Most Acclaimed Albums - Alternative Selections - Music Diaries

DelBocaVista

Re: Demos
I do see how "this punk-garage/VU revival stuff should pretty much sound like that anyway", so that could make Modern Lovers qualify. The way I see it, it's a matter of intent. A recording "intended" as a demo just lays out the lyrics/melody/chords/some of the arrangement, with the rest to be added (or included in a new recording) later, so it shouldn't be subject to evaluation. Of course an album of demos of the White Album wouldn't count because there's already the official release. But being the one and only "official" release (as in the Modern Lovers case) is not necessarily enough. What qualifies, say, Springsteen's Nebraska is that he "sanctioned" it as official, whereas with Modern Lovers it was Warner doing that. What qualifies, say, Down Colorful Hill are the overdubs (made in 1992 to the 1989 recordings).

Re: Nevermind/Jagged Little Pill Exile/Volunteers ... Great points!

More:

Highway 61 Revisited - Bob Dylan
- Fire Of Love - Gun Club
- Cosmo's Factory - CCR?
- Fiery Furnaces

The Beatles - The Beatles
- The Madcap Laughs

Born To Run - Bruce Springsteen
- Beautiful Loser - Bob Seger
- Night Moves - Bob Seger

Marquee Moon - Television
- Feelies

Electric Ladyland - Jimi Hendrix
- Super Session

Led Zeppelin IV - Led Zeppelin
- Jane's Addiction

Beggar's Banquet - The Rolling Stones
- Fiery Furnaces

Remain in Light - Talking Heads
- Ege Bamyası - Can?
- P-funk

DelBocaVista

Blood on the Tracks - Bob Dylan
- John Prine

AfterHours

Gender: Male
Location: originally from scaruffi.com ;-)

DelBocaVista wrote:

Blood on the Tracks - Bob Dylan
- John Prine

Yes - great one! Added
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AfterHours

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Location: originally from scaruffi.com ;-)

DelBocaVista wrote:

Re: Demos
I do see how "this punk-garage/VU revival stuff should pretty much sound like that anyway", so that could make Modern Lovers qualify. The way I see it, it's a matter of intent. A recording "intended" as a demo just lays out the lyrics/melody/chords/some of the arrangement, with the rest to be added (or included in a new recording) later, so it shouldn't be subject to evaluation. Of course an album of demos of the White Album wouldn't count because there's already the official release. But being the one and only "official" release (as in the Modern Lovers case) is not necessarily enough. What qualifies, say, Springsteen's Nebraska is that he "sanctioned" it as official, whereas with Modern Lovers it was Warner doing that. What qualifies, say, Down Colorful Hill are the overdubs (made in 1992 to the 1989 recordings).

Re: Nevermind/Jagged Little Pill Exile/Volunteers ... Great points!

More:

Highway 61 Revisited - Bob Dylan
- Fire Of Love - Gun Club
- Cosmo's Factory - CCR?
- Fiery Furnaces

The Beatles - The Beatles
- The Madcap Laughs

Born To Run - Bruce Springsteen
- Beautiful Loser - Bob Seger
- Night Moves - Bob Seger

Marquee Moon - Television
- Feelies

Electric Ladyland - Jimi Hendrix
- Super Session

Led Zeppelin IV - Led Zeppelin
- Jane's Addiction

Beggar's Banquet - The Rolling Stones
- Fiery Furnaces

Remain in Light - Talking Heads
- Ege Bamyası - Can?
- P-funk

You definitely have a point on the demos, one I would probably even follow in most cases, but in this instance Modern Lovers seems pretty complete and brought to life as an album to me, and I'm probably going to stick with making an exception. Other types of exceptions I may make (eventually) is if an artist's work is only available in comp form but should still be listed due to importance/quality (for instance, someone like Robert Johnson who's most famous/best "album" may be 7/10+ but is obv only in comp form).

