BCB TOP 50 ALBUMS 1985-2005 RESULTS!

[The Modernist]

Sorry for the delay, I have had a lot on and doing this was more time consuming than I’d predicted. As you can imagine listing all those alternative rock bands I’d never heard of , along with the constant revisions and name changes made it a bit of an arduous task.
Quick word on points. Points were awarded 20-20, 19-19 and so on down to 11-15- 7 points, 16-20 4 points. I did this to make sure firstly there was a range of marks, and because scoring one point for the 20th would not have reflected how good the person who voted for it thought it was. When no order was stipulated, all entries were given 10 marks - hope that makes sense!
When marks are tied, those with the greatest number of votes take precedence.
58 voted.
OK here we go:

1. The Stone Roses -The Stone Roses (297 points, 23 votes)
2. My Bloody Valentine - Loveless (161,15)
3. Radiohead - OK Computer (155,10)
4. The Smiths - The Queen Is Dead (149,10)
5. DJ Shadow - Entroducing (142,10)
6. REM - Automatic For The People (133,14)
7. The Jesus & Mary Chain - Psychocandy (133,11)
8. Primal Scream - Screamadelica (122,10)
9. Wu-Tang Clan - Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) (119,9)
10. The Pixies - Doolittle (104,8)
11. Public Enemy - It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back (96,8)
12. Sonic Youth - Daydream Nation (95,8)
13. XTC - Skylarking (88,7)
14. Oasis - Definitely Maybe (81,7)
15. The Pixies - Surfer Rosa (81,6)
16. Boo Radleys - Giant Steps (80,5)
17. Neutral Milk Hotel - In An Aeroplane Over The Sea (79,7)
18. Radiohead - The Bends (75,5)
19. A Tribe Called Quest - The Low-End Theory (74,8)
20. Teenage Fan Club - Songs From Northern Britain.(73,6)
21. De La Soul - 3 ft High And Rising (71,7)
Mercury Rev - Deserter’s Songs (71,7)
23. U2- Joshua Tree (71,5)
24. Massive Attack - Blue Lines (71,4)
25. The Beastie Boys - Paul’s Boutique (70,6)
26. Nirvana - Never mind (67,5)
27. Air - Moon Safari (66,6)
28. Pavement - Slanted And Enchanted (66,5)
29. Pulp - Different Class ( 65,9)
30. Beck - Odelay (65,7)
31. The Flaming Lips - The Soft Bulletin (65,6)
32. GZA - Liquid Swords (62,6)
33. Wilco -Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (62,4)
34. The Go Betweens - Lovers Lane (61,4)
35. Neil Young - Ragged Glory (59,5)
36. Erik B And Rakim - Paid In Full (58,6)
Radiohead - Kid A (58,6)
38. Jeff Buckley - Grace (58,5)
39. The Blue Nile - Hats (58,4)
40. Supergrass - In It for The money (56,6)
41. Tom Waits - Rain Dogs (56,6)
42. REM - Life’s Rich Pageant (54,4)
43. Johnny Cash - Solitary Man (53,4)
44. Dexy’s Midnight Runners - Don’t Stand Me Down (53,3)
45. Teenage Fanclub - Bandwagonesque (51,4)
46. Pavement - Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain (51,3)
47. Elliot Smith - XO (50,6)
48. Prefab Sprout - Steve McQueen (50,3)
49. Beck - Mutations (47,5)
50. Avalanches - Since I Left You (47,4)

Well there you have it…

[Count Machuki]

Sorry for the delay, I have had a lot on and doing this was more time consuming than I’d predicted. As you can imagine listing all those alternative rock bands I’d never heard of , along with the constant revisions and name changes made it a bit of an arduous task.
Quick word on points. Points were awarded 20-20, 19-19 and so on down to 11-15- 7 points, 16-20 4 points. I did this to make sure firstly there was a range of marks, and because scoring one point for the 20th would not have reflected how good the person who voted for it thought it was. When no order was stipulated, all entries were given 10 marks - hope that makes sense!
When marks are tied, those with the greatest number of votes take precedence.
58 voted.
OK here we go:

1. The Stone Roses -The Stone Roses (297 points, 23 votes)
2. My Bloody Valentine - Loveless (161,15)
3. Radiohead - OK Computer (155,10)
4. The Smiths - The Queen Is Dead (149,10)
5. DJ Shadow - Introducing (142,10)
6. REM - Automatic For The People (133,14)
7. The Jesus & Mary Chain - Psychocandy (133,11)
8. Primal Scream - Screamadelica (122,10)
9. Wu-Tang Clan - Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) (119,9)
10. The Pixies - Doolittle (104,8)
11. Public Enemy - It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back (96,8)
12. Sonic Youth - Daydream Nation (95,8)
13. XTC - Skylarking (88,7)
14. Oasis - Definitely Maybe (81,7)
15. The Pixies - Surfer Rosa (81,6)
16. Boo Radleys - Giant Steps (80,5)
17. Neutral Milk Hotel - In An Aeroplane Over The Sea (79,7)
18. Radiohead - The Bends (75,5)
19. A Tribe Called Quest - The Low-End Theory (74,8)
20. Teenage Fan Club - Songs From Northern Britain.(73,6)
21. De La Soul - 3 ft High And Rising (71,7)
Mercury Rev - Deserter’s Songs (71,7)
23. U2- Joshua Tree (71,5)
24. Massive Attack - Blue Lines (71,4)
25. The Beastie Boys - Paul’s Boutique (70,6)
26. Nirvana - Never mind (67,5)
27. Air - Moon Safari (66,6)
28. Pavement - Slanted And Enchanted (66,5)
29. Pulp - Different Class ( 65,9)
30. Beck - Odelay (65,7)
31. The Flaming Lips - The Soft Bulletin (65,6)
32. GZA - Liquid Swords (62,6)
33. Wilco -Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (62,4)
34. The Go Betweens - Lovers Lane (61,4)
35. Neil Young - Ragged Glory (59,5)
36. Erik B And Rakim - Paid In Full (58,6)
Radiohead - Kid A (58,6)
38. Jeff Buckley - Grace (58,5)
39. The Blue Nile - Hats (58,4)
40. Supergrass - In It for The money (56,6)
41. Tom Waits - Rain Dogs (56,6)
42. REM - Life’s Rich Pageant (54,4)
43. Johnny Cash - Solitary Man (53,4)
44. Dexy’s Midnight Runners - Don’t Stand Me Down (53,3)
45. Teenage Fanclub - Bandwagonesque (51,4)
46. Pavement - Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain (51,3)
47. Elliot Smith - XO (50,6)
48. Prefab Sprout - Steve McQueen (50,3)
49. Beck - Mutations (47,5)
50. Avalanches - Since I Left You (47,4)

Well there you have it…

red =

[lemon]

Absolute rubbish, no way are those albums the best of the last 20 years etc. etc.

Seriously though, good effort. Three of mine made the top 10, which I'm surprised by, thought I had more predictable taste.

[The Modernist]

It's amazing how far The Stone Roses were ahead of everyone else though..

[Beno]

Quick word on points. Points were awarded 20-20, 19-19 and so on down to 11-15- 7 points, 16-20 4 points. I did this to make sure firstly there was a range of marks, and because scoring one point for the 20th would not have reflected how good the person who voted for it thought it was. When no order was stipulated, all entries were given 10 marks - hope that makes sense!Well there you have it…

That means that people who listed acts in order had 210 points to allocate. Those who gave no order only had 200. Well done, serves the lazy b******s right.

Seriously though, good effort.

[Django]

Seriously though, good effort.

Yeah, nice one G!

[copehead]

I can't believe Blur's Parklife isn't in there, I'm not a massive fan of the boys but that album is better than 50% of the stuff on that list. They seem to be the biggest losers.

