Board 8 > Rank the Albums 6 - THE RESULTS!

(+) Yeah! (+)

#14 - FKA twigs - Magdalene
Average - 13.57
Average without outliers (removing best and worst score) - 14.20
Rank without outliers - 14 (no change)

2 - Sheep007
7 - FoolFantastic
15 - Johnbobb
15 - HBJDubs
15 - MaxGalactica
19 - Fluttershy_Pony
22 - Seanchan

Songs of the Cycle - 4 votes for 3 songs from 2 rankers:
3. Sad Day - Sheep007
6. Fallen Alien - Sheep007, Johnbobb
7. Mirrored Heart - Sheep007

Fluttershy_Pony - I wish I liked this more than I do. I can't explain why I connect fully with "Peace Beyond Passion" and not this album. I do enjoy it--even down here in 18th place, I still generally enjoy the music we covered--but this... just doesn't quite hit the mark and I feel bad that it doesn't.
(NOTE: Seanchan did check he didn't mess up the data again and confirmed Fluttershy had Magdalene ranked 19th.)

Seanchan - These more "artsy" albums just always tend to be a tough sell for me, so I'm not surprised at all to be the lowest ranker. I kind of mirror Fluttershy_Pony's thoughts a bit about wishing I liked this more than I do.

sad day and cellophane both got extremely close to cracking my SotC.

I really dug Magdalene. It's rare that I hear a song for the first time and get frisson, but that's what happened with Sad Day. Was hoping to see it a lot higher than this, I think it's a genuinely spectacular album.

Yeah, it was in 18th on a version of my list and then I forgot to rewrite that section after moving things around. Oops.

#13 - Rusted Root - When I Woke
Average - 13.43
Average without outliers (removing best and worst score) - 13.80
Rank without outliers - 13 (no change)

1 - Johnbobb
8 - MaxGalactica
9 - Seanchan
16 - Sheep007
18 - HBJDubs
18 - Fluttershy_Pony
24 - FoolFantastic

Songs of the Cycle - 10 votes for 7 songs from 4 rankers:
1. Drum Trip - Seanchan
2. Ecstasy - Seanchan, Johnbobb
3. Send Me on My Way - Fluttershy_Pony, Johnbobb, MaxGalactica
4. Cruel Sun - Johnbobb
5. Cat Turned Blue - Johnbobb
8. Rain - Johnbobb
13. Back to the Earth - Johnbobb

Seanchan - This is an odd, weird, hard to package album, that I had a hard time knowing where to rank. I initially had it a few spots higher, before moving it down below a few more "traditional" albums. Either way, it's got a banger of an opening two songs that really endeared itself to me.

Fluttershy_Pony - "Send Me On My Way" is a bop and this was a generally enjoyable romp, though it's not really a preferred style of mine.

Damn, was hoping that would hit the top 10

Johnbobb posted...

Damn, was hoping that would hit the top 10

If it's any consolation, it tied for 2nd in total Songs of the Cycle votes. Granted, 6 of those votes were yours, but still!

Seanchan posted...

If it's any consolation, it tied for 2nd in total Songs of the Cycle votes. Granted, 6 of those votes were yours, but still!

Look it's a really really good album lol

#12 - Crash Kings - Crash Kings
Average - 13.14
Average without outliers (removing best and worst score) - 13.60
Rank without outliers - 11 (1 higher)

2 - Seanchan
6 - Fluttershy_Pony
10 - MaxGalactica
12 - Johnbobb
19 - HBJDubs
21 - Sheep007
22 - FoolFantastic

Songs of the Cycle - 8 votes for 5 songs from 4 rankers:
2. 1985 - Seanchan, Fluttershy_Pony, MaxGalactica
3. It's Only Wednesday - Seanchan
6. 14 Arms - Johnbobb
7. Raincoat - Fluttershy_Pony, MaxGalactica
10. My Love - Seanchan

Seanchan - Easily my favorite new (to me) album of this ranking cycle. I immediately took a shine to this and it has not gone away since, despite listening to this at least a dozen times since we initially covered it. It's just catchy piano pop with fun instrumentation and great singing. There's tons of earworms here, so I'm glad it also got some love on the song level from the rest of the group.

