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At The Back => Time Out => Topic started by: _tom_ on November 20, 2005, 06:03:57 PM

Title: Which CDs for xmas?
Post by: _tom_ on November 20, 2005, 06:03:57 PM
So, as christmas time approaches, Mum and Dad asked me to make a list of things I would like. I definately want some new cds but have no idea what to get! What are some must-have albums for guitarists, and also, what are just some kickass rock music albums?

None of that indie franz ferdinand style pap, or emo thanks!

Cheers!
Title: Which CDs for xmas?
Post by: willo on November 20, 2005, 06:31:23 PM
There is an incredible improvised album out now by Ali Farka Toure and Toumani Diabate called 'In The Heart of The Moon'. Please dont be put off by its 'world music' tag - its great playing and incredible when you remember that its all improvised. Worth checking out!

Other more leftfield choices:
Adrian Belew - Side One (feat Danny Carey & Les Claypool)
Alice In Chains
Bebop Deluxe - Live In The Air Age
Bert Jansch - Bert Jansch
Can - Tago Mago
Charles Mingus
Frank Zappa - Hot Rats
Fugazi-13 Songs
John Coltrane
Miles Davis
Love-Forever Changes
Mastodon-Leviathan
Nels Cline Singers - The Giant Pin
The Secret Machines - Now Here is Nowhere
Saul Williams - Saul Williams
anything by Tom Waits

if you want tom, i can hook you up with some samples of these artists, although there are lots of samples on their websites of course.
Title: Which CDs for xmas?
Post by: Searcher on November 20, 2005, 06:39:31 PM
Must have's for guitarists? Hmm, from where I'm sitting you'd be after these albums (I wish I was at home to go through my CDs and give you a better list):

Are You Experienced - Jimi

Led Zeppelin IV

Making Movies -
Dire Straits

Surfing With The Alien -
Satriani

Van Halen

Texas Flood -
SRV

Live At The Regal -
B.B. King

Outlandos D'Amour -
The Police (they had cool riffs!)

Talk To Your Daughter -
Robben Ford

Abraxas -
Santana

Passion and Warfare -
Vai

Still Got The Blues -
Gary Moore

London Calling -
The Clash

Metallica

Jump, Jive and Wail -
Brian Setzer

Initiation -
Tommy Emmanuel

The Incredible Jazz Guitar of Wes Montgomery

Virtuoso -
Joe Pass

The Great Artistry of Django Reinhardt
[/list:u]
Title: Which CDs for xmas?
Post by: willo on November 20, 2005, 06:42:19 PM
oh right, its just guitar albums is it?

well, try and get something by Danny Gatton - good luck!

oh and Blow By Blow by Jeff Beck!
Title: Which CDs for xmas?
Post by: chrisola on November 20, 2005, 07:10:56 PM
Id say:

Bullet for my valentine - the poison
Power Quest - Magic Never Dies
Road Runner All Stars United
Exodus - Shovel Headed Kill Machine
Coheed & Cambria - Good Apollo I'm Burning Star 5
Gamma Ray - Majestic
Helloween - Keeper of the 7 keys 3: legacy


^^ really good guitar based stuff, from power metal to thrash :D
Title: Which CDs for xmas?
Post by: _tom_ on November 20, 2005, 07:18:51 PM
Quote from: chrisola
Id say:

Bullet for my valentine - the poison
Power Quest - Magic Never Dies
Road Runner All Stars United
Exodus - Shovel Headed Kill Machine
Coheed & Cambria - Good Apollo I'm Burning Star 5
Gamma Ray - Majestic
Helloween - Keeper of the 7 keys 3: legacy


^^ really good guitar based stuff, from power metal to thrash :D


Whats that new Gamma Ray like? I've only got a few of their older songs, I love the songs like Heavy Metal Universe, not so much the ones like Man on a Mission, singings a bit too high on that some bits :lol:

Bullet for my Valentine are emo, are they not?!
And as for the roadrunner, I got a few and wasnt that impressed!
Title: Which CDs for xmas?
Post by: chrisola on November 20, 2005, 08:26:32 PM
Majestic is kinda like classic gamma ray, gruff vocals and powerful songs.

Bullet for my valentine are NOTHING like emo bands like My Chemical Romance etc, they are very heavy, very riffy, and full of harmonies + solos and good song writing. They have some harsh shouty vocals, but that doesnt make them emo?

