This is just near impossible to do. I can't make lists, plus 'best album' sounds so big that I don't know what fits the bill. So to make it easier for myself, I'll compile a list of great albums of different kinds of music I'd like to keep if I only got to keep a couple - like fourteen. (Cause even getting it down to fourteen has taken far too much time.)
Bad Religion -The Empire Strikes First
Cowboys Fringants - L'expédition
Emerson, Lake & Palmer - Tarkus
Genesis - Selling England by the Pound
Harmoniun - Si on avait besoin d'une cinquième saison
Ice Cube - The Predator
Klein Orkest - Het leed versierd
Midlake - The Courage of Others
Pater Moeskroen - Niets is wat het lijkt
Pink Floyd - The Dark Side of the Moon
Radiohead - OK Computer
Sting - The Dream of the Blue Turtles
Talk Talk - The Colour of Spring
Vangelis - See You Later
I'll try and resist the temptation to keep editing this.
I like talking about music too much, so I thought I'd have another go anyway - with some explanation this time.
Yes - Fragile or Close to the Edge. I should probably put my progrock albums first, since that was my first real obsession in music. It's hard to pick a specific album; there's always something missing somewhere. For example, I'm not big fna of And You And I on Close to the Edge, and that's about a quarter of its content; and Fragile has some clear filler. I originally went with a Genesis album instead, but while I like them better as a band overall, I think all of their albums have stronger flaws than these two from Yes; Genesis really don't have a definitive album for me. For Yes, it's a toss-up between Fragile and Close to the Edge, and I refuse to choose.
Harmoniun - Si on avait besoin d'une cinquième saison. Another issue with picking progrock albums is that I've listened most of them to death, and I don't appreciate them as much anymore. One reason why this one is here, is because I discovered it only a few years ago and haven't been able to kill it off just yet. But it's also gorgeous, and unique in its sound and the way they can create tempo and fullness without using drums. Depuis l'automne is an absolutely stand-out here, but everything is great.
Bad Religion -The Empire Strikes First. I kinda want the list to be a little representative of the full range of my taste as well, and then punk and other genres also have to feature. In punk, Bad Religion are my favorites. While they have a lot of good stuff, this one stands out for me, with its pace, strong sound, overall song arc, melodies, and playing (especially the drums).
Ice Cube - The Predator. Rap is another genre for me like that. I have to admit that I don't listen to the lyrics all that much; they come second to me (although maybe less in Dutch), after feel and sound. That's why an album like Illmatic doesn't work for me as well; the songs are too monotonous to me. While there is cleverer and more interesting rap, The Predator has always worked really well for me; I like its aggression and energy and beats.
Cowboys Fringants - L'expédition. Cowboys Fringants play a kind of energetic country/folk. They have a ton of great songs, but not so many great albums. L'expédition is near-perfect though, capturing their melodies, energy, melancholy, awesome lyrics, and everything else in a fairly concise package of consistent quality.
Klein Orkest - Het leed versierd. This is by no means an amazing band, but they just really-really (really really!) work for me. The songs from this album and the next have basically constantly drifted in and out of my mind for some two decades now, and that must count for something. Great lyrics and melodies, and some pretty decent musical ideas as well.
Pater Moeskroen - Niets is wat het lijkt. Pater Moeskroen was founded as a party band, and their first couple of albums are all full of good nonsense. (With Piramide even the best Madness track not by Madness.) In their mid-career, however, they went serious (a little, anyway), with concept(ish) albums and much more elaborate musical arrangements. On this album, everything comes together perfectly, and it's just great fun with interesting songs and instrumentations throughout.
Pink Floyd - The Dark Side of the Moon. Back to the more complex stuff. I'm not huge on Pink Floyd, but their 70s albums are amazing, but this one most of all. It basically hasn't got a weak moment, and there is so much to hear, too.
Sting - The Soul Cages. I need to have some Sting on here - The Police and his solo work (until around 2000) are just too amazing. I had first put The Dream of the Blue Turtles here, but I think I like The Soul Cages better. 'Dream' has a couple of weaker songs and is a little more straightforward. The Soul Cages cuts a bit deeper, and has more complex arrangements also. (It might be the only Sting album that can't be performed live by his usual five-piece.) It's been a grower for me, and I really love it now.
Talk Talk - The Colour of Spring. There is no band like Talk Talk really; especially their development over just five albums was absolutely astonishing. (Or six, if you include Hollis's solo album, which basically continues where Talk Talk stopped after Laughing Stock.) While all their work is great (OK, not so much their debut album), I feel this one is the perfect marriage between the directness of the first two albums and the complexity of the last two. Chameleon Day plus Time Is Time is a highlight in music for me.
Vangelis - See You Later. I have been a fan of synth music since before my teens, and have to include something here. The obvious choice is Vangelis, who for me goes deepest and widest. I love a lot of his work, from the jazz of Albedo 0.39 to the opera of Mask or the new age of Oceanic. (But not really the stuff after; that's generally too ambient to me.) I feel all that comes together best on See You Later, which besides a bit of humour contains one of Vangelis's most hauntingly beautiful and sad tracks in Memories of Green (repurposed for Blade Runner), and in the title track a song that basically summarizes all of Vangelis's career: the arpeggiated synths, the jazzier stuff (very briefly here), the vocal collaborations with Jon Anderson, and so on.
There are various other genres and bands I could have included here, but I felt they didn't have albums that I really wanted to have on this list. That's why I removed Radiohead (OK Computer or Kid A?) and Midlake now (and Fleet Foxes from an earlier draft), removed the ELP album (I wouldn't really put it on anymore), and also didn't include any britpop, postpunk, or new wave albums. Gotta stop somewhere, I guess. (But still 11 albums in total.)
