FREEFORM 1990's ALTERNATIVE ALBUM POLL - THE RECKONING (TOP TEN COUNTING DOWN NOW)

Sorry, this took longer than it should. But it's done. And here is its strange fruit.

-Albums on the same number of points are distinguished by number of votes
-Albums with the same number of points and votes are tied, but where possible the album with the highest individual vote will be announced later than its compadre(s)
-No guessing. Please. Not that you'd really be able to.

aw yeah

xp how many people voted in total?

61 people voted.

post 100 or i'm gonna start guessing

This is gonna be weird.

100= Stereolab - Peng!
31 points
3 votes
0 first-place votes
Greatest contributor: emil.y

http://cdn.7static.com/static/img/sleeveart/00/000/367/0000036727_350.jpg

I went for Peng, just edging it over Emperor Tomato Ketchup.

― emil.y, Wednesday, 16 May 2007 22:00 (2 years ago)

Me, too. Peng is still the most mysterious one, and its flow is unequaled.

― Pete Scholtes, Wednesday, 16 May 2007 22:41 (2 years ago)

Peng! and Switched On are my favorite Stereolab albums, though probably just for sentimental reasons. They introduced me to the band, and I fell in love with them instantly. All my favorite things on display in perfect form: fondness for heavy "rock" noise, swirly textural depth, and a delicate loveliness they'd never surpass ("K-Stars").

― Pye Poudre, Sunday, 25 March 2007 20:04 (3 years ago)

Oh, Peng just saved set point with the most divine forehand into the left corner imaginable...

― edward o (edwardo), Thursday, 20 January 2005 05:05 (5 years ago)

Given that points total, a lot of you will now know you have assured albums in the list. Please do not divulge them.

Is there much point in beginning this from #100, if 31 points were enough to get an album there? Wouldn't doing a top 50 make more sense?

If 31 points is the threshold, I only know one of mine will make it for sure (but feel confident about another).

Haw! This is gonna be weird.

Good start...anything that encourages people to check out Stereolab. Peng has some great moments, but the A+ stuff is later in their catalogue for me.

Tuomas, 51-100 is pretty distinct from the awesome clusterfucked morass that is the 20-30 point range - it rapidly accelerates away from the riff-raff, and contains some fairly interesting results. We're doing all 100. Well. All 102.

SPOILED!

Wahey! I have one in, but will be v disappointed if it gets no other votes. Well done, louis, this is already some good work.

Yay!

100= XTC - Apple Venus vol. 1
31 points
3 votes
0 first-place votes
Greatest contributor: ciderpress

http://nobrasil.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/apple_venus.jpg

Damn, I totally would've voted for Apple Venus Vol. 1. Especially since Chips from the Chocolate Fireball isn't on here. But AV probably would've won for me anyway. That album is...gorgeous.

― Vaguely Threatening CAPTCHAs, Thursday, 14 August 2008 21:54 (1 year ago) Bookmark

"Apple Venus" is so very very amazing, "Easter Theatre" is one of the most incredible songs EVER.

― Davey D, Sunday, 5 August 2007 10:20 (2 years ago)

I think Apple Venus is one of those albums loved by XTC fans and probably doesn't even register on people unfamiliar with the band. Practically everyone I've talked to that likes the band places the album high. I'd probably put it third or fourth overall. But I guess that's the thing - if it's liked by fans, the same people probably already have clear favorites and would place it third or fourth. (Maybe I'm projecting a lot here.)

― Vinnie, Friday, 15 August 2008 13:44 (1 year ago)

Partridge in particular grew immensely, in breadth and depth, as a songwriter once he stopped touring and focused on studio work (not counting the wackiness of the past 3-4 years, obviously). Apple Venus is perhaps his masterwork, although a bit strained for effect in the studio.

― Autumn Almanac, Tuesday, 19 August 2008 02:34 (1 year ago)

Oranges shits all over Nonesuch. Apple Venus was a snore.

― Alex in NYC, Sunday, 19 April 2009 17:55 (1 year ago)

thank heavens for last-minute mercy, eh davek

Oh, Peng just saved set point with the most divine forehand into the left corner imaginable...

― edward o (edwardo), Thursday, 20 January 2005 05:05 (5 years ago)

lol

I hope some of the techno i voted for makes it. Would be sad if i was the only one who voted for it.

(obviously others will vote for techno stuff, i just mean the albums I went for)

Louis, you legend.

didn't vote for anything stereolabby (how is formed), but very glad to see peng! make the cut.

plus previous me (pye poudre) apparently agrees, which i had forgot about. agreeing with yourself is reassuring, continuity of identity-wise.

What years are these? Would be interesting to know what I was doing at the time when I could've been hearing of these.

Good point. Year indications would be nice.

V. excited for this, Louis, will be following closely....

100 = De La Soul - Buhloone Mind State (1993)
31 points
3 votes
0 first-place votes
Greatest contributor: o.nate

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_uHNAQKyQ64A/St9OfeNsKHI/AAAAAAAAAuw/-nzIF_h7I3Q/s400/De%2BLa%2BSoul%2B-%2BBuhloone%2BMindstate%2B(1993)%2B%5B192kb%5D.jpg

Buhloone Mind State is better than the first two. It's like desert island material.

― Euler, Wednesday, 16 April 2008 19:18 (2 years ago) Bookmark

I completely agree with De La Soul's "Buhloone Mind State" being on that list. It's always been overshadowed by the others, but has been my favourite from the first time I heard it.

― J-rock (Julien Sandiford), Tuesday, 14 March 2006 01:56 (4 years ago) Bookmark

j beez w/the remedy and buhloone mindstate are the great weird native tongue records

― M@tt He1ges0n, Thursday, 10 April 2008 19:55 (2 years ago) Bookmark

Wrote something a couple of years ago on Buhloone, although they never even came close to recording boilerplate material.

― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Wednesday, 16 April 2008 19:20 (2 years ago)

"Buhloone Mindstate" is one of my favorite albums.

― djdee2005, Tuesday, 27 January 2004 04:19 (6 years ago) Bookmark

Oh wow. The extra 2 albums are because of a 3-way-tie for last!

Peng = 1992, Apple Venus vol. 1 = 1999

That means it's clear sailing from this point? UNEXPECTED!

I haven't heard Buhloone Mindstate in years, btw, but I loved it back then.

I hope some of the techno i voted for makes it. Would be sad if i was the only one who voted for it.

I think techno/house will probably do better in the tracks poll than here. There wasn't that much techno in the original 90s poll, so I assume there'll be even less here, since ILM has become more American between the two polls. Though Louis' points system might mean some unexpected techno albums could make it.

Yeah but they only got 1 pt each off me obviously.

By "more American" I mean that the number of American posters as compared to European posters has gone up, which'll probably mean less votes for techno, as it is/was more popular in here than in the US, especially during the 90s.

(x-post)

I wonder which C3rdi3cs album will place highest.

whatever his fave is? ;)

Yeah, I didn't read the whole banns thread so I couldn't catch his hints. MaresNest, me and dominique if he voted should secure us something at least.

98= Fugazi - End Hits (1998)
32 points
2 votes
0 first-place votes
Greatest contributor: M4tt H3lg3s0n

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_4qCmg4q7TQ0/SoRF-3rZn1I/AAAAAAAAAik/Sqz846zjJH8/s320/Fugazi_End_Hits.jpg

JP Almeida (JP Almeida) wrote this on thread Give me one great album (one only) on board I Love Music on 20-Sep-2003
Fugazi - End Hits

There was a time when End Hits was my favorite but I NEVER got the impression that was a consensus.

― Alex in Baltimore, Wednesday, 2 April 2008 18:05 (2 years ago) Bookmark

randomly grabbed End Hits from the rack today. "Recap Modotti" is so, so awesome.

― the evil genius of Zaiger Genetics (J0hn D.), Thursday, 6 August 2009 20:55 (8 months ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

I did this too! But yesterday. Such a solid album.

― #/.'#/'@ilikecats (g-kit), Thursday, 6 August 2009 20:59 (8 months ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

the last 30-45 seconds of Arpeggiator into the first, like 10-15 seconds of Guilford Fall=so fucking awesome

― Mr. Que, Thursday, 6 August 2009 21:02 (8 months ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

joe lally is a goddamn genius bass player.

― psychedelia smith (M@tt He1ges0n), Thursday, 6 August 2009 21:04 (8 months ago) Bookmark

Fuck that! I'm bringing _End Hits_, a box of wine, and some hot lovin' to your doorstep. Or whomevers. If you're interested. Folks.

Hello.

― David R. (popshots75`), Tuesday, 8 June 2004 03:22 (5 years ago) Bookmark

How did we move from a 3-way tie at 100 to 98?

98= Crowded House - Woodface (1991)
32 points
2 votes
0 first-place votes
Greatest contributor: Ismael Klata

http://img.sharedmp3.net/files/pics/643/642275/img_1_pr.jpg

"Woodface" by Crowded House. Best album of the entire 1990s.

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Monday, 3 March 2003 02:14 (7 years ago) Bookmark

oh no

I hate the rare occasions where I'm partly on board with Geir's opinions. It's not the best of the entire decade for certain, but Woodface is really good.

Get in! (was robbed, should've been top ten, etc)

That's the album with 'hey now, hey now, don't dream it's over' right? Oy vey.

Well I like ABBA and Queen so different strokes I guess.

guys the good news about this is now we can be fairly sure that geir didnt send in a ballot

xpost nope thats the self-titled one

the CHART-SMASHING hit off of woodface would have "chocolate cake" iirc

Yeah, Don't Dream It's Over is from 1986.

JJ you never her in the end :(

maybe your ballot and Geir's ballot would have done some antimatter shiz anyway

believe it or not, Geir doesn't vote in these kind of polls.

weather with you was the mind boringly dull hit from woodface was it not?

No, that was much earlier - Woodface had 'weather with you', 'four seasons in one day', various others. Fantastic songwriting and it sounds beautiful.

xp Some of Geir's posts on that Paul's vs Abbey Road thread were kind of phenomenal.

end hits! what a fantastic record. totally forgot to vote for any fugazi. silly. though I would have gone for killtaker if any...

MaresNest, me and dominique if he voted should secure us something at least.

I may have helped too.

Or mind-boringly dull, whatever.

believe it or not, Geir doesn't vote in these kind of polls.

He's too busy making his own lists on RYM to vote in our polls. Anyway, why would he want to risk clogging up lists with albums he deems imperfect?

hahahahaha yeah i got busy searching through the couch cushions for ring money and never got to it.

xpost wait what ismael? chocolate cake is def on this album.

Me & Geir, we're like *that*

You're right, I was replying to davek and got lost in xps

i am a lone voice in the wilderness that still thinks that "temple of low men" was their finest hour

Temple has some great songs, but the s/t and Woodface are overflowing with them.

I'm guessing Peng is the only one from my ballot that makes it. Probably.

People's individual ballots will certainly be interesting to see.

i am a lone voice in the wilderness that still thinks that "temple of low men" was their finest hour

― Q: What's brown and Sticky? A: The insect that lives in your stomach (jjjusten), Monday, April 26, 2010 7:49 PM (48 seconds ago) Bookmark

I would agree with this. Sister Madly might be my favourite song of theirs.

97 Sonic Youth - Washing Machine
32 points
4 votes
0 first-place votes
Greatest contributor: Jesse

http://images.uulyrics.com/cover/s/sonic-youth/album-washing-machine.jpg

GREAT record. Made me a total believer again after the nightmare of Dirty / EJST&NS.

― Stormy Davis (diamond), Wednesday, 7 December 2005 06:33 (4 years ago)

"The Diamond Sea" alone makes it worth it. Totally epic. One of SY's greatest songs.

Also, I've always loved the amazing "meta" uber-reflexive cover featuring pimply Lollapalooza teens wearing SY "washing machine" t-shirts.

― Jacobo Rock (jacobo rock), Wednesday, 7 December 2005 06:56 (4 years ago)

you're all OTM. one of my favorite SY records. someone gimme a vinyl compy so i can be a jerkoff. did it ever come out on LP? i love these songs: becuz, the diamond sea, saucer-like, skip tracer, washing machine (which has some intentionally brutal vocals but descends into gorgeous guitar jamz), little trouble girl...

fuckin classic.

― Special Agent Dale Koopa (orion), Wednesday, 7 December 2005 14:42 (4 years ago)

Classic. Only clunker is indeed "Panty Lies" which I hate more than almost any other SY song. The solo in the middle of "Washing Machine" is up in the stratosphere, and "Unwind" is one of the most beautiful songs I know.

