Have I just been ad hominem'd? Fuck you, mattresslessness; I can do (and have done) dick-waving obscurantism with the best of them. This thread is ABOUT A CONSENSUAL LIST you fucking moron, and there is AN ENTIRE DATABASE of discussion built over 15 years for you to talk about whatever the fuck you like. List choad? I participate in about ten threads a year these days and they're seldom list ones - I came in this thread because it's about a formative year for me, and, surprise surprise, for other people too. Fuck you.
― Hey Bob (Scik Mouthy), Friday, 14 August 2015 17:44 (nine years ago) link
actually really hate this list. there's something about late 90s popular music, which i experienced as a relatively happy adolescent, that when it's formed into this variegated aggregation just instills a deep feeling of ennui and horror in me.
― corbyn's gallus (jim in glasgow), Friday, 14 August 2015 18:08 (nine years ago) link
supergrass, bjork, cornershop, portishead, the verve - cobbles on a path towards suicide ideation.
― corbyn's gallus (jim in glasgow), Friday, 14 August 2015 18:09 (nine years ago) link
I think my main way of discovering new music in 1997 was to go to Downtown Music Gallery in the East Village and buy something unheard based on the cover. Obviously the results ended up being a bit hit or miss. I did see a lot of good shows in '97 though. Most of my listening that year would probably be categorized under avant-garde jazz or experimental rock.
― o. nate, Friday, 14 August 2015 18:32 (nine years ago) link
1997 wasn't even a great year for me. Looooads more good stuff in '96 and '98. Nevertheless, here's a small list of stuff I personally prefer to this list:
The Fall - Levitate <<<this album is above and beyond, but also below and within - it is unmusic, it is unlearnt art, it is terrifying and bad and better than anything else from this yearHalf Man Half Biscuit - Voyage To The Bottom Of The RoadCornelius - Fantasma <<<still sounds futuristicToenut - Two In The Pinata <<<the best American indie-rock album of this year, obvCheer-Accident - Enduring The American Dream <<<a fucking avant-rock classic, just so goddamn adventurous and greatOcean Machine - Biomech Catherine Wheel - Adam And Eve <<<the best American indie-rock album of this year by a British band, obvRobert Wyatt - ShleepThe Wildhearts - Endless, Nameless <<<an insane and beautiful little album that's largely forgottenMansun - Attack Of The Grey Lantern <<<the third-best Britpop album of the yearThe Dandy Warhols - Come Down <<<the second-best Britpop album of the yearSuede - Sci-Fi Lullabies <<<the best Britpop album of the year. oh it's a compilation, SORRY. Sidi Bou Said - ObsessiveKomar & Melamid & Dave Soldier - The Most (Un)Wanted MusicLong Fin Killie - AmeliaHum - Downward is HeavenwardSpace Needle - The Moray Eels Eat The Space NeedleDubstar - GoodbyeUlver - Nattens Madrigal
Hell, I even prefer listening to Be Here Now than a load of this stuff. It's just so huge and shit and clueless that it becomes kind of mesmerically great. But of course if it were in this list it'd be very much part of the problem.
― imago, Friday, 14 August 2015 19:12 (nine years ago) link
imago how do you think this list was constructed and what do you think the intent was behind the methodology?
― balls, Friday, 14 August 2015 19:19 (nine years ago) link
Dig Your Own Hole as aged incredibly well. Same with Homogenic. While I love OKC, even at the time I listened to those two records more, so I'll probably vote for one of them.
― octobeard, Friday, 14 August 2015 19:22 (nine years ago) link
I kinda feel like Be Here Now is the apotheosis of the Oasis 'dumb-as-dirt bombast' mission statement. I enjoy it as a rock album by a band who could sincerely be mistaken as speakers of English as a second language ('Magic Pie', indeed).
― Grilled Floam In A Gak Reduction (Old Lunch), Friday, 14 August 2015 19:23 (nine years ago) link
beep beep who got the keys to the jeep
― brimstead, Friday, 14 August 2015 19:56 (nine years ago) link
I enjoy it as a rock album by a band who could sincerely be mistaken as speakers of English as a second language ('Magic Pie', indeed).― Grilled Floam In A Gak Reduction (Old Lunch), Friday, August 14, 2015 7:23 PM (36 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
― Grilled Floam In A Gak Reduction (Old Lunch), Friday, August 14, 2015 7:23 PM (36 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
Worst/most cringeworthy lyric on Oasis' 'Be Here Now'
― You’re being too simplistic and you’re insulting my poor heart (Turrican), Friday, 14 August 2015 20:01 (nine years ago) link
Can anyone explain the appeal of Spiritualized to me? I've given them a go a number of times over the years and always found them crushingly dull.
― the joke should be over once the kid is eaten. (chap), Thursday, August 13, 2015 3:56 AM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
have you heard the first album, Lazer Guided Melodies? the sound is much more dreamy and zonked out than their other records. the production is really slick and shimmerry. and the songs are catchier.
