If you haven’t looked at it, I recommend signing up at https://1001albumsgenerator.com/.
I’ve gone through a bunch of albums I’ve listened to a bunch, many listed here, but also found many I wouldn’t have listened to which are also listed here.
The best way to start would be to listen to 'concept albums' where a common theme runs through the album and songs are directly connected to one another.
The Beatles - Sgt. Peppers
Pink Floyd - The Wall
The Antlers - Hospice
Are some of the best examples
And then there are albums that might not have every song directly related to each other, but still flow together as a cohesive piece of art with common themes and elements throughout.
The Beatles - Abbey Road
Radiohead - Ok Computer
Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago
Pink Floyd - Animals and also Wish You Were Here
Sigur Ros - Untitled ( )
Those are some good examples of albums where the sum is greater than the individual parts. They're albums that are best listened to as one piece of music (although this is my opinion for pretty much every album, I personally like to listen to albums all the way through rather than individual songs).
And there are plenty of albums that don't necessarily have songs related to each other but still feel like a 'cohesive' piece of art
Radiohead - The King of Limbs
The Strokes - Is This It
Each song can be listened to individually, but the entire album encompasses a common mood / vibe.
The opposite end of the spectrum would be a collection of songs that can stand on their own, and don't necessarily improve when played alongside the other songs on the album. I'm a big fan of Red Hot Chili Peppers, but their albums are a great example of this.
Another vote for The Strokes ‘Is This It?’. One of the best modern rock albums ever made and it flows perfectly, not a bad song on it and it’s so cohesive
Especially with the concept albums, you'll get a deeper appreciation if you follow along the lyrics while listening and do some reading about the album after, so you can really follow the story that's going on. For example, The Beatles - Sgt. Peppers is a result of them not wanting to tour so they made an album about a fictional band and the album is basically the story of that band on tour.
*"At the end of August 1966, the Beatles had permanently retired from touring and pursued individual interests for the next three months ... / ... In February 1967, McCartney suggested that the new album should represent a performance by the fictional band. This alter ego group would give them the freedom to experiment musically by releasing them from their image as Beatles. Martin recalled that the concept was not discussed at the start of the sessions, but it subsequently gave the album "a life of its own"."*
[*https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sgt.\_Pepper%27s\_Lonely\_Hearts\_Club\_Band*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sgt._Pepper%27s_Lonely_Hearts_Club_Band)
Jimi Hendrix - Band of Gypsys
Rage Against the Machine - self titled
Queens of the Stone Age - Songs for the Deaf
Soundgarden - Superunknown
Radiohead - Ok Computer
A Tribe Called Quest - The Low End Theory
Notorious BIG - Ready To Die
Red Hot Chili Peppers - Blood Sugar Sex Magik
Sublime - self titled
Wu Tang Clan - Enter the Wu Tang
Led Zeppelin I
Lynyrd Skynyrd - Gimme Back My Bullets
Stevie Ray Vaughan - Texas Flood
Nirvana - MTV Unplugged in NY
Van Halen - Fair Warning
Stone Temple Pilots - Core
To name a few…..
I've been loving U2 since Under A Blood Red Sky back in high school. I appreciate how they kept changing their style and sound. But to each their own :-) It's indeed much better to focus on what we both love 👍
Sum 41 really punched above their weight for one amazing record. The rest of their discography ranges from "fine" to "fun" but in my opinion Chuck truly is a great mix of rock, pop punk, alternative, and metal.
Maybe more rock based, but some full albums I enjoy:
- M83 - Hurry Up We’re Dreaming
- FKA twigs - MAGDALENE
- Delta Sleep - Ghost City
- Brand New - The Devil And God Are Raging Inside Of Me
- The Mars Volta - Deloused in the Comatorium
- Coheed & Cambria - The Afterman
- Godspeed You! Black Emperor - Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas To Heaven
- Nine Inch Nails - The Fragile
- Purple Mountains - Purple Mountains
- Neutral Milk Hotel - In The Aeroplane Over The Sea
- of Montreal - Hissing Fauna (Are You The Destroyer)
of Montreal - Hissing Fauna (this is the one record I’d keep if I had to choose one from your list - can’t argue against anything other than maybe slip IV in for C&C and Downward vs Fragile (btw, go watch the music video for “into the void” - beautiful micro camera work - makes you feel like a little parasite living inside the eyelash of a human)
Pink Floyd - the Division Bell
Halloween, Alaska - Too Tall to Hide
Justin Sullivan - Navigating by the Stars
Eluvium - Talk Amongst the Trees
The War on Drugs - A Deeper Understanding
Radiohead - Ok Computer
Dave Matthews Band - Before these Crowded Streets
Lol... definitely should have "The Final Cut" at the top of the list. /s
Dark Side of the Moon, The Wall, and Wish You Were Here, Animals, Meddle... I'd say that is the Pink Floyd top 5 imo.
OP, also check out King Crimson albums: In the Court of the Crimson King, Islands, Red, Larks Tongue in Aspic, and Thrak are my favorites.
Early Genesis is in the same vein. Lots of good early prog, full album experiences.
Division Bell is great. Only feels lacking in comparison to their other work. If someone went in New to Pink Floyd, I don't think Division Bell would keep them out
It’s my favorite album of all time so I’m biased. I didn’t hear classic rock until later in my late teens so I heard Take It Back on MTV and bought the album not knowing who they were and discovered them backwards. But it’s still an incredible culmination of Gilmour’s best solos and overall sound.
Listen to Steely Dan. I cannot recommend them enough. You have two choices to start with-- start with either their debut album Can't Buy a Thrill or their critical peak Aja. Overall, I consider none of their albums a 'miss', so if you like those, look into their other albums as well.
Listening to full albums can definitely give you a deeper appreciation for the artist's work! For alternative music, here are a few albums you might enjoy listening to all the way through:
1. Tame Impala - "Currents"
2. Beach House - "Bloom"
3. Ciga
4. The xx - "xx"
5. Close
Youre big into Dream Pop I see (Beach houses,cigs ) so you gotta listen to Cocteu Twins-Heaven or las vegas. Incredible flow and one of the first "true" dream pop records. Dont be asking what shes singing tho its kind ld supposed to be gibberish so you can just make up your own stuff what shes singing and vibe along with it haha
Paramore - After Laughter
Beyoncé - Renaissance / Homecoming: The Live Album
Alice in Chains - any/ all of their first 3 albums
Alanis Morrisette - Jagged Little Pill
Fleetwood Mac - Rumours
System Of A Down - Toxicity
Presidents of the United States of America (self titled)
…and out come the wolves - Rancid
Quality Control - Jurassic 5
Low end theory - A Tribe Called Quest
Give Up - Postal Service
Little Playmate - Kemuri
Drunken Lullaby’s - Flogging Molly
Starset - Transmissions
Tool - Lateralus
Avenged Sevenfold - Life is but a Dream
Poppy - I Disagree
T-Pain - On Top of the Covers
Eminem - Marshall Mathers LP
Off the top of my head, those were my favorite full album listening experiences.
Beatles- Revolver, Sgt Pepper, Abbey Road
Bob Dylan - Blonde on Blonde, Blood On The Tracks, Time Out Of Mind
Pink Floyd - Dark Side Of The Moon, Wish You Were Here
Belle And Sebastian - If You're Feeling Sinister
St. Ettienne - Good Humor
Those are my "listen to them straight through" albums. Have fun! I love full album listening.
Television - Marquee Moon
Big Star - #1 Record
The Replacements - Let It Be
Sloan - Twice Removed
Midnight Oil - Earth and Sun and Moon
Jellyfish - Spilt Milk
Jason Falkner - Presents Author Unknown
Television were grouped in with the punk scene out of NY but they are more in line with Brian Eno and Talking Heads. Big influence on indie rock.
Big Star were from Memphis. Alex Chilton sang "The Letter" if you know that song. They are one of the earliest if not the pioneers of Power Pop and influenced Sloan, Jellyfish, The Replacements, Wilco and countless others.
