The Ten Best Albums of 2014 so far - 8 February

Two weeks since the first Best Of 2014. Half the albums that were in the last chart have dropped out of the top 10.

	Artist	Album
1	Behemoth	The Satanist
2	Rosanne Cash	The River & the Thread
3	Against Me!	Transgender Dysphoria Blues
4	Indian	From All Purity
5	Have a Nice Life	The Unnatural World
6	Lucinda Williams	Lucinda Williams [Reissue]
7	Various	Haiti Direct
8	Transatlantic	Kaleidoscope
9	Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra	Fuck Off Get Free We Pour Light on Everything
10	Uncle Tupelo	No Depression (Legacy Edition)

New Arrivals

Two metallers enter the chart. Behemoth are true to label, blasting their way to the top of the heap with strong showings with critics (#3) and fans (#2). Indian enters at #4 off a strong showing with critics (#8) vs #18 with fans. 

Haiti Direct (#7) could be this year's Buena Vista Social Club (but, dare I say, better). I can imagine it playing at hip soirees, cafes and book shops. It is #2 with the critics but hasn't registered with the fans yet.

Symphonic proggers Transatlantic enter at #8. They are #3 with the fans but haven't had any critical impact.

Rounding out the Top 10 is the reissue of the debut album by alt-country rockers Tupulo. It is #5 with the critics.

Stayers

Roseanne Cash is up one slot to #2 as she firms with the fans (#7) and is solid with the critics (#4).

Against Me! slips two places to #3.

Have a Nice Life are up two places to #5 as they are now top of the fans list, although not registering with critics.

Lucinda Williams stays at #6. Thee Silver... slips from #2 to #9 as Behemoth and Transatlantic relegate them to #4 on the fans list and a bunch of strong new releases push them way down the critics list.

Leavers

Departures from the Top 10 are Damien Jurado (#19), Sharon Jones (#27), Lone Justice (#13), Mark Lanegan (#22), and Hail Spirit Noir (#14).

The Ten Best Albums of 2014 so far - January

How to make sense of the flood of new material?

TMG's unique meta-meta-list combines data from metacritic and Rate Your Music to point you in the direction of music that might be worth a listen.

I'll update and expand it as the year progresses. But for now here are the best albums of 2014, so far.

	Artist	Album	Genre
1	Against Me!	Transgender Dysphoria Blues	Punk
2	Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra	Fuck Off Get Free We Pour Light on Everything	Post-Rock, Art Rock
3	Rosanne Cash	The River & the Thread	Americana, Contemporary Country
4	Damien Jurado	Brothers and Sisters of the Eternal Son	Psychedelic folk
5	Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings	Give the People What They Want	Soul
6	Lucinda Williams	Lucinda Williams [Reissue]	Americana, Contemporary Country
7	Have a Nice Life	The Unnatural World	Post-Punk, Shoegaze
8	Lone Justice	This Is Lone Justice: The Vaught Tapes, 1983	Country Rock, Cowpunk
9	Mark Lanegan	Has God Seen My Shadow? An Anthology 1989-2011	Pop/Rock, Adult Alternative Pop/Rock
10	Hail Spirit Noir	Oi Magoi	Psychedelic Rock, Black Metal

Top 25 Albums of 2013 6 - Wrap up

Here is the full list of the top 25 albums of 2013 based on The Music Geek's unique combination of sales, fan and critic data.

Rank	Artist	Album	Source
1	My Bloody Valentine	m b v	Critics + Fans
2	Vampire Weekend	Modern Vampires of the City	Critics + Fans
3	Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds	Push the Sky Away	Critics + Fans
4	The National	Trouble Will Find Me	Critics + Fans
5	Daft Punk	Random Access Memories	Critics + Sales
6	Jon Hopkins	Immunity	Critics + Fans
7	Queens of the Stone Age	...Like Clockwork	Critics + Fans
8	Kurt Vile	Wakin on a Pretty Daze	Critics + Fans
9	Julia Holter	Loud City Song	Critics + Fans
10	Kanye West	Yeezus	Critics
11	Sigur Rós	Kveikur	Fans
12	Justin Timberlake	The 20/20 Experience	Sales
13	Run the Jewels	Run the Jewels	Fans
14	Taylor Swift	Red	Sales
15	Arcade Fire	Reflektor	Critics
16	Boards of Canada	Tomorrow's Harvest	Fans
17	One Direction	Take Me Home	Sales
18	Gorguts	Colored Sands	Fans
19	Bruno Mars	Unorthodox Jukebox	Sales
20	Mumford & Sons	Babel	Sales
21	Imagine Dragons	Night Visions	Sales
22	Tim Hecker	Virgins	Fans
23	Arctic Monkeys	AM	Critics
24	Florida Georgia Line	Here's To The Good Times	Sales
25	Haim	Days Are Gone	Critics

