Foo Fighters, The Killers, St Vincent – 30 Huge Artists On Their Favourite ‘Lost’ Albums

Taylor Hawkins on Roger Taylor’s ‘Fun In Space’. “It’s Queen drummer Roger Taylor’s debut solo album, recorded between tours for ‘The Game’ and ‘Flash Gordon’. I met him 20 years ago or something at the Brits. He’s a phenomenal musician and a quirky, rad, awesome songwriter. Later on he wrote these huge hits for Queen, but I love the weird, dark stuff on this album.”

Bradford Cox on Women’s ‘Public Strain’. “They’re a Canadian group who broke up a couple of years back. I think it was a little acrimonious. They were very advanced instrumentally. I don’t understand how they came up with those guitar parts; I couldn’t come up with music like that if my life depended on it. I think they had a bizarrely huge impact on the younger groups coming up now.”

Example on Pharoahe Monch’s ‘International Affairs’. “This is the rapper’s first solo album. He put it out for sale, and it had so many uncleared samples on it that it was pulled. He was sued for using the Godzilla theme on the single ‘Simon Says’. The only way to listen to it is to find a rip online or go on eBay and pay $100. It’s one of the best hip-hop albums ever made.”

James Mercer on The House Of Love’s ‘The House Of Love’. “The House of Love had some success in the UK, but they never happened in the states. I was living in England when this came out and saw them play, but I moved back to the States and lost track of them until I found their ‘Destroy the Heart’ single in Albuquerque. The Shins used to cover it.”

Jimi Goodwin on Alexander Spence’s ‘Oar’. “What an unbelievable record. Spence was the guitarist in the ‘60s psychedelic band Moby Grape. He wasn’t in a good place mentally when making this; he’d just come out of hospital, and you can hear that. It’s so fluid and you don’t know where the song is going next. I’m not sure he knew.”

The Black Lips’ Jared Swilley on The Mighty Hannibal’s ‘King Hannibal: Truth’. “He was a soul singer, a contemporary of James Brown, Otis Redding and Sam Cooke, but he was really radical. He was a Black Panther and a member of The Nation Of Islam, so he got blacklisted and got into drugs. His first album, ‘Truth’, should be an American classic soul hit, but it’s not. It’s incredible.”

Thurston Moore on Colin Blunstone’s ‘One Year’. “He was one of the singer-songwriters from The Zombies. They were a fabulously popular group, but I don’t think his solo music gets the recognition it deserves. In particular, ‘One Year’ is a gorgeous example of classic British pop music. It’s very personal, very sophisticated in its sentiment.”

Tom Fleming on Junior Boys’ ‘This Is Goodbye’. “I don’t think it got the wider recognition it deserved. They’re our label mates and they’re almost dubstep, but from when dubstep was less about bass and more about reverb and space. It’s essentially dance music and it’s a wonderful, wonderful album. There are some great sounds on it.”

James Buckly on The Seahorses’ ‘Do It Yourself’.”The Seahorses were the band John Squire formed after The Stone Roses broke up. They were only released this one album then split up. A lot of hardcore Stone Roses fans don’t like it, but it’s one of my all-time favourites. I really just love a great guitarist; in my book, Squire is possibly the greatest guitarist ever.”

Jack Steadman on Arthur Russell’s ‘Love Is Overtaking Me’. “Arthur Russell is more well known for his experimental disco output, but behind all the avant-garde cello and dance music was a man who had an ear for a great melody. I think that’s what makes his music so timeless and I’m always striving to create something similar – something experimental and accessible at the same time.”

St Vincent on The Legendary Marvin’s ‘Pontiac Greatest Hits’. “The legend is that this Marvin Pontiac character was part Malian, part Jewmis; he was a great blues harmonica player, but he lost his mind and then he was hit by a car and killed in 1977. But it’s really just [actor and musician] John Lurie.”

Paul Weller on The Zombies’ ‘Odessey And Oracle’. “This came out in 1968, after they split up. It’s received some props now, in the past 15 years or so, but it’s still not held in the regard it should be. I’ve brought loads of copies for friends, and they loved it as soon as they heard it. It’s a beautiful, wishful, autumnal record, very English-sounding and quite melancholic.”

John Cooper Clarke on Dion And The Belmonts’ ‘Reunion: Live At Madison Square Garden’. “They were a really fantastic doo-wop group from the Bronx who used to get together on the street corners to do complex four-part harmonies of popular songs of the day. In the 1960 they split up and Dion [DiMucci, lead singer] had a successful solo career. This was their reunion show from 1972.”

Bo Ningen’s Yuki Tsujii on Connie Converse’s ‘How Sad, How Lovely’. “Connie Converse was a singer from New York. She started making music in the 50’s, then disappeared in the early ‘70s. She packed all her stuff into her car, posted a letter to a releative and just drove off. Some tapes of her musc were rediscovered recently and used to make an album. I find the whole thing fascinating.”

