AMF Favorite Albums of All-Time -- RESULTS

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babydoll
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Re: AMF Favorite Albums of All-Time -- RESULTS

Post by babydoll »

notbrianeno, Tracy Chapman's album is not called Like a Prayer.

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Re: AMF Favorite Albums of All-Time -- RESULTS

Post by prosecutorgodot »

Holy cow! Black Messiah is the #1 album of 2014!
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Re: AMF Favorite Albums of All-Time -- RESULTS

Post by veganvalentine »

bootsy wrote:
Harold wrote:
bootsy wrote: Had 3 R.E.M. albums so far. How much more are you expecting?
Looks like there are three more to go. I don't really understand vv's comment, unless it's meant as a complaint that R.E.M. are going to wind up with a fairly large number of albums (not "nearly all") on the top 1000. They're one of the most acclaimed rock bands of all time, so obviously they're going to do well on an all-time list - what of it?
Don't think it's a complaint. It didn't make sense to me because there are already 3 as if there hadn't been any yet and he is anticipating a big R.E.M. rollout for the last 300. I'm expecting a few more too but definitely not nearly all of their catalog.
Sorry, for some reason it felt like more than 3 albums had made it (maybe 4 with the EP?), and I'm not intimately familiar with their discography outside of the big guns. I was also being hyperbolic, as I didn't actually expect any post-Automatic for the People albums to make the cut, but yeah it was a pretty pointless comment.

A few other thoughts:

- All Things Must Pass has consistently been in the 280s in the 2014 list, this list, and the AM list.
- Rust Never Sleeps really took a tumble this time around, but perhaps that's true of all of Young's albums.
- I wonder why Music from Big Pink did so poorly again. Personally, I love the sound of The Band but find the album disappointing outside of The Weight.
- Meddle :music-listening:
- The Piper at the Gates of Dawn: Finally a Pink Floyd album that that weird vegan guy didn't vote for. :P
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Re: AMF Favorite Albums of All-Time -- RESULTS

Post by notbrianeno »

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#250. King Crimson | Red (1974)
# of Voters: 17 | Score: 821.091
Rank in 2014: #331
AM 3000 Rank: #604
Top Fans: BangJan (#1), Jackson (#7), SonofSamIAm (#14), Dudumb (#32), Panam (#33), Chambord (#44), Listyguy (#72), Honorio (#80)
Music such as this speaks of things that language will always fall well short of reaching. Ripping open that silence where words end, shattering conventions and reshaping them in unexpected new ways, cracking open your skull with a sledge-hammer and then using the precision of a surgeon's scalpel to rewire your cognitive reasoning, this is what Red is all about.
--unearth, RYM

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#249. Aretha Franklin | Lady Soul (1968)
# of Voters: 20 | Score: 821.217
Rank in 2014: #237
AM 3000 Rank: #160
Top Fans: Babydoll (#43), RockyRaccoon (#50), Profeta (#52), Bootsy (#80), BonnieLaurel (#84), Bruno (#86)
Her performances were more impassioned than on her debut, and the material just as strong, an inspired blend of covers and originals from the best songwriters in soul and pop music. The opener, "Chain of Fools," became the biggest hit, driven by a chorus of cascading echoes by Franklin and her bedrock backing vocalists, the Sweet Impressions, plus the unforgettable, earthy guitar work of guest Joe South. The album's showpiece, though, was "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman," a song written expressly for her by Brill Building pop stalwarts Gerry Goffin and Carole King, based on a title coined by producer Jerry Wexler. One of the landmark performances in pop music, the song floats serenely through the verses until, swept up by Ralph Burns' stirring string arrangement again and again, Franklin opens up on the choruses with one of the most transcendent vocals of her career.
--John Bush, Allmusic

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#248. Grimes | Art Angels (2015)
# of Voters: 18 | Score: 822.828
Rank in 2014: N/A
AM 3000 Rank: #537
Top Fans: SweepstakesRon (#2), DepecheMode (#39), Nassim (#62), GucciLittlePiggy (#62), BleuPanda (#64), BonnieLaurel (#70)
Art Angels is Claire Boucher's fourth record as Grimes and her most audacious yet: a gilded coffin nail to outmoded arguments that women in pop are mere frames for male producers' talents. These 14 tracks articulate a pop vision that is incontrovertibly hers, inviting the wider world in.
--Jessica Hopper, Pitchfork

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#247. David Bowie | Aladdin Sane (1973)
# of Voters: 18 | Score: 823.017
Rank in 2014: #291
AM 3000 Rank: #473
Top Fans: Romain (#38), RedAnt (#38), GabeBasso (#48), Whuntva (#49), Moonbeam (#57), Bootsy (#83), Listyguy (#95)
Aladdin Sane, on the other hand, is full of dark alleys, seedy bars, and left turns. It's still along the same general lines, mixing proto-punk glam action, theatrical ballads, and brilliant pop, but it's darker, draggier, murkier, and sounds considerably more embittered. While Bowie, or at least Ziggy, was in love with the sex and drugs thing on the previous album, here he sounds embittered with it, only slogging through it anymore because he's in too deep to really get out.
--finulanu, RYM

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#246. The Verve | Urban Hymns (1997)
# of Voters: 20 | Score: 824.823
Rank in 2014: #307
AM 3000 Rank: #294
Top Fans: Whuntva (#4), JWinton (#28), JohnnyBGoode (#53), ChrisK (#90), GabeBasso (#91)
Much of the record consists of songs Ashcroft had intended for a solo project or a new group, yet Urban Hymns unmistakably sounds like the work of a full band, with its sweeping, grandiose soundscapes and sense of purpose. The Verve have toned down their trancy, psychedelic excursions, yet haven't abandoned them -- if anything, they sound more muscular than before, whether it's the trippy "Catching the Butterfly" or the pounding "Come On." These powerful, guitar-drenched rockers provide the context for Ashcroft's affecting, string-laden ballads, which give Urban Hymns its hurt.
--Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Allmusic

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#245. Steely Dan | Aja (1977)
# of Voters: 17 | Score: 826.454
Rank in 2014: #252
AM 3000 Rank: #307
Top Fans: Georgie (#1), Henry (#12), Slucs (#48), BangJan (#71), BonnieLaurel (#79), Nick (#80)
It is impossible to hear this record without thinking about LA sunshine, even though Fagen's lyrics were often nostalgic, ironic and bitter; hardly suspiring for a group that named itself after a – ahem – marital aid from William Burroughs’ Naked Lunch. To complete the feeling that you were holding an old jazz album in your hands, the original pressings came in a gatefold sleeve with a note from ABC Records’ president Steve Diener and the mock reverential critique by ‘Michael Phalen’: "In this writer’s opinion, Aja signals the onset of a new maturity and a kind of solid professionalism that is the hallmark of an artist that has arrived." Phalen was, of course, Becker and Fagen.
--Daryl Easlea, BBC

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#244. Dusty Springfield | Dusty in Memphis (1969)
# of Voters: 20 | Score: 831.145
Rank in 2014: #314
AM 3000 Rank: #107
Top Fans: Babydoll (#1), Romain (#42), Andyd1010 (#67), Georgie (#90)
Greil Marcus said that the album “will not change your life, but it will better it.” That is probably the best descriptor of people’s connection with Dusty in Memphis, and probably has never been better said. However, my life was changed for the better because of Dusty in Memphis. I was immediately taken aback by the haunting vocals, the delicate grooves, and the fragile emotional state. It spoke volumes to me. The album’s personal meaning (for me) can change overtime, but for now, it is a constant friend. It never lets me down and comforts me when I need it or sets me into a pleasant groove.
--Babydoll, RYM

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#243. Kanye West | Yeezus (2013)
# of Voters: 17 | Score: 834.954
Rank in 2014: #255
AM 3000 Rank: #315
Top Fans: PlasticRam (#5), JasonBob4567 (#8), GucciLittlePiggy (#11), SweepstakesRon (#46), NotBrianEno (#54), GabeBasso (#71)
For Kanye, there's purpose in repulsion. And on Yeezus, he trades out smooth soul and anthemic choruses for jarring electro, acid house, and industrial grind while delivering some of his most lewd and heart-crushing tales yet. This is willful provocation that Ice Cube, Madonna, and Trent Reznor could all be proud of. Some of the record has him tackling the same issues he's been rapping about since The College Dropout, albeit with a fire-eyed stare.
--Ryan Dombal, Pitchfork

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#242. Leonard Cohen | Songs of Love and Hate (1971)
# of Voters: 17 | Score: 835.792
Rank in 2014: #221
AM 3000 Rank: #451
Top Fans: SJner (#39), Harold (#46), BangJan (#49), Nassim (#55), Miguel (#63), JWinton (#79), Acroamor (#82)
If there is one thing that Leonard Cohen teaches us, it’s that being happy is completely overrated. No matter what state you are in, exuberant, joyous, or just plain content, the opening guitar line on “Avalanche,” the first track on Songs of Love and Hate, will immediately depress you. And that’s the best part about the entire album. It can alter your mood so violently that by the end of the it you are left stunned, wondering how nine simple pieces of music could change how you feel so drastically.
--Molly B. Eichel, Trebel

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#241. Spiritualized | Ladies And Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space (1997)
# of Voters: 18 | Score: 837.614
Rank in 2014: #214
AM 3000 Rank: #257
Top Fans: LuvulongTIM (#2), Jackson (#8), Spiritualized (#38), Nick (#78), Schaefer.tk (#91), BangJan (#92), ChrisK (#96), Gillingham (#97)
Everything falls into place here , the suite like quality of the compositions ,the amazingly flexible rhythm section,the focus on devising interesting arrangements sees wondrous string segments here alongside psychedelic jams,steel guitars and gospel choirs. The use of drones from previous records replaced by an interest in free-jazz ,pierces production meanwhile is daring,intricate and murky, rewarding future plays .
--Garfieldacres, RYM
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Re: AMF Favorite Albums of All-Time -- RESULTS

Post by Nassim »

veganvalentine wrote: Sorry, for some reason it felt like more than 3 albums had made it (maybe 4 with the EP?), and I'm not intimately familiar with their discography outside of the big guns. I was also being hyperbolic, as I didn't actually expect any post-Automatic for the People albums to make the cut, but yeah it was a pretty pointless comment.

