As I posted elsewhere, I have recently got some nice speakers and a turntable. The purpose of this thread is to discuss albums rather than individual songs, as obviously with vinyl records you can't just queue up your favourite songs in a playlist. You have to buy whole albums.

Paying money for music rather than just streaming it for free really focuses you on the value proposition a record presents.

So, what albums do you think have a sufficient concentration of good songs to justify their purchase?

A few I have bought or which are on my wishlist:

Kygo - Cloud Nine

Has three absolute bangers (Stole the Show, Firestone, I'm In Love) and the rest of the album is of a general high quality with no real duds.

The album also has nice artwork - the print on the front has a nice raised texture to it - and the records are in white vinyl which looks cool.

Amy Winehouse - Back to Black

Almost a cliche, but there's a good reason for that. Amy Winehouse's voice has that old school sound which is the perfect accompaniment to being played on a record player. A couple of major hits (Rehab, Back to Black) but the whole album is very well done.

Artwork etc. is nothing special.

Yellow Claw - Blood for Mercy

There's at least 6 songs on this album that I absolutely love (Roller, For the Thrill, In My Room, Catch Me, Feel It, Blood Diamond), and the others aren't exactly bad either. Cover art is a load of naked women so what's not to like.

Magic Sword - Volume 1

If you've seen Thor Ragnarok, this synthwave group will sound familiar as their song "In the Face of Evil" was a prominent part of that movie/its trailer.

For me this one isn't really about picking out individual songs as absolute bangers but rather a whole album of a cohesive sound, almost like the album was one long song.

Caravan Palace - <I°_°I>

If you want to listen to electro-swing, Caravan Palace is the band to go with. They basically created the genre. Some great individual tracks like Lone Digger but again, like Magic Sword, this is more about having a genre-defining sound on a single record.

 

Kveikur, by Sigur Ros is a solid experience. Not everyone's cup of tea, but I enjoyed it. They're Icelandic post rock.

Left Here Alone, by Faunts was the first vinyl I bought, and is very laid back and relaxing. To this day I don't know the individual songs that well because I always listen to it as an album. Also my longtime favourite band.

Notion EP, by Tash Sultana is a banger of an album. Very much her original distinctive style. One of those crazy talented people that make you wonder what you're doing with your life; she plays every instrument you hear for each song, and she can do it live using looping and such.

Singularity, by Jon Hopkins is a trip. Another album that I've never listened to individual songs of, only ever in one go. Electronic, but chill.


I could go on, but that'd just turn into listing my vinyl shelf. Because of the cost of them, if I don't dig an album I tend to just return it and get another one.

 

Sound Awake - Karnivool : Prog rock from Australia. They've got a few other albums that are very, very good too, but this is the best of the bunch.

The Autumn Effect - 10 Years : Modern Rock. I'm a bit biased I guess, as this is my favorite band, but still. Every song is awesome to me, and I never skip one.

You're a Man Now, Boy - Raleigh Ritchie : Hip-hop. A very rare entry into my favorites for anything non-rock, but this is a great album that I only ever looked at because Grey Worm made it. Very pleasant surprise.

 

100% agree with that one.

Heilung - Lifa: ...not sure how to describe the genre; it's as close to a reconstruction of Viking music as we're ever likely to get. Chanting meets throat singing meets a warband. Equal parts weird and haunting, and one of the few albums I'll just listen to straight through.

Iron Maiden - Dance of Death: Metal. Strays away from the 'classic' Iron Maiden sound here and there, but every single song on it is awesome. Favourite album from one of my favourite bands. Also holds the distinction for the worst album art of anything I've ever bought.

The Baseballs - Strike! : A trio of German Elvis impersonators covering modern Top 100 music. Not parody; they've leaned into it and it works. Again, everything on the album is fucking amazing.

Nightwish - Endless Forms Most Beautiful: symphonic metal. To be honest Nightwish's entire discography is worth it, but this is peak form.

Dissection - Reinkaos: death metal. Probably my favourite death metal album. Their other two albums are kind of crap, but they struck gold on this one.

