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Via Chicago's Top 100 Albums of All Time: Summer 2010 edition


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I'm going to be a crumudgeon and boycott this on general principals.

 

I am so very tired of hipsters using lists to show how hip they are. I don't need to see some Hungarian heavy alterna metal band nobody has ever heard of outside of the confines of internet message boards touted as having 'the best record ever'. Pffft.

 

I'm cranky.

 

I'm old.

 

And I am not hip.

 

So ya'll shouldn't care what I think it the best of all time, because, if truth be told, I really don't care what anyone else thinks.

 

By the way on a different and much less cranky note...I just heard Lou Barlow on an in-studio performance at KXT is Dallas...the dude has game.

 

(Can you see the irony here? I point it out because there are quite a few humor challenged people here.)

 

I have news for you:

This is one of the oldest, UN-"hip"-est group of hipsters on the internet. And I think that is a good thing: none of us are out to impress anybody else on here with how much we know or what obscure band we are into. We like what we like and we like to talk about it... passionately. Sure, there will be some choices here and there that will raise an eyebrow or two. And, yes, there will be those purposefully obscure choices that you mention; but not so much as I think you will see on other message boards.

You are a music geek. You make lists; face it.

Now, please share with us!

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Come on Crow...I would love to see your list. I'm sure mine will be less hip than yours.

 

I just think there are a lot of musicians and people really into their local scene on this board, which may account for a lot of praise of bands I've never heard of. If anything, it opens you up to a lot of great things you might not ever hear otherwise.

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Come on Crow...I would love to see your list. I'm sure mine will be less hip than yours.

 

I just think there are a lot of musicians and people really into their local scene on this board, which may account for a lot of praise of bands I've never heard of. If anything, it opens you up to a lot of great things you might not ever hear otherwise.

 

Fellas...my rant was meant to be a humorous juxtaposition with the comments about Lou Barlow. (He was really good).

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My vote has gone in. This is my list:

 

1) Lambchop: Damaged

2) Van Morrison: Veedon Fleece

3) Lambchop: Nixon

4) Sparklehorse: Vivadixiesubmarinetransmissionplot

5) Wilco: Yankee Hotel Foxtrot

6) Micah P. Hinson: ...And The Opera Circuit

7) M. Ward: Transistor Radio

8) Neil Young: On The Beach

9) Grandaddy: The Sophtware Slump

10) Tom Waits: Rain Dogs

11) Tom Waits: Mule Variations

12) Bob Dylan: Highway 61 Revisited

13) Genesis: Foxtrot

14) Miles Davis: Kind of Blue

15) The Jayhawks: Sound of Lies

16) Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds: And No More Shall We Part

17) My Morning Jacket: Okonokos

18) Sparklehorse: Good Morning Spider

19) Eels: Electro Shock Blues

20) John Coltrane: A love Supreme

21) The Decemberists: The Crane Wife

22) Mercury Rev: Deserter's Songs

23) The Black Crowes: Southern Harmony & Musical Companium

24) Marillion: Clutching at Straws

25) Bob Dylan: Hard Rain

26) Neil Young: Ragged Glory

27) Wilco: A Ghost Is Born

28) My Morning Jacket: Z

29) Van Morrison: Innarticulate Speech of the Heart

30) Genesis: The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway

31) Micah P. Hinson: ...And the Gospel of Progress

32) Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds: The Boatmans Call

33) Miles Davis: In A Silent Way

34) Jason Lyttle: Yours Truly, The Commuter

35) Grant Lee Buffalo: Mighty Joe Moon

36) Bjork: Homogenic

37) Pink Floyd: The Wall

38) Wilco: Summerteeth

39) Archive: Londinium

40) Bob Dylan: Blood on the Tracks

41) Genesis: Selling England by the Pound

42) Tom Waits: Orphans

43) Lambchop: Is A Woman

44) Angelo Badalamenti: Twin Peaks (Fire Walk With Me OST)

45) Massive Attack: Blue Lines

46) Sparklehorse: Its a Wonderful Life

47) Neil Young: Weld

48) The Black Crowes: Before the Frost..Untill The Freeze

49) Tom Waits: Heart of Saturday Night

50) Micah P. Hinson: ...And the Red Empire Orchestra

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This is shaping up to be complete insanity. With only 3 voters chiming in so far, there are 139 different albums on the board, including 66 new ones, that weren't on the list at all last time around. :omg

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so, here's my top 50 . . .

 

i've included youtube links to my favourite track from each album, and there is also a 3 part mediafire download of these tracks (in better quality than the youtube) - just in case people haven't heard something, and think they might want to check it out. they can, now!

