Now this is how it started: THE ILX 1980s ALBUM POLL RESULTS!!

maaaaaaybe Graceland, if we're lucky

Graceland is a lock, dude. possibly a dark horse candidate for top 5 imo.

Surely not even ILM could have a list with def leppard in it but not metallica and slayer.

― pfunkboy (Herman G. Neuname), Monday, 30 November 2009 02:30 (13 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

it boggo the mind

― a dimension that can only be accessed through self-immolation (contenderizer), Monday, 30 November 2009 02:31 (13 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

Infact I'm changing it to Surely not even ILM could have a list with def leppard in it but not metallica and slayer AND AC/DC.

― pfunkboy (Herman G. Neuname), Monday, 30 November 2009 02:34 (13 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

I'm now changing it to
"Infact I'm changing it to Surely not even ILM could have a list with def leppard in it but not metallica and slayer AND AC/DC AND IRON MAIDEN."

But I cant really complain as I think I didn't vote for any of them cuz I assumed others would. But clearly even if I had them all in my top 5 it wouldn't have got them in the top 100 anyway (unless they're actually gonna be in the top 20, which I have my doubts)

am REALLY hoping that Psychocandy turns out to be a surprise omission.

it better not be

I think we'll see Psychocandy fairly soon, I don't think it will trouble the top 5.

This Heat are going top 5, right guys? Right? Anyone?

They had my vote.

I voted for This Heat but I think they got edged down pretty low in my ballot by the final version.

In other first-album-70s-second-album-80s post-punk news, I gave a nice high vote for Swell Maps and I guess it's way too late for them. I can dream though.

Graceland is a lock, dude. possibly a dark horse candidate for top 5 imo.

I hope you're right. Without giving too much away, it was way high on my list. But next to all of that other stuff, it feels like a pretty milquetoast choice.

don't forget Paul's Boutique. Would not be surprised to see it top 10 or even top 5.

21. Paul Simon - Graceland [1986] (237 points, 17 votes, 1 first place vote)

http://i35.tinypic.com/1zee9ty.jpg

he took basic tracks belonging to musicians from an entirely different country and culture then without altering the music itself (as in the case of at least gumboots),
and put his own usual autobiographical noo-yawk lyrical spiel over the top and claim all credit on the sleeve. it's paul simon : graceland to the naked eye after all. that's the gist of it isn't it ?

obviously ladysmith black mambazo would have had a very different, way less succesful career without him. it did much to put 'world music' on the cd players and coffee tables of homes across middle engerland.

i dont like that record as a whole much, the one before (hearts and bones) and the one after (rhythm of the saints) especially are like waaaaaaay under-rated and fantastic. it has it's moments.

i was made to study graceland for GCSE music 4 years after it had been released which can't have helped.

― piscesboy, 25. syyskuuta 2003 17:23

such outrage over authorship. none of you clever rock critics seem confused over the collaborative process behind the record. are you simply being outraged on behalf of those people who are being 'misled' by Simon's name on the cover?

Nearly 20 years later on, Ladysmith Black Mambazo's gotten a fair share of props. Clarify the problem with the album that got the spotlight shining in their direction beyond snarky one-liners, I'm interested.

― (Jon L), 26. syyskuuta 2003 0:49

Couple thoughts:

At this distance, the album is both a classic and overrated. There is an awful lot of filler on the second side. But the first six songs are among the best Simon has ever written, musically and lyrically. Boy and Graceland, especially, have fabulous lyrics, and Diamonds remains stunningly pretty. Nothing on Rhythm of the Saints or Hearts and Bones -- both of which I like a lot -- really comes close to those.

The colonialism charge is completely misplaced. This was totally different than, say, Joni Mitchell's Jungle Line, where she recorded over loops of field recordings of African drums, and used those sounds as a metaphor for mystery, darkness, man's primitive nature, primal truth, etc. Simon was inspired by a new kind of music he heard, but he was never using it in an objectified way. His use of township jive for hipster New York narratives emphasized the sophistication and (gulp) universality of the music, not its exoticism. He was using African music much the way Kurt Weill used blues in Mahagonny, or Mahler used Chinese music in Das Lied von der Erde, or Cheb Khaled used Irish music in Abdul Qadr, or David Byrne uses Brazilian music all the time, or, for that matter, all of alt-country: acts of cross-cultural engagement and respect, not appropriation.

And, just to make things clear to those who were not around then, Simon bent over backwards to credit his African collaborators at the time. Not just Ladysmith Black Mambazo, but also especially Ray Phiri (guitar) and Baghiti Khumalo (bass), both of whom also contributed to Rhythm of the Saints and toured with Simon for years. But there was never any question that these were Paul Simon songs (except for the one song that was recorded over a pre-existing track). That is part of what gave the project its strangeness and excitement.

