Just counting them up now – coming soon!
May take me a bit of time. 96 of us voted for no less than 620 albums – that’s an average of over 6 unique choices each. So consensus is thin on the ground. A few albums clearly stand out however, although it has still been possible to get into the Top 10 with just 5 votes.
Will try to post later this evening.
Wow, exciting. What a lack of consensus! That’s interesting.
Just as long as my vote for Further/Deeper got noted!
What I meant to say was “Splendid work, in advance!”
just your vote sadly, but they all count
@blue-boy I know. People just have no taste….
Ooh, you tease!
OK, here goes.
43 albums were voted for by someone, but essentially as an afterthought at the end of their list. One point each for this lot:
Mental Illness Aimee Mann
Welcome 2 My Nightmare Alice Cooper
Song of the Pearl Arbouretum
Western Stars Bruce Springsteen
Vanished Gardens Charles Lloyd and the Marvels
Hard Candy Counting Crows
Alabursy Daniel Norgren
Anastasis Dead Can Dance
The Infinity Dub Sessions Deadbeat and St Hilaire
Escape from Dragon House Dengue Fever
Adventure Man EG White
When I Was Cruel Elvis Costello
New Amerykah Part One: 4th World War Erykah Badu
Farrah Farrah
Through the Windowpane Guillemots
My Favourite Picture of You Guy Clark
Until the Hunter Hope Sandoval and the Warm Inventions
Glasgow Walker John Martyn
Ragged Kingdom June Tabor and the Oyster Band
Feeling Orange But Sometimes Blue Ledisi
The Great Destroyer Low
Blessed Lucinda Williams
Careless Love Madeleine Peyroux
Prodigal Son Martin Simpson
Roots Controller Misty in Roots
Ringleader of the Tormentors Morrisey
Travel Like in Songs Rebecka Tornqvist
Overpowered Roisin Murphy
Summerlong Rose City Band
Poses Rufus Wainwright
Idenitity Crisis Shelby Lynne
Hippopotamus Sparks
Wintersmith Steeleye Span
Planetarium Sufjan Stevens, Nico Muhly, Bryce Dessner, James McAlister
Beauty and Crime Suzanne Vega
Shadows Teenage Fanclub
Astronomy for Dogs The Aliens
High The Blue Nile
Open The Necks
Neon Golden The Notwist
Breaking Up The Research
Behind the Music The Soundtrack of Our Lives
The Source Tony Allen
And in joint 513th on 2 points
Boys and Girls Alabama Shakes
The Intercontinentals Bill Frisell
The Peterhouse Partbooks Blue Heron
Cassedega Bright Eyes
Wrecking Ball Bruce Springsteen
High Hopes Bruce Springsteen
Lets Get Out of This Country Camera Obscura
Belly of the Sun Cassandra Wilson
Let Freedom Ring! Chuck Prophet
Parachutes Coldplay
Crazy Clown Time David Lynch
Leaders of the Free World Elbow
Ash Wednesday Elvis Perkins
Transgelic Exodus Ezra Furman
Perpetual Motion People Ezra Furman
I Love You Honeybear Father John Misty
Allelujah! Don’t Bend! Ascend! Godspeed You! Black Emperor
Black Cherry Goldfrapp
Isis Project Guy Chambers and Sophie Hunter
Rejoice Hugh Masakela and Tony Allen
Strays Jane’s Addiction
Fordlandia Johann Johannson
Born and Raised John Mayer
Desert Road Justin Adams
Same Trailer, Different Park Kacey Musgraves
Soul Eyes Kandace Springs
Here Come The Aliens Kim Wilde
604 Ladytron
Lust for Life Lana del Ray
Green Eyed Soul Lari White
The Bell that Never Rang Lau
Alright Still Lily Allen
Journal for Plague Lovers Manic Street Preachers
Send Away the Tigers Manic Street Preachers
Proxima Estacion: Esperanza Manu Chao
Anomic Marconi Union feat. Jah Wobble
Marbles Marillion
Several Arrows Later Matt Pond PA
All is Dream Mercury Rev
Kiwanuka Michael Kiwanuka
At Dawn My Morning Jacket
Hamilton Original Broadway Cast
Owl John Owl John
Caustic Love Paolo Nutini
Beneath the Eyrie Pixies
Still Richard Thompson
Close Ties Rodney Crowell
Are We There? Sharon van Etten
Lost in a Moment Shrift
Nite Versions Soulwax
A Victory For Common Sense Stackridge
Beachcomber’s Windowsill Stornoway
Love Kraft Super Furry Animals
Supergrass Supergrass
Silver Bullets The Chills
Befriended The Innocence Mission
Do Hollywood The Lemon Twigs
The Magic Numbers The Magic Numbers
Sleep Well Beast The National
Ceduna The Sand Pebbles
Reconstruction Site The Weakerthans
Pneumonia Whiskeytown
Performance White Denim
Fits White Denim
Wilco (The Album) Wilco
3 points for these babies
The Undivided Five A Winged Victory for the Sullen
21 Adele
The Neon Bible Arcade Fire
Whatever People Say I Am Arctic Monkeys
Love Is The Answer Barbra Streisand
A Bad Wind Blows in My Heart Bill Ryder Jones
Water of Leith Blue Rose Code
Master and Everyone Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy
I’m Wide Awake, Its Morning Bright Eyes
From The Sea to the Land Beyond British Sea Power
Autumn in the Neighbourhood China Crisis
By Bye Beaute Coralie Clement
Kristina Train Dark Black
Manafon David Sylvian
We’re All Gonna Die Dawes
Believers Deacon Blue
Sticky Wickets Duckworth Lewis Method
Rainbow Ends Emitt Rhodes
The Lion’s Roar First Aid Kit
Worl’s Strongest Man Gaz Coombes
Departure Songs Hammock
KMAG YOYO Hayes Carrl
Is Hey Ocean!
