JRundquist's Top 50 Albums Of All Time

Cool rundown, thanks for that!
So now I have 20+ albums I need to listen to, but I don't have the time, thanks for that!

Thanks for putting the work into this.  It is appreciated.
I will definitely check some of these out as many I have not heard of.
Just for the record, I would have gone with Awake & Ghost Reveries as the DT & Opeth entries, but I assume they were close seconds for you????

i have to disagree on Terria.  thats an album that i could not get rid of fast enough.  but thats just me.
 
im going to check out Alcest and Long Distance Calling on your recommendation.

Pretty kickass list.  It's awesome that you took the time to go into each one so thoroughly.  I'll definitely have to check some of these out, especially the Devin Townsend stuff - I've been putting that off for a long time now.  Now this has got me thinking about what my Top 50 would be . . .

I've been meaning to compile a list for a few years, but you've inspired me to do it today, Josh. So, I tried to limit multiple entries from my favorite bands like Rush, DT, etc, but didn't really adhere to that rule too much if I felt particularly strong about something.
 
 
DTman2112's Top 50 Albums of All-Time

50. Metallica - Master of Puppets
49. Bigelf - Cheat the Gallows
48. The Beatles - Abbey Road
47. Guns N' Roses - Appetite For Destruction
46. Green Day - Dookie
45. Devin Townsend - Terria
44. The Smashing Pumpkins - Melloncollie & the Infinite Sadness
43. Elton John - Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
42. Iron Maiden - Number of the Beast
41. Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon
40. Neal Morse - ?
39. Paul Gilbert - Get Out of My Yard
38. John Petrucci - Suspended Animation
37. Stone Temple Pilots - Tiny Music
36. Muse - Absolution
35. Spock's Beard - V
34. 311 - Grassroots
33. Devin Townsend - Ghost
32. Petrucci/Rudess - An Evening With
31. Pink Floyd - The Wall
30. James LaBrie - Elements of Persuasion
29. Transatlantic - SMPTe
28. Opeth - Still Life
27. Queensryche - Operation Mindcrime
26. Led Zeppelin - Physical Graffiti
25. Pagan's Mind - God's Equation
24. Iron Maiden - Piece of Mind
23. Rush - Signals
22. Devin Townsend - Deconstruction
21. Neal Morse - Sola Scriptura
20. Into Eternity - Buried In Oblivion
19. Ayreon - The Human Equation
18. 3 - The End Is Begun
17. Opeth - Blackwater Park
16. Rush - Permanent Waves
15. BTBAM - Colors
14. Led Zeppelin - BBC Sessions
13. Megadeth - Rust In Pieces
12. Devin Townsend - Ziltoid the Omniscient
11. Dream Theater - Train of Thought
10. Dream Theater - Awake
 9. Led Zeppelin - IV
 8. Devin Townsend - Synchestra
 7. Rush - A Farewell to Kings
 6. Opeth - Ghost Reveries
 5. Dream Theater - Six Degrees
 4. Rush - Hemispheres
 3. Dream Theater - Scenes From a Memory
 2. Rush - 2112
 1. Dream Theater - Images & Words

Awesome, Terria is also (tied with Pink Floyd's Animals for) my favorite album ever. I need to check out some of the others listed here. Long Distance Calling sounds interesting.

one of the biggest things that his list strikes me with is how many of these albums are new-to-him (or just new in general). I guess that speaks to where Josh is at as a listener. But I and I imagine a lot of others would likely not be able to include many if any albums we heard within the last year or 2 on all-time list, just for the sake of aging. Although, I suppose if instead of factoring years, months or even weeks, you consider how times you've listened to an album, the actual net time from the time you 1st heard it isn't as relevant.

Josh,
 
Just wanted to say thanks for the time you took with all of the great reviews and suggestions.
Now I have some new things to try anhd listen to in the coming months.

Thanks again guys for everything I'm glad you guys have dug this list as much as you have.
 
@Don Carnage- Haha I do that to almost everyone I talk to. I add about 20-200 albums they need to hear.
 
@Rhino2112- Awake was a very close second, Ghost Reveries is actually both 4th or 5th for me. Great album, but it's one of their lower albums of the 00s.
 
@Colin007-
 
@DTman2112- that is a killer list man. A lot of those albums would have been in this list as well if I had included multiple bands' albums.
 
@Io- Terria And Animals, two killer number 1 albums to have. and LDC is so very good yet so very underrated still. I'd give anything for a North American tour.
 
