[bong]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Duggeh /img/forum/go_quote.gif I LOLed. Hard. Very hard. Lets look at Oasis vs REM (nevermind any other bands into the bargain).

It's unfair and totally irrelevant to compare Oasis with REM. Both are great bands but they are entirely different. For one, REM had their debut album in 1983 with Murmer; Oasis didn't have theirs until more tyhen a decade ago with Definitely Maybe in 1994... entirely different eras in the spectrum of rock music. Second, they might have some crossover fans but they are very much stylistically different. It would be fair to compare REM to perhaps U2, or Oasis to Blur.

As good as Out of Time is as well as it's commercial success, it was just that... very commercial with impeccable pop songs but fits uncomfortably with the rest of REM's discography, and its not highly regarded at all compared to the likes of Murmer, Document, Automatic For the People, or even Fables of the Reconstruction. I'd pick Actung Baby over Out of Time.

That said, and despite the cultural impact of Nevermind, I'd probably pick Loveless because this album speaks to me more than anything else on the list.

I'd add Screamadelica by Primal Scream to the list too, because that was an important, genre and cultural defying, and highly successful album as well.

 

[punkaroo]

As much as I love Nirvana, my vote went to U2. I've loved them longer

 

[dongringo]

I'd have to go with a tie between:

Metal Church - Human Factor
&
Savatage - Streets

While I don't listen to much metal these days, those were two brilliant, melodic gems that came out when grunge was taking over as the fotm.

 

[sonci]

Despite my hate for current Metallica, I voted the Black album,
some songs are just explosives, remember driving while listening to "Wherever I May Roam",
Ten is probably better, but not so explosive..

I've always thought that REM and Oasis are different animals, with REM being better in every way, but try to listen to Definitely Maybe, I think its the best debut album of all times, and one of the best of the '90.

 

[kwitel]

Smashing Pumpkins-Gish?

Not the best of the lot, but definitely deserves a mention...

As for Metallica, the Black Album for me was a painfully commercial and accessible album marking the end of their careers.

My vote goes to Badmotorfinger.

 

[fuseboxx]

omg i can't believe loveless isn't ahead... and so far from it.

 

[priest]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bong /img/forum/go_quote.gif As good as Out of Time is as well as it's commercial success, it was just that... very commercial with impeccable pop songs but fits uncomfortably with the rest of REM's discography, and its not highly regarded at all compared to the likes of Murmer, Document, Automatic For the People, or even Fables of the Reconstruction. I'd pick Actung Baby over Out of Time.

Is there a basis for the underlined statement? If you mean by critics, I don't think it is true.

 

[fuseboxx]

^ He's correct. Out Of Time isn't as highly regarded as these albums at least:

Automatic for the People
Murmur
Lifes Rich Pageant
Reckoning
Document
Fables of the Reconstruction

 

[Maxvla]

Having heard only about half the entries, I am surprised to find Nirvana at the top spot. I didn't care for the album at all. Metallica's Black Album is far more enjoyable to me. Pearl Jam's Ten is decent, but still not Black Album level.

+1 Metallica

 

[userlander]

Quote:

Originally Posted by priest /img/forum/go_quote.gif Is there a basis for the underlined statement? If you mean by critics, I don't think it is true.

I don't either. I think OOT is more "highly regarded" (whatever that really means) than LRP and Fables, at least.

 

[trains are bad]

Quote:

By this time, rock was dead.

No, rock didn't die until OK Computer in the late 90s.

 

[Jeff Guidry]

The OP specified "favorite" album...so for me it is Badmotorfinger. Soundgarden changed from their (imo) over reliance on hardcore and leaned on their Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin influences to make a really unique sounding hard rock/metal record. Superunknown was certainly more consistent and refined, but it lacks the edge of Badmotorfinger.

 

[priest]

Quote:

Originally Posted by fuseboxx /img/forum/go_quote.gif ^ He's correct. Out Of Time isn't as highly regarded as these albums at least: Automatic for the People Murmur Lifes Rich Pageant Reckoning Document Fables of the Reconstruction

Again, what are you basing this statement on? In order for you or he to be right, you have to prove your point. It's not true simply because you say so.

 

[fuseboxx]

Quote:

Originally Posted by priest /img/forum/go_quote.gif Again, what are you basing this statement on? In order for you or he to be right, you have to prove your point. It's not true simply because you say so.

alright... let's see... in order to prove something like this, we're going to need an objective way to measure the albums... something like an "IMDB for music" - do you know any website of the sort? If you do, kindly suggest it as a reference. But for now, the best I can think of is Rate Your Music, which according to Wikipedia is:

Quote:

a metadata database where musical (and non-musical) albums, EPs, singles, videos, and bootlegs are rated and reviewed by users. This data is then used to generate recommendations for users and to create rated lists of albums. Weighted averages are used to calculate the ordering for these lists; regular members who write reviews and rate more albums have a greater weight applied to their ratings.

And according to RYM, these are how R.E.M.'s albums are rated/ranked (5 stars = highest):

[albums in bold are those ranked on RYM's Top 5000 Albums of All-Time]

Murmur - 4.09 out of 3,872 ratings (#242)
Reckoning - 3.92 out of 2,237 ratings (#1745)
Fables of the Reconstruction - 3.78 out of 1,844 ratings (#4129)
Lifes Rich Pageant - 3.98 out of 2,337 ratings (#1032)
Document - 3.86 out of 2,802 ratings (#2001)
Green - 3.68 out of 2,547 ratings
Out of Time - 3.60 out of 3,384 ratings
Automatic for the People - 4.06 out of 5,752 ratings (#237)
Monster - 3.32 out of 2,709 ratings
New Adventures in Hi-Fi - 3.74 out of 2,229 ratings (#4563)
Up - 3.34 out of 1,823 ratings
Reveal - 3.16 out of 1,722 ratings
Around the Sun - 2.70 out of 1,250 ratings
Accelerate - 3.39 out of 1,489 ratings

 

[priest]

^ Interesting. Thanks for pulling all of that together. I take these statistics as showing that OOT is about as well regarded as all their other big albums, except for Murmur and AFTP, and not significantly less well-regarded than any of them (or not "not highly regarded at all compared to them"), which is what my perception has always been. I also discount the site, because to me critics are more trustworthy than a site like that, which tends to reinforce itself in an endless feedback loop.

I could cite some critical sources for the proposition that OOT is about as highly regarded as all their other albums other than Murmur and AFTP, but maybe we can just note that it does not seem to have maintained its interest in the public eye over the last twenty years, and so maybe that is the disconnect. I will grant that it was much more well-regarded when it came out than it seems to be now. It placed first in both the critic's and readers' polls in Rolling Stone that year, I believe, and came in third in Pazz & Jop, for instance.