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

Besides, posting your ballots and stuff, I thought it would be fun to discuss the actual results. Were you surprised that Remain in Light won? I certainly was, I knew they were popular here, but I didn't expect them to win. At first I was expecting SOTT to win, it was leading the poll for the first week or so of voting. Though maybe some of you think two Prince albums in the top 5 is too much already?

I was kinda disappointed that Purple Rain beat SOTT, though I guess it should've been obvious. To me Purple Rain is more conventionally "rock" and safe than SOTT or 1999 or Controversy, which makes it more boring. Plus the title track is too long and tedious, Prince has written much better ballads for other albums.

Did Slayer really get 666 points? \m/

I filled my poll in without consulting my previous set of votes - which I've added in brackets. 19 out of my 30 placed in the 100.

1 (3) The The - Soul Mining
2 (2) The Smiths - Hatful of Hollow
3 (5) Malcolm McLaren - Duck Rock
4 (1) Prince - Sign ‘O’ the Times
5 (13) ABC - The Lexicon of Love
6 (7) Leonard Cohen - I'm Your Man
7 (18) Anita Baker - Rapture
8 (24) Grace Jones - Nightclubbing
9 (6) Kraftwerk - Computer World
10 (14) De La Soul - 3 Feet High and Rising
11 (11) The Smiths - The Queen is Dead
12 (12) Yazoo - Upstairs at Eric's
13 (10) The Beat - I Just Can't Stop It
14 (16) Brian Eno / David Byrne - My Life in the Bush of Ghosts
15 (-) Heaven 17 - Penthouse and Pavement
16 (-) Public Enemy - It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back
17 (9) Madonna - Like a Prayer
18 (4) Everything But The Girl - Eden
19 (15) The Human League - Dare!
20 (-) Run-D.M.C. - Raising Hell
21 (-) Talking Heads - Remain in Light
22 (23) Orange Juice - You Can't Hide Your Love Forever
23 (8) The Stone Roses - s/t
24 (-) The Lounge Lizards - s/t
25 (-) Michael Jackson - Thriller
26 (17) The Smiths - Meat Is Murder
27 (30) Prince and the Revolution - Parade
28 (19) New Order - Power, Corruption & Lies
29 (-) Bhundu Boys - Shabini
30 (-) The Au Pairs - Playing with a Different Sex

Remain In Light's victory was a major surprise. I was expecting Sign 'O' The Times to walk it.

xpost to self. READ THE WHOLE THREAD BEFORE POSTING NEXT TIME. damn.

Were you surprised that Remain in Light won?

A bit, once we got down to known unknowns I thought Nation of Millions would have a monopoly on the hip-hoppy/political/novelty vote ('novelty' not as an insult, by the way). But most things winning would've been some kind of surprise to me. I don't use ILX to the enormous extent that it seems some do - I just dip in and out of the odd thread that bumps whatever I'm interested in at the time. So there are always new posters to discover, or new topics or tunes that were big but that I hadn't been aware of. And vice versa, things that seem important to me turn out not to be a big deal in ILXworld - it was a bit weird to be scoffed at for thinking Appetite For Destruction might win, as it and GnR are certainly a big event in my music universe.

I knew Talking Heads were popular here, they have elements to appeal to more than one niche, and most importantly Remain In Light is a damn good album, so it's a satisfying conclusion. I had in on this morning to celebrate - but my CD has got all scratched and it won't play properly. Woe.

To me Purple Rain is more conventionally "rock" and safe than SOTT or 1999 or Controversy, which makes it more boring. Plus the title track is too long and tedious, Prince has written much better ballads for other albums.

I just can't get into the songs on SOTT as songs. I sort of admire the ambitiousness of SOTT, and admire how well everything is done, in terms of musicianship anyway, but it doesn't draw me in. To me Purple Rain has much better hooks, which isn't always required, but it certainly can be a plus. It doesn't sound that rock to me (despite the blazing guitars), maybe because of the production, which seems to me of a piece with other production in African-American music at that time. But I haven't listened to this lately and maybe I forget how rock it is and maybe the production (which I don't entirely like) is just typical 80s production. I do agree that the title track is nothing very special, but the rest of the album makes up for that, for me.

which seems to me of a piece with other production in (mainstream) African-American music (that I heard) at that time. . .

For a few minutes, I really thought Hounds of Love had a chance to take the whole thing, but most of the time I was at least 75-80% certain that Remain in Light would win. It's just one of the super-canonical albums that few bad things are said about, and few good things are said about. In fact, it hardly ever gets talked about, but a lot of voters instinctively identify it with "the '80s."