Some of the road runner tracks are a bit poo, but ones like In The Fire (king crimsons vocals rule!) are great imo :)
Title: Which CDs for xmas?
Post by: tewboss on November 20, 2005, 08:32:04 PM
I think that Emo term gets misused. It was originally meant to describe post hardcore groups such as some of the stuff on the Dischord label, not the "fashion metal" it gets referred to now.

I'd recommend getting the Anthrax Alive Vol 2 CD/DVD set.  System of a Down's new album is out tomorrow (21st November) which should be a damn good album. One to avoid is Rammstein's Rosenrot album as its just leftovers from their Reise Reise album - I really tried to like the new one, but its lacking in catchy songs.

As far as Fugazi are concerned, their earlier stuff is probably easier to get into but it still took me a while. Ive got their Repeater (+3 Songs) and The Argument albums. Not really that keen on Ian MacKayes' The Evens project that much.
Title: Which CDs for xmas?
Post by: _tom_ on November 20, 2005, 08:36:17 PM
Hmm I'm not really into stuff like SOAD or Anthrax, difficult to please me  :lol: The new Gamma Ray sounds promising! Whats the newest Primal Fear like?

Oh and I started listening to more Free, which is their best album. Ie, most rock-ish one, I dont like the quieter ones so much. Wishing Well the song kicks ass!


EDIT-Downloaded some BFVM, hated it! Good riffs but really spoiled by weak (imho) singing. However I HAVE to get Majesty, I mean, one of the songs is called "Hell is Thy Home"! Also downloaded a few Helloween songs and I liked em, so I think I'll get those! One more should keep me amused.. Just heard a few songs off Aerosmiths "Rocks" which sound pretty good!
Title: Which CDs for xmas?
Post by: chrisola on November 20, 2005, 09:32:19 PM
The Primal fear album is OK, bit slow as the 2nd half of it is all ballards :(

Helloween album rocks big time imo :)

Primal Fears best albums are either Nuclear Fire or the self titled 1st one, and the live @ Wakcen DVD is superb imo!

Id heartily recommend 'The Funeral Album' by Sentenced, they are REALLY good, just a good metal band.

If you want something extreme then Strapping Young Lads 'Alien' is unbelievable.. 8)

My fav album this year was 'Der Ort' by Klabautamann (http://www.klabautamann.de/)

They are kind of a weird mellow ambient progressive acoustic tinged 'earthy' metal with some black metal vocals (erm.. opeth style, kind of.)

imo it was the most interesting and refreshing album in some time, totally unpredictable and the final song on the album (called October) is a melancholy masterpiece :)

Sample track:
http://www.surt.de/klabautamann/mp3/forlorn_sea.mp3

Theres some good stuff come out this year, no matter what style you like :D
Title: Which CDs for xmas?
Post by: _tom_ on November 20, 2005, 09:36:36 PM
I'll try some sentenced to see if I like em! Mind, I can only get about 3 Cd's so they need to be good choices, and available from www.play.com !

PS -  that Klabautamann kicks ass! Need one of their CDs if its all like that! I prefer the vocals in that one track in the link to Opeth aswell.
Title: Which CDs for xmas?
Post by: chrisola on November 20, 2005, 09:49:03 PM
yep the Der Ort cd is like that all the way through, some tracks have more black metally guitar than others (it actually does get VERY fast and intense in places!), and the last track especially has some great epic stuff going on.

I doubt you would find it at play.com... maybe on ebay from a shop or you could bittorrent it, i did that... but now the official website has stock back i'm gonna order both albums + a t-shirt heh :)
Title: Which CDs for xmas?
Post by: jt on November 20, 2005, 10:05:44 PM
:D if your into Power  Metal then i`d suggest Pagans Mind - Enigmatic Calling album.

Great songs & great playing check `em out

 :D  8)

PS what the Hell doe`s emo mean ?
Title: Which CDs for xmas?
Post by: _tom_ on November 20, 2005, 10:27:21 PM
Quote from: jt
:D if your into Power  Metal then i`d suggest Pagans Mind - Enigmatic Calling album.

Great songs & great playing check `em out

 :D  8)

PS what the Hell doe`s emo mean ?


Haha I guess I do overuse it but to me, its stuff with singers with weak whiney voices and boring riffs that all sound the same. Also they sing about cr@p stuff like how they lost their girlfriends and stuff..thats the stereotype at least!

