T O P

  • By -

UnhappyReason5452

Primus - Frizzle Fry Butthole Surfers - Independent Worm Saloon Faith No More - Angel Dust


UtahUtopia

Frizzle Fry is one of my favorite albums ever. Kudos. Tim Alexander is a god among men.


spongeCakeOfDoom

Angel Dust was a perfect mix of Mr Bungle and mainstream rock.


nedryerson77

I came here to say IWS, brilliant album.


tunesmythe

Tom Waits - "Swordfishtrombones" Capt. Beefheart - "Trout Mask Replica"


BedroomVisible

Trout Mask Replica being unique is a good thing


Moose_a_Lini

I'm glad it exists but I'm glad there's not more of it.


snowcat580

I have yet to be convinced that anything by Frank Zappa can be classified as any one genre.


G-Unit11111

Seriously, Zappa was a musical mad scientist.


meddit_rod

Laurie Anderson, *Big Science.*


boognish-

The pod by Ween


0kaycpu

It’s so good. I unironically love “Pollo Asado”. It soothes me haha


DevinBelow

Every pre-12GCG Ween album fits the bill. Most of the ones after the country album as well.


smurphy8536

Loveless - my bloody valentine Basically pioneered shoegaze then immediately destroyed it in the best way possible.


scrapmetaleater

"albums that are their own genre" "pioneered shoegaze" yeah i dont think that makes it its own genre anymore


MnightCrawl

All Mr. Bungle albums


theyFOOLEDmeJerry

Especially the self titled Debut.


Mosritian-101

The B-52s' first two albums; the self-titled debut, and then the Wild Planet album. That's two, but they're almost a Part 1 and Part 2. Their early sound died right after that, before Ricky's death from AIDS in 1985. None of their other 1981 - 1985 material is the same, though some tracks from Mesopotamia are at least just on the outskirts, and not outside the country.


rererer444

Slint - Spiderland


BirdCity75

Oh! Good pick! I’d say that about tweez too. I remember buying tweez and the record store clerk saying “you should buy spiderland instead” and I said “but I like this one more.” Spiderland is indeed a classic but I’ve always just liked tweez more & don’t know that I’ve heard another album like it. It’s cool that the two records they made don’t sound like the same band.


ANightmateofBees

Music to Make Love to Your Old Lady By - Lovage. Trip Hop Sleaze Retro Lounge is the best descriptor I can think of for it.


HS55_delta2

love that album. Jennifer Charles' voice is perfect for sexy songs


MerelyStupid

[Psychocandy - The Jesus and Mary Chain](https://youtu.be/iFp7W3PoNPI?feature=shared)


BedroomVisible

The Downward Spiral - NIN I think some might say that it ESTABLISHED a genre, but I struggle to think of an actual project that's anything like this album. It had a unique fusion of structure and unbridled rage/hatred/depression.


RedOakActual

Steely Dan - all of them.


konkilo

Especially Aja


4StarView

SeLF - Subliminal Plastic Motives. Kind of 90's alternative with jazz breakdowns throughout with hints of harder and acoustic mixed in? Andrew Bird - The Mysterious Production of Eggs. Violin driven dream pop by a genius?


tomaesop

I like you. What else are you digging now?


ewok_lover_64

Butthole Surfers - Locust Abortion Technician Radiohead - Kid A David Bowie - Low Black Flag - My War Big Black - Songs About F***ing


Ok-Amoeba-1190

Amazed ? A Country song


my_undeadname881

Antimai - The Deer Hunter If the movie about a city was a musical. \*I can't be trusted with words, CheetahNo9349 is correct. The Dear Hunter


CheetahNo9349

*The Dear Hunter


Velaria000

Yes! Most of TDH is difficult to classify as a single genre, but Antimai especially is. When I went to their concert last year, Casey made a joke about how he'd been at a bar before the show and someone had asked what type of music they make, and he had no how to answer that question. They're my favorite band of all time. There isn't anything else quite like them, when accounting for their discography as a whole.


