Gday..

this probably would sound
futile & redundant..
espesialy since there already have been a poll
over the subject already..

am trying to get ppl`s judgement over
what Rock albums.. they think is
a must.. original/ground breaking/qualitywise..
(am putting together a list for a norwegian music
mag.)

Rock from folkrock/psykedelia/progg. to punk/hardrock/nu-metal
starting in 1963..


TnX..

David Bowie - The Man Who Sold The World
Marillion - Misplaced Childhood
Muse - Origin Of Symmetry
Alanis Morissette - Jagged Little Pill

Van Halen - Van Halen. I have no idea how good this album actually is, but one song on it, Eruption changed the way guitar was played (and ushered in a genre that can only be described as 80's Rock).

Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon. I still haven't fully understood the obsession with this album/band, but suffice to say, this album has stood the test of time, and people will STILL be listening to it long after you and I are dead.

U2 - The Joshua Tree. The most popular U2 album. An excellent example of some of The Edge's innovative playing style.

I would recommend a Queen album, but I'm actually a HUGE fan of theirs and cannot pick a definitive album that represents their contributions. It would be either "A Night At the Opera" or "Greatest Hits I & II"

Not very well known, but nevertheless an essential album:
Still Life by Van der Graaf Generator

Nirvana: Nevermind

Love - Forever Changes
KISS - Alive!
AC/DC - Back In Black

Rob

The Beatles - Revolver
The Beatles - Abbey Road
George Harrison - All Things Must Pass
Steely Dan - Can't Buy A Thrill
The Who - Who's Next
Beach Boys - Pet Sounds
The Doors - The Doors
Black Sabbath - Paranoid
Jimi Hendrix - Are You Experienced
Crosby, Stills & Nash - Crosby, Stills & Nash
Yes - Fragile

Metallica - Master Of Puppets
Pantera - Cowboys From Hell
Iron Maiden - Iron Maiden
Ozzy Osbourne - Diary Of A Madman
Def Leppard - High & Dry

Dream Theater - Scenes from a memory
Fish - Vigil In a Wilderness of Mirrors
Marillion - Clutching at Straws
Pink Floyd - The Wall, Wish you were here, DSOTM, Division Bell, Final Cut
Bruce Dickinson - Accident Of Birth
Iron Maiden - Powerslave
Deep Purple - Stormbringer
Gillan - Toolbox
Heroes del Silencio - Senderos De Traición
Mark Knopfler - Sailing To Philadelphia
Queensrÿche - Empire
Rush - Moving Pictures
the 69 eyes - blessed be
Theatre Of Tragedy - Aegis
Yngwie Malmsteen - Oddysey

Manowar - Hail to England
Soulfly - Primitive
Cradle of Filth - Lovecraft and Witchhearts
Metallica - (Re-)Load, Garage inc.
Blind Guardian - Somewhere far beyond
ZZ-Top - Rythemeen
Iron Maiden - Seventh Son of a Seventh Son
Ozzy Osbourne - No More Tears
Deep Purple - 30: The very best of

Edit: omfg, I forgot some!

Slint: Spiderland
Love: Forever Changes
The Clash: London Calling
The Pale Fountains: Pacific Street
Belle and Sebastian: If You're Feeling Sinister
The Velvet Underground: First Album
The Stone Roses: First Album
The Smiths: The Queen Is Dead
Joy Division: Closer
Marvin Gaye: What's Going On

Like I wrote in that topic.

And, yes I did forget some too...

The rock albums that mean the most to me (the ones I listen to the most by far). In no particular order.

(All opinions are my own, but I get fanatical about these particular albums, so I hope I don't get flamed for being too "absolute". I generally don't like using absolute descriptions of music, but this is the only exception - for the purpose of best describing what I consider to be "groundbreaking".)

Also, others have already listed many outstanding albums, so I'll try not to do "repeats".

artist ~ album (year) : Why it's groundbreaking...
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pink Floyd ~ Animals (1977) : The very best album that was ever created, IMO. This is what music is to me. Progressive rock by category. An addictive masterpiece. I wake up in the morning with songs from this album running through my head more often than songs from any other album.

Hole ~ Live Through This (1994) : The best studio album by the original riot grrrl, Courtney Love. It's also a defining contribution to grunge rock, especially noteworthy since it's a 3/4 female band in a genre dominated by all-male bands.

