Urban75 Album of the Year 1994

[AverageJoe]

4) Beastie Boys - Ill Communication


View attachment 445376

I've spent a lot* of the last 30 years not listening to this. Big mistake.

*Actually all of it.

If you are missing this sound, then try Joey Valence & Brae. It's like the essence of that album in modern day grift.

 

[Knotted]

Pantera, Napalm Death and Cradle of Filth right?

Napalm Death did the best out of those three. In at 123.

 

[Knotted]

Even I voted for no.3

 

[Knotted]

Come to think about it, what do you all have against Pantera??? No votes at all.

 

[AverageJoe]

The last three are very guessable, I think.

Put yourself in the mind of a standardly alt British gen xer and you'll get them.

Oasis, Portishead, Green Day, Massive Attack, Nirvana and Suicidal Tendencies are all in the top three?

 

[AverageJoe]

Come to think about it, what do you all have against Pantera??? No votes at all.

Phil went bad.

 

[maomao]

Come to think about it, what do you all have against Pantera??? No votes at all.

They were in my top 23 but I chopped it to 20

 

[Knotted]

3) Nirvana - MTV Unplugged in New York



I've never actually listened to it but I still voted for it on the strength of In the Pines.

 

[DaveCinzano]

The last three are very guessable, I think.

Couch Potatoes

 

[Knotted]

Couch Potatoes

Would have won*, but it's a compilation.



*I'm sure

 

[Knotted]

2) Massive Attack - Protection



I remember at the time thinking this sounds gorgeous. And indeed it is.

 

[Knotted]

1) Portishead - Dummy



If you want something totally magnificent in your life get this. (I mean I don't, but that's just me)

 

[Knotted]

Belboid scoring has

1) Portishead - Dummy
2) Massive Attack - Protection
3) Beastie Boys - Ill Communication
4) Nirvana - MTV Unplugged in New York
5) Jeff Bukely - Grace
6) Beck - Mellow Gold
7) The Prodigy - Music for the Jilted Generation
8) Underworld - dubnobasswithmyheadman
9) Global Communication - 76:14
10) Hole - Live Through This
11) Nas - Illmatic
12) Aphex Twin - Selected Ambient Works Volume II
13) Pulp - His ‘n’ Hers
14) Manics - Holy Bible
15=) Autechre - Amber
15=) Kristin Hersh - Hips and Markers
17) The Sabres Of Paradise - Haunted Dancehall
18=) Johnny Cash - American Recordings
18=) Stereolab – Mars Audiac Quintet
20=) Future Sound of London - Lifeforms
20=) Pavement - Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain

 

[DaveCinzano]

Would have won*, but it's a compilation.

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*I'm sure

No, it was their second album, released on tape

I DEMAND A RECOUNT

 

[Knotted]

If you're wondering. Oasis only got one vote. Which I feel is a shame. I don't feel that very much. But I feel it is a shame.

 

[maomao]

If you're wondering. Oasis only got one vote. Which I feel is a shame. I don't feel that very much. But I feel it is a shame.

I agree. It's a shame it got a vote.

 

[AverageJoe]

Thats amazing about Oasis.

 

[Knotted]

By number of votes:

Dummy got 10 votes. I'll say that again Dummy got 10 votes. You all bloody like it. Because of course you do.

Ill Communication and Music for the Jilted Generation got 8 votes.

Protection and Mellow Gold got 7 votes

Nirvana MTV Unplugged in New York and Mars Audiac Quintet got 6 votes

Grace, Holy Bible and Lifeforms all got 5 votes

 

[hitmouse]

Blimey, Gravediggaz were proper robbed there.

By number of votes:

Dummy got 10 votes. I'll say that again Dummy got 10 votes. You all bloody like it. Because of course you do.

Ill Communication and Music for the Jilted Generation got 8 votes.

Protection and Mellow Gold got 7 votes

Nirvana MTV Unplugged in New York and Mars Audiac Quintet got 6 votes

Grace, Holy Bible and Lifeforms all got 5 votes

Live Through This got so many votes it broke the machine?

 

[Knotted]

Protection got 2 no.1 votes.

Nirvana MTV Unplugged in New York
Holy Bible
dubnobasswithmyheadman
Live Through This
Illmatic
The Downward Spiral
American Recordings
The 4 Cornered Room
At Action Park
Iries in Roots meets Alpha & Omega - The Signs
Marisa Monte - Verde Anil Amarelo Cor de Rosa e Carvão
Bark Psychosis- Hex
Marc Ribot/Fred Frith - Subsonic 1 Sounds of a Distant Episode
Drexciya - The Unknown Aquazone

all got 1 no.1 vote. The last five being lonely no.1's unfortunately languishing at joint 40th position. I bet the Drexciya is good.

Dummy was nobody's favourite.

