Welcome to the first thread (of what will probably be a few) of the 2008 AM Forum Album Poll Results.

Just a few orders of business before we get crackin' here...

Firstly, a quick thanks to everyone who contributed a list (all 47 of you!) Your lists were varied, intelligent, fascinating, and mostly, entertaining. Thank you to everyone who contributed comments as well; some of you spent quite a bit of time on your comments, and it certainly shows. There are some great commentaries to look forward to - as the results are revealed, please feel free to acknowledge others well-written comments as you see fit.

I'm not sure if I'll follow any specific schedule for revealing the results. At this point, I wanted to start off with a few today, some more tomorrow, and the balance of the results on Saturday (when, I'm assuming, most will be available to hop aboard.) This evening's results will more or less serve as a teaser for the proceedings to follow.

Also, I tried my best to be as thorough as possible when calculating the results and including everyone's comments (where applicable), however, with tasks of this magnitude, there's a slight chance of an error (or two) occurring. If for some reason your comments weren't included for a particular album, I apologize - please excuse the error.

Lastly, with things of this nature, it's common to have a reaction if a particular album doesn't place where you believe it should, or if a particular artist is overly (or, umm, "underly") represented, but please try and refrain from posting any negative comments. Good-natured frustration is fine, but anything harsh is just counterproductive to the enjoyment that this is supposed to bring.

Anyway, I had a lot of fun compiling the lists and calculating the results; thank you for allowing me the privilege of doing this poll.

Now, without further ado...

#100



Patti Smith – HORSES (1975)

Total Points = 337.26

Appeared on 11 ballots (out of 47).

Fans: BillAdama (#5)

Moonbeam:
Horses presents a beautiful clash of proto-punk musical punch and acute literary sensibilities, rendering it one of the most impressive debuts in rock history.

Let the games begin!

Yes, it's finally here!

Rough way to start...

What constitutes a fan?

I should listen to Horses right after the album I'm listening to right now (Animal Collective's "Sung Tongs"). My dad's had it for about a week and I haven't got around to it.

A fan, in this poll (and for the sake of my sanity), is anyone who placed the album in the top ten of their individual list.

Anthony, thanks for starting this tonight. It takes away a little of the depression of Iowans giving Mike Huckabee their nomination.

No problem.

But don't get your hopes up just yet. As I mentioned, tonight is just a pre-dinner cocktail; the appetizer will come tomorrow, and the main course on Saturday.

#99



Robert Wyatt – ROCK BOTTOM (1974)

Total Points = 342.84

Appeared on 7 ballots (out of 47).

Fans: nicolas (#2), Mark Propp (#4)

nicolas:
Listening to this record is like taking a walk under the sea and realizing you can breathe. Then you enter another world, with this strange, uterine voice as a guide. Of course like any masterpiece, there's the legend behind, the fall, the hospital, the writing. Well, the legend is partially wrong because it turns out most of the songs were written in italy before Wyatt's accident. But the performng took place after that, that's why this very progressive album never falls in the traps of progressive music. It is very personal and full of emotions, from sadness to love and to irony.

Rock Bottom is almost at Rock bottom(of the top 100) hahaha

#98



Pearl Jam – TEN (1991)

Total Points = 344.79

Appeared on 6 ballots (out of 47).

Fans: Rendle (#1), Anthony (#2)

Anthony:
Like a few of my other favorite albums, Ten’s place on my list owes a lot to nostalgia; I was a nine year-old kid vacationing with family in Seattle when it was released in 1991, and it was the first CD that I ever owned. Having grown up with this album, it's something that I don't listen to regularly, but I don't need to - 16 years has tattooed it onto my musical conscience; I know every lyric, every note (vocal and musical), every high-hat hit and cymbal crash - every subtle nuance of the recording. But even though it's always with me in a way, hitting play or dropping the needle still brings the same excitement now that it did when I was 10. Because nostalgia plays a huge role with this album in particular, I suppose I’d feel uncomfortable with this pick if it wasn’t for the fact that it’s a damn good record - and doing my best to think critically here, one could make the argument that it's maybe the best album that came out of Seattle in the early ‘90s. Nevermind may get all the press (and deservedly so), but Ten might have as many good moments. When you consider the singles it generated: "Jeremy", "Alive", "Once", "Even Flow", and other highlights such as the underrated gem “Black”, the gorgeous “Oceans” (which to me will always be the first song on Side B) and the cathartic closer “Release”, what you've got is a record that's packed to the gills with greatness. If Cobain’s and Vedder’s fortunes had been reversed, we’d probably be talking about this album a lot differently.