@Angra- Well it's like what we've talked about on the Epic Rock Talk. It's not necessarily the age of the album, but how many times you wanna go back to that album and listen to it again. That matters most to me.
 
@engelcr- Thank you!

Great list/work. Thanks for doing it. 
 
I was particularly pleased to see Long Distance Calling high on your list! They are fantastic.

you did a great job with the list, Josh. I enjoyed following it

@LiquidDreams- Thank you. Long Distance Calling is so damn good.
 
@IceDog- Thanks man, that means a lot!

Props from South Africa JRundquist!
Cool list,I really enjoyed reading through the entries and descriptions...
I must say I've never quite 'gotten' Devin Townsend - I have Terria, Synchestra, Ziltoid and all of the DTP albums but he's yet to click with me - this list has made me wanna reassess my opinion of him :)

Furthermore I may try compile a top 50 of my own from this so thanks!!

Great list!  IMHO if anyone disagrees with the "of all time" desegnation, see it as at least, a list of albums that deserve special attention.
 
For my taste, Deconstruction moves further and further up my list with each listen.  It just pushes all the right buttons for me.

I know this is your personal list, but I'm sure you wouldn't mind if I picked up on a few points and, dare I say, disagreed with some things...:)
 
Firstly and...er, foremostly, if that's a word (apparently it's not, it's been underlined in red, but bugger it, on we go), thank you for introducing me to Devin Townsend's song Deep Peace, one of the most beautiful pieces I've heard in a long time. I only knew of him from Steve Vai's Sex and Religion, I'd never heard a single song by him before. But that one has hit me hard. 
 
Thanks also for the entry on Opeth. I may be close to unique on this board in that for some reason I'd never heard a single song of Opeth. But your description of the album was such that I borrowed it from a friend, gave it my attention, and yes, brilliant music (just can't get into the vocals, but that's just me). 
 
I'd echo the sentiments expressed above about Metallica's Justice. Just my opinion, but how this can be placed above Master of Puppets is beyond me. Too much aimless, directionless riffing for my tastes, as opposed to 'Master', where not a note is wasted.
 
One final point - I think, reading though your list, I have got a reasonably good sense of your tastes. And that's why I was surprised to find no 'Follow The Reaper' by Children of Bodom on your list. You've written before about this band (your disappointment with their latest, Relentless Reckless Forever, with which I politely disagreed :)) I'd be interested to here your thoughts on that album, and if you'd place it somewhere in your top 100. 
 
Thanks for making this list, it was one of the best threads I've read on this forum, and I know it must have taken you a lot of time and effort. 
 
 

After following this forum for a few years I finally decided to join.  This was the thread that finally pulled me in.  I've been listening to Devin for a little over a year now and just finally purchased Terria.  What took me so long?  Who the hell knows.  I also picked up Textures' Drawing Circles.  I've heard of these guys, but this album was more than I expected.  Fantastic.   Thanks for opening my mind a little more.

he did mention the other night in Chat, how he may publish the other 51-185 at some point (no blurbs tho)

@playfan- Thank you. I will be the first to admit that not everyone will get Hevy Devy. Nr do I expect all people to. But he has written at least one album that people can appreciate, no matter what genre of music they listen to. It just takes time, or maybe never at all.
 
@Tweedlenutz-  That is absolutely a great way to look at it. Its just my vision. And with Deconstruction. It's the best album of it's style without question, the reason why it is where it's at is because I've had AE and Terria longer. Deconstruction has been out for 3/4s of a year. A year from now, it might be in the top 3.
 
@Dave_Manchester- I was expecting that sooner or later. haha. I'm glad you have gotten more into Devin because of this thread. if you keep going you have quite the adventure in front of you. With Opeth, Opeth was my gateway band into growls and screams.and like it Is aid it took me 6 months until I could look past the vocals and really appreciate the music behind it. If you give it time, it'll be worth it. Metallica...Justice means more to me then Puppets. no real rhyme or reason behind it besides what I've mentioned before, but that's how it is for me. Puppets is a killer album of course, just again....Justice means more to me. Children Of Bodom....not in my top 100 or anywhere near it. I know a lot of people love Children Of Bodom, but I just...don't. Hell I went to a Children Of Bodom show, but left before they played. To be fair I met Devin Townsend for the first time that night and hung out with his drummer for almost a half hour after but still. I just never really got into them others have. But regardless of all of that I'm glad you enjoyed the list.
 
