Favorite Albums?

[peaches2217]

I actually meant to make this like... a month ago. Whoops.

Anyway, show me your favorite albums (bonus points for sharing your favorite song from said albums as well)! They can be vocalsynth or non-vocalsynth, anything goes here! I'll share a handful of mine:

Seventh Son of a Seventh Son (1988) / A Matter of Life and Death (2006) / The Book of Souls (2015) by Iron Maiden
Favorite songs: Moonchild / The Reincarnation of Benjamin Breeg / Empire of the Clouds
​

(Look, they've got 15 studio albums, you can't just make me choose one.)

So Maiden hasn't really put out a bad album (even the Blaze albums have some excellent songs on them. This is a hill I will die on), but these are the three I keep coming back to. Seventh Son is fairly short, but tells such a captivating and fun (if slightly macabre) story; AMoLaD is bleak yet impassioned, the perfect album to curl up and contemplate humanity to; and Book of Souls is the textbook definition of a perfect album, with something to offer for metalheads and non-metalheads alike, and not a single dull moment in its 96 minutes. (Book of Souls was also the first Maiden album I ever bought, so it holds an extra special place in my heart.)

The Singularity, Phase One: Neohumanity (2014) by Scar Symmetry
Favorite song: Neuromancers
​

Honestly, I don't remember how I discovered this album, but I'm extremely glad I did. Scar Symmetry's been notoriously hit-or-miss in the past, but this album was a critical hit in the metal community, and for good reason: it's an intense blend of melodeath and progressive, with a beautiful balance between synths and classic instruments. (Plus Neuromancers has my favorite guitar solo in all of music history - it starts at 3:12 in the video I linked.)

the og album art is quite graphic, so have my favorite parody of it instead

Severed Survival (1989) by Autopsy
Favorite song: the title track
​

So this is one that will always be near and dear to me that I nonetheless keep forgetting exists. About a year after getting into metal, I decided I wanted to try finding the heaviest and most brutal metal out there, and this was pretty high up on several "Albums to Scare Your Parents With" lists, so it sounded like fun. And it is: the whole thing is unrelentingly intense and raw and definitely not for the faint of heart. I've been in the metal scene for so long now that I have a firm grasp on my preferences, and it tends to lean more melodic, hence why this album keeps getting shoved to the back of my mind. But when I remember it, I can play it on repeat for weeks.

 

[___]

People criticize Bjork's more recent work but imo Vulnicura's her best album yet. I think my most favorite song would be history of touches, it's just....so emotionally raw and lyrics are genius. I sti;l shiver at "Every single archive Compressed into a second All with us here as I wake you up"

sexual themes

And if you havent noticed yet, yes I'm pretentious artsy bitch.

 

[mobius017]

Hm, I come up with new favorites on a recurring basis. But there are some vocal synth albums, at least, that I highly recommend.

The first one that comes to mind is Ghost from Deco*27. Overall, it may be my favorite synth album; it's hard to think of any songs on there that I dislike. In a similar boat is Graphix from Hachioji P. There are so many great songs on there, but probably my favorite is Worldwide Festival (featuring Miku, Rin, and Luka), followed by Miku's solo song Irodorimirai.

 

[Blue Of Mind]

For how much I listen to albums on a regular basis, it's tricky for me to pick out favourites! But I might as well have a go...

First up, meine Lieblingsband...

Kraftwerk

If you ask the Kraftwerk fandom what the general consensus on favourite albums is, you'll usually hear, "Everything between Autobahn and Computer World". I agree with that assessment, but I think Radio-Activity gets forgotten in-between the hype of both Autobahn and Trans Europe Express (because of both albums being revolutionary for electronic music), and I find Radio-Activity to be superior to Autobahn in terms of compositions. (Let's face it, people only really praise the 20 minute long title track. Not that I find anything wrong with Kometenmelodie, Mitternacht and Morgenspaziergang, but they're not the most well remembered Kraftwerk tracks within their discography.)

