What are the most ambitious records ever?

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Use your own definition of "ambition"...

― Sick Mouthy (Nick Southall), Thursday, 30 March 2006 18:40 (twenty years ago)

wagner - ring cycle

― scott seward (scott seward), Thursday, 30 March 2006 18:41 (twenty years ago)

shit, this is ilm, sorry, Pet Sounds!

― scott seward (scott seward), Thursday, 30 March 2006 18:42 (twenty years ago)

Metal Machine Music

― Soukesian, Thursday, 30 March 2006 18:43 (twenty years ago)

Now; are they any good?

― Sick Mouthy (Nick Southall), Thursday, 30 March 2006 18:43 (twenty years ago)

Also; why are they ambitious?

― Sick Mouthy (Nick Southall), Thursday, 30 March 2006 18:43 (twenty years ago)

That's three questions . .

― Soukesian, Thursday, 30 March 2006 18:45 (twenty years ago)

Get Rich or Die Tryin', duh

― pyjamagrama (teenagequiet), Thursday, 30 March 2006 18:48 (twenty years ago)

the who, lifehouse (which became who's next).

townshend wanted to make the audience disappear. that's pretty freakin' ambitious.

― Lawrence the Looter (Lawrence the Looter), Thursday, 30 March 2006 18:52 (twenty years ago)

yeah he had to wait until By Numbers to really accomplish that though

― pyjamagrama (teenagequiet), Thursday, 30 March 2006 18:52 (twenty years ago)

Did he want them to disappear so he could do some "research"? LOL

― jimnaseum (jimnaseum), Thursday, 30 March 2006 18:53 (twenty years ago)

rick wakeman's knights of the round table? that rock-musical version of war of the worlds?

i never understood things like wowie zowie being criticized as "overly-ambitious"

― bb (bbrz), Thursday, 30 March 2006 18:58 (twenty years ago)

yeah he had to wait until By Numbers to really accomplish that though

haha...i was waiting for that. i wasn't sure which album someone would use to make that joke.

― Lawrence the Looter (Lawrence the Looter), Thursday, 30 March 2006 18:58 (twenty years ago)

I came across this:
http://images.bol.de/images-adb/87/54/8754ae0c-ad10-42f8-ae40-d3403b3cdd17.jpg
at the library a couple of weeks ago. I hadn't heard of it prior, and since listening to it, if it doesn't qualify I don't know what does.
Distinguishing characteristics:
1)Length-- a triple LP (double CD)
2)Epic Recording Period--took 4 years to complete
2.5)Recorded between 1968-1972
3)Overarching Concept-- the album purports to be about something, butI sure as hell can't be bothered to discover what it is.
4)Cast of thousands (ok, actually 30 or so)including no less than 4 different band configurations
4.5)Multiple "characters" singing to and about one another.
5)Lengthy Instrumentals-- at least 2 tracks clock in over 13 min, others 8-9 min
6)Self-identified as a "Chronotransduction."
7)Includes libretto
8)With the exception of some Mahavishnu jamming with Jack Bruce vocalizing, highly unlistenable. Well the bombastic title track is alright as well.

― Sparkle Motion's Rising Force, Thursday, 30 March 2006 19:00 (twenty years ago)

I believe that's Marcello's favourite record ever, Sparkle.

― Sick Mouthy (Nick Southall), Thursday, 30 March 2006 19:05 (twenty years ago)

MBV: Loveless

― kornrulez6969 (TCBeing), Thursday, 30 March 2006 19:08 (twenty years ago)

disco inferno - di go pop. revitalized sampling in music away from mere transposition of musical data from one place to another to a method where essentially any sound was open for manipulation and utilization in a manner thereafter not equaled, or even attempted

― cds, Thursday, 30 March 2006 19:12 (twenty years ago)

XTC "History of Rock and Roll." Four decades of music in 22 seconds.

― James, Thursday, 30 March 2006 19:14 (twenty years ago)

I believe that's Marcello's favourite record ever

It's hard for me to imagine it being anyone's favorite record, but it is interesting. It's certainly diverse.
Perhaps I was ungenerous. There's some nice work by Don Cherry on it as well, and it's a trip to hear Paul Motian in a rock band.

― Sparkle Motion's Rising Force, Thursday, 30 March 2006 19:34 (twenty years ago)

the answer is quite obviously fleetwood mac's "tusk" and it is a resounding success.

― Special Agent Gene Krupa (orion), Thursday, 30 March 2006 19:36 (twenty years ago)

because of how inexperienced they were when they began it
and how it turned out
i'd vote for this album

http://www.popmatters.com/music/reviews/s/stairs-miraculous.shtml

― Tank J. Howland, Thursday, 30 March 2006 19:37 (twenty years ago)

Plush - fed.
you know why.

