This is the album that boosted them out of the woodwork and elevated them to "cult-classic" status. Melding pop melodies with thrash drumming and novel experimentation, Husker Du created a timeless tour de force with Zen Arcade. If you don't believe me, just listen to "Pink Turns to Blue" or "Turn on the News". To top it off, it's a (vaguely ambiguous) concept album.m

rip once more

Disturbed took on many styles, differing between each album, but indestructible is when they perfected their craft. Draiman's singing was on point, and the lyrics of each song were all extremely powerful. Combine this with extremely melodic strings and talented drumming on each track and you find there is no bad song on the album. There is no mediocre song on the album. Each song has a purpose and sounds amazing. 10/10

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=NtfksE0JXvs

Any items of interest or pieces of information about the artist or album would be great; such as interviews, background info, easter eggs within the track-listing etc... but mainly just give your two cents on the album!

Listen here if you haven't already, or re-listen to get your thoughts together and lets get some discussion going!

[Lyric Sheets] (http://genius.com/albums/My-bloody-valentine/Loveless)

Pitchfork Review

Needledrop Review

What are the first five records you would buy for your collection? Or if you already have one, what were the first 5 records you bought?

I think the first five I bought myself were:

The Beatles - Revolver

Nirvana - MTV Unplugged

Guided By Voices - Under The Bushes, Under The Stars

Violent Femmes - Violent Femmes

The Strokes - Is This It

We don't know anything about comedy and we aren't funny.

My 5 choices are:

Spinal Tap - Shark Sandwich

Spinal Tap - The Gospel According To...

Spinal Tap - Smell The Glove

Spinal Tap - Break Like The Wind

Spinal Tap - Back From The Dead

What are your favourite comedy albums?

Any items of interest or pieces of information about the artist or album would be great; such as interviews, background info, easter eggs within the track-listing etc... but mainly just give your two cents on the album!

Listen here if you haven't already, or re-listen to get your thoughts together and lets get some discussion going!

The Needle Drop Review

Pitchfork Review

Lyric sheets

The main reason why this album is so f**king good is because the songwriting is just untouchable. ''This Year's Model'' is one of the only albums I can think of where every cut could be a single. The songs are catchy and somewhat saccharine, but not bubblegum, and have serious replay value. It's a relatively brief album, but gets a lot done without being crowded.

The band are so tight on this record you'd never think it was Elvis' first album with The Attractions. They really grabbed these songs by the bollocks and gave them so much energy and purpose. The drumming is frantic and bustling ("(I Don't Want to Go to) Chelsea", "Lipstick Vogue"). The bass is funky and assertive (''My Sherona'' always strikes me as a poor man's ''Pump It Up''). Steve Nieve plays zany, nimble keyboards all over this thing (''The Beat'', ''This Year's Girl''). Elvis isn't exactly a virtuoso on the guitar, but he puts in a shift, the standout riff being on "(I Don't Want to Go to) Chelsea". It all comes together very pleasingly.

Lyrically, Elvis delves into some interesting topics like fashion, the media, and even anal sex, and it's all quite camp especially with his nasal, slightly whiny delivery, but he's got so much character. His lyrics are full of idiosyncratic witticisms combined with sexually frustrated yelps which don't really require much reading into. Best of all, he doesn't take himself too seriously.

This is without a doubt Elvis' magnum opus, as I feel he peaked quite early in his career. ''Armed Forces'' and ''Get Happy!!'' are decent records and ''My Aim Is True'' isn't too bad either, but none of them even come close to reaching the heights of ''This Year's Model'' in my opinion. For me one of the best albums to come out of the original Post-punk/New Wave scene, this is a solid 10/10 every day of the week. No dud tracks in sight on this thing. Check this album out if you haven't done already. Its pithy, seriously addictive, and is a no BS affair. Definitely deserves a place on the banner of this sub. I mean its better than ''An Awesome Wave''. Or The White Stripes' first album. Surely...

One tune for virgin ears: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=61Tp4pOwvFs

Introducing AOTW! This will be a weekly segment where we post an album from the poll and encourage discussion across the week.

Any items of interest or pieces of information about the artist or album would be great; such as interviews, background info, easter eggs within the track-listing etc...

This week is Madvillainy give the album a listen if you haven't already or re-listen to get your thoughts together and lets get some discussion going!

The Needle Drop Review

Pitchfork Review

Genius Analysis

Hello, as this is still a small community we want as much input as you guys can offer. Firstly, we really want to encourage everyone to post on here. It's a place for discussion so please don't be shy about submitting!