I like to call Trans Europe Express, Man Machine and Computer World the Legendary Trilogy because of their immense influence on not just electronic music, but also modern hip hop and rap. (You'll be surprised how many artists sample the hell out of Computer World in particular.)

Meanwhile, in France...

Daft Punk

Discovery was the very first album I ever adored as a kid, and it still holds up today. Though it's interesting now how it's basically proto-Future Funk....

And to just quickly mention another French artist I love...

Seriously, go check out Jean Michel Jarre if you haven't heard of him. He's up there with Kraftwerk as an electronic pioneer. These are just three of his earliest albums which I love.

Off to America now...

Devo

I'm one of those Devo fans who likes everything before Shout. Shout is just boring, and the next two albums are fairly bad, so I'd ignore 'em if you check out the guys behind 'Whip It'. Their last full album is pretty good tho.

Last stop, Japan.

Yellow Magic Orchestra

Yet another electronic pioneer and sampling "victim". Deffo check out 'Rydeen' from Solid State Survivor. It was the song which made me fall in love with YMO, and it's been covered in multiple video game OSTs, strangely enough.

Sod it, I'm just gonna mention more individual albums:

Warning: More picture dumping

The one with the sheep is 'Chill Out' by The KLF. Thought I'd mention it because the title doesn't appear on the front cover lol.

That's not even a scratch on my physical and digital record collection... orz

 

[EPROM]

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[AALLF]

Some great albums on this thread. Here's mine:

Linkin Park: Hybrid Theory

The first album I ever heard in middle/high school where I could definitely say that I was a fan. Meteora is possibly a better album I feel, but this is the album that first made me want to play guitar. Special album for me.

Insomnium: Above the Weeping World


Very first melodic death metal album that
I ever heard in college. At that time I was already writing music somewhat similar to this without knowing about this genre (minus the choir and strings). This type of music (heavy, melodic, thoughtful, nuanced) is what I always wanted to listen to, but could never find. I just chose this one album, but I like every single album they've ever made. Each one is unique whilst still being in the same style. I highly recommend this band for anyone not averse to harsh "death metal style" vocals.

Coldplay: X&Y


Another one of those bands I heard on the radio in high school/college that struck a perfect emotional chord with me. The atmosphere of their songs is right up my alley, with its spacious and chill sound. I only own a couple of their albums, but I should make a concentrated effort to listen to more (haven't thought about this band in a long time, so thanks for this thread!)

Dualsight


First vocaloid album I ever heard (a compilation album of various producers). When I first heard it, I thought it was real vocals. Tried digging into it more online and found out about vocaloid through this album. I told myself that if I ever went back to making music, I would remember vocaloid and hope that an English version existed. A couple of years later, I did go back to writing and producing, and bought Gumi English.

I guess this ended up being a list of firsts as well as favorites.

 

[Stigbn]

ok, here's some of my favourites, which happens to be mostly some old classic rock albums some fusion and some jazz:

Steely Dan: Aja
Bjork: Post, Homogenic
Yes: Close to the Edge
Beatles: Abbey Road
Led Zeppelin I
Jimi Hendrix: Axis: Bold as love
Radiohead: Kid A
Frank Zappa: One size fits all
Tony Williams: Believe it
Miles Davis: Kind of Blue, ESP, Decoy

The last ten years my listening habits have been mostly Japanese stuff, both vocaloid and Anime style music, and I don't have specific favourite albums in these styles - yet.

 

[andantina]

oooh. i've been wanting to do this for a while, so thanks for making this thread Peaches! For each album i'll give a general description, followed by the genre, how it's influenced my music making style, and, finally, my favorite track from the album.

