Entertainment For Lively Minds
Here it Is - The Word Massive top 100 !!
Posted by dai on 15 June 2010 - 10:36pm.
Based on this thread :
http://wordmagazine.co.uk/content/your-favourite-top-10-albums
Where rated I gave 10 pts for no. 1 down to 1 pt for no. 10, if no ratings I equally weighted all albums at 5.5 pts.
I tried to ignore multiple entries and ones where people rated 11-20 as well, but no guarantees I got everything right.
Results in the comments.
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102 actually
1 OK Computer Radiohead 64 pts
2 Abbey Road The Beatles 56.5
3 The Beatles (White) The Beatles 55.5
3 Exile on Main Street Rolling Stones 55.5
5 Astral Weeks Van Morrison 45
6 The Stone Roses Stone Roses 44.5
7 Hats Blue Nile 43.5
8 Kind of Blue Miles Davis 40
9 The Rise and Fall of Ziggy... David Bowie 39.5
10 Blood on the Tracks Bob Dylan 38.5
11 The Bends Radiohead 34.5
12 The Band The Band 33.5
13 Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts CB The Beatles 33
13 Revolver The Beatles 33
13 London Calling The Clash 33
16 Funeral Arcade Fire 32.5
16 Pet Sounds The Beach Boys 32.5
18 Hissing of Summer Lawns Joni Mitchell 32
19 Born to Run Bruce Springsteen 31.5
20 Aja Steely Dan 30.5
21 Hunky Dory David Bowie 29.5
22 In Rainbows Radiohead 28.5
23 Station to Station David Bowie 27.5
23 Spirit of Eden Talk Talk 27.5
25 King of America Elvis Costello 26
26 Entroducing DJ Shadow 25.5
27 A Hard Day's Night The Beatles 25
28 The Queen is Dead The Smiths 24.5
28 The Holy bible Manic Street Preachers 24.5
30 The Royal Scam Steely Dan 23.5
31 Mezzanine Massive Attack 23
32 Highway 61 Revisited Bob Dylan 22.5
32 Rumours Fleetwood Mac 22.5
32 Hounds of Love Kate Bush 22.5
32 Meat is Murder The Smiths 22.5
32 Low David Bowie 22.5
32 The Hazards of Love Decemberists 22.5
39 Surf's Up The Beach Boys 22
39 Grand Prix Teenage Fanclub 22
39 Yankee Hotel Foxtrot Wilco 22
39 Bryter Later Nick Drake 22
39 After the Goldrush Neil Young 22
44 Remain in Light Talking Heads 21.5
44 Long Gone Before Daylight The Cardigans 21.5
46 Hejira Joni Mitchell 21
47 Five Leaves Left Nick Drake 19.5
48 Who's Next The Who 19
48 Dark Side of the Moon Pink Floyd 19
50 One World John Martyn 18.5
51 All Mod Cons The Jam 18
51 If You're Feeling Sinister Belle and Sebastian 18
53 This Nation's Saving Grace The Fall 17
53 Odeley Beck 17
53 Boxer The National 17
56 Setting Sons The Jam 16.5
56 Rumor and Sigh Richard Thompson 16.5
56 Quadrophenia The Who 16.5
56 Sign O The Times Prince 16.5
56 Led Zeppelin 4 Led Zeppelin 16.5
56 Can't Buy a Thrill Steely Dan 16.5
56 The Soft bulletin Flaming Lips 16.5
56 Car Wheels Lucinda Williams 16.5
56 I Want to see the Bright Lights Richard/Linda Thompson 16.5
56 Skylarking XTC 16.5
56 As heard on Radio Vol 2 2 Many Djs 16.5
56 Countdown to Ecstasy Steely Dan 16.5
56 Grace Jeff Buckley 16.5
56 Technique New Order 16.5
56 Imperial bedroom Elvis C. Attractions 16.5
56 Marquee Moon Television 16.5
56 Tunnel of Love Bruce Springsteen 16.5
56 Strangeways The Smiths 16.5
56 Solid Air John Martyn 16.5
75 Doolittle The Pixies 16
75 Going Blank Again Ride 16
75 Back in Black AC/DC 16
75 Hatful of Hollow The Smiths 16
79 Get Happy Elvis C. Attractions 15.5
79 MArcus Garvey Burning Spear 15.5
81 The Clash The Clash 15
81 I'm your Man Leonard Cohen 15
83 Forever Changes Love 14.5
83 Reckoning REM 14.5
83 Selling England by the Pound Genesis 14.5
83 The Yes Album Yes 14.5
87 Songs in the Key of life Stevie Wonder 14
87 Lexicon of Love ABC 14
87 The Village Green Preservation The Kinks 14
87 Liege and Leaf Fairport Convention 14
87 Steve McQueen Prefab Sprout 14
92 All Things Must Pass George Harrison 13.5
92 Selling England by the Pound Genesis 13.5
92 Grace and Danger John Martyn 13.5
92 Liberty Belle ... Go Betweens 13.5
92 New Boots and Panties Ian Dury 13.5
92 Black Love Afghan Wings 13.5
92 Dusty in Memphis Dusty Springfield 13.5
99 I t Takes a Nation of Millions. Public Enemy 13
99 Physical Graffiti Led Zeppelin 13
99 At my Age Nick Lowe 13
99 Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin 13
Albums on the list I've never heard (or listened to *properly*)
Definitely some food for thought in this little lot.