Also, if you have any suggestions for the sub we'd be happy to take them on board. We just wanna make this a great place to talk about music. What do you guys think we should all do to help this place grow?

This week we want to hear your top 5 Hip Hop albums from the West Coast.

I won't speak too much on the content as i'm aware a lot has already been said about this album and many of its bases are covered, but i'm interested to hear what people think with regards to myself and many others considering this a flawless album - and also what it means to bare witness to a modern music phenomena.

In general, I think it is how Kendrick has managed to master the idea of a concept album and still maintain his pop credentials that makes TPAB so special. He executed GKMC with just as much poise in my opinion, but there seems to just be an added wow-factor to this LP that made me on first and repeated listens to stand back and think, hang on, i'm witnessing something very special right here.

                        **DISCLAIMER** 

I will start off by saying this so I don't immediately get downvoted. I don't like the Beatles, I like songs by them but they are not a favorite of mine in any way.

Now everybody has some sort of list for their favorite albums, be it on pen and paper or in their head. Nobody has had one that everybody follows as much as they do 'The Rolling Stones 500 Greatest Albums of all time.'

With that being said, I truly believe a lot have these have earned their spots on this list. And one I really don't think does, is Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. This album is on the list as number 1.

Now to put it blunt, I do not like the Beatles. (for the record, they do have about 12 or so songs that I do like) But, nothing about this album stands out to me. The Beatles are known for I guess being the 'culturally defining band' of the 60's and leading the diverse movement that is Flower Power. But back to the album.

I can see the influences and understand why some of their work is as popular as it is. But this album being at number 1 just doesn't make sense. Nothing on this album sticks out, I guess it was their chance to experiment with new music in a sense. But there is nothing that stands out to me. None of these songs are truly "good" There is just really no appeal.

If you agree with me, explain why..I would love to hear from somebody else who doesn't like this album.

This week we want to hear your top 5 albums from the 90's Alternative Rock scene.

My picks are:

Guided By Voices - Under The Bushes Under The Stars

Pavement - Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain

Teenage Fanclub - Grand Prix

Weezer - Pinkerton

Mercury Rev - Deserter's Songs

What are your 5?

Just a year after their huge double-album 'Zen Arcade' Bob Mould Grant Hart and Greg Norton began to refine their sound and on 'New Day Rising' created a direct and seamless blend of hardcore and pop. The album is as forceful as it is melodic, and the song-writing is relentlessly sharp to the point where the album has no fat to be trimmed. As Mould and Hart interchange as chief song-writer throughout the album you almost get a sense the two are trying to out-do one another as they rattle through their respective arsenal's.

Opening track 'New Day Rising' is a rousing, powerful example of what their is to come next: unrelenting noise. The sheer force the band put into the songs is impressive enough, but somehow within this they have tightly weaved some of the catchiest hooks you'll hear on a punk record.

Other standout tracks for me include 'I Apologize' and 'Celebrated Summer,' two more great examples of the fact the band won't let the standard slip on this album.

Overall, this is a classic punk album. It manages to be smart, snappy and summery, whilst never compromising on the sonic assault they set out to undertake.

If you haven't heard this, give it a listen! What do you think of this album?

Takedown Tuesday (TT) will be a weekly segment that targets a critically acclaimed album and argues against it's position as one of the "best" albums of all time.

This week I chose The Rolling Stones 8th (UK)/10th (US) stuDio album 'Let It Bleed'

I have never understood the position that The Stones have been placed in as one of the greatest EVER, and it makes even less sense to me that they should be seen to be rubbing shoulders with The Beatles. So after seeing their name spread across just about every online 'best albums ever' list, I picked Let It Bleed as the most highly overrated.

I bare no grudge with 'Gimmer Shelter' its a killer track and an incredible way to open the album so i'll say no more about it, but from then on The Stones seem to go missing until track 8 'Monkey Man'. In-between these two tracks the album takes on the form of some other band that I wouldn't give the time of day, had they come under another name.

The blues influence doesn't feel like a Stones blues, it simply feels like something they have tried to pick up and play with for the sake of this record.

Title track 'Let It Bleed' feels like a parody that they cooked up during a break in the studio - Jagger and the band hit so many cliche's within the music and lyrics that it's increasingly difficult to take the record seriously.

I think 'Country Honk' is my most despised track on this record, the folk/blues tone again feels so forced and unoriginal that anything the band may do to impress me is tainted by this thought.

