Monday, February 02, 2009

What is the Coolest Album Title?

I'm not asking what the best or coolest album is. I just want to focus on title of album--Disregard quality for the time being, if possible. What is the best album title? Liking the title doesn't necessarily mean you like the album. Here are some of the best album titles of all time:

Disraeli Gears by Cream
Eponymous by REM (Clever, no?)
Physical Graffiti by Led Zeppelin
Icky Thump by The White Stripes
Viva Hate by Morrissey

And here is the dumbest album title of all time:

Californication by the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Stadium Arcadium is also very dumb. I would say the Chili Peppers have the most disparity between album title quality and quality of album.

Meaty Beaty Big and Bouncy is a very memorable title by The Who. Back in Black is also cool in the context of AC/DC. Tigerlilly is an extremely apt title for Natalie Merchant's album, but not a stand out in terms of being cool.

22 comments:

  1. I always liked Counting Crows "Films About Ghosts" because it comes from a line in a song on one of their previous albums that says "Memories are films about ghosts" and it is a Best-Of album.

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  2. You have unleashed my inner-album hunter!

    Emerson Lake Palmer - Brain Salad Surgery
    Guns 'n Roses - Appetite for Destruction
    Dire Straits - Brothers in Arms
    Ween - Chocolate and Cheese
    John Mayer - Continuum
    Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon
    Bright Eyes - Digital Ash in a Digital Urn
    Queensryche - Operation Mindcrime
    Cake - Fashion Nugget
    Chris Isaak - Heart Shaped World
    David Bowie - Space Oddity
    The Brian Jonestown Massacre - Methadrone
    Robert Plant - Mighty Rearranger
    Muse - Origin of Symmetry
    Led Zeppelin - Physical Graffiti
    South Culture on the Skids - Plastic Seat Sweat
    U2 - Rattle and Hum
    Ween - Shinola
    The Crystal Method - Tweekend

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  3. Dance Fever.

    Because there is DANCE, and there is also FEVER.

    UNSTOPPABLE.

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  4. Here are some album titles I've liked:

    Yo La Tengo - And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out
    Evan and Jaron - We've Never Heard of You, Either
    Spirit - Twelve Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus
    Talking Heads - More Songs About Buildings and Food
    Barney Kessel - Music to Listen to Barney Kessel By
    Harry Chapin - Verities and Balderdash
    Hall & Oates - Abandoned Luncheonette
    Simple Minds - New Gold Dream (81-82-83-84)
    Terence Trent D'Arby - Introducing the Hardline According to Terence Trent D'Arby
    Elton John - Captain Fantastic & the Brown Dirt Cowboy
    Secret Machines - Now Here is Nowhere
    Peter Gabriel - So
    King's X - Gretchen Goes to Nebraska
    Son Volt - Okemah and the Melody of Riot
    Tripping Daisy - I Am an Elastic Firecracker
    Tears For Fears - Songs From the Big Chair
    The Flaming Lips - Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots
    The Kinks - Lola vs. the Powerman & the Money-Go-Round, Pt. 1
    Midnight Oil - 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1
    INXS - Shabooh Shoobah
    The Rain Parade - Emergency Third Rail Power Trip
    Pink Floyd - Atom Heart Mother
    John Cougar Mellencamp - Uh-Huh
    Kansas - Leftoverture
    Joe Walsh - The Smoker You Drink, the Player You Get
    Tom Tom Club - Boom Boom Chi Boom Boom
    Yaz - Upstairs at Eric's
    The Offspring - Ixnay on the Hombre
    Neil Diamond - Tap Root Manuscript
    Visible Wind - Barb-a-Baal-a-Loo
    The Woodentops - Wooden Foot Cops on the Highway
    The Aliens - Astronomy For Dogs

    You figure if the title can be that imaginative, the songs must have some originality to them too.

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  5. "smell the glove"- Spinal Tap

    "fumbling towards ecstasy"- Sarah McLachlan

    "kamakiriad"- Donald Fagen

    "so"- Peter Gabriel

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  6. Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer?


    Of Montreal.

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  7. Maybe people would respect Raffi more if he had more kick a** album titles.

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  8. I like Shins titles--Oh, Inverted World, Chutes Too Narrow, Wincing the Night Away.

    That's all I got.

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  9. I am totally agreeing with these suggestions. Especially So, Shaboo Shoobah, and Uh-huh. Perhaps my taste leans toward the concise album title?

    The Shins always have intriguing and cool titles.

    There should probably be a separate category for quirky and/or clever album titles.

