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

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UmO5N5TVwpc
pretty far-out stuff. it seems to be about the beginning of wwii.

alex in mainhattan, Monday, 23 November 2009 18:39 (fourteen years ago) link

Oh cool, I like Robyn Hitchcock but didn't know that album well, so no vote from me but glad to see it in.

Foetus are one of those bands that I always feel I should probably attempt to get into but never have done.

emil.y, Monday, 23 November 2009 18:44 (fourteen years ago) link

98. (tie) Spacemen 3 - The Perfect Prescription (76 points, 5 votes

http://images.uulyrics.com/cover/s/spacemen-3/album-the-perfect-prescription.jpg

I must say I've grown quite fond of 'Perfect Prescription'--it didn't necessarily blow me away at first, but I'll be damned if it's not one CHARMING-ass record, something you'd be hard-pressed to say about a Spz (ha!) album. Also, 'Playing With Fire' is awesome--better production, more psychedelic, maybe?--but a little less charming. (Note: "Ode to Street Hassle" is one of my current favorite songs.) The lyrics are a bit empty sometimes, but I guess that's not really the point. Well, discuss!

― Clarke B., 17. syyskuuta 2001 3:00

I don't have much to add other than 'The Perfect Prescription' rules the Universe (Performance, Playing With Fire and all their other stuff does too to a slightly lesser degrees). I wonder why nobody ever really talks about "fuzz" anymore (has it been subsumed by 'drones'). I just remember that the Spacemen had the textures right and then I fell in love with the bluesy and gospel-y melodies. I especially love their 17 minute cover of Rollercoaster which is barely 2 chords.

The only thing I didn't like about them was their bitchiness in interviews. They would dis Loop and then say things like the Jesus and Mary Chain weren't that special (since they had done the feedback thing too on their first album).

― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), 17. tammikuuta 2003 23:49

Tuomas, Monday, 23 November 2009 18:52 (fourteen years ago) link

Satan Place from that Foetus album recently came up on my ipod shuffle and blew my MIND

although Finely Honed Machine (a bonus track) is the real head-scrambler

my fave thing to do on the computer is what im doing right now (acoleuthic), Monday, 23 November 2009 18:53 (fourteen years ago) link

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NN2CK48l4GM
the 1st track of perfect prescription

alex in mainhattan, Monday, 23 November 2009 18:57 (fourteen years ago) link

I nominated & voted for that Robyn, my favorite thing he's done. He makes his eccentricities feel universal on that record. How the hell does he do that? Sick Man is my favorite Foetus moment; same goes for that whole Spacemen record. Very college-rock here at the bottom of the charts so far!

dad a, Monday, 23 November 2009 19:00 (fourteen years ago) link

Sooner or later, this thread is going to get pretty slow and unweildly with all these youtube links. Maybe a separate youtube results thread would be better.

kornrulez6969, Monday, 23 November 2009 19:02 (fourteen years ago) link

not that it matters but college-rock? i would have thought the feelies or the talking heads were college-rock but not british artists like hitchcock or spacemen 3. college-rock is an american concept, isn't it? in any case a very promising start i'd say.

alex in mainhattan, Monday, 23 November 2009 19:10 (fourteen years ago) link

97. Big Black - Atomizer (77 points, 8 votes)

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Vktx95N7ra8/SJykVA3D48I/AAAAAAAAAZo/AzXK24FysLM/s400/R-368853-1181835194.jpeg

Passing Complexion and Bad Houses for their weirdo non punkdom

Or even "non-indiedom"! (in the old sense of the word indie) I mean in a way, Big Black weren't doing anything all that radically different from what a hell of a lot of other US indie bands were doing then, which is why I couldn't understand their appeal at first, being first and foremost an anglophile. But Passing Complexion was like their Smiths-How-Soon-Is-Now moment because they (or Albini) got a guitar sound there that is utterly unique as far as I know. I would be curious actually, if any ilxors could point to a piece of guitar music that sounds like that. Metal Machine Music?? But MMM didn't have an easy to swallow RIFF!

I find Big Black a really fun band to talk about because I don't think they've been talked about much on this board since I've been here. Or if they have, I've been away and out of the loop. I also think that in the end, at least for me, I tend to remember Albini more for his production jobs than BB. What he did for The Wedding Present and PJ Harvey was truly stunning.

Very much looking forward to hearing this Atomizer album again, though. I found myself able to visualize the details of the record sleeve with great clarity today.

― Soda Paint Cans (Bimble), 28. maaliskuuta 2009 5:00

This bloke on our local market persuaded me to buy Atomiser when it came out and I was completely blown away by it. Guitars that sound like machines imitating guitars is such a great sound. I can't think of another band whose sound is as conceptually perfect as Big Black's. And I love that Albini stopped it as soon as they'd said what they wanted to say.

― TV's Mr Noodle Vague (noodle vague), 6. toukokuuta 2005 20:40

"Passing Complexion" from Atomizer = my favorite guitar riff ever.

― latebloomer: But when the monkey die, people gonna cry. (latebloomer), 6. toukokuuta 2005 23:20

Tuomas, Monday, 23 November 2009 19:12 (fourteen years ago) link

What the hell is up with the guitar necks on that Spacemen 3 cover? It's like a pre-Photoshop Photoshop disaster. Horrible.

