Best Ever Albums

Re: Do you have a system for ranking your albums?

dholl — Fri, 30 Nov 2018 18:47:07 GMT

Author: dholl

Posted: 11/30/2018 23:47

I just imagine (or even test for real if I'm in the mood) how good I find the album right now. More specifically: how much I want to listen to it, how it makes me feel, how strong the best songs are, how weak the worst and generally how well it flows as a longform piece of musik. You can also imagine it as a 'desert island' test...if I can only listen to 40 albums for the rest of my life, which would they be?

That's the acid test, so no room for sentimentality. I just completed my top 40 chart and old teenage favourites which meant the world to me back then aren't strong enough any more, for they receive little airplay as their deed is done, so to speak.

Other still-favourites lost out in the chart due (also to the self-imposed one-entry-per-artist rule) to not flowing as well as other albums from the same artist. Radiohead's Amnesiac is a good example, despite housing my top 2 Radiohead songs in Pyramid Song & Like Spinning Plates it lost out to Kid A's superior flow.

Re: Do you have a system for ranking your albums?

baystateoftheart — Fri, 23 Nov 2018 19:37:09 GMT

Author: baystateoftheart

Posted: 11/24/2018 00:37

linusishungry wrote:

Do you take the best consecutive 40 minutes or just your favourite songs that add up to 40 mins?

It doesn’t have to be consecutive. It’s exactly 40 minutes for purposes of system consistency, so it’s taken from the best songs, and over 99% of the time that includes a fraction of a song. If an album is less than forty minutes, I simply double the first average to avoid penalizing short releases.

Re: Do you have a system for ranking your albums?

linusishungry — Fri, 23 Nov 2018 18:55:40 GMT

Author: linusishungry

Posted: 11/23/2018 23:55

baystateoftheart wrote:

Next, I average the best 40 minutes on the album, as an assist to sprawling, ambitious albums with lots of great material.

Do you take the best consecutive 40 minutes or just your favourite songs that add up to 40 mins?

Re: Do you have a system for ranking your albums?

musicoed — Tue, 20 Nov 2018 04:27:08 GMT

Author: musicoed

Posted: 11/20/2018 09:27

baystateoftheart wrote:

I score each track from 0.5 to 5.0 in increments of 0.5...

It looks like an option RYM.

baystateoftheart wrote:

… Then I average the tracks,...

I also estimate the albums by averaging the sum of the ratings for the tracks.
When it all began, the main question was one.
Where to store grades so that they are always at hand.
WMP was such a place and a player at the same time.
Like 10 years ago, little has changed in his system. Ratings from 1 to 5, in increments of 1.
But WMP did not give and does not allow to calculate the arithmetic average.
This still has to be done on a calculator.
And most importantly, WMP does not allow building ratings.
Therefore, in addition, I had to attract Excel.
For example, this is how my rating looks next to an album of 11 tracks:
2,55=33323233222/11

baystateoftheart wrote:

…, but unlike many people, I weight this average proportionally by track time. …

I also took into account the duration for albums with tracks of different lengths.
For a while, I evaluated the tracks - 1, and even 0.
But then I made the discovery. Why do I need it? I do not choose the worst album!

Over time, I almost stopped to evaluate the tracks - 4 and 5.
This was the result of another discovery.
It happened after I began to determine the top 50 tracks of the year.
Then I thought about determining the list of the best tracks of all time.
5 is the maximum mark for a track.
And in each album the best track was rated - 4 or 5.
But does this mean that he automatically becomes the best in all times?

At the moment, the initial evaluation of the tracks is 2 or 3 (no or yes).
If the track occupies the top places in the list of the best in the year - 4.
And so on ... (in fact, this path is still to come 🤡 ).

For this reason, I try not to rate tracks and albums on other resources.
My grades are too low, they mess up averages.

BEA is the most advanced evaluation system I've ever met.
Here they track the year and will not allow twice to put the album in one list.
But there is no end-to-end system for albums on BEA.
1 place in the list for all times and last for its year can occupy one album.
An ideal rating system should aim at avoiding unreasonable choices.
I can only dream to:
- the calculation of the average score for the tracks occurred automatically.
- album rating was based on these average ratings for the tracks.
Then, in order to raise or lower the album in the rating I will have to change the estimates of the tracks.
Then I will be interested to rate each track on the album from the list.
And believe me I will do it. For 10 years I am already pretty tired of the calculator.
In parallel, make available the list for the best selected tracks.
And if such options are available at a certain level, then I will strive for this level.
At the moment, there are no incentives for getting additional points on the BEA.

Re: Do you have a system for ranking your albums?

AfterHours — Mon, 19 Nov 2018 19:45:55 GMT

Author: AfterHours

Posted: 11/20/2018 00:45

linusishungry wrote:

AfterHours wrote:

No

🤥

Nothing to see here... ... ... https://www.besteveralbums.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=15503

Wowww, this is exactly what I wanted from someone on the forums of this site. Really interested and has really inspired me. I'm going to check out a lot of your recommendations as well as those of Piero Scaruffi who I wasn't aware of. Thank you so much!

One thing I didn't quite understand is your number system for the rating of halves of albums. How did you decide that 6.8/10 = Combined total of both halves equaling 11.8, 11.9 or 12.0 for example. If you hear an album with both halves giving a 6.0 rating, does that not confuse things that the overall rating becomes 6.8? You have a criteria for each number rating, but is that the same for a half-album raring as well as an overall rating? If so, why would an album of each half both rating at 6.0 (='good') then score overall as 6.8 (=(almost)'superb/borderline extraordinary')?

You're welcome!

