About Owen

Must Have Classic Vinyl Recordings

Retro Vinyl For Any Collection

This is a fairly arbitrary list of what I consider to be important classic vinyl recordings to have as a core component of any collection. And yes – most of them are moldy oldies heard on any AOR station in the world a million times. But every once in a while it is important to take the time to pull out that classic record, cue up the turntable and listen to the entire album again, to remember why it is was important in the first place.

As an example I may not listen to Bruce Springsteen for a year at a time – I find most of his newer
material, well “meh”. He is still a great lyricist and singer, but it just doesn’t have the urgency and raw passion of his early releases. When I put on “Born to Run” it brings back a time of musical awakening – this was exciting and life altering stuff. Or at least it was for me.

In No Particular Order

As mentioned in the “About” section, I don’t necessarily like to put things in “buckets” or specific genres of music, it feels limiting – like when you are talking about someone like Prince (RIP) for instance. He could and did play anything, from funk to pop to rock. His guitar work rivaled any hard rock guitar hero and his sense of rhythm was second to none. So to put him in one category is unfair to his legacy.

For these reasons I have put all of these key recordings in one table, which I will continue to add to in the future as there are endless worthy candidates. Please suggest any other albums you consider also important to modern rock music, it doesn’t have to be “rock” per se, as much as an influence on all popular music of this and the last century. There are many blues, jazz and country albums that have had a big impact on rock acts that may not always get their due credit. As well, rap is a musical form that has not only been influenced by these other forms but also integral in informing modern pop and rock.

In this table, besides a link to review the purchase options on the album cover, I have linked to an original review of the album itself, if I could locate it. Often this is Rolling Stone, because although they are not what they used to be as a music publication, back in the day the reviews were usually pretty decent.

However, for example, for Bob Dylan there are so many legendary albums, I chose my favorite and linked to a review list of all his releases. There have been so many words written about these artists and their music, I don’t think there is a lot more to say except how each of us individually relates to their music.

Cover	Artist	Album	Five word summary
	Bruce Springsteen	Born To Run	Urgent street poetry with guitars
	Prince	Purple Rain	Baby I'm a star
	Bob Dylan	The Freewheelin Bob Dylan	Start of the Dylan legend
	Nirvana	Nevermind	Much more than just grunge
	Guns N Roses	Appetite for Destruction	Dirty, sleazy awesome hard rock
	Bob Marley and the Wailers	Legend	The reggae master's best jammin
	Jimi Hendrix	Are You Experienced?	Stratospheric guitar master's sonic masterpiece
	Allman Brothers Band	At Fillmore East	The pinnacle of Southern rock
	The Doors	The Doors	Dark mystical beat poetry rock
	Faith No More	Angel Dust	Eclectic genius, influence often overlooked
	The Eagles	Hotel California	Love em, hate em, classic
	U2	The Joshua Tree	Spiritual and political arena rock
	Fleetwood Mac	Rumours	Pain and anger made gold
	The Clash	London Calling	Political English punk rock triumph
	Pink Floyd	The Wall	Indulgent, bombastic slide into darkness
	Led Zeppelin	Led Zeppelin II	Mighty, enormous blues-rock blueprint
	AC/DC	Back in Black	Tragedy turned into crunching comeback
	James Brown	Greatest Hits	Funk master at his greatest
	The Replacements	Tim	Shambling, often brilliant lyrical rock
	Green Day	Dookie	Tight loud pop punk revival
	Paul Simon	Graceland	Groovy world music, sharp lyrics
	Husker Du	Zen Arcade	Two record midwestern punk opera
	Boston	Boston	Debut album defines "classic" rock
	Peter Frampton	Comes Alive	Prototypical 70's, underrated guitar master
	Sex Pistols	Never Mind the Bullocks	Punk anarchy in the UK

