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).
"Okay, let me tell you exactly why this is a 9/10. As I said in my review of Monkey Business: the philosophy in pop is that the goal is enjoyment and that no method to reach that goal should be looked down upon. And while on MB they did that by fucking ripping everyone ever off; on this record the...""Okay, let me tell you exactly why this is a 9/10.
As I said in my review of Monkey Business: the philosophy in pop is that the goal is enjoyment and that no method to reach that goal should be looked down upon. And while on MB they did that by fucking ripping everyone ever off; on this record they do that by shamelessly grabbing every new instrument and effect within reach without thinking twice about “morality”. If Chuck Berry and Elvis Presley listened to the status quo which said the electric guitar is morally wrong, rock ‘n’ roll never would’ve existed. Twenty years later those rockers did the same by trying to boycott synths, because they forgot the discussion in the ‘50s and ‘60s, or they thought it was just about electric guitars rather than the fact that new is never automatically bad and in the case of music it’s never bad, unless you’re killing random animals and recording it as music. Fast forward another 30 years and the kids that grew up with synthpop are okay with synths, but “hmmm, let’s think about whether auto tune is morally wrong to use... it’s not like history has shown time and time again that you’re just ostracizing people who make actual original and good music”.
A genre is always doomed to regress into elitism in a couple of decades and it will always look like they have valid points, because they pretty much control the status quo at that point.
Culture does what it does, and fact is: culture keeps changing as long as scientific innovation keeps existing, and the government is not actively trying to control culture. And the people who take the initiative of making use of that innovation are the ones that make art, and they will inevitably receive hate from the status quo, and receive love from - as Robert Christgau likes to put it - “just plain people”.
Okay, but the Peas are not the first one to make use of auto tune. We had Cher, but she used it merely as an effect after making the song; daft punk and Kylie Minogue were probably the first to employ it in a way that it shows that they thought about what the effect did and how it could be used best; T-Pain, Lil Wayne and Snoop Dogg used it pretty much only to replace a talk box or because they can’t sing; Uffie was the first to rap to it; Kanye West was the first to make a style of it that is enjoyable enough for a full album (it’s a new genre if you ask me); The Black Eyed Peas were the second to do so. They gave an original spin to it the same way Black Sabbath gave an original spin to Jimi Hendrix’ sound, which is worth a 9/10 in my eyes.
The way they transposed Fergie’s vocals is as rock ‘n’ roll as the way Little Richard screams to introduce a solo and then smashes the same chord for 16 times. Of course, Little Richard had more skills then, but relative to the culture then (jazz was the elite then), what he was doing showed little skill. And the same goes for The Beatles - have you read Quincy Jones’ recent interview? Rock ‘n’ roll was a departure from the focus that jazz had on skill and the focus that classical music had on complexity, and I notice people have forgotten that."[+]Reply
"It's true, it's Merritt's best since '69 Love Songs' with some monster, killer songs on offer that easily rank as his best - even if it includes some of his oddest arrangements to date. There is one big difference though, where '69 Love Songs' favoured a more spartan instrumentation 'Memoir' is a...""It's true, it's Merritt's best since '69 Love Songs' with some monster, killer songs on offer that easily rank as his best - even if it includes some of his oddest arrangements to date. There is one big difference though, where '69 Love Songs' favoured a more spartan instrumentation 'Memoir' is a hell of a lot more colourful, even at times psychedelic befitting his familial background. Even so, he still finds room for the kind of piano-led compositions last seen on '69' or 'i'. Whatever, he's on top form here and this is gonna be glued to my stereo for a long, long time."[+]Reply
"I’m a big fan of when artists decide to go into a different direction with their music. I hate it when a band or a musician just stagnates and makes the same album over and over again. Well, I shouldn’t say I hate it, because I’m a big fan of some bands that do exactly that, but it’s really nice ...""I’m a big fan of when artists decide to go into a different direction with their music. I hate it when a band or a musician just stagnates and makes the same album over and over again. Well, I shouldn’t say I hate it, because I’m a big fan of some bands that do exactly that, but it’s really nice when an artist tries to go into a different direction. John Mayer does exactly that on this album. There’s still remnants of the sound of John Mayer that you’ve come to know, but this album is overall different. It’s like John Mayer meets Neil Young. It leans more towards the acoustic sound with a slight hint of country thrown in. It’s not nearly as poppy as some of his past albums have been. It’s a very good album and I think this will bring some new fans to John Mayer. "[+]Reply
"Another mellow laid back album from J.J.Cale. Troubadour, adds brass to his already relaxed grooves. Good songs in, cocaine, travellin' light, and, hey baby. Cool stuff."Reply
"In my opinion this albums varies a lot in quality, too many tracks borders on a more reggae/dub-foundation than her previous album, which I don't think suits the amazing Merrill Garbus. The last track also sounds like M.I.A., which doesn't suit her either. And frankly Nikki Nack lacks some of the...""In my opinion this albums varies a lot in quality, too many tracks borders on a more reggae/dub-foundation than her previous album, which I don't think suits the amazing Merrill Garbus. The last track also sounds like M.I.A., which doesn't suit her either. And frankly Nikki Nack lacks some of the energy that made w h o k i l l such a great record. All this said, it's still an enjoyable, fun and experimenting album, and some of the most original music you may find this year. I'll give it a few more listens and see if I may change my mind."[+]Reply
"Just slightly short of the classic, Live!, album. Still, this is an excellent live document of Bob Marley at the peak of his powers. Very, very good."Reply
"God willin', is Ray Lamontagne's Americana album. A lovely collection of superb acoustic tracks. Obviously inspired by the Laurel canyon scene of the late sixties/early seventies, it's best cuts include, repo man, new York's killing me, and, this love us over. It was clear though by this time tha...""God willin', is Ray Lamontagne's Americana album. A lovely collection of superb acoustic tracks. Obviously inspired by the Laurel canyon scene of the late sixties/early seventies, it's best cuts include, repo man, new York's killing me, and, this love us over. It was clear though by this time that Lamontagne had taken this music as far as it could go. Some new sounds were needed on the next record. Still, for now, this was a solid album. "[+]Reply
"While primarily a metal band, Tarja's marvelous operatic voice often lends itself best to grandiose ballads, with this song being a prime example."Reply