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).
"One of the best albums of all time, the quality of the songs is just sublime... so far ahead of most 1966 albums. The Kinks actually had something to say here unlike 99% of their peers. Middle class life in England and the gap between rich and poor (A House In The Country, Sunny Afternoon), runni...""One of the best albums of all time, the quality of the songs is just sublime... so far ahead of most 1966 albums. The Kinks actually had something to say here unlike 99% of their peers. Middle class life in England and the gap between rich and poor (A House In The Country, Sunny Afternoon), running away from home (Rosie Wont You Please Come Home), the opener song from this album deals with anonymity (Party Line) which is well ahead of its time. Look at where we are now, nobody knows you on the internet, just like the lyrics of Party Line predicted. "Is she big, is she small, is she a she at all" (preceding Lola, their biggest hit, a song about a transexual). The two songs Dandy and Fancy are about polygamy (Fancy: the music playing being an imitation of indian music - a novelty at the time, music and lyrics are from connected from that stand point, Dandy is a music hall style song of 2 minutes about Dave Davies and "that 2 girls are too many, 3 is a crowd and 4 you're dead"). The songs are connected through a certain theme, that being society in England and how it actually is, instead of what Ray Davies projects a fantasy of England (see: Village Green Preservation Society). Holiday In Waikiki is about winning a ticket to Hawaii, thus temporarily escaping the mundane middle class life and enjoying one self), Most Exclusive Residence For Sale is about the same guy who had a "House In The Country" who now loses his private property and has to pay off a mortgage (big problem in the 50s and 60s and after for that social class, the protagonist now being part of the middle class)
You don't have to read so much into the lyrics as all of this is really obvious.
Too Much On My Mind is about a mental breakdown that Ray Davies had earlier in 1966 (kind of reminds me of the many personal songs he wrote around that time, see: Two Sisters from another great album, Something Else).
I'll Remember and You're Looking Fine don't really fit in all that much like the 12 masterpieces on this album but they are alright, just average rock songs from 1966, nothing special, not too bad either, I certainly prefer them to a lot of songs featured in the album before this.
Rainy Day In June is a very atmospheric, unqiue song, using sound effects in a way not many other rock / pop bands did before (The Beatles and the Beach Boys did use sound effects too, the Kinks used them for multiple songs on the same album: Party Line, Holiday In Waikiki, Rainy Day In June. They also used effects for a single like the Beatles and Beach Boys did, Yellow Submarine, Caroline No, that Kinks single being Big Black Smoke)
All in all, I think Face To Face deserves to be so highly rated, being around the 890s in the overall ranking. Personally, I think it should be at least in the top 3 of 1966, but 8th place in 1966 isn't that bad. Evidently, more than enough people know about it, the instrumentation might be the reason why it's not as highly ranked in the Kinks discography like Arthur, Lola vs Powerman or even Something Else. All these albums have in common that the instrument playing is more enjoyable to the average listener and while Face To Face has good riffs and great basslines, the band who made it added more instruments for the following four albums and made the songs a bit deeper (not in a lyrical sense). In a way, Face To Face was the last garage rock album but at the same time the first operetta type concept album the Kinks did. "[+]Reply
"This record was my introduction to Dream Theater nearly 4 years ago. I fell in love with it right away with the music, the story (with parts of songs set in the present day, and others set in 1928), the production, the players, and the way the songs were set up into Acts. It's a genius album riva...""This record was my introduction to Dream Theater nearly 4 years ago. I fell in love with it right away with the music, the story (with parts of songs set in the present day, and others set in 1928), the production, the players, and the way the songs were set up into Acts. It's a genius album rivaling Dark Side of the Moon in my honest opinion. Though some songs are a bit.. draggier than others, they all have a hand in telling the amazing story crafted by the band. This album is simply a masterpiece and Dream Theater's finest work to date."[+]Reply
"After Psychocandy created some controversy regarding the sound of TJAMC, Darklands counterbalances and shows the critics and the public that the band was also capable of writing strikingly beautiful songs without necessarily recurring to the "Noise Rock" aesthetic."Reply
"This album contains a lot of my favorite DCFC songs: Marching Bands Of Manhattan Soul Meets Body Summer Skin Different Names For The Same Thing What Sarah Said Brothers On A Hotel Bed All those hits force me to rate this album high. However, I don't think it is their more cohesive album. Narrow S...""This album contains a lot of my favorite DCFC songs:
Marching Bands Of Manhattan
Soul Meets Body
Summer Skin
Different Names For The Same Thing
What Sarah Said
Brothers On A Hotel Bed
All those hits force me to rate this album high. However, I don't think it is their more cohesive album. Narrow Stairs and The Photo Album sound more like great albums to me, even though they might have a few less hit songs. Plans is great because many songs in it are great, as those other two are just great albums because of how you can listen to them as a whole and feel a sense of continuity and greatness.
