Bang Bang You're Dead... POLL In Your Head - ILM Artist Poll #87 - SMASHING PUMPKINS - Results

Should we have a separate covers poll?

Mayonaise
Stand Inside Your Love
1979
For Martha
Set the Ray to Jerry
Here Is No Why
Perfect
Soma
Behold! The Night Mare
Galapagos
Pug
Thirty-Three
Blank Page
Tonight, Tonight
Muzzle
Blew Away
Real Love
Geek USA
Hummer
Cherub Rock
Bury Me
I Of the Mourning
Go
Wound
Medelia of the Grey Skies

Siva
I Am One
Drown
1979
Silverfuck
Rhinoceros
Bury Me
Starla
Eye
Frail & Bedazzled
Perfect
Set the Ray to Jerry
Rocket
Pissant*
Quiet
Suffer
Whir
Tristessa*
Hello Kitty Kat
Snail
Window Paine*
Soma
Landslide*
Mayonaise (sic)
Obscured

Obviously I’m a “I like their earlier stuff better” dummy (probably because I got Gish when it came out and it was the torpid meandering summer after high school and I played that mysterious cassette over and over until it disintegrated) but this rollout got me listening to the whole catalog again and finding all sorts of gems I’d slept on all these years. Thanks!

1. Hummer
2. Set the Ray to Jerry
3. Muzzle
4. In The Arms of Sleep
5. Blank Page
6. Frail and Bedazzled
7. By Starlight
8. Soothe
9. Appels + Oranjes
10. Porcelina of the Vast Oceans
11. Farewell and Goodnight
12. Suffer
13. Starla
14. Glynis
15. Here Is No Why
16. 1979
17. Drown
18. For Martha
19. Love
20. Pennies
21. Thru the Eyes of Ruby
22. Obscured
23. Whir
24. Soma
25. Annie Dog

Beautiful
Farewell And Goodnight
Shame
Tear
1979
Eye
Set The Ray To Jerry
Love
We Only Come Out At Night
The Boy
Through the Eyes of Ruby
Take Me Down
Daphne Descends
Believe
Apples & Oranjes
Blew Away
Porcelina of the Vast Oceans
Blank Page
Muzzle
Perfect
Galapagos
Pug
By Starlight
Bodies
Bugg Superstar

Didn't think I'd submit a ballot until the last day or so, and whether I'd submit a 2.5 song ballot or an all-James ballot, but ... eh. Always wish the Neu!-ish opening of "Cherub Rock" had breathed for a little longer ... flappy, I guess you're the person who'd know if there's a demo/live version around which does that? Glad "... Jerry" placed as high as it did!

I had:

01. (09) Starla - Gish Rarity
02. (01) Mayonaise - SD
03. (44) Glynis - SD Rarity
04. (19) Obscured - SD Rarity
05. (03) Drown - Gish Rarity
06. (04) Hummer - SD
07. (25) Whir - SD Rarity
08. (11) Set The Ray to Jerry - MCIS Rarity
09. (29) Snail - Gish
10. (05) Soma - SD
11. (24) Silverfuck - SD
12. (06) Cherub Rock - SD
13. (13) Rocket - SD
14. (59) Suffer - Gish
15. (27) Frail and Bedazzled - SD Rarity
16. (72) Tristessa - Gish
17. (18) Geek U.S.A. - SD
18. (30) Hello Kitty Kat - SD Rarity
19. (14) Today - SD
20. (102) Cherry - MCIS Rarity
21. (36) Quiet - SD
22. (67) Blew Away - SD Rarity
23. (81) Mouths of Babes - MCIS Rarity
24. (08) Rhinoceros - Gish
25. (126) Purr Snickety - SD Rarity

Was just sent this tweet from ex-ILXor (unless he's been posting under a new DN) N4te P4trin by my brother-in-law:

you either die a Cobain or you live long enough to see yourself become the Corgan

— Nate Patrin (@natepatrin) March 15, 2018

beautiful

To Sheila
1979
Thirty-Three
Tonight, Tonight
For Martha
Disarm
Stand Inside Your Love
Cherub Rocket
Geek USA
Set the Ray to Jerry
Zero
Galapogos
Porcelina of the Vast Oceans
Blank Page
X.Y.U.
Silverfuck
Where Boys Fear to Tread
Perfect
Soma
By Starlight
We Only Come Out at Night
Quiet
Rhinoceros
Cupid De Locke
Stumbleine

i don't know how i had had disarm at #6. i was listening to SD while walking my dog yesterday and skipped straight past it

flappy, I guess you're the person who'd know if there's a demo/live version around which does that? Glad "... Jerry" placed as high as it did!

