The 26th P&J Albums Poll!

I think this is the first Pazz I actually voted in.

And, woo-hoo!, I'm the first poster! I'll have to find my ballot to see how I voted and update if necessary.

Really? Cool. Jeez this is one dire looking list--first time I couldn't pick a half-way decent top 10 from the results. Went with Outkast.

Monster Magnet? Seriously?

Anyways, this poll belongs to Outkast.

At a glance I think I've owned or listened to more albums from this than any other P&J's top 40, roughly half of them. I was 16 that year, I guess it was the peak of my actually caring what critics/magazines thought. I have absolutely no idea what to vote for, though. I still have positive feelings about several of those records but don't feel especially strongly about any of them.

The Monster Magnet CD is pretty good, actually.

xp

if I had to rate them now (although I'm not sure I'll vote for Pulp):

Pulp: This Is Hardcore
Elliott Smith: XO
Rufus Wainwright: Rufus Wainwright
Black Star: Mos Def and Talib Kweli Are Black Star
Neutral Milk Hotel: In the Aeroplane Over the Sea
Jay-Z: Vol. 2 . . . Hard Knock Life
R.E.M.: Up
Elvis Costello with Burt Bachrach: Painted from Memory
Eels: Electro-Shock Blues
Cat Power: Moon Pix
Ozomatli: Ozomatli
Lauryn Hill: The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill
Garbage: Version 2.0
Madonna: Ray of Light
Massive Attack: Mezzanine
Liz Phair: Whitechocolatespaceegg
Beck: Mutations
Belle and Sebastian: The Boy with the Arab Strap

I think this was also the first time I made a year-end top 10, which I wish I still had a copy of it, and I'm sure at least half of it isn't listed here. If I tried to do a best of 98 now it'd probably be even more different.

Btw, guys, whosoever voted in these here VV polls can find their ballot/comments/etc. online from this point on. Here's the ballats link for '98:

http://www.villagevoice.com/specials/pazznjop/ballots.shtml

I guess I'll have to start posting these links from here on, too. Besides, it's always fun to see who voted for what and whether or not they regret doing so now.

aarggh *ballots*

moon safari

Wow, that's a surprisingly indie list for you, Alex.

It's weird to see the Dylan record on the list. I gotta decide whether to focus just on records recorded in 1998ish, or to allow oldies. Because if I decide oldies are on, it's Dylan in a walk. There are other records here that mean a lot to me still (Jay-Z, Hole, Neutral Milk Hotel) but with Dylan it's not even close.

Well, the list I was drawing from only has like 6 rap albums on it to begin with (one of which is the Beastie Boys), if Big Punisher was on the list that would probably be above all the indie shit. (xpost)

Also I neglected to mention that about half of those albums I've heard (mostly the bottom half of my list) are things my brother owned that I never particularly liked.

The Dylan may be an old recording, sure, but it had never received an official release until '98. So do as your heart commands, I'd say.

xxp

a lot of boring shit on this list. My own top ten for the year is almost as cringe-worthy.

My vote: Aquemini.

Al, I'm surprised you've never heard Aquemini.

I've heard it in other people's cars and shit, but never the whole thing in one sitting, so it didn't seem right to rate it. I've really just never been a big Outkast fan, although I could probably stand to check out those early albums sometime.

I'm more embarrassed not to have heard the Gang Starr, although I played the hell out of the best-of that came out shortly after that album.

PJ Harvey.

Easily.

I know I'm in the minority here, but Is This Desire? is her best album.

I didn't even see Gang Starr. I haven't heard it either.

Wow! Thanx for posting that link to the ballots, John. I couldn't find them via Google.

I voted for Mermaid Avenue, the best album by either of those two acts. Maybe even Woody's best album. Which I guess makes it the A.I.: Artificial Intelligence of its year. Or the other way around. Whichever.

I'm not too embarrassed by my ballot because I was clearly having a hard time constructing a list of ten great albums if I casted a vote for a promo disc that compiled all of Puff Daddy's greatest hits from the year before. That Canibus record is a bit of a snooze (though underrated by most). And I voted for that Suckdog disc mainly for the maybe-half-a-minute eternal "I Knelt Today Where Jesus Knelt."

The only thing that boggles my mind is that I didn't place American Pop: An Audio History at the top of my reissues list. It's my all-time fave box set and I adored it even then. I must have been going through a serious Roxanne Shante phase at the time (which happens at least once a year anyway).

But I still love each one of these reissues:

1. Various Artists Fat Beats and Bra Straps Rhino
2 Various Artists The Perfect Beats: New York Electro Hip-Hop + Underground Classics, 1980-1985 Timber! / Tommy Boy
3 Various Artists Queer to the Core Quick Nuts
4 Mrs. Miller The Turned-On World of Mrs. Miller! Amaret
5 Various Artists American Pop: An Audio History West Hill Audio Archive

Oh and I really love that Beasties album. A perfect synthesis of everything they were up to that time (and probably will be forever and ever).