 

[Knotted]

These were my votes

Marc Ribot/Fred Frith - Subsonic 1 Sounds of a Distant Episode
Ata Kak - Obaa Sima
Tortoise - Tortoise
5UU's - Hungers Teeth
Optical*8 - Bug
Jeff Bukcley - Grace
Änglagård - Epilog
Nurse With Wound - Rock and Roll Station
Merzbow - Noisembryo
Merzbow - Venerology
Fred Frith - Quartets
Koenji Hyakkei - Hundred Sights of Koenji
Il Berlione - In 453 Minutes Infernal Cooking
Gorkys Zygotic Mynci - Tatay
Henry Threadgill - Carry the Day
Bondage Fruit - Bondage Fruit
Iva Bittova - Ne nehledej
Derek Bailey - Solo Guitar Volume 2
Melt-Banana - Speak Squeak Creak
U TOTEM - Strange Attractors
Nirvana - MTV Unplugged
Stereolab - Mars Audiac Quintet
Fushitsusha - 悲愴 (Pathétique)


In retrospect I would have voted for the Johnny Cash, The Sabres of Paradise, the Kenny Larkin and the Beastie Boys maybe. You won me round.

I'm a bit disappointed nobody else voted for Tatay.

 

[AverageJoe]

My list.


1.Nine Inch Nails - The Downward Spirsl
Prodigy - Music For The Jilted Generation
Soundgarden - Superunknown
Hole - Live Through This
Oasis - Definitely Maybe
Blur - Parklife
Pulp - His and Hers
Beastie Boys - I'll Communication
Green Day - Dookie
Beck - Mellow Gold
Portishead - Dummy
Aphex Twin - Selected Ambient Works v2
Massive Attack - Protection
Suicidal Tendencies - Suicidal for Life
Nirvana - Unplugged
G Love and Special Sauce - Self Titled
Weezer - Blue Album
Kyuss - Welcome To Sky Valley
Mark Lanegan - Whiskey For The Holy Ghost
Orbital - Snivilisation
dEUS - Worst Case Scenario
Senser - Stacked Up
Black Crowes - Amorica
Helmet - Betty
25. Nailbomb - Point Blank

 

[Knotted]

I agree. It's a shame it got a vote.

I'm actually in the Oasis were good actually camp. Not that I would ever vote for them or listen to them...

 

[maomao]

These were my votes

Marc Ribot/Fred Frith - Subsonic 1 Sounds of a Distant Episode
Ata Kak - Obaa Sima
Tortoise - Tortoise
5UU's - Hungers Teeth
Optical*8 - Bug
Jeff Bukcley - Grace
Änglagård - Epilog
Nurse With Wound - Rock and Roll Station
Merzbow - Noisembryo
Merzbow - Venerology
Fred Frith - Quartets
Koenji Hyakkei - Hundred Sights of Koenji
Il Berlione - In 453 Minutes Infernal Cooking
Gorkys Zygotic Mynci - Tatay
Henry Threadgill - Carry the Day
Bondage Fruit - Bondage Fruit
Iva Bittova - Ne nehledej
Derek Bailey - Solo Guitar Volume 2
Melt-Banana - Speak Squeak Creak
U TOTEM - Strange Attractors
Nirvana - MTV Unplugged
Stereolab - Mars Audiac Quintet
Fushitsusha - 悲愴 (Pathétique)


In retrospect I would have voted for the Johnny Cash, The Sabres of Paradise, the Kenny Larkin and the Beastie Boys maybe. You won me round.

I'm a bit disappointed nobody else voted for Tatay.

You're slipping, I've heard of six of them. If I count Merzbow twice.

My 20. I feel like it was a busy year but not a great year. And I had to vote for all three Beck albums because I spent a lot of time listening to them.

Johnny Cash - American Recordings
Tori Amos - Under the Pink
Beastie Boys - Ill Communication
Portishead - Dummy
Black Francis - Teenager of the Year
Dinosaur Jr - Without a Sound
Pavement - Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain
Shampoo - We are Shampoo
Beck - One Foot In The Grave
Beck - Mellow Gold
Beck - Stereopathetic Soul Manure
Ween - Chocolate and Cheese
Melvins - Stoner Witch
Cradle of Filth - The Principle of Evil Made Flesh
Napalm Death - Fear, Emptiness, Despair
Prince - The Black Album
Prodigy - Music for the Jilted Generation
Future Sound of London - Lifeforms
R.E.M. - Monster
Blur - Parklife

 

[Spandex]

Tricky year to order albums. For a start, all the best stuff was on compilations and mixes.

Then I didn't know quite where to put the Orbital & Underworld albums. They were both big albums for me and my group of friends at the time, they were so omnipresent that year that I didn't see how I couldn't put them at the top. But even at the time I thought they were both flawed.

