An old high school friend and I turned out to both have had the same experience. We both got the album “Listen Without Prejudice” by George Michael. We both listened without prejudice. And both of us love it. The album is best known for Freedom, but They Won’t Go When I Go is wonderful, far better than the Stevie Wonder original (and Muttrox loves him some Stevie Wonder).
Other standout tracks are Praying for Time and Waiting For That Day. All of these have stayed within my regular rotation for well over thirty years now. I’m glad that I followed directions and listened without prejudice.
It got me thinking about other album titles that also direct the listener. (I left out singles, which would make this very long.) There are a lot of them. I filtered out impossible ones (“Ride the Lightning”). Here are some notable ones (thank you AI).
- Steal This Album! (System of a Down)
- Kill ’em All (Metallica) – Difficult, but possible.
- Please, Please Me and Help! (Beatles)
- Check Your Head (Beastie Boys)
- Stop Making Sense (Talking Heads)
- Let’s Dance (David Bowie)
- Eat a Peach (Allman Brothers)
- Look Sharp! (Joe Jackson)
- Speak Now (Taylor Swift)
- Imagine (John Lennon)
- Smile (Katy Perry)
- Cut the Crap (Clash)
- Turn Back (Toto)
- Keep the Faith (Bon Jovi)
- Break Every Rule (Tina Turner)
- Believe (Cher)
- Listen Like Thieves (INXS)
- Stand! (Sly and the Family Stone)
- Buy This (Stone Temple Pilots, compilation)
- Get a Grip! (Aerosmith)
- Watch Out! (Pat Benatar)
- Don’t Shoot Me, I’m Only the Piano Player (Elton John)
- Play it Loud (Slade)
That’s a very impressive list. Especially without AI.
Yeah, Just Push Play. I suppose Pump might be an imperative also, it’s their kind of double entendre!, and Draw the Line, Get Your Wings, Rock in a Hard Place, Get a Grip. Never noticed how bossy Aerosmith is!
Be More Chill (Broadway musical cast album)
Break the Silence (Van Canto)
Bring It Home (Bonerama)
Bring Us Together (The Asteroids Galaxy Tour)
Call Your Friends (Zebrahead)
Challenge the Sea (Home Free)
Cheer Up! (Reel Big Fish)
Choose Your Character! (The 8-Bit Big Band)
Come Fly with Me (Frank Sinatra)
Come From Away (Broadway musical cast album)
Dig That Crazy Christmas (The Brian Setzer Orchestra)
Dive Into Disney (compilation)
Do Something Difficult (AudioBody)
Don’t Crush That Dwarf, Hand Me the Pliers (The Firesign Theatre)
Don’t Touch the Elk (Niall Keegan)
Don’t Try This at Home (Michael Brecker)
Escape from Noise (Negativland)
Fast Forward (Spyro Gyra) — not sure if this counts
Get Nice! (Zebrahead)
Get Up! (Bob Mintzer Big Band)
Get Your Monkey Off My Dog (The Bobs) — only useful in very specific situations
Give a Monkey a Brain (Fishbone) — ditto
Give Me Immortality Or Give Me Death (The Firesign Theatre)
Hurry Up and Wait (Bite Me Bambi)
Just Push Play (Aerosmith) – how’d you miss that one?
Keep Your Receipt (Reel Big Fish)
Let There Be Rockgrass (Hayseed Dixie) — pronounce that band name quickly to get the joke
Lie to Me (Garbage)
Never Let the Bastards Wear You Down (Dee Snider)
Never Look Back (Goldfinger)
Question the Answers (Mighty Mighty Bosstones)
Oddly, there were no imperative albums past Q. And no AI was used in this response.
Damnit, you’re going to make me go through my whole collection, aren’t you.
Here’s a starter before I do:
Dare to be Stupid (Weird Al Yankovic)