The "Canon" generally considers it their best album - yet you consider it their worst

Right, Geir, you ARE nuts.

Fuck that trippy shit.

i mean ok they don't but it's in the top 2 or 3 and i LOATHE it. god we've had this argument about 100 times on ILM.

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Also, "Blue Lines" would have fit in there until the release of "100th Window"

-- Geir Hongro (geirhon...), January 2nd, 2006.

WHAT???????!!!!!!

The Canon would usually go for "Automatic For The People" though. Also uncertain whether the current canon would choose "Sgt. Pepper" ("Revolver" is a more likely choice)

Regarding Massive Attack, I like all of their first three albums, but "Blue Lines" is the one I like least. And, strangely enough, the cuts featuring rapping are more like the ones I like best because they have some really detailed arrangements and are devoid of those annoying female soul vocals. The tracks that drag the album down for me are "Unfinished Sympathy" and "(You Gotta Be) Thankful".

"Protection" I find to be a lot more flawless with generally more synths and better and more detailed arrangements (plus Tracey Thorn fits in perfectly). "Mezzanine" is a bit too long, but I prefer it slightly ahead of "Blue Lines" because of less minimalist production and more interesting details.

Their first two albums don't get nearly enough credit. ATLiens is tied with Liquid Swords for my favorite rap album I've heard.

to be honest though i havent heard cut the crap so i guess i shouldnt really say anything on the matter.

Everyone's got an opinion, but you're so fucking wrong.

yeah it's a tuff call, but it certainly had the best reviews.
actually i think the common consensus is that '...IS 10' is the canon-y one. their biggest seller too, not that that means anything.

The Canon would go for "Speakerboxx/The Love Below" I guess.

Not that it is flawless or anything, but Acclaimed Music still gives a rather good impression of what is the canonical choice. Here is the entry for Outkast:
http://www.acclaimedmusic.net/OutKast.htm

also
The White Stripes - De Stijl
i think the self-titled and White Blood Cells are way, way better than this record. like, wayyyyyy better. but i still keep reading that it's peoples' favorite Stripes record

Husker Du - Zen Arcade (&) The Magnetic Fields - 69 Love Songs. In both cases, people seem to comment on the sheer volume displayed here more than the quality. Other artists have made a career on their complete lack of a self-edit button (Jandek, Throbbing Gristle, Bright Eyes, etc.), but these two are particularly disappointing in light of more concise and exemplary work released elsewhere.

They Might Be Giants - Flood. Cf., the Cardigans - probably not 'the choice' among the indie elite (more likely Lincoln), but still the most widely-cited overall. Sonically, Flood occasionally benefits from the major-label sheen, but it also sticks in my mind as the first omen that the Johns' lyrical conceits were veering into ever more dubious waters.

True, and since AFTP, not Out Of Time, is in fact the worst R.E.M. album, we have a winner.

"They Might Be Giants - Flood" I tend to think this too, but every once in a while I actually take Flood out and play it, as I did last week, and have to concede that the amount of filler here is drastically less than on most TMBG records, and there's about as much top-shelf stuff as on two of their typical records.

-- R. J. Greene (rodneyjgreen...) (webmail), January 1st, 2006 9:56 PM. (link)

I'm not positive about that, but I find that people call it the best Stripes album more often than any other record (which always surprises me, since I think WBC is just fucking miles above the rest).

I would have thought Gran Turismo was their most coanonical and biggest hit outside their audience. It is also, coincidentally, their worst, so it fits in here.
Hard to say what the "informed fans" choice would be, might be Emmerdale, might be Life. First Band is excellent though.

I chose First Band because "Lovefool" was a massive hit, moreso than "My Favorite Game" off Gran Turismo, I'm pretty sure. If I had a current job that allowed me access to SoundScan, I'd run the numbers myself. I actually really like the dystopian, crunchy electronic sound of Gran Turismo, but I also have it tagged with lots of personal memories, so there might be a nostalgia factor there.

Hard to say what the "informed fans" choice would be, might be Emmerdale, might be Life.

Depends on what country you're in, perhaps. There were so many versions of Life floating around, and the U.S. one muddied the waters by including a good chunk of Emmerdale. By the time the debut got a proper release in the U.S., they had already released Gran Turismo, so I tend to think of Life as the American watershed, at least.

To each their own re: First Band, I guess :-)

Hard to tell. I would guess that "Stankonia" goes down better with the hip-hop audiences, while "Speakerboxx/The Love Below" is the one more often enjoyed by people mainly into rock (but then into the best from all kinds of genres in addition). There haven't been too many all-time best albums lists made during the past couple of years, but it will be interesting how they perform on the forthcoming Q list (although it is an audience list and will not be part of the Acclaimed Music base)

The fans, maybe. The critics (and also the general audience) clearly prefer "Elephant".

Surely, The Canon would say Paul's Boutique?

My Aim Is True: Elvis Costello

The Canon always goes for this, or sometimes This Year's Model. But out of all the EC albums, I'd rank My Aim Is True (which actually is an Elvis Costello and the News album) below: This Year's Model, Armed Forces, Get Happy, Trust, Imperial Bedroom, King of America, Blood and Chocolate, & Brutal Youth. So it's 9th.

Our lists of classic EC albums are remarkably similar. I rarely see anyone else going for Brutal Youth as a top choice. That said, I think My Aim is True is still a way, way better album than Almost Blue, Goodbye Cruel World, Punch the Clock, the Juliet Letters, Kojak Variety, North, Painted from Memory... none of which are ever considered to be the "best," as far as I know, but they're all lesser albums than MAIT...

OK. I agree. Then I change my answer to Elephant. I can't decide if I like that less than De Stijl or not. Singles are great but it doesn't hold together as an album.

I am pretty sure hardly anyone would cite it as his worst though. Whoever dislikes Mitchell Froom's alleged "overproduction" (I strongly disagree with them btw) will probably dislike "Mightly Like a Rose" more, as "Brutal Youth" contains both better songs and a tighter band feeling.

I think Mitchell Froom used a pretty light hand on Brutal Youth compared to some of Froom's other work. He was quoted at the time as saying something to the effect of "Elvis is The General - you don't produce him, you're just there to assist." I didn't care for Mighty Like A Rose at all, and from the same period, I think the best thing about Spike are the solo acoustic demos (now mercifully available on the Rhino reissue).

"Sulky Girl" and "London's Brilliant Parade" has "Produced by Mitchell Froom" stamped all over them, which to me as a Crowded House fan is exactly why I love those two songs. :)

"Spike" was not produced by Froom btw.

YES and I'll step up to say it's their worst though frankly LtoI is their best and only worthwhile alb, the rest are "worthy" & dull
-- m coleman (lovebug...), January 2nd, 2006 3:23 PM. (later) (link)

POPPYCOCK

I know that, but I thought the production on SPIKE was heavy-handed and destroyed most of the good songs.