Greatest Albums Extended List [rated 8.0-8.5] (in progress)
Submitted by AfterHours on Thu, 01/03/2008 - 06:31
Tags:
- 8.5/10
- The Downward Spiral-Nine Inch Nails (1994)
- Radio Gnome Invisible Part 1: Flying Teapot-Gong (1973)
- The Ascension-Glenn Branca (1981)
- The Good Son-Nick Cave (1990)
- Good-Morphine (1992)
- The Shape of Jazz to Come-Ornette Coleman (1959)
- Fire of Love-Gun Club (1981)
- Dimensions & Extensions-Sam Rivers (1967)
- Art & Aviation-Jane Ira Bloom (1992)
- The River-Bruce Springsteen (1980)
- Psychic...Powerless...Another Man's Sac-Butthole Surfers (1984)
- Repeater-Fugazi (1991)
- Double Nickels on the Dime-Minutemen (1984)
- Loveless-My Bloody Valentine (1991)
- City of Glass-Stan Kenton (1951)
- Safe As Milk-Captain Beefheart & HIs Magic Band (1967)
- Third Ear Band-Third Ear Band (1970)
- Piper at the Gates of Dawn-Pink Floyd (1967)
- Starsailor-Tim Buckley (1970)
- From Her To Eternity-Nick Cave (1984)
- Dream Theory in Malaya-Jon Hassell (1981)
- Pithecanthropus Erectus-Charles Mingus (1956)
- Remnants of a Deeper Purity-Black Tape For A Blue Girl (1996)
- Children of God-Swans (1987)
- Passion-Peter Gabriel (1989)
- Perfect From Now On-Built To Spill (1997)
- Ys-Joanna Newsom (2006)
- Half Machine Lip Moves-Chrome (1979)
- New York Eye & Ear Control-Albert Ayler (1964)
- Bricolage-Amon Tobin (1997)
- Mundus Subterraneus-Lightwave (1995)
- Cyborg-Klaus Schulze (1973)
- Ocean Songs-Dirty 3 (1998)
- Afternoon of a Georgia Faun-Marion Brown (1970)
- Pavilion of Dreams-Harold Budd (1978)
- Dreamtime Return-Steve Roach (1988)
- Vernal Equinox-Jon Hassell (1977)
- Millions Now Living Will Never Die-Tortoise (1996)
- Fresh Fruit For Rotting Vegetables-Dead Kennedy's (1980)
- 8/10
- Fontanelle-Babes In Toyland (1992)
- A Picture of Nectar-Phish (1992)
- Electric Ladyland-Jimi Hendrix (1968)
- Radio Ethiopia-Patti Smith (1976)
- Tago Mago-Can (1971)
- Daydream Nation-Sonic Youth (1988)
- Streams-Sam Rivers (1973)
- Isn't Anything-My Bloody Valentine (1988)
- Down Colorful Hill-Red House Painters (1992)
- Novus Magnificat-Constance Demby (1986)
- New York, New York-George Russell (1959)
- Are You Experienced?-Jimi Hendrix (1967)
- Songs of Leonard Cohen-Leonard Cohen (1968)
- The Days of Wine & Roses-Dream Syndicate (1982)
- Yes-Morphine (1995)
- Songs the Lord Taught Us-Cramps (1980)
- Original Sin-Pandora's Box (1989)
- Volunteers-The Jefferson Airplane (1969)
- In the Court of the Crimson King-King Crimson (1969)
- Future Days-Can (1973)
- A Saucerful of Secrets-Pink Floyd (1968)
- The Marble Index-Nico (1969)
- Cobra-John Zorn (1980)
- Surfer Rosa-Pixies (1988)
- Faust IV-Faust (1973)
- Ladybird-Shit & Shine (2005)
- Frances the Mute-The Mars Volta (2005)
- Brilliant Corners-Thelonious Monk (1956)
- Freedom Suite-Sonny Rollins (1958)
- Kind of Blue-Miles Davis (1959)
- Happy Sad-Tim Buckley (1968)
- America-John Fahey (1971)
- Freak Out!-Frank Zappa (1966)
- Chinese Democracy-Guns N' Roses (2008)
- Marquee Moon-Television (1977)
- Whatever You Love You Are-Dirty 3 (2000)
- Highway 61 Revisited-Bob Dylan (1965)
- Rain Dogs-Tom Waits (1985)
- New Picnic Time-Pere Ubu (1979)
- Les Stances A Sophie-Art Ensemble of Chicago (1970)
- Exile On Main Street-The Rolling Stones (1972)
- The Art of Walking-Pere Ubu (1980)
- The End of an Ear-Robert Wyatt (1970)
- In A Silent Way-Miles Davis (1969)
- Spirit of Eden-Talk Talk (1988)
- Alchemy-Third Ear Band (1969)