OK Computer - Radiohead
Hats - Blue Nile
The Bends - Radiohead
Funeral - Arcade Fire
In Rainbows - Radiohead
Spirit of Eden - Talk Talk
King of America - Elvis Costello
Entroducing - DJ Shadow
The Queen is Dead - The Smiths
Mezzanine - Massive Attack
Meat is Murder - The Smiths
The Hazards of Love - Decemberists
Yankee Hotel Foxtrot - Wilco
Long Gone Before Daylight - The Cardigans
If You're Feeling Sinister - Belle and Sebastian
Boxer - The National
The Soft bulletin - Flaming Lips
Car Wheels - Lucinda Williams
As heard on Radio Vol 2 - 2 Many Djs
Technique - New Order
Imperial bedroom - Elvis C.
Strangeways - The Smiths
Doolittle - The Pixies
Going Blank Again - Ride
Hatful of Hollow - The Smiths
Get Happy - Elvis C. Attractions
Reckoning - REM
Steve McQueen - Prefab Sprout
Liberty Belle - Go Betweens
Black Love - Afghan Wings
out of those
I recommend starting with these:
Radiohead - OK Computer
Arcade Fire - Funeral
The Smiths - Strangeways
REM - Reckoning
Massive Attack - Mezzanine
Radiohead - In Rainbows
DJ Shadow - Endtroducing...
Superb albums
Thanks for the suggestions
but it's unlikely to be The Smiths or Ver 'Head. I've heard a good chunk of their releases and won't be bothering with any more.
The Smiths - possibly the most overrated British band ever.
Radiohead - not doing much Pink Floyd didn't do 40 years ago.
I've never heard anything at all by these guys though, so will be hitting Spotify over the next few weeks. I'm going through a major Sidney Bechet phase at the moment - as documented elsewhere - so I'm not sure electric music would fall on the right sort of ears at present.
Funeral - Arcade Fire
Endtroducing - DJ Shadow
Car Wheels - Lucinda Williams
As heard on Radio Vol 2 - 2 Many Djs
Black Love - Afghan Wings
The Arcade Fire Album
is a classic, unfortunately I think they are a bit of a one trick pony since everything they have done since is fairly mediocre including the new stuff I have heard on the Hype Machine
From the 5 you've chosen above...
.....I've only heard 1. Car Wheels On A Gravel Road is Lucinda Williams masterpiece!
The heartfelt, extremely personal lyrics of "Right In Time", "Greenville" and "Metal Firecracker" tell of different times in a relationship. "Drunken Angel" is about songwriter Blaze Foley who was shot and killed in a bar argument. The title track is about her as a little girl growing up in the south. I can't remember all the tracks offhand(I'm at work)but there isn't a duff one! If I lie back and listen with headphones, she transports me to the US south. I've no idea where Pineola, Greenville, Lake Charles or Lake Ponchartrain are but when she namechecks Loretta, Hank and Robert Johnson(maybe Howlin Wolf too IIRC)it captures my imagination of the south.
It came 7 years after her previous album and it's actually *take 2*. The first effort was produced by Gurf Morlix but Lucinda didn't like it and it got scrapped(there is a bootleg called "the alternate gravel road" available). The officialy released version was produced by Lucinda, Steve Earle and Ray Kennedy. I cannot recommend it highly enough.
The version I have has 10 tracks and 3 bonus tracks....there are a couple of other versions, eg one with a bonus CD of live tracks.
Sticky Fingers is missing
Should be joint 32nd with 22.5 points.
