Top 5:
KISS - Alive! (1975)
Tommy - Original Soundtrack Recording (1975)
Malcolm McLaren - Duck Rock (1984)
Frankie Goes To Hollywood - Welcome To The Pleasuredome (1984)
The Orb's Adventures Beyond The Ultraworld (Double Album) (1991)

Honorable Mention:
Elton John - Madman Across The Water (1971)
Blondie - Parallel Lines (1978)
Nina Hagen - Angstlos (1983) Does anyone know if this was ever released on CD?
Until December - Until December (1986)
Orbital - Orbital 2 (1993)

In arbitrary order:

The Who - Tommy
REM - Automatic for the People
REM - Reveal
Trainspotting OST
U2 - The Unforgettable Fire

Menno

Tristania - Beyond The Veil (superior over anything)
Cradle Of Filth - Dusk..... And Her Embrace (plain good)
Iron Maiden - Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son (well mastered, great sound)
Tristania - Widow's Weeds (poor sound but great melodies)
Therion - Vovin (plain good)

I also tend to favour certain classical masterpieces, but I doubt they can be classified as "albums."

Hmm. I guess I listen a lot of metal

My 5 favourite albums of all times are :

1. Mobb Deep - The Infamous
2. Nas - Illmatic
3. 2Pac - Me Against The World
4. 2Pac - All Eyez On Me
5. Nas - It Was Written

Best of All Time (will change every 5 minutes or so):
Iron Maiden - The Number of the Beast
Black Sabbath - Heaven and Hell
Metallica - Master of Puppets
Iced Earth - Dark Saga
Queensryche - Operation Mindcrime

Worth Mentioning (same as above ):
Mayhem - De Mysteriis dom Sathanas
Blind Guardian - Imaginations from the Otherside
Dimmu Borgir - Enthrone Darkness Triumphant
Grave Digger - Tunes of War
Summoning - Stronghold
and many many more

Dead can dance - Dead can dance
Radiohead - The bends
Radiohead - OK computer
Rage against the machine - Rage against the machine
Njatr - 1996 & 1998 ep's

Others...

Pink Floyd - The wall
Led Zeppelin - III
Moby - Everything is wrong
Joy Division - Unkown pleasures
REM - Automatic for the people

And so on...


Cheers,

Mijo.

In no particular order:

REM - Automatic For The People
Rage Against The Machine - Rage Against The Machine
Disturbed - The Sickness
Red Hot Chili Peppers - Blood Sugar Sex Magik
Jimi Hendrix - Electric Ladyland

A bit of a random mix i guess, and maybe slightly too biased towards modern stuff...oh well.

1. Marillion - Misplaced Childhood
2. Marillion - Clutching at Straws
3. Pink Floyd - The Wall
4. Talk Talk - The Colour of Spring
5. Frankie Goes to Hollywood - Welcome to the Pleasuredome

Worth Mentioning:
Alanis Morissette - MTV Unplugged
Bronski Beat - The Age of Consent
Crash Test Dummies - God Shuffled His Feet
Depeche Mode - A Broken Frame
Depeche Mode - Some Great Reward
...and alot more from the good old 80s

1. Pink Floyd- Wish You Were Here (1975)
2. Rush- Moving Pictures (1981)
3. Metallica- Ride The Lightning (1984)
4. Led Zeppelin IV (Zoso) (1971)
5. The Police- Greatest Hits (1986)

Worth mentioning:

The Who- Who's Next (1971)
Santana- Santana (1969)
Dave Brubeck Quartet (jazz)- Take Five (1959)
Tom Petty- Damn The Torpedos (1979)
Pink Floyd- The Wall (1979)

GREAT album indeed!

the who's Tommy is also my one my favs.

Pink Floyd - Relics
The Doors - Waiting For The Sun
Crosby, Stills, Nash - Crosby, Stills, Nash
The Smiths - Meat Is Murder
The Beatles - White Album

1. The Beatles - Rubber Soul
2. The Who - Tommy
3. Jesus Christ Superstar Soundtrack
4. Pink Floyd - The Wall
5. Fleetwood Mac - Fleetwood Mac

1) Aphex Twin - Selected Ambient Works Volume 2
2) Chemical Brothers - Exit Planet Dust
3) Smashing Pumpkins - Siamese Dream
4) The Roots - Illadelph Halflife
5) Aaliyah - One In A Million

5 is not enough
5 of fav albums :

Coldplay - Parachutes
Archive - Londinium
Pink Floyd - The Wall
Deus - The ideal crash
Rage against the Machine - Rage Against The Machine

and I would add a self made compilation of some classical compositions.

