The thing about Arcade Fire is that they have a larger audience than any other band on the board in the last twenty years. People who have heard fewer albums have all heard Funeral, Neon Bible, and The Suburbs, so the deck is stacked in their favor over other current bands.

@Nicolas

It's not about separation of genre, it's about what is extraordinary about the individual. I'd rather listen to a record that is majorly flawed but does one thing extraordinarily well than one that just does everything pretty good. Neil Young's 'extraordinary thing' is his emotion and personality, of which Harvest lacks compared to his other acclaimed albums. Which, I would add, is the same argument I would make in the Wilco debate.

Which is interesting, since Wilco, Interpol, Modest Mouse, and The Flaming Lips have all had levels of commercial success equal to Arcade Fire, and The Strokes and White Stripes have far exceeded them commercially.

I love The Arcade Fire, but I never saw them as "That" band. I got my hands on Funeral in the fall of 2004, and thought it was a great little indie rock record; about as important as The Shins' Chutes Too Narrow, or Broken Social Scene's You Forgot it in People. I didn't think it was a masterpiece, or a game changer.

Then I started to hear the ridiculous hyperbole being thrown around "The best album since OK Computer", "the greatest band since The Talking Heads stopped making sense", "The best debut since The Clash's first album". And it really turned me off to the band for a while.

It took me several years to accept that Funeral has that status, warranted or not. I feel a gross tickle in my throat when I think about it being ranked above every single album by artists as important as Stevie Wonder, Neil Young, Talking Heads, R.E.M., and Sonic Youth. It's great, but not THAT great imo.

Hey Jackson,

thanks once again for the presentation!

All these discussions about albums being positioned too high, or too low ... who cares? The resulting list just reflects our very own favourite lists, so it can only be great ... right?

Talking about great lists ... my favourite album lists are now also available on RYM:

all-time
per decade
per year

Similar list for songs and artists are in the making ...

Am I the only one who can't make Rate Your Music lists because I get very irritated if the covers look ugly next to each other?

I hate to be the one to say it, but what about Radiohead (or Nirvana for that matter)?

[170] Sigur Rós | Agaetis Byrjun | 1999

Points: 950 | Votes: 11 | AM Rank: 232 | 2009 Poll Rank: 140
Biggest Fan:: ChrisK (18)



"We'll see things they'll never see"




[169] Oasis | Definitely Maybe | 1994

Points: 951 | Votes: 12 | AM Rank: 105 | 2009 Poll Rank: 145
Biggest Fan:: Toni (3)



"Open my hands and let them weave onto yours"




[168] TV on the Radio | Return to Cookie Mountain | 2006

Points: 970 | Votes: 12 | AM Rank: 285 | 2009 Poll Rank: 177
Biggest Fan:: Nassim (33)



"I've seen and done things I want to forget"





[167] PJ Harvey | Let England Shake | 2011

Points: 971 | Votes: 12 | AM Rank: N/A
Biggest Fan:: Halley P (39)



"This world's crazy
Give me the gun"




[166] PJ Harvey | Stories From the City, Stories From the Sea | 2000

Points: 978 | Votes: 13 | AM Rank: 276 | 2009 Poll Rank: 193
Biggest Fan:: Stephen (18)



"I'm trying to turn a trick"





[165] Ramones | Ramones | 1976

Points: 979 | Votes: 13 | AM Rank: 37 | 2009 Poll Rank: 112
Biggest Fan:: Evan (22)



"Listening to you, I get the music"




[164] The Who | Tommy | 1969

Points: 986 | Votes: 10 | AM Rank: 113 | | 2009 Poll Rank: 162
Biggest Fan:: Stephan (14)



"In the days of my youth
I was told what it means to be a man"





[163] Led Zeppelin | Led Zeppelin | 1969

Points: 988 | Votes: 10 | AM Rank: 108 | 2009 Poll Rank: 157
Biggest Fan:: Slick (26)



"Confusion will be my epitaph"




[162] King Crimson | In the Court of the Crimson King | 1969
Points: 992 | Votes: 10 | AM Rank: 131
Biggest Fan:: Petri (19)



"It's better to burn out than to fade away"




[161] Neil Young | Rust Never Sleeps | 1979

Points: 1003 | Votes: 12 | AM Rank: 133 | 2009 Poll Rank: 97
Biggest Fan:: Kingoftonga (8)

Great discussion, guys! The attention this has received has made the work in compiling it worth it.

Comments on that last section:

Return to Cookie Mountain: I ranked it, but it's dominated to an extent by "Wolf Like Me." Definitely some other standouts on there, but I often find myself skipping straight from "I Was a Lover" to "Wolf Like Me." That song is scary good (pun intended).

Let England Shake: perfectly deserving as the only 2011 album to crack our top 200. I think it will pass "Stories from the City" by the next poll. I need to give that one more listens, but it doesn't have the emotional and creative pull of Let England Shake or TBYML for me.

Ramones: Might be the most fun-to-listen-to album on the list. Used to think it was overrated, but then did a total 180.

In the Court of the Crimson King: Great placement for it here given that it didn't make T200 last time. If only "Moonchild" was either shorter or replaced with a better song! I will always prefer "Red" though, with its jazz fusion edge and heavy sound.

Rust Never Sleeps: Never listened to this before for whatever reason, but it's really good.

Now addressing some other issues:

Not going to comment on whether this is true, but "the Beatles suffer from vote-splitting" is the funniest comment in the thread. I wish the Kinks and Brian Eno suffered from that same "vote-splitting" problem that allows them to put multiple songs and albums in the top 20 of every poll we've ever done.




Also, I bet a lot of people will be disenchanted by where The Suburbs places. It's kind of embarrassing, really.



Whoever hasn't heard Surf's Up needs to ASAP. If you don't enjoy the first half, stick around for side 2, which is the best thing the Beach Boys ever did.


The Kinks' Arthur (along with a few other REALLY good albums) placed just outside the top 500. I just don't understand. Vital songwriting, fantastic instrumentation, standout songs, catchy songs...what's not to like for all of the 60s-70s rock fans on here?

I'm glad to see Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea do so well and beat Let England Shake. Also happy to see Ramones not completely fall off the map. They join Roxy Music, Kraftwerk, Siouxsie and the Banshees and Eurythmics as the most underrated artists by this forum, in my opinion.

A bit late, but this list is making me re-explore the New Order catalog... and it's fantastic; much better than I originally thought.

I'm surprised I ended up as the Ramones' "biggest fan," but I certainly think it's a great, fun album. I'm glad my vote at least helped keep it in the top 200, as I don't think it would be a proper 200 without the first great punk album. Just a shame The Modern Lovers couldn't reach that threshold as well.

"Harvest" reminds me of people watching mediocre popcorn fodder flicks while telling me to click my brain out and "just enjoy the ride".. but speaking of pure, mindless fun... still no Mark E Smith album in the t500?

how does that all match up anyway?

Sad, but it's true surely ("suffer" is probably the wrong word)? Most of the time I think to myself "Wow, Sgt Peppers' finished outside of the top 10???", or "Wow, Beatles didn't take all top 3 spots?" like it's some great seismic shock. We throw around a lot of hyperbole regarding the Beatles in this forum, and only a few albums can really penetrate this iron wall of Beatles, like London Calling and OK Computer and Pet Sounds. It's a shame really, but that's the nature of consensus, I guess.


