What are your ten favourite albums?

Starts off in order, then goes all over the place!

"Caravanserai"- Santana

"Surrealistic Pillow"- Jefferson Airplane

"Meddle"- Pink Floyd"

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"Electric Ladyland"- Jimi Hendrix Experience

"Irish Tour '74"- Rory Gallagher

"Astral Weeks"- Van Morrison

"John Wesley Harding"- Bob Dylan

"Welcome"- Santana

"Stop Making Sense"- Talking Heads

"Blood on the Tracks"- Bob Dylan.

Mind you, ask the same question tomorrow I may well change the latter seven :)

There are a billion more I want to list (including Talking Heads, The Clash, etc.), but this is a good sampler, vaguely in preference order (and firm on the first four):

1. This Year's Model, Elvis Costello

2. Excitable Boy, Warren Zevon

3. Live at the Harlem Square Club, Sam Cooke

4. Beggars Banquet, The Rolling Stones

5. Low, David Bowie.

6. Skylarking, XTC

7. Pearl, Janis Joplin

8. Electric Warrior, T. Rex

9. For Your Pleasure, Roxy Music

10. Joan Armatrading, Joan Armatrading

1. Dark Side Of The Moon (Pink Floyd)

2. The Number Of The Beast (Iron Maiden)

3. Van Halen (Van Halen)

4. Painkiller (Judas Priest)

5. The Wall (Pink Floyd)

6. Powerslave (Iron Maiden)

7. Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son (Iron Maiden)

8. Led Zeppelin IV (Led Zeppelin)

9. Back In Black (AC/DC)

10. Wish You Were Here (Pink Floyd)

In no order:

1.The Who-Live At Leeds

2.The Who-Who By Numbers

3.The Beatles-The White Album

4.The Beach Boys-Pet Sounds

5.Brian Wilson-Brian Wilson Presents Smile

6.The Doors-American Prayer

7.The Beach Boys-Sunflower

8.The Mamas and the Papas-People Like Us

9.Queensryche-Operation:Mindcrime

10.Queen-Flash Gordon Soundtrack

Numbers 1 to 3 are set in stone but the rest are interchangeable.

1. London Calling - The Clash

2. Fun House - The Stooges

3. Metal Box - Public Image Ltd.

4. Let It Bleed - The Rolling Stones

5. In A Priest Driven Ambulance - The Flaming Lips

6. Stand - Sly & The Family Stone

7. The Black Album - The Damned

8. Exile On Main Street - The Rolling Stones

9. Station To Station - David Bowie

10. The Soft Bulletin - The Flaming Lips

The Who- Who's Next

GunsNRoses- Use Your Illusion 2

Boston- Boston

Dave Matthews Band- Before These Crowded Streets

U2- Joshua Tree

Beastie Boys- Paul's Boutique

Dixie Chicks- Taking the Long Way

Bob Dylan-Highway 61 Revisited

Metallica- Master of Puppets

Patti Smith Group- Easter

That's TODAY. I mean, I have about ten more I can list and it changes weekly! Good question though! Love your list, BTW!

Allowing compilations, I hope:

1. 1927-1934 - The Carter Family (or, if you don't want a box set, any good compilation will do, really)

2. Living Country Blues USA. Volume 3 - Flora Molton

3. Aquemini - OutKast

4. The Complete Early Recordings of Rev. Gary Davis - Rev. Gary Davis

5. Have One on Me - Joanna Newsom

6. Buy - James Chance and the Contortions

7. Rev. Edward W. Clayborn 1926-1928 - Rev. Edward W. Clayborn

8. Steal This Album - The Coup

9. The Complete Blind Willie Johnson - Blind Willie Johnson

10. Express Yourself - Charles Wright and the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band

a million. Jailbreak by utilising skinny Lizzy 2. Disraeli Gears by utilising Cream 3. David is composed of existence by utilising ****** Up 4. Surfer Rosa by utilising Pixies 5. Led Zeppelin II by utilising Led Zeppelin 6. All issues could pass by utilising George Harrison 7. The B-fifty two's by utilising The B-fifty two's 8. The comfortable Parade by utilising The doors 9. electric Ladyland by utilising Jimi Hendrix 10. Up the Bracket by utilising The Libertines

You have great music taste Xartyve2!

