POLL: The Guardian's "My favourite album" series - Guardian and Observer writers pick their favourite albums of all time

i didn't realise the poll limit was 50, and annoyingly there are 51 albums so far, so i took the liberty of excluding oasis because seriously wtf no.

obv i am voting for my own, though madonna/björk/tom waits/erykah badu/pj harvey/lauryn hill/fleetwood mac all run it pretty close

many that i haven't heard - the write-up that most inspires me to check an unheard one out is suzanne moore on millie jackson

Are we voting for best/ favourite?

the good the bad & the queen is the biggest wtf here for me

or The National. Seriously?

Are we voting for best/ favourite?

yeah i guess so!

towards the start of the list i remember muttering about how few women were represented in the list (artists not writers) but that seemed to get better as more people contributed

voted for his n hers: partly to vote for rosie swash, partly because i like it very much. rumours probably the album i've heard the most of these.

who picked oasis?

Public Enemy ftw but Jon Wilde's Louis Armstrong pick is great and the accompanying piece was quite moving too. Actually I listened to the whole thing for the first time because of that, having only known the hits before, so thanks JW.

the write-up that most inspires me to check an unheard one out is suzanne moore on millie jackson

ditto.
went to the shop where i had seen this along with her other famous album of the era that has been reissued, with the intention of buying them.
both were gone.

Public Enemy.

On a different day I might have gone for Back In Black, Homogenic or Appetite for Destruction, but I woke up with Louder Than A Bomb in my head this morning.

Struggling to think of any album here than could be worse than Blur's 13. There's Belle and Sebastian but you have to allow for weird cultishness I suppose.

you like ac/dc and guns'n'roses matt???????!!!!!!!!!!

;_;

How did you not know that?

Voting Graceland, as it's given me significant renewed pleasure this year. Blur's 13 is the hardest choice for me to get my head around.

AC/DC v New Order v Public Enemy for me. Difficult choice.

Satchmo VS P.E. VS Chic

Voted Michael Head and The Strands. Lots of records I like a lot or admire on the list, but few I really love. And some wtf choices too, obviously, but different people like different things, what you gonna do?

Blogged about this series the other day, actually. http://sickmouthy.com/2011/10/17/my-favourite-album/

the GNR album writeup has an, even by Graun standards, unbelievably stupid comment section which features the claim "in 1991 I was punched in the face for wearing a Pavement t-shirt in Swansea"

Quite odd to pick 'Fire Escape in the Sky', a compilation, as favourite album. But I'm even more surprised Bob Stanley confesses that he drew a line in the sand w/r/t Scott Walker after Climate of Hunter.

xp lol

The choice for me was Guns n' Roses vs. Bjork. It narrowly went to GnR.

Voted Michael Head and The Strands. Lots of records I like a lot or admire on the list, but few I really love. And some wtf choices too, obviously, but different people like different things, what you gonna do?

yeah I can get behind the Strands record, not bc it's def my fav but because it's a righteous, generous choice for this kind of list.

hey Lex sorry for a lack of default ILX knowledge but idk which is yours, & there is no visible electrik red lp in the list afaics

ctrl-f "lex" and take a wild gamble, live a little

A Lex is Petridis?

actually did that, sorry I just do not have good poster knowledge?, anyway sorry I am derailing.
I'm not objective enough to not just be picking the things I might choose myself, here, but Aquemini seems like a p interesting pick, in terms of not seeming like egregious presentism, cf The Good The Bad & The Queen, but still being new/interesting/fun to rep for

xp lol I once had lived with above misunderstanding for a few good months, gotta admit that all these radiohead props coming from the supposed "lex" looked quite suspicious

Schlump, this is Lex: Tori Amos - From The Choirgirl Hotel (Alex Macpherson)

Chic but probably should have voted for The Complete Hot Five and Hot Seven as that's untouchable

TY xp

Scott Walker - Fire Escape In The Sky (Bob Stanley)

Bit of a cop out?

Quite odd to pick 'Fire Escape in the Sky', a compilation, as favourite album. But I'm even more surprised Bob Stanley confesses that he drew a line in the sand w/r/t Scott Walker after Climate of Hunter.

Ah you beat me to it! Not at all surprised that Bob Stanley wouldn't be interested in his later work,

No, I think I misunderstood that at first. I bet he already didn't appreciate Climate of Hunter.

Modern Lovers for me <--------------- LOL indie

xpost
He's not alone, in the 30 Century Man doc, Marc Almond really loathes 'Tilt'.

Yeah I saw that. It's fair enough if people don't like Tilt or the Drift. But for someone who likes 'old-skool' Scott Walker, like Stanley, I still think 'Fire in the Sky' is an odd choice.

Paul Lester's Risque piece is excellent.

