It could be any genre

Not BEST, but ICONIC?

Hard to pick a clear favorite, but I'd say the following are candidates.

Aretha Franklin's I Never Loved A Man The Way I Loved You

Joni Mitchell's Blue

Madonna's Like A Virgin

Janet Jackson's Control

Lauryn Hill's The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill . . .

and Adele's 21 will be a candidate in the years to come.

rhythm nation 1814

Carol King, Tapestry, comes to mind.

Lammastide said:

Carol King, Tapestry, comes to mind.

Almost made my list.

namepeace said:

Not BEST, but ICONIC?

Hard to pick a clear favorite, but I'd say the following are candidates.

Aretha Franklin's I Never Loved A Man The Way I Loved You

Joni Mitchell's Blue

Madonna's Like A Virgin

Janet Jackson's Control

Lauryn Hill's The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill . . .

and Adele's 21 will be a candidate in the years to come.

THIS^(since it's most iconic, not "best")

I'd like to add

Alanis Morissette - Jagged Little Pill

Britney Spears - Baby One More Time

Blondie - Parallel Lines (it's a male band with a female singer-leader, yeah, but you get the idea)

Kylie Minogue - Fever

Spice Girls - Spice

Lady GaGa - The Fame

Björk - Post

[Edited 3/4/15 5:02am]

Minnie Riperton ~ Perfect Angel

Deniece Williams ~ This Is Niecy

Miami Sound Machine (Gloria Estefan) ~ Primitive Love

Tracy Chapman ~ Tracy Chapman

Whitney Houston ~ Whitney Houston

Cyndi Lauper ~ She's So Unusual

Salt N Pepa ~ Very Necessary

Dolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt, Emmylou Harris ~ Trio

Tina Turner ~ Private Dancer

Anita Baker ~ Rapture

TLC ~ Crazy Sexy Cool

Bonnie Raitt ~ Luck Of The Draw

despite the haters and naysayers, also this one

Amy Winehouse "Back to Black" baby, her story is tragedy but I don't know anyone who doesn't get into that sound. janet. was a really iconic album in that era as she was a major female artist addressing some then taboo topics and really heating up the video medium. The Carpenters and ABBA albums were really iconic for their place in time.

.

Its hard to pick an "of all time" because time is the trick. The saga of Amy really stung me as a music fan.

Lammastide said:

Carol King, Tapestry, comes to mind.

^^^This.

Joni.

Blue.

....often imitated, never bettered.

Carol King - Tapestry

Joni Mitchell - Blue

And arguably the best.

Janet Jackson- Rhythm Nation

TLC- Crazy Sexy Cool

Whitney Houston- Bodyguard Album

Madonna- Erotica

Lammastide's Tapestry call and Pandurito's Hounds of Love call were really good ones. I left a lot of female faves off my list because I didn't see their albums, classic though they may be, as "iconic" per se. My most recent choice was from 1998; I think the albums have to have some "age" on them. Some of the albums from the mid-90s listed here I couldn't disdagree with, but albums less than 10 years old, the jury is still out (though like I said, 21 is probably on its way).

[Edited 3/5/15 9:04am]

Wow, so many silly choices... Whitney's albums are filler galore, just because they sold bucketloads, it doesn't make them iconic at all, they are largely ignored on best of lists. Same goes for 21, the epitome of middle of the road, ain't it?

I'd say Janet's Rhythm Nation 1814 and Madonna's self-titled debut are easily the most iconic.

I don't think it's THE most iconic. Just one of the iconic ones:)

[img:$uid]http://i60.tinypic.com/o8zya1.jpg[/img:$uid]

[Edited 3/5/15 17:19pm]

Dusty in Memphis - Dusty Springfield

Etta James - At Last

Patti Smith - Horses

Liz Phair - Exile in Guyville

kd Lang - Shadowland

Coat Of Many Colors - Dolly Parton

80's kid here, biased, but I vote for Tina's Private Dancer. (Don't even love the album that much)

.

But it has the signature Look, that wig, those pumps with the fishnets, give me a break. Then 10 years later there's a MOVIE named after the SONG which all but mythologizes the woman's life, and ends with the ALBUM (which i don't think they even bother naming). We just know: that wig, that song = happy mf'ing ending, they all lived happily ever after.

.

Except Ike.

Mintchip said:

80's kid here, biased, but I vote for Tina's Private Dancer.

Ohhhh, good one!

LiveToTell86 said:

Wow, so many silly choices... Whitney's albums are filler galore, just because they sold bucketloads, it doesn't make them iconic at all, they are largely ignored on best of lists. Same goes for 21, the epitome of middle of the road, ain't it?

