Your most-listened to album?

Bjork's Post. When I first started listening to her, I thought this was the music I had been waiting for all my life. I still kinda do, and this album especially has stayed as interesting each listen as it was the first time. "Army of Me" plus "Hyper-ballad" is an unbeatable one-two opening punch in my book; makes me wanna grab some headphones and queue it up right now.

Wrens-The Meadowlands
Smashing Pumpkins-Siamese Dream
Pink Floyd-Animals
Radiohead-Ok Computer

Probably a few others, but those are probably the most, historically.

I think it's Radiohead's Ok Computer for me

Joanna Newsom's Ys is also up there

and...Modest Mouse's The Moon and Antarctica.

OK Computer, also the first record I ever bought, by the band who recorded the first song I remember finding enjoyable (Fake Plastic Trees).

Also, every summer I've spun "Chrome" by the Catherine Wheel relentlessly...for the past six years.

According to iTunes, it's The National's Boxer, but that's more because I left my iPod going on that album, in a loop, for a week straight.

In real life, it's probably Born to Run (Bruce Springsteen), In The Aeroplane Over The Sea (Neutral Milk Hotel), or Remain In Light (Talking Heads).

Lifes Rich Pageant - REM

Radioheads OK Computer
David Bowies Ziggy Stardust

A list that can double as my favorite albums:
Jimmy Eat World's Clarity
The Beatles' Abbey Road and Let It Be
The Kinks' The Village Green Preservation Society
Weezer's Blue Album
Electric Light Orchestra's El Dorado
The Beach Boy's Sunflower, Surf's Up and Pet Sounds
Big Star's #1 Record and Radio City

and I can't forget my first CDs ever: Puff Daddy and The Family's No Way Out and B.I.G.'s Ready to Die. These were the only two albums I owned for two years and I played them over and over again until I bought Clarity.

Weezer - Pinkerton
GN'R - Use Your Illusion II
Prince - The Gold Experience

Lately, though I've been getting a ton of mileage out of NIN's Year Zero.

The Who - Who's Next
They Might Be Giants - Flood

And if we're going to include film scores, Star Wars surely ranks up there. I know every minute of that score.

Nice to see someone else chose SUNFLOWER by the Beach Boys. Currently my favourite album. "All I Wanna Do", one of my favourite songs of all time, period, has 400 plays according to Windows Media Player!

I'd add up how much of my life that equates to, but I'm scared of the results.

Pink Floyd - The Wall
Bruce Springsteen - Born to Run

As for scores, Empire. I know that damn thing backwards and forwards.

Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness - Smashing Pumpkins

As many times as I listened to this in high school, I could probably never listen to it again for the rest of my life and it would still be my most listened to album. And I still love it.

Dulcinea by Toad the Wet Sprocket and Go! by Letters to Cleo.

(Toad's singer Glen Phillips and the Cleos' singer Kay Hanley are both putting out awesome solo albums these days; Hanley's albums also feature her husband, USA Mike, who was the Cleos' guitarist.)

Bjork - Vespertine
Prodigy - The Fat Of The Land
Radiohead - OK Computer
Soundgarden - Badmotorfinger
Public Enemy - Fear of a Black Planet


Score-wise, I've worn both the Return of the King and Revenge of the Sith soundtracks into the ground, with The Fountain quickly closing distance, just barely passing Jesus Christ Superstar.

Probably Mickey and the Beanstalk. I listened to that pretty much continuously from the ages of 2 to 5.

All time: Pink Floyd - The Wall
Soundtrack: Empire Strike Back
Last few years: Arcade Fire - Funeral

Has to be Odelay! or Pinkerton

PINKERTON by far. Never get tired of that CD.

nine inch nails - the fragile
david bowie - low
prince - sign o' the times

Aphex Twin-Selected Ambient Works 85-92
Polygon Window-Surfing on Sine Waves.

