunning one.
Shawn Lane and Jonas Hellborg- "Time Is The Enemy" Living proof of how much potential we have as musicians.
Non guitar-based:
1-Red House Painters- "Songs For A Blue Guitar" Mark Kozelek is one of the most gifted songwriters you never heard of, his voice is a beautiful instrument in itself, and he plays some some very creative guitar parts.
2-Miles Davis- "In A Silent Way" This album grows more beautiful every time i hear it.
3-Tangerine Dream- "Rubycon" One of the most influential groups ever, at their creative peak.
4-Photek- "Hidden Camera EP" Despite the fact that this music is "programmed" instead of played, it's still some of the best rhythmic stuff i've ever heard.
5-Ravi Shankar- "Vision Of Peace" Music that transcends cultures and styles.
6-Amadou & Mariam- "Wati" Some great African vocal music in a more pop vein.
7-Babatunde Olatunji- "Healing Session" African drums and vocals for meditation.
8-Tabla Beat Science- "Live In San Francisco" Bill Laswell has a unique talent for bringing together musicians of different styles, and on this record, they just kill.
9-Tuu- "One Thousand Years" Claypot drums and flutes mixed with modern synths for some peaceful ambient music.
10-John Coltrane- "A Love Supreme" The closest i've heard anyone come to enlightenment through music.
Thanks for indulging me, and if you want, tell me some of your favorites that i need to check out.
peace _________________ "We'll just pretend there aint no strings"
What era is "Miles Ahead" from? I'm not familiar with that one.
-I heard "Trio Jeepy" years ago, and liked it, but haven't listened to Branford in a long time.
-I have a lot of Zappa, but i'm not a fan of the comedy/sex lyrics aspect of his work. There's some great playing on that album though.
-We have a Morrissey/Smiths nut at work who's always playing that stuff, but it never really clicked with me enough that i would buy it.
-"1984" is by far my favorite VH album.
-"Back In Black" is a classic, the only one of their albums i would probably still listen to.
-Yeah "16 Men Of Tain" is just simply amazing.
-Most of Vai's work is too self-indulgent for me, and doesn't really connect with me emotionally, but i really like "Alien Love Secrets", maybe because it's fairly short.
- I can't listen to music where the "singer" is screaming, so i never got into Slayer.
-I like the RATM record, but i always have to laugh at the irony of a band so "against the system", and yet signed to Sony music
-GnR are cool, but i always preferred LA Guns, as i liked their songs better, and Phil Lewis is a better singer than Axl could ever dream of being.
-Something about Bowie i could never get into...
-"Thriller" is too slick and produced for my tastes.
-I'm not a big fan of Benson's "pop" albums, but i know he can play his ass off when he wants to.
Your other picks are new to me, and i'll try and check some of them out.
peace _________________ "We'll just pretend there aint no strings"
Miles Davis - Kind of Blue, ESP, Miles Smiles, Cookin, Workin, Steamin, Relaxin'
John Coltrane - Giant Steps, A Love Supreme, Ole, My Favorite Things
Freddie Hubbard - Hub-tones
Keith Jarrett - Whisper Not, Standards (any vol.), Inside Out, Koln Concert, Survivor Suite
Wayne Shorter - Speak No Evil
Herbie Hancock - Maiden Voyage, Head Hunters
Michael Brecker - Michael Brecker, Dont Try this at Home
Pat Metheny - Bright Size Life, Pat Metheny Group, Question and Answer
Allan Holdsworth - Road Games, Secrets, Metal Fatigue, All Night Wrong
David Torn - Could About Mercury
Steve Vai - Passion and Warfare, Fire Garden, Flex-able
Jim Hall - Live at Town Hall (vol 1-2), Jim Hall and Pat Metheny, Concerto
Sonny Rollins - Saxophone Colossus, The Bridge
Kenny Garrett - TrioLogy, The Standard of Language
Joe Lovano - Worlds, Quartets
John McLaughlin - Birds of Fire, Inner Mounting Flame, Shakti, Heart of Things
Jaco Pastorius - Jaco Pastorius, Birthday Concert
Bill Evans - Village Vanguard, Portrait in Jazz
Chick Corea - Return to Forever, Now He Sings Now he Sobs, Captain Marvel
Joe Pass - Virtuoso (I-IV), Dizzys Big Four (he has a hard time on one track and its gratyifying to know that even he messed up once cuz otherwise its rare)
Thats all i can think of right now. I kept it to pretty much Jazz and "Fusion" stuff. Classically speaking, Im a massive fan of Bach (Brandenburg, Tocatta Fugue in D minor, Inventions, Cello and Violin Suites), Beethoven (Waldstein sonata), Stravinsky, Ives, Debussy, Ravel, and the Bartok string quartets. North and South Indian music is great too especially Debashish Batacharya (spelling is close), U. Srinivas, Vishwa Mohan Bhatt, and Ustad Vilayat Khan, Ravi Shankar, Ali Akbar Khan, and others.
