I'm over 30 and still love Bleed American don't feel guilty in the least

and had American Idiot sold as many copies as these crappy Unwound albums you dolts tout , y'all would talk about how great it is...

also who cares about the fucking videos???????????????? this is an album poll is it not??

I've been buying Green Day albums as soon as they come out since I was 17 and so I bought American Idiot and thought it was amazing

I'm sick of most of it now - my kids still play it daily though I beg em to switch to Kerplunk

However, it's is a great album and deserves to be ranked and should of been higher.

makes no sense to me

green day and music forum?

That Green Day album is very good in places, the Jimmy Eat World one rules.

i'm out

For a mainstream rock album, that Green Day isn't bad at all

if nothing else

the fucking drums sound amazing on American Idiot - tre can play man

This album is very good.

Can somebody do a recap soon? I want to count how many albums I've actually heard (I'm betting it's less than 10).

The list is getting better now, we're starting to sprinkle a few semi-classic albums in, I'm getting a little more excited for the top 100 with every entry.

Also, I agree with the people backing American Idiot. As soon as people get over how well it did in sales, it'll start gaining the recognition it deserves. It's probably the best rock LP that's had those kinds of sales numbers in the last 5 years or so, at least I can't think of anything else that did better off the top of my head. On a side note to that, I've been semi-attached to "The Waiting" for quite awhile now even though it's pretty bland and I know I should hate it.

i don't even know how well it did in sales. all i know is that that album is horrible.

you guys are just embarrassing yourselves

I always argue against letting radio,or a band schilling themselves to much let it hurt your opinion of their music, but it did with AI. If Green Day not been so annoying and self serving the past few years, I would have ranked it higher. However, when it came out, I loved it, one of the 5 best albums the year it came out. "Jesus of Suburbia" is the '00's version of "A Quick One While He's Away".

As much as I adore Bjork, I thought she just lost the plot on Medulla. It was interesting, but not anything I'll ever listen to again. A return to semi-normal songwriting would be welcome.

i think medulla is her best

this speaks volumes about you

now I know I don't need to take anything you say seriously again

dude, at least i'm not gonna be listening to green day when i'm 30

I certainly hope I won't be listening to it by then, but it's a good album anyway. Nobody's listening to Tommy at 30 though are they? That would seem much weirder to me.

warning is much better than american idiot.

and much less tacky.

it also sold a lot less.

I hated all Green Day albums before this one. And since I don't listen to radio, I won't get sick of it.

cheers

Why? I'm 29 1/2 and I still listen to it... Tommy is one of the greatest pieces of music ever created... I will be listening to it when I'm 80!

Agreed that Vespertine is fantastic and underrated, but while I dig Medulla, I think it was a definite step down.

that's what i was thinking.


I was thinking that too. Personally, I always thought that album was extremely overrated.

#171.



Sonic Youth - Sonic Nurse

Year: 2004

US Chart Position: #64

UK Chart Position: n/a

Charting Singles: n/a

Acclaimed Music Ranking: #31 (year), #187 (decade), #1508 (all-time)

AMG Says: "Picking up where Murray Street's languid experimentalism left off, Sonic Youth's somewhat awkwardly named Sonic Nurse shows that the band still sounds revitalized, and may have even tapped into a more fruitful creative streak than they did on their previous album. Anyone who has stuck with Sonic Youth this long knows more or less what to expect from them, but the group still has the potential to surprise; one of Sonic Nurse's biggest surprises is the return of Kim Gordon. She had a relatively limited presence on NYC Ghosts & Flowers and Murray Street, but she's back in a big way on this album, contributing four tracks; not coincidentally, Gordon's songs are among the strongest on the album. "Pattern Recognition" gets Sonic Nurse off to a strong start and ranks among her best rock songs, falling somewhere between "Kool Thing" and "Bull in the Heather" in its icy-hot appeal. Her quieter songs have just as much impact: "Dude Ranch Nurse" boasts an oddly timeless guitar lick and lyrics ("Let me ride you till you fall/Let's pretend that there's nothing at all") that blur the line between alluring and nihilistic. "I Love You Golden Blue" is another standout, a beautiful but bleak ballad with ghostly vocals that recall Nico at her most fragile. Of course, the rest of the band finds moments to shine: Thurston Moore's "Dripping Dream" begins as absurdist, angular rock (although he still has the ability to make phrases like "We've been searching for the cream dream wax" sound like the coolest thing ever) and stretches out into a beautiful epic, with the interplay of feedback and guitar lines giving it a comet-tail majesty. "Paper Cup Exit," the requisite Lee Ranaldo track, has a sharper-edged mix of noise and melody than most of Sonic Nurse. Another of the album's surprises is how much of its inspiration seems to come from the band's late-'80s/early-'90s material. It's not just that the band slams George W. Bush on the mellow protest song "Peace Attack," just as Dirty's "Youth Against Fascism" railed against the first President Bush, or that they peer into the void of pop culture on "Kim Gordon and the Arthur Doyle Hand Cream" as they did on Goo's Karen Carpenter tribute, "Tunic." On songs like "New Hampshire" -- which could pass for a lost track from Daydream Nation -- Sonic Youth actually sound younger and more enthusiastic than they have in a few albums. All told, this album is probably the band's best balance of pop melodies and avant-leaning structures since Washing Machine; even if it doesn't rank among their most ambitious work, Sonic Nurse sounds like the kind of album Sonic Youth should be making at this point in their career."

Ranked Highest By: Scarymuppet (#19)

Amazon Link

#170.



Aphex Twin - Richard D. James Album

Year: 1996

US Chart Position: #20 Heatseeker

UK Chart Position: n/a

Charting Singles: #64 UK

Acclaimed Music Ranking: #19 (year), #218 (decade), #1127 (all-time)

AMG Says: "Perhaps inspired by the experimental drum'n'bass being created by Squarepusher (a recent signee to his Rephlex label), Richard D. James' third major-label album as Aphex Twin was his first to work with jungle -- though, to his credit, he had released the breakbeat EP Hangable Auto Bulb almost a year earlier. Contemporaries Orbital and Underworld were beginning to incorporate moderate use of drum'n'bass in their work as well, but this album was more extreme than virtually all jungle being made at the time. The beats are jackhammer quick and even more jarring considering what is -- for the most part -- laid over the top: the same fragile, slow-moving melodies that characterized Aphex Twin's earlier ambient works. Most overtly disturbing is "Milkman," the first straight-ahead vocal track from Aphex Twin; the song is a child-like ode that gradually deteriorates into a bizarre fantasy concerning the milkman's wife. With all the Aphex Twin's curious idiosyncracies, though, Richard D. James Album is a very listenable record and a worthy follow-up to I Care Because You Do. "

Ranked Highest By: St. Park (#1)

Amazon Link

Exactly. Erlewhiiiine has lost the plot more than DeRo in the last 5 years...at least DeRo loves Grandaddy and Sumday.

Hey Bill- are you just randomly posting SOMBIE blurbs for these or do we have to request? I know I wrote one for Sumday.

I don't have our '03 blurbs anymore. But that reminds me, I should probably fish out the Nurse blurb.

Never mind, don't have it for some reason.

#169.



Old 97s - Too Far to Care

Year: 1997

US Chart Position: n/a

UK Chart Position: n/a

Charting Singles: n/a

Acclaimed Music Ranking: n/a

AMG Says: "Serving as the ideal apex between the Old 97's' Texas twang and smart pop fascinations, Too Far to Care is instantly catchy and endearing; heartbreaking desert soul and punk-fueled swagger all at the same time. Chief songwriter Rhett Miller turns a phrase like a doorknob and opens doors to dusty barrooms and tattered bedrooms, both containing the same boozy characters in various states of emotional undress. The initial blast of "Timebomb" carries through the first three songs, relenting finally in the breathy croon of "Salome," accented warmly by bassist Murry Hammond's light harmonies and guitarist Ken Bethea's airy tremolo-heavy guitar. Other highlights include the high-speed chase of "Melt Show," the reckless surge of "House That Used to Be," and their confident re-recording of "Big Brown Eyes" (originally appearing on their 1995 album Wreck Your Life). Throughout the album, Miller's swooning howl aches with too many miles on the road and too many lonely nights, familiar topics to be sure but he still manages to tackle them like he invented heartache. The curse of Old 97's may be that country fans consider it too rock & roll, and rock fans can't get past the twang, but for those who dip both feet into these streams, it really doesn't get any better than this band and this album."

Ranked Highest By: Kmac (#1) (also ranked #5 by Paul)

Amazon Link

Fall into fashion, fall out again


#168.



Blur - Blur

Year: 1997

US Chart Position: #61

UK Chart Position: #1

Charting Singles: "Song 2" (#6 Modern Rock US, #2 UK), "Beetlebum" (#1 UK), "On Your Own" (#5 UK), "M.O.R." (#16 UK)

Acclaimed Music Ranking: #15 (year), #112 (decade), #570 (all-time)

AMG Says: "The Great Escape, for all of its many virtues, painted Blur into a corner and there was only one way out -- to abandon the Britpop that they had instigated by bringing the weird strands that always floated through their music to the surface. Blur may superficially appear to be a break from tradition, but it is a logical progression, highlighting the band's rich eclecticism and sense of songcraft. Certainly, they are trying for new sonic territory, bringing in shards of white noise, gurgling electronics, raw guitars, and druggy psychedelia, but these are just extensions of previously hidden elements of Blur's music. What makes it exceptional is how hard the band tries to reinvent itself within its own framework, and the level of which it succeeds. "Beetlebum" runs through the White Album in the space of five minutes; "M.O.R." reinterprets Berlin-era Bowie; "You're So Great," despite the corny title, is affecting lo-fi from Graham Coxon; "Country Sad Ballad Man" is bizarrely affecting, strangled lo-fi psychedelia; "Death of a Party" is an affecting resignation; "On Your Own" is an incredible slice of singalong pop spiked with winding, fluid guitar and synth eruptions; while "Look Inside America" cleverly subverts the traditional Blur song, complete with strings. And "Essex Dogs" is a six-minute slab of free verse and rattling guitar noise. Blur might be self-consciously eclectic, but Blur are at their best when they are trying to live up to their own pretensions, because of Damon Albarn's exceptional sense of songcraft and the band's knack for detailed arrangements that flesh out the songs to their fullest. There might be dark overtones to the record, but the band sounds positively joyous, not only in making noise but wreaking havoc with the expectations of its audience and critics."

Ranked Highest By: The Good Dr. Bill & Vurt (#12)

Amazon Link

The first time I heard Old 97s was on David Letterman when he was out after heart surgery. I think Jaeane Garafalo filled in that night. I remember thinking, "They suck."

heheheh.

That album is pretty good though. Check it out. If you don't like Americana though it's probably not for you.

#166.



Yo La Tengo - And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside Out

Year: 2000

US Chart Position: #138

UK Chart Position: n/a

Charting Singles: n/a

Acclaimed Music Ranking: #12 (year), #63 (decade), #617 (all-time)

AMG Says: "After years as one of indie rock's standard-bearing groups, Yo La Tengo surpasses itself with And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out. A culturally literate, emotionally rich album, on songs like "Let's Save Tony Orlando's House," "The Crying of Lot G," and "The Last Days of Disco," it alludes to The Simpsons, enigmatic author Thomas Pynchon and independent films while exploring the comforting, confining, complex aspects of relationships. "Our Way to Fall" sets Ira Kaplan's recollection of falling in love to a dreamy, down-to-earth backdrop of gently brushed drums, luminous organs and vibes; "The Crying of Lot G" transforms the syrupy sweetness of '50s ballads into a monologue about a relationship's shortcomings. "Madeline"'s shimmery indie bossa-nova and the countrified ballad "Tears Are in Your Eyes" showcase Georgia Hubley's buttery, empathetic voice; her singing makes these vignettes universal as well as personal. Like mature indie rock records such as Pavement's Terror Twilight and Jim O'Rourke's Eureka, And Then Nothing... favors mellow songwriting, detailed arrangements, and eclectic influences, such as the Silver Apples-like drum machines and doo wop backing vocals that adorn many of the songs. The wintry, implosive "Everyday" uses both of these elements, along with a plaintive guitar and hushed, hypnotic vocals, to begin the album on a surprisingly somber note. Similarly, the off-kilter beats, odd piano bursts, and harmonies on "Saturday" add to the song's awkward, uneasy beauty. Finally, nine songs into the album, Yo La Tengo breaks out the whammy and feedback action on "Cherry Chapstick," their most incandescent song since "Sugarcube." Easily one of 2000's most accomplished albums, And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out isn't as immediate as some of the group's earlier work, but it's just as enduring, proving that Yo La Tengo is the perfect band to grow old with."

Ranked Highest By: The Luscious Phil (#7)

Amazon Link

The last great YLT album...

#166.



Mr. Bungle - California

Year: 1999

US Chart Position: #144

UK Chart Position: n/a

Charting Singles: n/a

Acclaimed Music Ranking: n/a

Rank on Our All-TIme Albums List: #324

AMG Says: "Four years after Disco Volante, Mr. Bungle returns with California, which immediately distinguishes itself from its predecessors -- it's probably their most heavily orchestrated record to date and their most melodic overall, as well as the least dependent on rock styles. That's certainly not to imply that this is a tame or immediately accessible record, nor that Mr. Bungle has suddenly gone sane. There is a stronger lounge-music orientation to the group's trademark rapid-fire genre-hopping; we hear more pop, swing, rockabilly, country & western, bossa nova, Hawaiian and Middle Eastern music, jazz, Zappa-esque doo wop, arty funk, post-rock, space-age pop, spaghetti-Western music, warped circus melodies, and even dramatic pseudo-new age, plus just a smidgen of heavy metal. Sure, some of those sounds have appeared on Mr. Bungle records past, but the difference this time is the focus with which the band deploys its arsenal. California is their most concise album to date, clocking in at around 45 minutes; plus, while the song structures are far from traditional, they're edging more in that direction and that greatly helps the listener in making sense of the often random-sounding juxtapositions of musical genres (assuming, of course, that you're supposed to even try to make sense of them). As with any Mr. Bungle album, California requires at least a few listens to pull together, but its particular brand of schizophrenia isn't nearly as impenetrable as that of Disco Volante, even if it will still make you marvel at the fact that such a defiantly odd, uncommercial band recorded for Warner Bros."

Ranked Highest By: Agrimorfee (#2)

Amazon Link

Blur, YLT and Mr Bungle.... nice run of albums there.

now it's getting good.

#165.



The Verve - Urban Hymns

Year: 1997

US Chart Position: #23

UK Chart Position: #1 / #31 in '02 / #34 in '06

Charting Singles: "Bitterswet Symphony" (#12 / #4 Modern Rock US, #2 UK), "Lucky Man" (#16 Modern Rock US, #7 UK), "The Drugs Don't Work" (#1 UK), "Sonnet" (#74 UK)

Acclaimed Music Ranking: #3 (year), #32 (decade), #217 (all-time)

AMG Says: "Not long after the release of A Northern Soul, the Verve imploded due to friction between vocalist Richard Ashcroft and guitarist Nick McCabe. It looked like the band had ended before reaching its full potential, which is part of the reason why their third album, Urban Hymns -- recorded after the pair patched things up in late 1996 -- is so remarkable. Much of the record consists of songs Ashcroft had intended for a solo project or a new group, yet Urban Hymns unmistakably sounds like the work of a full band, with its sweeping, grandiose soundscapes and sense of purpose. The Verve have toned down their trancy, psychedelic excursions, yet haven't abandoned them -- if anything, they sound more muscular than before, whether it's the trippy "Catching the Butterfly" or the pounding "Come On." These powerful, guitar-drenched rockers provide the context for Ashcroft's affecting, string-laden ballads, which give Urban Hymns its hurt. The majestic "Bitter Sweet Symphony" and the heartbreaking, country-tinged "The Drugs Don't Work" are an astonishing pair, two anthemic ballads that make the personal universal, thereby sounding like instant classics. They just are the tip of the iceberg -- "Sonnet" is a lovely, surprisingly understated ballad, "The Rolling People" has a measured, electric power, and many others match their quality. Although it may run a bit too long for some tastes, Urban Hymns is a rich album that revitalizes rock traditions without ever seeming less than contemporary. It is the album the Verve have been striving to make since their formation, and it turns out to be worth all the wait."

Ranked Highest By: Qwerty (#10)

Amazon Link

Love this album!

Yeah that one good song that was really a Stones song was good.

I think this CD single handedly closed down many of the strip mall used cd shops in the Chicago suburbs. I would know, because I added to it by selling this album after a year.

#164.



Ben Folds Five - Whatever and Ever Amen

Year: 1997

US Chart Position: #42

UK Chart Position: #30

Charting Singles: "Brick" (#6 Modern Rock US, #26 UK), "Battle of Who Could Care Less" (#22 Modern Rock US, #26 UK), "Song for the Dumped" (#23 Modern Rock US)

Acclaimed Music Ranking: #48 (year), #482 (decade), #2502 (all-time)

Rank on Our All-Time Albums List: #192

AMG Says: "Expanding on the hook-laden songcraft of their eponymous debut, the Ben Folds Five turn in another glitzy array of Todd Rundgren-esque, piano-driven pop on their second album, Whatever and Ever Amen. Though it isn't as consistently tuneful and clever as their first record, Whatever and Ever Amen has a snazzy sense of popcraft -- the hooks of "The Battle of Who Could Care Less," "Brick," and "Fair" sink in nearly as effortlessly as Billy Joel, Elton John, or Joe Jackson -- which makes the record enjoyable ear candy. Occasionally, Folds' smug humor -- whether it's the alternative rock skewering of "The Battle" or the borderline misogynist humor of "Song for the Dumped" -- can undercut his melodic gifts, but Whatever and Ever Amen is confirmation that the showy pop pleasures of his first record were no fluke."

Ranked Highest By: Citizen (#5)

Amazon Link

#163.



Fennesz - Endless SUmmer

Year: 2001

US Chart Position: n/a

UK Chart Position: n/a

Charting Singles: n/a

Acclaimed Music Ranking: #20 (year), #144 (decade), #1188 (all-time)

AMG Says: "With a title and cover artwork so obviously referring to the Beach Boys, one had to anticipate that this 2001 full-length CD by Fennesz would be more melodious than usual. It is, but you'll only get as close to surf music as the imagination of an experimental electronica artist from Vienna, Austria, will allow you to -- and that's still quite far. Fennesz puts the emphasis on sunny melodies and a somewhat lighter atmosphere, but drowns them in glitch textures. The result strikes and disconcerts. Easy solutions do not fill this man's cup of tea. The melodies are never played throughout, but dismembered, notes assigned to different instruments or electronically cut up and reassembled. The vibraphone in "Caecilia" has been tripled, some notes appear upfront, parts of the main theme happen in the background. Another example: The long notes making up the main line in "Before I Leave" are played on a organ, but the sound is constantly interrupted by clicks, producing an analog/digital effect of the weirdest kind. The pieces themselves are bipolar: while the melody remains stuck in its groove, repeating endlessly in post-rock fashion, the textures evolve beautifully. Yet, the listener is left with a deceiving impression of stagnation. The ultra kitsch flavor of some cuts (like "Shisheido") makes for an incentive to climb aboard or go away, depending on the listener's interest (or resistance) to 1970s nostalgia. Scoffing the fan, the album closes with the long (11 minutes) "Happy Audio," a typical example of Fennesz's magic experimental ambient touch. Endless Summer is brilliantly conceived and masterfully executed, but the listener comes out of it with mixed feelings and many questions left unanswered. Isn't that the sign of important art?"

Ranked Highest By: Cinnamon Pooter (#1) (also ranked #4 by St. Park)

Amazon Link

#162.



Ted Leo & the Pharmacists - Hearts of Oak

Year: 2003

US Chart Position: #39 Independent

UK Chart Position: n/a

Charting Singles: n/a

Acclaimed Music Ranking: #33 (year), #240 (decade), #1889 (all-time)

AMG Says: "Ted Leo & the Pharmacists released one of 2001's best albums. Tough as wire with hooks, power, and heart galore, The Tyranny of Distance is a modern-day punk classic -- hard to follow up convincingly, but Leo has cemented his place at the forefront of rock music in the year 2003 with his new record. Hearts of Oak is just as exciting and powerful as The Tyranny of Distance. Lyrically dense and literate, Leo tells a story like no one since Phil Lynott in the glory days of Thin Lizzy or maybe Kevin Rowland at the height of Dexy's peak. The Pharmacists' sound has elements of punk, mod, Irish folk, agit-funk, dub, and power pop played with controlled fury and topped by Leo's amazingly elastic vocals. The batch of songs on Hearts of Oak are all strong; the best are destined to be remembered the same way Leo remembers Thin Lizzy or the Specials. In fact, the record's best song is "Where Have All the Rude Boys Gone?," a touching ode to the Specials and the 2-Tone sound. The guitar breakdowns are naggingly catchy, the melody is instantly familiar, and when Leo hits the chorus and sings, "I asked Jerry He told Terry/Terry sang a song just for me/Lynval gave a message to me/Rhoda screamed and then she asked me/Where have all the rude boys gone?," you can't help but smile. "Hearts of Oak" is a towering, skitteringly funky song with loads of great percussion; "Dead Voices" comes closest to a straight pop song with the ringing power chords and Leo's impassioned falsetto; "The Crane Takes Flight" is an epic sea shanty with some whistling that doesn't suck; and "Tell Balgeary, Balgury Is Dead" is a pounding rocker with some of Leo's best vocals and a cool ska ending. Ted Leo & the Pharmacists are playing the most exciting and original rock music around -- nobody else comes close. Hearts of Oak is a powerful and emotional record that you simply must own. Between this and The Tyranny of Distance, you are looking at a legend in the making."

Ranked Highest By: Dano (#17)

Amazon Link

best TLATP album. The love for Tyranny of Distance boggles my mind; maybe it's just because I hate "Biomusicology" so the whole mood is killed for me from the outset.

that's a really awkward blurb, by the way. Who wrote that?

#161.



Luomo - Vocalcity

Year: 2000

US Chart Position: n/a

UK Chart Position: n/a

Charting Singles: n/a

Acclaimed Music Ranking: n/a

AMG Says: "The glitch style arising primarily from the Force Inc sublabel Mille Plateaux circa 2000 certainly was rich with innovative ideas about where electronic dance music could go beyond standard analog sounds. Yet if there is one thing the glitch generation lacked from the get go, it was a good old-fashioned sense of soul-funk. That began to change with a tide of releases by Force Tracks (another Force Inc sublabel), chief among them those of Luomo, the microhouse moniker of glitchmonger Vladislav Delay. Vocal City compiles six Luomo tracks (some of which had been previously released on 12"), seams them together, and offers a powerful statement of purpose: glitch can indeed be funky and soulful without forsaking any of its forward-looking clicks + cuts aesthetic. Clocking in around the 12-minute mark, give or take a few minutes, the six tracks here delve deeply into the woozy style of glitch-dub that Delay had made an art of with his series of Chain Reaction releases (compiled on the likewise milestone Multila [2000]). Yet unlike those Chain Reaction productions, these Luomo ones also have a steady rhythmic backbone, one rooted deeply in good old-fashioned house music, albeit heavily sedated house. Moreover, Delay works some softly sung vocals into the mix -- here-and-there snippets that remain true to the clicks + cuts ideal yet are still singalongable -- and does so to grand effect especially during the late-album climax "Tessio." The way Delay seams these long-winded tracks together with hazy interludes of dubby ambience makes Vocal City all the more remarkable and above all listenable. This is the sort of album you put on and listen to from beginning to end, and it's also the sort of album you can safely recommend to anyone. Vocal City is one of those rare albums that is as genius as it is accessible, an inviting milestone by which other albums are measured."

Ranked Highest By: Rajexico (#3)

Amazon Link

I'm thinking of picking this one up, never heard it.



and what's with all the hostility against Green Day?

I never heard AI, but the singles were alright.

#160.



Shellac - 1000 Hurts

Year: 2000

US Chart Position: #49 Heatseeker

UK Chart Position: n/a

Charting Singles: n/a

Acclaimed Music Ranking: n/a

AMG Says: "Don't expect 1000 Hurts to open your ears to anything new. Shellac's sound hasn't developed much. Are they yanking chains by periodically releasing selections from one extremely fruitful session? Only the band and a few tape operators know. No other band sounds like them, which legitimizes this status quo. The jagged scrapes of Steve Albini's guitar, the somewhat laggard bass from Bob Weston, and the awkward-yet-steady time keeping of Todd Trainer's drums remain in top form. For what it's worth, Albini's guitar does seem to gain more grace as the years go on -- just watch out for the ugly jazz fusion lick that ends "Canaveral." Raw, no-frills production? Absence of overdubs? Goofy time signatures? They're all a part of the cauldron. As with the band's previous LPs, you get healthy doses of extended hypnotic doodling, rumbling mid-tempo tantrums, speedy jabs, and a joke or two. And as with any recording featuring the wordsmithery of Steve Albini, one fights the urge to transcribe the whole damn thing. Often humorous, occasionally unsettling, but always intelligent and thought-provoking, Albini's lyrics are a bit nastier than the past couple records. "Prayer to God" is no plea for forgiveness or well-wishing; he asks his lord to kill an ex-girlfriend and her accomplice. "Canaveral" dreams of whisking an enemy to outer space, in hopes that he'll become fertilizer. If you know the band's sound, your mind was probably made up prior to reading this. You know what to expect, aside from it not being quite as fantastic as At Action Park, but certainly better than Terraform. True to Shellac form, the record is a sound purchase. Within the domain of atonal, anti-commercial rock & roll, very few are on their level."

Ranked Highest By: Pavement Ist Rad (#10)

Amazon Link

161-63 might wind up the coolest 1-2-3 in this whole thing - really glad vocalcity made it. when bill said an lp needed six votes I thought it had no chance-- especially since deej didn't vote.

sorry, but I'm gonna have to take this one down a peg. the only quality rock
on 1000 hurts is the first track, the rest is albini and company farting around in the
studio. in comparison to the early seven's and action park this one is weak, IMO.

endless summer is so amazing, I recommend everyone go download it now and buy the remixed version out in december. I want to purchase an original copy if anyone has it.

No one did a blurb for Sonic Nurse. That was the only one assigned that didn't get turned in. I'm ashamed I know that.

'03 blurbs should be in the archive thread, unless I'm thinking of '04 blurbs.

I archived the '05 blurbs but everyone complained about it so I deleted them.

the '03 blurbs are probably in an older version of the archive thread, which is no longer archived, or something



Believe it or not, Deej actually did vote in this one (though he only ranked it #56)

too low for "vocalcity". it's definetely a top 50 material

Urban Hymns got me through a really shitty freshman year of college. I made the mistake of spending that year at an Ohio university, but whatever, I probably listened to this more than anything that year.