Rain Plans Israel Nash
Big Bad Luv John Moreland
Dead Man’s Suit Jon Allen
Halo Juana Molina
From Scotland with Love King Creosote
Humming by the Flowered Vine Laura Cantrell
Land Fall Laurie Anderson and the Kronos Quartet
The Stoop Little Jackie
Dead Capital Louis Brennan
The Invisible Way Low
Urstan Mairi Morrison and Alisdair Roberts
My One and Only Thrill Melody Gardot
Hardcore Will Never Die But You Will Mogwai
Last Night on Earth Noah and the Whale
The Bairns Rachel Unthank and the Winterset
Landings Richard Skelton
Body Talk Robyn
Pull Up Some Dust Ry Cooder
The Knowledge Squeeze
MASSEDUCTION St Vincent
Rubber Factory The Black Keys
The Adventures of Zodd Zungren The Ed Palermo Big Band
Cannibal Sea The Essex Green
Birds Fly South The Mastersons
Phrenology The Roots
A Map of the Floating City Thomas Dolby
Children of Paradise Willie Nile
Moving into the top 300 with 4 points (could this BE any more exciting?)
A Girl Called Eddy A Girl Called Eddy
My Way Akufen
Translinear Light Alice Coltrane
Prince of Tears Baxter Dury
Fever Dream Ben Watt
Burial Burial
Open Cowboy Junkies
Tron:Legacy Daft Punk
Mine and Yours David Mead
Blemish David Sylvian
The Last Broadcast Doves
Sleep/Holiday Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci
Southern Blood Greg Allman
C.S.I. Ambleside Half Man Half Biscuit
Funnel Cloud Hem
Reunions Jason Isbell
Smile Jayhawks
M:FANS John Cale
Nightfall John Taylor and Charlie Haden
Meaningless Jon Brion
Music from the Motion Picture Josie and the Pussycats
Octagon:Between the Times Knut Rossler and Johannes Vogt
Arc Light Lau
Lushlife Lushlife
I Follow Rivers Lykke Li
Midwest Farmer’s Daughter Margo Price
Version Mark Ronson
Adios Senor Pussycat Michael Head and the Red Elastic Band
Return to Ommadawn Mike Oldfield
Evil Urges My Morning Jacket
The Old Black Magic Nick Lowe
Les Nuits Nits
Feels Like Home Norah Jones
Wonky Orbital
Stranger in the Alps Phoebe Bridgers
Begin to Hope Regina Spektor
More Arriving Sarathy Korwar
We Like It Here Snarky Puppy
Clearing Softspot
My Queen is a Reptile Sons of Kemet
Tales from Urban Bohemia The Dandy Warhols
No Cities Left The Dears
The King is Dead The Decemberists
The Friends of Rachel Worth The Go-Betweens
Encore The Specials
40 Days The Wailin’ Jennyes
The XX The XX
Floating Coffin Thee Oh Sees
The Cosmic Game Thievery Corporation
Moonshine Freeze This is the Kit
Liars Todd Rundgren
Far From Over Vijay Iyer Sextet
5 points each for these (there will be a test later so pay attention)
10,000hz Legend Air
Farewell Sorrow Alisdair Roberts
I Worked On the Ships Ballboy
The Willies Bill Frisell
Bon Iver Bon Iver
You Forget it in People Broken Social Scene
In The Reins Calexico/Iron and Wine
Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends Coldplay
Everyday Robots Damon Albarn
Mouse and the Mask Danger Doom
New Bermuda Deafheaven
Since Kyabram Declan O’Rourke
Sunken Combos Donald Fagen
Duckworth Lewis Method Duckworth Lewis Method
Skit I Allt Dungen
Comfort in Sound Feeder
The Incomplete… Glenn Tilbrook
Courting the Squall Guy Garvey
Dirty Computer Janelle Monae
The ArchAndroid Janelle Monae
Fool Joe Jackson
Rain Joe Jackson
The Terms of My Surrender John Hiatt
On the Cobbles John Martyn
Dixie Blur Jonathan Wilson
One Day In Chicago Kevin Coyne with Jon Langford and The Pine Valley Cosmonauts
La Roux La Roux
Lemonjelly.ky Lemon Jelly
Old Ideas Leonard Cohen
Stoned Pt 1 Lewis Taylor
Double Negative Low
Rewind the Film Manic Street Preachers
Wrytree Drift Michael Chapman
Chaos and Creation in the Backyard Paul McCartney
Surprise Paul Simon
Other World Peter Hammill and Gary Lucas
Fed Plush
Stone Rollin’ Rapahel Saadiq
Kings of Convenience Riot on an Empty Street
Fate’s Right Hand Rodney Crowell
Royal Blood Royal Blood
Want One Rufus Wainwright
Moffou Salif Keita
Monkey Minds in the Devil’s Time Steve Mason
A Tale of God’s Will Terence Blanchard
Painting it Red The Beautiful South
Strange Geometry The Clientele
Butterfly House The Coral
Absent Friends The Divine Comedy
Ride the Black Wave The Donkeys
The Good, The Bad and The Queen The Good, The Bad and The Queen
Up the Bracket The Libertines
Songs of Strength and Heartbreak The Mighty Wah!
De Stijl The White Stripes
Vampire Weekend Vampire Weekend
Awayland Villagers
Arise Zara McFarlane
This is such an eclectic and wide ranging list so far. A lot of my choices have appeared already.