The bugger in the short sleeves (NickB), Monday, 23 November 2009 19:14 (fourteen years ago) link

(fucking great record though)

The bugger in the short sleeves (NickB), Monday, 23 November 2009 19:14 (fourteen years ago) link

this thread is going to get pretty slow and unweildly with all these youtube links.

i am not sure but i think the covers take at least as much bandwidth as the youtube stills. but of course we could start a new thread. which on the other hand would mess things up.

alex in mainhattan, Monday, 23 November 2009 19:14 (fourteen years ago) link

haha 2 of my top five in the first 4 results

NAKES HAVE THE STAPLES IN THEM (jjjusten), Monday, 23 November 2009 19:21 (fourteen years ago) link

thank you tuomas

rent, Monday, 23 November 2009 19:23 (fourteen years ago) link

well i for one am 100% certain that my #1 choice is not going to appear at all!

really need to hear big black. will arrange this some day.

my fave thing to do on the computer is what im doing right now (acoleuthic), Monday, 23 November 2009 19:24 (fourteen years ago) link

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hIn8e8-kXQ4
live. what a great time those 80s were, occasionally.

user comment from the kerosene clip:
"It's like their guitars are speaking another language than everyone else's."

alex in mainhattan, Monday, 23 November 2009 19:25 (fourteen years ago) link

i am not sure but i think the covers take at least as much bandwidth as the youtube stills.

― alex in mainhattan

not the point - inline images load quickly, but browsers have to load the relevant plugin every time they get to an embedded youtube

thomp, Monday, 23 November 2009 19:25 (fourteen years ago) link

i mean, much as i hate sounding like a luddite, it does kind of shit the thread up for anyone on an out-of-date computer

thomp, Monday, 23 November 2009 19:26 (fourteen years ago) link

well i for one am 100% certain that my #1 choice is not going to appear at all!

What was it? I'm 98% certain mine won't either (that being the Slapp Happy album, already discussed on the other thread).

emil.y, Monday, 23 November 2009 19:30 (fourteen years ago) link

not that it matters but college-rock? i would have thought the feelies or the talking heads were college-rock but not british artists like hitchcock or spacemen 3. college-rock is an american concept, isn't it? in any case a very promising start i'd say.

― alex in mainhattan, Monday, November 23, 2009 2:10 PM (20 minutes ago) Bookmark

So far all of these were pretty landmark on college radio in my US college town, and Robyn & S3 were must-haves in the indie record store import bin. Not to defend the term college-rock, which is pretty execrable, though I've come to like it as a sort of precursor to the "knowledge worker in training" peg with which Carl Wilson nailed indie.

dad a, Monday, 23 November 2009 19:31 (fourteen years ago) link

wahey! this is going great- albums i've never heard and would like to one day listen to. hoping it stays this way and doesn't go into canon-mode (except the canon albums i voted for of course.)

9-1 never forget (a hoy hoy), Monday, 23 November 2009 19:34 (fourteen years ago) link

96. Associates - Sulk (79 points, 6 votes)

http://whathappnednext.files.wordpress.com/2008/11/associates-sulk2.jpg

I'd go against the grain of the good Doctor - I find the first two CDs much harder going than "Sulk" - rewarding to be sure but still tough ("White Car In Germany" though is tremendous with no equivocation). "Sulk" though sparkles - I love the 'glacial' production and the hysteria of it all. And "Party Fears Two" is one of those handful of singles I occasionally get worked up about and pronounce "THIS IS THE GREATEST SINGLE OF ALL TIME" which means in that instant it least, it is.

― Tom, 3. tammikuuta 2001 3:00

I was 18 in the summer of 1982. "Party Fears Two" was part of the soundtrack of that summer. And I was living it in DUNDEE. I've had some unhappy times since then, but I'll remember that wonderful year and the part that the music of the Associates played in it forever. Whenever I listen to Sulk I'm 18 again and the world is full of opportunities that I never eventually took up

The Associates WILL be remembered long after some of today's POPSTARS are long forgotten.

― Big Al, 1. huhtikuuta 2001 3:00

i pulled out sulk yesterday after reading the scotland chapter in sr's p-punk book, and good god i can't believe this EVER charted, however briefly. the whole album is on overload.

It's absolutely astounding. Björk being a massive fan of Mackenzie's makes sense but in the Sugarcubes or solo I've never sensed her work to be quite as...*searches for the word*...careening, shall we say.

It's also a case where all the stories about the recording and the run up to it, what went into it, what they tried, etc. all make sense. You read PR guff all the time about how some band's third album (which Sulk sorta was if you count Fourth Drawer Down's singles comp as the second) is going to be the Experimental Shift in Style What Is Different or soundbites about 'there were no rules in the studio, we decided to come in fresh' or whatever and they create something with a boring drum loop and keyboard part. Then there's this.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), 25. huhtikuuta 2005 2:08

Tuomas, Monday, 23 November 2009 19:36 (fourteen years ago) link

it does kind of shit the thread up for anyone on an out-of-date computer

what about bookmarking? doesn't that help? i don't have that plugin problem. could it be because i use firefox?

alex in mainhattan, Monday, 23 November 2009 19:43 (fourteen years ago) link

Associates are one of those bands that I didn't find out about until 15 years or so after the fact, so I didn't feel right about including them on my list. Great album, though.