― brimstead, Friday, 14 August 2015 20:04 (nine years ago) link
plus j spaceman's voice tends to be either bathed in fx or low in the mix (if his voice bothers you)
― brimstead, Friday, 14 August 2015 20:06 (nine years ago) link
yeah, i'd agree with that. if you're not a fan of spiritualized from "ladies and gentlemen..." on, you should give lazer guided melodies (and some of pure phase) a chance because it's quite different.
― 1993 ball boy (Karl Malone), Friday, 14 August 2015 20:07 (nine years ago) link
me and my girl missy gettin pissy up in bennigan'smakin all you other rappers begin againlike finneganchristians repent and then sin again
― playlists of pensive swift (difficult listening hour), Friday, 14 August 2015 20:10 (nine years ago) link
― balls, Friday, August 14, 2015 7:19 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
it's some RYM-type deal isn't it, the intent being to allow people to rank their favourite albums on a big website, which is fine for many purposes tbh
Pure Phase is sooooo the best Spz album
― imago, Friday, 14 August 2015 20:37 (nine years ago) link
another nudge for david holmes.
listened to the album last week, and heard it afresh all over again.
― mark e, Friday, 14 August 2015 20:38 (nine years ago) link
but could have easily voted for 8 of the other albums ..
― mark e, Friday, 14 August 2015 20:39 (nine years ago) link
t's some RYM-type deal isn't it, the intent being to allow people to rank their favourite albums on a big website, which is fine for many purposes tbh
no
― balls, Friday, 14 August 2015 20:43 (nine years ago) link
Diminishing returns from Spiritualized, imo. Best thing about 'Ladies & Gents...' was the medicine-style packaging.
― Turtleneck Work Solutions (Nasty, Brutish & Short), Friday, 14 August 2015 20:46 (nine years ago) link
Franzon has statistically aggregated hundreds of published lists that rank songs and albums into aggregated rankings by year, decade and all-time.
ahahaha christ, ok, this is almost perfectly inimical to how i approach music listening. i'm out
― imago, Friday, 14 August 2015 20:47 (nine years ago) link
the only conceivable positive purpose this list has, and i'm sure the intent, is to see which music has been acclaimed and to chart the critical consensus - to construct an image of the canon if not the canon itself. but i'm being very charitable there
― imago, Friday, 14 August 2015 20:53 (nine years ago) link
o it's definitely some nerd shit. it's kinda useful as a warehouse of various crit lists, etc over the years. the overall consensus arrived at is kinda dull (rateyrmusic is probably more interesting in a way)(in the same way that imdb's top movies list is more interesting than afi's) but still it's more 'o right these are the big crit list faves of that year'. it's been kinda interesting to me w/ the 90s is the relative dearth of hip hop beyond the token obv choices. not quite as outrageous to me but there's also been a noticeable dearth of metal on these lists. hip-hop does better at getting token spots on trad rock pub lists than metal but metal i think has more publications and a longer history of publications adding inputs. something like country which very rarely gets acknowledged on trad rock pub lists and doesn't have a ton of publications devoted to it doing this kind of canonizing gets shafted even more.
― balls, Friday, 14 August 2015 21:15 (nine years ago) link
This may be deeply uncool to admit, but I think 1997 was kind of a high watermark year for modern rock radio. As overplayed as they are, I'd rather listen to a well curated mix-tape of Wallflowers, Smash Mouth, Third Eye Blind, Sublime, OMC, Green Day, etc.. hits from this year that most of the albums listed above. I guess Blur, Verge and Supergrass from the list above were kind of in that style - for some reason Britpop got a bit more critical respect than the US post-grunge stuff.
― o. nate, Friday, 14 August 2015 21:28 (nine years ago) link
Catherine Wheel - Adam And Eve <<<the best American indie-rock album of this year by a British band, obv
― Ys Man a.k.a. Have One on G (geoffreyess), Friday, 14 August 2015 21:38 (nine years ago) link
'97 is also the year of Teenage Fanclub's best album
― Ys Man a.k.a. Have One on G (geoffreyess), Friday, 14 August 2015 21:40 (nine years ago) link
― corbyn's gallus (jim in glasgow), Friday, 14 August 2015 21:43 (nine years ago) link
(grand prix or bandwagonesque imo)
jim otm
― Cosmic Slop, Friday, 14 August 2015 21:49 (nine years ago) link
This is an easy one for me as Homogenic is my favourite album of the 90s. In It For The Money would be a close second.
― Kitchen Person, Saturday, 15 August 2015 00:58 (nine years ago) link
So many people mentioning Homogenic... I love the record, and it's my favourite Bjork album by far, but if it tops this poll I'll be very surprised, even though I'd be pleased to see anything beat OK Computer for a change.
― You’re being too simplistic and you’re insulting my poor heart (Turrican), Saturday, 15 August 2015 01:14 (nine years ago) link
My top ten, roughly in order:
Yo La Tengo - I Can Hear the Heart Beating As OneBjörk - HomogenicSleater-Kinney - Dig Me OutErykah Badu - BaduizmPrimal Scream - Vanishing PointSupergrass - In It for the MoneySpiritualized - Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in SpaceElliott Smith - Either/OrThe Prodigy - The Fat of the LandCornershop - When I Was Born for the 7th Time
― Grilled Floam In A Gak Reduction (Old Lunch), Saturday, 15 August 2015 01:21 (nine years ago) link
great list imago, discovered a few things i already like.
