Don't Forget The AlcoPOLL (ooh baby! ooh baby!): ILM Artist Poll #109 - The Afghan Whigs - RESULTS

Yes, now I can see, thanks!

going to count down albums now, and then tracks #50-41

https://i.imgur.com/Jao7t2Z.jpg
10. The Gutter Twins - Saturnalia
18 points, 4 voters

about half of the tracks on this record are perfected rawk gloom

https://i.imgur.com/2tguNGE.jpg
9. The Afghan Whigs - Do to the Beast
28 points, 6 voters

manages to split the difference really nicely between self-consciously returning to the classic Whigs sound and continuing on with the sound of the Twilight Singers, even if McCollum's absence is noticeable

it was nice for poll purposes to reconfirm that do to the beast is significantly more inspired than dynamite steps (even though dulli never really steps below "good" ever)

yeah he certainly seemed a bit reinvigorated from the whigs reunion, even though he never put out a bad album from congregation onwards

https://i.imgur.com/n93cUDO.jpg
8. The Twilight Singers - Powder Burns
32 points, 5 voters

contains like eight of dulli's best songs ever and one of his worst

Yeah nice to see powder burns show up, I felt bad not voting for it considering how much I love some of the songs on it but it’s just so inconsistent

which one's the dud? it's got some real gems on it but ultimately feels just like blackberry belle except not quite as good to me. i love blackberry belle so that's fine of course

https://i.imgur.com/w96PjJc.jpg
7. Twilight as played by The Twilight Singers
44 points, 6 voters

I'm really sorry but I do not like that other guy's vocals. lots of good stuff in the mix though

which one's the dud

"my time (has come)"

i love shawn smith and harold chichester and twilight is way too low

it's a pretty weird exploratory record, not quite like anything else he's done. there's parts of the sound dulli brought over to the later twilight singers records but a lot that's very distinctively on its own. i'm not huge on the other two singers either. there's a few great tracks and a lot of stuff that's just fine?

I couldn't get into Twilight at all, sorry.

"my time (has come)" is not good but not bad enough to actively bother me i guess

again, twilight is his sade record

it's possible i'm unduly influenced by the fact that it was my introduction to dulli. i listened to it on repeat while reading watchmen for the first time in hs. huge record for me

but like... every song is awesome and beautiful

twilight also interesting because it's technically the... follow-up to black love? not really of course, but it was recorded before 1965 iirc, fila brazillia percussion added later

yeah iirc dulli recorded a bunch of demos with smith & chichester while the whigs took a year off to deal with their legal issues with their label. the demos leaked out & after 1965 he revisited them and finished them off with fila brazillia?

i wish it was all like the best parts of it because the highs are so high to me, there's a lot there he could have explored further for sure

https://i.imgur.com/DXJd1JW.jpg
6. The Twilight Singers - Blackberry Belle
56 points, 7 voters, 1 #1 vote

TOO LOW

Had that at Number Four.

i think this record is at least a little bit better than congregation. incredible sustained atmosphere

yeah! way too low, that was my number 1 vote. The first 7 songs are just outstanding.

i'm listening to twilight and i really should've found room on my ballot for "clyde"

shot dead [time-delayed gun sound]
by you again

it's just really hot

yeah everyone who hasn't heard blackberry belle absolutely needs to check it out. there was definitely a bit of a divide between ballots where people were either into twilight singers stuff as well as everything else, or only really the pre-reunion whigs albums.

the shoegaze soul sound of it is incredible

and i don't think it falls off after the first 7 tracks or anything, "follow you down" is one of his prettiest ballads and i love "feathers" and "number nine"

"feathers" -> "fat city" -> "number nine" is a really strong ending, love it when lanegan's voice rises like a phantom through the floor of that last track

lanegan really does sound incredible on "number nine"

posting these two together because they're a tie on points at least

https://i.imgur.com/pgxtiNn.jpg
5. The Afghan Whigs - In Spades
58 points, 8 voters

album cover (NSFW)
4. The Afghan Whigs - Congregation
58 points, 9 voters

another thing i just remembered is when i got really into twilight i was also listening to joseph arthur's our shadows will remain a lot and i had no idea they knew each other

in retrospect, maybe i should've noticed something, as those records are doing similar things at certain points!

ugh in spades is so fuckin good, i'm psyched it made it this high

I really need to check out joseph arthur's stuff

i can't keep up with his material at all, but i will tell you our shadows will remain is still a really good record

oh i'm not familiar with him at all except that he's done some guest vocals on twilight singers stuff?

will have to check it out

congregation has some good stuff on it but the production's pretty bad & they don't sound quite fully formed yet, it seems kinda like a 'you had to be there' thing compared to the later material for me, as someone younger who only got into them in the last decade (my entry point was stumbling across their primavera reunion performance being streamed and going 'wow this is the best rock music ever')

"kiss the floor" almost made my tracks ballot for the drum part alone, but i get the most out of the singles on congregation

and an unsurprising huge jump in points

https://i.imgur.com/tnhWqHZ.jpg
3. The Afghan Whigs - 1965
130 points, 13 voters, 2 #1 votes

ugh the best album

those two no. 1 votes... i like their style

i don't think i'd really realised how great it is before this poll. the first side is their purest pop moment & then the second just goes wild

https://i.imgur.com/PTBzHSx.jpg
2. The Afghan Whigs - Gentlemen
178 points, 15 voters, 7 #1 votes

https://i.imgur.com/Af89hS0.jpg
1. The Afghan Whigs - Black Love
194 points, 16 voters, 6 #1 votes

the correct result!