Recommend me the prettiest album you can think of

ole-the-first wrote: Polymorphia wrote: Sigur Ros— Agaetis Byrjun Alcest— Ecailles de Lune (metal, but still gorgeous) Those are real masterpieces, indeed Btw, I was totally shocked with Alcest's 'Shelter' low rating here on the archives. Looks like an army of metalheads woke up to give a bunch of 1-star ratings for that excellent LP

I still haven't heard it yet. I wasn't crazy about what tracks I heard, but that isn't an unusual occurrence for albums I love.

Polymorphia wrote: ole-the-first wrote: Polymorphia wrote: Sigur Ros— Agaetis Byrjun Alcest— Ecailles de Lune (metal, but still gorgeous) Those are real masterpieces, indeed Btw, I was totally shocked with Alcest's 'Shelter' low rating here on the archives. Looks like an army of metalheads woke up to give a bunch of 1-star ratings for that excellent LP I still haven't heard it yet. I wasn't crazy about what tracks I heard, but that isn't an unusual occurrence for albums I love.

I will do my usual broken record imitation and recommend Iona, whose music is simply some of the most gorgeous stuff I have ever heard.  They also happen to be one of the most under-appreciated bands on this site, probably because they don't really come across as a prog band stylistically even though they fit into the genre analytically.

The music is a mixture of Celtic folk, progressive rock, and new age, but doesn't sound like the syrupy Celtic-new-age muzac you sometimes hear; instead it's lush and uplifting while still maintaining uniqueness and musical interest.  The musicianship is incredible (especially on the part of the guitarist, Dave Bainbridge) and Joanne Hogg's vocals are simply breathtaking.

I recommend starting with the live album Heaven's Bright Sun.  This unfortunately only includes material from their first four albums but is still an excellent introduction to the band (which is much better live than in the studio anyway).  As far as studio albums go, Open Sky is generally considered their finest work.

Many of the Renaissance albums qualify imo....especially Turn of the Cards and Scheherazade.

Try this wonderful album

Banco-Garofano Rosso

Todd Rundgren - Something/Anything? Some of the best melodies ever put on tape, especially the first album.

smartpatrol wrote: I'd like to hear more pretty, melodic, and optionally lush albums. Doesn't matter what style or genre, but this thread was inspired by Harmonium's second album, so if you know of anything like that, sharing it would be encouraged.

Anthony Phillips - "The Geese And The Ghost" and Renaissance - "Ashes Are Burning".

Sagichim wrote: Renaissance - Ashes Are Burning http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JwAPFbQVMgs&list=PLA1042EA4376238CF

Check.

dr wu23 wrote: Many of the Renaissance albums qualify imo....especially Turn of the Cards and Scheherazade.

Check.

dr wu23 wrote: Argent- Odyssey and Oracle

You mean The Zombies? Yep.

Sagichim wrote: Popol Vuh http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZgT_YSy4Xwk

Yep.

Guldbamsen wrote: Popol Vuh after Florian Fricke passed on his Moog synth to Klaus Schulze and went damn near all acoustic. Try out Hosianna Mantra, Seligpreisung, Letzte Tage Letzte Nachte or any other from around that period.

And yep.

HolyMoly wrote: I'll nominate "Breathless" by Camel.  That thing just sparkles, in a variety of different ways.  Some prog rock, some melodic folk rock, jazzy pop, a couple of dazzling guitar solos, some fusion, sad but sweet ballads, a little of everything, all exceedingly melodic.

+1. And never mind what most listeners say about the album. 

^ Smooth jazz-pop ... hm-m-m. I personally wouldn't recommend Aja as a melodic album. It heavily relies on the use of unusual chords and chord changes rather than melody like most of Steely Dan's catalog. If you want to see the Dan's melodic side, then may I recommend a certain selection of tracks, their popular songs that stand out, like "Peg", "Dirty Work", "My Old School", "Rikki ... ", and "Any Major Dude ...". But of course, it's up to Andrew to see what works best for him.

Edited by Dayvenkirq - August 28 2014 at 04:50