Comments

Thanks! Glad we're mostly on the same page. See one of my replies above for the reasoning behind Time Fades Away's placement. It was the definitely the album I had the hardest time corralling into the countdown. I hope my love for that record was obvious, despite its placement.
Totally agree re: Le Noise. And I might have already said this in response to another comment, but the placement of Time Fades Away was the one I struggled with most. In my mind, it's easily a top 6er - but when I really scrutinized the list, I couldn't knock any of the others down to accommodate it. The top ten was REALLY difficult.
Ditto and likewise! Thanks for reading.
Thanks! I agree Rust is excellent, and features at least two of my all time favorites (Thrasher, Powderfinger), but it also features Welfare Mothers, and the presence of even a single dud knocks it below my top 3, which are perfect albums front to back imo. You make a strong case, though!
Thanks for the great response. I actually struggled with Time Fades Away being so low - I originally had it higher, but couldn't justify bumping down any of the eight above it. I have been told I tend to overrate Harvest Moon, but i stand by the ranking - I think it's exceptional. Soundtracks and live albums were a wormhole I desperately wanted to avoid; I tried to address them the best I could, but I thought the list seemed too long already!
See Broken Arrow entry
"an In Utero from a guy who made his Bleach but skipped the Nevermind" nailed it
See above. But I do wonder how dynamics and melody are 'things that make rap songs great.' You feel these songs lack the appropriate crescendos and 12-tone tunefulness that you, for some reason, commonly associate with hip-hop?
ah, I gotta stop posting while the tv is on. I go comma crazy.
I'm still digesting it too, and I'm looking forward to spending some time with an actual physical copy. Also, I'm all for lively debates here, and, my original post WAS somewhat inflammatory, so no need to apologize for merely answering the bell. :)
Harsh. Let me clarify: I guess what I'm saying is that maybe lofty concepts are not a requirement for me where hip-hop is concerned. I mean, I love Illmatic and Ready To Die as much as the next guy, but I love Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chamberz), Hard To Earn, and Enta Da Stage just as much. Not every album from this (classic) era transcended the prevailing model of 'two or three bangers + a bunch of skits and filler,' but many did. For me, Earl's abilities as an MC - his flow, his voice, his phrasing, his lyrics - are more than enough.
err, I obviously meant 'rappers,' but I'll concede a Freudian slip in this case. ;)
Don't really understand the criticisms here: "a genius with a singular style"; "one of the best rapers out there right now"; "so much talent, great tracks"--these are all quotes from otherwise mediocre reviews upthread. I'm not sure what more you could want in a hip-hop album in 2013 than Doris. Also, a criticism of his "heavy 'rhyme-obsessed' style"--what does this even mean? What were Kool G Rapp and Nas and Rakim obsessed with? Synthesizer patches? My kingdom for an eyeroll emoticon. Yall are ridiculous.
1. I stand by the Truckers as a top tier American rock and roll band. I would add the aforementioned Velvets, Sonic Youth and Big Star (no-brainer choices, all), and also include the Dead, Royal Trux, the Replacements, the E Street Band, Fugazi, and a few others, but this is clearly a debate for a future Stereogum piece. :) 2. This refers to Neil, yes, who left Canada to go find Stephen Stills in California and start a band. Legend has it they happened upon each other, by chance, in a traffic jam. Whether that story is apocryphal or not, I don't even care. Neil drove a hearse (a 1948 Buick Roadmaster, to be exact); "Long May You Run" is about that very car. Sorry this wasn't clear.
I stand by what I wrote about ABAAC (personally, I think both Easy On Yourself and Daylight are duds relative to what Isbell is capable of, and completely out of place next to the Hood and Cooley songs), but I also think that there is something to the phenomenon of your favorite DBT album being the one you hear first, so your feelings about ABAAC make perfect sense in that context. I saw them on that tour, too, and they were indeed terrific. Truth by told, I listen to ABAAC quite a bit, but I also skip quite a few songs when i do.
I noticed that - thanks! Don't know how I missed that, or even made that mistake. Anyway, fixing it!
Good call on the "You Are Needed Now" / Band thing - never thought of that before but you're spot-on. It's like a lost Manuel tearjerker! Great list!
Cosign. I'd volunteer but I missed a few there between Fear Of The Dark and The Final Frontier.
What a great piece. A few random thoughts -- 1. I'm glad you acknowledge that Martin is underrated. Like Born Again, Headless Cross and Eternal Idol are really solid metal records if you just ignore the fact that they're credited to a band called "Black Sabbath." Weird how out of place Gillen sounds on the Eternal Idol stuff. 2. I've never heard Seventh Star but now I sort of want to. I recall my Sabbath-obsessed dad literally throwing that cassette in the garbage. 3. You make a good case for Sabotage, but I still think that record...kinda stinks? It's always just sounded like a dentist's drill to me. 4. Heaven & Hell over Vol. 4 is lunacy, Justin. Lunacy! But again, great piece. You're a braver man than I.