A few other thoughts:

- Meddle :music-listening:
- The Piper at the Gates of Dawn: Finally a Pink Floyd album that that weird vegan guy didn't vote for. :P
I guess it shows that we each view the results from a different angle. You seem surprised (or even disappointed) that R.E.M., a band with 7 albums in AM top 1000, ends up with 7 (I think, don't expect Green to show up by now) albums/EPs in our list, but seem pretty happy that Pink Floyd, a band with 4 albums in AM top 1000 ends up with the same number ! By the way, both discographies pretty much have the same length.
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Re: AMF Favorite Albums of All-Time -- RESULTS

Post by panam »

King Crimson ;)
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Re: AMF Favorite Albums of All-Time -- RESULTS

Post by notbrianeno »

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#240. Massive Attack | Mezzanine (1998)
# of Voters: 20 | Score: 839.697
Rank in 2014: #142
AM 3000 Rank: #332
Top Fans: Gillingham (#7), Dudumb (#24), Chambord (#35), Harold (#43)
The flow of this album is perfect. The opener immediately warps you into the album's mood, which intensifies with "Risingson". It then starts oscillating back and forth with lighter songs ("Teardrop", "Exchange") before finally diving back to darkness for good; slowly first with "Dissolved Girl" (oh how I love the eruption of the guitar!) and my favourite track, "Man Next Door" -- absolutely perfect with its soulful singing, powerful yet primitive beat, catchy melody, and paranoid lyrics.
--Offler, RYM

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#239. Paul McCartney & Wings | Band on the Run (1974)
# of Voters: 22 | Score: 844.671
Rank in 2014: #234
AM 3000 Rank: #404
Top Fans: Profeta (#15), Victor.Marianoo77 (#29), VanillaFire1000 (#60), GabeBasso (#67), Zombeels (#73), DocBrown (#78)
McCartney didn’t need to take as many risks as he did for Band On The Run. Though critics lashed out at him, his previous album, Red Rose Speedway, still hit the top of the charts. He could very well have made similar albums to Red Rose and Wings’ debut, Wild Life, for the rest of the ’70s, selling enough records to maintain his lifestyle and resting on his fame as a Beatle. The fact that he didn’t reveals the depth of his ambition. McCartney wasn’t content to just make albums; he wanted to make big ones, in every possible sense.
--Noah Cruickshank, AVclub

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#238. Bruce Springsteen | The River (1980)
# of Voters: 16 | Score: 854.244
Rank in 2014: #224
AM 3000 Rank: #280
Top Fans: BryanBehar (#5), StevieFan13 (#14), Profeta (#44), RedAnt (#44), Honorio (#49), GabeBasso (#57)
Whatever the theme (idyll, despair, dream, requisition), the music of E Street Band is always engaging and emotionally close to the spirit of "good-time", never being simple "fun": this is the secret of the historic compromise reached by Springsteen over the years. And so, on these drunken dramas, the most vibrant voice of white rock can affect his notes of daily pathos and urban tragedy without ever taking the pleasure of listening.
--Piero Scaruffi

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#237. Nine Inch Nails | The Downward Spiral (1994)
# of Voters: 19 | Score: 855.886
Rank in 2014: #358
AM 3000 Rank: #178
Top Fans: NotBrianEno (#15), OrdinaryPerson (#27), M24 (#31), Slick (#54), Dexter (#56), Spiritualized (#59), BleuPanda (#97)
As with so many people, The Downward Spiral was my introduction to Nine Inch Nails. I was already listening to industrial music, having long been a fan of Ministry, and this was a near-total reinvention of the genre. "Mr. Self Destruct" blasting out of the gate at the start of the album (literally with a series of gunshots, from Rise of the Triad, if memory serves) is nitro-fueled industrial, a rolling wash of percussion, like rickety whirring machines in overdrive more than anything actually musical, two fuzzed-out atonal notes on guitar and Reznor shouting until the whole song is entirely consumed by the noise of the machinery. I can still recall being completely blown away by this opening the first time I put the album on. It is so audacious and portentous, a track with total confidence that this album is going to change the industrial landscape, the aural equivalent of Eraserhead.
--jshopa, RYM

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#236. OutKast | Speakerboxx / The Love Below (2003)
# of Voters: 18 | Score: 855.949
Rank in 2014: #300
AM 3000 Rank: #281
Top Fans: Schaefer.tk (#13), Renan (#28), Slick (#39), Dexter (#43), Toni (#81), Bruno (#85), Nicolas (#96)
both records are very different, but the remarkable thing is, they both feel thoroughly like OutKast music. Big Boi and Andre 3000 took off in different directions from the same starting point, yet they wind up sounding unified because they share the same freewheeling aesthetic, where everything is alive and everything is possible within their music. That spirit fuels not just the best hip-hop, but the best pop music, and both Speakerboxxx and The Love Below are among the best hip-hop and best pop music released this decade. Each is a knockout individually, and paired together, their force is undeniable.
--Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Allmusic

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#235. Beyoncé | Lemonade (2016)
# of Voters: 17 | Score: 859.463
Rank in 2014: N/A
AM 3000 Rank: N/A
Top Fans: StevieFan13 (#17), Babydoll (#26), Luis15Fernando (#33), Andyd1010 (#34), M24 (#41), ProsecutorGodot (#61), Profeta (#66)
Lemonade shatters this theory. If the album is to be considered a document of some kind of truth, emotional or otherwise, then it seems Beyoncé was saving the juicy details for her own story. Because nothing she does is an accident, let’s assume she understands that any song she puts her name on will be perceived as being about her own very public relationship. So what we think we know about her marriage after listening is the result of Beyoncé wanting us to think that. With its slate of accompanying videos, Lemonade is billed as Beyonce’s second "visual album." But here that voyeuristic feeling manifests while listening rather than viewing, given the high visibility of Bey and Jay. The songwriting is littered with scenes that seem positively cinematic, so it helps that you can imagine these characters living them: Beyoncé smelling another woman’s scent on Jay Z, her pacing their penthouse in the middle of the night before leaving a note and disappearing with Blue. Lemonade is a film as well, yet the album itself feels like a movie.
--Jillian Mapes, Pitchfork

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#234. Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band | Trout Mask Replica (1969)
# of Voters: 17 | Score: 859.472
Rank in 2014: #262
AM 3000 Rank: #65
Top Fans: PlasticRam (#12), BangJan (#17), Georgie (#18), OrdinaryPerson (#51), Jackson (#59), Harold (#59), ProsecutorGodot (#86), Nico (#98)
The album represents the appeal for the deviate. Through its bizarre and iconoclastic mixture of unrecognizable styles, and the inscrutable but huge lyrics by Don Van Vliet (Captain Beefheart), we are offered a plunge in an unexplored ocean. The musicians lived in the country for the rehearsals of Van Vliet's difficult songs and they practised tirelessly for about 14 hours a day. The composer had the idea that the band "lived" the record. Now we can state that he exceeded expectations although their health was at a serious risk. Not only physically as we can conclude after just a few seconds of this music. Pieces of music that have deadly injured Tom Waits or the ringleaders of post-punk among many others.
--laranra, RYM

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#233. Bon Iver | For Emma, Forever Ago (2007)
# of Voters: 17 | Score: 864.064
Rank in 2014: #247
AM 3000 Rank: #278
Top Fans: M24 (#12), GucciLittlePiggy (#13), VanillaFire1000 (#63), JWinton (#68), Chambord (#99)
It is brilliant and hushed sounding. It is mixed with sparse instrumentation, yet at times with astounding complexity. For example, the near inaudible synth-drone in blindsided during the quietest parts of the song. It took me two years of close listening to notice that small detail. And when I say close, I really mean it. This album is best listened with headphones while sitting on the deck, cradling a cup of tea in the cool autumn night.
--jadborn, RYM

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#232. Weezer | Pinkerton (1996)
# of Voters: 17 | Score: 870.506
Rank in 2014: #395
AM 3000 Rank: #492
Top Fans: Acroamor (#8), BryanBehar (#18), Schaefer.tk (#20), Slick (#45), Andyd1010 (#52), Nick (#76), Dudumb (#78)
From the pounding, primal assault of the opening track, "Tired of Sex," it's clear from the outset that Pinkerton is a different record than the sunny, heavy guitar pop of Weezer's eponymous debut. The first noticeable difference is the darker, messier sound -- the guitars rage and squeal, the beats are brutal and visceral, the vocals are mixed to the front, filled with overlapping, off-the-cuff backing vocals. In short, it sounds like the work of a live band, which makes it all the more ironic that Pinkerton, at its core, is a singer/songwriter record
--Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Allmusic