Dubnobass... is excellent right up to Tongue, when they get their guitars out for a strum and I start to loose interest, followed by Dirty Epic with Karl Hyde mumbling on about phone sex and me wishing he'd just shut the fuck up. But then comes Cowgirl, which'd been played relentlessly in clubs before the album came out, which was the reason I bought the album on the day it came out, and it all gets back on track again.

Snivilisation is a step down from Orbital's previous album. It's a bit all over the place. The sample on Philosophy by Numbers gets annoying quickly. A couple of the tracks go on a bit (although not the 15 minutes of Are We Here?). It sometimes veers a bit close to the kind of incidental music you'd hear on 90s science programmes. Crash & Carry is great but (deliberately, presumably) disrupts the flow of the album.

Both still year-defining albums for me.

The rest are all various shades of great, but whether any of these are better or worse than the others depends what mood I'm in. And since I limited myself to a top twenty there's a load of other albums I could've voted for too...

Underworld – Dubnobasswithmyheadman
Orbital – Snivilisation
Kenny Larkin – Azimuth
Global Communication - 76:14
Lush - Split
Nu-Era – Beyond Gravity
Robert Hood - Internal Empire
The Sabres Of Paradise - Haunted Dancehall
Stereolab – Mars Audiac Quintet
Ata Kak - Obaa Sima
Jeff Mills - Waveform Transmission Vol 3
Aisha - True Roots
Jah Wobble's Invaders Of The Heart – Take Me To God
Paul van Dyk – 45 RPM
Saint Etienne - Tiger Bay
Resistance D – Ztringz Of Life
Mad Professor - Black Liberation Dub Chapter Two: Anti-Racist Dub Broadcast
Bandulu – Antimatters
Manasseh Meets The Equaliser - Dub The Millenium
Alpha & Omega - Safe in the Ark

 

[hitmouse]

I ended up voting:

Hole - Live Through This
Manics - Holy Bible
Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds - Let Love In
Pulp - His ‘n’ Hers
Gravediggaz - 6 Feet Under
Heavens to Betsy - Calculated
Rancid - Let’s Go
Jawbreaker - 24 Hour Revenge Therapy
Madball - Set it Off
Guided by Voices - Bee Thousand
Dystopia - Human=Garbage
Pop Will Eat Itself - Dos Dedos Mis Amigos
Lords of Acid - Voodoo-U
Cows - Orphan’s Tragedy
Saint Etienne - Tiger Bay
Mountain Goats - Zopilote Machine
Fall - Middle Class Revolt
Shampoo - We Are Shampoo
Sonic Youth - Experimental Jet Set, Trash and No Star
Shellac - At Action Park
Killdozer - Uncompromising War on Art Under the Dictatorship of the Proletariat
Jesus Lizard - Down
Heavenly - Decline and Fall Of Heavenly
Napalm Death - Fear, Emptiness, Despair
Sick of it All - Scratch the Surface
Silver Jews - Starlite Walker
Lush - Split
Pavement - Crooked Rain
Superchunk - Foolish
Bad Religion - Stranger Than Fiction

Completely forgot that Nirvana album existed, but it clearly did alright without my support.

 

[Indeliblelink]

Luke Slater's 7th Plain - The 4 Cornered Room
Aphex Twin - Selected Ambient Works Volume II
Beck - Mellow Gold
Massive Attack - Protection
Portishead - Dummy
Underworld - Dubnobasswithmyheadman
The Future Sound of London - Lifeforms
Warren G - Regulate... G Funk Era
Alter Ego - Alter Ego
Freak Power - In Dub The Fried Funk Food
Global Communication - 76:14
Robert Leiner - Visions of the Past
System 7 - Point 3 (Fire Album)
The Irresistible Force - Global Chillage
Spacetime Continuum - Sea Biscuit
Ozric Tentacles - Arborescence
Pete Namlook & Richie Hawtin - From Within
Fast Floor - On a Quest for Intelligence
Shaolin Wooden Men - Shaolin Wooden Men
I.F. [Dr Atmo & Deep Space Network] - I.F. 1 & 2
Oasis - Definitely Maybe
Shane MacGowan and The Popes - The Snake
The Notorious B.I.G. - Ready to Die
Killing Joke - Pandemonium
Autechre - Amber
Low - I Could Live in Hope
Chris Meloche - Recurring Dreams of the Urban Myth
Autocreation - Mettle
The Future Sound of London - ISDN
X-Dream - Trip to Trancesylvania

Nearly cut out Portishead, Massive Attack & Underworld as while I loved them at the time I get rather sick of hearing them these days.
Weird year, so many I liked, must of spent a fortune on vinyl/CDs that year but hardly any I really, really love, compared to 1993.

 

[maomao]

Knotted - Oasis got two shameful votes!

 

[AverageJoe]

I forgot Ween as well

 

[hitmouse]

Blimey, Biggie, that's another one I didn't get around to listening to enough to vote for but I would've expected to do better than it did.