2010 Magazine's Albums Of The Year Thread For Posting Lists and Discussion

NickB, scott -- thanks much

isnt whiney supposed to be "releasing" his year-end list today or something?

One last album to hear...

i remember he said it was "dropping" on some date alright, sort of like an album art teaser

I gave myself a deadline that i am blowing through

Radio K lists:
http://www.radiok.org/top-77-voting/

One last album to hear...

you realize now that you've dropped this hint, you need to tell us the name of this FINAL IMPORTANT 2010 ALBUM WHICH YOU SAVED UNTIL JAN. 3, 2010 TO FINALLY HEAR -- right?

JAN. 3, 2011 *

gahhhh ilxor fail

If you really want to know, i have to finish up this Kevin Drumm box that has a good chance of making it on the list

!!! NICE

i ordered that shit last week

Fastnbulbous, who do you write all your reviews for?

www.fastnbulbous.com, duh

btw, Pitchfork 2010 Readers Poll results are up

This is our third readers' poll. Once again, we had more than 30,000 responses. This feature is always particularly interesting for the Pitchfork staff, especially as a point of comparison with our year-end coverage. There are always both a lot of overlap and some intriguing differences. Here's how it broke down.

Top 50 Albums

01. Arcade Fire: The Suburbs
02. Kanye West: My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
03. The National: High Violet
04. Beach House: Teen Dream
05. LCD Soundsystem: This Is Happening
06. Deerhunter: Halcyon Digest
07. Sufjan Stevens: The Age of Adz
08. Joanna Newsom: Have One on Me
09. Sleigh Bells: Treats
10. Vampire Weekend: Contra

you can pretty much guess how it goes from there, right?

http://pitchfork.com/features/staff-lists/7892-2010-pitchfork-readers-poll

this is where the Pfork poll gets kinda interesting -- albums w/ the highest % of #1 votes

(nice graphic, too!)

http://cdn.pitchfork.com/media/BestAlbum_FINAL_NoCopy.jpg

The metal readers poll is way better (thanks to ilxor for posting it on the metal poll thread)
01. Kylesa: Spiral Shadow

02. Deftones: Diamond Eyes

03. High on Fire: Snakes for the Divine

04. Alcest: Écailles de Lune

05. Shining: Blackjazz

06. The Body: All the Waters of the Earth Turn to Blood

07. Agalloch: Marrow of the Spirit

08. Nachtmystium: Addicts: Black Meddle, Part II

09. Watain: Lawless Darkness

10. Harvey Milk: A Small Turn of Human Kindness

hahahi think all ten of those albums made my 40-album ballot for the ILX metal poll O_O

i'd rerank them but whiney would tell me to take my data-dumping elsewhere

ILXOR CAN YOU EVEN READ A RANKED LIST OF ANYTHING WITHOUT SHITTING ALL OVER IT

Only one i dont care for is the Watain. Only heard the deftones once and it was ok, another good deftones album but not as good as white pony.

another good deftones album but not as good as white pony.

you pretty much have to let go of this truth in order to enjoyably listen to any other deftones album ;_;

white pony is on its own plane

yeah i know. As I said, it was still a good enough album.

Brainwashed.com Top 25 Albums of 2010

1. Swans, "My Father Will Guide Me Up a Rope to the Sky"
2. Current 93, "Baalstorm, Sing Omega"
3. Yellow Swans , "Going Places "
4. Grinderman, "Grinderman 2"
5. Oneohtrix Point Never, "Returnal"
6. Brian McBride, "The Effective Disconnect (Music Composed for the Documentary Vanishing of the Bees)"
7. Autechre, "Move of Ten"
8. The Legendary Pink Dots, "Seconds Late for the Brighton Line"
9. Philip Jeck, "An Ark For The Listener"
10. Sun City Girls, "Funeral Mariachi"
11. Pan Sonic, "Gravitoni"
12. Emeralds , "Does It Look Like I'm Here?"
13. James Blackshaw, "All Is Falling"
14. Cyclobe, "Wounded Galaxies Tap at The Window"
15. Michael Gira, "I Am Not Insane"
16. Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra, "Kollaps Tradixionales"
17. Barn Owl, "Ancestral Star"
18. Flying Lotus, "Cosmogramma"
19. JG Thirlwell, "Manorexia: The Mesopelagic Waters"
20. Current 93, "Haunted Waves, Moving Graves"
21. Demdike Stare, "Liberation Through Hearing"
22. Demdike Stare , "Voices Of Dust "
23. Keith Fullerton Whitman, "Disingenuity/Disingenuousness"
24. The Fall, "Your Future, Our Clutter"
25. Eleh , "Location Momentum"