Heh, John. I was going to say it adds to the excitement of Iowans voting for Obama.

Anthony, this is already a ton of fun. Thanks.

Comments on...

Rock Bottom: The album is insane, it's definitely a portrait of someone in a lot of pain, physical and emotional.

Ten: What can I say about this? A lot of time, I think my #2 surpasses it, but hen I put it on again, and am amazed by the dark content of it. The lyrics are equivalent of those thoughts you keep in the back of your head and force back there. But the album can simultaneously be a feel-good album to some people. And, depending on my mood, can be anything for me.

#97



Massive Attack – MEZZANINE (199

Total Points = 346.33

Appeared on 10 ballots (out of 47).

Fans: Jacek (#7)

[no comments provided]

Huckabee's win just scares the crap out of me that there are actually a large number of people who are as hate-filled as him. That's what's depressing.

Keep em comin Anthony! I won't be upset if you sway from the plan!

Mezzanine! Such a beautiful album that one is. It's probably the only trip-hop record the treaded darker waters than Dummy did.

#96



Nirvana – UNPLUGGED IN NEW YORK (1994)

Total Points = 348.57

Appeared on 10 ballots (out of 47).

Fans did not appear in any individual top ten)

jonmarck:
Everyone knew Cobain could rock but many denied his sensitive side. At this concert, broadcast months before his suicide, Cobain wasn't just sensitive, he was tortured. Every song was downcast. No "Lithium", no "Smells Like Teen Spirit", no "Heart-Shaped Box" or "Rape Me", barely a "Come As You Are". Instead the show-stoppers were "Dumb", "Something in the Way", a very believable "All Apologies" and surprise covers of Bowie's "The Man Who Sold the World" and Ledbelly's "Where Did You Sleep Last Night". Cobain's love for indie groups like the Pixies, Sonic Youth and The Melvins was well documented. How many expected a Bowie song? And an obscure one at that, which was light years away from the Nirvana catalogue? In fact covers were the theme for the night, occupying half the setlist. Three tracks from the second Meat Puppets album were performed, during which Meat Puppets Cris and Curt Kirkwood joined the group onstage. All in all it was a fitting epitaph to Nirvana's brief reign. At first no one thought of it as an album. Only the Ledbelly cover was released on the B-Side of the Pennyroyal Tea single. But after Kurt's death the boys in the back realized how important of an event it really was.

All right, exciting times to be at my computer tonight (Iowa caucus results for the political junkie in me and the albums poll for the music list junkie)

Nothing in my top 100 that I submitted has appeared yet, though. Pearl Jam's Ten almost made it.

Unplugged In New York is without a doubt the best live accoustic album ever made imo.

I'm kind of surprised Unplugged didn't go higher considering all the love for Nirvana around here. I had it high and I'm not even that big of a Nirvana fan. Maybe because it's a live album?

I'll one up you Rendle. Unplugged in NY is the best live album ever.

#95



Björk – HOMOGENIC (1997)

Total Points = 351.26

Appeared on 10 ballots (out of 47).

Fans did not appear in any individual top ten)

nicolas:
For her third album, Björk achieved the perfect trip-hop album. Her songwriting, her voice, the string arrangements and beats, place her in my mind above the genre, towards the universal of pop music. And she gives everything she got to every song, and I like that.

Moonbeam:
Phase 2 of Björk's career begins with Homogenic, which makes her previous material sound rather peurile in comparison. The travails of womanhood are blazed thoroughly with this record, and every emotion is stretched to its fullest potential.

John, I'd have to go with The Who's "Live At Leeds", but it's still second for me.

Hooray for Homogenic! Not my favorite Bjork, but it's a great middle gound between the ecstasy of her first two albums, and the spareness of Vespertine.

