What a fun poll! Thanks again Anthony.

For fun, let's everyone take our own personal walk of shame and admit the highest ranked albums from the 100 list that you haven't heard all the way through.

I submit my list and await your wrath... I bow my head very humbly in particular to the Bob Dylan fans.

#3 Bob Dylan - Highway 61 Revisited
#10 Bob Dylan - Blonde on Blonde
#15 Nirvana - Nevermind
#17 Love - Forever Changes
#23 Beatles - Rubber Soul

Automatic For The People - R.E.M.
Achtung Baby - U2
Surfer Rosa - The Pixies
Closer - Joy Division
To Bring You My Love - PJ Harvey

In my top 100 albums
1967-1977: 80 albums
1983-1996: 0 albums

Just Forever Changes, but that will change soon.

Some albums I've only played as a little background music or something, but never really taken my time to sit and listen, so those will have to be played soon too.

What luck, Jonah: The first few times you listen to these two discs of Bob Dylan and Love (my number one) you will make a journey to the best music of the twentieth century. Enjoy it, little by little, because they are unfit for work heavenly ears lazy.

The only one I've never heard is "Step By Step"

With me:

Kid A (embarassing, I know)
Purple Rain (heard plenty of songs off of it, but never the album in sequence)
Is this it (took a copy with a defective track out of the library, so technically haven't heard all of it)

Plus the following two I did hear, but never sat down and properly listened to:
Remain in Light
Daydream nation (Jacek will be throwing old copies of Rolling Stone at me for this -- I promise to mend my ways )

Just listened to "Forever Changes". I think I like it.. not sure, it started out very good but went a little too much psychedelic (not my thing) in the end. I'll have to listen to it again, maybe a few times more. I have a feeling it's a grower.

33. The Zombies - Odessey and Oracle
40. My Bloody Valentine - Loveless
46. The Stone Roses - The Stone Roses (but it is standing on my desk, ready to be listened to)
47. Sonic Youth - Daydream Nation
51. The Pixies - Surfer Rosa
57. Oasis - Definitely Maybe
61. PJ Harvey - To Bring You My Love
65. The Kinks - The Kinks are the Village Green Preservation Society
69. Pavement - Slanted and Enchanted
76. Belle and Sebastian - If You're Feeling Sinister
82. Pavement - Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain
93. The Replacements - Let it Be

most eager to listen to : Zombies, Pixies, Sonic Youth, Kinks, Replacements
not very eager : My Bloody Valentine but that's all

nicolas, your posting reminds me of another album I haven't heard. Rock Bottom! I almost forgot about it.

nicolas,

I think you will love the Kinks VGPS (just based on your other favorites).

Haven't heard 3 albums: Robert Wyatt, New Kids On The Block and The Zombies. Got some homework!

Time to embarrass myself. Top 5 I've never heard:

17. LOVE, FOREVER CHANGES. My first exposure to Love was listening to "Alone Again Or" last year for bracketology. I didn't care for it much (even after Harold W. gave me an idea of what to listen for). Am I likely to enjoy the whole album?
33. THE ZOMBIES, ODESSEY AND ORACLE. I like me a bit of psychedelia; I'll check it out.
44. SUFJAN STEVENS, ILLINOIS.
49. JEFF BUCKLEY, GRACE. I know, I know. This came out during a lull in my music fanhood, and I haven't gone back and rediscovered it yet.
54. THE STROKES, IS THIS IT. I used to own this, but never got all the way through it...sounded like stale jangle-pop to me. Which I admit is strange--I like early 80s jangle-pop. Maybe I'll try again.

Here goes:

3. Bob Dylan - Highway 61 Revisited
10. Bob Dylan - Blonde on Blonde
12. Pixies - Doolittle
14. Radiohead - Kid A
18. Rolling Stones - Exile on Main St

33. The Zombies - Odessey and Oracle
42. Neutral Milk Hotel - In the Aeroplane over the Sea
68. Prince - Sign O' The Times
91. LCD Soundsystem - Sound of Silver
93. The Replacements - Let it Be
95. Bjork - Homogenic
99. Robert Wyatt - Rock Bottom

Oh, schleuse... your list reads like my personal top 10. So heartbreaking!