 

50 the beau brummels | bradley's barn [1968] - best track: bless you california youtube link

49 lambchop | nixon [2000] - best track:

youtube link

48 james carr | you got my mind messed up [1967] - best track:

youtube link

47 fiery furnaces | blueberry boat [2004] - best track: chris michaels youtube link

46 bert jansch | la turnaround [1974] - best track:

youtube link

45 panda bear | person pitch [2007] - best track: take pills youtube link

44 gram parsons | return of the grievous angel [1974] - best track: return of the grievous angel youtube link

43 lift to experience | the texas jerusalem crossroad [2001] - best track: with crippled wings youtube link

42 swamp dogg | total destruction to your mind [1970] - best track:

youtube link

41 fleetwood mac | tusk [1979] - best track:

youtube link

40 kevin ayres | joy of a toy [1969] - best track: eleanor's cake (which ate her) youtube link

39 trees | on the shore [1970] - best track:

youtube link

38 stevie wonder | fulfillingness' first finale [1974] - best track:

youtube link

37 sandy denny | the north star grassman and the ravens [1971] - best track: blackwaterside youtube link

36 john cale | vintage violence [1970] - best track:

youtube link

35 van morrison | saint dominic's preview [1972] - best track:

youtube link

34 beatles | revolver [1966] - best track: good day sunshine youtube link

33 the bonzo dog band | the doughnut in granny's greenhouse [1968] - best track:

youtube link

32 lou christie | paint america love [1971] - best track:

youtube link

31 clarence carter | testifyin' [1969] - best track:

youtube link

30 otis redding | love man [1969] - best track:

youtube link

29 bee gees | 1st [1967] - best track: turn of the century youtube link

28 beach boys | pet sounds [1966] - best track: i'm waiting for the day youtube link

27 the impressions | the young mod's forgotten story [1969] - best track:

youtube link

26 sly & the family stone | there's a riot goin' on [1971] - best track: (you caught me) smilin' youtube link

25 sagittarius | present tense [1968] - best track:

youtube link

24 jimmy cliff | jimmy cliff [1969] - best track:

youtube link

23 talking heads | more songs about buildings and food [1978] - best track:

youtube link

22 richard & linda thompson | i want to see the bright lights tonight [1974] - best track:

youtube link

21 irma thomas | in between tears [1973] - best track: what's so wrong with you loving me youtube link

20 brian eno | taking tiger mountain (by strategy) [1974] - best track: mother whale eyeless youtube link

19 tindersticks | simple pleasure [1999] - best track: i know that loving youtube link

18 the incredible string band | the 5000 spirits or the layers of the onion [1967] - best track: no sleep blues youtube link

17 animal collective | feels [2005] - best track:

youtube link

16 doris duke | i'm a loser [1969] - best track: i don't care anymore youtube link

15 bob dylan | love & theft [2001] - best track:

youtube link

14 the kinks | muswell hillbillies [1971] - best track:

youtube link

13 the zombies | odessey & oracle [1968] - best track:

youtube link

12 joanna newsom | ys [2006] - best track: cosmia youtube link

11 scott walker | scott 4 [1969] - best track: get behind me youtube link

10 wilco | a ghost is born [2004] - best track: company in my back youtube link

09 judee sill | heart food [1973] - best track:

youtube link

08 randy newman | sail away [1972] - best track:

youtube link

07 the band | the band [1969] - best track:

youtube link

06 john cale | paris 1919 [1973] - best track:

05 beach boys | holland [1973] - best track: steamboat youtube link

04 super furry animals | guerrilla [1999] - best track:

youtube link

03 fairport convention | liege & lief [1969] - best track:

youtube link

02 the kinks | are the village green preservation society [1968] - best track:

youtube link

01 bob dylan | john wesley harding [1967] - best track:

youtube link

 

top 50, best tracks mix:

part 1

part 2

part 3

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Yes, very cool, thanks! I will also be downloading. :thumbup

 

 

Also, new rule (not really): No more picking albums that aren't already on the list! :realmad Even cutting and pasting from your e-mails, they're a pain to add in. I'm telling you, this "top 50" business is going to drive me over the edge! :punch

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AM

BT

ST

YHF

AGIB

SBS

W(TA)

 

Oh sorry. Wrong thread.

 

You left out Kicking Television!

 

Oops, sorry, wrong thread again. :blush

 

Thus far in my experience if joss ackland likes it, I, too, will like it. Time to do some illegal downloading, uh, itunes shopping...

 

--Mike

 

I knew that's what you meant. :thumbup

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24 jimmy cliff | jimmy cliff [1969] - best track: time will tell youtube link

I have been REALLY into The Harder They Come soundtrack, but did not know where to go next with any of that rocksteady stuff. Thanks for giving me direction!

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I've been working on my list. (Google spreadsheets is great for this ... you can drag and drop rows!) I just axed three albums I realized were in my top 50 because I felt they should be (I like them a lot and really do believe they are great, classic records), but not because I truly love them more than 47 other contenders. See ya, fellas.

