Your top five musical pieces (in any format) regardless of recording quality.

[soundofvoid]

Let's see what OUR best recordings are.I am talking about the music that gives you goosebumbs
EVERY time,whether you hear it in your home or in your car.I am not talking about top quality recordings
that please your ear with their masterfull recording technique but for music that relates to your inner core...that soothes or troubles your inner self.It could be music related with some particular moment
in your life or that represents a phase you were once into or you are now...
WITH explanations please!I want to see some becauses here...
Think it as a visit to your psychotherapist where the first question is not about your childhood but about
what specific music pieces rock your boat...

 

[kach22i]

RE: goosebumbs

I think the songs heard in my childhood and "coming of age" bring on those "goosebumbs" more often than music I currently enjoy.

1. Almost anything by the Beetles
2. David Bowie: Space Oddity
3. Emerson Lake and Palmer: Lucky Man
4. The Doors: Riders on the Storm
5. Yes: Long distance roundabout

Many Jazz classics have the same affect on me now, but for a pop-rock retro-flashback use the list above. In addition, I think that songs which compel you to sing along have a certain "goosebumb advantage".

Many reference recordings in EL-34 tube review:
http://www.whatsbestforum.com/showthread.php?27-Tube-Review-Tung-Sol-EL34

 

[soundofvoid]

Maybe just five is too short a list!
Anyway after a thorough inspection of my "software" arsenal i've come up with these:
1))"If you wear that velvet dress" by the U2, because it was the soundtrack of many really personal moments...
2)"The fisherman's daughter+White mustang II" from Daniel Lanois, because they are hauntingly beautiful and take me to a place or rocky coasts
wild seas and thick mist covering myths and legends of the past...
3)"Achilles' last stand" by the Led Zep, because it is a rock song that is conceived and executed in such a way that leaves me stunned all the times!
4)"My vengeance" by the Wipers,because it gives me an adrenaline boost whenever i need it!
5)"Oh, del mio dolce ardor'' an aria from "Paris und Helena" written by Gluck and sung from the divine Elly Ameling, just to remind me that there must be a reason for the human presence on earth...

 

[Mike Lavigne]

there are more than 5 of these, but here's five that come to mind....i had to add a 6th....

i have heard all these recordings in various levels of playback quality or circumstance and my world always stops for that moment to take them in.

1-C,S, & N's 'Helplessly Hopeing'--it's just always grabbed me. who knows why?
2-Bruno Walter's Beethoven 6th Symphony....first movement.--definitive performace of arguably the most beautiful music yet written.
3-Bob Segar and the Silver Bullitt Band, 'Against the Wind'.--the flow of it sweeps me along to 'somewhere else'
4-Ray Charles-'America the Beautiful'--i saw him do it live many years ago and it still affects me.
5-Adderly-Davis, 'Know What I Mean', 'Autumn Leaves'.--magical musical moment in every way.
6-The Freewheeling Bob Dylan-'A Hard Rain's a Gonna Fall'.--captures something.....a force of nature.

 

[jadis]

1. Cascades - Rhythm of the Rain (Valiant WS-405). I never get tired of playing this. I was in Grade school in the late 60s and early 70s and our school public address loudspeaker would always play this album at dismissal time. Everyday. lol.

2. Kornet Har Sin Vila (Proprius 7853). I fell in love with the music in this although I don't understand Swedish. lol. We had a lot of these types of songs with choir, guitar, tambourins in the college chapel and the melody of this album is such a charm.

3. Brothers Four Sings Lennon McCartney 'The Beatles Songbook' - Columbia 360 Stereo CS9302. Ever since I heard this in a friend's place, I bought multiple copies of this because my friends who hear it in my place kept buying them up. LOL. I don't mind the images 'pasted' in the speakers, the blending of their voices is just so nice.

4. Music for Double Bass - Rossini, Hayden, Dittersdorf, Keyper. Neville Marriner/Academy of St Martin in the Fields. (EMI ASD 3264) When I heard it in a friend's house playing through the Quad ESL 63s, I thought I was 'seeing' the performers. One of the most pleasant double bass concerto albums I've ever heard.

5. Original Soundtrack from 'The Mambo Kings'. (German pressed LP). I was bowled over by the CD, and it was memorable because the was the first thing I played through my then brand new Magnepan 2.7s. I searched for the vinyl for years, finally found it last year but the seller in Germany ships only to Europe so I had to ask a German friend of mine to buy it and then ship it to me to the Philippines. Took a long time, but wow....goosebumps.

 

[soundofvoid]

Mike,you added a sixth!That's cheating!

 

[Gregadd]

1. Tuck and Patti Love Warriors Windham Hill Records Jim Hendrix's "Castles in the Sand"
2. Cassaundra Wilson Thunderbird Blue Note A husky raspy voice that will seduce you.
3. Hugh Masekela The Lasting Impressions Of OOGA BOOGA Verve Records. He mastered the trumpet. His voice truly gives the impression he is calling out over the African plains.
4. Lou Rawls Lou Rawls Live Capitol Jazz Records . Live recording with audience feedback. He has a great deep bass voice and the album really rocks
5. Dana Krall Love Scenes Impulse Records Before she got really famous. She sings and plays true jazz.

 

[Mark (Basspig) Weiss]

My tastes run international, but I do have a few stateside favorites..

Percy Faith - Theme from a Summer Place
Camille Saint-saëns - Symphony Nr 3 in C Maj (the 1959 version with Berj Zamkochian)
Joe Hisaishi - Main Theme from Kaze no tani no Nausicaä
Norihiro Tsuru - I Will (The Ancient Sun)
Please Save My Earth - Mizoguchi Hajime - Awakening


If I had to say I have a favorite modern composer, I would say it's Joe Hisaishi (Mamoru Fujisawa). His music is the key to my inner consciousness. The first time I heard the opening theme for Nausicaä, it was from a tape trader, recording on cassette made with a boom box, off an LP with a lousey cartridge/preamp, but I had an out of body experience listening to it. I sat down and listened to it on CD last night and it was a totally immersive experience.

