Listed below are the overall rankings for the best albums in history as determined by their aggregate positions in over 59,000 different greatest album charts on BestEverAlbums.com! (Chart last updated: 2 hours ago).
"Why no-one else has seen fit to comment on this work of unmitigated genius is beyond me. I've got 3 things to say about this LP - 1. it's one of the only JA LPs you can listen to from start to finish and think "you know what, this is an album, not a collection of singles with a few fillers chucke...""Why no-one else has seen fit to comment on this work of unmitigated genius is beyond me. I've got 3 things to say about this LP - 1. it's one of the only JA LPs you can listen to from start to finish and think "you know what, this is an album, not a collection of singles with a few fillers chucked in" (Jamaican music has NEVER been album-focused, but there's some gems around if you look hard enough, this being the prime example). 2. If you ever need evidence that Lee 'Scratch' Perry is a visionary and the most important thing ever to happen to Jamaican music (bar perhaps Coxsone Dodd) here's your proof. and 3. if your knowledge of 'reggae' (horrid word) goes no further than 'Bob Marley', I strongly suggest you whack this on, pump it up, lie back and let it soak in. It will start you on a wonderful, fulfilling journey, trust me..."[+]Reply
"You’ve just had the perfect day. Sun drenched and bone tired, you gather up your things with your friends. There is sand in your hair and on your bare feet, but you don’t care. You can wash it off tomorrow. You pile into the car laughing about some inside joke that no one outside that day would e...""You’ve just had the perfect day. Sun drenched and bone tired, you gather up your things with your friends. There is sand in your hair and on your bare feet, but you don’t care. You can wash it off tomorrow. You pile into the car laughing about some inside joke that no one outside that day would ever understand. The car hits the road and everyone grows silent, lost in their own little world as they reminisce and take in the day. Sinking into their seats as the sun begins to set on the horizon. THIS is the album for that ride home. No one says a word. No one needs to say a word. There’s nothing to say. The days fond memories and the music meld perfectly together as the wind the from the half open car windows plays with your hair. And you all fall half asleep with a half smile on your face thinking the same thought - this was the greatest day.
Grade: A. Finishing perhaps one of the greatest four run album runs in indie, hell rock history, …And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out is Yo La Tengo at their mellowest. They know the perfect music for the ride back from the Jersey shore, and this is it. Like all the albums in this four run stretch from Painful to ATNTIIO, this is essential indie rock. Yo La Tengo always got a bit overlooked perhaps because they never broke up or maybe because their music was always a bit more understated and less headline grabbing, but they are easily one of the greatest indie rock bands of the 90s. And you need to look no further than this (almost) seamless masterpiece to find out why.
Aside: My one (minor) quibble with this album is with “Cherry Chapstick”. It’s a great song, but breaks up the super mellow vibe of the rest of the album. It’s a song that would have fit much better on Electr-o-pura or I Am Not Afraid of You and Will Beat Your Ass. "[+]Reply
"Another enjoyable Creedence Clearwater Revival record. Bayou country, isn't as brilliant as, green river, but it's yet another great rock'n'roll LP from one of America's great rock'n'roll bands. Proud Mary, is a classic song, as is the title track. Not their best then, but still good."Reply
"Johnny Cash stripped down to his bedrock. His career has just taken off, but he wasn't an icon. He had to deliver quality to stay on top. Did he ever. His tales of heartbreak, love, and paying his dues are highlighted by his sparse baritone voice and simple song arrangement. Country has never bee...""Johnny Cash stripped down to his bedrock. His career has just taken off, but he wasn't an icon. He had to deliver quality to stay on top. Did he ever. His tales of heartbreak, love, and paying his dues are highlighted by his sparse baritone voice and simple song arrangement. Country has never been better."[+]Reply
"This is such an underrated album. Sure, it didn’t break the mold like Sgt Peppers or Are You Experienced, but it combined the best parts of those kind of musical revolutions at the time and perfected it. So what if the concept doesn’t hold up, the music still does. Steve Marriott is also the best...""This is such an underrated album. Sure, it didn’t break the mold like Sgt Peppers or Are You Experienced, but it combined the best parts of those kind of musical revolutions at the time and perfected it. So what if the concept doesn’t hold up, the music still does. Steve Marriott is also the best rock singer ever....just gotta lay that fact down."[+]Reply
"I want to say that it's better than Aja but it was such a long time since I listened to that record so I would have to give it another shot before making a determination. But. I do maintain that I believe it would have more of an emotional impact if it was less over-produced, though I do understa...""I want to say that it's better than Aja but it was such a long time since I listened to that record so I would have to give it another shot before making a determination. But. I do maintain that I believe it would have more of an emotional impact if it was less over-produced, though I do understand what people are saying about Steely Dan "doing it right". The album sounds a lot like a mix of Billy Joel and Stevie Wonder, but much more jammy than both. Kid Charlemagne is a real hit. The songs with a little more grove in them, like the fOnk on this one, serves the record well and cancels out a bit of that over-produced "esteem" that they have going on. The two following songs are also brilliant, Caves of Altamira and Don't Take Me Alive. And the album remains incredibly consistent all the way through. The mouth-guitar on Haitian Divorce is really cool. Lots of different sounds on this. Brilliant musicianship all the way through. Opened my eyes to these guys I have to say."[+]Reply