Dan S, Monday, 23 November 2009 19:45 (fourteen years ago) link

This thread is mapping out an alternate history of 80s music that I was mostly unaware of.

And I mean that in a good way. Thanks for this list.

Daniel, Esq., Monday, 23 November 2009 19:50 (fourteen years ago) link

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lTyb9Jl8y1k
yes, one of the greatest singles of all time. sometimes i can agree to what tom says. are there others who have problems with the loading of the clips? i'll stop immediatley posting them if you wish.

alex in mainhattan, Monday, 23 November 2009 19:50 (fourteen years ago) link

95. Jane's Addiction - Nothing's Shocking (79 points, 7 votes)

http://www.ugo.com/music/top-11-rock-album-covers/images/entries/Nothings-shocking.jpg

Nothing's Shocking, however, upon re-appraisal is -- to my ears -- a virutally flawless record! There is literally not a duff track herein. I remember buying the LP based solely on the bizarre-o cover art and buzz that surrounded the band, and in a rare fluke, ended up loving every nanosecond of it....forcing it into constant rotation on the collectively-commandeered stereo of my off-campus hovel in my senior year of college. Paring a massive, Zeppelinesque sound while deftly retaining to credibly Punk edge, Jane's Addiction seemed like the perfect band. My mookish metal pals enjoyed Navarro's thick guitar crunch, while the waifish Bauhausfraus dug Perry's junkie-Raggedy-Andy aesthetic and singularly cryptic lyrical fixations. They were at once heavy, funky, weird, austere, funny, scary, melodic, loud, sensual, spooky....I mean, what's not to love?

For "Ocean Size" and "Ted, Just Admit It" alone, this band should be cannonized into the pantheon of untouchable coolness, and if you disagree with me on that point, you're just wallowing in a viscous mudslick of WRONG! I'd completely forgotten about the rude, horn-driven punch of "Idiots Rule" and the trippy gentility of "Summertime Rolls" (not, as it turned out, an ode to seasonal baked goods). The lilting, use-frienly, acoustic & steel drum "Jane Says" being the track that made the girls actually appreciate the record (my friend Sara bought it based on this song alone, only to be scared by the rest of the album's electric tsunami). "Pigs In Zen" being a big, fat, chunky fuck-you of a track, despite Perry's oddballish off-the-cuff commentary in the bridge (no David Lee Roth, he). Once again, not a single bad track. Everyone wins.

Eric A's bass playing is masterfully restrained (in sharp contrast to Dave's flashy, effect-laden guitar antics, Stephen Perkins busy battery and Perry's pipey screech). The cover art (flanked mysteriously by cowhide?) is strange enough to be completely compelling. It's a mastepiece from end to end.

What sayeth ye?

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), 4. elokuuta 2003 19:08

halfway through the album, haven't listened to it in years. It IS flawless, thank god I had this album when I was fifteen or sixteen or whatever, what else could I have listened to that would have matched all the awfulness and rage that was in me at that time?

I can't decide what is best, the great basswork, the beer-keg drumming, perry's yowl? Fuckin' Navarro just makes me laugh now, what a character, the guitar on this album is five inches away from cheese but it works so well; listening back to this it strikes me as such a completely radio-friendly album, Navarro borrows so many little motifs and progressions from metal.

god it's serious as serious can be.

― teeny (teeny), 19. kesäkuuta 2004 17:00

Tuomas, Monday, 23 November 2009 19:53 (fourteen years ago) link

Just post them judiciously. Even though I generally don't have trouble with threads that are youtube embed heavy, a constant stream of them will tax anyone's cpu. xp

Johnny Fever, Monday, 23 November 2009 19:54 (fourteen years ago) link

How many ballots did you get, Tuomas?

Guayaquil (eephus!), Monday, 23 November 2009 19:56 (fourteen years ago) link

Sorry, this was my request screwing things up. I sometimes have problems with the youtubes but the Clash thread has been working fine so I assumed whatever the problem is had been cleared up. I know most about these things though - I just remember it spicing the end-of-2008 lists.

Ismael Klata, Monday, 23 November 2009 19:56 (fourteen years ago) link

Sulk was my number three. Party Fears two is still my favourite song of all time but there's so many great moments on there.

Kitchen Person, Monday, 23 November 2009 19:58 (fourteen years ago) link

I considered casting for Nothing's Shocking, but I got into Ritual first and it massively overshadows it for me.

Ismael Klata, Monday, 23 November 2009 20:01 (fourteen years ago) link

I probably didn't vote for it, but I'm glad it's here. Nothing's Shocking blaring out of a boombox and me standing around while my friends skated a half-pipe = my 1988.

