Ranking the Discographies

[revbob]

Best of Bruce:
Wild, Innocent, and the E Street Shuffle
Born to Run
Nebraska
Darkness on the Edge of Town
The River
Tunnel of Love
Born in the USA
Magic
The Rising
Seeger Sessions
Ghost of Tom Joad
Western Stars
Devils and Dust
Wrecking Ball
Letter to You
Human Touch
Lucky Town
High Hopes
Working on a Dream

River
Darkness
Tunnel
Born to Run
Greetings
Human Touch
Western Stars
Nebraska
Wild, Innocent etc.
Born in the USA
Lucky Town
Tom Joad
Rising
Working on a Dream

I don't know the rest.

I always remember Nebraska as being the one Bruce album everyone was supposed to like but it totally bored me anytime I tried it. Willing to give it another go now my palate is at least a tad more refined.

That was a marketing ploy.

I think the real marketing ploy was turning a bitter and sarcastic song about a Vietnam vet into a jingoistic anthem.

You're not wrong.

[Dr. Medulla]

I think the real marketing ploy was turning a bitter and sarcastic song about a Vietnam vet into a jingoistic anthem.

That song is a perfect example about the double-edged nature of satire—it risks being read as straight-up and adopted by the target. You can laugh or rage about the misinterpretation, but you've still lost control of it.

[WestwayKid]

The Kinks

Village Green
Arthur
Something Else
Face to Face
Lola Versus Powerman
Muswell Hillbillies
The Kink Kontroversy
Misfits
Low Budget
Sleepwalker
Everybody's in Show-Biz
Kinda Kinks
State of Confusion
Kinks
Give the People What They Want
Preservation 1
Percy
Schoolboys in Disgrace
Word of Mouth
Think Visual
UK Jive
Preservation 2
Soap Opera
Phobia

[Marky Dread]

Village Green
Arthur
Something Else
Face to Face
Kinks
Kinda Kinks
Lola Versus Powerman
The Kink Kontroversy
Muswell Hillbillies
Give the People What They Want
State of Confusion
UK Jive
Misfits
Low Budget
Percy
Sleepwalker
Everybody's in Show-Biz
Schoolboys in Disgrace
Preservation 1
Word of Mouth
Think Visual
Preservation 2
Soap Opera
Phobia

[WestwayKid]

Here's another one that's near and dear to my heart... all the way from fabulous Hawthorn, California... The Beach Boys!

Pet Sounds
Today!
Sunflower
Surf's Up (this would be higher if any of Dennis' songs had been included)
Smiley Smile
Friends
Wild Honey
Summer Days (And Summer Nights!!)
Love You
All Summer Long
20/20
Holland
Carl and the Passions: So Tough
Surfin' U.S.A.
Surfer Girl
Beach Boys' Party
That's Why God Made the Radio
Shut Down Vol. 2
Little Deuce Coupe
Surfin' Safari
M.I.U. Album
15 Big Ones
L.A. (Light Album)
Keepin' the Summer Alive
Still Cruisin'
The Beach Boys (1985)
Summer in Paradise

[Flex]

Here's another one that's near and dear to my heart... all the way from fabulous Hawthorn, California... The Beach Boys!

Pet Sounds
Today!
Sunflower
Surf's Up (this would be higher if any of Dennis' songs had been included)
Smiley Smile
Friends
Wild Honey
Summer Days (And Summer Nights!!)
Love You
All Summer Long
20/20
Holland
Carl and the Passions: So Tough
Surfin' U.S.A.
Surfer Girl
Beach Boys' Party
That's Why God Made the Radio
Shut Down Vol. 2
Little Deuce Coupe
Surfin' Safari
M.I.U. Album
15 Big Ones
L.A. (Light Album)
Keepin' the Summer Alive
Still Cruisin'
The Beach Boys (1985)
Summer in Paradise

This is an extremely defensible list. I'll try my hand at my own today. Love seeing smiley smile/friends/wild honey so high up

[WestwayKid]

Here's another one that's near and dear to my heart... all the way from fabulous Hawthorn, California... The Beach Boys!

Pet Sounds
Today!
Sunflower
Surf's Up (this would be higher if any of Dennis' songs had been included)
Smiley Smile
Friends
Wild Honey
Summer Days (And Summer Nights!!)
Love You
All Summer Long
20/20
Holland
Carl and the Passions: So Tough
Surfin' U.S.A.
Surfer Girl
Beach Boys' Party
That's Why God Made the Radio
Shut Down Vol. 2
Little Deuce Coupe
Surfin' Safari
M.I.U. Album
15 Big Ones
L.A. (Light Album)
Keepin' the Summer Alive
Still Cruisin'
The Beach Boys (1985)
Summer in Paradise

This is an extremely defensible list. I'll try my hand at my own today. Love seeing smiley smile/friends/wild honey so high up

I was looking forward to hearing your input!!

I think a lot of attention is paid to the 1962-65 era, but the 1966-73 era was fantastic! The hits and the audience shrank, but they were still a band, striving to create something new with every release. I think Endless Summer was one of the worst things that ever happened to them, because it opened the door for pure nostalgia. They stopped being a band at that point. Love You was a weird outlier, but it is indeed an exception to the rule when it comes to their post-73 output. I can find things I like on albums like 15 Big Ones and even Keepin' the Summer Alive, but for the most part there isn't much there. They stopped being "cool" when Smile collapsed, but they kept their integrity. By the late 70's they had lost even that. While That's Why God Made the Radio was by no means a masterpiece, it was respectable, so I'm thankful they could go out with that, and not Stars and Stripes Vol. 1 (which didn't even merit a spot on my list).

