A Quick Guide To Purchasing
A Brief Introduction To Artists On The Site
So You Won't Buy Union And Dirty Work First
This is a similar feature to the "Beginner's Course" on George Starostin's page, except this is on a micro (band specific) level rather than a macro (in general) level. For each artist on the site, this page will give a general order of the first few albums or so that should be bought to get a good impression of the group (both in terms of quality and diversity), as well as the order I would recommend picking them up. If an album is not listed, that doesn't necessarily mean it's bad - rather it means you can pick it up at basically any time after getting the albums listed here. ALSO note that the order of recommendation may not jive perfectly with what I think are the "best" albums; oftentimes better albums are more difficult to assimilate than weaker ones, and in turn less likely to convert somebody right away.
ABBA:
- Arrival
- The Album
- ABBA
- Super Trouper
- Voulez Vous
- The Visitors
Syd Barrett:
- The Madcap Laughs
- Barrett
The Beach Boys:
- Today
- Pet Sounds
- Summer Days (And Summer Nights!!!)
- All Summer Long
- The Smile Sessions
- Wild Honey
- Sunflower
- Surf's Up
- 20/20
- Holland
- Love You
The Beatles:
- Revolver
- Abbey Road
- The Beatles
- Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Heart's Club Band
- A Hard Day's Night
- Past Masters 2
Big Star:
- Number One Record
- Radio City
- Third/Sister Lovers
Black Sabbath:
- Paranoid
- Master of Reality
- Black Sabbath
- Sabotage
- Sabbath Bloody Sabbath
- Live Evil
- Reunion
David Bowie:
- Hunky Dory
- Station To Station
- The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars
- "Heroes"
- Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps)
- Low
- Aladdin Sane
- Blackstar
The Buggles:
- The Age Of Plastic
- Adventures In Modern Recording
The Byrds:
- Mr. Tambourine Man
- Younger Than Yesterday
- Fifth Dimension
- Notorious Byrds Brothers
- Ballad of Easy Rider
- Byrds
Can:
- Tago Mago
- Soundtracks
- Future Days
- Ege Bamyasi
The Clash:
- London Calling
- The Clash (US)
- The Clash (UK)
- Sandinista!
- From Here To Eternity: Live
Elvis Costello:
- This Year's Model
- Armed Forces
- My Aim Is True
- Get Happy!!
- Blood and Chocolate
- Imperial Bedroom
- King Of America
- The Delivery Man
- National Ransom
Cream:
- Disraeli Gears
- Fresh Cream
- Wheels of Fire
Creedence Clearwater Revival:
- Cosmo's Factory
- Green River
- Bayou Country
- Willy and the Poor Boys
Deep Purple:
- Made in Japan
- Deep Purple in Rock
- In Concert 1970-72
- Machine Head
- Bananas
- Purpendicular
- Deep Purple
Derek and the Dominos:
- Layla And Other Assorted Love Songs
- Live At The Fillmore
The Doors:
- Strange Days
- Morrison Hotel
- LA Woman
- The Doors
Bob Dylan:
- Highway 61 Revisited
- Blood on the Tracks
- Blonde on Blonde
- The Freewheeling Bob Dylan
- John Wesley Harding
- Bringing it All Back Home
- Desire
- Another Side of Bob Dylan
- Time Out of Mind
Emerson, Lake and Palmer:
- Tarkus
- Brain Salad Surgery
- Emerson Lake and Palmer
- Works Volume 2
- Pictures at an Exhibition
Brian Eno:
- Before and After Science
- Another Green World
- Here Comes the Warm Jets
- Taking Tiger Mountain (by Strategy)
- After the Heat
- Apollo Atmospheres and Soundtracks
- Ambient 3: Day of Radiance
- Ambient 2: The Plateaux of Mirror
- Everything That Happens Will Happen Today
- Another Day on Earth
The Flaming Lips:
- The Soft Bulletin
- Transmissions from the Satellite Heart
- Clouds Taste Metallic
- Hit to Death in the Future Head
- Yoshimi Battles Pink Robots
- In a Priest Driven Ambulance
- Embryonic
- At War with the Mystics
- Zaireeka
Peter Gabriel:
- Peter Gabriel III
- Us
- Security
- Passion
- Birdy
Genesis:
- Selling England by the Pound
- Foxtrot
- The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway
- A Trick of the Tail
- Genesis Live
- Genesis
- Abacab
- Nursery Cryme
Gentle Giant:
- Octopus
- The Official Live: Playing the Fool
- Gentle Giant
- Acquiring the Taste
- Free Hand
- Giant for a Day
Steve Hackett:
- Spectral Mornings
- Voyage of the Acolyte
- Beyond the Shrouded Horizon
- Out of the Tunnel's Mouth
- Defector
- Till We Have Faces
- There Are Many Sides to the Night
- To Watch the Storms
- Wild Orchids
Jimi Hendrix:
- Are You Experienced?