Fluttershy_Pony - I... don't remember this, but I have vague memories of kinda bopping to it? Something about a raincoooaaaatttt, a yellow raincoooaaa~ttttt? *goes back to click a few songs* Ah, yes. Pretty fun album, even if it never leaves a lasting impact. There's still something to be said about something that's fun and fleeting. [Later: I've had 1985 and Raincoat stuck in my head for days now, so I'm redoing my submission to add them to the Songs of the Cycle list & move this album up a few rankings.]

A double drop!

#11 - The Cars - The Cars
Average - 13.00
Average without outliers (removing best and worst score) - 13.60
Rank without outliers - 11 (no change)

4 - HBJDubs
10 - Fluttershy_Pony
13 - FoolFantastic
14 - Johnbobb
14 - Seanchan
17 - Sheep007
19 - MaxGalactica

Songs of the Cycle - 2 votes for 2 songs from 2 rankers:
7. Bye Bye Love - Johnbobb
8. Moving in Stereo - Sheep007

Fluttershy_Pony - Pretty much a Greatest Hits album featuring so many of the group's biggest hits. I enjoy it, but I'm afraid I've heard all the singles so many times that I'm not quite as high on any of them (or the album itself) as I should be. Still, definitely an album which is loaded with hits that is a good listen.

Seanchan - Man, this is such a weird ranking on the group level. Aside from HBJDubs, it's a pretty tight "middle of the road" ranking that screams "I like/respect this, but didn't love it". But maybe I'm just projecting... At the same time, despite being a de facto Greatest Hits...no one picked any of the big radio hits!

Pretty cool seeing all of my top 5 making the top 10. I imagine Follow Slowly, Born in the USA, and maybe Illinois will be the next ones to drop.

And with that, we have in some order, a Top 10 of:

Bruce Springsteen - Born in the U.S.A.
Muse - Black Holes & Revelations
Franz Ferdinand - Franz Ferdinand
The Cure - Disintegration
Sufjan Stevens - Illinois
Jessie Ware - That! Feels Good!
Arcade Fire - The Suburbs
R.E.M. - Automatic for the People
Smashing Pumpkins - Siamese Dream
Nekomata Master - Follow Slowly

Probably the biggest surprises of that group are...Jessie and Nekomata? I still feel like Adele is my biggest surprise at not making the top 10.

4 of my top 5 are still alive which is good. My lowest remaining is 20, and while I hope it doesn't win...I also wouldn't be too unhappy about it.

My guess at the ordering from 1 to 10:
Muse - Black Holes & Revelations
Smashing Pumpkins - Siamese Dream
Arcade Fire - The Suburbs
The Cure - Disintegration
Bruce Springsteen - Born in the U.S.A.
Sufjan Stevens - Illinois
R.E.M. - Automatic for the People
Franz Ferdinand - Franz Ferdinand
Jessie Ware - That! Feels Good!
Nekomata Master - Follow Slowly

For some trivia, this top 10 would still be the top 10, even removing the top/bottom outliers for every album. BUT if that happened it would have moved the #2 album up to #1, a first for Rank the Albums! In the previous 5 cycles, the #1 was the #1 even accounting for outliers.

Gonna be a break until Saturday evening for the next reveal...

I suppose I can do a full prediction of the top 10 too:

1. Black Holes & Revelations
2. Siamese Dream
3. That! Feels Good!
4. The Suburbs
5. Disintegration
6. Automatic for the People
7. Franz Ferdinand
8. Illinois
9. Born in the U.S.A.
10. Follow Slowly

My expected finishing positions

1. Black Holes and Revelations
2. The Suburbs
3. Siamese Dream
4. Automatic for the People
5. Illinois
6. That! Feels Good!
7. Born in the U.S.A.
8. Franz Ferdinand
9. Disintegration
10. Follow Slowly

I expect to be horribly wrong because I had Art Angels dropping around here in the last cycle and it won the whole thing (and Queen winning, but they dropped shockingly early). The only ones I don't think have any shot are Follow Slowly (which is probably next?) and Franz Ferdinand. The rest of the bottom six are probably too divisive so I'm inclined to guess it'll be one of the top four. They've got pretty sizeable leads over fifth.

