| laborlitigator |
Borrowing from a topic I heard yesterday morning and the fact that days of the album seem to be long gone, what are the three best albums of your generation.
Also, let us know when you grew up.
Mine are: |
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| gmc74 |
I am guessing you and I are around the same age (I was born in 74).
I agree that those were huge, but I think this one changed the landscape of music more than any other album during my lifetime. Nirvana was as close to my generations version of the "Beatles" as there has been. The music, the attitude, it was something different, and it definitely influenced a huge number of today's bands.
To think, it was less than 16 years ago, I still remember driving from CT to FL with my friend Mike and his family, we had this tape playing over and over again in Feb of 92. |
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| gmc74 |
I don't know if you knew this, but Hootie and the Blowfish's (I know, everyone hates them, except me) 'Cracked Rear View' sold 16 Million copies, at the time that they hit this mark, it was the 5th most albums sold of all time, it has since fallen to 12-15th.
I remember listening to the radio in the mid 90's, and every hour there was a Hootie song on.
The top selling albums of all time are definitely an interesting group (I believe this is US sales only). The ones with * in front of them are the ones that I do own or have owned at some point.
29 Million
*Eagles: Their Greatest Hits, 1971–1975, Eagles (Asylum)
27 Million
*Thriller, Michael Jackson (Epic)
23 Million
*Led Zeppelin IV, Led Zeppelin (Atlantic)
*The Wall, Pink Floyd (Columbia)
21 Million
*Greatest Hits, Volumes I & II, Billy Joel (Columbia)
*Back in Black, AC/DC (Epic)
20 Million
*Double Live, Garth Brooks (Capitol Nashville)
Come On Over, Shania Twain (Mercury Nashville)
19 Million
The Beatles, The Beatles (Capitol)
Rumours, Fleetwood Mac (Warner Bros.)
17 Million
The Bodyguard (soundtrack), Whitney Houston (Arista)
Boston, Boston (Epic)
16 Million
*Physical Graffiti, Led Zeppelin (Swan Song)
The Beatles: 1967–1970, The Beatles (Capitol)
*Greatest Hits, Elton John (Island/Mercury)
*Hotel California, Eagles (Elektra)
*Cracked Rear View, Hootie & the Blowfish (Atlantic)
*No Fences, Garth Brooks (Capitol Nashville)
Jagged Little Pill, Alanis Morissette (Maverick)
15 Million
*Appetite for Destruction, Guns 'N Roses (Geffen)
Dark Side of the Moon, Pink Floyd (Capitol)
Saturday Night Fever (soundtrack), Bee Gees (Polydor/Atlas)
*Born in the U.S.A., Bruce Springsteen (Columbia)
The Beatles: 1962–1966, The Beatles (Capitol)
Supernatural, Santana (Arista)
14 Million
*Metallica, Metallica (Elektra)
Simon & Garfunkel's Greatest Hits, Simon & Garfunkel (Columbia)
…Baby One More Time, Britney Spears (Jive)
*Greatest Hits, Journey (Capitol)
*Bat Out of Hell, Meat Loaf (Epic)
Backstreet Boys, Backstreet Boys (Jive)
*Ropin' the Wind, Garth Brooks (Capitol Nashville)
13 Million
Purple Rain (soundtrack), Prince and the Revolution (Warner Bros.)
*Greatest Hits: 1974–1978, Steve Miller Band (Capitol)
Millennium, Backstreet Boys (Jive)
Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band Live: 1975–1985 (box set), Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band (Columbia)
Whitney Houston, Whitney Houston (Arista)
12 Million
Led Zeppelin II, Led Zeppelin (Atlantic)
Abbey Road, The Beatles (Capitol)
*No Jacket Required, Phil Collins (Atlantic)
The Woman in Me, Shania Twain (Mercury Nashville)
*Ten, Pearl Jam (Epic)
Forrest Gump (soundtrack) (Epic)
Wide Open Spaces, Dixie Chicks (Monument)
Yourself or Someone Like You, Matchbox Twenty (Atlantic)
Hot Rocks, The Rolling Stones (abkco)
II, Boyz II Men (Motown)
Kenny Rogers's Greatest Hits, Kenny Rogers (Capitol Nashville)
*Slippery When Wet, Bon Jovi (Mercury)
*Hysteria, Def Leppard (Mercury)
Breathless, Kenny G (Arista)
Pieces of You, Jewel (Atlantic)
11 Million
Up!, Shania Twain (Mercury Nashville)
Human Clay, Creed (Wind-Up Records)
CrazySexyCool, TLC (LaFace)
Dirty Dancing (soundtrack) (RCA)
*Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, The Beatles (Capitol)
James Taylor's Greatest Hits, James Taylor (Warner Bros.)