― sleeve (sleeve), Wednesday, 7 December 2005 20:23 (4 years ago)

This is one of my favorite SY records. Probably my most favorite.

― Marty Innerlogic, Wednesday, 9 July 2008 18:18 (1 year ago)

KILL YOURSELF NYC DOUCHEBAG

― hstencil (hstencil), Wednesday, 7 December 2005 06:24 (4 years ago)

From 1995, btw.

ah yes

Three words we will never see in this thread:

Greatest contributor: ilxor

That said, I voted for Stereolab, XTC *and* De La Soul among my ~195 albums, and if that helped put them into the top 102 over the fuck knows how many albums received 30 points, then I've done my job already.

The great thing about SY is that, even though all their albums are tangentially similar, everyone is passionate about their own favorite. Me? I could care less about Washing Machine, but I know several people who swear by it.

It's all about "Skip Tracer" and "The Diamond Sea," surely I'm not the only one who swears by these tunes (even though the full album's a bit of a mess).

ilxor I can confirm that those three contributions were vital, and that you/pfunkboy together heaved Washing Machine into the top 100

xp JF otm, I think Sonic Nurse is the best they've ever been.

Woodface is near perfect.

Back in the 90s I had Peng w/ Switched On on one 90 min. cassette. What a perfect combo. Even now I keep those albums in one playlist and listen to them together.

And I think Sonic Nurse is second only to NYC Ghosts as their low point of the 00s. Funny how that works! xp

ilxor I can confirm that those three contributions were vital, and that you/pfunkboy together heaved Washing Machine into the top 100

Gerrin there!

i had washing machine @ #10 on my ballot fyi. its really p blissed out imo + "diamond sea" is like weather

"diamond sea" is like weather

:D this is kinda awesome and true

96 Björk - Debut (1993)
32 points
5 votes
0 first-place votes
Greatest contributor: Alex B

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_qIDBF62jwRo/SdSy48PwEKI/AAAAAAAAB24/tU4RoMqbB_k/s400/bjork-debut.jpg

i love the songwriting on debut! and i love the production, how clean it is, crisp yet detailed.

i think homogenic feels more like a landscape (didn't she record it in the mountains?) and debut is more about songwriting

― surmounter (rra123), Thursday, 25 January 2007 18:14 (3 years ago) Bookmark

Debut is so spare that it almost sounds like home recordings, which, in retrospect, is a large part of its charm. I love them both for different reasons but, at present, Debut ranks a bit higher because I still remember how GREAT "Big Time Sensuality" and "Violently Happy" sounded in clubs.

― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn (Alfred Soto), Thursday, 25 January 2007 18:26 (3 years ago) Bookmark

Victor Scott wrote this on thread Do you ever overload on a band or artist at a particular point in your life until one day you wake up and you just can't listen to them any more? on board I Love Music on 05-Aug-2005

My girlfriend did this with Bjork the result of which is much screaming and nashing of teeth when I attempt to listen to Hyperballad or something. This resulted from a common early nineties over-indulgence by young women in too much Debut.

:D

I love Debut...contains some of her absolute best songs.

Amazed this is so low. Didn't vote for it myself and can't really justify why not - can only assume others are the same.

Yeah this should have been on my ballot.

Voted for Debut, it's the best Björk album I've heard. So many classic songs, and the beats still sound as cool and elegant as they did 16 years ago, which certainly isn't the case with most mainstream dance albums of the era.

Debut still stands up really well but I think she got better with each of the albums she put out in the 90's.

I'm surprised Post made the original list and Debut didn't. I always thought Debut was seen as a classic first album and Post was a bit of a disappointment.

I've always preferred Post to Debut, but Post was my introduction to Bjork.

I guess it was the other round for me, for a long time I would have said Debut was my favourite but there's maybe three of her albums I go back to a lot more now.

I was never that fond of debut, the odd couple of tracks aside. for me, post was where she started becoming interesting...

Debut and Post are quite uneven listens for me...two or three classics offset by pockets of duds. Although Post has this colourful eclecticism like a good Basement Jaxx album which gives it a definitive charm as an overall listen. Homogenic is top to bottom perfection, wonderful highlights yet most importantly, more than the sum of its individual components/tracks. Although I was disappointed to see the hating on Alarm Call on a recent thread..

95 Mark Eitzel - Songs Of Love (1991)
33 points
1 vote
0 first-place votes
Contributor: purrington

http://image.musicimport.biz/sdimages/disk3/201622.jpg

he's one of the greatest solo live performers ever

― ara, Friday, 12 December 2003 18:54 (6 years ago) Bookmark

Lacking sufficient data, I'll leave Hollis out of this. Kozelek vs. Eitzel, no contest: Eitzel. Anecdotally speaking, both are positively nuts, but at least Eitzel is not the sort of nuts that leads him to start totally sucking at the peak of his career (I'm talkin' bout _Songs for a Blue Guitar_ here). Eitzel's songs are usually better-filled-out and structurally sound, at least harmonically speaking-- he doesn't have to play things at 26bpm to make them sound interesting. His voice is definitely a lot stronger. And when he wallows in self-pity, it's just a bit harder to spot because he's so much more articulate than Kozelek.

I'm a huge fan of both, mind (or at least I was a fan of Kozelek to a point... and I keep hearing about Sun Kil Moon, too, which gives me hope). It should also be pointed out that, despite being a talented songwriter, Eitzel has not yet mastered the art of tuning a guitar during a performance.

― r, Friday, 12 December 2003 17:19 (6 years ago) Bookmark

also, cool thing happened at mergefest last summer - eitzel was on the bill with she & him. naturally the turnout for she & him was past-capacity & there were lots of people in the crowd, some of them friends of mine, who had no idea who eitzel was and who weren't really planning on paying a lot of attention - they were there for the marquee act. eitzel proceeded to completely blow them all away. people went from "who is this guy?" to "this is the best show of the festival!" & were talking about it forever. and some of us back-in-the-day types were like, fuck yeah, score one for our side mark

― Lee Dorrian Gray (J0hn D.), Sunday, 24 January 2010 15:32 (3 months ago) Bookmark

hi lj how long will it take you to reveal the entire list?

A single vote? Well done that man.

About a week or so! Maybe less if I get into a groove. This week is a bit manic work-wise but tbh the more I have to do the harder I work, so this'll definitely form a substantial part of my ergonomic drive.

Anyway, this latest album. Just when you thought you were reading any old poll...

(I can confirm things are gonna get interesting, also would quite like to hear Eitzel now)

so far there's been 4 albums that i have/enjoy but didn't vote for (Buhloone, End Hits, Washing Machine and Debut). the De La just barely got cut from the end of my ballot where i gave a bunch of albums 1 point each, and i voted for different albums by Fugazi, SY and Bjork.

no wait i didn't vote for Bjork because Post was on the other list.

Spotify links:

Peng!
Apple Venus #1 - not on Spotify?
Buhloone Mind State - not there either
End Hits - nope
Woodface
Washing Machine
Debut
Songs of Love Live

Who is purrington?

strongo hulkington's cat iirc

Only one of mine so far (Peng!), presumably because the rest are in positions 1-15. Might have voted for Debut if I'd been reminded of it.

this wasn't even purrington's #1

94 Elliott Smith - Either/Or (1997)
33 points
3 votes
0 first-place votes
Greatest contributor: billstevejim

http://betterpropaganda.com/images/artwork/EitherXOr-Elliot_Smith_480.jpg

agh i cant stop listening to elliott smith agh

― 69 (plsmith), Friday, 5 January 2007 18:49 (3 years ago)

On the way to school today I sang along to Either/Or and enjoyed the hopefulness and feelings of change the songs invoke in me.

Also, everytime my thoughts return to where they were yesterday, the image of him in his last moments and how he must have felt, I'm forcing them back to happy memories like sharing a joint with him or watching him play. Today will be a better day.

I won't subject my kids to him again but I'm not ready for hip-hop. Today we're listening to Miles Davis.

― A Girl Named Sam (thatgirl), Thursday, 23 October 2003 12:01 (6 years ago) Bookmark

This is really sad... I was a fan, not so much of the last couple of records but Either/Or was the soundtrack to a really difficult time - I haven't been able to listen to it for years but maybe I should dig it out now.

― Matt DC (Matt DC), Wednesday, 22 October 2003 07:11 (6 years ago) Bookmark

Before he got all
Chest stabby; his music was
So very pretty.

-a hoy hoy

Tough call between this and his s/t album as my favorite ES album of the '90s (and that doesn't even include Heatmiser).

first album from my ballot! i gave it 2 whole points!

2 essential points

92= The Pharcyde - Bizarre Ride II The Pharcyde (1992)
33 points
4 votes
0 first-place votes
Greatest contributors: lamp, parenthetical grillz

http://lyrics.smashits.com/artwork/38/3882af189d72624b10adb186cb852670.jpg

Unbelievably, there hasn't been a thread devoted to Pharcyde, who are, in my opinion, one of the best rap groups ever. I think one listen to the first album could convince most people that this is the direction that rap music should have gone in instead of gangsta. Bizarre Ride II the Pharcyde is really an amazing album. The beats, courtesy of J-Swift, are great-- fun, jazzy, and upbeat; the lyrics are funny, self-deprecating, and jocular. What's really refreshing is that Pharcyde is just good fun without all the posturing, braggadocio, and hardness that comes out of a lot of rap. Listening to the first album is like hanging out with friends, a feeling that I rarely get from music, much less rap albums. Moreover, it's actually catchy.

You can't walk away from this album without feeling good. Pharcyde is like a better version of ATCQ-- one with funnier lyrics and better production. For this album alone, I say CLASSIC, but there are a number of good tracks on the second album too.

Has anyone who has heard Pharcyde not like them?

― punis (punis), Tuesday, 30 May 2006 20:00 (3 years ago) Bookmark

C/D : Pharcyde

I just noticed that rollercoaster comes out of an iron vagina.

Or goes into one, rather.

vagina dentata, no less (gotta say I noticed as soon as I GIS'd it)

Well I'll be ... I cut it late from my ballot, probably would've been worth a point for that

surprised to see debut so low! first from my ballot. i basically gave 20 points to 10 albums.

^^this is Al3x B, whose username I got wrong. He is a Greatest Contributor!

so proud

92= The Afghan Whigs - Black Love (1996)
33 points
4 votes
0 first-place votes
Greatest contributor: M4tt H3lg3s0n

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_IUKLs8mpGpk/SW-SzYzYhuI/AAAAAAAABr0/lDORqo0NNAc/s320/aw.jpg

Black Love can be fun if you want a 70's spy/cop show atmosphere thrown on top of things.

― Sean Carruthers (SeanC), Wednesday, 28 August 2002 18:11 (7 years ago)

Man, there is some great Shaft-style hi-hat + wacka-wacka guitar on Black Love.

― ilx chilton (James Redd and the Blecchs), Monday, 5 January 2009 04:21 (1 year ago)

Destroy: Black Love. A meandering, hookless soup of despair.

― Kenan Hebert (kenan), Saturday, 8 November 2003 06:06 (6 years ago)

as a fairly clueless young music fan I bought this without having heard anything by the band... I've never regretted it and keep coming back to it - compare that to all the albums I bought only to find that the single I already had was the only good thing on it or that the band I thought I loved had lost it... "Hookless" = you are on crack.

― Flyboy (Flyboy), Tuesday, 18 November 2003 13:22 (6 years ago)

Black Love. I could write a Lefsetzian rant on that mofo.

― Terrible Cold, Wednesday, 2 April 2008 16:31 (2 years ago)

GREAT ALBUM

gerrin there!

I fuck w/ this album.

Would've been on my ballot had I narrowed it down to top ten.

lol

91 Tori Amos - From The Choirgirl Hotel
34 points
1 vote
1 first-place vote
Contributor: The Lex

http://everythingtori.com/pm/uploads/music/tori_choirgirl.jpg

so this is probably my default favourite tori amos album, and therefore my default favourite album of the 90s. it's certainly amos at the height of her powers - somehow both her most accessible and her most experimental.

huge, huge turnaround from her previous work in that, having previously used a full band only occasionally, and mostly almost as an afterthought, the use of not just the band but weird electronic excursions on from the choirgirl hotel is so full-blooded and committed - "spark" for example is structurally and melodically a classic amos ballad but the surging arrangement lends it a real extra power. the whole album is really percussive - even on the ballads, the sense of rhythm is extraordinary.

anyway, lots to choose from! probably her most accomplished example of songcraft, "playboy mommy"; the aqueous percussion-and-bass of "liquid diamonds"; the deeply fucking weird electronic/structural mentalism of "iieee" and "hotel"; the, uh, cock-rock pastiche of "she's your cocaine"; the way she reacted to the van helden remix by making a pounding house joint herself - and pulling it off, "raspberry swirl" is a banger:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NXjMgolX3IM

i can't choose, like, at all.