2 Various Artists The Perfect Beats: New York Electro Hip-Hop + Underground Classics, 1980-1985 Timber! / Tommy Boy

^^^yes x10000

voted outkast, the gang starr record is decent, love "Above the Clouds" with inspector deck, "Royalty" with KCi and Jojo, definitely a few skippable tracks and this was kind of the first record where they're kind of past their prime.

real surprised the jay-z made the list but it deserves it

this list needs goodie mob, pun, rhythmalism, some cash money and no limit, dmx ... can't believe the roots didn't make the list this year!

Things Fall Apart was #12 on the '99 poll.

Aquemini, hands down, still Outkast's finest moment lyrically and musically.

That Cornelius album is way overlooked. From this list, I would probably put it at my number two on a bland assortment missing many of the better albums from this year.

Vol. 2

The list is missing Sunny Day Real Estate's How It Feels To Be Something On. I don't know what the critical consensus is on these guys, but that record is a doozy. On this list, I'll go with Dylan.

I kind of managed to forget just how fucking HUGE L. Hill was that year. The rap/r&b station here was spinning the hell out of album tracks and even rarities.

The albums on this I still have in their entirety: Massive Attack, Cat Power, Quasi, Jay-Z.

Most of this stuff is albums I couldn't get too psyched about at the time, and albums I kept being relatively unpsyched about every time I checked 'em out again out of curiousity. I keep thinking there are these A+ albums from 1998 that I just haven't HEARD (there HAS to be some EVERY year, right?), but if they're out there, nobody's saying where.

albums I have from 98 that deserve to be here more than <i>Up</i> does: Manu Chao <i>Clandestino</i>, Devin The Dude <i>Devin The Dude</i>, DMX <i>It's Dark And Hell Is Hot</i>, Local H <i>Pack Up The Cats</i>, Placebo <i>Without You I'm Nothing</i>, Rocket From The Crypt <i>RFTC</i>, Scheitan <i>Bezerk 2000</i>, Scrawl <i>Nature Film</i>, Spoon <i>A Series Of Sneaks</i>, Tarkio <i>I Guess I Was Hoping For Something More</i>, Turbonegro <i>Apocalypse Dudes</i>, Windy & Carl <i>Depths</i>.

Looking at that list makes me feel less wtf about 1998, but its all still pretty AAA if less zeitgeist bloat than the Pazz'n'Jop stuff.

So where are people at on the Lauryn Hill record nowadays? Correct me if I'm wrong but not since Nevermind was there an album that made disparate groups of people feel as if they were missing out on something if they didn't go out and buy it right now. I heard it all over at the time and liked it fine myself. But the freakish disgrace of the Unplugged twofer coupled with the decade-and-counting wait for a proper followup have soured me on it. Your thoughts?

Hmmm...that Nevermind/Miseducation comparison just made me really bummed out...

I liked it fine at the time but haven't listened to it for what seems like ages (i.e., 7/8 years?). And yeah, you're right about that "be the first on your block to own one" feeling that seemed to surround the thing back then. Still, I always preferred her as a rapper rather than as a singer, and there are always those annoying skits to contend with, no?

It is a loooooooooooong record. Isn't it something like 79:54?

Voted for Monster Magnet this time, as I almost would have that time (among those choices anyway):

ALBUMS
1 Everclear So Much for the Afterglow Capitol 16 buy this!
2 Faithless Sunday 8 P.M. Arista 15 buy this!
3 Madonna Ray of Light Maverick/Warner Bros. 13 buy this!
4 Los Umbrellos Flamenco Funk Virgin 12
5 Mindy McCready If I Don't Stay the Night BNA 10
6 Monster Magnet Powertrip A&M 8 buy this!
7 Rammstein Sehnsucht Slash 7
8 Dr. Bombay Rice & Curry WEA import 7
9 Stereo Total Stereo Total Bobsled 6
10 Donnas American Teenage Rock 'N' Roll Machine Lookout! 6

REISSUES:
1 Various Artists The Perfect Beats: New York Electro Hip-Hop + Underground Classics, 1980-1985 Timber! / Tommy Boy buy this!
2 Various Artists Super Bad on Celluloid: Music From Black '70s Cinema Hip-O
3 Various Artists Disco 54: Where We Started From Hip-O
4 Various Artists Billboard Top Dance Hits, 1982 Rhino
5 Dick Curless The Drag 'Em Off the Interstate Sock It to 'Em Hits of Dick Curless Razor & Tie

I definitely overrated the Madonna at the time, though I still like it more than lots of people do, I bet. On the winners' list, I also like Sheryl Crow and Rancid. (Though oops, I just noticed Hole -- actually, that's what I should voted for. Too late.)