Johnny Fever, Monday, 23 November 2009 20:03 (fourteen years ago) link

I have this on cassette somewhere.

kornrulez6969, Monday, 23 November 2009 20:11 (fourteen years ago) link

Def Leppard - Pyromania (80 points, 6 votes, 1 first place vote)

http://www.rocknrollhell.com/defleppard/pyromania.jpg

The only Def Leppard album I still listen to consistently, this album sizzles with poetic darkness in a rock and roll pop sensibility. Call it a metal record if you must, but its carries a lot less heaviness and a lot more depth than meets the eye. Disregard "Photograph" because its the odd one out on this record. But look at some of the excellent tracks like "Too Late for Love", the ever-famous "Foolin", "Comin'Under Fire", "Billy's Got a Gun", and my personal favorite "Die Hard the Hunted" which has very interesting lyrics. The whole record also carries the quintessential element of a large chorus. So am I right, or am I just full of shit in my early 80s metal nostalgia?

― Luptune Pitman, 13. lokakuuta 2001 3:00

Luptune can I call you Chuck? My French friend was into Def Leppard, she did a gymnastics routine to "Pour Some Sugar On Me." She had a badge of Def Leppard on her army bag. She had Das Kapital in her house. And in late breaking news, today I saw some 18 year olds in a late model Ford Escort unfitted with a big bass speaker listening to Def Leppard quite loudly.

― maryann, 15. lokakuuta 2001 3:00

Hysteria was the betrayal album. Pyromania was hybrid. Pyromania was where the Leps managed to take the screaming Gibsons and football terrance chants and deftly fuse them with honest-to-goodness pop songs, forging a guilded ladder from the barbed-wire dungeon of the N.W.O.B.H.M. to :::gasp::: radio/video airplay. Hysteria was the Leps after they'd been uprooted, de-fanged, neutered and hollowed out, leaving only their sickly candy shell....their metal meat extracted and discarded. Pyromania had them scoring hits without sacrificing their bite. Hysteria had them jettisoning bite in search of further hits (which, unfortunatley, worked). Pyromania is Def Lppard's Night Time. Hysteria is their Brighter Than a Thousand Suns.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), 11. kesäkuuta 2005 10:38

Tuomas, Monday, 23 November 2009 20:13 (fourteen years ago) link

Whoops, sorry, that should read:

94. Def Leppard - Pyromania (80 points, 6 votes, 1 first place vote)

Tuomas, Monday, 23 November 2009 20:13 (fourteen years ago) link

Assuming this is #94?

Johnny Fever, Monday, 23 November 2009 20:14 (fourteen years ago) link

okay.

Johnny Fever, Monday, 23 November 2009 20:14 (fourteen years ago) link

I feel the lack of autogoon involvement is going to severely hurt this poll. Also who are the people in the first picture Tuomas? I don't get 80s sitcom references.

9-1 never forget (a hoy hoy), Monday, 23 November 2009 20:16 (fourteen years ago) link

What's an autogoon?

Ismael Klata, Monday, 23 November 2009 20:17 (fourteen years ago) link

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0092339/

In Finland this series was called "Crazy College".

Tuomas, Monday, 23 November 2009 20:19 (fourteen years ago) link

Crazy College? lol

Johnny Fever, Monday, 23 November 2009 20:21 (fourteen years ago) link

Better than the U.S. title.

I'm also curious about whether the #1 vote for Pyromania was sincere or tactical. I wonder which record, among those that got a #1 vote, had the lowest total score?

Guayaquil (eephus!), Monday, 23 November 2009 20:29 (fourteen years ago) link

Pyromania could conceivably be someone's favorite 80s record. I buy it.

Johnny Fever, Monday, 23 November 2009 20:32 (fourteen years ago) link

There's one album that got one #1 vote and no other votes. So the lowest score is 40.

Tuomas, Monday, 23 November 2009 20:32 (fourteen years ago) link

yay tuomas! a god among finns.

am super proud of myself (not unusual no) cuz 3 of the bottom 4 placed high in my list - they are my heroes and i have now saved them from obscurity and perpetual darkness. hope the 2-way foetus didn't split the vote too bad, cuz i put all my money on nail probably just for throne of agony which is so worth it but hole has sickman and water torture so gah.

and i expected big plack to place higher for some reason. an aura of almost holy dread was attached to themselves in indie crit/college rock circles back in those days, even in the uk what with blast first an all, but maybe it's faded a bit? more than a bit? i guess they weren't ever out to make friends...

a dimension that can only be accessed through self-immolation (contenderizer), Monday, 23 November 2009 20:35 (fourteen years ago) link

Disregard "Photograph" because its the odd one out on this record. But look at some of the excellent tracks like "Too Late for Love", the ever-famous "Foolin", "Comin'Under Fire", "Billy's Got a Gun", and my personal favorite "Die Hard the Hunted" which has very interesting lyrics. The whole record also carries the quintessential element of a large chorus. So am I right, or am I just full of shit in my early 80s metal nostalgia?

Totally true, except there's no reason to exclude Photograph, which was one of the album's best examples of that "quintessential . . . large chorus" the poster (correctly) mentioned. I also think Alex is right about Hysteria being a "betrayal" album. The melodies were strong, but the production sucked all the emotion and raw energy out of the disc. It's still a very good album, but a tremendous missed opportunity that Def Leppard would never get back.

Daniel, Esq., Monday, 23 November 2009 20:36 (fourteen years ago) link

I still wanna know how many ballots!

Guayaquil (eephus!), Monday, 23 November 2009 20:38 (fourteen years ago) link

About 100, I think.

