((n - (r - 1)) ÷ n) × w
December 17, 2014 2:46 PM Subscribe
Best Ever Albums aggregates 17,000 "greatest album" charts to establish a statistical consensus on popular music rankings.
A few presentations of that data:
-What are the "best ever" albums overall?
-How have the "best ever" rankings shifted over the last five years?
-What are the "best" albums of 2014?
-What were the "best" albums of the 1960s? Of the 70s? The 80s? 90s? 2000s? 2010s?
-Who are the top-ranked artists of Sweden? Who were the most acclaimed artists of 1954?
-What are Frank Zappa's best albums?
A few presentations of that data:
-What are the "best ever" albums overall?
-How have the "best ever" rankings shifted over the last five years?
-What are the "best" albums of 2014?
-What were the "best" albums of the 1960s? Of the 70s? The 80s? 90s? 2000s? 2010s?
-Who are the top-ranked artists of Sweden? Who were the most acclaimed artists of 1954?
-What are Frank Zappa's best albums?
Neutral Milk who now?
posted by GallonOfAlan at 2:51 PM on December 17, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by GallonOfAlan at 2:51 PM on December 17, 2014 [1 favorite]
I am disappointed to learn that my favorite band sucks.
posted by aubilenon at 2:59 PM on December 17, 2014 [8 favorites]
posted by aubilenon at 2:59 PM on December 17, 2014 [8 favorites]
Interesting but this sample seems to skew awfully white and male. It's also about 70% british and 100% guitars. Maybe this could be inverted to make some statistical generalizations about people who enjoy making top 10 lists?
posted by mr.ersatz at 2:59 PM on December 17, 2014 [29 favorites]
posted by mr.ersatz at 2:59 PM on December 17, 2014 [29 favorites]
Yeah I'm guessing 16,500 of these lists are from the NME.
posted by fshgrl at 3:04 PM on December 17, 2014 [3 favorites]
posted by fshgrl at 3:04 PM on December 17, 2014 [3 favorites]
Well yeah. Who do you think is making the lists?
posted by leotrotsky at 3:04 PM on December 17, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by leotrotsky at 3:04 PM on December 17, 2014 [2 favorites]
I'm shocked, shocked my 'best ever', Rumours, isn't even in the top 30.
posted by Flashman at 3:05 PM on December 17, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by Flashman at 3:05 PM on December 17, 2014 [1 favorite]
This is essentially a list of albums that were popular the last time that rock criticism was relevant to anyone, maybe 1998?
posted by empath at 3:11 PM on December 17, 2014 [10 favorites]
posted by empath at 3:11 PM on December 17, 2014 [10 favorites]
I really wish someone could put together a top 10 list of say concertos from the 1600s (come to think of it concerto is probably an anachronism in the 1600s)
posted by leotrotsky at 3:15 PM on December 17, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by leotrotsky at 3:15 PM on December 17, 2014 [2 favorites]
Is this thread partly fig leaf so we can talk about our personal lists of favorite albums of the year? That'd be pretty cool, I admit. My three-way tie for first place includes Meshes of Voice (I was already on board with the notion of a collaboration inspired by Meshes of the Afternoon, and then somehow it manages to exceed my expectations even, joy), The Body's I Shall Die Here (reviewers seem to get hung up on the over-the-top morose titles/lyrics/whatever, but push all that aside and it's just an amazing sounding record that takes a lot of metal trappings and fits them to refreshingly innovative and grrrreat-sounding purpose), and Gazelle Twin's Unflesh (I feel like lately between Grimes and Grouper and Pharmakon and EMA and earlier Bjork and whatever else we are living the Donna Haraway technofeminist/cyborg-not-earth-mother dream and I for one am loving it). Other highlights include Lorelle Meets the Obsolete's Chambers (Mazzy Star wed to Les Rallizes Denudes, oh yeah!), Excepter's Familiar, Run the Jewels 2, East India Youth's Total Strife Forever, Bing and Ruth's Tomorrow Was The Golden Age, Swans' To Be Kind (I find it hilarious/awesome that some of the best songwriting about parenthood turns out to be from...Michael Gira!), Pharmakon's Bestial Burden (again, this was such a great year for women who make noise and electronic music), Mica Levi's Under the Skin soundtrack, Angel Olsen's Burn Your Fire For No Witness (it took me a while to get over the Kath-Bloom-Kristin-Hersh-Scout-Niblett-Holly-Golightly-Mia-Doi-Todd-etc.-in-a-blender sense I had at first), Valerio Tricoli's Miseri Lares, Mr. Mitch's Parallel Memories, Azealia Banks' Broke With Expensive Taste, Richard Dawson's Nothing Important, Vessel's Punish, Honey, Yvette's Process, Pianos Become The Teeth's Keep You, Grouper's Ruins, Godflesh's A World Lit Only By Fire, A Winged Victory For The Sullen's Atomos, and (if it counts, it's so short!) Priests' Bodies and Control and Money and Power.