― لوووووووووووووووووووول (lex pretend), Wednesday, 31 March 2010 15:25 (3 weeks ago)

omg i listened to from the choirgirl hotel for the first time in about a year last night, on the late train back to london - it fit the mood perfectly - and noted just that song! MINDMELD. i remember how, when it came out, that album blew my mind sonically, especially 'liquid diamonds': it's as if someone explained to tori that genres like free jazz and trip-hop existed, but that she didn't bother to listen to them before doing her take on them.

'liquid diamonds' is very...aquatic, but also decadent. a real sea of music.

the other song which still blows my mind is 'hotel' - about six completely different styles of music in one somehow-coherent song! kate bush trapped in a computer game shoot-em-up!

― The Lex (The Lex), Thursday, 10 November 2005 11:18 (4 years ago)

I love anyone who belives in fairys and fucks her paino on stage . She is passionite and has a voice that chills me, one of the better vocalists in the last 25-30 years.

― anthony, Saturday, 28 July 2001 00:00 (8 years ago)

ahh the 1st of the 1 high vote entries

it's gonna be pretty embarassing if my #1 vote is top 20

The Lex's enthusiasm for this record is kinda infectious, I gotta say. Although it only got in because he messed up his ballot and I ended up redistributing what turned out to be enough points to top-100 it.

Will you be posting later the list of albums with most votes?

I will, Pfunkboy

cool poll results thus far!

didn't realize how few points you needed to chart here, did ppl vote for 50 albums each?

To recap:

(tie) 100. Stereolab - Peng! (1992)
(tie) 100. XTC - Apple Venus, Vol. 1 (1999)
(tie) 100. De La Soul - Buhloone Mind State (1993)
(tie) 98. Fugazi - End Hits (1998)
(tie) 98. Crowded House - Woodface (1991)
97. Sonic Youth - Washing Machine (1995)
96. Björk - Debut (1993)
95. Mark Eitzel - Songs of Love (1991)
94. Elliott Smith - Either/Or (1997)
(tie) 92. The Pharcyde - Bizarre Ride II The Pharcyde (1992)
(tie) 92. The Afghan Whigs - Black Love (1996)
91. Tori Amos - From the Choirgirl Hotel (1998)

This could be the only albums poll in internet/music journo history with Cardiacs in the top ten.

Rejoice!

(Some of these don't seem old enough in my own mind to have been from the '90s. I'm ancient.)

the diamond sea is just about the greatest thing ever and it sort of dwarfs the rest of that album

also has a rly terrible cover

2 of mine made it, (heh the fugazi album i didnt vote for made it so hurrah)

nakhchivan there was a very good mix of voting-styles. (obviously I went with your first ballot, as you'd probably have worked out by now)

and yeah, I won't reveal anything but I am extremely happy with the 100, not for personal reasons but because it's such a delirious spread, and there's so much to hear - I can guarantee nobody on ILM will have heard more than, say, 2/3 of them

The Diamond Sea is so, so, so very good, yeah. I'm also highly partial to Little Trouble Girl

Oh and I do like the Mark Eitzel so it's nice to see that in

10 more tonight I think

I can guarantee nobody on ILM will have heard more than, say, 2/3 of them

Hell, I'm ALREADY batting at about .666

haha you shd have included the 2nd

however seeing the scores thus far you can be forgiven

Glad to see Peng! in here. Even although I didn't vote for it.

Shit, how'd I miss this :(

I guess there wasn't enough badgering. See, LJ?!!!

Hmmm, yeah, this is the first I've heard of this poll.

(Not sure I would've voted, anyway, just saying.)

Interesting beginning. The only one I haven't heard is the Mark Eitzel, but I've never warmed to his voice. I still own most of the rest, and the Pharcyde and De La albums were late cuts from my ballot. Nothing I've voted for so far - I don't have high hopes for more than 2 or 3 out of 10 placing at all.

There wasn't an actual nomination process, which may be why lots of people missed it. You just voted for whatever you wanted to, splitting up 200 points, and not including any titles that appeared on the original 1990s album poll.

ALL-NEW FREEFORM (SORTA) 1990s ALBUMS POLL: THE BANNS -- ALL OVER BAR THE SUPPLICATING :)

This has been a really good list so far. Some good unexpected choices and some I want to check out.

I can only imagine it will get much more niche/personalized from this point on.

90 UGK - Ridin' Dirty (1996)
34 points
4 votes
0 first-place votes
Greatest contributor: The Reverend

http://www.dodaj.rs/f/1l/5W/4AE4xI2D/ugk-ridin-dirty.jpg

I like Super Tight more overall, but this record starts with one of the best four-song stretches ever

― otto günne (The Reverend), Wednesday, 17 February 2010 07:11 (2 months ago)

agreed

― average dump from average gangsters (deej), Wednesday, 17 February 2010 10:47 (2 months ago)

They see me rollin
They hatin
Patrolling they tryin to catch me ridin dirty
Tryin to catch me ridin dirty
Tryin to catch me ridin dirty
Tryin to catch me ridin dirty
Tryin to catch me ridin dirty
My music so loud
I'm swangin
They hopin that they gon catch me ridin dirty
Tryin to catch me ridin dirty
Tryin to catch me ridin dirty
Tryin to catch me ridin dirty
Tryin to catch me ridin dirty

Police think they can see me lean
I'm tint so it ain't easy to be seen
When you see me ride by they can see the glean
And my shine on the deck and the TV screen
Ride with a new chick, she like hold up
Next to the playstation controller is a full clip and my pistola
Turn a jacker into a coma
Girl you ain't know, I'm crazy like Krayzie Bone
Just tryin to bone ain't tryin to have no babies
Rock clean itself so I pull in ladies
Laws of patrolling you know they hate me
Music turned all the way up until the maximum
I can speak for some niggas tryin to jack for some
But we packin somethin that we have and um will have a nigga locked up in the maximum
Security cell, I'm grippin oak
Music loud and tippin slow
Twist and twistin like hit this dough
Pull up from behind and is in his throat
Windows down gotta stop pollution
CDs change niggas like who is that producing?
This the Play-N-Skillz when we out and cruisin
Got warrants in every city except Houston but I'm still ain't losin

I been drinkin and smokin holdin shit cause a brother can't focus
I gotta get to home 'fore the po po's scope this big ol Excursion swerving all up in the curve man
Nigga been sippin on that Hennessey and the gin again is in again we in the wind
Doin a hundred while I puff on the blunt
And rollin another one up, we livin like we ain't givin a fuck
I got a revolver in my right hand, 40 oz on my lap freezing my balls
Roll a nigga tree, green leaves and all
Comin pretty deep, me and my do-jo
I gotta get back to backstreets
Wanted by the six pound and I got heat glock glock shots to the block we creep creep
Pop Pop hope cops don't see me, on a low key
With no regards for the law we dodge em like fuck em all
But I won't get caught up and brought up on charges for none of y'all
Keep a gun in car, and a blunt to spark, but well if you want, nigga you poppin dark
Ready or not we bust shots off in the air Krayzie Bone and Chamillionaire

Do what you thinkin so, I tried to let you go
Turn up a blink of light and I swang it slower
A nigga upset for sure cause they think they know that they catchin me with plenty of the drink and dro
So they get behind me tryin to check my tags, look at my rearview and they smilin
Thinkin they'll catch me on the wrong well keep tryin
Cause they denyin is racial profiling
Houston, TX you can check my tags
Pull me over try to check my slab
Glove compartment gotta get my cash
Cause the crooked cops try to come up fast
And been a baller that I am I talk to them, giving a damn bout not feeling my attitude
When they realize I ain't even ridin dirty bet you'll be leavin with an even madder mood
I'mma laugh at you then I'mma have to cruise I'm in number two on some more DJ Screw
You can't arrest me plus you can't sue
This a message to the laws tellin them WE HATE YOU
I can't be touched or tell 'em that they shoulda known
Tippin' down, sittin' crooked on my chrome
Bookin' my phone, tryin' to find a chick I wanna bone
Like they couldn't stop me I'mma 'bout to pull up at your home and it's on

― That one guy that hit it and quit it, Wednesday, 19 December 2007 10:11 (2 years ago)

^I'd be interested in checking that out because I adored International Players Anthem and they completely out-rap Jay-Z on Big Pimpin'. It's not on spotify though..

was pleased to see Bjork's "Debut" there; can't believe so many great albums didn't make the original list!

dude make a separate results thread plz

hahaha oh nevermind duh me

A separate results thread from the results thread?

89 Grifters - Crappin' You Negative
35 points
1 vote
1 first-place vote
Contributor: drench

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/7c/Grifters_Crappin%27_You_Negative_CD_cover.jpg

I always thought that Crappin You Negative and Eureka were better than anything Sebadoh or Pavement ever did (except maybe Slanted/Enchanted is as good). At least for me, they were my favorite band of that time.

My first experience of The Grifters was seeing them open for Fugazi on freaking hot race day in Indianapolis a couple of months before Crappin You Negative came out. One of the best shows I ever saw, it was in this old run down theatre and it was so damn hot you could see clouds of steam rise from the crowd, when you were at the back.

I saw them a couple of years later in Lexington after Ain't My Lookout came out in a small club. Another good show. The drummer was so loose and could drive the band where he wanted.

I think getting all of the side projects and the fact that they were together for so long before anything really started to happen for them hastened their departure. There are some good songs on the frist Those Bastards... record that would probably have been even better as The Grifters with some live dynamics and not just tracked together.

On another note, I was always impressed with the sound of Crappin You Negative and Eureka for being pretty good for being done quite a bit with 4 tracks.

― earlnash, Sunday, 23 June 2002 00:00 (7 years ago)

Crappin You Negative and Eureka E.P. are two of my all-time favorites.

Piddlebach is the coolest fucking song ever recorded.

I am done here.

― J. Grizzle (trainsmoke)

with the D tuning try making this chord.

it'a just a thre--fingered chord, all in the same fret.

if it's like this

1
2
3
4
5
6

then on the same fret hold down 1, 2, and 4
and slide that baby around the neck some.

------*---
------*---
----------
------*---
----------
----------

if you hit a sour chord just slide whichever finger you have on the 4th string and slide it down one fret.

------*------
------*------
-------------
---------*---
-------------
-------------

this is like, a zillion grifters songs.

― Tripp (trippl)

Trippster

get Dragoon to the Hull Adelphi or even the Lincoln Imp in Scunthorpe and I'll play Grifteroke.

Are you insured?

Long live Grifters.

Fuck you doubters.

― Fer Ark, Friday, 27 June 2008 19:32 (1 year ago)

Crappin You Negative is A++ scuzz, sounds like a rock band should.

― The Amy Misto Family Knife (Plasmon), Monday, 19 April 2010 04:01 (1 week ago)

Grifters: C er D?

did my votes get counted? I don't remember

oh man grifters...sheet that's a good un

this is kinda weird cause i was just talking to a co-worker of mine about that Hull show this afternoon I swear to god.
Told him how I made the classic american blunder...

our FIRST show overseas was in Hull, England. We flew into london, went and rented our equipment, stopped at a truck stop and had mushy peas and gravy then hit the road for the 5 or so hour drive to Hull.
So we were pretty zapped. When we finally pulled into the verdant paradise that is Hull (wink) I went right to the bar and got a beer. the big lug that ran the place and apparently lived upstairs (?) gave me a nice big pint and I took a sip and said 'Whoa man, I think your refrigeration unit is out or somethin;...'

So he loved me, I'm sure.

that was also the night whassisname came to the show and wrote about it. ... ...... god what was his name......
Everett True!

I remember my bass fell off me during our set and the head of he bass landed on my beer glass. But I caught it by the strap so it didn't fully hit the floor, the head just hit the pint glass with a 'tong' sound and a big triangular piece of glass broke off and landed in the glass. Since it was my last beer (fuckin' drink tickets!) I picked it up, pulled out the shard of glass and finished it off from the unbroken side.

hey. I've done grosser shit, believe me.

