Name a classic, or likely to become classic British Rock/Pop album to come out in the last 3 years

Hold On Now, Youngster

"classic album" is such a dreadful phrase

in rainbows sucks, obv

Untrue. And In Rainbows, obv.

Results 1 - 4 of 4 for "in gaynbows". (0.18 seconds)

Also, I wish I could say one or more of The Clientele's discs, because I think they deserve it (even though, ultimately, I think they'll be considered (by critics, at least) very good albums, but not classics).

"classic British Rock/Pop album" - ugh, Dermot O'Learyland.

Ladytron's Witching Hour

Hopefully DJ Martian can provide a list

tom yorke - the eraser
pj harvey - white chalk

not too sure about portishead "third" from this year, time will tell.

sorry, thom yorke, of course.

i don't think "in rainbows" qualifies. it is not very consistent, lots of boring tracks.

Couldn't disagree more. BTW, The Eraser is really that good?

Portishead, definitely.

"the eraser" is my favourite album from 2006. i think it is terrific. almost as devastating as "amnesiac".

Who could have expected this to deviate into a discussion about Radiohead so swiftly

second hold on now youngster

would throw my hat in for Whatever people say i am..., but imagine im driving that wagon alone

we're having trouble here perhaps? Without wanting to get bogged down in semantics about the appropriateness of terms "classic" or "canonical", is the era of strong British pop/rock over? Will we ever have another "Parklife", "OK Computer" or what have you? I can think of loads of examples of significant albums from the states that have come out recently, but very little from the UK.

Sure there are a few exceptions, but not many. Burial's album is very important to the evolution of dance music but I wouldn't call it pop/rock. Los Campesinos album is very strong as well, but will people hold it up in years to come and say, yes here is an album we can happily associate with the mid-late 00's?

Int he same way that, for instance "Dummy", "Music Has a Right To Children", "Definitely Maybe", "Parklife", "The Holy Bible" etc are all classics from 94.

If those are your criteria then the first Arctic Monkeys album.

Which I have never listened to.

Why don't you just buy a copy of Q and select three feature artists at random?

because i'm not asking Q, i'm asking you. Arctic Monkeys is a good one yes, although i've never listened to it either, i guess it counts.

probably i'm in a minority here but i would never consider "parklife", "ok computer" and "definitely maybe" classics. those three have been hyped a lot at the time and later on but i'd never consider listening to any of them again during the rest my life. just thinking of oasis still makes me want to run to the toilet. and blur and radiohead have made much better albums.

MHTRTC is from 98.

Um... are we talking pseudo-objective classic, or subjective classic?

the answer on pretty much all "classic" "album" criteria is back to black, anyway

Yeah, Lex is right, much as I may not like it or her.

considering the arctic monkeys i have never listened to them either and i do not understand how anyone who hasn't listened to their album can say it is classic. that's really bullshit.

MHTRTC is from 98.

Um... are we talking pseudo-objective classic, or subjective classic?

-- Scik Mouthy, Thursday, 14 August 2008 13:55 (2 minutes ago) Bookmark

D'oh, I meant "Music For A Jilted Generation". Apologies.

alex in manhattan - you can't deny that whether you like them or not, the three albums i suggested plus arctic monkeys are still culturally significant as British albums. So therefore Nick, I suppose to answer your question I'd be talking pseudo-objectively.

I'm just wondering what records from the last five years will be hitting those dreadful Q Top 100 albums ever. Probably some crap by Coldplay or something I can imagine.

i'm not as in love with 'Aerial' as some people but i guess it's still pop/rock in broad sense

arctic monkeys are not culturally fucking significant

I'm just wondering what records from the last five years will be hitting those dreadful Q Top 100 albums ever.

srsly dude, why are you wondering about the contents of lists you believe to be dreadful?

knw yr nme

selling the most albums in the least time and appealing to thousands and thousands of people i think that is significant somehow. i couldn't give a err... monkeys about that band either but something like this can't be denied as making an impact. the kids will definitely be growing up and later looking back on that album as the sound of their youths, much as OK Computer/Parklife was a soundtrack to mine and still end up being rated and revered in magazines, radio and on tv.

We should stretch this back to 2000, I think.

You appear not to understand why this is a stupid question.