Have a nice day

1. Dire Straits - On Every Street (1991)
2. Pink Floyd - Delicate Sound Of Thunder (Live, 1988) (I confess I don't own any of the studio albums yet... God knows what this rating would look like if I did )
3. Dire Straits - Brothers In Arms (1985)
4. Dire Straits - Love Over Gold (1982)
5. Corrs - Forgiven, Not Forgotten (1995) (mainstream pop, I know, but this one I like )


Worth mentioning:

Dire Straits - On The Night (Live) (1993)
Mark Knopfler - Sailing To Philadelphia (2000) - now that's all from MK/Dire Straits...
Marc Cohn - Marc Cohn (1991)
Loreena McKennitt - The Visit (1991)
Enya - Watermark (1988)
Mike & The Mechanics - Beggar On A Beach Of Gold (1994)
Bruce Hornsby & The Range - The Way It Is (1986)

Kraftwerk - T.E.E.
Massive Attack - Protection
Chemical Brothers - Surrender
Pink Floyd - Meddle
Prince - Sign of the times
Alan Parsons Project - Tales of Mystery and Imagination Edgar Allen Poe

Oh,
I forgot one.
Sting - Bring On The Night

I really enjoy these, but I don't have any particular top 5.

* Electrasy - In Here We Fall (Unknown band, but real nice Rock, I love these guys!)
* Prodigy - Music for the Jilted Generation
* William Orbit - Pieces in a Modern Style (Oh Yeah!)
* a-ha - Minor Earth Major Sky (first listen: yuck! - some more listening: beautifull!)
* Brave Hearts (stompin' celtic music compilation)

My favorite type of music, trance, doesn't usually come in the form of albums.

Lots of diverse and good musical tastes here, I see

A few personal favourites (although it's mind-bogglingly difficult to select only five):

The KLF - Chill Out
Ministry - The Mind is a Terrible Thing to Taste
Covenant - Europa
Beastie Boys - Paul's Boutique
Iggy and the Stooges - Raw Power

Honorable mentions:
Jethro Tull - Thick as a Brick
The Cure - Pornography
Suicide - Suicide
Johny Cash - at Folsom Prison and San Quentin
Kraftwerk - Trans Europa Express

Now if only I could limit myself to one or two genres, maybe I could compose a list that actually made sense

It's interesting to see most of us here listen to rock mostly.

1. Smashing Pumpkins - Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness
2. Everything But The Girl - Home Movies
3. Coldplay - Parachutes
4. Radiohead - OK Computer
5. Pearl Jam - Live on Two Legs

I hope to have them if I ever get stuck on a desert island... along with a CD player of course, and an infinite supply of batteries.

Unlike most of you (as it seems), I don't listen to "oldies"... Especially not boring rock and such... I'm much more interrested in pop, trance, dance, happy hardcore and such....

These are some of my favorites if I take just one album per artist (or else three of those albums would have been Blümchen albums ) :

Blümchen - Jasmin - Die Fanedition
Dream - Dear...
Garbage - Version 2.0
The best of Enya - Paint the sky with stars
The Corrs - Talk on corners (Special edition)

edit

After age 35 or so, this question either becomes extremely simple to answer, or impossible to answer. In my case, I'll take a pass... it's impossible.

Edit -- well maybe I'll give it a try...

(1) UFO - Strangers In The Night (Live)
(2) Jean Michael Jarre - Oxygene (& Equinoxe... ok that's cheating)
(3) Depeche Mode - Catching Up With (early greatest hits)
(4) Beethoven's 5th, Complete
(5) Scheherazade (Rimsky-Korsakov), Complete

Well, there are so many others... count anything in that contains little or no filler and mostly all good stuff . And anything with primarily analog synths & specifically the Moog, although I can't include that in a "top 5 of all time" sort of thing.

Fewtch is right, this is impossible, but at least I'll try...

Not counting Bach’s B Minor Mass (which, in my limited experience, is the finest piece of music ever written) or any other classical or jazz or whatever, here (in no particular order) is my list:

Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here
Richard and Linda Thompson - Shoot Out The Lights
Ambrosia - Somewhere I’ve Never Traveled
Lyle Lovett - Joshua Judges Rush
10cc - How Dare You!

But, realistically, any of these could be substituted without any argument:

Violent Femmes - The Blind Leading the Naked
Genesis - The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway
Jethro Tull - Minstrel In The Gallery
City Boy - Young Men Gone West
Tonio K. - Life in the Foodchain
The Clash - London Calling
Gentle Giant - Octopus
Steely Dan - Katy Lied

Oh Christ, I forgot The Beatles! Okay:

The Beatles - Rubber Soul
Cat Stevens - Mona Bone Jakon
Ani Difranco - Little Plastic Castle
Van Morrison - Avalon Sunset
Paul Simon - Graceland
Badfinger - No Dice
Joni Mitchell - Blue
Al Stewart - Orange

You see, it’s impossible!