And I love the fact that you said "favourite" rather than "best", because there are too many of those, and it's just not the same thing.

1. 1 - Beatles (I know it's not a proper album by them, but it was my first introduction to The Beatles in childhood, and so it always holds a special place in my heart. Also, it contains GREAT SONGS. Also, it saves me from writing about 5 Beatles albums for the rest of this list.)

2. Quadrophenia - The Who (Amazing. Builds and builds and builds and then finishes with possibly my favourite rick song of all time - Love reign O'er Me. This is one of those holistic/synergic albums (in the true sense of the words), where, though I wouldn't call most of the songs my favourite ever, together they are great.

3. Thick as a Brick - Jethro Tull (Approachable the first time, and just gets better with each listen. I'm even warming up to minute 3 of Part 2. Other than that small section, I would say that this is probably my favourite prog album, and objectively the second best. It flows as one song, each section different yet linked. I can't even begin to describe how great this album is.)

4. The Court of the Crimsoon King - King Crimson (When prog was just beginning, and was still exciting at creative. Though this band also produced other masterpieces, as well as the fantastic "Absent Lovers" which would probably be number 12/13 if I could go that far, this is my favourite album of theirs, and probably the greatest prog album of all time)

5. Ultimate Collection - The Kinks (I'm going to cheat again, but who can argue with 44 Kinks songs! And on the whole, they're amazing. Great songs, minimal filler, and I love it!)

6. Nightcap (Disc 1) - Jethro Tull (If we can ignore Disc 2, which is a compilation of songs, Nightcap is the remains of what would probably have been their greatest album by miles, with complex yet catchy rhythms and sections. All the best bits of Thick as a Brick mixed with all the best bits of A Passion Play, without almost any of the downsides. If only they'd not decided to abandon it, it would probably be in my top 2.)

7. The Beatles (White Album) - The Beatles ( If I had only put strictly canonical albums here, there'd be much more Beatles, but as it is, I'm content to leave only it and this on here. This album just shows how much they could do. Need I say more? Also, I love 'While My Guitar Gently Weeps')

8. One Love: The Very Best of Bob Marley & The Wailers (Another cheat, but because, like the other bands which I've chosen compilation albums for, he's more song-based than album-based)

9. Live at Woodstock - Jimi Hendrix (although posthumous, this album shows him at possibly his most passionate and creative, and that he definitely deserved to be called one of the, if not THE, greatest guitarists of all time)

10. Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin (Their first, great, revolutionary album. YEAH!)

Bonus albums:

11. Stand Up - Jethro Tull (Nice, relaxed, early hard-rock. Great stuff. Also, bonus singles at the end are great. Shame they put the two other great ones at the time, "Witch's Promise" and "Teacher" on Benefit, which just isn't as good)

12. To the Bone - The Kinks (A great live album; it shows what they could have been if they had continued in the hard rock direction that they pioneered with their first two singles)

13. Mothership - Led Zeppelin (A compilation, I know, but it contains essential songs.)

14. Disraeli Gears - Cream

15. Cosmo's factory - Creedence Clearwater Revival (tried to decide between this and their debut. This just about clinched it).

Bonus World Music:

16. Makossa Man - Manu Dibango (Though this particular version doesn't seem to be available any more)

17. Adoración - Tarpuy

18. Je Pense a toi - Amadou & Mariam

19. The Merry Sisters of Fate - Lúnasa

Bonus Film Score:

25. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (Complete Recordings) - Howards Shore (Just brilliant. I generally don't listen to soundtracks/film scores, but after a friend showed me this, I have admit it is great. Easily the best film score I've ever heard)

1. Inside In Inside Out (The Kooks)

2. Fever (Bullet For My Valentine)

3. Lungs (Florence And The Machine)

4. Brand New Eyes (Paramore

5. Loud (Rihanna)

6. The Poison (Bullet For My Valentine)

7. Live from the Royal Albert Hall (The Killers)

9. The Black Parade (My Chemical Romance)

10. NickelBack - can't remember the album name.