#10 - Jessie Ware - That! Feels Good!
Average - 12.43
Average without outliers (removing best and worst score) - 11.80
Rank without outliers - 9 (1 higher)

3 - Seanchan
5 - MaxGalactica
8 - FoolFantastic
12 - HBJDubs
14 - Sheep007
20 - Johnbobb
25 - Fluttershy_Pony

Songs of the Cycle - 6 votes for 5 songs from 2 rankers:
3. Pearls - Seanchan
4. Hello Love - Seanchan
5. Begin Again - Seanchan, MaxGalactica
6. Beautiful People - Seanchan
7. Freak Me Now - MaxGalactica

Seanchan - It felt good, but only enough for tenth place. Still, a very respectable showing for Jessie, after I finally got an album of hers through to a ranking! Obviously I'm a big fan of this album; it's super upbeat and catchy, a great mixture of Jessie's vocals and fun beats, especially that middle section. I can understand Fluttershy's criticism to a certain extent, as this album isn't as balanced as her previous effort, What's Your Pleasure?. (Alas, that one failed at the nomination stage.) That I "only" ranked this 3rd is a testament to just how much I enjoyed the 2 albums above it, Crash Kings and <redacted until it drops>.

Fluttershy_Pony - Ehh... I want to say "That! Was Adequate!", but like... *was* it? This album is hyper aggressively not for me; I have a bit of a short fuse when it comes to repeated lyrics and, from what I can tell, her musical style is to just repeat things endlessly. Honestly, this isn't my least favorite album that we've ever covered and it's fine musically, but I just cannot stand this style of music and bounce off of it so completely it's at least a full tier--if not two tiers--below anything else from the cycle. I kinda want to declare this album to have come in 28th Place because there needs to be a larger gap between this album and my pick for next-to-last place. Still, it's.... fine, I suppose? It certainly wouldn't have been last at any previous cycle and it's not bad, it's just... . well, for being 40 straight minutes of my biggest musical pet peeve, it's not the worst thing ever. [Later: Looking back at the previous cycle, I don't think I'd have this in the bottom ten had it been nominated then, so let's say it's more the overwhelming quality of this cycle that is killing this album rather than it being something I very strongly dislike.]

#9 - Franz Ferdinand - Franz Ferdinand
Average - 12.29
Average without outliers (removing best and worst score) - 11.80
Rank without outliers - 9 (no change)

4 - FoolFantastic
8 - Johnbobb
10 - HBJDubs
11 - Sheep007
13 - Seanchan
17 - MaxGalactica
23 - Fluttershy_Pony

Songs of the Cycle - 5 votes for 3 songs from 4 rankers:
3. Take Me Out - Seanchan, Sheep007, Johnbobb
4. The Dark of the Matinee - Sheep007
7. This Fire - MaxGalactica

Seanchan - I liked this a bit more on a relisten but I never loved it. Take Me Out though is a quintessential Song of the Cycle.

Fluttershy_Pony - No.

#8 - Nekomata Master - Follow Slowly
Average - 11.57
Average without outliers (removing best and worst score) - 11.00
Rank without outliers - 7 (1 higher)

5 - Seanchan
6 - HBJDubs
9 - Fluttershy_Pony
12 - MaxGalactica
12 - Sheep007
16 - Johnbobb
21 - FoolFantastic

Songs of the Cycle - 2 votes for 2 songs from 2 rankers:
4. Fallen Leaves - Seanchan
13. Despair of Elferia - MaxGalactica

Seanchan - Surprised this one got quite as high up the group ranking as it did, given it being instrumental and stuck on Youtube. But that's also a testament to how good it really is that it overcame all that to crack the top 10.

Fluttershy_Pony - Fun album. No songs that I want to put on my top songs list, but it was enjoyable from start to finish.

