Listed below are the overall rankings for the best albums in history as determined by their aggregate positions in over 58,000 different greatest album charts on BestEverAlbums.com! (Chart last updated: 2 hours ago).
"Talk Talk was once a tinny synth-pop band. The Beatles started out their recording career with the thin "Love Me Do". Radiohead began as a fairly run-of-the-mill alt-rock band. Then we got works like "Laughing Stock", "Revolver", and "OK Computer". Ween began their recording career with odd mixes...""Talk Talk was once a tinny synth-pop band. The Beatles started out their recording career with the thin "Love Me Do". Radiohead began as a fairly run-of-the-mill alt-rock band. Then we got works like "Laughing Stock", "Revolver", and "OK Computer". Ween began their recording career with odd mixes of helium-soaked vocals and Casio backing tracks (I know their earlier works have their fans, but face it they're not for everybody) but they came into full flower with Chocolate And Cheese, tapping a rich vein of diverse rock songs. With this album, Ween served notice that they were musically just about the most advanced band of the time.
At times the lyrics still retain vestiges of the early-era irreverence, just look at some of the song titles, a fact that would continue throughout Ween's career, but they're also writing more creative, accessible lyrics as well. Musically, the amount of ground they cover on Chocolate And Cheese is astounding. Prince-like funk, acoustic jangle pop, Philly soul, and a Mexican corrido. And that's just the tip of the iceberg. Suddenly, the detrital bands of the grunge movement sounded uninspiring and a tad hollow. "[+]Reply
"post punk jazz trip hop rnb gothic and more extraordinaire genres are blurred bent and twisted effortlessly his lyricism has improved his stories are more compelling and this has rounded up to the strangest and most original rock album of this decade"Reply
"Some people aren’t super crazy about this album, but I have a soft spot for it. Sure, it might not be perfect, but I still appreciate it. Here, we see Interpol expand their instrumentation, adding strings, pianos, and more into the mix. This was a much-needed progression for the band's sound, bec...""Some people aren’t super crazy about this album, but I have a soft spot for it. Sure, it might not be perfect, but I still appreciate it. Here, we see Interpol expand their instrumentation, adding strings, pianos, and more into the mix. This was a much-needed progression for the band's sound, because if they released another album sounding like Turn On the Bright Lights or Antics, things might have grown stale.
Along with El Pintor, this is one of their more accessible releases. It is less dark and brooding than its two predecessors. As a result, it has a much brighter tone overall. I don't have a problem with this: in fact I’m glad that Interpol tried something new! However, there are some flaws that I notice now in retrospect. After the halfway point, I feel that quality gets a little bit spotty. Some of the tracks start to feel a bit weaker. But at the same time, the second half still features plenty of tracks that I really enjoy (“Rest My Chemistry” and “The Lighthouse,” to name a couple). Luckily things don’t crash and burn, and the album always manages to regain its composure when it stumbles. I am especially glad that this album ends on a strong note. On the previous two releases, the final tracks didn’t really feel like closing tracks – it almost made it feel like those albums ended in the middle of things. But here they finally nail it with a dramatic finish that wraps everything up perfectly.
I can see why some people might adore this record, but I can also see why other people might think that it’s just okay. Personally, I enjoy Our Love to Admire for its embellishment on Interpol’s typical sound. This is what really makes this record stand out as a solid entry in Interpol’s discography."[+]Reply
"Have you ever heard an album that is nearly a "Greatest Hits" in its own? Well, THIS is one of those very few albums that have to be honoured that way. In fact this album has an impressive record: 6 singles made the top 15 in the US, a record only equalled with Michael Jackson's 'Thriller'. How c...""Have you ever heard an album that is nearly a "Greatest Hits" in its own?
Well, THIS is one of those very few albums that have to be honoured that way. In fact this album has an impressive record: 6 singles made the top 15 in the US, a record only equalled with Michael Jackson's 'Thriller'. How can you not have this album!
The songs speak for themselves: 'One Night Love Affair', 'Run To You', 'Somebody', 'Summer of '69', etc. This is one-in-a-lifetime classic hard rock album. Do yourself a favour, get it and have a good time. It was indeed "the best days of my life" for many, many people.
Cheers. "[+]Reply
"Revisited Broken Bells recently, when I was going through a whole Danger Mouse walkthrough thing. I think it's actually aging pretty well. My initial opinion a couple of years ago was that despite my wanting to be attached to it, it really has a case of the wallpaper and the samey wameys and I ev...""Revisited Broken Bells recently, when I was going through a whole Danger Mouse walkthrough thing. I think it's actually aging pretty well. My initial opinion a couple of years ago was that despite my wanting to be attached to it, it really has a case of the wallpaper and the samey wameys and I eventually just moved on. So I came back just now and there's actually a lot to pull from this record. It's mainly agreed that The High Road was a top tier song. The Ghost Inside is almost a throwback to Demon Days era Gorillaz. Finally, the closing two songs work so well together and seems to have been the seed to his later LP Rome. Still a lot of filler I suppose, but I liked it again enough to bump it up a few places."[+]Reply
"Another step up from the debut by what was to become the world's greatest heavy metal band. Does not contain any track as strong as Running Free from the previous outing, but the general quality has improved. Best tracks: Wrathchild and Killers. A couple more months of songwriting and a new singe...""Another step up from the debut by what was to become the world's greatest heavy metal band. Does not contain any track as strong as Running Free from the previous outing, but the general quality has improved. Best tracks: Wrathchild and Killers. A couple more months of songwriting and a new singer...and soon comes a masterpiece."[+]Reply
"The Smile return with a second offering that's even more interesting than "A Light for Attracting Attention". I was a very big fan of their debut. After all, Radiohead is my favorite band, so I was naturally drawn to this side project. Many people have argued that The Smile sounds exactly like Ra...""The Smile return with a second offering that's even more interesting than "A Light for Attracting Attention". I was a very big fan of their debut. After all, Radiohead is my favorite band, so I was naturally drawn to this side project. Many people have argued that The Smile sounds exactly like Radiohead, while others haven't been able to get too much into this band. What I'm going to say is that, while it obviously has many similarities, because Thom Yorke is the lyricist and together with Jonny Greenwood they compose the music (with Skinner, alright), this band is able to create and get deep into another sound *just* because they *are* another band with another name.
