the best albums ever (on emusic)
08Jul08
It’s up! This morning we have begun unveiling poll results from our member survey a month or so back, and if you click that link above, you’ll see picks 100 through 81 on the US site. (You can get to the UK, Europe and Canada results through that page as well.) There are quite a few surprises already in those twenty picks — some albums might seem low, others might seem high — and it’s a fair taste of what we have coming up this week. Any thoughts so far?
I didn’t vote (too difficult to decide, though I suspect my list would have looked uncannily like Daniel’s). This first installment is eye-opening, though. I had no idea the Minutemen catalog was available here, for instance. Same for Bad Brains; same for Go-Betweens. And I spend hours browsing here every week, hoping to uncover stuff like that.
Goes to show how diverse the selection at eMusic is. Makes those poor shmoes who troll the message boards about the lack of selection here seem even more pathetic than they already are.
There seems to be an interesting correlation between the music I listen to / have heard of and the UK results so far (nice to see Ulrich Schnauss there). I’ve barely heard of any of the listed results in US/Canada so far (maybe 6 of the artists on the US list, 3 on the Canadian), and the Europe results are a little far from my own tastes.
I’m from the UK but my vote would have counted towards the Europe store, so it’ll be interesting to see how things turn out.
Soweto and M.I.A. so low? John Prine so high? Mitch Hedberg?
Weird list, so far. Some nice surprises, tho. Probably better than reciting the canon.
LOL, I don’t even remember what I voted for as my favorites change constantly. However, I’m pretty sure Osaka Monurali was one and if they make the list, I’ll be very impressed with the collective coolness of eMusic subscribers.
I didn’t vote–the prospect was too daunting–but there’s certainly some excellent stuff in the first installment.
I love the weighted approach, far more meaningful than a raw list. (I assume it’s 5 points for a first place vote, etc.? I probably missed it, but I didn’t see this spelled out.)
But I have to confess that the stat geek in me wants to know things like how many first-place votes each got. This is pretty standard reporting for things like All-Star selections…which is really what this is, eh? The emu all-stars. Maybe not even for more than the top ten, but I think that knowing the number of first place votes will spice up the debate considerably.
Like baseball, this list needs to be revisited every summer. Because “ever” is impossible. It can only be “so far.” In fact, the thing that kept me from voting was wrestling so long with the fact that my top 5 is mostly from this year…but that can’t actually be true, can it? How much better do I like them because I’m listening to them so heavily???…that I simply fretted my way past the deadline. This sort of thing might be easier for people who don’t need medication to live among civilized people, but it damn near killed me.
And even if it’s EVER, it HAS to be re-evaluated annually. New records come out all the time, and their relative position shifts as you get further away. Re-releases factor in too, especially when a whole catalog gets polished up, like, say Mission of Burma. Any record of theirs should rank higher this year than last year. New arrivals too: no Guyville last year either, and I could see it in the top 20 US.
Annually, people, annually. That’s all I’m saying.
Okay, one more stat geek thing. I want to know the best SELLING albums of all time. It’s kind of like Soundscan or Neilsen — people say one thing, but they DO another. Take the record store clerks and phone call surveys out of the loop, and the numbers speak for themselves. For emu, is it Taylor Swift? How hard did the Stones hit before they left? They were all over the top ten for a few weeks, but I wouldn’t be shocked that the magnitude of THEIR #1 was so big, compared to, say, Burial or Doleful Lions, that it made a dent on the all-time sales list.
And that’s before we start comparing lists once the votes are all in.
Whoah, I never even thought to look for Sparks on eMusic! This list will be a great buyers guide for me. …And an indication that it is probably a good thing I didn’t cast a ballot for this poll.
On that subject, does anyone know if we’re getting the new, forthcoming Sparks disc? It has the best song titles of the year, by far (e.g., “‘Lighten Up, Morrissey”).
I’d like to hear Amishi’s analysis of this list.
I like the idea that this is something we revisit from time to time — people’s tastes shift often. I know records I loved a few years ago have seriously diminished in my eyes since then.
I will see if I can coax Amishi out of hiding to weigh in on the proceedings!
Sparx?!?!?!? oh wait no Sparks. I thought you meant SparX (http://www.sparxonline.com/) and I was like what?1?!?! Daniel ESQ. I have lost faith.
Oops my bad
Tim, I feel you on the stats geek thing. I am a devoted stats dork myself (favorite political blog = fivethirtyeight.com). I’m not sure how much of that I’ll be able to generate, just because it’s a massive spreadsheet that a coworker of ours ran a macro on to calculate. If possible, I will, though. Also, there’s an album that made it to the top ten that arrived there pretty much solely because almost every single vote was a first place one. (And yes, the votes are weighted.)
And Daniel, that Mitch Hedberg disc is amazing!
I’ve pretty much stayed away from all the comedy discs (on eMusic and elsewhere). One I’m sort of on the lookout for is Rick Reynolds’ “Only The Truth Is Funny.” Brutally honest humor, from the clips I’ve heard. Sad and bracing and vital.
I’ll sample the Hedberg disc.
hedberg is very steven wright, but with better jokes. just super dry. i’ve gotten a lot of mileage out of it. (i am not a comedy albums guy either, btw)
I think I voted Neutral Milk Hotel for my number 1.
The US list has Judas Priest on it. It’s giving me something new to consider downloading. My metal collection is very weak.