@ThraxDethDT- Glad you're digging Devin and Also Textures. This is the only real Textures album that I love all the way through. The rest have songs that I really enjoy but Drawing Circles is just simply the Bee's knees.
 
@Angra- I will do it eventually, but I'm going to let this one sink in just a little bit more. Also I'm trying to decide if I should make that list in order, or just go Alphabetical (I'm leaning towards the latter).

I really enjoyed reading through the list.  This reminds me of the Top 90 albums of the 90's that someone (Dave Thomas, I think?) put together back in the ytsejam mailing list days.  That list exposed me to some fantastic bands including my personal favorite, Devin Townsend.  That list had a lot of influence on my CD collection and pocket book.
 
I have 22 of these 50 albums, and I am going to have to seek out the ones I haven't heard.  Once I do, I think I will create a playlist of all 50 in ascending order to see what I think.  Of the ones I have, I think it's a pretty solid list, though some I just can't get into (Muse, BTBAM).  I'll give them another shot though.  A very enjoyable read...
 
Some from my personal collection that I would insert/replace into the top 50:
Kevin Gilbert - Toy Matinee
Symphony X - Either V: New Mythology Suite or The Odyssey
Spock's Beard - V
Vauxdvihl - To Dimension Logic
Toad The Wet Sprocket - Dulcinea (Admittedly, a guilty pleasure)
Fates Warning - A Pleasant Shade Of Gray
Queensryche - Promised Land or O:M
Shadow Gallery - Tyranny
 
Some that might or might not crack my Top 50:
Green Carnation - Light of Day, Day of Darkness
Tori Amos - Little Earthquakes
Nightwish - Oceanborn or Dark Passion Play
 
I also have a few favorite bands that I don't think ever quite put together the perfect album to rank in the top 50, but a "best-of" collection might:
Savatage
After Forever
Slaughter (yes, really.  Slaughter)
 
 

This topic has made me want to make my own 'Top 50 Power Metal Albums' thread, but given that I seem to be the only power metal nerd on the forum (and as a result the only person who cares about it) I think I'll keep that to my own nerdy listmaking self, hahaha!

JRundquist



11.) 3- The Ghost You Gave To Me

Joey Eppard and Co. are at the top of their game right now. The Ghost You Gave To Me is the perfect accumulation of everything 3 has done in the past, and make it into such a great Progressive Rock/Progressive Metal album.  The songs can be heavy, then poppy, then technical as fuck, and all while being able to capture your interest and never let go. Everyone in 3 are masters of their instruments. While Joey Eppard, of course, gets the most exposure (and it's truly deserving),  Billy, Gartdrumm, and Daniel are all fucking amazing at what they play and deserve the same amount of love that Joey does. Also on this album, 3 wrote their best masterpiece, Only Child. The 7 minute epic that showcases what 3 is all about in one song. The only complaint I can give about this album is that I can't play it enough. 3 deserves to be at Dream Theater style praise and luxury, and I'll do anything I can to help with that, even if it is just being able to play them on my show. I love you guys. Please, please, please, check this album out and love it as much as I do. It's so well deserved.

Favorite Song: Only Child

I think I may have overdone it with this one.  Daily plays.  Sometime twice.  I can't stop playing this damn album!  It's so frakking infectious, I'm waking up with their songs in my head!  (Don't) make it stop!

@savaytse66
 
Green Carnation - LOD,DOD is a freaking brilliant album.  stunning, really.

Before I move, I'll post my top 200.

I think I'll post a list of my own in two weeks. Until then I'll probably be too busy to write a mini-review for each of the albums.

This thread just saved me from a musical drought. Thank you for doing this!

I would be curious to see how much this list changes in ten years...

^ Honestly, not much will change. I've been listening to almost the same styles of music for the last few years, Prog, Black, Thrash, Death Power. The only thing that's really changed is more of the sub genres I've discovered since then.
 
Unless in the next 10 years music drastically changes in the way I want music to change, it will be pretty close to the same. give or take a few albums.
 
But thanks again for checking out this thread. With everything that happened while making this thread. i kinda forgot I made it. But I am in a much happier state of mind now.

yeah, i remember the issues you were having, glad youre in a better place now.
 
i never thought i would stop listening to the stuff i used to listen to, but its funny how things change, and all of a sudden you find yourself gravitating to other stuff.  it might just happen.