Also enjoyed at least one thing each off records from Ex Hex, Hundred Waters, Laibach, Iceage, Perfume Genius, EMA, Alvvays, Julia Wolfe, Rustie, Taylor Swift, Puce Mary, Caribou, Ramona Lisa, Cymbals Eat Guitars, Ought, Katie Gately, Fumaca Preta, Tinashe, Fatima Al Qadiri, Andy Stott, Perc (that album gives me the friggin' creeps), Tori Amos (and I'd checked out so long ago, ack), Schoolboy Q, YOB, Shabazz Palaces, Aphex Twin, Sharon van Etten, FKA Twigs, Shellac, The War On Drugs, Scott Walker and Sunn O))), Call Super, Jar Moff, and Jessie Ware (I could not tell you why because normally it ain't my scene, but I dig the hell out of that "You and I" song).
I want desperately to like St. Vincent because I totally should, but for some reason I don't. I love RHP/Mark Kozelek to pieces so it's also weird to me that I don't have an opinion either way about Benji except I'm glad he's getting recognition overall. Getting older is weird.
I hope this threads is full of leads for more music--the problem now is not too little good music, but finding it all because there's so much! Not a bad problem to have.
posted by ifjuly at 3:19 PM on December 17, 2014 [14 favorites]
Also enjoyed at least one thing each off records from Ex Hex, Hundred Waters, Laibach, Iceage, Perfume Genius, EMA, Alvvays, Julia Wolfe, Rustie, Taylor Swift, Puce Mary, Caribou, Ramona Lisa, Cymbals Eat Guitars, Ought, Katie Gately, Fumaca Preta, Tinashe, Fatima Al Qadiri, Andy Stott, Perc (that album gives me the friggin' creeps), Tori Amos (and I'd checked out so long ago, ack), Schoolboy Q, YOB, Shabazz Palaces, Aphex Twin, Sharon van Etten, FKA Twigs, Shellac, The War On Drugs, Scott Walker and Sunn O))), Call Super, Jar Moff, and Jessie Ware (I could not tell you why because normally it ain't my scene, but I dig the hell out of that "You and I" song).
I want desperately to like St. Vincent because I totally should, but for some reason I don't. I love RHP/Mark Kozelek to pieces so it's also weird to me that I don't have an opinion either way about Benji except I'm glad he's getting recognition overall. Getting older is weird.
I hope this threads is full of leads for more music--the problem now is not too little good music, but finding it all because there's so much! Not a bad problem to have.
posted by ifjuly at 3:19 PM on December 17, 2014 [14 favorites]
ifjuly: “Is this thread partly fig leaf so we can talk about our personal lists of favorite albums of the year? That'd be pretty cool, I admit.”
We usually get something a little more substantial for that. Like, a bunch of actual published year-end lists. There aren't really any of those here, just a big algorithm thing.
I've kind of been waiting for the big year-end post of lists. Somebody usually does one. This doesn't look like it, though.
Also, this big algorithm thing is terrible. Its choices are all pretty mediocre. It turns out that if you aggregate as many lists as possible you'll end up with pretty mediocre stuff. Which is probably to be expected, I guess.
posted by koeselitz at 3:23 PM on December 17, 2014 [2 favorites]
We usually get something a little more substantial for that. Like, a bunch of actual published year-end lists. There aren't really any of those here, just a big algorithm thing.
I've kind of been waiting for the big year-end post of lists. Somebody usually does one. This doesn't look like it, though.
Also, this big algorithm thing is terrible. Its choices are all pretty mediocre. It turns out that if you aggregate as many lists as possible you'll end up with pretty mediocre stuff. Which is probably to be expected, I guess.
posted by koeselitz at 3:23 PM on December 17, 2014 [2 favorites]
There was the Rolling Stone one, but that was a 50/50 split between peoples' own top-of-2014a and people complaining about how lame Rolling Stone is.
posted by Hoopo at 3:30 PM on December 17, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by Hoopo at 3:30 PM on December 17, 2014 [2 favorites]
Interesting but this sample seems to skew awfully white and male. It's also about 70% british and 100% guitars. Maybe this could be inverted to make some statistical generalizations about people who enjoy making top 10 lists?