Liz Phair ~ Exile In Guyville (1993) : Before she had any pop hits. An outstanding anti-pop almost-folk pop/rock album...listen and you'll understand. I cannot stop listening to this album, beginning to end. It never gets old.

Metallica ~ ...And Justice For All (1989) : Any discussion of metal has to include Metallica, and if you only have one Metallica album, this is the one to have. It's the defining peak of their work, more "Metallica-like" than any other.

Pink Floyd ~ The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn (1967) : Pink Floyd's first release (as P/F anyway). It set their course through the most incredible musical journey ever traveled. It is definitive psychedelic rock, and Interstellar Overdrive is it's peak. Every song is significantly different...almost like an anthology of psychedelia. If someone who's never heard any psychedelic rock before asks what it's like, give them this album to educate them.

Garbage ~ Garbage (1995) : Pure alternative rock, but catchier than any I've heard. This album I can play over and over, beginning to end and not get tired of it. Supervixen is a great opening and represents the mood of the album perfectly, but all songs are different enough to make the whole work interesting and involving. If you have only one alternative rock album, this should be the one.

Pink Floyd ~ The Wall (1979) : (OK, can you guess now what my favorite band is?) This album is a two-record (or two-CD) set of 26 tracks that actually make up one long song (one hour, twenty one minutes, eight seconds in all). Progressive Rock. This is the definitive "have to listen all the way through" album. It's an epic rock opera that spawned a movie three years later (hence, it's not a "soundtrack for the movie" as many mistakenly call it, but rather the movie is a "videotrack for the album"). This entire album tells one story, and it tells a million stories, because that's about how many interpretations there have been of it.

The Police ~ Zenyatta Mondatta (1980) : A cross between progressive rock, post-punk, new-wave, with a sprinkling of reggae for flavor. Opens with one of the best songs ever recorded, Don't Stand So Close To Me, a defining song for the era (actually ahead of its time), though it's controversiality is actually not typical of the whole album. The album is comprised of hypnotic rhythms that are typical of the band, and the content goes from serious (When The World Is Running Down...) to playful (Canary In A Coalmine) to introspective (Shadows In The Rain). A masterpiece, and their defining work.

Folk-rock to psychedelia to hardish rock:
Bob Dylan - Blonde on Blonde
The Band - Music From Big Pink
Joni Mitchell - Ladies of the Canyon

The Beatles - Revolver
Love - Forever Changes


The Grateful Dead - Grateful Dead (skull & roses - live)
Jefferson Airplane - Surrealistic Pillow
Big Brother & the holding company - Cheap Thrills
The Rolling Stones - Their Satanic Majesties Request
Jimi Hendrix - Axis: Bold As Love
Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath
Led Zepplin - II
The Who - Who's Next

Zappa and the Mothers of Invention - We're only in it for the money
Captain Beefheart - Safe As Milk

Pink Floyd - Meddle
Traffic - Low Spark of High-Heeled Boys

Prog to Punk:
The Velvet Underground - Loaded
Yes - The Yes Album
King Crimson - In the court of the Crimson King
Genesis - The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway

Elvis Costello - My Aim is True (rhino version )

Ramones - Ramones
The Clash - The Clash
The Sex Pistols - Never Mind the bollocks here's the sex pistols

thats about enough for now

Didn't see these mentioned yet:

MC5: Kick out the Jams
Iggy and the Stooges: Raw Power
Ministry: The Mind is a Terrible Thing to Taste
The Cure: Seventeen Seconds

Rage Against the Machine - Rage Against the Machine.

Why wasn't this mentioned before?

The Doors - L.A. Woman. Kind of had an influence on others.

Opeth - Blackwater Park. What an incredibly well crafted album.

ZZ Top - Take your pick...most of their stuff would make a great choice.

James Gang - Bang. Classic 70's rock.

Static-X - Wisconsin Death Trip. If you wanna thrash....

White Zombie - La Sexorcisto: Devil Music Vol. I. Hmm, just because he has the dreads? Probably one of the most clever musicians around.

