VeggieKubernetes

4y

Which album started the dark moody rnb wave ( Think partynextdoor, Amir obe, etc)

VeggieKubernetes

4y

Which album started the dark moody rnb wave ( Think partynextdoor, Amir obe, etc)

Sir Swagalot

4y

This might be the most accurate one

Sir Swagalot

4y

This might be the most accurate one

TheEPSD

4y

This, or Frank Sinatra's "In The Wee Small Hours," one of the first album's that was actually an album. Before this, album's were largely singles thrown together. Sinatra's record was a body of work composed for the sake of listening as an album.

Also Jame's Brown Live at the Apollo was one one of the first albums commercially successful that wasn't made to appeal to white people, pretty historic.

HM: Bringing It All Back Home, Pet Sounds, Sgt. Pepper's, Thriller

MrIndigo96

4y

these albums had a huge impact on soul/RnB/pop(some what)/ and especially Hiphop

rustcohlestan

4y

songs in the key of life should be in the convo too

gh0stman

4y

the first one

rvi

4y

why the payback over other James brown stuff from around or before that? Like Hot Pants for example is it just because its a more solid body of work or do you think it did something different that distinguished it from his previous works, which were also influential

fauntleroy

4y

The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan

I met a girl in a modern art elective that I took at uni, and I really liked her for some reason though I couldnt tell you why exactly. She was kinda pretty but not really my type. She wasnt that engaging nor overly friendly but she was nice enough. I guess she had an alternative-y kinda vibe and seemed fairly self assured about it, and that appealed to me. This was during my Hendrix phase, and I was basically a missionary for his music trying to spread the good word to whomever would be willing to lend an ear (not many people, sadly!). She too was an evangelist, but instead for Bob Dylan.

She recommended a few bands to me, and because I liked her I actually listened to them. I really got into Franz Ferdinand right away, but I was struggling to give Dylan a go. I was aware that Rolling Stone's top song of all time was a dylan song, and that he had many albums in their top 100, but it always seemed like dated dad rock to me. After a few samples of highway 61, I was starting to enjoy it a bit, but nothing had quite clicked yet. By sheer luck the Scorsese documentary on that era of Dylan was on that weekend, and that helped too. But the penny had yet to drop for me.

It took listening to Freewheelin' to really open my eyes for me. I had the "Oh, its this song" realization when listening to Blowin in the Wind, which I enjoyed at the time but even to this day isnt that memorable to me. Girl From the North Country stirred some genuine emotion from me, and I was really beginning to see what people saw in this guy. But it wasn't until A Hard Rain's Gonna Fail came on that my mind was totally f***ing blown. The idea that a song could express so much, be so thought provoking, cleverly written and epic in structure and length was completely new to me. It was like that moment I first listened to tupac and saw the potential a song could have. From then on I became a born again Dylan devotee.

For a 4 year period in my life I listened to practically nothing but Dylan, seriously - I'd say during that time 95% of the music going through my headphones was his. There was just so much to listen to, hearing his development from topical scribe to surreal poet to nostalgic forlorn old man has been amazing. I've had so many awakening from Dylan songs and albums that I could realistically fill this list with them.

Eventually I got into Highway 61 properly and was blown away by the stream of conscious lyrics when I finally did get them. I would listen to desolation row 3 years later and still discover new things about it. Listening to It's Alright Ma was definitely another eureka moment. I just cant emphasize enough how far ahead Dylan was to me compared to everyone else.

Everything but him seemed so fake and poorly crafted in comparison. Eventually, after exhausting most of his discography, I got hooked onto Bowie's work and moved my unhealthy obsession on to him. Which I am just becoming free of now and trying to embrace more varied artist in general. But yeah, I find it hard to pick my favourite Dylan album, but it would probably be Blonde on Blonde, or Bringing it Back Home, or maybe even the Bootleg Series 4. But there's no denying that it was Freewheelin' that broke the floodgates for me.