And with 6 points (Christ, even I am getting bored now)
In The Heart of the Moon Ali Farka Toure and Toumani Diabate
Days to Come Bonobo
Shadows on the Sun Brother Ali
Feast of Wire Calexico
A Friend of a Friend Dave Rawlings Machine
Playing the Angel Depeche Mode
American Band Drive By Truckers
The Captain and the Kid Elton John
Wise Up Ghost Elvis Costello and the Roots
Venice Fennesz
U Kin B The Sun Frazey Ford
Laika Come Home Gorillaz (with Spacemonkeyz)
No One Cares About Your Creative Hub Half Man Half Biscuit
Even Better Halvorson/Formanek/Berne
Defending Ancient Springs Jackie Leven
On The Line Jenny Lewis
Sweet England Jim Moray
Fast Forward Joe Jackson
Tell No Lies Justin Adams and Juldeh Camara
Le Pop Katzenjammer
Is a Woman Lambchop
Once I Was an Eagle Laura Marling
The Lost Album Lewis Taylor
Wounded Rhymes Lykke Li
Wasteland Companion M Ward
50 Song Memoir Magnetic Fields
The Tyburn Tree (Dark London) Mark Almond and John Harle
The Defenestration of St Martin Martin Rossiter
The Courage of Others Midlake
Black Holes and Revelations Muse
So Beautiful or So What Paul Simon
22 Dreams Paul Weller
Let’s Change the World with Music Prefab Sprout
13 Rivers Richard Thompson
The Mighty Rearranger Robert Plant and the Strange Sensation
Honey Robyn
Tales from Turnpike House Saint Etienne
Get Well Soon Sarabeth Tucek
Sean-Nos Nua Sinead O’Connor
Don’t Give Up On Me Solomon Burke
Your Queen is a Reptile Sons of Kemet
The Light of the Dead See Soulsavers
It’s a Wonderful Life Sparklehorse
Admiral Fell Promises Sun Kil Moon
Queen of the Breakers The Barr Brothers
The Besnard Lakes Are the Roaring Night The Besnard Lakes
Further/Deeper The Church
The Civil Wars The Civil Wars
The Great Eastern The Delgados
The Imperial The Delines
Diversions Vol 2 The Unthanks with Brighouse and Rastrick Brass Band
Love and Its Opposite Tracey Thorn
The Optimist Turin Brakes
Keep Me Singing Van Morrison
The Disintegration Loops William Basinki
Simple Things Zero 7
I spotted a mistake, sir! That Sons Of Kemet album is in the 4 points list as well, the difference being that there it is listed as My Queen is a Reptile, and here it is Your…
Not knowing anything about the band I assume that it’s the same album however?
Oh, and good work @Blue-Boy!
Ah – well spotted! That’ll move it up the list.
I can report that that races it up the chart to joins that august band on 10 points in 114th one of only 8 to have 10 points from 2 votes as opposed to 1, stats fans.
Thanks @blue-boy!
In the coveted joint 243rd place on 7 points:
Aventine Agnes Obel
Nobel Beasts/Useless Creature Andrew Bird
12 Stories Brandy Clark
Eternal Branford Marsalis Quintet
Magic Bruce Springsteen
Black River Falls Cathal Coughlan
Cat’s Eyes Cat’s Eyes
Last Temptation of Chris Chris Difford
Trespasser Chris Wood
Readymades Chumbawumba
More Tunes about Baggage and Hills English Border Music 1625 to 2017 David Faulkner and Steve Turner
Dirty Vegas Dirty Vegas
Settle Disclosure
Songs From The Deep Forest Duke Special
Espers II Espers
Chore of Enchantment Giant Sand
I’m New Here Gil Scott-Heron
Thunder Lightning Go Team
Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven Godspeed You! Black Emperor
Cursed with Being Gorgeous
Hurricane Grace Jones
American Idiot Green Day
Peace Town Jimmy LaFave
Pale Green Ghosts John Grant
Back to Me Kathleen Edwards
A Certain Trigger Maximo Park
Guy with a Guitar Mishka
Statues Moloko
Ghosteen Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
Niteworks Niteworks
Don’t Believe the Truth Oasis
Egypt Station Paul McCartney
Sonik Kicks Paul Weller
True Meanings Paul Weller
Here’s to Taking it Easy Phosphorescent
Ces’t la Vie Phosphorescent
Tekitoi? Rachid Taha
Harps and Angels Randy Newman
Under the Black Light Rilo Kiley
Love Fear and the Time Machine Riverside
Long Player Late Bloomer Ron Sexsmith
The River and the Thread Roseanne Cash
1989 Ryan Adams
Alpinisms School of Seven Bells
Meo suo I eyrum vio spilum endalaust Sigur Ros
Birth/Death The Computers
White Pony The Deftones
The Imagined Village The Imagined Village
Sky Meadows The Pearlfishers
Highway Companion Tom Petty
Tomeka Redi Quartet Tomeka Reid
Mothers Daughters and Other Tales Tunng
Contra Vampire Weekend
Universal Hall Waterboys
And then Nothing Turned Itself Inside Out Yo La Tengo
And on 8 points
Bachelor Number 2 Aimee Mann
Real Animal Alejandro Escovedo
Hadestown Anais Mitchell
Morning Phase Beck
Life is People Bill Fay
Map To The Treasure (Reimagining Laura Nyro) Billy Childs
Black Mountain Black Mountain
Modern Times Bob Dylan
Rough and Rowdy Ways Bob Dylan
Discosis Bran Van 3000
The Decline of British Sea Power British Sea Power
Soul Providence Carleen Anderson
Chris Christine and the Queens
At the End of Paths Taken Cowboy Junkies
Discovery Daft Punk
Eleven Eleven Dave Alvin
Death Speaks David Lang
Seven Days of Falling Esbjorn Svennson Trio
Based on A True Story Fat Freddy’s Drop
Tales of Us Goldfrapp
Achtung Bono Half Man Half Biscuit
Harp and a Monkey Harp and a Monkey