― etc, Sunday, April 8, 2018 4:00 PM (three minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

of Cherub Rock? don't think so... there's this demo from the 'Quiet and Other Songs' tape that was sent to Virgin in the fall of 1992, I don't think Cherub Rock changed much from when it was written. Wasn't played until after the Gish tour was over. live, the band would often fake out the audience or themselves, like Jimmy would do the opening circus fills three or four times before Billy started playing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DH6Hp9XirPs

my favorite cover is My Blue Heaven actually! I think it's great, but I'm more grateful that it led me to the Gene Austin original, it's one of my favorite songs ever...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j2MUy2uOesw

I really like Destination Unknown too, another case of a cover leading me to the original artist. when I was 18 I was digging around the records in my parents' basement and found Missing Persons' Spring Session M, saw Destination Unknown was on there, and grabbed it and listened to it. one of my favorite records ever!!! non stop hits

Some of the #1 votes are as shocking to me as if someone had voted "Spaced" their #1, but such a great poll and thread. Here's my ballot, and yes I'm still happy with "The Chimera" as my #25...rocking song!

Cherub Rock
Mayonaise
1979
Hummer
Whir
Stand Inside Your Love
Tonight Tonight
Porcelina of the Vast Oceans
Rocket
Here Is No Why
Drown
Obscured
Home
Thirty-Three
Galapagos
Snail
The Boy
Today
Siva
Bury Me
Frail and Bedazzled
Hello Kitty Kat
Landslide
Glynis
The Chimera

Thanks UFO - amazing poll and great pictures!

My ballot:

Thirty-Three
Hummer
Perfect
Mayonaise
Pug
Geek U.S.A.
Galapagos
1979
Drown
For Martha
Soma
Thru the Eyes of Ruby
Tear
Porcelina of the Vast Oceans
Here Is No Why
Set The Ray To Jerry
Behold! The Night Mare
Starla
Muzzle
Rocket
Love
Luna
Fuck You (An Ode To No One)
Frail & Bedazzled
Rhinoceros

So out of curiosity, I broke the final tally into "Pre-Uncle Fester" and "Post-Uncle Fester" lists, to see how things rank within what I consider to be the two distinct phases of the band. I can't really argue much with the Gish-Pisces rankings, generally--pretty solid. I'll break it down by album phase next.

Phase 1 - 1988-1994 (Pre-Uncle Fester)

https://tonedeaf.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Screen-Shot-2017-08-31-at-9.50.13-am.png

(001) 1 Mayonaise 1258 33 3
(002) 3 Drown 920 26 3
(003) 4 Hummer 888 24 5
(004) 5 Soma 844 24 4
(005) 6 Cherub Rock 830 25 1
(006) 8 Rhinoceros 602 23 0
(007) 9 Starla 564 18 1
(008) 13 Rocket 518 19 2
(009) 14 Today 502 18 0
(010) 18 Geek U.S.A. 430 17 0
(011) 19 Obscured 426 15 0
(012) 24 Silverfuck 338 13 0
(013) 25 Whir 336 11 1
(014) 27 Frail and Bedazzled 322 11 1
(015) 28 Siva 314 13 1
(016) 29 Snail 310 11 0
(017) 30 Hello Kitty Kat 294 14 1
(018) 35 I Am One 234 9 0
(019) 36 Quiet 232 9 0
(020) 40 Bury Me 214 10 0
(021) 41 Luna 208 10 0
(022) 44 Glynis 184 8 0
(023) 52 Crush 154 6 1
(024) 56 Spaceboy 142 6 0
(025) 59 Suffer 128 5 0
(025) 60 Disarm 124 6 0
(026) 67 Blew Away 102 5 0
(027) 72 Tristessa 92 4 0
(028) 75 Soothe 78 3 0
(029) 76 Pissant 74 4 0
(030) 79 Plume 72 3 0
(031) 86 Daydream 52 5 0
(032) 90 Sweet Sweet 50 3 0
(033) 96 La Dolly Vita 40 2 0
(034) 100 Landslide 34 4 0
(035) 106 Blue 28 1 0
(036) 114 Pulseczar 16 1 0
(037) 116 Window Paine 10 1 0
(038) 121 Slunk 8 1 0
(039) 126 Purr Snickety 2 1 0
(040) 128 Apathy’s Last Kiss 2 1 0
(041) 129 Bugg Superstar 2 1 0