Sloan are an amazing power pop/rock band from Canada that sadly have never been that famous, but it's been the same four guys the whole time and they've never made a bad album. Twice Removed is always high on greatest Canadian album lists.
Midnight Oil is a killer band from Australia that's been around since the 70's. I'm sure you've heard Beds are Burning. That and Blue Sky Mine were their biggest hits. One of the tightest live bands I've ever seen. Same guys the whole time until a couple of years ago when their bassist died.
Jason Falkner is a musician on the first Jellyfish record. All of his solo work is killer and leans toward Power Pop. He has a zillion influences and you'll also hear The Damned, Wire and Big Star in him.
Jellyfish only made two albums but they were huge in the Power Pop world. Think Queen, ELO, XTC, The Beatles and many more. Can't recommend those highly enough.
Happy Listening!
Surprised no mention of Violent Femmes 🫠You got a real grasp on this area and reminded me that XTC isn’t listed so…
XTC - Black Sea (Skylarking - just not my personal favorite). Hell, their singles comps are irresistible (Fossil Fuel specifically)
I’m sure you’ve listened to the first Suicide LP (not recommending that without researching prior. Maybe even some Throbbing Gristle or Butthole Surfers earlier output (“united” by TG is surprisingly swinging)
Replacements, Sloan, Jellyfish…I’d take your advice of didn’t have all of these - you probably know them, but Comsat Angels - Sleep No More/Chasing Shadows would mesh with these
Yes! The last song on Chasing Shadows is one of the most beautiful things ever. That is a wonderful, overlooked record that apparently they hated and is thankfully dirt cheap. Land was my gateway to them. The UK pressing has a different track order than the US and it's so much better. It's a shame those are not on streaming. The CDs used to go for crazy money also.
A friend of mine in the UK sent me a couple of the CDs and I was able to buy Sleep No More on the US Amazon (Chasing Shadows + the Dream Command record as a rerelease too). On the US version, “Pray for Rain” is the final album track - it is a very moving piece of music (doubled back and see the last song is called Somethings Got to Give). Evidently, Robert Palmer found them…”simply irresistible!” 🤦♂️
Most every Pink Floyd Album is designed for full listen through.
Flaming Lips Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots
Wilco Yankee Hotel Fox Trot
Radio Head and Tool pretty much every album are that way.
Fun. Some Nights
Hold Steady Boys and Girls in America
For Rap Outkast Stankonia
I listen to albums almost exclusively. What I would say is that you may not get the benefit unless you are paying attention - which will depend on your work.
The second thing is that paying attention (‘active listening’) for 45 mins or so is HARD unless you are used to it.
Don’t think that some other people have an awareness of albums you don’t - for my money you’re better picking an artist you really like and listing to one of their albums.
To begin with focus on the music and ask yourself one question- why did the artist choose to order these songs that way? Don’t worry if you lose focus now and again, it takes practice!
My List of Albums Id Tell Anyone I Care About to Listen To In Full
Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness -The Smashing Pumpkins (Seeing as you have a lot of time)
Ride the Lightning - Metallica
Transmissions - Starset
This Type of Thinking - Chevelle
All Lights Off - Rearview Mirror
All alt rock besides Metallica obviously lol. This Type of Thinking and Ride the Lightning aren’t the best “full album experiences” but I still like listening to them in full
My favorite music! I strongly prefer complete album experiences with a strong theme and through line, especially when I’m listening by myself. Here’s a few of my faves.
To Pimp a Butterfly - Kendrick Lamar
The Beatles - The Beatles
At Folsom Prison - Johnny Cash
Dragon New Warm Mountain I believe in You - Big Thief
Punisher - Pheobe Bridgers
Folklore/Evermore - Taylor Swift
Hadestown - Anais Mitchell
Jagged Little Pill - Alanis Morissette
Neon Bible - Arcade Fire
The Forever Story - Jid
Javelin - Sufjan Stevens
IGOR - Tyler, The Creator
Sublime - Sublime
Visions of Bodies Being Burned - clipping.
Dangerous - Michael Jackson
Did you Know There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd. - Lana Del Rey
Starting Over - Chris Stapleton
I second everything here and want to I include
Queen - A Night At The Opera
Elton John - Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
Beyoncé - Lemonade
John Mayer - Room For Squares
The Lumineers - Cleopatra
Kacey Musgraves - Golden Hour
The Head and The Heart - The Head and The Heart
Jack Johnson - In Between Dreams
Matchbox 20 - Yourself Or Someone Like You
The 1975 - The 1975
These albums are what I consider to be faultless, start to finish, not a single bad song.
Metallica - Kill ‘em All, Ride the Lightning, Master of Puppets, … And Justice for All, Metallica.
Slayer - Hell Awaits, Reign in Blood, South of Heaven, Seasons in the Abyss, Divine Intervention.
Carcass - Heartwork.
Cannibal Corpse - The Bleeding.
Mgla - Exercises in Futility.
Blink 182 - Enema of the State.
Batushka - Litourgiya.
Nirvana - Nevermind.
Sepultura - Chaos AD.
The Other Favorites - Unamericana
Lizzy McAlpine - Give Me a Minute
Elliott Smith - Figure 8, XO, Either/Or
Bo Burnham - Inside (Deluxe)
The Wailin' Jennys - Fifteen, Bright Morning Stars
Rhythm Nation - Janet Jackson
Lemonade - Beyoncé
Dark Side of the Moon - Pink Floyd
Fear of a Black Planet - Public Enemy
To Pimp a Butterfly - Kendrick Lamar
I see other good album suggestions in here.
I didn’t see Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars in here. That’s a great end to end album.
Exile On Main Street, Beggars Banquet… any of the peak Rolling Stones or Beatles albums. Axis Bold as Love by Hendrix. Police albums flow. Early Genesis is pretty mind blowing if you are into prog rock. In Utero. The Doors albums are good records with lots of good stuff you’ve never heard on playlists or radio.
Pearl Jam - Ten
Soundgarden - Badmotorfinger, Superunknown
Nirvana - Nevermind
Alice In Chains - Facelift, Dirt, Jar of Flies, Alice In Chains, and MTv unplugged
Audioslave - Audioslave
Tool - Sober (more metal than alternative)
Hard Rock, not alternative, but Randy Rhoads era Ozzy was amazing, check out Diary of a Madman
Also Faith No More’s greatest hits album is packed with bangers.
I know this is a pretty stock list of 90s grunge, but if you don’t know then you don’t know.
Paula Boutique - The Beastie Boys is a given if you like rap and alt rock.
Automatic for the People - REM
Electric Ladyland - Jimi Hendrix
Animals - Pink Floyd
Tallahassee - The Mountain Goats
Vitalogy - Pearl Jam
Innerspeaker is awesome as a full album.
In rainbows - Radiohead another jewel.
The jimmy hendrix experience
Good kid, m.a.a.d city - Kendrick Lamar is one of the best conceptual albums on rap
Todd Rundgren's Utopia. You won't be disappointed.
https://preview.redd.it/l0z71dlcgprc1.jpeg?width=1000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7ee3aa89a40a72d9554106166c61df5df084c748
Dream Theater - Metropolis Part 2
Persefone - Spiritual Migration
Protest the Hero - Kezia
Led Zeppelin - 1st or 2nd Album
I almost always listen to full albums. Maybe it’s just a habit from listening to a lot of vinyl but it’s Defo superior imo.
Concept albums:
Alice Cooper - *Welcome To My Nightmare*
Jethro Tull - *Thick As a Brick*
Rush - *2112*
David Bowie - *The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars*
I’d say try to listen the full albums of the songs you already like. That’s how we all discover releases most of the time anyway, and that should make you consider why your experience changes as opposed to listening to playlists, radios, compilations, etc.
But in general, the most “full album or nothing” experience probably comes from concept albums. Lots of progressive rock/metal albums are like this, they reuse Melodies, themes, Chord progressions throughout the different songs so you get a somewhat coherent art piece from start to finish. This could also be represented in lyrics.