Btut Everett romanticized that moment in his article like it was some great punk rock moment. Really, I'm just a clumsy drunk.

― Tripp lamkins (trippl), Friday, 2 February 2007 00:38 (3 years ago)

^^^ XDDDDDD will definitely listen to this band now

(also, Shakey Mo, they did indeed! you may rest easy)

I'm thinking Crappin' You Negative is probably an album I'd appreciate more now than I did in 1994. Gonna go back and re-evaluate.

88 The Dismemberment Plan - Emergency & I (1999)
35 points
3 votes
0 first-place votes
Greatest contributor: sofatruck

http://www.merryswankster.com/images/Dismemberment.jpg

TDP, and "Emergency & I" in particular, is one of those things I just can't talk about rationally. To cop a well-worn phrase, not liking them is like not liking the sun. Of course I feel that way about the Beatles so consider the source.

― Jack Redelfs, Sunday, 23 September 2001 00:00 (8 years ago)

as much as i enjoy them, I have to concede that they're certainly an acquired taste (like anything of worth, in my opinion). their quality is not an absolute, even to fans of the type of music they play, however you choose to define it. There are days when it sounds as paper thin to me as it must to those who dismiss the hype, so i definitely sympathize. But one thing that's hard to take issue with is that they're good at what they do, which I think is pretty rare, really. And if you want to see effort and ambition as overearnestness, so be it.

as for the 'classic' issue, that's a thorny word to throw around, but i can only speak for myself that I already know that these are some records and shows that i'll look back on fondly in the years to come. as for "Change", i already love most of the songs from hearing them live, but have my dooubts as to whether it'll continue to step up their hype momentum. it's kind of one of those records that's too low-key (by their standards) to really maintain the excitement they've been generating lately, but it'll probably still be their biggest yet, although i think E&I will remain the most effective (and most flattering) introduct

― al, Thursday, 4 October 2001 00:00 (8 years ago)

If Louis's reading this I think he'll love the last two D Plan albums.

― Scik Mouthy, Monday, 5 March 2007 16:36 (3 years ago)

yeah, the Dismemberment Plan are awesome. Emergency & I is one of my top albums of the last 10 years, no questions.

― Lee F# (fsharp), Thursday, 28 April 2005 06:50 (4 years ago)

TDP kicks much. Such inventiveness, such style.
Classsssssssssic.

― Squirrel_Police (Squirrel_Police), Thursday, 13 March 2003 07:47 (7 years ago)

did you love the last two D-Plan albums??

never really listened to them

but I do have them

Change never worked for me...but E&I has some absolutely killer songs. A scarred and charred Weezer. Definitely give it a good go.

good choice

I can't listen to D-Plan. Travis and I didn't get along way back when, and I can't get past the memories.

That's al-legedly some dude's first-ever ILX post, in that round-up there

http://www.merryswankster.com/images/Dismemberment.jpg

^^^jesus I wouldn't listen to anything that came in such a godawful eyesore of a package. wtf

87 The Afghan Whigs - Gentlemen (1993)
35 points
4 votes
0 first-place votes
Greatest contributor: Ismael Klata

http://www.terapija.net/fotke/portret/20061120_103938_3.jpg

Of course not liking the album is a subjective choice but it's always been classic in my book.The single best bad relationship album ever.I pretty much love everything about the album from the lyrics to the slide guitar sound to the song order & of course female perspective on "My Curse".
I always thought Black Love was an attempt to recreate this one on a grander scale only Dulli seemed like he was just playing the bad ass.Gentlemen seemed to come from his heart.
Of course if you don't like Dulli's voice you're out of luck.God knows it's an acquired taste.Always seems like he's straining to stay in tune.Combined with the woozy slide sound it takes some getting used to.And yeah the lyrics are great.

― evan chronister (evan chronister), Monday, 11 April 2005 04:49 (5 years ago)

o fuck like rickey said if yr lumping it in with sebodah yr looking for shit that aint there. its a big arrogant MALE record - rawk! - that falters and reveals itself as self centred arrogant nasty precious crude preening. dulli is a prick - in the lacanian sense.

― mullygrubbr (bulbs), Monday, 11 April 2005 06:46 (5 years ago)

oh god. wounded animal record. best relationship/breakup album ever. frighteningly un self- edited. it's all out there, or in here. dulli's voice is awesome. "i've go a dick for a brain / and my brain is gonna sell my ass to you".

― stevie (stevie), Monday, 11 April 2005 13:40 (5 years ago)

When I got rid of my albums to devote myself to songs, Gentlemen was one of the four I couldn't bear to let go. That said, I've never quite been totally convinced of its greatness - it somehow feels just a little bit too unrelenting in its grittiness. Torn between 'My Curse' and 'Brother Woodrow', but it's hard not to vote for the title track

― Ismael Klata, Tuesday, 2 June 2009 12:54 (10 months ago)

this album's sound and U2 have some things in common

― Zeno, Wednesday, 3 June 2009 00:20 (10 months ago)

I can only imagine it will get much more niche/personalized from this point on.

― Johnny Fever, Monday, April 26, 2010 6:19 PM (30 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

i don't understand. don't you think there'll be more albums with more than 3 or 4 voters the further we go up? i mean even if a large number of voters gave one album the majority of their points those records would still make up just a small portion of the top 100.

lmao @ lj quoting Chamillionaire's "Ridin'" as a blurb for UGK's Ridin' Dirty. glad my 8 points helped that one make the cut.

haha yeah that is my first post!

lmao @ lj quoting Chamillionaire's "Ridin'" as a blurb for UGK's Ridin' Dirty

my face is a million sadnesses

some dude's voting patterns have borne fruit, what can I say?

i don't understand. don't you think there'll be more albums with more than 3 or 4 voters the further we go up? i mean even if a large number of voters gave one album the majority of their points those records would still make up just a small portion of the top 100.

I'm thinking people's #1 votes will start showing up with one or two backing votes (or, if enough points were allotted, NO backing votes). Seeing people's pet favorites will surely be interesting. My own #1 vote wasn't something I'd normally include in such a list, but I wanted to ensure it placed.

another one from my list makes it

85= Neil Young - Harvest Moon
36 points
2 votes
0 first-place votes
Greatest contributor: Captain Ahab

http://www.theartwolf.com/imagenestAW/Neil_Young_Harvest_Moon.jpg

also half of Harvest Moon bores me to tears

― CeCe Peniston (Anthony Miccio), Sunday, 25 July 2004 22:35 (5 years ago)

Harvest Moon is pretty boring.

― Hell is other people. In an ILE film forum. (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 11 November 2009 00:36 (5 months ago)

yeah Harvest Moon is like 50% of a good record

― squarefair (Shakey Mo Collier), Wednesday, 11 November 2009 00:48 (5 months ago)

sometimes, Neil Young. esp. the Harvest Moon album which I like a lot for reasons I don't fully understand.

― M@tt He1geson (Matt Helgeson), Monday, 14 June 2004 22:37 (5 years ago)

I voted Harvest Moon. I love that record & I have a very particular history with it.

― Mark, Wednesday, 11 November 2009 03:38 (5 months ago)

Harvest Moon is pretty boring.

― Hell is other people. In an ILE film forum. (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 11 November 2009 00:36 (5 months ago)

Soto in complete correctness shocka.

88 The Dismemberment Plan - Emergency & I (1999)
35 points
3 votes
0 first-place votes
Greatest contributor: sofatruck Pitchfork

I dunno, Pitchfork was hardly the tastemaking monolith in 1999 that it is 11 years later.

It was just one of the hundreds of indie rock review sites that rose above the others by shelling out the cash for its own domain name.

Ha. Pretty true really. I can't seem to find my ballot, but I basically picked 10 or 12 albums off the top of my head and gave them equal points. I did hear about this one from pfork... no regrets, still love this album.

I did hear about this one from pfork...

I bet this is the case for most people who jumped on board at E&I.

85= Biosphere - Substrata
36 points
2 votes
0 first-place votes
Greatest contributor: ciderpress

http://dezji.files.wordpress.com/2008/09/substrata.jpg

I was really hoping there'd be like 500 votes for this poll

― rockapads, Monday, 16 June 2008 23:31 (1 year ago)

substrata is great!

― weasel diesel (K1l14n), Friday, 20 February 2004 12:38 (6 years ago)

i find people describe a lot of albums as beatless when they aren't really, but substrata seemed to quite genuinely fit the description.

― weasel diesel (K1l14n), Friday, 20 February 2004 12:50 (6 years ago)

Biosphere's "Substrata" is as arctic as it gets. And his "Polar Sequences" too...

― Siegbran Hetteson, Friday, 19 July 2002 00:00 (7 years ago)

i gave a bunch of points to Biosphere - Substrata

i hope i'm not the only one...

― ciderpress, Friday, 5 March 2010 02:59 (1 month ago)

I don't even know what this is.

first one i don't have the slightest clue what it is. techno?

heh xpost

Wikipedia says ambient.

so quiet techno

about 90% of the ILX posts about it are by Ki11ian

and about 8% by Siegbran

although it transpires that cutty is a fan

I'm intrigued - lovely album-cover at least, and if it's in the same quality-bracket as Global Communication I'd be well up for hearing it

also al I can't believe you even questioned whether this was techno I mean look at the name + the cover hey you never know it might be postpunk! XD

or some really goddamn undie hip-hop lol

eh there are so low level mid-90s major label alt-rock records with artwork like that

when i 1st started posting here i tht geir was the geir from biosphere i hav no memory of why tho

substrata is def a classic but i like some of the supermnml dronier stuff hes done more recently

eh there are so low level mid-90s major label alt-rock records with artwork like that

this is a good point, but I was thinking a combination of that + the band-name + the album-name

I like Super Tight more overall, but this record starts with one of the best four-song stretches ever

― otto günne (The Reverend), Wednesday, 17 February 2010 07:11 (2 months ago)

Confession: I didn't vote for Super Tight because I thought Ridin' Dirty would have better chance of making it.

I only voted for 10 albums, all either canonical, or at least ILM-beloved rap albums. Strategy ahoy.

more and more i'm kinda wishing i'd done that too, but eh what's done is done.

ha re: bizarre ride II the pharcyde it was #09 on my ballot so lol @ me giving it the most points. loving it so much probably makes me an herb but its kinda like that majesticons album mike ladd made - jittery and jokey and self-obsessed and easy to like - & i basically vibe everything abt fatlip

thought abt voting for ugk but ended up voten stuff i liked a little better :/

Substrata doesn't have a single beat in it, so it's definitely "quiet techno". Great album to go to sleep to, but I spent my Biosphere vote on Patashnik, which I think is more fully realized work. The two albums Biosphere and Pete Namlook did as The Fires of Ork are dope too.

substrata deserves its iconic status just for sampling major briggs dream speech from twin peaks

Biosphere were great, awesome to see it in the poll.

Though Substrata has one of the finest uses of a vocal sample ever, when it juxtaposes Major Briggs' monologue from Twin Peaks with Jenssen's Himalayan soundscapes.

(x-post with Lamp, ha!)

ok gonna do the rest of the night's polling to the soundscapes of Substrata - this had better be good you guys!

It is!

http://open.spotify.com/album/6jeIzUv8Bff4fFElZwwA4B

heh Lamp / Tuomas, I was just about to say. It also has the giant saying "sorry to wake you..."

This is a great winter album.

Am loving the start! 1997, btw

glad to see biosphere. strongly considered voting for the same album and love patashnik also.

if it's in the same quality-bracket as Global Communication I'd be well up for hearing it

― sausage s4rgent (acoleuthic), Monday, April 26, 2010 7:57 PM (10 minutes ago) Bookmark

it's on par, but maybe darker and dronier than GC? been a while since i listened to them. think "poa alpina" off substrata might combine GC-type prettiness with his usual wintery atmosphere. let us know what you think!

It's got something of the Slowdive - Pygmalion about it (Poa Alpina being the song I've just sat through) and yeah I can see myself getting along very well with this music.

This album is somewhere between Gas and GC. It's not my favorite Biosphere album but it's pretty good.

82= Missy Elliott - Da Real World
36 points
4 votes
0 first-place votes
Greatest contributor: The Lex

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_qEiTSJ7FhGs/SUREUe1A-9I/AAAAAAAAAYQ/-z3fw6sbzZc/s320/missyeliottmissynr5.jpg

"Da Real World" is possibly my favourite, but I reckon all the albums are quite consistent in terms of quality. "...So Addictive" has some of her most fabulous work ever - the stretch from "One Minute Man" to "Scream AKA Itchin" is absolutely astonishing - but strangely the tracks don't seem to build on eachother as well as on the previous albums.