Sky at Night I Am Kloot
Shipwrecks and Static Inge Thomson
Stripping Cane Jeffrey Foucault
Have One on Me Joanna Newsom
Un Dia Juana Molina
Golden Hour Kacey Musgraves
The Epic Kamasi Washington
Astronaut Meets Appleman King Creosote
Quiet is the New Loud Kings of Convenience
Kids in Philly Marah
Once To Every Heart Mark Murphy
The Baboon in the Basement Martin Gordon
Above the Bones Mishka
Let England Shake PJ Harvey
Jollity Pugwash
From a Compound Eye Robert Pollard
My Secret is My Silence Roddy Woonble
Songs for Lonely Americans Sir Vincent Lone
Picaresque The Decemberists
Empire and Love The Imagined Village
Smile The Jayhawks
De-loused in the Comatorium The Mars Volta
The Sweet Pretty Things (Are in Bed Now of Course) The Pretty Things
Chateau Revenge The Silver Seas
Original Pirate Material The Streets
Is This It The Strokes
Alright. Well into the top 200 now; in joint 160th place on 9 points (but most of these still with just the one vote)
AM Arctic Monkeys
English Electric Big Big Train
Medulla Bjork
Canpfire Headphrase Boards of Canada
Tempest Bob Dylan
Tender Buttons Broadcast
Night Surfer Chuck Prophet
Enjoy the Melodic Sunshine Cosmic Rough Riders
Dysnomia Dawn of Midi
Nostalgia, Ultra Frank Ocean
Commune Goat
La Revancha Del Tango Gotan Project
American IV The Man Comes Around Johnny Cash
Nashville Josh Rouse
Contraband Kirsty McGee and the Hobopop Collective
Semper Femina Laura Marling
Blood Liane La Havas
High Wide and Handsome: The Charlie Poole Project Loudon Wainwright III
21st Century Man Luke Haines
Post War M Ward
Crack the Skye Mastodon
Love and Hate Michael Kiwanuka
Greendale Neil Young and Crazy Horse
At My Age Nick Lowe
Come Away With Me Norah Jones
The Old Kit Bag Richard Thompson
White Bread Black Beer Scritti Politti
Hello Young Lovers Sparks
The Raven That Refused to Sing Steven Wilson
Road to Rouen Supergrass
Tale to Tell The Mummers
A Grand Don’t Come For Free The Streets
Left and Leaving The Weakerthans
Wriggle Out the Restless This is the Kit
Hay Luv Twit One
And, in joint 114th on 10 points. Most of these were someone’s favourite but no one else gave a toss.
What About Me 1 Giant Leap
Attitunes Amsterdam
Here I Am Burt Bacharach and Ronald Isley
The Cold Vein Cannibal Ox
Chaleur Humaine Christine and the Queens
Stramash Colin Steele
Corrine Bailey Rae Corrine Bailey Rae
Crippling Lack David Thomas Troughton
One Day I’m Goin to Soar Dexys
The Delivery Man Elvis Costello
Orfeo Fay Hield and the Hurricane Party
Fever Ray Fever Ray
Fleet Foxes Fleet Foxes
Blonde Frank Ocean
Savage (Songs from a Broken World) Gary Numan
Eveningland Hem
The Chronicles of Modern Life Henry Priestman
I Am Kloot I Am Kloot
Donuts J Dilla
Creatures of Light and Dark Jackie Leven
Shining Brother Shining Sister Jackie Leven
50 Words for Snow Kate Bush
Years of Meteors Laura Veirs
Life on a String Laurie Anderson
Ten New Songs Leonard Cohen
Salt Lizz Wright
Antidepressant Lloyd Cole
If You Wait London Grammar
Skeleton Tree Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
The Convincer Nick Lowe
Snow Borne Sorrow Nine Horses
History of Modern OMD
More Adventurous Rilo Kiley
The Evangelisy Robert Forster
American Adventure Scottish National Jazz Orchestra
Rough Dreams Shivaree
The Woods Sleater Kinney
Two Way Monologue Sondra Lerche
West Coast Studio
A Piece of What You Need Teddy Thompson
Wildflower The Avalanches
Hey Negrita The Buzz Above
High Society The Silver Seas
Snapshot The Strypes
Rules for Jokers Thea Gilmore
Road to Freedom Young Disciples
Yay! There’s my choice in there…. which means no one else voted for it?? You philistines!
I hadn’t noticed someone voted for Shivaree. I saw her at Dingwalls, after her excellent debut album, and fell in love with her!
@paul-wad That was me who voted for Shiveree.
I bought Rough Dreams solely because I liked the cover. Took me a bit of time to get into the music, but once I did …
Also, who can fail to fall for a woman with the name Ambrosia Parsley?
There is a live Shiveree gig in Paris on YouTube that I came across not long ago and it is very good.
Her first album is my favourite, but she’s one of those artists that hasn’t released anywhere near as many albums as you would have hoped. Although I hadn’t realised she’d released an album under her own name until a while after it came out.
I shall watch the gig later. I can still picture her there now, standing with her hands in her back pockets at the microphone, me looking gooey eyed at her, my wife looking daggers at me!
Hooray! All 10 of mine are singletons. Result!
Thanks for doing all the counting and scoring!
Joint 104th on 11:
The Hour of the Bewilderbeast Badly Drawn Boy
Stay Gold First Aid Kit
The Sophtware Slump Grandaddy
Real Life Joan as Policewoman
Songs from the City, Songs from the Sea PJ Harvey
Not Dark Yet Shelby Lynne and Alison Moorer
No Going Back Stiff Little Fingers
The Crane Wife The Decemberists
Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots The Flaming Lips
The ’59 Sound The Gaslight Anthem
So, the Hot 100.