Tuomas, Monday, 23 November 2009 20:39 (fourteen years ago) link

93. Thomas Dolby - The Golden Age of Wireless (80 points, 7 votes, 1 first place vote)

http://www.destroyrockandroll.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/the_golden_age_of_wireless.jpg

Funny, just last night my housemate played (my copy of) Akufen's "One of Our Submarines" remix... I'm surprised that this record -- including mixes from Ricardo Villalobos and Hardfloor (!) -- isn't discussed more often.

I will also rate as a classic The Flat Earth, though I may be alone in my assessments there... The production -- veering dangerously close to overproduction -- on this record never fails to make the hairs on my neck stand up, and despite the damn near cheesy "jazziness" of some of the tracks, there's something really compelling about them. I still play out "I Scare Myself" (mixed with Metro Area's "Piña") pretty frequently... it's a lovely tune to close out a night.

― philip sherburne (philip sherburne), 19. elokuuta 2003 14:31

Age of Wireless is like a more innocent John Foxx. I think it's a great shame Dolby didn't continue down the path of this record, as it's a fertile one. Unfinished business - no-one has dared make music like this since about 1983.

― colin s barrow (colin s barrow), 19. elokuuta 2003 23:44

Mad downloading in progress. The deep blue sea of "Submarines" haunts me to this very moment. I saw the "Aliens" tour and am glad that I picked up a stranger and got laid so that I can look back fondly at something. Back-flips and berets. Woof. But God, the depth of "...we'll be the pirate twins, again." I'm going to wake up my girlfriend for some pot smoking and a little costume party. I want to play her back like a violin.

― Speedy Gonzalas (Speedy Gonzalas), 22. elokuuta 2003 8:08

Tuomas, Monday, 23 November 2009 20:43 (fourteen years ago) link

Yet another stat-trivia post hurrah!

The four non-Top-100 albums that got double digit votes (and would thus make Top 71 if #votes was the criterion:

1. N.W.A - Straight Outta Compton (74p / 11v / 6.73avg)
2. The Smiths - Meat Is Murder (74p / 10v / 7.4 avg)
3. The Cure - Standing on a Beach / Staring at the Sea: The Singles (73p / 10v / 7.3avg)
4. Metallica - Master of Puppets (64p / 10v / 6.4avg)

anatol_merklich, Saturday, 5 December 2009 10:13 (fourteen years ago) link

)

anatol_merklich, Saturday, 5 December 2009 10:14 (fourteen years ago) link

I'm pleased to see Meat Is Murder get some recognition. I think it's their best, but no-one else seems to.

Ismael Klata, Saturday, 5 December 2009 10:21 (fourteen years ago) link

Yello clearly robbed btw, but that probably happened in nomination process. Stella!!

anatol_merklich, Saturday, 5 December 2009 10:40 (fourteen years ago) link

It was kinda hard to decide whether I should nominate Stella or One Second or You Gotta Say Yes to Another Excess, as I think they're all equally good. I guess if I'd nominated Stella it might've gotten more votes.

Tuomas, Saturday, 5 December 2009 10:46 (fourteen years ago) link

Can't be arsed going through the whole artists list but Brian Eno earns 911 points for all his contributions.

go in go hard brother (Billy Dods), Saturday, 5 December 2009 12:45 (fourteen years ago) link

hey hey it's my ballot why not

#1: Paul Simon - Graceland
#2: Daryl Hall & John Oates - Private Eyes
#3: The Smiths - Louder Than Bombs
#4: The Traveling Wilburys - Vol. 1
#5: R.E.M. - Murmur
#6: Pixies - Surfer Rosa
#7: They Might Be Giants - Lincoln
#8: Pylon - Gyrate
#9: Michael Jackson - Thriller
#10: R.E.M. - Fables of the Reconstruction
#11: "Weird Al" Yankovic - In 3-D
#12: The B-52's - Cosmic Thing
#13: Paul McCartney - Tug of War
#14: Peter Gabriel - 3
#15: R.E.M. - Reckoning
#16: R.E.M. - Lifes Rich Pageant
#17: Adam and the Ants - Kings of the Wild Frontier
#18: Klark Kent - s/t
#19: The Smiths - Strangeways, Here We Come
#20: Laurie Anderson - Big Science
#21: Stevie Wonder - Hotter Than July
#22: Kraftwerk - Computer World
#23: Pixies - Doolittle
#24: The B-52's - Wild Planet
#25: Buggles - Adventures in Modern Recording

I knew a bunch of those were pretty long shots and I admit a few are just things I kinda like, and not necessarily sincerely offered as the 21st best album of the decade or whatever - - but I guess I am naive enough to be surprised that the Ants, the Traveling Wilburys, and Hall & Oates didn't make it. Oh well! Thanks once again Tuomas. I'm looking forward, as I said above, to having broadband again and checking out all these unfamiliar things. I guess I really do need to pick up some dollar Prince records though...

Doctor Casino, Saturday, 5 December 2009 17:07 (fourteen years ago) link

And Weird Al! Come on, people!

Doctor Casino, Saturday, 5 December 2009 17:09 (fourteen years ago) link

ha, cool to see someone else that voted for Weird Al and Klark Kent and Cosmic Thing and Lincoln

some dude, Saturday, 5 December 2009 18:22 (fourteen years ago) link

why'd you stop at 25 though?

some dude, Saturday, 5 December 2009 18:23 (fourteen years ago) link

Ha, those are practically the only 25 albums on the nom list that I've heard! (Well, not really, but the remainder were ones I couldn't quite muster a vote for.)