"Da Real World" is not the place to start - too cool and stylistically consistent. I think that is its strength, but as an introduction it would be its weakness.

― Tim, Thursday, 19 July 2001 00:00 (8 years ago)

Missy's most consistent album by a long way. There are at least six tracks I'd happily vote for, I'll have to think about this. Luckily I have almost a year!

― chap, Thursday, 6 November 2008 18:33 (1 year ago)

MR DJ PLAY DAT ONE MORE TIME
SO ME AND MISSY ELLIOTT CAN MOVE WE WAISTLINE

― lex pretend, Thursday, 6 November 2008 19:32 (1 year ago)

AMAZING ALBUM.

― Tim F, Wednesday, 9 September 2009 23:15 (7 months ago)

Everyone is a bitch
But no-one comes close to
Missy, the queen B.

-a hoy hoy

thought about voting for that, didn't

glad it's here in spite

ditto

82= Mogwai - Mogwai Young Team
36 points
4 votes
0 first-place votes
Greatest contributor: Gravel Puzzleworth

http://mogwai.sandbag.uk.com/Content/58.jpg

I hadn't listened to Young Team in probably a year and a half before this morning, but this album remains an utter masterpiece of mood and tension, a collection of muted, fucked-up, drifting-to-sleep emotions. There's an unbelievable implied depth (sonic? emotional?) to the songs, something that's really hard to get at from merely describing the sound or the methodology of the record. I like to think that there's a certain place in the world -- maybe some pocket of air a few hundred feet in the air over the ocean -- where the theme from "Tracy" plays endlessly. Is anyone else still listening to Young Team?

― Clarke B. (Clarke B.), Sunday, 9 May 2004 14:44 (5 years ago)

Opening track. I still think 'Young Team' is basically all you need to know about this band, apart from the odd EP track. I've never really liked any of their other albums. Ever-diminishing returns and all that. This one is definitely a classic of 90s post-rock, even if it does totally rip off 'Siamese Dream' in places.

― ears are wounds, Friday, 20 March 2009 11:27 (1 year ago)

everything starts and end with Young Team,and it's hard to believe they will ever make again anything of sagnificent

― Zeno, Sunday, 16 December 2007 19:49 (2 years ago)

I was reviewing records for KALX when "Young Team" came out and wrote a sprawling two paragraph thing that proclaimed it "better than sex" -- I was wrong.

― Sterling Clover (s_clover), Monday, 9 December 2002 22:41 (7 years ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

erm... mogwai was great sexmusic. at least, young team was.

― kate, Monday, 9 December 2002 22:51 (7 years ago)

mogwai: rock.

― grimly fiendish (grimlord), Friday, 18 February 2005 10:59 (5 years ago)

I like about half of that album! But some of it is slightly dated! It was a great gateway drug to avant-rock for my younger self! I have another album primed to post! Maybe I'll leave it until tomorrow morning!

Substrata is still really good!

Fine, I'll do the last two!

82= 2pac - All Eyez On Me
36 points
4 votes
0 first-place votes
Greatest contributor: The Reverend

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_GhJGoTBwAPc/Sb9tEGhBH3I/AAAAAAAABCE/0fWrXxedeOk/s400/All+Eyez+On+Me+(pred).jpg

Tupac is pretty bad. This album is just like all of his cliched dross. Dud.

― paulhw (paulhw), Thursday, 11 August 2005 19:19 (4 years ago)

My favourite hip-hop album. Mainly because of the production and backing track. Might have preferred it without the rapping, but I used to love the G-funk sound, which was probably the closest the 90s ever got to 80s influenced electro.

― Geir Hongro, Thursday, 3 January 2008 12:43 (2 years ago)

yeah man, greatest drum sound ever. PSHHHHHHH.

― Alex in Baltimore, Wednesday, 5 September 2007 17:24 (2 years ago)

i like all the tracks really its just kinda different moods and shit, like when you wanna hear all about u is not the same as when you wanna hear life goes on or the weak california love remix

― and what, Wednesday, 5 September 2007 17:35 (2 years ago)

ambition az a ridah cuz i ain't mad at cha makes me want to kill myself l;

-- luriqua, Wednesday, September 5, 2007 7:52 PM (7 months ago)

wtf @ haters

― BIG HOOS aka the steendriver, Thursday, 3 January 2008 02:42 (2 years ago)

(1996)

(and Mogwai was 1997)

(and Missy was 1999)

So far, strategy is working.

LOTS OF TIES! Recap so far:

(tie) 100. Stereolab - Peng! (1992)
(tie) 100. XTC - Apple Venus, Vol. 1 (1999)
(tie) 100. De La Soul - Buhloone Mind State (1993)
(tie) 98. Fugazi - End Hits (1998)
(tie) 98. Crowded House - Woodface (1991)
97. Sonic Youth - Washing Machine (1995)
96. Björk - Debut (1993)
95. Mark Eitzel - Songs of Love (1991)
94. Elliott Smith - Either/Or (1997)
(tie) 92. The Pharcyde - Bizarre Ride II The Pharcyde (1992)
(tie) 92. The Afghan Whigs - Black Love (1996)
91. Tori Amos - From the Choirgirl Hotel (1998)
90. UGK - Ridin' Dirty (1996)
89. Grifters - Crappin' You Negative (1994)
88. The Dismemberment Plan - Emergency & I (1999)
87. The Afghan Whigs - Gentlemen (1993)
(tie) 85. Neil Young - Harvest Moon (1992)
(tie) 85. Biosphere - Substrata (1997)
(tie) 82. Missy Elliott - Da Real World (1999)
(tie) 82. Mogwai - Young Team (1997)
(tie) 82. 2pac - All Eyez On Me (1996)

Nothing from me yet. An intriguing list so far.

6 I've heard so far. (Rap albums + Bjork)

Last one for the evening coming up

81 Metallica - Metallica (The Black Album) (1991)
37 points
2 votes
1 first-place vote
Greatest contributor: RedRaymaker

http://musicmedia.ign.com/music/image/article/911/911683/metallica-20080919045507879-000.jpg

I don't understand the problem. Metallica broke up in 1989 and sold their name to some boy-band. Who cares?

― Phil Freeman (Phil Freeman), Wednesday, 21 January 2004 14:53 (6 years ago)

stick up yr butt rock rules.

― M@tt He1geson (Matt Helgeson), Wednesday, 21 January 2004 16:47 (6 years ago)

I like how nearly everyone on this thread pretneds not to *LOVE* the black album.

― Bobby Peru (Bobby Peru), Wednesday, 2 November 2005 06:38 (4 years ago)

I thought the production was nice (especially coming off ...And Justice for All) but it didn't get the blood flowing like their earlier records. It seemed like an olive branch to the middle of the road.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Wednesday, 2 November 2005 14:32 (4 years ago)

The black album has some catchy tunes too, but they're too heavy for my tastes. Except of course for "Nothing Else Matters", the ultimate nineties teen disco slow tune.

― Tuomas, Tuesday, 24 July 2007 11:30 (2 years ago)

I kinda hope poseurs like me voting for the Black Album end up beating out the vote-splitting of the 80s albums just to piss off the real metalheads.

― Alex in Baltimore, Tuesday, 17 July 2007 15:21 (2 years ago)

I've heard all but Biosphere, UGK, Pharcyde and XTC so far, and of the ones I've heard I actually like most of them. Good work, ILM (though I'm not on board with Mogwai and Dismemberment).

wow i haven't listened to the black album in like 8+ years probably, maybe i should give it a spin for old times sake

none of my votes in yet (my ballot was essentially 100% corny 90s indie, not sure if this stuff will wind up at the top or out of the running)

This is great! Well done Louis.

I still remember the feeling of hearing Young Team with friends and the total certainty that this, this was the magic potion.

lol i gave the Black Album 1 point, which means the one other person gave it all 36 of its other points. totally deserves to be here, though, glad i helped it in and made sure it wasn't a 1 vote wonder.

Really enjoying this. I debated between a ballot of albums I listened to in the early 90s (high school years), and those I still listen to. The Black Album would probably have been number 1 for me if I had gone the first route.

It's a terrific album. All the songs are really strong. They didn't get anywhere near it in future years until "Death Magnetic" in 2009. Well worth a listen again if you haven't listened to it for a few years.

This poll is more brilliant and hilarious than I dared hope.

I still remember the feeling of hearing Young Team with friends and the total certainty that this, this was the magic potion.

likewise. still think MYT is a really beautiful album. they never really topped this record for me, except perhaps for 'my father,my king' and the EP version of 'xmas steps'.

never get why people vote strategically in ILX polls, btw. especially one like this. antithetical to both spirit and purpose.

should have a thread on this bizarro emotional need to justify yr love for some record

"I was worried that MC Tunes would not receive his gold statue and 2 million Euro cash prize if he failed to place on the ILX 90s Poll"

Shit, forgot to vote for MC Tunes

oh man, it all kicked off and I missed it

glad the Grifters made it as it got cut from mine - and I still voted for so many things that none of my votes have made any difference to anything, so

man if Biosphere is only #86 then I guess all the other ambient/techno went straight in the bin (I have never found him as compelling as his reputation and the fierce praise of pretty much every other electronic music listener wd suggest but good to see it place nonetheless)

but anything could happen, still

Biosphere is the only thing I voted for so far, but there's definitely more ambient/techno stuff to come I'll betcha.

i didn't think i gave an unusually high number of points to from the choirgirl hotel! well, i hope lots of people check it out now.

I have never found him as compelling as his reputation and the fierce praise of pretty much every other electronic music listener wd suggest but good to see it place nonetheless.

Well yeah, this was one reason I didn't vote for Substrata... It's a nice record, but also it sounds exactly what you would expect an ambient album inspired by trip to the Himalayas to sound, there's nothing suprising or particularly innovative about it. I guess Biosphere is just the stereotypical ambient artist (right down to his personal myth of being a dude living in semi-isolation in the middle of North Norwegian countryside), with all the good and the bad that it entails.

Lex, you gave it 30 in your original ballot, but after I'd reassigned points given to ineligible albums it had 34, which took it into the poll. Nothing wrong with any of that, though, and I hope people give it a listen! I certainly will.

you'll probably love it tbh

I'd like to say the points reassignment took Missy Elliott into the top 100 too, but I think she'd have come about 96th otherwise

I still remember the feeling of hearing Young Team with friends and the total certainty that this, this was the magic potion.

likewise. still think MYT is a really beautiful album. they never really topped this record for me, except perhaps for 'my father,my king' and the EP version of 'xmas steps'.

You guys OTM.

Mogwai themselves are critical of MYT, and I see their point. They needed an editor at that stage. Revised tracklist:

1. Yes! I Am...
2. Like Herod
3. Tracy
-
4. R U Still In 2 It
5. Like Herod

^^^^much, much better shape to the album now

you've excised summer, with portfolio, a cheery wave and fear satan! madness!

I mean, FEAR SATAN!?!?

or should that second herod be satan?

oops

yes, yes it should

never get why people vote strategically in ILX polls, btw. especially one like this. antithetical to both spirit and purpose.

I don't know... seems to me that the rules to this poll made for nothing but strategic voting.

I'm kind of surprised that "Buhloone Mindstate" placed so low, considering it seems to be pretty well-liked judging from the comments on that thread. Oh well, I'm gratified I could do my part to get it onto this list. I listened to it again last night in honor of its placing.

I think some of the low placers like Buhloone Mindstate would have done better if this had been like the other recent polls (40 for first, 39 for second, etc); I know it would have been on my ballot. I think more people were like me and decided on a shorter list with more weight for their top picks. I still don't get strategic voting in any of these polls - I vote for my favorites. If they place, cool. If not, whatever.

I think more people were like me and decided on a shorter list with more weight for their top picks

^strategy.

That's not so much strategy as trying to weigh your own liking. Not the same as fretting over some kind of tactical masterplan to ensure that the right albums get their just reward.

The strategy I was talking about is voting for stuff high on the ballot even if it isn't how one would rank it normally (that's what people do on the other polls, which aren't free form). I ranked mine the same as I would have if points were fixed.

Fair enough. The extent of my strategy was deciding to vote for what I ranked highly in say 1991 vs. what I rank highly now. I went with the latter, but I feel a pang of guilt now not voting the Black Album.