The Zombies, Buckley and Strokes are all within my top 15, while Sufjan comes in at #29. My comments for all of those albums were dynamite too (but I’m sure you read them already.)

But… I am in the same boat when it comes to Forever Changes. Bracketology did not help its cause, and according to Loophole, if we didn’t enjoy that song, we won’t like the album.

I'm not sure.. the rest of the album is not quite the same as "Alone Again Or". I did quite like the song when we came across it in bracketology, and I do think it's the best on the album, but it's not entirely representative. I've only listened to the album once now, so really.. what do I know, but I think Anthony will like the album. I'm not sure if schleuse will, but it's hard to judge purely on a top 100 albums.

I think, since it's the 50th album on AM, you should definitely at least give it a spin. Maybe download it, or borrow a copy at the library.

I find it too dated. Like a lot of 60's albums the sound quality isn't what it should be.

I'm listening to Step by Step now, and boy oh boy is this awesome. And the videos are even more drool-inspiringly-fantastic! They're all jumping over their drums and I'm gonna let my hair grow and like.. learn the moves. Wowiiiiiieee!

On a more serious note, I just listened to The Replacements' Let It Be, which is one of the albums I'd heard on the background, or just partially, and I like it a lot. Nothing as complex as Wyatt or psychedelic as Forever Changes, but simple and to the point, rock as rock is supposed to be. I suppose.

Next stop: Illinois!

Like Neo says, Alone Again Or is not completely representative, but I think its the best track on the album. And I know a lot of other Love fans think the same way. It's probably the main reason for the high ranking. So that's the basis for my thinking.

But if you like the Zombies so much, there is a good chance you will like Love. Both albums are held up as great overlooked classics of the 60s.

The album I'm most interested in checking out is the Wyatt record. I've seen it praised before but have never heard a note of it. The fact that it was ranked so highly by those who included it intrigues me.

I have a problem with Radiohead and I wonder if its because I'm just too damn old. I like them OK, but it just doesn't move me the way it moves people 35 and younger. I guess I think they take themselves a bit too seriously, but I'm not sure exactly what the problem is. My favorite album of theirs is probably In Rainbows, but I am obviously no expert.

Anyway, its kind of disconcerting to be a music fan and just not "get" the most popular band of alltime (short of or equal to the Beatles). Should I just give up?

I’ll pick up Forever Changes in the next few days. Like I alluded, only a fool would ignore an album ranked so high.

As for my Top 5...

42. Beggars Banquet
49. Murmur
62. To Bring You My Love
70. Slanted and Enchanted
73. Five Leaves Left (this one’s almost inexcusable, as Pink Moon is a favorite of mine. But I guess I’ve just never been motivated to check out Drake’s first release, y’know, when he wasn’t depressed/borderline suicidal.)

Neo, enjoy Illinois – it’s fantastic. Listen to “Seers Tower” and tell me if there’s a sadder song than that.

Oh, nicolas, I bought the complete works of Arthur Rimbaud today. Can’t wait to read it.

Loophole – not sure what to tell you at this point (re: Radiohead). Let me think on it, and I’ll report back.

I don't get the Radiohead hype either, and I certainly fit the "35 and younger" profile. I just don't see what makes their music so special, even though I've tried. OK Computer and Kid A are probably the albums I heard most that are nowhere close to being in my top 100.

It’s way past the point of being “hype” – it’s acclaim.

Radiohead are special because they make music on their own terms, and are one of the few modern day bands that have earned the privilege. The music is way past the point of being technically proficient – it’s so amazing that it almost borders on genius. Any other musicians on this forum could probably attest to that – just from hearing albums like OK Computer and Kid A. As a guitar player who has been playing for over 10 years, I’m blown away by Greenwood’s solos on songs like “Paranoid Android” and “Just” – I could probably learn them, but I’d never be able to play them like he does.

Along with that, the song structures are original; the arrangements are anti-pop, but still work; the production is perfect. Yorke’s lyrics (like I mentioned in my comments on OK Computer) express a type of alienation that you can’t find in modern day music. In the article Schwah referenced, Ross explains how Bono writes lyrics that seem to say “the world is messed up, but we can fix it”, whereas Yorke writes “the world is messed up, and there’s nothing anyone can do about it.” The thing is, he does it with such poignancy that you really can’t help but believe him. And the cold, haunting music only serves to reinforce everything he sings about.