Very cool music you listed.
I think Secrets is my least favorite Holdsworth album, just because it's mostly synthaxe, and it's a little harder for me to connect with.
As far as classical stuff, i think Chopin is my favorite, although i do like some Schoenberg and Stravinsky.
I saw Ustad Vilayat Kahn play once (about 10 or 12 years ago), and it was simply unbelievable
peace _________________ "We'll just pretend there aint no strings"
Joined: 14 Feb 2005 Posts: 13 Location: Atlanta GA
Posted: Fri Feb 18, 2005 8:50 pm Post subject:
Good thread:
Guitar slanted:
Hendrix - Are You Experienced, Electric Ladyland
Cream - Live Vol I & II
Anything by Dick Dale
Ralph Towner - Solo Concert, Diary, Solstice
SRV - Soul to Soul
Anything by Freddie King
Scott Henderson - Tribal Tech (19991), Nomad (1990)
Albert King - King of The Blues Guitar
Allan Holdsworth - IOU
Anything by Paco De Lucia
John McLaughlin Trio - Live at Royal Festical Hall, Que Allegria
John McLaughlin - Electric Dreams
Robben Ford - The Inside Story
Marc Johnson's Bass Desires - Bass Desires, Second Sight (features Scofield and Bill Frissell)
Non Guitar-Centric
Miles Davis - Miles Ahead, Kind of Blue, Sketches of Spain
Gil Evans - Out of The Cool
Mahavishnu Orchestra - Inner Mounting Flame, Birds of Fire
Tony Williams Lifetime - Emergency, Believe It
Jefferson Airplane - Crown of Creation
Genesis - Live (1973), Selling England By The Pound
Gentle Giant - Octopus
Amon Duul II - Wolf City
Yes - Relayer, Close To The Edge
Thelonious Monk - Big Band and Quartet In Concert
Magma - Magma Live
National Health - Of Queues and Cures
Return to Forever - Hymn of The 7th Galaxy, Where Have I Known You Before?
Gateway (Abercrombie, Holland & DeJohnette) - I & II
Beatles - Sgt Pepper, Magical Mystery Tour
The Who - Live At Leeds
Santana - I, Abraxis, II, Caravanserai
Beethoven - Piano Sonata #28 in A Major
Ravel - Daphne et Chloe'
Rodrigo - Concerto De Aranjuez
Falla - El Amour Brujo
and soooooo much more! _________________ Hoo Hooo Hooo Hoooooooo
You seem to be a McLaughlin fan- did you see his performance on the "Crossroads" dvd? Dennis Chambers on drums and a killer tabla player + McLaughlin doing a tribute to Elvin Jones!!
It's a performance that grows on me more each time i watch/hear it.
peace _________________ "We'll just pretend there aint no strings"
Have you heard the latest Trower album? ("Living Out Of Time")
Some really beautiful playing on that one, as well as some great guitar sounds.
peace _________________ "We'll just pretend there aint no strings"
Yeah, Dave Bronze, Davey Pattison, and Pete Thompson playing drums. Some really soulful writing and playing on that record.
peace _________________ "We'll just pretend there aint no strings"
Joined: 14 Feb 2005 Posts: 13 Location: Atlanta GA
Posted: Wed Mar 02, 2005 3:29 pm Post subject:
intervallicdesign wrote:
Nice list Owl.
You seem to be a McLaughlin fan- did you see his performance on the "Crossroads" dvd? Dennis Chambers on drums and a killer tabla player + McLaughlin doing a tribute to Elvin Jones!!
It's a performance that grows on me more each time i watch/hear it.
peace
Guilty as charged
I'm getting a copy of the Crossrods thing pretty soon, I can't wait to see it! _________________ Hoo Hooo Hooo Hoooooooo
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