Remain in Light makes sense as a consensus favorite since it really covers all the bases, particularly in terms of the aesthetic priorities typically found on this site. It's an arty, indie exercise in pleasingly formless noodling and amusingly pretentious lyrics. It's a big pop move, in which a bunch of brainy craftsmen and their branier producer make a go for the dance floor and pop charts and make a partial success of it. And it's an authentically funky record, as a bunch of white George Clinton fans process their love for '70s dance rhythms into their own eccentric reinterpretation of those rhythms.
I wished Prince would have had a shot for the #1 (even though I like Remain in Light better than Sign O' the Times or Purple Rain , and about just as well as my favorite Prince record, Dirty Mind ), but I think people forget how offensive and downright silly many people find Prince to be. Even here, you'll spot people mystified by the respect he receives, and people who never felt sufficiently curious about him to really give him a listen. A lot of people still seem to find it easier to admire Remain in Light as an intellectual statement (and a lot of people are still inclined to value music as a way of making intellectual statements) than Dirty Mind, although Dirty Mind is just as much a radical reinterpretation of punk, disco, and funk as Remain in Light.
I get the preference for Purple Rain over SOTT in that SOTT is a big, messy record that resists efforts to get a good handle on it. It's sprawling, chaotic, and with so many ideas that it can be rather intimidating. Purple Rain is safer, but it's also more coherent, easier to process after a single listen. SOTT is kind of tiring and can require a certain amount of work; Purple Rain makes its pleasures (and limitations) manifest on first listen. The fact that it's the "rockiest" of Prince album's probably makes it a good entry level Prince album for those too suspicious of his flash and pomp to give him a listen.

My poll, and where they ended up:

1 The Clash - Sandinista! 25
2 The Fall - The Wonderful and Frightening World of the Fall 0
3 The Jesus and Mary Chain - Psychocandy 20
4 Aztec Camera - High Land, Hard Rain 0
5 The Fall - This Nation's Saving Grace 44
6 De La Soul - 3 Feet High and Rising 37
7 New Order - Power, Corruption & Lies 68
8 Public Image Ltd. - The Flowers of Romance 0
9 Stump - A Fierce Pancake 0
10 The Durutti Column - The Return of the Durutti Column 0
11 The Jesus and Mary Chain - Darklands 0
12 Elvis Costello and the Attractions - Get Happy!! 0
13 The Specials - More Specials 0
14 Happy Mondays - Bummed 0
15 The Smiths - Meat Is Murder 0
16 New Order - Technique 16
17 Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band - Doc at the Radar Station 45
18 New Order - Substance 38
19 The Teardrop Explodes - Kilimanjaro 0
20 Dexy's Midnight Runners - Don't Stand Me Down 0
21 New Order - Low-Life 0
22 The Jesus and Mary Chain - Automatic 0
23 The Smiths - The World Won't Listen 0
24 Prince - Sign ‘O’ the Times 5
25 The English Beat - I Just Can't Stop It 81
26 The Smiths - Hatful of Hollow 34
27 The Stone Roses - s/t 28
28 XTC - English Settlement 0
29 Malcolm McLaren - Duck Rock 0
30 The Smiths - The Queen is Dead 11

This was a great poll. Well done Tuomas! I'm surprised by the Top 10 + "Remain In Light" in particular.

Genuinely surprised at lack of:

Flowers of Romance
Don't Stand Me Down
High Land Hard Rain
Duck Rock
Get Happy
More Specials

and also surprised at me voting "Automatic" as I slagged it recently on the J&MC Thread. Which pushed "Dazzle Ships" off this list if I recall..

Well yeah, I don't think everything in it is rock, but the rock aspects make it less interesting for me. Take "When Doves Cry", for example - it's a brilliant song, of course, but I think it works as a piece of cold machine funk, and it shouldn't have a traditional guitar solo, like it does now. The guitar solo adds a conventional rock aspect to it which isn't needed, and which actually diminishes the stark minimal power it otherwise has. I think most songs on Purple Rain are fine as songs, but in them Prince uses a more traditional rock sound than on any other of his 80s albums, which makes Purple Rain less appealing to me. Though of course, this is because my background is in electronic and dance music, so rock things like electric guitar solos have little interest for me.