I've been listening to Arthur a lot, because I adored Village Green, tried my best listening to Something Else but found myself always skipping to Afternoon Tea or Waterloo Sunset, and wanted more of a Kinks kick. Arthur truly is brilliant. That middle three of "Australia", "Shangri-La" and "Mr. Churchill Says" is soooooo huge.

Arthur and The Modern Lovers would have made my top 100 if I had submitted just a leeeetle later.


Last thing: I reckon Bruce will do really well in this poll. The Wild had a great finish (low in my estimations of course), and Born in the USA hasn't come yet, which surprises me a little bit. Darkness will (hopefully) top 100, and Born To Run will probably top 20. This is all great news!

Arthur is a pre-mbarrassing.Davies@the70s cheese-fest, but... yes... hilariously so... love it.

Not sure what you mean by this. Davies is still firing on all cylinders here. Maybe "Young and Innocent Days" and "Some Mother's Son" are a bit cheesy, but I still like them. And good god, "Shangri-La' and "Victoria" are incredible.

This Nation's Saving Grace was Mr. Smith's highest entry, placing 996th. We were two thirds of its voting base. But hey, there are some really good albums down there actually.

^Will we get an opportunity to see the spreadsheet after the results are revealed? Thanks for doing this by the way, great presentation so far.

I don't know how to post it directly to the forum, but if not I'll post it to a file-sharing site.

Also, I'll post at least the top 1000 after the list has been unveiled.

Let me echo the thumbs up for Something Else and Arthur. Both are very, very tasty.

The Beatles vote-splitting takes them down from #3 to #4. Neil Young's vote splitting keeps three or four of his albums out of the top 100.

Well yeah, Radiohead has a bigger audience than Arcade Fire here. Nirvana, yeah, but they're on the fringe of 'last 20 years', and get more backlash.

170-161

Sigur Ros missed my list but it was my #248 : great eerie music

You know that La Fontaine's fable about the frog that wants to be as big as a bull ? You know what happens to it ? That's Oasis to me (or i could take nj's comment about "Harvest" and rempace "Harvest" with Oasis)

PJ Harvey : I'm always nagging about not seeing pre-1977 music from a 21st century, indie vs mainstream point of vue. But I'm the first to admit that i do the same in reverse , seeing nowadays music from a 1969 point of view (and I wasn't even born in '69, but the following year). That's probably why I can't appreciate PJ's music, as if i heard it through a glass, darkly (to paraphrase Donna Leon). I like the woman, I find her very sexy (although skinny women are not usually my typ), but her music is too dry for me.

I realize I placed Tommy a little bit too high in my list (#61), above "Who's Next". That is a bit exxaggerated and i almost asked you Jackson to switch those 2 albums, but I didn't want to bother. Anyway that's a great album, full of memories for me. Full of fun indeed. Still about 1969's good sides and excesses too (1969 is my favorite musical year)

Crimson King missed my list too, but I need to get more familiar with this fascinating and unique album.

Rust Never Sleeps was my #140. I'm a Neil fan, especially because he did Harvest AND Rust. If he wanted to make mainstream records, he did without restraint or guilt or anything, and if he wanted to make a punk AND folk album, he did. A free man.

Just realized I spoke about Neil in the past tense. Killing my idols ?

Neil "Forever" Young ...

Another disappointment at "Definitely Maybe"'s low ranking. Beyond most people being pissed off by the Gallaghers' being such knobheads, it seems that their spectacular first two albums have an increasingly decreasing popularity, mainly because of the new meaning "alternative music" gained throughuout the '00s. Despite their career being all downhill after those two years (not so much with "Be Here Now" as with their '00s work which was just a bunch of albums you could listen at 3-4 times, maybe rank one or two among the 30 best of that year they came out but that's just about it), to me those records are undeniable classics with a brilliantly authentic rock sound, very introspective lyrics and overall those albums are much better than others of highly acclaimed artists of today (I won't mention names-let's just say LCD Soundsystem and The Strokes are definitely NOT among them).

Anyway, I quit whining, a very, very interesting list is getting formed.

I'm with you on 1999 being ranked too low, but now on Oasis. In my mind, there isn't a ranking too low for the Gallagher brothers.

"You are a past sinner, the last winner and everything we've come to"






[160] Interpol | Turn On the Bright Lights | 2002

Points: 1005 | Votes: 12 | AM Rank: 259 | 2009 Poll Rank: 125
Biggest Fan:: Octopus (8)



"Today is the greatest day I've ever known"




[159] Smashing Pumpkins | Siamese Dream | 1993
Points: 1006 | Votes: 14 | AM Rank: 150 | 2009 Poll Rank: 158
Biggest Fan:: Chris K (16)



"I'm gonna give you every inch of my love"




[158] Led Zeppelin | Led Zeppelin II | 1969

Points: 1007 | Votes: 12 | AM Rank: 63 | 2009 Poll Rank: 108
Biggest Fan:: Mindrocker (17)



"How does that old song go?"





[157] Mercury Rev | Deserter's Songs | 1998

Points: 1012 | Votes: 12 | AM Rank: 322 | 2009 Poll Rank: 119
Biggest Fan:: Zorg (22)



"Are you taking over or are you taking orders?




[156] The Clash | The Clash | 1977

Points: 1017 | Votes: 12 | AM Rank: 56 | 2009 Poll Rank: 91
Biggest Fan:: ParticleAnalyst (15)



"Where do we go now?




[155] Guns N' Roses | Appetite for Destruction | 1987

Points: 1023 | Votes: 10 | AM Rank: 60 | 2009 Poll Rank: 161
Biggest Fan:: Slick (13)



"It's all a mystery"




[154] The Flaming Lips | Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots | 2002

Points: 1023 | Votes: 11 | AM Rank: 231 | 2009 Poll Rank: 127
Biggest Fan:: Petri (12)



"I'm scared of the middle place between light and nowhere"




[153] Antony and The Johnsons | I Am a Bird Now | 2005

Points: 1034 | Votes: 12 | AM Rank: 218 | 2009 Poll Rank: 128
Biggest Fan:: Dr. Robert (18)



"Your prejudice won't keep you warm tonight"




[152] The Smiths | The Smiths | 1984

Points: 1038 | Votes: 12 | AM Rank: 192 | 2009 Poll Rank: 171
Biggest Fan:: Octopus (4)



"This crazy music drives you insane"




[151] Roxy Music | For Your Pleasure | 1973

Points: 1041 | Votes: 13 | AM Rank: 107
Biggest Fan:: Billadama (28)

Still, I prefer DM and (WTS)MG slightly more than Prince's otherwise superb album.
Damn, they are all three among my Top 100, such comparison between these marvellous albums is somewhat pointless to me so I guess I stop here.

Seems I'm with the minority here believing The Clash's debut album is not only their greatest achievement, but also their most edgy and risky one which also captures with the most accurate way the true essence of the best punk band The Sex Pistols ever inspired and had as a successor. And " White Man In Hammersmith Palais" is still their finest song (yeah, it even surpasses "London Calling" if you ask me, though of course not by far).

Also "Appetite For Destruction" in such a high placement considering the little love in here for the kind of rock Guns N ' Roses represent was some kind of a surprise.

