Top 5 Albums of All Time

[Flash Harry]

Red ales, in the sunset... Just an idea....

[Bluesberry]

Red ales, in the sunset... Just an idea....

Great one...

Red ales, in the sunset,
Your eyes were like shining beer caps,
when we first met...

[launched]

BB - Can't wait until you churn out another one!!! On the 1200 I presume?

Later,

Mark

[Bluesberry]

BB - Can't wait until you churn out another one!!! On the 1200 I presume?

Later,

Mark

I'm closing in on it, this weekend is going to be intense, I can just feel it.  Last night some lyrics broke through, music is shaping up pretty much there, The log jam has broken...on the 1200...

Red ales, in the sunset,
Your eyes were like shining beer caps,
when we first met,
I can't wait till I come home,
To crack a bottle and share a glass,
Taste your sweet red foam...
 

[guitarron]

Elvis-Elvis Costello(i think thats the title-the album with Alison on it)

my aim is true i think it was called

yes-thanks iguess i could of googled or dug up my copy

greeny and the hoop  doing an Alison remake-cant wait
let me know if ya need any help on it

[launched]

BB - Can't wait until you churn out another one!!! On the 1200 I presume?

Later,

Mark

I'm closing in on it, this weekend is going to be intense, I can just feel it.  Last night some lyrics broke through, music is shaping up pretty much there, The log jam has broken...on the 1200...

Red ales, in the sunset,
Your eyes were like shining beer caps,
when we first met,
I can't wait till I come home,
To crack a bottle and share a glass,
Taste your sweet red foam...
 

That's pretty cool - cant wait!! I'm having MBR block at the moment - Maybe hearing your next number will give me some inspiration (Like they usually do).

Mark

[Bosko Schwartz]

Seriously though, how can you have 5 all time top?

How indeed.  Therein lies the challenge, good sir.  Or some would say the load of horse shite.

[Ferryman]

Hunky Dory
Ziggy Stardust
Diamond Dogs
Low
Scary Monsters

Bowie-tastic! Low nearly made it on to my list but was just beaten by The Idiot. But I found that whole Berlin era of Low/Heroes/The Idiot/Lust for Life to be hugely influential for me personally and I just love all those albums. I was coming out of prog rock and listening to a combination of all of these albums plus a lot of Can so I guess that prepared me for the onset of punk. Scary Monsters is a huge fave as well but I think it's a bit patchy in places.

Cheers,

Nigel

[Ted]

Seriously though, how can you have 5 all time top?

How indeed.  Therein lies the challenge, good sir.  Or some would say the load of horse shite.

That's my feeling too.  Earlier in this topic, I provided the results of my "data analysis approach" to my favorite albums.  And the results surprised me.  (Nobody commented on it, which really hurt my feelings. )

Anyway, I never would have picked the five that came on top--even though they are all very good albums.  That was kind of my point.

What goes on in your head and heart is in constant flux.  The data can't capture that.

[Bosko Schwartz]

Earlier in this topic, I provided the results of my "data analysis approach" to my favorite albums.  And the results surprised me.  (Nobody commented on it, which really hurt my feelings. )

No one comments on a lot of the shit I post.  But I've learned to not take it personally.  I understand not everything is going to get a written reaction because everyone here has a life (except Greeny ... either that, or he's really a set of identical twins.  Or perhaps super-human.  No one has that much time. ).

That said ...

Some of you may have noticed that I can geek out from time to time.  Well, I obsessively rate all of my songs in iTunes. (It helps with my "Smart Playlists" okay?)  I've rated more than 8300 songs.

More than a year ago, I decided to dump all of my song ratings into a database and find out what my favorite albums were based on the ratings.

Based on ratings of individual songs my analysis showed these as my top five albums:

(1) "Raw Power" by Iggy and the Stooges (2) "Brutal Youth" by Elvis Costello (3) "Oyster" by Heather Nova (4) "So" by Peter Gabriel (5) "Scatterlings" by Juluka

The results surprised even me. (What!? Nothing by The Who?  How did Heather Nova get in there!?).

If I were instead to make a list from the gut, it might look more like this:

(1) "Quadrophenia" by The Who (2) "Trust" Elvis Costello and the Attractions (3) "Never Mind The Bollocks" by The Sex Pistols (4) "Red" by King Crimson (5) "Hope" by Klaatu

Heavily weighted by sentimentality.

I did read your post earlier and found your approach and two different lists quite interesting.  I, too, enjoy rating songs on iTunes, but since I have HUNDREDS of albums, I decided one day that I will no longer rate anything below 4 stars.  Why bother rating 1- and 2-star songs?  Even 3 stars just means it's an average song in the user's opinion.  So now I only rate 4- and 5-star songs and put them in playlists -- one is a smart playlist with all of the 4- and 5-star songs, and another only includes 5-star songs, hand-picked.  I may just see what my top five albums are, based on my ratings, much like you did.  Only problem is, I haven't rated every single song yet, so it won't be comprehensive.

Anyway, I dig both of your lists, but the "heart" one is probably better in my opinion (and most likely more accurate for you).

As for the difficulty of this "challenge," that was entirely the point.  I'm a big Top 5/Top 10-list geek, and like to rate things even though I know it's an absurd premise.  I'm a huge fan of the movie/book High Fidelity.  I knew this topic would cause groans by some and excitement for others, and that even if they didn't want to do it, many would participate.  I also knew it would get some great conversations going.  So I'd call this thread a success.   Sure, I could have asked for a Top 20 list, but I honestly don't think it would have been any easier or less frustrating, and it would take 10 times longer.