#7 - Bruce Springsteen - Born in the U.S.A.
Average - 11.00
Average without outliers (removing best and worst score) - 10.80
Rank without outliers - 6 (1 higher)

4 - Fluttershy_Pony
5 - FoolFantastic
7 - Seanchan
11 - HBJDubs
13 - MaxGalactica
18 - Sheep007
19 - Johnbobb

Songs of the Cycle - 5 votes for 3 songs from 4 rankers:
1. Born in the U.S.A. - Fluttershy_Pony
8. Bobby Jean - Fluttershy_Pony
11. Dancing in the Dark - Seanchan, Sheep007, MaxGalactica

Fluttershy_Pony - Great album. I actually had it in first place during my preliminary rankings, but while it has the highest average quality of music, there weren't any individual tracks that I were *super* into. Still a great album that objectively should be a bit higher up than I placed it. I think it has a problem where some of its biggest hit songs are played so frequently on the radio that I'm a little tired of them... like, I do enjoy a lot of these songs, but I'm getting more and more drawn towards newer songs that are less played out & this album is slipping further down the ranks as a result.

Seanchan - I'd heard nothing from Springsteen, other than his many radio hits, so I wasn't sure what to expect of this one. I came away very pleasantly surprised by an album that goes much deeper than just the singles.

#6 - R.E.M. - Automatic for the People
Average - 10.86
Average without outliers (removing best and worst score) - 11.20
Rank without outliers - 8 (2 lower)

2 - FoolFantastic
3 - Sheep007
5 - HBJDubs
14 - Fluttershy_Pony
16 - Seanchan
18 - MaxGalactica
18 - Johnbobb

Songs of the Cycle - 3 votes for 3 songs from 2 rankers:
2. Try Not to Breathe - Fluttershy_Pony
10. Man on the Moon - Sheep007
11. Nightswimming - Sheep007

Fluttershy_Pony - I know some people don't like doing multiple albums by the same artist, but I hope we get a chance to cover another REM album at some point. This was a good choice, but I couldn't really get into it. Odd; I love the lead singer's voice, and I was really amped up to listen to this album, but... uhh... well, I still enjoy it, but I'm surprised at how many albums I liked more considering how hyped up I was to listen to a full album of theirs.

Seanchan - There's some good stuff here, and I had a few songs picked from it before needing to make cuts. On the other side, there's some stuff I didn't like very much. But overall this is a decent album.

And that leaves us with 5 spots to go, between:

Muse - Black Holes & Revelations
The Cure - Disintegration
Sufjan Stevens - Illinois
Arcade Fire - The Suburbs
Smashing Pumpkins - Siamese Dream

Ok, its actually wild that four of these are my top four albums, and the other one is my ninth ranked album. Definitely couldnt ask for better results than that.

Dancing in the Dark is great, everything else on Born in the USA is very mediocre. Working on the Highway will never leave my head and it is a curse. Relistening for this ranking was a mistake.

A tad surprised to see Automatic for the People dropping there. It feels like very palatable rock with a bit of pathos behind it, and I think a few marginally weaker albums which fit that description have landed higher.

Still, with Springsteen out, we have my 1, 4, 5, 6 and 9 remaining. Can't complain with this, I think any of my top five would be very worthy winners. I expect Disintegration next, I think it's too polarising to have gotten any of those top four scores.

Follow Slowly is really good. Feel I may have underranked it a little on reflection, but I feel it struggles to be a super cohesive album.

I've got 1, 4, 12, 19, and 20. So I'm a little out of sync with most on 2 of those.

#5 - Muse - Black Holes & Revelations
Average - 9.14
Average without outliers (removing best and worst score) - 7.80
Rank without outliers - 5 (no change)

1 - Seanchan
2 - MaxGalactica
4 - Johnbobb
9 - Sheep007
9 - HBJDubs
15 - FoolFantastic
24 - Fluttershy_Pony

Songs of the Cycle - 11 votes for 7 songs from 4 rankers:
1. Take a Bow - Johnbobb
2. Starlight - Seanchan
3. Supermassive Black Hole - Seanchan, Sheep007
4. Map of the Problematique - Seanchan, MaxGalactica
7. Assassin - MaxGalactica
9. City of Delusion - MaxGalactica
11. Knights of Cydonia - Seanchan, Johnbobb, MaxGalactica

Seanchan - An amazing album with great variety, instrumentation, and vocals. One of my favorite albums in general, even outside this ranking cycle. I'm a little gutted and shocked to see it dropping "this low".