First off: mainstream/non vocal-synth music! Here are a few in no particular order:

MGMT - Oracular Spectacular


One word: nostalgia. Its one of the remnants of the days where I only listened to rock. I remember hearing Kids and Electric Feel on the radio when i was probably only 7 years old, so those melodies have been ingrained in my ears for as long as I've loved music. Once i got my first I-Pod I decided to buy this album first (since i was already familiar with it), and fell in love with the rest of the tracks in it. I like their album Little Dark Age as well.
(Kind of unrelated: my dad once told me this is the only album I like that he likes. Not sure if he was being serious or not )

Genre: Alternative
Influences: the riff melodies here are godlike. making catchy melodies is way harder than it looks, and this album has a boatload of them.
Favorite Track: The Youth


Porter Robinson - Worlds


Ah, Worlds, we meet again. It was my gateway to electronic music, and I'm forever thankful to it for that. I used to be one of those people that thought "electronic" and "dubstep" were synonymous, or that it wasn't "real music", but this album made me rethink that notion. Each song brought out a different emotion in me, and strongly at that. I began to realize how much care it takes to produce a track from the bottom up all on your own. Fast forward to now: I listen to a ton of electronic music, and check Porter's Soundcloud for new releases every so often.

Genre: Synthpop/Electro House
Influence: The idea of giving each song its own unique aesthetic while still maintaining a theme.
Favorite Track: Divinity

Air - Talkie Walkie


Some of you may have already heard me mention Air if you follow my profile posts. Despite being disbanded by now, they're my all-time favorite electronica group at the moment. I discovered this album when my local music store was selling a CD of it on discount, so I bought it on a whim. A very, very good decision. Air's music has a style that I had always wanted to hear in music, but didn't know existed. It felt good to finally find it!

Genre: Downtempo/Synthpop
Influence: Mixing acoustic and electronic sounds; mysterious/open-ended lyrics
Favorite Track: Cherry Blossom Girl
Owl City - All Things Bright and Beautiful


Another artist that defined my childhood. I love Owl City--his lyrics and synths have a unique youthful energy that stands out from most of what I listened to back then. (I even got to see him in concert in 2018! Still have a T-shirt from that). Although I have a nostalgic attachment to Ocean Eyes (the album that Fireflies was on), this one is probably my favorite. Something about the change in mood from one track to the other really draws me in. And the lyrics are "cheesy" in the best way possible. It sounds like being a kid, y'know?

Genre: Pop
Influence: Youthful energy, abstract lyrics
Favorite Track: Plant Life


P.SUS - Groovy Star


There's this group of artists that are almost a unit---Pogo, Jeesh, and P.SUS. They specialize in re-using sounds from media they enjoy and re-purposing them into music. Pogo blew up thanks to his remixes of popular movies (everyone's probably seen this before), but the other two are still fairly unappreciated. I like P.SUS the best out of the three because of how spontaneous his mixes sound. "Controlled chaos", I guess. This album is my favorite of his because of its tone. It's very spacey(lots of beep-boops), yet groovy (hence the title) at the same time. The tracks also blend into each other perfectly; everything is in its place.

Genre: Plunder-Phonics
Influence: The "quirkyness" of the beats
Favorite Track: All Over Again

--

And that's that! pretty basic, but acceptable. i change my favorites almost every day so i tried to put albums that have impacted me long-term in the music i like listening to/replicating in my own work. This post got really long, so I'm gonna send my favorite vocalsynth albums in a separate post. Stay tuned for that!

 

[cafenurse]

200 km/h in the wrong lane changed me forever, discovering all the things she said as a young sapphic girl was a really big deal to me. I know there was controversy over the fact they weren't actually a couple, but their music was still a hugely important part in me learning to love myself as a young wlw. Also the music just straight up kicks ass. Clowns is the greatest song to have ever graced my ears ever.

 

[AALLF]

I have that Tatu album myself. Probably haven't listened to it in over 10 years. I remember it being a super catchy album, especially in the front. I also remember it for their cover of "How Soon Is Now?" I only knew that song as the theme for Charmed when I was younger (even though they didn't use the Tatu version of it).

 

[andantina]

Tatu!! damn i didn't realize how much i missed their music. Clowns, Gomennasai and of course All The Things She Said are such good songs.

