Your top 5 favorite albums of all time

[Abraham Smashington]

This should be fun. In no particular order, I can listen to these 5 albums all the way through without skipping a song. That to me = favorite. Gonna keep it real here and am ready for the hate.

1. The Prodigy - Music for the Jilted Generation: This fucking album right here is the pinnacle in "rave" music in my mind. Every track is it's own beast. I think they strayed a bit too far once they went "mainstream" with "Fat of the Land" but the tracks on Jilted - "One Love", "Voodoo People", "No good" are all tunes that still can get me moving. Plus I always thought I'd have this album hardwired into my brain once the eventual world of Shadowrun comes to pass.
2. Filter - Short Bus : The debut of the T-1000's brothers band is still their strongest album in my opinion. Not weighed down with radio friendly songs (Hey Man, Nice Shot is about it) this album fires on all cylinders with songs "Dose", "Stuck in Here" and "So Cool" being the stand outs. Richard's voice is both haunting and raw depending on what song you're listening to and unfortunately as the band "matured" they started pumping out songs for the WB. ]
3. NIN - The Fragile: Yep. Trent's masterpiece. Showing a new found maturity and branching musical style, this double album was full of win from the first song to the last. The only misfire in my mind was "Starfuckers, INC." but this is the one NIN album that gets better every time I jam to it. While "The Downward Spiral" is a fantastic album, the differences in song styles on "The Fragile" is what wins it a place in my top 5.
4. David Bowie - Earthling: Yep. IT's Bowie. It's Bowie for the new generation. It's Bowie doing what he does best, being himself. The fusion of his style with a dash of Trent Reznor helps to elevate this to something more in my mind. Bowie is one of the few artists that can keep re-inventing himself without straying from what makes him, him... Stand out songs include: "Dead Man Walking", "I'm Afraid of Americans" and "Law (Earthling on Fire)".
5. Nirvana - Nevermind: Did you really think I wouldn't have a Nirvana album on here? Yes I've heard it all: "Kurt sucked as a songwriter!", "They are soooo derivative of better bands!", "I liked it better when they were called The Pixies", however one can't deny the influence this band on popular music. In a time when hair metal, country and pop music ruled the charts, Kurt and the gang came out swinging. These were the guys that you knew. Guys that you bought pot off of. A band that kids (myself) could identify with. I tried to identify with Motley Crue however I wasn't sleazy enough. The combination of the raw sounds, gutteral singing and the catchy pop-infused lyrics helped to propel these guys outta the forests and into mainstream. For better or worse. Stand out songs: "Territorial Pissings", "Lithium", and "Drain You".

HAVE AT IT GUISE.

[Nathan]

Man. This is tough.

[Abraham Smashington]

Indeed. Which is why I used the criteria for mine being that I don't skip a song on any of those albums. Otherwise, I have a good dozen more that could take the top 5.

[Nathan]

I don't like my list. Damnit.

[BillyG]

Damn...I must think on this for a bit.

[Abraham Smashington]

DON'T OVERTHINK IT.

[Timothy225]

1. Rush - Power Windows. This was the album that made me a lifelong fan of the band. Songs like The Big Money, Grand Designs, Mystic Rhythms, etc. just hit me like adrenaline shots when I first heard them, and served as my impetus to get every album they ever released immediately. This album came out around the time the keyboards started to dominate, but Lifeson's guitar work here wasn't overwhelmed yet.

2. Caterwaul - Portent Hue. As different as different can be. Betsy Martin's voice is in the same "love it/hate it" zone as Geddy Lee's, but she does have some unique and captivating pipes on her. The band itself is pretty tight for a left of center group. And the songs! Alex' Aphrodisiac is a love letter to A Clockwork Orange, for cryin' out loud! Other favorites like Seven Rabbits, Big Ox Laughing and Bulldozer hit all the right notes with me.

3. Motorhead - No Remorse. Lemmy and the boys in their prime, teaming up with Girlschool on Please Don't Touch, some live tracks, and their biggest hits (at the time). A hard, fast, and heavy compilation from the loudest band on Earth.

