Oh yeah, the jamband influence is in there, too.
I just might be nbiased because of the copyright date (1993) and the stuff I was listening to then. It is kinda funky jamband. But def. more funky than Phish... at least the stuff that I heard.

Doing a search for "essential psych" and this thread came up.
Bumping it because there might be some more good recommendations to come. Maybe?

So now it's time to add my next pick:


Most of us have at least heard Marquee Moon, but this live set from 1978 shows what a different band they were live. It was all precision in the studio, but get them onto a stage and it's explosive. Some of the greatest, most face-melting solos ever captured on tape here.
As somebody who is not a fan of the long jams, I can safely say these are long jams well-worth listening to. They don't meander, they're cathartic. The nearly 15-minute long version of "Little Johnny Jewel" (and only slightly shorter "Marquee Moon") are worth the price of the disc, alone.
The one misstep is the cover of "Knockin' On Heaven's Door". Granted, it was 1978, but even then the world did not need another version of that song.
I have this on my original ROIR cassette-only release, which I have to dig up somewhere and transfer to CD/mp3.

Caveat emptor: The sound quality is that of a middling bootleg, at best. But listenable.

weird thread

i listened to this yesterday morning.

and while it's just a damn fine collection of rap songs, it's essential because it has some of my favorite scratching in the history of scratching. The ending of "Step In The Arena" should have been hugely influential to DJs everywhere, but unfortunately there isn't much out there like it (at least not that I'm aware of.)

i just responded to a 3 year old post.

Sorry for ignoring you three years ago, Todd...I forgot I even posted that. But, Jewels pretty much summed it up.

i meant to say the ending of "Who's Gonna Take the Weight"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LpVc175E75k

yeah i remember this thread, not hard to see why it fell apart what with all the "ESSENTIAL" albums here

Oh, it certainly strayed from the original intent, but I'm hoping that it'll still be a good depository for some more good stuff.

Worth it for this piece of gold.

easily my finest hour

Not "essential" by any means but albums I don't see much talk about that I really enjoy:

oh sweet jesus

"Dick's Picks", though I'm sure there's a good reason for that

OK, I'll try to revive the intent of this thread. I bet most obnoids don't own this album, but it's the cornerstone of 60s folk music. Young Dylan basically stylized himself on these songs, originally recorded in 1940. I contend that the cynical-yet-honest humor in Woody's lyrics set the tone of the rest of the 20th century pop culture, thanks in some part to Dylan's appropriation of his delivery.

I really like this record. Listen to it every few weeks.

I think that this nails the original intent of the thread right on the head.

I should get around to hearing this at some point. I really liked their first album but gave up on them after the disaster that was "Let's Bottle Bohemia".

You have piqued my interest.

Check you PM later today man.

i mean seriously


this quote is oozing prescription zit cream and Jergins

I liked parts of So Much For the City and agree with you on Bohemia being bad. To me, the sound on Teenager isn't much different but the album flows a lot better and just feels like they stopped trying so hard. It took three or four listens before I really liked it but then I was hooked.

Like Vanlandingham, I listen every few weeks and may have listened to this album more in 2009 than anything else (even though it came out two years ago). In fact, I'm going to put it on now.

I'd love a PM too. The only copy I can find is missing track 10.

This is pretty amazing

Done.

u da man