Oh, and Roxy Music are way too high there.

Ah, For Your Pleasure.

That album should be in the top 50. "Editions of You" is more ball-busting, more wonderfully mind-warping and more gut-wrenching than any punk song I've heard, and with glam freak outs like "Do the Strand", "In Every Dreamhome a Heartache" and "The Bogus Man", not to mention chilling ballad horror like "Strictly Confidential", it is a thoroughly harrowing release. Ferry's lyrical collage and Eno's shrieking tape effects scorching out new sounds make this one of the greatest albums ever in my book.

Roxy Music and Mercury Rev were the two I voted for from that last section. Totally agree with Moonbeam that "Editions of You" is Roxy Music's career highlight. I am puzzled why the gap between FYP and their self-titled debut is so huge. They seem like they should be about even.

Deserter's Songs was the second-highest Mercury Rev album on my list behind Yerself is Steam, which has some of the most creative and emotional uses of noise in a rock album. I really need to hear Boces and See You on the Other Side.

150 albums left, and 143 from 2009's top 200 among them. What will be the "other 5" new entries (i.e., the ones that aren't The Suburbs and MBDTF)?

The Age of Adz obviously, no idea for the 4 others

While I have developed an appreciation of many Eno compositions and performances, his shrieking tape effects don't do much for me. I agree with the view that For Your Pleasure's placement is a bit high. But, the consensus rules here and I am perfectly willing to enjoy the views of others and when possible expand my perspectives therefrom.

MPP will be among the new entries.

I don't think we've seen Nick Drakes Bryter Layter. I placed it at #45 in my list.

Also Brian Eno's Another Green World is another album which I pushed quite strongly in the polls at #6

Both MPP and Bryter Layter were in the top 200 last time.

I forgot about The Age of Adz, which is more popular here than I thought.

Oh wow it most certainly was, and almost in the top 100 at that. Not sure how I missed it.

"Holy Bible", which just missed the top 200 last time, hasn't shown up yet.

Holy Bible>Funeral

Fixed, sorry for the confusion of this with the Manic Street Prechers album, just ignore my above comment

"It's only the river"






[150] Talking Heads | Fear of Music | 1979

Points: 1062 | Votes: 12 | AM Rank: 244 | 2009 Poll Rank: 154
Biggest Fan:: Toni (25)



"I ended up alone at the microphone"




[149] Neil Young | On the Beach | 1974

Points: 1064 | Votes: 11 | AM Rank: 469
Biggest Fan:: Beefsupreme (10)



"No bullet can stop us now"




[148] Bob Marley | Exodus | 1977

Points: 1066 | Votes: 10 | AM Rank: 171 | 2009 Poll Rank: 178
Biggest Fan:: Marc (8)



"My independence seems to vanish in the haze"




[147] The Beatles | Help! | 1965

Points: 1067 | Votes: 11 | AM Rank: 620
Biggest Fan:: John (3)



"With you in sight
The lost are found"




[146] The Band | The Band | 1969

Points: 1085 | Votes: 12 | AM Rank: 47 | 2009 Poll Rank: 90
Biggest Fan:: Stone (16)



"I never felt magic crazy as this"




[145] Nick Drake | Bryter Layter | 1970
Points: 1090 | Votes: 11 | AM Rank: 225 | 2009 Poll Rank: 155
Biggest Fan:: Petri (11)



"How do you say goodnight to an answering machine?"




[144] The Replacements | Let It Be | 1984

Points: 1093 | Votes: 11 | AM Rank: 233 | 2009 Poll Rank: 100
Biggest Fan:: Beefsupreme, Harold Hexler (4)



"I can't see the lines
I used to think I could read between"




[143] Brian Eno | Another Green World | 1975

Points: 1099 | Votes: 12 | AM Rank: 212 | 2009 Poll Rank: 181
Biggest Fan:: Stephen (6)



"Even Jesus would never forgive what you do"




[142] Bob Dylan | The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan | 1963

Points: 1100 | Votes: 12 | AM Rank: 177 | 2009 Poll Rank: 118
Biggest Fan:: DavidM (14)



"Listen to the girl as she takes on half the world"




[141] The Jesus and Mary Chain | Psychocandy | 1985

Points: 1102 | Votes: 13 | AM Rank: 84 | 2009 Poll Rank: 149
Biggest Fan:: Chris K (23)

160-151

Interpol's music is not my cup of tea, I've never heard that album entirely but the songs i heard were of good quality.

Siamese dreams (my #171) is one of the rare indie rock albums of my list (with Sonic Youth, LCD, Grandaddy and one Arcade Fire). I saw them live in 1995 at Reading, great concert.I've heard that album numerous times after that when I was living in a small student room. "Mayonaise is a great song.

Led Zep II (151) : another memory from the early 1990s. My second favorite LZ after IV. I don't like "Moby Dick", light as a whale, but "Thank You" is a great ballad that we used to play at reahearsals with my band.

I really dug "Deserter's Songs" when it came out. I listened to it a month a go just before sending my list and was a little disappointed. But it ended up at #277, not so bad

The first Clash is good but in no way beats London Calling, a more mature record.

Appetite For Destruction : good surprise to see them so high. Great rock record, with good sides and bad side. Real rock'n roll in 1987 was not so frequent, and Sweet Child Of Mine is an epic masterpiece.

Flaming Lips is not on my list, but some great songs in there.

Antony's placement is not so bad for a record you either love or hate. It was my #78. Antony is one of the most interseting artists of the decade IMO. Great voice coming from such an incredible body. And the guy forgot to be dumb as we say in French. I'd love to see him live.

The Smiths : I pass. I just can't hear this record. I hate the 80's productions even though I think Morrissey as a songwriter is not bad at all

For Your Pleasure was not on my list (#278, a little too low) but it's a fantastic record and I'm very happy it ended up that high. I'm more a Ferry fan than an Eno fan. His vocals on Beauty Queen are extraordinary. Antony owes him a lot.
I couldn't get everybody in, and 200 is a very small number.

Oh shit the next stretch is out now, but there's only one album in my top 200

I don't care about Fear of Music, I hate Psychocandy, and I'm not a uge fan of the Replacements and Eno.

"On The Beach", "Exodus", "Bryter Layter" are albums by artists I love but they're not my favorites. Good albums but not familiar or attractive enough to be high on my list.

The Band and Help are great records but like For Your Pleasure they were in the 200-300 spots of my list, which is very good. I chose to place records from other genres but had I done a rock-only list they'd probably be in my top 200.

And The Freewheelin' BD was my #87. This record is not only a milestone in the history of folk, but also a fantastic collection of songs.

150-141 is 90% solid gold.

I always wondered though why "Help!" hasn't gained so much recognition from the critics since its AM rank is that low.

"Help!" is easily the best album from The Beatles' early period and it surpasses some of their later work as well. Yes, it isn't as complex or mind-bending as some of their late stuff, but it's still a fantastic set of songs.

I think Help! is way too high on AM already, let alone in this poll. Adding to that the ranking for Let It Be and I'm gonna predict Beatles domination this poll. 4 albums in the top 10, #1 for Revolver and #3/#4 for White Album.

Not happy with that, obviously.

I'd be happy if anything beats "Ok Computer"

Also, it looks like niether "Help!" nor "On the Beach" was in the top 200 last time, leaving 5 new albums.