Fluttershy_Pony - I do not like Muse, but this album is fine enough, I suppose.

Expected Muse to be the overall winner and am pleasantly surprised it's not. Now I'm guessing Smashing Pumpkins?

Very happy to see Illinois reach the top 4. I wanted to nominate my favorite album of last year once everything was said and done but that ended up being Sufjan Stevens' Javelin and I was afraid people didn't click with Illinois. The other two Sufjan albums we should probably cover at some point are at least only half the length of Illinois (if dealing with much heavier topics)

Also, damn, we really need to cover Funeral if The Suburbs did so well

Glad Muse dropped there. The album sounds great but lacks substance and something to push it from solid to exceptional. I was kinda expecting to be the bottom ranker. Don't really mind what wins now, although I don't think it's my #1 or #4.

A tie for 3rd!

#3 - The Cure - Disintegration
Average - 6.57
Average without outliers (removing best and worst score) - 5.20
Rank without outliers - 2 (1 higher)

1 - Sheep007
1 - HBJDubs
3 - MaxGalactica
5 - Johnbobb
6 - FoolFantastic
11 - Fluttershy_Pony
19 - Seanchan

Songs of the Cycle - 9 votes for 6 songs from 3 rankers:
1. Plainsong - Sheep007
2. Pictures of You - Sheep007, MaxGalactica
4. Lovesong - Sheep007
6. Lullaby - Sheep007, Johnbobb, MaxGalactica
7. Fascination Street - Johnbobb
8. Prayers for Rain - Sheep007

Fluttershy_Pony - I love the atmosphere and general sound of The Cure. If only this weren't so long... I probably have this way too high, but this is something I can throw on in the background and just generally vibe with for an hour.

Seanchan - I just couldn't get into the general vibe on this album. Also...it's long.

#3 - Arcade Fire - The Suburbs
Average - 6.57
Average without outliers (removing best and worst score) - 6.80
Rank without outliers - 4 (1 lower)

3 - Fluttershy_Pony
4 - Seanchan
5 - Sheep007
7 - HBJDubs
9 - MaxGalactica
9 - Johnbobb
9 - FoolFantastic

Songs of the Cycle - 10 votes for 6 songs from 5 rankers:
1. The Suburbs - Seanchan, Sheep007
2. Ready to Start - Fluttershy_Pony
3. Modern Man - Seanchan
5. Empty Room - Fluttershy_Pony, Johnbobb
15. Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains) - Seanchan, Sheep007, MaxGalactica
16. The Suburbs (continued) - Fluttershy_Pony

Fluttershy_Pony - A few songs that I love and am always glad to see pop up on Spotify make this fairly easily one of the best albums of the cycle. i'll admit it doesn't have as many songs I like as, say Born in the USA, but the songs that I do like are notably beyond anything on Bruce Springsteen's album. I originally had this album in second place, but moved another album up at the last minute.

Seanchan - It's hard to remember if I immediately liked this album back in the day or if it took me time to warm up to it. At any rate, revisiting it for these projects made me love it all over again, as I was continually like "oh yeah, that song!" In many aspects this feels like an album I shouldn't like, but it has just enough rock and pop sensibilities to pull me in.

FYI, The Suburbs was the only album to get a song selection from all 5 who submitted song lists. It also had the highest low ranking at 9 (with only 1 other album, not yet revealed, even coming close to that). And yet, still only good enough for a tie for third!

Only one vote for Lovesong for Song of the Cycle is crazy. I'll take third for an album I know isn't for everyone, though.

Pretty good top 2!

Sheep007 posted...

