1980'S ROCK POLL ALBUMS/TRACKS VOTING THREAD. (Voting closes September 20) (all welcome to vote inc Lurkers)

difference is that i've heard most of the bands i'm casually dismissing

I think we can assume Lex will hate most of these bands even without hearing them

xp

most of the bands mentioned made some pretty slick recordings

SY definitely didn't in the 80s. Did HD, Dino Jr, or the Butthole Surfers make any recordings in the 80s that sound slick by today's standards?Children of God and The Burning World are kind of slick but earlier Swans definitely isn't.

A lot of Husker Du is astonishingly shitty-sounding, especially by contemporary standards.

the 2 warners albums were slick compared to the SST albums but not particularly slick really.

but i have no problem with the sound of the SST albums

If they were to be remastered they probably wouldn't sound like the albums I love

i very much wish the hüskers albums had been produced like the sugar albums, and that is not the kind of thought that often occurs to me

man "Ratmouth" is pretty good. I'd never heard early White Zombie before this thread.

SY definitely didn't in the 80s. Did HD, Dino Jr, or the Butthole Surfers make any recordings in the 80s that sound slick by today's standards?Children of God and The Burning World are kind of slick but earlier Swans definitely isn't.

yeah, true. i meant that they eventually wound up making relative slick albums in the 90s.

"relatively"

i disagree. daydream nation was the first SY record with good production values. that's the one where you can finally hear some nuance to shelley's drumming and the guitars are all over the place. and let's be real for a sec, as much as i love sister the guy who engineered that record should have been shot. the damn thing is a monument to trebliness.

DN is still fairly lo-fi, though.

The O'Rourke-era albums, on the other hand, are beautifully produced!

Btw, I wasn't necessarily wishing that Husker Du albums (or DN, for that matter) sounded like ECM recordings or anything. Just observing that they were pretty consistenty lo-fi-sounding (or at least not slick), which may turn off someone who expects a certain sort of production quality.

How about the Coil/Current 93/Nurse With Wound/Death In June/Young Gods/Swans/Foetus/Einsturzende Neubauten albums?

Or the metal albums?

They're all nominated so what do people think of the production on those albums? (will they get [m]any votes?)

I dunno why but I cant help get the feeling that the majority of fans of those acts wont click on the thread, and that others will see my name and assume its only a metal poll because something it's the only music I like.

Some might even think its a rolling stone artists poll lol

I listened to a lot of 80s Swans when I was 18 or so. I can't really see myself going back to it, even though I love what they've done since the 80s, especially the last two albums. I'll give some of it a shot though. I think they have overall probably been superior to Sonic Youth since the 80s but that SY was incontestably the better band in the 80s.

you know, i was thinking on some good sounding records from the late 80s underground and DN is prob one of the key examples of the upgrade in production values from that particular era. if you compare it with any SST or homestead record from the same period the jump in quality is huge. same thing w/ love agenda by band of susans or even surfer rosa, it's like those records redifined mid-fi to hi-fi standards for upcoming indie bands/labels.

DN is still fairly lo-fi, though.

They spent $30,000 on it. Goo was done, in part, at the same studio with the same producer and has a similar sound. I'm not sure that Dirty (prod. by Butch Vig) is all that much more hi-fi.

xp - Yeah, listening now, I'm surprised at how big a production upgrade it was. I didn't notice it that much at the time.

I'm no audiophile but Hairway to Steven and Widowermaker have pretty clean sound to my ears. Maybe even some of the earlier ones? I mean, "Colored FBI Guy" is pretty crisp. But maybe you are talking for audiophilial (yes) things I don't get.

I do intend to vote in this. My albums ballot is going to be weak, but there are a lot of songs here and there on this list that I like and I'm going to try to get through a lot what's available on spotify, at least, before I finish my tracks ballot.

Just sent my ballots! I didn't plan on it but my tracks list and my albums list are pretty different (with some overlap). My albums list is very heavy on the metal and my tracks list more all over the place.

i expect most tracks lists to be all over the place tbh

yeah i think that one's gonna be pretty fun and unpredictable

Yeah I have no idea how it's going to play out.

