And there we have it. Prince did indeed get the top spot for a while, but then I realized I completely fucked up Mo's list, which brought Doolittle back to #1.

Hope you all enjoyed the trip.

Well, there was no surprise at the end, but the list has been (as usual) excellent. Many thanks, Stephan.
Henrik, we share the same #100, “New Day Rising”, the longest 40 minutes ever.

Thanks Stephan! Great show!!!

Will you post any correlations in this thread, or will we see them in the spreadsheet? If you've got Excel 2007, I just found that it has an automatic cell-colouring function.

Damn, I just colored them all manually.

I hope I did these correlation things correctly. Well, here's the 10 biggest (and a few of the smallest) correlations:

Rocky Raccoon and Harold Wexler: 0,68
Andre and Honorio: 0,56
Stephan and Honorio: 0,53
tremolo and Netjade: 0,49
tremolo and Sonofsamiam: 0,48
Sonofsamiam and Netjade: 0,47
Fred and Netjade: 0,42
Greg and Midaso: 0,42
Stephan and Andre: 0,41
Stephan and Greg: 0,41

...

Stephan and Netjade: -0,20
John and Netjade: -0,23
Moonbeam and Adrian -0,25
Fred And Greg Rumpff: -0,25
Greg Rumpff and tremolo: -0,27
Greg Rumpff and Netjade: -0,44

Smallest being most negative.

Thanks Stephan.

Viva la música y viva los años 80

You're right Toni, "Purple Rain" is Prince's "Thriller". Except with a lot of risk-taking artistically. Michael brilliantly gave to the people what they expected (in the Motown tradition, artistic excellence, innovation but with a crossover objective), whereas Prince did the same but with more audacity.
The result was nevertheless a commercial success.

Bedankt, Stephan!

At least I got my no. 1 album right! :)

The 70s should be REAL interresting!

É isso aí, Stephan!
Awesome list, with a lot of great surprises. Never would expect Purple Rain to be the second!

And there's still the songs poll, which promise to be even more interesting!

Great stuff and very fine work Stephan, was hoping Prince would take it in the end, but Doolittle manages to still sound great.

Can't wait for the Songs Poll!

And then...bring on the '70s!!!

I will launch the 70s poll on February, be patient ^^
Maybe I should try right now to prepare an excel sheet as easy to compile as possible...

For an entire year, I have stayed out of the 80's poll for the simple reason that my knowledge of acclaimed 80's albums is severely lacking. I'm embarrassed about how few of the albums on the list I have listened to. (I'm pretty good with unacclaimed 80's music, though... I know all the steps to the Safety Dance.)

I just wanted to write in and say thank you to all of you (and particularly Stephan) for compiling a wonderful list, which I have been monitoring from afar. There is lots in there for me to sample. And a great final 2: My respect for the Pixies has grown over the past year, and I have been listening to Purple Rain a lot in the last couple of months. (It was in my all-time top-50, and has clawed well into the top-25 recently.) Kudos to all of you.

Funny because Doolittle is # 1 in only one individual list.
It's the most consensual album.
Personally I don't really get it. Don't see why it is so much acclaimed.

Again, a great list. I just wish that Harold guy would quit copying me all the time. lol.

yes, thank you Stephan
The song list will be great too

Henrik, Dirty Mind is a fabulous album too, but it lacks the depth and studio mastery that 1999 has in spades.

Nicolas brings up a good point- I tend to value albums that are more cohesive and expand upon a singular kind of sound more than I do albums that throw in everything but the kitchen sink. That synthetic, ice-cold synth funk/rock served up neon blue from the studio with lyrics that depict the hunger on a spiritual, emotional, and fun level does it for me every time. Also, I believe that 1999 captures the essence of Prince better than any other album, and is arguably the main album that features the least input from other people- I'm not counting The Truth or One Nite Alone.

For me Purple Rain vs Sign Of The Times is a tough comparison. I think When Doves Cry is the best song between them, but Sign has more good songs, but also more less good songs.

Maybe I have to re-listen to Seventeen Seconds, but it just seems to lose me every time I listen to it.

1999 I think of as more an album with great singles than a great album.

Where did I put Rain Dogs on my list? I expected to see myself as a 'biggest fan'.

Sorry, Rocky.

Also sorry I haven't had a chance to comment before now. I wanted to commend Stephan for taking charge of this and doing such a great job.

It -is- fascinating that DOOLITTLE is #1 despite not topping -anyone's- individual list. So, it isn't anyone's VERY favorite '80s album, but (almost) everyone loves it.

