WHICH ALBUM SHOULD YOU LISTEN TO FIRST IF YOU'VE NEVER HEARD THE ARTIST BEFORE? 

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You have provided thousands of people like me with many many laughs. Thank you!

Very nice ideer. Staying home, with thunder and rain, listening to Larry recommend CDs; nothing satisfies quite like it.😸

You are always so great at coming up with ideas Larry

Perfect choices for Sparks, I might have to do my ranking again, because '#1 In Heaven' is getting played a lot, I was playing it this morning. I've lent out my 'Past Tense' to a couple of good friends about a week ago, they're really getting into it.

Great topic! Yes - I think "The Yes Album" might be a preferable choice. All those solo bits on "Fragile" might be a bit off-putting. I suppose "Fragile" would be my 2nd choice, so we don't totally disagree. Moody Blues - I might prefer "Days of Future Passed" or "To Our Children's Children's Children" as a first listen. Elvis Costello - Totally agree on This Year's Model. I've no opinion on what would be the best place to start for Lou Reed, Frank Zappa, Alex Harvey Band, The Northern Pikes, Nektar, Blues Oyster Cult, Captain Beefheart, Sparks, Ween or Can. Some recommendations I'd make: The Who - Who's Next The Police - Regatta De Blanc CCR - Cosmo's Factory Sleater-Kinney - Dig Me Out The Smiths - Louder Than Bombs Bob Mould - Workbook Guided By Voices - Universal Truths & Cycles The Shins - Oh, Inverted World Neil Young - After The Gold Rush The Kinks - The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society Grateful Dead - Europe 72 Bob Dylan - Blood On The Tracks (or Bringing It All Back Home...I can't decide) Tom Waits - Closing Time

Great Zappa choice. It was my first Zappa album I bought and heard. I loved the album cover and thought this needed to be in my collection. It is essential you pick the right album with Zappa. Pick the wrong one and your Zappa experience could begin and end in one hearing.

Couldn’t agree more on Buck Dharma, so incredibly underrated.

I love those albums and bands they are amazing i love them all nice video my friend

I have a list of cds i want on a word document. I took note about Sparks, Lou Reed and the Beefheart choices. Thanks for your recommendations!

Agree with @DonaldMains, better to start with the familiar, then the unfamiliar.

kimono my house blew my mind the first time i heard it

You can't go wrong if you just listen to the group's most commercially successful album and go from there. Off the top of my head it's tough to recall when a group's most successful album wasn't also in the top 3 or 4 of its albums.

I used to have 2 early Ween cassette tapes before the band went professional. As for Zappa, I'd go with both Over-Nite Sensation and One Size fits all. For Sparks, Their current studio, The Girl Is Crying in Her Latte and any show from the supporting tour.

This is a great idea! I fear that listening to the “best” album first may affect one’s reception of the rest of the catalog by setting the bar too high. Whereas starting at the beginning of the discography will maybe allow the other albums to be better appreciated. I guess if the early albums are weaker then they may not inspire the listener to keep exploring. Listening to the stand out albums of an artist you never would have otherwise listened to is certainly better than not listening at all.

I was surprised with It’s a Good Life. For TNP, I would have expected Snow in June. But It’s a Good Life is really good. Nice choices with Fragile, In Search of the Lost Chord and Remember the Future. For BÖC, I was sure you’d bring up Secret Treaties, but if not that one then which one? I could only guess Tyranny and Mutation. I was right! I think this is a very useful video idea. Some bands you mentioned, I don’t have. It’s nice to have a recommended starting point.

Disintegration is an excellent starting point for The Cure , OK Computer for Radiohead , Doolittle for The Pixies , London Calling for The Clash & the debuts of The Cars & Pretenders are a few picks.

Good idea from a viewer. 😊

I asked you the same question right about a year ago on messenger, and you did a video with a spotify playlist with 5 songs that are different styles each, from a few different artists, and it was very helpful. Very nice of you listening to video requests and suggestions! I’m really curious what you would suggest to someone who never listened to a Beatles album. I think I would choose Rubber soul, as it is right their middle era.