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#231. Arcade Fire | Reflektor (2013)
# of Voters: 19 | Score: 871.272
Rank in 2014: #281
AM 3000 Rank: #500
Top Fans: GucciLittlePiggy (#6), Andyd1010 (#41), Toni (#48), JohnnyBGoode (#55), JWinton (#56), OrdinaryPerson (#79)
Reflektor's sound is lush and imaginative, but never in a way that suffocates you with the fumes of its polish. It's limber and loose, as though the songs were performed live; the arrangements breathe, seethe, and sweat. As their detractors will be quick to point out, Arcade Fire's greatest crime in the past has been sometimes coming off too stately and self-serious (The Suburbs in particular had a buttoned-up quality that failed to capture the frenzied energy of their live shows), but on the first half of Reflektor they often feel like they're deflating their own sense of grandeur. It's nice to hear a band that showed up on the scene quite literally dressed for a funeral now sounding like they're having (at least a little) fun.
--Lindsay Zoladz, Pitchfork
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Re: AMF Favorite Albums of All-Time -- RESULTS

Post by StevieFan13 »

Hey, finally, some albums I actually voted for!
Music is a world within itself, with a language we all understand - Sir Duke (1976)
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Re: AMF Favorite Albums of All-Time -- RESULTS

Post by StevieFan13 »

This is also setting the stage for a much higher finish for The Stranger than I thought it'd get (or my #1, Enter the Wu-Tang, for that matter).
Music is a world within itself, with a language we all understand - Sir Duke (1976)
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Re: AMF Favorite Albums of All-Time -- RESULTS

Post by notbrianeno »

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#230. Elvis Costello | My Aim Is True (1977)
# of Voters: 22 | Score: 872.180
Rank in 2014: #167
AM 3000 Rank: #122
Top Fans: Toni (#4), DocBrown (#37), Harold (#94), RedAnt (#94)
If it wasn't for the contemporary corrosive attitude and language, Elvis Costello's My Aim Is True would have made a classic late fifties rock and roll album and that is a big compliment. Forever erroneously linked with the punk revolution, a comparison with the Sixties protest movement would carry far greater weight. That may seem too far a jump for an album principally concerned with sex and adolescent angst ("No Dancing", "Mystery Dance", "I'm Not Angry") but Costello cleverly intermingles this with his anger of social and political ills (the anti-fascism of "Less Than Zero") and thus appeals to a wider audience.
--grampus, RYM

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#229. MGMT | Oracular Spectacular (2008)
# of Voters: 18 | Score: 873.593
Rank in 2014: #296
AM 3000 Rank: #487
Top Fans: Romain (#29), Whuntva (#32), Victor.Marianoo77 (#50), Chambord (#69), PlasticRam (#84), VeganValentine (#90), Andyd1010 (#91), Slick (#95)
Two hipster geeks from Wesleyan plug in their rad vintage keyboards, pick out some fetching headbands and compose a suite of damn-near-perfect synthesized heartache. The songs on Oracular Spectacular get even better if you tune in close to the vocals — but you don't have to figure out a single word of "Kids" to feel the poignant kick of that massive nine-note keyboard hook.
--Rolling Stone

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#228. Led Zeppelin | Houses of the Holy (1973)
# of Voters: 17 | Score: 880.123
Rank in 2014: #236
AM 3000 Rank: #471
Top Fans: RedAnt (#27), DepecheMode (#35), Listyguy (#67), Whuntva (#69), GabeBasso (#70), Georgie (#71), Brad (#77), RockyRaccoon (#96)
One of the myriad things that makes Zeppelin so great is that the subject matter of their songs is generally about as far from the mundane as is empirically possible, and Led Zeppelin has the ability to completely capture your imagination in a way that few other bands are capable of. Houses Of The Holy is Led Zeppelin's greatest manifestation of that ability.
--DarthKarl, RYM

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#227. Soundgarden | Superunknown (1994)
# of Voters: 17 | Score: 881.008
Rank in 2014: #279
AM 3000 Rank: #265
Top Fans: Whuntva (#7), Dexter (#49), Andyd1010 (#54), ChrisK (#65), Spiritualized (#66), LiveinPhoenix (#72), Listyguy (#81)
the tour de force of Superunknown(A & M, 1994) definitively proclaims the Soundgarden Seattle grunge champions and ever-hard rock classics. By abandoning the most heavymetal poses and rediscovering the fascination of Gothic and psychedelic sounds, the group writes the most linear and rational pages of its history, cleansing the sound of all the excesses accumulated in recent years,
--Piero Scaruffi

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#226. Tame Impala | Lonerism (2012)
# of Voters: 23 | Score: 884.957
Rank in 2014: #427
AM 3000 Rank: #369
Top Fans: JohnnyBGoode (#8), DepecheMode (#18), JWinton (#96)
The production, and feel of the music harkens back to the 60's and 70's, but the melodies are swiped from brit-rock invasion of the late 00's, and steals vocal harmonies from pop music of the same decade.
Different genres and ideas pop up and feel natural in the world created by the record, blues rock, krautrock, psyche and Beatles-esque pop all sound of the same mother when placed under the guidance of Kevin Parker, the mastermind behind this beautiful record.
--TheTelepathicKid, RYM

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#225. The Eagles | Hotel California (1976)
# of Voters: 17 | Score: 886.600
Rank in 2014: #285
AM 3000 Rank: #109
Top Fans: RedAnt (#2), Dexter (#16), VeganValentine (#36), JWinton (#67), Bruno (#72), Nico (#73), Andyd1010 (#76), Henry (#76), GabeBasso (#77), Whuntva (#84)
As a result, the album marks a major leap for the Eagles from their earlier work, as well as a stylistic shift toward mainstream rock. An even more important aspect, however, is the emergence of Don Henley as the band's dominant voice, both as a singer and a lyricist. On the six songs to which he contributes, Henley sketches a thematic statement that begins by using California as a metaphor for a dark, surreal world of dissipation; comments on the ephemeral nature of success and the attraction of excess; branches out into romantic disappointment; and finally sketches a broad, pessimistic history of America that borders on nihilism.
--William Ruhlmann, Allmusic

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#224. The Who | Tommy (1969)
# of Voters: 19 | Score: 886.640
Rank in 2014: #179
AM 3000 Rank: #121
Top Fans: Bruno (#35), Nico (#53), Henry (#59), RockyRaccoon (#62), Nicolas (#100)
Tommy is an album you have to listen in totality. There's no point in which you can happily let your mind wander, other than "Underture", which probably explains why it is one of the most popular tracks on the album (i.e. it gives you chance to put the kettle on or (for those that do indulge in that kind of thing) roll a spliff). Arguably the thing that makes Tommy work was the drive and ambition of Pete Townshend and the fact at this stage in their career, The Who were a particularly well-drilled band, capable of making a good job of almost anything thrown at them.
--p_q, RYM

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#223. Wire | Pink Flag (1977)
# of Voters: 19 | Score: 888.633
Rank in 2014: #181
AM 3000 Rank: #286
Top Fans: Brad (#1), Harold (#47), SJner (#52), Jackson (#53), Bleupanda (#95)
The simultaneous rawness and detachment of this debut LP returns rock and roll irony to the (native) land of Mick Jagger, where it belongs. From a formal strategy almost identical to the Ramones, this band deducts most melody to arrive at music much grimmer and more frightening: Wire would sooner revamp "The Fat Lady of Limbourg" or "Some Kinda Love" than "Let's Dance" or "Surfin' Bird."
--Robert Christgau

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#222. Björk | Vespertine (2001)
# of Voters: 22 | Score: 891.391
Rank in 2014: #205
AM 3000 Rank: #392
Top Fans: Moonbeam (#8), Babydoll (#9), Maschine_Man (#18), NotBrianEno (#58), LuvulongTIM (#61), Spiderpig (#87)
Released at the end of summer in 2001, Vespertine came at a time when music was growing stagnant. In the midst of overly processed albums lacking spirit, Björk released an album of unabashed passion and care. To its admirers, Vespertine transcends mere album status and stands as a veritable Godsend. With its acutely emotional lyrics, angelic background choirs and painstakingly beautiful strings, Vespertine is a providential ray of healing. It is apparent from moment one that prudent attention and soul searching were employed into the craft of each song.
--Moonbeam, RYM

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#221. Kraftwerk | The Man-Machine (1978)
# of Voters: 21 | Score: 895.148
Rank in 2014: #158
AM 3000 Rank: #231
Top Fans: Honorio (#33), Moonbeam (#58), Antonius (#65), BleuPanda (#67), Jeff (#69), OrdinaryPerson (#78)
The opening passage of The Man Machine, released in 1978, is a very particular vision of the future. It's the chatter of servo-motors, the slow whine of monorails, of control signals manipulating remote machines. It's the sound of abstracted production. Over six tracks and 36 minutes, Kraftwerk thoroughly and succinctly explore the impact of technology upon humanity. It's their defining theme and one which makes the group arguably the most important in the canon of popular music.
--Colin Buttimer, BBC
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Re: AMF Favorite Albums of All-Time -- RESULTS

Post by StevieFan13 »

Another great batch! Keep those hits coming! I love MGMT's high finish.
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Re: AMF Favorite Albums of All-Time -- RESULTS

Post by bootsy »

Other than Reflektor no real surprises.
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Re: AMF Favorite Albums of All-Time -- RESULTS

Post by veganvalentine »

Considering how well classic rock has fared on this list (even Journey made the top 1000), I'm a little surprised Hotel California fell outside the top 200 again.
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Re: AMF Favorite Albums of All-Time -- RESULTS

Post by prosecutorgodot »

I'm not ready for the Beatles onslaught.

