What makes an album good in your opinion?

[MikeH]

My two favourite albums of this year are

The Mars Volta - De-Loused in the Comatoriam
Kind of a modern prog rock epic with it's roots in hardcore. Virtually nothing that could be a single on the whole album.

Dizee Rascal - Boy in da corner
Brilliant, and brutal, urban British hip-hop from some teenage kid making his first record. A collection of great songs.

Ok, both albums have been critically acclaimed (in the Brittish music press at least) but despite that they are still really good. Examples of the two types of great albums that Rev mentioned, and I would agree with.

[self biased]

r.kelly? you honestly consider him music, rather than manufactured product? seriously. look what the stones did to marrianne faithful. and they got off more or less scot free. that boy is going to jail for a long time, it seems.

what? is our musical taste not dark enough for you, albert? what bout Davis or Coltrane? mmm? or should i go back even farther to Wagner, Bethoven, and Shcubert?

[MikeH]

One of my friends wants to be catapulted off the white cliffs of dover in his coffin when he dies with "I believe I can fly" by R Kelly being blasted out over a huge stereo.

[molly bloom]

Originally posted by monolith94
Also, Ray Charles and Curtis Mayfield are great too.

Curtis Mayfield, the Staples Singers, Erma Franklin, Parliament, Cissy Houston, Big Bill Broonzy, Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes, Isaac Hayes, the O'Jays, Bill Withers, Big Maybelle, Labelle, M.F.S.B., the Intruders, Memphis Slim, John Lee Hooker.... Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald's albums as a duo are wonderful too- I love their version of the songs from 'Porgy and Bess'.

[self biased]

don't forget Funkadelic, too. if it wasn't for george clinton, most rappers wouldn't have anything to sample.... except rock music.

[molly bloom]

Originally posted by self biased
don't forget Funkadelic, too. if it wasn't for george clinton, most rappers wouldn't have anything to sample.... except rock music.

They'd still have Kraftwerk. And jazz-funk albums. And the Last Poets. And Nina Simone. And early seventies porno film soundtracks by European electronic music composers.

There's a compilation out that I saw today of music from the 'Black Panther' period:

http://www.trikont.com/catalogue/black_proud/302-2_black_proud_vol1.html

I really enjoy getting seventies and sixties compilations, because there's always several tracks that instantly come back to mind- the ones you heard while eating breakfast, before walking to school, with your head buzzing with the sound of things like Redbone's 'Witch Queen of New Orleans' or 'The Son of Hickory Holler's Tramp' or 'Let's Clean Up The Ghetto' or Isaac Hayes' epic version of 'By The Time I get To Phoenix'....

[self biased]

true enough, molly.

[Provost Harrison]

Originally posted by MikeH
One of my friends wants to be catapulted off the white cliffs of dover in his coffin when he dies with "I believe I can fly" by R Kelly being blasted out over a huge stereo.

The catapulted coffin - yes, cool!

The R. Kelly? God no!

[St Leo]

Availability in RAR, ZIP, TAR.GZ, or ACE format is a good sign.

[Pekka]

Great tracks makes a good album, like this one:

101 herbie hancock - rockit
102 sugarhill gang - 8th wonder
103 grandmaster flash and the furious 5 - freedom
104 trouble funk - drop the bomb
105 afrika bambaataa and family - funk you
106 run dmc - peter piper
107 treacherous three - yes we can can
108-the_45_king-900_number-jce
109-fantastic_alleems-release_yourself-jce
110-eric_b_and_rakim-i_know_you_got_soul-jce
111-schooly_d-saturday_night-jce
112-boogie_down_productions-my_philosophy-jce
113-guy-teddys_jam-jce
114-ultramagnetic-ego_tripping-jce
115-kurtis_blow-if_i_ruled_the_world-jce
116-salt_n_pepa-tramp-jce
117-pm_dawn-set_a_drift_on_memory_bliss-jce

201-black_sheep-the_choice_is_yours-jce
202-a_tribe_called_quest-scenero-jce
203-krs_one-black_cop-jce
204-wu_tang_clan-aint_nuttin_to_****_wit_shame_on_a_nigga-jce
205-nas-my_state_of_mind-jce
206-father_mc-treat_em_right-jce
207-the_lost_boyz-music_makes_me_high-jce
208-dj_kool-let_me_clear_my_throat-jce
209-mobb_deep-hell_on_earth-jce
210-whoudini-the_haunted_house_of_rock-jce
211-jay_z-hard_knock_life-jce
212-outkast-ms_jackson-jce
213-bubba_sparxxx-ugly-jce
214-eric_sermon-i_am_hot-jce
215-mr_cheeks-lights_camera_action-jce
216-petey_pablo-i_told_ya-jce
217-cee_lo-getting_grown-jce
218-clipse-grindin-jce

this is a good one... Kraftwerk Bambaataa Presents Eastside 2cd.. downloadable @ nearest mp3 site.