Friday Music Day

FMD — Three Albums

30 Comments

If you were introducing a favorite band to someone who hadn’t heard of them, what three albums would you suggest they listen to get a full accounting of the band? No greatest hits albums of course, but three albums that really define the artist so that that person than go on discover more. For Guided By Voices it’s really tough. I can think of five, but bringing it down to three is excruciating. I would of course include Bee Thousand, then Propeller. That last album would have to be between Alien Lanes, Mag Earwhig, and Do the Collapse. Probably with Do the Collapse winning out because Alien Lanes is too similar to Bee Thousand and Mag Earwhig may be a little to weird for first time listeners. Do the Collapse is a good introduction to the big rock sound.

Wilco is another tough one. Yankee Foxtrot Hotel and Sky Blue Sky are in there but what is #3? Being There?

Anyway, what three albums defines your favorite artists. Oh and drop ‘em if you got ‘em.

30 thoughts on “FMD — Three Albums”

  1. 1. How to Dress Well “& It Was U (Elite Gymnastics Remix)”
    2. So So Radio “Streets in Perfect Patterns” Dustcovers
    3. Shabazz Palaces “Swerve... The Reeping of All That Is Worthwhile (Noir Not Withstanding)” Black Up (Promo Version)*
    4. Bonnie 'Prince' Billy “Strange Form of Life (Live)” Bonny 2007
    5. Eric Copeland “Ultimo” Courtesy, Professionalism, Respect*

    6. HEALTH “LIFE - PURITY RING REMIX” DISCO3
    7. The Dylan Group “The Girl from Ipanema”* It's All About (Rimshots and Faulty Wiring)
    8. Ma$e “Feel So Good (Radio Edit)” Feel So Good
    9. Robyn “Do You Know (What It Takes)” Robyn Is Here
    T. Bonnie "Prince" Billy “No More Workhorse Blues” Sings Greatest Palace Music
    E. Einstürzende Neubauten “Alles (Ein Stück im aften Stil)”* Silence Is Sexy

    *Notes:
    3. The final version of the album had a shorter version of this song, without a 75-second coda "Black is you, black is me, black is us, and black is free" which re-iterates lines from the Digable Planets, the former group of Palaceer Lazaro (Ishmael Butler aka Butterfly). I can't remember which DP song though, and it probably wasn't original to them, either.

    5. So the album is CPR? Is an existing joke or reference? Something like this?:

    7. You've always wanted to hear a multi-vibraphone cover of this, right?

    E. It sounds like Blixa is singing AJR's first name.

  3. 01. “Blue Day” – Heartless Bastards – All This Time
    02. “The Prawn Song” – Superorganism – Superorganism
    03. “Melectric” – Ramona Falls – Intuit
    04. “Crabtown” – Throwing Muses – University
    05. “Muck” – Aye Nako – Silver Haze
    06. “Familiar Ft. Quavo King Louie” – Donnie Trumpet & The Social Experiment – Surf
    07. “Homeless (Demo Version)” – Paul Simon – Graceland
    08. “Charade” – Four Tracks – Eccentric Soul: The Tragar & Note Labels
    09. “Warszawa” – David Bowie – Low
    10. “Stay” – Belly – Star

  4. 1. Your Song--Elton John
    2. Both Sides Now--Judy Collins
    3. Rainy Day People--Gordon Lightfoot
    4. Jamaica Say You Will--Jackson Browne
    5. A World Without Love--Peter and Gordon
    6. A Horse With No Name--America
    7. Was a Sunny Day--Paul Simon
    8. The Longest Time--Billy Joel
    9. The Wind--Cat Stevens
    10. Making Love out of Nothing at All--Air Supply

      1. I like a lot of the songs on Summerteeth but don't like it as an album as much as the other 3. It would be 4th for me.

    2. I love Ghost is Born, but it's kind of out there. Would you really tell someone to listen to it so that they could get into Wilco? I guess depends on the person.

      Brings up a good question. Do you list three best albums or albums from different themes the band was exploring? For Elvis Costello one could easily say first three albums. But those are now going on 40 years old. Should something newer or different be added to the list?

      1. for me personally, i always like starting earlier in a band's catalog. i guess i read the question more "different themes" side of it. in that case, it'd say BT, ST, and YHF. go through those and you'll know if you want to keep going.

    1. this exercise is a little tricky because an artist has to be pretty established to have 3/? albums to choose from. i'll try to think of some random ones.

      Pink Floyd: Meddle, Dark Side, The Wall.

        1. I think Dark Side covered that era and would be the more quintessential album between the two. Meddle cause there’s some great stuff on earlier albums and that’s a good gateway to it.

  7. For CCR:

    Creedence Clearwater Revivial
    Green River
    Cosmo's Factory

    Leaves out some classics (Proud Mary, Fortunate Son) but those are the three strongest albums top to bottom and gives a good range of their offerings.

  8. Three albums for two artists on my list:
    Eric Copeland:
    Alien in a Garbage Dump
    Black Bubblegum
    Joke in the Hole, probably. Masterbater would be good, but it's just one (11-minute) song.
    Or Doo Doo Run, a 2-song 7" (6 minutes), but it's highlights are quite like those on Black Bubblegum

    Palace/Will Oldham/Bonnie "Prince" Billy.
    Excluding Sings Greatest Palace Music even though that's where I started.
    Days in the Wake
    Ease Down the Road
    Lie Down in the Light
    I just don't like I See a Darkness as much as others do.

  9. Free: I heard some Depeche Mode from 1984 on XM Radio* last night.
    I had never listened to anything before Violator before. Now I understand your hate. Just so you know, they got a lot better than that laughably "Art-Techno" thing.

    *Our subscription lapses within a week, so I'm listening whenever I can until it's gone. I'm only going to miss Pitbull.

    1. Skipping Talking Book and Innervisions shows a serious lack of, um, insight into Stevie's catalog.

      Oh, and The Wall is hot garbage. 😉

        1. I got your back on this one. If you want a "full accounting" of Floyd, like the OP claims to want, you have to have The Wall.

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