They almost never make albums like this, anymore....

Darude - Sandstorm

Queen - Bicycle

Europe - Final Countdown

Banco del Mutuo Soccorso - Darwin

I think Surrealistic Pillow from Jefferson Airplane is a great disc :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4AAYc7DrJg

Talking Heads

Los Jaivas - Alturas de Macchu Picchu

It's a chilean folk/proggresive rock band. You may not know them, but they're one of the most important bands in Chile's musical history, and I think this is an awesome album (which is based on Pablo Neruda's works).

King Crimson - In The Court Of The Crimson King

Queensrÿche - Operation Mindcrime

Porcupine Tree- In Absentia
Steven Wilson-Luminol

I had never listened to Fleetwood Mac before, thanks!

hot action cop's self titled album

Frank Zappa
www.youtube.com/watch?v=1HJp-rHZOhQ

just an example :) Soooo many albums btw

The Moody Blues: Days of Future Passed

Peter Gabriel: So (I have no idea why the tracks are out of order.)

R.E.M.: Out of Time

Pink Floyd: "Echoes" (You can find the full album of which this is the title track, but it's two and a half hours, so I figured this twenty-some-odd minute track would suffice.)

Sneaker Pimps: Splinter

Tool: Undertow

Beastie Boys: Paul's Boutique

Jethro Tull: Thick as a Brick

Incubus: Make Yourself

Alphaville: Forever Young

A Perfect Circle: Thirteenth Step

Aesop Rock: Labor Days

Not all entries may necessarily fit your criteria, but I got started and just kept adding things semi-randomly from skimming through my collection. I eschewed some of the more obscure things that would have likely been hard to find and probably not have gone over as well, some of the sillier and more frivolous offerings I have, and some of the older things which I think you're already well aware of. You don't need me reminding you of things from The Beatles, Pink Floyd, Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones, The Eagles, and so on, I don't think (I did make the one exception for a lesser-known Floyd track). I actually tried to focus more on some more recent albums, as I believe that more experimental and artistic music is still being made, if not in even greater quantity due to the somewhat democratizing effects of technology on the industry. One simply has to screen out the dross and work a bit harder to find it, I think.

Frank Zappa - Joe's Garage
Lovage - Music To Make Love To Your Old Lady By
Ween - Chocolate and Cheese

"Listening to these albums will expand your understanding of what music can be and what it can accomplish"

When i read that i immediately though of Illmatic. If you're one of those people who tend to write of everything about rap in general (not specifically you, speaking in general), this might just change your outlook regarding it. It is one of the greatest pieces of modern poetry and i'm not even kidding when i compare him to Ager, Atwood or Geoffrey Hill.
Everything about the illmatic is impeccable, it's the textbook example of synthesizing words and sounds which transcends to something new and greater.

Memory Lane
NY State of Mind
The World is Yours

Rainbow - Rainbow Rising

nostalgic romanticism much

edit: sorry, I'm not trying to troll or lash out, I just get agitated by notions like this (the "good old days" notion) whether it's video games, music, movies, there are always people claiming that it was better back in the day. It irritates mostly due to the fact that these posts seem like a veiled insult to all music of today even if that's not what you directly say. I won't go into that too much unless someone wants to discuss it, but what I will say is this:

while the ability for a single person or an entire band to produce music has always been cheap in recent history, in today's age with the internet it has become ridiculously easy and cheap for independent record labels to spring up or for artists/bands to self-publish. there are some very pro-art labels out there, just don't expect them to be named Sony or Epic.

I wouldn't argue if you say that the most popular music today is almost entirely bland and that on average, popular music from the 70s is (in most people's opinions) better than today, but I just differ in that I don't think it's because there isn't as much if not more good music today than there was then, just that the consumer base and the way record labels target audiences is different. Big record labels have always been after money (as far as I'm concerned) and there have and always will be artistic artists out there (and I would argue that there are more today in absolute numbers than there were "back in the day"), the only thing that has changed is what consumers choose to listen to at large.

Though I'm not sure I agree with the proposition that there was ever a golden age of music and now we live in the dark times, I think I can offer at least one thing that I'm fairly certain would not be done today:
The one that immediately comes to mind is José Afonso's Cantigas do Maio, which is without a doubt one of the most significant albums in portuguese music and has historical significance to boot, one of its songs having had a starring part in the Carnation Revolution of 1974.

Here are a few songs and full albums that I love:

Mark Hollis - Mark Hollis (Album)
Talk Talk - Laughing Stock (Album)
IAMX - The Alternative (Album Playlist) Heatwave (Single)
Tears for Fears - Elemental (Album Playlist)
King's X Gretchen Goes To Nebraska (Album)

I'm sure I'll edit some more music and info in here later. As for why I chose that Tears album, I thought I'd go with something besides Songs from the Big Chair. Not that it isn't a classic, but Elemental hardly ever gets the love that it deserves. Though it lacks a little something without Curt Smith.
And both Talk Talk and Mark Hollis' solo career have music that is so gorgeous. And IAMX just straight-up gives me life. Now to mention how fucking exceptional King's X is.

I'm looking forward to adding some more tunes. If you want to know more thoughts on anything posted here by me, feel free to ask. Cheers!

Rush - Tom Sawyer off of the fantastic Moving Pictures.

Boston - Foreplay/Long Time from their near-perfect self titles debut.

Jethro Tull - Aqualung from the trippy album of the same name.

Some good picks in the OP and the rest of the thread. If you folks ever get the chance to see any of these bands live don't skip it! I saw Elton John and Fleetwood Mac live in the last few years and no one puts on a show like the classics!

Experimental electronic music has been providing a really wellworth range of top quality alternative music since the 90ies up until today.

You just need to dig a bit and stay away from the mainstream bullshit.

And don't be scared just because its ELECTRONIC music. A lot of times that might not even mean any synthetic sound at all. Sampling & genre mixtures made it possible to create music with computers that sounds completely analogic.

something recent, which i personally like, but still its not so good as old classics which are listed by others:
From Ashes to New,
Red- Release the Panic,
Avenged Sevenfold,
Halestorm- Strange case of

Mutantes - Tecnicolor
Secos e Molhados - Secos e Molhados
Chico Science e Nacao Zumbi - Da Lama ao Caos

Therion - Theli
Blind Guardian - Imaginations From The Other Side
Helloween - Keeper Of The Seven Keys Part II

Clutch (self titled)
The Doobie Brothers - Tolouse Street
The Cult - Sonic Temple
Teddy Pendergrass - Life is a Song Worth Singing

Smashing Pumpkins - Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness

Never was made one like that before, never will be made again :)