RYM's Top 50 Psych Pop albums

So many GREAT albums, particularly from the 60s. But "Skylarking" is still even better than any of the 60s lot.

PRESENT TENSE

tangerine dream. all the entries from the '00 are eye rollers

Kinda sad that The Soft Bulletin is the go-to Flaming Lips record.

kinda sad that it's in the top 50

I would say earlier Flaming Lips material couldn't be considered psych pop, but surely psych rock.

all the entries from the '00 are eye rollers

Not "sMiLe" no.

What a weird-ass list. Like, Surf's Up but not Pet Sounds? Way too much Elephant 6, not enough Paisley Underground. And a bunch of also-rans like Kaleidoscope, totally overrated because they're rare sides that collectors dig.

Either Forever Changes or Odessey.

What a weird-ass list. Like, Surf's Up but not Pet Sounds?

Simply because of what is defined as psych pop or not. "Pet Sounds" is not, although it could be argued if Left Banke are psych pop, then "Pet Sounds" is too.

And the likes of Kaleidoscope are GREAT! Not too keen on all the Tropicalia names filling the list though.

Went for 'piper', weird list but some good stuff on there. I only heard 'Head' by the Monkees this year, is 'Pisces..' similar?

Good to see 'July' in there as well

I Often Dream Of Trains

I only heard 'Head' by the Monkees this year, is 'Pisces..' similar?

With the exception of a couple tracks, I wouldn't define "Pisces..." as psych pop. It is more similar to the earlier Monkees albums.

"Daily Nightly" is great though. Apparently the first ever use of synth by a rock/pop act.

DAMN THIS LIST I WANT THEM ALL!

Ahem.. Let me count up:

16 of them I own.

Voted "Move" Shazam. Because it's one of my favourite albums ever, from way back.

Otherwise I'd be stuck between about 8 of them!

Love,which should wim this poll

Cool list. Forever Changes

Well, let's just say that these are albums that I'd gladly have voted for:
The Beatles: Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967)
Love: Forever Changes (1967)
The Zombies: Odessey and Oracle (1968)
The Beatles: Magical Mystery Tour (1967)
Pink Floyd: The Piper at the Gates of Dawn (1967)
The Flaming Lips: The Soft Bulletin (1999)
The Byrds: Younger Than Yesterday (1967)
XTC: Skylarking (1986)
The Left Banke: Walk Away Renée / Pretty Ballerina (1967)
Robyn Hitchcock: I Often Dream of Trains (1984)
The Millennium: Begin (1968)
Kaleidoscope: Tangerine Dream (1967)
Small Faces: (There Are But Four) Small Faces (1967)
Brian Wilson: Smile (2004)
Billy Nicholls: Would You Believe (1968)
The Dukes of Stratosphear: Psonic Psunspot (1987)
Small Faces: Ogdens' Nut Gone Flake (1968)
The Beach Boys: Surf's Up (1971)
Sagittarius: Present Tense (1968)
The Move: Shazam (1970)
The Hollies: Butterfly (1967)
Bee Gees: Bee Gees' 1st (1967)
The Moody Blues: In Search of the Lost Chord (1968)

Anyone knows what the David Axelrod one is like? He isn't the same guy who works for Obama now, is he?

Just checked Wikip, there's two different entries for David Axelrod.

no markley, a group no credibility

also, no blossom toes!

This is taking things a bit off topic but I think the tracks I've heard from this album by Smoke/The Smoke would fit in with the others on this poll, tried searching for more info on them but they are really hard to google/search ilm for

www.myspace.com/thesmokeusa1968

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Smoke

ah, wrong smoke, I guess...

there are many smokes

and a couple of fires

http://www.discogs.com/image/R-1064073-1189332943.jpeg

Aye, this one possibly one of the best 45's of all time!

Tough poll. Voted Forever Changes. Nearly went with Song of Innocence. I'll just have to take my "psych pop" through the filter of L.A. smog and sun with heavy doses of druggy paranoia. This list is the best RYM top 50 poll hands down. So many masterpieces by glorious Brits and mighty Brazilians.

Anyone knows what the David Axelrod one is like?

plenty of ILM threads about the mans work Geir .. go a diggin'.
the album is also on spotify if you get that.
i love it more than just about anything else in my archive, so at least there will be a count of 1 against it.

Gotta go with my boy Robyn- I Often Dream Of Trains, for sentimental reasons.

But there are at least twenty albums on this list fiercely beloved by me.

I would say earlier Flaming Lips material couldn't be considered psych pop, but surely psych rock.

Does anybody else in the world make this ultrathin distinction?

Sisa: Qualsevol nit pot sortir el sol (1975)

what is this

pretty good list tho

And a bunch of also-rans like Kaleidoscope, totally overrated because they're rare sides that collectors dig.

Either Forever Changes or Odessey.

― Giorgio Marauder (I eat cannibals), Tuesday, October 13, 2009 9:20 PM (Yesterday)

If you classify the Wendy & Bonnie album as a rare, totally overrated also-ran, then it is over between us.

the first two Mamas & Papas albums really should be included here. hmmmph. also Younger Than Yesterday isn't even the second best psych-pop album by the Byrds. it's still a good list, but hmmmph.