albums go all the way to top 100 on the site (http://brainwashed.com) along w/ top EPs & singles, vault/reissues, various artists comps, artist/label/new artist of the year, lifetime achievement (RIP sleazy), and worst album (lol Vampire Weekend)

http://brainwashed.com

totally worth a look

I'm way way way behind on this discussion. Anyway, I probably listen to as many or more albums a year as anybody here -- posted my Top 150 (plus 30 or so also-rans -- though admittedly including reissues and a few '09 albums I didn't hear until this year) on another thread, and those are only albums I liked. I've done that for three of the past four years, I think. I listened to hundreds more (or at least parts of hundreds, maybe even a thousand, more -- most of them I only made it through a few songs), and that doesn't even count all the old (mostly '70s and '80s) LPs I found in dollar bins and listened to this year (wrote about a lot of those on the Rolling Country and Rolling Past Expiry Hard Rock threads). And guess what? It was easy.

And I had no problem finding time to watch TV and read books and go out on Saturdays and have a family life (which I spend at least as much time on as listening to music) and cook meals (usually with old vinyl on in the background) and all that other stuff that people who listen to so many records supposedly never have time to do. Obviously I have some major advantages -- I get CDs free in the mail every day (plus downloads in the email, which I usually ignore unless I'm getting paid otherwise), I have a free Rhapsody account (I write for them) so I can check out new music that I don't get free in the mail if I want to (or if editors want me to write about), writing about music freelance is my fulltime gig so I don't have a day job cutting into my time, etc. So if none of that was true, maybe I wouldn't be listening to so much. And though obviously I'd listen to some of them more if time was infinite, for the most part I think I listen to all of those records as much as they each deserve to be listened to -- which is the same as how much I want to listen to them. In other words, unless I've got an assignment, I don't listen to music because I think I "should"; I listen because I want to. And obviously the albums high on my list tend to be the ones I tended to listen to more. When you get down toward 150, there are probably albums I only listened to a couple times. (Never less than that, because I don't file anything until I've listened to it at least twice.) I guess that's not "in depth" enough for some people on that thread, but it's usually in-depth enough for me to know whether I like a record or not. (I don't recommend that people buy all -- or maybe even any! -- of the records on my list; as I explain on the other thread, that'd probably just make me a hypocrite, because I don't really buy music myself, except for old dollar-bin records. I'm just keeping track of music I've had a positive reaction to -- A lot of which I have more to say about than "I like it"; I review a pretty good chunk of the records on my list, and I'm good at it. But lots of which I have nothing to say about at all, really. Which doesn't negate me liking it. And probably if somebody offered to pay me for even those, I'd find something to say.) I've never understood this idea that you have to listen to an album 100 times to know what's there; obviously there are albums that you can keep learning new things about if you do that, but they're really, really rare. And if they're that good, again, I'll want to listen 100 times. Don't think that's happened lately.

I also don't really feel any compulsion to "keep up" with what other critics are liking, for the most part, though there are critics all the time who make me curious about specific releases. And it's hard for me to understand how other people who love music wouldn't be curious about tons of what's out there. To me, it just comes naturally. On the other hand, I wouldn't say that the way I listen is how other critics should listen -- One of my favorite critics apparently listens to basically no albums at all (he just votes for singles in Pazz & Jop, often ones that people put on mix CDs for him in November); maybe my favorite critic of the past 20 years listened to just a handful of albums through most of this year, and then spent Decemeber cramming. I couldn't do that -- If I like an album a lot, I want to live with it for a while to let it become part of my life, and I don't really trust my judgement with albums that I suddenly love in December. (Yelawolf might've had a shot at my P&J ballot had I heard it before I filed my ballot, but even if I'd heard it on Thanksgiving, I might not've been comfortable listing it. Still not sure how much I like it. If I end up loving it, and not getting tired of it, and playing it steadily all through 2011, I may decide to be a year-of-impact weirdo and vote for it next year, who knows.)

Also don't see how my lists would be more interesting (or more fun, or more trustworthy, or whatever) if I only listened to one genre. I just don't get that; it makes no sense to me at all. I'm incapable of wanting to just hear one genre, or even sticking within a genre when I'm supposed to. (Have sort of made a career of doing otherwise.) They all overlap anyway. (I file country lists every year for the Nashville Scene poll, and some of those always make my P&J ballot too. But as a whole, by definition, I like my P&J records more -- because they're drawn from a wider pool of applicants.) But again, I'm not everybody. Some critics are real good just writing about one kind of music, and right, having a speciality has its advantages, for some critics, in terms of finding a niche and getting assignments. But that's just not how I hear the world. (Though I've managed to specialize on particular genres at different times of my writing career regardless-- just not to exclusion of also writing about other stuff.)