― cutril, Thursday, 30 March 2006 19:46 (twenty years ago)

-SMiLE
-Aja

― Arnar Eggert Thoroddsen (arnart1802), Thursday, 30 March 2006 20:23 (twenty years ago)

Chinese Democracy.

― js (honestengine), Thursday, 30 March 2006 20:26 (twenty years ago)

SMiLE

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Thursday, 30 March 2006 20:51 (twenty years ago)

What is super ambitious about Tusk other than getting USC marching band on one track?

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Thursday, 30 March 2006 20:52 (twenty years ago)

the amount of cocaine consumed during its recording

― pyjamagrama (teenagequiet), Thursday, 30 March 2006 20:59 (twenty years ago)

And what? It made them *get all weird* or something? How, specifically, does this manifest in making Tusk interesting (because there are like ten million "used a lot of drugs" albums)?

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Thursday, 30 March 2006 21:12 (twenty years ago)

Monster Ballads

― Or maybe Freedom Rock, Thursday, 30 March 2006 21:13 (twenty years ago)

Aren't there like ten million Monster Ballad albums, too?

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Thursday, 30 March 2006 21:14 (twenty years ago)

Paul McCartney made an album as interesting as Tusk every time!

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Thursday, 30 March 2006 21:15 (twenty years ago)

xp - easy there, big fella. it's a pretty big/weird songwriting leap (or at the very least, change) for all parties involved, particularly buckingham, and there are all sorts of really clever/strange production aspects (like the direct-to-board guitars and super-close to the mic vocals on "the ledge" and the way the vocal backings shift imperceptably and creepily on "walk a thin line") kickin around as well.

― pyjamagrama (teenagequiet), Thursday, 30 March 2006 21:20 (twenty years ago)

i was mainly joking; it's my fave mac but i don't think it's really "the most ambitious record ever." i have no idea what that'd be. maybe "sheets of easter," but no, probably not that either.

― pyjamagrama (teenagequiet), Thursday, 30 March 2006 21:22 (twenty years ago)

Speaking of Easter, Easter Everywhere by the Thirteenth Floor Elevators is one of the most lyrically ambitious records ever.

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Thursday, 30 March 2006 21:24 (twenty years ago)

And psychedelic sounds of... has some of the most ambitious liner notes ever, too

― pyjamagrama (teenagequiet), Thursday, 30 March 2006 21:26 (twenty years ago)

Can I just say at this point, hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha

And I love that album.

― Robocock (noodle vague), Thursday, 30 March 2006 21:42 (twenty years ago)

lazy answer, Sex pistols. Success, financially? sure- musically? kind of sucks... inspirationally? 100%...

― -rainbow bum- (-rainbow bum-), Thursday, 30 March 2006 22:06 (twenty years ago)

Smoosh, because they are small children.

― Eppy (Eppy), Thursday, 30 March 2006 22:06 (twenty years ago)

Incredible String Band - U

― Joe (Joe), Thursday, 30 March 2006 22:35 (twenty years ago)

Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness is pretty darn ambitious, certainly Billy tries out a lot of styles on it. It's a pretty good album, I think, though I havent listened to it in a while and have heard the whole thing all the way through consecutively about 3 times in the years I've had it. But, still, a lot of good material and I'd say it's worthy of the love that Pumpkins fans give it.

― Harrison Barr (Petar), Thursday, 30 March 2006 22:41 (twenty years ago)

If played back properly on 4 seperate players, instead of combining the 4 to one disc, Zaireeka is a groovy listen.

― nicky lo-fi (nicky lo-fi), Thursday, 30 March 2006 22:50 (twenty years ago)

4'33" sounds yay better live, too.

― Robocock (noodle vague), Thursday, 30 March 2006 22:55 (twenty years ago)

Nobody has mentioned the obvious yet (hint: 81 minutes of music based on a footnote).

― Joe (Joe), Friday, 31 March 2006 00:27 (twenty years ago)

Zaireeka

Mellon Collie

Abbey Road

Paula Cole, Amen.

Tears for Fears, Sowing the Seeds of Love

Marvin Gaye, Here, My Dear

Michael Jackson, Thriller

Pet Sounds

Greetings from Asbury Park, NJ

Songs in the Key of Life

― Joseph McCombs (Joseph McCombs), Friday, 31 March 2006 00:38 (twenty years ago)

lack of mention of Floyd and Yes is interesting

― jacobite, Friday, 31 March 2006 00:49 (twenty years ago)

THE FUCKING WALL

― Mr. Snrub (Mr. Snrub), Friday, 31 March 2006 00:51 (twenty years ago)

69 love songs?