I'd say Janet's Rhythm Nation 1814 and Madonna's self-titled debut are easily the most iconic.

See . . . we weren't talking about quality were we?

Take for example, 21, which isn't an iconic . . . now. Someone who read carefully would notice that was said in the original response. I don't even listen to it that much. But as we know, the generations who grow up listening to the albums of today will decide what their iconic albums will be.

As for "most iconic," setting aside other iconic albums that preceded (or followed) them, RN 1814 and Madonna aren't even the "easy" choices from the Janet or discographies, even in a topic with few "wrong" answers to those with open, objective minds. One's Rhythm Nation is another's CrazySexyCool.

As Mintchip indicated, we shouldn't confuse iconography with merits, or or that matter, preferences.

[Edited 3/6/15 9:52am]

[Edited 3/6/15 10:49am]

SuperSoulFighter said:

I'm with Pandurito on this one. No one else even comes close.

Well, let's not go THAT far.

namepeace said:

LiveToTell86 said:

Wow, so many silly choices... Whitney's albums are filler galore, just because they sold bucketloads, it doesn't make them iconic at all, they are largely ignored on best of lists. Same goes for 21, the epitome of middle of the road, ain't it?

I'd say Janet's Rhythm Nation 1814 and Madonna's self-titled debut are easily the most iconic.

See . . . we weren't talking about quality were we?

Take for example, 21, which isn't an iconic . . . now. Someone who read carefully would notice that was said in the original response. I don't even listen to it that much. But as we know, the generations who grow up listening to the albums of today will decide what their iconic albums will be.

As for "most iconic," setting aside other iconic albums that preceded (or followed) them, RN 1814 and Madonna aren't even the "easy" choices from the Janet or discographies, even in a topic with few "wrong" answers to those with open, objective minds. One's Rhythm Nation is another's CrazySexyCool.

As Mintchip indicated, we shouldn't confuse iconography with merits, or or that matter, preferences.

[Edited 3/6/15 9:52am]

[Edited 3/6/15 10:49am]

I see your point and agree with this in terms of classics and legendary status. However, I don't think you have to wait decades to determine if an album is iconic or not. I also don't think today's iconic moments are only based on the opinions of today's generation. Some of the albums mentioned in this thread are not only iconic for their generation but also for today's generation as well.

mjscarousal said:

namepeace said:

See . . . we weren't talking about quality were we?

Take for example, 21, which isn't an iconic . . . now. Someone who read carefully would notice that was said in the original response. I don't even listen to it that much. But as we know, the generations who grow up listening to the albums of today will decide what their iconic albums will be.

As for "most iconic," setting aside other iconic albums that preceded (or followed) them, RN 1814 and Madonna aren't even the "easy" choices from the Janet or discographies, even in a topic with few "wrong" answers to those with open, objective minds. One's Rhythm Nation is another's CrazySexyCool.

As Mintchip indicated, we shouldn't confuse iconography with merits, or or that matter, preferences.

[Edited 3/6/15 9:52am]

[Edited 3/6/15 10:49am]

I see your point and agree with this in terms of classics and legendary status. However, I don't think you have to wait decades to determine if an album is iconic or not. I also don't think today's iconic moments are only based on the opinions of today's generation. Some of the albums mentioned in this thread are not only iconic for their generation but also for today's generation as well.

That's fair. We may just be arguing semantics. I see "icon" as being, like the literal interpretation of "legend," a touchstone. Something that stands out on the map. I think the test of time decides that question. When people look at iconic albums, they look at albums that define the voice and sound of a generation, for better OR worse. That's hard to do instantly. We could place bets on which new releases will be iconic but that's as far as I think we can go.

And you are right insofar as the audience in general, without regard to age, renders the verdict. While there may be a number of instant classics, I just think that there are few albums that classify as iconic albums, and IMO we don't truly know which ones they are until some time passes.

iconic for me dont mean it sold alot or won awards. for me i have to see traces of it in pop culture,it had to have a lasting impression, there has to be instant recognition.i never heard of some of the albums named here, you dont have to like an iconic album or even listened to it but you have heard of it.

Iconic... Hmmm?

But it sure sold well!

Whitney Houston's the Bodyguard was a phenomena when it came out. Whether you like the songs are not. It hit big.

lowkey said:

iconic for me dont mean it sold alot or won awards. for me i have to see traces of it in pop culture,it had to have a lasting impression, there has to be instant recognition.i never heard of some of the albums named here, you dont have to like an iconic album or even listened to it but you have heard of it.

I agree with this too.