*Eagles Greatest Hits, Vol. II, Eagles (Elektra)
Falling into You, Celine Dion (Epic)
No Strings Attached, 'N Sync (Jive)
*Devil Without a Cause, Kid Rock (Lava)
Houses of the Holy, Led Zeppelin (Atlantic)
Titanic (soundtrack) (Sony Classical)
10 Million
'N Sync, 'N Sync (RCA)
Life After Death, Notorious B.I.G. (Bad Boy/Arista)
Let's Talk About Love, Celine Dion (550 Music/Epic)
*Aerosmith's Greatest Hits, Aerosmith (Columbia)
*Led Zeppelin, Led Zeppelin (Atlantic)
*Greatest Hits, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers (MCA)
*The Stranger, Billy Joel (Columbia)
The Immaculate Collection, Madonna (Warner Bros.)
Fly, Dixie Chicks (Monument)
Eliminator, ZZ Top (Warner Bros.)
Best of the Doobies, Doobie Brothers (Warner Bros.)
*Van Halen, Van Halen (Warner Bros.)
Faith, George Michael (Columbia)
Music Box, Mariah Carey (Columbia)
Like a Virgin, Madonna (Sire)
*Unplugged, Eric Clapton (Reprise)
Can't Slow Down, Lionel Richie (Motown)
Please Hammer Don't Hurt 'Em, Hammer (Capitol)
Tapestry, Carole King (Ode)
The Lion King (Soundtrack) (Walt Disney)
*The Joshua Tree, U2 (Island)
*Nevermind, Nirvana (DGC)
Legend, Bob Marley & the Wailers (Island)
Tragic Kingdom, No Doubt (Trauma/Interscope)
*1984 (MCMLXXXIV), Van Halen (Warner Bros.)
*Dookie, Green Day (Reprise)
*The Hits, Garth Brooks (Capitol Nashville)
Daydream, Mariah Carey (Columbia)
Come Away With Me, Norah Jones (Blue Note)
*Pyromania, Def Leppard (Mercury)
Greatest Hits, Patsy Cline (MCA)
Speakerboxxx/The Love Below, Outkast (So So Def)
Hybrid Theory, Linkin Park (Warner Bros.)
Oops!…I Did it Again, Britney Spears (Jive)
Songs in the Key of Life, Stevie Wonder (Motown)
1, The Beatles (Capitol)
I find it interesting that Elvis, who many believe is the highest selling musician of all time (others say the Beatles, but the records of the sales from back in the 50s isn't all that accurate), is not on the list, and neither is Frank Sinatra.
The four artists/bands to have sold over 500 million albums (world wide) are The Beatles, Elvis, Sinatra, and Michael Jackson, but yet Elvis and Frank don't seem to have any records with 10 million or more sales in the US. |
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| Maik |
| Aqualung - Jethro Tull |
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| dj-mdx2 |
| Aw c'mon. gmc74 - I notice that you didn't put an asterisk on Madonna, Brittney, Backstreet Boys or NSync. What REALLY is in your six-disc changer now?:D |
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| gmc74 |
I think I did miss one...
If this came out in 87ish, I had it :(
Whitney Houston, Whitney Houston (Arista)
She was hot back then, and wasn't a coke whore... |
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| JimH |
1. Neil Diamond Greatest Hits (1966 - 1992).
I have been to 3 of his concerts over the last 2 decades--still listen to vintage Neil.
2. Elvis--Aloha from Hawaii (1973).
I attended an Elvis concert in 1976 at S. Lake Tahoe.
3. Springsteen Live--1975-85 album set. |
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| gmc74 |
For me personally, the most influential records of my time have been
Nirvana - Nevermind
I think this record changed the landscape of music the most in the past 20-30 years. After this became popular, dozens of "grunge" bands starting hitting the radio waves
Metallica - Black Album
This was probably the biggest cross over from Heavy Metal to popular music. This is when Metallica started getting air time on regular radio stations
Guns N Roses - Appetite for Destruction
Just a good old hard rock band, this was a great album, followed up by two more good albums (Illusions 1 and 2). They were everywhere in the late 80's.
Beyond these, and of course the 80s hair bands, I was a huge fan of Billy Joel and Elton John |
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| laborlitigator |
quote:
Originally posted by gmc74
For me personally, the most influential records of my time have been
Nirvana - Nevermind
I think this record changed the landscape of music the most in the past 20-30 years. After this became popular, dozens of "grunge" bands starting hitting the radio waves
Metallica - Black Album
This was probably the biggest cross over from Heavy Metal to popular music. This is when Metallica started getting air time on regular radio stations
Guns N Roses - Appetite for Destruction
Just a good old hard rock band, this was a great album, followed up by two more good albums (Illusions 1 and 2). They were everywhere in the late 80's.
Beyond these, and of course the 80s hair bands, I was a huge fan of Billy Joel and Elton John
Makes you wonder how come we've got such a dearth of good rock bands. If it weren't for Greenday, what would we have. And I don't want to hear Nickelback. |
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| gmc74 |
quote:
Originally posted by laborlitigator
Makes you wonder how come we've got such a dearth of good rock bands. If it weren't for Greenday, what would we have. And I don't want to hear Nickelback.
There are a couple, and no, Nickelback isn't one of them...
My favorite band out there right now is the Foo Fighters, I saw a fantastic concert by them at Santa Barbara Bowl last year. It was accoustic, and that place sits maybe 4000, it was awesome!