And I don't think I got rid of my copies of those Lucinda Williams or Air albums yet, either, fwiw.

Honestly not sure I've ever played Aquemini, though I'd probably like it with reservations if I did. {ATLiens from '96 is still on my shelf. I should put that on again someday too, probably.)

And oh yeah, Jay-Z. I should check that out, too. (Though "should" doesn't always mean "will ever get around to it.")

And Gang Starr sound good when my kid plays them.

Some others I like, more or less in order:

Kid Rock – Devil Without A Cause (Atlantic/Lava)*
Juan Atkins – Wax Trax! MasterMix Volume 1 (Wax Trax mix album)
Chemical Brothers – Brothers Gonna Work It Out: A DJ Mix Album (Astralwerks mix album)
T. Graham Brown – Wine Into Water (Intersound)
The Living End – It’s For Your Own Good/Hellbound (Reprise)
Fatso Jetson – Toasted (Bong Load)
The Dismemberment Plan – The Ice of Boston (Interscope EP)
Black Sage – Jack’s Corner (Carpet Cat)
Carlinhos Brown - Omelette Man (Metro Blue)
(Various) – Bootyz In Motion (Jake)
Ninos Con Bombas – El Nino (Grita!)
Metallica – Garage Inc. (Elektra)
Dixie Chicks – Wide Open Spaces (Monument)
Night Ranger – Seven (CMC International)
The Coup – Steal This Album (Dogday)
Brooklyn Bounce – The Beginning (Edel)
Lo Fidelity All Stars – How To Operate With A Blown Mind (Skint/Columbia)
(Various) – Beauty In The Darkness Vol. 3 (Nuclear Blast)
The Detroit Cobras – Mink Rat Or Rabbit (Sympathy For The Record Industry)
Hi-Town DJs – We Came To Groove (Restless)
Dr. Israel – Inna City Pressure (Mutant Sound System)
Joe Dee Messina – I’m Alright (Curb)
(Various) – Best Of Kram: Thee Underground Kingdom (Kram)
Om - Namaste (Aztlan)
Manu Chao - Clandestino (Virgin)
B*Witched – B*Witched (Epic)
Boredoms – Super Ae (Birdman)
Beanfield – Beanfield (StreetBeat)
(Various) – From Beyond (Interdimensional Transmissions)
Course Of Empire- Telepathic Last Words (TVT)
Lester Bowie’s Brass Fantasy – The Odyssey Of Funk & Popular Music (Atlantic)
Katatonia – Discouraged Ones (Century Black)
Deep Purple – Abandon (CMC International)
Mariner – Amphibian (Kram)
The Notwist – Shrink (Zero Hour)
The Mollys – Moon Over The Interstate (Apokalips Now)
Faith Hill – Faith (Warner Bros.)
Lionrock – City Delirious (Time Bomb/Concrete)
Fun Lovin’ Criminals – 100% Columbian (Virgin)
Divine Styler – Wordpower: 2: Directrix (DTX)
Dario G – Sunmachine (WEA France)
(Various) – Call On The Dark 2 (Nuclear Blast)
The Hunger – Cinematic Superthug (Universal)
Hooverphonic – Blue Wonder Power Milk (Epic)
The Meat Joy – The Meat Joy (Death Rebel)
Local H – Pack Up The Cats (Island)
(Various) – Bass: Lo + Slo 3 (Pandisc)
Meshuggah – Chaosphere (Nuclear Blast)
Linda Davis – I’m Yours (Dreamworks)
Bloque – Bloque (Luaka Bop/Warner Bros.)

Kid Rock finished #39 in Pazz & Jop a year later. And I'm pretty sure I voted for that Coup album a year later too, though I can't find 1999 ballots on line. (In fact, it may have even technically come out in '99, though the copyright on it says '98.)

On my own ballot, I overrated Faithless, Dr. Bombay, the Donnas, and Stereo Total (all of which I still like, but none of whom I'd vote for, probably, if I had to do it over again) and underrated Mindy McReady (which, like Everclear, was technically a '87 holdover I think.)