4. Lush - Gala. A collection of the bands first EPs this album just takes my breath away. The bell like sounds from Miki and Emma's guitars, Miki's angelic singing, songs like Sweetness and Light, Hey Hey Helen, De-Luxe, etc. This was alternative when alternative meant something. Brings back a ton of great memories.

5. The Replacements - Don't You Know Who I Think I Was? A perfect best-of album, covering pretty much the entire career of the band, with a couple of new goodies thrown in. You get all the hits (Alex Chilton, I Will Dare, I'll Be You, etc.), some of the obscure tunes, and a booklet that tells you the entire story of Westerberg and the crew.
Doesn't replace albums like Tim or Pleased To Meet Me, but perfect for anyone that wants a quick history lesson on the 'Mats.

[Matt]

1. OSI - 'Office of Strategic Influence'. A prog-metal supergroup album featuring past/present members of Dream Theater, Fates Warning, and others. Probably my favorite album of all time. I listen to it all the way through, front to back, at least once a month.

2. Rush - 'Signals'. It took me a long, long time to get into it...the overall sound is very different from their other albums...but now I can't get enough of it. Also, the lyrics resonate with me.

3. Supertramp - 'Breakfast in America'. Flawless. The hits and the non-hits are all listenable and memorable. LOVE this album.

4. Rainbow - 'Rising'. Quite simply one of the best metal albums ever made. 6 songs that I can listen to over and over again. Superb musicianship, front to back.

5. Al Di Meola - 'Elegant Gypsy'. Another one of those perfect albums. Jazz fusion at its finest.

Props to Rob for David Bowie's 'Earthling' album.
And Tim, I'm a recent convert on 'Power Windows'. I used to dismiss that album outright, but recent re-listens have shown it to be one of their stronger albums. I 'get' it now, and I also understand why it's Geddy's favorite album.

[Timothy225]

LOVE Signals, Matt. It almost made the list instead of Power Windows, but I went more for personal/emotional reasons when I chose PW. Still, Signals did give us Subdivisions and The Analog Kid, either of which would be my go-tos if I had a theme song.

[Captain Russ]

Without the criteria laid down by our fearless leader, I don't think it would be possible to keep to just 5.

1. Radiohead - OK Computer

The one that I still come back to more than any other. People have hipster-offs about the band and their output, but this is what started their ascent, and it broke ground in such a way that it left an indelible mark on my younger more impressionable self when I first heard it. The greatest thing about it is that there is something new there whenever I listen, and generally I end up listening all the way through (again and again afterward) and being hit once in a while with why I fell in love with it in the first place. JUST LIKE A FINE WINE...*takes a sip through the straw of his can of champagne*

2. The Pixies - Doolittle

The one that first kicked me in the balls. I thank my sister for getting me to pull my head out of my ass in terms of musical appreciation. She played this for a solid week back when she was stuck driving me around before my own automotive-independence was claimed. At first, I hated it. Or more to the point, I hated my sister for playing something I was too fucking stupid to enjoy. But by the end of the week, I was in lust. I'd borrowed it from her and it was stuck in my discman for the next month. It is just such a solid album from start to finish, that it seems unreal that so many amazing songs are bottled into one entry in the catalogue. Lalalalove the hell out of it.

3. The Replacements - Tim

My first meeting with Westerberg and Co. It hits the ground running, never stops for a breather (Swingin' Party may be slower in tempo than those openers but it is still a brilliant part of the experience), and closes the raucous show with one of Paul's more mature, more contemplative songs. As soon as it ends, I want to jump right back in.

4. The Cars - s/t

A greatest hits album without the label. Through and through, it is a relentlessly catchy pop record that I have yet to tire of, and this is after twenty plus years of hearing it. While I love their entire catalogue, this one is just so perfectly constructed and written that it is the one I'd take to the oft-discussed desert island.

5. The Old 97's - Too Far to Care

If The Clash were born in Texas, they'd be The Old 97's. It's what I think of when I think of home. And it is just a great fucking album.

[Abraham Smashington]

I shall need to check out The Old 97's.

[Captain Russ]

inb4Robhates'em

[Abraham Smashington]

a bit too country for my tastes. At least the songs I found on youtube that is.

[Captain Russ]

They are from Texas, after all.

And you might enjoy this one:

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[Nathan]

What is the main dude's name? And what was their big hit?