I've bought and downloaded both of these numerous times. Each time worth it. Truly the best electronica ever. Both ominious and beautiful. Shame that Richard D. James likes to put out some infantile stuff. Such an erratic mind.

My initial thoughts were Ten, Blood Sugar Sex Magik, and Nevermind. I graduated High School in 1992. Between Senior year of HS and Freshman year of college, I heard those albums seemingly thousands of times. You could not walk down the hallway of my dorm and not hear one of those albums (specifically Ten) at any given time. Of the three I have listened to BSSM more than the other two over the last 15 years. I can't discount Revolver and Rubber Soul (played a lot in my house growing up), though. Nor Appetite For Destruction.


As far as albums I have personally chosen to listen to the most (as opposed to hearing at parties and in other people's cars and shit like that) I would say God Fodder maybe, or Warehouse: Songs and Stories.

Bruce Springsteen - Nebraska
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers - Playlist
Blackie and the Rodeo Kings - Kings of Love
Robbie Robertson - Robbie Robertson or Storyville
Ruthie Foster - Stages
Lyle Lovett - Step Inside This House
John Hiatt - Bring the Family
Richard Thompson - Watching the Dark

Abbey Road - My favorite Beatles album. I never seem to tire of that side two suite. Taken as a whole, I like it more than Sgt Pepper's.

Louder Than Love - First Soundgarden album I ever loved. Superunknown surpassed it for a good stretch until I revisited this and was reminded of the great aggresive energy of their early days.

Axis: Bold As Love - There was a time where Electric Ladyland was my top Hendrix choice, but I think I've listened to this one more overall.

Blood Sugar Sex Magik - I was insane for this for the longest time, but I've been in RHCP burn-out for the past two years or so. Played it to death for so long that I have to include this here, though.

Vs./Five Against One/Ferocious Sheepmug - Move a couple of the better tracks from this one to Vitalogy and that one would probably get the edge, but I find myself going back to this more often for Pearl Jam fixes.

Standing on the Verge of Getting It On - Holy funkin' shit I love this classic. So much fun to listen to. If you don't know Funkadelic, you're missing out I say.

Led Zeppelin (s/t) - Last Zeppelin disc I ever actually bought, but it quickly became my favorite and that hasn't changed since I got it. Although I'd heard "Good Times, Bad Times" and "Your Time Is Gonna Come" many times before picking this up, I don't know how I lived without them in my collection for so long. I've been making up for it, though, since I added this album to my iPod.

ETA:
Nothing's Shocking: I took a break from Jane's Addiction for a while, but I've gone back to this lately and it's got to be one of my most listened to albums ever.

Cure for Pain: Morphine's guitarless smokiness was so refreshing to me when I found them and this album has resonated with my earquarters a ridiculous amount of times.

OK Computer: Radiohead has made several great albums, but the way OK Computer bridges the guitar oriented sound of their earlier albums with the atmospheric electronic work of their later stuff sounds like a band at their absolute peak to me. I used to play this in the car so often that my wife would *sigh* as soon as she heard "Airbag" come on.

VU & Nico. Banana split for the soul.
All the White Stripes records since White blood cells.
I got most of Cave discography at the same time so there's no favorite yet.

The Doors - The Doors ( 1st album )
Joy Division - Closer
Fields of the Nephilim - Elizium

one after another - all day - everyday

Yeah, about the same here. In terms of newish albums, the ones that get the most rotation:
Boxer by The National
Kala by M.I.A.
Sound of Silver by LCD Soundsystem
Hissing Fauna... by Of Montreal
Funeral by Arcade Fire
Whatever People Say I Am... by Arctic Monkeys
Kill the Moonlight by Spoon
White Blood Cells by the White Stripes
Phrenology by the Roots
Boy in da Corner by Dizzee Rascal
Twin Cinema by the New Pornographers
You Forgot It in People by Broken Social Scene
The Blueprint by Jay-Z
Late Registration by Kanye West
Be by Common