With only 9 tracks you would think The Stones have been ruthless in their trimming of ideas, however they spread themselves so thin for the duration and at times it is up to Jagger's character to pick up the slack.

Diamonds in the turd: Gimme Shelter, Monkey Man, the second half of Midnight Rambler.

What do YOU think?? Am I missing something here!??

also if you have an album that you feel doesn't deserve its place amongst the best of the best, comment below and we'll have one person write up next weeks TT

Richard D. James' full length debut as Aphex Twin, Selected Ambient Works 85-92 is a landmark release in the history of electronic dance music. In this thread we'll discuss the lasting influence of this album on today's music as well as how it affected the scene at the time of its release. What do you think of this album? Do you love it? Do you hate it? Why?

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Xw5AiRVqfqk

If anyone had asked me 3 years ago to name my ultimate super group line-up, a few names would have come to mind; Though none more prominently than the recently very much in demand Mike Portnoy of Dream Theater fame. He had not so long ago and with a feeling of somewhat inevitability quit Dream Theater and after filling a few places in a handful of prog/metal/rock bands Portnoy set aside his progressive roots went looking for his next new diverse adventure. After a bumpy start in 2011 with guitarist John Sykes eventually in July 2013 with Billy Sheehan and Richie Kotzen now knows as The Winery Dogs released their self-titled debut album.

The raw power initiated from the word go rips the face from anyone expecting a cliché soft rock regenesis album from a group of middle-aged retiring once noteworthy musicians. ‘Elevate’ offers an unexpected burst of open harmony in the chorus, backed up by Kotzen’s signature fuzz this opening track really offers something to behold for any true rock fans. Immediately Inspirations for this album start to materialize; originating from all ends of the spectrum, traces such as short ill-measured breaks and Kotzen’s vigorous screaming vocals are clearly taken from Zeppelin/Sabbath era new-wave metal. Sheehan’s thumping yet wandering off beat basslines topped with his unmistakable ‘wet’ bass tone take influences from early King Crimson and Liquid Tension Experiment.

A few weeks before the release of the full album The Winery Dogs released the two singles Desire and Elevate, later on they would release I’m No Angel and Time Machine with a music video. I’m No Angel sounds like it could have been pulled straight from an early Lenny Kravitz album with its disturbingly technical main lick it seems although Portnoy was taking a wander though some grooves from the now hazy Metropolis Pt.2. This now topped with Richie Kotzen seemingly infusing some country style rhythmic picking into late/modern prog metal timbre to generate an unearthly rock sound that the common metal-head will find it hard to resist a good foot-tapping to.

The trailing end of the album seems to fall into a resting pace, with emphasis on the final track Regret, this blues/R&B influenced piece finally shows the heart overpowering the brain for once on this album. This moving piece was clearly crafted from raw emotions, using female backing vocals to back up a heartfelt piano driven chord sequence demonstrates how the soul beneath the tough skin of modern hard rock can make a serious mark on the post-metal era. The lyrics alone validate the efforts of poetry bringing depth to rock and blues thus bringing a new palette of expertise to the album.

The stunningly original riffs and chord progressions twinned with Portnoy’s Bonham-esque drumming, Sheehan’s Levin style bass expeditions and Richie Kotzen’s incredible unique shredding style throughout this 13 track makes for a truly classic and exceptional rock album. The total decades of musical experience in this band (including mixing legend Jay Ruston) is hard to overlook, every note, cadence, pattern, progressive movement, has been scrutinized to the nth degree meticulously exploring ways in which everything can be improved. From this experience these fine craftsmen of their profession have carved from the pages of rock historic an anthemic monument to the future.

The Winery Dogs - The Winery Dogs 10/10.

Just a quick heads up that we've edited the formatting for posting slightly as you'll see in the sidebar. Thanks for being with us...

After the 4-disc experiment of 'Zaireeka' it may have been difficult at the time to predict the next move of The Flaming Lips. Their departure from the traditional "guitar" band had been set in motion by the departure of guitarist Ronald Jones from the group after the release of 'Clouds Taste Metallic' and showed no signs of slowing up. To compensate, Steven Drozd took up the role of multi-instrumentalist in the group as Wayne Coyne remained at the head of the ship. Despite increasingly difficult circumstances with Drozd's drug problems and pressure from label Warner Bros, Coyne somehow rallied The Flaming Lips and created their seminal album 'The Soft Bulletin'.

