What I thought when I first heard this album...

[madscot]

Dream theater - Images and words, I loved heavy metal and progressive rock but had never heard any band mix them together, I used to buy a magazine called Boulevard, the review of the album called it the greatest album ever made, I had never saw a review stating that before so had to buy it, from the opening note I was hooked and guess what? It still is the greatest album of all time (in my opinion)

 

[John Svensson]

Very early....Beach Boys Wild Honey and Beatles Magical Mystery Tour, slightly older ears The Royal Scam and DSOTM.

 

[markshan]

I don't know if this is exactly what you are looking for, but I think you'll enjoy it...

I was maybe nine years old and I went with my Dad on a trip to Monroe Michigan, where he was from. The agenda was basically different family visits. One uncle I had was an autoworker who lived in a densely populated suburb on a street which was basically all row houses. Uncle Jerry was cooking something for us on the grill in the front yard and he and my Dad were drinking beers and talking about something.

This was in the age when if you didn't own an album you didn't hear the album. You only knew whatever songs were played on the radio. No YouTube. No Spotify. There wasn't even Wikipedia to get the low down. Just records to listen to and books or magazines to research.

So we are all sitting in the front yard and from a few houses down I hear "Back in the USSR". I knew this song because even as rural as my upbringing was a local rock FM station played that one. Dad and Uncle Jerry were still talking, but as the song played I slowly moved away from them and toward the music as I was far more interested in it. My uncle asked what I was doing and I simply answered "the music". He muttered something about "Oh yeah, the (expletive epitaphs) down the street and their (epitaph) stereo". As the airplane landed at the end of USSR I sat there in eager anticipation of what would happen next. A DJs voice, another hit single or something else? As that sound effect faded into the metallic arpeggios of "Dear Prudence" I was entranced. I had never heard this one before, and it was great. Being played loud from down the street it had this huge reverberant sound like a live show. At that point the grown ups didn't exist for me. I was completely engulfed by the wonderful music. This was basically my first concert experience, or at least as close to a concert experience I would get for a few more years, listening to The White Album from a distance.

 

[markshan]

This might end up being a free for all, but I was just listening to Plastic Ono Band album (vinyl) and it made me think of the first time I heard it....what did I think? So, I'd like this thread to be about any album, any era. An album that might be considered classic. What did you think when you first heard it?

Honestly, I guess I'd like to focus on albums you heard for the first time that was a super positive or mind blowing experience. Not really negative. Maybe that will help keep this thread on topic. hahaha. Right.........

BTW, the thread being positive or negative would depend on if you are referencing the John Lennon Plastic Ono Band or the Yoko Ono Plastic Ono Band album.

 

[OldAsMono]

Reading these first entries flashed so many memories of my own first album listening experiences. Ah, back in the day when a new album was many times the very first time you were hearing the songs AND also the first time you were see new pictures of the band.

Deep Purple - Machine Head

This album was special as my 4 year old brother had set up Warner Brothers sending our High School newspaper class pre-release albums for us to review before I started high school. Deliver day of the Warner package at school had people grabbing their selection(s) understanding we hadn't heard or seen any of these before. My lucky grab that day was Machine Head. I was already a fan of Deep Purple after seeing them as supporting show for the Cream Farewell Tour at the LA Forum years before (another benefit of an older brother). I was blown away by the great music but I had to call friend and get him over right away to verify it wasn't just me. He too agreed this was a great, rockin' solid album through and through. But we had to wait for it to get offically released and hope the masses agreed this album was killer... I still have that album copy with the big "Promotional Copy - Not For Sale" on the cover.

 

[Jim the Oldbie]

Do you folks remember that first-pressing of Led Zeppelin II being a real turntable torture test? It was so frustrating. Here was another fully brain-twisting LP from a band that had already killed us all with the first one. We were all so excited to hear it - and the damn thing had so much bass, your average record player couldn't even get through the first song without skipping across the grooves like a stone on a pond!

My sister's little record player certainly couldn't handle it, and I remember several friends complaining about it too - some of us resorted to taping a coin to the end of the tonearm to weigh it down, likely destroying the record (along with all the others in our collections!) in the process. It would be another year or two before our family upgraded our way out of this dilemma.