Both The Magical World of the Strands and Vivadixiesubmarineplot are records that meant a lot to me when I was 20 or so but I haven't gone back to either for quite a while.

Always thought Tunnel of Love was the one that led even hardcore Springsteen fans to start rolling their eyes, so surprised he picked that one.

From what I've read lately it's the Springsteen album die-hards and skeptics love.

alex, get yourself caught up asap, you would love it

Always thought Tunnel of Love was the one that led even hardcore Springsteen fans to start rolling their eyes

i quite like how series like this will go against that sort of consensus - i mean FTCH is basically when the world at large, inc many of her fans, stopped caring about tori amos. but it's still her best.

xp i have caught up now! haven't got round to it. i guess i should get the chic as well?

is Still Caught Up better than Caught Up or am i just being daft here?

Hmmm Rain Dogs is in there too, that's tempting...

PE for me, but I agree that Jon Wilde's write up of Louis Armstrong was excellent. Fordham chose well with Brilliant Corners. Kind of a shame they didn't have more jazz choices, but then other than the odd scraps given to Fordham every Friday, and the very occasional feature by a freelancer, the Graun's jazz coverage is pretty poor.

Tbf, the Graun's jazz coverage is better than any other UK paper's. The comments after Peter Robinson's Now! are total face palm stuff.
Wasn't Stanley's reason for choosing Fire Escape that it was his introduction to Scott and therefore it seemed the most appropriate choice? Seems fair enough to me. I'm sure he loves the individual albums too, but I can appreciate that the comp was the thing that knocked him for six in the first place.

Most of these I'd classify as pretty decent, but few would be among my favorite albums. Still, it's more interesting to read a list of personal #1's than yet another poll featuring the usual suspects. Consensus is often boring. I guess I'd vote for "Brilliant Corners".

I still don't understand why Tom rates Introspective above every other PSB album.

The Millie Jackson album's great Lex.

Lots of these only make sense when you read the write-ups. Early on, when I did mine, they were meant to be quite straight pieces in praise of great albums but they got more and more memoirish, especially after Simon Hattenstone's, hence some choices which seem bizarre listed in a poll like this. A lot of people are really writing about a moment in their life rather than a record. I like that.

"favourite album" is a fundamentally instinctive thing, not something to be "determined" - i say that i have many, which is true, but when it came down to it only a handful were real contenders for this.

The only time I ever actually think of myself as 'using' music is when I'm on public transport and I'm trying to read and want to block out conversation - that's usually techno or ambient of some variety.

"using music" - music to work to (usually has to be instrumental if i'm writing), music to work out to (house/techno mixes), music to travel to (anything loud enough that i can hear it over the bloody tube), &c &c

69 Love Songs over If You're Feeling Sinister. This is one weird ass list, though.

i guess i'm saying that the other ways we listen to music are a different kind of "use", it's just that culturally we tend to want to treat those kinds of use differently - but the records we love apparently unreflectively are very wrapped up in our perceptions of ourselves and the world around us, and often part of that love or favouritism is a kind of communication with the outside world i think

I use music in all of the above ways Lex mentions, but I think one can also use music for emotional purposes / reasons, too - a nostalgia hit, a mood uplift, something to really mope and wallow in. You can even use it just to scratch an aesthetic / sonic itch. Also, using music to dance to! (Not that I do this all that much, and now my physiotherapist has told me why. Sadface.)

also the social spaces we inhabit impact on taste - i don't think i love the music i feel it's okay to play when the family are around any less than the music i'll only play on my own or via headphones. but they have different purposes, maybe.

Totally.

absolutely! why can't you dance nick?

xps

what's weird about this list, jer?

Station To Station.

I use music in all of the above ways Lex mentions, but I think one can also use music for emotional purposes / reasons, too - a nostalgia hit, a mood uplift, something to really mope and wallow in. You can even use it just to scratch an aesthetic / sonic itch.

Yeah I get this totally, I suppose I'd blanked that way of listening out of this particular line of thought because it's not what I think of as 'utilitarian' even when it secretly is.

Dance music is obviously utilitarian but I rarely actually put on music with the explicit intention of dancing to it.

i definitely put on a lot of "get hype" music before i go out tho

it's swings and roundabouts, in a way - in a certain mood, you want to listen to music that gets you in a certain mood

yeah i was gonna say getting-ready-to-go-out music is the ultimate meeting point of hedonism and utilitarianism

i definitely put on a lot of "get hype" music before i go out tho

Oh hell yeah. Just before going out is the point where a lot of music sounds best.

at party conferences i always have to listen to really gully aggressive hip-hop - diamond, WAKA and so on

xpost to jer
I think if you asked any 50 music obsessives their favourite album you're bound to come up with 'weird' selections.

