By “important” I mean that it didn’t just become hugely popular, but it also changed a music genre or launched an entirely new one, or otherwise made a huge impact on music in general.
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Miles Davis:
- Kind of Blue
- In a Silent Way
- Bitches Brew
- Tutu
Cornerstone records from which everything from the Headhunters, Return to Forever, Mahavishnu Orchestra and the great exploration of jazz, psychedelic, rock and everything else in between.
Radiohead OK Computer
Every album I really like should be on this list. Every album you really like should be on this list. You cannot rationalize subjectivity.
gybe - lysf
looks like part of a serial number.
Wendy Carlos’ ‘Switched-On Bach’ turned synthesizers from a tool of avantgarde experimentalists into a mainstream instrument.
Captain Beefheart’s ‘Trout Mask Replica’ remains probably the most widely cited avantgarde-rock album, perplexing listeners to this day. (Gotta say, I never had a problem with it, perhaps because I don’t know music theory.)
Kraftwerk’s ‘Autobahn’ is an obvious one, though ‘Trans-Europe Express’ and ‘The Man-Machine’ probably had more influence on synthpop and techno.
Lou Reed’s ‘Metal Machine Music’ was trashed on release by critics, and returned en masse by the buyers, but it presaged industrial and noise music, and possibly noise-rock.
Then again, though industrial music properly started with live performances, if you wanted to revisit its roots, you’d listen to Throbbing Gristle’s ‘The Second Annual Report’ or the more warmly received ‘D.o.A: The Third and Final Report’.
The ‘No New York’ compilation was exemplary of the ‘no wave’ experimental jazz-rock of the downtown NYC scene and gave the genre its name.
Liaisons Dangereuses’ self-titled album was the progenitor of ebm, e.g. with the track ‘Los niños del parque’.
This Mortal Coil’s ‘It’ll End in Tears’ “set the template” for dream pop, although the sound itself was already around in the work of Cocteau Twins and the ethereal wave movement.
The Winstons’ 1969 track ‘Amen, Brother’ didn’t start anything itself, but the ‘Amen break’ is one of the most sampled in history, beginning with the 80s breakbeat, and with jungle, drum-and-bass and breakcore having been predominantly built on this one sample.
Napalm Death’s ‘Scum’ is the origin of grindcore.
John Zorn’s ‘Naked City’ is a landmark in jazz-fusion: although the concept existed before, no one mixed jazz with other genres so aggressively outside of free-jazz. (Though arguably the band Massacre anticipated Zorn’s approach.)
The Prodigy’s ‘Experience’ is said to have birthed edm albums as a concept:
Moby credited ‘Experience’ with changing his perception about dance albums; previously he felt that “dance albums had always failed […] because they didn’t work over the full length of the record. Mostly they were singles collections which was exactly what I didn’t want to do,” and noted that ‘Experience’ “impressed me because they’d managed to create a full listening experience which encompassed various styles. This was the kind of vision I had for my debut album.”
The ‘Artificial Intelligence’ compilation on Warp started idm.
‘Wipeout’‘s electronic soundtrack, along with its acid visuals and nightclub-oriented promotion (by Designers Republic) was a big factor in targeting the first PlayStation to college-age people, instead of kids as it was with previous consoles. This shifted the console market from kids’ toys to entertainment for everyone.
Therion properly invented symphonic metal around ‘Symphony Masses: Ho Drakon Ho Megas’ / ‘Lepaca Kliffoth’ / ‘Theli’.
The ‘Hotline Miami’ soundtrack played a large role in the popularity of synthwave and the 2010s revival of associated genres like darkwave, coldwave, ebm, and to some extent post-punk.
If you’re into edm, you might want to check out Ishkur’s Guide to Electronic Music for various branching points.
Great list. I’m a bit confused by the Hotline Miami/post-punk bit though. By the time the game comes out we’d just had a decade of post-punk revival bands with great albums and even some level of mainstream success. Bands like Interpol, the Strokes, Arctic Monkeys, Franz Ferdinand, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and the Killers.