 

[mrcond]

Do you folks remember that first-pressing of Led Zeppelin II being a real turntable torture test? It was so frustrating. Here was another fully brain-twisting LP from a band that had already killed us all with the first one. We were all so excited to hear it - and the damn thing had so much bass, your average record player couldn't even get through the first song without skipping across the grooves like a stone on a pond!

My sister's little record player certainly couldn't handle it, and I remember several friends complaining about it too - some of us resorted to taping a coin to the end of the tonearm to weigh it down, likely destroying the record (along with all the others in our collections!) in the process. It would be another year or two before our family upgraded our way out of this dilemma.

Those first pressing Robert Ludwig mastered versions Led Zep II are highly sought after and go for hundreds of dollars now.

 

[jefe1]

I would love to find a playable copy of it
In the meantime do any of the CD versions approach it?

 

[Jim the Oldbie]

I have one - it's the same one we had as kids, my sister gave it to me some years later - but I imagine it's pretty well carved-out at this point.

Damn it, you guys are gonna make me hook up my turntable again, aren't ya?? (Sheesh, I don't even have any analog inputs anymore...)

 

[Jim the Oldbie]

Just climbed up into the closet and had a look, and sure enough mine's got the tiny "RL" in the lead-out...

I'm afraid to listen to it now, especially since I'd forgotten that I have 2 copies. The other is a 1977 repressing. I must've bought a replacement back around then because my sister's original hand-me-down was so trashed - knowing nothing about Bob Ludwig at the time of course.

As for CD reissues Jefe, I was just looking into this the other day. My Zep CDs are all the original Atlantic pressings, and as far as I can tell they appear still to have a slight edge in the popularity vote, among all the subsequent remasters etc. (with exceptions of course). Not that this means much in comparison to the LPs; I haven't had time to research those comparisons in any depth.

EDIT: Okay, so I talked myself into it. Dragged out the best phono front end I could scrounge up here (nothing high-end, but not crap either), plugged it into a Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 for USB into the big digital rig, and listened to Bob Ludwig's LZII for the first time in probably 45 years. It...was not pretty. Almost too noisy to make a valid comparison between it and the Atlantic CD reissue.

(Sigh.) Oh well...

P.S. The '77 vinyl repress is in much better condition, but to me sounds just plain boring against the CD.

 

[winopener]

In the house, records were from 50 to 95% singles: the passing of times brought ton of "just faded out" free 45rpm singles from parents, friends and relatives while the number of the album increased by less than 5 at year. In 1971 arrived the cassette recorder, a BIG step in portability from the small r2r of the house and it had a plug for external speaker, so connecting a serious 6x8 in a wood case was giving a BIG sound even with only 1w. Taping song from radio was the norm... Then in 1973 me and big brother had both a double whammy for school's end. 4 original, prerecorded cassettes, two had to be "approved" by parents, two were free choices. On with the show...

Approved,

(no cassette of it in discogs... but it was also on 8track...)

Free:

3 out of 4 were extremely engaging: Bacharach was "already know" because many of these songs were used in radio programs as background and musically it was a very puzzling format - all these rhythm changes...-, Orme was the entrance in the full prog album world, done with one of the best ever, Baglioni (which probably only 1% of you know) was a pop artist with a passion for concept album, very cinematic. Pourcel was the less engaging of the first bunch and suffered, as BB, of being more a "singles collection", even if in instrumental form, than a "true" album from start to end.

The other two told a story... that was a NEW thing, not a story limited in the 3-min format but a whole album! It opened a different world from the 45rpm perspective, even if my 45rpm world was already very eclectic (can you imagine a 9 years old in 1971 stacking all togheter Paranoid, Samba Pa Ti, Lay Down, Immigrant song, Proud Mary among other italian stuff?)

By the end of 1973 there were also Elton John, Lucio Battisti, Santo&Johnny, Beatles and James Brown (yes!!!!) as original tapes, and a dozen of blanks with Banco, PFM, Genesis, Pooh, Santana, Deep Purple, etc taped from LP plus a pair of... pirates hit parade collection. The true double-shot was a green Basf C90 with DSOTM on side A and Harvest on side B.

