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1,000 Recordings To Hear Before You Die

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Tell us your must-hear albums on the 'All Songs Considered' blog.

October 13, 2008 - So much to hear. So little time. You can spend your entire life devouring music, both new and old, and barely scratch the surface of all there is to discover. NPR reviewer and author Tom Moon is trying to make it a little easier for music fans with his new book: 1,000 Recordings to Hear Before You Die: A Listener's Life List. After four years or exhaustive research, Tom put together an impressive tome — nearly 900 pages of artists, LPs and songs, as well as a detailed explanation of how each of them wound up on the list.

The book showcases a lot of the albums you'd expect to see: Bob Dylan's Blonde on Blonde or Bruce Springsteen's Born to Run, for example. But unless you're a music scholar, you probably haven't listened to — or even heard of — the vast majority of them.

On this edition of All Songs Considered, we talk with Tom about his new book and listen to some of the incredible music he selected, as well as some of the ones we think he missed.

Download this show in the All Songs Considered podcast.

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1,000 Recordings To Hear Before You Die

cover for lo borges

Lô Borges

Album: Lô Borges
Song: Canção Postal
 
 
Cover for Out Front

Booker Little

Album: Out Front
Song: We Speak
 
 
Cover for Exile on Main St.

The Rolling Stones

Album: Exile on Main St.
Song: Rocks Off
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    • "Rocks Off"
    • CD: Exile on Main St.
    • Artist: The Rolling Stones
    • Label: Virgin
    • Released: 1972
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cover for led zeppelin

Led Zeppelin

Album: How the West Was Won
Song: What Is and What Should Never Be

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    • "What Is and What Should Never Be"
    • CD: How the West Was Won
    • Artist: Led Zeppelin
    • Label: Atlantic
    • Released: 2003
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Cover for Singles Collection: The London Years

The Rolling Stones

Album: Singles Collection: The London Years
Song: We Love You
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    • "We Love You"
    • CD: Singles Collection: The London Years
    • Artist: The Rolling Stones
    • Label: IMS
    • Released: 1989
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Cover for Erik Satie: Gnossiennes; Gymnopédies; Ogives; Etc.

Reinbert de Leeuw

Album: Erik Satie: Gnossiennes; Gymnopédies; Ogives; Etc.
Song: Gnossiennes No. 2
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    • "Gnossiennes No. 2"
    • CD: Erik Satie: Gnossiennes; Gymnopédies; Ogives; Etc.
    • Artist: Reinbert de Leeuw
    • Label: Philips
    • Released: 1996
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Cover for Avalon

Roxy Music

Album: Avalon
Song: More Than This
 
 
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Roxy Music

Album: Roxy Music
Song: Virginia Plain
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    • "Virginia Plain"
    • CD: Roxy Music
    • Artist: Roxy Music
    • Label: Virgin
    • Released: 1972
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Cover for Tango: Zero Hour

Astor Piazzolla

Album: Tango: Zero Hour
Song: Michelangelo '70
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    • "Michelangelo '70"
    • CD: Tango: Zero Hour
    • Artist: Astor Piazzolla
    • Label: Pangaea
    • Released: 2008
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Sister Rosetta Tharpe

Album: Complete Recorded Works, Vol. 2 (1942-1944)
Song: Down by the Riverside
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    • "Down by the Riverside"
    • CD: Complete Recorded Works, Vol. 2 (1942-1944)
    • Artist: Sister Rosetta Tharpe
    • Label: Document
    • Released: 1996
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