I am very happy with Lemonade's placement!

At this rate, both Green Day albums could be in the top 200. That would be awesome :D

I'm starting to feel the pain of the electronic drops. I think Mezzanine is pretty dang cool, and I love The Man Machine.
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Re: AMF Favorite Albums of All-Time -- RESULTS

Post by notbrianeno »

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#220. AC/DC | Back in Black (1980)
# of Voters: 16 | Score: 895.371
Rank in 2014: #385
AM 3000 Rank: #92
Top Fans: Dexter (#6), Victor.Marianoo77 (#14), Whuntva (#47), Profeta (#56), ProsecutorGodot (#68), Nico (#72), RedAnt (#92), Bruno (#94)
Back in Black was a step up in every way from its predecessor, with the more anthemic songs benefitting from Lange’s sparkling production. The rhythms are tight, the riffs colossal, the drums loud and Johnsons vocals pushed to the fore. The result is an oddly timeless album, loud enough to please the rockers, yet with enough commercial appeal to cross over to mainstream radio, something which almost no other hard rock act managed to do at the time. While AC/DC could be criticised for sticking to a tried and tested formula throughout their long career (and indeed many have criticised them), the longevity of their career and commercial success is a testimony to the fact that the formula has served them well.
--p_q, RYM

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#219. The xx | xx (2009)
# of Voters: 21 | Score: 897.512
Rank in 2014: #260
AM 3000 Rank: #264
Top Fans: SweepstakesRon (#40), Nassim (#41), BleuPanda (#44), JohnnyBGoode (#51), Dudumb (#55), Gillingham (#72), GucciLittlePiggy (#93)
In less than 40 minutes of music, The xx have managed to offer an unforgettable debut and an album that deserves recognition come time for 2009’s year-end lists. xx can break your heart or renew your momentary faith in love. Perhaps it’s ingrained in the music or lyrics. Or maybe the simple presentation of both leaves a sort of Rorschach test behind so that you can find what you need in these songs. Like the plain album cover, xx is simple and right there for you to digest and make of it what you will.
--Alex Young, Consequence of Sound

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#218. Bob Marley & the Wailers | Exodus (1977)
# of Voters: 22 | Score: 898.551
Rank in 2014: #248
AM 3000 Rank: #195
Top Fans: Profeta (#43), BonnieLaurel (#43), PlasticRam (#53), Listyguy (#56), Bootsy (#84), Nico (#84), Honorio (#84)
Produced in the wake of an assassination attempt which saw both Bob Marley and his wife Rita (one of the I Threes, the Wailers' backing singers) wounded, Exodus is the best Wailers album since Burnin' and finds Marley uncompromisingly reiterating his political and religious message. Winning over fans worldwide with a rich, layered sound and fantastic guitar work which adds substantial levels of nuance to the Wailers' sound and gets substantially more complex
--Warthur,RYM

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#217. The Clash | The Clash (1977)
# of Voters: 22 | Score: 901.395
Rank in 2014: #141
AM 3000 Rank: #62
Top Fans: Brad (#13), RockyRaccoon (#29), Honorio (#46), RedAnt (#53), BryanBehar (#65), Harold (#92), Nick (#93)
Combat rock. A band of politically conscious punk-rockers turning upside down the musical world with ferocious and energetic sounds. The sounds of the white riot, of the burning London, of the lack of career opportunities, of the Brits bored with the USA, of “police and thieves in the street / scaring the nation”, of hate and war. The sounds from Garageland.
--Honorio, RYM

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#216. The Beatles | Let it Be (1970)
# of Voters: 19 | Score: 903.824
Rank in 2014: #175
AM 3000 Rank: #566
Top Fans: Profeta (#17), Miguel (#61), GabeBasso (#69), PlasticRam (#69), Brad (#79), Henry (#89)
So not surprisingly, the essential nature of Let It Be is that it feels incomplete and fragmented; it's a difficult album to peg because the Beatles were never sure themselves what they wanted it to be. So the best way to approach it is as a collection of songs by guys who still were churning out classics with some regularity. It may not succeed on the level of the Beatles' previous albums, but there's enough good material to make it a worthy entry in their canon.
--Mark Richardson, Pitchfork

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#215. Beach House | Teen Dream (2010)
# of Voters: 20 | Score: 908.846
Rank in 2014: #310
AM 3000 Rank: #320
Top Fans: Gillingham (#5), JWinton (#26), DaveC (#32), Andyd1010 (#49), Nick (#63), ProsecutorGodot (#95)
The first impression of Teen Dream is repetitive, dream-like and most likely a little dull. I've heard this before, you'll undoubtedly say. But as the listens unfold, as the songs worm into you, these 50 minutes become some of the quickest and most pleasurable 50 minutes in quite some time. In quite some fucking time.
--Nodima, RYM

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#214. Joni Mitchell | Court and Spark (1973)
# of Voters: 22 | Score: 910.667
Rank in 2014: #182
AM 3000 Rank: #225
Top Fans: Miguel (#8), DocBrown (#9), Babydoll (#32), Antonius (#46), RockyRaccoon (#55), Georgie (#65), Jirin (#70)
poetic beauty, colored by flourishes of ‘70s jazz-pop, makes Mitchell’s 1974 opus Court and Spark one of that decade’s most enduring pop pleasures. Incorporating orchestral swirls, stacks of vocals, and contributions from a wide array of musicians (including guitarists Larry Carlton, Jose Feliciano, and Robbie Robertson, trumpet player Chuck Findley, and backing vocalists David Crosby, Graham Nash, and, um, Cheech and Chong), Mitchell’s gifts for melody and arrangement are most vividly demonstrated on sumptuous tracks like the Top 10 single “Help Me,” the reflective “People’s Parties,” and the adventurous “Car On the Hill,” which stitches together song parts with stretches of multi-tracked harmonies, the end result being nearly hallucinatory.
--Barry Walsh, Slant

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#213. Talking Heads | Fear of Music (1979)
# of Voters: 18 | Score: 915.438
Rank in 2014: #194
AM 3000 Rank: #245
Top Fans: Toni (#13), DaveC (#14), Antonius (#21), Miguel (#26), Bootsy (#53), SJner (#55), OrdinaryPerson (#57)
Though Fear of Music is musically distinct from its predecessors, it's mostly because of the use of minor keys that give the music a more ominous sound. Previously, David Byrne's offbeat observations had been set off by an overtly humorous tone; on Fear of Music, he is still odd, but no longer so funny. At the same time, however, the music has become even more compelling. Worked up from jams (though Byrne received sole songwriter's credit), the music is becoming denser and more driving, notably on the album's standout track, "Life During Wartime," with lyrics that match the music's power.
--William Ruhlmann, Allmusic

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#212. Beck | Sea Change (2002)
# of Voters: 20 | Score: 917.158
Rank in 2014: #150
AM 3000 Rank: #354
Top Fans: Harold (#11), ChrisK (#16), DepecheMode (#37), Romain (#45), Chambord (#56), Jirin (#84), VanillaFire1000 (#90)
Beck once again displays his chameleon like tendencies with the heart-wrenching Sea Change, a stark contrast to the funk and rhythm and blues infused Midnite Vultures. The culmination of a failed relationship, Sea Change finds Beck stripping away the bells and whistles of his previous albums and providing a lean production, focusing primarily on his voice and acoustic guitar, and more straight-forward and earnest lyrics. Nigel Godrich returns as producer, and the album has some stylistic qualities similar to their last endeavor, Mutations, but Godrich is able to transform the depressing subject matter into an album of rich splendor and catharsis, rather than be bogged down in hopelessness and sadness.
--Circus_Penguin, RYM

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#211. Eminem | The Marshall Mathers LP (2000)
# of Voters: 17 | Score: 919.362
Rank in 2014: #192
AM 3000 Rank: #183
Top Fans: Renan (#12), Schaefer.tk (#21), Whuntva (#33), Dexter (#41), Nico (#50), Bruno (#64), Andyd1010 (#70), Bootsy (#96)
During the gruelling assault course of lyrical genius that pours itself into the 18 tracks on this album, Marshall Mathers is used, abused and betrayed by – deep breath – the press, his fans, his fellow rappers, pop music in general, the government, his mother, TV, his girlfriend, his friends, his record company, radio, other members of his family, God, his own fucked-up self… In other words, it’s not a lotta laughs being Eminem.
--NME
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Re: AMF Favorite Albums of All-Time -- RESULTS

Post by notbrianeno »