Phase 2 - 1995-2007 (Post-Uncle Fester)

http://www.crestfallen.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/billymcis_zeroshirt.jpg

(001) 2 1979 1152 31 3
(002) 7 Thirty-Three 720 27 1
(003) 10 Thru The Eyes of Ruby 558 17 2
(004) 11 Set the Ray to Jerry 520 18 0
(005) 13 Galapogos 518 18 0
(006) 15 Porcelina of the Vast Oceans 460 19 0
(007) 16 Here Is No Why 432 15 1
(008) 18 Stand Inside Your Love 430 16 1
(009) 20 Perfect 402 17 0
(010) 21 For Martha 380 15 1
(011) 22 Muzzle 358 14 0
(012) 23 Tonight, Tonight 348 14 0
(013) 26 Zero 328 13 0
(014) 32 To Forgive 266 9 0
(015) 33 Appels + Oranjes 250 9 0
(016) 31 Shame 274 10 0
(017) 35 Beautiful 234 9 1
(018) 37 Bullet With Butterfly Wings 228 9 0
(019) 38 Bodies 226 8 0
(020) 39 Love 216 11 0
(021) 42 To Sheila 196 10 1
(022) 43 Behold! The Night Mare 188 8 0
(023) 45 Blank Page 180 9 0
(024) 46 Eye 172 9 0
(025) 47 Where Boys Fear To Tread 170 7 0
(026) 48 By Starlight 162 9 0
(027) 49 Cupid de Locke 156 9 0
(028) 52 Age of Innocence 154 5 0
(029) 52 I of the Mourning 154 5 1
(030) 53 Pug 150 6 0
(031) 56 Ava Adore 142 6 0
(032) 56 Wound 142 7 0
(033) 58 Tear 134 4 0
(034) 58 Real Love 134 7 0
(035) 61 X.Y.U. 122 5 1
(036) 62 Farewell and Goodnight 120 4 0
(037) 63 Glass and the Ghost Children 118 4 0
(038) 64 The Boy 116 4 0
(039) 65 Stumbleine 112 6 0
(040) 66 Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness 110 3 1
(041) 68 Once Upon A Time 100 4 0
(042) 69 Pennies 98 3 1
(043) 70 We Only Come Out At Night 96 4 0
(044) 71 Jellybelly 96 5 0
(045) 73 This Time 90 4 0
(046) 74 Annie-Dog 82 3 0
(047) 77 Daphne Descends 74 3 0
(048) 78 Crestfallen 72 3 0
(049) 80 Home 62 3 0
(050) 81 Mouths of Babes 62 3 0
(051) 82 The Imploding Voice 60 3 0
(052) 83 Let Me Give the World To You 58 5 0
(053) 84 Fuck You (An Ode To No One) 58 3 0
(054) 85 In the Arms of Sleep 58 2 0
(055) 87 The Sacred and Profane 52 2 0
(056) 88 Try, Try, Try 52 3 0
(057) 89 Here's to the Atom Bomb 50 1 1
(058) 91 Medellia of the Gray Skies 48 5 0
(059) 92 The End is the Beginning Is The End 48 1 0
(060) 93 Cash Car Star 46 1 0
(061) 94 Rotten Apples 46 2 0
(062) 95 Meladori Magpie 42 1 0
(063) 97 Jupiter's Lament 38 1 0
(064) 98 Raindrops + Sunshowers 36 1 0
(065) 99 Dreaming 36 1 0
(066) 101 With Every Light 34 1 0
(067) 102 Cherry 32 3 0
(068) 103 White Spyder 30 1 0
(069) 104 Tales Of A Scorched Earth 30 2 0
(070) 105 Ugly 30 3 0
(071) 107 Take Me Down 28 1 0
(072) 108 Lily (my One And Only) 24 1 0
(073) 109 Believe 24 1 0
(074) 110 Once in a While 22 1 0
(075) 111 The Beginning Is The End Is The Beginning 20 1 0
(076) 112 Clones (We're All) 20 1 0
(077) 113 Tarantula 16 1 0
(078) 115 Vanity 12 1 0
(079) 117 If There is a God 10 1 0
(080) 118 Pastichio Medley 8 2 0
(081) 119 ...said sadly 8 1 0
(082) 120 The Everlasting Gaze 8 1 0
(083) 122 Dross 6 1 0
(084) 123 Satur9 6 1 0
(085) 124 Go 6 1 0
(086) 125 Marquis in Spades 6 2 0
(087) 127 The Chimera 2 1 0