Green Day is definitely another of my favorites and Velvet Revolver, the Killers, Jet, and Daughtry are all pretty good as well.
There are plenty of good rock bands, but it is harder to make it as a rock band. Top 25/Pop bands get signed to labels more often because they will sell more records, so why go after the rock bands?
I am not really into music as much as I used to be. I buy a handful of CDs a year, I have a connection that gets me a bunch more, but I hardly listen to any of the new crap out there. |
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| laborlitigator |
| It really is crap out there. Too much bubble gum music. |
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| gdot |
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| gmc74 |
quote:
Originally posted by laborlitigator
It really is crap out there. Too much bubble gum music.
I agree, nor am I into Rap or hip hop...
JimH - I am jealous, I am a huge Elvis fan, but he died when I was 3... so I didn't get to see any of his concerts. |
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| one4gatr |
Funny... I was thinking this thread was about sports records...
Anyway the timing on this is interesting. I have just completed ripping all my CD's to the PC. I have well over 1000 CD's and am currently catologing and double checking they all got burned. It took me about 3-4 months to get them all ripped to the PC (10 or so at a time) and it has been really fun listening to bands I hadn't thought of in years.
I will need to really think long and hard about this one to come up with my "3 greatest of my generation" because alot of what I have many people havent ever heard of. My top 5 based upon the number of CD's owned would look something like this:
#1 - Depeche Mode - INHO probably the BIGGEST Alt to Pop cross over.
#2 - The Cure - Just a phase I was in. Still love their old stuff. Didnt think they did enough to stay "current" like DM.
#3 - REM - Like DM crossed over from Alt to Pop - But just like The Cure lost alot of their juice once they crossed over.
#4 - U2 - Some will argue bigger than DM and maybe so I just think DM maintained their identity a bit better. Though I dont have nearly as many of U2's CD's I would put them way up there on the "3 greatest".
#5 - Dave Matthews - Strangely enough I have a ton of this bands CD's but really dont care that much for them anymore. My wife got me started on them and for a while I really dug them but I have become bored with their sound.
I will think about the "3 greatest" and post back. |
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| gmc74 |
quote:
Originally posted by one4gatr
Funny... I was thinking this thread was about sports records...
Anyway the timing on this is interesting. I have just completed ripping all my CD's to the PC. I have well over 1000 CD's and am currently catologing and double checking they all got burned. It took me about 3-4 months to get them all ripped to the PC (10 or so at a time) and it has been really fun listening to bands I hadn't thought of in years.
I will need to really think long and hard about this one to come up with my "3 greatest of my generation" because alot of what I have many people havent ever heard of. My top 5 based upon the number of CD's owned would look something like this:
#1 - Depeche Mode - INHO probably the BIGGEST Alt to Pop cross over.
#2 - The Cure - Just a phase I was in. Still love their old stuff. Didnt think they did enough to stay "current" like DM.
#3 - REM - Like DM crossed over from Alt to Pop - But just like The Cure lost alot of their juice once they crossed over.
#4 - U2 - Some will argue bigger than DM and maybe so I just think DM maintained their identity a bit better. Though I dont have nearly as many of U2's CD's I would put them way up there on the "3 greatest".
#5 - Dave Matthews - Strangely enough I have a ton of this bands CD's but really dont care that much for them anymore. My wife got me started on them and for a while I really dug them but I have become bored with their sound.
I will think about the "3 greatest" and post back.
I was never much of a DM or Cure fan, nor an "underground" music fan, though I do believe that REM and U2 were both much better in the 80s, which does coincide with when they weren't uber popular.
REM hit the wall with Green, and U2 shortly there after with what ever CD came out after Joshua Tree. |
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| one4gatr |
quote:
"underground" music fan
I was really into "underground" music in the early to late 80's. Of the 4 bands mentioned DM & U2 in my book are neck and neck when it comes to "mega" stars. U2 went more towards pop and DM stayed pretty much "alternative". The were alot of bands similar to them that never made it. Both of those bands had political agendas at the time as well. But DM was more synth based and really pushed their music to the max.
One band that sticks in my mind that myself and my friends listened to over and over was the Outfield (Play Deep). Dont know why this one comes to mind... |
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| gmc74 |
quote:
Originally posted by one4gatr
Of the 4 bands mentioned DM & U2 in my book are neck and neck when it comes to "mega" stars. U2 went more towards pop and DM stayed pretty much "alternative".
I tend to agree. DM is hugely popular in their genre, and people who like that music tend to believe they are one of the greatest bands ever. I am not a fan, so I don't really have an opinion on it, but I tend to believe that they are.
U2 definitely has a huge political agenda, and the more they push it, the worse their music seems to get. I think Bono is a very talented guy, and I applaud what he has been doing for Aids and Africa. But the fact that he is rich and can sing doesn't make him a politician, nor does it make his ideals any better than mine or yours. Sure, he has the ability to push them onto us, and I think he does that a bit too much.
That being said, you can't argue with the numbers, and U2 has sold more than a few albums. |
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