― electric sound of jim (and why not) (electricsound), Friday, 31 March 2006 00:52 (twenty years ago)

Godley and Creme's Consequences

― Mr. Snrub (Mr. Snrub), Friday, 31 March 2006 00:53 (twenty years ago)

KISS Music from the Elder

― Joe (Joe), Friday, 31 March 2006 01:16 (twenty years ago)

"Paula Cole, Amen."

? Explain please.

― Tim Finney (Tim Finney), Friday, 31 March 2006 01:42 (twenty years ago)

Ascension--JWC or perhaps another of the JCOA units, in fact, the first one released Jazz Composers Orchestra of America JCOA LP1001/2, JCOA (ECM)841 124-2 1968, sometimes also called "Communications"; this double lp had Cecil Taylor, Rosswell Rudd, Howard Johnson, Pharoah Sanders, Steve Lacy, Don Cherry, Gato Barbieri, Lew Tabackin, Julius Watkins, Charlie Haden, Eddie Gomez, Randy Brecker, Carla Bley, Ron Carter, Kent Carter, Richard Davis, Charles Davis, Jimmie Knepper, Beaver Harris, Andrew Cyrille--and about 15 more...what I remember is Cecil Taylor nearly drownding out everyone else. Coherency? Not so much. Energy and Ambition. YBYSA

― J Arthur Rank (Quin Tillian), Friday, 31 March 2006 02:18 (twenty years ago)

Jean Claude-Vannier's Les Enfants.. -- and it delivers.

― Yoo Doo Nut (donut), Friday, 31 March 2006 03:55 (twenty years ago)

Stockhausen: Helicopter String Quartet (logistics)

pick a Jandek any Jandek (for largely creating it's own musical context)

The 50 States (Sufjan Stevens box set, released in 2047)

Kid A (a movie about all our fears, in album form)

― davelus (davelus), Friday, 31 March 2006 05:12 (twenty years ago)

so many posts and nairy a mention of Six by Mansun...

― Lee F# (fsharp), Friday, 31 March 2006 07:16 (twenty years ago)

If someone were to do what I asked about in the original post here, they might be a candidate.

― The Vintner's Lipogram (OleM), Friday, 31 March 2006 07:45 (twenty years ago)

the fiery furnaces "rehearing my choir", though it didn't work all that well.

if sufjan stevens follows through with the 50 states thing even like a third of the way and it somehow doesn't get boring, i would say that would be the most ambitious thing basiclly ever.

unwound - leaves turn inside you

magnetic fields - 69 love songs

the clash - sandinista

― Emily B (Emily B), Friday, 31 March 2006 20:26 (twenty years ago)

2nd annual report

― boo boo, Friday, 31 March 2006 20:35 (twenty years ago)

Zaireeka or maybe Ornette's Free Jazz?

― Myonga Von Bontee (Myonga Von Bontee), Friday, 31 March 2006 22:21 (twenty years ago)

...or, heck, maybe that Beatles record, "Dr. Pepper and His Band" or whatever.

― Myonga Von Bontee (Myonga Von Bontee), Friday, 31 March 2006 22:24 (twenty years ago)

Plush - Fed

― Eazy (Eazy), Friday, 31 March 2006 22:30 (twenty years ago)

Giant Steps (The Boo Radleys not Miles Davis)

― holojames (holojames), Saturday, 1 April 2006 18:45 (twenty years ago)

Hounds Of Love people!!

― fandango (fandango), Saturday, 1 April 2006 20:46 (twenty years ago)

okay, probably not most. ambitious. ever. just trying to balance the thread a bit (Smashing f*cking Pumpkins??)

(being an arsehole sorry... scott seward OTM re: this thread).

― Delivering over 43,973,865,717,760 bytes per day | What are you sending? (fandan, Saturday, 1 April 2006 20:55 (twenty years ago)

this thread's idea of ambition is rather depressing

― Thomas Tallis (Tommy), Saturday, 1 April 2006 20:56 (twenty years ago)

I'd mention one of the last two Talk Talk albums, but I've no idea if there was any ambition involved other than to create beautiful music. Which, in that case, they succeeded.

In terms of some sort of semi-obvious ambition..........maybe Blonde On Blonde, Dark Side of the Moon, or Fear of a Black Planet.

Hell, I dunno. Mellon Collie did come to mind, though.