Always wish the Neu!-ish opening of "Cherub Rock" had breathed for a little longer ...

this is a great remix idea tbh.

"My Blue Heaven" - I know the song through Fats Domino; always assumed he was covering some standard - but then for whatever reason I always assumed the Pumpkins knew it through Fats. Maybe I just like the idea of Billy growing up listening to Fats Domino before becoming all moody and nerdy at puberty. Though it seems just as likely with covers that anybody else in the band could have potentially brought them to the table.

weirdly the Gene Austin version of "My Blue Heaven" is the only one I've heard & I didn't know the Pumpkins did a cover of it!

"I've wanted to cover this song for five years, but found it impossible to learn, as I can't seem to learn anyone else's song. Written in 1927, this song is a well-known standard. I thought about doing this more futuristically, but in the end opted to let it be beautiful in its simplicity." -BC (Guitar World 1/97)

MCIS was technically recorded pre-Fester

anyway here's my ballot

Whir
Obscured
Mayonaise
Drown
Plume
Rhinoceros
Soma
Hello Kitty Kat
Pissant
Frail & Bedazzled
Siva
Starla
Rocket
Crush
I Am One
Geek U.S.A.
Hummer
Daydream
Cherub Rock
Zero
Bury Me
Here Is No Why
Bullet With Butterfly Wings
Silverfuck
Where Boys Fear to Tread

my teenage self would have voted for Soma every time though

MCIS was technically recorded pre-Fester

― had (crüt), Sunday, April 8, 2018 9:02 PM

But Fester was festering inside him at the time ; )

weirdly the Gene Austin version of "My Blue Heaven" is the only one I've heard & I didn't know the Pumpkins did a cover of it!

This has to be one of the least weird things someone could post on ilx, surely.:)

Anyway, yeah, listening to the playlist was cementing how much I like the pre-Fester period, even more than my ballot already suggests. Will definitely buy a copy of Gish soon. (I know I have owned one but idk where it is. Shamefully, I'm unsure where my PI is, too; will def replace that.)

i took guitar lessons when i was ~15 with this dude who pretty much only liked Yngwie/Satriani style shredders & had clearly expended much effort over the previous 10 years trying to convince kids that Kurt Cobain sucked. I brought in my Siamese Dream CD one day to see if he could teach me how to play Soma. he thought the guitar solo was terrible b/c it's mostly pentatonic scales with a few bent notes thrown in but iirc he did think the little melodic part right after "so let the sadness come again" was kinda cool

Satriani loved SP and considered Corgan an heir to the shredder tradition, if my memory of 90s guitar mags is correct.

xxp I heard that version because my college radio station had a decades-old vinyl copy of this that I got curious about: http://www.newworldrecords.org/album.cgi?rm=view&album_id=80279

since the uncle fester comparison was brought up, and there are lots of people itt who were around when the band was relatively young, how did you react to Billy shaving his head? he was clearly losing his hair for about 3 years before he shaved it, and I always thought it was really canny & impeccable timing & media spin when he shaved it and said "I did it as a statement / it's a character / I was sick of having to think about my appearance".... and people bought it! I still run into people who think he shaves his head by choice. Did everyone know in 1995 that he was going bald or did his spin actually work?

at the time i assumed he did it bc he was going bald. "1979" video was a bit of a shock initially

that's cool about Satriani! I think Corgan is an incredible guitar player obv. I think my guitar teacher thought that shredding on pentatonic scales made you a poser but shredding on diatonic scales — or even better, ~harmonic minor scales~ – made you a super cool Paganini-god surfing with the alien

he's also the one who taught me that rap isn't really music it's just talking over some drums #musicwisdom

I don't think it ever occurred to me that the shaved head was a choice unrelated to male pattern baldness.

crüt: Oh, nice re: TPA LP. I've been using Gene Austin's song as an example of TPA-era crooner recordings in pop history classes for about 10 years now, esp since it's the example included with Starr's/Waterman's American Popular Music.