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#210. Red Hot Chili Peppers | Blood Sugar Sex Magik (1991)
# of Voters: 19 | Score: 922.799
Rank in 2014: #321
AM 3000 Rank: #200
Top Fans: Felipinho (#13), Nassim (#26), Renan (#31), Whuntva (#36), Dexter (#44), Panam (#79), Profeta (#84), Bruno (#87)
The Red Hot Chili Peppers' best album, Blood Sugar Sex Magik benefits immensely from Rick Rubin's production -- John Frusciante's guitar is less overpoweringly noisy, leaving room for differing textures and clearer lines, while the band overall is more focused and less indulgent, even if some of the grooves drag on too long. Lyrically, Anthony Kiedis is as preoccupied with sex as ever, whether invoking it as his muse, begging for it, or boasting in great detail about his prowess, best showcased on the infectiously funky singles "Give It Away" and "Suck My Kiss." However, he tempers his testosterone with a more sensitive side, writing about the emotional side of failed relationships ("Breaking the Girl," "I Could Have Lied"), his drug addictions ("Under the Bridge" and an elegy for Hillel Slovak, "My Lovely Man"), and some hippie-ish calls for a peaceful utopia.
--Steve Huey, Alllmusic

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#209. Metallica | Master of Puppets (1986)
# of Voters: 17 | Score: 926.541
Rank in 2014: #273
AM 3000 Rank: #156
Top Fans: Whuntva (#9), Dudumb (#18), Schaefer.tk (#18), Dexter (#47), Bruno (#51), Nico (#64), Panam (#78), Slick (#90)
Metallica has taken the raw material of heavy metal and refined all the shit — the swaggering cock-rock braggadocio and the medieval dungeons and dragons imagery — right out of it. Instead of the usual star-struttin' ejaculatory gestures and hokey showbiz razzmatazz, the members of Metallica pour out pure apocalyptic dread. Their version of heavy metal is the sound of global paranoia. Not for them is the tra-la-la music of escapism; they never promote the notion that rock itself is some sort of method for salvation or transcendence. Rather, their fiery chomp-chomp-chomp provides the aural analogue to the terrors their lyrics define.
--Tim Holmes, Rolling Stone

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#208. Billy Joel | The Stranger (1977)
# of Voters: 18 | Score: 928.835
Rank in 2014: #335
AM 3000 Rank: #547
Top Fans: StevieFan13 (#2), RedAnt (#34), Henry (#36), BonnieLaurel (#40), JohnnyBGoode (#60), Andyd1010 (#66), Acroamor (#74)
Billy Joel’s seminal 1977 release The Stranger is a concept album of sorts, an ode to the singer’s native New York underscored by his paranoid obsession (and resistance) to change. The album begins with “Movin’ Out (Anthony’s Song),” which decries the popular ‘70s notion that moving out to the suburbs and starting a family is the means to a better life—“Who needs a house out in Hackensack?” he asks, “Is that all you get for your money?” While Joel’s music has always been patently “American,” The Stranger is, in many ways, a rejection of the American Dream. (It’s a proud New York record without the obviousness of “New York State Of Mind,” and it’s purely American without using slogans like “born in the U.S.A.”)
--Sal Cinquemani, Slant

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#207. Santana | Abraxas (1970)
# of Voters: 22 | Score: 931.383
Rank in 2014: #419
AM 3000 Rank: #194
Top Fans: Antonius (#8), Panam (#18), RedAnt (#36), ProsecutorGodot (#37), Henry (#80), DocBrown (#83)
Carlos Santana was in another world on the tracks on side one of Abraxas. The growl he got out of his guitar throughout the tracks on that side is amazing. The tone couldn't have been more perfect. Quiet and clear when he wanted it to be, harsh and dangerous when the mood fit.
--AtomicWedgie, RYM

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#206. LCD Soundsystem | This Is Happening (2010)
# of Voters: 18 | Score: 934.487
Rank in 2014: #306
AM 3000 Rank: #365
Top Fans: JWinton (#5), BleuPanda (#29), GucciLittlePiggy (#44), Toni (#47), Nick (#57), VanillaFire1000 (#61), Acroamor (#70), Andyd1010 (#88)
Murphy's vast perspective and all-knowing mien are invaluable assets to his success. Recorded in L.A. instead of his hometown, This Is Happening finds the unlikely rock star zooming out even further in search of the realness and truth mentioned on the album's "music about writing music" track "You Wanted a Hit". And on the virtuoso rambler "Pow Pow", he seems to locate a perch where he can "relax" and "see the whole place" and understand "advantages to both" sides of any argument. Sounds nice. But by the end of the song, he's beset by confusion, numbness, and a false sense of security. "What you want from now is someone to feel you," he croons. At first, Murphy showed how to let loose without losing your cool; now he's figuring out how to break down without cracking up.
--Ryan Dombal, Pitchfork

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#205. Aretha Franklin | I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You (1967)
# of Voters: 22 | Score: 938.048
Rank in 2014: #190
AM 3000 Rank: #116
Top Fans: Bruno (#23), Andyd1010 (#25), RockyRaccoon (#36), BonnieLaurel (#49), Nico (#54), Romain (#67), VanillaFire1000 (#84)
‘I Never Loved a Man…’ is an album where Aretha - a young, black woman - is in control. Aretha played piano and directed the band, which helped create the strong, rich and sublime with its horn and rhythm sections. With the great King Curtis on tenor sax and her little sister on backing vocals, the whole package is one to be proud of and sets the scene for Aretha’s many successes in the years to come.
--Clash

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#204. Simon & Garfunkel | Bookends (1968)
# of Voters: 19 | Score: 940.741
Rank in 2014: #274
AM 3000 Rank: #397
Top Fans: Babydoll (#8), RedAnt (#18), Honorio (#21), Acroamor (#30), Henry (#61), PlasticRam (#67), RockyRaccoon (#84), VanillaFire1000 (#95)
Bookends' problematic, disillusioned themes, sometimes disguised in wry humor, striking arrangements, and augmented orchestral instrumentation, portray the sounds of people in an American life that they no longer understand, or understands them. Simon & Garfunkel never overstate; instead they observe, almost journalistically, enormous life and cultural questions in the process of them being asked. In just over 29 minutes, Bookends is stunning in its vision of a bewildered America in search of itself.
--Thom Jurek, Allmusic

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#203. PJ Harvey | Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea (2000)
# of Voters: 23 | Score: 941.875
Rank in 2014: #202
AM 3000 Rank: #259
Top Fans: JWinton (#24), RockyRaccoon (#48), Chambord (#53), OrdinaryPerson (#99)
You don't have to have been hung over in Chinatown, or watched the city lights from a rooftop in Brooklyn to understand this sort of emotion. They're written with both detail and generality enough to put them across and mark them as heartfelt, but that brings us back to these performances, which Polly Jean stamps with the personality we've already come to know, if not quite the ferocity we're accustomed to. After all, doesn't seem like the mood of these warrants that sort of approach anyway, and she's artist enough to open up, try something new, and make it work. A new facet exposed here, and one I hope she chooses to explore further.
--nervenet, RYM

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#202. Sly and the Family Stone | Stand! (1969)
# of Voters: 21 | Score: 948.640
Rank in 2014: #160
AM 3000 Rank: #213
Top Fans: RockyRaccoon (#13), Slucs (#13), Listyguy (#27), EmilienDelRey (#39), Slick (#68)
Stand! is an easy record to overlook because it's just so optimistic, so flawless. It lacks the dramatic history and the jaded, coked-out pessimism of its nearly-as-great follow-up, There's a Riot Goin' On. I say this as a pessimist. The big difference between the two is that Riot isn't always filled with great music. Stand! is. Even if its naiveté rubs the realists out there a little raw, they won't find a more fully-realized document of the optimism of the era than they will here.
--yerblues, RYM

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#201. Mercury Rev | Deserter's Songs (1998)
# of Voters: 22 | Score: 959.798
Rank in 2014: #169
AM 3000 Rank: #344
Top Fans: BangJan (#8), LuvulongTIM (#36), SonofSamIam (#60), Spiderpig (#63), Romain (#65),
Deserter's Songs was likewise a necessary act of retreat for a band that had long been defined by chaos and turmoil, and its peaceful, back-to-nature ethos felt all the more radical at a time when the harsh, mechanized sounds of big-beat electronica and nu-metal dominated the airwaves. The album's considerable critical success practically spawned a sub-genre of its own, with subsequent releases by the Flaming Lips (The Soft Bulletin, also recorded by Fridmann at his Tarbox Studios), the Delgados (The Great Eastern; Fridmann again), and Grandaddy (The Sophtware Slump) all hewing to a similar balance of lyrical intimacy and orchestral expanse. And while Mercury Rev's spotty track record since Deserter's Songs has currently driven the band into the same sort of limbo in which they found themselves prior to recording the album, you can still hear a distinctly Deserter's mix of the rustic and the epic in contemporaries like Fleet Foxes, My Morning Jacket, and Arcade Fire.
--Stuart Berman, Pitchfork
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Re: AMF Favorite Albums of All-Time -- RESULTS

Post by Listyguy »

I didn't have the Beatles Let It Be at #83, I had the Replacements Let It Be in that spot.
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Re: AMF Favorite Albums of All-Time -- RESULTS

Post by StevieFan13 »

THERE we go.
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Re: AMF Favorite Albums of All-Time -- RESULTS

Post by StevieFan13 »

Also, I don't believe The Beatles recorded Deaerter's Songs.
Music is a world within itself, with a language we all understand - Sir Duke (1976)
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Re: AMF Favorite Albums of All-Time -- RESULTS

Post by spiderpig »

StevieFan13 wrote:Also, I don't believe The Beatles recorded Deaerter's Songs.
Of course they didn't record Deaerter's Songs! They recorded Deserter's Songs. ;)
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Re: AMF Favorite Albums of All-Time -- RESULTS

Post by Harold »

Listyguy wrote:I didn't have the Beatles Let It Be at #83, I had the Replacements Let It Be in that spot.
Hope that doesn't turn into a problem...
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Re: AMF Favorite Albums of All-Time -- RESULTS

Post by Listyguy »

Harold wrote:
Listyguy wrote:I didn't have the Beatles Let It Be at #83, I had the Replacements Let It Be in that spot.
Hope that doesn't turn into a problem...
Yeah, hopefully it was just a translation error.
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Re: AMF Favorite Albums of All-Time -- RESULTS

Post by StevieFan13 »

spiderpig wrote:
StevieFan13 wrote:Also, I don't believe The Beatles recorded Deaerter's Songs.
Of course they didn't record Deaerter's Songs! They recorded Deserter's Songs. ;)
Of course! Silly me.
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Re: AMF Favorite Albums of All-Time -- RESULTS

Post by Jackson »

Can you post a recap of 1000-201 before moving on to the top 200? Loving the pace of the rollout.