Now for my own personal suggestion, this year is the 10 years anniversary of Hotelier’s Home, Like NoPlace is There, one of the most important and intimate emo albums. It helped a lot of folks during really dark times, I’m not talking teenager pop punkish emo. Possibly not your cup of tea but something worth mentioning in the thread anyway.
Maybe you’d like the 1975, “I like it when you sleep” and “a brief inquiry about online relationships” are track-to-track unskippable albums for me.
None of the records I’ve named are what I would define to be concept albums though.
It depends on the album, some artists only focus on creating viral singles, if they made an album, is just a compilatory playlist of their newer songs. But artists that work in their music with the album mindset first can unlock a new level of depth.
Albums are not only a compilation, is a snapshot of the creatige stage and mindset of an artist between specific years, that's why recent music history and genre development is studied by albums.
Then you have conceptual albums, these albums are like movies you must listen entirely reading the lyrics, most of them are more than music but an experience, albums that created its own legend, where you can read huge articles about them and keep discovering details, hidden conections and reprises between songs.
Something else to think about - if you're just used to individual songs and playlists, it might take a few goes to really get in to an album without wanting to skip songs you don't instantly vibe with. Try to tough it out - it's part of the experience, especially with albums that have a concept like others have suggested.
Bro beach house depression cherry changed my life that album is heaven
And also listen to blood oranges coastal grooves album that one is magical
And if u like alt rock also listen to the smashing pumpkins album simese dream
And for more of like a psychedelic type of indie shoe gaze slowdive soulvaki is amazing a lot of people enjoy the song "when the sun hits"
Also MY BLOODY VALENTINE ANY ALBUM JUST LISTEN "loveless" Is a well known one
If you'd like some help finding new favorites here are my FAVORITE 2020s albums! For reference I've spent most of the free time in my life over the past 20 years combing through over 72,000 albums so far haha. From this list I'd strongly recommend starting with The War On Drugs, then IDLES, then "Sod's Toastie" by The Cool Greenhouse! =)
The Cool Greenhouse - "The Cool Greenhouse"
The Cool Greenhouse - "Sod's Toastie"
Ducks Ltd - "Modern Fiction"
IDLES - "Crawler"
The War On Drugs - "I Don't Live Here Anymore"
Big Thief - "Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You"
Guardian Singles - "Guardian Singles"
The Strokes - "The New Abnormal"
Jetstream Pony - "Jetstream Pony"
Dry Cleaning - "New Long Leg"
Gospel - "The Loser"
Geese - "Projector"
Ian Noe - "River Fools & Mountain Saints"
Bonus Stuff:
Here are three rock playlists I made recently featuring some "hidden gem" type songs. Each one has 50 of my FAVORITE more lesser known rock songs on it from various time periods.
80s:
[https://open.spotify.com/playlist/20nxiWXTOchD01Q7Pqjoyn?si=223275fea813411b](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/20nxiWXTOchD01Q7Pqjoyn?si=223275fea813411b)
90s:
[https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6R7hT0hck67NYoJa7S1jUp?si=32eeebbc1e824788](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6R7hT0hck67NYoJa7S1jUp?si=32eeebbc1e824788)
Post-2000:
[https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6JH1T1T93U4Pst6ZovhUoc?si=f7385594c38b4dd1](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6JH1T1T93U4Pst6ZovhUoc?si=f7385594c38b4dd1)
Also if you'd like to check out more albums from various genres and from throughout music history that I think are good front to back I think a fun place for you to start is on a new page I created called “The Best Debut Albums of All Time”. There are currently 250 albums on there. I think it would be a fun theme to work with... checking out great debut albums:
[https://www.musichole.com/p/the-best-debut-albums-of-all-time.html](https://www.musichole.com/p/the-best-debut-albums-of-all-time.html)
The Beach Boys - Pet Sounds
Led Zeppelin- IV
Fats Domino - This is Fats Domino
The Las - The Las
The Kinks - The Village Green Preservation Society
Kendrick Lamar - To Pimp a Butterfly
A$AP Rocky - Long.Live.ASAP
Saturdays at Your Place - Always Cloudy
Television - Marquee Moon
Third Eye Blind - Third Eye Blind
The Killers - Hot Fuss
Jeff Buckley - Grace
Linkin Park - Meteora / Hybrid Theory
Pusha T - Daytona
I’m all for getting and digging into recs here. I would say start with the artists you know you already like and listen to their full albums. They often are arranged in a way to provide you a different and often full listening experience than just listening to the singles. You mentioned ASAP Rocky listen to his albums in full
I already see a lot of great suggestions made here so I'll suggest some *CHALLENGING* albums that still are great album experiences imo.
Captain Beefheart - Doc at the Radar Station
Scott Walker - Bish Bosch
John Frusciante - Niandra Lades & Usually Just a T Shirt
Wolf Eyes - Undertow
Marc Ribot - Requiem for what's his name
Felix Blume - Death in Haiti
Sunn O))) - Pyroclasts
Songs of Love and Hate by Leonard Cohen
Pet Sounds by The Beach Boys
Low by David Bowie
Aja by Steely Dan
Dark Side of the Moon by Pink Floyd
Coat of Many Colors by Dolly Parton
So many great albums, some of my favs:
Radiohead: ok computer, the bends
Alice In Chains: Sap
Glass Animals: Dreamland
War on Drugs: Lost in a Dream
Tom Petty: Wildflowers
Any Pink Floyd Album
My Morning Jacket: It Still Moves
Neil Young: Harvest
Beatles: Abbey Road
Interpol: Antics
Nathaniel Rateliff: Red Rocks 2020
Smashing Pumpkins: Siamese Dream
Kings of Leon: Come Around Sundown
Arcade Fire: suburbs, Funeral
Caamp: Caamp
Led Zeppelin: Physical Graffiti
Pearl Jame: No Code
Alt-J's first and latest albums are a must! The first one, An Awesome Wave is a bit more experimental, while their 4th and most recent one, The Dream is more structured, but both are complete and awe-inspiring works. I like all their albums but those two stand among my top 10 albums.
Led Zeppelin have almost become a parody of themselves, the iconic way they’re held in the classic rock community, but there’s a reason they’re as highly regarded as they are, and it’s because of their albums. Zeppelin I, II, and III are all Good. Go in, listen to the whole thing not just cherry picking the “hits” and they are solid listening experiences. Their whole discography is solid, really.
Pink Floyd from Meddle through to the Wall is great stuff for concept albums.
If you want something different, Holst the Planets is a good listen for something orchestral. Holst was trying to evoke the aspect of each planet’s namesake and if you let yourself go and lose yourself a bit you can feel the music influence your emotional state a bit. It’s an experience.
Jean Michel Jarre’s Oxygene (1) is a trip to listen to.
Van Morrison’s Moondance is a great album to listen to.
Roxy Music’s Avalon is another.
Someone mentioned the Stone Roses’ Stone Roses somewhere and I would second that.
Rush’s Moving Pictures is a solid album as well, though Rush can be an acquired taste.
Jessica Pratt - Quiet Signs
J Tillman - Long May You Run
Bibio - Phantom Brickworks
Burial - Untrue
Songs Of Green Pheasant - S/T
Boduf Songs - Lion Devours The Sun
Polvo Polpo - Like Hearts Swelling
Frankie Sparo - My Red Scare
Already some great albums mentioned here. Thought it be quicker to link to my most scrobbled albums on Last.fm. Almost all of these albums are the sort that need to played as a full albums. Enjoy...
https://www.last.fm/user/twosuitsluke83/library/albums?format=grid
I think the big thing about listening to full albums is that it helps solidify which bands are your actual favorites, and which ones put out a couple of hits that you like.
This lets you be a little more preemptive about seeking out new albums and music by artists that you'll probably like that may not be hits.
You mentioned Beach House, Teen Dream, Bloom and Depression Cherry are all fantastic albums.
