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).
"THE TROUBLE WITH DESIRE Somewhere else in the universe - exactly where I do not know - there is a planet and civilization not unlike our own. They’re busy with jobs and making ends meet mostly. But they are also vastly curious about life and various philosophical questions. Chiefly, they ponder w...""THE TROUBLE WITH DESIRE
Somewhere else in the universe - exactly where I do not know - there is a planet and civilization not unlike our own. They’re busy with jobs and making ends meet mostly. But they are also vastly curious about life and various philosophical questions. Chiefly, they ponder whether they are all alone is this vast universe. Whether the entire universe exists just for them.
So just like us, they also built a space program. But this being science fiction and all, there’s is a bit more advanced than ours. And they built and coded this amazing android. It is capable of learning how to create any and all languages, dialects & tongues. Given enough time it would be able to communicate with any creature in the entire world. No matter how big or small. How complex or simple. Insects, humanoids, birds, amoebas, you name it. Essentially, if a life form, or even another droid, can communicate, this droid will learn how to communicate with it. The people on this planet - let’s call them Clusterferians just for fun - were naturally quite proud of their creation. And they built a moderate sized space vessel such that their droid could comb the universe looking for any sign of life to communicate with. And then report back to them.
To give the mission the best chance of success, the Clusterferians something new. Something they had never encoded into a robot before. A strong message that this mission was critical. Vital. In a word they gave it Desire.
Time passes. Millions of years. The droid performs its tasks and tries to carry out its mission. Sending out signals. And waiting for a response. Sending out more signals. Trying to communicate. To connect. To anything. It creates endless variations of sounds. But nothing ever comes back. Just the vast emptiness of space. And him.
And then the unthinkable happens. The unimaginable. He develops feelings. After eons and eons of trying and trying and trying to fulfill its mission with that strong desire encoded in him, he starts to grow sad. This desire to connect to something, ANYTHING, overwhelms him. The years of sending and sending, trying and trying and getting nothing back in return changes him. He becomes what we would call depressed. He preservers on with his mission of course. He’s a robot after all. But a shade of loneliness, of mourning now pervades the sounds he creates. A lament. The lament of being lonely. Of being human.
Grade A+: Cluster makes sounds better than anyone. Eno enhances sounds better than anyone. So together this is a dream team. And they amply fulfill the promise such a collaboration would suggest. This is one of the greatest dark ambient albums of all time. Considering its pedigree, I’m quite surprised it’s bit undiscovered. Don’t let it stay lonely anymore! Seek out and connect with this major ambient gem. There’s a lonely robot just waiting to hear from you. And this LP hurdles through space all the way to number 11. "[+]Reply
"Listening to this was one of the most eye-popping moments in recent memory. For me I mean. I always had a very specific idea of Ochs. I thought of him as the poor man's Dylan - protest songs, some sweet melodies and sad ones too, and some nice acoustic guitar. As a matter of fact it got to the po...""Listening to this was one of the most eye-popping moments in recent memory. For me I mean. I always had a very specific idea of Ochs. I thought of him as the poor man's Dylan - protest songs, some sweet melodies and sad ones too, and some nice acoustic guitar. As a matter of fact it got to the point where I just mentally glossed over his work when anyone would mention it or when it would come up on lists. That must be true, cuz looking at the RYM lists of 1960s singer/songwriter albums would feature Ochs albums, foremost this one here and I never noticed. I remained ignorant.
Then I saw this album as a big album released in '67. I heard it was "really different" and "totally essential" and I said "alright alright! I'll give it a listen."
Well, I finished listening to it and I was slack-jawed. I couldn't believe what I had just heard ona PHIL OCHS RECORD! My only previous experience with him was his first 2 albums, and I liked them well enough. Oh and I had listened to "Rehearsals For Retirement" which I recall really liking. So there. That is it.