― Van Horn Street, Saturday, 15 August 2015 17:13 (nine years ago) link
i think the most surprising thing about this thread is that no one has said they are voting for Homework. this is ILM right?
― Bee OK, Sunday, 16 August 2015 04:17 (nine years ago) link
Voted Missy.Probably listened to "Welcome to our World" more than anything else though.Imperfect album, but the production and Static's vocal arrangements were amazing.
― mr.raffles, Sunday, 16 August 2015 05:04 (nine years ago) link
1997's critical consensus was... underwhelming. maybe it's just where we're at in time, maybe in ten years all these records will sound really brilliant to me again, but i find there are very few records less interesting to me than the critically acclaimed records of twenty years ago.
never heard "sizzla", though. any good?
― rushomancy, Sunday, 16 August 2015 17:47 (nine years ago) link
Try the most critically acclaimed films of 20 years ago.
― Norse Jung (Eric H.), Sunday, 16 August 2015 19:39 (nine years ago) link
I just think Discovery is Daft Punk's crowning glory. I love some of the singles off Homework but to me it feels more like a collection of 12"s than an album I'd want to listen to all the way through.Then again, I heard Discovery first so that may have biased me.
― 9 days from now a.k.a next weekend. (dog latin), Sunday, 16 August 2015 19:41 (nine years ago) link
I'd have voted for Prolapse's "Italian Flag" if it were here. Same for Memphis synthers the Clears' self-titled (would be an interesting alternate universe). But "Lonesome Crowded West" was my life for a while, and in the absence of those others I can't not vote for it.
For some other off-listers, thank you ILXors for reminding me of Fantasma and Polydistortion. Drugs A. Money's list looks nice too; my droney DAM-esque picks for '97 wd be Hash Jar Tempo "Well Oiled" and the Azusa Plane's "Tycho Magnetic Anomaly". And, oh shit, ciderpress OTM, The Ballasted Orchestra.
Homogenic and (bits of) the YLT and BTS are p gr8 too but nobody needed reminding of that. Screw New Forms; d&b was never really an album genre but if I had to pick a couple from '97 they'd be Modus Operandi and The Prototype Years.
xp i love the track on Orblivion with the Scouser going on about Beelzebub
SALT. Sample of David Thewlis in "Naked" iirc. I sold the album at one point cz I was all "bah, it only has two good tracks on it" (SALT and Toxygene), but it turned out that I missed those two tracks so much I bought it back again.
― a passing spacecadet, Sunday, 16 August 2015 20:50 (nine years ago) link
yeah not super into "kundun" or "the ice storm" either
― rushomancy, Sunday, 16 August 2015 23:09 (nine years ago) link
Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.
― System, Monday, 17 August 2015 00:01 (nine years ago) link
imago otm itt
― rip van wanko, Monday, 17 August 2015 03:21 (nine years ago) link
'97 is also the year of Teenage Fanclub's best album― Ys Man a.k.a. Have One on G (geoffreyess), Friday, August 14, 2015 2:40 PM (2 days ago)
― Ys Man a.k.a. Have One on G (geoffreyess), Friday, August 14, 2015 2:40 PM (2 days ago)
agree with this, and I voted for Grand Prix in the '95 poll...
that said, even if it were here I couldn't vote for Songs from Northern Britain over Lonesome Crowded West or Perfect From Now On.
― alpine static, Monday, 17 August 2015 04:40 (nine years ago) link
Just bought Polydistortion on CD for a massive £1.57.
― Hey Bob (Scik Mouthy), Monday, 17 August 2015 08:08 (nine years ago) link
Money very well spent.
― Grilled Floam In A Gak Reduction (Old Lunch), Monday, 17 August 2015 12:21 (nine years ago) link
every Gus Gus album (except for Forever) is great to to outstanding
― I Am Curious (Dolezal) (DJP), Monday, 17 August 2015 13:32 (nine years ago) link
Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.
― System, Tuesday, 18 August 2015 00:01 (nine years ago) link
the Top 2 is right and big surprise at number 3. i'm a bit disappointing that In It for the Money and Vanishing Point got no votes.
― Bee OK, Tuesday, 18 August 2015 00:18 (nine years ago) link
Wow, totally didn't see that coming!
― You’re being too simplistic and you’re insulting my poor heart (Turrican), Tuesday, 18 August 2015 00:18 (nine years ago) link
Having said that, not a lot of votes between Homogenic and OK Computer!
― You’re being too simplistic and you’re insulting my poor heart (Turrican), Tuesday, 18 August 2015 00:20 (nine years ago) link
Most of the albums that received zero votes are quite good. I expect Erykah to do muuuuch better in the 2000 poll (and I might even preemptively declare that as my vote).
― Profound Perspectives (Old Lunch), Tuesday, 18 August 2015 00:31 (nine years ago) link