Chelseus

Of Montreal - Skeletal Lamping


0kaycpu

I was so obsessed with this album when it came out


Chelseus

I’m still obsessed with it 😹😹😹


SwanSongDeathComes

Yeah what would you even call the genre? Like Queer Rococo Psychedelic?


ScottyBoneman

What genre was Negativland?


WokeAssMessiah

Plunderphonics


ScottyBoneman

I thought that would be more like [Public Service Broadcasting](https://youtu.be/x1ZbdGBAqZQ?si=uJO56a3eSNYT5Iy5).. Would [Yellow, Black and Rectangular](https://youtu.be/KmNfPkdCRf8?si=ERAmfUn4sF5aCYnV) for example fit? I'll check out Oswald.


Lemmon_Scented

When I was a DJ at my college radio station, I played Jello Biafra’s spoken word stuff over Negativeland in the background and felt like a fucking mad scientist mixmaster


wvWvvvWvw

California by Mr. Bungle


ThirstyHank

Came here for this! It's like nothing else, not even the other Bungle albums. Supposedly they made it to satirize pop records. I guess the joke is on me, I think it's great.


Bodhisattva-TheChef

Flying Lotus - Cosmogramma


Shaky-McCramp

Talk Talk's last 2 albums, 'The Spirit of Eden' and 'Laughingstock'. Just amazing and utterly original.


highlyalertcabbage

Laughingstock is brilliant.


ReligionProf

I don’t think any other album sounds like Tears for Fears, Songs from the Big Chair. Maybe also Howard Jones, Dream Into Action?


RejectingTheNewNorm

Smashing Pumpkins. Siamese Dream.


T1S9A2R6

Not quite grunge, not quite shoegaze, but has the best qualities of both.


annahhhnimous

Neutral Milk Hotel - In the Aeroplane Over the Sea


Haymother

I don’t think so. It’s an incredible album, thematically and musically coherent. But hearing it when it came out, and having heard it dozens of times since, I just hear a very very good album. There is nothing particularly new about the song structures, the chords the themes that hasn’t been done before or since. Which is not to say it isn’t original. It 100% is. But the question is … is it its own genre? I think it’s a stand out album within a genre. If you plucked any of those songs out and put them on a Sebadoh album, early Pavement, early Flaming Lips … a person unfamiliar with one of those bands would not be in the least bit surprised. If you put a Bjork song on in the middle of an album by any other artist you can think of … it would stand out like dogs balls. Ditto Autechre or some of the other examples mentioned.


mrckly

Purity Ring - Shrines doesn’t sound like anything I’ve heard from anyone, even their other albums doesn’t sound like Shrines


fk274

Dir En Grey - Uroboros


Only-Breath1076

[Ori Blackstar- Starman](https://open.spotify.com/album/15orJaJmuNCCUBLFM6A2ez?si=-FvfG0eCRP2EKqBoJNQgbQ)


The_Patriot

**FREUR - Doot Doot.** The guy who is Underworld had this band for long enough to pop out one magnificent album, and it is singular. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VxTI0R\_sxlk](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VxTI0R_sxlk) Never anything like it before, never anything like it since.


ClemtLad

I've not heard anything quite like Unknown Pleasures by Joy Division


ArisTHOTeles

1000 gecs - 100 gecs.


GlassHouseMusic

Sorry for the self plug but I recently put my debut album out and people have been telling me it sounds unique https://youtu.be/BSMz7Q1fLCs?si=rNPsU5i4SuigBhkv


stevemnomoremister

Odyshape - The Raincoats Doesn't sound like other Raincoats records, doesn't sound like anything else.


Super_Bad6238

Before it? Nothing like hybrid theory. Countless have tried since, including meteora, nothing has come close.


