what was the last 'classic album' you got and were knocked out by?

Marvin Gaye, "Here, My Dear".

Had avoided it because of its reputation as a (relative) disappointment and because of the idea of a double album of someone whinging about alimony and their ex-wife didn't exactly appeal. I was wrong though.

It's funky, and I love Gaye's synth work.

10cc - Sheet Music

How did this band escape my radar for so long? Like I had no idea The Worst Band In the World is pretty much all of the source material for Dilla's Workinonit. Impeccably recorded, joyful and just bouncing with energy, chic and cheek-iness. Guessing this vibe doesn't last much longer on future albums given what I've briefly read, but plan on listening their debut and The Original Soundtrack. Kinda reminds me of Wizard era Rundgren and the Beatles. But in the best way possible. Something tells me They Might Be Giants dug them a lot.

Man Original Albums box.
Listened to 4 of them so far. Might be s/t yet but all pretty great. Nice psych prog stuff from a band I've known of but not been familiar with for decades.
I read Andrew Lauder memoir Happy Trails where he talks about them quite a bit and wanted to hear the lps he mentions. So got this when I saw it.
Pretty great.

T2 the It Will All Work Out In Boomland
Box set. I did half know the main l.p. and it is pretty great heavy prog. Other 2 discs are both pretty good too.

octobeard, definitely give How Dare You a go too, there’s no loss of quality there. :)

hell yes to that T2 album, so classic. cool to hear the extra discs are good too, I need to spring for that eventually.

The Associates - Fourth Drawer Down

(Also, T2 and 10cc obv classique)

Man Original Albums box.
Listened to 4 of them so far. Might be s/t yet but all pretty great. Nice psych prog stuff from a band I've known of but not been familiar with for decades.
I read Andrew Lauder memoir Happy Trails where he talks about them quite a bit and wanted to hear the lps he mentions. So got this when I saw it.
Pretty great.

Funny that you mention this, I am going through the exact same box. I've had Maximum Darkness, the live album with John Copollina, for awhile, but this is my first deeper dive into them. I've only made it through the first three albums, they all have highlights but I do like the S/T best too I think. I also picked up the similar box with their five live albums, excited to go through this.

In the past few years I've had a lot of fun digging into those UK bands that drew heavily from West Coast psych and country rock, like Man, Mighty Baby and Help Youself.

Alchemist on s/t seems to be the one track that doesn't work for me so far. Maybe I need to listen on headphones. But seems not to have anything happening.
I had a great live set from Germany in 1970 that reminded me of Mirror Man Beefheart but haven't heard anything similar so far.
But generally great band from this.

Mighty Baby are great. I loved the Action from the time the Edsel compilation came out. Lauder talks about that too.
Good to have the box sets of the 2 eras of the band.

& I probably need to know Help Yourself better. I have one 2fer CD which is good.
Not sure what the pairing is.

Lauder also talked about Cochise who I've heard a little bit of since. Sound interesting. Individual take on country rock.

Yeah "Alchemist" felt too much like random experiments stitched together, was hard to keep my attention throughout.

This was the Help Youself box I got, from Esoteric: https://www.cherryred.co.uk/help-yourself-esoteric-recordings-present-the-complete-studio-albums-of-help-yourself/

I'll have to check out Cochise.

happy trails rools

Abbey Lincoln - Abbey Is Blue

Holy crap, how have I missed out on this amazing album until now? And is there really no dedicated Abbey Lincoln thread?