silverchild said:

Harlepolis said:

Great list!

Shuggie Otis' is one of my fave albums, and even though its musically rich, I'm on the fence of calling the album versatile whats the 3rd hip hop album you listed btw?

The third hip hop album is Beastie Boys' Paul Boutique...

As for Shuggie's Inspiration Information, it can definitely be considered a versatile record because it does have stylistic diversity on the surface. Shuggie covered many genres and shuffled various moods on that album. It's a rich and versatile record overall. Despite the complexity of the arrangements, there is continuity. Despite the shuffling of styles and modes and aural textures- it's still hella funky and soulful overall. Not one thing sounds like the next on that record. You can't miss that aspect with a defining musical statement like Inspiration Information.

[Edited 4/8/11 1:48am]

I can dig it

The album has a collage of different sounds, but he fused & blended many musical styles together to the point where some songs might sound musically ambiguous for the average ear(mine ), for lack of a better expression. By that argument, I also have to include Sly's Fresh & Riot to this discussion as well, he also flirted with many musical styles in these two albums, but like Shuggie, he made a helluva job putting those styles into one pot and stirring them until they sound completely meshed.

MickyDolenz said:

The Beatles ~ The Beatles

It always trips me out.... I play "Why Don't We Do It In The Road" and then the very next song "I Will" for people... and they don't ever believe that it's the same singer or even the same band.

I miss that sort of thing in Popular music... where you just wrote good songs and put it on the album and didn't worry about if it fit or fell into any particular genre.

I'd rate Sting's Nothing Like The Sun record as one of my favorite versatile records too.

...

[img:$uid]http://www.dose.../img:$uid] [img:$uid]http://image.al.../img:$uid] [img:$uid]http://image.al.../img:$uid] [img:$uid]http://image.al.../img:$uid]

...

Harlepolis said:

silverchild said:

The third hip hop album is Beastie Boys' Paul Boutique...

As for Shuggie's Inspiration Information, it can definitely be considered a versatile record because it does have stylistic diversity on the surface. Shuggie covered many genres and shuffled various moods on that album. It's a rich and versatile record overall. Despite the complexity of the arrangements, there is continuity. Despite the shuffling of styles and modes and aural textures- it's still hella funky and soulful overall. Not one thing sounds like the next on that record. You can't miss that aspect with a defining musical statement like Inspiration Information.

[Edited 4/8/11 1:48am]

I can dig it

The album has a collage of different sounds, but he fused & blended many musical styles together to the point where some songs might sound musically ambiguous for the average ear(mine ), for lack of a better expression. By that argument, I also have to include Sly's Fresh & Riot to this discussion as well, he also flirted with many musical styles in these two albums, but like Shuggie, he made a helluva job putting those styles into one pot and stirring them until they sound completely meshed.

Yes Fresh and Riot can also be considered as versatile records as well.

Another artist that has always done versatile albums is Me'Shell NdegeOcello...

Oh and I forgot this young lady:

Timmy84 said:

NDRU said:

The Clash--Sandinista

I still gotta get check this one out. I read on the album. It IS VERY diverse!

it's almost too diverse! a bit all over the place. But probably would have made a great single album

Prince - Purple Rain

The Beatles - White Album

Queen - The Game

The Rolling Stones - Some Girls

David Bowie - Aladdin Sane

Madonna - Like a Prayer

The Clash - London Calling

[Edited 4/8/11 10:58am]

NDRU said:

Timmy84 said:

I still gotta get check this one out. I read on the album. It IS VERY diverse!

it's almost too diverse! a bit all over the place. But probably would have made a great single album

Yeah it's like they were trying HARD to not be pigeonholed as just punk acts (which explains why they added reggae, funk and hip-hop elements in "Combat Rock").