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: 5 hours ago).
"First of all boys, nothing like this LP was ever released by Decca in the UK. It is a mish-mash of an EP, Singles, a UK B-side, and random album tracks put together this way only because of the greed of London Records. An album was supposed to be released that contained only tracks recorded at th...""First of all boys, nothing like this LP was ever released by Decca in the UK. It is a mish-mash of an EP, Singles, a UK B-side, and random album tracks put together this way only because of the greed of London Records. An album was supposed to be released that contained only tracks recorded at the infamous Chess Studios but it never came to be. Every comment on this site completely misses the boat on this album except for one. The treasures are the Chess songs recorded in true stereo. The real Stones, with Brian Jones, only recorded at Olympic Studios, London, RCA Studios, Hollywood, and Chess Studios, Chicago. Only the studio and engineers at Chess were able to capture the Stones at their best. This LP contains 6 tracks from I believe two Chess sessions. These are the true gems. These tracks were not "rushed", since many of the musicians they idolized, Howlin' Wolf, Chuck Berry, Willie Dixon, Muddy Waters, etc recorded primarily at Chess. They were challenged to play Chicago Blues as competently as they could. "Congradulations" is an enjoyable cut but is a pedestrian effort from the Glimmer Twins along with "Grown Up Wrong". The Stones cover of Bobby Womack's "It's All Over Now" hit #1 in the UK. This album contains the version of "Time Is On My Side" that was recorded at Olympic, not the superior version laid down at Chess but it still hit #1 in the UK. The other track of note is the cover of The Drifters "Under the Boardwalk" which actually hit #1 in Australia. As one can see from reading the aforementioned remarks, this LP is ranked abysmally low on this site."[+]Reply
"It feels like spitting in my idols' face, but this album was just alright for me. Look, when musicians age, they either age gracefully, letting their work age gracefully with them (see: Bob Dylan, Paul Simon) or they keep making albums hoping that maybe the fact that their music sort of sounds si...""It feels like spitting in my idols' face, but this album was just alright for me. Look, when musicians age, they either age gracefully, letting their work age gracefully with them (see: Bob Dylan, Paul Simon) or they keep making albums hoping that maybe the fact that their music sort of sounds similar to the great music they made 30+ years ago, people will like it despite the fact that they tend to sound like a retiree on a karaoke machine (see: Van Halen, anything Sammy Hagar has done lately, The Who). This falls somewhere in between. Somehow, Ozzy’s voice hasn’t changed in the past 40 years. Ok, maybe it’s changed a little, but it could be a lot worse. He sounds ok here, and the lyrics he’s written are whatever, but really, they’ve always been like that. Tony Iommi and Geezer Butler sound great though, especially Iommi, his guitar work, his riffs, his solos, are as good as ever, I love listening to him play guitar. Brad Wilk doesn’t sound awful, but in all reality, he’s a different drummer than what Sabbath needed, he’s from a different era and you can tell.
The area that “13" fails in most is in the quality of the songs, which in all honesty, are alright. There are some good moments here and there, but generally speaking, the album feels pretty uninspired. There are some obvious throwbacks, especially in “Zeitgeist", which really calls back to Sabbath’s slower songs, songs like “N.I.B." and “Planet Caravan", but they sound like an imitation rather than the real thing. Like I said, there are some good moments, one thing I really love is that Sabbath retained their love of long guitar solos, which sound great, but generally speaking the album is pretty lacking. It’s unfortunate, but I can’t say that I’m horribly surprised. Maybe if Bill Ward joins back up one day, they’ll really crank out something special."[+]Reply
"This must be one of the most underrated albums of all time. Apart from Bob Marley, I had never been that struck on reggae before I bought this album. 'Signing off' is like nothing else in my collection. There is a lot of saxophone on it, which I've not really heard on other reggae records. The pr...""This must be one of the most underrated albums of all time. Apart from Bob Marley, I had never been that struck on reggae before I bought this album. 'Signing off' is like nothing else in my collection. There is a lot of saxophone on it, which I've not really heard on other reggae records. The production is much better than any other reggae I've heard, and the lyrics are stronger and more political than UB40's later work. There was even a bonus 3 track 12 inch single with the vinyl record. "[+]Reply
"So there’s a problem with The Killers and this problem has existed, it seems, for quite a while. All of their songs are blending together. It seems like with each album, they’re not making any progress. “Hot Fuss" was an awesome album, I loved it and I remember when it came out. Their sound was d...""So there’s a problem with The Killers and this problem has existed, it seems, for quite a while. All of their songs are blending together. It seems like with each album, they’re not making any progress. “Hot Fuss" was an awesome album, I loved it and I remember when it came out. Their sound was different, they had a few singles that sounded really cool, Brandon Flowers had a unique voice and I thought “Wow, these guys are pretty good." Then “Sam’s Town" came out and the album itself was just mediocre. Had a few songs that were really good, but other than that, it was just ok. And then “Day & Age" came out and it was the same thing. Now “Battle Born" is out, and again, it’s the same thing. This album is essentially interchangeable with any of The Killers other albums. Now, all that being said, it isn’t necessarily a bad album. There are a couple songs that are pretty good, but otherwise the album is just ok. Not bad, just ok. "[+]Reply
"Okay, I’m gonna stick my neck out here and go out on a limb for this record: Just Got Back… is the best emo album of all time. For what that’s worth. If you hear the word ‘emo’ and think chokers, comb-over fringes, and running mascara, then I know how that sentence must sound to you. But this cro...""Okay, I’m gonna stick my neck out here and go out on a limb for this record: Just Got Back… is the best emo album of all time. For what that’s worth. If you hear the word ‘emo’ and think chokers, comb-over fringes, and running mascara, then I know how that sentence must sound to you. But this crown isn’t won through teenage nostalgia; I may have entered the decade an angsty tween drowning in hormones, but by some minor miracle I managed to escape the grasp of pop punk’s black acrylic nails. I was less MCR, more Chris Martin - something at the time I was probably proud of but in retrospect wish it’d been the other way round. Trust me on this one, The Brave Little Abacus are a different beast entirely.