 

[andantina]

Aight, I am officially reviving this thread! With my vocalsynth specific list that I just realized I never did! the greatest redemption story indeed /s. I'll do it the same way as last time except emitting the "influences" section, since vocaloid producers getting inspired by other vocaloid producers is kind of oversaturated as it is. here goes:

All Vocaloid Attack Vol. 1 (Compilation Album)


The first Vocaloid compilation album I've ever heard, and my favorite to this day. I love the variety of producers in here, and the fact that they all tried putting a spin on their normal styles. Ryo producing a dubstep song with Yukari is a really pleasant surprise for example. My reasoning for my favorite track is kinda personal in this instance. I was going through a really hard time in my life around when this album came out, and listening to Still Love You really calmed me down at times where I was on edge and angry at everything. I wish I was able to thank HachiojiP in person for making that song.

Genre: Various
Favorite Track: HachiojiP ft. Oliver - Still Love You

MikitoP - I Shared a Kiss with Hatsune Miku


I swear MikitoP is a genius. He's able to make so many different genres and moods of music, yet be exceptional at all of them. This album is the clearest example of that for me, since it has some of his most famous silly songs as well as his more sentimental rock hits, like Sayako. Though it's not my favorite track, I love the title track infinitely because of how it tells his personal story of becoming a vocaloid producer, and you can feel the heart emitting from it a mile away. Plus it reminds me of winter for some reason.

Genre: Soft Rock + Pop
Favorite Track: Tokyo Station

nostraightanswer - Specters


(Not sure if this counts since he sings some of the songs himself but eh). nostraightanswer is one of the only prominent English producers that have a distinctive professional quality to their songs, despite being self-taught as a musician. He's a good example of people who don't bend their songwriting style to fit the "Vocaloid aesthetic". This album is a solid pop album regardless of how it gets its vocals, which I respect. The vocal mixing is godlike here as well. So soft and nice on the ears. Along with Porter Robinson, Lupin is the Avanna king

Genre: Pop
Favorite Track: The Dots

Pedestrian/歩く人 - qinema


Highly highly recommended. I love Pedestrian, he's one of the best producers to come out of a modern section of Vocaloid culture: the "synthloid" side of it along with Haruno, Yunosuke and the like. His sound design is not only unique, really satisfying, almost like ASMR. Some of his songs are inspired by net musicians outside of Vocaloid such as In Love With Ghost, and sometimes even the "kawaii future bass" aesthetic. This album is basically a compilation of all the singles he's released on Youtube. It's a nice mix of his early pop-focused works and his newer electronic style.

Genre: Electronica
Favorite Track: Segment Error


sunzriverP - Window's Music


Not many people have heard much of Sunzriver outside of Reverse Rainbow, but I think they deserve more listeners of all their work. They have a style kinda like house music but quirkier, and . This is also one of my favorite albums from back when the characters of Vocaloids were more important than the flashiness of PVs. A lot of the tracks have lyrics from the character's point of view without being full-on moe character songs. I think its an interesting switch up from what people are used to nowadays.

Genre: Dancepop + some Ballads
Favorite Track: Reverse Rainbow (basic pick but cmon, that song slaps to this day)

 

[cafenurse]

i'm back



Recently I've discovered I like Grimes a lot, so I've binged all her music. I have an appreciation for all her albums (Geidi Primes and Halfaxa have very cool atmosphere to them but I'm not crazy about them personally) and I seriously love her last 3 albums. Miss Anthropocene and Art Angels are SO good, but Visions has a soft spot in my heart and is my favorite. I just really vibe to the music. I feel like if there was an album that represented what I was like as a person, it would be this (if that makes sense lol.) My favorite song is Genesis, but I also super love Oblivion, Skin and Circumbiant. Through these rough times I've been going through I have been playing Oblivion on repeat for days on end, it's really been doing something for me.