[WestwayKid]

Here's another one that's near and dear to my heart... all the way from fabulous Hawthorn, California... The Beach Boys!

Pet Sounds
Today!
Sunflower
Surf's Up (this would be higher if any of Dennis' songs had been included)
Smiley Smile
Friends
Wild Honey
Summer Days (And Summer Nights!!)
Love You
All Summer Long
20/20
Holland
Carl and the Passions: So Tough
Surfin' U.S.A.
Surfer Girl
Beach Boys' Party
That's Why God Made the Radio
Shut Down Vol. 2
Little Deuce Coupe
Surfin' Safari
M.I.U. Album
15 Big Ones
L.A. (Light Album)
Keepin' the Summer Alive
Still Cruisin'
The Beach Boys (1985)
Summer in Paradise

This is an extremely defensible list. I'll try my hand at my own today. Love seeing smiley smile/friends/wild honey so high up

Another point is that during the 1967-72 era, they acted like they didn't need Brian. Once Endless Summer hit, the thinking appears to have changed: Brian is part of this nostalgia formula and we need him to participate. This is how we got She's Got Rhythm.

[Low Down Low]

Here's another one that's near and dear to my heart... all the way from fabulous Hawthorn, California... The Beach Boys!

Pet Sounds
Today!
Sunflower
Surf's Up (this would be higher if any of Dennis' songs had been included)
Smiley Smile
Friends
Wild Honey
Summer Days (And Summer Nights!!)
Love You
All Summer Long
20/20
Holland
Carl and the Passions: So Tough
Surfin' U.S.A.
Surfer Girl
Beach Boys' Party
That's Why God Made the Radio
Shut Down Vol. 2
Little Deuce Coupe
Surfin' Safari
M.I.U. Album
15 Big Ones
L.A. (Light Album)
Keepin' the Summer Alive
Still Cruisin'
The Beach Boys (1985)
Summer in Paradise

Don't have even 20% of the required knowledge to make a BB list, but good to know I appear to be reasonably familiar with most of the top ones. Sunflower is very dear to my heart, being the album that finally awakened me to their unique magic, and some day soon, I'll have another go at trying to unlock the, as yet, hidden magic of Pet Sounds!

[matedog]

Best of Bruce:
Wild, Innocent, and the E Street Shuffle
Born to Run
Nebraska
Darkness on the Edge of Town
The River
Tunnel of Love
Born in the USA
Magic
The Rising
Seeger Sessions
Ghost of Tom Joad
Western Stars
Devils and Dust
Wrecking Ball
Letter to You
Human Touch
Lucky Town
High Hopes
Working on a Dream

River
Darkness
Tunnel
Born to Run
Greetings
Human Touch
Western Stars
Nebraska
Wild, Innocent etc.
Born in the USA
Lucky Town
Tom Joad
Rising
Working on a Dream

I don't know the rest.

My issue with The River is the outtakes are almost all better than what made it on the album. I'm kind of tainted listening to it now because I can't not think "well they could have had Roulette here instead" when listening to some dreck like Ramrod. Doing another list of the recording sessions, River ranks a lot higher:
Wild and Innocent - even the outtakes on this album are just magical. Every one of them.
The River
Darkness
Born to Run - the album is stellar, but the few outtakes are surprisingly weak given what came before and after
Nebraska
Born in the USA
Tunnel of Love - other than The Wish, the outtakes are pretty weak
Greetings - Far and away my least favorite album from the classic period. It's so stale and tame compared to how he played those songs live.

[Dr. Medulla]

Wild and Innocent - even the outtakes on this album are just magical. Every one of them.

Hi, Muppetdog Hifi.

[revbob]

Wild and Innocent - even the outtakes on this album are just magical. Every one of them.

Hi, Muppetdog Hifi.

What happened to Muppet?

[Dr. Medulla]

Wild and Innocent - even the outtakes on this album are just magical. Every one of them.

Hi, Muppetdog Hifi.

What happened to Muppet?

He's beating people who don't genuflect before the exhibits at the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame.

[WestwayKid]

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds:

Let Love In
Skeleton Tree
The Boatman's Call
Tender Prey
Your Funeral... My Trial
No More Shall We Part
Murder Ballads
Abattoir Blues / The Lyre of Orpheus
The Good Son
Ghosteen
Henry's Dream
Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!
Push the Sky Away
From Her to Eternity
The Firstborn is Dead
Kicking Against the Pricks
Nocturama

There is not a bad LP in the bunch, just some are better than others.

[Low Down Low]

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds:

Let Love In
Skeleton Tree
The Boatman's Call
Tender Prey
Your Funeral... My Trial
No More Shall We Part
Murder Ballads
Abattoir Blues / The Lyre of Orpheus
The Good Son
Ghosteen
Henry's Dream
Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!
Push the Sky Away
From Her to Eternity
The Firstborn is Dead
Kicking Against the Pricks
Nocturama

There is not a bad LP in the bunch, just some are better than others.

Wouldn't quibble very much, my pick of a really strong bunch has always been No More Shall We Part and I'd probably have The Good Son and Dog, Lazarus, Dig a bit higher. Otherwise, solid.