(x-post to Rudipherous)

Here's the NME's top 50 1980s albums, compiled in 1993 as part of a decade-by-decade sequence leading up to their all-time list:

1. The Stone Roses - The Stone Roses ‘89
2. The Queen Is Dead - The Smiths ‘85
3. Three Feet High And Rising - De La Soul ‘89
4. Sign ‘O’ The Times - Prince ‘87
5. It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back - Public Enemy ‘88
6. Psychocandy - Jesus And Mary Chain ‘85
7. Hatful Of Hollow - The Smiths ‘84
8. Closer - Joy Division ‘80
9. Sound Affects - The Jam ‘80
10. Low-Life - New Order ‘85
11. Remain In Light - Talking Heads ‘80
12. Searching For The Young Soul Rebels - Dexy’s Midnight Runners ‘80
13. Bummed - Happy Mondays ‘89
14. Surfer Rosa - Pixies ‘88
15. The Lexicon Of Love - ABC ‘82
16. Swordfishtrombones - Tom Waits ‘83
17. Kilimanjaro - The Teardrop Explodes ‘80
18. Dare - The Human League ‘81
19. Parade - Prince ‘86
20. 16 Lovers Lane - The Go-Betweens ‘88
21. Rain Dogs - Tom Waits ‘85
22. This Nation’s Saving Grace - The Fall ‘85
23. Rum, Sodomy And The Lash - The Pogues ‘85
24. The Smiths - The Smiths ‘84
25. Blood & Chocolate - Elvis Costello ‘86
26. Don’t Stand Me Down - Dexy’s Midnight Runners ‘85
27. The Eight Legged Groove Machine - The Wonder Stuff ‘88
28. Crocodiles - Echo And The Bunnymen ‘80
29. Nebraska - Bruce Springsteen ‘82
30. The Nightfly - Donald Fagen ‘82
31. Talking With The Taxman About Poetry - Billy Bragg ‘86
32. Miss America - Mary Margaret O’Hara ‘88
33. Rattlesnakes - Lloyd Cole & The Commotions ‘84
34. George Best - The Wedding Present ‘87
35. Atomiser - Big Black ‘87
36. My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts - David Byrne & Brian Eno ‘81
37. Sister - Sonic Youth ‘87
38. Straight Out Of The Jungle - The Jungle Brothers ‘88
39. Heaven Up Here - Echo And The Bunnymen ‘81
40. Green - REM ‘88
41. Imperial Bedroom - Elvis Costello ‘82
42. You Can’t Hide Your Love Forever - Orange Juice ‘82
43. Midnight Love - Marvin Gaye ‘82
44. Like A Prayer - Madonna ‘89
45. Beautiful Vision - Van Morrison ‘82
46. Infected - The The ‘86
47. Meat Is Murder - The Smiths ‘85
48. New York - Lou Reed ‘89
49. Yo! Bum Rush The Show - Public Enemy ‘87
50. Warehouse: Songs And Stories - Husker Du ‘87

I'm surprised It Takes a Nation... remains the go-to hip hop album of the 80s. I love PE's first album, Yo!Bum Rush the Show, but Nation always seems a little too peas and carrots. It's political urgency makes it a powerful experience, but it always sounds to me like a record that tries harder to be respected and feared than liked and enjoyed. Obviously, Chuck D & Co try to create the moral terms for privileging an aesthetics of respect over an aesthetics of pleasure, but ultimately I just don't accept those terms.

Early similarities are shocking, seeing as how we bag on NME at every opportunity.

xp I just think Nation has better beats than Yo! does.

Tuomas - the fact that Prince always tipped so many different elements into his sound is exactly what makes him interesting to me. The attempt to be best at everything, rather than polarising, goes with the panethnic androgynous image that worked then but fell out of fashion after. I'm repeating myself now, but that's maybe a better way of expressing what I feel went wrong in the 90s. When Michael Jackson tried the trick in his 1991 comeback it just seemed totally out-of-place.

NME definitely lost its way at some point between that list and their all-time list from ten years later (the details of which I'll spare you, other than the Vines making no.96). In 1993 they were still interested in including as much as possible, albeit with a pretty similar indie slant to what we have here.

was at least 75-80% certain that Remain in Light would win. It's just one of the super-canonical albums that few bad things are said about, and few good things are said about. In fact, it hardly ever gets talked about, but a lot of voters instinctively identify it with "the '80s."

― Johnny Fever, Thursday, December 3, 2009 2:22 AM (1 minute ago) Bookmark

"once in a lifetime" was a super-definitive 80s video, certainly the most iconic they ever made. and i know RIL was a massive critical favorite at the time. but SIT seems much more of a piece with the 80s i remember (before i went down the druggy-indie sonic k-hole): pop-shiny, danceable & fun - clever in a mock-goofy sort of way, but with darker undercurrents. slots in w/ b-52s, cars, blondie, men at work, devo, adam ant, etc.

RIL was a massive critical favorite at the time

Well, there you go then

Tuomas, I can see why you wouldn't be into Purple Rain, on the basis of your overall taste. I don't really think of myself as very rock-oriented at this point, but I guess I still have more of a history with it than you do, and am more invested in it than you are (even if compared to most other people who post here, I'd say it's a marginal investment). The thing is, Prince is a really great guitarist. His guitar solos on "When Doves Cry" are certainly within the blues/rock tradition, but to me they also don't sound like just any old guitar solos, you know? (I've come across a lot of rock fans online who were never into Prince but who have been blown away at various points by his surprise guitar hero appearances on TV.) His guitar solos definitely don't sound generic to me (even though they are within that particular blues/rock idiom).

The thing is, Prince is a really great guitarist.

Indeed, I saw him live once and his playing made me cry it was so good

Am I wrong or does David Byrne talk more and sing less on RIL than he does on most other Talking Heads albums? Because I think that's partly why I like it. Anyway, he doesn't annoy me as much on that album as he does on the others. Byrne's vocals are easily my least favorite thing about the Talking Heads. (I do like the Eno production, as well, and I think the material is pretty good as songs, and the grooves are good. Like someone said upthread (and I'm too lazy to scroll up just a bit), a partially successful attempt by a white band to be funky.

i'm kinda surprised by purple rain's triumph, just cuz it was never my favorite prince record. i tried damn hard to get into "when doves cry" at the time but never could. i appreciate the craft and the oddity, but it doesn't push my buttons like the comparably minimal "kiss" (easy top 10 80s song for me). too much of the rest is melodramatic mush or forgettable hard rock. will stick up for "darling nikki" and "computer blue" is a jam.

otoh, i LOVE 1999 and SOTT. they seem effortlessly accessible and fun almost all the way through (i guess 1999 is a little spotty, but still). they're so much wilder and more playful than purple rain, too, which always had a weird canned quality to me, when what i always liked best about prince was his playfulness.

and it shouldn't need stating that prince was and is a spectacular guitar player.

Like someone said upthread (and I'm too lazy to scroll up just a bit), a partially successful attempt by a white band to be funky.

― _Rudipherous_, Thursday, December 3, 2009 2:56 AM (4 minutes ago) Bookmark

(Somewhat surreally, I have been cutting back and forth between this thread and this article about a different Prince:

But the truth about Prince may be orders of magnitude stranger than fiction. For the past six years, he appears to have led an astonishing double life. Publicly, he has served as Blackwater’s C.E.O. and chairman. Privately, and secretly, he has been doing the C.I.A.’s bidding, helping to craft, fund, and execute operations ranging from inserting personnel into “denied areas”—places U.S. intelligence has trouble penetrating—to assembling hit teams targeting al-Qaeda members and their allies. Prince, according to sources with knowledge of his activities, has been working as a C.I.A. asset: in a word, as a spy.)

Wd be curious to know where ESG and This Heat placed since I see 'em on a few ballots.

Really enjoying this thread; definitely want to go through the top 100 and various people's ballots listening to anything I haven't heard. Thanks Tuomas!

(abt Remain in Light:) It's just one of the super-canonical albums that few bad things are said about, and few good things are said about. In fact, it hardly ever gets talked about, but a lot of voters instinctively identify it with "the '80s."

I guess this is OTM? I was surprised by its victory - I knew it was well thought of, of course, and that generally most people I know (in general and on ILX) rate Talking Heads, but I hadn't thought it would be one of the real big hitters for Top Record Of The 1980s.

I had thought maybe it had been one of those albums that got low-level votes from almost everyone but few big votes, but on looking at the figures completely the opposite is true - RiL has a higher average points per vote than the rest of the top 5, and 4 first place votes compared to the others all having 2 each. So! I was wrong all round. Interesting.

Well, I didn't pick it at all.

I liked them more around the first two albums.

"DAM THAT TELEVISION!"

I'm amazed that none of these is worthy of a top 100 place

Kaleidoscope (1980)
Juju (1981)
A Kiss in the Dreamhouse (1982)
Hyæna (1984)
Tinderbox (1986)
Through the Looking Glass (1987)
Peepshow (1988)

were there a load of people voting for different Banshees albums or are there simply not that many fans on ILM?

I don't think I've ever seen them mentioned here. I'd've helped you out, but I don't have a æ key on my laptop.

There was some Siouxsie talk upthread somewhere (can't remember where). It wasn't much, but I've never really rated them as a great album band. Killer singles, tho.

Please help me understand what is going on in the last 40 seconds of "Once in a Lifetime"
Took me ages to find this thread, but it's really interesting.

There was some Siouxsie talk upthread somewhere (can't remember where). It wasn't much, but I've never really rated them as a great album band.

Wow I don't get this at all, particularly in the face of Juju and Tinderbox.

Would you say "Join Hands" is like the second CD in the deluxe version of "The Scream" ?

(I know it has one already, just wonderin..)

I don't really find Remain in Light to be that funky - it doesn't make my head nod and my booty want to shake when I listen to it, though it might make my leg bounce up and down in some kind of hyper-caffeinated jiggle. It's an idiosyncratic reinterpretation of funk, disco, new wave and art-school gawkiness - all of which were signature currents of '80s music - so it is very emblematic of its decade, and not the worst choice for #1.

(more number-crunching, sorry all non-aspies, you're probably gonna want to skip this post)

Someone on the 70s poll thread suggested that each album should get bonus points for each vote they get, so that two low-ranking votes would be worth more than one high-ranking vote. I was curious about what effect this would have had on this poll, so, here's what the results would look like if there was a 50-point bonus for each vote (obviously not for real as a lot of records from 100-120 would probably knock things out of the chart if it was really done this way):