So, in brief, what was this album to me? Like Long Form-"Odessey & Oracle", with the occluded social commentary of "Another Side of Bob Dylan" with a healthy dose of "Imperial Bedroom"-era Elvis Costello in its biting wit and observations of the sad and asinine aspects of the world around the narrator. I mean the songs here are GORGEOUS. They are lush, intensely complex arrangements. There are full classical/symphonic parts, and the musicians here are all so damn top notch. And in the middle of this maelstrom of overwhelming beauty and creatively, is the plain yet endearing vocals of Phil Ochs. His lyrics here are layered and meticulous, they are incredibly observant, and engrossing throughout.
Picking the most intensely triumphant song here is near impossible. No song sticks out as being out of place. At the same time there is no doubt this thing is dense and scattered all at once. There is such a massive amount of musical ideas here. The opener "Cross My Heart" is very nice, intensely beautiful and touching and gives one a good idea of the space of this album. But Then the next 2 songs build on that high mark. Each song is a "WTF" moment for me, where I am not sure I am, again, listening to a Phil Ochs album.
Then the last song "The Crucifixion" manages to peak the whole album in terms of innovation, with its incredibly disconcerting and somewhat discordant strings laying the groundwork for Phil to come in with an epic 8 minute poem which takes us through the whole history of man, with all its attendant betrayals of Nature and God. I am not sure there is a better way to put a cherry on top of one of the most mind boggling listens I've had in quite awhile. This is just a truly awe-inspiring achievement of an album.
"The Spanish bulls are beaten; the crowd is soon beguiled,
The matador is beautiful, a symphony of style
Excitement is ecstatic, passion places bets
Gracefully he bows to ovations that he gets
But the hands that are applauding are slippery with sweat
And saliva is falling from their smiles" - "Crucifixion"
Grade: 9.7/10 "[+]Reply
"I adored Chat Pile's first few EPs at the end of the last decade, but their widely-acclaimed 2022 debut God's Country was a little stale for me, as they lost their early urgency with some unadventurous instrumental work. Not so here; the band's songwriting is brilliantly intoxicating, as nightmar...""I adored Chat Pile's first few EPs at the end of the last decade, but their widely-acclaimed 2022 debut God's Country was a little stale for me, as they lost their early urgency with some unadventurous instrumental work. Not so here; the band's songwriting is brilliantly intoxicating, as nightmarish depictions of brutal masculinity and cruel parenthood horrify frontman Raygun Busch just as much as the listener. This is music for societal exorcism: my metal album of the year.
From my Top 20 Albums of 2024: https://www.besteveralbums.com/thechart.php?c=79692"[+]Reply
"It's not the Misfits we all love, but come on, Scream, Fiend Club, Dust to Dust, Saturday Night and Helena are all great tunes! Just put aside the fact that Jerry is a complete douche, and you'll see it's worth a listen. "If I cut off your arms and cut off your legs, would you still love me anywa...""It's not the Misfits we all love, but come on, Scream, Fiend Club, Dust to Dust, Saturday Night and Helena are all great tunes! Just put aside the fact that Jerry is a complete douche, and you'll see it's worth a listen. "If I cut off your arms and cut off your legs, would you still love me anyway?" One of my favorite Misfits lines."[+]Reply
"For me, this is Dream Theater’s most underrated album. In my eyes, it doesn’t carry the title “Dream Theater” by accident. This record is a masterpiece and a statement: this is who we are — Dream Theater! It’s incredibly elaborate in both composition and production — with orchestral and classical...""For me, this is Dream Theater’s most underrated album. In my eyes, it doesn’t carry the title “Dream Theater” by accident. This record is a masterpiece and a statement: this is who we are — Dream Theater!
It’s incredibly elaborate in both composition and production — with orchestral and classical influences — yet still very song‑driven. It includes many of my all‑time favorite DT tracks. If I had to pick only ten CDs to take with me to a deserted island, this one would definitely make the list.
Thank you for this album, Dream Theater!"[+]Reply