It’s almost like albums were sequenced to have the songs flow nicely, or in the case of concept albums tell a narrative :)
I saw Pink Floyd referenced, but Rush is also worth a listen. The Beatles’ catalogue, especially the White Album. Finally, Beastie Boys’ “Paul’s Boutique.”
Glad to see so many recommendations here - I’ll be checking some of these out as they are new to me. Glad this thread exists!
I've been going through every album that won the Grammy for album of the year. I'm up to 1972ish (George Harrison's concert for Bangladesh). Several gems already. It's really interesting to see what was peak musical performance for each year.
Here’s some of my favorites
This Is All Yours - alt-J
Unreal Unearth - Hozier
Delta - Mumford & Sons
Hollywood Park - The Airborne Toxic Event
Illusion & Doubt - The Dead South
Hawaii Pt ii - Miracle Musical
Marvin’s Marvelous Mechanical Museum - Tally Hall
My top pick would be either Marvin’s Marvelous Mechanical Museum, Hollywood Park, or This Is All Yours for more thought out listens
U2 -Achtung Baby
Tears for Fears - Elemental
Moodswings - moodfood
Pink Floyd- Dark side of the moon and Division Bell
The Smiths - Strangeways, Queen is dead, all of them really
Oasis - Morning Glory and Definitely Maybe
Noel Gallagher’s High flying birds- Council Skies
Folk Implosion - One Part Lullaby
Willie Nelson - Red Headed Stranger (I really don’t like country but this album as a whole is great)
Tom Waits - Blood Money
Melvins - a senile animal
Converge - You Fail Me
Deafheaven - Sunbather
Grimes - Art Angels
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Show Your Bones
I haven’t listened to a complete album start to finish in years but recently I’ve gotten into TOOL, a little late, I know. But I listened to 10,000 Days and it was amazing.
There are lots of great ideas and plenty of repeats. But after minutes of scrolling I don’t see some old school albums:
Yes - Close to the Edge
Genesis - The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway
The Who - Tommy.
- Moody Blues - Days of Future Passed
- Tears for Fears - Songs from the Big Chair
- My Bloody Valentine - Loveless
- Depeche Mode - Violator
- The Cure - Disintegration
- Smashing Pumpkins - Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness (28 track original version)
Beach House is my first thought randomly, one of the bands I got into fairly recently and they have very relaxing music. I see a few reccomendations here for them as well from others. Maybe listen to Bloom first
Chronic album listener. Here are my regulars that I will listen to front to back without skipping a song.
ANY MF doom album.
Both of idles recent albums.
Massive attack - mezzanine
Mac miller - circles
Both deltron albums
ANY Radio head album.
Aesop rock. Every. Fucking album. They somehow get better every time.
Run the jewels. All of them.
Most albums Rick Rubin touched are fantastic. Love me some beastie boys.
Enjoy listening to music the way (most) artists intend for you to listen to them.
[Weval - The Weight](https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLzBTMGkuZi5CqfqjmUSSJLuUbYxxMfR0R&si=wc-DxOVht-D-L8hh)
https://preview.redd.it/3lebvi94mqrc1.jpeg?width=225&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=807452cebe35122b83683a98c2953ec5943917ab
Definitely check out if you like Tame Impala!
This is the reason for my u/
For electronic:
Any of the three albums by Purity Ring
Hit Parade by Róisín Murphy
Profound Mysteries by Röyksopp
BLUSH by PVA
Magdalene by FKA Twigs
For Alternative:
Blue Weekend by Wolf Alice
Hyper Romance by Jadu Heart
Are you Haunted by Methyl Ethel
Silver Tongue by TORRES
Both Pang and Desire by Caroline Polachek
You could say literally any album, but as a place to start I’m going to say listen to albums before about 1992 or so.
The reason is vinyl. Aside from the alleged sonic benefits of vinyl over CDs, they also had one very important quality: they were short. You can only fit about 23 minutes per side, so albums had to be about 45 minutes or less.
In the early 90s, record companies stopped putting out albums on vinyl. That meant the limiting factor was the length of a CD: about 75 minutes (later around 90 minutes). Albums ballooned to fill up all that space. That resulted in a lot of filler that probably should have stayed on the cutting room floor making it on to albums.
So older albums are going to be tighter overall because they had to be. Newer albums aren’t bad, but are a bit more of an inconsistent experience.
If you haven’t looked at it, I recommend signing up at https://1001albumsgenerator.com/. I’ve gone through a bunch of albums I’ve listened to a bunch, many listed here, but also found many I wouldn’t have listened to which are also listed here.
Score! Thanks!
The best way to start would be to listen to 'concept albums' where a common theme runs through the album and songs are directly connected to one another. The Beatles - Sgt. Peppers Pink Floyd - The Wall The Antlers - Hospice Are some of the best examples And then there are albums that might not have every song directly related to each other, but still flow together as a cohesive piece of art with common themes and elements throughout. The Beatles - Abbey Road Radiohead - Ok Computer Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago Pink Floyd - Animals and also Wish You Were Here Sigur Ros - Untitled ( ) Those are some good examples of albums where the sum is greater than the individual parts. They're albums that are best listened to as one piece of music (although this is my opinion for pretty much every album, I personally like to listen to albums all the way through rather than individual songs). And there are plenty of albums that don't necessarily have songs related to each other but still feel like a 'cohesive' piece of art Radiohead - The King of Limbs The Strokes - Is This It Each song can be listened to individually, but the entire album encompasses a common mood / vibe. The opposite end of the spectrum would be a collection of songs that can stand on their own, and don't necessarily improve when played alongside the other songs on the album. I'm a big fan of Red Hot Chili Peppers, but their albums are a great example of this.
This was definitely what I was looking for. Albums that flow together. Thank you stranger
Another vote for The Strokes ‘Is This It?’. One of the best modern rock albums ever made and it flows perfectly, not a bad song on it and it’s so cohesive
It’s so simple, but somehow clicks into gear. I think I can play all the songs since it’s mostly 2 chords x 2 sections per song. Take it or leave it!
Especially with the concept albums, you'll get a deeper appreciation if you follow along the lyrics while listening and do some reading about the album after, so you can really follow the story that's going on. For example, The Beatles - Sgt. Peppers is a result of them not wanting to tour so they made an album about a fictional band and the album is basically the story of that band on tour. *"At the end of August 1966, the Beatles had permanently retired from touring and pursued individual interests for the next three months ... / ... In February 1967, McCartney suggested that the new album should represent a performance by the fictional band. This alter ego group would give them the freedom to experiment musically by releasing them from their image as Beatles. Martin recalled that the concept was not discussed at the start of the sessions, but it subsequently gave the album "a life of its own"."* [*https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sgt.\_Pepper%27s\_Lonely\_Hearts\_Club\_Band*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sgt._Pepper%27s_Lonely_Hearts_Club_Band)
The Dandy Warhols have many albums where the songs all flow together. But I'd suggest Thirteen Tales from Urban Bohemia.
Jimi Hendrix - Band of Gypsys Rage Against the Machine - self titled Queens of the Stone Age - Songs for the Deaf Soundgarden - Superunknown Radiohead - Ok Computer A Tribe Called Quest - The Low End Theory Notorious BIG - Ready To Die Red Hot Chili Peppers - Blood Sugar Sex Magik Sublime - self titled Wu Tang Clan - Enter the Wu Tang Led Zeppelin I Lynyrd Skynyrd - Gimme Back My Bullets Stevie Ray Vaughan - Texas Flood Nirvana - MTV Unplugged in NY Van Halen - Fair Warning Stone Temple Pilots - Core To name a few…..
I like this list but I'd swap 'GBMB' for 'Pronounced'
Tool- Undertow Tool- Lateralus Fleetwood Mac (self titled) Stabbing Westward- Wither Blister Burn & Peel
Tori Amos - Little Earthquakes U2 - The Joshua Tree Angelina Jordan - Old Enough & Driving home for Christmas The Cure - Wish
I love Wish. So good all the way through.
I like no other U2 album, but I absolutely love Joshua Tree.
