AS EVERY MONTH HERE THE UPDATED LIST INCLUDING THE SCORES OF 'METACRITIC', 'RATE YOUR MUSIC', 'FASTNBULBOUS', 'MUSIK EXPRESS', 'SPEX', 'MUSIC BOX' AND 'ROBERT CHRISTGAU'

1 ( 2) TV ON THE RADIO 'RETURN TO COOKIE ISLAND'
2 ( 1) YEAH YEAH YEAHS 'SHOW YOUR BONES'
3 (20) JOHNNY CASH 'AMEICAN V - A HUNDRED HIGHWAYS'
4 ( 3) ARCTIC MONKEYS 'WHATEVER PEOPLE SAY I AM'
5 ( 4) GHOSTFACE KILLAH 'FISHSCALE'

6 ( 5) GNARLS BARKLEY 'ST.ELSEWHERE'
7 ( 6) SONIC YOUTH 'RATHER RIPPED'
8 ( 7) THOM YORKE 'THE ERASER'
9 ( 9) FLAMING LIPS 'AT WAR WITH THE MYSTICS'
10 ( 8) CAT POWER 'THE GREATEST'

11 (10) SCOTT WALKER 'THE DRIFT'
12 (24) GRAHAM COXON 'LOVE TRAVELS AT ILLEGAL SPEED'
13 (23) HERBERT 'SCALE'
14 (13) RACONTEURS 'BROKEN BOY SOLDIER'
15 (11) JENNY LEWIS & WATSON TWINS 'RABBIT FUR COAT'

16 (12) HOWE GELB 'SNO ANGEL LIKE YOU'
17 (14) NEKO CASE 'FOX CONFESSOR BRINGS THE FLOOD'
18 (15) MOGWAI 'MR. BEAST'
19 (18) BELLE & SEBASTIAN 'THE LIFE PURSUIT'
20 (16) RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS 'STADIUM ARCADIUM'

21 (16) NEIL YOUNG 'LIVING WITH WAR'
22 (--) ESPERS 'ESPERS II'
23 (25) TWILIGHT SINGERS 'POWDER BURNS'
24 (19) MORRISSEY 'RINGLEADER OF THE TORMENTORS'
25 (21) EELS 'WITH STRINGS LIVE AT TOWN HALL'

26 (51) MUSE 'BLACK HOLES & REVELATIONS'
27 (22) BUILT TO SPILL 'YOU IN REVERSE'
28 (28) DRESDEN DOLLS 'YES VIRGINIA'
29 (26) BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN 'WE SHALL OVERCOME'
30 (--) MISSION OF BURMA 'THE OBLITERATI'

31 (30) CALEXICO 'GARDEN RUIN'
32 (--) SLEEPY JACKSON 'PERSONALITY'
33 (43) COSTELLO/TOUSSAINT 'THE RIVER IN REVERSE'
34 (--) LILY ALLEN 'ALRIGHT, STILL'
35 (36) STREETS 'HARDEST WAY TO MAKE AN EASY LIVING'
35 (27) SPARKS 'HELLO YOUNG LOVER'

37 (29) J.DILLA AKA JAY DEE 'DONUTS'
38 (--) GUILLEMOTS 'THROUGH THE WINDOWPANE'
39 (31) SECRET MACHINES 'TEN SILVER DROPS'
40 (--) GRANDADDY 'JUST LIKE THE FAMBLY CAT'

41 (38) DIRTY PRETTY THINGS 'WATERLOO TO ANYWHERE'
42 (40) COUP 'PICK A BIGGER WEAPON'
43 (47) HOT CHIP 'THE WARNING'
44 (35) JOSH RITTER 'THE ANIMAL YEARS'
45 (--) MARS VOLTA 'AMPUTECHTURE'

46 (34) ISLANDS 'RETURN TO THE SEA'
47 (32) PAUL SIMON 'SURPRISE'
48 (--) PIPETTES 'WE ARE THE PIPETTES'
49 (37) TWO GALLANTS 'WHAT THE TOLL TELLS'
49 (33) ROSANNE CASH 'BACK CADILLAC'

51 (39) CANDI STATON 'HIS HANDS'
52 (42) LIARS 'DRUM'S NOT DEAD'
53 (46) DIVINE COMEDY 'VICTORY FOR THE COMIC MUSE'
54 (60) PHOENIX 'IT'S NEVER BEEN LIKE THAT'
55 (--) PEACHES 'IMPEACH MY BUSH'

56 (44) RON SEXSMITH 'TIME BEING'
57 (41) STROKES 'FIRST IMPRESSION OF EARTH'
58 (--) SUFJAN STEVENS 'AVALANCHE'
59 (53) PRINCE '3121'
60 (RE) FUTUREHEADS 'NEWS AND TRIBUTES'