Only one vote for Lovesong for Song of the Cycle is crazy. I'll take third for an album I know isn't for everyone, though.

It was one of my cuts. I really wanted to pick both versions of Lovesong but once I had to cut down, both had to go.

#2 - Sufjan Stevens - Illinois
Average - 6.29
Average without outliers (removing best and worst score) - 4.60
Rank without outliers - 1 (1 higher)

1 - MaxGalactica
1 - FoolFantastic
2 - Johnbobb
4 - Sheep007
8 - Fluttershy_Pony
8 - HBJDubs
20 - Seanchan

Songs of the Cycle - 10 votes for 5 songs from 3 rankers:
3. Come On! Feel the Illinoise! - MaxGalactica
4. John Wayne Gacy, Jr. - Johnbobb
9. Chicago - Sheep007, Johnbobb, MaxGalactica
10. Casimir Pulaski Day - Sheep007, MaxGalactica
15. The Predatory Wasp of the Palisades - Sheep007, Johnbobb, MaxGalactica

Fluttershy_Pony - One of the best albums that I'll never listen to again. I mentioned this during its actual week, but while I *love* Sufjan's work.. it's all too much. I can only take one of his songs at a time and, after I hear one, I'm good with not hearing another for a few months. I know this is a great album and I like it enough that it's getting a respectable slot... but I just do not want to listen to this again. It's just too much. Which probably makes it sound like I should have it lower, but I do love him and what he's doing. It's just..... so, so very much.

Seanchan - Oh man...I kind of feel bad for being literally responsible for this not getting #1. I didn't hate this album. In fact, there's parts of it I really liked. But on a relisten I just couldn't find a reason to move it higher up from what was the lowest spot it could have possibly gotten from me (somewhere between 15 and 20). It's possible this one just takes more time to grow on you than I could give it.

#1 - Smashing Pumpkins - Siamese Dream
Average - 6.14
Average without outliers (removing best and worst score) - 5.60
Rank without outliers - 3 (2 lower)

3 - FoolFantastic
3 - Johnbobb
3 - HBJDubs
4 - MaxGalactica
6 - Sheep007
12 - Fluttershy_Pony
12 - Seanchan

Songs of the Cycle - 6 votes for 4 songs from 4 rankers:
1. Cherub Rock - Johnbobb, MaxGalactica
3. Today - Sheep007
6. Disarm - Fluttershy_Pony, Johnbobb
13. Luna - Fluttershy_Pony

Fluttershy_Pony - This album has gained the most points on a re-listen, as I actually had this in last place on my first draft. Honestly, I *really* did not like this when we covered it... somehow I couldn't connect to any aspect of the music and it all blended together into this vague slush where the album could have been replaced with dead silence and I wouldn't have noticed. But this time, something happened and I suddenly loved "Disarm" and "Luna", making them two of the best songs of the cycle and launching this album all the way to.... well, only towards the middle of the list if I'm being honest, but it's still a long way from being dead last.

Seanchan - Obviously not my favorite album of the cycle but still pretty good. I didn't expect to really like this that much but it was one of those albums that I had to respect, if nothing else.

And with that, Rank the Albums 6 draws to a close! A bit of a surprise at the top this time!

Thank you to all of our wonderful rankers: myself, @Fluttershy_Pony, @Johnbobb, @FoolFantastic, @Sheep007, @HBJDubs, and @MaxGalactica.

The weekly Rank the Tracks continues, with the latest here, https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/8-gamefaqs-contests/80726906, covering Nine Inch Nails, The Downward Spiral.

Ah man, kind of a shame at the end, but I expected Illinois would have a huge outlying low rank or two. I think there's a huge gap between my top four and everything else. Siamese Dream is a solid album, but Illinois is phenomenal, and it went from being in the middle to almost getting placed second. First time I listened I didn't 'get' it, nor the second or third time, but I relistened to it once more for this ranking and everything clicked. Chicago into Casimir Pulaski Day killed me off (pun unintended) emotionally. I can't say I liked the sound in isolation as much as R.E.M. or FKA twigs, but it captures... something, like no other album I've heard.