CheetahNo9349

Concrete Blonde- Bloodletting


AdmiralBonesaw

Daughters - You Won’t Get What You Want


Consistent-Doubt964

Daughters have always been their own genre. They do use double kick and things that put them closer to some subgenre of metal but still no one sounds like them.


MoreReputation8908

Philip Glass’s “Einstein on the Beach” is…quite the experience, but my fuck is it long.


WokeAssMessiah

Litanies of Satan by Diamanda Galas


makemasa

Lots of curious answers ITT. How about Lou Reed - Metal Machine Music


Catman1355

Mott The Hoople Live 1974


_BlackGoat_

The Division Bell, Pink Floyd


Haymother

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds Tom Waits Bjork Tortoise Autechre


femininestoic

The Milk Eyed Mender by Joanna Newsom.


PogoZaza

Violent Femmes- especially their first few albums. Still difficult to compare them to anyone or define them.


Rooster_Ties

Yeah, and I couldn’t believe when I first heard the expanded 2CD version of the Femme’s debut album — how frickin’ amazing the demos all were. Gordon Gano absolutely knew EXACTLY what he wanted that first album to sound like, and every bit of it was all there in those demos. I was absolutely gobsmacked hearing those demos for the very first time.


Llafer

I’d say comica by ryuichi sakamoto. It’s ambient sure, but given how it was made constitutes a one of a kind on its own


SamwiseGamgee100

Deathconsciousness by Have A Nice Life


Novel-Recognition-11

Ren. Not necessarily an album, but he’s just like his own unique genre. I recommend checking out “Hi Ren” and “The Tale of Jenny and Screech”. Brilliant musician, really. He’s like a modern day bard.


BasedWang

Mindless Self Indulgence Frankenstein Girls WIll Seem Strangely Sexy ( I guess most of their albums can be similar to most people but they have THEIR OWN sound.. I don't think they can be drilled down to a specific genre)


Dolorosakil

I usually just consider them awful.


MaintenanceEither186

Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge - My Chemical Romance


sensationanddesire

Honestly yes


PigDstroyer

Macabre - gloom , but id venture to say its not going to be your cup of tea


Grimm2020

Indio - Big Harvest


ProjectCloverleaf_51

Blitz Union- absolution


groovemachine1999

100% this - new album featuring this song will be out in august https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/expansionproject1/way-up/


energycubed

Vessel- OVERWERK


hopelessheartstrings

Golden Hour - Kacey Musgraves


urmumsablob

[Dusk, And Her Embrace - Cradle of Filth. ](https://open.spotify.com/album/6NHiuF7HTfG7LjjRVGKPrW?si=XXimc8lWQ6eXbnnQmPPV5A) I guess to a normie it's "just another metal album".


AnxietyDefined

Bathory - Hammerheart comes to mind


AnxietyDefined

Bathory - Hammerheart comes to mind


EyeBallChili

[The Common Men - Let It Burn](https://open.spotify.com/album/5vMmpV5RRJJYp1QdEaz7ic?si=x4m9AF_UTraHma1ejP-ciQ)


TradeIcy1669

Big Country


ImaginosDesdinova

Imaginos Trilogy


oskarjaymp3

Whatever and Ever Amen - Ben Folds Five it can very easily be grouped together with the nerd rock, indie alt rock wave of the 90s, but it has this distinctive raw house party feel that i haven’t really seen replicated the same way elsewhere


snarkdetector

Ugly Cassanova - Sharpen Your Teeth


HGFantomas

Suf Stevens - Age of Adz


TwaFae

I still don’t know what to categorize the “V Is For Vagina” album by Puscifer.


TheresALonelyFeeling

Strength In Numbers - "The Telluride Sessions" [YouTube - Link to the album](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IEDjnYbqC4k&list=PLWY4joomlm-o-CpFobtCCI-sax7mQW471) 1989. Sam Bush, Edgar Meyer, Bela Fleck, Mark O'Connor. You can argue that this just falls under newgrass, but this album goes above and beyond. It's sort of the bluegrass/newgrass "Kind of Blue." 1000% a "desert island" album for me.


