ILX 70s album poll - results

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III and Houses Of The Holy should always place higher than IV. They're all worthy of inclusion, but I don't see why IV should always be given highest placement.

Because with the possible exception of "The Battle of Evermore," IV is utterly perfect. III has moments of brilliance but a lot of weak spots as well, HOTH is fairly close but the overall quality level is prob. a bit lower.

The Good Dr. Bill (The Good Dr. Bill), Monday, 25 April 2005 22:08 (nineteen years ago) link

20

points: 569
1st place votes: 1
total votes: 16

KRAFTWERK - THE MAN MACHINE

http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/B000087HXO.02.LZZZZZZZ.jpg


This where Kraftwerk's style, image and theme find their ultimate
expression, The Man Machine is where the group's ideas are most fully
realised. Middle-European melancholy set in "Spacelab", futurism with
an old world touch. All six songs are perfect and beautiful, none of
them sound dated 27 years on. The robots that still define
Kraftwerk's image were introduced here, yet the men's eye for the
ladies in "The Model" shows the machines as human after all. This is
the international edition, in Germany the band released a German
language version. Oh my, the gentle kick drum that starts off "Neon
Lights" has just started while I type this. Oh, and there's that
synth line. I love this music so much.

JoB de wit

hobart paving (hobart paving), Wednesday, 27 April 2005 08:47 (nineteen years ago) link

god what a band

j blount (papa la bas), Wednesday, 27 April 2005 09:02 (nineteen years ago) link

19

points: 601
1st place votes: 0
total votes: 17

THE STOOGES - FUN HOUSE

http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/B000005IU2.02.LZZZZZZZ.jpg

hobart paving (hobart paving), Wednesday, 27 April 2005 09:06 (nineteen years ago) link

Fun House is the greatest rock & roll record of all time. I feel sorry for people who can't understand that.
-- shemp (curl...), March 13th, 2005.

IT KNOCKS THE FUCKING WALLS DOWN?
-- Tim Ellison (timejeanne...), January 13th, 2005.

'Funhouse' is the only 'real' record. Everything else by [or with or whatever] Iggy Pop is very strange. Like, sort of cabaret music. Why? That is very strange to me. I don't complain about it being cabaret music, I can still listen 'past' the cabaret-ness of it, but I wonder why he was never again able to make a record that was not cabaret? On the other hand, the reason seems obvious.
-- antonius (r...), September 6th, 2004.

I'd been playing Black Grape and the Happy Mondays just now, and suddenly throwing on Fun House is just so much more FULFILLING than those records (not knocking them, mind you). But fuck...."TV Eye" is playing right now, and it's just fucking UNSTOPPABLE!
-- Alex in NYC (vassife...), January 13th, 2005.

hobart paving (hobart paving), Wednesday, 27 April 2005 09:21 (nineteen years ago) link

I never heared this album, until one day the Fun House sessions arrived at my doorstep unbidded.

I love this album.

mark grout (mark grout), Wednesday, 27 April 2005 09:29 (nineteen years ago) link

18

points: 601
1st place votes: 0
total votes: 18

MICHAEL JACKSON - OFF THE WALL

http://rds.yahoo.com/S=96062883/K=off+the+wall+jackson/v=2/SID=e/l=IVI/SIG=12r98co0b/EXP=1114686155/*-http%3A//linux030.cshc.qc.ca/~dmercier/biographie45/michael/otwallalb.jpg

Off the Wall

Michael Jackson

Somewhere in between Michael Jackson’s difficult childhood and his possibly psychotic reactions to his difficult childhood, he managed to come out with Off the Wall. At the time, we thought it would always be thus.

You can no longer listen to this record without thinking about what came after. Thriller may have made him the King of Pop rather than a good-looking guy with a few hits, but the seeds of MJ’s musical destruction are there. The paranoia, the megalomania, the self-reference (fictional and non-) made for great songs on Thriller, but he’s walking on a wire. He wobbled on “We Are the World,” teetered with stuff like “The Way You Make Me Feel” a great song rendered stiff by the production) and eventually fell off, handing in calcified junk like “Invincible.”