Cosmic Thing is really underrated I think - hell of a hook-packed, fun comeback album considering what the band had been through and lost. The singles alone justify it, but there's lots of great stuff in there - "Deadbeat Club," "Channel Z," "Junebug" - damn fine record.

Lincoln is also totally great - although I've never actually heard just the album, since I got it as part of that two-disc Then set, where the album segues straight into the b-sides/EP material. So I think I subconsciously give Lincoln the points for "Nightgown of the Sullen Moon," "It's Not My Birthday" etc. The main album tracks are about as good as the band ever did though!

Doctor Casino, Sunday, 6 December 2009 10:00 (fourteen years ago) link

Blasting the Suburbs's In Combo in honor of guitarist Bruce Allen, who died this week. This probably isn't the only bit of awesomeness that utterly slipped my mind in the nominations process, but it's the one voters in this poll would seem to dig.

Pete Scholtes, Friday, 11 December 2009 02:56 (fourteen years ago) link

I'll check it out in his honor.

Johnny Fever, Friday, 11 December 2009 03:00 (fourteen years ago) link

I would take any of those Butthole Surfers nominations, which I didn't vote for and which I never listen to any more, over 3/4 of the rock that ended up on this list. Reminded by: Turn back the hands of time. . . drifting into my head out of nowhere.

_Rudipherous_, Friday, 11 December 2009 07:05 (fourteen years ago) link

Man, I can't believe I forgot to nominate Billy Joel's Greatest Hits I & II.

Doctor Casino, Friday, 11 December 2009 11:27 (fourteen years ago) link

Man, I can't believe I forgot to nominate the Original Broadway Cast Recording of Cats!.

I was in a drop-D metal band we called Requiem (staggerlee), Saturday, 12 December 2009 01:00 (fourteen years ago) link

one year passes...

Not all messages are displayed: show all messages (1981 of them)

kkvgz, Friday, 29 July 2011 17:40 (twelve years ago) link

mods need to lock before we get 8 more

anatol_merklich, Friday, 29 July 2011 20:05 (twelve years ago) link

seven months pass...

I guess I was bound to find out the opening line of "Radio Free Europe"'s lyrics eventually.

http://www.slantmagazine.com/music/feature/best-albums-of-the-80s/308

Literal Facepalms (Dr Morbius), Friday, 9 March 2012 16:57 (twelve years ago) link

four months pass...

Does anyone have any interest in doing a flip of this poll and determining the worst albums of the 1980s? There'd have to be a nomination process to develop some kind of pre-vote consensus, but oh the lively chatter that would ensue!

Johnny Fever, Saturday, 21 July 2012 08:06 (eleven years ago) link

Actually, this is a pretty dumb idea. I should go to bed.

Also, no one reply to this thread anymore. I think this will be the 1,989th post.

Johnny Fever, Saturday, 21 July 2012 08:12 (eleven years ago) link

three weeks pass...

Ahh here's the results. I hope you all join in the new slightly different version of the poll we're doing Pfunkboy, Viceroy & emil.y Productions presents : Nominations for an 80s Albums That Rock Poll(inc indie/Alt,punk,metal,heavy/glam etc) but with some exceptions..(ie no indiepop or U2 type)

Will have markedly different results but no point in just repeating this excellent poll.

For posterity and easy access ..