- Music For Airports-Brian Eno (1978)
- The Firstborn Is Dead-Nick Cave (1985)
- Swordfishtrombones-Tom Waits (1983)
Author Comments:
ALBUM RATINGS SCALE
0.0-4.5 NOT WORTH LISTENING TO
5.0 MEDIOCRE
6.0 QUITE GOOD
7.0 VERY GOOD
7.5 AMAZING
8.0 EXTRAORDINARY
8.5 ASTONISHING
9.0 MASTERPIECE
9.5 SUPREME MASTERPIECE
10 ULTIMATE MASTERPIECE
Just want to say thanks for turning me onto the brilliant Double Nickels on the Dime, and I was wondering if anything else they did is any good?
Also, the first half of In An Aeroplane Over the Sea has hit me hard. What do you think is the best song on the album?
Just want to say thanks for turning me onto the brilliant Double Nickels on the Dime, and I was wondering if anything else they did is any good?
You're welcome. Unfortunately I haven't heard any of their other albums yet, so I really don't know, but according to Scaruffi they have two other superb albums, but Double Nickels is their only "masterpiece":
Punch Line 7/10
What Makes A Man Start Fires 7/10
Also, the first half of In An Aeroplane Over the Sea has hit me hard. What do you think is the best song on the album?
Not surprising at all. For years that album was in my top 5 of all time. As far as pop albums go, I think it is an absolute masterpiece and at or near the top of the heap. I think the best song is probably #8 Oh Comely or #4 Two Headed Boy. Both are as emotionally devastating as pop/folk/indie music ever gets. The last track Two Headed Boy Pt. 2 and possibly track #6 Holland 1945 deserve consideration as well, but really they're all superb. I'm glad you're getting into it. I love that album. ( :
I'm grabbing Punch Line now, so I'll tell you how it goes.
If the second half of In An Aeroplane Over The Sea is better then the first, I'll be very happy.
I'm grabbing Punch Line now, so I'll tell you how it goes.
Please do.
If the second half of In An Aeroplane Over The Sea is better then the first, I'll be very happy.
Tough call. They're about equal.
The Minutemen - What Makes A Man Start Fires? (SST) 83
The Minutemen - Buzz Or Howl Under The Influence Of Heat (SST) 83
These aren't quite on the level of Double Nickels, but certainly are great albums worth hearing.
Just another recommendation, Orbital II by Orbital. Brilliant rave/trance/techno, that Scaruffi himself gave an 8. Should be quite cheap too.
I found it much better then In the Court of the Crimson King, which was inconsistent (I mean, Moonchild is 10 minutes too long).
Thanks man! I'll check it out in the near future. I'll be starting on all his 8's shortly.
I would greatly appreciate it if anyone who notices an inconsistency between this list and the decade lists notifies me. At times it can be difficult to keep them all accurate.
Nice list, but does it really make any sense to use a scale of 10 if you think no one will ever achieve a 10? Do you think you can suggest ways, say, Beethoven's 9th can be improved? It seems you're fantasizing about the sort of perfection no human is capable of. I really don't see art and music being about perfection. I can name over 100 albums that are perfect enough. There may be certain flaws, but no amount of tinkering would likely improve them overall.
Nice list, but does it really make any sense to use a scale of 10 if you think no one will ever achieve a 10?
Yes, because then it tells you how close to "total perfection" the albums are.
Do you think you can suggest ways, say, Beethoven's 9th can be improved?
