What's your favourite album ever?

Corpsey

bandz ahoy
hqdefault.jpg


''I'd have to say - The Best of The Beatles.''
 

Leo

Well-known member
Is it bad that I like Raw Power the best? I would have to say it's pretty much the definitive hard rock album. I mean it's just so GRRRR in a way that so many other bands have attempted, but never quite as convincingly.

it's a coin toss, really. both are landmark album. i probably picked "funhouse" because it was my first exposure to the stooges and you can never match that amazing first impression. also, it's a little more concise (despite "l.a. blues"), whereas lots of "raw power" tracks seem to go on for a few minutes longer than they need to.

i've always though the stooges albums were a great snapshot of US drug culture: "funhouse" sounds like bad acid, "raw power" sounds like coke and cheap amphetamines, "kill city" sounds like smack.
 

Tentative Andy

I'm in the Meal Deal
Is it bad that I like Raw Power the best? I would have to say it's pretty much the definitive hard rock album. I mean it's just so GRRRR in a way that so many other bands have attempted, but never quite as convincingly.

It's definitely close between them - for me Raw Power might have more stand-out moments (Gimme Danger being the big one for me but obv Search & Destroy deserves its fame too) but Funhouse is just this perfect sustained blast that really captures a particular nasty kind of vibe. More or less every time I put it on I'll listen from start to finish. Also like the way it gradually gets more extreme as it goes on.
 

paolo

Mechanical phantoms
What album do you really like that doesn't get the love that it should?

I would go for Klashnekoff's UK hiphop classic 'The Sagas Of...' It's one of my favourite hiphop albums and I reckon Klash was up there with the best grime MCs. Awesome lyrically
 

Leo

Well-known member
What album do you really like that doesn't get the love that it should?

ok, this might sound silly but...the first teardrop explodes album, "kilimanjaro." pretty much every song was or could be a single, catchy as hell, total classic of its time.

re: "raw power" mixes, bowie's original fucked up tinny mix is the only one because it's the perfect fit for how fucked up the band was. signed to one of the world's biggest record labels with one of the world's biggest rockstars at the controls, and stooges still managed to totally blow it. it couldn't be any other way, really. trying to retroactively make it sound "better" or "more rock" misses the point. the fucked up mix is essential to what "raw power" was all about.
 

Leo

Well-known member
don't get me wrong, the '97 mix sounds good, more listenable yet still pretty raw. i guess my point is the original shitty thin mix is a key component of what made "raw power" "raw power".
 

rubberdingyrapids

Well-known member
raw powers better than funhouse. funhouse is much sludgier and looser. on raw power, the band play so much tighter and sharper. used to like the 97 mix best as i thought it was what it should have been but i like the original mix best now. not cos 'its coked up and thats just how it was maaaan' but cos it just sounds fucking weird. though not as weird as maybe it should have been. apparently iggy did some mixes at the time that were more warped.
 

Slothrop

Tight but Polite
I know and love Super Ape, but didn't know there was an extended version. Or rather, I'd assumed that there are probably loads of "extended versions" with a bunch of second-string filler tracks and alternate mixes tacked on the end, but not one that's better than the original (and hence by extension better than almost anything else ever).
 

droid

Well-known member
Sorry - should have specified 'RETURN of the super ape', which, heresy as it is, I actually prefer.

But yeah, there's an alternate version with 5 extra tracks:

Original Super Ape is a somewhat clumsy CD re-issue of the original Return Of The Super Ape LP with several bonus tracks. I say "clumsy" since the bonus tracks are inserted into the original track listing instead of coming at the end of the album, thus spoiling the flow and mood of the original. The bonus tracks are well chosen, however: The Upsetters' "Shoulder To The Wheel", Shaumark & Robinson's "Weak Heart A Go Feel It", Flying Sensation's "Earth A Go Wheel", and Brent Dowe's magnificent "Down Here In Babylon" all have the same vibe as the original album. The only misplaced tune is Dillinger's rocking "Bag Of Collie" - while it's a nice track, it really doesn't belong with this set of songs, and certainly shouldn't kick off the album. So do what I did: rip the CD and create a new copy that puts the bonus tracks at the end!

http://www.upsetter.net/scratch/disco/albums/original_super_ape.htm

Normally you'd assume that a hackjob like this wouldn't work - but the tunes all fit in perfectly, and there's plenty of vocal congo action as well. In fact, the first 4 tunes mentioned above are probably my faves.


 
Last edited:

Sectionfive

bandwagon house
Congos LP, great sound, same with Blackboard Jungle & Satan Kicked The Bucket but I would enjoy most Pablo and even some of the higher points at Studio One more.
 

droid

Well-known member
Reggae albums... its a tough one, nearly all of the best are glorified compilations. Scratch came closer to a 'Whats going on' than anyone I think. Maybe with the Max Romeo LP actually.
 

Leo

Well-known member
found a copy of "blue", played it for the first time in many years and found myself pretty disappointed. perhaps i had unrealistic expectations after reading this thread, dunno. found it really difficult to get past the vocals, they dominate the mix to the point where you can barely discern the music and her vocal styling is just too exaggerated for me. the more i tried to ignore them, the more distracting they got. kind of like a dylan album, i guess: if you can't get past the vocals, you might as well give up.

i wanted to like it but cannot tell a lie.
 
Top