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Like you said, it's an awesome movie.
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Consensus Top 350 Albums of All-Time: 68. Automatic for the People – R.E.M. (195 Viewers)
- Thread starter Dr. Octopus
- Start date
New Binky the Doormat
Footballguy
I never knew that
was used by Hot Chip in
The more you know ...
awesome pull kupcho! I had no idea.
New Binky the Doormat
Footballguy
such a tough one to cut - this album was a part of my core listening in my mid-teens
tough choice for the single selection - Nineteen Hundred and Eighty-Five is a solid dark horse
KarmaPolice
Footballguy
Another that was right on the edge of getting in. This was an essential metal album for me in HS, but again I gave the slight bump to others I listen to more at the time of submission. I need to get it in the rotation more though.154 (tie). Vulgar Display of Power - Pantera (157 points)
@Scoresman #9
@Dan Lambskin #22
@Long Ball Larry #22
Vulgar Display of Power is the sixth studio album by American heavy metal band Pantera. Released on February 25, 1992, through Atco Records, it was the band's second collaboration with producer Terry Date, after having worked with him on their breakthrough album Cowboys from Hell (1990).
The album was well received by both critics and fans, and is Pantera's highest selling album to date, eventually being certified double platinum. It is often considered one of the most influential heavy metal albums of the 1990s.
Dr. Octopus
Footballguy
I honestly feel bad for people that don’t like the Beatles - they’re missing out on such joy.
Psychopav
Help us, Joebi-Wan Brynobi, you're our only ho
Nice! Is it weird that all of the participants rating this top 70 are men? I certainly appreciate this album for the insights it gives to the female experience.
To that end, if you don't want to go with one of the singles listed here, I would recommend "Me and a Gun" or "Mother" for the playlist.
KarmaPolice
Footballguy
With you, MAC and KP all loading up with high rankings, I'm sure we probably will see a 5th.4 and I’ll be shocked if we don’t get a 5th. Unfortunately I don’t think the EP will make itPeople calling the Beatles overrated and we've had three albums by Tool.
I mean you’ve got a singer and a drummer who are 2 of the best of all time at their craft (certainly on the Prog rock / metal genre) and then great bass and guitar players
Only 5 albums and an EP in 33 years should tell you they’re not just pumping out crap and take their time to make sure their albums are beer perfect
Anyway I’m starting to sound like Douchey Tool Fan so I’ll just shut up now
These voting blocs are giving some really unreliable results (you know who you are)
Unreliable? This is a consensus ranking of (a small sample size) people's top/favorite albums - and we are accomplishing that. I'm actually enjoying it not being a cookie cutter countdown.
I also think the voting blocks have been interesting to see developing - not that I think anyone did anything nefarious or underhanded like JML claimed he was considering doing - in other words I think a majority of the voting blocks are coincidental and just similar tastes.
There's one that looks a little "pre-planned" but that could also just be coincidental/similar taste situation and even if not, its not a huge deal. This is for fun and discussion about albums we love.
Unreliable as in...skewed? I mean, we've already discussed that we are going to have a lot more rock than rap or country. We are (largely) a bunch of middle-upper-middle aged men ranking albums. I doubt ANY top 300 from a larger sample size would have 5 Tool albums.
It isn't a criticism of you or the process. Still having a great time.
But I did find the irony of someone complaining The freaking Beatles were overrated as we introduced the 4th Tool album to the countdown very rich.
I assume this is me since I said as much and just voted for a Tool album. I don't see the irony though. I only voted for one because in context of albums, I think their albums are overrated here and are not consistent start to finish listens.
The other person who agreed with me didn't vote for any Tool, so it's possible they think they are being overrated too,
Dr. Octopus
Footballguy
There’s only 3 women participating.
KarmaPolice
Footballguy
VERY pleasantly surprised this on is on the countdown!
My favorites here are Winter and Tear in Your Hand. Great album. There was a dude I had to train with when I was delivering pizzas for a bit who was the very stereotypical metal head looking guy. I went to HS with him and remember talking about Slayer and all the greats. We get in the car and he had been blaring Little Earthquakes. I gave him a little joking side look and he said something like "can't listen to ****ing metal all the time.". Very true.