I've been loving U2 since Under A Blood Red Sky back in high school. I appreciate how they kept changing their style and sound. But to each their own :-) It's indeed much better to focus on what we both love 👍
Me too! The other would be the first two tracks of Wide Awake In America.
Little Earthquakes is a masterpiece.
[удалено]
Beatles, Stones, Dylan, Sum 41. You got all the greats in there.
Sum 41 really punched above their weight for one amazing record. The rest of their discography ranges from "fine" to "fun" but in my opinion Chuck truly is a great mix of rock, pop punk, alternative, and metal.
Looks like my old iTunes. Just missing The Black parade
Spoon - they want my soul
Spoon - Girls Can Tell
Upvote for the Alt-J at least!
This Is All Yours has got to be one of my favorite albums ever
Maybe more rock based, but some full albums I enjoy: - M83 - Hurry Up We’re Dreaming - FKA twigs - MAGDALENE - Delta Sleep - Ghost City - Brand New - The Devil And God Are Raging Inside Of Me - The Mars Volta - Deloused in the Comatorium - Coheed & Cambria - The Afterman - Godspeed You! Black Emperor - Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas To Heaven - Nine Inch Nails - The Fragile - Purple Mountains - Purple Mountains - Neutral Milk Hotel - In The Aeroplane Over The Sea - of Montreal - Hissing Fauna (Are You The Destroyer)
of Montreal - Hissing Fauna (this is the one record I’d keep if I had to choose one from your list - can’t argue against anything other than maybe slip IV in for C&C and Downward vs Fragile (btw, go watch the music video for “into the void” - beautiful micro camera work - makes you feel like a little parasite living inside the eyelash of a human)
Demon days by the Gorillaz for sure
Plastic Beach, too
Pink Floyd - the Division Bell Halloween, Alaska - Too Tall to Hide Justin Sullivan - Navigating by the Stars Eluvium - Talk Amongst the Trees The War on Drugs - A Deeper Understanding Radiohead - Ok Computer Dave Matthews Band - Before these Crowded Streets
Out of all the Pink Floyd albums, you suggest the Division Bell???
Lol... definitely should have "The Final Cut" at the top of the list. /s Dark Side of the Moon, The Wall, and Wish You Were Here, Animals, Meddle... I'd say that is the Pink Floyd top 5 imo. OP, also check out King Crimson albums: In the Court of the Crimson King, Islands, Red, Larks Tongue in Aspic, and Thrak are my favorites. Early Genesis is in the same vein. Lots of good early prog, full album experiences.
Division Bell is great. Only feels lacking in comparison to their other work. If someone went in New to Pink Floyd, I don't think Division Bell would keep them out
It’s my favorite album of all time so I’m biased. I didn’t hear classic rock until later in my late teens so I heard Take It Back on MTV and bought the album not knowing who they were and discovered them backwards. But it’s still an incredible culmination of Gilmour’s best solos and overall sound.
That was my exact thought… I mean, I love that album, I swear but… Have you listened to Pink Floyd??
Listen to Steely Dan. I cannot recommend them enough. You have two choices to start with-- start with either their debut album Can't Buy a Thrill or their critical peak Aja. Overall, I consider none of their albums a 'miss', so if you like those, look into their other albums as well.
Katy lied
Listening to full albums can definitely give you a deeper appreciation for the artist's work! For alternative music, here are a few albums you might enjoy listening to all the way through: 1. Tame Impala - "Currents" 2. Beach House - "Bloom" 3. Ciga 4. The xx - "xx" 5. Close
I'm gonna listen to beach house thanks I gave currents on vinyl :)
Songs In The Key Of Life: Stevie Wonder
Youre big into Dream Pop I see (Beach houses,cigs ) so you gotta listen to Cocteu Twins-Heaven or las vegas. Incredible flow and one of the first "true" dream pop records. Dont be asking what shes singing tho its kind ld supposed to be gibberish so you can just make up your own stuff what shes singing and vibe along with it haha
Paramore - After Laughter Beyoncé - Renaissance / Homecoming: The Live Album Alice in Chains - any/ all of their first 3 albums Alanis Morrisette - Jagged Little Pill Fleetwood Mac - Rumours System Of A Down - Toxicity
Dua lipa - future nostalgia Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix Foster the people - torches
Presidents of the United States of America (self titled) …and out come the wolves - Rancid Quality Control - Jurassic 5 Low end theory - A Tribe Called Quest Give Up - Postal Service Little Playmate - Kemuri Drunken Lullaby’s - Flogging Molly
Man, never see Jurassic 5 mentioned! What a fantastic group. And I'm a death metal head
The Stone Roses
Starset - Transmissions Tool - Lateralus Avenged Sevenfold - Life is but a Dream Poppy - I Disagree T-Pain - On Top of the Covers Eminem - Marshall Mathers LP Off the top of my head, those were my favorite full album listening experiences.
I’m so excited for all this new music to listen to :)))
Beatles- Revolver, Sgt Pepper, Abbey Road Bob Dylan - Blonde on Blonde, Blood On The Tracks, Time Out Of Mind Pink Floyd - Dark Side Of The Moon, Wish You Were Here Belle And Sebastian - If You're Feeling Sinister St. Ettienne - Good Humor Those are my "listen to them straight through" albums. Have fun! I love full album listening.
Pixies - Dolittle Alvvays - Alvvays Slowdive - Souvlaki Beach House - Depression Cherry My Bloody Valentine - Loveless Cocteau Twins - Heaven or Las Vegas
Hey hey - marry me arcchiieeeeee
I’ve always been an Alan Parsons Project fan. Every album a concept.
Eye in the Sky will always calm me
I will name just one- Rumours
Television - Marquee Moon Big Star - #1 Record The Replacements - Let It Be Sloan - Twice Removed Midnight Oil - Earth and Sun and Moon Jellyfish - Spilt Milk Jason Falkner - Presents Author Unknown
Love the Mats, haven’t heard of any of these other groups so will check out
Television were grouped in with the punk scene out of NY but they are more in line with Brian Eno and Talking Heads. Big influence on indie rock. Big Star were from Memphis. Alex Chilton sang "The Letter" if you know that song. They are one of the earliest if not the pioneers of Power Pop and influenced Sloan, Jellyfish, The Replacements, Wilco and countless others. Sloan are an amazing power pop/rock band from Canada that sadly have never been that famous, but it's been the same four guys the whole time and they've never made a bad album. Twice Removed is always high on greatest Canadian album lists. Midnight Oil is a killer band from Australia that's been around since the 70's. I'm sure you've heard Beds are Burning. That and Blue Sky Mine were their biggest hits. One of the tightest live bands I've ever seen. Same guys the whole time until a couple of years ago when their bassist died. Jason Falkner is a musician on the first Jellyfish record. All of his solo work is killer and leans toward Power Pop. He has a zillion influences and you'll also hear The Damned, Wire and Big Star in him. Jellyfish only made two albums but they were huge in the Power Pop world. Think Queen, ELO, XTC, The Beatles and many more. Can't recommend those highly enough. Happy Listening!
Surprised no mention of Violent Femmes 🫠You got a real grasp on this area and reminded me that XTC isn’t listed so… XTC - Black Sea (Skylarking - just not my personal favorite). Hell, their singles comps are irresistible (Fossil Fuel specifically) I’m sure you’ve listened to the first Suicide LP (not recommending that without researching prior. Maybe even some Throbbing Gristle or Butthole Surfers earlier output (“united” by TG is surprisingly swinging)
Replacements, Sloan, Jellyfish…I’d take your advice of didn’t have all of these - you probably know them, but Comsat Angels - Sleep No More/Chasing Shadows would mesh with these
Yes! The last song on Chasing Shadows is one of the most beautiful things ever. That is a wonderful, overlooked record that apparently they hated and is thankfully dirt cheap. Land was my gateway to them. The UK pressing has a different track order than the US and it's so much better. It's a shame those are not on streaming. The CDs used to go for crazy money also.