61 (--) SHACK 'THE CORNER OF MILES AND GIL'
62 (50) KELLEY STOLTZ 'BELOW THE BRANCHES'
63 (55) KRIS KRISTOFFERSON 'THIS OLD ROAD'
64 (54) KOOKS 'INSIDE IN/INSIDEOUT'
65 (--) FEELING 'TWELVE STOPS AND HOME'

66 (45) CAMPBELL/LANEGAN 'BALLAD OF THE BROKEN SEAS'
67 (49) ADAM GREEN 'JACKET FULL OF DANGER'
68 (56) TOOL '10000 DAYS'
69 (--) BE YOUR OWN PET 'BE YOUR OWN PET'
70 (48) DONALD FAGEN 'MORPH THE CAT'

71 (--) CAMERA OBSCURA 'LET'S GET OUT OD THIS COUNTRY'
72 (--) ED HARCOURT 'THE BEAUTIFUL LIE'
73 (--) RAZORLIGHT 'RAZORLIGHT'
74 (RE) BETH ORTON 'COMFORT OF STRANGERS'
75 (52) DESTROYER 'DESTROYER'S RUBIES'

Very interesting, as usual, to compare these rankings with Henrik's - the discrepancy for DESTROYER'S RUBIES is especially striking. Does anyone really think that album is going to be a major player in the year-end lists? I've said it before - it's more likely to be this year's equivalent of Low's THE GREAT DESTROYER, which debuted high on AM due to its killer Metacritic score but was completely forgotten by the end of the year and fell completely out of the top 2000.

By the way, TVOTR's album is RETURN TO COOKIE MOUNTAIN (not ISLAND). Based on current rankings and my own gut instinct, I'd bet that of all this year's albums so far, these are the ones likely to make the Pazz N'Jop top ten early next year:

ST. ELSEWHERE
RETURN TO COOKIE MOUNTAIN
FISHSCALE
AMERICAN V
RATHER RIPPED
SHOW YOUR BONES
WHATEVER PEOPLE SAY I AM ... (although I don't see it doing as well in U.S. lists as Franz's debut did)
Possibles: THE GREATEST, THE ERASER, THE LIFE PURSUIT

I PERSONALLY VERY MUCH LIKE THE DESTROYER'S ALBUM, BUT THE ONLY SCORES COME FROM 'METACRITIC' AND FROM 'RATE YOUR MUSIC', SO IT CANNOT DO ANY BETTER (FOR THE MOMENT)...
AS FOR THE TITLE OF TV ON THE RADIO : MUST BE, I WISH TO BE ON AN ISLAND AT THE MOMENT...SORRY

I'm surprised to see Neil Young's Living With War so high on the list. I thought it a bit of a misfire!

Stefan,

I agree with Harold that it's always interesting to compare our lists, especially since the metascore lacks the opinion from other parts of the world than the US and the UK.

I'm interested to know what kind of scores you use from each source. I just looked at the SPEX website and didn't find any ratings.

HENRIK,

FOR MY LAST CHARTS I USED :
'THE MUSIC BOX' : ALWAYS THE ACTUAL TOP 25 = WEB
'ROBERT CHRISTGAU' : THE ACTUAL LIST (TOP 111) = WEB
'FASTNBULBOUS' : THE ACTUAL LIST (TOP 140) = WEB
'RATE YOUR MUSIC' : THE ACTUAL TOP 180 = WEB
'METACRITIC' : THE ACTUAL TOP 180 = WEB
'MUSIK EXPRESS' : A TOP 200, WHICH I CALCULATE FROM THEIR 'STARWARS'-CHART' (EACH MONTH'S BEST 10 ALBUMS
VOTED BY THE CRITIC'S GREMIUM) AND THE INDIVIDUAL CRITICS SCORES = MAGAZINE
'Q' : A TOP 200 CALCULATED BY STARS GIVEN TO THE ALBUMS = MAGAZINE
'SPEX' : A TOP 105 CALCULATED BY THE SCORES IN THEIR
'SPEX-TRAX'-FAVORITE RECORDS = MAGAZINE

HOPE THIS IS HELPFUL

STEFAN

Many thanks for the quick info!

WHY THE HELL ARE WE TYPING IN CAPS?

Wow. No album there that has really blown me away, with the exception of Yes, Virginia and The Greatest.

Shaping up to be an interesting year

All of these lists will be considerably more accurate once the year-end lists are in. British albums always tend to do better at the end of the year, as Metacritic has sort of a US-bias. Also, albums by already established acts also tend to do better, as they are more likely to do well in year-end lists than in Metacritic (Established acts will usually receive the occasional bad or mediocre review, which prevents them from getting top scores at Metacritic)