RE: Hwy61
All of those make sense in their own ways (Dylan is/was SO influential so it's hard not to hear him in so much significant music). They're each somewhere between "prominent enough correlation" to "not" and maybe all in the middle ground where I couldn't quite give them 1 asterisk but also might do so. So haven't decided on those yet and will probably revisit.

Re: White Album
Madcap Laughs is an intriguing idea for this one that I haven't considered before. Creative idea! I can see the possibility hanging there. Will revisit soon...

Re: Born To Run
Probably a yes to both of those, or at least in correlation to other Springsteen. Thank you for the reminder

Re: Marquee Moon
Hmmmmmm Think

Interesting point that I'll get back to you one sooner/later

Re: Electric Ladyland
Great suggestion. Been sooo long I think, so will have to get back to you

Re: Led Zep IV
Good one - JA is a possibility for this or maybe another Zep. Also for Guns N' Roses

Re: Beggar's Banq
Yep, Gallowsbird's Bark is a likely inclusion for this period and/or earlier Stones (not Satanic Majesty's of course, but before that)

Re: Remain in Light
Can is an intriguing one that somehow had never occured to me in relation to TH. Not sure why? Anyway, P-Funk is another excellent suggest

Thank you!
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AfterHours

Gender: Male
Location: originally from scaruffi.com ;-)

MISC NOTE: None of my asterisk/star ratings for the selections are "final", particularly for 1-star/asterisks. I am still playing with them and adjusting here and there. Some of the 1-asterisk/stars will fall off as a "median" more definitively develops for the selections in relation to each accompanying acclaimedmusic.net album, and then in relation to each other across the whole list (which will probably, in turn, cause some 2's to drop to 1, some 3's to drop to 2...).

I am trying to keep it consistent across the whole list, but it's of course an interesting balancing act, with many variables and with so many disparate albums.

It is intentional that I haven't defined more detailed parameters yet (from 1 star/asterisk to 4), because I am still working them out myself!

So, in offering recommendations soon or in the future, it is of no consequence that I might disagree with some here or some there and I wouldn't even consider a whole set of recs that I disagreed with to be a waste of time from anyone. It is likely more my fault than the person recommending them for the simple fact that I haven't given a very defined criteria so far.

Perhaps the best way to get a decent grip on it and hope to figure it out is to look over those already listed and do one's best to determine one's recs in alignment with those. But it's not a perfect system by any means and I don't expect supreme accuracy especially when it is still very much in-progress and the goal posts are still changing a little bit here and there as I go.

You are also welcome to recommend different star/asterisk ratings for those I've already listed. Ex: " ____________ album should be 3-stars instead of 2 because of..." Etc.
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fjooso

Hey guys. Are you posting your personal preferences or just the most popular albums of all time? Has anybody ever analyzed what are the most winning albums in the history of music? I am from https://populationstat.com/france/. And I have notices local radio stations are promoting local music. But some tracks are really a history, do you agree to it? They are really international and belong to the world.

Last edited by fjooso on 05/04/2020 16:29; edited 1 time in total

Spyglass
Resident Metalhead

Gender: Male
Location: The red dot on the map

Several of these albums are in my top 100, and a couple are in my top 10. Finding an album more superior to TVU&N is a daunting task. And three of those Beatles albums are practically perfect.
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AfterHours

Gender: Male
Location: originally from scaruffi.com ;-)

Spyglass wrote:

Several of these albums are in my top 100, and a couple are in my top 10. Finding an album more superior to TVU&N is a daunting task. And three of those Beatles albums are practically perfect.

I checked out your chart and really dig it. Love how you included your own thoughts/prose for your selections. I was wondering at first, whose quotes are these from until I realized ... it's yours!