I think I was gonna post about Electra Heart the last time I posted here but just got lazy I guess. But seriously Electra Heart is a fucking cool album. I LOVE concept albums and this whole concept + the beautiful music + the gorgeous aesthetic of the music videos all works together so great and it really creates a solid piece of art that's beyond just the music. There's some really good messages in this album and the lyrics are so impactful and smart (I expect nothing less from Marina). I recently got a shirt that has the lyrics to teen idle on it and I love it.
My favorite off this album is Valley of the Dolls.

 

[sapplerx]

My Chemical Romance - The Black Parade, Danger Days (I love all of their albums, these are just my personal picks)
Panic! At The Disco - A Fever You Can't Sweat Out, Too Weird To Live Too Weird To Die, Pray For The Wicked (otherwise, again, I love all albums, these are my personal picks)
Billie Eilish - When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?
Ariana Grande - Sweetener, thank u next
Death Grips - The Money Store, Year Of The Snitch, No Love Deep Web
Joji - Nectar
Poppy - I Disagree
Every single Twenty One Pilots album ever released (especially Scaled and Icy, my favorite one of theirs so far)
Every single Ed Sheeran album ever released (except No.6 Collaborations Project; I like some songs but otherwise it's a no for me)
Every single Marina album ever released (I agree with the last post, Electra Heart was iconic)
Taylor Swift - Lover, Folklore and Evermore
Lady Gaga - Chromatica (the album is amazing but the era is meh...I have a feeling it was rushed because of COVID)
Big Sean - Detroit 2
Rina Sawayama - Sawayama
Shawn Mendes - Self Titled

 

[sapplerx]

I have came back here to say that Happier Than Ever is, if not, one of the best albums of 2021.

 

[morrysillusion]

always love talking about the music i love so i want to point out my fave albums from my favorite artists- they are faves already so i think all their music is good, but these albums definitely mean a lot to me.

Say Anything

Say Anything and their album Oliver Appropriate.
Favorite song - The Hardest

Its interesting because i wouldnt actually say this album has all of my favorite songs in general, it doesnt. but as a whole it has a very specific place in my heart for the 'character' that developed through the artists life- from their first album to their last, focusing on the singer's relationship with identity. the whole album tells a story i find so raw and relatable and for their final album it really hits hard. additionally they are a fave band of mine, but it should be said this album is very different from the previous ones- theyre a punk band and this is a very chill album compared to others from them lol.

Amanda Palmer/The Dresden Dolls

Amanda Palmer and her album Theatre Is Evil.
Favorite song - Trout Heart Replica

Another major favorite artist of mine, and i have a hard time saying what album is a fave because they all kinda cycle out depending on my feelings. But this album has to be a favorite when it has a balance of all the tones i like from Amanda in a way that also doesnt make me sit in my room and think about life for eight hours. It has the soft, touching songs that hit hard (Trout Heart Replica, Berlin, The Bed Song) but some more energetic hits too. It doesnt get the same exact vibe of her more cabaret like stuff, but thats why I will mention Dresden Dolls next.

The Dresden Dolls and their self titled album ("The Dresden Dolls").
Favorite song - Gravity

Amanda Palmer was formerly in the band The Dresden Dolls (consisting of her and another member) while was dark/punk cabaret. I love all their albums but this one really sticks out. Has some very good songs (for a first listen i would reccomend Girl Anachronism or Coin-Operated Boy) and carries all the vibes i just love about them. From chaotic to mellow, its everything i adore. Their songs often cover rough topics and feelings, hard to describe, and it makes me think a lot. But I will always love this album no matter the emotional response it get lol.

Will Wood

Will Wood and his album The Normal Album.
Favorite song - I / Me / Myself

Will Wood's music is another chaotic vibe i adore and its hard saying what my fave album is too. But The Normal Album captured some feelings i relate to much more bluntly, and the variety is great. The very first song of the album is a fantastic summary of what Will Wood's music is like, basically sound like three songs smashed into one. Its an incredible musical mess i will never get over listening to, exploring identity and mental health in a way that just clicked with me so well.