There definitely seems to be a polarity regarding the music of the Eighties that I don't think exists for any other decade. Part of that is due, I think, to that overly bright, sterile "big production" sound common to all too many records from the decade. Example: I just picked up Prefab Sprout's FROM LANGLEY PARK TO MEMPHIS, and despite my appreciation for Paddy McAloon's songcraft found parts of it very difficult to listen to because of that horribly dated production style. (I have some problems with McAloon's look-how-suave-and-clever-I-am writing as well, but that's another issue.)

And more belated comments:

#73 Madonna - Like A Prayer (1989)- While I don't love it as much as my "biggest fan" status suggests, it probably is one of my 2 favorite Madonna albums along with RAY OF LIGHT.

#62 Pretenders - Pretenders (1980- I guess I'm not hearing what others hear. Most of this album is "meh" to my ears. I'll have to give it another try sometime.

#58 Richard & Linda Thompson - Shoot Out The Lights (1982)- My #25 is kinda unrepresentative..have only heard this album twice all the way through but I did like it. Call it the "my FAVORITE stuff missed the poll" effect again.

#55 Violent Femmes - Violent Femmes (1983)- My #21 rank was based on singles. I didn't get a chance to listen all the way through before submitting the poll although the album is now in my work playlist so I'll be ready for next go-round.

#54 Tracy Chapman - Tracy Chapman (1988)-Considering my #13 rank, I guess I should take the plunge and actually BUY this one, huh?

#47 Kraftwerk- This actually has an error, Stephan. I should be listed at #62 on my list...not #6. I've never actually heard this one in its entirety.

#46 AC/DC - Back In Black (1980)-This wouldn't REALLY be in my 80s top 10. But it is my favorite AC/DC album.

#37 Kate Bush - Hounds Of Love (1985)-Another album I don't "get" in spite of loving "Running Up that Hill".

#31 R.E.M. - Green (1980)- This one's OK but I honestly vastly prefer OUT OF TIME.

#22 Bruce Springsteen - Born In The U.S.A. (1984)- This was my #1 on my list but NOT my real favorite 80s album...since I don't actually OWN it! I've only discovered it over the past 2 years but I like darn near every track on the thing. Maybe I can buy this when I pick up that Chapman album.

#21 The Cure - Disintegration (1989)- My favorite Cure album.

#20 The Jesus And Mary Chain - Psychocandy (1985)- Just now listening to all this. My thought is I would like the band if they pushed the vocals up in the mix. I don't mind the noisy feedback...but I'd like to not have to "fight" to hear the words.

#18 Bruce Springsteen - Nebraska (1982)- My #11 placement might be a bit high due to the freshness of just hearing it but it is really good. I like it nearly as well as BORN IN THE U.S.A. We'll see what time, and more listens, does to my opinion.

#17 U2 - The Joshua Tree (1987)- Actually had this at #4 but I'm not sure if that will make much difference in the rankings. My favorite U2 album.

#16 Michael Jackson - Thriller (1982)- Probably suffers a bit from the fallout of his personal life. GREAT album.

Only 1 song from my top 10 hasn't been mentioned yet unless I missed it.

Regarding Harold's last comment about Doolittle, I made a very last minute change moving that album from #1 to #2. I have felt uncomfortable keeping that record at the top spot for a while, because while it's nearly a perfect collection of songs, it didn't scream out RECORD OF THE EIGHTIES for me. Its release in 1989 and the indie-grunge movement it sparkled ties it too much to all the great music of the early 90s and beyond. Kudos to Doolittle for being too cool and unique to fit into it's historical release date, but throwing that album at #1 seemed to neglect everything before it.

I have loved R.E.M.'s Green for a long while though because it served as the culmination of the early R.E.M. sound into a diverse and perfectly sequenced album experience. I have been given a hard lesson in the quality of 80s music with this forum poll, but for a while it seemed that while the decade was littered with gems of pop singles, the only bridge between the musical wasteland of 1981-1988 (Daydream Nation) were a short list that prominently included R.E.M. and Prince. There are much more to add to that list now (Sonic Youth and New Order, take a bow), but R.E.M. deserved to be on top.

If I had paid attention and taken part in this particular poll, Moonbeam, we could have had LAP ranked a little bit higher. :)

WHATS HAPPENED TO THIS?!

ADAM, the countdown continued in another thread.
Here you go.
Here you go.

Oh, this was an album poll thread (I just read the last post (not the title of the thread) and thought it was songs poll part 1.)
Nevertheless here are the links to songs poll.
http://pub37.bravenet.com/forum/3172289350/show/948915
Part 1 (100-51)

Part 2 (50-1)