I know this can be quite an irritating feature on threads like this, but - any predictions for top ten? Am I being too hopeful in hoping for Giant Steps in the top five?

4 from my ballot have placed already, and I think maybe 7 or 8 of the rest have a shot. I haven't a clue what will be in the top 10 though.

LJ specifically asked people NOT TO GUESS.

Also, none of mine have appeared yet.

none of mine have placed. actually there's a remarkable amount i haven't heard yet. Actually now I look at the list, the only one I'm properly familiar with is Either/Or. I mean, I own Debut and Bizarre Ride II and probably got Peng! somewhere, but I never properly listened.

LJ specifically asked people NOT TO GUESS.

I'm gonna guess....

.... you try and stop me...

zip it, frame

Am I being too hopeful in hoping for Giant Steps in the top five?

Isn't Giant Steps from the 60s? Or is there another album by the same name I'm aware of?

EVERYONE SHUT UP

I have to say that this the sort of a rare poll where I have no idea what might be in the top 10.

Yes, it's really exciting!

I'm excited to see where Extreme II: Pornograffitti places.

FUCK

well the rules make it kinda impossible to guess, right? because you have no idea how people will have allocated their points.

I was actually told the top 15 in a dream last night in which a blind dwarf tapped out the titles in morse code on my window with a dead bird and now you will never know if this prophecy is true or not :(

With Mogwai appearing already I'm only certain about 1-14 now.

Honestly, last week I wouldn't have guessed we'd see any results at all, so my prognostications should probably be shrugged off. Or fucked off, your choice.

"Dr Adamski's Musical Pharmacy" FTW!

well the rules make it kinda impossible to guess, right? because you have no idea how people will have allocated their points.

exactly, so you shouldn't guess. especially if all you're guessing is something you've voted for. keep it like a secret.

Isn't Giant Steps from the 60s? Or is there another album by the same name I'm aware of?

Surely in all this time on ILX you must have read one of my posts at some point? ;-)

I SAID

79= Built To Spill - Keep It Like A Secret (1999)
37 points
3 votes
0 first-place votes
Greatest contributor: kingkongvsgodzilla

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_-g8MBq7XW14/SaCy2xHyPWI/AAAAAAAAAD4/0q4N_6bFW9o/s400/Built+To+Spill+-+Keep+It+Like+A+Secret+-+1999.jpg

"Keep It Like A Secret" has Carry the Zero, their best song and one of the greatest songs of all time, IMO. Also has You Were Wrong, one of the best answer records to classic rock. Ergo "Keep It" wins.

― nonthings (nonthings), Tuesday, 17 February 2004 21:37 (6 years ago)

Same here. KILAS is one of the few records I can listen to in any mood. I would have to include it in my all-time Top 5. I find it very uplifting, but when you listen to the lyrics they are almost all sad or ambivalent. Except for 'Temporarily Blind.' Maybe that's why it's one of my favourite songs.

― Jaromil (Jaromil), Tuesday, 17 February 2004 21:52 (6 years ago)

Keep It is really the only Built To Spill i fuck with at all, I saw one of the shows where they did Perfect last year and just kept thinking about how much i'd like to hear the other album instead.

― goodship journey to lollipop (some dude), Thursday, 24 September 2009 05:15 (7 months ago)

keep it like a secret always feels perfect.

― Surmounter, Saturday, 11 October 2008 04:16 (1 year ago)

Keep it Like A Secret is pefect in my book. Perfect guitar pop.

I once was at a strip club where the strippers had to play their own music on the jukebox. One girl stripped to Silent Lucidity by Queensryche, so anything's possible.

― M@tt He1geson (Matt Helgeson), Tuesday, 17 February 2004 22:28 (6 years ago)

He obviously has never said Boo to one of your threads.

yay built to spill

was mostly ok with this list until the FUCKING BLACK ALBUM?!? what is wrong with you people

Can someone make a nose-related prediction so I can say "Nice going, Nostrildamus!"

Shakey never got over Cliff dying. It made him the guy he is today.

I don't believe I've ever heard a note from Built To Spill. Maybe it's time to rectify that situation.

I loved this album once and have felt no urge to listen to it for many years even though I fondly remember a few of its songs. In honour of this thread I hope to go home and play it loudly.

xpost Me neither. They're supposed to be a poor-man's Pavement, or so I've heard...?

I hope everyone plays it loud

dog latin they're nothing like pavement

Phew! So I might like them?

From what I know of your taste, dog latin, I could see you liking it. I'm looking forward to revisiting it, actually - see how it's aged.

They dont sound like Baroness or Mastodon either, so maybe ;)
xp

Thanks for pre-empting my question, spacecadet.

Nice I will check it out.

ACtually, what is the deal with Baroness? They were so rated in that end of year poll with awesome album cover but the music sounded like the Darkness after a particularly gruelling rugby match.

There's an even better Built To Spill album

the darkness my arse

They dont sound like Baroness or Mastodon either, so maybe ;)

I dislike Pavement far more than either Baroness or Mastodon. Exponential difference in loathing.

Whatever man, Baroness are wack.

well EZ, im pretty sure you will like BtS more than Pavement, Baroness and Mastodon.

Cool! I'm looking forward to it.

I look forward to #1 being Carter The Unstoppable Sex Machine

I didn't say you will like it though, Ez. If you hate Neil Young influenced stuff then you might wanna skip it.

79= A Tribe Called Quest - Midnight Marauders (1993)
37 points
3 votes
1 first-place vote
Greatest contributor: o.nate

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_LyGAS5wcFuM/SdUNiK3r72I/AAAAAAAAAFU/Dek-JZPLZtc/s400/A+Tribe+Called+Quest+-+Midnight+Marauders+-+Front.jpg

Sometimes I'd swear Midnight Marauders is my favorite album ever.

― ablaeser, Friday, 30 January 2009 22:26 (1 year ago)

midnight marauders is the most comfy album i own.

― ethan, Tuesday, 2 October 2001 00:00 (8 years ago)

Yes, Midnight Marauders is as summery as a jar of fireflies. Playing that album, even in the dark depths of a Michigan February, will make me fiend for lemonade.

― EC, Monday, 17 March 2003 16:12 (7 years ago)

hey guuuuuyyyys i'm voting for midnight marauders

― gr8080, Saturday, 31 January 2009 00:27 (1 year ago)

attn: gr8080

― better than 10 superbowls! (PappaWheelie V), Saturday, 31 January 2009 00:28 (1 year ago)

hey

― better than 10 superbowls! (PappaWheelie V), Saturday, 31 January 2009 00:28 (1 year ago)

what it do pwv

― gr8080, Saturday, 31 January 2009 00:32 (1 year ago)

"I'm a midnight marauder, stick a q-tip in your pussy, that's my low-end theory"

― "Buri" Al Yankovich (Dom Passantino), Friday, 30 January 2009 15:06 (1 year ago)

shit I should have voted in this, huh

if no u.s. maple records make the list i am gonna be sad i didn't dump all 200 of my points on "Talker"

oh shit, US Maple! I did kinda mean to revisit their catalogue with an ear to maybe allocating some points and then forgot. sadface

I get mixed up between Built To Spill and Guided By Voices. Are they the same?

No

What about Built To Spill and Yo La Tengo?

Same band?

pretty sure that Built To Spill and Dodgy are the same band

I knew it!

I love MM so damn much, I wish that 33 1/3 book had been written about that instead of the debut.

Also LJ, STG top ten or what?

They were so good on the Midnight Maruders tour. Probably my favorite Tribe album - I have that extra layer of attachment to those songs because they kicked such ass.

77= The Divine Comedy - Promenade (1994)
38 points
2 votes
0 first-place votes
Greatest contributor: Kitchen Person

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_VYgPP0K8uHc/SqN3RrFs6QI/AAAAAAAAAMY/AY1SPRj2dic/s400/promenade.jpg

Pretty sure I hate The Divine Comedy more than any other band ever.

― Dom Passantino, Tuesday, 26 February 2008 14:09 (2 years ago)

I think the Divine Comedy are fab, so there

― J0hn Darn1elle (J0hn Darn1elle), Saturday, 8 May 2004 00:40 (5 years ago)

Momus is deplorable, as are The Divine Comedy for the same reasons (not that you asked). Pretentious. Smug. A Bore.

― Dr. C, Friday, 2 March 2001 01:00 (9 years ago)

hehe, this morning I sang a Divine comedy song at the absolute top of my lungs whilst showering, it put me in an incredibly good mood which is still lasting.

― Matt (Matt), Wednesday, 14 May 2003 09:13 (6 years ago)

Kitchen Person wrote this on thread POLL-HANN-ON POLL-HANN-ON on board I Love Music on 19-Nov-2009

I have to be honest I clicked on this thread thinking it might be a Divine Comedy poll.

apoplectic new answers in 3...2...1...

0..

ugh

I like D.C. but never heard a whole album.

Apoplectic enough for you?

divine comedy are responsible for some of the worst music ever made.

To be fair, I've only heard one divine comedy song, but then again it was total crap.

"My Lovely Horse" from Father Ted is the veto factor.

I think I've heard a track, unlike BtS. No idea what it sounded like though.

Oh, I've heard the Father Ted stuff!

You've probably heard "Commuter Love". The one that goes "Baa-ba-baba Bababa-ba-ba/Ba-ba-ba Badap-ba-ba-baba".

I have heard that song

And the one that goes "She said there's something in the woodshed".

I think it's called "She Said There's Something In The Woodshed".

never even heard of this band.

am starting to think my selections are um, going to place fairly highly

Are hip hop albums gonna dominate the higher echelons of this poll?

The two people who voted for this album both put it very high in their ballots, so it must have something going for it

(The Divine Comedy, I mean)

Wouldn't you like to know, pfunkboy?

I didn't think much of the Divine Comedy until I saw Neil Hannon do an instore at Road Records last year's Record Store Day, it was good times. Wouldn't buy their records though.

Are Built To Spill gonna dominate the higher echelons of this poll?

I'm guessing yes.

Y'all forgetting Color Me Badd.

77= The Auteurs - New Wave (1993)
38 points
2 votes
1 first-place vote
Greatest contributor: purrington

http://www.merseyside.fr/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/the-auteurs-new-wave.jpg

I loved this album upon its release. "Starstruck" and "American Guitars" are wonderful songs. The problem is Haines' vocals: he sings like a wuss. Even Neil Tennant sang with more force.

― Alfred Soto (Alfred Soto), Friday, 15 July 2005 19:12 (4 years ago)

An EVIL wuss. Very important.

― joseph cotten (joseph cotten), Saturday, 16 July 2005 19:00 (4 years ago)

i like this record a lot.

― M@tt He1ges0n, Monday, 6 August 2007 15:22 (2 years ago)

joseph cotten (joseph cotten) wrote this on thread TS: Definitely Maybe vs. Parklife vs. Different Class vs. Dog Man Star on board I Love Music on 03-May-2005

And the answer to the original question is: The Auteurs - New Wave.

did that first Beautiful South album come out in 90? That's my guess for #1 if it did

dom doesn't post here anymore

but yeah the remainder of the poll will be 'sophisticated' Britpop

Gah, this is another one of those threads that bookmarks don't work on. I'm regretting my 10-album ballot now, btw.

Nowt wrong with sophisticated britpop - I think the other Auteurs vote was mine.

ughhhhhhhhh @ the divine comedy, just ugh ugh ugh

74= Burger/Ink - [Las Vegas]
38 points
3 votes
0 first-place votes
Greatest contributor: Noodle Vague

http://www.lostateminor.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/01/burgerink.jpg

burger/ink's 'las vegas' is great. for some reason every track on that album has a title that pays tribute to roxy music.

― pro bowl was fun (omar little), Wednesday, 25 February 2009 19:09 (1 year ago)

[las vegas]by Burger/Ink, one of the best albums of the 90's and still sounds so fresh. I think Kompakt could release it now and it would still seem brand new.

― jed_ (jed), Sunday, 21 November 2004 15:51 (5 years ago)

Burger/Ink's "Las Vegas" is ageless... which I think is a test for a truly classic album.

HS

― hector savage, Sunday, 21 November 2004 16:49 (5 years ago)

Burger/Ink - Las Vegas is essential. Might be my fav techno lp.

― Ulysses, Monday, 26 November 2007 15:36 (2 years ago)

Burger/Ink's Las Vegas is unstoppable, easily one of the best dance full-lengths ever release.