And this isn’t a dig at so-called ‘fake’ emo either. “Real emo”, as the viral copypasta goes, “sounds ENERGETIC, POWERFUL, and somewhat HATEFUL”; a three-word round hole this square peg of a band struggles to fit into. ‘Energetic’ - sure. ‘Powerful’ - maybe. But ‘hateful’?
After limited success, two LPs, and less than five years under their belt, in 2012 The Brave Little Abacus split for good. Some of the members would go on to perform sporadically in other groups, but the dream of ‘making it’ was over. There’s a naïve euphoria to the band which they can’t help spill out into their songs, and in hindsight it seems impossible to imagine them existing any longer than they did. It’s the fearlessness youth brings which allows them to throw everything at the wall, from jazz to drone to bossa nova, and by sheer force of will make it stick, in a way older musicians would be too cynical to try. In 2012 The Brave Little Abacus didn’t just break up; they grew up."[+]Reply
"Come on, what on earth is the point of clogging up these comment sections with a copy paste of the album's tracklist? With or without your personal rating of each song, it just goes against the design of the website."Reply
"Heard this for the first time in Feb 19 having heard and loved their Sophtware Slump the month before. I like this sound with a nod to Flaming Lips"Reply
"I think this is Franz Ferdinand's best. I may be alone in that opinion, but that's okay: beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I think people who've fallen in love with the band's unpolished debut have every right to recoil from their change in sound; in fact, this and their debut are two very di...""I think this is Franz Ferdinand's best. I may be alone in that opinion, but that's okay: beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I think people who've fallen in love with the band's unpolished debut have every right to recoil from their change in sound; in fact, this and their debut are two very different albums, and I am about to judge this one on it's own terms.
On this album, catchy songs are abundant, but not the point. Alex Kapranos' knack for expressive vocals really shines on the first track, Ulysses. He sings as if his voice is an instrument - the dynamics just as important as the tune. It's what elevates it from a mere pop song into an expressive wonder, and it's production and polish add to the flavour, rather than detract from it. Turn It On and No You Girls are similarly bolstered from the production - this time benefitting from the atmosphere the songs set - an atmosphere that will carry the album. Send Him Away's time signature keeps this part of the album fresh, but ultimately is only good, and not great.
But then we run into Twilight Omens, a fantastic combination of dirty organ, powerful drums, and a vocal line that never commits itself to a single melody: it flows up and down, and always settles on a satisfying final note that completes the charm of the song. The cleanliness of the vocals makes a wonderful counterpoint to the main organ line.
Bite Hard starts gorgeous and ends awesome. What She Came For starts awesome and ends AMAZING with the heaviest Franz Ferdinand's ever been. What She Came For is especially unique in its melody of half-steps, and it's pulled off really, really well.
Live Alone and Can't Stop Feeling are the only truly forgettable songs off the album, and even Live Alone has a chorus that's good enough for one not to notice when listening to the album in one go (which is how any album should be played anyway). So what happens when the band realizes that they're losing their audience? A stroke of genius - write a curveball song that ends in an electronic symphony of bassy programmable cacophony that slowly takes over the drums - not only utterly fantastic, but very symbolic of today's world. And it's the first of three songs that make this album truly unique.
Dream Again is unlike any Franz song you've ever heard, for better or worse. Who knew a band like Franz Ferdinand could be so experimental? A tinkling of chimes, scattered handclaps, midi keyboards, and even a theremin solo all drenched in reverb make the song a treat to listen to with headphones. It slows the ending of the album to a pace which can be absorbed properly and leads nicely into it's total stylistic opposite - Katherine Kiss Me. The final song is nothing but a heartfelt acoustic guitar line with a piano solo at the end - not unlike the interludes present in You Could Have It So Much Better. It's moody, but somehow optimistic at the same time. As an ending, in my opinion at least, it's a wise choice: there's nothing more satisfying than reaching the end of an album and feeling a need to experience it all over again. The pacing is perfect - begin with a tune that starts as quiet as the ending of the album, but quickly becomes as loud and catchy as the middle. Then reach the end of the album and realize that the beginning follows perfectly afterwards. It's part of the reason Octavarium was so appealing to me.
So all in all, you have an album that's as appealing to an insightful listener as to a casual one. An album that has polish for good reason, but isn't afraid to get it's hands dirty if need be. An album that has a singer who's dynamics are astounding, and a creative masterpiece that should certainly be given a second look.
In case you wanted to know, my first Franz album was the debut, and I loved that album very much when this one came out. But I kept my mind open, and am very thankful for doing so."[+]Reply