100 (100). Robyn Hitchcock - I Often Dream of Trains (old points: 75, votes: 5, new points: 325)
99 (98 (tie)). Scraping Foetus off the Wheel - Hole (old points: 76, votes: 5, new points: 326)
98 (98 (tie)). Spacemen 3 - The Perfect Prescription (old points: 76, votes: 5, new points: 326)
97 (82). Scraping Foetus off the Wheel - Nail (old points: 91, votes: 5, new points: 341)
96 (96). Associates - Sulk (old points: 79, votes: 6, new points: 379)
95 (94). Def Leppard - Pyromania (old points: 80, votes: 6, new points: 380)
94 (83). David Bowie - Scary Monsters (old points: 89, votes: 6, new points: 389)
93 (80). Various - The Indestructible Beat of Soweto (old points: 93, votes: 6, new points: 393)
92 (95). Jane's Addiction - Nothing's Shocking (old points: 79, votes: 7, new points: 429)
91 (93). Thomas Dolby - The Golden Age of Wireless (old points: 80, votes: 7, new points: 430)
90 (88). Bruce Springsteen - Tunnel of Love (old points: 86, votes: 7, new points: 436)
89 (79). The The - Soul Mining (old points: 93, votes: 7, new points: 443)
88 (76). U2 - The Joshua Tree (old points: 95, votes: 7, new points: 445)
87 (72). The Chills - Kaleidoscope World (old points: 98, votes: 7, new points: 448)
86 (69). Scritti Politti - Cupid & Psyche 85 (old points: 100, votes: 7, new points: 450)
85 (58). The Cure - Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me (old points: 112, votes: 7, new points: 462)
84 (97). Big Black - Atomizer (old points: 77, votes: 8, new points: 477)
83 (87). Pet Shop Boys - Actually (old points: 86, votes: 8, new points: 486)
82 (86). Pet Shop Boys - Please (old points: 87, votes: 8, new points: 487)
81 (84 (tie)). Nine Inch Nails - Pretty Hate Machine (old points: 87, votes: 8, new points: 487)
80 (84 (tie)). Talking Heads - Speaking in Tongues (old points: 87, votes: 8, new points: 487)
79 (77). Meat Puppets - Up on the Sun (old points: 94, votes: 8, new points: 494)
78 (65). Donald Fagen - The Nightfly (old points: 105, votes: 8, new points: 505)
77 (60). Eric B. & Rakim - Paid In Full (old points: 111, votes: 8, new points: 511)
76 (59). Mekons - Fear and Whiskey (old points: 111, votes: 8, new points: 511)
75 (92). Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark - Dazzle Ships (old points: 80, votes: 9, new points: 530)
74 (90). Meat Puppets - Meat Puppets II (old points: 81, votes: 9, new points: 531)
73 (75). Cyndi Lauper - She's So Unusual (old points: 95, votes: 9, new points: 545)
72 (73). X - Wild Gift (old points: 97, votes: 9, new points: 547)
71 (57). Arvo Pärt - Tabula Rasa (old points: 112, votes: 9, new points: 562)
70 (49). The Go-Betweens - 16 Lovers Lane (old points: 125, votes: 9, new points: 575)
69 (47). Steely Dan - Gaucho (old points: 128, votes: 9, new points: 578)
68 (91). Run-D.M.C. - Raising Hell (old points: 80, votes: 10, new points: 580)
67 (89). Prince and the Revolution - Parade (old points: 83, votes: 10, new points: 583)
66 (74). Galaxie 500 - On Fire (old points: 96, votes: 10, new points: 596)
65 (41). The Cure - Pornography (old points: 148, votes: 9, new points: 598)
64 (71). Roxy Music - Avalon (old points: 99, votes: 10, new points: 599)
63 (66). Prefab Sprout - Steve McQueen (old points: 104, votes: 10, new points: 604)
62 (70). Laurie Anderson - Big Science (old points: 99, votes: 11, new points: 649)
61 (61). Arthur Russell - World of Echo (old points: 108, votes: 11, new points: 658)
60 (51). Leonard Cohen - I'm Your Man (old points: 121, votes: 11, new points: 671)
59 (45). Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band - Doc at the Radar Station (old points: 133, votes: 11, new points: 683)
58 (40). Dexy’s Midnight Runners - Searching for the Young Soul Rebels (old points: 148, votes: 11, new points: 698)
57 (67). Violent Femmes - Violent Femmes (old points: 101, votes: 12, new points: 701)
56 (63 (tie)). Tom Waits - Rain Dogs (old points: 106, votes: 12, new points: 706)
55 (63 (tie)). Cocteau Twins - Treasure (old points: 106, votes: 12, new points: 706)
54 (62). Grace Jones - Nightclubbing (old points: 106, votes: 12, new points: 706)
53 (56). R.E.M. - Lifes Rich Pageant (old points: 112, votes: 12, new points: 712)
52 (35). ABC - The Lexicon of Love (old points: 173, votes: 11, new points: 723)
51 (81). The Beat (aka The English Beat) - I Just Can't Stop It (old points: 91, votes: 13, new points: 741)
50 (43). Sonic Youth - EVOL (old points: 143, votes: 12, new points: 743)
49 (39). Manuel Göttsching - E2-E4 (old points: 154, votes: 12, new points: 754)
48 (25). The Clash - Sandinista! (old points: 211, votes: 11, new points: 761)
47 (55). Dinosaur Jr. - You're Living All Over Me (old points: 115, votes: 13, new points: 765)
46 (50). The Feelies - Crazy Rhythms (old points: 123, votes: 13, new points: 773)
45 (44). The Fall - This Nation's Saving Grace (old points: 136, votes: 13, new points: 786)
44 (54). Bruce Springsteen - Born in the U.S.A. (old points: 118, votes: 14, new points: 818)
43 (53). Bruce Springsteen - Nebraska (old points: 120, votes: 14, new points: 820)
42 (46). R.E.M. - Reckoning (old points: 131, votes: 14, new points: 831)
41 (42). Hüsker Dü - New Day Rising (old points: 146, votes: 14, new points: 846)
40 (30). Hüsker Dü - Zen Arcade (old points: 200, votes: 13, new points: 850)
39 (36). The Fall - Hex Enduction Hour (old points: 166, votes: 14, new points: 866)
38 (78). The Pogues - Rum, Sodomy & the Lash (old points: 93, votes: 16, new points: 893)
37 (68). New Order - Power, Corruption & Lies (old points: 100, votes: 16, new points: 900)
36 (26). Prince - Dirty Mind (old points: 210, votes: 14, new points: 910)
35 (17). Kate Bush - The Dreaming (old points: 269, votes: 13, new points: 919)
34 (48). XTC - Skylarking (old points: 127, votes: 16, new points: 927)
33 (28). The Stone Roses - The Stone Roses (old points: 201, votes: 15, new points: 951)
32 (38). New Order - Substance (old points: 156, votes: 16, new points: 956)
31 (52). Brian Eno / David Byrne - My Life in the Bush of Ghosts (old points: 120, votes: 17, new points: 970)
30 (34). The Smiths - Hatful of Hollow (old points: 173, votes: 16, new points: 973)
29 (16). New Order - Technique (old points: 273, votes: 15, new points: 1023)
28 (32). Prince - 1999 (old points: 191, votes: 17, new points: 1041)
27 (29). Young Marble Giants - Colossal Youth (old points: 200, votes: 17, new points: 1050)
26 (12). Minutemen - Double Nickels on the Dime (old points: 300, votes: 15, new points: 1050)
25 (23). The Human League - Dare (old points: 219, votes: 17, new points: 1069)
24 (21). Paul Simon - Graceland (old points: 237, votes: 17, new points: 1087)
23 (27). Guns N' Roses - Appetite for Destruction (old points: 201, votes: 18, new points: 1101)
22 (19). The Replacements - Let It Be (old points: 252, votes: 18, new points: 1152)
21 (24). The Cure - Disintegration (old points: 218, votes: 19, new points: 1168)
20 (33). The Smiths - Louder Than Bombs (old points: 174, votes: 20, new points: 1174)
19 (14). Talk Talk - Spirit of Eden (old points: 274, votes: 18, new points: 1174)
18 (22). My Bloody Valentine - Isn't Anything (old points: 229, votes: 19, new points: 1179)
17 (31). Sonic Youth - Sister (old points: 199, votes: 21, new points: 1249)
16 (37). De La Soul - 3 Feet High and Rising (old points: 164, votes: 23, new points: 1314)
15 (15). Pixies - Surfer Rosa (old points: 273, votes: 21, new points: 1323)
14 (20). The Jesus and Mary Chain - Psychocandy (old points: 243, votes: 23, new points: 1393)
13 (18). Joy Division - Closer (old points: 255, votes: 24, new points: 1455)
12 (13). Beastie Boys - Paul's Boutique (old points: 291, votes: 25, new points: 1541)
11 (11). The Smiths - The Queen is Dead (old points: 307, votes: 26, new points: 1607)
10 (7). Sonic Youth - Daydream Nation (old points: 356, votes: 28, new points: 1756)
9 (5). Prince - Sign “O” the Times (old points: 381, votes: 28, new points: 1781)
8 (8). Kraftwerk - Computer World (old points: 338, votes: 29, new points: 1788)
7 (6). R.E.M. - Murmur (old points: 359, votes: 30, new points: 1859)
6 (10). Pixies - Doolittle (old points: 323, votes: 31, new points: 1873)
5 (9). Michael Jackson - Thriller (old points: 331, votes: 35, new points: 2081)
4 (4). Kate Bush - Hounds of Love (old points: 422, votes: 35, new points: 2172)
3 (3). Prince and the Revolution - Purple Rain (old points: 423, votes: 35, new points: 2173)
2 (1). Talking Heads - Remain in Light (old points: 568, votes: 37, new points: 2418)
1 (2). Public Enemy - It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back (old points: 478, votes: 39, new points: 2428)

