And Sweet Old World still bubbling even though it's my favorite Lucinda Williams album. Critics need to be more open minded about country. Especially outside the US.
Thank you, Henrik! Great job as always! And correct me if I'm wrong but you went above and beyond what you said you were gonna do. Added some all-time/decade lists as well, didn't you? Thanks!
I know the Updates page says that no all-time lists were added, but how else did older albums like Swordfishtrombones and Since I Left You jump so much?
One thing though, the link to the spreadsheets for "Top 3000 songs" and "Top 3000 albums" seem to be broken.
Sorry, forgot to upload the spreadsheets. Done now.
Henrik: Is this just an update with the 2007 end of the year lists or does this include new all-times lists too?
Only minor changes/additions to the all-time lists. See the updates page for details.
I know the Updates page says that no all-time lists were added, but how else did older albums like Swordfishtrombones and Since I Left You jump so much?
The weight for each critics list has been changed a little. A country factor and a "time between the record release and the critics list" factor have both been adjusted using more scientific data-driven methods.
Huh - OK Computer dropped????
I knew this would be one of the first comments. I know many of you are waiting for OK Computer to climb into the top 10. This is just a minor change, OK Computer used to be close ahead of White Album and is now close behind.
When can we expect a more complete update of the site?
Jonah, you made me realise that !!! is not in the artist list. At the moment, their page can only be accessed through one of their appearances in the yearly lists, for example from #11 in the top songs of 2003.
YOYO, please see the previous questions and answers.
BillAdama, there's a change to my calculations that I forgot to mention, that probably had more effect on the results than any of the other changes, namely that I have lowered the weights for the Pazz & Jop and Idolator polls. This is probably why Sleater-Kinney has dropped, as I believe they have always been placed very well in the P&J poll.
Because I don't normally have information about the number of critics behind a critics list, number of critics is not a weighting factor (with the exception that lists from single critics get a lower weight), although I have handled the US-wide Pazz & Jop and Idolator polls as special cases. However, after the previous update I felt that their "special boost" was much too large so I have decreased it a bit (but Pazz & Jop and Idolator still have a significant "special boost").
The Raconteurs climbed because "Broken Boy Soldiers" were included in the 4th edition of Mojo Collection.
Everything from the last update has been moved from the "Current" folder to the "070731" folder, so a comparison like this can be done for every page at AM.
It'll be fascinating to see how much the 2000s rankings will change once best-of-decade lists come in. Well, if Henrik chooses to update that far.
I'm sure many albums in the top 100, even in the top 70 or so, will suddenly drop 50+ places. I certainly don't see Cat Power's The Greatest or The Darkness' Permission To Land remaining so high once hindsight rears its head. For instance, in another five years I think You Are Free will take its rightful place above The Greatest.
the Greatest was a big step up from You Are Free. I hope it remains her top record. People use the famous "overproduced" criticism when they talk about the Greatest but I'm really shocked the Darkness is still in the top 10. They turned out to be such a flash in the pan. I know people who'd rather admit to listening to Creed than admitting they like the Darkness.
Great to see Kanye, LCD and Arcade Fire climb a few step, but what a shame to see Elliott Smith leave the top 200...
But at least I know that the next update will correct that, with 2 new songs and 2 new albums ranked.
yeah, I am a bit Elliott Smith obsessed
Hi Henrik, congratulations on the wonderful update. the amount of work you put into this site is staggering. I,m really glad to see Through the Window Pane by Guillemots move from the bubbling under list for 2006 into the top 3000. Just wondering what the reason for such a dramatic jump was?
Take a well-deserved break, Henrik, enjoy your Christmas and the new year. And just pace yourself after that. Take your time with the next update. It'll make it less overwhelming.
This continues to be the greatest website on the internet. I just hope the site is still here in 50 years. If The Darkness album is still in there, I'll borrow my brother's copy!
It seems the critics will never wake up to Dory Previn's 'Mythical Kings And Iguanas' 1971 masterpiece!
Good to see my favourite album at 764 (Laura Nyro's 'Eli & The Thirteenth Confession').
Just beginning to digest the "new" numbers but here's some vague analysis. The biggest change seems to be a giant reassessment of the value of 80s music.
Out of the 160 albums which saw an increase of 100 or more spots, 43 were from the 1980s. (Note: This is taking into account "bubbling under" positions).
Next biggest was the 70s with 27, 26 for the 50s, 23 for the 90s, 21 for the 60s and 20 for the "noughties".
I have to actually figure this out for sure but it looks like jazz is getting a big boost, too, which accounts for most of the 1950s uptick.
Continuing from my observations about 80s music on the new update, I wonder if this is a result of:
a) greater open-mindedness to the decade in general on the part of critics
b) retiring of the oldest critics and resultant "new blood" entering critics pool
c) the requisite amount of "live with it" time has increased more allowing some critics who had held off to say "You know, this really IS of lasting worth..."
Greg, the updated AMG ratings might have had some impact on the ranking, but I'm not sure that any of those three alternatives are correct, as the update did not include any new all-time lists. Maybe it's just a result of the changed algorithm.