I guess that's not "in depth" enough for some people on that thread, but it's usually in-depth enough for me to know whether I like a record or not.

the ppl who were making a statement about how many albums ppl 'should' listen to were the folks advocating that critics listen to as many as possible & suggesting it was like a responsibility iirc, not those defending their right to focus on less

i mean, i do believe that trying to listen 'comprehensively' is a fool's game tho. not to mention impossible

XXL 100 best mixtapes of 2010

100. Los - Shooter
99. Das Racist - Shut Up, Dude
98. Outasight - Never Say Never
97. Terrace Martin - Here, My Dear
96. Ra Diggs - Pray for My Enemies
95. Bishop Lamont - The Shawshank Redemption: Angola 3
94. Uncle Murda - More Murda
93. Redman - Pancakes & Syrup
92. Game - The Red Room
91. Curt@!n$ - The Dissertation : The Wu-Thesis

90. Soulja Boy - Legendary
89. Slim Thug - Pimpin' Slim
88. Termanology - 50 Bodies Vol. 3
87. Young Buck - Back On My Buck Shit Vol. 2: Change Of Plans
86. Diggy Simmons - Past Presents Future
85. Fashawn - Grizzly City 3
84. Droop-E - Blvck Diamond Life
83. Jay Rock - Black Friday
82. Reks - In Between the Lines 2
81. STS - Demand More 2

80. Casiddy - Apply Pressure 2
79. Killa Kyleon - Natural Born Killa
78. Jae Millz - Dead Presidents
77. Pac Div - Don't Mention It
76. Mistah F.A.B. - The Realest Shit I Never Wrote Pt. 3
75. Pastor Troy - G.I. Troy: Strictly 4 My Soldiers
74. Jon Connor - Vinnie Chase Season 1
73. Moe Green - Rocky Maivia: Non-Title Match
72. Lil Twist - The Takeover: Carte Blanche Edition
71. Young Dro - Dro Street

70. As far as I can tell, there is no #70
69. Red Cafe - No Witnesses
68. Asher Roth - Seared Foie Gras with Quince and Cranberry
67. Cyhi da Prynce - Royal Flush
66. Travis Porter - Nicki (Strip Club Anthems)
65. Kid Daytona - The Interlude
64. Styles P & Sheek Louch - The Ghost and the Gorilla
63. Plies - You Need People Like Me
62. Theophilus London - I Want You
61. Bow Wow - Green Light II

60. Maino - Art of War
59. Yo Gotti - Cocaine Muzik 4
58. Mickey Factz - I'm Better Than You
57. Reek da Villian - The Gift: The Mixtape Album
56. Curt@!n$ - Killer Tape
55. Young Jeezy - The Last Laugh
54. XV - Vizzy Zone
53. The Cool Kids - Tacklebox
52. Smoke DZA - George Kush da Button
51. Pill - 1140 - The Overdose

50. Jim Jones - The Ghost of Rich Porter
49. Nipsey Hussle - The Marathon
48. Emilio Rojas - Life Without Shame
47. Trae tha Truth - Trae Day
46. Meek Mill - Flamerz 3
45. Dead Prez - Revolutionary But Gangsta Grillz
44. Chip tha Ripper - Independence Day
43. Mac Miller - K.I.D.S.
42. Joell Ortiz & Novel - Defying the Predictable
41. Gucci Mane - Mr. Zone 6

40. Fred the Godson - Armageddon
39. Laws - 5:01 Overtime
38. Scarface - Dopeman Music
37. Consequence - Movies on Demand
36. Playboy Tre - The Last Call
35. Raekwon - Cocainism Vol. 2
34. B.o.B - May 25th
33. Cyhi da Prynce - Prynce of Jacks
32. Jadakiss - The Champ Is Here III
31. Young Chris - The Re-introduction

30. Machine Gun Kelly - Lace Up
29. Game - Brake Lights
28. Diggy Simmons - Airborne
27. Lil B - Everything Based
26. Fashawn - Ode to Illmatic
25. L.E.P. Bogus Boys - Don’t Feed da Killaz Volume 3
24. Vado - Slime Flu
23. Odd Future - Radical
22. Rick Ross - Ashes to Ashes
21. Dom Kennedy - From the Westside With Love

