Albums which blew you away on first play.

Posted by: dave marshall on 16 August 2018

  The Jimi Hendrix Experience - Are You Experienced.

  I've just mentioned this album over on the "University" topic, and I can still remember bringing it home from the record shop and  

  being absolutely gobsmacked, hearing it for the first time.

  I'd never heard anything remotely like it before, and to say that the first listening was jaw dropping would be an understatement

  indeed.

  So, what album had a similar effect on you, the memory of which has stayed with you till this day?

Posted on: 16 August 2018 by Bert Schurink

What a voice in music, he might become the new Miles Davis...

 

Posted on: 16 August 2018 by Bert Schurink

Had the combined cd of 1955 and 1981, mesmerizing ...

 

Posted on: 16 August 2018 by Innocent Bystander
Bert Schurink posted:

Especially child in time and space trucking, lazy settled my love for the guys...

 

Funny isn’t it - when it first came out I didn’t like this as much overall as the studio albums, probably because they were whay I was used to, and despite the fact I had seen them live several times (including several performances of Lazy by then). So It didn’t get played as often as the other albums...  Decades later when I started streaming, and ripped all my vinyl, and boughtbsome CDs to rip or downloaded new copies of the most worn out records (of which DP in Rock was one, I saw this as a hi res rersion being sold by Linn Records, so I decided to get it. All changed - the sound quality of MiJ is better than the others, and maybe because of changes to my system as well over the decades, I now prefer it and play it more often than the studio albums (though they get played too, for the music not on this and for the different presentations of those that are.

Posted on: 16 August 2018 by Bert Schurink
Innocent Bystander posted:
Bert Schurink posted:

Especially child in time and space trucking, lazy settled my love for the guys...

 

Funny isn’t it - when it first came out I didn’t like this as much overall as the studio albums, probably because they were whay I was used to, and despite the fact I had seen them live several times (including several performances of Lazy by then). So It didn’t get played as often as the other albums...  Decades later when I started streaming, and ripped all my vinyl, and boughtbsome CDs to rip or downloaded new copies of the most worn out records (of which DP in Rock was one, I saw this as a hi res rersion being sold by Linn Records, so I decided to get it. All changed - the sound quality of MiJ is better than the others, and maybe because of changes to my system as well over the decades, I now prefer it and play it more often than the studio albums (though they get played too, for the music not on this and for the different presentations of those that are.

I still remember. Lying on the bed. Only having a cassette radio. Banging my head from left to right. For me there was some rawness of emotion which pulled me over.

Posted on: 16 August 2018 by ALANP
Bert Schurink posted:

Especially child in time and space trucking, lazy settled my love for the guys...

 

I still think the cover photo is one of the all time great live in concert shots that I have ever seen,just makes you want to play the album. 

Posted on: 16 August 2018 by T38.45

Steely Dan- aja,,,, after all the crap they played on the radio, they played aja...so perfect, so good, was it jazz? pop? Never heard of Steely Dan before, bought all their records, still fan.

another „wow“ for me was the tape I got from another soldier, the name on it was „The Smiths“...still a fan today of course:-)

Posted on: 16 August 2018 by sjt

The one for me is Who's Next. I even found a picture:

I discovered this quite recently - 2011. I decided to expand my horizons and went through one of those "best 500 albums ever" lists and bought anything that appealed. Most were quite old and wernt expensive, and I think I bought about 50-75. I think I got this one and Quadrophenia in this bunch. This one grabbed me from the start with the electronic modulating sounds and then the power, aggression and intelligence. The three stand out songs are Baba O Reilly, Behind Blue Eyes (which I think of as a tyrant's lament) and Won't Get Fooled Again.

I have many other Who records now and Live at Leeds is probably my favourite but Who's Next started it all.

Posted on: 16 August 2018 by Innocent Bystander
sjt posted:

The one for me is Who's Next. I even found a picture:

I discovered this quite recently - 2011. I decided to expand my horizons and went through one of those "best 500 albums ever" lists and bought anything that appealed. Most were quite old and wernt expensive, and I think I bought about 50-75. I think I got this one and Quadrophenia in this bunch. This one grabbed me from the start with the electronic modulating sounds and then the power, aggression and intelligence. The three stand out songs are Baba O Reilly, Behind Blue Eyes (which I think of as a tyrant's lament) and Won't Get Fooled Again.