I was at a barbecue with lots of people I didn't really know the other week, generally around my age, and they'd all identify as being "well into music" - managed local bands, DJ'd, once got drunk with Steve Tyler from Aerosmith, blah blah blah - and what kept getting jammed on the CD player was, gasp, The Libertines' first elpee.

thankfully i don't associate with anyone who would put a libertines album on at a bbq

But Lex, they had loads of cocaine!

that's pretty much a cross-demographic quality really

Why is it that people on here are constantly questioning the validity of my own questions? this is all very simple stuff isn't it? it's a perfectly good question without people banging on about whether they liked OK Computer or not, or whether the word "classic" is good or not, or whether Q magazine is good or not.

I am simply asking - what pop/rock albums from the last three years would you consider to be examples of something that people will remember and discuss in several years to come. Era defining albums that work as cultural touchstones as opposed to cult/specialist releases or 15 minute flash-in-the-pans. You all know what I'm getting at here, so less pedancy please.

X-post sadly when the cocaine hit wears off The Libertines are still playing.

bloc party - silent alarm

wish it was silent

so less pedancy please.

pedantry ;)

nextgro i think the problem is that you're asking ILM to think like Q magazine. the truth is there haven't really been any. there are several albums by British artists from the last 3 years which I like a lot and will no doubt put in a list 12-18 months from now as if it meant shit but they're not the same ones most 'criticial commentators' will rep for (but nor are they obscure).

never bothered to listen to In Rainbows even tho I like their other albums this decade generally.

the view that the big time of british albums is over somehow matches my own experience. at the same time i thought this thread could be interesting in so far as it could bring some albums to my attention which are worth checking out. trying to emulate a list q will publish in some years time on the other hand seems to me a waste of time. so what would be some of the albums you are thinking of, blueski?

nextgro i think the problem is that you're asking ILM to think like Q magazine. the truth is there haven't really been any. there are several albums by British artists from the last 3 years which I like a lot and will no doubt put in a list 12-18 months from now as if it meant shit but they're not the same ones most 'criticial commentators' will rep for (but nor are they obscure).

-- blueski, Thursday, 14 August 2008 14:30 (7 minutes ago) Bookmark Link

ok cool. this is what i'm getting round to. i was sitting there for ages thinking, well look people remember "Parklife" and "OKC" and "Dummy" and "Fat Of The Land", just as examples, but these days this kind of thing doesn't really happen as much. Is it due to music splintering into many specialist genres? or is the internet (downloading etc) the cause?

it interests me really, but then i'm also thinking that America seems to have quite a lot of recent records that I can get very excited about and hold up as contemporary examples of significant pop/rock records, so why is this?

America seems to have quite a lot of recent ... significant pop/rock records
really? call me an ignorant but i don't know one.

so what would be some of the albums you are thinking of, blueski?

the two roisin albums, 'the warning', 'tender buttons', 'attack sustain decay release' (oooh controversial), MAYBE 'kala'...nothing revolutionary tho

it grew out of compiling a list of my very favourite records. all the British ones were 90s and before whereas most of the American releases came out only in the last couple of years. I wasn't necessarily looking at canonical albums, but I'd say Of Montreal's "Hissing Fauna", Iron & Wine's "Shepherd's Dog", even the MGMT record could be seen as really worthwhile, well thought out albums that I'll look back on fondly. I couldn't think of any UK examples that came close, save "In Rainbows" (which stevem you should check out) that have resonated with me in the same way.

blueski - i think most of those could be considered fairly worthwhile, particularly The Warning.

"Easter Everywhere" by the 13th floor elevators.

What do you mean by "could be considered worthwhile"?

More US releases that I'll probably or may well be canonised from recent years include LCD Soundsystem - "Sound Of Silver" and at a push, Vampire Weekend's record (which is ok i guess but probably has quite a few fans).

Matt, are you really confused by this or just enjoy winding me up on purpose?

(or both?)

Prinzhorn Dance School, for the "likely to become" group.

Since 2000:
Radiohead - Kid A
Boards of Canada - Geogaddi
Robert Wyatt - Cuckooland
Broadcast - Haha Sound
Electrelane - The Power Out
The Streets - A Grand Don't Come For Free
Dizzee Rascal - Boy In Da Corner
Burial - Untrue
MIA - Kala
Radiohead - In Rainbows

MIA - Kala
MIA - Arular
Kate Nash - Made of Bricks
Amy Winehouse - Back to Black
Lily Allen - Alright, Still
The Arctic Monkeys - their first one (don't recall the name of it, but it was quite good)

It was called This Is The Modern World

I could list loads of British albums that I imagine I'll look back on in ten years time and think are worthwhile. Whether they're the type that Q et al will canonise is a totally different matter.