32 Sticky Fingers Rolling Stones 22.5
And remove the second Selling England by the Pound.
Sorry about that.
Thanks Dai
A Jock sez: thanks for a spectacular piece of hard work there, boyo.
The ones I love, I love. For the rest, I sort of know what you mean. Except for 3 by The Smiths, which I put down to the Generation Gap.
Can I wake up now
It's obvious from the usual sychophantic blathering about the Smiths and Radiohead and probably at least 75% of the rest of the list that we were going to get a list from which NOBODY learns anything. As someone so astutely put it "WORD oh, we're MOJO for the '90s then" untrue, but astute as far is this list is concerned.
I always assumed WORD readers were "seekers after truth" though I must admit I generally found the published readers' list a bit ho-hum by half.
Bearing that in mind, may I make the following suggestion; let's make a new list of records that you possess (any that you've sold are automatically banned) that you feel might be unknown to the majority of readers and that you play at least two or three times a year. Oh, and no cribbing off other people's lists Molesworth N.
Then we might ALL learn something and I can go shopping for some extra shelves.
What do you think?
livingjukebox
It's the journey, not the destination
Yes, the final list will, of course, reflect the popular will. However, there is the the individual recommendation.
Some of these are artists/albums which ring a bell but which you don't know yourself. You can't know everything. So I will keep an eye out for (and this is not an exhaustive list)
Mose Allison - Sings and Plays
Deeper Roots - Mighty Diamonds.
Take Off Landing - Yoshinori Sunahara
Taj Mahal - Happy Just To Be Like I Am
David Sylvian - Secrets Of The Beehive
'Til Tuesday - Welcome Home
Traffic - Traffic (in fact, lots of Traffic. apart from Hole In My Shoe I have never knowingly heard anything by them. A bit like Stackridge.)
Moving up a cetegory, I have no idea at all about Ketil Bjørnstad and Brian Charles and The Afghan Whigs, so research will be required.
Slightly more knowing blindspots : Todd Rundgren and The National
Though if I am going to rush out and purchase, in the first instance it is more likely to be those by Bobby Bland, Gregory Isaacs, Thomas Mapfuno, Irma Thomas and King Crimson's Red.
I knew that none of my choices would be in the chart...
....seems I'm not alone!
hehe...at least, they weren't when I posted.
Anyway, I have 28 of these.....can I stay?
Selling England ...
Appears at numbers 83 and 92
A true labour of love.
Well done Dai! I'm well impressed.
Wow!
100 Word covers sorted there! Nice one Dai.
Medal/ gongs should follow
Well in Dai. There should be a medal for blogging valour. Deffo above and beyond the call of duty.
Who are the 'favoured' acts that haven't made this list?
I have 53 of them, and play about four regularly. I'm not sure what that says.
However, it is very interesting that when lists that were traditionally compiled by 'cool' journalists are 'crowd sourced' they produce a more diverse range. Although, it's very heartening to see 'Astral Weeks' holding up at the top of the list more than 20 years after these charts started appearing in Q.
But, there's no Otis Redding, James Brown or Elvis Presley. No New York Dolls or Sex Pistols. No CSN&Y or Ramones and only one Stones. These are albums we are led to believe changed the world.
So, who are the acts missing who always make it onto the greatest albums lists of magazines but aren't here?
my two cents...
I think the way the question was put was just 'your ten favourites'. There was nothing more to it. Pure subjectiveness. To put it another way 'your house is burning down, all record shops have disappeared, you can run in and grab ten, what'll they be?'
Tempting and all as it would be to pick seminal/influential/worthy stuff, even The Massive will veer towards the classics! I'm reminded of something that Kate Mossman said in a podcast about not needing to hear any Queen records anymore, as they're lodged in her head from repeated listens when she was younger. I'm the same with, say, Never Mind The Bollocks and whilst it's nice to hear the snarls and so forth as I crank up the actual record, I can 'make do' with the version in my head.
Contrast that, though, with 'Let it Loose' from Exile on Main St; you know the bit where the backing vocalists just start oooh-ing and there's a wee drum fill and then the brass comes in. EVERYBODY needs to be able to hear that, and not just in their heads....
>
Two I can (or should that be 'can't) see are U2 and REM.
No more articles on Bono then.
Gutted!
Oh dear
Looks like we're all just mid-90s Mojo readers after all.