― Bill in Chicago, Friday, 27 April 2007 22:06 (3 years ago)

This is very true by the way, though I wouldn't call the album "dance". It's the perfect midpoint between Ink's minimalism and Burger's more melodic sensibility, I don't really know any other record that sounds like it.

― Tuomas, Friday, 20 February 2009 07:02 (1 year ago)

e.e. cummingstonite (Noodle Vague) wrote this on thread What is your favorite steady-state record? on board I Love Music on 09-May-2009

Burger/Ink's Las Vegas epitomises this for me. This kind of thing is my favourite sound I think. Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier is a prototype. Reich, obviously. Basinski's loops. A lot of Bossa does it in its own way. Plenty of Krautrock tracks but can't think of any albums as a whole. Motorik etc.

Have been listening to this for fifteen minutes; am absolutely loving it. All three voters placed it highly. Party poppers going off in Finland.

Never heard of it; intrigued by the comments.

kinda surprised to see some stuff (this is the 3rd instance) I have never, ever heard of (much less actually heard) on here

First one I've never heard of at all.

Shame I'm going out now for a bit! I'll have to pause it. But yeah, I recommend a listen for anyone interested in techno.

I'm on the never heard train on this one. Not much of a techno guy but I'm open to the idea.

I'm obviously delighted The Divine Comedy made the list. I know they split opinion but they've been my very favourite band for a long time now.

I was the other DC vote and am equally delighted!

Burger/Ink is essential. For a few years I was buying used copies and giving them to friends. It's that kind of record. I did the same thing with Vocalcity when it started turning up used.

never heard of burger/ink...very curious now...

this poll is pretty awesome

I didn't notice this list had started until now, maybe put the link on the og thread for others who rely on bookmarks?

Love some of these albums; can't believe I forgot to vote Pharcyde. 2 albums made it already and from the points total, it looks like my #1 will do very well :)

Yeah this poll is terrific. Kudos to teh jag.

I was the other DC vote and am equally delighted!

― Olivier Messiaen Control (Paul in Santa Cruz), Tuesday, April 27, 2010 5:01 PM (1 minute ago) Bookmark

Casanova was on my list for a while but I ended up just allowing one album by each artist.

Yay for Burger/Ink! That was #3 in my ballot, it's one of the best electronic albums of all time. Like I said in the quote above, it's quite unique in how it sounds, the beats and arrangements pretty much belong into the minimal house/techno category, but the synth sounds and drones remind me of trance, except that they're slower than on any trance record of the era. It's almost like a trance album slowed down to make it home listening music instead of dance.

Divine Comedy is fantastic and I gave them many points, but not for this record! I guess with some effort I can construct an argument for not liking them, but it is wrong.

listening to burger/ink on lala.com now...

i like it

thx to this thread because with that band name i would have NEVER checked them out in a zillion years otherwise

I totally would have had I realized that album existed since I assume it's a collaboration between Mike Ink and Burger Industries, both of who are amazingly awesome.

Listening to burger/ink again, was excited when a friend gave me a copy he nabbed from a give-away bin at a college radio station, because I had heard someone recommend that album long ago. I liked it but I put it aside for awhile until now. Better than I remember!

Evan, you should have voted!

Yeah I know... all I listen to is 90s music. I collect it! Don't know why I didn't.

I'm surprised LJ isn't providing Spotify links in his rundown

http://open.spotify.com/track/0qZ1MpsGN8TsMg2mWcyTTR

^Burger/Ink

but if you have Spotify, just goddamn search it, isn't hard

thx to this thread because with that band name i would have NEVER checked them out in a zillion years otherwise

Well, "Burger" is the other guy's real surname, and the other one was known by the pseudonym "Mike Ink" back in the 90s, hence "Burger/Ink". But I agree it's can sound rather odd if you don't know who these guys are.

74= Electronic - Electronic (1991)
38 points
3 votes
0 first-place votes
Greatest contributor: Euler

http://images.uulyrics.com/cover/e/electronic/album-electronic.jpg

No Peter Hook on the first Electronic album either and that is one of the best collection of songs ever to come from Bernard Sumner. I love Hooky as much as the next middle aged balding man but I guarantee the Bernard Sumner project is going to piss all over the Freebass/Peter Hook project.

― brotherlovesdub, Saturday, 25 April 2009 15:50 (1 year ago)

It took me one Smiths album to make me realise that Morrossey had lost his sense of humour and write him off. (Though it took 2 Electronic albums to accompish the same thing with Johnny Marr.)

― kate (kate), Friday, 18 July 2003 07:59 (6 years ago)

Relistening to the first album, I was struck by how Marr and Sumner add their respective specialities (the former's melodic acumen and way with a groove, the latter's low boredom threshold and ear for hooks) to what are pretty standard acid-house tracks. My favorite non-classic is "Some Distant Memory," whose production and arrangement (a live oboe solo doubling a synth!) evoke the wistfulness of the title and lyrics.

― Alfred Soto (Alfred Soto), Monday, 11 July 2005 21:29 (4 years ago)

HUGE classic, as is the entirety of the album that spawned it.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Tuesday, 12 July 2005 01:07 (4 years ago)

My favorite non-classic is "Some Distant Memory"

non-classic? not in my world. one of the very first songs i ever wrote - and boy, that's a long fucking time ago - was a blatant copy. it kind of defined everything a song should be.

for the next six years, i kept trying to get it right. eventually i gave up trying to write songs.

incredible, awesome, teenage-life-defining song. incredible, awesome, entire-life-defining album. "technique" has the edge, but only slightly.

no love for "gangster"? perhaps it was moving to glasgow that made it work for me, but suddenly it made sense. a truly incredible song, and barney's single greatest lyric.

― grimly fiendish (grimlord), Saturday, 27 May 2006 23:50 (3 years ago)

New order are officially my FAVOURITE BAND, but the first electronic album is my FAVOURITE NEW ORDER ALBUM, and the third electronic album is the BEST THING NEW ORDER HAVE DONE SINCE TECHNIQUE EXCEPT FOR THE FIRST ELECTRONIC ALBUM, even though electronic != new order.

Get The Message was one of my learning-to-play-the-piano songs. It'll always mean a lot to me.

― JimD (JimD), Sunday, 28 May 2006 00:54 (3 years ago)

"Gangster" is fucking awesome. Really, the only song on this album that isn't fucking awesome is "Idiot Country".

― HI DERE, Thursday, 16 August 2007 12:36 (2 years ago)

Love this album, but the fact that Johnny Marr only has one visible eye on the cover has always bugged the shit out of me for reasons I can't explain. Move to your right one step, Johnny Marr!

At what point are we going to take a significant leap from albums scoring in the 30-40 pt range?

just to clarify, "Idiot Country" is very good compared to everything else's fucking awesome

never xp

Yay, another one of mine. It's quite lovely, but one thing that's been bothering me about it is the drums - it's like they've just settled for the first pattern the keyboard came up with, rather than putting proper care into them. I don't mind that much, but now I can't shake the feeling that I'm listening to the bonus demo disc rather than the real thing.

Really glad to see the Electronic album in the list. It's full of great tunes and features some great Barney rapping.

I didn't like this when it came out and never revisited. Might give it another go - it's been long enough it might be enjoyable.

74= Sleep - Dopesmoker (made during mid-90's, edited version released as 'Jerusalem' in 1999, finally released 2003)
38 points
3 votes
0 first-place votes
Greatest contributor: Captain Ahab

http://file.blog-shinjuku-metal.diskunion.net/Sleep-Dopesmoker.jpg

High On Fire puts me to sleep. Sleep gets me high.

― - (smile), Wednesday, 8 June 2005 17:29 (4 years ago)

PROCEED THE WEEDIAN.

NAZARETH!

― peter smith (plsmith), Saturday, 30 July 2005 19:20 (4 years ago)

i can't tell why i love dopesmoker. hearing it makes me want to hear more doom, but on the other hand i wouldnt like the style of singing on dope smoker if the novelty of having a 60 minute journey about weed wasn't present. i can't tell whether i just like them because after smoking a blunt the album is perfect for my state of mind.

― buyabiznatch (buyabiznatch), Monday, 17 October 2005 19:34 (4 years ago)

i always enjoyed listening to it. I have no problem with the length. I'm kinda lazy, so I'm not big on getting up anyway. i was never fanatical enough to buy the later dopesmoker version though. i never cared for the first sleep album. that one bored me, not as good as st. vitus, etc. but, yeah, jerusalem is funny and cool and it is nice and heavy. great riffs. what's not to like?

― scott seward (scott seward), Monday, 17 October 2005 22:28 (4 years ago)

I listened to Dopesmoker last night for the third time...but I had never been stoned before while listening to it, and had never really paid attention. But last night, I was blunted up and positioned in front of an astounding sound system-- I could feel the bass in every fibre of my body. Totally sick and awesome.

― trees (treesessplode), Thursday, 29 June 2006 15:45 (3 years ago)

yes!

I have Jerusalem and love it but am always kinda baffled about what could possibly be that different about Dopesmoker that makes it categorically "better", as so many claim

It's the way the band wanted it to be heard. It just is ... better

much-loved ilxor 'ilxor' voted for both Dopesmoker and Jerusalem so I combined them into a 2-point single vote, fwiw

a bit of pollster corruption for ya

have this album, haven't listened to it all in one go. need weed.

It's the way the band wanted it to be heard. It just is ... better

which is all as one track, right? but I mean, is it mixed differently too or something? or are parts different? what happened, I am confused.

apparently it's longer, mixed differently, and has more of an intro/outro

were all the drum and bass parts re-recorded by Robert Trujillo and Mike Bordin

^^^terrible metal in-joke, sorry

i laughed

much-loved ilxor 'ilxor'

In a perfect world, you mean? ;-)

Quite a few of my picks have made it then without only being in the poll because of me.

Does anybody here have the 2nd pressing of the Electronic album with the black artwork? I'd gladly trade for something you may be missing. I've got plenty of duplicates of other cd singles etc.

yay! thought about voting for jerusalem, but didn't. really glad to see it show up though, in whatever form. main difference, to me, between the two is that dopsmoker sounds a lot more gritty and deep. mix is rawer, more viscous, and i like that. plus, yeah, a little longer.

Glad to see this Sleep album make the list; it's a great album. I think of it as an 00s record though - hell, I didn't even hear it till '07. If you want to read what I cheesily wrote about it then you can check it out at the defunct EZ Snappin's Crackle & Pop.

72= Slowdive - Souvlaki (1993)
38 points
4 votes
0 first-place votes
Greatest contributor: Derelict

http://fromherewegosublime.files.wordpress.com/2009/03/slowdivesouvlaki1.jpg

Slowdive are excellent. Souvlaki is wonderful, like something between Loveless and Disintegration.

― Stupid (Stupid), Wednesday, 10 December 2003 23:40 (6 years ago)

I NEED MORE GAUZE DAMMIT

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Tuesday, 29 November 2005 21:24 (4 years ago)

I think Souvlaki is damn near perfect, but could take or leave the other two.

― jaymc (jaymc), Wednesday, 30 November 2005 06:20 (4 years ago)

Slowdive's albums are like ripening bananas. JFaD is the album equivalent of a banana with a slight greenish hue: firm, flavour's a bit bland and off, but otherwise solid and eatable. Good, but should have waited a day or two. Souvlaki is just perfection: perfect colour, texture, feel, taste - definitively ripe. Pygmalion tastes just fine despite what anyone says about the admittedly present brown spots (but they're not really that noticeable anyways), the heightened texture and softness of it aren't necessarily worse, but not as good as it was in it's prime. It's also excellent for baking.

― mehlt, Tuesday, 26 August 2008 15:18 (1 year ago)

Slouvaki is zo'n kut naam voor een album. Wel geproduceerd door Eno, dus die moet ik nog maar eens checken.

― Omar, Friday, 6 September 2002 12:43 (7 years ago)

this is one i would have voted for, never did get around to voting in this even though i normally do vote.

I only got that Slowdive album at the end of the last year but I really love it.

Think I'll do about 2 or 3 more tonight, so stick around folks!

I am a big fan of this album too, especially the second half.

this is one i would have voted for, never did get around to voting in this even though i normally do vote.

― Bee OK, Tuesday, April 27, 2010 9:53 PM (3 minutes ago) Bookmark

Oh that's a shame as I'm pretty sure you're a big fan of an album I was really hoping would do quite well..but I'm not allowed to mention it or make any predictions.