#94



Smashing Pumpkins – SIAMESE DREAM (1993)

Total Points = 355.32

Appeared on 9 ballots (out of 47).

Fans: Jonah (#5)

[no comments provided]

Anthony,

I like the way you are presenting these. Great job!

Ah, Siamese Dream. It might have been the greatest album ever if somebody else was singing. His voice doesn't distract me enough to forget how great the songs are.

#93



The Replacements – LET IT BE (1984)

Total Points = 355.97

Appeared on 7 ballots (out of 47).

Fans: Stammer (#1), Harold Wexler (#2)

Loophole:
Everything a great rock record should be: Funny, irreverent, heartfelt, catchy.

Wow, Siamese Dream is the album that makes me think of many profound, innocent, and beautiful teenage experiences that may or may not have happened.

Honestly, while the actual experience of my adolescent years was awkward and mundane, with few epiphanies in between, this singular album brings back so much of what was good about those years. When I sat listening to it alone, when my first true friends talked about our favorite songs from it, and when I imagined it as the perfect soundtrack for shared intimacy, it evoked something really deep.

My mind is all jumbled with distracting thoughts these days, but Siamese Dream takes me back to when I was still learning my place in this world, and needed the perfect music for that uncertain yet calm mood.

For me, Billy Corgan's voice is just fine on Siamese Dream. I, for one, was irritated with how he sang after this record. He actually sings lovely high notes on here, but that he uses that grating register on any drawn-out vocal on Mellon Collie.

Siamese Dream was definitely The Pumpkins' shining moment.

For me, Corgan mastered his songcraft on Mellon Collie (and Adore isn't half bad either, if not grossly underrated.)

Oh, thanks Loophole!

Good, some Replacements made the list. Minneapolis represents (it won't be the last time). #1 and #2 to Stammer and Harold. Wow. I'm a Tim guy myself.

#92



Lou Reed – TRANSFORMER (1972)

Total Points = 358.99

Appeared on 9 ballots (out of 47).

Fans: otisredding (#

nicolas:
Lou Reed + Bowie, a great producer and two great songwriters, what are you asking for?

Moonbeam:
An album definitive of the glam takeover of the 70s, Transformer sees Reed at his most depraved, melodic and vital.

Honorio:
Lou Reed wasn’t merely a guest in English glam-rock party, in fact he was one of its main influences. Anyway he created the most definitive statement of the style (well, with valuable help from Bowie & Ronson). He came to England with his baggage full of memories of New York, of stories of transvestites and hustlers, of tales of NYC wild nightlife.

Who's ready for a surprise?

I'm ready for a suprise. This is such an awesome list so far! and 47 respondents was pretty amazing for a cozy forum like this. With that large sample size we could match this up with any critic's list any day.

It gets better, Jonah!

Yeah, 47 was quite a few (I was expecting half that number.)

Anyway, the surprise....

#91



LCD Soundsystem – SOUND OF SILVER (2007)

Total Points = 370.20

Appeared on 10 ballots (out of 47).

Fans: LonesomePanda (#10)

Slush:
In about a year, this will probably be in the top 20. Try to walk with this with your headphones on and I dare you not to bust a Travolta move.

Moonbeam:
While I had enjoyed the panache and intellectual foreplay of the eponymous debut record, I in no way expected the sequel to be so emotionally charged and viscerally vital to my being. Sound of Silver, indeed, is an album of many moments. As I have grown older, I have found that it is much more difficult for new music to galvanize my emotions into an uncontrollably fevered pitch. As such, I appreciate such moments much more now at my ripe age of 27. Reviewers are generally taught to strive to give an unbiased appraisal, but I'll be damned if it doesn't delight me to the tips of my toes that an album can generate such a rebirth of wide-eyed, teenage, blind fanaticism that I am rendered helplessly unable to muster any semblance of objectivity. "Sound of silver talk to me, makes you want to feel like a teenager. Until you remember the feelings of a real-live emotional teenager." Sorry James, no need to think again.

LonesomePanda:
I came for the week-end but stayed for a year.

I know there's no way to prove this to you all, but I had a feeling this album was the "surprise".

