POLL POLL POLL POLL POLL - SPOON (ILM artist poll #67) --- The results thread

well that's no huge surprise

huge picture tho

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/umsNstKC3eWY94vJBWbpHiW0tu7J_dz13x1AP6Zfmw=s500-no

8. Telephono
Released: April 23, 1996
482 Points, 19 Votes, 1 Number One

yeah it was, fixed the image size.

xpost

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/vd-NQbHiT96b74dypSu_o-o5AwKlZBkzz5d9BWk4AA=s500-no

7. They Want My Soul
Released: August 5, 2014
603 Points, 21 Votes, 1 Number One

Surprisingly solid effort...had it at #3.

TWMS gettin' that slot it deserves

will be pretty ;_; if Transference is next

also, would be interested in hearing from the lone rangers who gave telephono and TWMS their #1

Telephono was my #1. It's the only Spoon album I honestly know backwards and forwards because I've listened to it a gazillion times in the last nearly 20 years.

TWMS was my #2 and in short it's just full of great songs, far more than Transference, and still impeccably produced. Y'all need to spend more time with it.

Just read the Guardian review which helpfully points out the title track lifts from Barry White and the Love Unlimited Orchestra’s Love Theme.

I'm a sucker for catchy radio friendly singalong melodies btw.

i have a clear first and last but outside of that i really have most of the albums close together, and i like all of them. but even so, twms #2 and better than transference is basically indefensible.

i'm being called into work, so this is going to restart later then i would have liked.

not going to put in a full day, so i will be back in a few hours.

even work wants your soul!

lol

Heading home, will resume in a few.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/TR8DkZhUBtgHvRYF5CeLqCOxBXcb5oEcJbC70p7CuQ=s500-no

6. A Series of Sneaks
Released: May 5, 1998
684 Points, 23 Votes, 2 Number Ones

Too low! (my number one)

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/EvUGaWorJhrts0xX-VFK3lze1FBGxDA77wRGydaJ4g=s500-no

5. Girls Can Tell
Released: February 20, 2001
788 Points, 25 Votes, 2 Number Ones

i really thought this would be higher. it seems like this album was a lot of peoples go to album.

they weren't even on my radar until 2002

seems a smidge thinner than the next couple few

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/PBthXCAhI_y_cMAX-Kl4XRss1kBmD3FLR5He57FpLA=s500-no

4. Transference
Released: January 19, 2010
794 Points, 25 Votes, 5 Number Ones

as you can see Transference only beat Girls Can Tell by six points. five number ones it what pushed it past.

TOO LOW

five number ones is something but they were probably peaking.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/vh8WLgJXVYE-UrAkxwmGUGzXVEfrHkHE_ud6iErVJQ=s500-no

3. Gimme Fiction
Released: May 10, 2005
876 Points, 27 Votes, 6 Number Ones

so i had gimme fiction and ga5 way lower than most

my number one, when i was re-listening to Spoon for this poll this was the one that made me happiest.

My #1. It's the best synthesis of their funk experiments, keyboard filigrees, dub arrangements, and punkish stuff.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/TlT5JWQlkG9FNpoFdTIJCQ38Qqzx9LZlVPJPHUxGLg=s500-no

2. Kill The Moonlight
Released: August 20, 2002
878 Points, 31 Votes, 4 Number Ones

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/R1_Ayv5ObQ1HLpNNtqbSzCo4F67T3hO5oXumDVHpSg=s500-no

1. Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
Released: July 10, 2007
906 Points, 27 Votes, 7 Number Ones

as you can see Kill The Moonlight only beat Gimme Fiction by just 2 points, two. but it had 4 more votes.

i could barely pull it together for a 20-track ballot due to irl craziness but fwiw if I'd managed an album ballot both Girls Can Tell and Gimme Fiction would have placed higher. not that i'm complaining about the results of record. this is great!

Now I REALLY wish I voted Girls Can Tell (orig. my number 4) over GA5 (orig. my number 3). Cause KTM (my #2, just slightly below Sneaks) is leaps and bounds better than GA5.

Albums:

28 Ballots received
9 Different Albums:

1. Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga 906 Points, 27 Votes, 7 Number Ones
2. Kill The Moonlight 878 Points, 31 Votes, 4 Number Ones
3. Gimme Fiction 876 Points, 27 Votes, 6 Number Ones
4. Transference 794 Points, 25 Votes, 5 Number Ones
5. Girls Can Tell 788 Points, 25 Votes, 2 Number Ones
6. A Series of Sneaks 684 Points, 23 Votes, 2 Number Ones
7. They Want My Soul 603 Points, 21 Votes, 1 Number One
8. Telephono 482 Points, 19 Votes, 1 Number One
9. A Thing Called Divine Fits 277 Points, 11 Votes

again thanks Thermo Thinwall for these pictures.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/MAptXJ633edj7F07wWkomybirav9zlnKxKrvuM_GVQ=w640-h320-no

40. The Guestlist/The Execution
From: A Series of Sneaks
Released: May 5, 1998
251 Points, 9 Votes

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/ej7ZHn_jG7NOeQlMFpSDR2XRdgdkRsW4NiqtB6etaQ=w640-h320-no

39. Rhthm & Soul
From: Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
Released: July 10, 2007
260 Points, 9 Votes

Voted for #40, one of the few Spoon songs from the first four albums that I remembered before listening to them again. I heard all of these in about 2002 and then lost the files a few years later, so I probably hadn't listened to those albums in ten years.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/L6cTDwUdqRUhwcUinuYHpbmH-qLjBwKgxTvLl_PY7A=w640-h320-no

38. Rainy Taxi
From: They Want My Soul
Released: August 5, 2014
265 Points, 9 Votes, 1 Number One

A ha! I see the font choice for each image is tied to the cover art of the album whence the track came. Nice call!

that is all Thermo Thinwall.