Good questions. Fundamentally, it works out because an increasing in quality is an accumulative phenomenon (dependant on consistency and degree over time). I figured out the numbers based on lots of listening, trial and error -- and during that, qualitative evaluation of the parts: songs, halves and full albums to figure out what combined to produce the overall ratings. I worked it out backwards from a 10. The combinative values are still subject to revision (though if so, probably very minor), but as it is now should hold up very well throughout providing one agrees with the ratings (at least generally) upon requisite assimilation. Or, even if in disagreement, providing one can at least still see the logic while one continues to work it out for oneself.

Yes, the "1/2" ratings are the same quality as in a whole album of the same rating.

Obviously all of these assertions would assume you have observed and assimilated from said album the same or very similar degree and consistency of expressed emotional content, expressed conceptual significance and creativity. They are likely to make increasing sense the more you assimilate and experience the majority or totality of works listed, which will also give you a huge amount of experience across a very wide range of Art (if you dont have this already). But that doesnt mean any of it is guaranteed of course. If you have any questions about "why I gave ______ a certain rating" I can answer that or give you some bullet points at least , time permitting (I am notoriously busy, but dont mind being asked).

Re: Do you have a system for ranking your albums?

baystateoftheart — Mon, 19 Nov 2018 19:35:21 GMT

Author: baystateoftheart

Posted: 11/20/2018 00:35

I score each track from 0.5 to 5.0 in increments of 0.5. Then I average the tracks, but unlike many people, I weight this average proportionally by track time. Next, I average the best 40 minutes on the album, as an assist to sprawling, ambitious albums with lots of great material. I add the two averages together, multiply by ten, and it yields a score out of 100.

Re: Do you have a system for ranking your albums?

linusishungry — Mon, 19 Nov 2018 18:48:02 GMT

Author: linusishungry

Posted: 11/19/2018 23:48

AfterHours wrote:

No

🤥

Nothing to see here... ... ... https://www.besteveralbums.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=15503

Re: Do you have a system for ranking your albums?

AfterHours — Mon, 19 Nov 2018 15:08:20 GMT

Author: AfterHours

Posted: 11/19/2018 20:08

No

🤥

Nothing to see here... ... ... https://www.besteveralbums.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=15503

Re: Do you have a system for ranking your albums?

Jasonconfused — Mon, 19 Nov 2018 11:03:22 GMT

Author: Jasonconfused

Posted: 11/19/2018 16:03

I haven't updated my chart significantly in a while, so whatever system I used years ago probably wouldn't be the same system I use today. I haven't determined which system I'd use now, but I know one issue I'm going to run into again is whether or not to limit the number of albums I allow an artist. Part of me wants my chart to reflect a broader range of music I truly enjoy, but at the same time, if I don't have Metallica's first 3 albums somewhere near the top of my chart, I feel like I'd be lying to myself. But then if I do that, my chart doesn't please me aesthetically. So I guess you have to ask yourself, what purpose do you want your chart to serve?

Re: Do you have a system for ranking your albums?

Anonymous — Mon, 19 Nov 2018 08:06:33 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 11/19/2018 13:06

glynspsa wrote:

🤣

Re: Do you have a system for ranking your albums?

linusishungry — Mon, 19 Nov 2018 06:56:17 GMT

Author: linusishungry

Posted: 11/19/2018 11:56

craola wrote:

most people here just copy seth's chart. i think that's a pretty good reference point if you're stumped.

who's Seth?

Re: Do you have a system for ranking your albums?

craola — Mon, 19 Nov 2018 00:37:59 GMT

Author: craola

Posted: 11/19/2018 05:37

most people here just copy seth's chart. i think that's a pretty good reference point if you're stumped.

Re: Do you have a system for ranking your albums?

bobbyb5 — Sun, 18 Nov 2018 23:52:07 GMT

Author: bobbyb5

Posted: 11/19/2018 04:52

Nah, I don't have a system for rating albums. I admire people who do, but I just don't. The only system I use is "How much pleasure do I get out of listening to this album?" And then I might add in if it's been a durable album over time. Have I enjoyed it consistently over a long period of time. Cuz you know how sometimes there's an album that you really love one year but the next year, not so much.

Re: Do you have a system for ranking your albums?

glynspsa — Sun, 18 Nov 2018 19:52:52 GMT

Author: glynspsa

Posted: 11/19/2018 00:52

No

Re: Do you have a system for ranking your albums?

Luigii — Sun, 18 Nov 2018 19:33:43 GMT

Author: Luigii

Posted: 11/19/2018 00:33

With me at least, there are 3 critical points for me. One, does the album move me? Does the album make me nod my head or make me dance? Two, does it hit my soul? Is there certain details like synth tones that hits my heart. And lastly, can I tell that the artist is trying his or her hardest?

Sure I have rated 92 albums with a 100. But that is more from a wide array of genres and time periods. Plus whenever I get to 1000 albums or rated 100 albums with a 100, my charts would be a lot different. Once I hit that point, my diary will be going on a semi regular basis to rank them and see if these albums keep there 100.

Do you have a system for ranking your albums?

linusishungry — Sun, 18 Nov 2018 19:19:59 GMT

Author: linusishungry

Posted: 11/19/2018 00:19

I made a chart five years ago now and am excited to embark on the mission of completely updating my chart which will look very different to how I ranked my albums five years ago.

I want to give my chart a lot of thought and wondered if other users have a good system on how they go about ranking their albums?

I've made a long shortlist of albums and have them sorted alphabetically. I'm thinking of listening back through all of them one at a time, after each listening ranking at against the previously listened ones.
For example, I will listen to album 1; then album 2 and decide which should rank higher. Then listen to album 3 and decide where that should rank amongst the previous 2 albums and so on..
I used to rate all my albums depending on an average rating of each individual track on the album but I think this time will just base it off which I have more of a general adoration for.

Anyone got any other systems they use? Perhaps different categories you use to rate each album on..