Go to the NEW FORUM
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.
"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)
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.
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!
"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)
"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.
"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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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".
"I rock a house party at the drop of a hat"
[110] Beastie Boys | Paul's Boutique | 1989
Points: 1325 | Votes: 13 | AM Rank: 119 | 2009 Poll Rank: 133 (+23)
Biggest Fan:: Kingoftonga (2)
"This could be such a beautiful world"
[109] Curtis Mayfield | Superfly | 1972
Points: 1342 | Votes: 13 | AM Rank: 145 | 2009 Poll Rank: 104 (-5)
Biggest Fan:: Sonofsamiam (8)
"I don't mean to seem like I care about material things"
[108] Animal Collective | Merriweather Post Pavillion | 2009
Points: 1344 | Votes: 15 | AM Rank: 128 | 2009 Poll Rank: 106 (-2)
Biggest Fan:: Chris K (24)
"You get mistaken for strangers by your own friends"
[107] The National | Boxer | 2007
Points: 1352 | Votes: 11 | AM Rank: 346 | 2009 Poll Rank: 197 (+90)
Biggest Fan:: Penguin (2)
"This town is crazy
Nobody cares"
[106] Beck | Sea Change | 2002
Points: 1353 | Votes: 14 | AM Rank: 405 | 2009 Poll Rank: 85 (-21)
Biggest Fan:: Harold Wexler (10)
"I was swimming in the Caribbean"
[105] Pixies | Surfer Rosa | 1988
Points: 1357 | Votes: 15 | AM Rank: 96 | 2009 Poll Rank: 58 (-47)
Biggest Fan:: Toni (24)
"Let this take away from my spins"
[104] Kanye West | The College Dropout | 2004
Points: 1372 | Votes: 13 | AM Rank: 217
Biggest Fan:: Nassim (5)
"Thirteen month old baby broke the looking glass"
[103] Stevie Wonder | Talking Book | 1972
Points: 1403 | Votes: 16 | AM Rank: 111 | 2009 Poll Rank: 115 (+12)
Biggest Fan:: Henry (5)
"And that ain't what you want to hear
But that's what I'll do"
[102] The White Stripes | Elephant | 2003
Points: 1406 | Votes: 16 | AM Rank: 101 | 2009 Poll Rank: 80 (-22)
Biggest Fan:: Billadama (5)
[101] Charles Mingus | The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady | 1963
Points: 1412 | Votes: 13 | AM Rank: 418 | 2009 Poll Rank: 135 (+34)
Biggest Fan:: Sonofsamiam (3)
And there we are. We now know what the top 100 albums are going to be, we just don't know the order. One artist has three albums in the top 100, three have four, one has six. Looking forward to seeing it unfold.
I may complain about many of these rankings, but there's one thing I support: the number 101 album is better than every album below it. Awesome improvement for an album that just missed the top 100 by 0.7 points.
Wow, I never realized that "Dear Science" was so beloved in this forum. It looks like it just made the top 100.
So many incredible albums in that stretch. Absolutely loaded. Surfer Rosa outside the T100 is a surprise indeed. Seeing Paul's Boutique and Supafly out is painful though.
Also, Suburbs in the T100 :(
Edit: Is seems morel ikely to me that Dear Science missed the T500 rather than it being in the T100.
How did Surfer Rosa and Elephant fall so far? Great run, 101-110.
I think I can stomach MBDTF being in the top 100, so long as It Takes A Nation Of Millions does better. If it doesn't, you guys are seriously insane.
I don't have anything against The Suburbs, it's just kind of 'unspecial'.
Love the placement of "Boxer" this time -- it really is a subtle masterpiece. I also like that its stature is rising each year; it's great that more and more people are starting to appreciate it.
Rap is one of the few genres that I can't seem to enjoy, and I've really tried with it. Seriously, I wouldn't even be able to suggest even a single rap album which I've enjoyed, and that concerns me for some reason.
I've noticed that it's not uncommon to meet people who find the Rap genre distasteful in the UK. I think critics are usually more positive with Rap records in the US than they are over here (not that Rap records never get positive reviews in the UK), so I was wondering whether that it's just a coincidence or whether it's just a culture thing? Perhaps could you can suggest a Rap record which you think I'll find accessible?
You could check out some A Tribe Called Quest or maybe The Roots.
110-101
First impressions : many records from the 00's ! Too much ? Maybe. May I call that a lack of perspective ?
I agree with Harold : what the fuck if one album is 110th and not 90th. Better discuss albums that numbers.
Now Negative Nancy, go home to your garden gnomes !
I'm happy to see Super Fly and Talking Book (respectively my #76 and 66): still some great soul classics left to come (2 Stevie, 1 Marvin, and I got no hope for On Nation Under A Groove anymore). I have a special love for Talking Book. Heart factor places it slightly above Innervision;
I should try Merriweather once again, but I'm afraid (I should rename this album "Fear Of Music"). "My girls" irritates me because of the high pitched synths. I remember some good melodic moments though, but kind of wasted by that production. Genetically modified music is not my cup of tea;
Boxer was a good discovery of the 00s poll : great , deep album indeed, but to soon to make my top 200. As I said before, I don't know "Se"Lost Cause" is a fantastic songa Change" well enough, but it sounds great too. Beck obviously listened to some Gainsbourg, the British Gainsbourg of the seventies.
Happy to see a jazz album like "The Black Saint" so high, even if I prefer the rootsier "Ah Hum". I should give Black Saint a couple more listens. That is the big problem of the Internet era : so many records are available that you don't spend enough time listening to one album, and sometimes you miss the most challenging ones.
And Stephen, I support Stephan's rap recommendations. Try these groups if you haven't heard them yet. About rap in the UK there's a British rap scene, right ? I didn't know that rap didn't get good critics there. Here in France we have a lively -if not always talented- rap scene and rap records get good critics sometimes.
Just to keep the Age of Adz debate alive, one of the interesting things about its high score is how few voters listed the album, just 9 voters and it made 124. The other Top 200 albums with 9 votes all sit in the 180 to 200 zone. So it has a few fans that like it a lot. Will it fall from grace in the next poll or rise to sit alongside Illinoise as a second masterwork?
I saw Sufjan perform the album live earlier this year and still can't decide what I think of it. An amazing live concert, though that's different from an amazing album.
That's it; seems our agony is coming to an end . I like White Stripes but not to a great extent- in a way, it's better they are off the Top 100. However I think " Talking Book" should be in as Wonder's greatest achievement- seriously, is "Songs In The Key Of Life" that better? I still wonder though about "Different Class" and if, along with the traditional and righteous inclusion of the usual suspects called Dylan and Beatles in the top 10 will be also Radiohead. I also think that " Funeral" will be in the Top 20 though not deserving it if you ask me ( not that I do not like it at all of course).
l've never thought of Steely Dan's 70s music as laid back. I say its their balanced style that turns off the kind of music listeners that are mostly staying in their corner expecting for everything to be like what they're used to. I frequently see others mention Prince & Steely Dan as their favorite artists. I grew up with a lot of Prince and I like a lot of his songs. I had his debut as the only Prince LP in my top 500, but he would peak later on inconsistent albums (1979-1984).
Henry, how can you say that David Palmer does the singing on Reeling In The Years? He only sings 2 songs on that album and clearly that's not one of them. I also disagree about the rhythm. They don't rely on it, but there's still a lot of it. I still don't understand why some describe them as complex/difficult and others say stiff/predictable. An example of the balance that I'm talking about.
Steely Dan's first single was Dallas/Sail the Waterway in '72. Dlrty Work was never a single or b-side.