Well, Jameth, you were right! This is the best album I've listened to so far, and it ticks all of the aforementioned boxes for quality. I would even go as far to say that this might even sneak into the Top 10 techno (although calling this techno isn't necessarily accurate to me) albums that I've heard. Which is a pretty decent amount by now. The main thing that sets this apart is the happiness that comes off of the music; not a feeling that is always well-expressed through electronic music. There is a tangible joy to the album that makes it feel warm and alive instead of cold and detached. (Although both of those feelings have their strengths.) This is the album that I was looking for in this chart. I can see myself probably listening to some of the tracks again today, tomorrow, and the next day after that, and the next week, and......
PS.
I should also mention that the main genre RYM lists this as is "Nu Jazz" which finds this music somewhere in between Techno and Downtempo music.
Killing Technology would be one of my favorites from the list.
13. Sun Electric- Present (1996)
14. Titonton Duvanté- Selections for Intercourse (2000)
16. The Advent- Elements of Life (1995)
18. As One- Celestial Soul (1995)
19. Cari Lekebusch- Det Jag Vet (1999)
20. The Connection Machine- Painless (2004)
21. Darren Price- Under the Flightpath (1997)
23. Luke Slater's 7th Plain- My Yellow Wise Rug (1994)
24. Nexus 21- The Rhythm Of Life (1989)
I was thinking in terms of new school hip-hop...I forgot to account for the old school. New school hip-hop in the early 90s wasn’t striving for mass appeal, for the most part. It was folksy in its creation and intent. I’ll always find it more interesting for that reason.
Some of what I said was probably directed more towards The Score, which I listened to alongside Miseducation. I get that they melded several genres, but I don’t think they did any of them well. The hip-hop backtracks sound like dilute imitations of prior east coast artists, and Hill’s flow is middling. I’ll stand by my opinion of her singing. I think if you gathered up a large number of the most popular soul or gospel or blues singers of all-time for a tournament-style cutting contest, Hill would be bounced in the first round. She’s a good singer, but her level of talent clearly doesn’t align with her level of success, compared to some others. I’d rather listen to the others. _________________ Can you play free, or in three, or agree to try something new?
In an attempt to find a non-spiritual jazz jazz album that I like, I switched things up while listening to this one and went for a walk outside. Luckily it was the perfect length for my quarantine walk route, and it also fit the sunny weather here pretty great. The first track is probably the best, the drum solos in particular. As it went on I started to think "huh, the piano here is really better than the sax," and it wasn't until after I finished that I looked it up and realized Monk was a pianist... I guess I should have realized given that Sonny Rollins is also on the album. Anyway, the last four tracks are all pretty good but really don't have that "something" to really draw me in. I have found in the past that jazz piano entices me more than other instruments, but that's usually when it's used in a song of another genre, like hip hop or soul. On its own I can get into it for a few minutes but not over 40. So, and I know I'm a broken record when it comes to jazz albums, this is a really great one, but I'm not sure it'll be a personal favorite.
Chief, I'm really curious what Selections for Intercourse sounds like.
BEA's top 1,000 albums:
606. A New World Record by Electric Light Orchestra
656. Songs for Swingin' Lovers by Frank Sinatra
675. Love Over Gold by Dire Straits
691. Artaud by Pescado Rabioso
696. The Final Cut by Pink Floyd
697. Time by Electric Light Orchestra
700. Toys in the Attic by Aerosmith
711. O by Damien Rice
723. Vulnicura by Bjork
731. Ceremonials by Florence + The Machine _________________ And it's hard to be a human being. And it's harder as anything else.
My second Fiona Apple album, both via this game, and I enjoyed this significantly more than The Idler Wheel. The instrumentation and songwriting are both better, by virtue of the fact that they are more kinetic and personal, respectively. Also, some of the song structures are very cool. A great listen that held my interest throughout. However, I can't say I am in the camp that sees it as a classic for the ages. But it's only been one listen. 4/5.