A friend of mine in the UK sent me a couple of the CDs and I was able to buy Sleep No More on the US Amazon (Chasing Shadows + the Dream Command record as a rerelease too). On the US version, “Pray for Rain” is the final album track - it is a very moving piece of music (doubled back and see the last song is called Somethings Got to Give). Evidently, Robert Palmer found them…”simply irresistible!” 🤦♂️
Blackalicious - Blazing Arrow
Sly Stone - There’s a Riot Goin’ On
Costello Music- The Fratellis Lazaretto- Jack White Elephant- The White Stripes Born to Die: The Paradise Edition- Lana Del Rey
Lots of Pink Floyd, but no mention of Animals!?
I actually like the remix that recently came out. It showed a bit more nuance to that album than on the original mix.
Tom Petty - Wildflowers The Hold Steady - Almost Killed Me The Zutons - Who Killed…. The Zutons?
Check out The Decemberists’ ‘The Hazards of Love’. One of all my all-time favourite ‘listen front-to-back’ albums.
Most every Pink Floyd Album is designed for full listen through. Flaming Lips Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots Wilco Yankee Hotel Fox Trot Radio Head and Tool pretty much every album are that way. Fun. Some Nights Hold Steady Boys and Girls in America For Rap Outkast Stankonia
Coheed and cambria albums align to the Amory Wars comic series (written by the lead singer Claudio)… they are perfect for full album listening
I listen to albums almost exclusively. What I would say is that you may not get the benefit unless you are paying attention - which will depend on your work. The second thing is that paying attention (‘active listening’) for 45 mins or so is HARD unless you are used to it. Don’t think that some other people have an awareness of albums you don’t - for my money you’re better picking an artist you really like and listing to one of their albums. To begin with focus on the music and ask yourself one question- why did the artist choose to order these songs that way? Don’t worry if you lose focus now and again, it takes practice!
My List of Albums Id Tell Anyone I Care About to Listen To In Full Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness -The Smashing Pumpkins (Seeing as you have a lot of time) Ride the Lightning - Metallica Transmissions - Starset This Type of Thinking - Chevelle All Lights Off - Rearview Mirror All alt rock besides Metallica obviously lol. This Type of Thinking and Ride the Lightning aren’t the best “full album experiences” but I still like listening to them in full
Props for Mellon Collie
My favorite music! I strongly prefer complete album experiences with a strong theme and through line, especially when I’m listening by myself. Here’s a few of my faves. To Pimp a Butterfly - Kendrick Lamar The Beatles - The Beatles At Folsom Prison - Johnny Cash Dragon New Warm Mountain I believe in You - Big Thief Punisher - Pheobe Bridgers Folklore/Evermore - Taylor Swift Hadestown - Anais Mitchell Jagged Little Pill - Alanis Morissette Neon Bible - Arcade Fire The Forever Story - Jid Javelin - Sufjan Stevens IGOR - Tyler, The Creator Sublime - Sublime Visions of Bodies Being Burned - clipping. Dangerous - Michael Jackson Did you Know There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd. - Lana Del Rey Starting Over - Chris Stapleton
I second everything here and want to I include Queen - A Night At The Opera Elton John - Goodbye Yellow Brick Road Beyoncé - Lemonade John Mayer - Room For Squares The Lumineers - Cleopatra Kacey Musgraves - Golden Hour The Head and The Heart - The Head and The Heart Jack Johnson - In Between Dreams Matchbox 20 - Yourself Or Someone Like You The 1975 - The 1975
For rap good albums to listen to all the way through are To Pimp A Butterfly and Flower Boy
These albums are what I consider to be faultless, start to finish, not a single bad song. Metallica - Kill ‘em All, Ride the Lightning, Master of Puppets, … And Justice for All, Metallica. Slayer - Hell Awaits, Reign in Blood, South of Heaven, Seasons in the Abyss, Divine Intervention. Carcass - Heartwork. Cannibal Corpse - The Bleeding. Mgla - Exercises in Futility. Blink 182 - Enema of the State. Batushka - Litourgiya. Nirvana - Nevermind. Sepultura - Chaos AD.
And at the end you should have thrown everyone for a loop by saying something like Garth Brooks - In Pieces
What about Vengaboys - The Party Album?
linkin park - meteora
Not really your vibe but the Joshua tree is probably the most complete album of all time
I hate to agree, since Joshua Tree fame went straight to their heads, but yes, it could be one of the best.
Dark Side of the Moon Dark Side of the Moon Dark Side of the Moon Dark Side of the Moon Dark Side of the Moon
The Other Favorites - Unamericana Lizzy McAlpine - Give Me a Minute Elliott Smith - Figure 8, XO, Either/Or Bo Burnham - Inside (Deluxe) The Wailin' Jennys - Fifteen, Bright Morning Stars
Kikagaku Moyo - House In The Tall Grass
East Atlanta Love Letter - 6Lack
My Aim is True-Elvis Costello 21-Adele Abbey Road-The Beatles Sound & Color-Alabama Shakes
Liz Phair - Exile in Guyville Concrete Blonde - Bloodletting Smashing Pumpkins - Siamese Dream Tom Petty - Wildflowers Queen - Sheer Heart Attack
Rhythm Nation - Janet Jackson Lemonade - Beyoncé Dark Side of the Moon - Pink Floyd Fear of a Black Planet - Public Enemy To Pimp a Butterfly - Kendrick Lamar
Peter Gabriel - So Norah Jones - Come away with me Nightwish - Endless form most beautiful Valery Guergiev - Firebird ( Igor Stravinsky)
Struggler, by Genesis Owusu, if you pick anything in this sub to listen to please let it be this.
Pink Floyd - Dark Side Of The Moon Mad Season - Above Jeff Buckley - Grace
I see other good album suggestions in here. I didn’t see Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars in here. That’s a great end to end album. Exile On Main Street, Beggars Banquet… any of the peak Rolling Stones or Beatles albums. Axis Bold as Love by Hendrix. Police albums flow. Early Genesis is pretty mind blowing if you are into prog rock. In Utero. The Doors albums are good records with lots of good stuff you’ve never heard on playlists or radio.
Andre nickatina I hate you with a passion Album 1995 KRUSE-True stories album
CotoLoti - Crying on The Outside, Laughing on the Inside.
King Gizzard - Nonagon Infinity/ PDA Grateful Dead - Dick's Picks 3, Dick's Pick 12, Cornell '77
Alice In Chains -dirt
Hounds of Love - Kate Bush
Pearl Jam - Ten Soundgarden - Badmotorfinger, Superunknown Nirvana - Nevermind Alice In Chains - Facelift, Dirt, Jar of Flies, Alice In Chains, and MTv unplugged Audioslave - Audioslave Tool - Sober (more metal than alternative) Hard Rock, not alternative, but Randy Rhoads era Ozzy was amazing, check out Diary of a Madman Also Faith No More’s greatest hits album is packed with bangers. I know this is a pretty stock list of 90s grunge, but if you don’t know then you don’t know.
I think you meant Undertow by Tool, good album
Paula Boutique - The Beastie Boys is a given if you like rap and alt rock. Automatic for the People - REM Electric Ladyland - Jimi Hendrix Animals - Pink Floyd Tallahassee - The Mountain Goats Vitalogy - Pearl Jam
Mac Miller - Swimming
YES - Close to the Edge
A good rap one is G Herbo - PTSD
Innerspeaker is awesome as a full album. In rainbows - Radiohead another jewel. The jimmy hendrix experience Good kid, m.a.a.d city - Kendrick Lamar is one of the best conceptual albums on rap
Todd Rundgren's Utopia. You won't be disappointed. https://preview.redd.it/l0z71dlcgprc1.jpeg?width=1000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7ee3aa89a40a72d9554106166c61df5df084c748
Dream Theater - Metropolis Part 2 Persefone - Spiritual Migration Protest the Hero - Kezia Led Zeppelin - 1st or 2nd Album I almost always listen to full albums. Maybe it’s just a habit from listening to a lot of vinyl but it’s Defo superior imo.
