#180
Wire
Pink Flag
1977
No. of Voters 18 Score 771.05
Rank in AM 3000 263
Rank in 2011 Poll 238
Top Fans Brad (3), McJagger (43), Jackson (46)
Perhaps the most original debut album to come out of the first wave of British punk, Wire's Pink Flag plays like The Ramones Go to Art School -- song after song careens past in a glorious, stripped-down rush.
From a review by Steve Huey in AllMusic
#179
Black Sabbath
Paranoid
1970
No. of Voters 16 Score 772.42
Rank in AM 3000 160
Rank in 2011 Poll 327
Top Fans Henrik (24), Bruno (41), LiveinPhoenix (45)
#178
The Who
Tommy
1969
No. of Voters 16 Score 773.47
Rank in AM 3000 121
Rank in 2011 Poll 166
Top Fans Stephan (14), Henry (16), Bruno (23)
… the group spent most of the spring and summer touring the US and Canada but their stage act relied on Townshend smashing his guitar or Moon demolishing his drums, which kept the group in debt. Townshend and Lambert realised they needed a larger vehicle for their music than hit singles…
From the Wikipedia article Tommy
#177
The Jesus and Mary Chain
Psychocandy
1985
No. of Voters 15 Score 775.31
Rank in AM 3000 86
Rank in 2011 Poll 144
Top Fans McJagger (27),Otisredding (37), Chris K (46)
… it came to the JAMC’s attention that electric guitars, when paired with high amplifier volume and harmonic distortion, could create feedback, thereby producing aggressive noises mostly on their own, and freeing their actual players to stand around looking half dead, depressed, and generally too contemptuous and disgusted to really bother playing-- all of which seemed, in 1985 and in the particular case of the JAMC, totally super-awesome.
Review of Honey’s Dead by Nitsuh Abebe, Pitchfork
#176
The Velvet Underground
White Light/White Heat
1968
No. of Voters 13 Score 777.46
Rank in AM 3000 206
Rank in 2011 Poll 140
Top Fans McJagger (18), Brad (32), Jirin (39)
“I’m in there with a B.A. in English – I’m no naif,” Reed told me shortly before his death. “And being in with that crowd, the improvisers, the film-makers, of course it would affect where I was going. We said it a hundred times; people thought we were being arrogant and conceited. We’re reading those authors, watching those Jack Smith movies. What did you think we were going to come out with?”
From Overloaded by David Fricke in MOJO: The Big Read
#175
The Smiths
The Smiths
1984
No. of Voters 20 Score 783.26
Rank in AM 3000 180
Rank in 2011 Poll 157
Top Fans Chevisan (43), Michel (48), GucciLittlePiggy (96)
The US and UK versions of this album are only separated by one song: “This Charming Man”. So, you may ask, “What Difference Does It Make”? (Yes, I went there).
From an RYM review by Listyguy
#174
The Beatles
Let It Be
1970
No. of Voters 16 Score 785.65
Rank in AM 3000 612
Rank in 2011 Poll 170
Top Fans Stone37(22), Daniel (36), Henry (53)
#173
The Kinks
Something Else by The Kinks
1967
No. of Voters 20 Score 795.53
Rank in AM 3000 353
Rank in 2011 Poll 184
Top Fans Honorio (78), Stone37 (86)
When they are doing their things, the Kinks are marvelous to listen to. The listener is amused and confused, enchanted and entertained, and always questioning. And Something Else is the Kinks at their questionable best, their thing.
James Pomeroy in Rolling Stone, March 9, 1968
#172
Kendrick Lamar
good kid, m.A.A.d. city
2012
No. of Voters 15 Score 808.08
Rank in AM 3000 300
Rank in 2011 Poll N/A
Top Fans GucciLittlePiggy (15), PlasticRam (36), Schaefer.tk (39)
#171
Vampire Weekend
Modern Vampires of the City
2013
No. of Voters 15 Score 811.96
Rank in AM 3000 268
Rank in 2011 Poll N/A
Top Fans DocBrown (18), GucciLittlePiggy (24), Zorg (34)