Dan Lambskin
Footballguy
To be fair I don’t not like them, but rarely do I ever find myself purposely putting them on. But if they come on the radio or whatever I’m not changing the channel like I would with U2 or Van Halen or something
I listed to the Red and Blue albums and Sgt Peppers a ton on vinyl as a kid so I definitely enjoy their hits, just never really took a deep dive into the rest of their stuff
I do think they tend to be a bit overrated though, I just kind of see them as a 60s 70s pop band with some catchy songs
KarmaPolice
Footballguy
Dr. Octopus
Footballguy
And Einstein was just some science guy that had a few nice theories.
Scoresman
Footballguy
154 (tie). Vulgar Display of Power - Pantera (157 points)
@Scoresman #9
@Dan Lambskin #22
@Long Ball Larry #22
Vulgar Display of Power is the sixth studio album by American heavy metal band Pantera. Released on February 25, 1992, through Atco Records, it was the band's second collaboration with producer Terry Date, after having worked with him on their breakthrough album Cowboys from Hell (1990).
The album was well received by both critics and fans, and is Pantera's highest selling album to date, eventually being certified double platinum. It is often considered one of the most influential heavy metal albums of the 1990s.
Hell yes, this one made the list. Just a great no-skip album for me.
For a playlist, I would pick This Love, although it was close between that and ****ing Hostile and Walk
KarmaPolice
Footballguy
Exactly, and much of it comes down to albums. I can put on more Floyd, LZ (besides IV), Jimi, Thin Lizzy, Stones, Stevie, Neil, etc.. dozens of artists we could name from the era and I expect to see more of soon enough, than I can a Beatles album. They have fantastic songs and are talented as hell, but it seems on each album there is one or two songs I really dislike, so they never got integrated into my rotation outside of Revolver and Rubber Soul.
Sort of like Tool, I prefer them in a playlist format so I can pick and choose what to listen to. I really liked Krista's countdown and most of those songs, but this is an album draft so the above applies.
krista4
Footballguy
It's a little hard to take seriously the opinion of someone who admits having not listened to most of their work, but then is comfortable being so declarative about what their sound was. If I didn't like Dan so much, I might use a strong noun to describe it.
Psychopav
Help us, Joebi-Wan Brynobi, you're our only ho
Still, I assumed that if this album were to show up it would need some female support.
krista4
Footballguy
Actually I'm in sort of a similar boat in that each album has at least one song I don't like much.
krista4
Footballguy
zamboni
Footballguy
Yes, it’s been all downhill for them since then.
Dan Lambskin
Footballguy
i think i had 3 and another 2 female fronted bands
BrutalPenguin
Footballguy
Almost every party I went to in the mid 90s played some or part of this album. Tori, to me, is a tougher, grittier Billy Joel.
Every song on the album is great, but I often skip Me and a Gun. It's powerful, it's haunting, it's important, but it's just too hard for me to listen to. It was bold to make it the first single.
My favorites on the album are Precious Things, Tear in Your Hand, and Little Earthquakes, but I'd be interested in what IB has to say.
Dan Lambskin
Footballguy
I mean those albums cover like 25% of their work or more definitely enough sample size for me
Don Quixote
Footballguy
Are catchy songs a bad thing? Should I be listening to some more songs that aren’t catchy?
Dr. Octopus
Footballguy
There’s been a few non/catchy albums chosen so far if you’re curious enough.
New Binky the Doormat
Footballguy
your "american cheese" as a top cheese schtick makes so much sense now ...
Idiot Boxer
Footballguy
Since they are widely considered the best band of all time, then it is impossible for them to be underrated. They can only be rated correctly or overrated. I get the complaint that they're overrated. I think they're properly rated or in the discussion...With you, MAC and KP all loading up with high rankings, I'm sure we probably will see a 5th.4 and I’ll be shocked if we don’t get a 5th. Unfortunately I don’t think the EP will make itPeople calling the Beatles overrated and we've had three albums by Tool.
