The Chorus.Fm Users Definitive Albums List • Page 5

@OhTheWater Not what I meant. I do think the list is a good opportunity for promoting your favorite artists though. I’m just saying artists that are problematic shouldn’t be included in the final ranking. If you want to shout them out bc they were formative or whatever, then do so in a separate un-ranked category. It would be a bummer to see Kanye win this thing (which wouldn’t altogether surprise me if we counted his albums among rankings).

 

oh god oh man oh god oh man

1. Big Thief - Capacity
2. Dirty Projectors - Bitte Orca
3. Earl Sweatshirt - I Don’t Like Shit, I Don’t Go Outside
4. Patti Smith - Horses
5. Sufjan Stevens - Age of Adz
6. Steely Dan - Aja
7. Outkast - Aquemini
8. Nina Simone - Sings the Blues
9. Buck Meek - Buck Meek
10. Kate Bush - Hounds of Love
11. Lauryn Hill - The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill
12. PJ Harvey - Rid of Me
13. Curtis Mayfield - Superfly
14. Sharon Van Etten - Are We There
15. Chairlift - Moth
16. Broadcast - The Music Made by People
17. Thelonius Monk - Monk’s Dream
18. The Shins - Chutes Too Narrow
19. Getz/Gilberto - Getz/Gilberto
20. Steely Dan - Pretzel Logic
21. Cate Le Bon - Mug Museum
22. SZA - Ctrl
23. Nickel Creek - Why Should the Fire Die?
24. Parquet Courts - Human Performance
25. Donna Summer - Bad Girls
26. Tortoise - TNT
27. Julia Holter - Loud City Song
28. Haim - Days are Gone
29. Dexter Gordon - Go
30. Jamila Woods - LEGACY! LEGACY!
31. Cocteau Twins - Heaven or Las Vegas
32. Busta Rhymes - The Coming
33. Adrianne Lenker - Hours were the Birds
34. Keith Jarrett - The Koln Concert
35. Dirty Projectors - Swing Lo Magellan
36. Joey Bada$$ - B4.DA.$$
37. Dear Nora - Skulls Example
38. Sly and the Family Stone - Fresh
39. Nick Drake - Pink Moon
40. Women - Public Strain
41. Boredoms - Super Ae
42. Cymande - Cymande
43. The Pixies - Trompe Le Monde
44. Lomelda - Thx
45. Oneohtrix Point Never - Replica
46. Portishead - Dummy
47. Digable Planets - Blowout Comb
48. The Congos - Heart of the Congos
49. Deerhoof - Milk Man
50. Nate Smith - KINFOLK

 

sorry. i indeed misunderstood. totally open to doing 75 points for 1st, 25 for last, if that’s how people want to do it.

 

I will say... I've never put together a list like this, so @Jason Tate and others may have better suggestions. I just don't think 50 pts for 1st, 1 pt for 50th is optimal.

 

So what do you suggest for artists who straddle that line? Plenty of people still listen to the Beatles or Zeppelin etc. without the scrutiny of someone who is repping Pinegrove or Brand New. I think we should clarify before people begin making their lists.

IMO, it sucks to see a problematic artist promoted, especially one that continues to work within the scene without any sort of accountability. At the same time, are we going to stop the thread and have a discussion about Kanye or John Lennon or 2Pac every time they get brought up? Idk.


In my mind, you can list the albums that are essential and important to you and also have in your mind the fact that the person who made those records is a piece of shit, especially if it is well documented. I propose, and shoot me down if this is out of line, that people draw their own lines when it comes to including people on the lists, and then we can have a larger discussion once the final one is compiled.

 

My stance on problematic artists is, if the people feel comfortable enough with themselves listening to the artists, that’s on them and they can include them on their lists. Brand New sucks and i will never listen to them again. So does eminem. I also put david bowie on my list because he’s my favorite musician ever, despite heiling hitler (i’m jewish) in the 70s while knee deep in a mountain of cocaine, among other things. people will inevitably put michael jackson on their lists, despite most definitely being a pedophile, bc he has released some of the best pop music ever. john lennon famously beat his wife like every day. people defend the beatles relentlessly on this website.

do we want this to be a list of our favorite music or our favorite music that hasn’t yet been cancelled. i feel like one is pretty clearly better than the other.

 

Donald f.agen had the gall to play keytar live for decades and i've got two dan records in my top 25, so clearly moral grandstanding is on the backburner for me personally

 

unfortunate last name

 