It's a pretty diverse list. There's pop, country rock, indie, ambient, hip hop, speed metal, shoe gaze, art rock, post rock and more.

The albums from this list that have really stayed with me and begged multiple plays are from Haim, Boards of Canada, Justin Timberlake, Kanye West, Julia Holter and Daft Punk.

Are any of these likely to make the all time top 100? My pick of the most likely to succeed are Yeejus and Random Access Memories.

Sales v critics v fans 3.3: Fans top 100 albums of all time - years

Here's the chart for the fans top 100 albums of all time. (Click to enlarge.)

The structure is similar to the critics chart - but even more concentrated in the golden era. In the critics chart 1968 and 1971 were the biggest years with 6 entries each. Those are also big years for the fans with 7 and 8 entries respectively. But the biggest year is 1969 - with 10 entries!

Rank

Artist

Album

5	The Beatles	Abbey Road
7	King Crimson	In the Court of the Crimson King
40	Led Zeppelin	Led Zeppelin
44	Led Zeppelin	Led Zeppelin II
51	The Velvet Underground	The Velvet Underground
60	Miles Davis	In a Silent Way
67	The Rolling Stones	Let It Bleed
74	Nick Drake	Five Leaves Left
81	Neil Young	Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere
84	Frank Zappa	Hot Rats

This is by far the oldest chart - the median release date is 1971! (vs 1977 for the critics and 1987 for sales)

There are only 4 entries from 2000 and beyond - two of them belonging to Radiohead. The latest entry is In Rainbows in 2007. No Adele.

On the face of it, this could suggest the fans on RYM are older and more conservative than the critics or the record buying public. But that theory is shot down when you look at the charts for recent years on RYM. The preponderance of death metal, speed metal, shoegaze, etc suggests this is not an old audience. Maybe the oldies on RYM just outnumber the youngsters - so the old stuff tends to get more votes than the new stuff? But then how to explain the popularity of Radiohead? Maybe Radiohead just has the greatness to cross demographic boundaries and appeals to the oldies as well as the kids. Maybe they don't make 'em like they used to, but Radiohead is a rare exception - a genuinely great band that will stand the test of time.

Top 25 Albums of 2013 5 - Numbers 5 to 1

Here we are at the pointy end of the countdown.

4 selections by critics and fans, 1 selection by critics and sales.

Rank

Artist

Album

Source

5

Daft Punk

Random Access Memories

Critics + Sales

One of my personal favourites this year. What's not to like about Daft Punk + Nile Rogers? Fun to dance to. Fun to listen to. Unlike much dance music it stands up well to repeated close listening.

4

The National

Trouble Will Find Me

Critics + Fans

It's nicely produced, atmospheric, etc. But I don't feel like it's advancing the state of the art as laid down by Nick Cave or Joy Division or some other confessional singer/songwriters. Certainly listenable and enjoyable - but I was kinda hoping for more.

3 Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds  Push the Sky Away  Critics + Fans

...speaking of which. The real deal. 120 years on and still going strong.

2

Vampire Weekend

Modern Vampires of the City

Critics + Fans

This one is growing on me slowly. Dense arty indie pop rock.

1

My Bloody Valentine

m b v

Critics + Fans

What is it with shoegaze this year? Another album that just missed out on the list was the industrial shoegaze Sunbather by Deafheaven.

Amazing that this is #1 on the list when it isn't on iTunes or Spotify. You need to buy it from the artist's site. I appreciate the immersive and experiential nature of shoegaze - and this is probably as good a contemporary example as you'll find anywhere. I would have said it's not for everybody - but clearly a lot of critics and fans have made the effort to track it down and vote for it. 

Sales v critics v fans 3.2: Fans top 100 albums of all time - artists

What artists do the fans like - and how does that compare with the critics' and best seller lists?

