One of my favorite albums ever ever ever. Syd Barrett was a genius and Bike<3333

TOP 5 : BLUES

NO 5: ROBERT JOHNSON-KING OF THE DELTA BLUES
http://www.kkbox.com.tw/funky/album/60259.jpg

Without this there could arguably be no Rock N Roll and therefore no modern guitar music in whatever genre you want to mention.

The bulk of his recordings (and this collection) were made in 1936-37 and the sound certainly could be seen as a downside for those that prefer over- production, however to dismiss this for that reason alone is a great folly as this is pure unbridled music at it's most primitive yet overflowing with passion and honesty. Come Into My Kitchen and Sweet Home Chicago demonstrate Johnson's brilliance and song structure that set a template for many other rock bands since.

Even if you don't like the Blues, you still should give this roots blues album at least a listen and educate yourself on the origins of modern music.

Robert Johnson

^^ i'd appreciate an upload of this, if you have the time

No 4: BYTHER SMITH-MISSISSIPPI KID
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A relatively unknown blues artist that had a full time job for 25 years until in 1995 he decided to concentrate on his career. his discography is small yet that is what draws me to him. His bleak delivery is rooted in the Blues but some of his music utilises elements of Funk and Soul yet it is always borne of a man that put his musical leanings on the back foot to earn a regular income to put his 6 daughters through college.

The emphasis is on mood and not neccessarily guitar solos and hints at a gregarious nature where the ambience and the song is more important than the obligatory guitar solo. However he has an easy, laconic guitar sound that is indicative of the smooth qualities of BB King.

Living in Pain and the albums opener Judge Of Honour are particular standouts.

TBH, Byther Smith

No 3: FREDDIE KING-BURGLAR
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Released shortly before his untimely death, Burglar is a perfect encapsulation of Black music in early 70's America. Although predominantly a Blues album, it touches upon Soul and Funk and pays exacting tributes to both.

The guitar on Only Getting Second Best would secure any spot on classic 70's cinema and such tracks only emphasise what a sad loss his death in 1976 was.

Bad mofo:

No 2: JOHN MAYALLS BLUESBREAKERS WITH ERIC CLAPTON
http://www.iem.ac.ru/EC/images/cover...s_breakers.gif

Probably the most influential Blues band in Britain to play electric rock at the time (1966), Bluesbreakers had both Clapton and John Mcvie (Fleetwood Mac) in the line up at this time and they released one of the seminal Blues Rock albums ever. The initial recordings were only on four track recording yet they have a vibrancy that stands heads above many rock recordings made since and Claptons work is amongst his very best. There was many problems in the primitive studio with Claptons insistence on changing the angle on his amp to achieve maximum sound proving arduous. (In retrospect Claptons ideas were pioneering and way ahead of their time).

Most of the album was made up of Blues standards yet tracks such as Double Crossing Time and Have You Heard are notable classics.

An early forerunner to the explosion of British talent such as : Cream, Blind Faith, Traffic and elements of Jimi Hendrix, JMBB is a quintessentail mid 60's album.

No 1: JEFF BECK-BECK-OLA

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An album that has as much a Rock influence as much as a Blues influence is still the finest blues album to be made in Britain. Our experience of trad. blues was unfortunately distorted with the onset of commercialism and Britain resorted to a Blues/ Rock Hybrid that yielded many classic bands in the late 60's.

Yardbirds/John Mayall/Jimmy Page/Jeff Beck-all names that became entwined to create dirty electric blues and my first taste of the blues. Looking back,I appreciate that my blues knowledge is limited, yet I always equated the blues with feeling and integrity and Beck-ola (despite the guitar histronics) is a open and passionate work

TOP 5 : CLASSICAL

No 5: GRIEG-PEER GYNT SUITE

http://cfs4.tistory.com/upload_contr...AwMDI4LmpwZw==

I did own a much more powerful and emotional working of this but that was nearly 20 years ago so this Berlin Philharmonic will suffice. I am not very knowledgeable about Classical music so I will merely review what the album means to me. I acquired a CD player approx. 1988/9 and along with a few albums that I dug at the time, I also bought this as my first foray into Classical music.

The most striking thing about this piece (and indeed many Classical pieces) is how much you have actually heard before. In modern music, Classical (although highly respected) is a rarely listened to genre but it is surprising how much we have heard. Opener 'Morning Mood' is one such piece. The title is extremely apt. 'Morning Mood' is a wonderful ambient piece that was wrote as a companion piece to the poet Ibsen's work.

'In The Hall Of The Mountain King' is extremely recognisable and carries a pompous air about it, although to be fair, the work does lack focus in it's musical leanings. However, as a gentle, unassuming Classical Piece, 'Peer Gynt' suite is an easier foray into Classical music.

Morning Mood:

Awesome work on the Blues picks, I especially love #'s 1 and 2.

Blues Breakers came in at #33 in my top 101 albums list before I scrapped that project, it's a very influential album and a wonderful listen.

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This version features Colin Matthews version of the unfinished movement Pluto. From the lush serene 'Venus' to the wonderfully bombastic 'Wars'. The Planets could easily be mistaken for a blockbuster movie soundtrack. This is not a slight on the music or a case for demeaning more so an observance on how it's structure and peaks and troughs (if you will) remind me of a classic orchestral score template.

The musical themes are reliant on the classic interpretations that were given to the planets upon original naming:

Mars, the Bringer of War
Venus, the Bringer of Peace
Mercury, the Winged Messenger
Jupiter, the Bringer of Jollity
Saturn, the Bringer of Old Age
Uranus, the Magician
Neptune, the Mystic

It does'nt get an outing very often but if you like classic film soundtracks then give this a whirl.

An extract from the Mars suite: