"Is Your Favorite Artist’s Most Iconic Album Their Best?"
There are many times when an artist hits a complete homerun with an album and attain mainstream and critical acclaim all in one.
But are these albums always their best?
Is Kind Of Blue Miles’ best album?
Is Thriller MJ’s best album?
Is Harvest Neil Young’s best album?
Sometimes these albums are and people just want to be different so they pick another album, and sometimes these albums are good but really aren’t that artists’ best.
Post an artist and their most iconic album in the subject and we will discuss in the replies.
This is a TOKPR but I think TFA is a better structured album than Phrenology but because the songs are more ambitious and draw from a wider palate and I think better executed for the most part, I like Phrenology more. Judging their albums strictly by musicianship, I think Phrenology is the best their best work, definitely through the first half of their career.
2. "Stevie Wonder - Songs in the Key of Life" In response to Reply # 0
This usually gets labelled as Stevie's iconic album, mainly because of the amount of classic hits it had (Sir Duke, As, I Wish & Isn't She Lovely). The fact that it's one of the best double albums of all time adds to the legend too.
However to me Innervisions is Stevie's best album, and SKOL in 2nd place
38. "That's fair - good point." In response to Reply # 28 Wed Dec-20-17 11:04 PM by Brew
I didn't consider Stankonia cause it's 3rd or 4th in my Outkast album rankings but you're right that either Stank or SB/TLB is likely their most iconic. 1 and 2 for sure.
58. "RE: Most aren't that hard." In response to Reply # 8
>>What's Outkast's most "iconic" album? >> >>ATLiens or Aquemini? > >Aquemini 1000% > >
Like Anonymous said, it's probably Speakerboxx/The Love Below. Those singles were monsters and is was also a really good 'double album'
But I think Aquemini is a better album than either S/TLB or Stankonia.
>>ATCQ: Low End or Midnight? > >Midnight 1000% >
Low End was the album that got them their first 5 Mic album and is probably more influential.
But my favorite is Midnight. As much as Midnight is a time capsule, Midnight's songs have stayed with me all this time.
> >>Gang Starr: Hard To Earn or Moment of Truth? > >Moment of Truth 1000% >
It's weird how our sense is different. Moment is probably more well known, but the band really came of age on Hard to Earn. MOT still gets a lot of burn with me though.
> >>Jay: Reasonable Doubt or Blueprint? > >Blueprint, I think. > >
We agree. Ha! Reasonable is arguably better but he became an icon based off of Blueprint.
>>T.I: Trap Muzik or Urban Legend? > >No idea. >
Not enough of a fan to know the difference, but my favorite album of his is King.
>>Common: Resurrection or LWFC? > >LWFC, I think.
Yeah, LWFC had The Light and 6th Sense which were pretty popular. Resurrection had some great highs tho but outside of his hardcore fans, I don't think many people would rank Resurrection over LWFC which was one of the decades best hip-hop records.
40. "Likewise." In response to Reply # 25 Wed Dec-20-17 11:07 PM by Brew
It mirrors my feelings about a lot of 80s/"golden era" hip-hop, in that I appreciate and respect the foundation it laid and the boundaries it pushed, and know how important was to the culture in its time ... but I just don't *enjoy* it, or desire to listen to it, like I do their next several albums.
>This is one of the most overrated albums in history imo. I >like all of these better: > >Revolver >Rubber Soul >Magical Mystery Tour >A Hard Day's Night >Abbey Road
Magical Mystery Tour doesn't count as an album to me, and even if it did, I personally think it would be borderline silly to put an album with "flying" "blue jay way" "your mother should know" "baby you're a rich man" "hello goodbye" and even "magical mystery tour" above a masterwork like Pepper, even if agree that Pepper kind of struggles to stand up to it's reputation. I like all of those songs, but they're not seeing almost anything on Pepper short of maybe "when i'm 64."
A Hard Day's Night definitely isn't better than Sgt. Pepper.
With that said, from Rubber Soul onward, the best Beatles album is really whatever one you're listening to at the time, with the very first one being a sleeper pick as easily the best of the "early" run.
FWIW i probably rank them: white album rubber soul abbey road revolver pepper please please me let it be hard day's night help with the beatles beatles for sale
top 5 are basically interchangeable. also funny that an album with "yesterday" "help" "ticket to ride" "i've just seen a face" and "it's only love" is the bottom 3 of a 11 album catalog...
don't count magical mystery tour (ep + old singles) or yellow submarine OST in this ranking.
12. "Nas - Illmatic" In response to Reply # 0 Wed Dec-20-17 11:18 AM by beatnik
somebody had to fall on the sword lol
Man, this gift/curse body of work, as a young man he projected more maturity and lyricism than a lot of his peers and a lot of cats that came after him.