Off the Wall breathes; it’s engaging while it’s impressive. You can dance to it without worrying that you don’t look as cool as Michael Jackson dancing to it. “We’re the party people living night and day/ Living crazy that’s the only way/ So tonight/ Gotta put that 9 to 5 up on the shelf/ And just enjoy yourself.” Slight? Maybe, but fun too. And, as on “She’s Out of My Life,” as on everything here, he sings like he knows what he’s talking about (even though he probably already doesn’t).

Weird Al Yankovic never parodied anything from Off the Wall (on record anyway). That’s because he tweaks excess. And there isn’t any here.

Rick Massimo

hobart paving (hobart paving), Wednesday, 27 April 2005 10:03 (nineteen years ago) link

I nearly forgot about Kraftwerk, even though I voted for them! The Man-Machine should've been in the top 10, I can't see how it could lose to Autobahn, as fun as that record is too.

Tuomas (Tuomas), Wednesday, 27 April 2005 10:17 (nineteen years ago) link

as fun as that record is too

You mean: fahren!

RS_LaRue (RSLaRue), Wednesday, 27 April 2005 10:29 (nineteen years ago) link

17

points: 604
1st place votes: 1
total votes: 15

VARIOUS ARTISTS - THE HARDER THEY COME

http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/B00005LZWR.02.LZZZZZZZ.jpg

The Harder they Come

John Peel had a rating system for songs: 1 star meant he might play it
on
the radio, 2 stars meant he should, and 3 stars meant he must. Every
few
years he would announce that an album had achieved the distinction of
every
track on it getting 3 stars (I remember Misty in Roots 'Live at the
Counter-Eurovision' and the first Bhundu Boys album being examples)

Anyway, 'The Harder They Come' falls into this category. Every track on
it
is not just good, but great, good enough that if you bought an album
and it
had just one of these tracks, you'd be satisfied with your purchase
even if
the rest of the album was rubbish.

Joe Kay

Various - The Harder They Come (Soundtrack)

To this day, the artist on the spine of "The Harder they Come" reads
"Jimmy Cliff," although the album is indeed a compilation. Maybe it
was a recognition that Cliff's contributions are more numerous and
arguably better than anything else on the record, but it probably had
more to do with marketing, as Cliff starred in the lead role of the
film. The other selections, by reggae stalwarts such as Toots & the
Maytals and Desmond Dekker, are some of the island's greatest tracks,
and serve as a counterpoint to Cliff's four masterpieces. Even though
you'll often hear that this is a "great introduction to reggae," I've
always thought this collection is all the more powerful because Bob
Marley is absent from it. Not because he is in any way a lesser
artist, but the inclusion of such a major personality would have
distorted the balance of the album. Either way, it's indispensable
for both casual reggae fans and fanatics alike.

Keith C

hobart paving (hobart paving), Wednesday, 27 April 2005 10:30 (nineteen years ago) link

16

points: 616
1st place votes: 0
total votes: 22

THE SEX PISTOLS - NEVER MIND THE BOLLOCKS, HERE'S THE SEX PISTOLS

http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/B00000G6PJ.02.LZZZZZZZ.jpg

hobart paving (hobart paving), Wednesday, 27 April 2005 10:49 (nineteen years ago) link

I mean the Pistols opened up Punk, Post Punk, Industrial, New Wave... There were obviously antecendants, but the pistols craked open a lot more creative energy and empowered a lot more people the gnr did. Punk exploded in a million directions, and gnr just became another mark in one continious trajectory(aka white hetero testosterone rock).
Not only did the pistols ignite more energy, they had the potential to be a lot more interesting than they already were. One of the things I would most love to see would be their first set of publicity photos which were shot by Peter Christopherson of TG. He framed them as a bunch of psychotic rentboy, and apparently they were so intense that Malcom actually would not alllow them to be used. The other thing that would have made them more interesting is if there had been more of a fusion between Lydon and Jones/Cook. The Lads rock of Jones and Cook would have been a perfect anchor for Lydons more avant tastes. It would have been a true avant garage band, they just needed the right bassplayer. If Wobble had gone in instead of Sid the Pistols would have tore shit up.