Thanks for running this, Sean! I'm really enjoying taking part in these projects, listening to a lot of music that I never have before. I only really started listening to full on albums about three years ago, and this has definitely gotten me out of my indie/classic rock comfort zone. Thanks to y'all who keep nominating and FoolFantastic for running Rank the Tracks too!

And for those keeping track at home, here's the list of all the winners of Rank the Albums:

1. Fleetwood Mac - Rumours - https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1-j_i512WgFHJz5tRCzppC-xP53SE-ckwZijkZ69R-V0
2. The Knife - Silent Shout - https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/14RdacTY25DlLSypOR4yqywgW-B6lFMzCFJ2cmh_b0pM
3. Metallica - Master of Puppets - https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1iJCSVX0EGSL5PynjSosX2V2KCZ0WT2dpW_yfgMRi2WI
4. Green Day - American Idiot - https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1AjrITmKh7XdEL0g2TM2CDL1T3Yln-FOm-LvjLbZLZU0
5. Grimes - Art Angels - https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1DskNqYQbqiyFfbBrd8CPbmchZF1OQP8tTrTsPrvfecM
6. Smashing Pumpkins - Siamese Dream - https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1qsoQiI84V-um_mCAn7dX8mzq9bBVaJ5tI3pPQqlHpdg

Thanks for running the ranking!

So close to my second #1 nominated album after Silent Shout - not that I can complain about my third favorite winning

Thanks for hosting this!

Not exactly a preferred winner, but as out of sync as I am with the rest of the topic, I'll be content with something in my top half winning. Kinda funny that Seanchan and I both gave the winner the exact same score considering how far apart we were on most rankings.

Fun topic as always, thanks for running it.

Illinois definitely did a lot better than I expected, considering how much negative feedback it got during its original topic. Chicago is my song of the cycle, although Map of the Problematique and City of Delusion aren't too far behind it. Pretty satisfied with the results, all things considered. Thanks for running this again, Sean!

I'm bumping this, just for fun!

Speaking of just for fun, I've finished listening to the first cycle of albums and will hijack the end of this topic to post my rankings.

1. Nirvana - Nevermind
2. Fleetwood Mac - Rumours
3. The Beatles - Abbey Road
4. Pixies - Doolittle
5. Radiohead - OK Computer
6. Kendrick Lamar - Good Kid, m. A. A. d. City
7. Massive Attack - Mezzanine
8. Gorillaz - Demon Days
9. Air - Moon Safari
10. Pink Floyd - The Wall
11. The Strokes - Is This It
12. Alice in Chains - Dirt
13. Janelle Monet - The ArchAndroid
14. Kanye West - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
15. LCD Soundsystem - Sound of Silver
16. Meatloaf - Bat out of Hell
17. The Killers - Hot Fuss
18. Fiona Apple - Fetch the Bolt Cutters
19. Wu-Tang Clan - Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)
20. Weezer - Blue Album
21. Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
22. U2 - Achtung Baby
23. Ben Folds Five - Ben Folds Five
24. Hamilton - Hamilton
25. Mastodon - Crack the Skye

For a comparison, Weezer would be around 10th for this cycle, and everything 11th and up would probably be 2nd. Any choice of albums where Is This It barely cracks the top half of rankings is ridiculously good. Top six would be close to getting 1st and they're up against my favourite band of all time. Not a fan of everything U2 and below, though. This was the first and last time I ever listened to the Hamilton soundtrack! I don't get it in the slightest!

I got to hear some brilliant artists from this that I would never have heard otherwise, though. Massive Attack, Air and Kendrick Lamar were all huge (and relatively new to me) standouts. The former two I absolutely adored and don't think I'd run into before. Kendrick Lamar, I've heard plenty of singles from and enjoyed well enough, but the album might be the best example of storytelling through music I've ever heard, even if I wouldn't throw on any of the songs for fun. It hits like a ton of bricks over and over again. Only giving it sixth is an abberation. Got a lot of spare time on my hands now, so I think I'm going to work my way through the second cycle over the next few weeks.

Another fun bump!