I loved every single song in "A Light for Attracting Attention", because, yes, they sound a lot like Radiohead (mainly, my favorite cut from that record: "Speech Bubbles"), and even, many could pass off as Thom Yorke solo creations (such as with "The Same"). Having said that, I can't imagine some of those cuts having been able to be recorded by Radiohead as an entity, such as "We Don't Know What Tomorrow Brings" or "Waving a White Flag"; I think they would've been too much out of the equation with the band's history, even taking into account the countless times they've hit a left turn in terms of what people expect from them. Just starting from "zero" with a flagship that doesn't have to specifically adhere to anything prior, can loosen up what they can do, not having to respect any history or live up to any expectations. If something goes bad, well, it was just a side project! With songs like "Thin Thing" or "The Opposite", the third element from The Smile comes to life. Tom Skinner is a perfect way to round up a project that delves, even slightly, into jazz and prog territory.
Coming into "Wall of Eyes" I wasn't too sure what to expect. I saw the band live last year, and I was amazed at the way they are able to almost seeminly, communicate with their instruments. These musicians have reached a level of artistry that is hardly comparable to other rock acts. They are very technical, and also, you can feel a lot of energy and freedom in this sound. I was a pretty big fan of songs such as "Just Eyes and Mouth", that promised an even more radical direction and departure from Radiohead.
When "Bending Hectic" dropped, though, it wasn't what I was expecting. It's a hypnotizing journey that takes you into a very low point, before coming right back at you and ending on a very high note. I loved the song, but I was taken off by it at the same time. When "Wall of Eyes" was released as a single, I had a very similar reaction to it. It was good, though it mainly grew over time. My thought was "Well, I think they're going for a calmer sound and songs that take some time to get to you". And even though that's not a bad thing, I wasn't expecting too much from this album.
I was wrong!
This might be even better than "A Light For Attracting Attention". In retrospect, after talking with other fans of the band, it's true that their debut was somewhat all over the place (something I'm personally fond of). What remains in an album where 3 core members of Radiohead are absent? Some people have said it was lacking in some areas, and that it was too similar to that other main band we are all pretending doesn't exist. But "Wall of Eyes" isn't just a statement that it can do whatever it wants to, but that it can be *as* good as a Radiohead LP, *as* consistent, and even, the right amount of *different* to justify not being a Radiohead album.
"Teleharmonic" is a profoundly amazing song, that goes pretty deep into an electronic sound that doesn't sound nothing like Radiohead's past electronic endeavors, or even Thom Yorke's. "Read the Room" is a more raw and rock-ish cut that strays into post-rock, while keeping a stretched arm that manages to cohesively tie together an album that also features more calm songs such as "I Quit" or "You Know Me!".
Even though I've spent a lot of paragraph trying to argue that The Smile isn't anything like Radiohead, and I still stand by that, at the same time, I incorporate The Smile as part of the bigger Radiohead canon by saying that this might be one of the best albums ever put out by these group of people, in general. The way things blend together sonically and spiritually is *almost* as great as albums like "In Rainbows" or even "Kid A", and not because they sound the same; it's because this feels like an album that's more focused in what it's trying to do. "A Light For Attracting Attention" was testing the waters; it was a singles compilations, even, or just a traditional album in that sense. "Wall of Eyes", however, *is* more akin to what we think about as the *concept* album, or, at least, what Radiohead has delivered time and again.
The atmosphere here is dense, but at the same time, it breathes. An interesting emotion that may be derived from the fact, that for the first time in forever, Nigel Godrich isn't behind a Yorke-led project. This results in a sound that's obviously familiar, from the musicians at play, but feels somewhat different, thanks to a more "natural-sounding production".
In summary, "Wall of Eyes" is another great album from the gang, and I'm pretty excited for their unevitable third album, that's already shaping to be amazing (please, just let me listen to that studio version of "Just Eyes and Mouth"!). I talked about this on my review for the first album, but if Radiohead doesn't return with a tenth album, I'm pretty comfortable with having more albums by The Smile, even if they are the same... even if they *aren't* the same!
Favorite tracks: "Wall of Eyes", "Teleharmonic", "Read the Room", "Friend of a Friend", "I Quit", "Bending Hectic""[+]Reply