Very impressive that this album shot up so high and it hasn't even been released for more than a year!

It's my #46 by the way.

But is it the lone 2007 entry?

Wow! SOS is in the top 100! That's good, it deserves it. Proving once more that even an album less than a year old can still be among the best of all time. It's my #75 (#73 at the time I submitted my list) btw.

Really interesting fist 10. And great to see that so many people love Sound Of Silver as much as (or even more than) I do.

Oh you're teasing us Anthony?!? Another 2007 album would truly be a surprise. If there are too many 2007 albums, I might get worried that this list would be too current and "in-the-moment", although I don't think any of the posters I read are biased towards the best music of the moment.

Sorry Jonah, couldn't resist.

How do you guys feel about another ten albums?

I probably have to sneak off to bed soon, and try not to get fired by sneaking a peek at work tomorrow But a good start!

I'm up late working, so I'm up for another ten.

Keep 'em coming!

Mmmmmkay.

But I'll probably stop at #81, report #51-80 tomorrow, and the remainder on Saturday.

Okie dokie - everyone buckled in?

10 more!

Keep them coming! I just got home from work.

I say keep 'em coming

#90



The Flaming Lips – YOSHIMI BATTLES THE PINK ROBOTS (2002)

Total Points = 376.10

Appeared on 10 ballots (out of 47).

Fans did not appear in any individual top ten)

jonmarck:
I never really caught on to the Soft Bulletin. It's a pleasant enough record. It just never gave me the acid-pop that I came for. Yoshimi, on the other hand, is bubblegun bliss. The Flaming Lips enlisted the help of Mercury Rev bassist Dave Fridmann to kaleidoshape their sound to stratospheric depths. It's the biggest sounding record the Lips' ever made, with Coyne's voice pushing through like a sedated adolescent interpreter. Though the whole album plays as one psychedelic trip standout tracks are "Do You Realize??", "Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, Pt. 1", "Fight Test" (with royalties going to Cat Stevens for its unintentional lifting of "Father and Son") and "Are You a Hypnotist??" It's one of the most engrossing albums of the new millenium.

Honorio:
“What is this? / Are you some kind of hypnotist?”. Bizarre, spacey, hallucinatory or eccentric are adjectives commonly used to describe The Flaming Lips music. They reached with this album the peak of his magical vision of the common things. “You realize the sun doesn’t go down / It’s just an illusion caused by the world spinning round”.

#89



Blur – PARKLIFE (1994)

Total Points = 384.81

Appeared on 8 ballots (out of 47).

Fans: Toni (#2), Slush (#6)

Slush:
I'm a pop whore and this is absolutely brilliant pop. I'm not British, so it's not the fact that it was a zeitgeist album, it's more that it's just brilliant, beautiful pop music.

Honorio:
Blur decided to vindicate proudly the glorious past of British music without being overtly revivalists, using the Kinks/Jam/Madness musical identities as the ground from where they built a new sound using the wry lyrics of Albarn and the versatility of the band. “Parklife” was its peak and as the archetypical album of nineties Brit-Pop.

#88



Elvis Costello – MY AIM IS TRUE (1977)

Total Points = 387.71

Appeared on 10 ballots (out of 47).

Fans did not appear in any individual top ten)

jonmarck:
Sometimes I find it strange that people consider this a "punk" debut. For one thing, Costello's backing band isn't the Attractions, it's the group that went on to become Huey Lewis and the News. Another thing is that his lyrics aren't half as nihilistic as his UK punk contemporaries. Sure they cut with carefully crafted cynicism, but it's way too playful to be taken seriously. There's no desperation here. Just a smartass rocker having fun with some snappy tunes. "Alison" and "Watching the Detectives" are the obvious standouts.

#87



Otis Redding – OTIS BLUE: OTIS REDDING SINGS SOUL (1965)

Total Points = 393.27

Appeared on 12 ballots (out of 47).

Fans: David (#10)

jonmarck:
Redding must have been the tackiest soul singer, and even he knew it. That's probably why he complained about having to sing "Satisfaction". But even he could turn the stickiest schlock into heartfelt yearning. This album also includes a pre-Aretha "Repect" and ginormous single "I've Been Loving You Too Long". It also has a whack-load of covers: "My Girl", "Down in the Valley", "Change is Gonna Come", "Wonderful World"... Few are essential but all are pleasant and combined, form Redding's strongest collection.