On 12 points in joint 95th:
Seldom Seen Kid Elbow
Tour de France Soundtracks Kraftwerk
Nixon Lambchop
Currency of Man Melody Gardot
Heartbreaker Ryan Adams
Transcendental Blues Steve Earle
Rainy Day Music The Jayhawks
White Blood Cells The White Stripes
Alice Tom Waits
On 13, joint 84th
Thirst for Romance Cherry Ghost
Field Music Field Music
Born to Die Lana del Ray
Sound of Silver LCD Soundsystem
Pure Heroine Lorde
World Without Tears Lucinda Williams
Essence Lucinda Williams
Fletcher Moss Park Matthew Halsall
Crimson/Red Prefab Sprout
Prodigal Son Ry Cooder
The Hazards of Love The Decemberists
And joint 73rd on 14 points
Out of Season Beth Gibbons and Rustin’ Man
Love and Theft Bob Dylan
Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit Courtney Barnett
Blinking Lights and Other Revelations Eels
Rounds Four Tet
Something More Than Free Jason Isbell
Ys Joanna Newsom
Natalie Merchant Natalie Merchant
Inform – Educate – Entertain Public Service Broadcasting
A Deeper Understanding The War On Drugs
Sky Blue Sky Wilco
The Beth Gibbons and Rustin’ Man has the most votes (5) at this stage
Joint 66th on 15
Untrue Burial
Have You in My Wilderness Julia Holter
Diamond Mine King Creosote and Jon Hopkins
Stankonia Outkast
Truelove’s Gutter Richard Hawley
Li’l Beethoven Sparks
Record Tracey Thorn
Joint 60th on 16:
60th 16 points
Handcream for a Generation Cornershop
No Such Place Jim White
Push the Sky Away Nick Cave
Abbatoir Blues/Lyre of Orpheus Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
Kid A Radiohead
Two Against Nature Steely Dan
And 51st on 17 points are this lot
51st 17 points
Heathen David Bowie
Soul Journey Gillian Welch
Cammell Laird Social Club Half Man Half Biscuit
Both Sides Now Joni Mitchell
DAMN. Kendrick Lamar
Third Portishead
1989 Taylor Swift
Mount the Air The Unthanks
Present Van Der Graaf Generator
Top 50 next. Take all that lot in, spot any mistakes (there will be some for sure) and give me a bit of time to regroup….
Damn. Didn’t quite make the top fifty.
Nice work, Blue Boy.
Yes, some surprising fallers this early in the race..
Mount The Air ONLY 51st…
…Blimey!
Van der Graaf in the higher reaches of a 21st century pole….oh, frabjous day….
Here are 41 to 50:
41 on 20 points
1972 Josh Rouse
12 Stops and Home The Feeling
43 on 19
Felt Mountain Goldfrapp
Gold Ryan Adams
45 on 18
All the Beauty in this Whole Life Brother Ali
Time (The Revelator) Gillian Welch
Voyageur Kathleen Edwards
To Pimp a Butterfly Kendrick Lamar
Joined Up Talking My Life Story
A Moon Shaped Pool Radiohead
Wow, some else voted for Brother Ali too? He should have won it!
Top 50 will follow tomorrow. Some very good stuff already fallen by the wayside.
Brilliant. I’m enjoying this and there have been some surprises so far. Looking forward to the top 50 tomorrow, which should be very illuminating!
There will be blood.
Why are there two ‘O’s’ in the word Blood? Phonetically, shouldn’t it be ‘Blud’?
Or the stuff that flows in our veins should be “blue’d”.
The German is ‘blut’ so it probably was a U at some stage.
The scores for two of mine are still to be revealed.
For three others I was the sole voter. Unsurprising.
One that I was expecting to be the sole voter for got 5 more points from elsewhere!
Nice!
Was that the Esbjörn Svensson Trio album? Yes, mmmm …. nice.
I’ve just picked up their “Live in Gothenburg set”, actually.
First impressions? Not as good as “Live in London”, Live in Hamburg” or “Viatcum”, but still worth having.
I agree. I was rather disappointed with it. It feels a little flat in comparison to the others you mention.
Difficult to choose a favourite EST album. While some are better than others, they are all good so I was not surprised to see them in someone else’s list.
I was surprised someone else picked the same album.
OK, into the business end we go.
Here are 22 to 40 on the poptastic list:
22 Lost in Space Aimee Mann 29 (4 votes)
The Rising Bruce Springsteen 29 (4)
Coles Corner Richard Hawley 29 (5)
25 Figure Eight Elliott Smith 26 (4)
26 Surf Roddy Frame 25 3)
27 Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers and Bastards Tom Waits 24 (3)
28 Carrie and Lowell Sufjan Stevens 23 (4)
Long Gone Before Daylight The Cardigans 23 (3)
30 Lost Horizons Lemon Jelly 22 (3)
I Trawl the Megahertz Paddy MacAloon 22 (3)
High Violet The National 22 (4)
33 Sea Change Beck 21 (3)
You Want It Darker Leonard Cohen 21 (5)
The Trials of Van Occupanther Midlake 21 (3)
All Melody Nils Frahm 21 (3)
Fire in the Hole Sara Isakkson and Rebecca Tornqvist 21 (4)
Modern Blues The Waterboys 21 (3)
A Ghost is Born Wilco 21 (4)
40 Look Now Elvis Costello 20 (3)
And as we get into the Top 20 we start to get some real Afterword big hitter favourites
Here are 11-20:
11 Back to Black Amy Winehouse 45 (7 votes)
12 The Race for Space Public Service Broadcasting 43 (9)
13 Welcome Interstate Managers Fountains of Wayne 42 (6)
Indian Ocean Frazey Ford 42 (6)
15 In Rainbows Radiohead 40 (5)
16 Norman Fucking Rockwell Lana Del Ray 38 (8)
17 Lost in the Dream The War on Drugs 35 (5)
18 Since I Left You The Avalanches 34 (4)
19 No Deal Melanie de Basio 32 (4)
20 Just a Little Lovin’ Shelby Lynne 31 (5)
Illinois Sufjan Stevens 31 (4)
And in reverse order
10 The Liberty of Norton Folgate Madness 46 points (9 votes)
9 Seventh Tree Goldfrapp 47 (6)
7 Raising Sand Robert Plant and Alison Krauss 48 (10)
Wasp Star XTC 48 (5)
6 Southeastern Jason Isbell 50 (8)
5 Hand Cannot Erase Stephen Wilson 51 (8)
But then there is a large points leap to the Top 4……
That Goldfrapp album is good, I forgot about that one. Good to see it so high, but I didn’t realise it was so popular.