Yeah, unless I'm reading this wrong, there's only a handful of charts by actual music publications (and it definitely skews white-guitar: Rolling Stone, NME, Mojo, Q). The vast majority of the 17000 charts are member-submitted (click the second link, filter by source: recognised charts v member charts).
posted by Pink Frost at 3:54 PM on December 17, 2014
Yeah, unless I'm reading this wrong, there's only a handful of charts by actual music publications (and it definitely skews white-guitar: Rolling Stone, NME, Mojo, Q). The vast majority of the 17000 charts are member-submitted (click the second link, filter by source: recognised charts v member charts).
posted by Pink Frost at 3:54 PM on December 17, 2014
So… the fact that I don't have a lot of quibbles with the Top 20 overall means I should just buy some Sansabelt slacks and wait for death, huh? I'm not even that old.
posted by ob1quixote at 3:55 PM on December 17, 2014 [4 favorites]
posted by ob1quixote at 3:55 PM on December 17, 2014 [4 favorites]
Reflecting on ifjuly's musings of age. I recently dusted off Red House Painters' first few CDs and gave them a listen. I was far less impacted now than I was then. 'Benji' is ok, but a little too self-indulgent for my tastes.
posted by Jessica Savitch's Coke Spoon at 3:58 PM on December 17, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by Jessica Savitch's Coke Spoon at 3:58 PM on December 17, 2014 [1 favorite]
What, a compilation and averaging of thousands and thousands of "best of list" doesn't end up producing a list of obscure gems one can pat oneself on the back for having heard of at all? Why it's simply baffling!
posted by yoink at 4:02 PM on December 17, 2014 [4 favorites]
posted by yoink at 4:02 PM on December 17, 2014 [4 favorites]
I singled out Yes and an impressed with how the albums ranked. Not in the exact order that I would choose but ...
A. their top five consists entirely of their 1970-1974 albums, with none omitted ...
B. 90125 (the so-called 80s resurgence) is buried at #7 as it should be (actually it should be worse, but at least it's not getting in the way of anything genuinely fine)
Keeping things to that general era, I tried Jethro Tull and got similar results. Very good albums populating all the top spots.
So then I jumped ahead a bit to Sonic Youth and whattya know?
Daydream Nation
Goo
Sister
Dirty
Evol ...
One could do a hell of a lot worse in terms of a buying guide. So yeah, it seems an excellent resource.
posted by philip-random at 4:28 PM on December 17, 2014 [1 favorite]
A. their top five consists entirely of their 1970-1974 albums, with none omitted ...
B. 90125 (the so-called 80s resurgence) is buried at #7 as it should be (actually it should be worse, but at least it's not getting in the way of anything genuinely fine)
Keeping things to that general era, I tried Jethro Tull and got similar results. Very good albums populating all the top spots.
So then I jumped ahead a bit to Sonic Youth and whattya know?
Daydream Nation
Goo
Sister
Dirty
Evol ...
One could do a hell of a lot worse in terms of a buying guide. So yeah, it seems an excellent resource.
posted by philip-random at 4:28 PM on December 17, 2014 [1 favorite]
... but then I try Pink Floyd and find Division Bell outranking Saucerful of Secrets and Piper at the Gates of Dawn not #1. Which reminds me of a line of my brother's. "I find I like the lists I agree with."
posted by philip-random at 4:33 PM on December 17, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by philip-random at 4:33 PM on December 17, 2014 [2 favorites]
I've grown to hate the idea of ranking albums and I really don't care about this but I looked anyway - and The Strokes album ranks higher than Exile on Main Street. It's all subjective, but...seriously?
posted by davebush at 4:34 PM on December 17, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by davebush at 4:34 PM on December 17, 2014 [2 favorites]
2013 year summary
The best artists of 2013 were Vampire Weekend, Arcade Fire, Daft Punk, Arctic Monkeys, The National, Queens Of The Stone Age, Kanye West, My Bloody Valentine, Darkside and Deafheaven.
2010 year summary
The best artists of 2010 were Arcade Fire, Kanye West, The National, Beach House, The Black Keys, LCD Soundsystem , Deerhunter, Vampire Weekend, Gorillaz and Sufjan Stevens.
