Just finished listening to the entire The Band studio discography (minus Jubilation because it's not on spotify). Below are my personal rankings of their albums. I really enjoyed listening to these albums and think they are a tier one classic rock band.
The Band
Music From The Big Pink
Cahoots
Stage Fright
Northern Lights- Southern Cross
The Basement Tapes
Jericho
Islands
Moondog Matinee
High On The Hog
Also created this playlist of some good album tracks
https://open.spotify.com/user/ipowrie/playlist/47adg0bK9CmxevhuoyI5b5?si=9jkCSHaGTtChflIzc5jwlQ
I like your ranking. Personally I'd move High on the Hog up a couple of notches but that's about all.
Last time a saw them the audience was really into it. Big time boogie.
The Band is #1 by far.
I'm fine w/your ranking of the others.
Nice list. I like Big Pink best, but that's just me. Curious where you would rank Rock of Ages and Last Waltz on the list if you were including live albums?
i was a huge Band fan saw them at least 10 times in their prime. I think your list is pretty close to my opinion. Rock of Ages was a fantastic album as well. I would also have Big Pink number 1 but the rest looks good to me.
Cahoots usually gets low marks from critics, and even Robbie Robertson has expressed his dissatisfaction with the album. Despite the criticism, there are great songs like “Smoke Signal” “Life is a Carnival” “4% Pantomime”.
Nice list. I like Big Pink best, but that's just me. Curious where you would rank Rock of Ages and Last Waltz on the list if you were including live albums?
Last Waltz would be right after Music From The Big Pink. Rock of Ages I'm not sure as it has been a long time since I've listened to it. Was the shows that Rock of Ages from released in full as Live At the Academy of Music 1971?
Cahoots usually gets low marks from critics, and even Robbie Robertson has expressed his dissatisfaction with the album. Despite the criticism, there are great songs like “Smoke Signal” “Life is a Carnival” “4% Pantomime”.
I thought the songwriting on that album was better than Stage Fright.
Nice list. I like Big Pink best, but that's just me. Curious where you would rank Rock of Ages and Last Waltz on the list if you were including live albums?
Last Waltz would be right after Music From The Big Pink. Rock of Ages I'm not sure as it has been a long time since I've listened to it. Was the shows that Rock of Ages from released in full as Live At the Academy of Music 1971?
Rock of Ages is tops for me. Waltz is awesome for the event that it was, but as for pure musical listening . . . way too uneven.
Rock of Ages is tops for me. Waltz is awesome for the event that it was, but as for pure musical listening . . . way too uneven.
Agreed. Rock of Ages is one of the best live albums of all time, imho. It's easily in my top 5. Yes, it was culled from the New Years run, that was later released as Live at the Academy.
Don't forget their other live album - Before The Flood, which documents their tour with Bob Dylan in '74. That was their live album that I listened to alot in my early days of getting into the Band and I always thought it had a sort of fun, high energy to it.
Music From Big Pink #1
The Band #2
After that a more distant #3 to Stage Fright (see below songs), and a #4 to Northern Lights.
I more like songs than albums after the first two albumst, and they continued to do some great ones, but on weaker albums, hence my song picks below. I put post Robinson Band in a second category and did not include.
Stage Fright:
Time to Kill
The Shape I’m In
Stage Fright
Cahoots:
When I Paint My Masterpiece
Moondog Matinee
Sorry, none
Northern Lights, Southern Cross
Ophelia
It Makes No Difference
Acadian Driftwood
Islands:
Georgia On My Mind
Also did not include live stuff. I saw them in 72 and they were probably the tightest and closest renditions of their recorded stuff live, over any band I have seen. They did not "jam" and they were so good they could sound very close to their recorded sound.
