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ER Helps You Through the 'Chinese Democracy' Wait...


Estranged Reality

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That's cool.

I'm actually thinking of spinning off this thread after the release and make my own "Album of the week" thread.

But it's cool if you join, Lithium, although Mad Season sucks balls :lol: I just hope for everybody's sake that this won't turn into another "recommendations" thread. If I do one more and you do one more, then we make up for the missed days and that's enough, I reckon.

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The Replacements - Let It Be (November 11)

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Comments: If you're a GN'R fan and you haven't heard this yet, there's no excuse! Tommy Stinson plays bass here, and his brother was in the group as well. It's indie punk garage rock, but it's not pretentious at all. I mean, it has tracks with titles like "Gary's Got a Boner" - and it has a KISS cover song. It's just a lot of fun and one of the most endearing albums ever made. The Replacements carved their name in their local scene by getting extremely drunk at small clubs and basically just trashing about on stage, barely able to play their instruments. That's all the band is about - getting drunk, having fun, entertaining people. That's just as much rock n' roll as Appetite for Destruction. Musically this album is far-removed from Appetite, though, so don't expect any more parallels; but if you like garage rock or punk or indie, this is a classic of every genre and totally worth your time. It's my favourite Replacements album although Tim and Pleased To Meet Me are both very good as well, and worth checking out if you like this one.

Sample: "I Will Dare" || "Unsatisfied"

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Let It Be is criminally good!

And here's my last contribution to this thread:

The Zombies - Odessey and Oracle

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Comments: The Zombies were the British equivalent to The Beach Boys, and this is one of baroque pop's finest moments. The Zombies were a band with several problems, which lead to their disbandment before this album was even released. Like its Beach Boys counterpart, Pet Sounds, it didn't reach an initial commercial success, but they got a radio hit with the song "Time of the Season" in 1969. It has since been praised by critics as one of the best albums ever. It's definitely an essential record for those of you who enjoy the British Invasion sound and The Beach Boys, with wonderful vocal and instrumental harmonies, and one of the best and most cheerful album openers I know of.

Fun fact: Odessey and Oracle is famous for the misspelling of "Odyssey" in the title at the album sleeve.

Samples:

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And also my last one...

Opeth - Damnation

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Comments - Opeth might not be the band for a typical GnR fan to like. They have released 9 albums, all of which are Progressive Death Metal. Except one. On their seventh album they have decided to try something a bit different and used the help of Steven Wilson (see my last recommendation) to produce and album without growling, without double-bass drums, power chords and ultra fast shreds. This album has a way more 70's Prog Rock sound, with clean singing, changing rythms, mellotron and long, mind expanding guitar solos. This might be the most successful Opeth album, which boosted their popularity among Rock and Metal fans. They never came back to this style again. Yet.

Samples:

Weakness

Enjoy.

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Thanks for those, Lith and Projected - good choices.

This is a re-post of the first day's recommendation; I'm only re-posting it to clear up the original post, where it was originally at the bottom and cluttering up some space. This way I can post a proper link to the index, too. I'll have a "new" album for today up within a couple hours.

The Wallflowers - Bringing Down the Horse (October 30)

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Comments: I like the song "One Headlight" a whole lot. They were seen as a one-hit wonder because of that track, but this whole album's consistent and worth checking out. The singer is Bob Dylan's son, by the way. And if you like this, his solo album is surprisingly good and just about on par with some of the material here.

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Dinosaur Jr. - You're Living All Over Me (November 12)

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Comments: A lot of indie rock doesn't have much going for it in terms of guitar soloing and general old-school rock n' roll awesomeness. Dinosaur Jr. is a different breed -- J. Mascis is one of the best guitarists of all-time, and his riffing and soloing on this album is just awesome. Anyone who loves The Stooges or Soundgarden around the Superunknown era will like these guys, because a lot of the songs on this album have a similar dirty garage rock vibe to them, while also preserving some of the grungy psychedelia those bands experimented with. Sludgefeast sounds like it could have been a Soundgarden riff, but this album came out first. It wasn't an instant favourite for me, but it grew on me the more I listened to it, and I really love it now (even though I think it's in dire need of a proper remastering - the CD is way too muddy-sounding).

Sample: Sludgefeast (Live)

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Brian Eno - Before and After Science (November 13)

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Comments: You know, I really wanted to recommend Apollo: Atmospheres & Soundtracks as my Eno pick, but something about suggesting an album I've raved about so often before seemed redundant. So, if you haven't heard any ambient albums before or are looking for something to help fall asleep to, or something to get high to, or stress-free "homework" music - get that album. It's insanely perfect, relaxing and haunting at the same time (I'm never one to avoid hyperbole, am I?). I just felt bad not mentioning it first.

With that in mind, Before and After Science is more pop-oriented, more along the lines of Another Green World. It's one of Eno's best albums. I'm sure a lot of people are already familiar with Eno, but in case someone reading this doesn't recognize the name - he is known primarily as a producer and worked with David Bowie on his "Berlin" Trilogy. A lot of the sounds on those three albums were pure Eno; he uses textured, layered soundscapes like no one else. Before and After Science is a great place to move to if you've heard any of the Bowie stuff and enjoyed it; it's a bit more challenging than Another Green World, but it's equally good. Might not be everybody's cup of tea, but if you're open to some weird pop music, you'll probably like this. There's a better, in-depth review of the album here, and the page should also have some song previews if you're curious to hear what it sounds like.

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I haven't heard anything by Brian Eno, he's one of those artists that I've been meaning to get into but haven't yet...

In addition to Lithium's recommendations, also check out his Ambient series, particularly the first two. The first is one I can always put on when I'm studying or need calming music, the second one with Harold Budd is just amazing. The third is actually very unsettling and creepy, total opposite of the first two. Lots of weird sound effects and eerie nature noises. I need to hear the fourth again, because I don't remember much of it.

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Tom Waits - Closing Time (November 14)

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Comments: Everybody always recommends Tom Waits' later stuff (the Rain Dogs era material), and while his eventual experimentation is awesome, his earlier "straightforward" music is just as great and often left quite overlooked. Closing Time sounds like the end-of-the-day, exasperated sounds you'd hear coming out of a murky bar at, well, closing time. It's Waits and his gruff (but not yet grizzled) vocals singing about love lost and loneliness at a piano, twiddling at the keys in between sips of whiskey sour. Sometimes he switches to guitar. Sometimes both.

I love all of Waits' material, and appreciate his later years where he drastically changed styles, but that doesn't mean his early albums aren't interesting. If you like this one, also check out Swordfishtrombones.

Sample:

||
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