God Shuffled His Feet

My sister-in-law recently gave me a couple of good post suggestions.  This is the first and I will post the other one later.

In the age of the ipod, many of us have become "shufflers".  I prefer just to put it on shuffle because I enjoy the uncertainly of not knowing what song will pop up next ("Wow!  I forgot I even had that".)  I guess it goes back to my love of radio, only this station is programmed just with songs I like.  What a concept.

Having said that, there are some albums that MUST be listened to all the way through, in order.  Here are the top five that I think should be played with shuffle turned off:

1. The Wall - Pink Floyd

Actually most, if not all, of Floyd's albums should be played sans shuffle.  I believe the individual tracks of this album depend on each other thematically more so than Dark Side Of The Moon.

2. Tommy - The Who

I was tempted to put this at number 1, but the strength of Pinball Wizard as a single pushed it down to the 2 position.

3. What's Going On - Marvin Gaye

Marvin Gaye ushered in a new era of socially conscious soul music with this album. This was also one of the first great full length albums in what had mostly been a singles oriented genre.

4. Abbey Road - The Beatles

OK, this one makes the list solely because of the medley on side 2 (Yes, kids. "Records" used to have "sides").  When I imported my physical CD into iTunes, it broke that medley up into individual tracks. Nope.  It must be listened to as a whole.

5. Goodbye Yellow Brick Road - Elton John

Even though not technically a concept album, each song tells a small story (as emphasized by the illustrations on the original album sleeve) and I think the individual stories add up to a great whole.  As a side note, we once saw Elton in concert and he opened the show with Funeral For a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding.  Definitely one of the best openings I've seen.

I should note that this just MY list, it is limited to albums that I own and know.  It is by no means definitive.  Please feel free to list your favorites in the comments.  Also, I am very open to ideas and suggestions for posts.  Is there anything you always wanted to know?  Let me know, I'll be happy to do the research for you!