-- Disco Nihilist (current31...), October 22nd, 2004.
I mean trying to pick your least favorite NMTB song is like picking your least favorite orgasm.
"Submission" kinda sticks out as a place where maybe the LP drags a bit, to me. I guess that's why I thought of it first.
I dunno, I never really got into "New York" either.
The rest I can't think of a bad thing to say about.

-- AaronHz (aaronh...), August 5th, 2004.

I get the feeling that _Bollocks_ is the ultimate "you had to be there" album.
-- Dan Perry (djperr...), January 17th, 2003.
I can understand having mixed feelings upon hearing Suicide's debut album for the first time or even being underwhelmed by MARQUEE MOON (which, however, is truly a grower if you stick with it), but I can't imagine not being blown away by NEVER MIND THE BOLLOCKS. Obviously, this many years later it doesn't sound as shocking, but the songs and the character are still there in abundance. Or I think so, at least.

-- Alex in NYC (vassife...), January 18th, 2003.

Bollocks is a far deeper LP than *any* Clash LP in part because its failings — some of which are absolutely deliberate — are more powerful.
-- mark s (mar...), June 4th, 2002.


and "never mind the bollocks" is at least 10000 x better than "the cl..." er, never mind.
-- Pashmina (pashmin...), April 7th, 2003

The first times I heard "God Save the Queen" and "Anarchy In the UK" and enough of the rest for that matter were so momentous that I'll forgive the small repeat play value of Bollocks.
-- sundar subramanian (sundar_subramanian200...), January 17th, 2003.


hobart paving (hobart paving), Wednesday, 27 April 2005 11:15 (nineteen years ago) link

15

points: 683
1st place votes: 3
total votes: 18

THE MODERN LOVERS - THE MODERN LOVERS

http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/B0000A5BUA.02.LZZZZZZZ.jpg

hobart paving (hobart paving), Wednesday, 27 April 2005 12:29 (nineteen years ago) link

Hooray!

Pradaismus (Dada), Wednesday, 27 April 2005 12:30 (nineteen years ago) link

C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-CLASSIC. I love pretty much everything Jonathan Richman has ever done. Too much to put into words. I am not rational about it and I don't care.
-- Madchen (madchen_in_unifor...), November 16th, 2004.

ist album is a classic. plus it's hilarious. "I'm Straight" is one of the funniest songs ever, whilst still being a good rock song. "Roadrunner," "Astral Plane," "Pablo Picasso," "She Cracked," "Old World," "Modern World" are all fine tracks as well. Someone thought this was awhiny album, maybe a little but not on the really good tracks. Whoever said it was proto-indie wank or something is just failing to appreciate a pretty unique album. Recorded in 71, the VU influence is obvious but other than that it pretty outside of what was going on in rock at the time. That said, I don't think any of Richman's later stuff has been nearly as good
-- g (graysonlan...), December 11th, 2001.

an obvious classic and "she cracked" alone still means a lot for me.
-- Marco Damiani (magog0...), November 16th, 2004.

[sputtering]...he INVENTED punk rock on The Modern Lovers!

-- M Matos (michaelangelomato...), April 12th, 2002.

i burned a copy of this for my girlfriend, and she told me they were a shitty Doors ripoff. She doesn't know it, but i still haven't forgiven her for that.
-- Felcher (wangchungvsah...), September 17th, 2003

hobart paving (hobart paving), Wednesday, 27 April 2005 12:53 (nineteen years ago) link

I think this is the only album apart from the Ornette Coleman and Parliament I haven't heard. Gaps in my knowledge I'll have to fill but this high postion has me intrigued.

Billy Dods (Billy Dods), Wednesday, 27 April 2005 12:58 (nineteen years ago) link

14

points: 692
1st place votes: 0
total votes: 20

DAVID BOWIE - THE RISE AND FALL OF ZIGGY STARDUST

http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/B00001OH7P.02.LZZZZZZZ.jpg


hobart paving (hobart paving), Wednesday, 27 April 2005 13:08 (nineteen years ago) link

Its the beautiful sleaze of it all. The world is ending, the bar lights splutter and the boy on the stage looks so very pretty, so corruptible - or corrupted or...well, whatever it is, he'll do.

