50 Albums you must hear before you buy a house 3.0 (6)

Happy New House Year:

GVZ:

5. (23) Bob Dylan – Blonde on Blonde (1966)
“Here we are: the melancholic romanticist, some morally omniscient cynics and the one that just tells me to get stoned. Unfortunately I don’t have a basement, my friends.”

4. (5) Radiohead – In Rainbows (2007)
“The completion of that download, the uncompromising support tour: for the first time in my life I consciously witnessed rock history being written.”

3. (8) Love – Forever Changes (1967)
“Who gives a shit about forever? The Now Album.”

2. (2) The Beatles – Revolver (1966)
“If they would have replaced ‘Yellow Submarine’ by ‘Paperback Writer/Rain’, this list would have been a dictatorship.”

1. (1) The Velvet Underground and Nico – The Velvet Underground & Nico (1967)
“What has become of democracy anyway?”

RKH:

5. (20) DJ Shadow – Endtroducing… (1996)
“Technological deconstruction leading into organical reconstruction. The first true musical collage that actually sounds great.”

4. (4) The Beatles – Revolver (1966)
“The Big Bang. The start of an ever expanding revolution that’s still being felt today. But tomorrow? It’ll never know.”

3. (2) Van Morrison – Astral Weeks (1968)
“Ying. Mysticism, conjured by a 23 year old seer. The musical definition of The Divine Touch.”

2. (1) Radiohead – Kid A (2000)
“We live on a placid island of ignorance in the midst of black seas of infinity. We shouldn’t flee from this revelation, but embrace it with every fiber of our being. Let this album be your guide.”

1. (9) Marvin Gaye – What’s Going On (1971)
“Sitdown and listen, really listen. Take it all in. Poignant lyrics, passionate singing and subtle yet overwhelming melodies. A sum greater than it’s parts, which 43 years later still makes me wonder why the most relevant questions are often times the least asked ones.”

GF:

5. The Who – Who’s Next (1971)
“Een oerkracht van protest en  schreeuwen in de verre wildernis.”

4. The Rolling Stones – Sticky Fingers (1971)
“Verslavend, strak en geil, van de platenhoes tot de nummers.”

3. Radiohead – In Rainbows (2007)
“Zang, teksten en instrumenten verweven tot een magisch geheel, zoals het samenkomen van zon en regen.”

2. Neil Young & Crazy Horse – Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere (1969)
“Zware gitaren, fluisterende stemmen, pakkende melodieën en teksten over gevoelens die ieder kent maar nog nooit zo mooi gehoord heeft.”

1. Bob Dylan – Blood on the Tracks (1975)
“And every one of them songs rang true and glowed like buning coal.”

50 Albums you must hear before you buy a house 2.0 (7): 20-16

The music professors are starting to come up with the real stuff now, as they the enter the top 20 of their all-time favorite albums lists. One of the big names that were missing till this point finally shows up, as Led Zeppelin’s epic double album Physical Graffiti debuts in GvZ’s list, while Led Zeppelin II appears among DOK’s favorites at #19. RKH expands his fascination for Van the Man with the entrance of Morrison’s third solo album, while rumours are spread that Astral Weeks might be a serious contender for the #1 spot.

DOK:

16. Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young – Déjà Vu (1970)
17. Van Morrison – Astral Weeks (1968)
18. Bob Dylan – Blonde on Blonde (1966)
19. Led Zeppelin – Led Zeppelin II (1969)
20. Eagles – Hotel California (1976)

GvZ:

16. (17) Pink Floyd – Atom Heart Mother (1970)
17. (7)   Paul McCartney & Wings – Band on the Run (1973)
18. (*)   Pink Floyd – A Saucerful of Secrets (1968)
19. (*)   Led Zeppelin – Physical Graffiti (1975)
20. (12) Pink Floyd – Wish You Were Here (1975)

RKH:

16. (*)   Van Morrison – Moondance (1970)
17. (9)   Paul McCartney & Wings – Band on the Run (1973)
18. (8)   The Beatles – Abbey Road (1969)
19. (18) Eagles – Hotel California (1976)
20. (26) DJ Shadow – Endtroducing… (1996)

Also two recurring albums this week, with Hotel California reaching the top 20 in both DOK’s and RKH’s list, while Band on the Run drops from the top ten twice to end up on #17 this year. Abbey Road is also degradated by RKH, as he considers this record to have only one side. Space rock, symphonic rock and progressive rock are all represented by one and the same band this week, with Pink Floyd reigning GvZ’s top twenty till this point. Overall the seventies still is the leading decade with 38% of all albums.

50 Albums you must hear before you buy a house 2.0

According to an annual tradition (this being the second edition), yours truly and fellow music professor R.K. Hofmeijer locked themselves up for a few weeks during the first rainy autumn weeks to contemplate about the 50 essential albums you must hear before you buy a house. Of course because the end of the year is characterized by listening to, making, criticizing and listing lists, but especially because more and more rumours are spread about people being disappointed by the purchase of their house. That strange smell that wasn’t there when you bought it, the noisy kid next door who just won’t grow up, naked computer guy without curtains from the other side, the estranged person you once bought the whole thing with: aspects they didn’t think through while listening to the  50 best albums of all-time first.

Because last year’s edition apparently failed according to the facts mentioned above, we called upon senior student musicology Donald Oude-Kamphuis to add an extra list this year. Let’s kick off today with our #50-46 (RKH’s & GvZ’s last year’s ranking between brackets):

DOK:

46. The Jimi Hendrix Experience –  Electric Ladyland (1968)
47. Arcade Fire – Funeral (2004)
48. Kyuss – Blues for the Red Sun (1992)
49. DJ Shadow – Endtroducing… (1996)
50. Neutral Milk Hotel – In the Aeroplane Over the Sea (1998)

GvZ:

(*)     46. Jefferson Airplane – After Bathing at  Baxter’s (1967)
(*)     47. Simon & Garfunkel – Parsley, Sage, Rosemary & Thyme (1966)
(44)   48. John Lennon – Plastic Ono Band (1970)
(*)     49. Arcade Fire – Funeral (2004)
(23)   50. Cat Stevens – Mona Bone Jakon (1970)

RKH:

(*)     46. The Velvet Underground – The Velvet Underground & Nico (1967)
(*)     47. Radiohead – King of Limbs (2011)
(46)   48. dEUS –  The Ideal Crash (1999)
(*)     49. Teenage Fanclub – Bandwagonesque (1991)
(*)     50. Lambchop – How I Quit Smoking (1996)

So the nineties are ruling the lower regions of the list (6/14) and a lot of new albums are introduced compared to last year. Arcade Fire’s Funeral even debuts twice, conquering the title ‘classic’ after ten years. However, all three lists are topped by albums from the Golden Age, an omen of what will follow later on?