The fans list is more concentrated than the other list. 64 entries come from artists with two or more entries vs 51 for the sales chart and 34 for the critics. That kinda makes sense - you'd expect critics to have more diverse interest than fans or record buyers. But I was surprised that the fans were more concentrated than the sales data.

The list of top 100 albums of all time as voted by the fans is here.


1. The Beatles - 6 entries

Despite being deposed from the top slots by Radiohead and Pink Floyd, the Beatles still have the most entries. I suppose they must be ok.

The order is different - but the albums are the same as the critics, except the fans substitute Magical Mystery Tour for Please Please Me. Hard to pass up one of the greatest pieces of psychedelia of all time.

Abbey Road
Revolver
Sgt Pepper
White Album
Rubber Soul
Magical Mystery Tour


2.= Bob Dylan, Pink Floyd - 5 entries

The fans really like their Pink Floyd! The critics gave the nod to only 1 Floyd album, which seems like a travesty. The best seller list had 3.

Bob Dylan
Blood on the Tracks
Highway 61 Revisited
Blonde on Blonde
Bringing it All Back Home
The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan

Pink Floyd
Dark Side of the Moon (#2 Overall)
Wish You Were Here
Animals
Piper At the Gates of Dawn
Meddle


4.= Led Zeppelin, Neil Young, Radiohead, The Rolling Stones - 4 entries

I like the elevation of Neil Young and Radiohead. Compared with the sales chart, the fans drop Houses of the Holy and add Lep Zep I and III.

Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin IV
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin II
Led Zeppelin III

Neil Young
After the Gold Rush
On the Beach
Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere
Harvest

Radiohead

OK Computer (#1 Overall)

Kid A

The Bends

In Rainbows

The Rolling Stones
Sticky Fingers
Let It Bleed
Exile on Main Street
Beggars Banquet


8.= Black Sabbath, David Bowie, Miles Davis, Velvet Underground - 3 entries

Yes, yes, yes and yes!

Black Sabbath
Paranoid
Black Sabbath
Master of Reality

David Bowie
Ziggy Stardust
Low
Hunky Dory

Miles Davis
Kind of Blue
In a Silent Way
Betches Brew

The Velvet Underground
The Velvet Underground & Nico (#3 Overall)
The Velvet Underground
White Light/White Heat


12.= Charles Mingus, Godspeed You Black Emperor!, John Coltrane, Joy Division, King Crimson, Metallica, Nick Drake, Pixies, Talk Talk, The Jimi Hendrix Experience - 2 entries

What a diverse group!


Everyone else - 1 entry

A Tribe Called Quest

Arcade Fire

Can

Creedence Clearwater Revival

DJ Shadow

Elliott Smith

Frank Zappa

Genius/GZA

Leonard Cohen

Love

Marvin Gaye

Megadeth

My Bloody Valentine

Nas

Neutral Milk Hotel

Nirvana

Portishead

Sigur Rós

Slayer

Slint

Sonic Youth

Talking Heads

Television

The Beach Boys

The Clash

The Cure

The Doors

The Kinks

The Smiths

The Stooges

The Who

The Zombies

Tom Waits

Van Morrison

Wu-Tang Clan

Yes

Top 25 Albums of 2013 4 - Numbers 10 to 6

We continue our countdown of the top 25 albums of 2013 with numbers 10 to 6. This group includes three great experimental works.

Rank

Artist

Album

Source

10

Kanye West

Yeezus

Critics

Wow! If there is such a thing as post hip hop, this is it. One critic likens Kanye to Salvador Dali. Maybe. I was surprised by how much I liked this.

9

Julia Holter

Loud City Song

Critics + Fans

This is the first of the top 25 to be selected by two of the three sources. Think Bjork does ambient. Bjorkish in some places, ethereal in others - always beautiful.

8

Kurt Vile

Wakin on a Pretty Daze

Critics + Fans

I tried to like this but couldn't. Better to pull out your old REM or Nick Drake.

7

Queens of the Stone Age

...Like Clockwork

Critics + Fans

A good enough homage to late 70s Bowie, Eno, Iggy but without as interesting a voice. Some tasty guitar work.

6

Jon Hopkins

Immunity

Critics + Fans

Great to see some really nice industrial/techno/ambience rating so highly.