Lol
posted by Potomac Avenue at 4:36 PM on December 17, 2014 [1 favorite]
The best artists of 2013 were Vampire Weekend, Arcade Fire, Daft Punk, Arctic Monkeys, The National, Queens Of The Stone Age, Kanye West, My Bloody Valentine, Darkside and Deafheaven.
2010 year summary
The best artists of 2010 were Arcade Fire, Kanye West, The National, Beach House, The Black Keys, LCD Soundsystem , Deerhunter, Vampire Weekend, Gorillaz and Sufjan Stevens.
Lol
posted by Potomac Avenue at 4:36 PM on December 17, 2014 [1 favorite]
The one for this year was kinda interesting... (though a bit naval-gazelly). I didn't know Owen Pallett had a new album out!
posted by subdee at 4:41 PM on December 17, 2014
posted by subdee at 4:41 PM on December 17, 2014
In conclusion I love this. Don't hate the player folks, hate the Game. (album rank 17,527)
posted by Potomac Avenue at 4:43 PM on December 17, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by Potomac Avenue at 4:43 PM on December 17, 2014 [1 favorite]
What are the "best ever" albums overall?
Radiohead #1? Srsly?
posted by ZenMasterThis at 4:44 PM on December 17, 2014 [3 favorites]
Radiohead #1? Srsly?
posted by ZenMasterThis at 4:44 PM on December 17, 2014 [3 favorites]
> "I really wish someone could put together a top 10 list of say concertos from the 1600s (come to think of it concerto is probably an anachronism in the 1600s)"
Not really an anachronism, but you really want to go 1600-1750 as a more sensible cutoff, otherwise you're covering 2/3 of the baroque period and dropping the rest for no reason, and missing out on all the development of the form that took place in the Late Baroque. Incidentally:
1. The Four Seasons - Antonio Vivaldi
2. Concerto for 2 Violins in D minor "Double" - Johann Sebastian Bach
3. Concerto Grosso in B flat major, Op. 6, No. 7 - George Frideric Handel
4. Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 in F major - Johann Sebastian Bach
5. Concerto Grosso in G minor, Op. 6, No. 8 - Arcangelo Corelli
6. Organ Concerto No. 13 in F major "The Cuckoo & the Nightingale" - George Frideric Handel
7. Mandolin Concerto in C major - Antonio Vivaldi
8. Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 in D major - Johann Sebastian Bach
9. Trumpet Concerto in D major - Georg Telemann
10. Oboe Concerto in D minor, Op. 9, No. 2 - Tomaso Albinoni
And I'm really really sorry that it skews awfully white and male, but at least there's only one Brit and very few guitars?
posted by kyrademon at 4:45 PM on December 17, 2014 [18 favorites]
Not really an anachronism, but you really want to go 1600-1750 as a more sensible cutoff, otherwise you're covering 2/3 of the baroque period and dropping the rest for no reason, and missing out on all the development of the form that took place in the Late Baroque. Incidentally:
1. The Four Seasons - Antonio Vivaldi
2. Concerto for 2 Violins in D minor "Double" - Johann Sebastian Bach
3. Concerto Grosso in B flat major, Op. 6, No. 7 - George Frideric Handel
4. Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 in F major - Johann Sebastian Bach
5. Concerto Grosso in G minor, Op. 6, No. 8 - Arcangelo Corelli
6. Organ Concerto No. 13 in F major "The Cuckoo & the Nightingale" - George Frideric Handel
7. Mandolin Concerto in C major - Antonio Vivaldi
8. Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 in D major - Johann Sebastian Bach
9. Trumpet Concerto in D major - Georg Telemann
10. Oboe Concerto in D minor, Op. 9, No. 2 - Tomaso Albinoni
And I'm really really sorry that it skews awfully white and male, but at least there's only one Brit and very few guitars?
posted by kyrademon at 4:45 PM on December 17, 2014 [18 favorites]
I don't listen to radio much in the car. Recently I had a rental and I flailed for a station - got the classic rock , what a trip - it's like your stoner friend's older brother's room from 1979, preserved in amber. The same 4 or 5 canonical songs from a safe stable of cock rockers.