1. Queen - A Night At The Opera
2. Pink Floyd - The Wall
3. Jean Michel Jarre - Oxygen
4. Electric Light Orchestra - Time
5. Deep Purple - In Rock

Other albums not in TOP5:
6. Deep Purple - Machine Head
7. Led Zeppelin - IV
8. Ritchie Blackmore's - Rainbow
9. Elton John - Made In England/Big Picture
10. Queen - Innuendo
11. Freedie Mercury & Montserrat Caballe - Barcelona
12. Uriah Heep - Demons And Wisards

and the lists goes on... goes on... goes on...

1. Public Enemy - Yo ! Bum rush the show
I personally think one of the most important bands of the 80's.

2. Eric B & Rakim - Paid in full / Follow the leader (Sorry can't choose)
Fat beats ans slow raps, 80's.

3. Doe Maar - 4us (Ska/Reggea band with dutch lyrics)
Also 80's, i guess you'll have to be dutch to understand.

4. Fatboy Slim - You've come a long way baby
We'll, i just love that 'big-beat' sound, and he gave you all that nice test sample

5. Faithless - Reverence
If you get the chance you've got to see them live. You can 'feel' the energy flowing of the stage. Live they are way better than in the studio ..

In no particular order:

Nirvana: Nevermind
Nirvana: In Utero
Pearl Jam: Ten
Boston: Boston
Smashing Pumpkins: Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness

I wish this was a top 10 list, since I love all of my top 10 albums equally well. Way to hard to make a top 5 list.

That's what I realized after I picked my Top 5, so I cheated and added 5 more Honorable Mentions. Reading other people's picks has reminded me of a lot of good albums that have slipped my mind. I've got some ripping and listening to do this weekend.

Rob

1. Nine Inch Nails - The Fragile
2. Tool - Lateralus
3. Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here
4. Radiohead - OK Computer
5. Smashing Pumpkins - Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness

Edit: well, if rocketsauce can cheat, then so can I.

Here are my honorable mentions:
6. The Prodigy - The Fat Of The Land
7. Metallica - Master Of Puppets
8. Nirvana - Nevermind
9. Fear Factory - Obsolete
10. Deftones - White Pony

1. Dream Theater - Scenes From A Memory
Progressive metal masterpiece. Simply stunning!
2. Therion - Vovin
Heavy metal and classical music - hand in hand.
3. Blind Guardian - Nightfall In Middle-Earth
Epic, melodic, powerful...
4. Fates Warning - Awaken The Guardian
Great prog-metal from one the pioneers of this genre.
5. Queensryche - Rage For Order
Ahead of its time.


Honorable mentions:

6. Heathen - Victims Of Deception
Thrash metal masterpiece, as good as Master Of Puppets.
7. Crimson Glory - Transcendence
Another prog-metal gem.
8. Metallica - Master Of Puppets
I just can't skip this album.
9. Blade Runner Soundtrack (Vangelis)
Great movie, awesome soundtrack!
10. Conan The Barbarian Soundtrack (Basil Poledouris)
I'm not a big fan of the movie, but the music is brilliant.

In no particular order:

Assemblage 23 - Failure
Nine Inch Nails - The Downward Spiral
VNV Nation - Empires
Bad Religion - Against the Grain
Nirvana - Nevermind

Honorable mentions to:

Funker Vogt - We Came to Kill
L'Ame Immortelle - Donn Habe Ich Umsonst Gelebt
Live - Throwing Copper
Nine Inch Nails - The Fragile
Bad Religion - Generator
Anything by Skinny Puppy
Apoptygma Berzerk - Welcome to Earth
Deine Lakaien - Kasmodiah
The Cure - Boys Don't Cry
Radiohead - Kid A
Elliott Smith - Figure 8

...and lots more.

Hi, no speech and no prob for me
Porcupine Tree- In absentia (forthcoming milestone will be released on Sept. 24)
Porcupine Tree- Lightbulb sun ( the milestone of 00)
Porcupine Tree- Stupid dream (the milestone 99)
Porcupine Tree- live the shepherds bush empire london May 17th 00 (been there)
Porcupine Tree- Voyage 34 (rerelease 00)

Explore the world of musicalgenius steven wilson and his main band (one of 4 he leads on), your life will change in a dramatical way.

My hands into the fire for that.

Punker

1 - This Mortal Coil - It will end in tears
2 - Peter Baumann - Trans Harmonic nights
3 - Dream Injection - Compilation by Lothar Poller
4 - Future Sound Of London - Lifeforms
5 - Current 93 - Thunder perfect mind

Yes, Britney is rumored to sound CD quality with WMA 64 :D

Iron Maiden - Piece Of MInd
Marillion - Clutching At Straws
Marillion - Script For A Jester's Tear
Pink Floyd - The Wall
Dream Theater - Scenes from a Memory

FSOL's Lifeforms disc set is some of the best ambient I've heard in a long time, with the exception of Enigma's Love Sensuality Devotion (hmm...LSD on purpose? B)) remix collection. Awesome trance/ambient stuff.

Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath
Tiamat - Deeper Kind of Slumber
Anathema - Eternity
Rory Gallagher - Irish Tour
Ozzy Osbourne - Live & Loud

I have to choose only five albums, so I have chosen only one of Black Sabbath


Honorable mentions
Anathema - Pentecost III
Black Sabbath - Paranoid
Metallica - Master Of Puppets
Future Sound Of London - Dead Cities
Led Zeppelin - II
Madrugada - Industrial Silence

OK, to hell with only 5! This will change 2 seconds after I post this, but, in -no- particular order and what immediately comes to mind:

RUSH - Moving Pictures (1981)
IRON MAIDEN - Live After Death (1985)
YES - Yesshows (1980)
QUEENSRYCHE - Operation: Mindcrime (1988)
XENON - America's New Design (1989)
AMERICAN ANGEL - American Angel (1989)

1. Iron Maiden - Somewhere In Time (stoked to see other people adding Maiden)
2. Beatles - Revolver
3. Ozzy - Diary Of A Madman
4. Steely Dan - Can't Buy A Thrill
4.5. Metallica - ..And Justice For All
4.75. Simon & Garfunkel - Bridge Over Troubled Water
5. Joe Walsh - But Seriously Folks

Top Picks (I can't put these in any order)

Primus - Frizzle Fry
Nine Inch Nails - Pretty Hate Machine
Metallica - ...And Justice For All
Fear Factory - Demanufacture
LUXT - Razing Eden

Honorable Mentions

Lollipop Lust Kill - My So Called Knife
Pantera - Vulgar Display Of Power
LUXT - Chromasex Monkeydrive
Fear Factory - Concrete
Gary Numan - Pure

Currently I'm listening to Edson Cordeiro and for today this is the best album I listened.

Good music is often relatively unknown and difficult to find.

Heh. Edson Cordeiro is Brazilian. I have some albums by him.

The guy has a soprano voice, and he does both classical (Der Hölle Rache Kocht) music and disco (I Love the Nightlife, I Will Survive, etc.)

My favorites:
1) Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here
2) Pink Floyd - The Dark Side of The Moon
3) The Who - Tommy
4) Queen - Greatest Hits II
5) Vangelis - Portraits

Lots of classical albums too, but that would be really difficult to sort out.

yippee! my first post! uhm, my 5 favorite albums in no particular order...

-Weezer- Blue Album
-Mad At Gravity- Resonance
-Rage Against The Machine- Rage Against The Machine
-John Coltane & Johnny Hartman- John Coltrane & Johnny Hartman
-Lostprophets- The Fake Sound Of Progress

my tastes are broad, if you didnt already notice

i hope to be able to get back to looking at this everyday and start posting

My "11" favourite albums:

Pink Floyd - Ummagumma
Emerson, Lake & Palmer - Pictures at an exhibition
Suicide - Suicide
Genesis - Nursery cryme
Velvet Underground & Nico, the The Velvet Underground & Nico
Sepultura - Roots
Joy Division - Closer
Sonic Youth - Daydream Nation
Rage Against the Machine - Rage Against the Machine
U2 - Under a blood red sky
Dead Can Dance - Dead Can Dance

"Spaceship of the imagination" is of the same kind. Another link : http://www.psyshop.com/shop/CDs/tip/tip1cd005.html

I'll soon receive the Frolic CDs I've ordered ("Permafrost" and "To dream, perchance to sleep"), the later seems exellent at first sight (shoutcast). My list may change.

I agree. LUXT is one such band which is unknown, but they pump out some awesome industrial music. It was a royal pain in the ass finding all their current releases on CD. It was worth it though...

"Favorites" also change with a person's mood. Ask this question next month, and the same people will probably list completely different albums.

In the "completely unknown" and yet "exellent" category, I'd put

Pete Namlook - Air 2
QNTAL II

Though they may be quite known in Germany.

And there is a wonderful compilation that two radios used to play here : Ambient soundscapes. Two volumes of 3 CD each. I've been looking for them since years.
At that time, I searched on Napster and could'n find anything. If anyone can find them, I could buy them twice the price if need be.

It's not a soprano voice, but a Counter-tenor voice.
Frequency envelope is different.
Recording seems to be from the mid 90's. I don't found it on Amazon.
May be a recording from the 1996 concert in Jena/Germany at Kultur-Arena 1996.

Now listening to Natalie Merchant . . .

Most people think just, because a band is not popular it's not worth listening to them. I vehemently disagree with them.

Shit!

Forgot Rickie Lee Jones Pirates
Clash London Calling
Woodstock

This is very hard and not too accurate I quess. It sure makes you think though.

Tumbleweed Connection - ELTON jOHN

It goes on and on...........

Thus MPC is useless to a majority of the population.