The 15th P&J Albums Poll!

SOTT, now and forever.

Missing:

The Go-Betweens, Tallulah
Madonna, You Can Dance

Paid in Full

You know it's a crappy year for music when John Hiatt scores so highly.

I went with the Coug; either Sonic Youth or Pet Shop Boys second place, probably. (With Prince and Paid In Full and Public Enemy up near the top, yeah -- that's a lot of P's!) My hunch is that the list isn't nearly as horrible as '85 or '86, but I'd have to compare them back to back to make sure.

As for Hiatt, his earlier albums (circa late '70s, when he was marketed as new wave a' la Elvis Costello) were a lot more fun. But so were the Replacements' and Husker Du's (and, uh, Robbie Roberston's) earlier albums, so why single him out?

I need to buy that Alexander O'Neal album someday.

No EPs? I forget; is this the year that poll sadly disappeared, or did JN$OT just forget to list them?

As for Hiatt, his earlier albums (circa late '70s, when he was marketed as new wave a' la Elvis Costello) were a lot more fun. But so were the Replacements' and Husker Du's (and, uh, Robbie Roberston's) earlier albums, so why single him out?

Robbie Robertson was never fun.

Hearsay is easily one of my top ten albums. I like this list more than its immediate predecessors.

Well, Robbie did write "Up On Cripple Creek" once, at least. But yeah, point definitely well taken.

EPs gone (for now); explained here:

our recent LP and EP lists have touted too many imminent obscurities...With this in mind, I decided we should finally 86 the EP tally, instituted in 1981 as an Amerindie showcase, though from the start it proved a refuge for major-label odd lots as well. In the early years, the list did serve a predictive function, but not lately. Simmons readily assented to the change, and after some consideration we decided EPs would compete with albums (where Feedtime's Shovel--which some claim is an EP, although I've never laid eyes on the thing--finished 63rd and Pussy Galore's Pussy Gold 5000 118th, nine points ahead of the overpraised Right Now!). We weren't surprised when Amerindie partisans howled; what surprised us is that they changed our minds. The EP ballot will return next year by semisemipopular demand, replacing videos, where only a third of the voters exercised their franchise this year, with the Chief Poobah among the missing. Maybe the victory will give the partisans a taste for the rewards of consensus, but I doubt it, because what was most striking about the ad hoc EP lists scattershot our way was their dearth of agreement--or duplication, I guess you could say. Having grown up in a time when elections had their popcult charm, I value consensus--even (or especially) oddball consensus. The partisans value self-expression, self-interest, self-anything, in bands and criticism both. At this juncture the American "underground" isn't just factionalized--it's atomized, a minority of minorities of one.

Yeah, that reminds me that I voted for EPs by both White Zombie and the Puddle (plus Feedtime's Shovel, which I thought was an album and I'm still not sure why people would've considered it an EP) on my album ballot that year.

From the P&J '87 print edition:

Feedtime: Shovel (Aberrant import) 17
Sonny Sharrock: Guitar (Enemy) 16
Ronald Shannon Jackson: When Colors Play (Caravan of Dreams) 14
Prince: Sign "O" the Times (Paisley Park) 12
Chain Gang: Mondo Manhattan (Lost) 10
White Zombie: Psycho-Head Blowout (Silent Explosion EP) 7
The Puddle: Pop Lib (Flying Nun import EP) 7
Guns n' Roses: Appetite for Destruction (Geffen) 6
African Head Charge: Off the Beaten Track (On-U Sound import) 6
Sly and Robbie: Rhythm Killers (Island) 5

Chuck Eddy

Beastie Boys: Licensed To Ill (Ded Jam) 18
Schooly-D: Saturday Night (Schooly-D) 16
Pussy Galore: Pussy Gold 5000 (Buy Our EP) 10
Redd Kross: Neurotica (Big Time) 9
Voivod: Killing Technology (Noise International) 9
The Scene Is Now: Total Jive (Lost) 9
Shonnen Knife: Pretty Little Baka Guy (Subversive) 9
Prince: Sign "O" the Times (Paisley Park) 8
Mantronix: Music Madness (Sleeping Bag) 6
Coloured Stone: Human Love (Powederworks import) 6

Frank Kogan

Interesting choices, xhuxk. BTW, who the hell were The Puddle?