Not everybody is going to like Radiohead. But they certainly (to me, and many other people) deserve the acclaim. Coming at their music from the point of view of a musician certainly helps, but it’s not a prerequisite for enjoyment.

I don't know if its a demographic thing or not, but I would be curious to know how many of our older forum members (i.e., born in the 1960s) really like Radiohead.

I once read an article (which I wish I could find now) that explained the huge appeal of Radiohead from a demographic standpoint. It worked as an excuse for my indifference (at least for awhile).

I noticed that schleuse did not have any Radiohead and nicolas had OK Computer down at 56, so maybe there is something to the demographic explanation.

Don't know what your excuse is Neo (other than that you seem to really like older music like Dylan and classic rock).

Anthony,

I didn't read your message before posting mine. Thanks. It's helpful.

Instrumental virtuosity is not high on my list of qualities that I look for in pop music. I see (and agree) that the playing and production are first rate.

I also prefer Yorke's approach to lyrics over Bono's (but for me that's not saying much). I just think my problem with Radiohead may simply be that I don't have any need to hear really well done "cold, haunting" music. It's the "cold, haunting" part that turns me off.

Conclusion: Great stuff, but not for me. (But I'll try back again. I can't just ignore the Number 1 favorite record).

Thanks Loophole.

I can see how “cold and haunting” would be a turnoff. Even Radiohead’s “love” songs (“All I Need” from In Rainbows comes to mind here) have a light dusting of frost, so that as lovely as they might be, they still come off sounding detached and icy.

I think it was schleuse who said that Yorke was a “one-trick pony” – and he’s right. Yorke can be best described as a “chronically dissatisfied” human being, but one who is blessed with such an unbelievable musical sense that he’s able to translate his own feelings of loss and isolation into these stunning pieces of music. Having a band made up of four equally talented musicians helps.

In my comments, I mentioned how Q magazine called OK Computer “a 21st century classic, released three years early.” They were dead-on with that analysis; Yorke’s lyrics perfectly depict the despair and gloom that all of us should feel living in a world consumed by technology. With every new piece of technology that comes out – designed to make our lives easier - it actually takes a piece of humanity away from all of us. That’s what Yorke is trying to say.

That's a good message as I spend day after day in front of my laptop!!!!

You're right, hype is the wrong word. I blame my English.

Illinois is nearing its end and all I can say is: wow.
It's like I'm hearing all this for the first time, even though I'm positive I've heard it before. At least once in its entirety and also some random songs. Still, it's all so fresh.

This top 100 has been great, I've discovered some new gems and looking at my list.. there might be some more in stock. I doubtfully added OK Computer too, so many of you ranking it this high cannot possibly all be wrong. Right?

Yeah, it's a shitty feeling.

But like jonmarck mentioned in his comments, the idea of technology as an all-consuming virus resulting in spiritual emptiness is not really an original lyrical concept per se, but Radiohead pull it off with such unbelievable songwriting (in the form of three-part prog-suites that sail past the six-minute mark) that it's really hard to deny their impact.

Well I love Radiohead. Well I would be interested how many people born in the 1980's listen to say Bob Dylan. My age group was into Nirvana and Britpop.

Oh, I think a good number of people born in the 80's listen to Dylan. It's a lot easier to discover old music than it is to discover new music.

Hey, not so fast Techno(tronic).

I was born in the '80s and I love Dylan - in fact, he's one of my favorite artists and one of my most played (according to my Last.fm account.)

Don't lump me together with those people who wear generational blinders. Great music is great music - a release date is inconsequential.

I don't think I was talking about "generational blinders." I just think its harder to keep up with new music as you age. Its not just a matter of the time required, which is a factor. There's also something very special about the music you discover as a teenager or young adult in your 20s. I believe your capacity to truly LOVE music peaks during those years and you tend relate all new discoveries back to that context.

When I was in my twenties in the 1980s, I fell in love with 1960s music and 1940s music, etc. But by the time Radiohead came out, I was in law school and getting married. Really hard to be passionate about new music in those circumstances, but maybe that's just me.

19 Miles Davis - Kind of Blue
33 The Zombies - Odessey and Oracle
37 U2 - Achtung Baby (Heard the singles, hated them, never bothered.)
55 U2 - Joshua Tree (Ditto)
57 Oasis - Definitely Maybe

Only nine total I haven't heard.

I like these polls, because they raise numerous subjects of conversations.

Loophole, you should try the Wyatt album. It is great but very strange. First time I heard it it was in the subway (again) and I asked myself "what is this ?"
And then after a few listenings something happened.
It is more than a record, it is a universe.
It has nothing to do with the simplicity of folk music I love. It is a strange mix of pop, jazz and ambient music.
But the beauty of these songs (especially the first one and the Alifib theme) is that they still work if played on a single guitar or piano. I sometimes play Sea song on my acoustic guitar, and I have a John Peel session in which Wyatt plays a wonderful demo version of "Alifib" alone at the piano.
And last (but not least) it is not just another art rock album (take a look at my list and you won't find a lot of them). It is a very moving act of love.
A lot of people mistake that album for the desperate cry of a crippled man, while it is IMO a celebration of Alfreda Benge, his wife, who stood by him after his accident, and who helped him shaping the songs.
before that, wyatt was only an occasional singer and his records were always more or less crappy jazz-rock pieces with one or 2 wonderful pop songs.
But a lot of people have an epidermic reaction to this record. it is definitely a love it or hate it.

About Radiohead, I can only speak for myself.
It may be nevertheless a generation thing (with of course the occasional exceptions). What you said Loophole about the importance of music you hear in your teens and twenties is very true, especially for this kind of message about alienation, loneliness, et al.
for my part Springsteen's "Candy's room" did the job. I wrote a book about it consisting of my 30 songs (already a list !) with comments, but the comments formed a story and the songs became the soundtrack.
Maybe I discovered Radioheadtoo late. in fact I don't know them very well. I remember a enthousiastic (and younger)neighbor playing "The Bends" to me non stop in 1995 and dragging me to the concert (good concert).
I remember missing OK Comp
I remember doing a review of Kid A and the other one that came out shortly after (I don't remember its name ), and if my memory serves me well it was quite a positive review but not a detailed one for it was a professional magazine for doctors (!!!)
Then I fell into blues and forgot about them.
Today I can say I like them but to me thay are maybe too much former art-students (sorry Anthony) too much obsessed with the form of things, , and TY's claustrophobic way of singing is not my cup of tea (and the bastard influenced so many bands who sing the same...). But they do have one of the most brilliant gtr players, and I have to admit their lyrics are fascinating.
I've not finished listening to OK C (I mean listening to it long enough to know him better, records are like people in a way). it is a very impressive record.
to be continued.

nicolas,

Thanks for the additional info on Wyatt. He's top of the list right now. (Neo, I got The National - Boxer, and I really like it. Too late for Pazz and Jop unfortunately).

I'm sure Rocky will allow you to send in a revised list. *looks hopeful*

Just listened to Wyatt again, but I still don't quite like it. It all sounds a little too much like noise at times to me. How many listens will this take nicolas?

i don't know...

But it's a very special album.
You should maybe try "Shleep" (1997) which is also excellent and much easier (less noise) and then come back to RB.
When I was around 20, me and my bandmates used to lie in the dark at the end of the night and listened religiously to RB. I remember once that a girl got really scared at the end of track 5 when this dissonnant sax and strange voices appear.
Of course we had smoked the cigarettes that make you laugh, but it works without (everything in music works without, as we realize when we get older, and sober)
Well, maybe you loose interest in the San Francisco scene of the 60s..

Loophole wrote:
I don't know if its a demographic thing or not, but I would be curious to know how many of our older forum members (i.e., born in the 1960s) really like Radiohead.

Guess you can label me as 'old', for I was born in the summer of love (sept. '67) and ... I really do like Radiohead. Not much of a Kid A person, but more fond of The Bends, OK Computer (both in top 100) and ... In Rainbows (4.5 stars, i.e. in my top 200).

I agree with Anthony's earlier comments. It is somehow melancholic and detached music, but beautiful and lovable at the same time. For me personally, I can only listen to it with breaks in between, Radiohead is not music to listen to day in day out, not exactly a collection of finest worksongs. For Bracketology and the 90's poll, it was good to relisten to the complete OK Computer album again, just to realize that it was indeed ahead of its time.