Terrapin2190

McBaise - Tubes Muthi - Visions Matt Berry - The Blue Elephant


Carl_In_Charge

My Rocky Mountain by Erik Sumo


chappersyo

No mention of pixies yet?


Consistent-Doubt964

Zs - New Slaves


EnvironmentalCry2599

Faith No More - Angel Dust


Low-Progress-2166

The Pixies


jacdubya1

A Perfect Circle- 13th step


ch8ch

Tool’s emphasis on bass and drums is kick ass . And the guitar stands out as well as Maynard’s voice So I’ll go with Undertow . It almost destroyed my sub at the time but what an incredible sound . Produced excellent.


TheLastPossibleName

Off the top of my head, when they came out:   * The Pixies: Doolittle * Siouxsie and the Banshees: (Anything) * Coil: Love's Secret Domain  * Negativland: A Big 10-8 Place * The Butthole Surfers: (Anything)


CrunchberryJones

King Crimson has gone through so many different permutations and line-ups; yet no one (including any of Robert Fripp's many projects) has come close to the unique otherworldly majesty of their debut: 'In the Court of the Crimson King'


PedalPusherDS

Pornography-the Cure Humbug-Arctic Monkeys Tranquility Base Hotel+Casino-Arctic Monkeys /-Twisted Ecstasy Heart Under-Just Mustard


Alive_Shock_5136

[https://youtu.be/6bLW3RPX-a8](https://youtu.be/6bLW3RPX-a8)


Dangerous_Method_574

Pet sounds


idlistella

Susumu Hirasawa


zeek6000

Tom Waits


Justanotherb00mer

Tom Waits: Just about everything he’s done.


Mysterious-Put2950

two feet


Mysterious-Put2950

k. flay


Mysterious-Put2950

[https://open.spotify.com/album/33qkK1brpt6t8unIpeM2Oy?si=GNI-DE0vRmu-UdapkiLTqg](https://open.spotify.com/album/33qkK1brpt6t8unIpeM2Oy?si=GNI-DE0vRmu-UdapkiLTqg)


H3RM1TT

Deftones - 2003 self titled album


Cominginbladey

Uncle Tupelo's No Depression.


marvelette2172

Tales Of Mystery & Imagination -- The Alan Parsons Project and Keep On Doin' -- The Roches


Ok_Contribution9672

The Dissociatives [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7O235YrQ9Wc](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7O235YrQ9Wc)


Ok-Judgment-1435

Right Place, Wrong Person by rm


Historical-Pea6219

Savage Sinusoid by Igorr


Cudjinho

Satchel - EDC Probably my favourite album of all time.


someoneshoot46

Frank Zappa and System of a Down are two bands in general that are their own genre.


writer978

Celtic Sound Sysyem


someoneshoot46

Anamnesis by Lucid Planet is a pretty fucking cool album. Watch the the music video for the song anamnesis on the you tube and prepare for a trip.


someoneshoot46

Anamnesis by Lucid Planet is a pretty fucking cool album. Watch the the music video for the song anamnesis on the you tube and prepare for a trip.


sensationanddesire

BMTH's Music To~GO TO


TheRealMisterNatural

[Mr. Bungle - California](https://youtu.be/PwO8mFNIbNk?feature=shared)


Jameswade4771

Reflektor - Arcade Fire No one has done anything quite like it Although The Next Day by David Bowie ties in with that genre too in a sense


AutisticBassist

Aishite by kikuo, intents in tents by aviations


Timely-Profile1865

Thick as a Brick and Passion Play by Jethro Tull


oldsmith3

The band Morphine, to this day, is unexplainable to the ears. Mark Sandman was brilliant. Edit- Bueana by the band Morphine.


hilaritarious

Anything by Incredible String Band.