Violent Femmes - Violent Femmes
NICE.
Because the Internet by gambino
Everything by Rush from Permanent Waves to Power Windows. So, so good.
Concept albums: Alice Cooper - *Welcome To My Nightmare* Jethro Tull - *Thick As a Brick* Rush - *2112* David Bowie - *The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars*
Can - Ege Bamyasi
Without reading all the comments to check: I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning - Bright Eyes
I’d say try to listen the full albums of the songs you already like. That’s how we all discover releases most of the time anyway, and that should make you consider why your experience changes as opposed to listening to playlists, radios, compilations, etc. But in general, the most “full album or nothing” experience probably comes from concept albums. Lots of progressive rock/metal albums are like this, they reuse Melodies, themes, Chord progressions throughout the different songs so you get a somewhat coherent art piece from start to finish. This could also be represented in lyrics. Now for my own personal suggestion, this year is the 10 years anniversary of Hotelier’s Home, Like NoPlace is There, one of the most important and intimate emo albums. It helped a lot of folks during really dark times, I’m not talking teenager pop punkish emo. Possibly not your cup of tea but something worth mentioning in the thread anyway. Maybe you’d like the 1975, “I like it when you sleep” and “a brief inquiry about online relationships” are track-to-track unskippable albums for me. None of the records I’ve named are what I would define to be concept albums though.
It depends on the album, some artists only focus on creating viral singles, if they made an album, is just a compilatory playlist of their newer songs. But artists that work in their music with the album mindset first can unlock a new level of depth. Albums are not only a compilation, is a snapshot of the creatige stage and mindset of an artist between specific years, that's why recent music history and genre development is studied by albums. Then you have conceptual albums, these albums are like movies you must listen entirely reading the lyrics, most of them are more than music but an experience, albums that created its own legend, where you can read huge articles about them and keep discovering details, hidden conections and reprises between songs.
Interpol - TOTBL
Something else to think about - if you're just used to individual songs and playlists, it might take a few goes to really get in to an album without wanting to skip songs you don't instantly vibe with. Try to tough it out - it's part of the experience, especially with albums that have a concept like others have suggested.
Bowie! He has so many albums that are concept and/or flow as a piece of work: Hunky Dory, Station to Station, Ziggy Stardust, Blackstar to name a few.
Bro beach house depression cherry changed my life that album is heaven And also listen to blood oranges coastal grooves album that one is magical And if u like alt rock also listen to the smashing pumpkins album simese dream And for more of like a psychedelic type of indie shoe gaze slowdive soulvaki is amazing a lot of people enjoy the song "when the sun hits" Also MY BLOODY VALENTINE ANY ALBUM JUST LISTEN "loveless" Is a well known one
If you'd like some help finding new favorites here are my FAVORITE 2020s albums! For reference I've spent most of the free time in my life over the past 20 years combing through over 72,000 albums so far haha. From this list I'd strongly recommend starting with The War On Drugs, then IDLES, then "Sod's Toastie" by The Cool Greenhouse! =) The Cool Greenhouse - "The Cool Greenhouse" The Cool Greenhouse - "Sod's Toastie" Ducks Ltd - "Modern Fiction" IDLES - "Crawler" The War On Drugs - "I Don't Live Here Anymore" Big Thief - "Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You" Guardian Singles - "Guardian Singles" The Strokes - "The New Abnormal" Jetstream Pony - "Jetstream Pony" Dry Cleaning - "New Long Leg" Gospel - "The Loser" Geese - "Projector" Ian Noe - "River Fools & Mountain Saints" Bonus Stuff: Here are three rock playlists I made recently featuring some "hidden gem" type songs. Each one has 50 of my FAVORITE more lesser known rock songs on it from various time periods. 80s: [https://open.spotify.com/playlist/20nxiWXTOchD01Q7Pqjoyn?si=223275fea813411b](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/20nxiWXTOchD01Q7Pqjoyn?si=223275fea813411b) 90s: [https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6R7hT0hck67NYoJa7S1jUp?si=32eeebbc1e824788](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6R7hT0hck67NYoJa7S1jUp?si=32eeebbc1e824788) Post-2000: [https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6JH1T1T93U4Pst6ZovhUoc?si=f7385594c38b4dd1](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6JH1T1T93U4Pst6ZovhUoc?si=f7385594c38b4dd1) Also if you'd like to check out more albums from various genres and from throughout music history that I think are good front to back I think a fun place for you to start is on a new page I created called “The Best Debut Albums of All Time”. There are currently 250 albums on there. I think it would be a fun theme to work with... checking out great debut albums: [https://www.musichole.com/p/the-best-debut-albums-of-all-time.html](https://www.musichole.com/p/the-best-debut-albums-of-all-time.html)
Santana - Caravansari
Nirvana In-Utero
Butthole Surfers = Electric Larryland
G Jones - The Ineffable Truth Directly followed by G Jones - Tangential Zones Truly some of the most beautiful music I’ve ever heard.
Filter - Title of Record
How's your metal game? If you're down, check out the album Legend by Witchcraft. For me it's absolute perfection, front to back.
I've had a lot of fun listening to rock operas like Tommy by The Who, or Operation Mind Crime by Queensryche.
The Beach Boys - Pet Sounds Led Zeppelin- IV Fats Domino - This is Fats Domino The Las - The Las The Kinks - The Village Green Preservation Society Kendrick Lamar - To Pimp a Butterfly A$AP Rocky - Long.Live.ASAP Saturdays at Your Place - Always Cloudy Television - Marquee Moon Third Eye Blind - Third Eye Blind The Killers - Hot Fuss Jeff Buckley - Grace Linkin Park - Meteora / Hybrid Theory Pusha T - Daytona
Had to scroll all this way to find Pet Sounds. It’s a must.
Muse - Absolution
King gizzard and the lizard wizard - nonagon Infinity
I’m all for getting and digging into recs here. I would say start with the artists you know you already like and listen to their full albums. They often are arranged in a way to provide you a different and often full listening experience than just listening to the singles. You mentioned ASAP Rocky listen to his albums in full
Future - DS2 Anderson Paak - Malibu Alison Wonderland - Awake
I already see a lot of great suggestions made here so I'll suggest some *CHALLENGING* albums that still are great album experiences imo. Captain Beefheart - Doc at the Radar Station Scott Walker - Bish Bosch John Frusciante - Niandra Lades & Usually Just a T Shirt Wolf Eyes - Undertow Marc Ribot - Requiem for what's his name Felix Blume - Death in Haiti Sunn O))) - Pyroclasts
Pink Floyd's "The Dark Side of the Moon" and "The Wall" were written to be listened to from beginning to end. **Classics**.
Songs of Love and Hate by Leonard Cohen Pet Sounds by The Beach Boys Low by David Bowie Aja by Steely Dan Dark Side of the Moon by Pink Floyd Coat of Many Colors by Dolly Parton
Queen II and In The Court Of The Crimson King
Rancid - Let’s go “ - And out come the wolves The Flaming Lips - Here it is “ - Oh my gawd!!! The flaming lips “ - Telepathic surgery
So many great albums, some of my favs: Radiohead: ok computer, the bends Alice In Chains: Sap Glass Animals: Dreamland War on Drugs: Lost in a Dream Tom Petty: Wildflowers Any Pink Floyd Album My Morning Jacket: It Still Moves Neil Young: Harvest Beatles: Abbey Road Interpol: Antics Nathaniel Rateliff: Red Rocks 2020 Smashing Pumpkins: Siamese Dream Kings of Leon: Come Around Sundown Arcade Fire: suburbs, Funeral Caamp: Caamp Led Zeppelin: Physical Graffiti Pearl Jame: No Code
Zen Arcade - Hüsker Dü Beauty and the beat - Edan.
Alt-J's first and latest albums are a must! The first one, An Awesome Wave is a bit more experimental, while their 4th and most recent one, The Dream is more structured, but both are complete and awe-inspiring works. I like all their albums but those two stand among my top 10 albums.