The TV announcer begins, telling us all of our imminent demise and the rest is a "what the fuck, its all over, let's take what we can get" ride. The last ever rock n roll band appearing, entrancing the kids, and getting torn to shreds. The aliens whispering over the airwaves, and those willing to listen going out, staring at the sky and hoping for some sort of salvation.

It ends with a stagger home, a lit cigarette, screeching brakes as the singer assures you you aren't alone, he'll comfort you, he'll make it all okay. Perhaps you just need to go home, come down, it'll all be okay. The world will be allright, and you imagined everything.

Not completely consistent, but which of his albums is? It doesn't need to be. The result is a technicolour dystopian dream - frightening and utterly seductive.

hobart paving (hobart paving), Wednesday, 27 April 2005 13:29 (nineteen years ago) link

13

points: 698
1st places: 1
total votes: 19

GANG OF FOUR - ENTERTAINMENT

http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/B00003WG0M.02.LZZZZZZZ.jpg

hobart paving (hobart paving), Wednesday, 27 April 2005 13:52 (nineteen years ago) link

This placing strikes me as being on the modish side

Pradaismus (Dada), Wednesday, 27 April 2005 13:53 (nineteen years ago) link

oh well.

At least The Sex Pistols made top 20--glad the public turnaround on that isn't too intense. And also good to see Kraftwerk and Bowie's best albums both make the top 20.

The Good Dr. Bill (The Good Dr. Bill), Wednesday, 27 April 2005 13:54 (nineteen years ago) link

I reckon Lodger will be in the top 10.

Dr. C (Dr. C), Wednesday, 27 April 2005 13:59 (nineteen years ago) link

all right, so what we got left:

Blondie - Parallel Lines
Eno - Before and After Science
Dylan - Blood on the Tracks
Buzzcocks - Singles Going Steady
Bruce - Born to Run (?)
Clash - London Calling
Kraftwerk - Trans-Europe
Marv - What's Goin' On
PiL - Metal Box
Stones - Exile
Sly - Riot
T. Rex - Electric Warrior

Am I missing anything?

The Good Dr. Bill (The Good Dr. Bill), Wednesday, 27 April 2005 14:04 (nineteen years ago) link

I reckon Lodger will be in the top 10.

I'd bet money against this.

The Good Dr. Bill (The Good Dr. Bill), Wednesday, 27 April 2005 14:04 (nineteen years ago) link

I thought someone started a separate predictions trhead so as not to take the suspense out of this one....

Dr. Gene Scott (shinybeast), Wednesday, 27 April 2005 14:09 (nineteen years ago) link

did they? I thought that people said "we should really do that" but no one ever did. Sorry if so.

The Good Dr. Bill (The Good Dr. Bill), Wednesday, 27 April 2005 14:10 (nineteen years ago) link

"Entertainment" is a pretty seminal post-punk record... I've yet to check out any other Gang of Four records, but that one is recommended unreservedly. Very abrasive, dark, rhythmic record; a fine whole. "Anthrax" is a stunning end to it; breathtaking, jagged guitar-playing and a general wrongfooting malaise...
-- Tom May (joycean_cha...), December 6th, 2002.

"Entertainment!" is a great album. And "Solid Gold" and "Songs of the Free" are real good ones.
-- Not That Chuck (noemai...), December 16th, 2003.

Entertainment! sounds like the beginning of something, (1st alb) a kind of simple, brilliant template for a band: solid-state MGs revamped for maximum spike + Frankfurt school shouting, GO! (exercise: play "Damaged Goods" and "Green Onions" back to back)
-- g.cannon (misterhungr...), September 26th, 2002.
Entertainment! (Warner Bros., BSK 3446) LP
Solid Gold (Warner Bros., BSK 3565) LP

After these, they fell off hard. But these are classics. Listen to the beginning of "Anthrax" if you wanna hear where just about every Albini-played guitar sound comes from (aside from the times when he rips off Metal Urbain, that is).

