Comments

Where is that GIF of the guy with the mandolin from that disney movie when you need it? Is that a disney movie? What am I thinking of?
Wasn't he their maniac of a rhythm guitarist? This guy could play. I always thought he was key to the Pogues' intensity and energy.
Life changing album for me. Discovering this early in high school really pushed me in an alternative direction and away from radio rock. Probably responsible for me discovering and loving the late 80's early 90's alt bands like My Bloody Valentine, the Pixies, Sonic Youth, the Meat Puppets, the Breeders, Hum, Pavement, Sunny Day Real Estate, Jesus Lizard, Dinosaur Jr., Modest Mouse, and Guided by Voices. Falling in love with Nevermind in jr. high made look up the other "Seattle grunge bands". In Utero made me realize that Nirvana didn't really belong to that group.
I have so much to say that I don't know where to start. Here comes a rant. Tom Waits is my favorite artist of any sort. I had been hoping you guys would do this list for a while, though I'm not sure what's in it for me other than to read some more people's thoughts on Tom Waits. Is there a more interesting songwriter/poet/actor/storyteller/cultural-curator/producer/playwright around? He's an American original and I wouldn't be who I was today without his music. You clearly did your homework and I enjoyed your biography and analysis of Waits and his output, but I am a little puzzled by the exclusion of Orphans. Orphans is mostly original songs that don't exist in any other form, and quite a few people would count it as one of their favorite Waits albums. It's hardly an afterthought compilation and I think it should stand alongside the rest of his work. Still, I enjoyed the list, and as you said there is no wrong way to rank Tom's albums.
You know what I really want to be pissed off about? A Tom Waits list. Go ahead, leave Swordfishtrombones out of the top three. I dare you.
Ditto on Le Noise and Time Fades Away. I could probably stand to see Trans a tad higher too.
I would love to see Wu-Tang solo albums worst to best.
Everyone who loves On the Beach gets upvotes.
So happy to see On the Beach at number one. All in all, I love the list. And you clearly have done your homework on Mr. Young. I can't really argue with Zuma getting bumped in favor of those other two. And Le Noise got some positive recognition, even if I think it's a little low. I might have bumped Time Fades Away to number seven. I've really grown to love Trans and Re-ac-tor, mostly because of some prodding from 'gummers to give it a second chance. Very entertaining read, and a nice primer for diving into some of his more recent work.
Holy shit. I have been waiting for this list ever since you guys started making these lists. I haven't the list yet, but I thoroughly enjoyed the introduction. Ok everyone, let's argue! Really Hoping to see Tonight's the Night, On the Beach, After the Goldrush, and Zuma as the top four in some order. Also, I'd love to see Le Noise get some recognition and maybe crack the top twelve or so. You all need to listen to that album again. It's a wonderful experiment.
Oh, hey. You guys left off one of their best songs.
It's nice to see some love for the Down on the Upside singles. And I think we're ok leaving off Black Hole Sun. Kudos for recognizing Head Down. Superunknown's stranger moments are what made me fall in love with this band.
Great write-up, though I can't say I agreed with everything. For starters, I always was under the assumption that Moon and Antarctica lived in the shadow of Lonesome Crowded West in the eyes of hardcore Modest Mouse fans, not the other way around. I prefer M&A myself, but I thought I was a minority. Also, "nature’s going, the world is messed up and not getting any better, so what else do do but go down in a drunken ball of anger and impotence" falls far short as a summary of the album. Isaac Brock's lyrics are too rich and layered for me not be annoyed by reducing the album to that. I did like what you said about the duality of Isaac's cynicism and romanticism. I always thought His earnest and tenderness and yearning for transcendence outshined his cynicism, which is part of what sets Modest Mouse apart from their peers. And I love your pointing out the two secretly great lines on the album: "Orange Julius" and "sorry if I dissed you" do sound so corny at first, but they really work. Overall, great article; it's always nice to see Modest Mouse get some love. Can we all just talk about how fucking great this band is and how ambitious and powerful their lyrics are? One more thing: what's this about Dramamine being amateurish? Sparse, maybe, but "amateurish" is a strong word. It's probably the best song ever written by a bunch of redneck eighteen year-olds.
Any one else getting the idea that her next album will be a little less ethereal/dreamy and a little more straightforward/poppy? Either way, I love Grimes. She is a very bold and principled person.