I'm pretty sure it was in the Nov 1993 issue of Guitar World ("Shred Is Dead... NOT!") where Satriani made the comment about SP/Corgan I'm thinking of but I can't find a free digital version now.

Billy should grow his hair long and go for the Croz look imo

I don't remember it being clear that he was losing his hair before he shaved it off. Maybe I didn't really see enough photos of him? I dunno, in those pre-internet days you only really saw these people occasionally on MTV News or in magazines. He never really had cool rock star hair anyway, so when he unveiled The Dome it was like, eh, whatever.

84 Fuck You (An Ode To No One) 58 3 0
100 Landslide 34 4 0
120 The Everlasting Gaze 8 1 0

sadly not the locks on the top tier that some thought. who on earth voted for "The Beginning is the End is the Beginning"?!

― explosion from DOOM courtesy of id software (Doctor Casino), Sunday, April 8, 2018 10:04 AM (four hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Tracks (ordered):
Hello Kitty Kat
1979
Frail & Bedazzled
Tristessa
Cherub Rock
Mayonaise
Hummer
Perfect
Drown
Siva
Rocket
Silverfuck
I am One
Ava Adore
Thirty-Three
The Begninning Is The End Is The Beginning
Soma
Today
Once Upon A Time
Eye
Love
Jellybelly
Disarm
Geek U.S.A.
Cupid De Locke

kitsch batman soundtracks are sacred. The Watchmen was terrible but The Beginning... >>> The End

Ok, so a bit of data crunching: ranking each "album phase" by average track score; and sub-rankings of the tracks within each album phase.

Album Phases Ranked by Average Track Score:

01. Siamese Dream Phase - Avg. Score = 317
(26 tracks ranked, Avg. Track Rank = 51.1)

02. Gish Phase - Avg. Score = 234
(16 tracks ranked, Avg. Track Rank = 58.7)

03. Mellon Collie Phase - Avg. Score = 194
(44 tracks ranked, Avg. Track Rank = 64.4)

04. Adore Phase - Avg. Score = 160
(18 tracks ranked, Avg. Track Rank = 58.8)

05. Machina Phase - Avg. Score = 76
(23 tracks ranked, Avg. Track Rank = 86.8)

06. Post-Breakup Phase - Avg. Score = 9
(2 tracks ranked, Avg. Track Rank = 120)

Track Ranks Within Album Phases

I. Gish Phase
Avg. Score = 234
Avg. Track Rank = 58.7
(001) 3 Drown 920 26 3
(002) 8 Rhinoceros 602 23 0
(003) 9 Starla 564 18 1
(004) 28 Siva 314 13 1
(005) 29 Snail 310 11 0
(006) 35 I Am One 234 9 0
(007) 40 Bury Me 214 10 0
(008) 52 Crush 154 6 1
(009) 59 Suffer 128 5 0
(010) 72 Tristessa 92 4 0
(011) 79 Plume 72 3 0
(012) 86 Daydream 52 5 0
(013) 96 La Dolly Vita 40 2 0
(014) 106 Blue 28 1 0
(015) 116 Window Paine 10 1 0
(016) 121 Slunk 8 1 0

II. Siamese Dream Phase
Avg. Score = 317
Avg. Track Rank = 51.1
(001) 1 Mayonaise 1258 33 3
(002) 4 Hummer 888 24 5
(003) 5 Soma 844 24 4
(004) 6 Cherub Rock 830 25 1
(005) 13 Rocket 518 19 2
(006) 14 Today 502 18 0
(007) 18 Geek U.S.A. 430 17 0
(008) 19 Obscured 426 15 0
(009) 24 Silverfuck 338 13 0
(010) 25 Whir 336 11 1
(011) 27 Frail and Bedazzled 322 11 1
(012) 30 Hello Kitty Kat 294 14 1
(013) 36 Quiet 232 9 0
(014) 41 Luna 208 10 0
(015) 44 Glynis 184 8 0
(016) 56 Spaceboy 142 6 0
(017) 60 Disarm 124 6 0
(018) 67 Blew Away 102 5 0
(019) 75 Soothe 78 3 0
(020) 76 Pissant 74 4 0
(021) 90 Sweet Sweet 50 3 0
(022) 100 Landslide 34 4 0
(023) 114 Pulseczar 16 1 0
(024) 126 Purr Snickety 2 1 0
(025) 128 Apathy’s Last Kiss 2 1 0
(026) 129 Bugg Superstar 2 1 0