In 1974 had the next big thing in music, listening on a hifi of a neighbor Santana Caravanserai in SQ. That was another trip...

 

[scooob]

My real album collecting (beyond the Partridge Family and other kiddie stuff) started when I was about 12: Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, Chicago VI, There Goes Rhymin' Simon, Jesus Christ Superstar, a couple of Carpenters albums. Some of those were a big impact on first listen, particularly Elton John. But the one I'd pick to expound on for this thread is among the vinyl I got from the Columbia House Club when I was a few years older, 15 or 16: M.U. - The Best of Jethro Tull.

I think I got Songs From The Wood in the same batch, and that album was huge for me, loved it on first listen and how it grew on every subsequent play. But I think it was M.U. that made the biggest initial impact, convincing me that Tull was "my band" and starting me down the road of collecting all their past albums (all of which I loved off the bat, except This Was, which took a few years). I know there are those who consider best-of compilations to not count as real albums, or at least that they're not cool somehow. But one that's well-done can really be a blast, especially to young ears that are still learning about the wide world of unheard music. I loved all the songs on this one, probably some more than others on first listen, but I realized from the get-go that the songs were strong across the history of the band, even though they varied quite a bit in style, from bluesy to hard rock to complex art rock. It all worked, and the savvy non-chronological sequencing flowed like a legitimate album, not just an ad hoc collection. I don't have M.U. on CD, and I'd mostly rather listen to the full (Steven Wilson remixed) albums now, but I do have it reconstructed as a playlist on my phone, and I dip into it from time to time when I need a hit of nostalgia.

I know we're not supposed to go negative on this thread, but I think it's interesting to point out albums that were disliked or disregarded on first listen, that later became favorites. The ones that come to mind for me under this category would include: This Was (as mentioned above); Astral Weeks; Trout Mask Replica; Electric Ladyland; Starless And Bible Black; Exile On Main Street; The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway; Bone Machine.

 

[paligap]

The first album that really blew my mind was Black Sabbath's debut album. I was about 11 years old, my family had undergone some changes, and my older brother had the album. I got the horror vibe right away, but I was fascinated by the blues and jazz elements that were also new to me. The title song had, for me, a kind of novelty song feel to it, similar to the song "D.O.A." that my brother also played frequently. I didn't like either of them, but wow, the other songs on the album seemed to just set their hook in me. Sleeping Village and Behind the Wall of Sleep transported me to an English garden with dead leaves on the ground. The Wasp, with its huge, fuzzy riff, produced a rush of endorphins in me that gave me goosebumps. Wicked World, going from kaleidoscopic to groovy, was sublime. I still listen to this album regularly, and it never seems dated to me.

 

[mrcond]

The first album that really blew my mind was Black Sabbath's debut album. I was about 11 years old, my family had undergone some changes, and my older brother had the album. I got the horror vibe right away, but I was fascinated by the blues and jazz elements that were also new to me. The title song had, for me, a kind of novelty song feel to it, similar to the song "D.O.A." that my brother also played frequently. I didn't like either of them, but wow, the other songs on the album seemed to just set their hook in me. Sleeping Village and Behind the Wall of Sleep transported me to an English garden with dead leaves on the ground. The Wasp, with its huge, fuzzy riff, produced a rush of endorphins in me that gave me goosebumps. Wicked World, going from kaleidoscopic to groovy, was sublime. I still listen to this album regularly, and it never seems dated to me.

I just listened to side 2 of this album a couple days ago and I find it to be fantastic. As you mentioned, the jazz and blues side of things are why I love Sabbath, especially the early stuff. As they “matured” they started to move away from this element and I find the later albums less interesting. The first album is just 3 talented dudes jamming away, with Ozzy wailing over the top.

Funny your comments on the song “Black Sabbath” as I find myself often skipping this when I play the album

 

[RustyStatic]

Awesome thread and stories!

