Best Ever Albums

Re: Duplicate Artists

albummaster — Wed, 6 Jul 2011 13:53:43 GMT

Author: albummaster

Posted: 07/06/2011 17:53

This topic is now locked. All corrections should now submitted via the relevant album or band administration page.

Re: Duplicate Artists

albummaster — Mon, 6 Jun 2011 11:04:00 GMT

Author: albummaster

Posted: 06/06/2011 15:04

thanks Bork - now merged

Re: Duplicate Artists

Bork — Sun, 5 Jun 2011 23:59:56 GMT

Author: Bork

Posted: 06/06/2011 03:59

Cursive has been entered twice (#3762 and #7767).

Re: Duplicate Artists

cabbage kid — Fri, 3 Jun 2011 11:58:25 GMT

Author: cabbage kid

Posted: 06/03/2011 15:58

ok fair enough 😄

Re: Duplicate Artists

albummaster — Fri, 3 Jun 2011 11:53:45 GMT

Author: albummaster

Posted: 06/03/2011 15:53

thanks, we've got a similar issue with Aphex Twin, Cat Stevens and other artists who have performed under different aliases. At the moment, we record all of the aliases separately. I think at some stage we'll indicate any aliases on the relevant pages.

Re: Duplicate Artists

cabbage kid — Fri, 3 Jun 2011 11:20:45 GMT

Author: cabbage kid

Posted: 06/03/2011 15:20

Caribou and Manitoba are actually the same band. Dan Snaith just had to change the name to Caribou because of a legal dispute. I dunno how you could put them together but they are definitely the same band.

Re: Duplicate Artists

albummaster — Sun, 15 May 2011 16:24:48 GMT

Author: albummaster

Posted: 05/15/2011 20:24

thanks - this is now fixed

Re: Duplicate Artists

Bork — Sat, 14 May 2011 10:15:06 GMT

Author: Bork

Posted: 05/14/2011 14:15

John Lennon's on the site twice (#836 and #7648)

Re: Duplicate Artists

albummaster — Mon, 25 Apr 2011 04:23:08 GMT

Author: albummaster

Posted: 04/25/2011 08:23

thanks - this is now fixed

Warning

LaineJ — Sun, 24 Apr 2011 08:20:04 GMT

Author: LaineJ

Posted: 04/24/2011 12:20

There is one site for Warning, but the two albums on the site is by two different bands with same name!

Re: Duplicate Artists

Bork — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 09:44:35 GMT

Author: Bork

Posted: 08/23/2010 13:44

That is excellent.

Re: Duplicate Artists

RFNAPLES — Sat, 21 Aug 2010 10:42:18 GMT

Author: RFNAPLES

Posted: 08/21/2010 14:42

😁 Great! Go to it.

Re: Duplicate Artists

albummaster — Sat, 21 Aug 2010 10:35:34 GMT

Author: albummaster

Posted: 08/21/2010 14:35

OK, just added the capability to handle this. Take a look at Jimi Hendrix now: http://www.besteveralbums.com/thechart.php?b=4647

Let us know if this is along the right lines. We'll then seed the rest of the database once we've ironed out any kinks... (this is the only artist that has been updated so far, so everything else on the site as it was before)

Re: Duplicate Artists

Bork — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 09:33:39 GMT

Author: Bork

Posted: 08/20/2010 13:33

I agree that this is pretty tricky and there probably aren't any right answers. Technically I guess The Jimi Hendrix Experience and Band of Gypsys could be called bands and should be listed as such, but everyone I know refer to these albums as Jimi Hendrix albums. Allmusic.com lists all the albums in the discography of Jimi Hendrix, and I believe when anyone but the best informed fans search for these albums, the first place they would look is under H for Hendrix (or J for Jimi on this site).

I agree with all four points in albummasters post. That, I believe, would be the most clear for anyone using the site, and the most fair to the statistics of the artists.

I don't know anything about Richard James/Aphex Twin so I can't really help out there. I am guessing, though, if an artist chooses to record under several different names and none of them is clearly the dominant one, there isn't much to do other than list under the different names. This is tricky, though, and the same problem might arise with bands (for instance The Animals and Eric Burdon and the New Animals). I believe that needs to be handled on a case by case basis. In the case of Gorillaz, I don't believe it right to list albums under something other than what they release it under just because they happen to have been christened something else (not, for instance, listing Cat Stevens under Stephen Demitri Georgiou is obvious). The one problem I am really stumped on is the Cat Stevens/Yusuf Islam example. Not sure how to handle that one, but I guess when in doubt, leaving it to what is printed on the cover ain't a bad fallback plan.

In the end, it won't be perfectly organized with no room for errors, but it will be clearer and more comprehensive than leaving it to what is printed on the cover because there are SOME examples where there is doubt on how to handle it.