III. Mellon Collie Phase
Avg. Score = 194
Avg. Track Rank = 64.4
(001) 2 1979 1152 31 3
(002) 7 Thirty-Three 720 27 1
(003) 10 Thru The Eyes of Ruby 558 17 2
(004) 11 Set the Ray to Jerry 520 18 0
(005) 13 Galapogos 518 18 0
(006) 15 Porcelina of the Vast Oceans 460 19 0
(007) 16 Here Is No Why 432 15 1
(008) 22 Muzzle 358 14 0
(009) 23 Tonight, Tonight 348 14 0
(010) 26 Zero 328 13 0
(011) 32 To Forgive 266 9 0
(012) 35 Beautiful 234 9 1
(013) 37 Bullet With Butterfly Wings 228 9 0
(014) 38 Bodies 226 8 0
(015) 39 Love 216 11 0
(016) 47 Where Boys Fear To Tread 170 7 0
(017) 48 By Starlight 162 9 0
(018) 49 Cupid de Locke 156 9 0
(019) 61 X.Y.U. 122 5 1
(020) 62 Farewell and Goodnight 120 4 0
(021) 64 The Boy 116 4 0
(022) 65 Stumbleine 112 6 0
(023) 66 Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness 110 3 1
(024) 69 Pennies 98 3 1
(025) 70 We Only Come Out At Night 96 4 0
(026) 71 Jellybelly 96 5 0
(027) 81 Mouths of Babes 62 3 0
(028) 84 Fuck You (An Ode To No One) 58 3 0
(029) 85 In the Arms of Sleep 58 2 0
(030) 91 Medellia of the Gray Skies 48 5 0
(031) 94 Rotten Apples 46 2 0
(032) 95 Meladori Magpie 42 1 0
(033) 97 Jupiter's Lament 38 1 0
(034) 99 Dreaming 36 1 0
(035) 102 Cherry 32 3 0
(036) 104 Tales Of A Scorched Earth 30 2 0
(037) 105 Ugly 30 3 0
(038) 107 Take Me Down 28 1 0
(039) 108 Lily (my One And Only) 24 1 0
(040) 109 Believe 24 1 0
(041) 112 Clones (We're All) 20 1 0
(042) 118 Pastichio Medley 8 2 0
(043) 119 ...said sadly 8 1 0
(044) 125 Marquis in Spades 6 2 0

IV. Adore Phase
Avg. Score = 160
Avg. Track Rank = 58.8
(001) 20 Perfect 402 17 0
(002) 21 For Martha 380 15 1
(003) 31 Shame 274 10 0
(004) 33 Appels + Oranjes 250 9 0
(005) 42 To Sheila 196 10 1
(006) 43 Behold! The Night Mare 188 8 0
(007) 45 Blank Page 180 9 0
(008) 46 Eye 172 9 0
(009) 53 Pug 150 6 0
(010) 56 Ava Adore 142 6 0
(011) 58 Tear 134 4 0
(012) 68 Once Upon A Time 100 4 0
(013) 74 Annie-Dog 82 3 0
(014) 77 Daphne Descends 74 3 0
(015) 78 Crestfallen 72 3 0
(016) 92 The End is the Beginning Is The End 48 1 0
(017) 110 Once in a While 22 1 0
(018) 111 The Beginning Is The End Is The Beginning 20 1 0

V. Machina Phase
Avg. Score = 76
Avg. Track Rank = 86.8
(001) 18 Stand Inside Your Love 430 16 1
(002) 52 Age of Innocence 154 5 0
(003) 52 I of the Mourning 154 5 1
(004) 56 Wound 142 7 0
(005) 58 Real Love 134 7 0
(006) 63 Glass and the Ghost Children 118 4 0
(007) 73 This Time 90 4 0
(008) 80 Home 62 3 0
(009) 82 The Imploding Voice 60 3 0
(010) 83 Let Me Give the World To You 58 5 0
(011) 87 The Sacred and Profane 52 2 0
(012) 88 Try, Try, Try 52 3 0
(013) 89 Here's to the Atom Bomb 50 1 1
(014) 93 Cash Car Star 46 1 0
(015) 98 Raindrops + Sunshowers 36 1 0
(016) 101 With Every Light 34 1 0
(017) 103 White Spyder 30 1 0
(018) 115 Vanity 12 1 0
(019) 117 If There is a God 10 1 0
(020) 120 The Everlasting Gaze 8 1 0
(021) 122 Dross 6 1 0
(022) 123 Satur9 6 1 0
(023) 124 Go 6 1 0

