Entertainment For Lively Minds
The humiliation game - music version
Anyone read Changing Places by David Lodge? If you haven't, I thoroughly recommend it. Anyway, a key device in the plot - which involves English professors on a exchange programme - is the Humiliation Game, wherein the Profs have to confess what is the greatest piece of literature they haven't read.
I was thinking about this when I thought of those lists of the Greatest Albums Ever Made that regularly come out. At my estimation, the top of the heap of the greatest albums I have never listened to is probably Exile of Main Street. Does this mean I will now be sent to Siberia by the Massive? Anyone willing to risk the potential opprobrium of others and confess what they haven't heard too? I would be quite interested in seeing what is the most unheard acknowledged classic.
Me, I am off to Spotify to right this terrible hole in my rockucation.
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London Calling
Bar the title track, not one second have I heard. Is it any good?
I suppose it depends on what list you look at.....
....but I've never heard
OK Computer - Radiohead
What's Going On - Marvin Gaye
Nevermind - Nirvana
If I have heard The Velvet Underground, it was over 30 years ago and have no recollection of it whatsoever.
EOMS...
... was the first one that came to mind for me also.
I can add Trout Mask Replica, any album by The Byrds, Let It Bleed, any MC5 / Stooges, any Joni Mitchell.
Deep breath
I've never heard anything by Richard Thompson. Not a sausage. Excommunication will presumably begin forthwith.
All I've heard by him...
... is his 1000 years of music project. And only because he covers Britney Spears.
Heija by Joni Mitchell. Never heard as I hated every album of hers up to Blue and then gave up.
Born To Run - Bruce Springsteen. Just don't get him at all.
Steely Dan has only ever been on in rooms I have been in. I never paid any attention. So I've heard but not listened. What I heard didn't make me want to listen.
Well, I actually own copies of
Exile On Main Street and Trout Mask Replica, bought and paid for (albeit $10 remainders), and I haven't been able to listen through either of them.
Expanded - the list of classics I've never listened to would probably break this blogger....e.g. Zep (never wanted to), Richard Thompson (tried once), most folk (including Nick Drake - not interested).....
Bob Dylan
I've heard and know a lot of his songs but do not own any of his albums and i've never sat down and listened to any from start to finish.
Sorry.
"Don't tell anyone you don't own fucking Blonde on Blonde"
Elvis
I've never listened to anything by Elvis through choice.
The White Album
oops...
I rather envy you
cos it's a bloody amazing album*, and I'd love the joy of discovering it again!
*OK, I'll admit that some tracks on it are less than solid gold. but still, it's great and you're in for a treat.
The Beatles
Never bought anything by them, never heard an album of theirs all the way through. Are they any good?
Beatles
In many (tens of millions of people) think the Beatles were something special.If you haven't heard an lp or cd of theirs, it's a cinch you didn't grow up with them, and neither did your parents. In the 1960s and 1970s [after the split up], they were everywhere on radio, tv & in people's homes.
Brought up on the wrong stuff.
No - heard them loads of times in my 60s childhood - but it was invariably the crap stuff. So, unfortunately when someone mentions the HJHs I'm more likely to think of When I'm 64, Yellow Submarine, Octopus's Garden, Michelle, Yesterday, O Bla Bloody Dee, Maxwell's Silver Hammer than I am Rain (which I have never heard) - all that stuff puts me off further investigation, I'm afraid.
Bit patchy really
most of their albums are curate's eggs really. Worth a punt if you haven't got anything else to listen to.
Dark Side of the Moon pretty
Dark Side of the Moon
pretty much anything by Genesis (what I've heard I didn't like and gave me no incentive to investigate further)
Nevermind
The Queen Is Dead
also agree with the jamesieboy37 - I have heard a lot of Dylan without ever feeling the need to buy one of his albums
To reply to Iain McKinney's question..
..no, London Calling isn't any good, only the single.
Apart from 'Blood On The Tracks' I've never listened to a Bob Dylan album. I can't get past the voice.
Nevermind
Except the singles obviously. I'd probably like it if I could be bothered.
Smells Like Teen Spirit.
What? By who?
Nirvana
The one that goes 'der-de-de-ducka-ducka-der-der, der-de-de-ducka-ducka-der-der'.
To narrow it down...
It's the one that is starts really quiet and mumbly and then he REALLY shouts. And then he goes all quiet and mumbly before shouting again.
Hope this helps.
That's half the Nine Inch Nails catalogue
you've just described there!
Only listened once to each of the Nirvana albums, and ended up just skipping tracks - like Dylan, I find his voice too whiny. And I listen to Joni Mitchell!
Funnily enough...
... as a kinda new-year's resolution I made a list of albums-that-I'd-never-heard compiled on a vague points system from a bunch of best-ever lists I found on the net (NME, Mojo, Q etc.) Hardly scientific, but the top 10 I noted to seriously check out this year (in order) are:
SEX PISTOLS - Never Mind The Bollocks
VELVET UNDERGROUND - ... & Nico
CLASH - London Calling
PUBLIC ENEMY - It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back
NIRVANA - Nevermind
ROLLING STONES - Let It Bleed
PIXIES - Doolittle
CLASH - Clash
BOB DYLAN - Highway 61 Revisited
BOB DYLAN - Blonde On Blonde
I obviously know a good few dozen tracks from these albums, but have never listened to them in their entirity.
Deffo
Nevermind
Never finished a Tim Buckley album all the way through..John Coltrane "A Love Supreme"..oh and "Grace"
Joni
The only album I've heard is that weird jazzy one. Don Juan's Reckless Daughter. I like it but for some reason have never heard any of the others.
The other Bob
Bob Marley albums regularly crop up near the top of those ‘Best album’ lists, but I’ve never heard anything by him except the obvious singles, none of which do much for me.
I'm surprised I wasn't run out of the pub
last Friday night - but everyone was just so damn nice despite the fact that I have never knowingly heard a whole album, give or take a couple of Greatest Hits, by any of these Word faves...
Bob Dylan
Joni Mitchell
Van Morrison
Captain Beefheart
Yes
Richard Thompson
Rush
Free
Solo Beatles
Wings
Stackridge
Elbow
Little Feat
or The Love Trousers...
Do you like rock music ?
I heartily recommend Clear Spot by Captain Beefheart. That and Safe As Milk are his most accessible, but Clear Spot (produced by Ted Templeman, who also produced some of Alice Cooper's best albums) is a rocking gem and nowhere near as weird as its reputation.
OK, I trust your opinion...
I'll check it out.
I'm touched
Let me know how you get on!
Hey! This is amazing...!
I'm listening now...Not what I was expecting at all - at first I thought it was Seasick Steve, nice bluesy feeling then the next track Zig Zag Wanderer is even better! This has a real garage psych feel to it...great,recommendation, I thought it would be much more weird and avant-garde.
Safe as Milk
really is a great album. Apart from the stuff like Zig Zag Wanderer, Electricy, and Abba Zabba, it does have some unexpected turns ..like I'm Glad being such a beautiful piece of soul.
Shieeeeiiiittt!! Sorry to come over all Clay Davis...
but that is a fantatsic album...right up my street! Going to check out Clear Spot next....how did I miss out on this all those years?!
Welcome aboard!
Well done for taking the jump - I know he has the reputation of being all atonal warblings and parps - glad you liked it.
Just. Don't. Go. Away
Until you have listened to this track. It will grow on you.
Pixies
Only heard a couple of songs.
Quite cathartic...
Bob Dylan
the beatles
led zeppelin
richard thompson
U2
Captain Beefheart
The Fall
Tom Waits
Kate Bush
Eric Clapton
and probably many more so called seminal bands or artists. Its not willfull but is connected, im sure, from the angle at which you first arriaved at a passion for music, which from my side has informed me ever since.
Never have,never really want to
hear a Joan Baez album.
The Humiliation Film Game
on a tangent, my friends like to play a parlour game called "What Films Has Hannah Seen?"
how to play:
each friend takes it in turn to call out the title of a film.
if I've seen it, they get five points.
if I haven't, no points.
rarely does anyone score above fifteen points. I don't get to the cinema much.
I'm similar to you
a discussion last night on favourite films of all time led to the firm belief that I haven't really seen any films.
I realised a couple of years ago I'd barely seen any of the films you'd call "classic" so I decided to catch up.