Re: Duplicate Artists

RFNAPLES — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 08:06:10 GMT

Author: RFNAPLES

Posted: 08/20/2010 12:06

Perhaps we should call the rules "guidelines" instead, so we don't forget that rules are meant to be broken. Sometimes common sense is better.

Re: Duplicate Artists

RFNAPLES — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 08:02:10 GMT

Author: RFNAPLES

Posted: 08/20/2010 12:02

And what about:
Jimi Hendrix (and The Jimi Hendrix Experience)
Band of Gypsys (that's Jimi on the cover)

Re: Duplicate Artists

albummaster — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 02:57:10 GMT

Author: albummaster

Posted: 08/20/2010 06:57

OK, I think we can do something here, but to clarify what the 'rules' should be:

1. Where a solo artist is also a member of a group, the band and the solo artist should be treated separately e.g. solo albums by John Lennon shouldn't be listed under The Beates.

2. Where a solo artist releases albums under slightly different pseudonyms (e.g. the John Mellencamp example earlier on in this thread), their albums should be combined and be listed under the same 'parent' artist (since this is really the same solo artist).

3. Where an artist is separate in their own right to the backing-band that they perform with, the main artist should get all of the credit.

4. When two or more artists are credited separately on an album (with equal stature, not just someone sitting in on a song or two), the artist should be listed/treated as its own separate entity and the individual artists will NOT be credited separately e.g. Friday Night in San Francisco by Al di Meola, John McLaughlin & Paco de Lucia, or Mermaid Avenue by Billy Bragg & Wilco.

❓ Sound alright so far? Well, that was the easy part!

There are exceptions to these 'rules' and we need to clarify what to do here because they could cause problems further down the line with the consistency of the site if we start to go down this route.

People like Richard James etc perform under very different names (should all of their albums be listed under their real name, or their 'best known' name e.g. Aphex Twin?)

A similar example is Gorillaz - should projects like this, where they do not use the person's name (Damon Albarn), but are a single person's project, still appear under the solo artist's name or should they be listed separately as their own entry?

A slightly different example here is Cat Stevens and Yusuf Islam where the performing name is completely different but he is still performing under his 'real' name (and not a 'group' name). People would expect to see his whole discography in one place (listed under one of the names - but which one?!). However, I'm not sure if that is true with Gorillaz or Aphex Twin where the group name is not named after the performer.

Re: Duplicate Artists

Bork — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 15:10:14 GMT

Author: Bork

Posted: 08/18/2010 19:10

Yes and no. I hear what you are saying here, but I believe using whatever happens to be printed on the artwork as the rule is faulty (and no, I am not talking about the cases where NO artist info is printed on the cover). It is currently not done that way in the case of the many artists that sometimes does and sometimes doesn't credit their backing bands on the cover, and in the case of Jimi Hendrix, if he had just gone along and called it Jimi Hendrix and the Experience instead that would get all his albums listed on the same page, as there is no factual difference in the way the band works. When two artists collaborate on an album (with equal stature, not just someone sitting in on a song or two) I believe it correct to keep that as a separate entry, such as in the case of Friday Night in San Francisco by Al di Meola, John McLaughlin & Paco de Lucia, or Mermaid Avenue by Billy Bragg & Wilco. That is a very different situation compared to someone happening to give credit to their backing band. I agree, though, that in some situations it will be a tough call, but it is better than having three different entries for Prince.

Re: Duplicate Artists

albummaster — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 13:58:41 GMT

Author: albummaster

Posted: 08/18/2010 17:58

There are many examples across the site, Frank Zappa as well. At the moment, the albums are generally attributed to the artist as listed on the album artwork.

It sounds like we need to tweak things slightly. We still need to list the album as stated on the artwork as otherwise it will be factually incorrect to say 'Are You Experienced' was by 'Jimi Hendrix' (and not by 'The Jimi Hendrix Experience').

I think we'll add some type of container to hold the different name variations for any given artist and then we can continue to list the 'correct' artist for an album, but attribute the points to the 'containing' artist. e.g. if you click on an artist name, you will land on the containing artist page where it will list all the different albums for the different name combinations and the total points for the artist will be the sum total of all albums produced under all of the different performing names.

I think we'll need to tighten the rules a bit if we do this because in the cases where one or more solo artists are named separately on an album, we currently do not award points individually to all of the contributing artists - and if we started to do that, it would open up a giant can of worms. TBH, I'd rather not be changing things and just leave things as they are.

Re: Duplicate Artists

Bork — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 13:32:51 GMT

Author: Bork

Posted: 08/18/2010 17:32

Another merger required:

Tom Petty
Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers