surprised at the HM's really low placing. That's very interesting.

The first three tracks on that are awesome. Plus is has one of the coolest covers ever.

#241.



Megadeth - Countdown to Extinction

Year: 1992

US Chart Position: #2

UK Chart Position: #5

Charting Singles: "Symphony of Destruction" (#71 / #29 Mainstream Rock US, #15 UK), "Sweating Bullets" (#27 Mainstream Rock US, #26 UK), "Foreclosure of a Dream" (#30 Mainstream Rock US), "Skin O' My Teeth" (#13 UK)

Acclaimed Music Ranking: n/a

Rank on Our All-Time Albums List: #446

AMG Says: "Megadeth guns for arena thrash success and gets it on Countdown to Extinction. Following the lead of 1991's Metallica, Megadeth trades in their lengthy, progressive compositions for streamlined, tightly written and played songs more conducive to radio and MTV airplay. Cries of "sellout" seem pointless when the results are artistically (as well as commercially) successful; songs like the mega-hit "Symphony of Destruction," "Skin O' My Teeth," "Foreclosure of a Dream," and "Sweating Bullets" are among the band's best."

Ranked Highest By: Velocity (#6)

Amazon Link

goddamn it

#240.



They Might Be Giants - They Might Be Giants

Year: 1986

US Chart Position: n/a

UK Chart Position: n/a

Charting Singles: n/a

Acclaimed Music Ranking: #49 (year), #398 (decade), #1912 (all-time)

AMG Says: "They Might Be Giants' eponymous debut album is a wild fusion of new wave pop and arty post-punk experiments borrowed from the New York underground. It runs through a head-spinning 19 songs in just over 45 minutes, running the gamut from the performance-art schtick of "Chess Piece Face" and "Youth Culture Killed My Dog" to the pure pop of "Don't Let's Start" and "Everything Right Is Wrong Again." While there are a lot of geeky jokes and barely developed ideas scattered throughout the album, the sheer kaleidoscopic array of styles is intoxicating, and it helps the best songs -- the Costello-esque "Put Your Hand Inside the Puppet Head," the sighing "Hide Away Folk Family," the stomping "(She Was A) Hotel Detective," and the gorgeous "She's an Angel" -- stand out in sharp relief."

Ranked Highest By: Agrimorfee (#13)

Amazon Link

I imagine even that cover is annoying you.

This has been playing in my car the past two days. I made the right call.

someone wanna YSI that? I'm now definitely intrigued.

#239.



Beastie Boys - Ill Communication

Year: 1994

US Chart Position: #1

UK Chart Position: #10

Charting SIngles: "Get it Together" (#5 Dance US, #19 UK), "Sabotage" (#18 Modern Rock US, #19 UK b/w Get it Together), "Sure Shot" (#48 Dance US, #27 UK), "Root Down" (#23 UK)

Acclaimed Music Ranking: #6 (year), #38 (decade), #253 (all-time)

AMG Says: "Ill Communication follows the blueprint of Check Your Head, accentuating it at some points, deepening it in others, but never expanding it beyond the boundaries of that record. As such, it's the first Beastie Boys album not to delve into new territory, but it's not fair to say that it finds the band coasting, since much of the album finds the group turning in muscular, vigorous music that fills out the black-and-white sketches that comprised Check Your Head. Much of the credit has to go to the group's renewed confidence in -- or at least renewed emphasis on -- their rhyming [...] Even if it is a little uneven, it still boasts more than its fair share of splendid, transcendent music, and it really only pales in comparison to the Beasties' trio of classic records. By any other measure, this is a near-masterpiece, and it is surely a highlight of '90s alternative pop/rock."

Ranked Highest By: Big Pink (#20)

Amazon Link

No complaints here. I'm just glad that it made the list.

I still haven't heard any of these yet. Yeah, not even Ill Communication (intently catching up on Beastie Boys this year, though, thank God their older albums are bargain priced most places I look).

I almost voted for a Happy Mondays compilation but I wasn't sure if that would have been allowed or not. Doesn't look like it would have mattered, though.

I'm not going to let a little XTC-bashing get between us.



But so help me. If you listen to this and dismiss it as "dumbed-down grunge pop" or some shit, I will never ever EVER post in one of your poll threads again.

#238.



Sepultura - Chaos A.D.

Year: 1993

US Chart Position: #32

UK Chart Position: #11

Charting Singles: n/a

Acclaimed Music Ranking: n/a

AMG Says: "Chaos A.D. was the record where everything came together for Sepultura, when they graduated from being an excellent, if derivative, band into one of metal's most unique voices. Their strident political dissidence is more focused than ever, referring explicitly to injustices in their native Brazil. The band's thick, chunky guitars, busy percussion, and hoarsely shouted vocals may be rooted in death metal, but it was often hard to call Sepultura a true death metal band, even if they flirted heavily with the style by way of Slayer; Chaos A.D. is rooted just as much in hardcore punk in its lean, stripped-down assault [...] Endlessly playable (there isn't a wasted or unnecessary note on the album), passionately performed, and a sign that a new metal underground was finally bearing artistic fruit, Chaos A.D. ranks as one of the greatest heavy metal albums of all time. It's a remarkable achievement not only in its concentrated power and originality, but also in the degree to which Sepultura eclipsed their idols in offering a vision of heavy metal's future -- a vision that would only grow more compelling with their next release."

Ranked Highest By: Burzum (#23)

Amazon Link



if the rest of the album is anything like "Dream All Day," we have nothing to worry about

I can't believe i'm watching the top #250 unfold. I'm so excited for this. Dr. Bill - you are so spectacular. Seriously, this is so fuckin great.

Got my first "Ranked highest by..." already

#237.



Sonic Youth - Bad Moon Rising

Year: 1985

US Chart Position: n/a

UK Chart Position: n/a

Charting Singles: n/a

Acclaimed Music Ranking: n/a

AMG Says: "An album quite unlike any other in the colorful Sonic Youth canon, Bad Moon Rising captures the New York band in 1985 during its most morose phase, one that is quite forbidding yet fascinating all the same. The proper album is an eight-song tapestry of droning guitar feedback, distant clattering percussion, and dreamy vocal mumblings, all of it woven together by sullen interludes of ambient noise. With the exception of the closing "Death Valley '69," nothing really stands out per se. Each song shares the same late-night shadowy feel as the others, with no outright singalong hooks to be found anywhere -- just one ambling slab of dark noise rock [...] it plays as one long piece, a work that perhaps reflects the spirit of the time, American gothic through the glassy eyes of willful moonlit paranoia. And as such, it's certainly a step toward EVOL (1986), the band's successive release, which is likewise obsessed with the dark side of America and likewise informed by sweeping waves of ambient guitar noise, but much more song-based and focused than Bad Moon Rising's dreamscape feel."

Ranked Highest By: Freddie Freelance (#7)

Amazon Link

Waaaaaaaaay too low. There I said it.

#236.



Iron Maiden - Live After Death

Year: 1985

US Chart Position: #22

UK Chart Position: #2

Charting Singles: "Running Free (Live)" (#19 UK), "Run to the Hills (Live)" (#26 UK)

Acclaimed Music Ranking: n/a

AMG Says: "Disc one is comprised of selections from a four-night stand at L.A.'s Long Beach Arena, with disc two comprised of performances from London's Hammersmith Odeon. The album is essentially a best-of of sorts, since most of their singles released up to this point are featured in all of their high-decibel glory: "Aces High," "2 Minutes to Midnight," "The Trooper," "Flight of Icarus," "The Number of the Beast," "Run to the Hills," and "Running Free." Also included are such strong album tracks as "Wrathchild," "22 Acacia Avenue," "Children of the Damned," "Phantom of the Opera," "Hallowed Be Thy Name," "Iron Maiden," plus their two epics, "Powerslave" and "Rime of the Ancient Mariner," making it a near-complete overview. Live After Death is easily one of heavy metal's best live albums."

Ranked Highest By: Saskadelphia (#4)

Amazon Link

Can't believe I forgot to vote for "Dream All Day" on the singles poll. Such a great song. I have one of those ancient relics called a cassingle which pairs that with "Flavor of the Month". Two great pieces of power pop.

#235.



Ministry - The Land of Rape & Honey

Year: 1988

US Chart Position: #164

UK Chart Position: n/a

Charting Singles: n/a

Acclaimed Music Ranking: #47 (year), #437 (decade), #2092 (all-time)

AMG Says: "The Land of Rape and Honey represented Ministry's stylistic breakthrough, combining assaultive percussion, samples, synths, and (sometimes) crunching guitars with distorted, barking vocals. For all the emphasis on the group's metal/industrial fusion, it's really only the first three (and best) tracks on Rape and Honey -- "Stigmata," "The Missing," and "Deity" -- that employ guitars extensively. The remainder of the album merely suggests heavy metal aggression through its electronic and sampled elements; it is far more industrial in feel, even though it's just as dark. Ministry was the industrial band that, more than any other, appealed to metal fans, and it was The Land of Rape and Honey that began to lay claim to that status."

Ranked Highest By: Birdistheword (#20)

Amazon Link

wow, surprised someone ranked this one higher than me (I think I had it at #13.)
Good job putting it at #7 and lifting it up, Freddie!

(should be higher imo)

I think it was actually my #4.

Funny how the metal seems to be getting disposed of quickly.


It took me years to realise just how good that album is. Far superior to Metallica's Black Album.

#234.



Gang Starr - Daily Operation

Year: 1992

US Chart Position: #65 / #14 R&B

UK Chart Position: n/a

Charting Singles: "Take it Personal" (#1 Rap US), "Ex Girl to Next Girl" (#5 Rap US)

Acclaimed Music Ranking: #35 (year), #311 (decade), #1617 (all-time)

AMG Says: "On Step in the Arena, DJ Premier and Guru hit upon their mature sound, characterized by sparse, live jazz samples, Premier's cut-up scratching, and Guru's direct, unwavering streetwise monotone; but, with Daily Operation, the duo made their first masterpiece. From beginning to end, Gang Starr's third full-length album cuts with the force and precision of a machete and serves as an ode to and representation of New York and hip-hop underground culture. The genius of Daily Operation is that Guru's microphone skills are perfectly married to the best batch of tracks Premier had ever come up with. Guru has more of a presence than he has ever had, slinking and pacing through each song like a man with things on his mind, ready to go off at any second. Premier's production has an unparalleled edge here [...] Every song has some attribute that stamps it indelibly into the listener's head, and it marks the album as one of the finest of the decade, rap or otherwise."

Ranked Highest By: Derry Dukes (#8)

Amazon Link

Awful lot of metal so far. Just sayin'.

#234 for Daily Operation is criminal.

with EVOL SY started getting too song oriented for my tastes (at least my taste at the time), this was the last SY album I bought at the time of release. Their live sets back then were incredible, just amazing chaotic noisefests You never knew if they'd play 2 hours of Ramones covers or get in a fight where they'd use the drummers cymbals like Ninja Throwing Stars while bashing their guitars with broken drum sticks & bloody knuckles.

Fun/hilarious/pathetic fact:

The only albums so far that I've heard/voted for are the Dead Milkmen and They Might Be Giants albums. Hooray for dumb 80s college music! Hooray for bands that Bill hates! Ha, ha. This is all so amusing to me.

#233.



Ween - The Pod

Year: 1991

US Chart Position: n/a

UK Chart Position: n/a

Charting Singles: n/a

Acclaimed Music Ranking: n/a

AMG Says: "Another collection of inspired pop pastiche and four-track dementia, 1991's The Pod is nearly as long as GodWeenSatan: The Oneness but even weirder and more deranged, due in large part to the band's Scotchguard habit and the severe cases of mononucleosis Gene and Dean Ween contracted while recording the album. As a result, The Pod is dark and murky, with a slightly distant, fuzzy feel [...] The Pod is insular; you can tell that Dean and Gene had a fun -- or at least bizarre -- time making the album, but it doesn't translate. Though it does feature a few of Ween's best songs, The Pod is easily their most difficult work. However, hardcore fans will still find digging through its messy sprawl worthwhile."

Ranked Highest By: Avatar Ackbar (#21)

Amazon Link

Alright, out of these albums, I've got They Might Be Giants, Dead Milkmen, and Ween.

I feel really fucking silly right now.

#232.



The Jesus Lizard - Head

Year: 1990

US Chart Position: n/a

UK Chart Position: n/a

Charting Singles: n/a

Acclaimed Music Ranking: n/a

AMG Says: "With McNeilly in to provide a little more human swing to the proceedings -- appropriate given Denison's own jazz-madness tendencies -- the Jesus Lizard fully launched themselves on an unsuspecting world with Head. The brutal, bass-heavy slam of the music, testament to the uncredited engineering/producing abilities of Steve Albini, gives the whole record a punch that most indie rock didn't have at the time, looking ahead to where similarly minded groups like Helmet (also produced by Albini) would end up soon enough. The McNeilly/Sims rhythm dictates the songs, letting Denison and Yow both find their own way over the chugging brusqueness as they see fit. Yow for the most part sounds like he's singing through a wall or through a huge amount of cotton gauze, making his lyrical tales of violence, twisted living, and the like one for lyric-sheet readers to work out, but the amped-up roars and leers evident in his vocals do a fine job on their own."

Ranked Highest By: Burzum (#21)

Amazon Link

I'll say it: Lots of Metal and bands Andrew doesn't like.

fuck yeah Head is so good. Better than Liar.

Damn, three of my top 25 already knocked out. Way to suck, SOMB.

c'mon....i'ts a beautiful night for a walk out on the beach, wouldn't you say?

Anthrax, Iron Maiden and Megadeath are the defenition of 80's college music

#231.



Midnight Oil - Diesel and Dust

Year: 1987

US Chart Position: #21

UK Chart Position: #19

Charting Singles: "Beds are Burning" (#17 / #6 Modern Rock US, #6), "The Dead Heart" (#53 / #11 Mainstream Rock US), "Dream World" (#16 Modern Rock)

Acclaimed Music Ranking: #14 (year), #121 (decade), #692 (all-time)

AMG Says: "Diesel and Dust isn't an album for hardcore Oils fans, but as a bid for a larger audience, it was both shrewd and well executed -- it was the group's first real worldwide success, going platinum in America and spawning a massive hit single, "Beds Are Burning." While the album lacks the kick-in-the-head impact of their earlier work, Diesel and Dust also makes clear that this band could apply their intelligence and passion to less aggressive material and still come up with forceful, compelling music, as on the haunting "The Dead Heart" and the poppy but emphatic "Dreamworld." And as always, there was no compromise in the band's forceful political stance -- most of the album's songs deal openly with the issues of Aboriginal rights (hardly an issue pertinent only to Australians), and one of Midnight Oil's greatest victories may well be writing a song explicitly demanding reparations for indigenous peoples, and seeing it top the charts around the world."

Ranked Highest By: BobtheSquid (#32)

Amazon Link

but that megadeth album sucks, bad. Rust in Peace was way better

hope some people voted for that one, I probably forgot.

Community college, maybe.

lol good one

Megadeth is such a frustrating band. Peace Sells is one of the best metal albums ever but the rest of their albums are like 90% shit with one or two awesome songs.

#230.



Dukes of Stratosphear - 25 O'Clock

Year: 1985

US Chart Position: n/a

UK Chart Position: n/a

Charting Singles: n/a

Acclaimed Music Ranking: n/a

AMG Says: "The songs are equally reminiscent of the band's early musical loves, with deliberate lifts from the Beatles, the Move, the Kinks, the Syd Barrett-era Pink Floyd, and others. Happily, most of the six tracks also work on their merits, not just as pastiche; "Bike Ride to the Moon" isn't just a takeoff of Tomorrow's "My White Bicycle," it's a delirious freakout more propulsive than anything XTC had recorded since 1980's Black Sea. The other five tracks are equally excellent, with the title track and "Your Gold Dress" particular standouts. The funniest moment, however, comes at the end of side one, when Leckie fades in a tape recording of a caller (who sounds like, but isn't, Woody Allen) to a New York radio broadcast complaining about the show's earlier broadcast of ex-Fug Tuli Kupferberg's "Go Fuck Yourself With Your Atom Bomb." That sort of sly humor enlivens all of the album, helping make it one of XTC's best releases under any name."

Ranked Highest By: Citizen (#17)

Amazon Link

so these guys are XTC under a different name?

yeah. I need to hear this.

GDB is loving the list right now

Yeah, basically a more pychadelic side project.

Andy Partridge, Colin Moulding & Dave Gregory, with Dave Gregoriy's brother Ian on Drums.

#229.



Dexy's Midnight Runners - Don't Stand Me Down

Year: 1985

US Chart Position: n/a

UK Chart Position: #22

Charting Singles: n/a

Acclaimed Music Ranking: #29 (year), #277 (decade), #1349 (all-time)

AMG Says: "Quite frankly, the album was a mess, with half the songs sounding like extemporized intros, and the rest seemingly trapped within their own middle eights. The fact that the Smiths, to name but one, had long since made a virtue of such intricacies was irrelevant -- the world wanted another "Come on Eileen." Instead they got "The Occasional Flicker," a song-cum-ramble-cum-rant that apparently went out of its way to disrupt those demands. Ah, but it's such a magnificent disruption. Freed (in his own mind at least) from the tiresome dictates of the band's hitmaking past, Rowland conceived an album that drifts past in a blur of haunting and sometimes haunted melodies, with the vocal lines floating almost conversationally over them. Play the album once, then think back on it later, and all you remember is the sheer casual joy of it all, the sense that Dexy's gathered in the studio for fun as much as profit, and if nobody liked what they did -- which they didn't -- then so be it."

Ranked Highest By: Falling and Laughing (#14)

Amazon Link

This is so weird that DMR are so acclaimed. I had no idea.

yeah, me too. c'mon Eileen always gives me the creeps a little, I don't know why.
I think it's too frollicky or something. but that's cool.

#228.



Liz Phair - Whip-Smart

Year: 1994

US Chart Position: #27

UK Chart Position: n/a

Charting Singles: "Supernova" (#78 / #6 Modern Rock US), "Whip-Smart" (#24 Modern Rock US)

Acclaimed Music Ranking: n/a

AMG Says: "Expectations ran extremely high for Liz Phair's follow-up to Exile in Guyville, one of the most critically acclaimed debut albums of all time. If there are flaws in this generally first-rate follow-up, they mostly arise in comparison with Guyville, a record of such unexpected impact that most anything Phair could have done may have been found lacking. She continues to explore sex and relationships with exhilarating frankness and celebration, employing her much-touted profanity to a conversational rather than a sensational effect. The sound is somewhat more produced, though still pretty basic, and the compositions are by and large tuneful and lyrically intriguing. It's not, after all is said and done, quite as striking as Guyville; like many sophomore efforts, it mines similar territory without making huge strides forward. Several songs are reprised from her widely circulated Girlysound demo tapes, and in some instances the more heavily produced, self-consciously ingenious arrangements here suffer in comparison to their blueprints. The title track, one of the highlights of those tapes, comes off as particularly gimmicky in its new incarnation, with the addition of all manner of superfluous animal noises. There's no question that Phair is a major songwriter and artist, but this album is more a solidification of her talents than a breakthrough statement."

Ranked Highest By: Bobandbob (#18)

Amazon Link

Now that's lower than I thought it would be.


Oh, stop complaining.

Yes, I would say that. I would say that.

Ha. Figured I'd let you take that one.

Let us metalheads have our brief low-end of the countdown moment, OK? Plenty of time for REM and Tom Waits albums later on. Its doubtful any metal record will even scratch the Top 50, or even the top 100 (except for like the chosen few: Master of Puppets and Reign In Blood, hopefully have the best chance. Maybe, maybe Operation: Mindcrime, but some people split the `Ryche vote with fucking Empire.).

And I voted for every metal record that's charted thus far, of course. Glad to at least see some up here.