Art Brut - Bang Bang Rock & Roll

I'd like to see people back up their nominations with reasons because otherwise it just looks like they're listing their favourite recent albums which in this context is pointless.

Exactly, which is why I've not just listed mine.

I'd imagine that A Rush Of Blood To The Head, In Rainbows (more so than anything since Kid A by Radiohead), Arctic Monkeys, and Amy Winehouse will all be contenders for this, but not a great deal more. They all seem to be by Q et al, and have a certain cultural cache too - they're about the only acts that might get featured on BBC Breakfast News just for releasing a new album. recognised

wtf with the word at the end

it's like you otm'd yourself

It was meant to be before 'by Q et al". wtf

By now it seems that Arctic Monkeys qualify although I personally don't understand why.

BECAUSE THEY'RE FUCKING MASSIVE AND HUGELY ACCLAIMED, GEIR; THEIR MELODICISM OR LACK OF MATTERS NOT A JOT

They are just a bunch of kids playing loud rock'n'roll, which has been done a thousand times before by better and more tuneful bands.

Plus they are one of the worst examples of exaggerated compression around.

YES BUT THEY'RE ALSO FUCKING MASSIVE AND HUGELY ACCLAIMED, GEIR, WHICH IS WHAT THIS THREAD IS ABOUT, NOT SUBJECTIVE QUALITY JUDGEMENTS

This thread's a classic at least.

But will it make the Q list, or will they just rip it off?

Back to Black definitely, and probably both Arctic Monkeys albums (the second holds up really well I think, but you never hear it mentioned anywhere). Franz Ferdinand too, I'd've thought they'd be a shoo-in for this list. It's hard to think of many others - maybe Girls Aloud or Sugababes will sneak in a classic somewhere? Albums aren't really where it's at anymore, to be honest

With both Arctics and FF there's still a big question mark re. canonisation I think due to underwhelming second albums whereas Q likes its long servers, Coldplay being the elephant in this particular living room.

I called Coldplay, I can see the elephant.

With the Arctics it's going to be an ABC deal, really.

They are just a bunch of kids playing loud rock'n'roll, which has been done a thousand times before by better and more tuneful bands.

-- Geir Hongro, Friday, August 15, 2008 8:48 AM (25 minutes ago) Bookmark Link

omg geir is otm for like the first time ever!!!!!!! (er i don't care about 'tunefulness' obv.)

nick if being massive and hugely acclaimed is reason enough to mention anyone in this appalling thread, why not leona lewis?

Nicks comments seem to suffer from massive compression!

(xpost apart from the last one)

Leona? Because she's not massively acclaimed?

Well she is, really.

Why isn't Robert Mugabe in this thread?

nick if being massive and hugely acclaimed is reason enough to mention anyone in this appalling thread, why not leona lewis?

She's just a kid singing pop-soul, which has been done a thousand times before by better and more tuneful girls.

Q MAGAZINE

Why isn't Robert Mugabe in this thread?

He's just a petty dictator, which has been done a dozen times before by better and more thateful tyrants.

that's no way to talk about thom yorke

She's just a kid singing pop-soul, which has been done a thousand times before by better and more tuneful girls.

pop-soul vs loud rock'n'roll?

if u choose the latter u are LAME

Just saying thay've both been done before. And there are great and terrible examples of each.

and if you choose the former you are TWICE LAME

and if you choose both, yours is the world and all in it.

Calling someone lame = hate speech btw.

Like retard or mongoloid.

Ask the kid from The Mystery Jets.

I might go so far as to say the 00s haven't really thrown up a new Parklife or Definitely Maybe or OK Computer - ie a guitar record that sells millions of records, becomes ubiquitous, gets ecstatic reviews, enters immediately into the public consciousness and seems to jump right to the top of the Q canon all at once. Franz Ferdinand or the Libertines didn't do all of them, Arctic Monkeys *maybe* but apart from that?

This might be unique to the 90s as a phenomenon maybe, are there any equivalent records from the 80s?