I’m referring rather to what is popularly known as ‘doomer music’, which includes coldwave, some darkwave, and post-punk, and to my knowledge emerged as a meme around mid-2010s. Molchat Doma are the prime exemplar of the genre. Netlabels like Detriti Records and Russian post-punk and online places like Harakiri Diat were cranking out both fresh gloomy music and some classic 80s-style sound. Dark Entries Records reissued some cool stuff from way back in the day.
Personally I’m unmoved by most indie-adjacent rock (while digging original old post-punk), but getting into modern underground-ish post-punk and darkwave really paid off, even though I was rather late to the party.
Check out e.g. toska po domu, My friend tape recorder, Dirty Beaches, Artificial intelligence created by a smart creature, Karl Kave, to some extent margenrot, ‘DETHWAVE MIX 2014’ by BLACkMOON77, and not least Glintshake and Inturist. And Filmmaker for the company.
Thanks for the additional context! I’ll have to check those out
Some very good suggestions, and not just the already well-known stuff among mainstream audiences from most of the other comments.
I would personally cite Cocteau Twins over This Mortal Coil, not only did they predate them, but Treasure is also the better (and more influential) record in my opinion.
Therion has been quite explicit with its acknowledgment of Celtic Frost as a major influence (even taking the name) - though their records suffer from subpar production, and one could argue Therion was able to fulfill the ambition of Celtic Frost.
One shouldn’t mention no wave without mentioning Swans, who were massively influential to grunge, post-punk, post-rock and heavy music in general. The colossal Soundtracks for the Blind is their magnum opus.
Aside from Kraftwerk, the krautrock scene spawned several more highly influential groups, including Neu! (who invented the remix), CAN (cited as a major influence by Radiohead and many others) and Popul Vuh (pioneers of early ambient, electronic and “new age” music).
A few more suggestions not related to yours: Oddly enough Zappa hasn’t been mentioned yet in the comments (as of writing this comment), probably the most influential pop music artist of the 20th Century, though his music can be challenging at times and not all of his humour has aged very well. We’re Only In It For the Money is probably the best starting point.
Brian Eno - Apollo. Not Eno’s first ambient album, but probably his most accomplished one.
Talk Talk - Spirit of Eden. It’s hard to believe you are listening to what used to be a new wave band only a few years earlier if you play this record. It was so far ahead of its time their label dropped them amidst an acrimonious lawsuit.
Ulver has been cited as a major influence by modern electronic music artists (e.g., Carpenter Brut). Their output is extremely diverse and creatively shifts dramatically from album to album. I would recommend Perdition City as a starting point.
Godspeed You! Black Emperor - F#A#∞. Not coincidentally released shortly after Soundtracks for the Blind, a massive creative leap nonetheless and one of the defining post-rock records of the 1990s.
Black Sabbath’s self titled 1970 debut.
Generations of metalheads the world over owe their lives, allegiance, and gratitude to Tony’s fucked up hand.
Tony*
Corrected. Thank you.
Agreed! As a doom metal and stoner rock fan, I’m hard-pressed not to name a band from those genres not influenced by the album or the band.
King Crimson - In the Court of the Crimson King
This basically started progressive rock. I also remember being in absolute awe when learning it is from 1969, it sounds soooo clean and somewhat modern (and very good, obviously).
Completely changed rock music
This one of funny because when reading about it I hit the feeling that they had no idea or plan to what they were doing. They just wanted to sell albums and get laid.
Then they drop this completely weird af, beautiful and haunting album which everyone of course tries to deconstruct and find the real meaning behind etc.
Just fripp and pals goofing about in the halls of the crimson king.
My suggestions:
- Boston (self titled) pretty much transformed how music was produced, using the studio as an instrument.
- Jimi Hendrix - “Are you Experienced”. Because a guitar had never been played like that before.
- Nirvana - “Nevermind”. Arguably not the first grunge album, but it pretty much put the final nail in the coffin of 80’s music.
Honorable mention: Pantera - “Cowboys from Hell” finally moved metal beyond fluffy hair and leather pants that had saturated the genre for too long, and effectively ended the glam era.