Lists like these give me the same kind of cultural claustrophobia. OK, Computer. AGAIN. Why do I even need a "best album of the 90's" again? I got by fine in the 80's without one, consarn it.
posted by thelonius at 4:46 PM on December 17, 2014
Lists like these give me the same kind of cultural claustrophobia. OK, Computer. AGAIN. Why do I even need a "best album of the 90's" again? I got by fine in the 80's without one, consarn it.
posted by thelonius at 4:46 PM on December 17, 2014
I am trying to figure out why this list is so much blander and more homogeneous than the similarly aggregated film list at theyshootpictures (which I find to be a useful resource). It might be that music critics tend to have a more specific focus—there are lots of "rock" critics, but I can't think of any "romantic comedy" critics—but it might also be that I'm just more of a music snob than a film snob.
posted by doubtfulpalace at 4:48 PM on December 17, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by doubtfulpalace at 4:48 PM on December 17, 2014 [1 favorite]
Algorithms gonna hate, hate, hate.
posted by drezdn at 4:50 PM on December 17, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by drezdn at 4:50 PM on December 17, 2014 [1 favorite]
To my eye as I look at the data presented in table form it appears as though if graphed with x=date of release and y=current ranking it is saddle shaped. Old "classics" released originally on vinyl fomat are honored for their longevity [parents on the internet]. I can't prove it but I'm fairly certain this is the same with movies.
A few albums though seem to defy this trend; Ok Computer, In the Aeroplane Over the Sea, and Nevermind.
Nostalgia is a hell of a drug. In twenty years when the data is run again I think you will still see those albums somewhere on the list.
posted by vapidave at 4:53 PM on December 17, 2014
A few albums though seem to defy this trend; Ok Computer, In the Aeroplane Over the Sea, and Nevermind.
Nostalgia is a hell of a drug. In twenty years when the data is run again I think you will still see those albums somewhere on the list.
posted by vapidave at 4:53 PM on December 17, 2014
To partially answer my own question: the top N of the film list would make a fine Intro to Film class, but the top N of the music list would be a terrible Intro to Music class, and not even a particularly good Intro to Rock class. So it's not just me. I think.
posted by doubtfulpalace at 4:55 PM on December 17, 2014
posted by doubtfulpalace at 4:55 PM on December 17, 2014
Arcade Fire has an album in the top-10 albums of all time?
posted by persona au gratin at 5:09 PM on December 17, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by persona au gratin at 5:09 PM on December 17, 2014 [1 favorite]
So (as one would expect given the nature of the exercise), the top 20 are pretty predictable, familiar, extremely well-known albums (I'm perfectly OK with Radiohead's OK Computer at the top spot) - although, if anything, it is even more rockist and male-dominant than expected (no Joanna Newsom in the top 100, but three Arcade Fire albums?). If you browsed back far enough, where did you first spot your "OMG YES! I love this album! I have a deep history with this album!" entry? Mine was Portishead's Dummy, in at #81.
Fucking shocked that the second such was Muse's Absolution, which I really loved during my undergraduate days (SHOCKER), in at #98. Muse in the top 100?! I thought it was humiliating to like Muse. They must have had a huge pile of critical goodwill earlier in their career which I wasn't aware of, and which multiple grandiose space opera albums has thoroughly pissed away.
posted by erlking at 5:18 PM on December 17, 2014 [1 favorite]
Fucking shocked that the second such was Muse's Absolution, which I really loved during my undergraduate days (SHOCKER), in at #98. Muse in the top 100?! I thought it was humiliating to like Muse. They must have had a huge pile of critical goodwill earlier in their career which I wasn't aware of, and which multiple grandiose space opera albums has thoroughly pissed away.
posted by erlking at 5:18 PM on December 17, 2014 [1 favorite]
It said that the Dictators' best song was 'The Next Big Thing." I beg to differ.
posted by jonmc at 5:22 PM on December 17, 2014
posted by jonmc at 5:22 PM on December 17, 2014
Science Gone Too Far?
posted by Potomac Avenue at 5:31 PM on December 17, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by Potomac Avenue at 5:31 PM on December 17, 2014 [1 favorite]
Either Stay With Me or Pussy & Money.
posted by jonmc at 5:34 PM on December 17, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by jonmc at 5:34 PM on December 17, 2014 [1 favorite]
Stay w me is a cover ain't it? Anyway it's Cars & Girls.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 5:42 PM on December 17, 2014
posted by Potomac Avenue at 5:42 PM on December 17, 2014
#RockistChat
posted by Potomac Avenue at 5:43 PM on December 17, 2014
posted by Potomac Avenue at 5:43 PM on December 17, 2014
persona au gratin: "Arcade Fire has an album in the top-10 albums of all time?"
