this post was submitted on 01 Mar 2026
97 points (98.0% liked)

Ask Lemmy

38847 readers
1547 users here now

A Fediverse community for open-ended, thought provoking questions


Rules: (interactive)


1) Be nice and; have funDoxxing, trolling, sealioning, racism, toxicity and dog-whistling are not welcomed in AskLemmy. Remember what your mother said: if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all. In addition, the site-wide Lemmy.world terms of service also apply here. Please familiarize yourself with them


2) All posts must end with a '?'This is sort of like Jeopardy. Please phrase all post titles in the form of a proper question ending with ?


3) No spamPlease do not flood the community with nonsense. Actual suspected spammers will be banned on site. No astroturfing.


4) NSFW is okay, within reasonJust remember to tag posts with either a content warning or a [NSFW] tag. Overtly sexual posts are not allowed, please direct them to either !asklemmyafterdark@lemmy.world or !asklemmynsfw@lemmynsfw.com. NSFW comments should be restricted to posts tagged [NSFW].


5) This is not a support community.
It is not a place for 'how do I?', type questions. If you have any questions regarding the site itself or would like to report a community, please direct them to Lemmy.world Support or email info@lemmy.world. For other questions check our partnered communities list, or use the search function.


6) No US Politics.
Please don't post about current US Politics. If you need to do this, try !politicaldiscussion@lemmy.world or !askusa@discuss.online


Reminder: The terms of service apply here too.

Partnered Communities:

Tech Support

No Stupid Questions

You Should Know

Reddit

Jokes

Ask Ouija


Logo design credit goes to: tubbadu


founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
 

By "important" I mean that it didn't just become hugely popular, but it also changed a music genre or launched an entirely new one, or otherwise made a huge impact on music in general.

(page 2) 48 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] HubertManne@piefed.social 3 points 1 month ago

being a tull fan Im going to say stand up, aqualung, songs from the wood, and thick as a brick. The bands early career sorta brought progressive rock front and center and there is definately a difference between rock before the band and after thick as a brick and I think it was very much their influence. Songs from the wood sorta did the same for folk rock.

[–] Hegar@fedia.io 3 points 1 month ago

Rum, Sodomy and the Lash by the Pogues. Seemless blending of punk and traditional irish music that's still as raw and refined today as ever.

Pretty much anything by the Velvet Underground. They're the quintessential "barely anyone came to their shows but everyone who did started a band" band.

Early Pixies - Surfer Rosa or Come on Pilgrim. Basically no grunge otherwise.

Probably everything by Sun Ra, but his earliest wrangling of electronic keys into jazz in like the 40s or whatever seems pretty consequential. Plus probably no P-funk as we know it without Sun Ra, which has heaps of knock on effects.

[–] Drbreen@sh.itjust.works 3 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Fear Factory - Demanufacture.

I couldn't decide whether it was this album or Soul of a new machine that pioneered clean singing in metal but I chose Demanufacture since it has such a timeless sound.

[–] djdarren@piefed.social 1 points 1 month ago

I heard Remanufacture before I heard Demanufacture, so there'll always be a larger part of my heart devoted to Rhys Fulber's remix of Self Bias Resistor than the original. But yeah, Demanufacture is an incredible record. That era of industrial metal transports me back to some incredibly sweaty venues.

[–] JakoJakoJako13@piefed.social 2 points 1 month ago

Colors by BTBAM is probably the single most impressive prog metal album of this century. It really felt like the world stopped for that album, took it's time to digest it in full, then started over with a renewed sense of creativity.

Periphery 1. Commercialized the sound of Skith and Meshuggah and popularized Djent as a genre.

Exoplanet by The Contortionist dropped the same summer as Periphery 1 and it marked a clear line of Deathcore to Djent. Djent took over in full swing for about 3 years. Traditional Deathcore chased the trend or fell behind.

[–] DagwoodIII@piefed.social 2 points 1 month ago
[–] Hikermick@lemmy.world 2 points 4 weeks ago

Speak English Or Die by Stormtroopers of Death. Whipped up in a week and recorded using Anthrax's leftover studio time, this album bridged hardcore and metal. Metallica and Slayer were already popular with some punks but SEOD didn't take itself seriously and had a DIY vibe

[–] aoidenpa@lemmy.world 2 points 1 month ago (3 children)
load more comments (3 replies)
[–] Libb@piefed.social 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Any specific era? I mean, I'm mostly into classical music and I would consider quite a few of those old pieces... hugely important, to say the least: much more meaningful than many of the more recent productions. But, even though I've a much more limited understanding of it, I also consider some more recent and even a few contemporary artists... hugely important ;)

[–] neidu3@sh.itjust.works 3 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Any era where music is released as part of albums, I guess.

[–] Libb@piefed.social 1 points 1 month ago

Album doesn't mean much to me I'm afraid. I mean an opera (which literally means 'a work') could be considered an album? What about a symphony (which could means 'a body of (harmonious) sounds')? And what about all tho the other types of music?

They were not released as 'albums' (no disc players, back then) but they were released as a coherent ensemble one was expected to listen to as a whole, in a certain order. And they were released as printed editions too as, back then, owning music sheets was the equivalent of what purchasing albums is/was to us: people would buy them in order to be able to read the score and to play it by themselves or with friends ;)

[–] hitmyspot@aussie.zone 2 points 4 weeks ago

Radiohead - in rainbows

They tried to go outside the existing studio release system before the rise of streaming. It was a pay what you want release.

Nirvana - unplugged in new York

Took a backlash to overproduced music at the time and started a still going strong tradition of publishing live albums.

Air - moon safari

Took electronic music and added a soul with otherworldly sounds and production to make chill out music that could be played in a club or on the beach or in a park with friends.

Dusty Springfield - Dusty in memphis Dusty brought back music to white people. There is a long tradition of white artists taking black music and presenting it palatably to white audiences. From elvis to P!nk. however, the UK as a more melting pot society without segregation, doesn't see it as cultural appropriation, but just another style for anyone to sing. That tradition continues with Amy winehouse and adele today.

[–] ToduTony@lemmy.zip 1 points 4 weeks ago

Fang's album landshark. Just saw them play last night they are amazing.

[–] Xaphanos@lemmy.world 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I'm no fan, but I imagine that there is an Elvis album on this list. Possibly Jerry Lee Lewis, too.

[–] djdarren@piefed.social 2 points 1 month ago

In terms of bringing existing black music to white audiences, sure, but Elvis and Jerry weren't really doing anything that wasn't already being done.

[–] TipRing@lemmy.world 1 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

Steely Dan's Aja includes the first recorded rock shuffle thanks to Bernard Purdie. Not to mention Steve Gadd's masterpiece solo on the title track.

[–] Paranoidfactoid@lemmy.world 1 points 4 weeks ago* (last edited 4 weeks ago)

John McLaughlin, My Goals Beyond.

Tom Waits, Swordfish Trombone.

Captain Beefheart, Trout Mask Replica.

The Residents, Commercial Album.

[–] melsaskca@lemmy.ca -4 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Every album I really like should be on this list. Every album you really like should be on this list. You cannot rationalize subjectivity.

[–] redhorsejacket@lemmy.world 3 points 1 month ago

I did a big write up about how this is a thought-terminating cliche, but it felt too much like preachy lecturing, so I'll try a different tack: why do you feel that subjectivity cannot be rationalized?

load more comments
view more: ‹ prev next ›