(I think 50 would be way too high for a bonus since it's more than the points for a #1, but when I set the bonus points at 30 the results were very similar to the original results, with the top 25 completely unchanged and nothing moving by more than 3 places. With the bonus at 50, a lot of records move by over 10 places, with the Pogues going up 40 places!)

So, this is a pretty extreme example, and for me the jury's still out on whether it's made it more or less interesting. Doing best out of it: Pogues, New Order, The Beat, Run DMC, "Parade", "Bush of Ghosts", De La Soul, OMD. Doing worst out of it: Cure, Clash, Steely Dan, Go-Betweens, "The Dreaming", Dexy's, ABC, Mekons. Of course the real test would be what came into and fell out of the top 100.

Why not just do it by number of votes, and then use the number of points as a tie-breaker? I believe that someone already did that up-thread.

Um, well that's just the same list sorted in a slightly different way, whereas as you say, the 100+ positioned albums would probably come rocketing in.

It's something only Tuomas could process, as he has the actual votes. I guess.

Mark G, yeah I know! But nothing would come from outside into the top half of the chart, say, so disregard the bottom half since it's misleading if you like. I just thought it would give an idea of, y'know, who is this helpful for? Is it helpful for the little guys, for the massive pop guys, for the indie canon?

Which I still don't really know, to be honest, but that was the impulse behind it. (That and that it's better than work, obv)

(Wouldn't have posted it if there weren't already some number-crunchy reorderings here, but I guess it was pretty pointless, yeah, sorry)

I dunno, look at some big changes:

85 (58). The Cure - Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me (old points: 112, votes: 7, new points: 462)
51 (81). The Beat (aka The English Beat) - I Just Can't Stop It (old points: 91, votes: 13, new points: 741)
38 (78). The Pogues - Rum, Sodomy & the Lash (old points: 93, votes: 16, new points: 893)
37 (68). New Order - Power, Corruption & Lies (old points: 100, votes: 16, new points: 900)

Consensus polls are always a bit wanky because, well, you can't account for taste. The most interesting lists are typicallly the ones that are argued out.

