Two of the Cave recordings I listen to most are The Secret Life of the Love Song, a vivid insight into his life & writing process, along with stripped-down versions of classics like Sad Waters; and B-Sides and Rarities which is spilling over with brilliant little nuggets that didn't make the albums (a cover of the Pogues' Rainy Night in Soho, Come into My Sleep)
Kicking: higher
Good Son: higher
Grinderman/Lazarus period: overrated, lower
Eternity: lower
Nocturama: higher (yes! it has tunes.)
But hey, thank you for this. The most consistently inspirational figure in music history?
"What begins as an unguarded train of thought slowly can become
An addiction to the slumber of disconnection and the resonance
Of memory that no longer has a shape but keeps you numb
Through the hours till gone is another day" (Half Asleep)
These are amazing lyrics to put in a pop song. Over the last 10 years no one else I know wrote like this, and no other band made such consistently excellent albums to such little acclaim. Whether or not Benjamin Curtis felt pained by the indie press's indifference to School of Seven Bells, I don't know-- was it because they were too pretty, too derivative, too precious, too "unexceptional"?-- but I hope he found an immense personal reward from his art, and realised how much his true fans loved his music. Disconnect... in particular is quite stunning. It's such a sad, sad loss.
Oracular Spectacular might have a lot of variety, but it's no Thriller, and not even a Jagged Little Pill. That comparison in the review is just nuts. Low's an interesting analogy. Personally I feel it doesn't have the emotional depth or musical originality for the whole album to be held up in that company 20 years from now-- time will tell. Oracular to me sounds like classic psychedelia being funnelled through an ironic, self-consciously wacky Day-glo filter; Congratulations is just pure fun without the detachment.
Agree almost totally with Ryan's placings and the well-considered words. It doesn't make sense to me that Mylo Xyloto and Viva La Vida can *both* be produced (or co-produced) by Brian Eno-- MX is underwritten & overcooked, splashy & gaudy stadium pop with few lasting hooks (just as well Rihanna stepped in). VLV is their Abbey Road, a textbook example of how to experiment with taste and restraint-- a brilliant record that still sounds fresh now, and to me clearly their best song-for-song.
I'd second those who call for the inclusion of Neil's live albums-- on that basis Massey Hall '71 would be not only in my top 3 Neil albums but among the best live albums of all time. I haven't listened to any other live album so much and prefer it to Rust Never Sleeps (whoa, heresy).
Looking through some of this artwork, there's an alternative list here that I'd call "Neil Young album covers from borderline passable to truly abominable", a list topped by Zuma, Landing on Water and the debut LP, closely followed by Reactor and Everybody's Rocking.
I've heard them all and you're dead right-- 23 is their 2nd best, and whoever wrote this (a) has highly questionable reasons for making it 2nd worst (wtf!) and (b) loves Sonic Youth/ hates perfect pop.
Loving the number 1 choice. If any newbie asked me to recommend a BH song, it would have to be Silver Soul. And then Myth, and the equally flawless Used to Be which I'm amazed you left out. Unique, brilliant band.
"Hot Love" was number 1 on the day I was born, so it should automatically be No. 1 here too.
Snarky comments aside.. it's a freaking great singalong, a kind of hypersexed "Hey Jude", and a million times superior to "Raw Ramp" and cookie-cutter glam of that ilk. I've always had a penchant for "New York City" too, a surreal little gem, and "Teenage Dream" which was on the Scott Pilgrim OST a few years back.
This isn't to diss Austra at all-- a band I really like despite (or perhaps because of) its mannered melodrama-- but I still think the best thing Katie Stelmanis put her vocals on to date is the Death in Vegas track, Your Loft My Acid. It's the best possible vehicle for her operatics and the song carries for her voice, rather than the opposite, which is probably why Austra hasn't made its masterpiece yet-- she's so dominant in the mix, you sort of forget the band or the tunes.
Surprised that Christmas hasn't been mentioned-- it might not be a full-length album, but it's not an EP either. It's probably the Low record I've listened to most over the years apart from Things We Lost..., Secret Name and A Lifetime of Temporary Relief. Take the Long Way Around the Sea kills me, as does If You Were Born Today.