Honorio:
Exactly, “Otis Blue” and “Otis Redding Sings Soul”. A self-explanatory title if there’s one. We have one of the saddest and beautiful ballads ever (“I’ve Been Loving You Too Long” or “A Change Is Gonna Come” and we have up-tempo numbers (“Respect”, “Satisfaction”, “Shake” . And Otis sang every word and every verse putting all his soul on it.

#87



Otis Redding – OTIS BLUE: OTIS REDDING SINGS SOUL (1965)

Total Points = 393.27

Appeared on 12 ballots (out of 47).

Fans: David (#10)

jonmarck:
Redding must have been the tackiest soul singer, and even he knew it. That's probably why he complained about having to sing "Satisfaction". But even he could turn the stickiest schlock into heartfelt yearning. This album also includes a pre-Aretha "Repect" and ginormous single "I've Been Loving You Too Long". It also has a whack-load of covers: "My Girl", "Down in the Valley", "Change is Gonna Come", "Wonderful World"... Few are essential but all are pleasant and combined, form Redding's strongest collection.

Honorio:
Exactly, “Otis Blue” and “Otis Redding Sings Soul”. A self-explanatory title if there’s one. We have one of the saddest and beautiful ballads ever (“I’ve Been Loving You Too Long” or “A Change Is Gonna Come” and we have up-tempo numbers (“Respect”, “Satisfaction”, “Shake” . And Otis sang every word and every verse putting all his soul on it.

#86



The White Stripes – WHITE BLOOD CELLS (2001)

Total Points = 404.79

Appeared on 13 ballots (out of 47).

Fans did not appear in any individual top ten)

jonmarck:
This is what I hate about mainstream audiences. Put out two decent blues/country/garage rock albums and no one cares. Hire someone to make a music video out of Lego and all of a sudden you're hot shit. It's a great album, particularly the sweetheart ditties "Hotel Yorba" and "We're Going to be Friends" but it makes you wonder what they'd be like if they just hired Michel Gondry at the start.

Only 3 of my choices have appeared. I'm a little nervous about a few of my absolute favorites because I figured they'd check in at the bottom...

jonmarck -

I'm with you on everything but the adjective "tackiest." I'll concede that his yearning moans and declamations might be fertile ground for parody. But Otis simply had too much control over his instrument, and innate understanding about how to build up to such expressions of pure emotion, to describe him as tacky in any way.

2 of mine so far...Let It Be and My Aim is True

Sorry for the glitch there. Technical difficulties.

Greg - Same 2 for me.

Hmm, I don't know if I agree with jonmarck on that comment. I don't think he's here to defend himself but music videos were on the decline and that video was really only played on MTV2. I don't think White Blood Cells became big because of the video but because it had obvious standout songs and better production. I know I didn't see the video until after I heard the album but I was working as a music director at a college station then. But, I think the audience for the video was more limited than those who actually heard the album.

Now that I think about it, I think it's only two. I think I left off Siamese Dream so it's just Unplugged and Let It Be.

Sorry John, but I have to agree with jonmarck. I was working at a record store at the time, and you wouldn't believe the number of people that would come in and ask "do you have the White Stripes? Y'know, the band with the lego video?"

The effect was huge.

#85



Massive Attack – BLUE LINES (1991)

Total Points = 406.14

Appeared on 13 ballots (out of 47).

Fans did not appear in any individual top ten)

Honorio:
Programmed rhythms and orchestral arrangements. Scratching and sampling but also playing. Shara Nelson as the soul singer, Horace Andy as the reggae singer and Tricky and the band members as unconventional rappers. A tasty delicacy cooked using a lot of juicy ingredients (dub, house, hip-hop, deep reggae, soul) that created a new flavour for the 90s.

I think you're right John. The main reason they broke through is that the album got a push when it was re-released on V2 Records. And they always seemed to me a band that built a following steadily through kick-ass live shows. (Sure the brother-sister, red-white color scheme gimmicks helped too.)

