Battle of the Decades #4 - Chuchu is a Ranker!

Chuchu recaps his album of the year series via a dumb tournament format! On this episode he reviews, rates and ranks Reflektor by Arcade Fire, Dear Catastrophe Waitress by Belle and Sebastian, The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady by Charles Mingus, August and Everything After by Counting Crows, Porcupine by Echo and the Bunnymen & Selling England by the Pound by Genesis.

[@Gibbon56z]

Good with Genesis being number 1, Echo and the Bunnymen would still be mine.

[@ste.6026]

ROUND 4… 3’s
06… Arcade Fire - Reflektor (2013)… Not a band for me, the album itself is good in respect of its component parts… 4*
05… Counting Crows - August & Everything After (1992)… Generally I am not the biggest fan of many U.S bands, here again it’s just the vocals that do nothing for me… It’s a decent album though… 4*
04… Mingus - The Black Saint & The Sinner Lady (1963)… What can I say, sublime from start to finish… I think it missed my list purely because I would rarely listen but when in the mood, it’s simply joyous… 4.5*
03… Genesis - Selling England By The Pound (1973)… I guess that you are more than aware of my opinion about prog but I don’t hate it, I have always liked elements… As always, the vocalist is what draws me, Gabriel & Collins are not for me but the music is top notch… ANYWAY!!... 4.75*…
02… Belle & Sebastian - Dear Catastrophe Waitress (2003)... Great, album, great band… I was always more than aware of B&S but it wasn’t until your ranker that I listened with fresh ears… Honestly!!, it was so close between 1st & 2nd … 5*
01… Echo & the Bunnymen - Porcupine (1983)... I believe that I ranked this second on your ranker… It has some of my favourite Bunnymen songs, Got to agree; it’s so close between ‘Porcupine’ & ‘Ocean Rain’… 5*
From my first placings…
06… Leisure Society - Alone Aboard The Ark (2013)… Not my favourite album by them, I narrowly prefer the first two… 2013 seems to be a year when I could have chosen a couple of others that would have the same scores; OMD & Vampire Weekend were both in contention, I’ve already selected OMD as my choice for 1983, so this gets the nod, a consistently good album, even if not the most exciting… 4.5*
05… Beatles - Please Please Me (1963)… Sorry!! It has to be the Beatles, it’s a great debut… It’s not their best or their worst but plenty good enough to take first for 1963… 4.5*… The 60’s fightback begins but still 2nd to last for the 3’s…
04… Belle & Sebastian - Dear Catastrophe Waitress (2003)... Great, album, great band, it narrowly beat out the Coral - Magic and Medicine; A toss of a coin!!… 5*
03… Lou Reed - Berlin (1973)… Berlin is gloomy, depressing, consistent and I love it… 5*
02… OMD - Dazzle Ships ... (1983)… Depending on the time of day ‘Dazzle Ships’ is my favourite OMD album but more often than not 81’s ‘Architecture & Morality’ gets the nod… ‘DS’ did badly both in the eyes of the critics and the fans upon release
(including me)… Over the years it has gained much popularity with both… I don’t care if some still don’t care for it; I love it, plus it contains my favourite OMD track ‘Romance Of The Telescope’… 5*
01… Crowded House - Together Alone (1993)... This was very close with two other albums: James - Laid & Depeche Mode - Songs of Faith and Devotion, both could have stolen it… This is easily the best Crowded House album, it has one duff track but that cannot stop me giving it 5*…
R4… 90’s… 6pts, 80s… 5pts, 70s… 4pts, 00s… 3pts…., 60’s… 2pts, 10s… 1pt …
AFTER R3…70’s… 17pts, 80’s… 14pts, 90’s… 13pts, 00’s… 10pts, 10’s… 5pts, 60’s… 4pts…
RUNNING TOTAL…
1st 70’s… 21pts,
2nd 80’s… 19pts,
2nd 90’s… 19pts,
4th 00’s… 13pts,
5th 10’s… 6pts,
6th 60’s… 6pts…

[@tokyochuchu]

Crowded House were very close to taking Counting Crows' spot. But when I listened to the albums back to back, that old nostalgia crept in to save Counting Crows. But I absolutely love that Crowded House LP as well.