I mean you’ve got a singer and a drummer who are 2 of the best of all time at their craft (certainly on the Prog rock / metal genre) and then great bass and guitar players
Only 5 albums and an EP in 33 years should tell you they’re not just pumping out crap and take their time to make sure their albums are beer perfect
Anyway I’m starting to sound like Douchey Tool Fan so I’ll just shut up now
These voting blocs are giving some really unreliable results (you know who you are)
Unreliable? This is a consensus ranking of (a small sample size) people's top/favorite albums - and we are accomplishing that. I'm actually enjoying it not being a cookie cutter countdown.
I also think the voting blocks have been interesting to see developing - not that I think anyone did anything nefarious or underhanded like JML claimed he was considering doing - in other words I think a majority of the voting blocks are coincidental and just similar tastes.
There's one that looks a little "pre-planned" but that could also just be coincidental/similar taste situation and even if not, its not a huge deal. This is for fun and discussion about albums we love.
Unreliable as in...skewed? I mean, we've already discussed that we are going to have a lot more rock than rap or country. We are (largely) a bunch of middle-upper-middle aged men ranking albums. I doubt ANY top 300 from a larger sample size would have 5 Tool albums.
It isn't a criticism of you or the process. Still having a great time.
But I did find the irony of someone complaining The freaking Beatles were overrated as we introduced the 4th Tool album to the countdown very rich.
I assume this is me since I said as much and just voted for a Tool album. I don't see the irony though. I only voted for one because in context of albums, I think their albums are overrated here and are not consistent start to finish listens.
Tool...with 5 albums in the top 350 here...is definitely overrated. And I'm not saying Tool isn't very good.
Dan Lambskin
Footballguy
I put them in a similar vein as The Beach Boys. Highly influential and a lot of great songs but not something I listen to regularly
Sort of like the Model T, great car for its time and paved the way for the future of automobiles, but not something I want to drive around in now. And while there might be some great historical significance, I’m ok admitting there’s a lot of better, newer cars on the market
Dan Lambskin
Footballguy
I had to listen to Lee Van Cleef like 10 times after seeing Primus play it the other day. Probably gonna get stuck in my head again now thanks Krista
Dan Lambskin
Footballguy
Since they are widely considered the best band of all time, then it is impossible for them to be underrated. They can only be rated correctly or overrated. I get the complaint that they're overrated. I think they're properly rated or in the discussion...With you, MAC and KP all loading up with high rankings, I'm sure we probably will see a 5th.4 and I’ll be shocked if we don’t get a 5th. Unfortunately I don’t think the EP will make itPeople calling the Beatles overrated and we've had three albums by Tool.
I mean you’ve got a singer and a drummer who are 2 of the best of all time at their craft (certainly on the Prog rock / metal genre) and then great bass and guitar players
Only 5 albums and an EP in 33 years should tell you they’re not just pumping out crap and take their time to make sure their albums are beer perfect
Anyway I’m starting to sound like Douchey Tool Fan so I’ll just shut up now
These voting blocs are giving some really unreliable results (you know who you are)
Unreliable? This is a consensus ranking of (a small sample size) people's top/favorite albums - and we are accomplishing that. I'm actually enjoying it not being a cookie cutter countdown.
I also think the voting blocks have been interesting to see developing - not that I think anyone did anything nefarious or underhanded like JML claimed he was considering doing - in other words I think a majority of the voting blocks are coincidental and just similar tastes.
There's one that looks a little "pre-planned" but that could also just be coincidental/similar taste situation and even if not, its not a huge deal. This is for fun and discussion about albums we love.
Unreliable as in...skewed? I mean, we've already discussed that we are going to have a lot more rock than rap or country. We are (largely) a bunch of middle-upper-middle aged men ranking albums. I doubt ANY top 300 from a larger sample size would have 5 Tool albums.
It isn't a criticism of you or the process. Still having a great time.
But I did find the irony of someone complaining The freaking Beatles were overrated as we introduced the 4th Tool album to the countdown very rich.
