Best Recorded Vinyl Albums


What are your favorite 5 vinyl albums based upon the sheer sound engineering, mix, sonic depth and quality of the record?

I have 300 records to go through, but so far my five heart stoppers are:

1. Miles Davis/ Decoy
2. Any Steely Dan Album
3. Chicago 7
4. Jeff Beck/ Blow by Blow
5. Yes/ Fragile
astralography


1. Tears for Fears - Seeds of Love

2. Anita Baker - Rapture

3. Pink Floyd - Dark Side

4. The Eagles - Hotel California

5. Steely Dan - Aja

cool list
Alan Parsons Project - I Robot

Roger Waters - Amused To Death

Steely Dan - ...pick one!

David Gilmour - On An Island

Porcupine Tree - In Absentia
Out of my collection the ones I always go to are: (in no particular order)

Jeff Beck: "Guitar Shop"
Roger Waters: "The pros and cons of Hitchiking"
Stevie Ray Vaughan: "Couldn't stand the Weather" but almost all his is killer
Reiner's "Scheherazade"
Joe Jackson: "Night and Day"
I don't have a vinyl rig anymore, but get to enjoy one occasionally at my friend's place. He has one recording that consistently raises the hairs on the back of my neck and is just gorgeous:

The Nutcracker Suite - The Royal Ballet - Ernest Ansermet

From my vinyl days, most memorable are:

Muddy Waters: Folk Singer

Pop Pop - Rickie Lee Jones

Jazz at the Pawnshop (got entirely sick of that record though, but atmospherically/sonically it is excellent)

Scenes from a Childhood - Schumann (someone help me - this was an audiophile version by one of the boutique companies...maybe direct to disc...can't recall the performer or label, but always liked the performance and sonics in reproducing a piano)
Keeping myself away from classical music recommendations for a moment...

Paul Simon, Graceland - Columbia 25447 (yes, it's got a bit of digital edge to it, but marvelously recorded and performed otherwise. Just play "Under African Skies" for a real sonic delight.)

Sonny Boy Williamson, Keep It To Ourselves - Alligator AL 4787

Linda Ronstadt, For Sentimental Reasons - Asylum 60474

ZZ Top, Tres Hombres - London XPS 631 (yes, the Steve Hoffman mastered reissue from Rhino is really good.)

Emerald Forest, Soundtrack - Varese Saraband STV 81244 (outstandingly good)

After the Ball, Joan Morris and William Bolcom - Nonesuch H 71304 (takes me days to get this record out of my head each time I hear it.)
.
Cowboy Junkies / Trinity Sessions

Plink Floyd / Dark Side of the Moon

Yes / Fragile

Queens first LP

Muddy Watters / Folk Singer
Dead Can Dance - Into the Labyrinth
Radiohead - most all of em
Dave Brubeck - Take Five
Roy Orbison - Greatest Hits
Mary Black - No Frontiers

I love Tears for Fears - Seeds of Love but I think Songs From the Big Chair sounds ALOT better.
Thanks. I love Jeff Beck's "Guitar Shop" but didn't know it was on vinyl.

Yet another record I need to buy.

.

surprised no one has mentioned the Casino Royale soundtrack - that is usually included on lists of this type
1.Ry Cooder: Jazz (or any)
2.Cat Stevens:Teaser and the Firecat, Mona Bone
3.Supertramp:Crime of the Century
4.Nitty Gritty Dirt Band:Will the Circle Be Unbroken
5.Ozark Mountain Daredevils:Men From Earth(or any)
-.Dire Staits(any)
Oops, that's six. Need more?
some good ones named so far.

Dire Straits-love over gold
supertramp-crime of the century
The The-Dusk
Interpol-antics
Thirty Seconds to Mars-a beautiful lie

Plus any Blues, early Stones, marshall tucker, and alternative from Muse, The Verve, Incubus, Raconteurs, The Nationals, Keane, Shins, Modest Mouse, Broker Bells...
I've always liked Joe Jackson's "Body and Soul". Jackson clearly went for the Blue Note look and feel on this LP, and the sound is wonderful, IMHO.
I picked up a mint copy of "Crime of the Century" as some of you have picked.. and I must say..

WOW!

I had owned the CD in the past but the vinyl experience exposed a very translucent, ethereal quality that you can't get to on CD. The entire album sounded much more psychedelic and dreamy, with incredible detail in the mixes that were right there for you to hear. It was clearly mixed for the "audiophile" in mind.

A agree, an absolute sonic masterpiece that can surely rival any rock recording I have ever heard.
Here's my listof "new found favorites in my collection", in no paticular order..

1- Gordon Lightfoot- Summertime Dream
2- Grateful dead- Terapin Station
3- CrosbyStills&Nash- CSN
4- Robin Trower- Bridge of Sigh
5- Richard Wright- Wet Dreams
6- Santana- Zebop
7- Cozy Powell- Tilt

I can go on....!!
impossible... like division by zero. my head would explode if i attempted to reduce the all time best list down to the top five. so i'll just throw a few out
there that may be relatively overlooked. the first one is becoming scarce; but the rest are available and ridiculous bargains. what they have in common is a
natural 'live' sound.

1) cha, cha, cha Live at Grossinger's / tito puente . an old rca LSP title. hard to find now, but well worth the search.

2) Aretha Live in Paris. atlantic. recorded in the Olympia Theatre.

3) We're All Together Again For the First Time / brubeck, desmond, mulligan,
alan dawson, & jack six. atlantic 1641-2. also recorded in the Olympia
Theatre, paris. dawson & six are nothing short of inspired, delivering a master class. you don't need to spend for the mofi, the original release
lacks nothing.

4) 'Together' flip phillips & woody herman. century cr-1c90 (d2d) some of
the most naturally recorded and lyrical playing you will ever hear.

5) Michel Legrand Recorded Live at Jimmy's / with phil woods, ron carter,
grady tate, and george davis. rca bgl-1-0850 if you don't have this record, just get over to ebay and grab one. there're are plenty.... you'll be glad you did.
Chicago Transit Authority
Super session-kooper-bloomfield
Clear spot-Captain Beefheart
B52s-debut
Beck-Sea Change
Santana-abraxas
too many to distill it down to 5 all time but here are some good ones I've listened to lately

Tracy Chapman - Tracy Chapman
Steve Earle - The Mountain
Louis Armstrong - Satchmo Plays King Oliver
Allison Krauss- New Station
The Mavericks - Music for all Occasions

.
Most of the records famous for recording are not things I like musically. Some good ones that to me are also fine musicially are:

- Mingus "ah um"
- Sam Cooke "night beat"
- reiner/bartok " Music for celeste and percussion"
- milford graves/andrew cyrille "dialogue of the drums"