I’m essentially a child of the 80’s; the first "real" album I had (i.e. not Mickey Mouse Disco on vinyl that I played with a suitcase turntable) was Songs From The Big Chair on cassette. When “Shout” was everywhere in the summer of ’85 and I was 11, I initially thought it was "the dumbest song ever” and made fun of it until, I don't know why or when, the switch flipped and I thought it was the greatest thing I had ever heard—becoming a Tears for Fears nut, chasing down the The Hurting, every single and b-side, and even Graduate stuff. Over the course of a few years, I got into U2 in a similar manner... then branched out with a copy of Peter Gabriel's "So"... started working and figured out how to get piles of albums from Columbia House, and then I was really off to the races. Had seen the older kids with their Zeppelin and Floyd t-shirts and always felt like that was some kind of club I wasn't allowed into, but took a chance with IV and then The Wall and realized I was allowed, and I loved everything I could get my hands on.

That was certainly all revelatory, but I don't know any of it rearranged my understanding of what an album could be and do until one day I heard “Lucky Man" on the local rock station—I thought it was great, but was especially curious about the wacky synth stuff going on at the end. During one of those defining trips when I took the train into Manhattan with friends to hit some record shops, I picked up a copy of the first ELP album on CD because of “Lucky Man”. I had absolutely no frame of reference for what came roaring out of my speakers when I got it home, but I just LOVED it. "Lucky Man" was the least of it! It also felt like my discovery that I could bring to other people because I didn’t know anyone that had been down this path before. The trip those songs took me on, the musicianship, the sounds they were using, the textures, and it being about music and wherever the muse takes you, rather than radio hits per se… that opened the door for me to be the guy who sought out the overlooked, the underground, the “uncool”, the progressive—following my friends saying “hey, check out this new band, Soundgarden” and “did you hear the new KRS-One?” with “check out this insanity by Gentle Giant”. We had a real melting pot of friends and our bond was music, with nothing being off the table and everything getting a real listen and consideration. I’m grateful for all of it. Not far off from the QQ vibe I'm feeling these days, TBH.

But that opening growl of “The Barbarian”? Into that pummeling beat with the piercing organ stabs? I was never the same.

 

[jimfisheye]

Well that's funny. I've wondered before what the reaction might be from someone who heard Lucky Man on the radio, bought the album, and then got hit by The Barbarian and everything that follows! I would have guessed a different reaction to yours!

 

[jimfisheye]

I feel like I grew up with Black Sabbath. Another thing I discovered in my uncle's collection early on. I have no idea what 6 or 7 year old me was getting from Black Sabbath albums! (Deranged at an early age?) I think the sci-fi sounding intro to Iron Man caught my attention. I probably felt like there was something there I wasn't supposed to be listening to or something. Must truly be one of my favorite bands though! I still put these albums on and everything is right in the world. I was confused by the "metal" coming out in the '80s. The sounds were right but I didn't like the songs and it sure wasn't Black Sabbath!

The first album is one of the rare cases where I like the US version with Wicked World better. Maybe just because I heard it first that way? It's usually the other way around with these with missing tracks on the US versions. I went hunting for the imports eventually in high school years. They all sounded significantly better! The new "rare" track on side 2 of the first one was cool but the US side 2 was the more real one.

 

[mrcond]

I feel like I grew up with Black Sabbath. Another thing I discovered in my uncle's collection early on. I have no idea what 6 or 7 year old me was getting from Black Sabbath albums! (Deranged at an early age?) I think the sci-fi sounding intro to Iron Man caught my attention. I probably felt like there was something there I wasn't supposed to be listening to or something. Must truly be one of my favorite bands though! I still put these albums on and everything is right in the world. I was confused by the "metal" coming out in the '80s. The sounds were right but I didn't like the songs and it sure wasn't Black Sabbath!

The first album is one of the rare cases where I like the US version with Wicked World better. Maybe just because I heard it first that way? It's usually the other way around with these with missing tracks on the US versions. I went hunting for the imports eventually in high school years. They all sounded significantly better! The new "rare" track on side 2 of the first one was cool but the US side 2 was the more real one.

Wicked World is a much better track than the cover of Evil Woman.

 

[GOS]

Wicked World is a much better track than the cover of Evil Woman.

I love them equally. just killer....

 

[ar surround]

Steely Dan's Can't Buy A Thrill. The first time I heard it I just loved the thing to death from start to finish. I still do...one of my favorite albums of all-time.