20. Young Jeezy - Trap or Die 2
19. Donnis - Fashionably Late
18. Bun B - No Mixtape
17. Whale - More About Nothing
16. Cam'Ron - Boss of All Bosses 2
15. Royce Da 5’9” - Bar Exam 3: The Most Interesting Man
14. B.o.B - No Genre
13. Big Sean - Finally Famous Vol. 3: B.I.G.
12. Chris Brown & Tyga - Fan of a Fan
11. Tech N9ne - Bad Season

10. Yelawolf - Trunk Muzik
9. T.I. - Fuck a Mixtape
8. Kendrick Lamar - Overly Dedicated
7. Freddie Gibbs - Str8 Killa No Filla
6. Joe Budden - Mood Muzik 4: A Turn 4 The Worst
5. J. Cole - Friday Night Lights
4. Rick Ross - The Albert Anastasia EP
3. Big K.R.I.T. - K.R.I.T Wuz Here
2. Fabolous - There Is No Competition 2: The Funeral Service
1. Wiz Khalifa - Kush & OJ

wild

weird list

i didnt know Droop-E had a tape. Kinda wanna hear it

it's aight. it's all smooth sade rips and not the usual bay slaps

i'd really just rather put on love deluxe.

all lightweight, no jammin?

haha basically.

individual songs off it are cool but its not that fun to listen to as a whole tape cuz it just makes u want to listen to sade yeah

also, his rapping sucks

Yeah, the instrumentals are actually my favourite bits of the Droop-E tape.

some really awful stuff on there esp in the top 20 but some stuff i missed & will check for

does datpiff do a year end list

I can't really use Tim as an example. I've read his reviews, and most are well written and well thought out, just as his response upthread is. So yes it's possible for certain writers to be good critics without listening to a ton of music. But not everyone is like him.

Personally I just can't relate to not having the compulsion to hear the Kanye album, as annoying as some of the hype is about it. I just have a preference for writers who have that compulsion.

One example is Nine Inch Nails' Pretty Hate Machine, which I've been thinking about as I've listened to the reissue several times this past week. I remember being annoyed by some reviews that treated it as this revolutionary album that came out of nowhere, and was completely ignorant of the context it came out of -- Killing Joke, Coil, KMFDM, even The The and Big Black. Bad criticism. That made me want to dismiss it completely in favor of Godflesh's Streetcleaner. Soon enough though, I was compelled to go back and listen to PHM more and recognize that it's not simply "watered down" industrial, but that it does accomplish something significant with the songwriting, hooks and teen angst lyrics. I felt that many critics lacked the big picture in being aware of let alone having heard the antecedents to those two bands. And too many weren't even aware of either at the time. Bad critics!

Going back to Kanye, I heard the album, and though he annoys me sometimes, I liked a lot of the album. It has major flaws, but did make my top 200. But I feel that a lot of the critics that gave it a perfect 5 stars or 10 or whatever were seriously missing the bigger picture. Like some of them have maybe listened to less than even a few albums a month. Less than three weeks later, Diddy/Dirty Money released a better album. Yet it's been relatively ignored. Perhaps it was easier to skip it than acknowledge that just maybe the Kanye album wasn't so perfect. Some may say this example is flawed because of deadlines and release dates. Weren't promos released of the Diddy album a few weeks in advance? It should have been enough time for most poll deadlines.

Sure, but what makes someone a better reviewer: listening to 200 albums four times each, and writing 200 reviews, or listening to four albums 200 times each, and thinking about every angle on the music they can spot before sitting down to write about it?

In each case the writer is doing music critic work of the same amount. The first critic might be in a better position to tell you which out of those 200 albums are the ones you really should buy (in their opinion, it goes without saying), and also, if you like x album, which three or four other albums of the same year might be considered similar, but on pretty much every other conceivable metric the second critic is going to be in a better position to put together a good review.

I'd say it's likely that a critic would simply go insane after having heard the same 4 albums 200 times, and wouldn't be much good for anything! Especially if they didn't even like those albums, ha ha. And if they only heard those 4 albums that year, well, I'd certainly be fascinated with what they came up with, but I would be more interested in following a critic who has listened to 300 or more albums, even if they only review a fraction of them. I'm not so interested in critics who only listen to what they're assigned.