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This is shaping up to be complete insanity. With only 3 voters chiming in so far, there are 139 different albums on the board, including 66 new ones, that weren't on the list at all last time around. :omg

 

I swear to G_D I am not going to engage in this foolishness.

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I have been REALLY into The Harder They Come soundtrack, but did not know where to go next with any of that rocksteady stuff. Thanks for giving me direction!

 

it's a great album. you might find it hard to find it as "Jimmy Cliff" - it was also called "Wonderful World, Beautiful People". (check the tracklisting on whatever you buy, cos his stuff is like Toots & The Maytals - there are a lot of titles with the same names).

 

"Struggling Man" is the other of his albums i'd say is great.

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I always hesitate to enter into things like this. My list would definitely show my age and general ignorance to music that was made before I was born--really, the oldest album I own is Doolittle. The top 10 would likely contain 5 Radiohead albums and my list wouldn't include a single Beatles, Dylan, or Beach Boys album, as I have never listened to one (yes, I know the songs). I guess I could help things out and skew the list more "modern".

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My list is probably more like yours, Matt, than like most people's here. I say go for it, in the spirit of what this list should show ... this particular message board's top 100 albums. Well ... the top 100 albums of participants in this thread on this particular message board.

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I always hesitate to enter into things like this. My list would definitely show my age and general ignorance to music that was made before I was born--really, the oldest album I own is Doolittle. The top 10 would likely contain 5 Radiohead albums and my list wouldn't include a single Beatles, Dylan, or Beach Boys album, as I have never listened to one (yes, I know the songs). I guess I could help things out and skew the list more "modern".

 

I can see where you're coming from. I know my classic rock and roll pretty well, but my list will still be skewed toward the 90's and 00's. I mean, I've loved the Beatles since I was 13 (that's more than half my life), but as much as I appreciate Revolver I don't feel a connection to it the way I do with albums that have been released within my lifetime (even if I purchased them 10 years after original release). There will surely be older albums on my list, but not as many, and not at the very top.

 

My personal concern is that while I've considered myself a major music fan over half my life the majority of my collection was amassed in the last five years, when I started to broaden my interests (and finally had a little money to spend). That's a short period of time and a ton of music that hasn't exactly had a lot of time sink in. In 2004 my top 50 would have consisted of Pearl Jam, some other "grunge" bands, Tori Amos and a bunch of albums that looked good on a list. Today I don't even know where to start!

 

I plan on sitting down with my iPod and a notebook this evening and seeing if I can come up with anything.

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My list is probably more like yours, Matt, than like most people's here. I say go for it, in the spirit of what this list should show ... this particular message board's top 100 albums. Well ... the top 100 albums of participants in this thread on this particular message board.
My personal concern is that while I've considered myself a major music fan over half my life the majority of my collection was amassed in the last five years, when I started to broaden my interests (and finally had a little money to spend). That's a short period of time and a ton of music that hasn't exactly had a lot of time sink in. In 2004 my top 50 would have consisted of Pearl Jam, some other "grunge" bands, Tori Amos and a bunch of albums that looked good on a list. Today I don't even know where to start!

Also to keep in mind: This is the top 100 albums of the participants in this thread on this particular message board, during this particular summer! I know some people love the list-making process and keep running lists, but for a lot of people, their lists will be made up of albums that they love right now, based on what's new, what classic albums they're brought back to by listening to the new stuff, what speaks to them at this moment in their personal lives, etc.

 

I think one of the things that's going to be interesting is to see which albums aren't on this list, compared to the last round. I've already got some theories about what's going to drop off, but I'll say no more, for fear of skewing the results in any way. :yes

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I've started some sketches and I'm having a tough time distinguishing between personal favorites and what I consider to be "best albums." it would be easy to load a list with Dylan, the Beatles, Neil Young etc, but I think I'm gonna go with albums that have been of personal meaning to me. Going this route means I'll have more than a few albums that likely no one else on the board will have ever heard of. I'm thinking of old Louisville punk and hardcore bands that probably never sold more than a few 100 records, but damn if I don't still listen to some of those 20 year old records as if they were new. Also I think that I'll probably rank a particular popular 80's rock record higher than anyone else. I'm probably a week out from getting mine done.

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I've started some sketches and I'm having a tough time distinguishing between personal favorites and what I consider to be "best albums."

 

Personally I think you have to go with your favorites instead of what you consider "best albums" to make this list interesting. Otherwise it becomes some BS hipster list of albums that people think they should be picking but never even listen to. Those lists are all over the web already.

 

Having said that, I am incapable of making a list of this type although I may give it a try. I end up with analysis paralysis and usually give up.

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