Extraneous Commentary

• Purposely I have only included one album from each artist listed, obviously most of these artists have multiple classic recordings. I listed my favorite, and/or most important.
• I haven’t included any Beatles, Rolling Stones, Beach Boys, and a few others – though there is no doubt they should be in any classic rock album list. The fact is, if you don’t have them already, you never will. Besides not being a huge fan myself, I just felt it wasn’t necessary.  Of course you could say that about Led Zeppelin also, but hey, it’s my list.
• It is quite interesting to read reviews of some of these albums through the filter of time and hundreds of hours of listening. For example, the Rolling Stone review of “Nevermind” wasn’t exactly raving (“If Nirvana isn’t onto anything altogether new, Nevermind does possess the songs, character and confident spirit to be much more than a reformulation of college radio’s high-octane hits” – four stars).

Vinyl Records Sound Quality : Superior?

Is vinyl analog sound quality really superior to digital forms? Why are vinyl records making a resurgence in this decade, now overtaking CDs in physical recording media? Here I make a brief, relatively non-technical vinyl vs digital sound quality comparison and provide links to other opinions. In the end, the decision is in the eye (ear) of the beholder, but there are definitely clear characteristics of each type of playback method.

How Are Vinyl Records Created?

Although the basic processes for recording on vinyl has been around since the 1800’s, obviously many changes and improvements have occurred over the last 140 years. Here is a brief history of the vinyl record and a couple videos depicting how they evolved.

How Vinyl Records Are Made

Factors That Affect Vinyl Sound Quality

Vinyl is by nature an analog format – it is “lossless” in that none of the sound information is lost in the recording process. This is unlike digital formats where compression is used and depending on the playback audio quality, information can be lost and the sound can be “thinner”. In the process of creating and playing back a vinyl recording, besides the equipment used, there can be several inherent factors that can alter the vinyl sound quality:

• Recording quality – this depends on the mastering process and whether the original master was used in the pressing process. Records sourced from analog recordings vs digital are likely to sound better.
• Quality of the pressing process and number of times the press is used.
• Quality of the vinyl – was it made from “virgin” vinyl? There are debates whether thicker vinyl (180-200 gram vs. 140 gram) helps sound quality, but may be helpful in maintenance of the record. Colored vinyl has been said to have lower sound quality, but not definitively.
• Perhaps most importantly, maintenance and care of the records. Any great record can sound bad if it has excessively louder “crackle and pop”. A lower level of these imperfections tend to be part of the natural, warmer sound that audiophiles claim vinyl gives them, but a badly maintained record is a horrible thing indeed.

So a digital format like a quality CD has really none of these concerns and can essentially last forever with no sound degradation. Also, a digital format has more capability of dynamic range and high/low frequency. In technical terms, there really isn’t much that a vinyl record offers that digital cannot, at least to the limitations of the human ear. And digital is much more convenient.

So Then, Why Vinyl?

If vinyl has these limitations why is vinyl still so popular among audiophiles (and increasing in sales)? It probably comes down to personal preferences and intangibles. When vinyl vs digital sound quality is discussed, it often comes down to what the listener wants to hear. The other factors may be in the experience itself, the actual act of finding and collecting.

• “Warmth” of sound – this may often be  partly due to imperfections in the record itself, leading to this perception. But the fact that vinyl is a lossless format means all the subtleties and depth are present.
• The physical nature of the product – it has a big sleeve with artwork and other information, often song lyrics. There is something satisfying about having big stacks of records, a heft and authenticity that affirms your dedication to the form.
• Nostalgia? Vinyl hearkens back to a simpler time, when every new release and playback was an experience to be savored.
• Financial – records are typically worth more than when you bought them (lately). CDs and other digital forms are essentially the same as buying clothes or a car – they depreciate instantly.

So whether or not vinyl actually sounds better – does it really matter? Your preferences are up to you and everyone has the freedom to choose. Though in recent years I have built a collection of digital music, my record collection is still a key part of my musical journey. If you are interested in the hobby, or just want to build your collection, here are some of our choices for classic recordings that would fit in any collection.