One of the benefits you get with listening to a lot of music, is the skill of getting a lot out of the first few listens. It takes practice, and some are better than others, but yes, it is possible to form an intelligent, thorough analysis based on as few as three listens. When I used to write more reviews, I would continue to re-listen as I write, and if I'm struggling with it or I simply had the time to write the best review possible, I did end up playing it six times, twelve times, or more. A few more challenging albums did require more listens to prepare, but not that many. But some of my favorite reviews were started after the first two listens and completed in three.

It sounds like Chuck does listen usually many more than a few times. He's been doing it for at least 25 years and I'm always impressed by his writing and criticism, even though his personal year-end choices often mystify me!

i mean, i do believe that trying to listen 'comprehensively' is a fool's game tho. not to mention impossible

Who said anything about comprehensive? Let's talk about what's possible. There are some people who do nothing but read or watch tv every waking hour. It's difficult to do anything else while doing those things, other than, say, eat. At least with music you can do housework, walk, run, bike, drive, work, write, read, cook, make love, even doze or nap and let the music marinate in your subconsciousness. Heck, when I was in college and injured during cross country, there were underwater speakers in the pool. I could pop in a tape and listen to music while I swam! So let's assume a healthy sleep schedule of 8 hours a day. That leaves 16 hours. Even if the albums averaged an hour (probably more like 40-45 minutes), that's at least 5,840 albums. That's what's possible. What I'm suggesting is merely that one listen to significantly more that 50 albums. Whether that's 80 or 300 or 1,000, it's not only possible, but reasonable.

No one gets paid much for this. So I assume people do it because they like it, and it's a pleasure to listen to a lot of music, often. So yeah, there are critics who don't do that. I don't get why they don't, and I certainly don't have to trust their criticism.

Ok, yall, here's my Top 100 of 2010 as promised:

1. Harvey Milk – A Small Turn Of Human Kindness
2. Big Boi – Sir Lucious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty
3. Kanye West - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
4. Linkin Park – A Thousand Suns
5. Yelawolf - Trunk Music: 0-60
6. E-40 – Revenue Retrievin’: Day Shift
7. Waka Flocka Flame – Flockaveli
8. The Chemical Brothers – Further
9. Sightings – City Of Straw
10. Rick Ross - Teflon Don
11. Robyn – Body Talk
12. Rangda – False Flag
13. Diddy-Dirty Money – Last Train To Paris
14. James Blackshaw – All Is Falling
15. Sleigh Bells - Treats
16. Janelle Monaé – The ArchAndroid
17. Anika - Anika
18. Goldfrapp – Head First
19. Zs – New Slaves
20. Aloe Blacc – Good Things
21. Mike Patton – Mondo Cane
22. Drunkdriver - Drunkdriver
23. The Books – The Way Out
24. William Tyler – Behold The Spirit
25. Slices – Cruising
26. Grinderman – Grinderman 2
27. Titus Andronicus – The Monitor
28. Against Me! – White Crosses
29. K-X-P – K-X-P
30. Johnny Cash – American VI: Ain’t No Grave
31. Roc Marciano – Marcberg
32. Yellow Swans – Going Places
33. Roach Gigz – Roachy Balboa
34. Dillinger Escape Plan – Option Paralysis
35. Robin Fox – A Handful Of Automation
36. Tyler, The Creator - Bastard
37. Tobacco – Maniac Meat
38. Rotting Christ - Aealo
39. Big K.R.I.T. – K.R.I.T. Was Here
40. Cristal – Homegoing
41. Seijaku – Mail From Fushitsusha
42. Wormrot – Abuse
43. Ufomammut - Eve
44. Julie Christmas – The Bad Wife
45. Jatoma - Jatoma
46. Keith Fullerton Whitman - Generator
47. The Oh Sees – Warm Slime
48. Gangrene (Oh No + Alchemist) – Gutter Water
49. Kylesa – Spiral Shadow
50. Sharon Van Etten – Epic
51. Triptykon - Eparistera Daimones
52. Celph Titled & Buckwild – Nineteen Ninety Now
53. Mark Ribot – Silent Movies
54. Fennesz Daniell Buck – Knoxville
55. Swans - My Father Will Guide Me Up A Rope To The Sky
56. Hannibal Buress – My Name Is Hannibal
57. Hauschka – Foreign Landscape
58. El-P - Weareallgoingtoburninhell Megamixxx3
59. The-Dream – Love King
60. The Fall- Your Future Our Clutter
61. Hot Chip – One Life Stand
62. The Austerity Program – Backsliders & Apostates Will Burn
63. Koen Holtcamp – Gravity/Bees
64. Fat Joe – The Darkside, Vol. 1
65. Cloudland Canyon – Fin Eaves
66. Twilight - Monument To Time End
67. Noveller – Desert Fires
68. Mike Watt – Hyphenated Man
69. Arp – The Soft Wave
70. Eleh – Location Momentum
71. Gonjasufi - A Sufi And A Killer
72. Eluvium – Static Nocturne
73. On - Something That Has Form And Something That Does Not
74. Sun City Girls – Funeral Mariachi
75. Ciara – Basic Instinct
76. Pan Sonic – Gravitoni
77. Child Abuse – Cut And Run
78. Agalloch – Marrow Of The Spirit
79. Gil-Scott Heron – I’m New Here
80. The Fun Years – God Was Like, No
81. Emeralds - Does It Look Like I’m Here?
82. Earl Sweatshirt - Earl
83. Twista – The Perfect Storm
84. Dawnbringer – Nucleus
85. Yeasayer – Odd Blood
86. John Zorn –Ipissimus
87. Clockcleaner – Auf Wiedershen
88. Zola Jesus - Stridulum EP
89. Dosh – Tommy
90. Juan Maclean – DJ Kicks
91. Daniel Higgs – Say God
92. Twin Stumps - Seedbed
93. Ken Camden - Lethargy & Repercussion
94. Sculpture – Rotary Signal Emitter
95. Ted Leo & The Pharmacists – The Brutalist Bricks
96. Robert Hood - Omega
97. Aun –VII
98. Kayo Dot – Coyote
99. The Thermals – Personal Life
100. Max Richter – Infra