A couple of us put it first place.
These were way ahead in points, and the Top 3 way ahead in number of votes…..
4 Yankee Hotel Foxtrot Wilco 70 points (9 votes)
3 Aerial Kate Bush 78 (12)
2 Queen of Denmark John Grant 89 (15)
And, way out in front, you know what Number One is……
Blackstar by David Bowie walked it with 18 of us (me included) voting and giving it 127 points
Those are the numbers. Apologies in advance for any errors. Will try to come back with some analysis and thoughts later, but for now over to you….
Wild applause from the audience for the compiling, mingled with a sense of anticlimax at the result. Is Blackstar that good? I’ll have to give it the first spin in some years to investigate, but I suspect it wouldn’t have got anything like the attention or acclaim without the context.
Well played Mr B, and thanks for you great efforts!
I’m in complete agreement.
I’ll join the curmudgeon club please. I also agree Blackstar is overrated. And I say that as a massive bowie fan. It’s good, but better than, say, Aerial? I say not.
It’s not even as good as Heathen (which of course is far better than Aerial)
You silly, twisted boy…
Well played Blue. Have a little lie down.
Good work. Pleased to see so much recognition for Wilco, never heard of John Grant! Will give it a listen.
Sorry about this Blue, but there appear to be a gap: #s 41 – 50 don’t seem to be there.
Aargh – you’re right! Just checking that you were paying attention….
I have posted them above just below the listing from 51 to 66.
More complicated than you think its going to be, this business, isn’t it?
Thanks.
It was only because I was looking for SteveT’s and my selection of Voyageur, that I noticed this lacuna in the results.
Sterling work. KE is as popular as a Radiohead album, with a fraction of their sales.
For a second there I thought the gremlins were trying to sabotage Paul Wad’s heroic efforts to get some hip hop in the top 50.
But you are the real hero of this endeavour, Blue Boy..
Well done Blue Boy for all your hard work & effort.
I did say when this was mooted, that the 21st century votes would include far more single mentions than previous eras, and the winner would be Blackstar but this gives me a lot of suggestions for “new listening” Thank you.
Good work Blue Boy, great effort.
No real surprises in the top ten, I suppose to do with the way these polls average things out, so that something one person loves dearly will place below something ten people think is okay. When we inevitably rerun all these polls in the next five years, I think it’d be interesting to overhaul the scoring and put in bigger point gaps between the ranks – a number one pick gets 100 points and a number 10 just one, for instance. But that’s easy for me to say because I don’t do the spreadsheets…
Why?
it makes you think more carefully about the order. I favour the Formula One scoring method.
No, and certainly having 100 pts to 1 pt is way too big a spread. Someone can calculate what the result might be if a different system was used, but I think having a 1 pt difference for each place is the most representative.
You think that one person choosing one album in 1st place means it is rated higher than another one that 24 different people have in 10th place? Sorry, but that’s a nonsense.
This is always going to be a problem when the number of voters is so small, as the results can easily get skewed.
On a bigger data set, I would usually just show first choice (to get the favourite) and then all ten aggregated to get the most popular.
Typically, most clients would only be interested in the top ten or so & not concerned about all the single mentions (and they’re a pain to collate)
Here, there has been the additional problem of those that didn’t rank & were given 5 points each.
The usual solution for something like this would be to use the “open” vote as a first stage long list, then do a second stage “closed” short list based on the top ten.
As you can gather, this is why I appreciate the effort Blue Boy has put in – and why I’ve stuck clear!
Yes, 1 vote each instead of 10 is the only proper way, but I think this is the best compromise without overcomplicating when we would like to see more albums listed.
well, the whole idea of arbitrarily assigning albums a score and a ranking in the first place is a nonsense (but a fun one!). I pulled the 100 to 1 scoring out of the air, and having had to google F1 scoring I like that.
But the principle is that I really am much more interested in discovering an album I might not be that familiar with, but that one person loves enough to make their number one, than I am the outcome of a dozen other people going “oh yeah, OK Computer, that’s quite good, I’ll stick that in at number four”. YMMV.
Excellent work, BB – I know the effort involved.
Re scoring method: I remember in one of the Year End polls discussing the various options including F1. I’ve got the workings somewhere but when I did the analysis I was surprised to find that given the relatively small amount of voters on here and their relatively large and varied nominations it makes hardly a jot of difference as to what system is used particularly for the Top 20 places.
As has been commented a few times now the results are not the most important aspect of these polls (Blackstar the best album of the century??) – it’s the weird, wonderful and often wacky choices made.
Helluva job! Way to go, attaboy, etc., as they say over here. That must have been a gargantuan ordeal.
And Wasp Star at #7! Nice.
Well down Blue Boy, a splendid job.
Well DONE!
Fantastic work Blue Boy!
So…
Who is doing the movie poll now…..?
@blue-boy Thanks from me too.
Thanks for all your effort @Blue-Boy
This is a far bigger task than most of us would imagine.
I look forward to both trying out some new recommendations and revisiting ‘old’ friends.
As above, a great job blue boy. Great to see such a spread of albums.
1, Nice one Blue Boy – much appreciated
2. I really hoped that Queen Of Denmark was going to get it (even though I voted for Pale Green Ghosts) .
I hope my JG vote wouldn’t have swung it if I’d gone for QOD?
Not unless you gave it 39 points!
Super job – I do like a list, and there’s loads there to keep me quiet.
