Release Polls: Rank & Tier your Favorite Artists!

Need to catch up on Magma ...

1. (S) Mekanïk Destruktïw Kommandöh (1973, listened often) [BC, SPO]
2. (A) Üdü Ẁüdü (1976, first listen) [BC, SPO]
3. (A) 1001° Centigrades (1971, first listen) [BC, SPO]
4. (B) Attahk (1978, first listen) [BC, SPO]

So many bands to listen more to, and so few hours in the day (that you can spend listening to music) ...

And no lists would be remotely complete for me without Cardiacs. Slapdash rating and questionable ranking...

Cardiacs:

1. (S) On Land And In The Sea (1989, listened extensively) [BC, SPO]
2. (S) A Little Man And A House And The Whole World Window (1988, listened extensively) [BC, SPO]
3. (S) Songs For Ships And Irons (1991, listened extensively) [AP Prog] [BC, SPO]
4. (S) All That Glitters Is A Mares Nest (Live, 1995, listened extensively) [AP Prog] [BC, SPO]
5. (S) Sing To God (1996, listened extensively) [BC, SPO]
6. (A) Cardiacs Live (Live, 1988, several listens) [AP]
7. (B) The Seaside (1984, several listens) [BC, SPO]
8. (B) Heaven Born And Ever Bright (1992, listened extensively) [BC]
9. (B) Garage Concerts Vol.I (Live, 2005, several listens) [AP]
10. (B) Garage Concerts Vol.II (Live, 2005, several listens) [AP]
11. (B) Big Ship (EP, 1987, several listens) [AP Prog] [BC, SPO]
12. (B) Guns (1999, listened often) [BC, SPO]

Another from me, as these are fun to do, from my favourite RIO band. Favourite release depends on the day. Those first three are the ones that I have returned to the most over the years. For many years I counted this as my favourite band (and Magma). Will do Magma next...

Art Zoyd:

1. (S) Le Mariage du Ciel et de l'Enfer (1985, listened extensively) [SPO]
2. (S) Génération sans Futur (1980, listened extensively) [BC]
3. (S) Faust (1995, listened extensively) [SPO]
4. (S) Musique pour l’Odyssée (1979, listened extensively) [BC, SPO]
5. (S) Symphonie pour le jour où brûleront les cités (1981, listened extensively) [SPO]
6. (S) Häxan (1997, listened extensively) [SPO]
7. (A) Phase IV (1982, listened extensively)
8. (A) Les Espaces Inquiets (1983, listened extensively) [SPO]
9. (A) Berlin (1987, listened extensively) [SPO]
10. (A) Symphonie Pour Le Jour Où Brûleront Les Cités (1976, listened extensively) [BC, SPO]
11. (?) Nosferatu (1988, several listens) [SPO]
12. (?) u.B.I.Q.U.e (2001, several listens) [SPO]
13. (?) Metropolis (Soundtrack, 2002, several listens) [SPO]
14. (?) Eyecatcher (2011, several listens)
15. (?) Marathonnerre I (1993, several listens) [SPO]
16. (?) Marathonnerre II (1993, several listens)
17. (?) La Chute De La Maison Usher (2008, several listens) [SPO]
18. (?) Le Champ des Larmes (2006, several listens) [SPO]
19. (?) Art Zoyd / J.A. Deane / J. Greinke (1990, several listens)

Edited by Logan - 4 hours 32 minutes ago at 11:00

Pink Floyd:

1. (S) Animals (1977, listened extensively) [SPO]
2. (S) Wish You Were Here (1975, listened extensively) [SPO]
3. (S) Ummagumma (1969, listened extensively) [SPO]
4. (S) The Dark Side of the Moon (1973, listened extensively) [SPO]
5. (S) Meddle (1971, listened extensively) [SPO]
6. (A) Atom Heart Mother (1970, listened extensively) [SPO]
7. (A) Live at Pompeii (Video, 1981, listened extensively)
8. (A) The Piper At The Gates of Dawn (1967, listened extensively) [SPO]
9. (A) A Saucerful of Secrets (1968, listened extensively) [SPO]
10. (B) Obscured By Clouds (Soundtrack, 1972, listened extensively) [SPO]
11. (B) The Early Years 1967-72: Cre/ation (Compilation, 2016, listened extensively) [SPO]
12. (B) P-U-L-S-E (Live, 1995, listened extensively) [SPO]
13. (B) The Wall (1979, listened extensively) [SPO]
14. (B) The Early Years 1965-1967: Cambridge St/ation (Compilation, 2017, listened extensively) [SPO]
15. (B) More (Soundtrack, 1969, listened extensively) [SPO]
16. (B) The Division Bell (1994, listened extensively) [SPO]
17. (C) A Momentary Lapse of Reason (1987, listened extensively) [SPO]
18. (C) Delicate Sound of Thunder (Live, 1988, listened extensively) [SPO]
19. (D) The Final Cut (1983, listened extensively) [SPO]
20. (D) The Endless River (2014, listened extensively) [SPO]

Added ratings

Univers Zéro:

1. (S) Ceux Du Dehors (1981, listened often) [BC, SPO]
2. (S) Heresie (1979, listened extensively) [BC, SPO]
3. (S) Uzed (1984, listened extensively) [SPO]
4. (A) Univers Zero (1313) (1977, several listens) [BC, SPO]
5. (A) Heatwave (1986, listened extensively)
6. (A) Clivages (2010, listened extensively)
7. (B) Phosphorescent Dreams (2014, listened often) [BC, SPO]
8. (B) Lueur (2023, listened often) [BC, SPO]
9. (C) The Hard Quest (1999, listened often)
10. (C) Implosion (2004, listened often)
11. (C) Rhythmix (2002, listened often)

^ That C is more like a C plus. It has music I love, and I could have gone with a B. Maybe when I next listen to it I will think of it more highly. With Fishmans I often do find albums take a few spins for me to really appreciate even if I like music off the albums immediately.