Really? I guess it was just the circumstances I was in. I remember the VMA's that year with the Stripes, Hives and Vines (I think that was the third) but that was a long time after the album came out.

Maybe the video had a bigger effect here in Canada. I know that MuchMusic played the shit out of it.

That could be. MuchMusic (at least at that time) actually played videos. When White Blood Cells came out a lot of people didn't even have MTV2. Fell in Love With a Girl would have rarely been played on MTV.

#84



Stevie Wonder – SONGS IN THE KEY OF LIFE (1976)

Total Points = 408.27

Appeared on 11 ballots (out of 47).

Fans did not appear in any individual top ten)

Moonbeam:
Songs in the Key of Life is the sprawling embodiment of soul music, and its uplifting messages and pointed social commentary sound surely enough like a real panacea. Moreso than any other album, this is one I would recommend to anyone.

nicolas:
Stevie had no problem filling a double LP in the mid '70s, and he went in all directions from jazz rock to latin, from moving ballads to fantastic dance tunes like the brilliant Another Star, from love songs to social commentaries. The masterpiece of a genius.

#83



The White Stripes – ELEPHANT (2003)

Total Points = 411.50

Appeared on 14 ballots (out of 47).

Fans did not appear in any individual top ten)

jonmarck:
The most playful of the Stripes' albums, Elephant sees Jack White fooling around with octave pedals, pre-1960's recording equipment and Bacharach tunes. Though this album will always be associated with the monster hit "Seven Nation Army", "Girl, You Have No Faith in Medecine", "Well It's True That we Love one Another", "In the Cold, Cold Night" are as droll as they are sweet.

Huh, we're starting to get a lot that didn't appear in any individual top ten lists.

#82



Pavement – CROOKED RAIN, CROOKED RAIN (1994)

Total Points = 412.60

Appeared on 9 ballots (out of 47).

Fans: Schwah (#1), John (#6)

Schwah:
When I said "perfect" during the 90's poll, I meant it. Even putatively throw-away numbers like "5/4 = Unity" or "Hit the Plane Down" have their delights and importance in the context of the album. I stand by my comments from the 90's poll. As for my exegesis on the lyrics from the Survivor posts, Malkmus would be the first to reject my readings as nonsense. Is he singing "Career! Career!" or "Korea! Korea!"? The answer most likely is: he's singing both at the same time. Or more precisely: he's singing whichever you want him to be singing at the moment.

John:
Screw Mellow Gold. This is the real slacker's manifesto.

Yeah, I noticed that as well. I think that's ok. I'd rather have albums that a quarter of the voters deemed top 100 than albums that a few voters love. Top 100 is nothing to scoff at.

I thought that would be a lot higher. My first disappointment.

There must be a lot of overlap in the individual top 10s (i.e., Dylan, Beatles, Pet Sounds, Radiohead)

I agree with you John, but am glad I pushed Crooked Rain up a fair amount. There you go, people, my #1 of all time.

With the voting sample as big as it is, you can't assume your favorite albums will rank high. But I think the large sample is a good thing.

#81



John Coltrane – A LOVE SUPREME (1965)

Total Points = 413.85

Appeared on 11 ballots (out of 47).

Fans: sonofsamiam (#3)

[no comments provided]

Schwah, if we would have both ranked CRCR 5 spots lower I think it wouldn't have made the list... so at least we have that going for us.

That's all she wrote for tonight right Anthony?

Yeah, I'm thinking so, John.

There ya have it - the bottom 20!

Awesome stuff. Can't wait for the rest. Thanks Anthony.

I've really to to get my hands on a copy of "A Love Supreme." I voted for Blue Train, which probably won't make it, but actually have never heard this one.

I decided to exclude jazz and classical from my list since it's too hard to compare for me. Really, the only album I considered was Black Saint and the Sinner Lady but I cut it at the last minute. But, when I thought about jazz records it made me think about classical works and I didn't want to dive into that.

You're welcome - this is a lot of fun.

I voted for Blue Train too, Schwah. I own A Love Supreme, but I've probably only listened to it a handful of times.