I like Arcade Fire quite a bit but top 10? I might give them top 200 at best. Better than Highway 61 Revisited? Not even close.
posted by octothorpe at 5:44 PM on December 17, 2014 [1 favorite]
I like Arcade Fire quite a bit but top 10? I might give them top 200 at best. Better than Highway 61 Revisited? Not even close.
posted by octothorpe at 5:44 PM on December 17, 2014 [1 favorite]
The intra-artist rankings seem off. Are there really people out there who think AutomaticForThePeople is the best REM album? Smmfh
posted by Potomac Avenue at 5:45 PM on December 17, 2014
posted by Potomac Avenue at 5:45 PM on December 17, 2014
As much as I love OK Computer, it doesn't really age well nor does it make any sense outside of a very narrow cultural context. I mean, you can play Madonna everywhere in the goddamn world and pretty much everyone "gets it."
I play Radiohead for someone 5-10 years older than me, and their reaction is usually a variation on "Why is that Englishman so sad?"
posted by overeducated_alligator at 5:46 PM on December 17, 2014 [3 favorites]
I play Radiohead for someone 5-10 years older than me, and their reaction is usually a variation on "Why is that Englishman so sad?"
posted by overeducated_alligator at 5:46 PM on December 17, 2014 [3 favorites]
Arcade Fire has an album in the top-10 albums of all time?
...and the next "Canadian" appearance is Neil Young at 79th?
posted by bonobothegreat at 5:47 PM on December 17, 2014
...and the next "Canadian" appearance is Neil Young at 79th?
posted by bonobothegreat at 5:47 PM on December 17, 2014
On the ALL TIME chart
#60: Never Mind the Bollocks Here's the Sexpistols
#59: A Rush of Blood to the Head - Coldplay
Wow.
Oh wait!
#61: Closer - Joy Division
It's interesting as an algorithm and aggregator of list mentions, but when you rank Coldplay over the Sex Pistols and Joy Division, you may have forgotten to carry a 2.
posted by Kafkaesque at 5:47 PM on December 17, 2014 [6 favorites]
#60: Never Mind the Bollocks Here's the Sexpistols
#59: A Rush of Blood to the Head - Coldplay
Wow.
Oh wait!
#61: Closer - Joy Division
It's interesting as an algorithm and aggregator of list mentions, but when you rank Coldplay over the Sex Pistols and Joy Division, you may have forgotten to carry a 2.
posted by Kafkaesque at 5:47 PM on December 17, 2014 [6 favorites]
Oh lord don't look at any band that has a lot of albums the disgusting Rolling Stone "Return to Form" curse means that, for instance EVERY SINGLE CHILI PEPPERS ALBUM FROM THE 00s is ranked higher than Mother's Milk. Fuck you Rolling Stone.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 5:53 PM on December 17, 2014
posted by Potomac Avenue at 5:53 PM on December 17, 2014
Stay w me is a cover ain't it?
No, it's not the Faces song, it's an original.
posted by jonmc at 5:55 PM on December 17, 2014 [1 favorite]
No, it's not the Faces song, it's an original.
posted by jonmc at 5:55 PM on December 17, 2014 [1 favorite]
no album by a person of color is better than the first Strokes album?
posted by scose at 5:55 PM on December 17, 2014 [4 favorites]
posted by scose at 5:55 PM on December 17, 2014 [4 favorites]
my favourite band of 2014 is InfoSec taylor swift
posted by Sebmojo at 5:58 PM on December 17, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by Sebmojo at 5:58 PM on December 17, 2014 [2 favorites]
ifjuly
Thank you for Meshes of Voice. Listening to it now, and it's great. Looking forward to trying your other rec's.
posted by the sobsister at 6:01 PM on December 17, 2014
Thank you for Meshes of Voice. Listening to it now, and it's great. Looking forward to trying your other rec's.
posted by the sobsister at 6:01 PM on December 17, 2014
Rank score doesn't make any sense.
If I have a '10 Best' and a '100 best' list, which I wish to weight equally, and SomeAlbum shows up in 10th in the former and 1st in the latter, that should score higher than SomeOtherAlbum which is 1st in the former and 100th in the latter. But they score them equally.
Rank score would only make sense if these lists were generated by randomly sampling from the space of all albums and then ranking them.
posted by PMdixon at 6:13 PM on December 17, 2014 [1 favorite]
If I have a '10 Best' and a '100 best' list, which I wish to weight equally, and SomeAlbum shows up in 10th in the former and 1st in the latter, that should score higher than SomeOtherAlbum which is 1st in the former and 100th in the latter. But they score them equally.