198. Thick As A Brick - Jethro Tull
209. The Number Of The Beast - Iron Maiden
217. ...And Justice For All - Metallica
223. First Utterance - Comus
228. Discipline - King Crimson
234. Relationship Of Command - At The Drive-In
241. Painkiller - Judas Priest
250. Machine Head - Deep Purple
252. Dopethrone - Electric Wizard
254. Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son - Iron Maiden _________________ Add me on RYM
To be honest I didn't enjoy this album as much as other Metallica albums I've heard. This will probably irk Metallica purists but I still like the self titled Black album the most. Of their big four albums I've heard now, this would rate the lowest. Mostly I found the longer songs didn't have a lot going on to justify their length and keep my interest, and combined with the mostly slower thrash overall on this album, made it feel a bit long. One is the exception of course, being a classic, and my favourite Metallica song, and Dyers Eve was also a highlight. After a slow start, the album picked up a bit in the second half for me, and it still had a great sound I liked overall, and taking into account this album contains One, I still think it's a really good album, good enough for an 8/10, and 32/38 for 1988. (1988 must be a great year for me for an album scoring 8/10 to be as low as 32nd out of 38!).
Top 100 Greatest Music Albums by LedZep ('80s edit)(last pick)
10. Azra by Azra
13. The Final Cut by Pink Floyd
20. Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son by Iron Maiden
24. S' vetrom uz lice by Ekatarina Velika
51. Love Over Gold by Dire Straits
63. Das Ist Walter by Zabranjeno Pušenje
65. Treći Svijet by Haustor
70. Operation: Mindcrime by Queensrÿche
80. Prodavnica Tajni by Bajaga I Instruktori
86. The Unforgettable Fire by U2
I can hear why many hail this as a classic. Intricate, lush, boundary-pushing instrumentation. Gorgeous vocals, spanning the range from crystalline beauty to raw power. And I might too, but lyrics are an important part of how I evaluate albums. With their grisly tales of rape and murder, they remind me why I put off this album until now, and knock down my grade considerably. However, I still found it to be a worthwhile listen. The Herald in particular is an amazing track. 3.5/5.
~~~~~
2. I haven't heard any of those, but this is the one that interests me most:
3. I'm going to try something a bit different now: going through the top artists and listing the top album I haven't heard in full. Redundant compilations and releases over two hours excluded.
1. The Beatles: 13. Let It Be... Naked
2. Radiohead: 8. The King Of Limbs
3. Pink Floyd: 7. Atom Heart Mother
4. David Bowie: 12. The Next Day
5. Led Zeppelin: 7. Presence
6. Bob Dylan: 8. Time Out Of Mind
7. Arcade Fire: 5. Everything Now
8. The Rolling Stones: 8. Their Satanic Majesties Request
9. The Velvet Underground: 13. Live At Max's Kansas City
10. Nirvana: 5. Incesticide _________________ Add me on RYM
I've always struggled to like Bjork, and I think listening to this helped me to better put together why. The music here is fantastic, glitchy and unpredictable while still being easy to listen to. Bjork's vocals are great, as always. The thing I struggle with is her style of singing, which seems to kind of meander around the music. And, especially here, it doesn't always seem to be in time with the music, almost as if the vocals were recorded for a different song than the one the music is from. For some reason this makes it really hard for me to concentrate; the music is the tempo I'm naturally following but then her vocals are an entirely different thing on top of it. Not sure if I articulated that well, and it's not always a problem. I really like most of the tracks on Vespertine, but that album - and this one - are a bit long and difficult to get through.
There were a lot of things I liked about this though. "Family" and "Atom Dance" both have cool climaxes, with the latter bringing in a lot of backing vocals as the song starts to swell. "Quicksand" was interesting as it was probably the closest to a "traditional" pop song, and it reminded me of the last track off Medulla in that regard. "Black Lake" was my favorite though. Overall I think the longer tracks worked better because they had more time to evolve and grow. There was nothing I disliked but again the length made it a bit difficult for me to stay invested throughout the entire thing.
Back when I was obsessed with Nirvana I like this quite a bit. My opinion has cooled on it because there are some songs on here that aren't very good, but it also has some of the band's essentials.
BEA's top 1,000 albums:
606. A New World Record by Electric Light Orchestra
656. Songs for Swingin' Lovers by Frank Sinatra
675. Love Over Gold by Dire Straits
691. Artaud by Pescado Rabioso
696. The Final Cut by Pink Floyd
697. Time by Electric Light Orchestra
700. Toys in the Attic by Aerosmith
711. O by Damien Rice
731. Ceremonials by Florence + The Machine
733. Black Celebration by Depeche Mode _________________ And it's hard to be a human being. And it's harder as anything else.