I could though I couldn't hope to achieve it or compose it myself. Beethoven's 9th, probably a high 9.5/10 is a nearly invincible achievement in itself. It's probably blasphemous to say so, but I think the second movement is slightly too repetitive and could've been shortened or varied a bit more, though it's still awesome for what it is. We're just talking about the differences between a 9.5 and a 10 here not real weaknesses. There's other minor points, but I won't go into them as it's stupid to criticize what is possibly the greatest musical work in the history of mankind.
It seems you're fantasizing about the sort of perfection no human is capable of.
So far you are probably right, as it has never happened that I'm aware of. But I think it is possible. I can imagine it, so that indicates that if I had the technical skill I could possibly produce it.
I really don't see art and music being about perfection. I can name over 100 albums that are perfect enough. There may be certain flaws, but no amount of tinkering would likely improve them overall.
It's always good to strive for greatness, but I think getting too wrapped up in the idea of "perfection" may hinder your enjoyment of a lot of music.
You seem to be devouring a lot of music in a good way. I'd just hate to see you get less out of certain albums because of lack of perceived perfection. I often get obsessed with albums that don't even make my top 1000, because something about them strikes a chord with me at the time.
I recommended a few albums in your Greatest of All Time list, but it's buried under a remark about Buckley's Starsailor.
It's always good to strive for greatness, but I think getting too wrapped up in the idea of "perfection" may hinder your enjoyment of a lot of music.
It just puts it into perspective. A 6/10 is still enjoyable. I just can't think of any reason to listen to one very much if I have the option of over a hundred vastly superior 8/10+ albums, and it's impossible to be tired of all of them at once. There's always at least a dozen I am really itching to hear on a daily/weekly basis.
You seem to be devouring a lot of music in a good way. I'd just hate to see you get less out of certain albums because of lack of perceived perfection.
This doesn't happen simply because I listen to them then rate them. And I rate them based on how amazing they are to me, so I don't see how I would be missing something. I don't go into it with preconceived notions. If it is powerful and amazing to me it will rate high. If it's trivial it won't. You see, the rating itself is based purely on my response to the album.
I often get obsessed with albums that don't even make my top 1000, because something about them strikes a chord with me at the time.
You've got me on this one. If I were obsessed with an album it would certainly be in my top 1000, and almost surely my top 100 as well.
There's the rub, man. There are thousands of great albums. Forgive me if I'm way off, but I'd guess you're no older than early 20s? Keep listening at this rate for another 20 years, you'll see. I've rated nearly 8,000 albums since 1949 as great, and over 3,000 of those as really great. And every year I only hear just over 1% of all albums released.
You're not too far off. I'm 28. I've heard thousands of albums I think are great, just not 8/10. I think my 8/10 and above is more exclusive than most. Anything 6/10+ would be more than worth it to most people I've talked to. I'm just a spoiled music brat so I rarely bother with anything below an 8/10 anymore, only occasionally listening to albums in the 7-7.75 range, and almost never anything lower.
That's kind of what I was thinking of when I said you could be missing out on some great music. However, not everyone spends 6-12 hours a day listening to music, heh.
"I've rated nearly 8,000 albums since 1949 as great"
Maybe you're too easily impressed?
Too easily for what? There's nothing wrong with actually being able to enjoy a wide variety. Maybe he listens to a lot of music and is old enough to have listened to a wider variety than any of us? I've seen his top 1000 list and there's no real dubious choices there. It depends on what you're looking for - there are few albums that are totally new and push the envelope. Even fewer of these albums are actually any good. On the flip side, I know a band like Datarock is just an updated version of Devo or Talking Heads, and therefore really aren't original in any way, but I find myself wanting to listen to them a lot, simply because it's an album full of good songs. And there's plenty of those.
Yes, because then it tells you how close to "total perfection" the albums are.
Exactly what is perfection, then? Could you possibly imagine a perfect piece of music? Perfection is an absolute; music is subjective. There is no such thing as an album so good that nothing can top it. Thus, the 10/10 album cannot exist. So you can rate 9.9/10, but 10/10 can't exist, so nothing can be better than the 9.9/10, which means that 9.9 can't exist either. Suddenly you find that now nothing can be rated on that scale. So in order for your scale to work you have to basically accept that you're rating albums based on a concept that doesn't exist.