The first grunge album that I know of was Green River’s Rehab Doll in 1988.
Yeah them and Mud Honey and the Melvins were ones we read about in Raygun and rolling stone magazines.
Great suggestions, although personally I would have picked Electric Ladyland for Jimi, as that feels more as a well-rounded concept album showcasing his musical skills better. If only he hadn’t died so soon, Band of Gypsys gave him the freedom to really do what he wanted.
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- Angel dust by faith no more. It has been cited as a massive influence by many huge 90s metal bands.
- Pet sounds by beach boys. Without it there would be no sgt Pepper (as we know it) and without that it’s hard to say where pop would be today.
- The rise and fall of Ziggy stardust and the spiders from Mars by Bowie. While not being the source of the glam wave (hi t-rex) it really took it to a new level, along with the concept of stage personas.
Good call with Angel Dust. King For a Day, Fool For A Lifetime completes the syllabus.
As much as I enjoyed Pet Sounds when I was younger, it wasn’t until it was pointed out to me that it was one of the first albums by a big act to not be written around live performance that I began to realise its significance. Almost every other album released on major labels at the time was in service of selling tickets to live shows, along with copies of the records. They were full of songs to sing and dance along to.
Pet Sounds was an album that was best enjoyed at home on a decent sound system.
Pet Sounds is a work of art that happens to contain some incredible pop music that must have pissed off the other members of the Beach Boys as they listened to it and tried to figure out how the hell they were supposed to perform it live. But Brian made a damn good go of saying what he needed to say with it, and that was what was important to him.
Pet sounds and Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band are what I think of as the first studio driven albums and I can to them later in life after just ignoring the pop song hits that always played on the radio.
Amazing sounds with a good set of headphones.
Forgot to mention:
All of sly and the family stones albums. Larry invented slap bass, they renewed funk, Greg laid the groundwork for what all hip hop artists draw from, sly used a drill machine that was more or less a toy to create really nasty and murky beats by lioping, overlaying and tooting with speeds ented and theyinnovated sludgy lo-fi sound. All in a few years.
Michael Jackson - Off The Wall
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five - The Message
Sepultura - Roots
Rubber Soul - The Beatles
To me this marks a turning point in the Beatles’ output, from fun, rock ‘n’ roll/pop music, to serious artistry, more challenging themes and lyrics and more interesting instrumentation.Sample track: In My Life
Dubnobasswithmyheadman - Underworld
Hugely important in British dance music, a total departure from their first two albums and the start of a run of classic electronic music. It’s a shame they’re still best known for Born Slippy, because there’s so much more to Underworld than that, and it started here.Sample track: Dirty Epic
The Velvet Underground and Nico - The Velvet Underground
Famously known as an album that not many people bought, but all of those who did started a band. Hugely influential, full of great songs, some gentle and fragile, others cacophonic and dissonant. A masterpiece.Sample track: Venus in Furs
I wrote down Pet Sounds as a majorly influential album and Brian Wilson has said that that cohesion and individual song strength of Rubber Soul was the inspiration that drove him to make it.
So i guess your pick inspired my pick!
I almost picked Pet Sounds myself! Such an incredible album, so much invention and depth ❤️
Seconding Rubber Soul. In the same way Pantera managed to separate metal from the glam, Beatles separated pop/rock from the campiness of earlier and contemporary bands.
Homework by daft punk had a kinda huge impact on french house
DJ Shadow - Preemptive Strike
Rage against the machine’s debut album & Evil Empire
Massive Attack - Mezzanine
Rage Against the Machine’s first public show is on YouTube. It’s remarkable how they arrived almost fully formed.
The debut album was released 13 months after that performance, but tracks like Know Your Enemy sound almost identical to the recorded version.
DJ Shadow - Endtroducing
This singlehandedly brought to the forefront sample-based trip hop for all to hear. Soulful, haunting, melodic, and with an ever evolving back beat, filled with social consciousness. Herbie Hancock’s Rock It introduced the world to the idea of turntables as instruments and Endtroducing was an album length love letter to that instrument.
