Music A thread to rave about your favorite albums <3

[Roni]

Talk about your top albums here :D Can be just one, ranked, in no particular order, or whatever however you please. I just got into listening to music regularly instead of living in silence for most of the day, and I love it <3 I used to think that listening to a whole album all the way was a rather daunting task, but discovering these specific ones made that quite easy. Here's some of mine~

Albert Hammond Jr. - Francis Trouble (specific favorite songs - Far Away Truths, Tea for Two, Strangers)

Spoiler:

Discovered this album pretty late into my Strokes addiction phase, but by god is it one of Albert's best works so far. He's my favorite member of The Strokes bcs I love his style and the aesthetic he pulls off with that signature white Stratocaster and red strap~ Listening to his works, it's apparent just how much he contributed to The Strokes' sound, because it literally sounds like them, just with his vocals lmao. Some snobby reviewers say that's a bad thing, but I don't care what they say, atm this is my top all time fave~

The Strokes - Room on Fire (specific fave songs - pretty much everything except for 12:51 lol)

Spoiler:

The first album I ever listened to all the way, sometime back. It all started with Reptilia, when I searched on Youtube for easy rock guitar riffs to practice. I've been drowning in the rabbit hole since lol. Literally every song is insanely good, and is my go-to when I don't know what to listen to haha. The soundtrack to my safe space~

The Strokes - Is This It (specific fave songs - everything except Trying Your Luck~ also sad that the Spotify version doesn't have When It Started, had to go look that up manually :<)

Spoiler:

Gave this a chance after hearing how awesome their other album was, and it's quite the banger as well. Very lo-fi, everyone's got definitive parts to play in each song that really drives it forward, coupled with Julian's graceful drunk distorted vocals. Oh man, to hear this in 2001... the album that kick started garage rock revival... I'm super grateful~

Arctic Monkeys - Favourite Worst Nightmare (specific fave songs - everything except Only Ones Who Know :p)

Spoiler:

Alex Turner's lyrical ability, paired with Matt Helders' ridiculous drumming, makes a jaw dropping album such as this <3 Very versatile too; if I wanna get pumped, I put on Brianstorm or This House is a Circus. If I wanna just vibe, I put on Teddy Picker or Fluorescent Adolescent. If I feel moody, you bet your bottom dollar I'm putting on 505.

Arctic Monkeys - Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not (specific fave songs - everything except Riot Van & Perhaps Vampires is a Bit Strong But...)

Spoiler:

Their first album, and oh my god does it go hard. They go in your face almost all the way, whoever's idea it was to put View from the Afternoon and I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor next to each other deserves high praise~ Alex also shows off just how amazing he is as a storyteller, and by golly that accent lifts up the songs so much.

Seaway - Big Vibe (specific fave songs - everything except Mrs. David, sorry Inky)

Spoiler:

A very recent addition to my faves, recommended by Inky~ So glad I listened to the whole album, because pretty much everything is a bop! A big vibe truly is rushing up my spine whenever I put this on. It's my new go-to when I go out for a walk / commute to somewhere.

Circa Waves - Young Chasers (specific fave songs - Get Away, T-Shirt Weather, Fossils, Young Chasers)

Spoiler:

Another super recent fave~ They have such a feel-good summer sound, and I honestly wish I discovered this band years ago when I was still in college. I'd have played the hell out of it during school break periods haha. I have a preference for bright jangly guitar tones a la Fender/Rickenbacker, and these guys satisfy that musical craving oh so well~

Paramore - Brand New Eyes (specific fave songs - Careful, Ignorance, Playing God, Brick By Boring Brick, Turn it Off, The Only Exception)

Spoiler:

Legendary album, that I'm unfortunately only recently really getting into. I def heard so many of these on the radio years ago, just in passing, but that's enough to trigger nostalgia in me~ Ignorance and Playing God are also pretty close to me since those were two of the first few songs I ever practiced with a real band. We sucked ass, but god it was a hell of an experience to play with other people <3

Alvvays - Alvvays (specific fave songs - Archie, Marry Me, Next of Kin, Party Police)

Spoiler:

Again a new fave, and has similar bright jangly vibes I mentioned earlier. The vocalist's timbre and style is pretty unique to me, and it really adds to the vibes of the songs. Something I feel like putting on at 2am at a party at a friends' house.