I don't think anyone here would argue that Dave Grohl is a better singer-songwriter. I bet he doesn't even think that himself. But here's the thing with all of us in the music criticism/blog/forum world: we don't care about what an artist might find fulfilling or exciting on a day to day basis. We want our favorite artists to be geniuses all of the time, when the truth is a lot of them are just doing what interests them and sometimes accidentally doing something great. Nirvana wan't aiming for transcendence, and if they had they probably would have failed. They were just some guys doing what they loved. Just like the Foo Fighters are doing now. It's one thing to say a lot of the Foo Fighters' more recent stuff isn't very good. I would agree with you there. But to say that Dave Grohl is destroying his legacy by playing guitar and singing instead of hiding behind a drum kit is preposterous. Why should he give a shit about his legacy? He is doing what he loves and connecting with a lot of people.
The Foo Fighters have put out a good deal of filler and substandard music, but there are degrees that exist between brilliant and "embarrassing". It seems like most of the people here would argue that even the worst of their albums have a few strong songs on them. And Wasting Light seems to be very well received here on Stereogum. It is perfectly acceptable to carve out a career as an above-average songwriter. He's hardly destroying his legacy by not making music as good as Nirvana or Songs for the Deaf. Not everyone has to be a genius.
I listen to music like the Foo Fighters less and less as I get older, but it's always refreshing when I revisit their music. I absolutely agree with the sequence of the list, excepting Wasting Light, which I've never heard. Their music seems pretty uneven but the high points are always very high. Pretty much all of the singles are spectacular and there are some great deep cuts to be found. I'm gonna go dig up my copy of In Your Honor.
It's ridiculous and doesn't touch the original, but I love his version too.
A shaktopus by any other name would smell as sweet.
Obsessively listening to Sufjan Stevens and Siamese Dream this week, thanks to Stereogum. I need another Sufjan album, STAT. I never dreamed I'd be such a fan of the guy.
Been listening all weekend. It sounds like it could've been released yesterday. It still, impossibly, sounds extremely heavy while being sweet as syrup. So much sincerity and grandiosity, it's refreshing. Thank God there are still musicians with big ideas.
I remember starting to listen to my local alternative radio station in maybe the 7th grade. It must have been 2000-2001. Rocket, Cherub Rock, Mayonnaise, Today, and Disarm were played all the time. Cherub Rock fascinated me. It was one of the first rock songs I really cared about. I went to stay with my older sister in Kansas around the same time, and I found Siamese Dream in her CDs. I listened to it start to finish several times every night. I ended up "borrowing" the cd from her. It was my first Rock album. Siamese Dream made me fall in love with the guitar and with alternative music, and everything since then has been building on my first experience with this album. I've since moved on to a lot of better and more diverse stuff, but it will always hold a special place in my heart for starting my love affair with music.
I've barely scratched the surface of Springsteen's music, but man do I love me some Nebraska.
Andy Greenwald called this mixtape "goat sacrificing music". It's pretty interesting stuff.
Who knows how serious Sufjan is being at any given time? He's a dry motherfucker. I'm gonna go listen to Age of Adz and bawl my eyes out.
I love this band. I've never met a person in real life who had listened to them before. I've turned some people onto them, but I always figured this band was hugely obscure. Judging by the skimpy comment section, I guess they are. Misery is a Butterfly was my first Blonde Redhead album, and it's still my favorite by a mile. I think 23 is hugely underrated. I also love Melody of Certain Damaged Lemons, and "In Particular" in particular. (I swear I did that without thinking)
Totally agree. I love 23 and was hugely let down by Penny Sparkle.
I was actually kinda happy to not see Sgt Pepper's.
While I generally think such broad lists are very stupid, I kinda like this one just for not being so classic rock-leaning. Obviously we could pick it apart all day, but they hit a lot of classics that get overlooked by other mainstream publications. Its a hell of a lot better than what we would get from Rolling Stone or NME. Also, Songs for the Deaf!
Impossible to predict. Hard to pick a side too. I love both of these teams.
It sounds like Silent Shout. Was not expecting to ever compare Kanye West to The Kinfe
Revised list to satisfy the comment police: Songs for the Deaf Rated R Like Clockwork Blues for the Red Sun Welcome to Sky Valley Lullabies to Paralyze Queens of the Stone Age Peace, Love, Death Metal Heart On Them Crooked Vultures Era Vulgaris Death by Sexy And the Circus Leaves Town Wretch
Impressions on first listen: It sounds pretty great. I am trying not to overreact, especially after M B V didn't quite hold up after my initial swoon (though I do love that record). But damn, this album sounds good. It will take a few listens for me to process the lyrics. But every song sounds great. Love the stark, relatively minimal production.
New Seeds is the shit. That song made my heart beat funny.
Love him or hate him, (and I couldn't blame anyone at all for hating him) how many artists matter to us this much? How many artists stop the internet when they release an album? This guy is one of the boldest and brightest of our generation.