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What is the VERY BEST CD album you've ever heard?
Just like with records, I came across releases on CD that were never popular, but bring lots of interesting music and so I started collecting CDs that do have collectible value for the reason of a great and rare music presented.
So far album "Sauce Hollandaise" by Ashra is on my #1 desirable list
"Best Band You've Never Heard In Your Life" by Frank Zappa is my 2nd best CD I've ever heard.
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They learned their trade playing rock and roll in Hamburg before they became a pop band and towards the end of their career there are some distinctly rocky tracks, on the White album particularly. Fitting rigid categories to bands isn’t always easy, especially if they start playing different tunes part way through their careers. Back to the topic, I’m rather fond of Thrack (King Crimson) and Grace (Ketil Bjornstad), both CD releases. The latter is Scandinavian jazz settings of poetry by John Donne and is a warts and all recording so not for some with more audiophile sensibilities. |
guessing yor're asking about obscure good albums .. Leafhound 'Growers of Mushroom' -- elements of Grand Funk, Deep Purple James Gang rolled into one. Szobel 'Szobel' elements of a Zappa fusion album. He was Bill Grahams nephew, so he got an album deal, was high strung about recognition, so disappeared after recording this.
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Fitting category of pop band to Beatles is simple because they are pop somewhere above 90% of their career. We can call it pop-rock as well that will match even better. There are bands that very hard to fit into any category, but the're obscure and rare and definitely not Beatles or any RR hall of fame artists. Maybe good example of Goz of Kermeur. Their self-titled album I think is third on my list. |
A 1990 CD by the Music & Arts label called Glenn Gould - Previously Unreleased Performances of Works by J.S. Bach, 1957-1969. It’s a favorite because it’s so hard to find, is not available in any media other than YouTube and contains such incredible music. There is a version of the Soundtrack to David Lynch’s Mulholland Drive on multiple formats (the vinyl pressing goes for $400-$700 presently on Discogs) but the CD is great if for the sole reason it a) doesn’t cost $500, and b) has Rebekah Del Rio’s performance of “Llorando” (an a cappella Spanish version of Roy Orbison’s ‘Crying’) which may be the greatest vocal performance I’ve ever heard. |
I don't see the need to ram music into categories like whether something is 'rock' or 'pop' - people who don't like it won't see any difference between them and (most) people who like them don't really care what you call it. @tylermunns - 'Mulholland Dr' is my favorite movie; I've had the CD since it came out; shame I missed out on the LP, but such great music; I think the title theme is one of Badalamenti's very best.... |
Can this be defined, my favourite album for content is Sade Diamond Life, but it's a poor recording. Gaucho by Steely Dan is a great recording but far from their best tracks. 25th anniversary Famous Blue Raincoat by Jennifer Warnes has great songs and excellent recording, losing the sibilance of the original. What do I listen to most, Based on a True Story, Fat Freddy's Drop. |
I can’t help but laugh when people make these delineations within pop music. Then Elvis, Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis, etc. That pretty much did it. |
The remastered 96 bit It’s a Beautiful Day cd sounds spectacularly good, especially “Wasted Union Blues”…..one of the heaviest tunes of the 60’s. My Hendrix Band of Gypsies cd with 2 bonus cuts was (I think) rare up until the complete concerts box set can out and has it all. So do bootleg cds count? I have some Stones bootlegs that are pretty good (was gonna mention The Beatles bootlegs but….) Occasionally box sets sell out and aren’t available except used. The Ten Years After 1967 - 1974 complete albums box has been reissued but packaging is inferior and doesn’t contain the “discovered” Cap Ferrat recordings. |
@ czarivey Where is "rock" identified as a qualifier? ... by who's definition? @ tylermunns Blues is not pop, classical or jazz; many of the artists mentioned are not "pop," and do not fit cleanly in one of your three grossly oversimplified categories of music. +1 for It's a Beautiful Day King Crimson, "Starless and Bible Black" |
The Beatles Releases from 1965 through 1969 were so far ahead of their time that the were revolutionary. Rubber Soul, Revolver, The White Album or Abbey Road. They certainly had a few pop songs, but so much of their music was not pop at all and the boys were capable of Rocking.They even bordered folk. |
@kb673 I beg to differ. You’re just thinking of “pop” in the terms that record companies, radio stations and media marketing schemes have sold you as “different genres.” I prefer to just listen to music and decide for myself if I like it. You know…with my own ears. You’re also free to define what “pop” is, and how it is in any way useful to sit around and say: |