I choose these artists: BOC: "Fire of unknown origin" Alice Cooper: "Billion dollar babies" Queen: "News of the world" ELO: "Out of the blue" Stranglers "No more heroes"

If you can’t get into Springsteen, I always point to Darkness on the Edge of Town as the best place to start.

talent is an asset is my favorite off the album

Hey Larry! I agree with every pick, with the exception of Ween.....

I would also add Gumboot Soup by King Gizzard because of all the genres they cover on that album

Someday I will revisit Kimono my House. I had this album when I was 13 and just getting into music. I liked it but it was based on my hearing This Town Ain’t Big Enough when they were on Top Of The Pops. I don’t think I really appreciated it so I will revisit it and do a review for my channel. Wish me luck……..

If the artist has a greatest hits album its a no brainer to suggest that

Byrds , Sweetheart of the Rodeo

For someone who hasn't heard Yes I'd suggest The Yes Album to start. My first Mothers album was Weasels Ripped My Flesh. I loved the cover and My Guitar Wants to Kill Your Mother.

If someone intruduced me to ELO and Genesis with the albums Eldorado and The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway I would maybe not bother to dig further because even though they are highly popular they actually never did much for me like most of their other albums did. Yes Roundabout is also a song that although highly popular never overwhelmed me, but I still like it. Great album though. But overall I think I agree with Fragile being a good album to start with. Their next albums may be a bit too overwhelming at first. Some albums and songs may need several listen before it sits. It can be very important which album you get to hear first by someone. I think Elton John's Leather Jacket might have been the first full album I had and heard by him. But luckily I never had any problem with it like everyone else does. But the song Goodbye Yellow Brick Road was the first that caught my attention through Mupper Show. Frank Zappa Bobby Brown Goes Down was a number one hit single in my country, so I got used to it long before I understood the language. It's still the Zappa song that I'm most attached to although I'm not really a big Zappa fan either and never was. And I prefer his jazz albums. I think the compilation This Is The Moody Blues is a good place to start. But as a studio album I agree that In Search Of The Lost Chord is a good introduction. Days Of Future Passed is my favorite but it's very different and unique and not really representative of the band. Time was my introduction to ELO and is therefore very special for me. Maybe I would have felt differently if I only heard that album later on. The first Elvis Costello album that grabbed me was his so-called worst Goodbye Cruel World. Maybe it was the first I heard, I don't remember. With Sparks I think I first heard the song When Do I Get To Sing My Way. I don't think I knew of them before then. I think Propaganda is a great introduction. I think I may have heard Can in early 90's but didn't understand their music back then. It was only some years ago that it clicked for me and I completely got into Can. Actually it was youtuber Niamh the prog nerd who inspired me to check them out. Can Future Days however is not an album that would have made me a Can fan. Although it's nice I don't quite get why everyone rank it so highly. It was the long song Halleluwah that sparked my interest and made me check out more. I remember in the early days when I went to the record store I would get them to recommend for me albums. I remember I wanted to buy the ELO LP On The Third Day but the record store man told me it would be better for me to buy A New World Record.

Shiny Beast and Fragile for sure. For Zappa I would go with Apostrophe for a newbie, Lou Reed I would pick New York. E.C. I might picked Armed Forces. I’ll leave Sparks to the expert, lol. I only have Kimono my House, and I really like it

Brilliant Zappa, Beefheart, Alex Harvey and Blue Öyster Cult albums to start with!!! If anyone has never heard of Yes, it's best to keep it that way....

You should listen to brat by charli xcx, don't let the album cover deter you from experiencing the vibrant and innovative music within

Yes Fragile is the only album I ever bought from Yes Larry and the Northern Pikes are a very good pop band,I actually saw them years ago at Ontario Place and they should have been bigger then they are,I l loved Elvis Costello's My Aim Is True when it came out but I got tired of him pretty quickly,he's just to wordy for me and Sparks have a great image and some very nice songs but I've never really gotten into them because I just don't like their vocals,to me they've just a rocked up Edith Piaf,sorry Larry. Bob

ALRIGHT.... Time for som NEW MUSIC, we all know now you like RAM(P), SPARKS and BEATLES PHOENIX - Alpha Zulu BULLION - Affection THE BLACK KEYS - Ohio Players CHARLI XCX - Brat THOU - Umbilical GOAT GIRL - Below the waste EELS - Eels time VAMPIRE WEEKEND - Only god was above us