Wow, that list is long and way too indie. But of all-time? iTunes tells me these are:
In the Wee Small Hours by Frank Sinatra
Mezzanine by Massive Attack
OK Computer by Radiohead
Sgt. Pepper... by the Beatles
Blonde on Blonde by Bob Dylan
The Wild, the Innocent & the E-Street Shuffle
Bitches Brew by Miles Davis

Al Di Meola: 'Elegant Gypsy' and 'Casino'
Dream Theater: 'Awake' and 'Scenes from a Memory'
The Cult: 'Love'
Iron Maiden: 'The Number of the Beast' and 'Piece of Mind'
Van Halen: 'Van Halen'
Opeth: 'Blackwater Park'
Therion: 'Vovin' and 'Lemuria/Sirius B'
Joe Satriani: 'Flying in a Blue Dream' and 'Crystal Planet'
Rush: '2112' through 'Signals'
Queen: 'Queen II' and 'Sheer Heart Attack'
John Petrucci: 'Suspended Animation'
Robin Trower: 'Bridge of Sighs'
Metallica: 'Master of Puppets'

Those are the albums that have been owning me over the past few years.
If I HAD to pick just one album, it would probably be Rush: 'Signals'

Albums I've been obsessed over:
Exile in Guyville - Liz Phair
You Forgot It in People - Broken Social Scene
Night Ripper - Girl Talk
The Bends - Radiohead
Dog Man Star - London Suede
The Pod - Ween
More Songs About Buildings and Food - Talking Heads
Dirty Mind - Prince


Oh yeah,
Exile on Main Street - The Rolling Stones

I've been thinking about this, and if I had to choose one, it would probably be Blood on the Tracks, followed closely by Kind of Blue and Born to Run. Mostly because I listened to Blood on the Tracks pretty much every night for three straight years. Other albums that have gotten heavy-all-time play include Car Wheels on a Gravel Road and the cast recordings for Songs from a New World and Company.

Recently, I've "worn out" copies of Alligator, Boys & Girls in America, and We Are The Pipettes.

Queen's "A Day at the Races" and "News of the World" (Both have equal shares of great rock anthems and ballads)
Rilo Kiley's "More Adventurous"
Frank Sinatra's "In the Wee Small Hours" (A melancholy album from start to finish, one that just gets in your head)

Exile on Main St.

I think OK Computer wins this thread. It's shown up like 7 times now.

Make that eight, Andrew. Also -

Siamese Dream - Smashing Pumpkins
Grace - Jeff Buckley
Sketches for My Sweetheart the Drunk - Jeff Buckley
Boys for Pele - Tori Amos
My Aim Is True - Elvis Costello
Poses - Rufus Wainwright
REM - Automatic for the People
U2 - Achtung Baby

This is tough for me to discern because I do so much binge listening. But if I think about all the many years, I'd have to go with...

Guided by Voices - Alien Lanes
Pixies - Doolittle
Bjork - Post
Nas - Illmatic
Cornelius - Fantasma
Radiohead - The Bends
Queens Of The Stone Age - Songs For The Deaf


Recently, I've been obsessed with:

MGMT - Oracular Spectacular
Apples In Stereo - New Magnetic Wonder
Sloan - Parallel Play
Killing Joke - both s/t

According to Itunes:
The Postal Service - Give Up
Cursive - Domestica

All Time

Radiohead - The Bends
Weezer - Pinkerton
Nas - Illmatic
Bob Marley - Legend
The Clash - London Calling

Adding the following because I dig several genuinely talented female artists to pieces that probably don't get enough love anymore. Plus, I've listened to these more times than I count:

- Shooting Rubberbands at the Stars: I remember I couldn't stand Edie Brickell when "What I Am" was first released as a single and music video. It sounded like simple, silly hippydippy bullshit to me. But when I listened to the entire album a short time later, Edie Brickell and the New Bohemians' brand of simple won me over. Several songs on this are timeless for me, so I "keep coming back".