50. Hole - Live Through This (DGC, 1994)
49. Rickie Lee Jones - Pirates (Warner Bros., 1981)
48. Etta James - Rocks The House (Argo, 1964)
47. Celia Cruz - Son con Guaguanco (Emusica/Fania, 1966)
46. Emmylou Harris - Wrecking Ball (Elektra, 1995)
45. Dusty Springfield - Dusty in Memphis (Atlantic, 1969)
44. Heart - Dreamboat Annie (Mushroom, 1976)
43. M.I.A. - Kala (XL/Interscope, 2007)
42. Ella Fitzgerald - Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Johnny Mercer Song Book (Verve, 1964)
41. Tracy Chapman - Tracy Chapman (Elektra, 1988)
40. The Staple Singers - Be Altitude: Respect Yourself (Stax, 1972)
39. Gillian Welch - Time (The Revelator) (Acony Records, 2001)
38. Odetta - It's a Mighty World (RCA Victor, 1964)
37. Kate Bush - Hounds Of Love (EMI, 1985)
36. Grace Jones - Nightclubbing (Island Records, 1981)
35. Blondie - Parallel Lines (Chrysalis, 1978)
34. Tina Turner - Private Dancer (Capitol, 1984)
33. Queen Latifah - All Hail The Queen (Tommy Boy, 1989)
32. Björk - Post (Elektra, 1995)
31. Liz Phair - Exile In Guyville (Capitol/EMI/Matador, 1993)
30. Adele - 21 (Columbia/XL, 2011)
29. Alanis Morissette - Jagged Little Pill (Maverick, 1995)
28. Nina Simone - Nina Simone Sings the Blues (RCA Victor, 1967)
27. Tori Amos - Little Earthquakes (Atlantic, 1992)
26. TLC - CrazySexyCool (LaFace, 1994)
25. Ani Difranco - Little Plastic Castle (Righteous Babe Records, 1998)
24. Loretta Lynn - Coal Miner's Daughter (Decca, 1970)
23. Aretha Franklin - Amazing Grace (Atlantic, 1972)
22. Sade - Diamond Life (Sony, 1984)
21. PJ Harvey - Rid Of Me (Island Records, 1993)
20. The Ronettes - Presenting the Fabulous Ronettes Featuring Veronica (Philles Records, 1964)
19. Selena - Amor Prohibido (EMI Latin, 1994)
18. Lucinda Williams - Car Wheels On A Gravel Road (Mercury, 1998)
17. Janet Jackson - Control (A&M, 1986)
16. Fleetwood Mac - Rumours (Warner Bros., 1977)
15. Diana Ross and the Supremes - Where Did Our Love Go (Motown, 1964)
14. Whitney Houston - Whitney Houston (Arista, 1985)
13. Madonna - Like a Prayer (Sire, 1989)
12. Erykah Badu - Baduizm (Universal, 1997)
11. Dolly Parton - Coat Of Many Colors (RCA Records, 1971)
10. Carole King - Tapestry (Ode, 1971)
9. Amy Winehouse - Back To Black (Island, 2006)
8. Janis Joplin - Pearl (Columbia, 1971)
7. Patti Smith - Horses (Arista, 1975)
6. Beyoncé - Lemonade (Parkwood/Columbia, 2016)
5. Missy Elliott - Supa Dupa Fly (The Goldmind/Elektra, 1997)
4. Aretha Franklin - I Never Loved a Man The Way I Love You (Atlantic, 1967)
3. Nina Simone - I Put A Spell on You (Philips, 1965)
2. Lauryn Hill - The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill (Ruffhouse/Columbia, 1998)
1. Joni Mitchell - Blue (Reprise, 1971)

 

lol yeah i was thinking the same thing

 

hey killer list @jorbjorb if you could help me get into tori amos, i just can't seem to figure it out

 

I think this conversation is absolutely worth having but as you said I don't know who deserves to be put in the same sentence like you said in some of these conversations

Like should we include Marvin Gaye? David Bowie? Any Beatles albums at all with the Lennon abuse? Anything by the Rolling Stones or Led Zeppelin? Miles Davis notoriously beat his wife as well

I don't really have an answer to these questions and I'm not trying to like get out of having the conversation, it's just something worth looking into and there is a different answer for everyone, I do like the idea of an asterisk, but I know that could feel like we're minimizing these abuses

Idk kind of word vomiting here and not forming the most well thought out thoughts so I apologize but am of course open to any and all input

 

like i said. the personal line drawing for our own listening habits is going to be something everyone is going to have to reckon with, like, forever. i don’t really see the good of making one of these lists if we’re excluding everyone who is cancelled or has had allegations of any form against them. it will be a ... very short list

 

seriously, not to mention that this is one of the most awake websites in terms of awareness of past/current misconduct of artists. i'd be hard pressed to find ways in which a single thread on here outweighs all the other activism going on on the boards. moral purity is pretty much impossible to achieve but also not achieving it in an isolated manner doesn't make you not empathetic towards survivors overall

 

As this is being called the "Chorus Users Definitive List", I for one will not be contributing to a list that could potentially have artists like Brand New or Kanye West (just to name some examples) on it. That is not a list I want to co-sign with my participation in any way, shape, or form.

 

totally forgot Sade. Ugh

 

it was a joke title lol. we can change the title of the thread. you also don’t have to participate. it’s fine.

how likely is the scenario that brand new ends up on the final list anyways? how many people are still out here rocking with that? would you also not want to contribute to the list if the beatles are on it, or do you just draw the line at recent abusers?

 

edit the list!

 

Off the top of my head, 'problematic' rules out David Bowie, Led Zeppelin, Kanye, Marvin Gaye, The Beatles, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Chuck Berry, Michael Jackson, Johnny Cash, Frank Sinatra, Miles Davis.

If someone's conscience allows them to still love an album then I'm not judging for it. I get that one might feel uncomfortable if The Devil And God came like top 10 or something but these lists can't really exist if every artist gets queried.

Maybe when the results are done it can be decided if an artist should be taken off? I don't know.

 

If we tell people what they can and can't vote for, I'm straight up passing on this whole exercise.

Don't vote for people you don't want included.

 

The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me has been my favorite album for a very long time now. I completely excluded Brand New from my list as it just didn't feel right to include it in a "Definite All Timers Users List"

I probably have a few other artists that have problematic pasts on my list that I am less aware of - but Brand New just felt like the most obvious one to steer clear of in this case.

 

I for sure understand whatever stance a person may have, but i guess i just have always preferred grappling with art that has a troubling/problematic context as opposed to forgetting it exists. That just seems so not genuine to me...

 

That's where I'm at too

 

I think not including triggering artists is an easy bare minimum

 

fair enough to leave the onus to the poster. I get that the line is less clear for certain artists/listeners and might cause confusion. it's also true that some of the "less problematic" artists may in actuality be terrible, and it just hasn't come out yet. this is meant to be just for funzies anyway so might as well just let people rank what they want. will be bummed if kanye does end up winning tho.