POLL: Which band has the best discography?

I feel like in a way the stuff at the start is actually the most essential.

lol, I didn't think people would seriously take the bait and ruin this thread with Beatles discussion,

I was surprised at the glaring omission, especially since they were nominated at the top of the other thread. But yeah.

It's my fault, because I seconded the Beatles in the OG thread and then was shot down pretty quickly by Οὖτις & rushomancy...

If someone (not me) wants to rerun the poll with a Beatles option, I'm fine w/ that

imo the results will be more interesting without the freakin' beatles

New board description [/wah wah waaah]

Whiney, you are a hero for omitting the Beatles!

I will vote for Sun Ra for the same reasons I would vote for The Fall - a brilliant long labyrinth of a career with many trick mirrors and blind alleys and discovery after blindingly brilliant discovery. I love that Young Marble Giants record too but comparing some of these bands 1-2-3 albums long life span with someone with an exceedingly extensive catalog like Sun Ra seems a little silly.

Hey all I said in the of thread was that the Beatles have some bad songs!

Which they do

Xps

i really like the beatles but don't like any beatles album all the way through. i would have to lose half the songs on the white album and abbey road to get rid of all the songs i dislike or am indifferent to for instance

is this uncommon?

― frederik b. godt (jim in vancouver), Thursday, 13 February 2020 21:47 (yesterday) link

This not only isn't uncommon but is utterly universal. However, there will forever be fervent disagreement as to which half of the songs on the White Album and Abbey Road and every other Fabs album should be binned.... which is why i still find beatles discussions interesting after all these years. Cause once you correctly prune the annoying stuff from their discography, the rest of it is so fcuking great....

CCR or Led Zeppelin from the list, but I'd give the Velvet Underground a pass on Squeeze and vote for them instead.

Came down to D'Angelo and Fugazi for me, but I've never liked 'The Argument' so D'Angelo it is.

Bands with small discographies have a lower degree of difficulty - in that group I'd go with Portishead. For the extensive discography, higher degree of difficulty, my vote goes to Low

Anyway, where's the Velvet Underground? Consistently strong albums from start to finish, enough good outtakes/oddities to make another strong album or two, no obvious clunkers. Unless you count Squeeze...

^exactly wut I said on the other thread... putting Squeeze aside, and some of the tracks on Another View, pretty much every song they recorded is classic.

idg how Wham is on this list.

I know we don't require spotlist discographies, but the deep cuts on Make It Big are boring and forgettable.

"Credit Card Baby", lolol.

but, the 12" "Everything She Wants" mix is the greatest thing of all time so

it's Death for me. YEAH YEAH PVMIC HAHA GET FUCKED

Nirvana maybe close second because even when I got the boxed set with all kinds of b-sides and early versions I loved all that shit too and all of the studio albums and Incesticide, the live albums, like....I drank all things Nirvana and still do

In the end, I voted for Smiths, The. Even though their singer was that guy.

I would never count them as one of my fav bands but they don't have anything I don't like. Which isn't something I can say about my real favourite bands.

Out of these options it has to be Sade. They've never released an album or single that would be less than good, I can't imagine it applies to anyone else. Certainly not Miles Davis or Fela Kuti, whose output clearly got worse in the 1980s. Maybe Portishead qualifies too, but IMO including an act with just 3 albums is kinda cheating.

Hey all I said in the of thread was that the Beatles have some bad songs!

Which they do

Then you turned on me for saying the exact same thing itt!

Am I being trolled?

I propose that there be no further mentions of the Beatles itt under this line

_____________________________________________

the beatles

you're a troll otherwise, am i being trolled is this trolling?

x

really no idea what my American choice would be, possibly Badu based on actual listening frequency - top 5 is all Brits and out of those I am leaning Broadcast as the others all had much more commercial success

Several metal bands are listed in this poll. Therefore I humbly beseech you to VOTE in the 2019 edition ILX's metal and heavy music poll. You've still got a week to do so:

2019 Metal ’n’ Heavy Rock Poll: VOTING & CAMPAIGNING thread (open until the 21st of February)

Sheesh, this poll would be a cinch if only those four loveable mop-tops from Liverpuddle were an option, but now I don't know who to pick. Help!

Echo & The Bunnymen?

The Stone Roses iirc

Never mind, I'm fairly sure it was A Flock of Seagulls.

IMO including an act with just 3 albums is kinda cheating.

It's not cheating, that's the definition of a band who have the best discography, one that's been very sparing with what they release.

But also

The discography of British trip hop group Portishead consists of three studio albums, one live album, one compilation, ten singles and one video album.

Better yet, only one song

https://media1.tenor.com/images/f9adb55e873200397cc8a21e95585d4f/tenor.gif

Portishaters should give the third album a shot. I always liked them fine but that one surprised the hell out of me, particularly given that it dropped a decade after I thought they were pretty much over.

Well, it was voted ILM's best album of the noughties…

i should’ve suggested sunny day real estate

^^ a very good suggestion, at that

Came down to D'Angelo and Fugazi for me, but I've never liked 'The Argument'

madness

!

madness

I don't really know them beyond a couple of songs

xpost lol, Lads, neither Madness nor !(!!) are in the running for this poll.

The Madness discography is a case study in diminishing returns.

Neither are !!! tbf xp

oh duh :/

but yeah no idea why wham! is here

― american bradass (BradNelson)

When I spotted Wham! on the list, I briefly considered voting for them, non-ironically, until I remembered the first album. 66.6% isn't a great average.
("Make It Big" however, is as wall-to-wall solid as Thriller)

One Step Beyond... (1979) (UK No. 2)
Absolutely (1980) (UK No. 2)
7 (1981) (UK No. 5)
The Rise & Fall (1982) (UK No. 10)
Keep Moving (1984) (UK No. 6)
Mad Not Mad (1985) (UK No. 16)
The Madness (1988) (UK No. 66)
Wonderful (1999) (UK No. 17)
The Dangermen Sessions Vol. 1 (2005) (UK No. 11)
The Liberty of Norton Folgate (2009) (UK No. 5)
Oui Oui Si Si Ja Ja Da Da (2012) (UK No. 10)
Can't Touch Us Now (2016) (UK No. 5)

I haven't heard any of these after 'Keep Moving' and I'm in no hurry to return to that.

voted Sonic Youth, they have a shitload of albums and they're all at least pretty good, to echo what's been said upthread, that's more impressive to me than like Big Star having three great albums or whatever. Zeppelin would probably be my #2. Coltrane is probably the "right" answer but I haven't heard a bunch of his albums.

pvmic

I actually think the !!! discography is really solid

I don't skip anything on Sgt Pepper, Rubber Soul, or the white album (everyone else is probably right but idc), and only "Hello Goodbye" on MMT, but I actually totally agree about the inconsistency of Revolver: "Love You To", "Yellow Submarine", "Good Day Sunshine", and "Dr Robert" are the ones I like least, esp the first two. The rest of it is incredible, though.

Zep and SY are probably my all-time favourite rock bands. With the former, though, I don't care that much for In Through the Out Door, barely even remember anything on Coda, and TSRTS has some dross on it. I can find something to like in p much every SY release so they might get my vote, since maintaining consistency across a fairly vast discography counts for something vs releasing a few perfect albums. With Miles, Coltrane, and Duke, I haven't heard anything really bad but I just don't feel like I know their entire discographies well enough. Nirvana is a really good answer; a dud or two on the Unplugged album but, generally, v solid. Joy Division's live recordings can be pretty bad, enough to disqualify them imo. "Miserable Lie" alone is enough to disqualify the Smiths. Gorguts/Husker Du/SotL all worth consideration.