- Tidal: All three of Fiona Apple's albums are great, but her first was my first and it's the one I've spun through the most so far. Extraordinary Machine is still standing strong in my iTunes library, though, so it might eclipse "Tidal" one of these days.

- Mama's Gun: I've like a few songs on each Erykah Badu album, but this is her best by far, in my opinion. It's also closer to old-school soul/funk than her others, so it makes sense this is my favorite Badu.

- I second Ray's Blondie appreciation. I've been listening to their Greatest Hits for many moons, but suppose that doesn't count here since it's not a proper album. Finally got around to picking up Parallel Lines in 2006 I believe it was.

Thank you. I'm glad someone else loves this.

That's my all-time favorite album. Thanks to my youth, I know it's not the most played, but it's definitely my favorite.

Albums that probably have been played more:
Iron Maiden - Killers
Iron Maiden - The Number of the Beast
Neil Young - Everybody Knows This is Nowhere
Frank Zappa - Hot Rats
Black Sabbath - Paranoid
Black Sabbath - Sabbath Bloody Sabbath
Rush - A Farewell to Kings
Metallica - Master of Puppets
Pink Floyd - The Dark Side of the Moon
Slayer - Reign in Blood
Alice Cooper - Billion Dollar Babies

If I had a dollar for evertime I played those albums as a kid, I'd be rich.

Here are some albums I listen to a lot nowadays:
Nevermore - Dead Heart in a Dead World
Opeth - Still Life
Opeth - Blackwater Park
Sufjan Stevens - Ilinois
Public Enemy - It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back (got into them a few years ago)
Miles Davis - Kind of Blue
John Coltrane - A Love Supreme

Agree on all points. The only problem with Extraordinary Machine is that I listened to the bootleg so many times that the official versions of the songs sound a bit weird to me. Other than that, she's got three high-quality albums of which Tidal is both my favorite and most-listened-to.

Beastie Boys -- Paul's Boutique
One Dove -- Morning Dove White
Bjork -- Post
Lush -- Gala
Stereolab -- Transient Random Noise-Bursts with Announcements
Garbage -- Garbage
Pink Floyd -- The Wall
Kate Bush -- The Kick Inside

Soundtracks:
The Empire Strikes Back
1941
Batman
The Fog
Predator 2

The list would be huge, so I'll try and whittle it down to a mere handful -

Dream Theater - Metropolis Part 2: Scenes From A Memory. Perfection rarely ever reaches this level of perfection.

Toad The Wet Sprocket - Dulcinea/Coil. Can't decide which. But they're both incredibly strong albums from a band that, around these parts at least, everyone could sing along to the singles, and yet no one could actually name the band.

Afghan Whigs - Gentlemen. Can't explain this one. Over the years I've come to realise that you either understand it completely, or you just don't get it at all.

Public Enemy - Apocalypse '91: The Enemy Strikes Black. So angry! And at the same time, intelligent and insightful. Dad always told me it's okay to be angry, as long as you understand exactly what it is you're angry at. PE apparently knew full well.

Al Stewart - Year Of The Cat. Grew up listening to this album and staring at all the detail on the album sleeve as a tyke, and it stayed with me. "On The Border" is such a simple song, yet it paints such a rich, detailed landscape. I love that kind of storytelling in music.

John Hiatt - Slow Turning. Would probably catch hell from JH purists for this one instead of some of his finer work, but it's just got a shitload of sentimental value to me.

Dire Straits - Dire Straits/Communique/Making Movies. Like Al Stewart, I grew up listening to these albums. By the time Brothers In Arms came out and they went from a tight blues rock band to a tight stadium rock band, I tuned out. But man, those first three albums will follow me to the grave - "Lions" FTW!