One more:

John Cougar Mellencamp: The Lonesome Jubilee (Mercury) 20
Redd Kross: Neurotica (Big Time) 15
Prince: Sign "O" the Times (Paisley Park) 15
Big Black: Songs About Fucking (Touch & Go) 10
Public Enemy: Yo! Bum Rush the Show (Def Jam) 10
Chain Gang: Mondo Manhattan (Lost) 10
Gibson Bros.: 87 (Gibson Bros. cassette) 5
Orchestra Andalusi de Tanger & Juan Pena Lebrijano: Encuentros (Globalstyle import) 5
Pussy Galore: Pussy Gold 5000 (Buy Our EP) 5
Shonnen Knife: Pretty Little Baka Guy (Subversive) 5

RJ Smith

Appetite For Destruction didn't even make the list?

wasn't that 1988? "sweet child o' mine" hit that year anyway

Yeah, AFD makes the '88 list.

And another:

Sonic Youth: Sister (SST) 20
Public Enemy: Yo! Bum Rush the Show (Def Jam) 13
Prince: Sign "O" the Times (Paisley Park) 11
Eric B. & Rakim: Paid in Full (4th & B'way) 11
Salt-n-Pepa: Hot, Cool and Vicious (Next Plateau) 10
This Is Soca (Warner Bros.) 10
The Replacements: Pleased To Meet Me (Sire) 9
Pussy Galore: Right Now! (Caroline) 6
Joe King Carrasco et las Coronas: Bandido Rock (Rounder) 5
Chain Gang: Mondo Manhattan (Lost) 5

Doug Simmons

either Sister or Paid in Full for me. at the time I loved that Marianne Faithfull and (believe it or not) Faith. haven't played either in yrs.

Hearsay I recall as Alexander Oneal's big stroke, an R&B concept album or song cycle about infidelity w/shimmering Jam & Lewis production.

Appetite definitely came out in its original album cover in '87 (best album of the year, easy, and maybe the decade, though I only gave it 6 points); didn't hit the Pazz & Jop list until '88 (which is when the singles off of it hit, as well.)

The Puddle were goofballs on Flying Nun Records out of New Zealand -- as weird as any music on that label got,give or take the Headless Chickens. If they ever made another record, I've never seen a copy. And I wish I still owened that one.

Who the hell were Coloured Stone (who Frank voted for)? (I'm vaguely remembering they were some Midnight Oil-associated indigenous Australian rock band, but I could be completely off.)

No, you're right. I asked Frank about that years ago. He said he barely remembered what they sounded like. I have the album somewhere on my shelves but never played it (that I know of).

Went with Princepessa.

M.I.A.:

New Order: Substance
Pussy Galore: Right Now!
Redd Kross: Neurotica
Big Black: Songs About Fucking
Jandek: Modern Dances (my all-time fave of his; cute shirtless pic of the man on the cover too)
and right, Alfred, Go-Betweens and Madge

More more more MIA, fwiw (though most of these probably deserve to be missing) (though no more than Jandek deserves to be missing, I'm sure):

probably not the best 150 albums of 1987

And note this (still way incomplete) non-indie-fuck MIA ammendment further down that thread:

michael jackson - bad
def leppard - hysteria
faster pussycat - faster pussycat
debbie gibson - out of the blue
les rita mitsouko - presentent the no comprendo
magazine 60 - costa del sol

Pretty sure I prefer the '86 list to this. Only things here that I love are Pet Shop Boys and Sonic Youth, though I also like major chunks of Prince, Springsteen, Eric B, George Michael, LL Cool J, and (maybe) one of the Smiths LPs (Queen is Dead aside, they will always be a band with a bunch of good songs to me, and I'm not that familiar with which songs are from which albums). U2 also, I suppose, if I'm being honest, but I don't feel like being honest about them these days. The only thing I don't know that interests me is the Alexander O'Neal.

Sonic Youth. Kind of the tail-end of the mid-80s nadir, it was nevertheless a meaningful year for me as I graduated from high school and started college that year. For those interested, 1987: 20th Year Reunion

Three more M.I.A.:

Dinosaur Jr.: You’re Living All Over Me
The Housemartins: The People Who Grinned Themselves To Death
Butthole Surfers: Locust Abortion Technician

Went with the Mats, but it was close (w/Prince).

Feedtime's Shovel--which some claim is an EP, although I've never laid eyes on the thing

I've never laid eyes on the thing either, not for want of trying. Has this ever been on CD?