-- hstencil (hstenci...), December 9th, 2002.

I listened to Gang of Four's Entertainment! while watching a documentary about the a-bomb. There wasn't much synching going on, suprisingly enough. But then, I was also folding laundry.
-- dave225 (adspac...), November 24th, 2003.

hobart paving (hobart paving), Wednesday, 27 April 2005 14:12 (nineteen years ago) link

You'd be the first person to use it for its intended purpose.

I'd be interested in seeing those predictions, though.

the 70s poll (albs and singles) predictions and things are posted here, i guess


hobart paving (hobart paving), Wednesday, 27 April 2005 14:15 (nineteen years ago) link

oh, sorry--that would explain it anyway. Feel free to have the mod delete my post.

I'll start it up again.

The Good Dr. Bill (The Good Dr. Bill), Wednesday, 27 April 2005 14:16 (nineteen years ago) link

Err... I mean, how you'd place them, obviously, as you've already picked them.

hobart paving (hobart paving), Wednesday, 27 April 2005 14:16 (nineteen years ago) link

The Modern Lovers at #15 is awesome. i didn't expect it to place that high. an exceptional record - not a weak song on it. with this and More Songs About Buildings And Food both in my top 5, it is clear that Jerry Harrison was the true genius of the 70s.

Lee F# (fsharp), Wednesday, 27 April 2005 14:21 (nineteen years ago) link

12

points: 732
1st place votes: 0
total votes: 22

STEVIE WONDER - INNERVISIONS

http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/B00004S363.02.LZZZZZZZ.jpg

Innervisions

Stevie's third post-liberation album, and arguably the peak of his
career.
Dazzlingly diverse, from bubble-jazz to stately piano ballads to
singalong
gospel funk, but effortlessly commercial too (is that a Carpenters
influence
I hear on "Golden Lady"?). Every track could be - and probably was -
either
an FM or AM radio staple. Lyrically, it's gently hippie and gently
socially
conscious, which only adds to its crossover appeal. Faultless,
basically

Jeff Worrell

hobart paving (hobart paving), Wednesday, 27 April 2005 14:21 (nineteen years ago) link

I thought this was going to place much higher as it led the poll at one point, and was in the top 10 for practically all of it.

hobart paving (hobart paving), Wednesday, 27 April 2005 14:23 (nineteen years ago) link

Definitely my most loved Stevie Wonder album - good call, team.

mike t-diva (mike t-diva), Wednesday, 27 April 2005 14:36 (nineteen years ago) link

11

points: 732
1st place votes: 4
total votes: 18

THE ROLLING STONES - EXILE ON MAIN STREET

http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/B000000W5L.02.LZZZZZZZ.jpg

If the Rolling Stones had only released Exile on Main
Street, they'd still have a good claim for "World's
Greatest Rock and Roll Band." A double album that
deserves all 4 sides. Xgau says "Weary and
complicated, barely afloat in its own drudgery, it
rocks with extra power and concentration as a result,"
in a remarkably lucid and entirely accurate remark.
An album that sounds good at first listen and
exponentially better on the 10th or the 100th.
Absolutely amazing and essential.

Matt Sab

hobart paving (hobart paving), Wednesday, 27 April 2005 14:38 (nineteen years ago) link

10

points: 746
1st place votes: 0
total votes: 19

MARVIN GAYE - WHAT'S GOING ON?

http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/B00007FOMP.02.LZZZZZZZ.jpg

hobart paving (hobart paving), Wednesday, 27 April 2005 14:47 (nineteen years ago) link

that stevie wonder album sounds very seventies, very dated. i purchased it because of one of these best of lists. at least it didn't make the top ten...

alex in mainhattan (alex63), Wednesday, 27 April 2005 14:47 (nineteen years ago) link

agreed about Innervisions.

However, it sounds downright futuristic compared to that half-awful Marvin Gaye album. Oh well.