That being said, I love Plans and "What Sarah Said" has to be one of the most touching song I ever heard, I can hardly listen to this song without crying even after all those listens. "[+]Reply
"I would like to inform all of you of a key fact, that apparently everyone is missing. Not only is The Final Cut far and away the best album in Pink Floyd's discography, it is one of the greatest albums of all time. Waters digs into the past, revealing the scars in his country and civilization, st...""I would like to inform all of you of a key fact, that apparently everyone is missing. Not only is The Final Cut far and away the best album in Pink Floyd's discography, it is one of the greatest albums of all time. Waters digs into the past, revealing the scars in his country and civilization, still fresh 40 years after the greatest war humankind had ever seen. And if that wasn't enough, he feels that another is coming. In a world still recovering from the last great war, Water's see preparations for the next; this one to be the largest, and the Final, as we all die in a nuclear holocaust. The way Waters is able to weave the past, present, and future together in such a seamless way, to some of the most emotional music he's ever written, is spectacular.
So get off yer asses and start appreciating it for the masterpiece it is. That is all. Good day."[+]Reply
"Fully formed “debut” this is one of my favorite albums Bob Marley was associated with. The Wailers include Bunny Wailer & Peter Tosh here and their contributions pack a big punch. Perhaps it didn’t have songs as great as on the next album Burnin’ but this album flows together quite well. Concrete...""Fully formed “debut” this is one of my favorite albums Bob Marley was associated with. The Wailers include Bunny Wailer & Peter Tosh here and their contributions pack a big punch. Perhaps it didn’t have songs as great as on the next album Burnin’ but this album flows together quite well. Concrete Jungle, Stop That Train, Stir It Up & No More Trouble are standout tracks. "[+]Reply
""A Ghost is Born" is an album that gives as little as it can to new listeners. The contrast dynamics, the slow building guitar hums and distorted fuzz, the muted vocals all serve to alienate any casual listener right off the bat in a way that could leave a bad taste in your mouth. This experience..."""A Ghost is Born" is an album that gives as little as it can to new listeners. The contrast dynamics, the slow building guitar hums and distorted fuzz, the muted vocals all serve to alienate any casual listener right off the bat in a way that could leave a bad taste in your mouth. This experience could lead any listener to fore-go the album altogether for easier Wilco albums like "Summerteeth", "The Whole Love", or "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot." However, this record has been the most rewarding listening experience of my life. The album is written ambiguously to replicate the different shades of grey that exist inside of the human experience instead of hammering itself out in black and white. If you allow them, the songs on "A Ghost is Born" will grow and expand with each repeated listen. "[+]Reply
"After hearing the live versions of these songs I was just grateful that Jonny and Thom were able to come together and have fun collaborating again with so much passion, creativity and energy. Now, listening to the recorded version, I’m reminded that Nigel Godrich is that extra element that always...""After hearing the live versions of these songs I was just grateful that Jonny and Thom were able to come together and have fun collaborating again with so much passion, creativity and energy. Now, listening to the recorded version, I’m reminded that Nigel Godrich is that extra element that always ties the genius’ together. Tom Skinner also holds his own amongst the highly esteemed company he keeps. There is haunting beauty, political cynicisms, electronic and percussive tinkering, and garage rocking, making it a very eclectic mix. Does it make it a less than cohesive album? Maybe, if you’re picky. This and the fact that 6 songs were drip-fed to us prior to release make it have the feel of a compilation album in some respects. I’ve always preferred an album have one single prior to release, as a taster, before immersing yourself into the full experience of fresh songs and letting that album experience grow on you with repeated listens. This doesn’t detract, however, from the fact that there is a collection of songs here that are all absolute crackers and will keep Radiohead fans content for a while longer until that deeply desired next LP comes around."[+]Reply
"Etta James is a gutsy and versatile singer ranging across the styles popular at the turn of the decade: blues, R&B, doo-wop, gospel, jazz, and the emerging soul. After some success in the early 60s, though her work continued to attract critical attention, she stopped being popular, and by the lat..."" Etta James is a gutsy and versatile singer ranging across the styles popular at the turn of the decade: blues, R&B, doo-wop, gospel, jazz, and the emerging soul. After some success in the early 60s, though her work continued to attract critical attention, she stopped being popular, and by the late 70s she was struggling with drug addiction. She re-gained public attention in the 90s, largely due to a 1996 Pepsi advert. She has a long list of singers who admire and respect her singing, including Diana Ross, Janis Joplin, Mick Jagger, Joss Stone and Adele. This is a great album"[+]Reply