I wanted to vote for George Michael because nothing jumped out at me as obvious upon first glance,,, but then I saw Paid In Full

Feedtime on CD? No idea.

As for Dino Jr and Butthole Surfers, Kevin, see #9 and #95 of the list I linked to.

I meant M.I.A. from the P&J list. I actually remembered them from looking at yours.

I would soooo love Influx of Sandals to be real. Google turns up nothing.

M.I.A. as well:

Boogie Down Productions Criminal Minded
The Chills Brave Words
Julian Cope Saint Julian
Whitney Houston Whitney
Jane Siberry The Walking
The Triffids Calenture

Wasn't Brave Words from '88? Anyway, Prince.

Also, Hiatt's record was touted as a . . . yawn . . . revival . . . zzz . . . oh uh . . . of his muse.

For all the previous complaining about the lack of quality in previous few P&J years, this list looks pretty anemic to these eyes. 4-5 frontrunners that still hold up with a buncha dreck. Oh well: went with Strangeways, which to me is The Smiths best singles compilation. If it had been on the big board, Redd Kross's Neurotica mighta given it a run for its money.

No "Come on Pilgrim" = No credibility

Strangeways ain't a singles comp! But it's almost as strong as Louder Than Bombs so I suppose it counts.

Also missing:

INXS: Kick
Depeche Mode: Music for the Masses
The Cure: Kiss Me x3
The Cult: Electric
(In addition to previously mentioned Big Black and Butthole Surfers albums)

Never really critics faves I guess, but looking at what did make it--Van Morrison, Sting, Robertson, Frith--makes me think there was (and still is?) a dedicated impulse among rock critics to have as little fun as possible listening to music.

Strangeways ain't a singles comp!

I know! I was being cheeky...

My comment went away. :(

I haven't heard Characters; is it very good? I voted for Prince..."I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man" 4EVER!

It's been on my Amazon queue for almost a year. I'm told it's better than In Square Circle.

Brave Words was probably domestic in New Zealand in '87 & just got to N. America & the UK in '88; I could be wrong. Same thing with George Best, kinda.

What a weird, obscure record to place on Pazz & Jop (Also, in my memory at least, more fun than anything INXS ever did, and most Cure stuff after Boys Don't Cry, but maybe that's because the whole idea of Dixie Dregs-style fusion -- that's basically what this, right? or is it closer to Hampton Grease Band maybe? -- still tickles me for some reason):

French, Frith, Kaiser, Thompson: Live, Love, Larf and Loaf (Rhino)

Uh, who were French and Kaiser again?

Also, who did the dBS bribe in order to land every fucking album they ever made on Pazz&Jop lists?? (I still don't think I've ever heard a song by them I've cared about, but there's still time, I suppose.)

The venal, fickle bitch called Contemporaneous Critical Consensus, the rheumy-eyed Angels of History and I, as well, have voted, shall vote, and do vote even now, all of us, for Mr. Prince.

three guesses

Henry Kaiser, John French (ex-Magic Band) IIRC

Henry Kaiser, John French (ex-Magic Band) IIRC

Correct - that album is kind of the Traveling Wilbury's of avant-rock.

Surprised to find that the '87 poll's not really much better than '85 or '86. And also that You're Living All Over Me is absent. I seem to remember that getting lots of love at the time. (Hey, maybe they split the vote - half the poll-ees voting for Dinosaur, half for Dinosaur Jr.!)

Anyways, pretty easy victory for SOTT here, even tho I'm still not convinced that it's Prince's finest. Runners-up would be Sonic Youth, In All Languages - 1st (non-electric) LP only - and French, Frith et al.

I just finally pulled Live, Love, Larf and Loaf to get rid of. I think it's awful except maybe one Shoukichi Kina cover.

(If I keep saying that about CDs recently, it's because I just culled about 100 CDs (or so?).)

Alfred, I'll vouch for Characters, for sure. A real good one.

I just finally pulled Live, Love, Larf and Loaf to get rid of. I think it's awful except maybe one Shoukichi Kina cover.

I have a used vinyl copy that I probably slightly overpaid for (I think it was somewhere between $5 and 10) and which I've only listened to maybe once. The Traveling Wilbury's comparison seemed apt to me because in both cases the reputation of the group members tends to overshadow the actual product, which is just kind of a fun lark (though probably the Wilbury's had better songs).

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

haha how unexpected

Shut up, already! Damn. :)

Now that's a top three we can be proud of.

Prince ran away with it as expected