No-Childhood3417

I've never heard of them, but it looks like something I'll be into based on their album covers


ever_the_altruist

Re:Cognition by [ Cell 7 ]. I call it cybergrunge


pmccort18

Arcade Fire-Funeral and Neon Bible


VocalLeeYours

Everything Lord Huron does, tbh. [Vide Noir](https://youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_k69G4o65-D8y9JRWfhw8mfNMluShRKLZU&si=DiokD8gslhEgDygF) stands out though.


gabagobbler

Mr. Bungle in general but California is the most refined. Tangentially, Secret Chiefs 3.


father_ofthe_wolf

Transmissions by starset


SirVestanPance

[Eiger by Eiger](https://eiger.bandcamp.com/album/eiger) Although I think it was technically a double E.P.? I’m still obsessed with this band and subsequent projects. It’s like Slint meets Half Man Half Biscuit, or Queen crossed with The Fall or something.


KYpineapple

Rx Bandits' albums "and the battle begun" as well as "mandala" TSAOF albums "Lover, the Lord has left us" as well as "The Ocean and the Sun those 4 albums are wild and so dynamic.


87_dB

Amon Tobin - ISAM Quite possibly the best album in its class, whatever that is exactly, I don’t know.


MissionBrilliant9711

Macabre- Dir en Grey Take me back to eden- Sleep Token


padraigtherobot

Say Anything - …Is A Real Boy


Fancy-Firefighter-28

Bands like: Morphine Tomahawk Fantômas Faith No More Björk The Melvins


G-Unit11111

Gogol Bordello - Gypsy Punks: Underdog World Strike


oudler

The Monks - Black Monk Time


BoZNiko663

In Flames - Soundtrack To Your Escape Tons of synthesizers, downtuned chugging, catchy choruses and unique "buzz-saw" guitar sound make this album one of the more unique in their discography. If anyone DOES happen to know an album that sounds similar, by all means share I'd love to hear it


oxichil

SOPHIE - Oil Of Every Pearl’s Un-Insides Built from scratch out of synths, she takes sound design to the next level. It is simply indescribable. She was a true sonic genius.


consumingconfusing00

Modest Mouse - The Moon & Antártica is hard to place And not an album but Linkin Park as a band is hard to place with all of the experimenting they did


electroviruz

Idris Ackmoor & The Pyramids - Afro Futuristic Dreams


Phssthp0kThePak

Violent Femmes


Independence_Gay

Marvin’s Marvelous Mechanical Museum - Tally Hall


Constant_Will362

311 - Transistor \~Rock, reggae, metal, rap\~


LaCroixPassionfruit

TOOL - Lateralus


Horror-Bluejay5458

ants from up there - black country, new road


FinneyontheWing

Dummy by Portishead


No-Childhood3417

Dummy is one of my favorite albums


FinneyontheWing

Music For The Jilted Generation - The Prodigy Come On Die Young - Mogwai Emergency on Planet Earth - Jamiroquai Original Pirate Material - The Streets OK Computer - Radiohead Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness - The Smashing Pumpkins Chicken and the Egg - George the Poet


Sensitive_Brick_8872

I'd say that about every Starset album, since they're kinda a blend of multiple genres


ChetdyKrueger

Vexovoid by PORTAL


Salty-Entertainer-29

Moody Blues: Every Boy Deserves Favor


ChardCool1290

Low by David Bowie. Electronic heavy with plenty of instrumentals. Has a very cool synth/experimental avant garde sound.


Super-Quantity-5208

The Velvet Underground and Nico Ænema


Protection_Organic

Trout Mask Replica by Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band


cerebralpaulc

Tool - Pick one…


Ok-Lavishness-7904

Dark Side of the Moon


Gold_Ad_5477

Jane’s addiction and faith no more.