I watched Jaws and It's a Wonderful Life and enjoyed them both very much. I turned off halfway through both The Godfather and Apocalypse Now and... er, that's as far as I got...
Five points!
I've seen It's a Wonderful Life. It's a Wonderful Film.
Same, there are so many classics (or at least other people tell me they are) that I've just not seen...
Comedian Daniel Kitson had a fine routine on this subject.
It went along the lines of;
-Favourite film of all time? Well that depends on the criteria, do you mean established classics? Films which mean a lot to me now? Films which has a huge effect on me when I was younger which I'm not sure about now? So many things to take into account, so many possibilities. I need to think. What about you?
-Labyrinth.
I like to think I have an open mind
to most things musical but I have never listened to a Morrissey solo album of any description and don't intend to. I am sure they may have some redeeming features but he is such an irritating twat I have no intention of encouraging him.
I would like to say I have never heard Joanna Newsom but the Orange tv ad sucked me in with one glorious song that is on a different planet to anything else she ever recorded.
I am with El Hombre on Safe as Milk and Clear Spot plus also The spotlight kid - all excellent. Trout Mask Replica however is complete tosh.
Funny thing is coming late to an album can colour your judgement. I came to Astral Weeks a long time after I was a Van Morrison fan and with around a dozen of his albums in my collection it is by no means my favourite although I do appreciate the beauty of it.
Never heard a whole album by
The Who
Led Zep
Yes
Mott The Hoople
The Waterboys
Take That
or
Girls Aloud...
Note to self: listen to Mott and The Waterboys.
Right. Here we go.
I have never listened to an album by:
The Beatles. I own the Red and Blue ones. Never listened to them, either.
Or The Stones.
Or Bob Dylan.
Or David Bowie.
Or The Smiths.
Or The Who
Or Led Zep
Or Elvis
Or U2
I kid you not.
Not convinced
that there isnt a hint of troll there but if it's true you are a very, very lucky man.
All that wonderful music still to discover.
I envy you.
Nope. He's not trolling
I have much the same highlights list. Aside from best-ofs, I have never listened to a full album in it's original form by
Bowie
Led Zeppelin
Beatles ('cept Pepper and Revolver)
Stones ('cept Some Girls)
Richard Thompson
Smiths
Fall
Beefheart
Zappa
Ramones
Clash
Velvets
Stooges
Genesis
Elvis
EDIT, add in
- Byrds, Beach Boys, Band, Credence....
....and the list does go on. I know I should, I just never did. I nearly bought Fun House today for that very reason funnily enough.
Harold & Lenny...
As you can see from my list - I'm missing a lot of Word faves but I was wondering what sort of music do you both go for?
Elhombre knows a bit of what I like musically so he recommended me to try Captain Beefheart, there are some amazing bands (from my point of view...) that you might be missing out on!
According to my MP3 player...
....which only has actively selected tracks (rather than whole albums) I lean heavily towards....
Major interests : AC/DC, Odds, Del Amitri, Toad The Wet Sprocket, Tom Robinson, Tonic, XTC, Badloves, Bob Mould/Sugar, Chris Isaak
Significant interests : Chris Whitley, Crowded House/Finns, David Baerwald, Bowie, Grant Lee Buffalo, Goo Goo Dolls, John Butler Trio, Lloyd Cole, Lou Reed, Paul Westerberg, Peter Gabriel, Queen, Radiohead, Rockpile, Ruts, Slade, Squeeze, Steely Dan, Talk Talk, Texas, The The, Thin Lizzy, Third Eye Blind
More or less
And while I say I've never listened to an original Beatles album bar Pepper and Revolver, from the compilations I have known the Red and Blue albums and Pepper word-perfect since I was about 12.
Me? Ooh..
Matthew Sweet, Velvet Crush, Midlake, Steely Dan, Tangerine Dream, Blue Öyster Cult, Foo Fighters, Teenage Fanclub, Nick Drake, Big Star, Elliott Smith, Elbow, Turin Brakes, The Feeling, Sugar, The Crystal Method. And, as with Harold, the degree of over-exposure the named artists get means I don't really have to seek out their music. Just listen to the radio. I love most of the groups I've named. I would just rather listen to something else in my own time.
Lenny...
I'm sure you'd love The Who's "The Who Sell Out".