Danzig I (1988)
Danzig II - Lucifuge (1990)
The Misfits - Walk Among Us (1982)
Tool - all albums except Salival
Black Sabbath - all albums 1970-1975 + "Heaven & Hell" + "Mob Rules"
AC/DC - all albums 1974-1980
Dio - Holy Diver (1983)

Can't believe I'm gonna be the first (I guess they are not a HA favorite)

Anything by Radiohead

"anything" is NOT an album, by the way...

Hehe...I almost put "OK Computer" on my list, but I already had a long post and didn't want to make it longer. I've got that and "Pablo Honey" and I think they're great albums.

Subterranean Homesick Alien and Paranoid Android are two of their best songs, IMO.

Heh heh, now this is my kind of thread .

Metallica - Master of Puppets, Metallica
Red Hot Chili Peppers - Californication
Iron Maiden - Piece of Mind
Rage Against The Machine - any album. They're all breathtaking.
System Of A Down - Toxicity
AC/DC - High Voltage
Incubus - Morning View
Cradle of Filth - Midian
Mudvayne - The End Of All Things To Come

Well clearly it depends on personal taste, and if you had enough input, just about everything would be mentioned eventually....

For me, no order... albums I would miss if they didn't exist

1. Queen - A Night At The Opera
2. Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here
3. Weezer - Pinkerton
4. Dream Theater - Scenes From A Memory

I didn't see anyone mention the Pixies (any record by them),one of the most influential bands for 90's alternative rock.
As for the Velvet Underground,I would add White Light/White Heat.

Gday...


ahh yes... some good albums here..

let me throw inn some stuff that has not
been mentioned.. EX:

Johnny Cash
Kinks
King Crimson
Genesis
Jethro Tull
Grand Funk Railroad
Brian Eno
Doors
Slade
Mark Bolan
Neil Young
Lynrd Skynrd
Santana
Lee Perry
Max Romeo
King Tubby
Peter Tosh
Stiff Little Fingers
Damned
Clash
Exploited
Primus
Motorhead
Chumbawamba
New Order (both periods)
Public Image
Depeche Mode
Consolidated
Janes Addiction
Sonic Youth
Marilyn Manson
Voodoo Glow Scull
Flogging Molly

ETC.-

What do you mean by "both periods"? Do you mean both New Order and Joy Division or something else?

BTW, I'd like to add some other stuffs too to what I already mentionned:
The Apartments, Beck, Black Box Revorder, The Boo Radleys, Cardinal, Cat Power, Cocteau Twins, Cowboy Junkies, CCR, Crowded House, dEUS, Nick Drake, Echo & The Bunnymen, Mark Eitzel (and American Music Club), The Feelies, Felt, Fleetwood Mac (both periods), The Flaming Lips, The Go-Betweens, Ed Harcourt, PJ Harvey, Richard Hawley, The Housemartins, The House Of Love, Ivy, Kings Of Convenience, Lambchop, Luna, Mazzy Star, Mercury Rev, Mogwai, My Bloody Valentine, This Mortal Coil, Nico, Palace Brothers (aka Palace Music, Palace, Will Oldham, Bonnie Prince Billy), Pulp, Red House Painters, R.E.M, Röyksopp, Sebadoh, Shack, D.J. Shadow, Elliott Smith, Smog, Spacemen 3, Spiritualized, Swell, Television, Tindersticks, Tortoise, Yo La Tengo, Neil Young.
I own records from all these artists (and many others).

edit: added some more.

Ciao..

yes i did mean J.D/N.O

The Doors were mentioned twice.

More additions:


Jeff Beck
Robin Trower
Robben Ford
Stevie Ray Vaughan
Guitar Shorty - See who he was an influence on.
Albert King
Buddy Guy

This thread turns out to be a "post your favorite band" and not a list of the most groundbreaking/influential rock artists ...but who cares?

Gday...


agree with you Krest..

this tread was about "classical" albums..
must have albums.. historical speaking..
not necessarily the albums you find awesome.

well that wouldn't be a very long list.

Actually the original post was about groundbreaking rock albums rather than just artists in general. People are naturally going to post what they like, though some of us made sure to point out why we thought the ones we posted were specifically groundbreaking.

But it did kind of become just a "favorite rock band" thread. That's OK too...I think people are still listing what albums they consider groundbreaking even where reasons aren't given.