Weird doesn't = bad, mind you, but Hidden Cameras? Doves? NTWICM 11?

I can see the latter being some sort of jokey entry, but find it hard to believe that these are anyone's actual fave records ever.

Physiotherapy after a recent shoulder injury has revealed that I'm particularly loose-limbed, which has explained recurring problems I've had with my knees, sometimes brought about by football but always aggravated by dancing. Basically, if I move vigorously in any manner that's not super regulated, (i.e. get drunk and dance) I can put muscles and tendons and stuff out of alignment really easily. So I'm sticking to cycling (very regulated motion), and football with strapping on knees, and making sure I concentrate massively on posture and stuff around my shoulders. I thought nothing of it when I was younger and would recover quickly, but getting older is a pisser. So dancing is pretty much out, unless I take up something super regulated. Like line dancing. And that can eat a fucking big bag of dicks.

xpost to jer
I think if you asked any 50 music obsessives their favourite album you're bound to come up with 'weird' selections.

― The multi-talented F.R. David (Billy Dods), Thursday, October 20, 2011 11:22 AM (13 seconds ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

True.

that sucks Nick but you cd always do the Robot?

Cycling + robot dancing = clearly joining Kraftwerk is the way to go.

aren't there exercises and stretches you can do to strengthen the joints? that sucks ;_;

I can see the latter being some sort of jokey entry, but find it hard to believe that these are anyone's actual fave records ever.

Peter does a really good job of explaining why NTWICM11 is his favourite album ever in his piece - could easily apply it to my own first Now comp (Now 22)

Went with Armstrong. Everything else on the list is derived from it in one way or another.

though having said that nostalgia for childhood is not a thing that i place any importance on

Just read the piece, and I take back what I said about it being a joke choice. Though I also agree that childhood nostalgia does not a best album make.

the interesting thing about my favorite albums is that, for most of them, I've internalized them so much after repeated play that I hardly ever listen to them anymore

for me New Order is the exception.

Surprised how many of these I absolutely love. Hidden Cameras, Magnetic Fields, Bowie, Millie Jackson, Chic, Outkast, New Order, Avalanches, Blondie, Cannibal Ox, Pet Shop Boys and Madonna are all great choices.

I'd have to pick Bjork just over The Modern Lovers but they'd both probably be in my top 10.

On Now 11, that's the first tape I ever owned, so it has some good associations for me too. I think it had the Mission and Morrissey as well as SAW hits of the day... http://www.discogs.com/Various-Now-Thats-What-I-Call-Music-11/release/2509683

Climie Fisher – Rise To The Occasion (Hip Hop Mix) think I must have blanked this one from my memory...

Really? By mentioning it you just dragged it out of the deep end of my memory and I can still sing it front to back! Completely forgot about that song!

I can certainly remember the song, it's the "Hip Hop Mix" I don't recall!

Exercises can strengthen muscles by it's tendons that are the problem - the only 'cure' is to inject glucose to stiffen them apparently, which I don't like the sound of. Given that I like to flail around to old soul music and funky hip hop / pop / indiedance as my dancing of preference, the robot is quite a leap for me to make...

also it sounds like that leap will end in tears

xp

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YzPUnN33yW0

:-)

A friend of mine had that 12"

Climie Fisher are now inextricably linked with this for me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zr8D1XScCgM

I really enjoyed that Tunnel of Love write-up.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Mama's Gun

Is Simon Reynolds slated to do one, because his favourite album (at one time at least) was also my favourite album as well?

dont really know most of these, interested in the thelonius monk, eryka badu and lousi armstrong ones though

and orchestra baobob just because i never heard of it and im curoous

somehow managed to spell ALL of those wrong

I like Lousi Armstrong though.

i got round to the millie jackson album btw, it's AMAAAAAAZING

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

oh jeez i forgot that ilm loved the avalanches. urgh. dorian you officially have the most ilm-approved taste at the grau!

Madonna - Like A Prayer (Hadley Freeman) 0

KMT at you people. and you threw votes to pulp?! KMFT.

i got round to the millie jackson album btw, it's AMAAAAAAZING

― lex pretend

Her follow up album Still Caught Up is also worth checking out. It's not quite as amazing but you do get to hear how the story ends.

i got round to the millie jackson album btw, it's AMAAAAAAZING

― lex pretend, Thursday, October 27, 2011 1:27 AM (15 hours ago) Bookmark

yesss... one of my favorites! such a good write-up too.

Michael Head And The Strands - The Magical World Of The Strands (Andy Capper) 8

lol what

semi-serious q: was she a "gay icon"? i mean, she sounds pretty ripe for it on "caught up." i think that's a big part of why i love that album. xp

there's def some millie jackson in electrik red