All-Time Albums Poll (2008)
Posted: Tue Feb 21, 2012 8:29 pm
Poll conducted by Anthony.
#100
[imgsize 300x300]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/e ... Horses.jpg[/imgsize]
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.
#99
[imgsize 300x300]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/e ... bottom.jpg[/imgsize]
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.
#98
[imgsize 300x300]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/e ... _cover.jpg[/imgsize]
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.
#97
[imgsize 300x300]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/e ... zanine.jpg[/imgsize]
Massive Attack – MEZZANINE (1998)
Total Points = 346.33
Appeared on 10 ballots (out of 47).
Fans: Jacek (#7)
[no comments provided]
#96
[imgsize 300x300]http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/5 ... AA280_.jpg[/imgsize]
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.
#95
[imgsize 300x300]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/e ... _cover.jpg[/imgsize]
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.
#94
[imgsize 300x300]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/e ... eDream.jpg[/imgsize]
Smashin Pumpkins – Siamese Dream (1993)
Total Points = 355.32
Appeared on 9 ballots (out of 47).
Fans: Jonah (#5)
[no comments provided]
#93
[imgsize 300x300]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/e ... etItBe.jpg[/imgsize]
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.
#92
[imgsize 300x300]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/e ... ormer.jpeg[/imgsize]
Lou Reed – TRANSFORMER (1972)
Total Points = 358.99
Appeared on 9 ballots (out of 47).
Fans: otisredding (#8)
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.
#91
[imgsize 300x300]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/e ... Silver.jpg[/imgsize]
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.
#90
[imgsize 300x300]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/e ... Robots.jpg[/imgsize]
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
[imgsize 300x300]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/e ... rklife.jpg[/imgsize]
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
[imgsize 300x300]http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B0000 ... ZZZZZZ.jpg[/imgsize]
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
[imgsize 300x300]http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B0000 ... ZZZZZ_.jpg[/imgsize]
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
[imgsize 300x300]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/e ... _Cells.jpg[/imgsize]
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.
#85
[imgsize 300x300]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/e ... eLines.jpg[/imgsize]
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.
#84
[imgsize 300x300]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/e ... f_life.jpg[/imgsize]
Stevie Wonder – SONGS IN THE KEY OF LIFE (1976)
Total Points = 408.27
Appeared on 12 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
[imgsize 300x300]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/e ... tripes.png[/imgsize]
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.
#82
[imgsize 300x300]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/e ... d_Rain.jpg[/imgsize]
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.
#81
[imgsize 300x300]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/e ... upreme.jpg[/imgsize]
John Coltrane – A LOVE SUPREME (1965)
Total Points = 413.85
Appeared on 11 ballots (out of 47).
Fans: sonofsamiam (#3)
[no comments provided]
#100
[imgsize 300x300]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/e ... Horses.jpg[/imgsize]
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.
#99
[imgsize 300x300]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/e ... bottom.jpg[/imgsize]
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.
#98
[imgsize 300x300]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/e ... _cover.jpg[/imgsize]
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.
#97
[imgsize 300x300]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/e ... zanine.jpg[/imgsize]
Massive Attack – MEZZANINE (1998)
Total Points = 346.33
Appeared on 10 ballots (out of 47).
Fans: Jacek (#7)
[no comments provided]
#96
[imgsize 300x300]http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/5 ... AA280_.jpg[/imgsize]
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.
#95
[imgsize 300x300]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/e ... _cover.jpg[/imgsize]
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.
#94
[imgsize 300x300]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/e ... eDream.jpg[/imgsize]
Smashin Pumpkins – Siamese Dream (1993)
Total Points = 355.32
Appeared on 9 ballots (out of 47).
Fans: Jonah (#5)
[no comments provided]
#93
[imgsize 300x300]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/e ... etItBe.jpg[/imgsize]
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.
#92
[imgsize 300x300]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/e ... ormer.jpeg[/imgsize]
Lou Reed – TRANSFORMER (1972)
Total Points = 358.99
Appeared on 9 ballots (out of 47).
Fans: otisredding (#8)
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.
#91
[imgsize 300x300]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/e ... Silver.jpg[/imgsize]
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.
#90
[imgsize 300x300]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/e ... Robots.jpg[/imgsize]
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
[imgsize 300x300]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/e ... rklife.jpg[/imgsize]
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
[imgsize 300x300]http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B0000 ... ZZZZZZ.jpg[/imgsize]
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
[imgsize 300x300]http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B0000 ... ZZZZZ_.jpg[/imgsize]
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
[imgsize 300x300]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/e ... _Cells.jpg[/imgsize]
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.
#85
[imgsize 300x300]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/e ... eLines.jpg[/imgsize]
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.
#84
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Stevie Wonder – SONGS IN THE KEY OF LIFE (1976)
Total Points = 408.27
Appeared on 12 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
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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.
#82
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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.
#81
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John Coltrane – A LOVE SUPREME (1965)
Total Points = 413.85
Appeared on 11 ballots (out of 47).
Fans: sonofsamiam (#3)
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