Tom, I completely agree that this transitional period is the band's high point. I love Beneath the Remains, Arise and Roots, but Chaos A.D. was one of those pinnacle albums in my discovery of great metal. I read this article and was inspired to listen to it today during my run. Kaiowas still drives me mental with joy when I hear it, and the riffs on Refuse/Resist might be my favorite death/thrash/groove riffs ever. In an era of great albums, this one is one of the best ever.
I downvoted this solely for the fact that you had the chance to see that bill and weren't able to catch it. Holy crap, that would have been an incredible show!
The Gorguts album is so damn good. It's even more impressive given the long wait between releases. In a year full of incredible metal albums it's definitely in the top tier.
I just can't put any of their songs ahead of Deceptacon. That one is so so so perfect. I'll never forget hearing it for the first time at a snowboard competition in Mammoth Lakes and just being knocked off my feet. I saw them on the last tour and they were so much fun, with their choreographed dances and crowd full of righteous, angry women. I'm so glad that Kathleen is still working and would love to get another Le Tigre album.
This is one catalog that more people would do well to explore. I saw him do the So anniversary tour and he is just an incredible, engaging performer. I've been listening to Gabriel since I was a child and his music just never gets old for me.
I think you did a good ranking here, but I would always put Melt on top. There's just something about the darkness and claustrophobic feel of that record that draws me back time and again.
I can still remember the exact time I heard No Age for the first time. I was booking concerts at UCLA at the time and one of my co-workers came into our office, went to the computer and said, "Hey, I just heard about this new group that we should totally book. They're local and they've just started to play shows around here." He played us Boy Void and everyone in the office was just stoked. We had them open for Matt and Kim on the last day of February in 2007. I had to go out soon after that and buy the five EPs released on the same day. Since then I've seen No Age just about every time I've been able to, at everywhere from the Smell to a sandbar in the LA river, from the LA public library to a basement in Chicago that flooded, and even acting as the drums and guitar for No Flag, the first of these recent Black Flag reunions. I love these guys so much.
Where's Touch on this list?
Oh, right, nowhere near it. Because it's horrible.
But I'd agree with the complaints about the lack of Aerodynamic, Face to Face and Robot Rock. Really, though, the #1 track should just be Alive 2007 (or the Coachella bootleg.)
In the Jungle Groove? James Brown has at least three albums (Live at Apollo 62, Sex Machine and The Payback) that belong there more than an anthology.
But, for all the predictability of the top 20, I'm actually pleasantly surprised to see certain acts on here, like Television, Sleater-Kinney, Erykah Badu. The PJ Harvey choice is an odd one though.
The only issue I have with this is that Volume 4 is better than Heaven and Hell and Sabbath Bloody Sabbath. I likewise really want to check out Seventh Star now.
I likewise would like to push the love for Fearless. It's hard to argue against any of the tracks you've included, but I would say you unfairly relegate Obscured by Clouds to second-tier album status. That one perfectly captures the moment between Meddle and Dark Side and is full of classics (and Free Four).
But I'm posting here to contend with your assertion that Dogs is the best guitar solo. I would argue that the economic soloing on Wish You Were Here or the soaring flights on Comfortably Numb are better within the Floyd catalog. However, best solo is from one of two songs in my book: either Fripp's blissfully breaking robotics on St. Elmo's Fire by Eno or, more probably, Tom Verlaine painting a sunrise with six strings on Marquee Moon. The solo they captured on Marquee Moon is nothing short of pure joy.
I definitely prefer Rated R to Songs For the Deaf and Blues for the Red Sky to ...Welcome to Sky Valley. But this is an good list otherwise in my mind. Why were the Desert Sessions not included though?
Yay, Facebook login works again.
Deafheaven - Sunbather is the album of the year so far, and i love the Mikal Cronin, Inter Arma and Kurt Vile albums this year as well.
As everyone else has noted, this is a good list. It's going to inspire me to listen to some of the stuff I've passed on over the years.
That said, Superwolf would be in my personal top five. There is so much great material on that album.
Octet would be my #1 as well. On the tours for Cryptograms and Flourescent Grey it was the noisy, rhythmic centerpiece of the set and it remains one of the best things I've seen live. Watching Josh space out as he locked into the bass groove was otherworldly.
Poor bastards had to release this the same day that Black Sabbath completely blew away expectations with their new track. I hope the old satanic Brits wipe the floor with the French robots.
I'd move Lodger and Aladdin to 7 and 8, Heroes and Ziggy up to 4 and 5, but other than that you've pretty much got it spot on.
Oh, and The Man Who Sold the World is better than everything Heathen downward.
It's most similar to Scary Monster (and Super Creeps) to me: an album without a coherent sound and vision, but filled with well crafted and well performed Bowie songs.
And Dirty Boys totally sounds like The Birthday Party to me.
This issue comes up for me every single time I listen to and thoroughly enjoy Burzum's music. He has horrible views, is a convicted murderer and arsonist and seems like a truly repugnant human being in many lights. However, he creates music that I adore.
Sad as it is, these sort of artists make me thankful for illegal downloading and used music sales. If I can procure the music without directly supporting someone so despicable, somehow it feels a little bit better. I guess? It's a rock (or R&B) and a hard spot.
Apparently you've never heard The Cat and the Cobra, otherwise you would have included Wake Up. And two songs from Rome but no I.C. Timer?
And for fun, here's Tim serenading me atop a ladder:
http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3108/2883249326_e5da92528d_m.jpg
I'd switch move Call the Doctor up one place, as it's one of their three perfect releases, but other than that this is the best ranking y'all have done yet. Most bands wish they could release something as good as the debut 10", and they started with that.
They really need to tour again. When I saw them it was mostly Woods material, and while that was great I wanted to hear more.
Hey, Ghost (the metal band, not the Japanese psych band) is playing on Sunday! That's a selling point in and of itself. I'd love to see the full death-pope regalia and cloaks in 114 degree heat.
I love the White Album because of the range of songwriting present on it, and the fact that, despite the diversity of songs, it all seems to hold together quite well.
This is great. Most of the other lists so far have been bands I'm deeply familiar with, but this list will actually help me to adventure further into the world of Ween. Thanks!
I bought this in high school from a Sam Goody. Found it in the dollar bin mislabeled as a Craig David single. Best (and oddest) mislabeling error I've come across.
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