― PB, Saturday, 1 April 2006 21:51 (twenty years ago)

I'm surprised no one has mentioned "In the Aeroplane Over the Sea". There may be albums that are more far-reaching in their technical aspirations, but those, in the end, are like scientific experiments: if it succeeds, it's a great accomplishment; if it fails, you go back into the lab and try again, if you feel like it. With "Aeroplane", there was too much at stake to fail, more than in any other rock album I know of, and one can hear this in every note. If it hadn't been completed to such perfection, it could only have ended up lost.

(Cf. "The Unknown Masterpiece" and "Gambara" by Balzac, who knew a thing or two about ambition.)

(Also worth noting is George Antheil's "Ballet Mécanique" (http://www.antheil.org/). I highly recommend checking this out if you're in the DC area, even though it's only a ten-minute excerpt.)

(For what it's worth, I thought "Rehearsing My Choir" worked brilliantly!)

― Sam E., Sunday, 2 April 2006 02:44 (twenty years ago)

"we are the world"!

― DADA!, Sunday, 2 April 2006 03:58 (twenty years ago)

"Paula Cole, Amen."

? Explain please.

I was impressed with Paula identifying alternately with the Buddha, a teenage girl growing up in the ghetto, Isis the high priestess, and Zora Neale Hurston. The arrangements were very complex yet not gratuitously so, and Cole's meditations on faith and man's duty to man were quite a bit more interesting than "Where Have All the Cowboys Gone" (dammit, I still hear Apu singing that one). Spiritually ambitious, in my mind if no one else's.

― Joseph McCombs (Joseph McCombs), Sunday, 2 April 2006 04:49 (twenty years ago)

Song Cycle immediately springs to mind. That and Randy Newman's debut.

― harvey.w (harvey.w), Sunday, 2 April 2006 15:00 (twenty years ago)

Bob Ezrin showing up to the studio generally means a rock band is getting their artistic ambition socks out of the drawer.

― Earl Nash (earlnash), Sunday, 2 April 2006 23:17 (twenty years ago)

White Noise - An Electric Storm, the creation of which (if I understand correctly) involved about ten million teeny tiny tape splices for every second of sound. Or something like that.

― dlp9001, Monday, 3 April 2006 00:47 (twenty years ago)

one month passes...

Tales from Topographic Oceans

― Earl Gray, Sunday, 28 May 2006 04:09 (twenty years ago)

from wikipedia:

"Mysterium was an unfinished musical work by composer Alexander Scriabin. He started working on the composition in 1903, but it was incomplete at the time of his death in 1915.

Scriabin planned that the work would be synesthetic, exloiting the senses of smell and touch as well as hearing. He wrote that

"There will not be a single spectator. All will be participants. The work requires special people, special artists and a completely new culture. The cast of performers includes an orchestra, a large mixed choir, an instrument with visual effects, dancers, a procession, incense, and rhythmic textural articulation. The cathedral in which it will take place will not be of one single type of stone but will continually change with the atmosphere and motion of the Mysterium. This will be done with the aid of mists and lights, which will modify the architectural contours."

Scriabin intended that the performance of this work, to be given in the foothills of the Himalayas in India, would last seven days and would be followed the end of the world, with the human race replaced by "nobler beings".

At the time of his death, Scriabin left 72 pages of sketches for a prelude to the Mysterium entitled Prefatory Action. These sketches have been completed by Alexander Nemtin and recorded."

― you will be shot (you will be shot), Sunday, 28 May 2006 14:23 (twenty years ago)

How about one of Eno's installation works (ie Lightness)? In theory, they never end.

― Dave Bush (davebush), Sunday, 28 May 2006 16:57 (twenty years ago)

John Cage's ASLSP- not a record, but it is due to go for another 634 years!

― Neil Stewart (Neil Stewart), Sunday, 28 May 2006 19:57 (twenty years ago)

"Be Here Now". Blame it on the Coke.

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Sunday, 28 May 2006 21:19 (twenty years ago)

Also, Norwegian composer Arne Nordheim has composed a piece that does apparently last for 70 years or something. I haven't managed to find any info on it on Google though.

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Sunday, 28 May 2006 21:27 (twenty years ago)

Prince - "Emancipation" or the original aborted "Crystal Ball".

― AleXTC (AleXTC), Monday, 29 May 2006 08:20 (twenty years ago)

two months pass...

blonde on blonde
the second coming (in all the wrong ways)
the wall
rust in peace (sincerely, you can listen to this and tap into mustaine's ambition to make the tightest, most dynamic and cohesive expression of thrash metal ever)

― Charlie Howard (the sphinx), Thursday, 17 August 2006 14:28 (nineteen years ago)

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