 

[Steve Williams]

Mark good recommendation. Which of Joe Hisaishi's albums would you recommend for a first listen for me

 

[Phelonious Ponk]

No such thing as a "top five," but here are five good ones:

Revolver - Because my older brother, a died-in-the-wool Everly Brothers/Roy Orbison/Beach Boys fan, brought it home and decided he didn't like it. I bought it from him and it is my favorite Beatles album to this day.

If I Could Only Remember My Name - David Crosby - Because it is haunting, spacey, delicious and absolutely iconic of its era even though it is so unique that most of it is as fresh today as it was upon release.

It's Too Late To Stop Now - Van Morrison - You can have Get Yer Ya Yas Out. This is the best live album ever made. I wore out the vinyl twice. I own a couple of versions of the CD. "Listen To The Lion" alone is worth the price of admission.

Under The Table And Dreaming - Dave Matthews Band - Because this band, this album, proved to this old guy that the younger generation could be fresh, be creative and play their asses off. Because it was my little girl's first rock concert and I was her date.

Kind of Blue -- Come on. You need a reason?

P

 

[Mark (Basspig) Weiss]

Mark good recommendation. Which of Joe Hisaishi's albums would you recommend for a first listen for me

Depends on your preferences..

Electronic-oriented, then I would say "The Universe Within"
Romantic/symphonic, dinner music, then try "My Lost City"
Piano lovers will enjoy his "Piano Stories" series of albums.

He's done so many film soundtracks it's hard to recommend just one. Hint: His "Symphonic Suite" versions of soundtracks are the best. I'm thinking of "Mononoke Hime" as one example.

The "Nausicaä" double CD soundtrack/image is a longtime favorite of mine, despite it's sonic sterility of being recorded with 60 microphones in near-field proximity to each instrument.

 

[DWR]

1) Shelby Lynne - You don't have to say you love me

2) Mark Knopfler - The Ragpickers dream

3) Willie Nelson - Sunday mornin comin down

4) Cowboy Junkies - I'm so lonesome I could cry

5) Norah Jones - The long way home from (live from Austin TX)

 

[MylesBAstor]

1. Cream: Sunshine of my Love

2. Donovan: Atlantis

3. Stravinsky: Rite of Spring (Dorati)

4. Beethoven: Symphony #9 Ode to Joy (Reiner)

5. Miles Davis: Autumn Leaves

Honorable mention: Beatles: Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds

 

[MylesBAstor]

there are more than 5 of these, but here's five that come to mind....i had to add a 6th....

i have heard all these recordings in various levels of playback quality or circumstance and my world always stops for that moment to take them in.

1-C,S, & N's 'Helplessly Hopeing'--it's just always grabbed me. who knows why?
2-Bruno Walter's Beethoven 6th Symphony....first movement.--definitive performace of arguably the most beautiful music yet written.
3-Bob Segar and the Silver Bullitt Band, 'Against the Wind'.--the flow of it sweeps me along to 'somewhere else'
4-Ray Charles-'America the Beautiful'--i saw him do it live many years ago and it still affects me.
5-Adderly-Davis, 'Know What I Mean', 'Autumn Leaves'.--magical musical moment in every way.
6-The Freewheeling Bob Dylan-'A Hard Rain's a Gonna Fall'.--captures something.....a force of nature.

Nice choices

 

[MylesBAstor]

RE: goosebumbs

I think the songs heard in my childhood and "coming of age" bring on those "goosebumbs" more often than music I currently enjoy.

1. Almost anything by the Beetles
2. David Bowie: Space Oddity
3. Emerson Lake and Palmer: Lucky Man
4. The Doors: Riders on the Storm
5. Yes: Long distance roundabout

Many Jazz classics have the same affect on me now, but for a pop-rock retro-flashback use the list above. In addition, I think that songs which compel you to sing along have a certain "goosebumb advantage".

Many reference recordings in EL-34 tube review:
http://www.whatsbestforum.com/showthread.php?27-Tube-Review-Tung-Sol-EL34

Good stuff!

 

[vinylphilemag]

Here's my attempt, in no particular order:

1. Mike Oldfield's Tubular Bells.

2. Jean-Michel Jarre's Equinoxe.

3. Dire Straits' Love Over Gold.

4. Prokoffiev's Lt. Kije (Rainer conducting the CSO).

5. Jeff Wayne's The War of the Worlds.

Of course, I have many other faves!

Edit: In all of the above, I'm referring to the whole album, rather than just one song.

 

[Steve Williams]

Love Over Gold Track 2 (Private Investigations) is one of my go to demo disks

 

[Johnny Vinyl]

Marvin Gaye: What's Going On
Pink Floyd: Wish You Were Here
Mike Oldfield: Tubular Bells
Supertramp: Crisis? What Crisis?
Rickie Lee Jones: Self-titled Debut

 

[vinylphilemag]

Love Over Gold Track 2 (Private Investigations) is one of my go to demo disks

If I'm pressed very hard, I'd probably name Telegraph Road as my all-time favourite track. But pretty much the whole album (with the exception of the title track IMHO) is fantastic.

 

[RUR]

#1 with a bullet - Renaissance Scheherazade

and, in no particular order:
- Genesis Selling England By the Pound
- Kate Bush Hounds of Love
- Mary Chapin Carpenter Time*Sex*Love
- Quicksilver Messenger Service Happy Trails

Man, I need to get with the 21st century.