Don't forget that Pet Sounds almost beat Radiohead in 2009

Such a shame that The Replacements fell down so far since last time. I had them at #50. I'm still looking for some things that I don't think would have ended up this far down the list compared to their 2009 ranking. It seems like alot of my top 50 hasn't shown up yet.

I'm surprised Replacements Let It Be didn't finish higher.

149 is higher than I expected for On The Beach though, I can be happy it's finally getting exposed.

I am always surprised at the lack of affection for some of the albums that I grew to love in my teens. It is especially surprising to see all this lack of affection in view of the high rating of albums such as Big Star #1 Record which had almost no impact on me or any of my friends when it was released in 1972. What is so wonderful about this album compared to Deja Vu or Houses of the Holy? In my view, the Big Star album has three notable songs: September Gurls, In The Street, and Watch the Sunrise. Other decent songs include: The Ballad of El Goodo and Give Me Another Chance. But, none of these songs engage me nearly as much as the best tracks on Deja Vu or Houses of the Holy. Yet it appears that many others prefer Big Star over either of Deja Vu or Houses of the Holy. It's always interesting to determine why there are such preferences. So, please inform me as to why Big Star's album is so well loved.

In my book, Thirteen is the most wonderful love song ever written.

I'm also disappointed by the Replacements falling in the ranking, it is probably my favorite (re)discovery of the past poll.

154-153 looks strangely like the current bottom of my list for the 00s poll final round.

Psychocandy starts with a wonderful song but I still have some issues listening to the remaining of the album.

Some albums here I have never listened because they are from artists whose most acclaimed album (or pair of albums) I don't like much, like Neil Young for instance... might be a mistake though and "Fear of Music" is a good example of why.
I strongly dislike "Remain in Light" whose appeal I can not figure at all so it has taken a long time before I listened to any other album by the Talking Heads, but I have to say "Fear of Music" has lot of great intense moments, while real pleasing melodies and rythms.
I wish the Heads were one of the few artists for who we rank one album above the "critical consensus" one (like Pavement for who we tend to rank Crooked Rain Crooked Rain over Slanted and Enchanted)

Quite the oversight on my part. I think that Thirteen is the best song on the #1 Record Album. I wouldn't rate it nearly as highly as you do. But, it is a very good song.

this list definitely needs more Beatles albums. and nicolas would have Psychocandy in his t20 if it was recorded in 1938.

Henry : I see two reasons for Big Star

1) because it sounds like it could have been recorded in 2011
2) because it was not popular in the 70s, and because everybody knows Led Zep and CSNY but not Big Star. Critics love to praise bands that nobody knows, entertain the image of the cursed artist. That is cool, much cooler than loving Led Zep like anybody else and give you the impezssion of belonging to a group of happy few that understand it all. Not that I dislike Big Star, at their best (September Girls, 13, I'm in love with a girl) they could even be brilliant, but I never considered them as major actors of the rock history. I undeestand critics : like researchers, they want to discover hidden or underrated geniuses, but in the end theere are very few artists who were really influential and acclaimed after their time. the Velvet Underground for sure, Nick Drake, and a ha'dful of albums like Odyssey and Oracle or maybe Forever Changes come to my mind. But many so called hidden gems are some times a little overrated by critics and music fans; at least that's my humble opinio, even if I exagerate on purpose to launch the debate . If you like Big Sta please don't feel individually targeted by my words, it's a general trend that I'm nagging at : snobbism

@nj in 1938 Jesus and Mary Chain wouldn't have had guitar amps to fuck up with

but they would've been negroes though. that was some kind of pretty fuck up back then.

You guys do realize CSNY placed one album ahead of any Big Star album and LZ placed 5 albums ahead of any Big Star album...

I have no idea why I Am a Bird Now is ranked so highly. Even disregarding the fact that I don't like the album, it just seems like more of a candidate for the 300-400 section at best. Kind of like Vampire Weekend, Neon Bible, and MPP, come to think of it.

I don't really understand Psychocandy's appeal to be honest. I find it a really difficult album and the production makes it almost unbearable...for me at least. Each to their own, I guess.

But they did have vacuum cleaners back in '38 (as a matter of fact, vacuum cleaners were already invented in the 19th century!).

Jesus and Mary Chain were highly influenced by these noisy creatures ...

"You can't start a fire without a spark"





[140] Bruce Springsteen | Born in the U.S.A. | 1984

Points: 1105 | Votes: 12 | AM Rank: 152 | 2009 Poll Rank: 147
Biggest Fan:: Listyguy (4)



"Even the greatest stars live their lives in the looking glass"




[139] Kraftwerk | Trans-Europa Express | 1977

Points: 1106 | Votes: 12 | AM Rank: 92 | 2009 Poll Rank: 141
Biggest Fan:: Kingoftonga (4)



"You tell me that you're unboyfriendable"




[138] The Magnetic Fields | 69 Love Songs | 1999

Points: 1110 | Votes: 12 | AM Rank: 260 | 2009 Poll Rank: 117
Biggest Fan:: Penguin (3)



"If there's any other way to spell the word
It's fine with me"




[137] Vampire Weekend | Vampire Weekend | 2008
Points: 1115 | Votes: 13 | AM Rank: 339 | 2009 Poll Rank: 196
Biggest Fan:: Toni (7)



"Don't you know you'll stain the carpet?"




[136] The Velvet Underground | White Light/White Heat | 1968

Points: 1115 | Votes: 11 | AM Rank: 190 | 2009 Poll Rank: 113
Biggest Fan:: Kevin (5)



"Maybe everything that dies someday comes back"




[135] Bruce Springsteen | Nebraska | 1982

Points: 1126 | Votes: 14 | AM Rank: 123 | 2009 Poll Rank: 166
Biggest Fan:: Nicolas (23)



"The wise man built his words upon the rocks
But I'm not bound to follow suit"





[134] R.E.M. | Reckoning | 1984

Points: 1130 | Votes: 14 | AM Rank: 617
Biggest Fan:: Brad (16)



"Villains always blink their eyes"




[133] The Velvet Underground | Loaded | 1970

Points: 1130 | Votes: 14 | AM Rank: 211 | 2009 Poll Rank: 124
Biggest Fan:: Evan (31)



"You can't leave cause your heart is there"




[132] Sly and the Family Stone | There's a Riot Goin' On | 1971

Points: 1148 | Votes: 15 | AM Rank: 51 | 2009 Poll Rank: 126
Biggest Fan:: Sonofsamiam (16)



"There is no future in England's dreaming"




[131] Sex Pistols | Never Mind the Bollocks - Here's the Sex Pistols | 1977

Points: 1155 | Votes: 13 | AM Rank: 10 | 2009 Poll Rank: 77
Biggest Fan:: ParticleAnalyst (3)

when i did the movie poll, i had to endure American Beauty in the t10. welcome to the physics of the AMF zone, son.

i like these quotation segments.

I was about to call it a day (it's 1 in the morning here) when Jackson posted the new section of the list

@Jackson : I really thought from Henry's post that "#1 Record" was yet to come, so finally the majority of AMers is wise
About Antony, I really like his warmth and generosity in a decade where these qualities are not often showed on acclaimed records. And this is a very original record; i hated it at first listen in 2004-05, thought he was a Bryan Ferry imitator, but after a few years came back to it and it was a shock. Anther record where the whole (or the memory) is better than the sum of its parts. But I agree with you that Vampire WE should be in the 300-400 section. Maybe a magnifying glass effect (records from 2008-11 a little bit overrated ?