The Joshua Tree

a better thread and more interesting qn: Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Top 50 08/14/08

(oh hang on you mean first albums right?)

The Stone Roses but that wasn't exactly an overnight success. The phenomenon was more things like Dare and Lexicon becoming ubiquitous and adored in the early eighties and then immediately dismissed when the wind changed circa '85.

Possibly the first Smiths album?

The eighties equivalent to OK Computer (from a Q-only perspective) would probably be something like Songs From The Big Chair.

What about Mind Bomb?

The Colour Of Spring?

Didn't exactly race up the charts, did they?

Tonight's headlines:

"Matt Johnson issues damning indictment of Thatcherite eighties in his manifesto The Beat(en) Generation See What I Did There"

I guess not.

Kate Bush? Not rock, I know, but in a lineage, with the whole Pink Floyd protege thing.

Hounds Of Love qualifies on all fronts except the crucial "guitar" one.

(and also, as previously stated, I think we're looking for out of nowhere acts as well as albums)

and the actual correct answer is the first album by the Pretenders.

OK Computer was totally not out of nowhere though.

is there a consensus as to the best Muse album out there in suburbia/ruraland?

I'm not sure, to be honest. I think consensus is that after the first one OMFG THEY'RE ALL AMAAAAZING

But maybe Origin Of Symmetry?

Origin Of Symmetry by a distance. Absolution's not bad either.

Although obviously that's just my opinion. ;-)

Portishead - Third
Richard Youngs - Naive Shaman, Autumn Response
James Blackshaw - Cloud Of Unknowing
Burial - Untrue

In Rainbows is pretty good, their best album in a while. It's pleasingly loose for a Radiohead album as well, not so uptight sounding. A bit samey in places, but some strong tracks.

I have high hopes for the new Roots Manuva and can't fucking wait for Team Brick's debut on Invada. He can be heard singing and tootling clarinet on Third. The guy is some kind of genius.

And that has got what to do with the subject of this thread?

sorry Stew, this thread is for uninteresting music only

No need to be so touchy, just excited about those last two records. Considering the talent of the artists, those albums have potential classic all over them, more so than the yawnsome likes of Artic Monkeys or Coldplay.

That's not what this thread is about.

I named some classic, or likely to become classic albums. What more do you want? Sheesh!

Leftfield possibility: Richard Hawley's Cole's Corner. It won't be a classic under the (perfectly valid) criteria Mark sets forth above, but I think it will be remembered very fondly by a lot of the right people, for its songcraft and tone and its retro-cool, classic feel.

I distrust expressions like "the right people" for jackboot-related reasons.

It's unlikely ever to feature in any Top 100 list but does deserve better and more accurate analysis than thoughtless cliches like "songcraft" and "retro-cool," not to mention the oxymoronic deployment of the term "classic."

"the right people"??????

xp!

I meant critics, not a value judgment on people.

Cole's Corner is a lovely record. Listened to it a lot a couple of years ago, seemed to suit my melancholy mood of the time. Possibly overdosed on it though, so haven't given it a spin in a while.
As for the thread - so it's not about subjective choices, it's about consensus? Valid enough, but isn't that a bit limiting? Plenty of old obscurities have become established classics, so I don't see why today's underground nuggets can't become classics in years to come, particularly when the mainstream, with some honourable exceptions, is so uninspiring?

That indeed is what the thread is about - plenty of "what are you listening to at the moment"-type threads to talk about your current favourites.

I meant critics, not a value judgment on people.

not this critic, maybe u mean "the right critics" whomsoever they may be

Considering the thread starter put 'Music Has The Right To Children' in the same sentence as 'OK Computer' and 'Definitely Maybe' I think the premise of this thread is so woolly and vague that pretty much anything fits.

Sorry I meant Parklife not OK Computer.

I didn't say that, and I didn't mean that. I meant that I think a lot of critics -- not all, perhaps not the majority (no one can know at this point), and not "only the best/good critics" -- will remember the disc fondly.

(xp)

who listens to critics these days?

The question is will Doctor Who star David Tennant like it?

Richard Hawley's album is about as likely to be remembered as a classic as 'HMS Fable' - ie not very.

It'll have its followers and remain a long-term cult-ish thing. Will we able to say as much about, say, Annie From Norway?