I even managed to get 2 in the Top 10 – don’t know if that makes me predictable, or 80% mysterious?
Thanks for your efforts Blue Boy.
Brilliant job – I need a good long look at that list over the weekend I think.
I think Blackstar is a great album because this is a genius taking his final bow. The title track is an intriguing listen and unlike anything else you will hear. From an artist that’s been plugging away for 50 years. The middle section has the trademark voice and gift for melody- teasing us. He’s making us think, grabbing our attention. As he says In Lazarus “ain’t that just like me?”.
Thank you, Blue Boy. I think the nether regions of this list are going to keep me occupied for quite some time.
Excellent work @blue-boy
Surely now we need the tally of who has the most in the list, as with any and every other poll?
Thanks for the heavy lifting, Blue.
I have the answer! Will post below
I have 76 of the top 100, if that’s what you mean, although only 11 of them are in my top 100!
I have 12 of the top 100 but there’s a lot of the other 88 that doesn’t interest me. All that roots stuff and ageing singer songwriters who had their heyday in a previous century.
Are you sure you’re on the right site? etc etc
I have been having my doubts ever since arriving here in 2000 and something. People say wow you know so much about all these bands. And then the Afterword says, hold my beer.
32 of the long list, 16 of the top 100 but one only arrived yesterday (LCD Soundsystem).
I’m a civilian, aren’t I?
152 on a skim thru the list , including a big proportion bought on AW recommendations. A fair few I wish I’d spottied first too, mind…….
The artist with the most separate albums, though none of them right up there, was Bruce Springsteen with 5. However he accumulated just 9 votes and 41 points across those 5
The following all had 4 albums:
Bob Dylan, Elvis Costello, Goldfrapp, Half Man Half Biscuit, Nick Cave (with and without the Bad Seeds), The Decemberists, and Wilco.
And loads had 3 (including collaborations) – Aimee Mann, Jackie Leven, Jason Isbell, Joe Jackson, King Creosote, Lana del Ray, Leonard Cohen, Low, Lucinda Williams, Manic Street Preachers, Nick Lowe, Paul Weller, Radiohead, Richard Thompson, Ryan Adams, Shelby Lynne, Sparks, and Sufjan Stevens.
I haven’t totaled all their points (i do have a life, believe it or not) but i don’t think any of them eclipse Bowie, for Blackstar alone, never mind including his points for Heathen. I think perhaps the next most successful artist is Wilco, with 107 points from 16 votes. Which is a surprise to me I must admit, I knew they were much liked here, but didn’t realize how much. I have to say they are a band I always think I should really like, but have found them hard to get into. But this poll will send me back to have another go.
Take it from me, Wilco are the best band in the world. Start with Summerteeth (or Being There) and work forward from there at least through Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, A Ghost is Born and Sky Blue Sky, you may also enjoy the Mermaid Avenue albums with Billy Bragg.
As many have said, the most striking thing about this list for me is the randomness and lack of a clear set of accepted classics for the last two decades so far as we few, we happy few, are concerned. I reckon 472, 76%, of named albums had just one vote, and only 11% more than two votes. I wonder how many on our list will stand the test of time and be accepted into the canon of ‘great’ albums? I think our top 2 will. Others that you might think may be Amy, Radiohead, Lana, Nick Cave, Kendrick Lamar, Taylor Swift. And for sure, there are many that we haven’t gone for at all. But maybe the problem now, compared to the 60s and 70s is that the sheer range diversity and depth of quality of music at the moment, and the fragmentation of both music and the means of consuming it, means that a consensus on this sort of thing can’t be created any more.
But really the fun of this is in the drawing of attention to records I haven listened to for ages, or ever. Ones on my list now are
Wilco, as mentioned above
Jason Isbell, who I know many here love, but who I have never really paid attention to
I am intrigued by the love for Wasp Star. i have never heard Aerial, or Seventh Tree. I definitely want to explore the collaborations by Beth Gibbons and Rustin’ Man, and by Sara Isaksson and Rebecca Tornqvist.
And I really want to go back to Carrie and Lowell, which I didn’t get at the time, but which clearly still matters to many.
So many records, so little time….
Re Carrie & Lowell – seek urgent counselling, I mean URGENT!
And a reminder that @Lemonhope kindly pulled together a playlist on the original thread which may be as a good a way as any of getting into all of this:
Excellent job @blue-boy..
One thought – would it be possible to consolidate these polls (and maybe previous ones and the album of the year polls) and stick them in a new section (or maybe in something like the Afterwiki section) so that we can go back and reference them easily once they have disappeared from the blog. @mod-team would this be practical / possible / useful / etc
Yes. Possibly. Sometime
We liked this idea so you’ll now see it in the Navigation bar.
We think we’ve captured them all but if anyone thinks a poll is missing just leave the link here and we’ll add it
Your benevolent Mod Team
Top work – can’t see the 2019 Album of the Year?
I think the lack of consensus is a factor of time. How many reviews, lists, articles, books on the best albums of 1966 have their been? The ground has been gone over so many times that the chance of unearthing a lost gem that can enter the canon is virtually zero.
For the last 20 years the dust is still settling. Will Carrie and Lowell still be seen as a masterpiece in 2040? Still plenty of time for a cassette-only release on a New Zealand label to be unearthed and anointed. And it’s not the amount of music that is the critical change. It’s the access to that music. Now of course thinking that someone should do exactly the same exercise for singles.
I no longer know what a single is?
Yup. That was already the case, but this year I’m noticing more and more bands releasing E.P.s, then tracks from that E.P. as separate singles or else the other way around..,
I recently started sweeping up tracks that certain rappers featured on, creating a couple of dozen ‘featuring…’ playlists for people like NaS, JME, Snoop, Brother Ali, etc. Took a bit of doing, but it threw up some diverse results for each rapper. But what I noticed was how many standalone singles/tracks these artists released that had never appeared on their albums and thus passed me by. Some of them were successful singles (I was going to say big selling, but most of it is done on airplay these days isn’t it).
