Time by the Electric Light Orchestra. that period in the late 70s and early 80s where synthesizer music was getting popular but hadn't fully codified norms yet is chock full of incredible music, and Time was one of those albums while also being the culmination of a lot of the rock and pop that came before it. add an engaging and heartbreaking story and you have a winner
My Arms, Your Hearse by Opeth.
Edit: tied with BURN, PIANO ISLAND BURN by The Blood Brothers.
I have several favorite bands, so I refuse to choose between them. In no particular order:
Dream Theater - Images and Words, but Awake is only lagging behind by a nanometer.
Metallica - I have a hard time choosing between Puppets and Black
Destiny Potato - Lun
Dimmu Borgir - Puritanical
Foo Fighters - The Colour and the Shape
Beatles answer: Revolver
Non-Beatles answer: Sunny Day Real Estate - the pink album
Jimi Hendrix Experience's Electric Ladyland.
It's the quintessential experimental album: with songs spacing through many different genres, two 10+ minutes long jams, recurring themes and the best cover ever to be performed which is All Along the Watchtower (originally from Bob Dylan)Black Sabbath - Heaven and Hell
Such a refined masterpiece that few can touch. Mob rules and Dehumanizer are close seconds, but miss the sheer presence that Heaven and Hell beholds.
To me at least, Heaven and Hell is immersive and profound to an extent, that their other albums cannot compare. It holds a very special place in my heart.
Dio - The last in line.
Not quite head and shoulders above his other albums, but lands the most hits for me. I love every track on this album, and none are a "miss". I love (almost) every other Dio album, but each has at least one song that doesn't resonate with me.
Dire Straits - Brothers in Arms
Cliche choice, but extremely enjoyable to listen and relax to. If you listen more closely, it becomes very immersive as each song has a clear story and a moral. Though some tracks are slower paced and longer, I don't find a single one boring, which I sometimes do on other Dire Straits albums.
Dream Theater "Awake" (1994). Extraordinary from the first to the last note. 75 minutes of phenomenal prog metal. They've made good and great albums before and after, but they never excelled the pure class and artistry displayed on this album.
Bruce Dickinson "The Chemical Wedding". I never liked Iron Maiden much, but Dickinson's solo stuff is a different class. Fresh, creative, varied, energetic. Most of his solo albums are well worth the listen, but "Chemical Wedding" stands out for its high variety and creativity.
Best is subjective. But my favorite album of my favorite band is Rankarumpu by Korpiklaani. I was bummed to see their previous violin player go on hiatus, but the new violinist brought a new energy to this album. Title track
Born to Run. Wait...Darkness on the Edge of Town. Wait...Nebraska...
Avalon by Roxy Music.
Syro - Aphex Twin
So many synth timbers, not repetitive, and still holds a connection with dance floor nostalgia
For Queen, take a listen to their second album, Queen 2. It's quite underrated, as only Seven Seas of Rhye is on the greatest hits.
However it's a phenomenal record, full of their musical experimentation that would find critical fruition in night at the opera, but a bit more raw and moody.
Nonagon Infinity - King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard. Though their other 25 albums are awesome too.
I am also partial to their album PetroDragonic Apocalypse; or, Dawn of Eternal Night: an Annihilation of Planet Earth and the Beginning of Merciless Damnation. Probably my favorite metal album, and they aren't even a pure metal band.
Black sands - bonobo
The Beatles by The Beatles.
My favourite band changes all the time, mostly depends on who released an album last lol.
My current favourite band is Seven Spires, they just released A Fortress Called Home recently, which I think is awesome. But I think my favourite album of theirs has got to be Gods of Debauchery.
A close second right now is Eternal Blue by Spiritbox. I've listened through that entire album so many times already, but I still love it.
"August and everything after" Counting crows
Nightfall in Middle Earth
Fantastic Planet by Failure
NOFX - Punk in Drublic
Touch by Eurythmics
and
Music For The Masses by Depeche Mode
- Finch - Say Hello to Sunshine
- Paledusk - Palehell
- Faith no more - King for a day, fool for a lifetime
- Smashing Pumpkins - Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness
- Philipp Glass - Glassworks
- Henryk Mikołaj Górecki - Symphony of sorrowful Songs
- Fear Factory - Obsolete
- At The Drive-In - Relationship Of Command
- Boy sets fire - After The Eulogy
- Refused - The Shape of Punk to come (not a fan after their sell-out-reunion, but the album is still great)
Gotta give the obvious answer for The Cure: Disintegration.
All my favorites frequently shift and change over time but I'm utterly obsessed with Music From the Unrealized Film Script: Dusk at Cubist Castle, by the Olivia Tremor Control. Some of the best fucking psychedelic pop I've ever heard.
Neko Case, Middle Cyclone. The voice of God with red hair.
People's Temple Choir - He's Able
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sVdAgfLxCus&list=PLF47145DB14320567
Fluisteraars first, dromers, is absolutely amazing
Band Maid's World Domination, the limited edition version, specially.
This is subgenre dependant, decade also.
A favorite these days:
Crass - Penis Envy
The Gold Album - Autechre
Visions by Haken. Pariah's Child by Sonata Arctica.
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_nbcWJCfkdCVeUvGZMlo_gVDsLhFRPUm4o&si=c84nIM6a1JPv5xjY
Gravity and Grace by Respire