Final bump from me, I promise!

Sheep, did you listen to any other cycles?

Seanchan posted...

Final bump from me, I promise!

Sheep, did you listen to any other cycles?

I'm currently making my way through cycle 2! I utterly adored The Stranger (which I was kinda expecting but not to the extent I did) and the Outkast album (which I definitely wasn't expecting, I just remember them as the Hey Ya guys. Specifically the video with the low quality audio and rotating fish). Absolutely phenomenal, both of them. Outkast are incredibly witty, a little heartfelt at times but generally very tongue in cheek, and I went through a lot of their discography right after. I also enjoyed the Spice Girls in an oddly similar fashion when I was expecting them to grate on me.

Meanwhile, I discovered I don't actually like Taylor Swift! I've heard a bunch of her singles obviously, and enjoyed most of them a lot even though I thought they were overplayed. Speak Now was mediocre to me, though, with no real standout songs, a very safe approach and grating lyrics. Probably the worst so far of cycle 2, having just finished Steely Dan. I don't think it was a bad listen, but it's put me off seeking more from her.

Mostly just listening to Shpongle-adjacent stuff right now though with my thesis due shortly.

Sheep007 posted...

Mostly just listening to Shpongle-adjacent stuff right now though with my thesis due shortly.

Ozirc Tentacles

NFUN posted...

Ozirc Tentacles

Hell yeah, thanks for the rec! I've just been sticking on things that are marked as similar on Spotify, and their other albums, so it's nice to have something specifically suggested.

I also listened to a bunch of Massive Attack and Air recently, because of cycle 1. I love more ambient, less lyrically-focused music, probably due to listening to lots of soundtracks. I always struggled to find a place to start outside of things that are intended to be heard in other media first and foremost. This series has been great for that, and discovering new music that suits my tastes in general!

ozric has 506893543 albums. Erpland is the canonical "best" one, and I'm also partial to Spirals in Hyperspace. you can just start at the beginning too they're pretty consistent

The Stranger is practically a Greatest Hits album; I think there's only a few songs that weren't on his famous 2 CD Greatest Hits.

I'm not sure I'd call Spice Girls good, but it's easy listening in a genre I like.

Speak Now is earlier Taylor so it's a little more country-ish and less mature/interesting than her later work. Of course, I say that having only listened to that, some of her singles, and Folklore, which we covered in a different cycle.

1989 is still by far my favorite Taylor Swift album, although her last three albums have been pretty decent to good (folklore, evermore, and Midnights). Red is alright, and the rest aren't great imo. She has a new album releasing on Friday that'll be interesting to hear.

I don't think Speak Now should be taken as representative. It was a really odd pick for an artist with several better regarded albums...really, I think all but her debut are probably more acclaimed. Red, 1989, Folklore, and Evermore are the big ones.

I've been thinking about maybe taking a more analytical approach to my personal album rankings. The way I figure, there's 2 factors at play: how much I enjoyed the album as a whole, and how many songs I'd listen to individually.

As a recent example, take Innervisions and The Colour and the Shape. Innervisions is much better as an album, but it has no songs I enjoyed more than Everlong and Monkey Wrench. That said, there's no way, for me, that my love for those 2 songs vaults Foo Fighter's album above Stevie's album. And that's just based on "feel"; if I used numbers, those should back that up. Ultimately, that's an easy example though. It's where albums are closer together, or where I'm just not sure, that having numbers could really help.

I'm thinking the album grade has 5 levels, in English terms: Great, Good, Fine, Didn't Like, Awful. It wouldn't be a a straight 5-4-3-2-1, maybe something like 20-12-6-2-0? Hmm...that still maybe doesn't seem quite right...

For songs, it's probably a straight 1 point per song, with really amazing songs getting an extra 1-2 points.

Combine those and I'd get an overall score. Something to play around with at least! I'd have to go back to listen to most albums again but I'm curious if this approach would differ greatly from my current "feel" rankings.

@FoolFantastic, I know you have numerical scores on your personal rankings. Is it just a feel based thing or do have a more mathematical approach to arriving at those numbers?