Some of these are repeats (or are obvious):
Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon
Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath
Led Zeppelin - II and IV
Cream - Wheels of Fire
They Might Be Giants - Flood

Someone mentioned Incubus - Morningview. I have to de-recommend that and recommend Incubus - S.C.I.E.N.C.E instead.

Another vote for;

The Beach Boys-Pet Sounds

The Beatles-Revolver

and somewhat overlooked classics:

Elvis Presley-Elvis Presley

James Brown-Live at the Apollo -1963

ps-I almost forgot:

Johnny Burnett and the Rock and Roll Trio-1956

available from Bear family records as "The Rock and Roll Trio-Rockbilly Boogie"

the original 10" l.p is very rare and expensive-has arguably the greatest rockbilly
cuts ever made-influenced everyone from Carl Perkins to Eddie Cochran
to Brian Setzer and the Stray Cats

Marvin Gaye - What's Going On, Let's Get It On.
Stewie Wonder - Songs In The Key Of Life, Talking Book
Curtis Mayfield - Curtis, Superfly
Nirvana - Nevermind
Pearl Jam - Ten
Johnny Cash - Live At San Quentin and Live At Folsom Prison
A Compilation with Hank Williams

Ah, screw it. I'm going to go through my list

ABBA - Super Trouper
David Bowie - Ziggy Stardust, "Heroes"
Kate Bush - Hounds Of Love
Leonard Cohen - Leonard Cohen (+ 3 following albums?)
Fleetwood Mac - Rumours
Ry Cooder - Paradise And Lunch, Chicken Skin Music
Dead Can - Spleen And Ideal or Within The Realm of A Dying Sun
Depeche Mode - Music For The Masses (or Black Celebration)
Dire Straits- Brothers In Arms
The Doors - The Doors
Guns 'N' Roses - Appetite..
Hendrix - ...Experienced, Axis and Electric Ladyland
Michael Jackson - Thriller
Metallica - Master Of Puppets
Joni Mitchell Blue and Court & Spark
Mike Oldfield - Tubular Bells
A Parliament Album. Not sure which.
Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here and The Wall.
(Never understood the hoolah about DSOTM compared to the other two. Roberto, you're invited to show and tell my why DSOTM should be regarded as their finest hour.)
Prince - Purple Rain
Some Queen album. Not sure which
Queensrÿche - Operation: Mindcrime
Santana - Abraxas
Joe Satriani - Surfing With The Alien
Sly & The Family Stone - Fresh and There's A Riot Going On
Bruce Springsteen - Born In The U.S.A.
Some Steely Dan Album. Not Sure which.
David Sylvian - Secrets Of The Beehive
Some Talking Heads album(s). Not sure which
U2 - Zooropa
Rufus Wainwright - Rufus Wainwright
Scott Walker - Scott Walker
Wolfstone - Unleashed
Some Neil Young album(s). Not sure

(Genesis - The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway, Selling England By The Pound?
Rolling Stones - Let It Bleed, Beggar's Banquet?)

Def Leppard - Hysteria (production values)
Guns n Roses - Appetite for Destruction (making rock real again)
Faith No More - Angel Dust (Made me rethink what rock could be)
Alice In Chains - Dirt (The darkest album of the Grunge era)
Stevie Wonder - Innervisions
Rush - 2112
Rush - Moving Pictures
Jane's Addiction - Nothing's Shocking
Nirvana - Nevermind
King's X - Faith Hope Love by King's X
The Clash - London's Calling
The Tea Party - The Edges of Twilight
Nine Inch Nails - Pretty Hate Machine
Prince - Purple Rain
Public Enemy - It Takes A Nation...
Kicking Harold - Ugly and Festering
and far too many others to mention

I was just about to say all these posts and nobody's mentioned Jane's Addiction - Nothing's Shocking yet, hehe. I agree with a ton of the ones mentioned here, but my pick would be this one. Always wish it could go louder, no matter how loud it is, haha.

Actually, Roberto's favorite PF album (the last I heard) is Wish You Were Here.

But in my opinion (FWIW), DSotM was particularly popular in my country because it produced their first hit single in the US, Money. Accordingly, it was the first Floyd album that non-Floyd-fans began to notice. For a bundle of reviews of DSotM, try this link. One review proclaims that DSotM is "among the top 10 selling CDs of all time."

edit: The Wall was their career peak, though Animals is still my personal favorite.