Rank score would only make sense if these lists were generated by randomly sampling from the space of all albums and then ranking them.
posted by PMdixon at 6:13 PM on December 17, 2014 [1 favorite]
(Presumably the way you should actually do this is to Condorcet challenge each pair of albums against each other, although this could end up in a non-transitive ordering for the usual reasons. You could probably find an ordering that minimizes pairwise disagreements with the lists.)
posted by PMdixon at 6:17 PM on December 17, 2014 [3 favorites]
posted by PMdixon at 6:17 PM on December 17, 2014 [3 favorites]
For people saying that this is a list of popular albums. It's not. There are plenty of hip-hop, dance and country albums that sold more albums than the ones on this list. These lists reflect the tastes of middle class white dudes, only.
posted by empath at 6:24 PM on December 17, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by empath at 6:24 PM on December 17, 2014 [1 favorite]
I am trying to figure out why this list is so much blander and more homogeneous than the similarly aggregated film list at theyshootpictures (which I find to be a useful resource). It might be that music critics tend to have a more specific focus—there are lots of "rock" critics, but I can't think of any "romantic comedy" critics—but it might also be that I'm just more of a music snob than a film snob.
I think it's that the film lists are generated by critics, and these ones are user-submitted. It's just a bunch of random dudes with internet access, and no special insight into good music (now if someone wants to curate a Metafilter meta-list, that might be worth reading).
posted by Pink Frost at 6:33 PM on December 17, 2014
I think it's that the film lists are generated by critics, and these ones are user-submitted. It's just a bunch of random dudes with internet access, and no special insight into good music (now if someone wants to curate a Metafilter meta-list, that might be worth reading).
posted by Pink Frost at 6:33 PM on December 17, 2014
Top album with people other than white dudes:
#9: Funeral - Arcade Fire
Top album with no white dudes:
#56: What's Going On - Marvin Gaye
Top album with no dudes:
#107: Blue - Joni Mitchell
Dude.
posted by Starmie at 6:37 PM on December 17, 2014 [11 favorites]
#9: Funeral - Arcade Fire
Top album with no white dudes:
#56: What's Going On - Marvin Gaye
Top album with no dudes:
#107: Blue - Joni Mitchell
Dude.
posted by Starmie at 6:37 PM on December 17, 2014 [11 favorites]
glad you dig it too, sobsister! it's beautiful, totally comfortable being all itself, true to its inspiration, stretching at the edges of familiar territory, and i love it. most of my other favorites this year aren't really in the same vein, more noisy and amped up, mechanical (love the powerful use of the human voice on that album). but off the top of my head from my faves maybe you'd like the grouper--it's spare and uninterested in being anything but what it wants to be, alone and quiet, regrouping. or bing and ruth or hundred waters, because they're straight up pretty. and posssssibly the richard dawson, not because it sounds the same really but it fills a similar "listen after the sun has gone down" murky-nighttime-sky quality. at least i think so.
posted by ifjuly at 7:03 PM on December 17, 2014
posted by ifjuly at 7:03 PM on December 17, 2014
now if someone wants to curate a Metafilter meta-list, that might be worth reading
The contortions involved in people trying to name bands and albums that no one else has ever heard of may actually kill someone.
posted by markr at 7:11 PM on December 17, 2014 [2 favorites]
The contortions involved in people trying to name bands and albums that no one else has ever heard of may actually kill someone.
posted by markr at 7:11 PM on December 17, 2014 [2 favorites]
Yo algorithm, I’m really happy for you, Imma let you finish but...
posted by The Card Cheat at 7:11 PM on December 17, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by The Card Cheat at 7:11 PM on December 17, 2014 [1 favorite]
now if someone wants to curate a Metafilter meta-list, that might be worth reading
If You're Feeling Sinister
The Boy with the Arab Strap
Tigermilk
Dear Catastrophe Waitress
The Life Pursuit
The disco album they're releasing next year
Fold Your Hands Child, You Walk Like a Peasant
Something by The Smiths
There's my best-of list, you can add that to your data.
posted by betweenthebars at 7:32 PM on December 17, 2014 [4 favorites]
If You're Feeling Sinister
The Boy with the Arab Strap
Tigermilk
Dear Catastrophe Waitress
The Life Pursuit
The disco album they're releasing next year
Fold Your Hands Child, You Walk Like a Peasant
Something by The Smiths
There's my best-of list, you can add that to your data.
posted by betweenthebars at 7:32 PM on December 17, 2014 [4 favorites]
I claim no special insight into good music and I admit giant gaps in my listening (namely rap, metal and electronic music) but here's my list. Read especially if you're into americana and awesome guitars.
posted by saul wright at 8:17 PM on December 17, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by saul wright at 8:17 PM on December 17, 2014 [1 favorite]
Biggest-selling album -ever- : Thriller.