- Electric Ladyland
- Winterland
- Axis: Bold as Love
Jethro Tull:
- Stand Up
- Thick as a Brick
- Aqualung
- Live: Bursting Out
- Heavy Horses
- Broadsword and the Beast
Joy Division:
- Unknown Pleasures
- Closer
- Substance
King Crimson:
- Red
- Absent Lovers
- In the Court of the Crimson King
- Larks' Tongues in Aspic
- Discipline
The Kinks:
- Arthur (or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire)
- The Village Green Preservation Society
- The Kink Kronikles
- Something Else
- Face to Face
- Kinkssize/Kinkdom
- Muswell Hillbillies
- Low Budget
- State of Confusion
Led Zeppelin:
- BBC Sessions
- Led Zeppelin
- Untitled
- Led Zeppelin II
- Houses of the Holy
John Lennon:
- John Lennon - Plastic Ono Band
- Imagine
- Shaved Fish
- Double Fantasy
- Walls and Bridges
Paul McCartney:
- Band On The Run
- Ram
- McCartney
- Venus And Mars
- McCartney II
- Tug Of War
- Flowers In The Dirt
- Flaming Pie
- Memory Almost Full
- New
Metallica:
- Master of Puppets
- Ride the Lightning
- ...And Justice for All
- Metallica
- Kill 'Em All
Joni Mitchell:
- Ladies of the Canyon
- Blue
- Court and Spark
- Song for a Seagull
- Hejira
The Moody Blues:
- Days of Future Passed
- To Our Children's Children's Children
- A Question of Balance
- Seventh Sojourn
- The Present
- Strange Times
Neutral Milk Hotel:
- In The Aeroplane Over The Sea
The Nice:
- The Thoughts of Emerlist Davjack
- Ars Longa Vita Brevis
Nirvana:
- Nevermind
- MTV Unplugged
- In Utero
- Bleach
Tom Petty:
- The Live Anthology
- Full Moon Fever
- Damn The Torpedoes
- Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers
- Into The Great Wide Open
- Wildflowers
- Highway Companion
- The Last DJ
Pink Floyd:
- Dark Side of the Moon
- Animals
- Meddle
- The Piper at the Gates of Dawn
- Ummagumma
- Wish You Were Here
- The Wall
Pixies:
- Surfer Rosa
- Come On Pilgrim
- Doolittle
- Bossanova
- Trompe Le Monde
- Complete 'B' Sides
The Police:
- Reggatta De Blanc
- Zenyatta Mondatta
- Outlandos D'Amour
- Ghost in the Machine
- Synchronicity
Prince:
- Purple Rain
- Dirty Mind
- Sign O' The Times
- Controversy
- The Gold Experience
- 1999
- 3121
- Love Symbol
Procol Harum:
- A Whiter Shade of Pale
- A Salty Dog
- Broken Barricades
- Exotic Birds and Fruit
- Grand Hotel
Radiohead:
- OK Computer
- Kid A
- I Might Be Wrong (Live Recording)
- Hail To The Thief
- The Bends
The Ramones:
- Ramones
- Leave Home
- Road To Ruin
- Rocket To Russia
- End Of The Century
- Too Tough To Die
- Halfway To Sanity
- Mondo Bizarro
R.E.M.:
- Lifes Rich Pageant
- Murmur
- Automatic for the People
- Document
- Out of Time
- Up
The Rolling Stones:
- Sticky Fingers
- Let it Bleed
- Flowers
- Beggar's Banquet
- Exile on Main Street
- Between the Buttons
- Now!