VI. Post-Breakup Phase
Avg. Score = 9
Avg. Track Rank = 120
(077) 113 Tarantula 16 1 0
(087) 127 The Chimera 2 1 0

how on earth did this song never make it onto a comp like Pisces

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cA0Mo9C9Cnk

in case anyone wanted a poppier Frail and Bedazzled

also lol at the only two post-2000 songs to place. both are ok, p good for SP2

'Tristessa', 'Daydream', 'Jellybelly', 'Fuck You (An Ode To No One)', 'In the Arms of Sleep', 'Once Upon a Time', 'The Tale of Dusty + Pistol Pete' (No votes!? WTF!), 'This Time', 'Try Try Try' and 'With Every Light' were all robbed.

As were 'Panopticon', 'Pinwheels' and 'Pale Horse' ...

Because you know you want to see this video again

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ro8shNTlzTY

I love that no matter what, everything official uploaded to YouTube before 2010 looks like shit and will always look like shit unless it's re-uploaded.

still my favorite document of the band. 27 min = my favorite performance of Porcelina ever

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_U7QGPz4xmA

Interesting that after all the discussion, the rankings by album phase really held to form re: perception of the band's trajectory back in the day: SD > Gish > MCIS > Adore > Machina >>> Post-Breakup. I guess a lot of the early-days fans were being relatively mum? Or, as others pointed out, there's maybe not as much to say about the stuff we (statistically on the whole) like best?

I'm actually slightly surprised after all the discussion to see that as a whole the Gish era rated higher than the MCIS era--though it seems to be very much buoyed by 'Drown' and 'Starla' being so beloved, it seems like. MCIS is dragged down somewhat by the inclusion of a lot of tracks that had only one or two votes fairly low in the list--but all the album phases have some of those.

'Adore' is interesting because it has a lot of tracks bunched in the 40s-70s and not as many as others lower in the rankings--which maybe suggests when it's tracks were ranked on ballots, they were often voted high in their rankings?

that was the case for me. Blank Page was in my top 10, and the only Adore song I voted for. but it was my #2 album.

Adore is for me what a lot of noise albums are: a whole as an album, tough to think of as individual tracks.

me too. even though each song is pretty different. really strange

Right? Adore has this gauze over it that gels so many disparate styles and songs together and makes it even more of a whole than Gish or MCIS.

i think the strong visual aesthetic of Adore contributes at least a bit to the cohesive feel of the music. when i think of adore i instantly think of the cover and the CD booklet, the dark monochrome colors, festering billy
prowling around the 'Ava Adore' video, the everpresent gothic vibe. some of the other albums also had iconic imagery (the cover of MCIS bleeding into the world of the 'Tonight Tonight' video, the SD twins) but didn't present as complete a world as the pain in the Adore imagery (imo). i know it's kind of bullshit to claim that all that has an effect on how you hear the music itself, but for me it did.

i've been listening to a lot more earlier SP as a result of this poll! it's been a very enjoyable ride. one idea that i'm considering is that the earlier stuff (through SD) really needed guitars in order to work, but as they progressed the songwriting got a bit more conventional but also more refined - most of Adore could be performed on non-guitars and it would still work just as well, and i'm not sure that's true of SD.

1. Thru the Eyes of Ruby
2. This Time
3. Muzzle
4. Behold! The Night Mare
5. 1979
6. Mayonaise
7. Here Is No Why
8. Tear
9. The Sacred and Profane
10. To Forgive
11. Galapagos
12. For Martha
13. Wound
14. Shame
15. Glass and the Ghost Children
16. Porcelina of the Vast Oceans
17. Soma
18. Let Me Give the World To You
19. Spaceboy
20. The Imploding Voice
21. Real Love
22. Perfect
23. Thirty-Three
24. To Sheila
25. Daphne Descends