Eff that, I'd rather listen to songs about metal, beer and whatever the hell Dragonforce sing about  :lol:
Title: Which CDs for xmas?
Post by: 38thBeatle on November 20, 2005, 10:57:33 PM
Jeff Beck- Wired
Little Feat- Waiting For Columbus
Allman Bros- Fillmore live album
Rolling Stones- Sticky Fingers or Exile on Main St


all old but all solid.
Title: Which CDs for xmas?
Post by: Armotron on November 21, 2005, 02:32:21 AM
All some must haves IMO...

Cream- Disraeli Gears, Wheels of Fire
Allman Brothers Band- Live at the Filmore East
Blind Faith
Thin Lizzy- Jailbreak
The Doors- L.A. Woman, The Doors
(Peter Green's) Fleetwood Mac- Then Play On, or any Live at Boston
Band Of Gypsies (Jimi Hendrix)
The Who- Live at Leeds
Derek and the Dominoes- Layla
Jeff Beck- Blow By Blow, Wired
Traffic- Welcome to the Canteen
Led Zeppelin- How the West Was Won
Jethro Tull- Aqualung, Thick as a Brick, Stand Up

Some more blues oriented...

John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers w/ Eric Clapton
John Mayall- A Hard Road (w/ Peter Green)
Howlin Wolf- London Sessions
Michael Bloomfield- Super Sessions
Jimi Hendrix- Blues
Title: Which CDs for xmas?
Post by: carlaz on November 21, 2005, 11:04:36 AM
Everyone needs some Zep, Cream, Jimi, Doors (Robbie Krieger is way underrated!), Allmans, Santana, Sabbath ... I'd add some Blue Öyster Cult to that list, too ('cause Buck Dharma is also underrated!), probably some Mountain, Skynyrd .... AC/DC, Maiden, Motörhead, The Ramones, Neil Young (I like the electric stuff better, like Live Rust or Weld ....

But those are just, like, the classics of rock, after all!

I'd almost be tempted to say that one needs the Zeppelin DVD set as much as anything else. A very visual band, and there are some great performances on there.  It will make you feel very, very good about having a Mule-loaded LP, too :)

Naturally, one needs some Gov't Mule.  I like the older stuff with Alan Woody on bass better, and I might plunk for the Live at Roseland disc, which was a mid-90s New Years show when they were still playing support, if I recall aright.  It's worth it for the version of "Mule" alone!

I'd also recommend some Bruce Dickinson solo stuff as much as any Maiden, frankly.  I think The Chemical Wedding was one of the best albums of the '90s (or any decade, really) and the guitars are amazing.  (Speaking of old dudes doing good, I think the new Iommi/Hughes Fused album is well worthwhile, too.)

And speaking of great '90s albums, I'd put Amorphis's Elegy on that list.  I'm not much of a death metal fan, but I thought Elegy was a perfect balance between the band's death-metal roots and their lighter, proggish aspirations.  Which reminds me that The Gathering's Mandylion is well worth having, too.

I must put in a word for Jethro Tull!  Tull's catalogue has a lot of stylistic variety, and some qualitative ups and downs, but from a guitarish perspective I feel good about saying Benefit rocks :).  It's from the same year as Sabbath's first album, and actually gives me a similar vibe in many ways.  (Martin Barre is also underrated!)

And though they're terminally unpopular/unknown in the UK, I'm a good ol' Grateful Dead fan, and think Europe '72 offers a reasonable balance of showcasing their songwriting and their Coletrane-on-acid style improvisational jamming.  Though almost as with Zeppelin, I think nothing shows off that band as well as The Grateful Dead Movie (recently released on DVD).

Richard Thompson is great, though I'm hard pressed to think of an ideal album to show him off.

Ah, well, with all the excellent recommendations people on this thread have had, you can't go wrong!
Title: Which CDs for xmas?
Post by: PhilKing on November 21, 2005, 12:26:48 PM
Quote from: _tom_
Oh and I started listening to more Free, which is their best album. Ie, most rock-ish one, I dont like the quieter ones so much. Wishing Well the song kicks ass!


Fire and Water is probably the most rockish, along with the live album (they were always more rocky live - I saw them about 6 times!).  My favourite is Free - the one with the naked woman jumping over the camera on the cover.  For sheer rock versions of the songs, listen to Paul Rogers Now and Then.  He has Geoff Whitehorn playing and he really rocks out on the Free stuff.