- Tattoo You
Roxy Music:
- Stranded
- Siren
- For Your Pleasure
- Roxy Music
- Avalon
- Country Life
Rush:
- Exit: Stage Left
- Permanent Waves
- Moving Pictures
- Signals
- 2112
- Test For Echo
- Power Windows
Simon & Garfunkel:
- Bridge Over Troubled Water
- Sounds of Silence
- Parsley, Sage, Rosemary And Thyme
- Bookends
- Live From New York City, 1967
Sly and the Family Stone:
- Stand!
- Life
- Dance to the Music
- There's A Riot Goin' On
- Fresh
- A Whole New Thing
Sparks:
- Kimono My House
- Sparks
- No. 1 in Heaven
- Lil' Beethoven
- Propaganda
- Hello Young Lovers
- Big Beat
- In Outer Space
Steely Dan:
- Can't Buy A Thrill
- Countdown to Ecstasy
- Pretzel Logic
- Katy Lied
- Aja
The Stone Roses:
- The Stone Roses
- Second Coming
Talking Heads:
- The Name of This Band is Talking Heads
- Remain in Light
- Fear of Music
- More Songs About Buildings and Food
- Little Creatures
- '77
Television:
- Marquee Moon
- Adventure
- The Blow-Up
- Television
U2:
- The Joshua Tree
- Boy
- Acthung Baby
- War
- The Unforgettable Fire
- Zooropa
Van Der Graaf Generator:
- H to He Who am the Only One
- Godbluff
- The Aerosol Grey Machine
- World Record
Van Halen:
- Van Halen
- 1984
- Fair Warning
- Diver Down
- Van Halen II
- Women And Children First
The Velvet Underground:
- The Velvet Underground
- The Velvet Underground And Nico
- Live 1969
- Loaded
- White Light/White Heat
Tom Waits:
- Closing Time
- Mule Variations
- Franks Wild Years
- Rain Dogs
- Small Change
- Bone Machine
- Swordfishtrombones
- Real Gone
- Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers And Bastards
Ween:
- Chocolate And Cheese
- The Mollusk
- GodWeenSatan: The Oneness
- White Pepper
- Quebec
- The Pod
- 12 Golden Country Greats
The Who:
- Live at Leeds
- Meaty Beaty Big and Bouncy
- Who's Next
- Tommy
- Quadrophenia
- Live at the 1970 Isle of Wight Festival
- The Who Sell Out
- Who Are You
- The Who Sing My Generation
Stevie Wonder:
- Innervisions
- Talking Book
- Songs in the Key of Life
- Fulfilingness' First Finale
- Music Of My Mind
- For Once in My Life
- I Was Made To Love Her
- Hotter Than July
XTC:
- Skylarking
- Black Sea
- English Settlement
- Chips From The Chocolate Fireball
- Apple Venus Volume 1
- Drums And Wires
Yes:
- Fragile
- The Yes Album
- Close to the Edge
- Going for the One
- Relayer
- Magnification
- Tales From Topographic Oceans
- 90125
Frank Zappa:
- You are What You is
- Burnt Weeny Sandwich
- Freak Out!
- Roxy & Elsewhere
- We're Only in It for the Money
- Hot Rats
- Uncle Meat
- Absolutely Free
- The Best Band You Never Heard In Your Life
- Joe's Garage
- Them Or Us
- Läther