On the placements side, I loved the 240-300 section, which had a ton of interesting albums and personal favorites (Spiritualized, King Crimson, Madvillaon, D'Angelo, TV on the Radio, Steve Reich, etc.). Not as many personal favorites since then but it's interesting to see what's fallen out of the top 200. Punk continues to universally do poorly, but I don't see much of a pattern for most of the other falling records.
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Re: AMF Favorite Albums of All-Time -- RESULTS

Post by Chris K. »

Wow! Am I wrong or are there 7 Radiohead albums in the top 200? As a huge fan that's pretty exciting (I could see how it would be annoying for those that don't care about them).
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Re: AMF Favorite Albums of All-Time -- RESULTS

Post by Harold »

Chris K. wrote:Wow! Am I wrong or are there 7 Radiohead albums in the top 200?
Unless A Moon Shaped Pool missed the top 1000 (highly doubtful), that certainly appears to be the case.
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Re: AMF Favorite Albums of All-Time -- RESULTS

Post by panam »

No Brazilians on Top 200 ;( but there are enough on the Top 500 ;)
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Re: AMF Favorite Albums of All-Time -- RESULTS

Post by PlasticRam »

Thanks for the work! Great results! I'm gonna def check some stuff out that placed high and I haven't heard.
I feel like that
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Re: AMF Favorite Albums of All-Time -- RESULTS

Post by spiderpig »

Amoux wrote:I'm really pleased to see Exile in Guyville on the list. A top 10 album for me and a fairly misunderstood album as far as critically acclaimed albums go. RYM don't even place it in their top 3000 which is insane... :)
I thought this was very interesting and I had a hunch that RYM might not like female solo artists as much as the critics do. So I compared the number of albums by female solo artists (RYM vs. AM):

Top 100 - RYM: 1 album, AM: 3 albums
Top 200 - RYM: 3 albums, AM: 13 albums
Top 300 - RYM: 9 albums, AM: 21 albums

This seems to confirm my theory. But what if RYM just doesn't like solo artists, regardless of gender? To check that I counted the albums by male solo artists in both top 100s. RYM: 26 albums; AM: 30 albums. It's pretty close. So although male solo artists appear to do very slightly worse on RYM than they do on AM, female solo artists clearly do much worse. I'm pretty curious to see how we do here. Is this something that sets music fans apart from critics or is it just RYM? Judging by RYM's fascination with metal (one of the most macho genres) I expect us to be closer to the critics on this.

(Note: I included "live" and "archival" albums on my RYM search, since AM also includes these - think Dylan's Bootleg Series, for instance. I didn't consider albums by Prince and the Revolution or Neil Young and Crazy Horse as solo albums, but I did consider an album by Alice Coltrane feat. Pharaoah Sanders as a female solo album - RYM would have one less female top 300 album if I didn't)
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Re: AMF Favorite Albums of All-Time -- RESULTS

Post by Listyguy »

spiderpig wrote:
Amoux wrote:I'm really pleased to see Exile in Guyville on the list. A top 10 album for me and a fairly misunderstood album as far as critically acclaimed albums go. RYM don't even place it in their top 3000 which is insane... :)
I thought this was very interesting and I had a hunch that RYM might not like female solo artists as much as the critics do. So I compared the number of albums by female solo artists (RYM vs. AM):

Top 100 - RYM: 1 album, AM: 3 albums
Top 200 - RYM: 3 albums, AM: 13 albums
Top 300 - RYM: 9 albums, AM: 21 albums

This seems to confirm my theory. But what if RYM just doesn't like solo artists, regardless of gender? To check that I counted the albums by male solo artists in both top 100s. RYM: 26 albums; AM: 30 albums. It's pretty close. So although male solo artists appear to do very slightly worse on RYM than they do on AM, female solo artists clearly do much worse. I'm pretty curious to see how we do here. Is this something that sets music fans apart from critics or is it just RYM? Judging by RYM's fascination with metal (one of the most macho genres) I expect us to be closer to the critics on this.

(Note: I included "live" and "archival" albums on my RYM search, since AM also includes these - think Dylan's Bootleg Series, for instance. I didn't consider albums by Prince and the Revolution or Neil Young and Crazy Horse as solo albums, but I did consider an album by Alice Coltrane feat. Pharaoah Sanders as a female solo album - RYM would have one less female top 300 album if I didn't)
I also imagine RYM is more skewed towards males (in terms of population) than the critics are, which could influence the results.
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Re: AMF Favorite Albums of All-Time -- RESULTS

Post by spiderpig »

Listyguy wrote: I also imagine RYM is more skewed towards males (in terms of population) than the critics are, which could influence the results.
That's certainly possible, although I'm not certain that the population of critics has almost 3x as much women as the population of RYMers. But if that is correct, it would raise another question: why do males prefer albums by males and/or females prefer albums by females?
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Re: AMF Favorite Albums of All-Time -- RESULTS

Post by Henrik »

spiderpig wrote:why do males prefer albums by males and/or females prefer albums by females?
Good question.
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Re: AMF Favorite Albums of All-Time -- RESULTS

Post by Listyguy »

spiderpig wrote:
Listyguy wrote: I also imagine RYM is more skewed towards males (in terms of population) than the critics are, which could influence the results.
That's certainly possible, although I'm not certain that the population of critics has almost 3x as much women as the population of RYMers. But if that is correct, it would raise another question: why do males prefer albums by males and/or females prefer albums by females?
I agree there probably aren't 3 times as many female critics as RYM users. A good counter argument to my theory is the general lack of female voters for our list (I'd be surprised if there were 5 females votes out of the 73). I don't think it's a strict relationship, but I do think the lack of female representation on RYM hurts a lot of female solo artists.
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Re: AMF Favorite Albums of All-Time -- RESULTS

Post by BleuPanda »

Henrik wrote:
spiderpig wrote:why do males prefer albums by males and/or females prefer albums by females?
Good question.

I believe there are a few reasons for this. First, we have to establish why, even with these preferences, men tend to dominate either gender's list; male artists are given more positive press and advertising. Many male artists are given an easier pass, especially among genres that 'serious' music listeners take seriously. Thus, their works are more 'accessible.'

I think a lot of people have a drive to listen to music (and engage with art in general) that reflects their own world view; thus, many men listen largely to music by other men. However, women, for being treated like a minority in these situations, tend to take an interest in both, as they really have no choice in listening to music by men; it surrounds them. You'll see a similar trend within things such as race or sexual orientation or whatever across the arts; a gay man doesn't have enough queer films to be able to only watch queer films (nor will his taste be taken seriously if that is his only area). Meanwhile, a straight white man has an endless supply of work in most mediums; for them, exploring other world views is a choice, not a necessity.

Additionally, I've met a lot of people who treat works by other groups as a challenge to their identity. People get offended at the existence of films targeted to black audiences, even though anyone can still watch them. A lot of people, especially those in the position of being the majority, don't realize most of the works they engage with are made with them as the audience. Works by women or black people or transgender people have to label themselves as such so that the people who need those works can more easily learn of their existence; but a lot of people take such marks as a message of dis-invitation. Meanwhile, mainstream works don't need to label themselves, as they are made with the majority in mind.

I wish more people would treat art as a method of learning about other cultures and identities, but a lot of people would rather sit in a comfort zone and go unchallenged. I think this also goes well with why metal or even prog is so popular on a male-dominated site; many of the people who ignore the more cultural elements of music tend to shift their focus to the purely technical.
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Re: AMF Favorite Albums of All-Time -- RESULTS

Post by Rob »

I wish more people would treat art as a method of learning about other cultures and identities, but a lot of people would rather sit in a comfort zone and go unchallenged. I think this also goes well with why metal or even prog is so popular on a male-dominated site; many of the people who ignore the more cultural elements of music tend to shift their focus to the purely technical.
Though I agree that the metal world is extremely closed-off (though I also think every genre has a large group of people like that, who seem to think that their music type is the only "pure" and "real" one; I've heard it everywhere), I do think that last line is unfair. I like me some metal and prog and I consider it to be just as emotional music as any other genre. And to my knowledge fans of either genres feel a lot with it.