"A thoroughly enjoyable and easy to listen to record that makes you want to come back and discover all the things you missed on the last listen. There is so much to discover on this record and it is also quite a positive record and really lifts you up when you hear this album. The instrumentation ...""A thoroughly enjoyable and easy to listen to record that makes you want to come back and discover all the things you missed on the last listen. There is so much to discover on this record and it is also quite a positive record and really lifts you up when you hear this album. The instrumentation is fantastic on this record and really stands out amongst other prog rock work around that time. Despite this, I do not think the album as a whole can challenge with the greatest albums of the prog rock genre as it does have weaker tracks and moments where it is easy to get sucked out of the album. Definitely worth a listen and is still a great record though. "[+]Reply
"The most important thing to realize going into listening to this album the first couple of times is that Syd Barrett really *was* a talented songwriter, and that even without his total mental breakdown he still would have amassed a pretty decently sized following. There are quite a few melodies a...""The most important thing to realize going into listening to this album the first couple of times is that Syd Barrett really *was* a talented songwriter, and that even without his total mental breakdown he still would have amassed a pretty decently sized following. There are quite a few melodies and chord sequences here that would have worked just fine in a normal setting, with a lyrical combination of playfulness and self-confession that would make quite an impact on their own. The opening "Terrapin" is a great example of this, as it's a rather gentle acoustic ballad that combines playful (and only somewhat nonsensical) lyrics about being a swimming fish and simple (but still kinda clever to my ears) boy-girl lyrics like, "Well oh baby my hair's on end about you." Simple and poppy, yes, but high quality simple-and-poppy, if you ask me.
But of course, it's not the normal aspects of the album alone that ultimately draw people here, but rather the way in which they provide a context for the train wreck of Syd's mind. "Terrapin," by having such 'regular' appeal, is an extremely deceptive opener, as the evidence for this album's weirdness reputation begins in full force with track two. Witness the dark aggressive (and outright disturbing) cacophony of "No Good Trying", whose most revealing moment is the line about the person Syd is singing to spinning around in a car while lights are flashing all around. Witness the hilariously catchy up-tempo, nonsensical "Love You," where Syd and Co. conjure up a vaguely Kinksy piano number and let it linger in the astral plane just long enough to totally screw it up (meant in a good way). Witness ESPECIALLY when Syd's performance (singing, lyrics, guitar, everything) goes totally off the deep end in "Octopus," all culminating in the ecstatic chanting of, "Please leave us here! Close our eyes to the octopus riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiide!!!" And so on.
The easiest way, for me at least, to categorize the rest of the album is to divide it into "lucid" and "less lucid." The less lucid parts sometimes happen within the songs themselves (like the weird mumbling freak-out in the second half of "No Man's Land"), but the most frightening one comes when Roger Waters and David Gilmour (the producers) share an outtake from right before Syd's 'proper' rendition of "If It's In You," where Syd starts into the number and ends up hideously off-key in singing, "Yes I'm thiiiiiiiiiiiNNNNNNNNNNKing" and follows by mumbling only semi-coherently. Poor, poor, Syd.
What makes his collapse even more frightening and sad in my mind, though, is the ways the lucid moments show he was fully aware of it. "Dark Globe" is playful and has somewhat off-key vocals, yes, but those are serious chills down my back when he sings, "Won't you miss me? Wouldn't you miss me at aaaallllllll??" Those chills stay when I hear Syd longing for a girl in "Here I Go," in the mournful "Long Gone," and even when he's slowly singing James Joyce poetry to an elementary melody.
Beyond these, there are some songs that aren't really that super, and that kinda negate my original hopes that, even in the wake of such heavy drug abuse, his songwriting abilities would remain completely unscathed. But really, I don't think that's the point. This is an album that can be extremely enjoyable at points, yes, but it's also very sad, and more than that really has no parallel in music of which I'm aware. It's messy, it's playful, it's sad ... it's Syd. And Syd was great, despite himself. This is why I like this album terribly much, despite that I almost never bring it out. If you don't like it, I can understand, but you must also understand that those of us who do like it get a feel from it that's largely indescribable, and thus you should not condemn us or this album.
PS: Somehow, I left out mention of the album's second best song, the closing "Late Night." It's probably the best example on the album of a semi-coherent love song, one that had a great song at its core but got tweaked more than a bit by being filtered through Syd's mind. It brings a tear to my eye each time I hear it. "[+]Reply