See, this is the interesting thing about these lists
Everyone's top 10 was pretty eclectic, with maybe only one or 2 'classics' in there, but inevitably, it's those classics that rise to the top of the lists. The combined list therefore looks a lot 'blander' than anyone's individual list.
we are all individuals
But some are more individual than others. If everyone used the same degree of eclecticism, the resulting list would produce more 'Hats' type anomalies and fewer of the received wisdom classics. I always hark back to the mid 90s Mojo survey which asked you to vote for albums you were truly passionate about, and not to vote for Pet Sounds just because you thought you ought to.
But Pet Sounds would be my no 2
Which is a boring answer, but not as boring as the fact that Revolver would be my no 1.
"You're all individuals...."
We're all 90s now...or we've just forgotten a load of albums
Fair comment on the list, there are many albums id rather listen to than Blue Nile, or other 'tasteful' critically acclaimed albums: Automatic by JAMC, Trompe Le Monde by Pixies, Absolution by Muse, Dubnobasswithmyheadman by Underworld, Liquid Swords by Genius GZA, Check Your Head by Beastie Boys; lps by The National, Loop, Weird Tapes, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Wonder Stuff, Cramps, Stellastarr*, Hot Chip, The The, Red Lorry Yellow Lorry, Swans, Frightened Rabbit, Local Natives, Groove Armada, The Cure, New Order, Temper Trap, Nine, Audiojack, Run DMC, Handsome Furs, Blondie, Spacemen 3, Siouxsie & The Banshees, Danse Society, Soul Of man and even Ned's Atomic Dustbin. Not all 'cool' (at all!), not definitive, but decent listens. A list selects the most oft-repeated requests, and you arrive at a lowest common denominator of a list - though that is not o say the readers don't have wildly eclectic and exciting taste in music. I'm sure they do. Newer albums are never going to compete in a list with yer old faves, they need time to bed down amongst the others, become 'accepted'. And I guess it is an age thing (as mentioned in a podcast).
Don't fret, all lists are pointless!
I only have 24. Does this
I only have 24. Does this make me a minuscule in the Massive?
I was struck by the low number, and position of RT work. I liked Ivan's dissection of the results, and another thought occurred to me. I wonder how many artists maybe failed to get there not only because of the Mossman theory, but because the aggregation of their work is greater than the individual albums.
Example: with the exception of Rumour and Sigh, and Mock Tudor, most of the RT to which I listen is via compilations of his work rather than individual albums.
I was however disappointed to not see any Del Amitri or Runrig (Tongue inserted firmly in cheek)
Nice to see Hats at number 7
it really is a great album that deserves a place in any top ten, thanks Dai for all the hard work
That was a point I wanted to make
Hats so high is pretty unique in these sorts of polls. A few other things :
- Thanks for the compliments, as I am "between jobs" at the moment, it was a pleasure.
- The top 250 would contain stuff that is less likely to feature in such polls, but I had to have a cutoff point.
- Not much love for Oasis, Blur and Supergrass (not a single album nominated for the latter).
- I will check the Selling England by the pound duplication.
- And I own 70 of them.
Thanks to all who took part.
26 (thanks to the Beatles)
I have 26, but thanks mainly to all the Beatles albums (and to Led Zep, I suppose).
A handful there that I _thought_ I had; will have to address that.
Surprised at the lack of RT, but agree re it being pretty much "everything" rather than individual albums when it comes to him.
Delighted but not surprised by the Hazards of Love appearing. The Word is responsible for my discovering the Decemberists.
Really enjoyed the list, and appreciated it being of "favourite" rather than "best" albums. Thanks Dai!
Albums that should be in there
1.Neil Young-Harvest
2.Paul McCartney- Band on the Run
3.Yo La Tengo- And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out
4.Wilco-Sky Blue Sky
5.AC/DC- Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap, or Power Age
6.
Sparks
# 6 is a Sparks Album-Propaganda or Kimono My House
I can finally join the Massive...
Up until this I wasn't sure I could be a serious contender for the Massive; love the magazine and love the site, but even after 30 years of listening to music I thought this might be a bit of an "up its own arse" community of music snobs.
HOWEVER, judging by this list, I can be at home here! 47 of the albums on the list currently reside on my groaning CD shelves and gobble up my hard drive.
So thanks dai. You encouraged me to join!
37 owned by me
but have to say results are more conservative than I expected them to be. Top 20 not that much different to polls previously seen in Mojo, Q, Uncut etc which surprises me because I thought we were a lot less conservative.
What's (surprisingly) missing?
Probably some of these are in all our collections, but wouldn't be in our top 10...
Johnny Cash American recordings
Tom Waits
early Rod Stewart (Every Picture)
early Elton John
some more Springsteen (Darkness, Nebraska)
Lennon or McCartney solo
CSNY
White Stripes
Paul Weller solo
At least one U2
Not a lot of R&B around there either...
U2...
'Achtung Baby' is probably in my top three.
Some days it's number one.
Thanks Dai
for an outstanding effort.I am the proud owner of 48 albums on the Hot One Hundred,not sure If I am surprised It's so few or so many.I'll have to have a quiet cogitate about it.
I've been remiss.
Meant to say welcome aboard BlueOcean.
54
and 2 of my choices made the top 100.
That's how summary lists work : the less popular choices get left out and the votes for the Beatles & Led Zep accumulate.
75
I used the, on my iPod method, rather than the, making my shelves buckle in the middle way of counting.
Excellent work Dai, and great fun as I think I speak for us all when I say that we all like a list.
splendid work, Dai
- mmany thanks. I own about 30 of these and five of my top 10 made tha top 100 (Setting Sons, London Calling, Doolittle, Reckoning and Black Love)
Surprised that Nick Cave didn't show here, but then he missed out on my list too.
Ive got
8 of the top 10
17 of the top 20
and only 24 of the last 80 or so.
I own 44 of these.
But only two were in my top ten. I think Nick's point up there ^^^^^^ seems pretty accurate in my case at least.
I also reckon there ain't much Richard Thompson or Tom Waits because love for their stuff is spread around a few albums which diluted the votes a bit. If the question was top ten acts I reckon things would have been different...
REM - Automatic for the People
Amazed that is not in the 100.
OK for the people?
My theory is that OK Computer serves a similar purpose: ie: a very consitent, well crafted album that has a largely world-weary feel and is made by a band who are perceived to “care”. I’m sure you could correlate the appearance of OK Computer in various top 100s with the descent of Automatic for the People.
The former edges it over the latter for two reasons: firstly, the arrangements are more complex and, therefore, more enduring and secondly, because Everybody Hurts, having originally been considered a key track on the album, went on to become a housewives favourite amidst the furore surrounding Princess Diana’s funeral.
I ran a similar vote about 10 years ago
as one of the summer diversions on the Leeds list (amongst the usual 'best curry house' threads etc)an.d all I can remember is that OK Cmputer just pipped Automatic For The People. Mine was obviously a smaller survey, as the Leeds list is a much smaller operation than this one, but an interesting result,nevertheless (I thought)
Spread betting
I suspect that REM could have had loads in, but no-one would agree what it was, plus I think their support has been squeezed out of the Top 10s. I know it was in mine. I would have chosen Murmur, Reckoning, Fables Of The Reconstruction and Green before Automatic For The People.
I think Reckoning is a good choice though, as I like best their early, frisky, Partial Bollocks period.
Pah...No Skynyrd....
Ronnie will be upset.
Surprised by the Steely appearances
Steely Dan? Round these parts?
I'm surprised how low they polled considering the lurve for them
Too consistent by half
They don't have one album that defines them. Most fans will have different favourites - hell mine changes pretty much daily. I suspect if you looked at artists votes rather than album votes, they'd come higher.
50
including 8 of the top 10. And yes, pretty much the consensus is the same as similar polls. Are we surprised? They are pretty good albums.
Revolver Equals Pepper
I was delighted to see Sgt Pepper equalling Revolver as I feel that the latter has been favoured over the former too frequently. I think the reason Revolver gets the plaudits is down to the fact that it sounds more “indie” than Pepper. The groovy basslines, backwards sampling and chiming guitar riffs all give Revolver that air of cool that made it a favourite among the Britpop generation. For me it is time for Pepper to be re-appraised as the Beatles finest work – the arrangements are brilliantly crafted and the lyrics have a level of detail that gives colour to the work. Aside from this, the standout tracks (Day in The Life and She’s Leaving Home) are works of colossal genius matched only by Strawberry Fields and Penny Lane (two songs which really could have been included on the album). I love both of these albums and actually came to Pepper later than Revolver, but am surprised at the way that Pepper has been downgraded in recent years, largely I feel, because it is their least rock’n’roll album.
I love the White Album but am a little surprised at the appearance of Abbey Road so high in the chart. There was a point many years ago that this was my favourite, but it all sounds a little too processed. I think I was put off it a little after hearing some of the early takes on Anthology 3, which were incredibly dull jamming sessions. This only emphasised the work that George Martin must have done in polishing the songs.
I knew I should have voted
Abbey Road would have been my number 1 and OK Computer wouldn't have been in my top ten. Would have made all the difference!
I've got 60 of them....
.....which amazed me.
New Order - Technique? Wasn't aware that album was any good. And The Cardigans in the top 50?? Maybe I need to sample these records.
I counted 46...
and I love Technique (New Order's best) and Long Gone Before Daylight (ignore everything you thought you knew about the Cardigans). I couldn't recommend either album more.
Good Grief...
... Dusty in Memphis (good album, I grant you) is better than any of Aretha's Atlantic efforts?... there are 100 albums better (including one by the Cardigans!) than Ella's "The Cole Porter Songbook"?... where's Sinatra? ("Hats" my arse).
Not the winning, but the taking part
Not to in any way disparage Dai's sterling work, but for me the nominations are more stimulating than the tallying. I am far more likely to take a punt on something supported by a well-crafted comment by one or two but didn't make the cut than one steadily accumulating points and heading up the chart that way.
Still, interesting to compare the massive to other surveys, what is in/out/up/down/gratifying/abominable.
Not much before the Beatles though is there ?
As noticed elsewhere, not much from Elvis, James Brown, but their stuff is mainly on compilations now. The Top 100 Compilations list (taking in Greatest Hits, Best Ofs, Soundtracks, Girl Group boxed sets...) surely beckons.
And Pencilsqueezer and I clearly should have conspired to get Marcus Garvey further up , by ranking them, as opposed to an unranked 10 !
Having said that
I think I will not go to the pub , not buy those beers, and get myself a copy of The Hissing Of Summer Lawns, which it seems I only ever had on cassette. Has to be done...
Hmmm.
Great work, Dai, but yeah - I only have 38 of those records, and of the remaining 62, I've only a small interest in getting a very few of them.
I suppose it just comes from the fact that most of us will have a few Mojo-style "classics" in our lists, even if the remaining 7 or 8 are a bit more eclectic (hate that word) or individual. There are just some records which most people agree are really, really great, so it's no surprise that they should make many of our top tens.
Really
wish I'd voted.
This is
going on my list of top 100 lists
Anthony Burgess disagrees
I can't say I agree with the list
..but surely it can only be the Word Massive that can argue with a list voted for by...err... the Word Massive!
I'm mildly surprised by how many I own (probably about 80-85) but the again I have far too many records and will freely admit that vast swathes of my record collection are, to put it mildly, shit.
No Squeeze or Difford solo stuff, Arcade Fire and the Cardigans above Leonard Cohen - you really all have very poor taste in music!
Only 11 for me
OMG, you're all soooooo mainstream! Steely Dan? The All Around My Hat hitmakers? Jeez! (Punctuation smile thing)
[Puts long coat on in hot weather, clutching copy of rare Belgian ukelele version of The Not Sensibles' I'm In Love With Margaret Thatcher]
Good work Dai!
Oh Nevermind...
One glaring oversight, admittedly from my list too, is Nevermind. I didn't particularly expect it to be the average Word reader's (maybe there isn't such a person) cup of tea, but i don't think it's been mentioned once up til now. Astounding!??!
49...
Good.
But where is Tom Waits? And Scott Walker? And Blur? Most bizarre...
More to the point ...
...where are Northside?
Gnidrolog are...
conspicuous by their absence.
65
Don't know how I feel about that. Still not impressed with number 1. I've got the three Radiohead albums and I'm not bothered about any of them.
A mighty achievement
No huge surprises on there.
The Stone Roses getting so high is one of my groans. Really? It's such a wet blanket of an album.
Good to see DJ Shadow high up there. Wasn't sure that would come out too well at all.
All in all, I have surprisingly Massive-aligned tastes. Quite mainstream, and proud with it!
Stone Roses
I disagree, it is one of the best 10 albums ever IMO.
I have just bought the 20th Anniversary 3 disc reissue for £5 from HMV.
A great album now available as a bargain package.
Just out of interest
Can you sum up what it is you love about it?
It's not a BAD album as such. I just find it a bit insipid.
Stone cold classic.
I'm with UW on this one, and put it at no.1 on my list. But, you hear what you hear. I'm sure there's lots of complicated reasons for the types of music we each like. You hear insipid, i hear classic. I couldn't tell that much during the "Madchester' years, because i found a lot of the trappings of that scene a bit annoying. But when the dust had settled i knew this was a keeper. For me it has a timeless quality, managing to be both epic and rythmic, understated, yet supremely confident. "The past was yours but the future's mine, you're all out of time....
Instant classic
The Roses album had amazing energy in its delivery and a timeless quality to its melodies which, for me, gave it classic status within the first couple of plays (back in early 1990).
It has suffered to a degree (at least to my ears) from being overplayed which is why I left it out of my 10 in favour of personal faves from that era (Strangeways and Technique) which have continued to grow over the years. I had a flat mate who played it pretty much every day for a year in the mid 90s and ever since it has never had the same impact. That said, Waterfall and Made of Stone still raise the hairs on the neck.
Great tunes and a great energy to it
Simple as that really
Where ...
... did you get it for that price ? At a store or online ?
In store as part of 2 for £10 deal
Cheers
Probably not so cheap in Canada, I'll see if my brother can find a copy in Leeds.
67 for me, quite a high
67 for me, quite a high number compared to the usual Top 100 lists.
I have 85 of those
And I didn't even vote.
Looks like I'm among friends!
Neither did I
Neither did I
63
and probably another half dozen I used to have and have walked.
How dreadfully conventional of me. Mind you, if I have 1500 CDs, then statistically...
and the black list
miles davis
prince
burning spear
stevie wonder
public enemy
and the ladies
Joni Mitchell (twice)
Kate Bush
Lucinda Williams
Dusty Springfield
Plus some female elements in..
Arcade Fire
Talking Heads
The Cardigans
Belle & Sebastion
Richard & Linda Thompson
Pixies
The Go-Betweens
And arguably Massive Attack, who could be on the black list too.
Still leaves a lot of white boys playing with guitars.
60 are mine
and I didn't vote either! Mainly because I can never get my list of favourite albums down to just ten.
But numbers one and two....really? A number one album should be perfect from beginning to end, and "Fitter Happier" spoils OK Computer for me..."Electioneering" is overrated too. In Rainbows is a better Radiohead album as any fule (and Patrick Crowther) kno.
And also...how can Abbey Road be an almost-perfect number two, with its inclusion of Maxwell's Silver Hammer, Octopus' Garden AND Polythene Pam?
Rhetorical questions really but I thought I'd throw them in.
I'll attempt to answer your rhetorical question....
I don't think the perfect album has to have 100% perfect tracks. I actually thought about this when I was doing my Top 10.
I believe that Ziggy Stardust is the one album I can think of that has entirely perfect tracks from beginning to end. Not a duff one. However, I don't think it's as good as, say, OK Computer or the White Album. I think a perfect album is more to do with an overal cohesive mood that builds properly. I don't hear that in Ziggy: I tend to pick single tracks to listen to from time to time, but not the whole thing.
No?
I know what you mean, but...
None of my top ten (if I could choose them) would have a duff track on them. I agree that Ziggy doesn't either.
I understand your point, and I know that one duff track does not outweigh the others if they're brilliant. Whilst "Side 1" (until Fitter Happier) of OK Computer is arguably the best work of Radiohead to date, to me the lesser quality of the later tracks means the album cannot be my number one. I don't dislike it, but It's probably about 24 on my list.
Abbey Road has 3 duff tracks, so why No. 2? I realise it's following a mathematical formula, but still...
And don't get me started on Exile on Main Street...
What's Going On?
... and where is it?
Agreed...
..I think that is THE most glaring ommission. It was a close contender for my list and I'm almost ashamed not to have included it. For me its one that I played to death about 15 years ago so don't listen to it quite as much as I used to. Meanwhile things like Hounds of Love and Spirit of Eden I have never binged on so they still sound a bit fresher to my ears... Another issue with this album is that it lead me to investigate some of Marvin Gaye's other LPs from the 70s and, inevitably, this lead to some dissappointing hours of listening. That said the vocals on What's Goin' On are sublime...
Here, My Dear...
... Let's Get It On and Trouble Man are all quality. Also disappointing that other early 70s Stevie - particularly "Innervisions" - didn't feature. I didn't vote (as I wanted it to be a "pure" result) so I can't grumble too much.
Yes, it is hideously white
I would have Aretha's Amazing Grace and Innervisions (over Songs...) if I had more than ...er...20 votes. And what James Brown to choose ?
Mind you, while What's Goin' On is a startling omission, it is not alone. No Let It Bleed, nor The Velvet Underground & Nico and clearly the Massive are a glum bunch choosing Blood On The Tracks over Blonde On Blonde. (Mind you, no Joy Division ?)