That being said, I do think the best way to do it is to strike a balance in points between the weight of the number of votes and their placement on individual lists. I think Tuamas' system does that pretty well--eight #30 votes are worth one 1st place; two #2 votes are worth 1 1/2 #1 vote, etc.

Tuomas, if you could put the .csv on Google docs so we can make our own charts, graphs, and data slices, that would probably save you a lot of requests.

This is a fine idea, so I did it. First, here is the list of albums in order of points they got:

http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=t130o7i6B8kqQgkvI6x0aoQ&single=true&gid=0&output=html

And here is the whole voting information:

http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=tpgtTkyhXqLYVuntCxK0YYA&single=true&gid=0&output=html

If it's unclear: the first column after the album title is the number of points, the second one it the number of votes, and the third one is the number of #1 votes. Feel free to do whatever you want with the data!

If you're wondering why Robyn Hitchcock is #100 and not "The Wonderful and Frightening World of the Fall", even though they both got 75 points, it's because the number of votes was the tiebreaker.

As you can see, N.W.A was #102. It lost to The Fall and Robyn Hitchcock by one point.

56 goddamn points. Respectively, dammit and WTF

WOO-HOO! STATS HEAVEN!

Wow, the ilx Abba contingent really didn't turn up to vote for what I thought was their fave Abba LP.

my ballot without ranking (12/30 in top 100)

70 Laurie Anderson - Big Science
72 The Chills - Kaleidoscope World
Lloyd Cole and the Commotions - Rattlesnakes
The Cure - Seventeen Seconds
The Durutti Column - LC
Brian Eno - Ambient 4: On Land
52 Brian Eno / David Byrne - My Life in the Bush of Ghosts
The Feelies - The Good Earth
Peter Gabriel - Passion
49 The Go-Betweens - 16 Lovers Lane
Gun Club - Fire of Love
The House of Love - s/t
18 Joy Division - Closer
90 Meat Puppets - Meat Puppets II
New Order - Movement
Mary Margaret O'Hara - Miss America
Penguin Cafe Orchestra - Broadcasting from Home
10 Pixies - Doolittle
Lou Reed - New York
71 Roxy Music - Avalon
Michelle Shocked - The Texas Campfire Tapes
34 The Smiths - Hatful of Hollow
The Smiths - The World Won't Listen
Talk Talk - The Colour of Spring
14 Talk Talk - Spirit of Eden
Talking Heads - The Name of This Band Is Talking Heads
Tears for Fears - Songs from the Big Chair
79 The The - Soul Mining
Wipers - Youth of America
29 Young Marble Giants - Colossal Youth

This is the geeky chart I've been wanting to make:

http://i325.photobucket.com/albums/k383/o_nate/80spolldist.jpg

Shows that the distribution of points per album follows basically a power-law distribution with a long tail, as would be expected.

Thanks, Tuomas! For the stats too! My ballot:

1. The Clash - Sandinista!
2. Minutemen - Double Nickels on the Dime
3. Public Enemy - It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back
4. Hüsker Dü - Zen Arcade
5. Prince and the Revolution - Purple Rain
6. Hüsker Dü - New Day Rising
7. The Replacements - Let It Be
8. Madonna - s/t
9. Black Flag - Damaged (biggest surprise no-show; and I'd stack the best of Slip It In against anything else here)
10. U2 - War
11. Dr. Alimantado - Born For a Purpose / Sons of Thunder
12. The Shop Assistants - Will Anything Happen?/s/t
13. Run-D.M.C. - Raising Hell
14. Prince and the Revolution - Parade
15. De La Soul - 3 Feet High and Rising
16. Fugazi - 13 Songs
17. Big Audio Dynamite - Megatop Phoenix
18. Run-D.M.C. - Tougher Than Leather
19. Boogie Down Productions - Ghetto Music: The Blueprint of Hip Hop (also loved half of By All Means Necessary)
20. Sam Cooke - Live at the Harlem Square Club 1963
21. Brian Eno / David Byrne - My Life in the Bush of Ghosts
22. The Pogues - Rum, Sodomy & the Lash
23. Prince - 1999 (I need to reconnect with my Prince love)
24. The Smiths - The Queen is Dead
25. Talking Heads - Remain in Light (two songs great enough to make me vote the whole album)
26. Van Halen - 1984
27. Bruce Springsteen - Born in the USA
28. Various - Indestructible Beat of Soweto, Vol. 1
29. Michael Jackson - Thriller
30. Minutemen - The Punch Line (demoted strategically)