Waow

Just waking up. Cant't read all because I'm gonna be late for work
But I'm very happy Rock Bottom is ranked.
To Rendle : I'm very familiar with this record, and it is not only a sad record. As i grew up, I realized it is not so rock bottom as it seems. THere is a lot of humor in it for instance

Schwah - I voted for Blue Train and not Love Supreme. I like BT a lot better. LS is probably my 4th favorite Coltrane record.

Well, eight out of 20 were on my list. I guess that's a pretty good start. Looking forward to tomorrow.

I had some regrets voting for no Stevie Wonder album, but I know him mostly through best-ofs and I have not had time to listen to his 70s albums yet, but the singles from this era are amazing.

Lonesome Panda,
You have to make up for that
Try the double LP mentionned above, it is solid gold
I ranked it #13

I normally don't object to the earth being round, but with Anthony doing this cracking job from Alberta, I realise I'm in for some darned late nights, if I want to be around in real time :-)

As yet, only one of my picks has appeared, and in the # 100 spot at that. But there are several others I like a lot. The Reed and Pearl Jam albums to me are sort of familiar hill tops in the cultural landscape in which everything else is encountered, and Mezzanine and Parklife are albums tha are still growing on me. I voted At War With The Mystics -- I think it's safe to reveal that (?), as Yoshimi seems to be generally more appreciated, but I guess I should give Yoshimi some more listens.

Most importantly, this gives me a terrific appetite for getting hold of stuff, I've never listened to. Probably Replacements and Wyatt first off.

See you all tonight, hopefully, and thanks again for doing this, Anthony.

So far I have 4 albums out of 20 (Transformer, Homogenic, Songs in the key and Rock Bottom)
And a few more are in my top 150 (Pumpkins, LCD) or 200 (the two White Stripes, Flaming Lips and Pearl Jam)
I don't know the Replacements album and I am curious about it
Never heard the Replacements
and there is no album that I don't like so far too

I was busy yesterday (working in the morning and recording a demo in the studio in the evening) and couldn’t see the first results. A quite nice list so far. And a quite unpredictable one too, with not obvious choices. Moreover, it couldn’t be more different than the list we made in the forum back in 2005. Only “Homogenic”, “Transformer”, “Parklife”, “Blue Lines”, “Songs in the Key of Life” an “A Love Supreme” made both lists, and these ones with higher placements in the older list.
By the way, Anthony, it could be interesting to post the places 101 to 200 (in my opinion).

Awesome work, Anthony!

Wow, 47 voters!!!!!

That obviously makes it harder for more personal favourites to make the list. Anyway, I'm surprised to see so many albums making #81-#100 without having a top 10 vote. I wonder if we have the same top 10 or if we have odd personal favourites in the top 10 and then fill up our top 100s with more common picks?

As Nicolas noted, there's a large portion of albums from the '90s so far. Here's a comparison between the all-time poll and the 90s poll (sorry, couldn't keep my stats fingers away!):

(Album -- Place in all time poll -- Place in 90s poll)
Ten 98 42
Mezzanine 97 35
Unplugged in New York 96 32
Homogenic 95 29
Siamese Dream 94 17
Parklife 89 22
Blue Lines 85 6
Crooked Rain Crooked Rain 82 18

Very strong agreement between the polls. I think maybe all top 20 albums from the 90s poll will be included here eventually.

Superbly done, Anthony! The number of participants doubled from the previous poll I made, which shows the AM community is growing.

The results so far are quite varied, which is what any good list should be. I love the fact two Massive Attacks made it, particularly my beloved Mezzanine. On the other hand TWO White Stripes' albums on the list is a big surprise to me. The grunge/alt rock faction seems to have the upper hand so far, given there are also albums by Pearl Jam, Nirvana, The Replacements, Pavement.

Honorio: great write-up for Blues Lines.

4 in my top 100 so far! (Massive Attack, Costello, Smith and Reed)

Excellent list, I am going to have to listen to all the albums I haven't yet and perhaps re listen the ones that have been a while. So far (sorry nicolas) only Robert Wyatt I haven't heard.

Many thanks, Jacek. Great to see you back!!

Oh Neo
You should try Wyatt
But be aware it takes a handful of listenings to unveil