I don't get this discussion. It's a half-guitar band...

Odyssey and Oracle is becoming a lost discovery in a lot of indie circles. The people on the old Metacritic forum loved it too. But, I'm surprised it got all the way to #23. I mean, I like it, but it's far from my top.

I think Funeral is going to hit top 10. It's awesome to see 3 Dylans in the top 20. I only expected two, and my third guess wouldn't have been that one.

My top ten prediction: Beatles x 5, Dylan x 2, Pet Sounds, Funeral, OK Computer

To all those perplexed by some of the albums moving up or down a significant amount of spots, I would guess it's not because tastes have changed that much in the two scant years since the last time an all-time poll was conducted, but it's because there are probably quite a few different voters this time around.

And yet I can't hear the guitar in spite of the guy on the right playing so intently. In any case, the synths are certainly predominant, and I find I'm much, much more forgiving of "bad" music with 80s production, and I probably slight "good" music from the 50s, 60s and perhaps 90s because of its production.

Let me put it this way. I like this far more than I probably should because that groove and those synths are just too much to resist. It probably has no rightful place in a list of the "best" 1000 songs ever, but it would unquestionably make my list.

The Queen Is Dead is my #96 album at the moment but I never used to get The Smiths either. There was something about the structure of their songs I just didn’t used to like (a lack of hooks and bridges are of course not necessarily a bad thing, but to me it felt like the melodies were going... nowhere. And did the lyrics and style of singing have to be so morbid?)

But sometimes it helps if you know more about the songwriters’ frame of mind at the time of recording, so I did some research on the Smiths and particularly on Morrissey. At the time (and probably still today) Morrissey was clearly very dissatisfied with politics and social norms. He saw them as having a destructive effect on individuals. So it’s no surprise that the characters in his lyrics were often lonely individuals who longed to be loved but ultimately felt confined by the world they lived in.

Suddenly the melancholic lyrics made sense to me. And what I perceived as “lack of direction” in Johnny Marr’s music also started to make sense – it’s only realistic that songs about characters who feel out of place in society should have an unconventional and slightly detached structure.

Of course, nicolas, if you are allergic to jangle pop you might never be bowled over by The Queen Is Dead. But next time you put it on, follow the same advice as you gave me about Dark Side of the Moon: listen to it as if you are spending time with a friend – in this case, a slightly fragile and sensitive friend who is disenchanted with social norms and who is kinda miserable but thankfully also sincere and not without humour. Spend enough time with him and you might be surprised by his emotional depth. But there lies the problem, doesn’t it? With so many albums at our fingertips we don’t spend “unnecessary” time with music which doesn't sound like it's our cup of tea.

Just to reiterate Henry’s point about Morrissey’s vocals, maybe give I Know It’s Over another go. The song is about a guy trying to come to grips with the fact that the woman he loves is marrying another man. The vocal delivery by Morrissey really makes you feel his pain (especially in the last minute of the song).

Sorry for the essay!

PS: Thanks for posting that Modern Talking clip. If you like synth music (and I do) it’s as beautifully straightforward as they come. So (even though you wanted a )

Great post, and high five for the synth love!

For me, Morrissey has some of the most beautiful, creative and addictive melodies going. His music solo and with The Smiths is some of my very favorite to sing with unwavering histrionics.

Excellent predictions! My change would be to move out one of the Beatles and move in the "beloved" VU (after all it was polled as the best album of the 1960's just a few months ago. I would also guess that the next five (16-20) will include: Doolittle, Blood on the Tracks (my favorite Dylan album), and Automatic for the People.

Great joke ! But once again, I don't think it was an intentional joke... love your humor Henrik

THAT is not a guitar . I meant synth-oriented pop from the 80's. It's not only synths, but those effects everywhere : on the vocals, the guitars, the drums.
The Smiths music is so full of these effects that I can't play the first song entirely. I have a problem with music relying too much on electronic devices.

But I'll follow your advice Dan. I'll try to spend time with this guy in spite of his terrible clothes and hairstyle . I sense a lot of personality in Morrissey, something very british too, something endearing, but it's Marrs and these terrible guitars I can't get. Well, I'm not gonna ask Moonbeam to like bluegrass (and I think bluegrass is one of the most beautiful and pure musical styles ever). I love "There is A light". I like his depiction of teenage, and I was 16 when this record was released (the girls had huge earrings and strange hairdos and the guys wore their jeans very short with the bottom rolled up to their ankles). So it's more a question of style and aesthetics than a question of mere songwriting (although I agree about the loose song structures). Proof being that I totally prefer Morrissey's solo outings of the 00's.