Coheed & Cambria - Good Apollo, I'm Burning Star IV: From Fear Through The Eyes Of Madness. About as perfect a rock album as the modern era will allow. Every single second of album just clicks with me. There isn't alot of stuff coming out currently that I can get into for whatever reason, and I know alot of people consider liking these guys as a stoning offense. But fuck me, at least they're doing something different and showing some imagination while they're at it.

I could put ALOT more . . . but I promised myself I'd keep it under 10.

"Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere" wins in a landslide for me. "Toys In The Attic," "Eat A Peach," "Full Moon Fever," "Sticky Fingers" and "Back In Black" are also on the short list. And, thanks to junior high, "Paranoid," "Pyromania" and "Defenders of the Faith." Oh and "1984" must be really high up.

Fleetwood Mac-Live at the Boston Tea Party Volumes 1 and 2. Some of the best live jamming I've ever heard.

The Who-Live at Leeds. Pure unadulterated power.

Allman Brothers-Live at the Atlanta Pop Festival.
Bruce Springsteen. The wild, the innocent and the E-Street Shuffle.
Radiohead-Hail to the thief.
DJ Shadow-The Private Press
James Brown-Lovepowerpeace
Kelly Joe Phelps-Tap the red cane whirlwind
Mahavishu Orchestra-The Inner Mounting Flame
Mark Knopfler-Kill to get crimson
Mars Volta-Amputechre
Santana-Moonflower

Soundtrack:
Amelie

Run DMC-Run-DMC--grade school buddy gave me a cassette copy; rocked my suburban world / mind

Prince-Sign 'O The Times-1999 & Purple Rain were also big, but this was the masterpiece that moved me most

Beastie Boys-Licensed To Ill & Paul's Boutique--What can i say? (Eminem before Eminem); With the former the joke was obvious, refused to let it be claimed by the fratboy douche bags; the latter was an out-of-left field mind-blower

The Beatles-Red / Blue--childhood introduction into rock n' roll

L.L. Cool J-Radio-had a SPIN mag where Sonic Youth called this the album of the year; In the interview with an out-of-his-element LL, they were trying to claim him, calling him a Black punk poet, and he kept praising Bon Jovi & Whitesnake-hilarious!; a minimalist hip-hop masterpiece, was still wearing this one out ten years after

Public Enemy-It Takes A Nation Of Millions...--life changer

Rolling Stones-Between The Buttons & Sticky Fingers--Had a brief (shameful) period where i was 'fuck the Beatles..the Stones are better". Still love the band, but that was retarded. Exile is also a big one, of course..but Sticky is just so fucking perfect..great after-party, coming down record

N.W.A-Straight Outta Compton Easy-E-Easy-Duz-It-the mythology of these records took me to another world; facinating & funky

Nirvana-Nevermind & In Utero--high-school/college essentials

Allman Brothers Band--Fillmore East--Duane Allman. Holy shit! forget about the South-Maybe the greatest american band ever!

The Beach Boys--Greatest Hits vol 1 & 2--Once opened myself up to these guys, the pop perfection grooved many a summer


But the grand champion...sadly...Appetite For Destruction (Hey...at fourteen, those songs were anthems. Funny back in school, considered myself on the side of punk, in the war against metal, back when the stance was a lifestyle/ ideology choice..but I can't think of any punk album i ever obsessed over..maybe The Clash..but P.E. always moved me more)

I'm pretty sure the one that I've listened to the most would be The Joshua Tree by U2. It's the first CD I ever got, a present from my dad for a birthday. I fell in love with that thing and played it until it wouldn't play anymore. Had to go get another copy.

DMB's Under the Table and Dreaming has to be it for me. That tape didn't leave the deck in my car from when I bought it to when that shitty car died three years later. After that it'd probably be Pinkerton.

Mad Season's Above has been in my CD player since 1995.

I definitely agree with both of these picks. Beautiful Garbage is indeed Garbage's best work, and UYI II is a fascinating album that paints a picture of a band *this* close to self destructing.