What's your favorite double album?

Ojai Sam

Ojai Sam

Staff member
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I posted this LA Weekly column over on our Facebook page:
http://www.laweekly.com/music/20-greatest-double-albums-of-all-time-8474052

What's your favorite album that was originally issued as a double (or triple)? Live records are OK but not expanded "Deluxe Edition" type reissues.

Spotify playlist here:

 
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Stephen Stills - Manassas (1972)


At the time, Stills said they were really a band, not just his backup group. With former Byrd Chris Hillman and CSNY ace drummer Dallas Taylor aboard (and listed on the same line!) it's hard to argue. The album was conceived as a double, with two sides' worth of electric rock and one each of country and acoustic, all of which hold up well.
 
Nothing too original here. The greats are great for a reason. I firmly believe in the maxim that most decent/good double albums would make great single albums:

Rolling Stones - Exile on Main Street
Bruce Springsteen - The River
Jimi Hendrix - Electric Ladyland
Derek & The Dominos - Layla & Other Assorted Love Songs
The Clash - London Calling
Stevie Wonder - Songs in the Key of Life

I've mentioned this before that the use of the full CD length in the 1990s led to a lot of artists releasing hour long "single" albums essentially forcing themselves into double album territory. My apologies to Smashing Pumpkins fans, but I'll pick on them - I like Siamese Dream but at 62 minutes it's a bit overlong, and the 120+ minutes of 1995's Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness is just unforgiveable, ugh...just so tedious.

Tighter, shorter albums would have served many of these groups better. Unfortunately, many of those artists didn't have the material to properly fill these CDs out so you get a lot of CD single albums that would have made very poor double albums had they been around in the LP era.

Yes, I'm an grumpy old man.
 
Zeeba Neighba said:
I firmly believe in the maxim that most decent/good double albums would make great single albums....

Tighter, shorter albums would have served many of these groups better. Unfortunately, many of those artists didn't have the material to properly fill these CDs out so you get a lot of CD single albums that would have made very poor double albums had they been around in the LP era.

Yes, I'm an grumpy old man.
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No, I agree completely. And great picks, Zeeb. :thumbsup:
 
Double albums are interesting because many times they represent a emesis of ideas during a particularly fruitful ideas of a group or artist.

I did not list two of my most listened-to double albums - The Beatles and Tusk - because though I feel they are tremendous albums, they are FAR from cohesive, tight albums...I guess out of my list, Electric Ladyland fits the bill too. So many ideas are jammed in there, such a variety of styles juxtaposed together, one can see why they might be polarizing. I find enjoyment and greatness in these three (and with The Clash's London Calling (and to a lesser extent Sandinista) because of the randomness, the excesses, the wild shifts in tones.

Because this seems to apply to most double albums, there may not be a "perfect" double album in the sense one might judge a tight single album where singular tone, themes or moods often are the focus of at least many a critic's interpretation.
 
Zeeba Neighba said:
... there may not be a "perfect" double album in the sense one might judge a tight single album where singular tone, themes or moods often are the focus of at least many a critic's interpretation.
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Darn near all double albums would have made a killer single album. Like a lot of films, a heavier handed producer could have cut most of these sprawling records to good effect.

I went with Manassas not because it equals the White Album or The Wall artistically but because each of the four sides had a concept (and even a name). Here's another of my favorites:

The Byrds - (untitled) (1970)


This one has a live disc and a studio disc. There was a very good reason for this approach. By 1970, the group had undergone so many personnel changes that no one knew who they were (other than Roger McGuinn) or what they did.

So, the live disc reimagined their old songs, like Dylan at Budokan but not as extreme. The studio disc presented new songs in their new style, many without McGuinn vocals. It earned a lot of critical praise and set a positive direction for The Byrds over the next several years.
 
I'm on board with Stevie Wonder's "Songs In The Key Of Life" and will add ...

2) Dave Holland - Extended Play: Live At Birdland
3) Prince - Sign O' The Times
4) Tupac - All Eyez On Me
5) Joshua Redman - Spirit Of The Moment: Live At The Village Vanguard (12 minute cover of Rollins' "St Thomas" is magnificent!)
6) Prince - Emancipation (three CDs, three hours, definitely long, arguably too long, but undeniably fantastic for his fans)

I'll resist the temptation to include CD-era albums over 70 minutes. It's a very valid point to include them, but that would make my list unwieldy.
 
Bob Dylan - Blonde on Blonde (1966)


Hard to believe we missed this one. Lots has happened since BoB came out. The title itself is now a violation of the New York Times style guidelines. :oops:
 
Ojai Sam said:
Bob Dylan - Blonde on Blonde (1966)


Hard to believe we missed this one. Lots has happened since BoB came out. The title itself is now a violation of the New York Times style guidelines. :oops:
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I regret that the last time that I listened to BoB from start-to-finish was probably a minute after the last time that I contemplated what the NYT style book had to say on any topic whatsoever. o_O

In other words, would you clarify that last remark? :popcorn:

P.S. Does it have to do with the spelling of blond(e)?
 
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