Great list and superb writing, as usual. I'd switch 1 and 2 (but just barely) and try to find a way to move Thief up (though I have no idea how I would achieve this - three way tie for 4th or something?). I stand by my quote in the opening paragraph. Dude makes me wanna go all Tonya Harding.
Bravo! I'm a Lodger man myself and would have loved to see it in the top ten, but beyond that, no quibbles. This was quite a task and you really rose to the occasion. Excellent piece.
It's true, though. Even among the diehards commenting here, you don't hear a lot of people repping for "The Cold Part," "Long Distance Drunk," or "Exit Does Not Exist," for instance. And besides, the paragraph that contains that sentence is supposed to imply that, in spite of these things, MM is a great band. Most 'classic' albums have filler - when was the last time you skipped ahead to listen to "The Murder Mystery" or "Vicar In A Tutu?" One of my favorite bands of all time is the Replacements, and almost everything I said about MM in that paragraph could apply to that band as well. You don't think Isaac himself would acknowledge that they've played some pretty shitty (read: sloppy drunk) gigs?
Oops, I meant 'the best parts of' Interstate 8, btw, not 'most of' - sorry, fact-checkers!
I wrestled with including the EPs and BNOOS, and decided that 1. BNOOS, while indeed great, is mostly great for the inclusion of most of the Interstate 8 EP (which I included) + "Neverending Math Equation," and 2. the other EPs, unlike the expanded version of Interstate 8, play like EPs, in that they're short and arguably unnecessary supplements to the albums that preceded or proceeded them. I like the EPs - especially E&HNPT, which, in retrospect, I probably should have included with the Interstate 8 entry - but don't think they're as essential to understanding the MM story as the full lengths. The subheading is Modest Mouse ALBUMS From Best To Worst, after all. A line has to get drawn somewhere, right? Anyway, apologies to any who were offended by these omissions.
Not sure how you could read this and think it was written by someone who dislikes the band. What snark?
Bold move not putting The Woods at #1, and while Call the Doctor will always be my sentimental fave ("Good Things!!"), it's difficult to argue with the justifications for numerical placement here. Great piece.
I wish I could 'like' this post more than once.
I guess we should then ask a bigger question - is it necessary that the USPS even MAKES a profit? Isn't it a public service, guaranteed by the Constitution? There are plenty of things funded by tax dollars (which, by the way, the USPS is not) that don't turn any profit at all. Maybe we need to examine the profit = worth model, since we're on a forum that deals with a lot of music that 99% of the western world doesn't know or care exists.
I address all of this in the article, including the internet. Fed Ex and UPS are in no position to raise rates - from all appearances, they're doing fine (see: campaign contributions). Not to seem paranoid, but if they're planning to raise their rates at all, they'll do so only after they've eliminated the competition - the USPS - which is why they're behind Congress' ludicrous provision in the first place. Once they become the only game(s) in town, welcome to a world $6 postcard stamps. Is shipping really that important for indie labels to succeed? Without question, yes. Ask any label owner from the power electronics cassette label all the way up to Sub Pop. Yes.
If the fact that I've written no fewer than three separate pieces on the man for this very publication doesn't qualify me as a fan, well, I'm not sure what does. Maybe it's just, like, my opinion, man.
See, I agree it's a great album, but I sorta felt like I had already published my Sea Change billet-doux for Stereogum with the anniversary piece. Check it out! It's one big gush.
See above. That album severely bummed me out at the time. Nowadays it's merely my least favorite Beck album.
I really, really, really love "Whiskeyclone."
I have just never connected with that album in any meaningful way. I gave it another listen before writing this article, and it still leaves me really cold (and frequently annoyed).
No way is it better than Strangeways, that's crazy talk.
"greatest singles band since the Beatles" - a hefty claim, but I think I agree. Your list is my list, however if we were being REAL nerds, we'd have to squeeze in the Sweet and Tender Hooligan EP someplace, which is very dear to my heart. Placing a pair of compilations in the No. 1 slot took balls, but true Smiths fans know there's really no other way this could have gone down. Both Hatful and Louder are absolutely perfect - none of the proper full lengths are ("Suffer Little Children," anyone?).
Duly noted, and I certainly didn't mean to casually vilify every person born during the Clinton Administration - at least not for this - ha ha ha. But I'm afraid you guys are very much the exception, not the rule. Unfortunately, you're not indicative of a turning tide so much as you're a couple of guys with an increasingly weird hobby. That said, I will concede that sentence may have been an unfair generalization, and I do applaud and appreciate your devotion to your weird hobby. :)