― Vornado (Vornado), 8. helmikuuta 2005 17:08

I was raised on this album and I think it's fantastic. It inspired me to buy straight township jive records are even better.

― Squirrel_Police (Squirrel_Police), 6. lokakuuta 2006 0:19

Lol.

ha i knew i was overshooting with the top 5 speculation but it was definitely always gonna be here

in re: def leppard, they were a pop band much more than a metal band, so they pick up pop-voter votes that metallica and slayer don't. how that excuses the absence of back in black, i don't know.

(of course, it's not actually absent yet...)

I think you're right, back in black has a better chance of placing than Slayer, Maiden or even Metallica. Which would mean there's a couple of hard rock albums in the top 100 but zero metal. Which would be bizarre. The one hope slayer and metallica have is that metal dudes would probably have these albums as their 1 & 2 so they could break the top 20 despite having a fewer number of people voting for them.

20. The Jesus and Mary Chain - Psychocandy [1985] (243 points, 23 votes, 1 first place vote)

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3353/3629806890_3da3678102_o.png

Whoops, sorry, I pressed "submit" before providing any quotes. Will paste them soon.

"it's not very good!"

haha no i'm sure it's pretty good, just not my thing

"they made a career of not knowing how to play guitars."

Psychocandy is utterly exhilarating sonically, on vinyl or CD.

Yes indeed. (He says while finishing listening to it.)

― Ned Raggett (Ned), 29. tammikuuta 2005 8:55

I always thought the problem with Psychocandy's recording could be solved by just turning up your stereo to the point where the record started skipping, then turning it down just enough to keep the needle in the grooves. People who complain about it just aren't playing it loud enough.

― js (honestengine), 9. maaliskuuta 2006 17:58

― Ben Crazee (Ben Crazee), 22. kesäkuuta 2006 13:41 Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink
ARGH, ARGH, ARGH, ARGH, ARGH!!!!

This is like the "Daddy or chips?" of my musical world.

I think I might just have to go with Psychocandy. I have listened to that several times in the past year, while I'm not sure when was the last time I dragged out Loveless. (I think I actually probably listen to Isn't Anything more regularly.) Something about the 3 minute pop format of Psychocandy is more pleasing to me in my day to day listening. It's, to me, a more successful marriage of my twin loves of bubblegum and noise.

― How does a ferret get invisible, then? (kate), 22. kesäkuuta 2006 13:45

JAMC, motherfucker. In a heartbeat. Loveless is boring, sexless waif+feedback wafts that are an anathema to rock and roll. Psychocandy IS rock and roll. As something is better than nothing, as my friend Pangloss says, a world with Psychocandy is the best of all possible worlds.

― js (honestengine), 22. kesäkuuta 2006 15:17

TOOOOOOO LOOWWWWWWWWWW but I knew it would be. This came into my life like a wave from outer space and deposited me -- well, it left me where I was, actually, but _at the time_ I was infused with this record as I have seldom been before or since. At the time I liked Darkland even better but in the end Psychocandy seems to float above time and space a little more securely.

for some reason the reversed N but non-reversed everything else on the album-cover is really annoying me

It's William Reid scratching his arse that puts me off.

what's left then?

11-19
- youth of america
- fire of love
- the name of this band is th
- reign in blood
- master of puppets
- purple rain
- surfer rosa
- hounds of love
- thriller

top 10
- daydream nation
- double nickels on the dime
- it takes a nation of millions
- sign o' the times
- paul's boutique

top 5
- the queen is dead
- doolittle
- remain in light
- closer
- spirit of eden

how many times do i have to say RIO

lol @ Psychocandy derivative placing 2 spots below Psychocandy

crutis why has 'new gold dream' not placed, i am cross and you should be too

In a just world Truth and Soul would sneak in their and surprise everyone.

new gold dream has not placed because while it is very very very very good it is not particularly relevant

;_;

I feel your pain, my beloved chameleons records suffer the same fate

oh FUCK

I spent all of 100-50 just ASSUMING that at least Strange Times would be in there.

I voted for both ST and SOTB, but probably not highly enough. ST I placed 7th. HOW is it not in the top 100? Soul In Isolation IS the 1980's!

I'll be surprised if there's no Replacements or Madonna albums in the Top 100. Victims of vote-splitting perhaps?

