Music Babble

Captain Beefheart and his Magic Band-Safe as Milk (2nd favorite Beefheart after "Trout Mask" far more accessible but still pretty groundbreaking at times and the band is awesome with secret weapon Ry Cooder, getting into this forced me to give "Trout Mask" another chance after being unable to get into that one)
Bob Marley and The Wailers-Natty Dread (best Marley, love the vibe and the material, a far better intro to Bob and reggae in general than the "Legend" comp)
Thelonious Monk Septet-Monk’s Music (classic early Monk right on the heels of "Brilliant Corners" with Trane, Hawk and a killer tracklist)
Deltron 3030-Deltron 3030 (haven't heard this in awhile but definitely among the best work by both Del and Automator even if it sorta suffers in comparison to "Dr. Octagonecologyst")
David Bowie-Low (includes some of Bowie's best stuff- "Sound & Vision" is the main highlight- but I've never been convinced by side 2, especially when I became aware of the krautrock Bowie and Eno were pretty much ripping off)
Carole King-Tapestry (love the hits but as a whole the album is inconsistent and her songwriting still kinda reeks of that Brill Building hit factory mentality)
Yes-Close to the Edge (prefer the 2 albums that precede it and in general the musicianship saves the weak material although Anderson is also pretty cringe-induing with his "I get uuuuuuuuup, I get dow-ow-owwwwwwn!" horseshit)