You might find that making music is tougher than you think. I recall you saying that you could imagine Beatles-quality songs in your head without any effort. If you really have the capacity to imagine something that's 10/10, greater than Beethoven's 9th, you're doing humanity a great disservice by not recording it!
The concept exists because I can describe it. That's proof that it could be. It just hasn't been accomplished. The ratings simply reflect how close to accomplishing this these various albums are.
Lots of people could imagine their ideal music work if they really thought about it. But I didn't say I could play or compose it. I am an amateur musician. Plus a 10 is only a 10 to me. Doesn't mean it would be a 10 to humanity.
The question then is how WOULD you describe it? A freeform symphony played in 6/11 time with a psychotic and off-key transgender vocalist? Then what do you do if something surpasses that 10/10 work? I don't think I could imagine my ideal musical work - it would have to combine all the genres that I like, and that would be a mess.
This comment is awesome. Bravo, sir.
A freeform symphony played in 6/11 time with a psychotic and off-key transgender vocalist
LOL. Precisely
Something like the last 13 minutes of Satz Ebene from Schulze's Irrlicht backing the most intense choral portions of Verdi's Dies Irae (from his Requiem Mass), with a lone Tim Buckley leading and withdrawing, weaving, careening in and out of it, alternating between the infinite sighs of Lorca and the howls and cries of Gypsy Woman, with Cecil Taylor filling in on keyboards with a hurricane of wild abandon, and John Coltrane shadowing Buckley with his sax a la the spiritual intensity of A Love Supreme's Pursuance only with held, drawn-out, focused and constricted, breathtaking lines, mixed between sheets of sudden frenzy (during the Gypsy Woman portions of Buckley's vocals) with his drummer backing him with collapsing frills and cymbals and martial drumrolls. As the work goes on it splits into two separate entities each coming out of a separate channel, in the other a heartbreaking violin solo slowly bleeding (as in the last half of Tabula Rasa), with snapping, whiplike explosions boomeranging to and fro at each rhythmic pulse of the music already occuring in the first speaker. Then the second one transforms gradually into the most overwhelming portions of Beethoven's Ode to Joy just as the first channel reaches a series of unrelenting peaks.
Yep, that sounds about like a 10 to me.
Sounds like quite an entertaining mess ;)
Funny I read this just as I was listening to the last 13 minutes of Satz Ebene...weird isn't it? I was pretty turned off by Irrlicht at first but have been discovering some early electronic music (stuff like Cochin Moon) and it sort of reminded me to listen again this week. I can see what the big deal is but I don't know if I'll ever really 'love' it even after listening to it every day this week. For reference, I listened to this 17 times this week:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wqfcwgT0Ds
...and to this about 7,000 times:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gYTqYVHS1lo
It haunts my dreams.
Lol I would love to read Scaruffi's review of why this is a masterpiece. I can imagine it now "the vocals and individual layers of the song are dreadful but come come together to form the definitive masterpiece track of 2005". I wonder if he rates the video as one of the best shorts of the year.
Yea, I just listened to it again and I just can't fathom it as a masterpiece.
Good to see some electronic stuff make its way onto the list, like Dummy and Music for Airports.
Yea, I love those albums. Thanks.
And have you heard Zappa's Absolutely Free?
Not yet. But I definitely will. Eventually I'll go through all the Scaruffi rated 8/10's and then maybe the 7's & 7.5's. Lately my focus has been on classical though...
Uncle Meat dropped?
In position, but not at all in how great I think it is. It's just been more accurately placed. It's no greater or worse to me than it was yesterday. Sometimes I just listen to an album and realize where it should've been all along. It's thisclose to a 9/10. You have to be a total music nerd to decipher a .1 difference between albums, but it can be seen and felt with enough familiarity.
I understand completely, I've felt that way about some of my placements in the past.
Have you ever thought about doing a 7.0+ list before? Personally, I would love to see something like this. Of course, I realise that your 8+ list is still in progress and that you're also working on classical & other lists, but in any case, what is the likelihood of a 7+ list appearing?
I will do it eventually so the likelihood is for sure, but it is not in the very near future. I want to complete these other ones first (or well on their way to completion). But yes, 7+, or at least 7.5+ is the eventual goal.