Three Iron Maiden albums down now, and I'm guessing I'm just not ever going to be a fan of '80s heavy metal. Maybe it's the production of that time, I'm not sure, but I don't mind some '70s era heavy metal and more modern heavy metal, although still not something I go out of my way to listen to. As to this particular album it was better than the other two I've heard, musically just a little bit more interesting, and I sort of enjoyed the over the top theatrical vocals at times, and I found the opening track, the title track, and The Clairvoyant all decent songs, with the rest of the album okay. I give Seventh Son of a Seventh Son seven. 7/10, and 38/39 for 1988.
Black Celebration was one of my favourite Depeche Mode albums and is on my decade chart. Check it out!
Moving on to Blue's '80s chart, of which out of the 56 albums I have rated, 34 are also in my chart. That's an amazingly high number in common for me I think.
Top 97 Music Albums of the 1980s by babyBlueSedan (5 picks left)
12. The Number Of The Beast by Iron Maiden
15. Shoot Out The Lights by Richard & Linda Thompson
20. Anything You Sow by William Onyeabor
24. Pleased To Meet Me by The Replacements
25. Nail by Scraping Foetus Off The Wheel
26. Los Angeles by X
32. Warehouse: Songs And Stories by Hüsker Dü
33. Introspective by Pet Shop Boys
34. Hats by The Blue Nile
36. The Colour Of Spring by Talk Talk
Couple things here. One, I couldn't find all of the tracks for this one. Second, the ones I did hear didn't make me want to pursue finding the others that much. Too long, and too much "uhn tiss, uhn tiss, uhn tiss" production. Some tracks that were better than OK were "Levels of Scandal" and "Taste Your Lips". Oh, and a lot of the track title are related to intercourse, but I don't think this is what I'd ever put on with a lady present.
Lots of good ones there, but I'm going to go with Los Angeles by X
13. Sun Electric- Present (1996)
16. The Advent- Elements of Life (1995)
18. As One- Celestial Soul (1995)
19. Cari Lekebusch- Det Jag Vet (1999)
20. The Connection Machine- Painless (2004)
21. Darren Price- Under the Flightpath (1997)
23. Luke Slater's 7th Plain- My Yellow Wise Rug (1994)
24. Nexus 21- The Rhythm Of Life (1989)
25. Orlando Voorn- Ignitor (2007)
Alopecia by Why?
Well it's got a great production, fantastic lyrics and the songs are pretty catchy. You've become an expert in picking albums with hilarious lyrics recently chief Enjoyed it moderately after the first listen, and a lot after the second. Honestly there's a lot of highlights, but Song of the Sad Assassin was probs the best. The piano and almost chamber pop style (loved the background vocals) and then the addition of noisy guitar and the buildup to that final chorus... "Billy the Kid, did what he did, and he died". Mighty fine. This one too:
"These few presidents
Frowning in my pocket
Can persuade no god
To let me let you off"
And it seems like a real grower too. 8/10
(2)
Luke Slater next
(3)
RYM metal top 100 & SquishypuffDave's Top 100 Greatest Albums
Cryptopsy - None So Vile
Immolation - Close To The World Below
Autopsy - Mental Funeral
Demilich - Nespithe
Diamond Head - Lightning To The Nations
1. Deerhoof - The Runners Four
15. Neko Case - The Worse Things Get, The Harder I Fight, The Harder I Fight, The More I Love You
21. VHS Head - Persistence Of Vision
24. Gum Takes Tooth - Mirrors Fold
27. Geinoh Yamashirogumi - 輪廻交響楽 [Ecophony Rinne] _________________ Finally updated the overall chart
You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum
Enjoyed it moderately after the first listen, and a lot after the second. Honestly there's a lot of highlights, but Song of the Sad Assassin was probs the best. The piano and almost chamber pop style (loved the background vocals) and then the addition of noisy guitar and the buildup to that final chorus... "Billy the Kid, did what he did, and he died". Mighty fine. This one too:
