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: 4 hours ago).
"(A near-perfect Indie Folk album that is so much more than just an indie folk album that it feels silly dropping that name/genre/tag on it. It’s still peak-Sufjan - somehow after over 20 years and it’s just a life-affirming, beautiful, escapist work of intense beauty) It’s a good feeling having a...""(A near-perfect Indie Folk album that is so much more than just an indie folk album that it feels silly dropping that name/genre/tag on it. It’s still peak-Sufjan - somehow after over 20 years and it’s just a life-affirming, beautiful, escapist work of intense beauty)
It’s a good feeling having another Sufjan Stevens work to digest and listen to over and over. Also the harmonies and the input from his musical partner here, De Augustine, are excellent. The two of them have made a spiritual, beautiful in every way, gem of an indie folk album. I love it.
My appreciation grows each time I listen. Sufjan has always been an artist that I considered to be a melodic genius. Specifically in his more low key releases, and more acoustic albums, such as Carrie & Lowell and Seven Swans and big chunks of Michigan, he has always had this brilliant way of creating melodies and harmonies that are unabashedly beautiful. His more epic, huge sounding songs and albums are also brilliant, just not quite as much my personal taste/preference.
The only artist I always thought was Sufjan’s equal in being able to create memorable, familiar, warm and engaging melodies seemingly forever and with ease, was Elliott Smith. And this connection is more clear than ever on this album. Specifically on songs like “Murder And Crime” and “Lost in the World”. The former really does sound like peak Smith, it’s incredibly sad and moving. I also find it fascinating that despite having a somewhat similar style melodically (especially on those more Smith-esque tracks) it’s clear that Elliott and Sufjan are VERY different people and artists. There is not the same abyss-dark sadness on these or any Sufjan song. He is more optimistic and whimsical even at his darkest. Just a thought, and a detour.
On the whole, in sort of bland general terms, this album is great. It’s beautiful, it works as a complete album experience, it’s consistent and it’s a beautiful length as well. If you know me you know I have a bias for shorter and more compact albums generally. While I recognize the genius at work with Illinois, Michigan, Age of Adz etc, each of those classic Sufjan albums just - for me - felt too long. This album is a breezy, beautiful escape. It has its emotional highs and lows and its struggles and it’s loves and it’s fantasy themes and all that…. All in 46 or so minutes. Brilliant.
I don’t know what the distribution of contribution was betwixt Sufjan and Angelo. Otherwise, I would make more mention of Angelo’s work. He has a fine voice and creates beautiful harmonies and if this album is any indication, he can stand up alongside a GIANT in modern music quite well. Which is impressive. I plan on learning more about what this collab actually entailed.
The stand tracks are numerous and again the album as a whole works damn well. I actually feel like the second half is stronger ( despite the first half being absolutely stunning with that opener, “Return to Oz” “Olympus” and the brilliant gem of a title track.). Or l, at least the second half is equal and more to my taste vibe-wise. On side 2 “Murder and Crime” and that run of 4 yea is to end the album are just… *chef’s kiss-mixed-with-a-swoon*
In closing, this album is just about the most bracing breathe of fresh air I can imagine. Right as the beautiful Autumn coolness started setting in, I got this life-affirming album, this deep, musically and lyrically rich album, and I will never forget the feeling of listening to it the first couple times while sitting outside in a breezy 60 degree afternoon. It was magical. And the magic hasn’t gone away after 6-7 listens. I think this is an album I will come back to a lot and move higher and higher in my personal rankings and opinions as I do. It’s maybe, close to, my fave Sufjan Album. This and Carrie & Lowell personally are my faves of his - while having love and respect for most of his other projects (that I’ve heard… he has done ALOT). I just have a soft spot for soft, folkie, harmony-rich, almost S&G-style Sufjan. Anyway, What a beautiful, heavenly album. "[+]Reply
"Eric Clapton's solo stuff doesn't get enough love on BEA. The man is best with an electric guitar in his hands, but he proves with this album that he can handle the blues on acoustic as well as anyone."Reply
"This is a far more digestible Frank Zappa release with a lot of the songs sounding closer to the music at the time than the classic and abstract sound he usually performs. That makes this the perfect album in my opinion to start listening to Zappa as you still get the nuances but they are a lot m...""This is a far more digestible Frank Zappa release with a lot of the songs sounding closer to the music at the time than the classic and abstract sound he usually performs. That makes this the perfect album in my opinion to start listening to Zappa as you still get the nuances but they are a lot more subtle. The music still works brilliantly with the instrumentation being layered and diverse just like always. I think the drums and keyboards are fantastic on here but what steals the show is the guitar for me. It drives every song it is present on forward and has some phenomenal solos as well. As a whole the album is so consistent with there not really being a weak track on here at all. Furthermore, there is so much to dive into on here with there being something new I discover with each listen. Plus Inca Roads is just a musical marvel. Overall, this is an under rated album that is one of Zappa's more accessible releases but it still maintains that high level of musicianship and general genius of his previous releases. "[+]Reply
"Absolutely stunning album !! It keeps revealing something different with each spin. Hard to describe : experimental ? dubstep ? ambient ? minimal ? An important release anyhow, and one of the best 2011 has to offer."Reply
"In my opinion, this is the best of the early Nick Cave albums. Your funeral... my trial, is a brooding masterpiece. Kicking off with, sad waters, one of the most beautiful songs Cave has ever written, and that's followed by the even better circus fable, the carny, a stunning track, Nick Cave at h...""In my opinion, this is the best of the early Nick Cave albums. Your funeral... my trial, is a brooding masterpiece. Kicking off with, sad waters, one of the most beautiful songs Cave has ever written, and that's followed by the even better circus fable, the carny, a stunning track, Nick Cave at his atmospheric best. The title track is great as is the chilling, stranger than kindness. Elsewhere, there's the brilliant, jack's shadow, and closing cut, long time man, in fact it's all fantastic. Another superb Nick Cave album. "[+]Reply
"You just can't go wrong with this album. A brilliant record full of great songs. It flows amazingly well considering it was a sort of compilation album, because it certainly feels like it's all part of a plan. Lovely songs in, old, liars A-E, and, until I believe in my soul. The obvious highlight...""You just can't go wrong with this album. A brilliant record full of great songs. It flows amazingly well considering it was a sort of compilation album, because it certainly feels like it's all part of a plan. Lovely songs in, old, liars A-E, and, until I believe in my soul. The obvious highlight though is the wonderful, come on Eileen, simply one of the best singles of the eighties. Good stuff. "[+]Reply
"So much of this years music has been a struggle to listen to, not this one, difficult second album it is not, spilling confidently from one track to another. Sounding distinctly more Alternative than last years Dogrel, a more morose tone is struck. Grian’s vocals are once more an oasis of origina...""So much of this years music has been a struggle to listen to, not this one, difficult second album it is not, spilling confidently from one track to another.
Sounding distinctly more Alternative than last years Dogrel, a more morose tone is struck. Grian’s vocals are once more an oasis of originality in a desert of fakers. Let me put that again, refreshingly original.
A Hero’s Death will see scenesters leave in droves as with most buzz-bands, but it proves Dogrel was no fluke and there’s more in the tank. Fontaines DC are gonna be with us for a while yet, they ain’t going anywhere."[+]Reply
"Recorded with the band circled around a single microphone in Toronto's Church of the Holy Trinity, this album's intimacy and immediacy reflects the surroundings in which it was made. The result is a a languid, dreamy, haunting listening experience. The band's sound centers on the custard-smooth v...""Recorded with the band circled around a single microphone in Toronto's Church of the Holy Trinity, this album's intimacy and immediacy reflects the surroundings in which it was made. The result is a a languid, dreamy, haunting listening experience. The band's sound centers on the custard-smooth voice of Margo Timmins, but there is both great songwriting here and some excellent selections of covers. Their version of Lou Reed's "Sweet Jane" is one of the best interpretations of that song, and Michael Timmins' "Postcard Blues" is one of the album's many highlights."[+]Reply
"Why is this ranked so low? Jim Croce was one of the best songwriters of all time, not to mention a fantastic guitarist, singer and storyteller. He was in the same social circle as Arlo Guthrie, James Taylor and Jimmy Buffett, and I think he was simply the most talented of the four."Reply
"This album is one my top 100 albums you can check out here. I think the Stranglers were the first punk band we heard of in Belgium, not because we heard the music but because there were a lot of scandal press messages that songs of the Stranglers were banned from the BBC, of course with "Peaches"...""This album is one my top 100 albums you can check out here.
I think the Stranglers were the first punk band we heard of in Belgium, not because we heard the music but because there were a lot of scandal press messages that songs of the Stranglers were banned from the BBC, of course with "Peaches" at the top of that (later on the intro of "Peaches" became the intro of a famous Belgian sports program on national television).
I think the first time, the Stranglers were actually played on the Belgian radio was "Something Better Change" and "No More Heroes", both from their second album which I bought in an earlier stage than their first album.
But in a way I like "Rattus Norvegicus" better with one important reason: "Down in the Sewer", a sort of screwed up mini-opera but an incredibly good song. And there are many other good ones like "London Lady", "Hanging Around" and of course "Peaches" on this album.
Then there came a period when I didn't like them as much with their slower songs like "Golden Brown" and "Always the Sun" but recently they again issued some very good albums like "Norfolk Coast" and "Suite XVI".
Recently I saw them live on the Reorock festival in Roeselare Belgium (together with the Undertones) and they still rocked and most importantly: the pumping bass played by JJ Burnell you can recognize from a mile away was still there."[+]Reply