    It is really hard to discuss without talking about album quality. For example, I really want to suggest Nevermind by Nirvana. But is Nevermind really that great of a title or is it just a great album?

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  10. What about the debut album of James? You know...."Laid"? That title is sort of embarrassing and so apt for puns and jokes. Not that I would ever stoop so low.

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  11. I love Kings of Convenience album title Quiet is the New Loud.

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  12. How about "Good News for People Who Like Bad News" by Modest Mouse. Another good one is "Naked Baby Photos" by Ben Folds Five. "Exile in Guyville" Liz Phair, also a classic title.

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  13. Long time ago, I went to an REM concert. (around the time of Green). Michael Stipe said that they wanted to name their first album "Cat Butt" but were pretty sure that would have nixed their cred. I think it would have been awesome!

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  14. Oh yeah, "Stereopathetic Soulmanure" by Beck.

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  15. Brushfire Fairytales - Jack Johnson
    Mudslide Slim and the Blue Horizon - James Taylor
    Dark Side of the Moon - Pink Floyd
    Court and Spark - Joni Mitchell
    After the Gold Rush - Neal Young
    We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things. - Jason Mraz
    Bookends - Simon and Garfunkel

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  16. Aztec Camera - High Land, Hard Rain
    Depeche Mode - Playing the Angel
    eels - Beautiful Freak
    Oasis - What's the Story, Morning Glory
    The Nudes - Velvet Sofa
    The Ocean Blue - Cerulean (brilliant!)
    Barenaked Ladies - All Their Greatest Hits (it couldn't be anything else!)

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  17. Sort of on the same topic, but Blender Magazine just came out with the worst band names of all time. They had The Beatles on there. Now, it's not secret I don't like The Beatles, but the worst band name? I can at least admit it is creative and unique.

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  18. Anonymous8:42 PM

    There are so many of them! I'm particulary fond of "universal" album titles, like the "( )" album by Sigur Ros or what's commonly referred to as the "White Album" by The Beatles. But here's a list of pretty interesting ones:

    Songs from a Room - Leonard Cohen
    Songs of Love and Hate - Leonard Cohen
    Silence Is Sexy - Einstürzende Neubauten
    Blood On The Tracks - Bob Dylan
    Voyage Sans Retour - Malice Mizer
    Les Chants Magnétiques - Jean-Michel Jarre
    Music for Films - Brian Eno
    Liebe ist für alle da - Rammstein
    Three Imaginary Boys - The Cure
    Pet Sounds - The Beach Boys
    Songs in the Key of Life - Stevie Wonder
    ...And then we were three... - Genesis
    Heaven or Las Vegas - Cocteau Twins
    The Moon and the Melodies - Cocteau Twins
    Music of my Mind - Stevie Wonder
    Ultraviolence Über Alles - CNK
    In the Wee Small Hours - Frank Sinatra

    The list could go on and on forever.

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  19. I've always thought "Presence" by Led Zeppelin was an amazing, single word name for an album. I've always liked single, iconic album names, and that's a suitably vague one.

    Other notables:

    OK Computer (Radiohead)
    Welcome to the Machine (Pink Floyd)

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  20. Michael Nesmith - Infinite Rider On the Big Dogma

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  21. Peter Case - The Man With the Blue Post Modern Fragmented Neo-Traditionalist Guitar
    Dirk Hamilton - Yep!
    Badfinger - Ass
    Kinky Friedman - Under the Double Ego
    Swamp Dogg - Gag a Maggott
    Tonio K - Ole
    Ian Hunter - You're Never Alone With a Schizophrenic
    Todd Rundgren - The Ever Popular Tortured Artist Effect
    Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band - Lick My Decals Off, Baby
    Sexy Sadie - It's Beautiful, It's Love
    Marshall Chapman - Mellowicious!
    Jo Jo Gunne - So...Where's the Show?
    Frank Zappa - Sheik Yerbouti
    Hirth Martinez - Hirth From Earth
    Eric Matthews - It's Heavy in Here
    Alice Cooper - Zipper Catches Skin
    Dirk Hamilton - SEXSpringEVERYTHING
    Jimmie Spheeris - The Dragon is Dancing
    Wendy Waldman - Which Way to Main Street
    Swamp Dogg - I Called for a Rope and They Threw Me a Rock
    Lowell George - Thanks, I'll Eat it Here
    George Duke - I Love the Blues, She Heard My Cry
    Marah - Let's Cut the Crap and Hook Up Later on Tonight

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  22. Anonymous5:27 PM

    REO Speedwagon -- "You Can Tune a Piano, but You Can't Tuna Fish"

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