I have to agree the Beatles in my opinion are a pop band, with one or two rock songs in their locker, all music is not Pop, it not all rooted in Rock n roll, pop is a mainstream popular music, a great deal of rock music is born from the blues, Metallica is not Pop they are a massive metal band but you wouldn’t define them as being popular with all listeners yet my favourite band, Jazz also is not Pop as it’s not popular across the board and I’ll vouch for that as I can listen to the stuff. |
To really hear and “show off” what my system can do it’s Diana Krall’s “The Girl in the Other Room”. Plus every single song is just so emotionally involving especially “Departure Bay” the last song on the CD. It’s honestly the one CD I play in it’s entirety and sit with my eyes shut and do not move… For just pure jammin out it’s undoubtedly Iron Maiden “Live After Death”! 🤟🏻🤟🏻 Man that one is truly timeless!😂 |
@mrmeaner Once again, as we see in this thread here, someone made a fuss about calling the Beatles, “rock.” Who cares? We all know the Beatles. Nothing bad is going to happen, no egregious misappropriation occurs if someone calls the Beatles “rock,” or “pop,” or whatever. It’s all madeup label malarkey anyway. It’s all pop. Metallica has sold 125 million albums. One is free to call this stuff whatever they want. People either are brainwashed by all the marketing labels and accept them as “fact” or “truth,” just really enjoy segregating and labeling things, reflexively equate “pop” with “bad,” or some combination of all the above. |
I think of a couple of releases that seem to me be creatures of the CD era: The Centennial edition of The Complete Robert Johnson brought out sounds I don't think anyone ever knew were there. Though I don't know that it's any great shakes sonically, the 1988 studio cast recording of Show Boat was a revelatory document of what was possibly the greatest American musical. Another monument of the CD is the encyclopedic box set: the Bear Family collections of Uncle Dave Macon, Louis Jordan and Bob Wills, the Bluebird Fats Waller and the Fremeaux Integrale Charles Trenet are particular prizes to me. This rock vs. pop thing is obviously some sort of snobbery but I can't quite see what it's being snobbish about. |
It’s absolutely not a snobbery thing, if your a jazz fan and someone said it’s just pop music plenty would say something. My wife’s mother & uncle was at the Cavern to first night the Beatles played there and many nights after and even they can define rock & pop. as for a stand out cd Seeds of Love from Tears for Fears is one of those for me. |
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I will posit that Paul Simon’s "Graceland" (Warner Bros. Records, 1986) is the best CD in my collection. Why? It is literally the very first CD I purchased, back in 1987. This was a big step, as it required the purchase of a CD player too! Expensive investment, for a college student. After a lifetime of vinyl, the allure of CDs was...well, you all remember. Paul Simon composed/wrote/recorded much of "Graceland" in South Africa, drawing on the rich music traditions of Southern Africa, and using African musicians/bands. This was during the waning and violent times of apartheid, so the music really resonated with its global audience (to be fair, there was controversy over Paul’s decision to even go to S.A to record). Other tracks draw on Cajun and East Los Angeles musical input and influences. "Graceland" won several Grammys. I still am drawn to the hauntingly beautiful tracks of "Graceland" for inexplicable emotional reasons. |
@czarivey Two CD's that belong in your collection: Jimmy Smith - Dot Com Blues Junior Wells - Come On In This House. |
@hipsterjefe Graceland was the first disc I heard as well. A gradeschool buddy invited me over to show me his dad's new CD player, and that was the only CD they had at that point. One of my favorites is Pink Floyd's Pulse double disc. I typically hate live recordings, but I get excited every time I play that one. I have a ton of other favorites, but a couple that stand out to me are Sponge's Rotting Pinata album, and the X-Files movie soundtrack. I don't even know why those two are on the top of my head right now, but I have thoroughly enjoyed both and the production on both sound great.. |
Jazz at the Pawnshop! Being away from this hobby for several years I decided to buy a new amplifier. At the time I had a Conrad Johnson Premier 2. I bought it with me to demo the amp. (Adcom GFA 555) . The dealer connected everything (CD, Preamp, and Amp) to Magnipan speakers. There was another customer in the shop at the time. After listening to several CDs the customer asked if we can listen to the system using a turntable. He then played Jazz at the Pawnshop. That was my renaissance into a lifelong Audiophile. |
I'm torn between King Crimson's Live in Chicago and Music is Our Friend (live in Washington and Albany 2021) Very similar shows and tight recordings. This version of Crimson is extremely powerful and the catalogue of tracks hit on every era of Crimson music. I believe Fripp stated that the Washington DC show was their last, shame, because I really believe they have more to share. |
I think you are looking for titles a little off the beaten path so my nomination is for Col. Bruce Hampton and the Aquarium Rescue Unit - self titled live album. These guys are sort of a cross between the Allman Brothers and Frank Zappa and the album is one of the best live recordings in my collection. The musicianship on this album is stunning. |
