Official Music Thread

[Highlander]

Kenny certainly knew when to "fold em".  You will be missed Kenny.

[OldTimeHockey]

This is a good time to catch up on music docs. I've been saving ZZTop for a while. It's supposed to be fantastic. I'll let you know when I get a chance to watch it.

[Arn]

This is a good time to catch up on music docs. I've been saving ZZTop for a while. It's supposed to be fantastic. I'll let you know when I get a chance to watch it.

I actually watched it over the weekend. I wouldn't be a huge fan, obviously I know the hits and they're a recognisable bunch, but I found it absolutely brilliant watching and a really great story very well told with some great music. Would definitely recommend

[OldTimeHockey]

This is a good time to catch up on music docs. I've been saving ZZTop for a while. It's supposed to be fantastic. I'll let you know when I get a chance to watch it.

I actually watched it over the weekend. I wouldn't be a huge fan, obviously I know the hits and they're a recognisable bunch, but I found it absolutely brilliant watching and a really great story very well told with some great music. Would definitely recommend

Awesome to hear! Sounds like the office might be sending us home over the next day or two so I'll have plenty of time to catch up.

I was never a huge ZZ Top fan. Like you, I know the hits, but I don't know much about Gibbons and the other band mates.

[Arn]

A day late to post it but yesterday October 2nd was the 25th anniversary of the release of What?s the story Morning Glory? By Oasis and the 20th anniversary of the release of Kid A by Radiohead, two albums I would rank in my top 10 of my lifetime.

And until yesterday I never realised they were released on the same date.

[Nik]

Eep, well, hearing that about Morning Glory certainly makes me feel old. Probably on a short of list of the 10 or 15 most impactful albums of my life. Oasis didn't really hit here with Definitely Maybe and I had a British friend in grade 8 who basically smuggled us in stuff like Morning Glory and Blur's Modern Life is Rubbish.

Kid A I've always struggled with. I get what it is and admire the craft behind it but I just don't like listening to it as much as I like The Bends or OK Computer. 

[Zee]

Listening to the new Gord Downie album.  Amazing he was able to record just a few months before passing away from brain cancer.  This guy's talent is missed.

[Joe S.]

So completely random thoughts.

I was thinking the other day about bands that had streaks of high quality albums in a row, because I find that many bands usually top out at 2 then start to dip. In any case my thoughts below are obviously defined by my era and my taste in music  but maybe this sparks some kind of discussion because quite frankly I am bored and could use some fun debate.

So the first band that came to mind for me was Iron Maiden, from 1980 -87 I feel that they didn?t have a single bad album killers - number of the beast - piece of mind - powerslave - somewhere in time - seventh son of a seventh son. They had a really impressive run there.

You could argue that tool hasn?t had a bad album yet.

But the streak I?m always impressed by is Depeche mode. From black celebration - music for the masses - violator - songs of faith and devotion. It?s not just that they are high quality albums, every single track on each album is just so good. I?m still blown away by music for the masses to this day, and in retrospect songs of faith and devotion is a masterpiece.

Anyway I?m sure everyone will have wildly differing opinions from the Beatles to the Rolling Stones to genesis. In a way I?m hoping to learn about bands I never gave a chance to before.

[.]

You could argue that tool hasn?t had a bad album yet.

Definitely. If anything, each release has been stronger than the one that preceded it. Fear Inoculum just grows on me more and more with every listen.

I've always been a big Radiohead fan; I went to the Van Gogh immersive exhibit in the summer with their "distancing" protocols, and Thom Yorke did some of the soundtrack. It was wonderful.

[Bender]

I'm just gonna go ahead and do a unabashed Beatles take. I don't listen to them like I used to when I was discovering all the old school rock/folk/pop artists, but I mean did anyone match their sheer volume & quality in such a short period of time? The early releases were good but if you just go from 1965-1970 they released 9 studio albums (8 if you exclude Yellow Submarine) in some years they had two albums in the same freaking year. I noodle around on instruments and it's tough coming up with one great track, let alone that many.

Also speaking of Genesis, I think they were Geniuses more for how important they were in the world of progressive rock (Peter Gabriel era all the way).

[Joe S.]

I think I may the only person who has never listened to a single Beatles album front to back. I mean I know their songs, but never took in a whole album, same thing with the stones and led zeppelin. I keep saying to myself to listen to these discographies and I never get around to it.

[Nik]

I'm just gonna go ahead and do a unabashed Beatles take. I don't listen to them like I used to when I was discovering all the old school rock/folk/pop artists, but I mean did anyone match their sheer volume & quality in such a short period of time? The early releases were good but if you just go from 1965-1970 they released 9 studio albums (8 if you exclude Yellow Submarine) in some years they had two albums in the same freaking year. I noodle around on instruments and it's tough coming up with one great track, let alone that many.

I still think what's remarkable is that in about an 18 month span they released Rubber Soul, Revolver and Sergeant Pepper's which are 3 of the best albums of all time. FWIW I think Dylan's output around the same time of Highway 61, Blonde on Blonde and John Wesley Harding is pretty astonishing as well.

[BrownRolo]

70s David Bowie was insanely prolific.

The quality is up there with any other artist.

10 great albums. Really spanning from great to best of all time.

[Arn]

You could argue that tool hasn?t had a bad album yet.

Definitely. If anything, each release has been stronger than the one that preceded it. Fear Inoculum just grows on me more and more with every listen.

I've always been a big Radiohead fan; I went to the Van Gogh immersive exhibit in the summer with their "distancing" protocols, and Thom Yorke did some of the soundtrack. It was wonderful.

By far my favourite band of all time

I'd say they've had two kind of "golden spells".

The first is the obvious The Bends, OK Computer, Kid A run. 3 amazing albums that all evolve and grow off the last one in a 5 year spell and get better and better (although OK C is still my favourite album of all time).

Then you had Amnesiac which has a couple of really nice tracks but felt a bit more like a "not quite good enough to make Kid A" compilation. I liked Hail to the Thief in that it kinda reverted back to the primarily guitar music model but it was a bit too long.

Then you have the second run. I think the band got comfortable in what they'd become and in the run of In Rainbows, The King of Limbs and A Moon Shaped Pool just produced three gorgeous sonically beautiful albums. It just took 9 years this time.

Where I think they really win out though is their live performances and how they adapt some of that "electronic" music to love performance. It gives a lot of stuff on Kid A in particular but also those latter 3 albums much more life.

[Arn]

Other bands who've produced consistent quality that pop to mind

Arcade Fire - Funeral (2004), Neon Bible (2007), The Suburbs (2010), Reflektor (2013), Everything Now (2017). Maybe the weakness is they're a bit "samey", they don't really change their sound, but they're all great sounding albums. (And another great live band which maybe boosts my bias towards them here)

Daft Punk, if you're into electronic type music. Homework is an absolute glorious mid 1990s album that ranks in my top 10 probably and was backed up by Discovery, Human After All and Random Access Memories. You could even throw in the Tron 2 soundtrack album. And they have a "live" album from their show which I saw in about 2007 which was something else.

Beck - different styles of album so some might not appeal to your specific taste but he always produces good music. Mellow Gold (1994), Odelay (1996) Mutations (1998) Sea Change (2002), guero (2005) The Information (2006), Modern Guilt (2008), Morning Phase (2014), Colors (2017) are all great albums. He released one last year that I haven't listened to so much yet so I'll leave it off the list.

Nirvana burnt brightly Bleach, Nevermind, In Utero released over about 4 years. Who knows where that could have gone so maybe we can't quite count them. Then of course you've their unplugged album which is astoundingly good.