Thanks, ScorLibran for the link to DSOM. I went to the home page and enjoyed browsing the Classic 200 album list which is linked here.


My picks:
Beatles-Meet The Beatles
The Who-Tommy
Bruce Springsteen-Born To Run
Billy Joel-Piano Man

I would add these two:

Renaissance - Scheherazade (and other stories)
Gentle Giant - Octopus

And I would think that some Fairport Convention album belongs in here somewhere...

And don't forget The Cars self-titled album =D

That would be "Mothership Connection"
One of the most influential albums ever.
Has been sampled to death by hip-hop artists (specially Dr. Dre)
And remains untouchable.

Here's a vote for CAN. Ege Bamyasi. Vitamin C is one of my favorites.

And Mick Karn: Dreams of Reason produce Monsters

Kyuss - 'Blues for the Red Sun'
Queens of the Stone Age - 'Songs for the Deaf'
King Crimson - 'the construKction of light'
Primus - 'Pork Soda' and 'Tales from the Punchbowl'
Amorphis - 'Tales from the Thousand Lakes'
Death - 'Symbolic'
Fantomas - 'Amenaza al mundo' (listening to this can be a hard task for you ) and 'The Director's Cut'
Queen - 'Jazz' and 'Live Killers'
AC/DC - 'Let There be Rock'
Danzig - '4p' and '6:66 Satans Child'
Peter Gabriel - 'Up'
Carcass - 'Necroticism'
Cure - 'Wish', 'Pornography', 'Bloodflowers'
Fish - 'Raingods with Zippos'
Korn - 'Korn'
Lacrimosa - 'Satura'
Megadeth - 'Peace Sells... But Who's Buying?'
Morphine - 'Yes'
Portishead - 'Portishead'
Bjork - 'Vespertine'
Smashing Pumpkins - 'Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness'
Type 'o' Negative - 'October Rust' and 'Bloody Kisses'
Nine Inch Nails - 'The Downward Spiral'
Bathory - 'Blood on Ice'
Faith No More - 'Angel Dust'
Soundgarden - 'Superunknown'
Sugarcubes - 'The Great Crossover Potential' for instance
Opeth - 'Still Life'
My Dying Bride - 'Turn Loose the Swans' and 'The Angel and the Dark River'
Gorefest - 'Erase'
Paradise Lost - 'Icon' and 'Draconian Times'
Pantera - 'The Great Southern Trendkill' and 'Vulgar Display of Power'
Slayer - 'Reign in Blood'
hmm... I'm not sure whether it applies, but... John Zorn - 'Naked City'
Rollins Band - 'Weight'
Therion - 'Lepaca Kliffoth' and 'Theli'
System of a Down - 'System of a Down'
Mercyful Fate - 'In the Shadows'
Pro-Pain - 'The Truth Hurts'
Therapy? - 'Troublegum'
Toy Dolls - 'Ten Years: The Best of Toy Dolls'
Nativity in Black - A Tribute to Black Sabbath
Tiamat - 'Wildhoney'
White Zombie - 'Astro-Creep: 2000 -- Songs of Love, Destruction and Other Synthetic Delusions of the Electric Head'
Temple of the Dog - 'Temple of the Dog'
David Bowie - 'Low'

... to name a few. I hope it doesn't look like the list of my favourite albums. They are among my favourites, but as n68 said: 'what Rock albums.. they think is a must.. original/ground breaking/qualitywise..', I honestly consider all of them as very valuable for the particular sub-genre or for the rock as a whole. And no, the list is by no means complete.

Happy listening.

edit: formatting

One better, Dream Theater - Live Scenes from New York

I'll be the first to say that Dream Theater is good (recognize my avatar?). However, I don't think/know that any particular album of theirs can be considered ground breaking and highly influential (MAYBE "When Dream and Day Unite' just because of Ytse Jam). The same can be said for most of these posts.

The trick to pearing down this list is to say "which band/artist/etc. was highly influential? (What bands did they influence?) And which of the first band's albums was the most influential?"

Because of this, I think that most bands who's most influential album is in the last 5 years shouldn't count. Just because an album is good doesn't mean that it's influential.

