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I want to do a marathon: Help me decide which!

I want to commit to a time period or a range of AM entries for a year to familiarize myself with all of the insides and outs of a certain number of classic albums.

Here are the choices:


AM All-Time top 500
1960s top 200
1970s top 200
1980s top 200
1990s top 200
2000s top 200

Also the choice of chronologically, ascending (from 200-1) or descending order (from 1-200). Thanks guys.

Re: I want to do a marathon: Help me decide which!

Definitely the AM Top 500. I've been doing this exact same thing over the last year and I've discovered many great albums and it opened up entire new genres for me. And let's face it, it's good to know you've at least listened to the 500 'best' albums ever made.

Re: I want to do a marathon: Help me decide which!

Stephan
Definitely the AM Top 500. I've been doing this exact same thing over the last year and I've discovered many great albums and it opened up entire new genres for me. And let's face it, it's good to know you've at least listened to the 500 'best' albums ever made.


Alright... Chronologically, descending or ascending?

Re: I want to do a marathon: Help me decide which!

Ah yes, I forgot about that part. I personally just started at #1 and moved down the list until I found a bunch of albums I hadn't heard and then found and listened to those. When that batch was done, I moved down to find more and more albums. In the beginning I had to listen to maybe one per 50 on the list, in the end I had to listen to 2-3 per 10.

The downside to this is that (perhaps obviously) there is a slight decrease in overall quality as you progress. I suppose it might be more fun to start at 500 and work your way to the highest ranked album you haven't heard yet. I personally wouldn't do it chronologically since it's more fun to mix all the genres up, which happens less if you simply start at 1940.

Re: I want to do a marathon: Help me decide which!

Ironically, I'd already thrown on Pet Sounds.

I did the top 100 all in a row this past spring. This list has changed in order, but not really in terms of which albums, as there was only one change.

Instead of only focusing on albums I haven't heard (which are few in the top 500) I might focus on ones I've only heard a few times...and ones I haven't worn out.

Re: I want to do a marathon: Help me decide which!

If you've already heard most everything in the top 500, why not listen to those remaining few and then explore the rest of the top 1000 you haven't yet heard? I realize that wasn't an option, but I'm picking it anyway.

Re: I want to do a marathon: Help me decide which!

I would root for #1 of each dedade, then # of each decade etc... just an idea, you would get a more varied "marathon". Also, better than AM top 500 might be last forum all time poll top 500. A large part of my favorite albums I discovered through AM came from the forum (thus indirectly from the site, but still!)

Re: I want to do a marathon: Help me decide which!

Stephan
If you've already heard most everything in the top 500, why not listen to those remaining few and then explore the rest of the top 1000 you haven't yet heard? I realize that wasn't an option, but I'm picking it anyway.


I've heard songs off of every single one, and have heard probably 400 of them all the way through. I've only heard about 250 of them enough times to say I'm familiar front to back.

I'm going to take this year to work on familiarizing myself with all of the top 500 albums (in addition to listening to new albums of course.)

Eventually I will go through the top 1000. It's a long process, and I don't want to spread myself too thin to the point where I'm not getting the most out of each listen.