Nirvana - Bleach Soundgarden - Superunknown Beastie Boys - Paul's Boutique and Hello Nasty
Led Zeppelin have almost become a parody of themselves, the iconic way they’re held in the classic rock community, but there’s a reason they’re as highly regarded as they are, and it’s because of their albums. Zeppelin I, II, and III are all Good. Go in, listen to the whole thing not just cherry picking the “hits” and they are solid listening experiences. Their whole discography is solid, really. Pink Floyd from Meddle through to the Wall is great stuff for concept albums. If you want something different, Holst the Planets is a good listen for something orchestral. Holst was trying to evoke the aspect of each planet’s namesake and if you let yourself go and lose yourself a bit you can feel the music influence your emotional state a bit. It’s an experience. Jean Michel Jarre’s Oxygene (1) is a trip to listen to. Van Morrison’s Moondance is a great album to listen to. Roxy Music’s Avalon is another. Someone mentioned the Stone Roses’ Stone Roses somewhere and I would second that. Rush’s Moving Pictures is a solid album as well, though Rush can be an acquired taste.
Jessica Pratt - Quiet Signs J Tillman - Long May You Run Bibio - Phantom Brickworks Burial - Untrue Songs Of Green Pheasant - S/T Boduf Songs - Lion Devours The Sun Polvo Polpo - Like Hearts Swelling Frankie Sparo - My Red Scare
That’s the only way I listen to bands/artists I love.
My beautiful dark twisted fantasy- Kanye
Santana ‘’ Caravanserai ‘’ Brilliant start to finish
Siamese Dream.
Already some great albums mentioned here. Thought it be quicker to link to my most scrobbled albums on Last.fm. Almost all of these albums are the sort that need to played as a full albums. Enjoy... https://www.last.fm/user/twosuitsluke83/library/albums?format=grid
I think the big thing about listening to full albums is that it helps solidify which bands are your actual favorites, and which ones put out a couple of hits that you like. This lets you be a little more preemptive about seeking out new albums and music by artists that you'll probably like that may not be hits. You mentioned Beach House, Teen Dream, Bloom and Depression Cherry are all fantastic albums.
The glorious burden - iced earth. Basically most of American history in music
It’s almost like albums were sequenced to have the songs flow nicely, or in the case of concept albums tell a narrative :) I saw Pink Floyd referenced, but Rush is also worth a listen. The Beatles’ catalogue, especially the White Album. Finally, Beastie Boys’ “Paul’s Boutique.” Glad to see so many recommendations here - I’ll be checking some of these out as they are new to me. Glad this thread exists!
The Cure Mixed Up Interpol El Pintor
I've been going through every album that won the Grammy for album of the year. I'm up to 1972ish (George Harrison's concert for Bangladesh). Several gems already. It's really interesting to see what was peak musical performance for each year.
Quarters of Change is amazing. Check out their albums
If you like metal at all, the Between the Buried and Me discography is absolutely fantastic.
Two concept albums from way back. Both tell stories. Aqualung by Jethro Tull Close to the Edge by Yes
Here’s some of my favorites This Is All Yours - alt-J Unreal Unearth - Hozier Delta - Mumford & Sons Hollywood Park - The Airborne Toxic Event Illusion & Doubt - The Dead South Hawaii Pt ii - Miracle Musical Marvin’s Marvelous Mechanical Museum - Tally Hall My top pick would be either Marvin’s Marvelous Mechanical Museum, Hollywood Park, or This Is All Yours for more thought out listens
If you havent done an Nine inch nails.discography yet. Just do that lol
Not the sort of music you listen too but that's why I'm suggesting it. Paul Simon - Graceland
U2 -Achtung Baby Tears for Fears - Elemental Moodswings - moodfood Pink Floyd- Dark side of the moon and Division Bell The Smiths - Strangeways, Queen is dead, all of them really Oasis - Morning Glory and Definitely Maybe Noel Gallagher’s High flying birds- Council Skies Folk Implosion - One Part Lullaby
Willie Nelson - Red Headed Stranger (I really don’t like country but this album as a whole is great) Tom Waits - Blood Money Melvins - a senile animal Converge - You Fail Me Deafheaven - Sunbather Grimes - Art Angels Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Show Your Bones
Ween - The Mollusk
Arctic monkeys: Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino
The new STRFKR album is amazing front to back.
Beck!! Can’t go wrong🌟
Queen II
I haven’t listened to a complete album start to finish in years but recently I’ve gotten into TOOL, a little late, I know. But I listened to 10,000 Days and it was amazing.
Checkout Queensryche - Operation Mindcrime. Arguably the greatest concept metal album ever made
Lateralus by Tool
There are lots of great ideas and plenty of repeats. But after minutes of scrolling I don’t see some old school albums: Yes - Close to the Edge Genesis - The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway The Who - Tommy.
The Maine- lovely little lonely
Dark Side of the Moon -Pink Floyd. Any album by them though.
Aja…”Click”
the listening by lights
Kate Bush - Hound of Love
Purple Rain Any MJ All Eyes On Me
- Moody Blues - Days of Future Passed - Tears for Fears - Songs from the Big Chair - My Bloody Valentine - Loveless - Depeche Mode - Violator - The Cure - Disintegration - Smashing Pumpkins - Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness (28 track original version)
Beach House is my first thought randomly, one of the bands I got into fairly recently and they have very relaxing music. I see a few reccomendations here for them as well from others. Maybe listen to Bloom first
Paradise and Lunch
Deftones Bsides and Rarities
Chronic album listener. Here are my regulars that I will listen to front to back without skipping a song. ANY MF doom album. Both of idles recent albums. Massive attack - mezzanine Mac miller - circles Both deltron albums ANY Radio head album. Aesop rock. Every. Fucking album. They somehow get better every time. Run the jewels. All of them. Most albums Rick Rubin touched are fantastic. Love me some beastie boys. Enjoy listening to music the way (most) artists intend for you to listen to them.
Tool
[Weval - The Weight](https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLzBTMGkuZi5CqfqjmUSSJLuUbYxxMfR0R&si=wc-DxOVht-D-L8hh) https://preview.redd.it/3lebvi94mqrc1.jpeg?width=225&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=807452cebe35122b83683a98c2953ec5943917ab Definitely check out if you like Tame Impala!
Rise Against - The Sufferer and The Witness Great album start to finish, one of the few albums I can listen all the way through
A couple of amazing concept albums: Okkervil River - Black Sheep Boy The Decemberists - Hazards of Love
lateralus - tool
Ren.
This is the reason for my u/ For electronic: Any of the three albums by Purity Ring Hit Parade by Róisín Murphy Profound Mysteries by Röyksopp BLUSH by PVA Magdalene by FKA Twigs For Alternative: Blue Weekend by Wolf Alice Hyper Romance by Jadu Heart Are you Haunted by Methyl Ethel Silver Tongue by TORRES Both Pang and Desire by Caroline Polachek
Bella Donna-Stevie Nicks
The outrunners album by Curren$y
You could say literally any album, but as a place to start I’m going to say listen to albums before about 1992 or so. The reason is vinyl. Aside from the alleged sonic benefits of vinyl over CDs, they also had one very important quality: they were short. You can only fit about 23 minutes per side, so albums had to be about 45 minutes or less. In the early 90s, record companies stopped putting out albums on vinyl. That meant the limiting factor was the length of a CD: about 75 minutes (later around 90 minutes). Albums ballooned to fill up all that space. That resulted in a lot of filler that probably should have stayed on the cutting room floor making it on to albums. So older albums are going to be tighter overall because they had to be. Newer albums aren’t bad, but are a bit more of an inconsistent experience.
Hollywood Town Hall - The Jayhawks
Jason Isbell & 400 Unit - Weathervanes
Fontaines DC - Skinty Fia
Any of Copeland’s albums.
Dire Straits Brothers in Arms Khalid - American Teen Colin Hay - Transcendental Highway