From, say, 1980 to 2000 it was quite rare for standalone singles (I’m not including tracks that were remixed/re-recorded for single release, like Think a Minute by The Housemartims). There were a few that did some, like The Jam, New Order and Pet Shop Boys, but it was unusual. Nowadays, some artists just release tracks as soon as they have recorded them.
I’m single now. Is this some sort of dating thing? Actually, this place would be the best place to find a new partner, as at least we’d all tolerate each other’s obsessive tendencies!
Don’t fool yourself. It would be the “wrong obsessive tendencies” (TMFTL)
But then again, would we not have happily accepted that the dust had already settled on The Beatles output by the 80s, or on, say, Dark Side of the Moon in the 90s?
Regarding Blackstar and appraising it through tear covered glasses, I would say I listened to it many times and decided it was a work of brilliance before the great man shuffled off. I think it was a bold step into a new phase with a new band who had the formal training and jazz chops. It stands apart from other later Bowie albums. Of course some people don’t like it just as all albums have their naysayers regardless, only some people think too much of their own opinions and believe there must be an explanation why everyone else got it wrong.
I was with you all the way till the last sentence. I have no other opinion but my own – I really don’t think Blackstar is that good. And I don’t think “everyone else got it Wrong”, I think I’m Right.
Not you, the others. No I mean there is a tendency to say you like that because…, as in I know the real reason you like that record, I know better. It’s kind of annoying. Just saying I don’t really think it’s that good is another matter. Do you see?
@Tiggerlion declared it a work of genius day of release i.e. 3 days before he left us. Took me a little longer, but he was right. Sometimes I think it is his greatest album.
It’s interesting to look back on that thread, not because of my review, which was in the days when I managed to keep them short, but because of the way it changed a few days later.
I heartedly recommend slotbadger’s Albumtoalbum podcast on Blackstar with Donny McCaslin, the leader of the band no less. He is a key player and very articulate. It’s very revealing.
https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/davidbowie-albumtoalbum/id1355073030#episodeGuid=tag%3Aaudioboom.com%2C2020-07-06%3A%2Fposts%2F7624399
I’ve mentioned previously that Blackstar was the first CD that I had listened to first on the CD player for years. Prior to that I listened to music whilst I was working, by burning the CD into iTunes and listening through my PC’s speakers, or on the move via my iPod. But due to a rearrangement of furniture, allowing me full view of my CD collection and hi-fi, and as I had stopped working, when the Bowie CD arrived I put it on the CD player and was blown away. Not just by how good the album was, but also by the sound. It was so much better than I was used to (I’ve since bought a Marantz CD player, so it sounds even better).
When the album finished I explained to the wife, in much less eloquent terms than @tiggerlion, how great it was, how important Bowie was, how great it was that an artist so long into his career can come up with something like this and that I looked forward to what he was going to come up with next. Then the next morning she woke me up to tell me some news…
Of course, the next thing I did was look at my shelves and notice I didn’t have a copy of The Wild, The Innocent and The E-Street Shuffle. Then I looked at my meagre hip hop section and thought it looked a bit barren and remembered there was an album by a chap called Kendrick Lamar that was supposed to be good and might be worth buying…
Blackstar is my 57th favourite album of the 21st century though, which is a good position, cos there are some excellent albums ahead of it.
Job well done @Blue-Boy.
‘Blackstar’ a work of genius? IMHO it’s a load of dross. I bought the LP, I gave it away after 6 listens. Those who love the album, fine, continue to enjoy this ‘work of genius.’
I understand those who think it’s overrated, or perceived more positively than it otherwise would be because of the circumstances. But ‘dross’ seems harsh. I think there are a handful of good songs there, and the first and last tracks stand up with anything else he did; Bowie’s vocals have a fragility and tenderness at times which I find very moving (partly in the knowledge of his illness and then death of course, but not entirely) and I think the way he uses the jazz ensemble is really exciting. It isn’t always an easy listen but it is still a stimulating and rewarding one.
It’s not the greatest record of this century to date. This is of course a highly subjective opinion. All opinions upon any work of art are thus. Is it dross? No far from it. It is in the context of Bowie’s death a very effecting listen and the fragility of his vocals convey his loosening grasp upon life.
Lady In Satin by Billy Holiday has a similar effect upon me and for much the same reasons. Lady Day’s voice is a husk of it’s majestic expressiveness in her pomp but it’s the very fragility of her performance that conveys her humanity and her plight. That’s emotionally engaging and moving. It gives the record it’s power as does Bowie’s vocals on Blackstar. Humanity lies at the heart of all truly great art and as such even though for me Blackstar is not among my favourite recordings of the past twenty years it is very much a worthy winner and very far from dross.
Beautifully put Pencil; that’s a great description.
Holiday’s fragility was of a different kind of course, but the comparison makes perfect sense.
Having just reviewed @dai’s magisterial review of our choices of all time greatest albums I can’t help noticing that our top 21st Century choices in that poll were Southeastern and Seventh Tree before Blackstar makes an appearance. Nary a sign of Aerial or Queen of Denmark. Consistency, it’s so last century…..
“Magisterial”? First time that word has appeared anywhere near my name I think.
As I wrote on the 80s/90s results the results are skewed by those who hardly voted for any from that or this era in the all time list.
I also noticed that album of the year 2019 (Western Stars) is nowhere, but runner up (Norman Fuckin Rockwell) is pretty high up, I guess those that love it really really love it. Personally I like it quite a bit, but find it a bit one paced and overlong, cannot sustain my interest.
With regard to Aerial, I suspect also that many (myself included) had a one album per artist rule and so Hounds Of Love took the Kate Bush vote in the all time poll.