"Rainy Taxi" was in my Top 10.

but i was not the number one vote.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/YZKqfrQnskpbae98wsAqjpTr2BhhjLRCUlgdBDDn3zw=w640-h320-no

37. Believing Is Art
From: Girls Can Tell
Released: February 20, 2001
281 Points, 9 Votes

Song

wow. shocked to see i'm one of two Girls Can Tell #1s...though i guess that makes me feel like my taste in spoon is less cliche. :3

was totally cool with that...until i saw that Ga5 won. peasants, the lot of you

Awesome groove on "Rainy Taxi".

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/XBh-8CWz4GeTb2AtzsxvNtkZXY_nAjst7v9vuDAyAXM=w640-h320-no

36. Metal Detektor
From: A Series of Sneaks
Released: May 5, 1998
283 Points, 9 Votes

Live in studio

astonishing how well Thermo Thinwall captured the song in an image. these just happen to be some random images he had on a recent vacation. (iirc)

in case you haven't figured it out, the font and color all match up with the original albums.

stuff i can never do on my own. this is why this ended up being one of my favorites that i have run. when you get stuff like this, well it speaks for itself...

https://i.imgur.com/FTeDrLR.jpg

first a couple of extra images, with the song just missing the Top 40:

https://i.imgur.com/gYjWPCA.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/VNINp2k.jpg

Thermo Thinwall probably thought like i did, that "Rent I Pay" will definitely make this poll.

it would be very interesting to see my ballot these days, especially with the addition of Hot Thoughts a very, very strong album. at first i thought it didn't measure up. these days it's actually one of their best.

https://i.imgur.com/wKfIXuX.jpg

1

https://i.imgur.com/6aF1azJ.jpg

a Bee OK story:

i originally thought because ILM was in the hey day for artist polls that Spotify made a special template for polls. haha. anyways, someone made this playlist with an ILM logo induced:

https://i.imgur.com/1fs5KUW.png

Spotify ILM Spoon Poll

very glad i was able to upload these images back to this poll. they were so good that they couldn't just disappear into thin air.

Hey man. Glad to see how appreciated my efforts were! If you’re interested in more of my photography, I’ve been keeping my Flickr alive (username d y s i g n) (except without the spaces - just trying to google proof). Slowly Uploading photos from Italy right now.

funny, Everything Hits At Once is the first song I ever heard by this band and it's still my favourite

these photos are insane!

Thanks?!

Those pictures really are amazing. Great job Thermo Thinwall.

A shame this poll couldn't include Hot Thoughts, a top three Spoon album, as I make clear.

let's repoll in 20 years

great examination as usual, alfred.

i just sorta shrug, and know they are unfuckwithable, and don't much feel the need to argue it.

the aug 1 2015 spotify, mentioned far above, was playing on my player when i was put into a multi-day coma on the evening of aug 5 2015. after that, i lived in a rehab hospital for a couple months. i don't remember listening to spoon that day- that day is gone from me forever- but i later found other evidence (texts) that the playlist was my listening at that moment. seeing my comments from that week now rips me into shreds.

the last 3 years often have been almost unendurable, despite my outrageous good luck and fantastic group support. but spoon? still unfuckwithable.

spotify "playlist"

I mean

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUSdDIspy_A

etiolated spoon is my favorite spoon

Found Transference LP second hand and I'm starting to think it's song qua song my favourite album.

I need to give the last two albums a bit more listening time. I love Spoon

I like Alfred's opening line "Why I like these Austinites mystifies me". I agree. They could so easily be the US equivalent of the Stereophonics if they weren't so damn good at writing great songs and knowing just how far to push the boat out with experimentation so it seems like they're not experimenting.

Transference seems to be where the hard core Spoon fans seems to gravitate too, it has some killer hooks. They Want My Soul is even better for me as it has "Rainy Taxi" and arguably their best overall song "Inside Out" and also "New York Kiss," what an album. Hot Thoughts is their New Order album and i also love it. it is/was an interesting direction that i wish they continued down but it seems they are going back to rocking out...

this poll was so much fun!

yeah this was great, enjoying just skimming back through some of it :)

Transference is far and away my favorite.

Glad I'm not the only one. That said, while they're not a band I listen to all the time, every album easily has 3-4 top tier songs

Hot Thoughts has become my most played Spoon album, thanks to "I Ain't the One" and especially "WhisperI’lllistentohearit." He sounds sexy as fuck on the latter.