
Ask HN: What's the most beautiful song or album you've ever listened to - metah
What is the most beautiful album&#x2F;song you&#x27;ve ever listened to?
======
CSSer
This might seem like a cliché answer, at least because this is not what I
typically listen to on a normal basis, but for an album I'd Pink Floyd's The
Wall.

I think it has a certain degree of universal appeal. It has really aged
extraordinarily well. If you are ever given the opportunity to listen to it on
an any type of hifi system, do so. You'll find layers of eery texture and
masterful use of stero dynamics. As a cherry on top, the album forms a perfect
loop.

As for a song, Aphex Twin's Avril 14th. I love that you can hear the action of
the piano in the track. It was recorded with a kind of player piano that makes
it sound very mechanical, but it still has a somewhat organic feel to it. It's
very quaint yet oddly contemporary.

~~~
thorin
Although I've listened to it a lot I wouldn't really describe the wall as
beautiful, it's quite jarring in places. Comfortably numb is kind of
beautiful. I'd choose dark side of the moon or wish you were here as beautiful
though.

~~~
CSSer
That’s fair. I really like the contrast. Dark side of the moon is nice, but
it’s always left me wanting more.

~~~
thorin
Not to sound condescending, I found I grew out of The Wall, I think because it
deals a lot with issues from childhood and rebelliousness. The themes of
Animals (politics and how we relate to each other), Dark Side of the Moon (
sanity, the meaning of life and life after death) and Wish You Were Here
(sanity, conformity) seem more relevant at the moment. Roger water obviously
has this rebellious energy and anger where as Dave Gilmour is more reflective
and creates beautiful art but without the same kind of passion. At the right
time and with Richard and Nick, they made such a perfect combination.

------
davidajackson
All of Art Tatum's music

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ke2_qob16ls](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ke2_qob16ls)

Check out this reharmonization/improv on Chopin. The guy was basically blind,
hence the insane awareness of where the keys were.

------
DrScump
Album: The Pat Metheny Group (called the "white album" because of its plain
white cover with just the four names of the players). Side one of the LP was
just "San Lorenzo" and "Phase Dance". The former still gives me chills, 40
years later.

Song: Wildflower, by Skylark (fun fact: David Foster was a member). Here[0] is
a live version. Here[1] is the background story.

Honorable mention: Hoptsoi, by the Finnish group Värttinä. OMG, the strings.
[2]

[0] [https://youtu.be/2zPWlOXwnGo](https://youtu.be/2zPWlOXwnGo)

[1]
[https://www.songfacts.com/facts/skylark/wildflower](https://www.songfacts.com/facts/skylark/wildflower)

[2]
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TeXn_J8-q2g](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TeXn_J8-q2g)

------
infradig
Here's a few of my faves:

Bob Dylan (Love Minus Zero/No Limit)
[https://youtu.be/ufbHfGU7WxA?list=LLlpi7Iw6jy-
mv42RGAAiFVA](https://youtu.be/ufbHfGU7WxA?list=LLlpi7Iw6jy-mv42RGAAiFVA)

Sekret Sekret (New King Jack)
[https://youtu.be/DyoHMZo7uGA](https://youtu.be/DyoHMZo7uGA)

Steve Winwood (Can't Find My Way Home)
[https://youtu.be/eoSn2Y-b6wI](https://youtu.be/eoSn2Y-b6wI)

Traffic (Dear Mr Fantasy)
[https://youtu.be/pSQ1akE2CcM](https://youtu.be/pSQ1akE2CcM)

Joe Strummer (Johnny Appleseed)
[https://youtu.be/4IbMiqIdeME](https://youtu.be/4IbMiqIdeME)

------
yesenadam
Mahler - Symphony No. 5 Adagietto
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=75YmlDR92UQ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=75YmlDR92UQ)

Miles Davis - _Flamenco Sketches_
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F3W_alUuFkA](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F3W_alUuFkA)

Those were the two that immediately came to mind, then:

Barber - _Adagio for Strings_
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lKrxPTePXEQ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lKrxPTePXEQ)

Miles - _Concierto De Aranjuez_
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2cscpJisU6k](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2cscpJisU6k)

\- _In a Silent Way_ [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8bdBONxS-
Es](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8bdBONxS-Es)

Keith Jarrett - _Visions_ (48 seconds long)
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDujecndByY](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDujecndByY)

\- _Interlude No. 3_ (1 minute 17) [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Us0EU-
yXAlg](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Us0EU-yXAlg)

\- _Sympathy_
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQLTuyIHAMc](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQLTuyIHAMc)

KJ's American Quartet - _Still Life, Still Life_
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aiVg5cSug3k](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aiVg5cSug3k)

Elisabeth Schwarzkopf sings R. Strauss' _Four Last Songs_
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cs0vSC9DUhU](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cs0vSC9DUhU)

Most beautiful _album_ is I guess Keith's solo piano _Facing You_. Doesn't
seem to be on youtube at the moment. This is one track from it, _Ritooria_
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zVpDWxoFGP4](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zVpDWxoFGP4)

------
nikivi
Listening to this now
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRIfsFefatg](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRIfsFefatg)

Medieval style is rather beautiful.

~~~
moonfleet
This video popped in my recommendations just a couple of days ago. A welcome
surprise. It made me think about how music changed since the medieval ages,
not in terms of technology, but in terms of composition, rules and etc. And I
haven't yet come to any definitive understanding. Maybe because I don't know
the first thing about music theory.

------
DrScump
Okay, one more: "Calypso", Suzanne Vega:

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhJIZZcNQPA](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhJIZZcNQPA)

Steely Dan's "Home at Last" is another interesting turn on Odysseus.

------
rtcoms
Time without consequences - Alexi Murdoch

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3QJ4brLYZQ&list=PL04432CD8C...](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3QJ4brLYZQ&list=PL04432CD8C7C0A83A)

------
logicslave
Eine Kleine Nachtmusik - Mozart

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oy2zDJPIgwc](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oy2zDJPIgwc)

My favorite piece of all time. It encapsulates what I want to feel about life

------
knopkop_
An Armenian chellist playing Paganini's Variations on a theme from Moses in
Egypt.

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0g00bVs0zBg](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0g00bVs0zBg)

------
dvtrn
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=huDWAc61Lx4](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=huDWAc61Lx4)

One of the only songs where I prefer the live version to original studio

------
tjr
[https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=yscm61p5eyA](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=yscm61p5eyA)

------
el_dev_hell
My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy - Kanye West

------
fourbytes
Disintegration - The Cure

------
o4tuna
George Winston’s Autumn

~~~
DrScump
In preference over _December_?

------
medialucky20
I love Mary Bessi voice. I listen to them even today

------
quickthrower2
Tubular Bells the original version

------
ioncube
Robert Miles - Remember Robert Miles

------
ai_ia
The ballad of Cleopatra by Lumineers.