100. Robyn Hitchcock - I Often Dream of Trains [1984] (75 points, 5 votes)
98. (tie) Scraping Foetus off the Wheel - Hole [1984] (76 points, 5 votes)
98. (tie) Spacemen 3 - The Perfect Prescription [1987] (76 points, 5 votes)
97. Big Black - Atomizer [1986] (77 points, 8 votes)
96. Associates - Sulk [1982] (79 points, 6 votes)
95. Jane's Addiction - Nothing's Shocking [1988] (79 points, 7 votes)
94. Def Leppard - Pyromania [1983] (80 points, 6 votes, 1 first place vote)
93. Thomas Dolby - The Golden Age of Wireless [1982] (80 points, 7 votes, 1 first place vote)
92. Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark - Dazzle Ships [1983] (80 points, 9 votes)
91. Run-D.M.C. - Raising Hell [1986] (80 points, 10 votes)
90. Meat Puppets - Meat Puppets II [1984] (81 points, 9 votes)
89. Prince and the Revolution - Parade [1986] (83 points, 10 votes)
88. Bruce Springsteen - Tunnel of Love [1987] (86 points, 7 votes)
87. Pet Shop Boys - Actually [1987] (86 points, 8 votes)
86. Pet Shop Boys - Please [1986] (87 points, 8 votes)
84. (tie) Nine Inch Nails - Pretty Hate Machine [1989] (87 points, 8 votes, 1 first place vote)
84. (tie) Talking Heads - Speaking in Tongues [1983] (87 points, 8 votes, 1 first place vote)
83. David Bowie - Scary Monsters [1980] (89 points, 6 votes, 1 first place vote)
82. Scraping Foetus off the Wheel - Nail [1985] (91 points, 5 votes, 1 first place vote)
81. The Beat (aka The English Beat) - I Just Can't Stop It [1980] (91 points, 13 votes)
80. Various - The Indestructible Beat of Soweto [1985] (93 points, 6 votes, 1 first place vote)
79. The The - Soul Mining [1983] (93 points, 7 votes, 1 first place vote)
78. The Pogues - Rum, Sodomy & the Lash [1985] (93 points, 16 votes)
77. Meat Puppets - Up on the Sun [1985] (94 points, 8 votes)
76. U2 - The Joshua Tree [1987] (95 points, 7 votes, 1 first place vote)
75. Cyndi Lauper - She's So Unusual [1983] (95 points, 9 votes)
74. Galaxie 500 - On Fire [1989] (96 points, 10 votes)
73. X - Wild Gift [1981] (97 points, 9 votes)
72. The Chills - Kaleidoscope World [1986] (98 points, 7 votes, 1 first place vote)
71. Roxy Music - Avalon [1982] (99 points, 10 votes)
70. Laurie Anderson - Big Science [1982] (99 points, 11 votes)
69. Scritti Politti - Cupid & Psyche 85 [1985] (100 points, 7 votes)
68. New Order - Power, Corruption & Lies [1983] (100 points, 16 votes)
67. Violent Femmes - Violent Femmes [1983] (101 points, 12 votes)
66. Prefab Sprout - Steve McQueen [1985] (104 points, 10 votes, 1 first place vote)
65. Donald Fagen - The Nightfly [1982] (105 points, 8 votes, 1 first place vote)
63. (tie) Tom Waits - Rain Dogs [1985] (106 points, 12 votes)
63. (tie) Cocteau Twins - Treasure [1984] (106 points, 12 votes)
62. Grace Jones - Nightclubbing [1981] (106 points, 12 votes, 1 first place vote)
61. Arthur Russell - World of Echo [1986] (108 points, 11 votes, 1 first place vote)
60. Eric B. & Rakim - Paid In Full [1987] (111 points, 8 votes, 1 first place vote)
59. Mekons - Fear and Whiskey [1985] (111 points, 8 votes, 2 first place votes)
58. The Cure - Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me [1987] (112 points, 7 votes, 2 first place votes)
57. Arvo Pärt - Tabula Rasa [1984] (112 points, 9 votes, 1 first place vote)
56. R.E.M. - Lifes Rich Pageant [1986] (112 points, 12 votes)
55. Dinosaur Jr. - You're Living All Over Me [1987] (115 points, 13 votes)
54. Bruce Springsteen - Born in the U.S.A. [1984] (118 points, 14 votes)
53. Bruce Springsteen - Nebraska [1982] (120 points, 14 votes)
52. Brian Eno / David Byrne - My Life in the Bush of Ghosts [1981] (120 points, 17 votes)
51. Leonard Cohen - I'm Your Man [1988] (121 points, 11 votes)
50. The Feelies - Crazy Rhythms [1980] (123 points, 13 votes)
49. The Go-Betweens - 16 Lovers Lane [1988] (125 points, 9 votes, 1 first place vote)
48. XTC - Skylarking [1986] (127 points, 16 votes)
47. Steely Dan - Gaucho [1980] (128 points, 9 votes)
46. R.E.M. - Reckoning [1984] (131 points, 14 votes)
45. Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band - Doc at the Radar Station [1980] (133 points, 11 votes)
44. The Fall - This Nation's Saving Grace [1985] (136 points, 13 votes)
43. Sonic Youth - EVOL [1986] (143 points, 12 votes, 1 first place vote)
42. Hüsker Dü - New Day Rising [1985] (146 points, 14 votes)
41. The Cure - Pornography [1982] (148 points, 9 votes)
40. Dexy’s Midnight Runners - Searching for the Young Soul Rebels [1980] (148 points, 11 votes, 1 first place vote)
39. Manuel Göttsching - E2-E4 [1984] (154 points, 12 votes, 2 first place votes)
38. New Order - Substance [1987] (156 points, 16 votes)
37. De La Soul - 3 Feet High and Rising [1989] (164 points, 23 votes)
36. The Fall - Hex Enduction Hour [1982] (166 points, 14 votes, 1 first place vote)
35. ABC - The Lexicon of Love [1982] (173 points, 11 votes, 1 first place vote)
34. The Smiths - Hatful of Hollow [1984] (173 points, 16 votes)
33. The Smiths - Louder Than Bombs [1987] (174 points, 20 votes)
32. Prince - 1999 [1982] (191 points, 17 votes, 1 first place vote)
31. Sonic Youth - Sister [1987] (199 points, 21 votes, 1 first place vote)
30. Hüsker Dü - Zen Arcade [1984] (200 points, 13 votes)
29. Young Marble Giants - Colossal Youth [1980] (200 points, 17 votes, 1 first place vote)
28. The Stone Roses - The Stone Roses [1989] (201 points, 15 votes, 2 first place votes)
27. Guns N' Roses - Appetite for Destruction [1987] (201 points, 18 votes)
26. Prince - Dirty Mind [1980] (210 points, 14 votes, 1 first place vote)
25. The Clash - Sandinista! [1980] (211 points, 11 votes, 3 first place votes)
24. The Cure - Disintegration [1989] (218 points, 19 votes, 1 first place vote)
23. The Human League - Dare [1981] (219 points, 17 votes, 2 first place votes)
22. My Bloody Valentine - Isn't Anything [1988] (229 points, 19 votes, 2 first place votes)
21. Paul Simon - Graceland [1986] (237 points, 17 votes, 1 first place vote)
20. The Jesus and Mary Chain - Psychocandy [1985] (243 points, 23 votes, 1 first place vote)
19. The Replacements - Let It Be [1984] (252 points, 18 votes, 1 first place vote)
18. Joy Division - Closer [1980] (255 points, 24 votes)
17. Kate Bush - The Dreaming [1982] (269 points, 13 votes, 3 first place votes)
16. New Order - Technique [1989] (273 points, 15 votes, 2 first place votes)
15. Pixies - Surfer Rosa [1988] (273 points, 21 votes, 1 first place vote)
14. Talk Talk - Spirit of Eden [1988] (274 points, 18 votes, 2 first place votes)
13. Beastie Boys - Paul's Boutique [1989] (291 points, 25 votes, 1 first place vote)
12. Minutemen - Double Nickels on the Dime [1984] (300 points, 15 votes, 3 first place votes)
11. The Smiths - The Queen is Dead [1986] (307 points, 26 votes, 1 first place vote)
10. Pixies – Doolittle [1989] (323 points, 31 votes)
9. Michael Jackson - Thriller [1982] (331 points, 35 votes)
8. Kraftwerk - Computer World [1981] (338 points, 29 votes)
7. Sonic Youth - Daydream Nation [1988] (356 points, 28 votes, 3 first place votes)
6. R.E.M. - Murmur [1983] (359 points, 30 votes, 2 first place votes)
5. Prince - Sign “O” the Times [1987] (381 points, 28 votes, 2 first place votes)
4. Kate Bush - Hounds of Love [1985] (422 points, 35 votes, 2 first place votes)
3. Prince and the Revolution - Purple Rain [1984] (423 points, 35 votes, 2 first place votes)
2. Public Enemy - It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back [1988] (478 points, 39 votes, 2 first place votes)
1. Talking Heads - Remain in Light [1980] (568 points, 37 votes, 4 first place votes)