I'd like to see people back up their nominations

Allow me to don the prose of Christgau:

Prinzhorn Dance School S/T

The sparse, shifting moods of Pink Flag and Double Nickels on the Dime, and the same lateral-thinking brains. But it breaks down the music even more, til it's almost nothing but a rant and a beat. Many others have wandered out into this sort of post-punk starkness, but can't stand the cold for long. Yet PDS remains a toe-tapper. Probably hurt by arriving on DFA just when the other acts have become ornate in comparison. And while it's toe-tapping, it's not really danceable. A bowl of shredded wheat, no milk. But lots more sugar than you can taste in the first few bites. A-

But isn't it just as valid to discuss someone like Richard Youngs (broadly rock) in this context? Surely people will look back on Artic Monkeys and wonder what all the fuss was about? This lumpen trudge was considered exciting? Whereas Richard Youngs has all the makings of a cult classic. I doubt he'll cross over from cult to mainstream canon in the way that Nick Drake has, but who cares what Q magazine considers classic?
Also, as you're drawing on the last three years, isn't it pretty difficult not to include current favourites?

Let me run it through Babelfish and translate it back into English (xp).

The pink flag and 55 mile is insufficient in ten cents, mobile mood, and the side thought brain which is identical. But it' Until divides music, in addition; s the assurance and the battery which almost freeze blowing. The many different person but this type of post shooting dog tree starkness, can' With wandered toward the outside; T colds for long. Remains PDS but to toe sap picking. Arrives to DFA and gorgeously in case the probably sickly different act will compare will become that time. And on period it' The toe s where knocks, it' In dance with proper s realness. The heap which will go ccic the long secret conference bowl and milk nil. There is a possibility of tasting but from this first few bite of you and sees more divides the sugar. A-

Simple, really.

Anyway the answer is Viva La Vida, deal with it.

Needs more "metallic Serbian rapist" xp

Interesting, I was at a gig once, where Richard Youngs was the support act and he got all huffy because people were daring to speak to each other during his performance, since then I've actively avoided hearing anything he's ever done. My loss, no doubt.

Stew I think if there's a point to this exercise it's trying to figure out how and why certain albums gain a stronghold in wider pop culture, rather than anyone suggesting that Q's best album lists are important in and of themselves. This has about as much to do with my personal listening habits as I assume it does yours, but that doesn't mean it can't be interesting

Some of RY's stuff's very good (the Festival album is the place for neophytes to start) but I can't see his subsequent cult status rising above e.g. Principal Edwards Magic Theatre level.

Ouch

Fair enough. But stronghold in wider pop culture doesn't necessarily mean classic. I doubt Viva La Vida will attain the kind of ubiquity as Urban Hymns or Definitely Maybe did in the mid-90s. It hasn't had a huge single to compare with Bittersweet Symphony or Live Forever for a start.
Amy Winehouse is the obvious candidate. Has the approval of public and critics alike. The singles have been huge, but that doesn't seem to have done Back In Black any harm. And unlike, Viva La Vida, it's actually good!
Quite happy to stick my neck out for Third too. Sure, it's not going to touch Dummy's success, but it's a brilliant record and they're not so obscure so as to be ignored in the wider pop culture.

Well, two number ones so far isn't bad.

But, yeah, Amy W's album has reached all time classic status.

only one #1 for Coldplay, and it only took them 8 years

Winehouse got there as quickly as Oasis and Radiohead because her album is the one with the most immediately obvious 60s or 70s influence - discus.

Who will be The Bachelors of 2050?

Dan le Sac & Scroobius Pip

"oh scroobius, don't die"

Prediction for number one album of 2050 - Pensionerzone's Greatest Hits.

Matt DC - thread poster clarified that he meant Music For A Jilted Generation.

The only place where Urban Hymns is ubiquitous these days is in the charity shops.

Will Dickie Ashcroft and his merry lads create a new classic for our time with their forthcoming album of 1974-style soft rock?

It's more 1975-style psychedelic sludge.

Barclay James Harvest fans will be delighted.

BJH never did psychedelic sludge, more's the pity

The answer here is Muse's "Black Holes And Revelations".

Considering the thread starter put 'Music Has The Right To Children' in the same sentence as 'OK Computer' and 'Definitely Maybe' I think the premise of this thread is so woolly and vague that pretty much anything fits.

Sure. If the criteria is that broad, then you may just look at the 2005, 2006 and 2007 lists at Acclaimed Music, and that is the answer.