 

Mythical and Magical by Pagan Altar

It's the finest hour of heavy/doom metal ever recorded by man, god, or beast since Sabbath Bloody Sabbath. Best tune Cry of the Banshee 8:00 on, the guitar screams

The Divine Wings of Tragedy by Symphony X

Greatest progressive/symphonic metal album I've heard. Best tune: Title track

Since I name dropped it above, might as well link

Sabbath Bloody Sabbath by Black Sabbath

best tune: A National Acrobat

Also, holy fucking shit. @Marsupial I've never seen anyone shit talk Dissection's Storm of the Light's Bane before now. Let alone call it crap. Let alone calling fucking Reinkaos their best album. What a mind fuck. Storm of the Light's Bane is one of the best black metal records ever put onto paper imo. - up there with Triarchy of the Lost Lovers by Rotting Christ, In the Nightside Eclipse by Emperor, In the Constellation of the Black Widow by Anaal Nathrakh, and ...And the Physical Shape of Light Bled by Ancient Wisdom.

Each of those 5 records is worth a vinyl purchase too. The latter also has my favorite song of all time, a cover of The Spell that was originally by the NWOBHM band Demon

As far as death metal goes, The Spell of Retribution by The Chasm. Fucking mexicans bro. Amazing record. Best tune from that one is Retribution of the Lost Years

 

Eh, personal taste I suppose. Vocal mix is better on Reinkaos; Storm of the Light's Bane always sounds a bit like it was recorded in a fishbowl to me. There are songs I like, and the album as a whole isn't bad. It's just not as good in comparison.

 

My suggestions would all be progressive rock/metal of some kind.

Bridge Across Forever, the second album by Transatlantic, which features two 26-minute epics, a short piano ballad, and a very Abbey Road-inspired track (the live album even incorporates the Beatles songs into it and turns it into a half hour medley).

Fear of a Blank Planet, widely considered the best Porcupine Tree album. Very moody, cynical take on British youth culture in the mid-2000s.

The Optimist, the last album by Anathema, and as you might guess from the title is optimistic in tone. Actually, any of the their four albums from the 2010s are uplifting (with the exception of a few songs about grief and loss).

Lateralus by Tool. Incredibly dense and at times complex songs full of lyrics about philosophy and spirituality and introspection.

Deliverance and Damnation by Opeth. Technically two albums, but released several months apart and originally intended as a double album to showcase both sides of the band. Deliverance is long, dark, and heavy. Damnation is short, mellow, soft.

 

Is Dark Side of the Moon too basic? It's one of those albums where instead of picking out tracks I like I pick out the one I dislike ( I don't absolutely love Money because it's jarringly different from the tempo of the rest).

It's also the first album that comes to mind when I imagine blasting vinyl records for an evening. Concept albums/rock operas seem to fit the bill.

Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs by Derek and the Dominos and Who's Next by The Who while we're still in classic rock territory.

Save Rock and Roll by Fall Out Boy is another great one with a couple of gems that I love more than the tracks released as singles.

Give Up by The Postal Service is still my favorite electronic indie pop jam. Dislike two tracks : This Place is a Prison and Natural Anthem because of the sharp tonal contrast. Everything else slaps.

I'd rec every album by Death Cab for Cutie since Transatlanticism (2003) because I'm just a big fan, but if I had to pick one I'd go with Codes and Keys.
It's got a showcase of Ben Gibbard's evocative lyrics and a great, uplifting acoustic track to close it out. Definitely a departure from their brand of emo indie rock.

Integrity Blues by Jimmy Eat World
Bit of a toss up between that and Chase This Light. The latter has some of my favorite JEW tracks ever in Always Be, Chase This Light, and Dizzy, but I find that Integrity Blues has a more coherent finish with the soulful title track leading to the cathartic Pol Roger.

 

I've got a turntable and on the last count I had 75 LPs, so from that limited number the ones that get requested the most by friends and family are Back to Black and Rumours mentioned in the thread already. Other than that the most popular ones across friend groups are Hotel California by the Eagles, Tapestry by Carole King, How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful by Florence, Who's Next by The Who, the Trainspotting Soundtrack, Into the Night by KoL, Lady Sings the Blues by Billie Holiday, London Calling by the Clash, Heroine by Lorde, Born in the USA by Springsteen, and Power, Corruption & Lies by New Order. Lots of them are a bit cliché, but on the other hand I've found people like listening to things they've heard of rather than the obscure stuff. I'd also say that except for maybe the last two, every song is solidly good if not great, so listening to the whole thing is preferable to just one song.

Reckless by Bryan Adams is another popular one in my collection, but that's got some bad songs lurking on it. For specific (read elderly) guests, I've got a Simon and Garfunkle and also a Sinatra complilation album that work great, they also go well in the background if you're having dinner and will be talking over the music anyway.