As for your Rate Your Music, I do agree that their community favors metal and prog perhaps a bit too much, but I also feel like critics and this forum favor these genres too little. The metal and prog albums that appear in this list are only the few that have ever been able to let themselves known outside of the genre communities. Other rock, indie music and even hiphop have been able to get some deep cuts and fan favorites known in here or other polls, but not really metal or prog, which both also fare badly in games like Moderately Acclaimed. They seem to be the ultimate love-it-or-hate-it genre for some reason. It's true, though, that both genres haven't been too inclusive for female artists.

Also, I never liked the RYM list or their ratings much. There is too much bias in favor and against certain genres and styles for me. I think the value is more in individual comments or some of the personal lists people made there.
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Re: AMF Favorite Albums of All-Time -- RESULTS

Post by BleuPanda »

Rob wrote:
I wish more people would treat art as a method of learning about other cultures and identities, but a lot of people would rather sit in a comfort zone and go unchallenged. I think this also goes well with why metal or even prog is so popular on a male-dominated site; many of the people who ignore the more cultural elements of music tend to shift their focus to the purely technical.
Though I agree that the metal world is extremely closed-off (though I also think every genre has a large group of people like that, who seem to think that their music type is the only "pure" and "real" one; I've heard it everywhere), I do think that last line is unfair. I like me some metal and prog and I consider it to be just as emotional music as any other genre. And to my knowledge fans of either genres feel a lot with it.
I'm not saying all people who like metal or prog only do because of the technical elements; I'm saying there are people who only care about 'technique' who are therefore drawn to those specific genres for being more technically complex. I've met tons of people who trash things like more traditional rock or folk because 'anyone could play it,' as if difficulty of performance is the only marker of quality.
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Re: AMF Favorite Albums of All-Time -- RESULTS

Post by notbrianeno »

Soooo... we ended up having an eerror due to the Let it Be confusion, which i have now corrected in the original post.

Let it Be by the beatles falls to #216 now.

Also, there is a strong chance I will not be able to post results today due to visitors in town. Babydoll/SweepstakesRon, if it seems like people are anxious for more results feel free to step in if you wish.
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Re: AMF Favorite Albums of All-Time -- RESULTS

Post by prosecutorgodot »

BleuPanda wrote:I've met tons of people who trash things like more traditional rock or folk because 'anyone could play it,' as if difficulty of performance is the only marker of quality.
I agree, I do not like this approach to appraising music. It's like measuring the quality of a singer only by their pitch range.
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Re: AMF Favorite Albums of All-Time -- RESULTS

Post by Live in Phoenix »

To pick on an old Harry Connick Jr. quote for a moment (cue "Blame It on My Youth"), he said, "If I played rock & roll, I’d be revered as the greatest rock & roll musician in the world." ”It’s music that requires very little knowledge and not much talent.” And then my snarky reply is, great, why don't you barely flick your wrist and take over the rock music world then, since it's supposed to be that easy.
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Re: AMF Favorite Albums of All-Time -- RESULTS

Post by Jackson »

Henrik wrote:
spiderpig wrote:why do males prefer albums by males and/or females prefer albums by females?
Good question.
I'm not necessarily sure this is true. I said this recently on another thread, but if a list is well-rounded in terms of genres, it will naturally skew male. If you're voting for a lot of rap, electronic, jazz, metal, prog, post-rock, etc., there are far fewer female than male artists to choose from. In lists of users who favor more pop, soul, and indie rock, female artists are generally well-represented.

Also, it's easy to complain about under-representation without naming any female artists / albums you think are a victim of this bias. I think that Julia Holter's albums were underrated on this list, for example, but I think it has far more to do with the experimental nature of her work than the fact that she is a woman.
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Re: AMF Favorite Albums of All-Time -- RESULTS

Post by panam »

Why are not artists from more than 30 countries in a list with 1000 albums?
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Re: AMF Favorite Albums of All-Time -- RESULTS

Post by Jirin »

For what it's worth I have *8* solo female acts in my top 100. :) (Aretha Franklin, Patti Smith, Anais Mitchell, Julia Holter, PJ Harvey, Erykah Badu, Joanna Newsom, Liz Phair) Not to mention my love for the non-solo female group Sleater-Kinney.

I don't know why there are fewer acclaimed female acts than male acts. I don't think it's fair to either put it all on narrow minded-ness or to discount the impact of narrow mindedness. Part of it I think is wrapped up in the fact that aggressiveness increases critical reception, and women aren't taken seriously as easily trying to be aggressive. Also fewer of the best female acts are trying to be aggressive. And that's not the only tendency that both males and critics show more preference for.
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Re: AMF Favorite Albums of All-Time -- RESULTS

Post by Jirin »

panam wrote:Why are not artists from more than 30 countries in a list with 1000 albums?
This one's easier to explain than the lack of female representation. Marketing exposure differences and English bias. Acts other than American ones have much fewer marketing bucks to promote them worldwide rather than locally. And English publications usually won't even review music that is sung in languages that are not English.
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Re: AMF Favorite Albums of All-Time -- RESULTS

Post by veganvalentine »

BleuPanda, you make a lot of great points, but like Rob, I really think you are overgeneralizing with your final statement. While I can appreciate the virtuosity of a prog album such as Camel's Moonmadness, it's the emotion and cinematic spell conveyed by the music that enthralls me, just as it does with albums in other genres like Rhapsody in Blue/An American in Paris, Getz/Gilberto or What's Going On.

As for the lack of female acts on this list, I am certainly guilty of containing very few on my list too, but hopefully I'll rectify that in the future. Also, the point about women's decent representation in pop makes sense regarding my list: my list contains few pop/pop rock bands, but many of them are fronted by women, like Garbage, Fleetwood Mac (kinda), No Doubt, Carly Simon, The Cardigans, and Natalie Imbruglia.

Speaking of No Doubt, it seems like Tragic Kingdom has really diminished in stature over the years since appearing on Rolling Stone's Top 500 in 2003, but ska (and especially third wave ska) is almost entirely ignored by the critics and our list, as demonstrated by The Specials' awful showing this time around.
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Re: AMF Favorite Albums of All-Time -- RESULTS

Post by Honorio »

Very interesting discussions here! And excellent presentation, notbrianeno!

Of all the albums of the AM official Top 100 that fell out of our Top 200 (9 albums so far if I counted them well) the most painful for me is The Clash's debut. #62 for the critics and #217 for us. A difference of 155 positions. And falling, it was #141 last time. And I don't know the reason for, this album has it all. The songs, the sound, the attitude, the history. It was for me an eye-opener at the time but maybe younger people don't perceive it as so revolutionary. Another disappointing position for me is "Live at the Apollo" by James Brown, the Top 100er with a highest fall, no less than 279 positions.

In fact (and please don't get me wrong and don't get offended by my comment) I've been experiencing throughout the roll-out a higher disagreement with the placements that with previous polls. Album after album I check the positions on the critics lists just to realize that I mostly agree more with the positions of the critics. I'm not saying you are wrong, in fact probably it's entirely my fault. The older I get the more my tastes get closer to the canon…
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Re: AMF Favorite Albums of All-Time -- RESULTS

Post by nicolas »

WOW ! I don't come often here these days (alas) but I'm really impressed by how, with every new poll, the presentation gets better (and more time consuming too). FANTASTIC idea to post the top 1000 covers, bringing into light so many albums (and voters too).
And it takes its time to unveil, over weeks, which is also an excellent idea. Congrats !!!!
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Re: AMF Favorite Albums of All-Time -- RESULTS

Post by notbrianeno »

Top 200 starts today!
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Re: AMF Favorite Albums of All-Time -- RESULTS

Post by Dan »

Thanks very much for this, notbrianeno (and Sweepstakes Ron and babydoll). So much work and effort have clearly gone into this, and it’s much appreciated. It all looks very good!

What I’m most pleased about is the improved performance of albums that are not sung in English. Having said that, I do feel a little guilty about the drop in positions of Jacques Brel’s Ces gens-là. I didn’t submit a list this time because I’m rehabilitating my albums lists and it’s taking longer than expected, but Ces gens-là would likely have been #2 on my list. Oh well.

I also find the discussion in this thread about men preferring music by male artists and women preferring music by female artists fascinating. I don’t think it’s sexist (or racist or homophobic) to look at the overall demographics of people who critique and rank music and then come to the conclusion that most of those people are white heterosexual men, and therefore lists by this group of people will tend to reflect the views and experiences of white heterosexual men, whether intentional or not.

But the times they are a-changin'. I suspect there will always be closed-minded people who are only interested in music that mirrors their own experiences, but I think there are more and more open-minded people who don’t take outdated stereotypes seriously anymore – people for whom male and female roles are becoming more blurred, and who can relate to both “masculine” and “feminine” emotions while listening to music; feminists (both female and male) who feel that music by women are under-represented and who don’t believe for a moment that men are better at making music than women; and generally just people who are more open to the experiences and views of demographics beyond their own.