I'd agree Trust deserves to be higher, it's at least half a great album. Drums & Guns always left me really cold though, and the Invisible Way might have its moments, but I'd struggle to make the case that it's better overall than C'mon.
2013's been weird. A lot of the albums I've heard have been really surprising-- favourite artists like Low, Nick Cave, Strokes, YYYs, MBV, Atoms for Peace have all turned in solid-but-not-stellar records, while others I wasn't expecting to be so great, actually have been.
Suede-- Bloodsports
Youth Lagoon-- Wondrous Bughouse
The Veils-- Time Stays, We Go
The National-- Trouble
Jon Hopkins-- Immunity
Tricky-- False Idols
Vampire Weekend-- Modern Vamps
QotSA-- Like Clockwork
I'm kinda intrigued to know why some bands who are more album-oriented (Blur, Suede, The National) only get a Top 10 songs list while The Faces, who only made a handful of LPs, get a best albums list. You can't really collapse a career like Blur, Suede or The National's into 10 songs-- these bands are way too multifaceted for reductive retrospectives. And it sort of reinforces the impression these lists might be quite well considered but are essentially just click bait.
That, and also-- The Drowners. And Stay Together, Heroine, Still Life, Everything Must Flow...
I'm totally with Raptor and a little ambivalent about this list. Its heart is in the right place but its rationale pretty wonky. I can't agree that Laser Guided Melodies is a transitional or in some way unrealised album-- to me it's the absolute epitome of the fully formed debut and markedly different from Spacemen 3 (in sound if not in spirit). Have a listen to the brilliant compilation The Complete Works and songs there that predate LGM (Anyway That You Want Me), while great, still sound like a hangover from Spacemen 3.
No real argument with Ladies and Gentlemen at number 1, but LGM is a thing of beauty, a classic record and my favourite of theirs by a long stretch-- it's the one that best captures both Pierce's great songwriting AND the suite-led, mood-piece approach. And yes it has Shine a Light, I Want You, If I Were With Her Now...
Fully agree that A&E is underrated, and brilliant obvs, but is a little front-loaded & uneven, and song-for-song just not as consistent as LGM or Let It Come Down.
One day perhaps Stereogum could do a list of the best live acts. The Ladies & Gentlemen tour at the Royal Albert Hall, London in '98 is still the greatest, most exhilarating gig I've ever seen.
Not music snobs, no-- just lovers of wonderful music that is entirely the opposite of "hipster" because it has transcended time and fashion, and is rightly regarded as classic.
Totally forgot what an incredible song Metal Heart is. It's really such a rich and soulful album, so much more rewarding than her latterday records which strive for soul but often end up merely sounding polished. Thanks for this evocative reminder.
Totally forgot what an incredible song Metal Heart is. It's really such a rich and soulful album, so much more rewarding than her latterday records which strive for soul but often end up merely sounding polished. Thanks for this evocative reminder.
No issues with the top 3. But Karen, About Today, Gospel & Terrible Love should all be there. And to leave out Mistaken for Strangers and Think You Can Wait in favour of the meandering, meaningless LEMONWORLD ferchrissakes-- ouch, that's sacrilege
One of the last great singles bands, and the album that made me fanatical about "a band" again for the first time since REM probably. It's not quite true to say Bernard Butler and Brett Anderson stayed apart forever though-- they reformed as The Tears ten years after Dog Man Star and released an album with bad lyrics but some killer tunes.
Glad to see Australian bands (well, one anyway) getting kudos as well as British & US bands. I haven't seen Prisoner by The Jezabels on any lists so far, and that's a real shame, because it's fantastic.
Precious has to be top 5, Blasphemous Rumours was a huge turning point in their music and swap the pretty turgid Stripped for Walking in My Shoes, an incredibly dramatic and powerful song. This year's Soulsavers album is the best DM record without their name on it, btw.
Another album turned 20 this week. It was called Automatic for the People, it sold 18 million copies and is generally considered one of the best records ever made. Can we commemorate that instead please?
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