Also, my favourite two 80's XTC albums have gone totally MIA. English Settlement and Black Sea. Just not there at all. I bet there's a HUGE pile of records I really like within 10 of 100th place. Only a third of my ballot is due to figure, which is sad.

new gold dream hasnt placed because its by simple minds and simple minds are scum.

What about Elvis Costello? Get Happy could be top 10. Mekons Rock n Roll could be a surprise too.

Let It Be by The Replacements is a lock.

i'm a little surprised at no echo. i should've put crocodiles on my ballot, tbh.

Rio has to place! How can it not?

5 of my top 10 have placed already. Of the remaining 5, 3 will fer-sure place and the other 2 I guess are just a lot more cult than I thought (though maybe the Blue Nile could still surprise?)

xp Black Sea was the only XTC on my ballot.

Soul In Isolation? Had to google it just now, as this is the first time I've heard of it. 'Strange Times' is on spotify, so I'll check it out later.

I voted EngSett And Gethap, fwiw.

Starting to worry about No Jacket Required tbh.

glad you guys all helped out getting Just-Ice into the top 20. <3

i'm a little surprised at no echo.

Crossing my fingers for Ocean Rain in the next few. It's possible!

Rio has to place! How can it not?

I don't see that being higher than The Lexicon Of Love and Dare. I really wish more pop had made the list, no Japan, Soft Cell, Adam & the Ants, John Foxx, Yellow Magic Orchestra even a another Grace Jones album would have been great. I really thought Kid Creole & the Coconuts might have been in with a shot they had two albums on my list.

I thought the list would be full of british indie like The Chameleons, Echo & the Bunnymen, The Sound and a lot more Cocteau Twins. I'm gutted Forever Breathes The Lonely Word by Felt hasn't made it, surprise top ten entry maybe?

Is Computer World likely to be in? I listened to it today and it's just so classic!

PREDICTION: the Top 10 will consist of 2 by Zoogz Rift, 1 by Copernicus, 1 by The Romans, the Monitor s/t LP, 1 by Andre Cymone, 2 by The Scene Is Now, 1 by The Wallets and, seizing the top spot, Tripod Jimmy's A Warning To All Strangers.

Maybe it really is only me and about 3 others who see Rio as this peerless collection of sophisticated, utterly involving pop music

precisely 3 of my top 10 will place: numbers 2-4. 7 of my next 10 have placed.

The first two Duran albums are classics but they both just missed out on my list I'm afraid.

I guess that's not much comfort?

19. The Replacements - Let It Be [1984] (252 points, 18 votes, 1 first place vote)

http://img.imeem.com/ai/P4ZK2BPNXWOYXSBD42UYGFWP33BVUSIN.jpg

My favorite album of all time. Going with "Answering Machine" just because its the last, and therefore the only one that wouldn't leave me disappointed if another song from the album didn't follow.

― da croupier, 10. tammikuuta 2008 4:15

i sort of think this record (and the mats more generally, but this record especially) invented the slacker era. westerberg saw what was going on, or articulated it, 5-6 years before cobain, linklater, whoever. all the self-awareness, self-doubt, the appropriation of fm rawk (nothing ironic about "black diamond"), the refusal to aspire right in the midst of reagan america. that all got more anthemic later with "bastards of young," "i don't know," "we'll inherit the earth," but none of those top "unsatisfied." it took a recession to put this stuff in tune with the mainstream but they were there a lot earlier.

― tipsy mothra, 10. tammikuuta 2008 7:27

"Favorite Thing" — one of the greatest rock and roll songs ever.
Funny, when I first heard the song it sounded like an indecipherable mess — I couldn't make out the melody, chord structure or anything. Now when I listen, I always marvel at the incredible guitar interplay between Stinson and Westerberg.
I used this song in an air band competition in college. We stumbled around drunk and kicked beer cans into the audience. We were booed, but we kicked ass.

― Jazzbo, 10. tammikuuta 2008 15:37

Mark,I agree entirely. Any doubters please take a listen to "I will dare" or "Unsatisfied" from "Let it Be". Call it pop, call it rock, whatever you call it, it's great!

I love "Let it Be". It's just the essence of rock and roll for me, as is early Kinks or Nuggets-era 60's punk, or The Who, as are the Only Ones, as are the Buzzcocks. As are Urge Overkill! It's just something you feel, and I don't believe what I'm feeling IS a whole lot of cliched images of Americana.

"Tim" is almost there, but I really don't care for the final albums - too polished. I reckon Westerberg knew it was all up, had said all he had to say.

So, classic, despite the later albums. They deserve it despite the rubbish later albums.

― Dr. C, 16. helmikuuta 2001 3:00

awesome!