I assume this is me since I said as much and just voted for a Tool album. I don't see the irony though. I only voted for one because in context of albums, I think their albums are overrated here and are not consistent start to finish listens.
Tool...with 5 albums in the top 350 here...is definitely overrated. And I'm not saying Tool isn't very good.
Maybe you just don’t understand their complex time signatures
simey
Footballguy
It was tough for me too. Wings was a huge part of my 70s listening experience. I associate them so much with that time. I ended up going with another album for my Wings fix, and that album is the reason I didn't go with Help!.
Idiot Boxer
Footballguy
Silent All These Years is what brought me to the album. Once I found the album, my favorites were Precious Things, Happy Phantom and Crucify, probably in that order
krista4
Footballguy
Looks like @Mookie Gizzy is in the thread. Whatcha got for the selection for Band on the Run?
I think I've only had high score on one album so far, and that was a shared credit with simey.
I think I've only had high score on one album so far, and that was a shared credit with simey.
BrutalPenguin
Footballguy
Let's go with Precious Things
Idiot Boxer
Footballguy
Are you forserious?
Mookie Gizzy
Footballguy
I feel that as a child a lot of our musical upbringing starts with our older siblings playing what is “cool”. As an only child growing up in the 70’s I didn’t have that, so I got my taste in music from top 40 radio, us who were alive then remember what that was like, and my parents. There’s going to be 1 album on this list that I’d call a mom pick. So far I count 9 Dad picks. This is probably my first or second most played album of my lifetime, I played the crap out of this when I was 4-5. I played the crap out the CD player when I bought it in my late teens. I stream the crap out of it now. I’ll crap the crap out of whatever format comes next. Someone please add Jet to the play
Idiot Boxer
Footballguy
7 female artists or all female bands with the highest at #3 over all with another 3 bands fronted by women with the highest at #1.Are you forserious?
Still probably an under-representation.
Psychopav
Help us, Joebi-Wan Brynobi, you're our only ho
5 here, all solo artists.7 female artists or all female bands with the highest at #3 over all with another 3 bands fronted by women with the highest at #1.Are you forserious?
Still probably an under-representation.
eta: only 1 higher than Tori Amos (at #19), and if we see it in this countdown I'll eat my hat.
Idiot Boxer
Footballguy
If my #3 DOESN'T make the list, I'll eat my hat.
krista4
Footballguy
My prior write-up of this album:
From the time it was released in 1970 (on the same day as the similarly titled and packaged album by Yoko), this has been considered John’s masterpiece, never to be repeated. And of course it couldn’t be repeated, given the source of the songs was a deep emotional cleansing that couldn’t have been re-attempted with the same honesty and depth. That doesn’t mean this was immediately a hit with the public, though it did reach #6 on the US charts. As Ringo termed it, the album didn’t contain any “toe-tappers” that would result in hit songs.
Ringo was right; these songs weren’t put together to be commercial or to provide a laid-back listening experience. Instead, the album’s songs arose from the five months of primal scream therapy that John and Yoko undertook under the guidance of Arthur Janov, the psychotherapist who developed the therapy, which (I’m simplifying this significantly) encourages patients to relive repressed traumatic experiences and feelings from childhood in the belief that the repression of such memories leads to untold emotional damage in adults. When John and Yoko received Janov’s book in the mail from its publisher, which circulated the book unrequested to famous people hoping to find some endorsements in advance of its publication, John turned to Yoko and said, “It’s you,” in reference to her vocal stylings, and after devouring the book quickly became convinced this was exactly what he needed. Though this form of therapy remains controversial to say the least, it resonated with John, who’d suffered, among other things, the near-full abandonment by his father, his shuttling at the age of six to his Aunt Mimi to be raised by her, and then the death of his mother Julia in a car accident when he was 18. In the midst of his therapy, however, visa issues brought it to an abrupt end. To continue using the therapeutic experiences he'd learned with Janov, John then composed the most personal and intense songs of his life, directly addressing his feelings of abandonment and other suffering by unleashing a torrent of raw pain. Not even “Help!” had been so blunt in relaying his visceral emotion. Although John did not set out to make a commercial record, he did believe that the feelings he expressed were universal, and in that sense he wasn’t simply acting out his own needs but hoped that the audience could connect and recognize their own stories within the songs.