It will be interesting to see how all of this will be perceived in 10 or 20 years from now.
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Re: AMF Favorite Albums of All-Time -- RESULTS

Post by notbrianeno »

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#200. The National | Boxer (2007)
# of Voters: 22 | Score: 969.675
Rank in 2014: #155
AM 3000 Rank: #318
Top Fans: JohnnyBGoode (#9), Andyd1010 (#29), Gillingham (#39), BryanBehar (#45), DaveC (#52), Chambord (#61)
I maintain that Alligator dealt with the details of living in the hangover malaise of the violent and insane 20th century, The American Century as post-modernists say. Boxer is a turn of the page, going forward into the energized thrust of the new millennium taking flight from the broken shackles of old. It is about current events, shaking off the dust of bad chemicals and an existential migraine, getting moving, starting the new day. In the passenger seat wondering where the hell we are going. In Alligator, we are in the black of the club with only our thoughts to keep counsel, the dim outlines of others feature only as a projections of ourselves. For Boxer, the house lights are brought up and looking around, there's no one we recognize here after all. As the music speeds up on the first song in growing agitation and awareness of surroundings, the 'I' of Alligator transitions to 'we' and 'you.' The calm of inner life fractures into the bustle and mania of outside.
--jshopa, RYM

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#199. R.E.M. | Out of Time (1991)
# of Voters: 23 | Score: 978.534
Rank in 2014: #228
AM 3000 Rank: #329
Top Fans: Felipinho (#12), RickyMathias (#42), LiveinPhoenix (#57), GabeBasso (#76)
Out of Time is a weird entry in R.E.M.’s discography, although in fairness the same can be said of almost every album R.E.M. released during that stretch. Numb from a year on the road, the band largely cast aside the usual electric guitars to fiddle with other instruments, most prominently the mandolin, which Peter Buck claimed he was still teaching himself when he stumbled upon the riff for “Losing My Religion.” Twenty-five years later, that single remains the most perfect pop song R.E.M. ever crafted, but it was hardly a fluke. The longing harpsichord on the album’s other great ballad, “Half a World Away,” is almost as enchanting, while the Beach Boys-bright “Near Wild Heaven” is almost overwhelming in its beauty and generosity. The whole record is flush with violins and cellos, revealing a range and sophistication that none of its predecessors had ever even hinted at.
--Evan Rytlewski, Pitchfork

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#198. Miles Davis | Bitches Brew (1970)
# of Voters: 22 | Score: 981.043
Rank in 2014: #264
AM 3000 Rank: #88
Top Fans: SonofSamIAm (#5), Bootsy (#42), Panam (#49), EmilienDelRey (#55)
And for the uninitiated? There is no better time to jump in; this brew tastes as good as it ever did. And regarding the stylistic and cultural changes that have ensued since late ’69, what might have once sounded scary should seem almost accessible. To listeners who have absorbed progressive rock, world music, trip-hop and the ambient dreamscapes that drugs and technology have helped create, this experience might impart the shock of recognition: this is the primordial stew that all of these advancements oozed out of.
--Sean Murphy, Popmatters

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#197. Lauryn Hill | The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill (1998)
# of Voters: 22 | Score: 985.724
Rank in 2014: #367
AM 3000 Rank: #151
Top Fans: Bootsy (#25), Dexter (#46), Nico (#67), Honorio (#73), Bruno (#73), BonnieLaurel (#81), Gillingham (#87), Dudumb (#94), Andyd1010 (#97)
It's not ironic. It's not progressive. It's not clever. It doesn't push any of its genres to a place they haven't been before. And while the urge is to, as postmodern listeners, strive to find all that is beautiful in imperfection, Lauryn Hill's solo album challenges us to find the beauty in perfection. Because her voice is objectively perfect. Like, the bastard grandchild of the children of Ella Fitzgerald and Marvin Gaye, Billie Holiday and Stevie Wonder perfect. Whether caught up in the earthy swing of Every Ghetto, Every City or soaring into the clouds on To Zion, she's always doing precisely the right thing at the right time.
--crackpot, RYM

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#196. John Lennon | John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band (1970)
# of Voters: 23 | Score: 988.152
Rank in 2014: #89
AM 3000 Rank: #68
Top Fans: PlasticRam (#22), RockyRaccoon (#23), Babydoll (#61), Zombeels (#79), Nicolas (#89), Veganvalentine (#95), Dexter (#98)
Inspired by his primal scream therapy with Dr. Arthur Janov, Lennon created a harrowing set of unflinchingly personal songs, laying out all of his fears and angers for everyone to hear. It was a revolutionary record -- never before had a record been so explicitly introspective, and very few records made absolutely no concession to the audience's expectations, daring the listeners to meet all the artist's demands. Which isn't to say that the record is unlistenable. Lennon's songs range from tough rock & rollers to piano-based ballads and spare folk songs, and his melodies remain strong and memorable, which actually intensifies the pain and rage of the songs.
--Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Allmusic

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#195. Serge Gainsbourg | Histoire de Melody Nelson (1971)
# of Voters: 22 | Score: 992.556
Rank in 2014: #140
AM 3000 Rank: #321
Top Fans: Romain (#1), Babydoll (#21), Nicolas (#48), SonofSamIAm (#48), BangJan (#79), DaveC (#86), DocBrown (#93)
Even though Gainsbourg was a master of lyrics, what mattered more was that he was a genius as a composer and that he foud a congenial partner in Jean-Claude Vannier, who is responsible for the lush, atmospheric arrangements on this album. The way in which the two of them brought storytelling from the lyrics right into the music id what makes this album so special. The sexual innuendo certainly didn't hurt either.
--hprill, RYM

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#194. Queens of the Stone Age | Songs for the Deaf (2002)
# of Voters: 25 | Score: 995.426
Rank in 2014: #229
AM 3000 Rank: #247
Top Fans: Nassim (#3), Schaefer.tk (#11), DaveC (#25), Dudumb (#41), Whuntva (#74), BleuPanda (#96), Panam (#96), Spiritualized (#99)
with Songs for the Deaf, the Queens have hit a new peak in their development: the sound is more massive, the chaos is more calculated, and with hired gun Dave Grohl at the kit, the band has an unprecedented drive that leaves them poised for their strongest bid for power yet.
--Eric Carr, Pitchfork

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#193. Kanye West | Late Registration (2005)
# of Voters: 22 | Score: 1001.796
Rank in 2014: #196
AM 3000 Rank: #368
Top Fans: GucciLittlePiggy (#36), Bootsy (#43), VanillaFire1000 (#59), SweepstakesRon (#60), Dexter (#68), Andyd1010 (#69), Nick (#69)
On Late Registration, the Louis Vuitton Don doesn't just set out to create pop music — he wants to be pop music. So he steps up his lyrical game, shows off his epic production skills, reaches higher, pushes harder and claims the whole world of music as hip-hop turf. He aims for what he calls "that Coldplay, Portishead, Fiona Apple style" in his mad quest to explode every cliche about hip-hop identity. Can he get it done? Yes, he can. And like Reggie Jackson used to say, it ain't bragging if you can do it.
--Rob Sheffield, Rolling Stone

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#192. Air | Moon Safari (1998)
# of Voters: 23 | Score: 1004.761
Rank in 2014: #186
AM 3000 Rank: #143
Top Fans: ProsecutorGodot (#29), ChrisK (#60), VeganValentine (#67), Schaefer.tk (#67), BleuPanda (#84), OrdinaryPerson (#87)
it was Air's full-length debut, Moon Safari, that proved they could also write accessible pop songs like "Sexy Boy" and "Kelly Watch the Stars." But it wasn't all pop. The opener, "La Femme d'Argent," was an otherworldly beginning, with a slinky bassline evoking Serge Gainsbourg's Histoire de Melody Nelson and a slow glide through seven minutes of growing bliss (plus a wonderful keyboard solo). The vocoderized "Remember" relaunched a wave of robot pop that hadn't been heard in almost 20 years, and the solos for harmonica and French horn on "Ce Matin La" made the Bacharach comparisons direct. Unlike most electronica producers, Air had musical ideas that stretched beyond samplers or keyboards, and Moon Safari found those ideas wrapped up in music that was engaging, warm, and irresistible.
--John Bush, Allmusic

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#191. Beastie Boys | Paul's Boutique (1989)
# of Voters: 21 | Score: 1007.114
Rank in 2014: #149
AM 3000 Rank: #105
Top Fans: Nassim (#11), SonofSamIAm (#42), Nick (#43), BleuPanda (#62), Harold (#64), Toni (#69), Jackson (#74), Schaefer.tk (#78)
Paul's Boutique is a landmark in the art of sampling, a reinvention of a group that looked like it was heading for a gimmicky, early dead-end, and a harbinger of the pop-culture obsessions and referential touchstones that would come to define the ensuing decades' postmodern identity as sure as "The Simpsons" and Quentin Tarantino did. It's an album so packed with lyrical and musical asides, namedrops, and quotations that you could lose an entire day going through its Wikipedia page and looking up all the references; "The Sounds of Science" alone redirects you to the entries for Cheech Wizard, Shea Stadium, condoms, Robotron: 2084, Galileo, and Jesus Christ. That density, sprawl, and information-overload structure was one of the reasons some fans were reluctant to climb on board. But by extending Steinski's rapid-fire sound-bite hip-hop aesthetic over the course of an entire album, the Beastie Boys and the Dust Brothers more than assured that a generally positive first impression would eventually lead to a listener's dedicated, zealous headlong dive into the record's endlessly-quotable deep end.
--Nate Patrin, Pitchfork
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Re: AMF Favorite Albums of All-Time -- RESULTS

Post by Bruno »

#197. Lauryn Hill | The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill (1998)
Greaaat!!! :happy-partydance:
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