Top Three Albums of All-Time
October 15, 2015
- “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band”- The Beatles
This 1967 album captured the entire range of music The Beatles produced. Throughout their career The Beatles tested the limits of music and experimented with their sound. It was no different with this album, their greatest work. They produced iconic songs such as “With a Little Help From My Friends” and “Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds”. The exotic, eastern sounds that The Beatles garnered from their travels to India were brought across in “Within You Without You”. George Harrison plays the sitar, an Indian instrument similar to a guitar, in the background of the song. “She’s Leaving Home” provides the album with a slower, reflective piece that is brought together by its orchestral undertones. The album culminates with the best song that The Beatles ever made: “A Day in the Life”. This song is the ultimate collaboration between Paul McCartney and John Lennon. Lennon wrote the beginning and end sections of the piece and McCartney wrote the middle sections. The song includes two parts with a full orchestra and goes from the lowest note on their instruments to the highest. The song ends with a ringing piano chord that lasts nearly 40 seconds and provides the perfect ending for a perfect album.
2. “Pet Sounds”- The Beach Boys
“Pet Sounds”, like “Sgt. Pepper’s”, was an album that was in new territory for The Beach Boys. This album showed the maturing of The Beach Boys from a poppy band who was focused on making fun, catchy songs to a band that covered a wide variety of topics in their songs. The album was largely the brainchild of Brian Wilson. Wilson produced the album and wrote almost all of the songs. The album includes very unique sounds. Perhaps most notable is the use of a bicycle bell in “You Still Believe In Me”. The album contains energetic and slower songs as does any great album. The fourth song, “Don’t Cry (Put Your Head On My Shoulder)”, follows three upbeat songs to begin the album. This song is what showed me that this album would contain more mature sounds. There are also two songs that are instrumentals, “Let’s Go Away For Awhile” and “Pet Sounds”. The best song on the album is “God Only Knows”. It is a love song that that includes a wide range of instruments from french horns to accordions. This song demonstrates what sets this album apart from so many others. Wilson was so creative with the instruments that were used in the songs that it would be impossible for anyone to create a similar sound. Not only was the album a great work of music, but it inspired The Beatles to write “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band”.
3. “Dark Side of the Moon” – Pink Floyd
“Dark Side of the Moon” is an album unlike any other. The sound that was created by Pink Floyd is unbelievably unique and that is part of what sets it apart from others. One of the biggest reasons this is such a great album is that it is a concept album. That means that the entire album has to do with a similar topic. The particular ideas that are in the album are problems that the band faced in their career. Because it is a concept album the album is meant to be listened to in one sitting and this creates a listening experience that is unlike any other. There are multiple topics that the band included in the album and they include greed and mental illness. By the third song on the album it is apparent that this is album like no other album. The third song, “On the Run”, makes the listen feel as if they are actually running from something. When listening to it with headphones the sounds travels from ear to ear making it sounds as if it is moving. Time, one of the two singles on the album, is a song that can definitely be listened to on its own. Clare Torry is a guest singer on “The Great Gig in the Sky”. Her vocals create one of the most hauntingly beautiful sounds I have ever heard. The album ends with four songs, “Us and Them”, “Any Colour You Like”, “Brain Damage” and Eclipse”, that flow perfectly. There are no pauses in between songs, so it seems as if this 17 minute portion of the album is one song. This album creates a listening experience that cannot be matched by any other album.