Happy to see 2 Bruce albums in this section, especially "Nebraska", of which I happen to be the biggest fan even if it dropped from #9 in 2009 to #23 in my list.

Surprised to see Loaded above White Light White Heat. "the Gift" is one of the very best songs ever written by Lou Reed, and the way Cale recites the story is delicious. I'm not a huge fan of the rest of the album (I prefer the following, and of course, the first one).

And surprised to see Bollocks so low. Not unhappy, but surprised.

"Riot Going On" was on my list too. Happy to see that 70s soul isn't forgotten; Superfly, Funkadelic (?? One Nation ??), the 3 Stevie greats and Marvin should follow

Good night, me and my bigmouth are going to bed. I really enjoy those albums poll and that makes me wanna comment and give my opinion on anything like a good old Frenchie.

Ugh. Loaded is a pretty terrible album and it disgusts me that it outperformed White Light/White Heat.

Also, the order of the Kraftwerk albums seems wrong. Trans Europe Express may have taken Kraftwerk toward a synth pop sound, but The Man Machine and Computer World saw them perfect it, and they are far superior albums, in my book.

There are many artists on this list that I despise (The Beatles, The Who, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, etc.), but those are easy to pick given my taste. Instead, I'll express my puzzlement about Vampire Weekend. Just what the heck is so special about them? I haven't heard the album, but I've heard a good 5 songs from it and nothing sounds anything more than halfway decent.

That movie would likely be in my personal top 10. Can we still be friends?

^hell, yeah!

which reminds me of my old whine and gasp routine - no Echo n Bunnymen, Associates, Magazine, Comateens, Poly Styrene, Gap Band... burppphhh..

Happy to see "Born in the USA" ranked so well (and almost beat out "Nebraksa").
But even more exciting than that is the "Stand!" has beaten "There's a Riot Goin' On" and will take it's rightful place as Sly's best album! I'm extremely excited for this!

Indeed. All of those acts had at least one album in my T200 except for Poly Styrene, who I must check out with a quickness.

Well, all three of those albums (Deja Vu, Houses of the Holy, and #1 Record) are bunched up together in the 60's on my list. But I'm curious as to why you are comparing them. Aside from their all being early 70's rock albums, they are coming from very different places. CSNY spring from a folk rock base, LZ from a blues rock base, BS from a pop rock base. Each album is kinda doing different things.

Houses of the Holy and Deja Vu, I have known for a very long time, #1 Record is a relatively recent discovery (only in the past couple of years). But none of them were real favorites of mine in my teens. That said, I know what you're talking about when it comes to an out of hand rejection of the albums you loved when you were younger and less mature. I have tried to be both clear eyed about those albums (for me, most of the Beatles catalog, Tommy, and Bookends, among others) and still remember what made them so vital and important to me.

For me, #1 Record would probably drop fifty places if not for "The Ballad of El Goodo." I can't tell you how much I adore that song and it keeps growing on me. And I've got an embarrassing sweet spot for teen dramedies when it comes to films and movies. Between "In the Street," "Thirteen," and "When My Baby's Beside Me," the album is like a teen dramedy all unto itself.

But mostly, I just feel like they got the balance right: The sweet songs are really, really sweet. The rock songs actually rock. And all of the songs have at least a little bit of both to them.

"I never knew this could happen to me"






[130] The Knife | Silent Shout | 2006
Points: 1159 | Votes: 12 | AM Rank: 310 | 2009 Poll Rank: 172 (+42)
Biggest Fan:: Kingoftonga (7)



"Your madness fits in nicely with my own"




[129] Robert Wyatt | Rock Bottom | 1974

Points: 1175 | Votes: 11 | AM Rank: 196 | 2009 Poll Rank: 144 (+15)
Biggest Fan:: Nicolas (2)



"Working for the church while your family dies"




[128] Arcade Fire | Neon Bible | 2007

Points: 1182 | Votes: 14 | AM Rank: 371 | 2009 Poll Rank: 187 (+59)
Biggest Fan:: Daniel (15)



"I've seen your picture
Your name in lights above it"




[127] Steely Dan | Aja | 1977

Points: 1188 | Votes: 11 | AM Rank: 320 | 2009 Poll Rank: 146 (+19)
Biggest Fans:: Georgie, Henrik (1)



"My own beliefs are in my song"




[126] Sly and the Family Stone | Stand! | 1969

Points: 1192 | Votes: 12 | AM Rank: 167 | 2009 Poll Rank: 167 (+41)
Biggest Fans:: Henrik, Listguy (6)



"Love in the 90s is paranoid"




[125] Blur | Parklife | 1994

Points: 1201 | Votes: 14 | AM Rank: 164 | 2009 Poll Rank: 120 (-5)
Biggest Fan:: Toni (2)



"When I live
I'll give it all I got"




[124] Sufjan Stevens | The Age of Adz | 2010

Points: 1207 | Votes: 9 | AM Rank: N/A
Biggest Fan:: Halley P (1)



"May it be filled with the pleasure principle in circumference to my voice"




[123] De La Soul | 3 Feet High and Rising | 1989

Points: 1210 | Votes: 13 | AM Rank: 77 | 2009 Poll Rank: 101 (-22)
Biggest Fan:: Kingoftonga (19)



"They're taking her children away"




[122] Lou Reed | Berlin | 1973

Points: 1216 | Votes: 10 | AM Rank: 188 | 2009 Poll Rank: 134 (+12)
Biggest Fan:: Antonius (7)



"My love is growing stronger
As you become a habit to me"




[121] Otis Redding | Otis Blue/Otis Redding Sings Soul | 1965

Points: 1217 | Votes: 15 | AM Rank: 61 | 2009 Poll Rank: 105 (-16)
Biggest Fan:: Otisredding (24)

I have the first Vampire Weekend record in my top 20, so I will try to answer this. First of all, you need to understand the psychology of making lists and how things get critical acclaim. It adds up from more than just the music itself, even though everything in the top 500 is all great stuff. Its about time and place just as much.

1. In the "indie" music world, if Arcade Fire is the biggest band in the world, than Vampire Weekend is probably number 2. In terms of pure commercial power, only Arcade Fire and The Black Keys (who are on a major label indie subsidiary) can touch them. Their two records went gold in the US and platinum in the UK. If they moved to a major label and got real money and influence behind them, they would probably take Coldplay's mantle as the Biggest Rock Band in the World, and I do not mean that to be disparaging in any way. Fleet Foxes, Bon Iver, The National, LCD, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, cannot hold a candle to the numbers they pull.

2. The first Vampire Weekend album was definitively a "new" sound in a decade where it was alot harder to find something in rock sounding original. The music is Orange Juice post-punk/twee meets afropop, two great tastes that go great together.

3. Their album is seen as a cornerstone(s) of New York's new rock "sound" for the late 2000s/early 2010s. It may have been Clap Your Hands Say Yeah who started that turn with their excellent debut, but Vampire Weekend took it to the next step: light, dainty pop hooks with a super clean sound, fanciful lyric. The Strokes made rock snarl, LCD gave it ironic quips on the side. Vampire Weekend is not as tongue-in-cheek as LCD was, and it sounded so happy. Coming out with a fully formed look, they, along with (surprisingly) Kanye West, are the musical artists that brought in the new wave of college prep fashion.