Agreed on the VU and Nico! Almost impossible! Their creativity, emotional expression and conceptualization conveyed per voice and instrument and combining into the overall sound world (truly nary a moment wasted to further develop their singular art throughout each of the songs) is unlikely to ever be repeated -- and I'm not sure it could be no matter how expert or how hard one tried. They were each so uniquely individual, the band as a whole an extremely improbable combination of talents and insights, somehow forged so that they are all so perfectly aligned to their characterizations and their astonishing abject expressionist sound "frescoes" that encapsulate and foretell the remainder of the century as if they already lay in the rubble and ruins of its aftermath, the whole of its anxieties and fatalistic preoccupations laid bare, exhausted, haunting them, luring them forth until finally in its deafening, apocalyptic majesty.
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mianfei

Gender: Male
Age: 46
Location: Carlton North

Quote:

The Queen is Dead - The Smiths (1986) [7.1/10]

Superior Alternatives:

Additional Alternatives:

Notes/Reminders/TBD:

. . .

46 Stevie Wonder Innervisions 1973
47 Pixies Doolittle 1989
48 Rolling stones Sticky fingers 1971
49 Prince Purple rain 1984
50 Love Forever changes 1967

#51 - #75 (rankings as of March 2020)

51 Beck Odelay 1996
52 Joni Mitchell Blue 1971
53 Neil Young After the goldrush 1970
54 Jeff Buckley Grace 1994
55 Stone roses The Stone roses 1989
56 Sly and the family Stone There's a riot goin' on 1971
57 Band The Band 1969
58 My bloody Valentine Loveless 1991
59 Portishead Dummy 1994
60 Fleetwood mac Rumours 1977
61 John Coltrane A love supreme 1965
62 Sonic youth Daydream nation 1988
63 Guns n' roses Appetite for destruction 1987
64 Kanye West My beautiful dark twisted fantasy 2010
65 Clash The Clash 1977
66 Captain Beefheart and the Magic band Trout mask replica 1969
67 Joy division Unknown pleasures 1979
68 Otis Redding Otis blue - Otis Redding sings soul 1965
69 R.E.M. Murmur 1983
70 David Bowie Hunky dory 1971
71 John Lennon John Lennon/Plastic Ono band 1970
72 Carole King Tapestry 1971
73 Paul Simon Graceland 1986
74 De la soul 3 feet high and rising 1989
75 Wilco Yankee hotel Foxtrot 2002

#76 - #100 (rankings as of March 2020)

76 DJ Shadow Endtroducing 1996
77 Oasis (What's the story) Morning glory? 1995
78 White stripes Elephant 2003
79 Radiohead The bends 1995
80 U2 Achtung baby 1991
81 Jesus and Mary chain Psychocandy 1985
82 Miles Davis Bitches brew 1970
83 Led zeppelin Led zeppelin 2 1969
84 Lou Reed Transformer 1972
85 Radiohead In rainbows 2007
86 Bob Dylan Bringing it all back home 1965
87 Primal scream Screamadelica 1991
88 Elvis Costello This year's model 1978
89 Derek and the Dominos Layla and other assorted love songs 1970
90 Band Music from big pink 1968
91 Sufjan Stevens Illinoise 2005
92 Tom Waits Rain dogs 1985
93 Oasis Definitely maybe 1994
94 Aretha Franklin I never loved a man the way I love you 1967
95 John Lennon Imagine 1971
96 Van Morrison Moondance 1970
97 Neil Young Harvest 1972
98 Stooges Fun house 1970
99 Iggy and the Stooges Raw power 1973
100. Pixies Surfer Rosa 1988

I found your original lists of superior and other alternatives worthwhile enough that I would be interested to see what you would recommend for The Queen Is Dead (and why was that album not listed originally?), Blue Lines (I might ask about Lamb in that context) and for most albums between 46 and 100 on Acclaimed Music.

AfterHours

Gender: Male
Location: originally from scaruffi.com ;-)

mianfei wrote:

Quote:

The Queen is Dead - The Smiths (1986) [7.1/10]

Superior Alternatives:

Additional Alternatives:

Notes/Reminders/TBD:

. . .

