Albums with great string arrangements
 

My list would be:

Björk - Homogenic / Post
My Brightest Diamond - Bring me the workhorse
Nick Drake - Five leaves left
Jeff Buckley - Grace
Page & Plant - No quarter Unledded
Serge Gainsbourg - Histoire de Melody Nelson
Scott Walker - Scott 3 / Scott 4
Alain Bashung - Fantaisie militaire
Bob Dylan - Desire
Blonde Redhead - Misery is a butterfly
Françoise Hardy - Comment te dire adieu / La question
Isaac Hayes - Hot-buttered soul
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - The good son
Portishead - Dummy / S/T
Sigur Rós - Agaetis byrjun / Takk
The Notwist - Neon golden
Smashing Pumpkins - Siamese dream
The Beatles - Sgt Pepper's... ("She's leaving home" and "A day in the life")
The Beach Boys - Pet sounds ("Don't talk" and "God only knows")
Tindersticks - Curtains
Venus - Welcome to the modern dance hall / Vertigone

What's yours ?

Beck- Sea Change

Defiently Joanna Newsom - Ys

You stole the first thing that came to my mind.

Good call on "Welcome to the modern dance hall" , Torn Curtain.
P.j. Harvey - Dry.

For sure.

silverchair's neon ballroom and diorama.

I'll second them two albums.

i was also going to say serge-melody nelson.
one of my all time favorite albums

curtis mayfield's 'superfly'

She is amazing.

eels with strings
hilltop hoods - the hard road restrung

I'd say Strings by Kristen Hersh.... The version of me an my charms on there is one of my favourites... I used to like that Rob Dougan album back in the day but it probably isnt that good as i recall some nice string sections in that... Also the remix of This is a Lie by the cure... not so much an album but thats one of my favourite pop string pieces if you will. Venus in Furs too :P

I was thinking the same thing.

She makes me want to drink a bucket of puke...

None, the violin should be banned, worldwide.

Having said that, I can think of one or two Kristin Hersh albums that we're better for it, but they went to far on The Grotto.

what about viola and cello?

Arcade Fire-Funeral
Matthew Good-Avalanche

Honestly, don't like the strings on Agaetis too much (has its moments of intense beauty, though)... but Takk is my favourite of the albums I own... so fucking wonderful. Of course, both Arcade Fire albums have gorgeous sting arrangements, GODSPEED YOU! BLACK EMPEROR, if they haven't been mentioned yet... WHAT THE FUCK?! Silver Mt Zion, and everyone else with strings on Constellation (durrrrr!). ...

I would neg rep this so hard, but yr so new, I wouldn't feel right. If you stick around, yr going to frigging get it. But seriously, that was a really ridiculous comment.

Bump

Geraldine Fibbers - LSBTEAMH

Ok, I was being silly. But I genrally find that backing strings can ruin a track just as easily as make it. If used well, particularly when backing an accoustic guitar, they can add warmth and feeling to the music, but go to far and the basic guitar sounds swamped, the music sounds muddied.

Oh, and if you had a brother that use to drive you up the wall playing violin every Xmas, you may also be prejudicted against it :)

best you dont listen then tesla

Echo & The Bunnymen - Ocean rain

Suzanne Vega - Beauty & Crime

i didn't read the first page, did anyone mention joanna newsom..

Good call. I think Dancing Horses had some nice things from what i remember too...that's a beautiful tune.

The Dream That Stuff Was Made Of by the Starlight Mints
I by the Magnetic Fields

An Pierlé + Band - Live jet set with orchestra

Psychic TV's Dreams Less Sweet, more specifically the song "The Orchids". The ones on Force the Hand of Chance aren't half bad, either.

Kudos to Sufjan Stevens too, if only because he can probably play everything in the orchestra.

love-forever changes

T. Rex - Electric Warrior

The Flaming Lips - Soft Bulletin

awesome

basically, anything with van dyke parks' arrangements.

Cat Power's "Love and Communication"--the violins have this "Psycho"-esque stabbing sound that creeps upward by half steps throughout the song, all the while going perfectly with the music. It gives that song such an eerie feeling, adding a new layer of meaning to her already unsettling lyrics.

Echo & the Bunnymen - Ocean Rain
The Verlaines - Bird-Dog

Days of Future Passed.

the starlight mints : the dream that stuff was made of

i cant believ enobody mentioned the soft bulletin.

i see strings as being like make up on a woman. in that f you havent got the basic material to begin with, all the make up/violins in the world isnt going to make any difference