4. White people. A common joke is that Vampire Weekend is the whitest band on Earth. It is music made by upper middle class/upper class liberal professionals for upper middle class/upper class liberal professionals. Guess what 99% of the music critics in the world are?

All of those points explain why the album became popular while barely scratching the surface of the music itself. Its a new generation of simple-sounding pop melodies. You have catchy hooks without being soul-suckingly stupid like most club records. It sounds good on a movie or television soundtrack.

"The Age of Adz" didn't make the top 100. I can sleep well tonight.

P.S. It's not that I dislike the album, (I think it's number 21 on my top albums of 2010) it's just that there's no way it should have beaten excellent 2010 albums such as LCD Soundsystem's, Beach House's, Janelle Monae's, and many others in this poll by such a large margin.

Disagree. The Age of Adz is the first perfect record of the new decade. The Suburbs and MBDTF get all the acclaim, but its the Adz that truly represents our broken times. Sufjan is leading us boldly into un-chartered musical and production territories. If Sufjan aims even higher on his next album, who knows what he'll accomplish.

Why take aim at such a bold, colorful album when the positively bloated and dull The Suburbs has the audacity to rank so high?

Thanks for the in-depth explanation. I'll give the album a spin.

And can anybody tell me whether Aja is substantially different to the songs that were chosen in the World Cup tournament? I've been meaning to seek it out, but the whitewashed dullness of those songs scared me off.

MuCh ToOoOoOoOOoO MaNy ViBrAtOoOoOoOs AnD TrEmOlOoOoOoOoOoOs MaAaAaAaKe IiIiIiIiIiIt UnLiStEnAbLe To MeEeEeEeEeEeEeEeE



I rank the Age of Adz and Kanye West about the same, anyway I won't call any of them perfect. The Age of Adz is my #50 but if its peak are astonishing, it still has some lesser songs
And for me what really makes it great is its melodies and harmonies, the production is not that new (see Max Tundra as nj would probably suggest).

"The Devil's on the loose"





[120] Creedence Clearwater Revival | Cosmo's Factory | 1970

Points: 1228 | Votes: 14 | AM Rank: 195 | 2009 Poll Rank: 152 (+32)
Biggest Fan:: Gillingham (9)



"Every time I turn around I find I'm shot"




[119] Pavement | Slanted and Enchanted | 1992

Points: 1259 | Votes: 13 | AM Rank: 124 | 2009 Poll Rank: 83 (-36)
Biggest Fan:: Brad (4)



"Power music electric revival"




[118] OutKast | Stankonia | 2000

Points: 1261 | Votes: 15 | AM Rank: 168 | 2009 Poll Rank: 195 (+77)
Biggest Fan:: Beefsupreme (8)



"I feel the sky tumbling down"




[117] Carole King | Tapestry | 1971

Points: 1268 | Votes: 12 | AM Rank: 66 | 2009 Poll Rank: 183 (+66)
Biggest Fan:: Henry (8)


"I caught you knocking at my cellar door"




[116] Neil Young | Harvest | 1972

Points: 1278 | Votes: 15 | AM Rank: 97 | 2009 Poll Rank: 130 (+14)
Biggest Fan:: Nicolas (25)



"We don't notice any time pass"




[115] The White Stripes | White Blood Cells | 2001

Points: 1294 | Votes: 15 | AM Rank: 197 | 2009 Poll Rank: 84 (-31)
Biggest Fan:: Dan M (24)



"Hello woman of my dreams"





[114] Neil Young | Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere | 1969

Points: 1302 | Votes: 17 | AM Rank: 180 | 2009 Poll Rank: 94 (-20)
Biggest Fan:: Halley P (23)



"This love becomes my torture"





[113] PJ Harvey | To Bring You My Love | 1995

Points: 1306 | Votes: 16 | AM Rank: 175 | 2009 Poll Rank: 92 (-21)
Biggest Fan:: David M (8)



"Part of you pours out of me
In these lines from time to time"





[112] Joni Mitchell | Court and Spark | 1974

Points: 1312 | Votes: 14 | AM Rank: 156 | 2009 Poll Rank: 148 (+36)
Biggest Fan:: Fred (14)



"It ain't no sin to be glad you're alive"




[111] Bruce Springsteen | Darkness on the Edge of Town | 1978

Points: 1321 | Votes: 12 | AM Rank: 112 | 2009 Poll Rank: 74 (-37)
Biggest Fan:: Nicolas (1)

I think the "other" new entry is The College Dropout. I can't see it being anything else.

Quite a shock for one of my absolutely all-time favorites. Hell, words certainly are not enough for this. At least it invented a whole music genre, influenced hundreds, sounds still fresh after 34 years, created a bunch of true anti-establishment 20th century modern anthems and is considered a classic by almost everyone, even the ones who despise it. I think I'll overcome this, but then again I'm not that mature.

To the rest now... I always thought "Born In The U.S.A." as the greatest '80s work of The Boss, so I am a bit surprised seeing it below inferior albums like "Nebraska" (uneven, some great songs in it, like the Dylanesque "Atlantic City", others are incredibly pretentious low-profile ballads like the title track) and, yeah, "Darkness On The Edge Of Town" ("Born To Run"-the more folky remake). "Reckoning" is good, but that's it. My favorite R.E.M. '80S record is "Document".
I'm happy to see "Stand!" above "There's A Riot Goin' On"; justice done.
Also two pleasant surprises on the high ranking of "Parklife" and "Stankonia, especially the second one considering hip-hop as an unpopular genre here.
And since "Cosmo's Factory" entered the Top 200 why not "Green River"? I always thought of them as almost equally splendid, the latter one a little more.
My all time favorite is a Velvet Underground collaboration album, but nothing else by them has really amazed me, "Loaded" is a really very strong album but the rest is at the best just good.

Is it bold? Yeah. Is it colorful? Yeah, but I think the word I'd use is "garish". My main gripe with "The Age of Adz" is it's way too crowded. The massive amount of sounds just distracts from the (oftentimes superb) lyrics. Also, "Impossible Soul" could be the textbook definition of masturbatory excess in music, and I once had to listen to a couple Emerson Lake and Palmer songs for a music class.

2 sections late, and my numbers 1 and 2 are out !!

"Rock Bottom" is moving up. Goood. It takes a long time to get into that otherwordly record. Listening to it is like taking a walk under the sea and realizing you can breathe. Jackson, you didn't pick the original 1974 cover ! (kidding)

"Darkness On The Edge Of Town", on the contrary, lost some support (Beans why did you want to be a doctor ). Too bad but I'm happy it's still in the top 150. I understand that people can prefer Born To Run, my #5 , with all its arrangements and all, but Darkness is more mature. Bruce has finished playing Phil Spector. the sound is more simple, compact, live. The lyrics don't only deal with people who want to escape, but also with those who realized there was nowhere to go.

they made my list :

"Berlin" (126), "The Kids" is very very scary especially when you have kids, Berlin reads like novel but I prefer "Transformer" because you don't want to commit suicide after hearing it lol (ain't no sin to be glad you're alive)

Cosmo's Factory (24) : what a great rnr album in one of the ugliest covers ever printed ! You're almost in the studio with them when you hear that great record. A fantastic tribute to the 50s and 60s

Harvest (25) :enough said about that one. A masterpiece of mainstream country rock. I'm happy it is so high, feel less lonely (you could have helped me with the discussion you f...ers ). I thought it was outside the top 500 !!

Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere (60). Another great NY record, live and raw.

They almost made my list :

Stand ! (227). I only discovered that album last year, and it was a very exciting encounter. I need to give it more spins to tell if it's better than Riot

3 Feet High (262). Il est midi. C'est l'heure de déjeuner.


Otis Blue (234) because The Dock Of the Bay is my heart choice

I prefer Speakerboxx to Stankonia and Elephant to White Blood Cells (but no huge fan of the Stripes anyway)


I'm incompatiblewith The Knife (no shit), Slanted and Enchanted, Tapestry (for opposite reasons), PJ Harvey and... Joni Mitchell (Those two are cool but their music doesn't do it for me, Joni's voice and egocentrism irritate me).

I'd love to hear Aja and The Adge of Adz, especially the latter. Hope I'll get past my synth allergy because I think Sufjan is one of the greatest songwriters of the past 10 years, but as you say Nick, sometimes he has this tendancy to overload his arrangements. Apparently this is a love it or hate it album. Mmmmmmm...

@Nassim : we have our allergies to certain types of vocals. Me it's the way some indie rockers whisper with a faint voice as if singing normally with a clear voice was absolutely has-been or painful

Looks like there's only one rap album left that was made for rap fans. And a few that were made for indie fans. The real versus the synthetic.

Glad to see Joni Mitchell jump spots, disappointed Silent Shout fell short of the top 100.

Sex Pistols may have been first, but they were far from best. I find their vocal embellishment really annoying. (GOD SAVE THE QUEEENNNNNNAAHHH!)

Great discussions guys! I only have time for a short post and I'm sorry but it is a negative one. I have no idea what Adz is doing here. More is not more! It's an album I avoid because I fear I will lose my love for Sufjan's earlier albums. I am trying it again now but only get headache.

Stephan, great to hear about your love for "Aja"! Moonbeam, I'll answer you later if no one else does (if we still can be friends).

Ah, "I Walked" came on. What a relief.

Perhaps I don't understand the purpose of the quotations, but why have you quoted Joni Mitchell's song "A Case of You" bearing in mind that's from her Blue album?

As you might guess, I'm a big Joni Mitchell fan! I'm not disappointed by Court and Spark's ranking in particular, but Joni's "For the Roses" is really underappreciated and I think the AM score ranks outside the top 1000 which is ridiculous! I think female artists in general should be fairly represented in these all-time lists. Seriously, what is Carole King's Tapestry doing outside the top 100?

I'll echo Henrik's comment on Age of Adz. I've always liked him, but I felt Adz was a failed experiment... well obviously not a failure since it was well received, but to me it sounds like a mess minus a couple decent songs.

My 8th favorite. Not nearly edgy enough and too straightforward for the AM Poll Voters I would imagine.

Tapestry does not get much love here because its most beloved outside this forum's demographic. Carole King is considered "uncool" compared to Joni. It led to the 70s singer-songwriter schlock. I appreciate the songwriting she does, but I feel the most famous songs on the album were done better by other artists.

My two cents: Considering how many thousands upon thousands of albums have been released in the history of ever, all these debates this far into the poll results about, for example, an album that we've voted the 117th greatest of all time being somehow "undervalued" by the voters here seem a little...I don't know what. To quote a line from Inglourious Basterds: "I grow weary of these monkeyshines."

I don't like "Tapestry" not because it is soft rock (I love Harvest) but because like Vanilla said, she's not a great performer. To sing on these kind of mellow melodies and arrangements, you've got to have a voice. Carole King was a fantastic songwriter as soon as the early eighties but her solo records lack personality IMO.
It's not necessarily a question of demographics, as the AMer's birthdates spread from the 60's to the 90's : four decades !! Something Henrik should be very proud of.

Very good point.

I prefer Aretha's Natural Woman and Taylor's You've Got A Friend.

But, King's version of It's Too Late and I Feel The Earth Move are the best as far as I can tell.

I think it will give you even a bigger headache than it gives Henrik, so take some paracetamol before listening to it. Most of the album’s potentially beautiful melodies are suffocated by excessive and unnecessary noise. I’d be surprised if you are anything but disappointed, but do let us know.



Then again, it appears that I’m the biggest fan of White Blood Cells, and I’m sure plenty of people find that album noisy and grating. But to my ears there are few things more pleasing than the album’s stripped-down, elemental rock and blues. It sends the happy hormones raging through me every time I listen to it.

Wasn't me who said that. We have a Stephen on the forums now, which I'll admit can be confusing. I even thought "Hey, I didn't write that!" a few times. I do love me some Aja though.

Let me join in on the "I don't get the Age of Adz" parade... I didn't realize how much this forum liked the album. To me, it doesn't come close to Sufjan's other materials. In this case, being experimental didn't play to his strengths.

Good point Harold, these are some of the best albums ever released that we are discussing (though I am sure some of the recent albums will drop in future polls, it takes a couple of years for really great albums to establish themselves).

Not only do I not like Age of Adz, I think it is unequivocally the worst album I've ever listened to. Front to back, I have never actually heard a worse album.

A few surprises in that last section, I certainly didn't expect Tapestry and Harvest so high. And I really didn't expect Slanted and Enchanted out of the T100. Then again, the lion's share of the Pavement love on this board is directed to Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain, so I guess it's not a shock. For the record, I have CRCR above S&E.

Well, I 'm not sure i want to hear Age of adz anymore
I already had to take paracetamol after listening to Merriweather Post Pavillion !!
I think it's cool that we have Crooked Rain, Age of ADz AND Tapestry or Harvest. It reflects the diversity of this poll -and of the musical spectrum.

So "Different Class" is making it to the 100 I suppose?

Age of Adz needs a little support, so let me attempt to provide it.

1) It sounds great. Overlayered? Nah. To me all the weird little bits merge seamlessly into one, but every time you listen to it, there's another little bit to gaze upon. It's very warm and squidgy.

2) Heart and Balls. Even more so than Illinois, which to me is one of the most heartfelt and ballsiest albums of the last ten years (only The College Dropout and one Age of Adz comes to mind). It's not arrogance, it's Sufjan using the instruments that he has to tell us what he wishes to say in as beautiful a way as possible.

3) Impossible Soul. An extravaganza like few extravaganzas. Masturbatory? Only on my side.

I can't remember where I put it on my list, but I really think that over time as the 2010 albums fade away, this one will rise to the top.

So far we have albums in the Top 200 from 1963 (Bob Dylan) to 2011 (P J Harvey). The peak year is 1969 with7 albums. The next biggest are 1970, 1971 and 1977 all with 5 albums each.

This forum just ripped my heart out with all of that Adz hate and the fact that The Dullards has yet to appear.