And (whisper it)
No Michael Jackson...
hideously white?
no need to be racist - we're just talking about music we like. Predominantly white I'll accept, also predominantly male
No intention to be racist
Careless phrase, which was unwise. Apols.
20/20 Visions
I think overall – had the list been extended to 20 albums then a lot of the above may have made it. My 20 would certainly include Stevie, Marvin, Miles and Marley… also it was good to be reminded of Trouble Man above. This is the only MG album (other than What’s Goin’ On) that I really like. Here My Dear is a bit too patchy and (dare I say) a tad bitter!
If it had been a Top 10 singles list...
then I would imagine far more black acts would have featured. The 'classic album' is in itself quite a 'white' concept... for much of the history of black music, the 45 was king.
Going Blank Again
I didn't vote in this, which somehow makes it seem all the more interesting - I can tell how well I 'fit in' round here.
Biggest surprise for me is how high Ride are - what a wonderful album that was. I don't know if I'd have even remembered to put it in my list, but it's fantastic to know how loved it is by the Massive. Interesting to note that recent faves such as Bon Iver and Elbow didn't make it at all.
Also shocked that Screamadelica doesn't get even a mention.Clicheed 30-something that I am, that, OK Computer and Stone Roses would definitely have been there. And another choice of mine would have been Laid by James: I think that would have been just me on that one though.
Finally - who ARE Blue Nile? Had never heard of them before this poll. Guess I better head to Spotify...
31
Not bad, but I suspect my lack of music from the 60s works against me.
Pleased to see B&S nicely nestled given the amount of stick they often get here.
On the Blue Nile, I am sure there was a feature in word about a year ago - something on cult bands which put them beside Half Man Half Biscuit (no difference there). Now if only the digital editions went all the way back we could explain the joys. Meantime, for those of you who don't know them, here is a good place to start
IMHO
Although you lot went en masse for Hats, I reckon the first album, A Walk Across The Rooftops, is at least as good.
Rooftops is alos great
Infact I remember the day I bought it on LP, and then played it and nothing else for two weeks. However, Hats just edges it. The latter two are also very good, I've always thought High was very under-rated.
I reckon they must be due another one in the next year or so, the seven year itch is burning. Fingers crossed.
capsule or posterity considerations maybe?
Could you survive with only your 10 favourite albums? how many could you whistle/sing/mumble without hearing them? these are capsule items.
What albums had you bought because you just had to, then and there? perhaps worrying about a 'one that got away' situation. These are for posterity.
What albums will *always* be available? you might just get round to them later...
I had a great secondhand record shop near me as a skint teenager (Sellanby in South Harrow, hope it's still there) and they constantly had multiple vinyl copies of albums by;
Santana, Queen, Genesis, Paul McCartney, Kate Bush, Elton John, Fleetwood Mac, Rod Stewart, Paul Simon, Eagles, Van Morrison etc
I have never bought any records by these artists just because of this. They would survive whole cities burning down not just my house.
I like different/obscure stuff probably for the sake of it, but some further 'popular' omissions;
Marvin Gaye, Any dub reggae, Electronic/dance (Orbital brown? New Order don't count), Roxy Music, Any soundtrack, classical or chamber (Nyman?), Can, Iggy/stooges, Billie Holliday, VU, Marychain, Funkadelic, Bjork, Berlin Bowie, MBV, Dr John, Lo-fi indie, Cream, 'World' Music, Suede, Screamadelica, Motorhead...
I didn't notice any 'Best of's either
Personally I'd have hoped for Led Zeppelin III and The Muppets.
PS I once decided against a gatefold double VU compilation with Warhol-style Coke bottle and straw sleeve art in Sellanby and still sort of regret it now. I won't find that on itunes or spotify.
PPS I think Mezzanine is probably the only one recorded digitally.
Ah, Sellanby
I mis-spent a large part of my youth in that shop. I drove past last year and it must have recently closed down. The shop front was still there but the place was empty. End of an era.
37 for me...
... with 6 of my top 10 included, which is probably about right.
Dai's done an amazing job here, but I wonder if the results would be significantly different without such a "steep" scoring system, i.e. we don't really think out top album is 10 times better than our number 10, do we?
DJ Shadow and 2 Many DJs are the standout anomalies for me, and I'm amazed Todd Rundgren didn't find his way in anywhere.
I concur about The
I concur about The Smiths--Morrissey doesn't so much sing, as emote in a flat drone...but Arcade Fire are much more than a one-release-wonder--especially if you have ever seen them live. Mumford & Sons are pressing on their heels.