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What would be posters favourite double albums? Off the top of my head I'd say "Lamb Lies down on Broadway" by Genesis, The Beatles White Album, "Tusk" by Fleetwood Mac, "Freak Out!" by Frank Zappa and Pink Floyd's The Wall.

Overwhelmingly, the ones that are not necessarily intended to be listened to start to finish as a single work, because I think it is very, very rare for any pop musician to create something that long that holds up for such a long running time. (Rare-to-nonexistent is the double album I don't believe would be better as a single album.) So give me Physical Graffiti over The Wall, for example. Just songs.

One of my favorite double albums is the Chicago Transit Authority debut album.

I love "The Lamb Lies Down," but I have to admit it's a bit padded, a great concept and tons of great songs but some padding too. "Tusk," is a great choice, can play that through all the way with no difficulty. The White Album is a no-brainer (fantastic album) and "All Things Must Pass" is remarkably consistent until you hit the jams near the end. Sublime until there. "Blonde on Blonde" I can listen to from start to finish, the only cut I don't like is "Temporary Like Achilles," everything else is super. The Wall" has some tough spots for sure, great album but some padding too. "Quadrophenia" is good. "Exile" of course. Double live sets usually work well, "Live Rust" is a personal favorite.

But the initial vinyl issue of ALL THINGS MUST PASS saved the jams for a third disc, so those tracks were considered a "bonus" to the album proper. I disliked how the CD reissue split the two proper vinyl discs on separate CDs and filled each with outtakes/bonus tracks. The first four sides of the vinyl should have appeared on one CD (it would fit timing-wise) with the jams and bonus tracks relegated to the second CD.

Regarding THE WALL: ironically, one could say that there is a lot less filler on this double album than on single Pink Floyd albums like WISH YOU WERE HERE and ANIMALS!

I'd say that doesn't make it better; it's just sad.

I heard THE WALL the day it was released (November, 1979) played in its entirety on the radio (back when radio would do this kind of thing) and a big part of the appeal to me was the lack of lengthy synth solos! The album pushed me into becoming a Pink Floyd fan when I had simply tolerated them since first hearing DARK SIDE OF THE MOON. Soon I grew to appreciate all phases from Barrett to the more experimental democratic group to Waters-dominated*, so I like it all and would agree that THE WALL is not necessarily better than those albums with the lengthy digressions.

*I'm going to pretend that the last two Gilmour-led Floyd studio albums didn't exist.

Me too...

The Wall is probably my favorite of their albums, but I do think it is loaded with filler and would have been better as a single album. I meant that it's just sad that a lot of their other albums had even more. I don't know what it is, whatever my state of mind or level of intoxication, I prefer my pop music to be succinct. So double albums that aren't batches of good, succinct songs usually grate on me. Which begs the question, why am I posting in this thread? Sorry. Buzz-kill signing out of the thread.

There is no good double album that couldn't be made better when cut down to a single LP or disc or whatever medium you like.

Good call, although I'd say Chicago II is even better. The suite on the second half is fantastic. We should start a Chicago appreication thread one of these days....


No doubt about it sides 3 & 4 have more than their fair shair of filler which if not for the whole 'Wall storyline concept' would never have seen the light of day. Still, the whole thing hangs together as a whole artistic statement. Compare it to the "Final Cut" single album that followed which is pretty much unlistenable.

The "'White' Album," "Chicago Transit Authority," and "The Wall" would be on my list, too.  I'd also add Todd Rundgren's "Something/Anything," Jimi Hendrix's "Electric Ladyland," Stevie Wonder's "Songs in the Key of Life," and Earth, Wind & Fire's "Gratitude."

'60s / '70s Chicago, until the death of Terry Kath, was completely awesome! But in the '80s...talk about a band jumping the shark.  :'(

For my personal taste Lamb Lies Down on Broadway just doesn't deliver. When I really was into prog rock I used to LOVE about one third of it but even then I didn't bother listening to the second disc most of the time.

Always loved Bitches Brew and Big Fun by Miles Davis. While the latter might not work especially well as a consistent album experience it still contains quite a few of my very favorite fusion-era MD pieces.

Songs in the Key of Life & Tommy

All time favorite double albums:

3. The Beatles
2. The Wall
1. Mellon Chollie and the Infinite Sadness

Hands down. The. Best.

Christ, how could I have forgotten to mention Melon Chollie? That was one of the last truly great albums before the whole industry went to the dogs.

Sad but true.  :'(

Get Up With It by Miles Davis is my fave double album

I would sat Sandinista but that's a TRIPLE album!  Did anyone mention the word "filler" yet?  :p

Honorable mentions:

Tales From Topographic Oceans: Yes (yup)
Lumpy Gravy: Zappa
The Velvet Underground 1969 (do live albums count?)
Blue Moves: Elton John
The Basement Tapes (Bob Dylan, The Band)
 

i was about to put All Things Must Pass but omit it because of it being a triple...but i'd gladly take off the jams and just make it a double album....not that i don't like the jams...but ATMP as a double album would be pretty steller.

BTW, what's the story behind Wah-Wah?
All I know is that it was written during and/or about the Let it Be sessions.
I took it as George don't need none of this Wah-Wah (Bull sh*t)

Lumpy Gravy ain't no double album!

Oops!

Wah Wah is George's term for a headache. A McCartney-induced headache during the LIB sessions.

If we're talking live albums, I'll add:

Grateful Dead - Live Dead
CSNY - 4 Way Street

I will counter your opinion with my opinion that the White Album would have been better as a triple LP, adding Sour Milk Sea, Child of Nature, What's the New Mary Jane, Not Guilty etc...

Yeah......I can't see Blonde On Blonde being any better with songs taken off of it....just my opinion.

Tommy was mentioned.  I'll second that.   As for Floyd I'd pick Umma Guma over The Wall.  Grateful Dead Europe 72..although I think that was a triple lp....

And I'll also second 4-Way St. and CTA.

I can't think of anything less than 35 years old.  'Cept maybe 10 Years of Harmony.  That was a real treat when it came out.

Back in the day, those double albums were quite the investment!

I think the worst double album I've ever heard has to be "Stadium Arcadium" by the Red Hot Chilli Peppers. Seeing as they havn't been able to deliver a good single album in years, it was no suprise that this was the pits.

Agreed!!! But aren't pretty much ALL albums 2000 onward that are pressed on vinyl basically double albums in order to fit the whole 80+ minutes of CD time (and lack of artist restraint) into one package?

All of Bob Dylan's albums "Time Out Of Mine" onward have been "double" albums, while still not REALLY being double albums, if that makes any sense. "Together Through Life" has, like 3 songs per vinyl side with really big grooves.... Also, Radiohead put out "Hail To The Thief" on a double format but at 45rpms! They also put "Kid A" and "Amnesiac" out on double 10inches!!!! Don't know if any of these count as real true double albums!

So, I screwed up listing Lumpy Gravy, so...... scratch that and toss in "Tago Mago" by Can

And how dare we forget "Sign Of The Times" or "1999" by Prince!

Or "New Adventures In High-Fi" by REM! ("UP" by REM, being one of the worst  :'()

I 'm surprised no one's mentioned "Exile on Main Street" or "Layla" yet (Stones/Derek and the Dominoes).  Along with the aforementioned "Quadraphenia," "Basement Tapes," "Something/Anything?", "Electric Ladyland", and "All Things Must Pass", I'll offer these constitute the artists' best work. (Arguably of course.)

As much as I love "Exile" there are 4 or so songs in the last third of the album that could have been removed to make it a soild single player.

The Beatles. White Album

Stevie Wonder. Songs in the Key of Life

Elton John. Goodbye Yellow Brick Road


All three were LP's that were embraced and played loving by all who owned them and they were never off the radio for years thereafter. I bought them on vinyl at original release and then again on CD.

Is early Elton John worth checking out? He now seems to be annoying tabloid fodder, but I take it he was once a true talent. Any pointers?

I think the thing with Elton is, he has become a caricature.

His back catalogue is so prolific and diverse, you could dip in anywhere and find something, even his lesser albums are notable.

GYBR was his most commercial to that date and it really hit a stratospheric mark.  It's was one of those albums that everyone had in their collection and it wasn't unusual to see people carrying it around under their arm on the way to a friends house.  It's difficult in retrospect to describe how huge this album was or even the hype that surrounded it.  

Go somewhere like Spotify and immerse yourself.

I'd say, start at the beginning with Elton and keep up if you can. His stylistic progression is pure awesomeness to behold and yeah, even the lesser albums will somehow become your faves.

Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys  - For The Last Time    Hard to beat- witha great cast

Solo Flight-- The Genius Of Charlie Christian     How he could play! 

and , yeah, The First Chicago Transit double...  wore that one down to nothing...

Ok not counting historical reissues
Elvis-From Memphis To Vegas 1969
Jerry Lee Lewis-The Session 1973
Beach Boys In Concert 1973
BWPS-2004
Dylan-Blonde On Blonde-1966
Dylan-Modern Times (it is on vinyl a 2 LP set)-2005
Dylan-Love and Theft (Ditto)-2001
Dylan Time Out Of Mind (ditto)-1997
Beatles White Album-1968
Rolling Stones -Exile 1972
The Who-Tommy 1969
Ike and Tina-Fesitval Of Live Performances-1973
Ike and Tina-Live In Paris-1971
James Brown Apollo 3-1971
James Brown Apollo 2-1968
James Brown-Get On The Good Foot-1972
James Brown-Payback-1974
James Brown Hell-1974
Jacksons Live-1981
First Edition-Ballad Of Calico-1972

Oh man, how can we forget Odessa by The Brothers Gibb???

Trout Mask Replica  ::)

Freedom Suite: The Rascals!!!

As much as I love it I find it impossible to sit through the entire thing from beginning to end in one go!

Yeah i know! Did you like the album the first time you listened to it?

I never disliked it but it had to grow on me somewhat. I keep meaning to get some more Beefheart stuff, but alas, so many groups, somewhat less money!

I'd probably go for Safe as Milk or Lick My Decals Off, Baby, they're his best albums besides TMR.

Is Melon Chollie only a double album? I've never seen the vinyl for it. I'd have thought since it's a double cd, it'd be about a triple album.

Good point. When I bought it many moons ago on cassette, it was only two tapes. Dunno about vinyl.

I honestly never found it anywhere near as difficult as writers seem to want to make it. It's crazy, all over the map, if you try to figure out parts and organize it in theoretical terms. But I've always found it to be--and I mean this, always, since first listen--extremely accessible as a listening experience. It didn't sound like anything else I had heard, but it wasn't unpleasant by any means.

Since the album is cut into two sections (Dawn to Dusk/Twighlight to Starlight) with each section comprising 14 songs. That would be 7 songs to a side on the vinyl. So I believe it would still be a double album. But I believe the official vinyl release was stacked up as follows:

Dawn
1. Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness
2. Tonight, Tonight
3. Thirty Three
4. In the Arms of Sleep
5. Take Me Down
Tea Time
1. Jellybelly
2. Bodies
3. To Forgive
4. Here is No Why
5. Porcelina of the Vast Oceans
Dusk
1. Bullet with Butterfly Wings
2. Thru the Eyes of Ruby
3. Muzzle
4. Galapogos
5. Tales of a Scorched Earth
Twilight
1. 1979
2. Beautiful
3. Cupid de Locke
4. By Starlight
5. We Only Come Out at Night
Midnight
1. Where Boys Fear to Tread
2. Zero
3. An Ode to No One
4. Love
5. X.Y.U.
Starlight
1. Stumbleine
2. Lily(My One and Only)
3. Tonite Reprise
4. Farewell and Goodnight
5. Infinite Sadness

So on vinyl it was altered to be presented as 3 pieces. I still consider it a double album though since that's how it is presented in every other format. :)

How could I forget Modern times?!?!
it's so good, I have it on vinyl as well.
When the Deal goes Down is by far the best song on the album

No love for Together Through Life???

Oh no! Is Dylan entering another post-motorcycle accident type phase?

Could get interesting ;)

I know what you mean when i first listened to it based on reviews that i'd read, i was expecting something a la Metal Machine Music, I always found that the way to get people into the record was to play Moonlight on Vermont first as that seemed the most accessible song to me.

Together Through Life is ok but not up to the three LP's that came before it. It's better then all of his 80's albums save the Wilbury's.

Quadrophenia by The Who, is a personal favourite of mine. There's not a single song i'd want to take off that album.

Quadrophenia was great when I saw it live in 1996, but the album never worked for me as a concept. Not that the songs save Helpless Dancer are bad (though none are among my top Who songs), but I feel they should have made them mod style recodings due to the subject matter. They felt way too modern for an album celebrating the era the group rose to fame. I love that original pre Tommy Who sound and really missed it here. I guess I'm just not as big on the seventies Who though I do like Leeds, Join Together, Relay, Long Live Rock and By Numbers quite a lot. Still it's the pre Tommy Who that made me a fan.

I don't know how I forgot: ELO's Out of the Blue

Whoever said Something/Anything is so OTM.

Beach Boys In Concert,  Barenaked Ladies Are Me(n), Endless Summer, Around the World With Three Dog Night, Carl and the Passions/Pet Sounds...

IDK about CATP and Pet Sounds....but there has been mention of mixing the CATP material with Holland/Mt. Vernon & Fairway as one whole double album as a fan mix, and that right there would be one hell of a double album! Of course, some have included some un-used songs from that era like We Got Love (studio version), Out in the Country, and Blondie's/Ricky's Hard Times to fill the holes where needed. If I had the know-how and technology, I'd take Mike's early cut of Big Sur and make that the first song of the "California Saga" if it could have a linking part in the tracks to Beaks of Eagles.

Little Feat-Waiting for Columbus, Who-Tommy and Quadrophenia, Allman Brothers-At the Fillmore East, Who-Who`s Zoo, Stones-Exile on Main Street

Lot of good stuff here, but no one has mentioned Adam Marsland's Go West.

According to Magic Band guitarist Zoot Horn Rollo (Bill Harkleroad), "Vermont" and "Veteran's Day Poppy" were recorded much earlier than the rest---hence their greater accessibility, one would suppose.

I was already familiar with the two previous albums when UK DJ John Peel started playing tracks from Trout Mask on his show. I was sold----and I still am.

I used to listen to it regularly at a single sitting but I'm too old for that now.  :old