And 20 more reissues (out of many):

Hoagy Carmichael – Ole Buttermilk Sky (Collector’s Choice reissue)
Heart – Greatest Hits (Epic/Legacy reissue)
Stoney Edwards – The Best Of: Poor Folks Stick Together (Razor & Tie reissue)
(Various) – National Lampoon’s Animal House (MCA reissue)
MC5 – Babes In Arms (R.O.I.R. reissue)
Tyrone Davis – Slow Jams (Sony Music Special Products reissue)
(Various) – My Rough And Rowdy Ways Vol. 1 and 2 (Yazoo reissue)
Malcolm McLaren & The World Famous Supreme Team – Buffalo Gals: Back to Skool (Virgin/Priority reissue)
Depeche Mode – The Singles 81-85 (Mute reissue)
(Various) – The Afro-Latin Groove: Sabroso! (Rhino reissue)
(Various) – Motor City’ s Burnin’ Vol. 2 (Alive/Total Energy reissue)
(Various) – The Music In My Head (Stern’s Africa reissue)
Andrews Sisters – Greatest Hits: The 60th Anniversary Collection (MCA reissue)
(Various) – Hard Times Come Again No More Vol. 1 and 2 (Yazoo reissue)
The B-52s – Time Capsule (Reprise reissue)
(Various) – Ay Califas! Raza Rock (Zyanya/Rhino reissue)
The Flaming Lips – A Collection Of Songs Representing An Enthusiasm For Recording…By Amateurs: 1984-1990 (Restless reissue)
ZZ Hill – This Time They Told The Truth: The Columbia Years (Columbia/Legacy reissue)
Frankie Ford – Sea Cruise: The Very Best Of (Music Club reissue)
Motley Crue – Greatest Hits (Motley/Beyond reissue)

(Various) – The Music In My Head (Stern’s Africa reissue)

Um, this is my favorite Afropop/rock comp ever. How did I forget it?

Hoagy Carmichael – Ole Buttermilk Sky (Collector’s Choice reissue)
ZZ Hill – This Time They Told The Truth: The Columbia Years (Columbia/Legacy reissue)

Weird. I have Hoagy and Hill CDs out from the library right now. Never heard Hill's Columbia years but I can't stop singing his Malaco stuff.

Been on a bit of a Hoagy kick of late since my dissertation is partially on the intersection of the film and music industries and I saw him recently in Jacques Tourneur's very pretty Canyon Passage in which he plays "Ole Buttermilk Sky." Also, he wrote arguably the most popular American song of the first half of the twentieth-century, "Stardust."

Here are some IMDb factoids about him:

James Bond Creator Ian Fleming, stated in his 1953 novel Casino Royale, that 007 bore a striking resemblance to Hoagy

Judy Garland got her name from a popular song that he wrote in the early 1930s, about a girl whose voice is as fresh as spring.

Holds the record for longest song title: "I'm a Cranky Old Yank in a Clanky Old Tank on the Streets of Yokohama with my Honolulu Mama Doing Those Beat-o, Beat-o, Flat on my Seat-o Hirohito Blues".

I know how he feels. This is probably no longer the longest song title. But yowsah! Anyone ever heard it?

1998 was my Indiest Year Ever, thanks largely to dating a woman who loved indie rock and was just discovering it. That's the only reason I or anyone else should ever have given that (perfectly nice) Creeper Lagoon 30 points in my P&J list.

Of course, Fatboy Slim's On the Floor at the Boutique was my other 30-pointer for the year, and I stand behind that no problem. One of the half-dozen greatest DJ mix CDs I know.

Neither of them made it into the Top 40, so I voted for OutKast, which I didn't hear until 2000.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

So where are people at on the Lauryn Hill record nowadays? Correct me if I'm wrong but not since Nevermind was there an album that made disparate groups of people feel as if they were missing out on something if they didn't go out and buy it right now. I heard it all over at the time and liked it fine myself. But the freakish disgrace of the Unplugged twofer coupled with the decade-and-counting wait for a proper followup have soured me on it. Your thoughts?

I would tell you, but my copy got stolen around 2001 or so. That I haven't felt the need to find myself another in the past six years says something at least. From what I remember, about half the album is mildly great and about half is very boring.

It seems that Speakerboxxx/The Love Below had the same kind of must-have-it reaction as those records.

Yes, I was going to add that Stankonia or S/TLB or one of the first two Kanye Wests hold that title for this decade. No?

the lauryn hill is a classic to me, listened to it again about a year ago, so much straight old-soul soul coming out of that thing. i mean there's no bullshit. even the skits aren't bullshit, whether you like them or not(i do). that or Aquemeni wins on the flip of a coin, really.

ozomatli, good lord.

This was the first year I voted as well; the ones that made the Top 40 were Dylan, Beasties, NMH, Monster Magnet.

Aquemini then, Aquemini now, though "California Stars" on Mermaid Avenue, "Nothing Even Matters" on Lauryn Hill, and "Waltz #2" on XO are a few of my favorite-ever '90s recordings.

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

I don't think I even got around to voting here, shoulda gone for Cat Power.