CHUD's 1000 must-have albums - Page 11

Good idea, but I swear there was an old thread that did something that. I didn't have any luck finding it through Google, though.

Atomizer was my way in with Big Black, BTW. I'm not an expert, but I find it a slightly easier listen than Songs About Fucking, which is the other one people tend to talk up.

I think the thread was called 'Get Me Into...' or something similar. People asked for help on certain bands that they wanted to try out and experts would chime in with their opinion. I want to say that the thread died out about 6 months ago.

Hm. There's this one, but that's for artists that people actively dislike.

Thought there was one that was more neutral, though.

Brian Jonestown Massacre: though I prefer the Dandy Warhols for this kind of thing (check out their Welcome to the Monkey House), my favorite BJM is probably Take It From The Man. They also have a pretty good 2-CD retrospective, Tepid Peppermint Wonderland. Their new one, Who Killed Sgt Pepper , is even less focused (!) than earlier stuff like Methodrone , but it might be their most musically wide-ranging.

If you're looking for rock-oriented John Cale, he was at his peak during his mid-70's stint with Island. Slow Dazzle gets the slight nod with Fear and Helen of Troy close behind; there's a single disk called Guts that cherrypicks from them decently, and an outstanding 2-disk Best of the Island Years compilation. Paris 1919 is his other early pop/rock album (his first solo work, IIRC), and it's a bit stiffer and more tentative, but worth it if the others leave you hungry for more. His 1990 reunion with Lou Reed, Songs For Drella, is a heartfelt tribute to Andy Warhol that never quite takes off the way that Reed's best late-career albums do, but it grows on you, and any fan of the VU (or of Warhol) should give it a listen. Surprisingly lively is his recent collaboration with Brian Eno, Wrong Way Up, which sounds more like early Eno than anything else, but that's no bad thing.

And it's been out of print for a while, but you can get a nice taste of most the above with the single-disk Close Watch: An Introduction to John Cale if you can find it for less than collector's prices.

Despite his formal training, semi-classical Cale can get a bit noodly at times; The Academy In Peril is recommended if you're a fan of intimate movie soundtrack music; there's also his collaboration with Terry Riley, Church of Anthrax, and the rather hodgepodge Words for the Dying, which includes his impressive "Falklands Suite."

Personally, I'd avoid the various Inside the Dream Syndicate albums, where Cale collaborates with LaMonte Young, among others, for the kind of experimental noisemaking which generally leaves me cold, but might work if that's your inclination (if so, I'd suggest volume 2, which is sort of gamelan jazz).

That's the thread that I was thinking of, Dave. Yeah, I was thinking that it was a bit more neutral as well.

What would be nice about a neutral thread is it might suggest things people hadn't heard of, or had forgotten about.

Thanks to Jeb and DaveB for the suggestions.

That is a fine idea. I was just making light of the fact these "definitive" list threads often end up the same way - "no, this is more valid than the others!" All the more reason to embrace ideas such as yours.

It's important to remember that status and notoriety are incredibly nebulous, though. The Afghan Whigs, whom I alluded to in that post, aren't considered a lesser known band here, because of the clientele. However, people are rarely familiar with that group if I casually name-check them in a discussion offline (a lot of these folks are very much into "music" generally speaking, too.)

Perhaps, it's the numbers involved with these threads that make them go awry? The determination for every spot in a 100 or even 50 strong list, for example, to be earned can lead some posters to instigate the downfall of these projects. "The Semi-Official Perfect Album Introduction Thread" might escape such a fate and encourage worthwhile, fun discussion, as opposed to "really?" after "really?"

I like this idea. One of you guys should make this happen.