The album takes a distinctly different approach compared with earlier efforts, a slight return to the songwriting style of 'Clouds Taste Metallic' yet with the bold experimentation of 'Zaireeka'. The band manage to weld these two elements together seamlessly and by doing so create a symphonic pop experience that is still unrivaled to this day. The Soft Bulletin shows Coyne at his most thoughtful throughout, the album opener 'Race For The Prize' a perfect showcase for his appreciation and connection with mankind. This song illustrates the fact that above all things Coyne is concerned with humans, their emotions, their quirks and their lives. The song is a sobering portrait of a Space Race-esque scenario in which the protagonists put their lives on the line for the development of humanity. From the opening motif which bursts into life with a flourish of rising instrumentation to the subdued reminder that "they're just humans," the song begins to sketch the outline of the project's astral landscape.

A true signal of the song-crafting ability on show are tracks 'A Spoonful Weighs A Ton' & 'The Spark That Bled.' Two songs which are as unpredictable as they are stirring. They build and weave and crescendo and offer the listener a unique sense of place, while beginning to fill the canvas that is The Soft Bulletin. These tracks exhibit a perfect blend of classical and electronic instrumentation, masterful pop songwriting and bold experimentation, bridging the gap between accessibility and daring exploration into the limits of their sonic palette.

Perfection is a word that should only be used rarely, but in this case is certainly applicable. The variation in the writing never ceases to impress. Although some songs take a back seat in the memory of the listener, they act as an important reinforcement to the overall mood of the album. Even towards the back-end Coyne still treats us to some of his most uplifting and cathartic success stories in 'Waitin' For a Superman' and 'The Spiderbite Song.' The fascination with human triumph is what makes the album so relatable and so sobering, the band relentlessly strives to persuade you that their is success to be found even where we least expect it. Overall, The Soft Bulletin is a true triumph which is as original as it is masterful, a fascinating and personal experience for the listener.

Favourite Song: The Spark That Bled

This album is a happy-go-lucky romp through Narwuar the Human Serviettes skittish mind. The Evaporators rifle through 18 tracks in true punk fashion, with the average track time being just over one minute. The simplicity of Ripple Rock is what makes it so special, each song fits verse-chorus-verse-chorus structure, there's nothing to look into lyrically, and all song concepts are extremely day-to-day. However, they inhabit simplicity with such energy, ability and astonishing character. Truly, no other album I have heard is filled with such wall to wall fun. Ripple Rock is proof that good music isn't always about tapping into the deepest thoughts and feelings, it can be as simple as saying 'I Feel Like a Fat Frustrated Fuck' or 'I Quit School' to a catchy and memorable tune.

Favourite Song: I Feel Like a Fat Frustrated Fuck

This is the debut album by the IDM, Downtempo duo "BoC"

The albums sounds are electro-synths with mid-tempo hip-hop beats. The album sounds very weird at first and you may not even like it. However I think this is truly one of the best electronic albums of all time.

Fat Freddy's Drop - Based on a True Story

I first heard of it on Wikipedia, I don’t remember what sort of streak I was on but I ended up at the top of Fat Freddy’s Drop wiki page. After scanning over the webpage I promptly downloaded the album and can safely say have not looked back.

Based on a True Story’s genre is classified as Reggae but it is genuinely unlike anything I have ever heard! It certainly isn’t wholly Reggae however the first song does start off with a chill and comfortable reggae type beat. To me the album is many different genres with reggae being more distinguishable. Secondly, the flow is astonishing; I have never felt a beat change feel so right. I will go as far to say this has the best flow of any album I have heard, the songs always move in the right direction with a new added dynamic. Repeating beats are popular but are always playing for just the right time and never gets boring.

Overall the album is quite relaxing and has a really nice soothing deep bass mixed with the smoothness of the trumpet and trombone.

Verdict: 9/10

Flow: 10

[7]

For me this is one of those albums you can sit back and listen to just as easily as jump up and have a dance to it. The use of acoustic and electronic musical elements blended together works brilliantly throughout and the reverb soaked vocals, saturated synths, flange and other effects and dynamic processes gives it a warmth and DIY feel that until now i had only really heard or expected from bands like Tame Impala, The Verve etc, certainly not music as dance oriented as this album. Tracks range from minimal to wall-of-sound but all flow into each other seamlessly and combined with Dan Snaiths penchant for simple emotive lyrics create a narrative that delves deep into all things love. 10/10