I own 23/50 of thos including 8 of the top ten, which is fairly predictable, and then 4/10 6/10 2/10 3/10.

I didn't vote, the thought of having to rate by 20 best albums from the last 20 years in order was just too much for me.

[Owen]

I can't believe Blur's Parklife isn't in there, I'm not a massive fan of the boys but that album is better than 50% of the stuff on that list. They seem to be the biggest losers.

I own 23/50 of thos including 8 of the top ten, .

Wu-tang and DJ shadow missing?

Parklife is a decent british guitar pop album, I guess those kind of things just split their votes, there's tons of it on there.

[Strider]

thanks for your hard work. Job well done.

[Sneelock]

No 'St. Anger'?
how can I take this list seriously?

[The Modernist]

I can't believe Blur's Parklife isn't in there, I'm not a massive fan of the boys but that album is better than 50% of the stuff on that list. They seem to be the biggest losers.
.

Parklife only received one vote and that fairly low down on the individual's list. Someone else voted for The Great Escape as their 3rd favourite record and that was basically it. Blur's stock certainly seems to have fallen hugely.

[copehead]

I can't believe Blur's Parklife isn't in there, I'm not a massive fan of the boys but that album is better than 50% of the stuff on that list. They seem to be the biggest losers.

I own 23/50 of thos including 8 of the top ten, .

Wu-tang and DJ shadow missing?

Parklife is a decent british guitar pop album, I guess those kind of things just split their votes, there's tons of it on there.

Correct I gave up on hip hop by the time Wu Tang came out, at around the time everything went west coast and NWA, The East Coast was always more interesting. But once you have let a genre slip it is very hard to get back on top of the game. I buy the occaisional release by a band like Outcast, who aren't going to rant about hos to my face, or Eminem, who is, but that's as far as I go these days - very mainstream.

As for Blur, I still maintain I'm right, that is and will continue to be a very important record in british music history, its influence is all over modern guitar bands on both sides of the Atlantic and its ommission is a major fault in our list.

[Strider]

1. The Stone Roses -The Stone Roses (297 points, 23 votes)
2. My Bloody Valentine - Loveless (161,15)
3. Radiohead - OK Computer (155,10)
4. The Smiths - The Queen Is Dead (149,10)
5. DJ Shadow - Entroducing (142,10)
6. REM - Automatic For The People (133,14)
7. The Jesus & Mary Chain - Psychocandy (133,11)
8. Primal Scream - Screamadelica (122,10)
9. Wu-Tang Clan - Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) (119,9)
10. The Pixies - Doolittle (104,8)
11. Public Enemy - It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back (96,8)
12. Sonic Youth - Daydream Nation (95,8)
13. XTC - Skylarking (88,7)
14. Oasis - Definitely Maybe (81,7)
15. The Pixies - Surfer Rosa (81,6)
16. Boo Radleys - Giant Steps (80,5)
17. Neutral Milk Hotel - In An Aeroplane Over The Sea (79,7)
18. Radiohead - The Bends (75,5)
19. A Tribe Called Quest - The Low-End Theory (74,8)
20. Teenage Fan Club - Songs From Northern Britain.(73,6)
21. De La Soul - 3 ft High And Rising (71,7)
Mercury Rev - Deserter’s Songs (71,7)
23. U2- Joshua Tree (71,5)
24. Massive Attack - Blue Lines (71,4)
25. The Beastie Boys - Paul’s Boutique (70,6)
26. Nirvana - Never mind (67,5)
27. Air - Moon Safari (66,6)
28. Pavement - Slanted And Enchanted (66,5)
29. Pulp - Different Class ( 65,9)
30. Beck - Odelay (65,7)
31. The Flaming Lips - The Soft Bulletin (65,6)
32. GZA - Liquid Swords (62,6)
33. Wilco -Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (62,4)
34. The Go Betweens - Lovers Lane (61,4)
35. Neil Young - Ragged Glory (59,5)
36. Erik B And Rakim - Paid In Full (58,6)
Radiohead - Kid A (58,6)
38. Jeff Buckley - Grace (58,5)
39. The Blue Nile - Hats (58,4)
40. Supergrass - In It for The money (56,6)
41. Tom Waits - Rain Dogs (56,6)
42. REM - Life’s Rich Pageant (54,4)
43. Johnny Cash - Solitary Man (53,4)
44. Dexy’s Midnight Runners - Don’t Stand Me Down (53,3)
45. Teenage Fanclub - Bandwagonesque (51,4)
46. Pavement - Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain (51,3)
47. Elliot Smith - XO (50,6)
48. Prefab Sprout - Steve McQueen (50,3)
49. Beck - Mutations (47,5)
50. Avalanches - Since I Left You (47,4)