I have many other Who records now and Live at Leeds is probably my favourite but Who's Next started it all.

Well discovered, i nearly put tgat one instead of Tommy, as this too was a wow record - though I got mine when first released in 1971! (And saw them live at about the same time... one of the best live performances I had seen.)

Posted on: 16 August 2018 by TOBYJUG

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51qKg28PamL._SY355_.jpg

Global Communication.  76-14

First heard this on John Peel radio show around summer 94.

Posted on: 16 August 2018 by ewemon
Innocent Bystander posted:
Bert Schurink posted:

Especially child in time and space trucking, lazy settled my love for the guys...

 

Funny isn’t it - when it first came out I didn’t like this as much overall as the studio albums, probably because they were whay I was used to, and despite the fact I had seen them live several times (including several performances of Lazy by then). So It didn’t get played as often as the other albums...  Decades later when I started streaming, and ripped all my vinyl, and boughtbsome CDs to rip or downloaded new copies of the most worn out records (of which DP in Rock was one, I saw this as a hi res rersion being sold by Linn Records, so I decided to get it. All changed - the sound quality of MiJ is better than the others, and maybe because of changes to my system as well over the decades, I now prefer it and play it more often than the studio albums (though they get played too, for the music not on this and for the different presentations of those that are.

Never off my turntable for weeks. My list of things that blew me away on first listen would have too many on it.

Posted on: 16 August 2018 by sjt
Innocent Bystander posted:
sjt posted:

The one for me is Who's Next. I even found a picture:

I discovered this quite recently - 2011. I decided to expand my horizons and went through one of those "best 500 albums ever" lists and bought anything that appealed. Most were quite old and wernt expensive, and I think I bought about 50-75. I think I got this one and Quadrophenia in this bunch. This one grabbed me from the start with the electronic modulating sounds and then the power, aggression and intelligence. The three stand out songs are Baba O Reilly, Behind Blue Eyes (which I think of as a tyrant's lament) and Won't Get Fooled Again.

I have many other Who records now and Live at Leeds is probably my favourite but Who's Next started it all.

Well discovered, i nearly put tgat one instead of Tommy, as this too was a wow record - though I got mine when first released in 1971! (And saw them live at about the same time... one of the best live performances I had seen.)

Thanks - although a bit late for me! I saw them in 2013 for a Quadrophenia show and although it was very good, it made me sad that it was not them at their peak - when you saw them. This is where I think recordings come in. There is a recent remaster of LAL with the correct song order, banter and mistakes in, which I think is the definitive version. I remember saying in another post that this version, reproduced on good gear is like a time machine - it takes you right back to the actual event (LAL was recorded 4 months before I was born). Anyway, slightly more back on topic, Quadrophenia also qualifies as a wow record for me. After hearing the opening chords to The Real Me, I bought a Fender Telecaster and an amp and have been playing it ever since!

Posted on: 16 August 2018 by Bob the Builder

I was brought up listening to The Who and so never had the chance to experience that WOW when first hearing Quadrophenia and Who's Next as an adult but they would both be in my top 20 records of all time.

Posted on: 16 August 2018 by rjstaines
Innocent Bystander posted:

Script for a Jester’s Tear has already been mentioned (as have gigs by them - and I saw many between ‘82 and Fish’s departure, so some of us likely at same gigs!). It did make an impression when I first played it, but maybe not quite blowing me away at first listen as much as these (though it rapidly grew on me and is still a firm favourite):

Led Zeppelin II - opening with Whole Lotta Love my intro to the band, and to heavy rock, 1969 IIRC. Brilliant.

Deep Purple in Rock. I was familiar with and liked the band through their first incarnation, bought this and was completely blown away: From the intro/Hard Lovin’ Man to the stunning Child in Time, this was a stunning album.