ooOOoooooo pretty

the metal picks are great

There's another band called On?

Who said anything about comprehensive? Let's talk about what's possible. There are some people who do nothing but read or watch tv every waking hour. It's difficult to do anything else while doing those things, other than, say, eat. At least with music you can do housework, walk, run, bike, drive, work, write, read, cook, make love, even doze or nap and let the music marinate in your subconsciousness. Heck, when I was in college and injured during cross country, there were underwater speakers in the pool. I could pop in a tape and listen to music while I swam!

This was me about ten years ago in terms of 'always listening to something' -- as time passed, this is far less true, though I have access to a huge amount of music now as we all do. I've gently refocused my direct attention into other areas of life while still maintaining my interest and my goal to write about what I like as I do. Not everyone will take my path, obviously, but I'm not going to write off the opinions of others who aren't on that wavelength -- I mean, c'mon.

(FWIW -- I haven't heard the new Kanye album yet in full and I'm not in an immediate rush to do so; if that invalidates my thoughts then hey, I can't change your mind, can I?)

Since we are talking about "comprehensive listening" and all that, I'll add that my electronic and world listening were a little slimmer than usual in 2010 and it def shows on my top 100. Though lots of world ish (King Sunny Ade, Red Baraat, Brass Menažeri Balkan Brass Band) just missed the cut

Did anybody on ILX successfully change anybody's mind about anything in 2010?

xp

One wonders.

I think Geir put some people off some white boys with guitars

One example is Nine Inch Nails' Pretty Hate Machine, which I've been thinking about as I've listened to the reissue several times this past week. I remember being annoyed by some reviews that treated it as this revolutionary album that came out of nowhere, and was completely ignorant of the context it came out of -- Killing Joke, Coil, KMFDM, even The The and Big Black. Bad criticism.

how familiar are u w/ millenial-era hip hop that kanye was working with, jay-z's dynasty, kanye's work for beanie sigel, the roc a fella philly/ny axis in general, no i.d. and the chicago scene kanye came from, the ruff ryders / tunnel stuff that kanye's soul steez was a reaction to? just wondering

It has major flaws, but did make my top 200. But I feel that a lot of the critics that gave it a perfect 5 stars or 10 or whatever were seriously missing the bigger picture. Like some of them have maybe listened to less than even a few albums a month. Less than three weeks later, Diddy/Dirty Money released a better album. Yet it's been relatively ignored. Perhaps it was easier to skip it than acknowledge that just maybe the Kanye album wasn't so perfect. Some may say this example is flawed because of deadlines and release dates. Weren't promos released of the Diddy album a few weeks in advance? It should have been enough time for most poll deadlines.

do u really think that even 10% of the critics fawning over kanye would have smacked themselves in the forehead and gone 'i cant believe i missed this!' about a diddy record? i prefer the diddy lp but my values are difft than most critics

i agree w/ the importance of being knowledgeable, but i disagree w/ the idea that being knowledgeable is a simple matter of quantity