As for Long Season, this live version, off my top rated Fishmans album, Otokotachi No Wakare, is what I would recommend trying. Don't know if it would be your thing.



or without the concert video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Tz4xEyx0R0

I'm big on groove and atmosphere, and love the groove of it. The vocals would be turn off to some. Sadly the lead singer/guitarist/songwriter did die a few months after the concert which can make it rather chilling. I did not know that when I first got to know it. And when I did find out I could not listen to it or watch it for a while. While I did not know Fishmans while working in Japan, it also resonates with me because I lived there in the 90s while working as an English teacher (was in Japan when Long Season was released, how time flies, and I met my wife there).

Edited by Logan - 7 hours 18 minutes ago at 08:14

And here's one more before I call it a day for a band I tried my hand at a few reviews for after adding it it to the 'chives (too many cooked up lists spoil the broth). I am getting more comfortable rating and it need not be definitive or taken terribly seriously. It's a rough guide to what does what for me.

Fishmans:

1. (S) 98.12.28 男達の別れ (98.12.28 Otokotachi No Wakare) (Live, 1999, listened extensively) [SPO]
2. (S) Long Season (1996, listened extensively) [SPO]
3. (A) Long Season '96-7 - 96.12.26 Akasaka Blitz赤坂 (Live, 2016, several listens)
4. (A) 宇宙 日本 世田谷 (1997, listened often) [SPO]
5. (B) 空中キャンプ (Something in the Air) (1996, listened often) [SPO]
6. (C) Orange (オレンジ) (1994, several listens)

^ Thanks for the thoughtful response, Mike.

I, like others, certainly have favourites, and with some acts with many releases my favourites are much clearer than with others. With other acts I have many favourites, some not so liked, and what is my favourite often will depend on what I am listening to at the moment. And I have acts where I have listened to various albums a huge many times, sometimes even putting an album on repeat. With some it is way easier choosing clear favourites than others, for a great many bands ranking would be an easy task for me. With some it really is like, this is the best album ever when listening to it, and then I listen to another, and at that times I feel that is the best, and so on, and I realise they might have many albums that can rank supreme in their own ways and so none of those are ultimately better to me. And my favourites often depend on the mood I am in at the time, what other stuff I am particularly into at any given time...

The thing about judging quality is something of an aside as I have often had people, for instance, insist to me that an album I love is bad or mediocre rather than saying it's not to their taste, and when I would try to explore that idea they would double-down and insist without justifying the claim. Of course people are entitled to their own tastes, people have preferences, but I do wish people would be more careful when phrasing such claims as if they were objective truth, and in some cases more rational in recognising that it is a subjective appraisal. Making such claims can be a bit of trigger for me and brings back unhappy memories in my interactions with friends and family. I can appreciate someone's tastes and appreciate an album without liking it...

I would rather rate an album right after listening to an album several times in a row (that's how I like to review bad as my reviews are), as that might better capture my feelings, but I said I would try to rate if feeling encouraged, and I am. Like ranking quite often, the ratings do feel arbitrary. I gave Music Has the Right to Children one hundred as to me it has been a perfect listening experience in its way. Several of these would get five stars from me if in PA.

This band is not in PA, but I don't like to try draw lines between Prog and not Prog often, and commonly there are not clear boundaries...

Boards of Canada:

1. (S) Music Has the Right to Children (1998, listened extensively) [AP Non-Prog] [BC, SPO]
2. (S) Geogaddi (2002, listened extensively) [AP Prog] [BC, SPO]
3. (S) The Campfire Headphase (2005, listened extensively) [AP Non-Prog] [BC, SPO]
4. (A) Tomorrow's Harvest (2013, listened often) [AP Prog] [BC, SPO]
5. (A) In a Beautiful Place Out in the Country (EP, 2000, several listens) [AP Non-Prog] [BC, SPO]
6. (B) Boc Maxima (1996, several listens) [AP]

Modified the export to skip tier display unless at least one release is tiered, and added familiarity to provide more context for those of you who absolutely will not tier releases (since one of the core philosophies of AP is that most of its features are and will forever be completely optional).

Pink Floyd:

1. (S) The Dark Side of the Moon (1973, listened extensively) [SPO]
2. (S) Wish You Were Here (1975, listened extensively) [SPO]
3. (S) The Wall (1979, listened extensively) [SPO]
4. (S) Animals (1977, listened often) [SPO]
5. (S) The Final Cut (1983, listened extensively) [SPO]
6. (A) Meddle (1971, first listen) [SPO]
7. (A) A Saucerful of Secrets (1968, first listen) [SPO]
8. (B) A Momentary Lapse of Reason (1987, listened extensively) [SPO]
9. (B) Atom Heart Mother (1970, several listens) [SPO]
10. (B) The Division Bell (1994, first listen) [SPO]
11. (B) Ummagumma (1969, first listen) [SPO]
12. (B) More (Soundtrack, 1969, first listen) [SPO]
13. (C) Obscured By Clouds (Soundtrack, 1972, first listen) [SPO]

^ Whoosh! was a pleasant suprise, I like Don Airey a lot though as he channels a lot of Keith Emerson in his style perhaps more than Jon Lord. =1 is also great and Simon McBride is a guitar genius. I could rate it a bit higher maybe.