Lots of sonic youth seems likely in both lists haha

i wonder if the abundance of options for SY and Husker Du tunes will split the vote and leave things to be dominated by acts with a stronger consensus around best tunes, though

Well ,yeah,that is possible. I'm not sure which I'd prefer.
Do we want consensus tracks/albums or surprises?

polls are meant to measure consensus so

yeah but ILM kinda likes surprises and to be anti-canon

So the only consensus I can see is that we can agree on is there will be lots of arguments and butthurt on the results thread.

the Grauzone - Eisbar that was added to the spotify playlist is a horrid remix. The original one is not on Spotify. This is it in case youre not familiar with it:

http://youtu.be/cTuTc_liKS4

― Moka, Sunday, September 2, 2012 8:53 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I've removed this track from the playlist (I assume this is your preference, if not let me know).

For anyone who missed the link upthread:

ILM 80s Rock Playlist/Tracks

http://open.spotify.com/user/1234500846/playlist/1PUCleswca5SrhrBqNMOuD

My favourite Husker Du track wasn't nominated! Only myself to blame for that I guess.

Thanks for doing that playlist Hellhouse, it's an embarrassment of riches.

You can use the ilxor soundrop room to listen to tracks too http://open.soundrop.fm/s/W16fTbbsgjzuGhsN

Hi!

Feel bad for not contributing to this poll much, but my metal/rock knowledge only kind of starts properly in the '90s. I'll be following this thread and the next one nevertheless.

You need to listen on spotify then mr latin! get learning!

yeah loads of good stuff on that Spotify playlist

some of it is now in the ilxor room on soundrop/spotify
http://open.soundrop.fm/s/W16fTbbsgjzuGhsN

I'm not sure that Dirty (prod. by Butch Vig) is all that much more hi-fi.

I listened to "Silver Rocket" and "100%" on headphones this morning. Right away, the drums and vocals sound clearer and crisper on "100%". Generally, higher frequency response seems better. Also, the individual parts are more clearly separated and spatialized.

If I were to put on a Sonic Youth album FOR the production, though, it would be Murray Street or possibly NYC Ghosts and Flowers. I'm not an audio expert btw.

I don't know the Butthole Surfers well at all. I was actually asking about them.

They are great,but like Swans, people are split between early stuff and later 80s material. Unlike Swans though, most of the90s stuff is shit. Though I still like Independent Worm Saloon, but it wasn't as good as the preceding albums.

As far as the tracks nominations go in general, there are several cases where my favorite song (sometimes the only song I like) by a particular band made the cut, so I'm happy with that. I won't be specific for the sake of not giving away ballot clues.

x-post: I am a lot more bugged by the Butthole Surfers's whole nihilistic/grotesque thing, but musically I rank them pretty high.

i somehow managed to forget to nominate
Saint Vitus - Born Too Late
and
Saint Vitus - Saint Vitus.

Thats on a scale of gnr so they're now on the spreadsheet

Dead Kennedys albums were added too already btw

I suggest everyone uses the google spreadsheets for their shortlists and voting

Albums https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AnhCoxm3ycEQdG5RMmdwVlM0TkNlWnVSb3JDY3pDOXc#gid=0

Tracks
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AnhCoxm3ycEQdEI2NXFLdmFhR29lRkR0aHNnNnp0akE#gid=0

I don't think you forgot to nominate those Saint Vitus albums? I listened to Born Too Late early in the nomination process because it was nominated. I think it was even in the OP of the nominations thread?

tracks

I asked earlier about How about the Coil/Current 93/Nurse With Wound/Death In June/Young Gods/Swans/Foetus/Einsturzende Neubauten albums.

They were nominated by some so where's the discussion on them?
Do they not feel ROCK enough to you guys?

I guess Swans have been discussed. I'll rep for Young Gods any day of the week. They were my 1st ever gig (with Laika supporting)

(From Hairway to Steven) I wish Ricky had been nominated instead of Jimi. I guess I should have contributed to the noms list after all.