Bombay Bicycle Club’s Jamie MacColl on Big Star’s ‘#1 Record’. “Big star are a band who I’ve got into a lot recently. I discovered them through my dad, but also through ‘Thirteen’ – a few people have stolen melodies from it for other songs. That was my route into it.”

Death From Above’s Jesse F. Keeler on Drive Like Jehu’s ‘Yank Crime’. “It was a huge influence on me back in the day. [Guitaris]) John Reis is a huge dude, by the way. He’s way bigger than me. I went to a punk show in a skate park in an abandoned warehouse in San Diego, and he was there. You could see him from wherever you were.”

Angus Andrew on The Audience’s ‘Das Audience’. “This is an awesome record that definitely had an influence on Liars. The Audience were from California and originally formed a hardcore group called Portraits of Past, who we also liked, but this blew us away. It’s dark and irreverent, with great melodies and song structures.”

Billy Bragg on Joe Henry’s ‘Civilians’. “He’s an American singer-songwriter, better known as a producer these days, and every track on this album is amazing. He’s won a number of Grammys for his production work, and he produced my last album (2013’s) ‘Tooth & Nail’, but he writes these beautiful, gorgeous songs, and they all piled up on ‘Civilians’.”

Kate Tempest on Chester P’s ‘From The Ashes’. “Chester P is a fucking brilliant and this is one of my favourite records ever, but nobody seems to know about it. He’s the king. He’s a rapper from north London and he was in a crew called Task Force. His flow is impeccable. On this album he talks about his quite gritty life experiences.”

Frank Turner on The Van Pelt’s ‘Sultans Of Settlement’. “They’re kind of a lost band, really. This is one of the best indie records ever. Chris Leo’s lyrics are very special. He doesn’t sing about normal stuff, he sings about parent-teacher relationships and infidelity – odd topics done really intelligently, not just girls and cars. I used to worship that record – in fact, I still do.”

Katy B on Teedra Moses’ ‘Complex Simplicity’. “I love female singers who are really tough, and Teedra Moses is the toughest – she’s a gangsta diva with a heart. She’s this strong character from a gospel background in New Orleans, with this incredible, soulful voice. It’s just the most gorgeous record. More people need to sit up and pay attention.”

Ronnie Vannucci on Dawes’ ‘Stories Don’t End’. “They’re from LA, this is their latest record and they’re picking up traction, but I don’t think enough people know about them in the UK. It feels like the next generation of Jackson Browne, the Eagles, that sort of songwriterly Californian rock.”

Chrissie Hynde on Andy Pratt’s ‘Andy Pratt’. “He was an obscure singer-songwriter from Boston who nearly had a hit with a song called ‘Avenging Annie’, but things didn’t go his way. He wrote and played everything on his self-titled record. It’s just a really musically diverse and experimental folk-rock album teeming with great songs.”

Lucy Rose on The Amazing’s ‘The Amazing’. “The Amazing are a Swedish band, and my Swedish guitar player gave me their debut album. It’s beautiful, one of my best records I’ve ever heard. I think I’ve actually over-listened to it, because I was so obsessed with it for so long. It was the soundtrack to my summer last year. I took it everywhere with me. It’s great travelling album.”

Jono Ma on The Bumblebeez’ ‘Prince Umberto And The Sister III’. “The album had all the ingredients to be a pivotal statement, but I think it just went over everyone’s head – too pink for hip-hoppers, too electro for the rockers, too schizophrenic for the dancers and too dirty for the pop world.”

Theo Hutchcraft on Francis And The Lights’ ‘Modern Promise’. “He’s a guy from New York who looks like Patrick Bateman and sings like Prince. He makes these amazing soul records, which are very minimalist. It’s like ‘Controversy’ and ‘Signs ‘O’ The Times’-era Prince, but he has a full, amazing funk band with two drummers. He gave this album away for free and I still listen to it weekly.”

Thomas Mars on Iggy Pop & James Williamson ‘Kill City’. “This is two members of The Stooges after the break-up of the band. The story is that Iggy recorded it during the weekends because he was in a mental asylum Monday to Friday, which gives you an idea of how complex and tortured it is. It took the best from the past but was also looking forward. It’s a very modern record.”

Sky Ferreira on Linda Perhacs’ ‘Paralleograms’. “I discovered this album while I was in my last year of high school, before I dropped out. It was the first psycho-folk record I became obsessed with. It inspired me in so many different ways and opened a new door for me musically.”

Dylan Baldi on Blue Phantom’s ‘Distortions’. “Blue Phantom are an Italian expressive rock group, but on this record they play the music that this library music composer, Armanda Sciascia, made for them. All the tracks are instrumental and really dramatic.”

Zane Lowe on Quicksand’s ‘Magic Compression’. “Quicksand are a legendary New York hardcore band, but their second album, ‘Manic Compression’, is so underrated. It got a hard time when it came out because it was very kind of ProTools, quite digital-sounding. It took me a while to get my head around it, but I soon realised that it sounded like the future.”