Judas Priest - "PainKiller"
Judas Priest - "Defenders Of The Faith"
Judas Priest - "British Steel"

Iron Maiden - "Fear Of The Dark"
Iron Maiden - "Brave New World"
Iron Maiden - "Dance Of Death"

Def Leppard - "Hysteria"
Def Leppard - "Pyromania"
Def Leppard - "Adrenalize"
Def Leppard - "RetroActive"

Halford - "Ressurection"
Halford - "Crucible"

Bruce Dickinson "Tattoed Millionaire"

CREAM - Disraeli Gears; Wheels Of Fire
BLACK SABBATH - Vol. 3; Sabbath Bloody Sabbath
LED ZEPPELIN - II-III-IV
GENESIS - Selling England By The Pound; The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway
JETHRO TULL - This Was; Stand Up; Benefit
KING CRIMSON - In The Court Of Crimson King; Larks' Tongues In Aspic
SANTANA - Santana; Abraxas; 3
URIAH HEEP - Look At Yourself; Demons And Wizards
DREAM THEATER - Images And Words (imho one of the best rock albums ever)
YES - The Yes Album; Close To The Edge
BEATLES - Sgt. Pepper's...; White Double; Abbey Road
ROLLING STONES - here I can't remember any album as a whole, but some great "best of" definitely fits here
DEEP PURPLE - In Rock & Machine Head; Made In Japan
IRON MAIDEN - Number Of The Beast; Piece Of Mind & 7th Son...
ATOMIC ROOSTER - Atomic Rooster; Death Walks Behind You; In Hearing Of
CHICAGO - I; II; VII
BLOOD, SWEAT & TEARS -
24-7 SPYZ - Strength In Numbers
JEFF BECK - Blow By Blow; Wired
BUDGIE - Squawk; Never Turn Your Back On A Friend; Bandolier
CANDLEMASS - Epicus Doomicus Metallicus; Nightfall
CRY OF LOVE - Brother
JIMI HENDRIX - everything
DEATH - Individual Thought Patterns; Symbolic; Sound Of Perseverance
LIVING COLOUR - Vivid
RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE - Rage Against The Machine

End Of Part 1

Deep Purple: Deep Purple In Rock (1970) Literally the most revolutionary heavy metal masterpiece of the time. Blackmore is incredible. I can't listen to it without getting flashbacks!

Grand Funk Railroad: 'Red Album' (1970) it sounded so fresh when it first came out, and still stands the test of time. From the original garage band!

Jimi Hendrix: Are You Experienced (1967) It was so far ahead of its time, we still haven't caught up yet.

Humble Pie: Rockin' The Fillmore Marriott and Frampton are absolutely smokin' on this gem. I really think it is the best sounding live rock album of all time (IMHO, of course).

Led Zeppelin: Led Zeppelin (1969) Truly an album that changed the course of rock music.

The Who: Who's Next (1971) 'Who's Next' is one of those albums you'd take with you to a desert island. Townsend is the conscience of the rock world, and IMHO this is his masterpiece (with all due respect to 'Tommy').

Dire Straits - Love Over Gold
U2 - The Joshua Tree

Zeppelin II
Black Sabbath

yup..

can't emphasize it enough..

quoting this just so
n68 doesn't miss it..

it's boss.

Not Brothers In Arms? Love Over Gold doesn't even remotely come close to success of Brothers In Arms. Remember it's one of the 80's biggest-selling albums (some sources even suggest it was actually the most-sold album of the 80s in Britain).

Perhaps I skimmed the thread too quickly, but I saw no mention of these classics:

- The Eagles: Hotel California (1976)
- Bruce Springsteen: Born In The U.S.A. (1984)
- Alan Parsons Project: Tales Of Mystery And Imagination (1976)
- Traveling Wilburys: Vol. 1 (1988)

I'm not sure whether the latter was actually such a success as an album, but I do know that it boasted 2 incredible hit singles (Handle With Care, End Of The Line) that have reached great fame.

As for 90's albums... not sure. Oasis's (What's The Story) Morning Glory? (1995) was one the best selling rock albums, but I think whether or not it deserves so is debatable. The Verve's Urban Hymns (1997) didn't sell as well (although it kicked off a massive hit single), but is undoubtably good.

Bryan Adams, anyone? Not that his material is of particularly high quality, but radio-friendly mainstream rock is clearly his domain, and his best hits are known by virtually anybody.