 

[Fairy]

Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion
Animal Collective - Strawberry Jam
clipping - There Existed an Addiction to Blood
clipping - Visions of Bodies Being Burned
Dan Deacon - Bromst
Devendra Banhart - Cripple Crow
Simon & Garfunkel - Wednesday Morning 3am.
Crywank - Tomorrow is Nearly Yesterday and Everyday is Stupid
David Bowie - The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars
David Bowie - Hunky Dory
Boston - Boston (Studio Album)
Seu Jorge - The Life Aquatic Studio Sessions

Tbh I'll probably come back and add more lol.

 

[Aslan]

I don't listen to a lot of albums as I find it quite hard to get through so whilst there are certain songs I like more than the ones on these albums, I'll keep it to albums I've listened to all of.

My favourites as of right now that I've liked are:

• Two Door Cinema Club - Tourist History
• Sufjan Stevens - Carrie and Lowell
• Sufjan Stevens - Illnois
• Carly Rae Jepsen - EMOTION
• Rina Sawayama - SAWAYAMA
• Of Monsters and Men - Beneath the Skin

Other honourable mentions I can think of are Interpol - Turn On The Bright Lights, Radiohead - Kid A, Jimmy Eat World - Bleed American, Troye Sivan - In A Dream and American Football's self-titled. I need to listen to more albums the whole way through now that I think about it. Will come back with a changed answer if this gets asked again probably :D

 

[moon]

A Rush Of Blood To The Head by Coldplay might forever be my favorite album. Soooo many memories from it and I love every song on it so dearly. X&Y isn't bad either, but the former album just holds even more memories I think.
edit: ok nvm X&Y wins, i just re-listened and got a nostalgia rushd fkjshdf

 

[CiCi]

The Broken Result
Recursive

Spoiler:

My favorite metal band, with The Black Dahlia Murder behind. But The Broken Result massacres The Black Dahlia Murder on story-telling, in my opinion. I adore the complex lyrics and the way they're weaved into the instrumentals as if one with them. This was an incredibly ambitious first album and I wish they had more recognition for their masterpieces in music.

Massacre of the Ninth Hell. 100% It's one of my favorite songs of all time. The lyrics are beautiful, the ending is amazing. I love the way his screams trail off behind each other, then blend into the guitar before the song fades. The way the opening merges into heavy metal is gorgeous. It's memorable, and I go to another world when I listen to this song. A Night of Honest Lies and What Lurks Below are both close behind.

Mystery Skulls
EP

Spoiler:

This album is unexplainably catchy. I don't even know much about this genre, but I adored every song on this album. The only one, in my opinion, that wasn't up to snuff is Money, but it's still a good song. I find myself able to put this album on any time and enjoy myself. With its catchy and upbeat lyrics, and Luis Dubuc's a gorgeous, chill voice, this album lifts my spirits like very few things can.

It was a nearly impossible task between Amazing, You, Beautiful, and Brainsick, but I think my favorite and the one I put on to sing and vibe to most often has to be You.

Forever

Spoiler:

Yet another wonderful album dropped by Mystery Skulls. It reminds me so much of EP, but like a revamped version of that style. This almost 80s synthwave style. It's always fun to put this album on and listen to all of their songs. I've learned most of the lyrics to this whole album. Luis experiments a little more with his voice in this album which is cool.

I love, love, love listening to Fantasy the most out of all of these. Ghost, Hellbent, and Every Note follow very closely behind. But my fangirl heart can't help but choose Fantasy.

There are certainly other bands with albums filled with great songs that I love, like The Crane Wives, The Black Dahlia Murder, Caravan Palace, and Red Hot Chili Peppers, but these were the first 2 that popped into my mind. Maybe I'll make another post here for some RHCP or the Speakeasies' Swing Band at some point. Or even edit this to talk about a few songs from these albums in particular.

 

[tenfrogs]

All of Catfish and the Bottlemen's albums have basically been on repeat for the last week or so in my house. I love the minimalist album artwork, I love the singer, I love the lyrics and the music. Absolute masterpieces (in my opinion anyway) from start to finish. 10/10 would buy vinyls.

 

[Inky]

I spent too long thinking about this and also have drafted a post out like at least three times and somehow lost it every time so this will not be as in-depth as it could have been however here we go:

The Greatest Generation by The Wonder Years
I can relate to a lot of the lyrics & themes of this album all too well, and it really formed an integral part of the latter-half of my teenage years. The Wonder Years are a really great band but I think this particular album has to take the cake as just a front-to-back truly wonderful album.