I suggest "revolver"
I'm not the Beatles' biggest fan, but Revolver lies behind some bands you like. When Scotland on Sunday had a series on Greatest Albums Ever, Teenage Fanclub were asked for their favourite : 3 of them picked Revolver, and Gerry Love picked "Chet Baker Sings"
You'll thank me haha...
Picking out the bands you mention that I like too - Ruts, Westerberg, Slade, Sugar, Mould, XTC, Lou Reed, ACDC, Crowded House...try these albums all the way through, you can't go wrong...!
Rolling Stones "Let It Bleed"
Velvet Underground "Loaded"
The Clash "London Calling"
Stooges "Raw Power"
Love "Forever Changes"
The Smiths "Queen Is Dead"
Ramones "Rocket To Russia"
Led Zep "Physical Graffiti"
Creedence "Green River"
Have to admit
I probably did hear Rocket To Russia in the 6th form. I got Zep Remasters and the only track I care about is Ramble On.
Here's my musical GPS location - of all my music (somewhere near 1000 CDs plus my legacy vinyl), only 3 albums made it onto the MP3 in their entirety, The Odds "Nest", Texas "Southside" and AC/DC "Highway to Hell". Not sure if that says more about their quality control than my tastes.
Now that IS interesting, Harold.
I've got lots of odd tracks I've ripped but, of my favourite artists, I only listen to whole albums. Even the bits I don't like quite so much.
Yours is probably the best way.
It's a recurring problem
Having got best-of compilations by the Beatles, Velvets, Clash, Smiths and Creedence, I'm not sure going back to the originals is going to do me any good.
So this taste thing gets complicated. Those 3 albums that I love in their entirety, it might make for a good first pass on desert island discs, but only Highway to Hell would really be a favourite.
Maybe it has more to do with the fact I was space limited and couldn't just dump all 1000 CDs on there, I might react differently if it had been easier to take all the tracks indiscriminately.
Dropping back to 'all but one track' albums gets weirder. B52's "Cosmic Thing", Odds "Good Weird Feeling", The The "Soul Mining", Tim Finn "Before And After", Tonic "Lemon Parade". Still all over the place.
You're missing out on some good things there.
Some pish, too.
But there are quite a few really worthwhile records made by that list of artists.
(Apart from U2. You're missing nowt)
Bet you are a singles man
Am I right? Whatabout the Breakfast In America Hitmakers?
I have a theory.
I think a lot of the stuff I did or didn't listen to at the time was largely down to my friends of the time and their enthusiasms, at least a lot of what I've become aware of arrived that way. But I've been trying to figure out why I never got into Zeppelin when most of my college mates were well into it (circa 1980). But then my closest friends were Souxsie/Depeche Mode freaks and I haven't got anything by them either, so my theory does face a few challenges.
Beyond Compilation or the odd track
Never heard a full album by, but I'd like to:
Frank Zappa
John Coltrane
Miles Davis
Kraftwerk
Wilco
Robert Wyatt
I'll suggest "Kind Of Blue"
Miles Davis - Kind of Blue : a very approachable jazz album, which is only one fact of the genius at work.
Thanks, I'll give it a try
Recommendations always welcome
Kraftwerk recommendation
Start with "The Man Machine" - it's not quite their best (that's "Trans Europe Express"), but is a better entry-level proposition, and includes "The Model" (to ease you in) and sublime "Neon Lights."
I see his name in the newspaper all the time
but I have never heard a single note by Pete Doherty or his band. I only think of him because I always associated him with Amy Winehouse and thought her a comical figure until I heard the title track to Back to Black and thought "Wow, she's quite good" so Mr Doherty is someone I'm curious about.
Also never heard a single song by Peter Gabriel era Genesis, or King Crimson.
Truly bizarrely I have two versions of All the Young Dudes on my ipod (The Church and Mathew Sweet/Susanna Hoffs)but have never heard the Mott the Hoople version and I like the song!
What's Goin' On Marvin?
I bought Marvin Gaye's What's Goin' On years ago (at least 6 yrs) and have never got around to listening to it.
Also, I don't own any albums by....
Beatles
Zappa
Byrds
Doors
Am I missing out?
Please, Please, please
I don't usually beg, but please listen to it!