Oh, Gerardo, what could have been...

72= Godspeed You Black Emperor! - F#A#∞ (1998)
38 points
4 votes
1 first-place vote
Greatest contributor: sofatruck

http://hellsbelle84.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/godspeed-you-black-emperor-faoo.jpg

they said it all with the first album, shoulda quit there

― This House is a Prison on Planet Bullshit (Shakey Mo Collier), Tuesday, 31 March 2009 22:32 (1 year ago)

f♯a♯∞ is the one that had the most impact for me. i remember cbc's brave new waves playing it in it's entirety in the wee hours of the morning,and wondering what the/who the hell it was.

― drone/a/sore, Tuesday, 31 March 2009 23:52 (1 year ago)

Debut is indeed half-baked and pasted together and that's why I like it best. It's more like a collage and not as predictable.

― Mark, Thursday, 2 April 2009 13:24 (1 year ago)

That first album is really good and, in retrospect, very original. Better than most bands can manage.

― Mark (MarkR), Wednesday, 16 June 2004 16:39 (5 years ago)

this is music to get tedious indie blowjobs to!! YOU ALL LOVE GETTING ORAL SEX DON'T YOU?@!?!@

― 0r4l R0b3rt5 (ex machina), Wednesday, 16 June 2004 16:47 (5 years ago)

great quotes on that one

This album is always way better than I remember it as being. At least, the first track is. The last 5 minutes of The Dead Flag Blues are simply beautiful.

tedious indie blowjobs

Like, awesome Morricone lament into fragile slide-guitar thing of wonder, all the while sounding like it's being recorded in an abandoned aircraft hangar = <3 for all-time

Two more tonight

71 REM - New Adventures In Hi-Fi (1996)
38 points
5 votes
0 first-place votes
Greatest contributor: sofatruck

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_T-39bTSIXN8/SPSIh9LuR4I/AAAAAAAABNA/aYzS2BNCDlg/s400/new_adventures_in_hi-fi-front.jpg

mmmyeah, i'll give it up for that album. definitely gets an unfair shake. i guess cos they pissed everyone off w/ Monster.

― al, Sunday, 17 March 2002 01:00 (8 years ago)

this is the only r.e.m. album that i own. (although i am tempted by that new singles comp). haven't heard it for awhile, but i remember being impressed by how consistent this album was in both hookiness and mood, it's very bittersweet.

― disco stu (disco stu), Sunday, 9 November 2003 16:39 (6 years ago)

this is a great album! r.e.m.'s last several releases killed my fandom but listening to this has reminded me of how good they were, when they were good.

― gear (gear), Wednesday, 9 November 2005 06:11 (4 years ago)

This is a very good album. It makes me like the idea of R.E.M., when I think of it, which the other albums I like by them don't do.

― Tim Finney (Tim Finney), Wednesday, 9 November 2005 10:56 (4 years ago)

I love this record....so so underrated.

― M@tt He1geson (Matt Helgeson), Wednesday, 9 November 2005 16:45 (4 years ago)

this is still the REM album i enjoy the most. even more than green or murmur or automatic. i hardly listen to them anymore, except for tracks off new adventures. e-bow, electrolite, how the west was won, bittersweet me. all some of their best.

― Emily Bjurnhjam, Wednesday, 30 May 2007 02:36 (2 years ago)

This is my favorite REM album, bar none.

― stephen, Saturday, 19 July 2008 02:57 (1 year ago)

Still my favorite REM album... bar none.

Not, however, one of your 193 favourite records of the 90's

haha wait you voted for a different REM album

YOUR CLAIMS ARE BEGINNING TO LOOK RICKETY

mmmyeah, i'll give it up for that album. definitely gets an unfair shake. i guess cos they pissed everyone off w/ Monster.

― al, Sunday, 17 March 2002 01:00 (8 years ago)

i am almost positive this was not me posting but i do love this album and gave it one (1) point

This is the last great R.E.M. album, I think. Up and Accelerate are good(ish), but I doubt they're ever going to hit this peak again.

Loving this countdown so far, I'm inspired to dig out a lot of these albums to listen to them again.

It also reminds me of things I should have voted for but didn't.

Was about to cheer my first vote, but no, looking back, I didn't vote for this! Strange. The last R.E.M. record that I bought because I was honestly excited about it (having heard them play "The Wake-Up Bomb" on television.) Though I have bought several more out of a sense of obligation. Perversely I tend to like the rockers on this record ("Wake-Up Bomb", "Departure") though they seem a bit out of place.

it's so weird to me that Electronic and Godspeed You Black Emperor are from the same decade

Last one for the evening coming up

I generally look back at the '90s with distaste, but this list is reframing my view somewhat.

Yay for Burger/Ink placing, and Yay for this poll so far, so much more interesting than the usual trudge thru the Canong. THE SYSTEM WORKS

Yeah, this is the best 90s poll ever.

NEVER SB LJ AGAIN

69= Earl Brutus - Tonight, You Are The Special One
39 points
2 votes
0 first-place votes
Greatest contributor: Kitchen Person

http://www.covershut.com/covers/Earl-Brutus---Tonight-You-Are-The-Special-One-Front-Cover-2060.jpg

There's not many bands I love as much as Earl Brutus.

― Kitchen Person, Thursday, 14 January 2010 21:19 (3 months ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

the video for come taste my mind might be my favourite video in the entire history of the music video

― Do the english boil pizza? (acoleuthic), Thursday, 14 January 2010 21:20 (3 months ago)

IMO Tonight...is a little better than Your Majesty...

I mean, they're both great (and, fuck, Tonight has Navyhead, Life's Too Long and Black Speedway on it as well as OMNIM) but Tonight is just greatness from start to finish, in my 90's top 10 and maybe all-time top 30. Staggering piece of work. At least they gave us the Larky single before sputtering out.

― Do the english boil pizza? (acoleuthic), Thursday, January 14, 2010 11:11 PM (2 minutes ago)

I agree with just about everything you said there. Tonight took me longer to get into but it sounds better as a whole album. I just started playing songs from it and found myself amazed all over again at the moment in Second Class War when that organ intro turns into that huge dirty riff. Universal Plan might be my favorite track of there's.

They are one of those bands that when I listen to them I just think there's no-one better.

― Kitchen Person, Thursday, 14 January 2010 23:22 (3 months ago)

One of the greatest live bands ever.

Utter fucking chaos from blokes desperate to defy middle age whilst spewing contempt for the contemporary scene and everything in it.

Lucky enough to catch them a handful of times back then. A real Festival Fuck you too. Gushed about them upthread I think under another stupid moniker

A real shame about Nick Sanderson. Way too young.

― Mobbed Up Ping Pong Psychos, Monday, 18 January 2010 00:04 (3 months ago)

I can't think of a single band more deserving of publicity and re-evaluation.

― The Broken Brothers, Tuesday, 19 January 2010 15:22 (3 months ago)

one show at the Austrian Cultural Institute in 2001 ended with the arrival of the police, who had mistaken the band's pyrotechnic-laden performance for a terrorist attack

fwiw nick sanderson is pretty much my ideal of the human being

― Do the english boil pizza? (acoleuthic), Tuesday, 19 January 2010 18:20 (3 months ago)

Two perfect albums, really. Ultimately, I'd take Tonight ... because I think it just has that slight edge. And, y'know, Second Class War.

― Error: No Error (grimly fiendish), Thursday, 21 January 2010 23:18 (3 months ago)

Going to the pub. LISTENING TO EARL BRUTUS. Match made in heaven, that.

― Error: No Error (grimly fiendish), Wednesday, 20 January 2010 11:11 (3 months ago)

I don't even need to hear them nowadays, just the fact that their music EXISTS, makes my life better.

Just might be the best band of all time

There should be a national holiday called Nick Sanderson Day where we can spend the whole day swigging lager and smoking fags in appreciation

― The Broken Brothers, Thursday, 14 January 2010 22:58 (3 months ago)

sorry for the quotefest but I am irrational when it comes to this band/album

Not, however, one of your 193 favourite records of the 90's

haha wait you voted for a different REM album

YOUR CLAIMS ARE BEGINNING TO LOOK RICKETY

I only voted for albums I could copy/paste from the suggestions thread, or albums that other ilxors specifically reminded me about -- don't care to go through my entire collection and agonize over this any more than I must!

Earl Brutus = yet another band I have never heard of

is this a british thing?

I do, however, actually own and enjoy every single album I voted for.

And I believe it was 195, not 193...

like, I recognize all the American stuff listed so far

It's so much more than a British thing.

OK, it's a British thing.

You're going to leave us tonight halfway through a 2-album tie?

It's a Brutish thing!

so, so far the most votes any album's gotten is 5 (R.E.M. and Bjork). lj, care to share any stats-related spoilers at this juncture? like how many votes or points the #1 album got, or where the highest one-vote album will place?

I thought it'd be more suspenseful this way. Plus I want all the Brutish posters to wake up tomorrow, come here and rejoice

some dude, I'm only going to reveal that there is a fairly humorous statistical quirk not far from now. Oh, and that the highest-placed album without a #1 vote comfortably makes the top 20.

and I know for a fact I have at least one more album on my list to come

Now let's talk about Earl Brutus, and my official 7th-favourite non-canon (although tbh my 7th-favourite anyway) album of the 90's.

(there are a few albums with more than 5 votes, worry not!)

Earl Brutus! On Spotify! http://open.spotify.com/album/46rDy0ySNa5ilCW3i0Wo5g

just found that and listening :)

To recap:

____ Stereolab - Peng! (1992)
____ XTC - Apple Venus, Vol. 1 (1999)
100. De La Soul - Buhloone Mind State (1993)
___ Fugazi - End Hits (1998)
98. Crowded House - Woodface (1991)
97. Sonic Youth - Washing Machine (1995)
96. Björk - Debut (1993)
95. Mark Eitzel - Songs of Love (1991)
94. Elliott Smith - Either/Or (1997)
___ The Pharcyde - Bizarre Ride II The Pharcyde (1992)
92. The Afghan Whigs - Black Love (1996)
91. Tori Amos - From the Choirgirl Hotel (1998)
90. UGK - Ridin' Dirty (1996)
89. Grifters - Crappin' You Negative (1994)
88. The Dismemberment Plan - Emergency & I (1999)
87. The Afghan Whigs - Gentlemen (1993)
___ Neil Young - Harvest Moon (1992)
85. Biosphere - Substrata (1997)
___ Missy Elliott - Da Real World (1999)
___ Mogwai - Young Team (1997)
82. 2pac - All Eyez on Me (1996)
81. Metallica - Metallica (1991)
___ Built To Spill - Keep it Like a Secret (1999)
79. A Tribe Called Quest - Midnight Marauders (1993)
___ The Divine Comedy - Promenade (1994)
77. The Auteurs - New Wave (1993)
___ Burger/Ink - Las Vegas (1996)
___ Electronic - Electronic (1991)
74. Sleep - Dopesmoker (199?)
___ Slowdive - Souvlaki (1993)
72. Godspeed You! Black Emperor - F#A#∞ (1998)
71. R.E.M. - New Adventures in Hi-Fi (1996)
___ Earl Brutus - Tonight You Are The Special One (1998)

Nothing I've voted for showing up yet. Have an odd feeling I might go 1 for 10.

an eclectic mix! glad to see 'New Adventures in Hifi' there even though I din't vote for it; a terrific album.

Nothing of mine yet either, and only one of them will show up without help from other votes. Not too bothered, though. This list is quality.

I own just three of the albums so far, and voted for all three of them.

Starting to worry that the super canonical hiphop/r&b albums I voted for won't make it... which is crazy, y'all would have voted for [xxxxxxx] and [yyyyyyyy] and [zzzzzzzz] too, right? right?

I've scored 1 so far, optimistically I think I cd score about 8 out of 18

Haven't heard that Earl Brutus album - I own and like Your Majesty, though. Am also happy about Slowdive and intrigued by Burger/Ink. Yeah.

^^^would presumably go mental for Burger/Ink

I'm regretting my #1 vote now when I think of 7 of the 8 other albums on my ballot that probably won't show up.

also Your Majesty, fine as it is, is but the prototype. Tonight... is simply sensational.

Also, y'all shouldn't make assumptions ;-)

I've scored 1, feel likely to go 1 for 12 (I think it was 12, anyway).

xposts - it sounds pretty much up my alley, but I can sometimes be fickle about ambient stuff for no real reason.