Born in the 1960s? That's me...

I like Radiohead, but I find their albums a tough nut to crack--I had none in my top 100, but OK Computer and The Bends probably would have gotten in if I had extended the list to 150.

DrDre is right--they're not casual listening, although they are rewarding listening if I've got the time, the energy, and the desire to hear someone bending pop music into truly eerie shapes.

However (I think I've said this before), they put on one of the best concerts I've ever seen.

Thanks for your input guys. Your comments and the no. 1 poll position have persuaded me to take another crack at the monster that is Radiohead.

(P.S. And I'm just joking around about the "old" stuff. We aren't quited "old" yet. But R.E.M. is getting real close!)

18. Public Enemy – It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold us Back
33. Michael Jackson – Thriller
36. U2 – The Joshua Tree
39. James Brown – Live at the Apollo
41. Stevie Wonder – Songs in the Key of Life

Verlaine: We were discussing the forum poll, not the AM ranking.

oops...


27. Innervisions
37. Achtung Baby
48. Murmur
55. Joshua Tree
61. To Bring You My Love

Interesting, that ended up with a totally different top 5 from Verlaine. Looks like soul roots music was ranked lower in our poll than at AM.

Humm... It's almost embarrassing. I've had already heard all the albums from the top 100 (that don't mean I like them all, on the contrary very few of them are in my personal list).
Am I the only one ?

Not anymore, I've now heard them all too.

I've got a lot of work to reach the 100/100 so I've already started in the few spare time I have.

My aim is true sounds great ! I already like it with only one listening, great melodies, lot of fun, quite diversified... I can not say the same about Rock Bottom but I guess it deserves a little more time !

yes it does

Today I got hold of The Zombies, listening to it as we write. Nice, nice, nice

Happy to hear it, Andre!

What we should do now is see which top 100 album is the least heard, and that'll be the most underrated album on the list.

21. The Doors - The Doors
22. Patti Smith - Horses
25. Television - Marquee Moon
26. Prince - Sign 'O' The Times
35. Ramones - Ramones

I'm into all 5 artists, i just haven't listened to those albums from start to finish

#17:Love - Forever Changes
#22:Marvin Gaye - What's Going On
#33:Zombies - Odessey & Oracle
#40:My Bloody Valentine - Loveless(although it is being downloaded right this minute)
#42:Neutral Milk Hotel - In The Airplane Over The Sea(maybe the only album in the top 100 that I have no idea what it sounds like)

ahoi - on my shopping list:

33) the zombies - odessey and oracle
42) neutral milk hotel - in the aeroplane over the sea
63) paul simon - graceland
65) the kinks - the village green preservation
83) the white stripes -elephant

nkotb & m.jackson are not my kind of humor. so they are not listed.

I'm very surprised to see that "Odessey & oracle" seems to be such a secret gem for most of you AMers that are music fans.
This album is not well ranked on AM but in RYM it's rated 1898 times. It's #4 album of 1968 and even #38 of all-time on RYM (!!!).
For people who have just discovered this great album and want to hear more great baroque pop/sunshine pop from the 60s, I recommand to you "Begin" of The Millennium, "Present tense" of Sagittarius and "There's gonna be a storm" of The Left Banke (it's a best-of cd, but their two albums are out of print, so the best-of is the only way to listen to this great band).
Bands suchs as The Association, Yellow Balloon and Harpers Bizarre have made some good baroque pop too.

Dumbangel,

I just read the review of "Begin" on AMG, and now I can't wait to get my hands on that album! Thanks for the recommendation.

I don't think "Begin" is available in stores as a single disc.
But there's a 3-cds record "Magic time : The Millennium/Ballroom recordings" :
cd 1 : songs of The Ballroom (the first band of Curt Boettcher - this band has never released a real album)
cd 2 : demos and alternate versions of various Curt Boettcher's projects (Ballroom,Sagittarius,Millennium,solo works,Summer's Children)
cd 3 : The album "Begin" of The Millennium

On each cd, there are also instrumental versions of some songs in stereo.
The 3 cds are amazing. Curt Boettcher was a great composer and producer, a kind of Brian Wilson.