46 Stevie Wonder Innervisions 1973
47 Pixies Doolittle 1989
48 Rolling stones Sticky fingers 1971
49 Prince Purple rain 1984
50 Love Forever changes 1967

#51 - #75 (rankings as of March 2020)

51 Beck Odelay 1996
52 Joni Mitchell Blue 1971
53 Neil Young After the goldrush 1970
54 Jeff Buckley Grace 1994
55 Stone roses The Stone roses 1989
56 Sly and the family Stone There's a riot goin' on 1971
57 Band The Band 1969
58 My bloody Valentine Loveless 1991
59 Portishead Dummy 1994
60 Fleetwood mac Rumours 1977
61 John Coltrane A love supreme 1965
62 Sonic youth Daydream nation 1988
63 Guns n' roses Appetite for destruction 1987
64 Kanye West My beautiful dark twisted fantasy 2010
65 Clash The Clash 1977
66 Captain Beefheart and the Magic band Trout mask replica 1969
67 Joy division Unknown pleasures 1979
68 Otis Redding Otis blue - Otis Redding sings soul 1965
69 R.E.M. Murmur 1983
70 David Bowie Hunky dory 1971
71 John Lennon John Lennon/Plastic Ono band 1970
72 Carole King Tapestry 1971
73 Paul Simon Graceland 1986
74 De la soul 3 feet high and rising 1989
75 Wilco Yankee hotel Foxtrot 2002

#76 - #100 (rankings as of March 2020)

76 DJ Shadow Endtroducing 1996
77 Oasis (What's the story) Morning glory? 1995
78 White stripes Elephant 2003
79 Radiohead The bends 1995
80 U2 Achtung baby 1991
81 Jesus and Mary chain Psychocandy 1985
82 Miles Davis Bitches brew 1970
83 Led zeppelin Led zeppelin 2 1969
84 Lou Reed Transformer 1972
85 Radiohead In rainbows 2007
86 Bob Dylan Bringing it all back home 1965
87 Primal scream Screamadelica 1991
88 Elvis Costello This year's model 1978
89 Derek and the Dominos Layla and other assorted love songs 1970
90 Band Music from big pink 1968
91 Sufjan Stevens Illinoise 2005
92 Tom Waits Rain dogs 1985
93 Oasis Definitely maybe 1994
94 Aretha Franklin I never loved a man the way I love you 1967
95 John Lennon Imagine 1971
96 Van Morrison Moondance 1970
97 Neil Young Harvest 1972
98 Stooges Fun house 1970
99 Iggy and the Stooges Raw power 1973
100. Pixies Surfer Rosa 1988

I found your original lists of superior and other alternatives worthwhile enough that I would be interested to see what you would recommend for The Queen Is Dead (and why was that album not listed originally?), Blue Lines (I might ask about Lamb in that context) and for most albums between 46 and 100 on Acclaimed Music.

Thanks for the reminder. I just hadn't got back around to updating this, that's all.

Queen is Dead is an interesting one. I'd have to think about it a bit but... "Superior" albums that I would rate alongside or above it might be The Cure's Pornography, Disintegration. Perhaps Unknown Pleasures ... though they have the post-punk and the bent towards a similar sort of darkness, they don't really have the same comedic bite; they're more pure tragedies instead of tragi-comic ... Plus, Smiths are much more a "pop" incarnation than Joy Division). The best albums of T-Rex, possibly, The Byrds, REM, The Kinks, Scott Walker, Sisters of Mercy, Echo and the Bunnymen's Ocean Rain ... And... The Doors is probably a bit too much of a stretch even if tonally and dramatically, they are at least partially the source of this sort of thing... Black Heart Procession 2, although much folkier, is an interesting thought (would Nick Drake, such as Five Leaves Left, be going a bit too far?) ... Talking Heads (too neurotic?) ... Hmmm, Roxy Music.. Anyway, I'll give it more precision thinking as soon as I come back around to updating this.

Really like your chart by the way! Easily among the more interesting ones on the whole site (dig the write ups too). And I am jealous that you've discovered the "secret" magic to Moondance. I really like the album but am somewhat baffled by its masterpiece status, especially if compared to Astral Weeks. I am probably missing some angle on it that I, for whatever reason, have never quite locked into.
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