And Moonbeam, we are really 2 faces of the same coin. The synth era artists you said you don't like (Huey Lewis, J. Geils Band) are both rootsy and rnr artists that turned to synths to make money. BTW I dodn't know JGeils Band had made synth music in the 80s. Are you sure ? Such a wonderful blues/rock band ? (I'm teasing you, but I love this band).

And guys, about Modern Talking, you're killing me !!

Now it's time to wash my ears with this

This is a very interesting discussion indeed! I also hated most of the fashion and style of the 90s. All of those grungey clothes and smug album covers or the obnoxious pop-punk whining like Green Day was just nauseating for me.

While it seemed most people were content wallowing in their flannels and extolling the god-like virtues of Pearl Jam, Green Day and Oasis (good God), I felt quite alone wearing Cross Colors and Hypercolor shirts and dancing along to Deee-Lite.

As for J. Geils Band, look no further than "Centerfold" and "Freeze Frame". It just didn't feel natural to them, like the synths in "Jump" felt like a crass tack-on for Van Halen.

And since you brought up Modern Talking, I will now hijack the thread for the moment to post some classics from a genre that is sadly completely absent from the AM ranks: italo disco!

Bagarre - "For Your Pleasure"
Tantra - "The Hills of Katmandu"
Kano - "It's a War"
Dharma - "Plastic Doll"
'Lectric Workers - "Robot Is Systematic"
Easy Going - "Fear"
Gazebo - "I Like Chopin"
Mr. Flagio - "Take a Chance"
Charlie - "Spacer Woman"
Zed - "Plastic Love"

Moonbeam don' miss my last post edit. there's a treat for you
And I'm no huge grunge fan. Still too much reverb on Pearl Jam's drums . An Oasis IMO is :

As small as a hen egg
An envious little frog
Seeing a bulky ox
Starts swelling and swelling
Trying to be as big as he is.
-“Look at me now - exclaims she puffed up:-
“Am I now as big as you are?”-”Not enough,
my old friend.”- And she keeps on swelling
And stretching and straining, enlarging
till she bursts as a bladder.
Folks all show and no substance,
Ambitious and brainless men,
Or people despising their own right place,
How many people as this frog are!

Jean de La Fontaine (1621-1695) (inspired by Aesop's fable

And speaking of Italo dance, you forgot this

That is a brilliant fable to describe Oasis! Well done! And I managed to get through all of "Streamline Cannonball", and I can say that while it is definitely not my thing, I'll take it over stuff like Chumbawamba or this abomination any day! And I had never heard Topo & Roby before! I did enjoy it, although the italo cut I wish I could find a proper version of is Klein & MBO's "Dirty Talk". I have decided that if AMF ever has a huge meetup and I'm able to attend, I should come decked out in that purple and silver cape in the Topo & Roby video. Yes.




Yes.











....And I should probably stop now. Here we are on the verge of unveiling the top 20 albums of all time according to this forum, and here I am giddily talking about tracks that would likely never make the top 20,000 songs of this forum.

that was a funny intermission but Jackson won't post the top 20 before sunday night. And that abomination was really one. Where did you get that ?

I heard it here about 3 years ago and it scarred itself into my memory. It's in my bottom 10 songs of all time, easily.

So many links to Italo Disco and yet none of these songs have been mentioned. I own this double LP and it's one of my favorites in my collection.

I think Jackson wants to start a new thread when he comes back for the top 20...

Back to the albums list...Nicolas, it has been a pleasure to read your opinions on each and every album. It feels as if you have got to know yourself a little more through the process, am I right?

thanks Henrik ! For once I have the time to do this. I'm having a lot of fun. Music is so important to me that it be came a reflection of my life, and that's why i have this very intimate relationship with these albums. That was the subject of my first and only novel. So yes talking about music I can't help talking about myself and following Socrates' principle (Know thyself). I wouldn't do that if I didn't feel that talking about the personal is sometimes the best way to reach the universal. So sorry Mr Jackson (comedy of repetition)for those endless digressings. It proves that those polls are the most fruitful events of our little community.

And Particle, great comment on "Hunky Dory". You nailed it. Bowie was a magician (at least during the 70's).

and Henrik, wow for your double LP. Miko Mission and Den Harrow !!!! Names that surged from nowhere (memory back alleys). We have to open a 80's pop thread. "Why Did You Do It" is great. Pure funk.

I dont give a shit about influence

All I care is if it sooooouuuuuuunds goooooooooooooood