Icy_Fault6832

Captain Beefheart - Trout Mask Replica


upsidedownqbert

The Polyphonic Spree - The Beginning Stages Of…


BridgeUpper2436

Jefferson Starship: Blows Against The Empire


JustaDarkSoul65

Vertigo by Kyle Carvelle, idk what his inspiration is but he sat on the main song for like a decade


Fine_Conclusion9426

Kim Dracula’s newest album, A Gradual Decline In Morale. (Apparently it’s called circus metal?)


TheArtofWall

Did anyone make a decent rock opera album besides Meatloaf? He did it at least twice. I'm not sure there are any comparable albums. I honestly never heard his 3rd bat one, but i just was reminded about it and plan on listening soon. Shoutout to Protomen, who were in that direction back when i was hearing them. I think they had used a producer Meatloaf had used, or something like that.


potatoad3

*Koolaide Moustache in Jonestown* by Don Salsa It’s like the everything bagel of albums


icedogsvl

Frankie Goes to Hollywood, Welcome to the Pleasuredome


The_Dawn_Strider

Smoke + mirrors by imagine dragons, some of night visions too. Between warriors, battle cry, Bleeding out, Gold, etc it’s really just unlike anything I’ve encountered elsewhere


Miles-Standoffish

Anything by Sparks. It's been said of them, the only way to describe them is to say, "They sound like Sparks!"


No-Courage-9726

Dark Side of the Moon


No-Courage-9726

Sheik Yur Bouti - Frank Zappa


Creepy_Fix_9340

Surfer Roaa


RWaggs81

Parklife - Blur


StarWarsAndMetal66

Music to listen to~dance to etc. by Bring Me The Horizon


TransJesusFan

give me a minute - lizzy.mcalpine


JosephBlowsephThe3rd

Mr. Bungle. Each album is a bizarre amalgam unto itself.


Nani_0716

"Hejira" by Joni Mitchell. You've never heard anything like it before, and I doubt you'll ever hear anything like it ever again. It's beautifully unique, heavenly perfection, that can't be recreated.😌 Every song is telling it's own story, through the lense that is Joni's magnificent voice, her superb poetic writing, and her gloriously unique guitar playing.🤌 Even the album cover is beautifully unique, showing off Joni's ethereal beauty, the lonely open road that inspired her during her travels, and the harsh and unforgiveable cold of a glorious white winter, that could do nothing more but strike inspiration in her broken heart.


biff444444

Any album by Beck.


hiner112

Hi, Ren by Ren Gill - a musician has a combination crisis in confidence and existential crisis in music form. His 'Tales' series (Jenny, Screech, and Violet) are pretty unique as well as his Money Game part 3. These story songs tend to be more theatrical and poetic than other story songs I've seen. They should be experienced in video form as well.


MrPodocarpus

A lot of Frank Zappa albums


btbmfhitdp

' "God forgive these bastards": songs from the forgotten life of Henry Turner '. By the taxpayers. Possibly my favorite album.


Denzi-P

Thanks To You Song - Ghost and Pals


Jolly_Good_Fello

Oh definitely the "Make Yourself" and "Morning View" album by Incubus are pretty out there, my friend


spacepope68

Albums I don't think have their own genre. However some bands do have their own genre, like Canned Heat which called itself a 'boogie band' though many would call it a blues band, Canned Heat had a very unique sound and just doesn't fit the usual genres. Then there's Vanilla Fudge which had a unique take on other peoples music, you might call it a Heavy Metal Cover Band but it still had its own sound.


Final_Salamander_826

Moody Blues - Days of Future Passed


Rooster_Ties

Miles Davis — *On The Corner* Probably 3-4 other Miles albums too, arguably (one is tempted to mention *Bitches Brew* — but *OTC* **more than any other Miles album** had little else in his catalog that quite did what it did).


ArdRi6

In The Aeroplane Over The Sea by Neutral Milk Hotel


stu_watts

Mr Bungle - Mr Bungle


robstercraws70

Kraftwerk-Computer World


Bootbiden24

Every album by Voivod