As with the lyrical content of the songs, the production of this album was likewise raw and stark, which might be a surprise given that Phil Spector was involved. Unlike Spector’s usual Wall of Sound, these were produced in a simple, sparse style, but with an in-your-face intensity. In addition to John’s use of his guitar in a primitive (John’s word) style to accentuate the honesty of the lyrics, he also instructed his tiny band – consisting only of Voormann and Ringo for the vast majority of the material – to adopt this same primitive style. The idea, they were told, was not to strive for perfection but to play with honest energy. Their tight playing on these songs provides a strong foundation and an energy for the overlay of John’s lyrical and musical brutality.
Each song on this album other than the 49-second “My Mummy’s Dead” will be on my countdown. These songs so clearly and directly speak for themselves that I needn’t say any more, but I’m sure I will anyway.
The cover art is a photo taken of John and Yoko at their estate by one of their assistants; a nearly identical photo graces the cover of Yoko's simultaneously released album, except with the two of them switched in position. It's such a peaceful and serene cover considering what's inside.
Track listing:
- Mother
- Hold On
- I Found Out
- Working Class Hero
- Isolation
- Remember
- Love
- Well Well Well
- Look At Me
- God
- My Mummy’s Dead
krista4
Footballguy
krista4
Footballguy
And my write-up for this one. If anyone doesn't know the story of the recording of this album, you really should.
After the disappointments of Wild Life and Red Rose Speedway, a wary public didn’t immediately warm to this album. The initial response was somewhat tepid, with the album stalling out in the bottom rungs of the US top 10. Then, nearly two months after the release, “Jet” was put out as its first single, hitting #7 on the US charts and spurring new interest in the album, which then reached #1. After the album had sunk again a couple of months later, the “Band On The Run” single was released, which hit #1, selling over a million copies, and shot the album to the top spot once again. Critical response to the record was generally very good from the beginning, with my favorite being as follows: “Band On The Run is a great album. If anybody ever puts down McCartney in your presence, bust him in the snoot and play him this. He will thank you for it afterwards.” Of course, the critical consensus now is that this is one of Paul’s best post-Beatles works, and it continues to be his highest-selling post-Beatles record, having sold over six million copies.
As previously mentioned in another ---INTERLUDE---, Paul wanted an exotic locale for this recording, in order to soak in another culture that might contribute favorably to the feel of the songs and recording. After garnering a list of all of EMI’s international recording studios, he chose Lagos, Nigeria. Also as previously mentioned, Denny Seiwell and Henry McCullough quit Wings just before the band was to leave for Lagos, leaving Wings as a trio. As a result, Paul picked up the drums – unsurprisingly since he not only handled drums during Ringo’s temporary resignation during the White Album sessions but was always trying to take them over when Ringo would merely step out of the room - in addition to many of the lead guitar parts.
To say that the experience in Nigeria was not the glamorous one Paul had envisioned – “lie on the beach all day, doing nothing…breeze in the studios and record” - would be a huge understatement, and the story of the trip has become legendary in its retelling. On the “not so bad” side, the studio and equipment were not exactly of the usual standard, containing only one eight-track machine and a broken control desk. On the “a bit worse side,” Nigeria had been torn by civil war and wracked by disease, including cholera, an outbreak of which caused EMI to send a letter to Paul suggesting he should not go; he received the letter upon his return. Still worse was an incident while recording in which, while overdubbing a vocal, Paul felt like his lung had collapsed as he couldn’t catch his breath. When he went outside for air, he fainted in what everyone thought was a heart attack, convinced he had just dropped dead before their eyes. Later it was diagnosed as a bronchial spasm from too much smoking.