The Good Dr. Bill (The Good Dr. Bill), Wednesday, 27 April 2005 14:49 (nineteen years ago) link

That Bach album sounds very 18th century, very dated, I'm glad it didn't make the top ten...

o. nate (onate), Wednesday, 27 April 2005 14:52 (nineteen years ago) link

hobart paving, if you have it handy, can you post the full results at the end? I'd love to see what was #101 and beyond. Thx.

Keith C (kcraw916), Wednesday, 27 April 2005 14:53 (nineteen years ago) link

The datedness is what's so awesome about it! I mean, yeah, I'd rather listen to retro synth-funk that than the snoozetastic "timeless" "What's Going On?"

jaymc (jaymc), Wednesday, 27 April 2005 14:55 (nineteen years ago) link

dated in the "probably got a free pass at the time because it sounded nifty but really it's just shitty music" sense.

I mean, yeah, I'd rather listen to retro synth-funk that than the snoozetastic "timeless" "What's Going On?"

well, yeah.

The Good Dr. Bill (The Good Dr. Bill), Wednesday, 27 April 2005 14:56 (nineteen years ago) link

The canon be damned; WGO slays me, every time.
-- mike t-diva (mikejl...), June 7th, 2004.

Teenage Fanclub "Grand Prix"/"Songs from Northern Britain"
Scritti Politti "Cupid & Psyche 85"
Comet Gain "Realistes"
Marvin Gaye "What's Going On"
Paul Weller "Paul Weller"
-- Michael White (michaelwhite3...), December 13th, 2002.

(from the "albums that make you indescribably happy" thread)

Marvin Gaye "What's Going On"
I don't think I ever put it on without playing from start to finish

-- webcrack (signon2...), December 17th, 2003.

Marvin Gaye might be the godfather of soul. Extremely pure and spiritual. Almost like someone singing a prayer. A tad annoying. Curtis Mayfield on the other hand is more funky, more urban, more dirty. I prefer his version of soul. And you?
-- alex in mainhattan (alex6...), June 24th, 2004.

hobart paving (hobart paving), Wednesday, 27 April 2005 14:58 (nineteen years ago) link

It's been a while since I heard all of Innervisions, but there's a handful of really great songs on it: "Too High," "Golden Lady," "Don't You Worry Bout a Thing" etc.

jaymc (jaymc), Wednesday, 27 April 2005 14:58 (nineteen years ago) link

alex otm about curtis mayfield.

jaymc (jaymc), Wednesday, 27 April 2005 14:59 (nineteen years ago) link

I like the singles, and "Too High" is pretty good, but the rest...ugh.

The Good Dr. Bill (The Good Dr. Bill), Wednesday, 27 April 2005 15:00 (nineteen years ago) link

that stevie wonder album sounds very seventies, very dated. i purchased it because of one of these best of lists. at least it didn't make the top ten...
-- alex in mainhattan (alex6...), April 27th, 2005.

Innervisions has some fantastic tracks on it - personally, "Don't You Worry 'Bout A Thing" is one of my favourite tracks ever. Another one I forgot to nominate for the poll.

There are quite a few I skip, though.

jaymc - my choices too, With living for the city chucked in.

hobart paving (hobart paving), Wednesday, 27 April 2005 15:02 (nineteen years ago) link

x-post
but it's marvin gaye. whereas the album on the whole is not perfect there are some songs (the title song for example) which are not from this world.

bach obviously sounds like the third millenium! innervisions is just dull and annoys me. i don't remember any song on there. the production is totally not my cup of tea.

alex in mainhattan (alex63), Wednesday, 27 April 2005 15:02 (nineteen years ago) link

9

points: 758
1st place votes: 0
total votes: 24

BUZZCOCKS - SINGLES GOING STEADY

http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/B00005MAGA.02.LZZZZZZZ.jpg

hobart paving (hobart paving), Wednesday, 27 April 2005 15:04 (nineteen years ago) link

wow, only #9.

The Good Dr. Bill (The Good Dr. Bill), Wednesday, 27 April 2005 15:05 (nineteen years ago) link


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