Observations:
1)suprised that Pixies-Surfer Rosa is as low as 15
2)no replacements!!! i guess its true that most of the Brits just do not get the 'Mats
3)no Husker Du!!
4)Boo Radleys??? i do not think I have ever heard this album...maybe I'll have to check it out
5)The Stone Roses run away victory as pointed out by Modernist
6)no Yo La Tengo?-they some of the most consisently excellent albums through this period...perhaps there was vote splitting
7)somewhat surprised REM's Life's Rich Pageant over Document
8) the lower ranking of Nirvana
9) three Radiohead albums

[Beno]

It's amazing how far The Stone Roses were ahead of everyone else though..

I was suprised as well, particularly given the perceived UK/US division of opinion on the album. What helped it though is that there was no division of the Stone Roses vote. I am sure if you added together the Wu Tang, Gza and Raekwon votes together that would close the gap quite a bit. I know people weren't restricted to one album per artist but a lot of voters, probably so they could reflect their personal diversity, voluntarily did so.

[the masked man]

Well, I own the entire Top 16. Overall, not a bad list, although it does lean rather heavily on established critcial favourites. This is probably a given in this type of list, however.

Very interesting that "Lifes Rich Pagaent" is there but "Out Of Time" isn't.

[toomanyhatz]

Observations....

I'm obviously an old fart. I only own ten of these, and only one in the top ten.

But if we do 65-85, I bet I'll own more than half.

Anyways, TME, thanks for putting this together. It was worth it in the end. Sorry for the impatience.

But does this mean I have to give Stone Roses another listen?

[Sneelock]

I hope not!

[Walk In My Shadow]

[Owen]

Nice to see Grace so low and Grand Prix totally absent

[The Modernist]

I'll give you some extra information.

Observations:
1)suprised that Pixies-Surfer Rosa is as low as 15
They probably suffered from vote splitting. People were either going for this or Doolittle. People tend not to vote for more than one artist in their list (honourable exceptions Huw and Bhoywonder!) -
2)no replacements!!! i guess its true that most of the Brits just do not get the 'Mats
They're probably better known now than they were at the time over here. Tim received 35 points (3 votes). Two other albums received a vote each.
3)no Husker Du!!
New Day Rising got 14 points,2 votes, Where..11 points, one vote, Husker Du Flip 16 points, 2 votes. Candy apple..didn't get anything which surprised me as I thought it was the best known one. i think some of these US alternative acts suffered from being too "overground", a lot of people were going for more obscure stuff than that.
4)Boo Radleys??? i do not think I have ever heard this album...maybe I'll have to check it out
5)The Stone Roses run away victory as pointed out by Modernist
6)no Yo La Tengo?-they some of the most consisently excellent albums through this period...perhaps there was vote splitting
I Can Hear.. was the most popular album 36 points,3 votes. 2 of their other albums also received one vote each.
7)somewhat surprised REM's Life's Rich Pageant over Document
8) the lower ranking of Nirvana
Surprising indeed. In Utero only got 15 points, 3 votes
9) three Radiohead albums