As for The Age of Adz, all of those wacky embellishments have a purpose. That album is a war, with every fiery synth, volcanic beat and shrieking horn wielded as a weapon against his personal demons as well as mental illness. The dedication to Royal Robertson makes the mental illness angle clear, and the crazy instrumentation constantly demands the attention of the listener so that his main message don't fall on deaf ears - don't be distracted by the sundry everyday pitfalls and get well mentally, physically and spiritually. It was a powerful, powerful wakeup call for me - one that I desperately needed and one that I cherish greatly. I can concede that it is a challenging album to listen to because of its titanic production, but it makes Illinois (another album that I love) sound like absolute child's play in comparison.

I'm not surprised in the least that Adz is divisive. That's kind of the point.

And to everyone surprised that Adz is so beloved by this forum, remember that only nine people voted for it.

Yes, I was expecting some other album from the 1950s (apart of the album everyone is thinking of) getting into the Top 200 after the 50s poll. The ones in the Top 500 are:
[221] Dave Brubeck Quartet | Time Out | 1959 (#8 in the 1950s poll)
[234] Charles Mingus | Mingus Ah Um | 1959 (#2 in the 1950s poll)
[392] Howlin' Wolf | Moanin' in the Moonlight | 1959 (#5 in the 1950s poll)
[406] Chet Baker | Chet Baker Sings | 1954 (#3 in the 1950s poll)
[422] Elvis Presley | Elvis Presley | 1956 (#9 in the 1950s poll)
[466] The Crickets | The "Chirping" Crickets | 1957 (#20 in the 1950s poll)

The most notable absence in our list is the album that ended at #4 on the 1950s poll, Nina Simone's "Jazz as Played in an Exclusive Side Street Club".


About "The Age of Adz", Sufjan's universe was rich enough to need to approach (to appropiate?) to the universe of Animal Collective. Why this "The Age of AC"?

Jackson, sorry to be picky but probably you don’t want to put :: after Biggest Fan but only :

Just because I was bored I decided to go along and list all of the 2000-2009 albums that have appeared so far. I think that it should be pretty interesting to compare this list with the ongoing decade poll's results.


74. [498] Amy Winehouse | Back to Black | 2006
73. [494] The Shins | Wincing the Night Away | 2007
72. [493] Spoon | Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga | 2007
71. [486] Camera Obscura | Let's Get Out Of This Country | 2006
70. [480] The Streets | A Grand Don't Come for Free | 2004
69. [477] Bloc Party | Silent Alarm | 2005
68. [464] Animal Collective | Feels | 2005
67. [458] The Pains of Being Pure at Heart | The Pains of Being Pure at Heart | 2009
66. [449] Joanna Newsom | The Milk-Eyed Mender | 2004
65. [443] The Tallest Man on Earth | Shallow Grave | 2008
64. [441] Spoon | Kill the Moonlight | 2002
63. [436] PJ Harvey | White Chalk | 2007
62. [428] The Shins | Oh, Inverted World | 2001
61. [427] Madvillain | Madvillainy | 2004
60. [426] Godspeed You Black Emperor! | Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven | 2000
59. [419] Johnny Cash | American III: Solitary Man | 2000
58. [418] Deerhunter | Microcastle / Weird Era Cont. | 2008
57. [412] Boards of Canada | Geogaddi | 2002
56. [405] Coldplay | Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends | 2008
55. [399] Wilco | Sky Blue Sky | 2007
54. [398] Burial | Untrue | 2007
53. [395] Eminem | The Marshall Mathers LP | 2000
52. [391] Animal Collective | Sung Tongs | 2004
51. [386] Brian Wilson | SMiLE | 2004
50. [385] Morrissey | You Are the Quarry | 2004
49. [384] Cannibal Ox | The Cold Vein | 2001
48. [358] Sigur Rós | ( ) | 2002
47. [353] Sleater-Kinney | One Beat | 2002
46. [351] Animal Collective | Strawberry Jam | 2007
45. [348] Belle and Sebastian | The Life Pursuit | 2006
44. [347] Sigur Rós | Takk... | 2005
43. [338] Sufjan Stevens | Michigan | 2003
42. [334] Sleater-Kinney | The Woods | 2005
41. [332] The Antlers | Hospice | 2009
40. [330] Arctic Monkeys | Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not | 2006
39. [326] Gorillaz | Demon Days | 2005
38. [325] Damien Rice | O | 2002
37. [320] Primal Scream | XTRMNTR | 2000
36. [315] Radiohead | Hail to the Thief | 2003
35. [314] Modest Mouse | The Moon & Antarctica | 2000
34. [307] Coldplay | Parachutes | 2000
33. [306] Super Furry Animals | Rings Around the World | 2001
32. [300] Elliott Smith | From a Basement on the Hill | 2004
31. [293] Kanye West | Late Registration | 2005
30. [279] The Wrens | The Meadowlands | 2003
29. [267] The Streets | Original Pirate Material | 2002
28. [264] Jay-Z | The Blueprint | 2001
27. [263] Queens of the Stone Age | Songs for the Deaf | 2002
26. [261] OutKast | Speakerboxxx/The Love Below | 2003
25. [260] LCD Soundsystem | LCD Soundsystem | 2005
24. [248] Fever Ray | Fever Ray | 2009
23. [242] Björk | Vespertine | 2001
22. [240] Bon Iver | For Emma, Forever Ago | 2007
21. [236] The XX | XX | 2009
20. [232] M.I.A. | Kala | 2007
19. [220] The Shins | Chutes Too Narrow | 2003
18. [219] Radiohead | Amnesiac | 2001
17. [218] Coldplay | A Rush of Blood to the Head | 2002
16. [215] Joanna Newsom | Ys | 2006
15. [214] Franz Ferdinand | Franz Ferdinand | 2004
14. [200] The National | Alligator | 2005
13. [181] The Avalanches | Since I Left You | 2000
12. [178] Portishead | Third | 2008
11. [171] Daft Punk | Discovery | 2001
10. [168] TV on the Radio | Return to Cookie Mountain | 2006
9. [166] PJ Harvey | Stories From the City, Stories From the Sea | 2000
8. [160] Interpol | Turn On the Bright Lights | 2002
7. [154] The Flaming Lips | Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots | 2002
6. [153] Antony and The Johnsons | I Am a Bird Now | 2005
5. [137] Vampire Weekend | Vampire Weekend | 2008
4. [130] The Knife | Silent Shout | 2006
3. [128] Arcade Fire | Neon Bible | 2007
2. [118] OutKast | Stankonia | 2000
1. [115] The White Stripes | White Blood Cells | 2001

By my estimation, these are the 2000's albums left to appear in the top 110.

"Sound of Silver"
"Is This It"
"Funeral"
"The College Dropout"
"Illinois"
"Yankee Hotel Foxtrot"
"Elephant"
"Kid A"
"Boxer"
"In Rainbows"
"Merriweather Post Pavilion"
"Fleet Foxes"
"Person Pitch"
"Dear Science"

I'm pretty surprised that "Oracular Spectacular" hasn't shown up yet, but I highly doubt it will be in the top 110. Same goes for "Arular".

Same goes for Person Pitch, too, I think - it didn't make the top 200 in 2009, and I doubt that it's going to be one of the three new entries yet to appear. Two of those will be The Suburbs and My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, as has been noted ad nauseam - or, for Moonbeam and Bill Adama respectively, ad nauseated - and I'm predicting that the other one will be The College Dropout. I realize that will mean Person Pitch missed the top 500 entirely, but I can see that more easily than with TCD.