Peripheral Vision by Turnover
I can remember finding this album completely by accident, and initially being a little resistant to it, since it was so different to the heavier stuff I was listening to at the time - but on revisiting it, it quickly became one of my favourite albums. It's moody, melancholy, space-y, and the perfect album to just zone out to on a rainy evening (or any time, really).

Proper Dose by The Story So Far
This album is kinda nostalgic in some ways for me, since it came out right at the start of my university degree, and I can remember listening to it daily on my commute. It's now almost four years later, and if anything in that time I've learned to appreciate this album even more.

Common Courtesy by A Day to Remember
This may be a controversial pick to some, but I think this is easily my favourite A Day to Remember album. They were my introduction to the "scene" so to speak, so will always have a place in my heart, but Common Courtesy has to take the cake as the best.

Chemical Miracle by Trophy Eyes
This album got me through the first (and I guess second?) lockdown in 2020, and while I was familiar with it before, I fell in love with it during that period.

Big Vibe by Seaway
Similar to the above, but instead of angry introspection this album is all-in on summery vibes. I love it.

Honourable Mentions:
GLUE by Boston Manor; As You Please by Citizen; Untitled by Blink-182; Inviting Light by The Flatliners; Don't Panic: It's Longer Now! by All Time Low; Temple of Thought by Poets of the Fall; Endgame by Rise Against; and Southern Air by Yellowcard.

I'm sure there's plenty more that I'm missing, and there are a ton of other albums I love - and if this were just down to specific songs, this list would be completely different - but that's what I've got for now.

 

[Starlight]

I had a big post written several times but kept messing it up. From now on I'm gonna drop a single favourite album in here at regular intervals...

I'm gonna start with one of my favourite albums by one of my favourite artists:

Heart - Dreamboat Annie



This was Heart's first album and it is still one of their best, if not their actual best. I will be mentioning more Heart albums that rival this one at a later date. I haven't met many people that don't like this album, and it seems to be universally acclaimed on music sites so I won't give it a proper review, there's enough of those out there already!

I will say though that this album is a joy to listen to from start to finish. There are folk songs, love songs, hard rock songs and Moog synthesizers! Sometimes all at the same time ;)

It's not as niche as some Heart albums. It's not all hair metal, or filthy bluesy hard rock like some of their later ones, this one has something for everyone, and I can't recommend it enough!

 

[RadEmpoleon]

There aren't too many albums where I've listened to EVERY song (for a lot of albums I know, I've only heard some of the songs, but not all of them) but I'll just put this one for now:

Camellia - U.U.F.O. (2021)

First, I'd like to start off by saying this album has 27 SONGS. I don't think I've ever listened to an album with this many songs in it. The cool thing about Camellia's music is that he covers so many genres, but they all sound good. Like what other album has speedcore, Russian hardbass, chiptune, neurofunk, schranz, and electro swing (and other genres)? There's so much variety in the album, but I can recognize his style in all of the songs. And this album has been out for almost a year and I STILL cannot believe that there is a collab song with Toby Fox (aka creator of Undertale and Deltarune). There are a few other collab songs, but this one is still the most mind-blowing. I don't know if I can pick one song as my favorite, but some of my favorites from the album are Mystery Circles Ultra, Electromagnetic Stealth Girl Born In Philadelphia, The Red * Room, #1f1e33 extended version, When You See It, and (just on account of how ridiculous this song's title is) Tentaclar Aliens' Epic Extraterretterrestrial Jungle Dance Party Inside Of A Super-Ultra-Mega-Gigantic U.F.O. (It Maybe U.U.F.O.) Silently Flying Over Illinois St.

 

[Starlight]

Time to rep another of my favourite albums:

Ayumi Hamasaki - Duty



Ayumi Hamasaki's first album of the new millennium was an absolute masterpiece!

It's still my favourite Ayu album to this very day. I could - and often do - listen to it on repeat and never get bored.

The overall feel of the album is moody, brooding, and pretty dark. It's also more rock inspired than some of her other works.

This album is part of my comfort music collection. When I'm down, hurting, or just plain don't know what to listen to, then this is an album that will always make me happy <3