Paranoid - Black Sabbath. Another 1970 album, with heavy rock taking the world by storm that year! I already knew and loved the title track, but this widened the experience, from Fairies Wear Boots to War Pigs - wonderful!

Dark Side of the Moon. (Pink Floyd) - a bit of a change from the previous Floyd albums, more mesmerising... no, their earlier albums did mesmerising, maybe this was just more upfront, while akso being more cohesive as an album, from Breathe right through to the closing Brain Damage and Eclipse

In the Court of the Crimson King - King Crimson - another wow album, launching with 21st Century Schizoid Man, Then through the contrasting quieter tracks like and to the powerful Court song itself.

Tommy - The Who. Into a musical journey that engulfed for an hour and a half 

The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway - Genesis. I liked their earlier albums, but this was something different. More engrossing, and very good sound quality to boot.

 Ooooh, I could go on! And all of these still get played today,...

 

In 1973 this was the album the guys at Uxbridge Audio played on an LP12 to demonstrate its capabilities (the LP12, not the band).

I bought both.... the rest (as Dan Steel said earlier) is history*    

* and so is Uxbridge Audio, sadly.

Posted on: 16 August 2018 by rjstaines
Pev posted:

Image result for anthem of the sun

Anthem of the Sun - Grateful Dead. Hearing this on stereo headphones with a good strong joint was a defining moment in my appreciation of what music could be. Still sounds wonderful nearly 50 years later.

Maybe I should try that. 

Posted on: 16 August 2018 by audio1946

crime of the century supertramp  

Posted on: 16 August 2018 by Innocent Bystander
rjstaines posted:
Pev posted:

Image result for anthem of the sun

Anthem of the Sun - Grateful Dead. Hearing this on stereo headphones with a good strong joint was a defining moment in my appreciation of what music could be. Still sounds wonderful nearly 50 years later.

Maybe I should try that. 

Which?  

Or is that both - the joint needed for you to like the album? 

 

Posted on: 17 August 2018 by rjstaines

Gosh, I hadn't realised I was joined by so many (ex?) trippers on this forum  (say that slowly).

Posted on: 17 August 2018 by The Strat (Fender)

Free Live. 

Posted on: 17 August 2018 by MDS

A mate at school mentioned this band and I took a gamble (LPs very expensive then) and settled down in my bedroom in the evening to play it. This was my first album with the vertigo label which, even with the lighting down, captured my attention as the LP began to rotate. Then I sat back and waited. First came the rain, then the thunder, and the tolling of the bell and then.................wow! I was blown away and have been a Sabbath fan ever since. 

Posted on: 17 August 2018 by Christopher_M

The Cure's Seventeen Seconds

It just caught me at that right time when I was open to it.

Posted on: 17 August 2018 by Innocent Bystander
MDS posted:

A mate at school mentioned this band and I took a gamble (LPs very expensive then) and settled down in my bedroom in the evening to play it. This was my first album with the vertigo label which, even with the lighting down, captured my attention as the LP began to rotate. Then I sat back and waited. First came the rain, then the thunder, and the tolling of the bell and then.................wow! I was blown away and have been a Sabbath fan ever since. 

Yes, I actually prefer this album to Paranoid, but it was less of a blow away for me as I was already familiar with the band. The opening really is great, especially with lights low...

Posted on: 17 August 2018 by Gazza

I was up in the “God’s” at Hammersmith odeon when they played this.........my ears were ringing for days, pity folks any nearer. Great concert though.

Posted on: 17 August 2018 by Redmires

 

The Pious Bird of Good Omen - Fleetwood Mac

I borrowed this out of the local library only knowing of the "Rumours" era Fleetwood Mac. WOW !

That was about 40 years ago and I still have a love of the blues (and Peter Green) after all this time.

 

Posted on: 17 August 2018 by Monster

Led Zeppelin IV - the guitar riff on Black Dog hooked me, and Plant’s vocals as well. The rest of the album ain’t half bad either...

Posted on: 17 August 2018 by ewemon
The Strat (Fender) posted:

Free Live. 

Certainly did for me as well.