Continuing to make our way down the list, we also have Fela Kuti publicly accusing Paul of having come to Africa “to steal the black man’s music.” Paul invited Kuti to the studio to listen to the songs and prove that it was not their intention, a meeting that went so well that Ginger Baker, who was recording with Kuti at the time, invited the Wings gang to record at his much more modern studio (which they did, recording “Picasso’s Last Words” there). It also went well in another respect for Paul. Let’s hear him tell it: “"[Fela] came over with his 30 wives and a studio full of ganja. He was one wild cat, he used to have a bottle of whiskey in which was marinating a pound of pot... in the whiskey. We turned out to be real good friends, he got it, he said 'no you're not doing that.’ Ginger Baker was there, he was his big friend. So, Fela invites us to his club which was outside Lagos, the Afrika Shrine. This was a few of us, little white people, me and a couple of friends. So we go out there and I say, '"let's not smoke any pot." Cause it's pretty crazy, we're out in the jungle and it's pitch black. So we're sitting there with Fela [at The Shrine] and one of Fela's guys comes up, he's crouching and he's got a packet of Rothmans cigarettes. They're all joints. He goes, '"You want one of these?" I say, "no thanks," so he carries around and gets to Ginger Baker who says "Yeah man! Sure!'" Then Fela shouts, "Ginger Baker! The only man I know never refuse a smoke!" So I go, "A-ha! Ok, I'll have one of those." Man. I tripped out. It was so strong. It was stronger than anything I've ever had, I don't know if there was something in it. But in the end it was a good night.”
The coup de grace of the visit to Nigeria, with no happy weed-laden positive twist, was Paul and Linda being robbed at knifepoint one night, losing not just money and valuables, but a bag that contained a notebook with unfinished songs and demos of songs still to be recorded. Gah! Those have never turned up again. To top it all off, when they finally were able to try to return home, their flight was delayed a day due to a brake failure. I’m taking “brake failure” in a tie for #1 with “pilot is bombed” and “pilot has bomb” on my list of “reasons I will just wait a day for a new plane.”
Despite all the issues, or maybe because of them (see my working theory that Paul works best under stress), the recording sessions were productive, with almost all of the songs from this album having been primarily recorded in Nigeria (with the notable exception of “Jet”), and overdubs and orchestral bits being added after the group’s return to London. Since this is a MINI-LUDE about a record everyone knows, I’m not going to talk a lot about the structure and contents of the album, leaving that to the discussion of the individual songs that will be coming forthwith, except to point out the common theme of freedom running through the songs and acknowledge the excellent sequencing on this album. Holy hell, I just typed up the track listing, though, and have to say that the five songs comprising side one of this album is one of the best sides of any record in this countdown.
Cover art is a photo that includes six moderate-ish celebrities in addition to Paul, Linda, and Laine, appearing to have their prison escape thwarted. I’d suggest a connection to the “liberation” theme of the album, except it looks like they’re getting caught. Hmmm.
Track listing:
- Band On The Run
- Jet
- Bluebird
- Mrs. Vandebilt
- Let Me Roll It
- Mamunia
- No Words
- Helen Wheels
- Picasso’s Last Words (Drink To Me)
- Nineteen Hundred Eighty Five
zamboni
Footballguy
Idiot Boxer
Footballguy
Those are some unattractive women.
shuke
Black Ice Skeptic
There have been some very surprising things posted in this thread, but this is now on the leaderboard. I don't even know if I know anything about this album. Will check it out later.
Dr. Octopus
Footballguy
I only have one, and it was already revealed, Blondie.Are you forserious?
I like women and all, but....
Dr. Octopus
Footballguy
well, and a man
Dr. Octopus
Footballguy
Yeah I partied a lot in the 90s, and it was never playing anywhere in my crowd.
Psychopav
Help us, Joebi-Wan Brynobi, you're our only ho
Oh, and one who later came to identify as a woman but identified as a man when the music was composed. I don't expect that album to see the light of day in this countdown either.5 here, all solo artists.7 female artists or all female bands with the highest at #3 over all with another 3 bands fronted by women with the highest at #1.Are you forserious?
Still probably an under-representation.
eta: only 1 higher than Tori Amos (at #19), and if we see it in this countdown I'll eat my hat.