Rank: #73.
Say no more Squire.
posted by Twang at 8:24 PM on December 17, 2014 [2 favorites]
Rank: #73.
Say no more Squire.
posted by Twang at 8:24 PM on December 17, 2014 [2 favorites]
Huh, so unless I missed something Nas' "Illmatic" is the best rap album of all time, and it's ranked #101. Portishead is ranked #81. Weezer is ranked higher than any Rap or Hip-Hop album ever made. Ray Charles' top album is ranked... #1612. Not even in the top 1000.
This chart says a lot of interesting things about the people who made it. Not so many interesting things about music.
posted by DGStieber at 8:32 PM on December 17, 2014 [3 favorites]
This chart says a lot of interesting things about the people who made it. Not so many interesting things about music.
posted by DGStieber at 8:32 PM on December 17, 2014 [3 favorites]
Ranking OK, Computer as #1 all time shows BestEverAlbums to be the first A.I. to achieve self awareness.
posted by klangklangston at 9:50 PM on December 17, 2014 [3 favorites]
posted by klangklangston at 9:50 PM on December 17, 2014 [3 favorites]
I thought it was broken until I realised you could sort by country. Straya fuck yeah
posted by obiwanwasabi at 10:53 PM on December 17, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by obiwanwasabi at 10:53 PM on December 17, 2014 [1 favorite]
Nobody seems baffled.
I am almost perpetually baffled these days. It's kind of growing on me.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 12:48 AM on December 18, 2014 [2 favorites]
I am almost perpetually baffled these days. It's kind of growing on me.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 12:48 AM on December 18, 2014 [2 favorites]
Go Radiohead! Much respect...
posted by Monkeymoo at 3:13 AM on December 18, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by Monkeymoo at 3:13 AM on December 18, 2014 [1 favorite]
Reading all you hipsters comments about how bad this list is, is more entertaining than actually reading the like.
posted by salmacis at 5:02 AM on December 18, 2014
posted by salmacis at 5:02 AM on December 18, 2014
The comment immediately preceding this one is by far the most entertaining of the lot.
posted by Ice Cream Socialist at 7:17 AM on December 18, 2014
posted by Ice Cream Socialist at 7:17 AM on December 18, 2014
Well fuck you, Eubulides of Miletus.
posted by leotrotsky at 8:08 AM on December 18, 2014
posted by leotrotsky at 8:08 AM on December 18, 2014
Just stopped in to say that the best album of all time is Beastie Boys - Paul's Boutique (#4 in 1989, overall #147) and everyone else is wrong, including these meta-bots.
posted by mcstayinskool at 11:13 AM on December 18, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by mcstayinskool at 11:13 AM on December 18, 2014 [1 favorite]
betweenthebars: There's my best-of list, you can add that to your data.
OK. The list as it stands:
1. Something by The Smiths [probably The Queen Is Dead let's face it]
2 = If You're Feeling Sinister
2 = In the Aeroplane Over the Sea
2 = The Boy with the Arab Strap
2 = Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
2 = Tigermilk
2 = All Hail West Texas
2 = Dear Catastrophe Waitress
2 = Psychocandy
2 = The Life Pursuit
2 = Closer
2 = The disco album they're [compiler's note: Belle & Sebastian] releasing next year
2 = Brave Words
2 = Fold Your Hands Child, You Walk Like a Peasant
I think this is going well...stay tuned for more updates [not really].
posted by Pink Frost at 12:58 PM on December 18, 2014 [1 favorite]
OK. The list as it stands:
1. Something by The Smiths [probably The Queen Is Dead let's face it]
2 = If You're Feeling Sinister
2 = In the Aeroplane Over the Sea
2 = The Boy with the Arab Strap
2 = Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
2 = Tigermilk
2 = All Hail West Texas
2 = Dear Catastrophe Waitress
2 = Psychocandy
2 = The Life Pursuit
2 = Closer
2 = The disco album they're [compiler's note: Belle & Sebastian] releasing next year
2 = Brave Words
2 = Fold Your Hands Child, You Walk Like a Peasant
I think this is going well...stay tuned for more updates [not really].
posted by Pink Frost at 12:58 PM on December 18, 2014 [1 favorite]
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posted by 1970s Antihero at 2:51 PM on December 17, 2014 [2 favorites]