Algerian Goalkeeper, Monday, 13 August 2012 01:59 (eleven years ago) link

oh sorry jf, didn't read your last post

Algerian Goalkeeper, Monday, 13 August 2012 02:01 (eleven years ago) link

wtg jerk

Johnny Fever, Monday, 13 August 2012 02:13 (eleven years ago) link

I noticed that and asked the mods to lock it. They told me I'd have to get Tuomas's permission because it was his thread. I tried ilx messaging him, but who knows if that's still an email that he checks.

I love this type of ilx poll, but I really hate all the "list posts" that accompany them (both in the nom process and the results roll-out). It really gums up the ilx search function.

spanky hotel frogstrot (how's life), Monday, 13 August 2012 09:15 (eleven years ago) link

damn i forgot The Pretenders got shafted on this poll, makes me more pissed about Algerian un-nominating them from his poll

Pollopolicía (some dude), Monday, 13 August 2012 12:37 (eleven years ago) link

what? the pretenders got unnominated from the 1980s rock poll?

spanky hotel frogstrot (how's life), Monday, 13 August 2012 12:52 (eleven years ago) link

yes, a couple people nominated their albums and Algerian Goalpostmover nixed them

Pollopolicía (some dude), Monday, 13 August 2012 12:56 (eleven years ago) link

It's his poll, I guess.

spanky hotel frogstrot (how's life), Monday, 13 August 2012 12:58 (eleven years ago) link

oh yeah i know, i said the same thing myself in that thread, just griping that one of my fav albums of the 80s is in a weird middle ground where it's not adequately appreciated in either

Pollopolicía (some dude), Monday, 13 August 2012 13:09 (eleven years ago) link

I take it "London Calling" got nixed for the same reason?

Mark G, Monday, 13 August 2012 13:27 (eleven years ago) link

London Calling got nixed because it was released in 1979 in the UK. I don't know how that works. Maybe it was time zones.

spanky hotel frogstrot (how's life), Monday, 13 August 2012 13:36 (eleven years ago) link

'in time for christmas 1979' yes. Guess they weren't expecting the "greatest album of the eighties, oh wait.." accolades.

The Prets were Jan 1980 though..

Mark G, Monday, 13 August 2012 13:41 (eleven years ago) link

six years pass...

Nice poll, Tuomas.

Though I imagined De la Soul might have had more support.

(I only just realised such a poll had had a roll-out thread. I recall voting in the earlier equivalent that mysteriously wasn't tallied up, c.2005)

Nag! Nag! Nag!, Sunday, 14 October 2018 07:31 (five years ago) link

I'm still salty about Peter Gabriel III not making this poll. By all means, we must make room for both Hatful of Hollow AND Louder Than Bombs!

Johnny Fever, Sunday, 14 October 2018 12:48 (five years ago) link

six months pass...

jf you could always rerun it

Thus Spoke Darraghustra (Oor Neechy), Friday, 26 April 2019 18:33 (four years ago) link


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