(I voted Odessey btw)

Bizarre list. Nothing against Wendy & Bonnie, but including that at the expense of Henske & Yester's Farewell Aldebaran is annoying but not as annoying as the complete omission of early 80s paisley - even Mojo magazine would have corrected for that.

Voted Dukes Of Stratosphere just out of spite.

Just checked: I own everything that's on this list.

Now matter what was on the list, it's Forever Changes.

this is really impossible for me. odessey or forever changes or begin.

i will vote later, but i won't be happy about it.

those coupla Smoke albums owne

btw what are the lyrics in the chorus of Gold is the color of thought by the Smoke?

Can't quite make them out. That song is the business

Nah, not voting in this 'cos that would entail having to not vote for some of my favourite albums

Let's Talk About This Guy's 50 Favorite Records

^^^^^^this list is fab

how many people would be upset if the flaming lips won this?

A lot of ILM'ers, but I am pretty certain they will not. Competition is too strong.

Competition might be fragmentary.

competition might be too blah.

obviously some great lps here. had magical mystery tour not been on the list I'd have had a hard time choosing.

This was an incredibly hard decision, but I think I'm gonna go with Kaleidoscope just to be perverse. (Otherwise I'd go with Oddyssy and Oracle)

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

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

i am surprised the zombies came out with so few votes!

also, whaddup fellow july voter!

Skylarking, really? I got it back in the day (the 3CD version) and was a bit underwhelmed.

I'm not surprised the Zombs got 'few' votes, it seems a lot of people who like it like "Forever Changes" more. Me, I do not wish to choose. (Or do I? I think I may have voted O&O, acannae remember)

Hang on, whoa whoa whoa, I voted "Shazam" and definitely, so where did that one go?

Wow, that was kind of a runaway. I like O&O more than Forever Changes. But I just love Kaleidoscope more than is rational.

I shoulda voted for Wendy & Bonnie, tho, really. That 0 looks so sad.

so person pitch is better than surfs up

Again, on this thread as on the Girl Groups singles - the 0s would make a fantastic mixtape.

A fucking long one tho.

"Forever Changes" is a good album, but by no means 3-4 times better than anything else on this glorious list of classics.

Skylarking, really? I got it back in the day (the 3CD version)

The 1 LP version is what you should start with

This poll was a bit more one-sided than I would have thought

I would say "Forever Changes" doesn't quite fit into this genre at all, being more "folky" and less "quirky/kitchen sink twee" than the rest of the material here. So maybe that's why it got so many votes, from people who aren't really into this genre?

its also a very good album. I'm surprised fewer people voted for the Beatles - are we all beatled out after the past month, are they easy to pass over due to overfamiliarity, or do you really think Love is more essential?

It is a well-known fact that "Sgt. Pepper" has never struck quite the same chord with ILM users that it does with the baby boomers and did with most 70s prog rock musicians.

""Forever Changes" doesn't quite fit into this genre at all, being more "folky" and less "quirky/kitchen sink twee" than the rest of the material here"

what about Animal Collective or Pink Floyd,for example?

plus - is there such a thing such as a "scientific" definition of "psych pop"? and what did you expect from an RYM list or from ilx ?

"So maybe that's why it got so many votes, from people who aren't really into this genre?"
i'm into the genre,voted for it, and Forever Changes can be called Psych Pop. i'm sure most people will agree.

I wouldn't call it that, personally, I don't think of it as being very "pop"

I tend to think of Pop as anything you can sing along to, so definitely Forever Changes.

I ended up voting for O&O and I am glad that I did.

Like a lot of the stuff suggested here and not included, I would say "Forever Changes" is closer to folk rock or maybe an advanced form of sunshine pop. Both of which are genres that do exist on RYM.

i enjoy thinking of the options in this poll through my musical maturation, for lack of a better phrase. 5 or 6 years ago, i would have voted for "the soft bulletin" without a second thought. i still enjoy that album, but i love three other albums on this list a whole lot more now.

If we are trying to figure out what would be Psych Pop in terms of pop and psych, I guess that would be a singles genre, and "Green Tambourine" and "Judy in Disguise With Glasses" would have to win.

as far as albums go though, I voted Piper, and have no problem with Love winning. Something by The Three O'Clock would be a better choice for the fake stuff from the '80s than the XTC.

Dude, for psych pop singles, Mindrocker by the Fenwyck is the BEST PSYCH POP SINGLE OF ALL TIME.

But no one, utterly no one agrees with me. Wah.

I can agree with you (but maybe not every day).

Ah, I know, I can't have sunshine every day.

(another pop psych gem)

i love mindrocker, but i'd take "a question of temperature" over it any day.

I'd suggest a poll, but we've already done every single volume of Nuggets and Pebbles on the planet (and Venus as well) haven't we?

Maybe we should just poll... THIS RANDOM RICHARD NORRIS PSYCH POP MIX I'M LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW. Except that'd be down to the Shadows of Knight vs. Shocking Blue for me.

The guy from Plastic Crimewave did a really good mix for dublab a few weeks ago of psych/sunshine pop, should still be on the site

Ha, FOUR Brazilian albums in that list. not land of samba anymore

I like "Forever Changes" too, but had I seen this poll, I'd have voted for "Gilberto Gil (1969)".