Life is Good is definitely up there, shit, "Stay" alone puts it up there for me but if there were any two albums in his catalog to show where he started and where he took it I'd compare these two. Not because they're first and last but because they really work well as bookends as far as knowing the artist personally goes, God's Son would fit too.
Hip-Hop is Dead had some clunkers but the beef squash of "Black Republican" was great
Street's Disciple is my ish, especially disc one for 9 to 11
Stillmatic, duh
Untitled was cool but I don't think it's aged well sonically, still relevant topically but off the top of my head I honestly can't remember my favorite track from that album. . . hmm.
I think for Nas it's going to be the first two, Stillmatic & God's Son, then Life is Good.
Illmatic might be his best/most iconic but for me Life is Good is right up there with it.
26. "If LIG took out the duds for the bonus cuts it would be better" In response to Reply # 20
1 Nasty 2 Back When 3 The Don 4 A Queens Story 5 Loco-Motive 6 Black Bond 7 Roses 8 Daughters 9 You Wouldn’t Understand 10 Where’s The Love 11 Stay 12 Cherry Wine 13 Bye Baby
That right there would be either his 3rd best or on par with IWW.
42. "His flow was second to none on IWW." In response to Reply # 37 Wed Dec-20-17 11:11 PM by Brew
He was in such a crazy zone. Which is so interesting because I read an interview a while back where Nas was talking about how he wasn't as focused making IWW as he had been when he was making Illmatic, which he said he regretted looking back.
It's like, damn man .. you rap THAT well when you're "not focused" ?!? GOAT ! Haha
71. "I don't want to agree with you on this point, but your right" In response to Reply # 16
At the IWW came out I thought it was better than Illmatic because the production was more varied than Illmatic and was more consistent, even though Illmatic had better highs.
My tastes have changed and I think Illmatic is better. Because of that I started to think Life Is Good is better than It Was Written.
But as much as I like the more mature Nas on LIG, Nas was in the zone on It Was Written.
So, I would say It Was Written beats Life Is Good by a narrow margin.
75. "As a longtime and ardent Jay supporter, I'm almost inclined to agree..." In response to Reply # 17
I obviously wouldn't go anywhere near as far as saying it's an overrated piece of shit, lol, but it's definitely not a clear cut #1 to me, maybe not even top 3.
Obviously one of his weaker efforts lyrically (by design, probably), but I would take RD above it 10 times out of 10 without thinking twice.
Black Album is easily superior, and the lyrical performance on American Gangster is much better than on the BP as well. Lyrical performance on Vol. 1 is very superior to BP also, even on the whack songs.
So yeah, Jay fits this bill. BP is his most iconic, not his best work though...
29. "RE: Is Your Favorite Artist’s Most Iconic Album Their Best?" In response to Reply # 0
>There are many times when an artist hits a complete homerun >with an album and attain mainstream and critical acclaim all >in one. > >But are these albums always their best? > >Is Kind Of Blue Miles’ best album?
No I have other favorites from him. I will start with Sketches of Spain, also In A Silent Way > >Is Thriller MJ’s best album?
So yes. Although Stronger than Pride is a close second. And I have my days when Lover's Rock rules all. ______________________________________________________________________________
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Nation of Millions is more iconic, but Fear of a Black Planet is the better album
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I think the highs may be higher, and it has the best PE song (Terrordome) in my opinion, but as an album Millions outclasses or is on equal footing with damn near anything, regardless of genre.
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72. "I don't meet many PE fans IRL" In response to Reply # 53
>Nation of Millions is more iconic, but Fear of a Black Planet >is the better album
... but I always sensed that Fear of a Black Planet is their bloat widely known album, if only because their best single is on that album, Fight the Power.
Common - Like Water For Chocolate The Roots - Things Fall Apart Michael Jackson - Thriller Prince - 1999 or Purple Rain (tough one) De La Soul - Buhloone Mind State Tribe - Midnight Marauders
Probably. Black on both sides is indisputably his iconic album, and while I personally prefer The Ecstatic, I wouldn't feel comfortable calling it better. It's just slightly better suited to my tastes.
No. Whether you want to give One Nation Under a Groove or Maggot Brain the iconic spot, but I prefer Let's Take it to the Stage, Cosmic Slop, and self-titled.
It depends on what you call his iconic album. I'd imagine that the consensus pick for general music fans would be Shaft, but that's just his iconic song.
Personally, I'd say his iconic album is Hot Buttered Soul, which I think barely holds off Black Moses for his best.
74. "Yes: Unplugged >>>>> Miseducation" In response to Reply # 0
I can listen to maybe half of the tracks on MOLH at most. Whereas that Unplugged is like a kind of religious experience. Just let those two or three chords drone on while she just drops line after line after line of brilliance.
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