The Album Review Club - Week #173 (page 1169) - Sparkle in the Rain - Simple Minds

[RobMCFC]

Another music voting thread!

Several people have commented that the randomizer in @BlueHammer85 's Top 1100 album review thread isn't doing a great job of selecting albums.
Some people have suggested that we'd be better selecting the albums ourselves.
I would argue that the randomizer is doing a perfect job - it's completely random after all - but I understand the sentiment.

However, it got me thinking: given that some of us spend a lot of time on the thread, wouldn't it be nice if we were reviewing and commenting on albums that meant something to us? Even better, we could get an insight into why an album means so much to the person who selected it.

Blue Moon Forums - Album Review Club Scoreboard	Date	02/07/2025
Pos	Nominator	Week #	Page #	Album	Artist	Year	#Votes	Average
1	Saddleworth2	149	1963	Every Picture Tells A Story	Rod Stewart	1971	14	8.39
2	OB1	67	815	Naturally	J.J.Cale	1971	14	8.14
3	GoatersLeftShin	61	678	Revolver	The Beatles	1966	18	7.83
4	Mancitydoogle	87	1038	Live Drugs	The War On Drugs	2020	8	7.75
5	GoatersLeftShin	163	2179	Heartbreaker	Free	1973	17	7.74
6	Gaudion M	76	921	Cold Fact	Rodriguez	1970	11	7.73
7	BlueHammer85	48	492	The Queen is Dead	The Smiths	1986	15	7.67
8	OB1	83	1007	Live and Dangerous	Thin Lizzy	1978	14	7.61
9	threespires	88	1043	Talking With The Taxman About Poetry	Billy Bragg	1986	10	7.60
10	BlueHammer85	127	1545	Definitely Maybe	Oasis	1994	21	7.55
11	BlueHammer85	94	1111	Ten	Pearl Jam	1991	12	7.51
12	BlueMoonRisin'	1310	1611	Rattus Norvegicus	The Stranglers	1977	21	7.48
13	OB1	5	70	Physical Graffiti	Led Zeppelin	1975	19	7.47
14	Mancitydoogle	100	1164	This is the Sea	The Waterboys	1985	14	7,46
15	bennyboy	51	541	Car Wheels on a Gravel Road	Lucinda Williams	1998	16	7.44
16	OB1	96	1136	Rainbow Rising	Rainbow	1976	13	7.42
17	Coatigan	170	2293	Hear The Rivers	Greenleaf	2018	10	7.30
18	bennyboy	111	1314	Some Girls	The Rolling Stones	1978	14	7.29
19	LGWIO	135	1719	Stop Making Sense (Live)	Talking Heads	1984	22	7.25
20	FogBlueInSanFran	154	2039	Is This It	The Strokes	2001	17	7.24
21	Coatigan	98	1149	V	The Budos Band	2019	11	7.18
22	Mancitydoogle	116	1381	You're Never Alone with a Schizophrenic	Ian Hunter	1979	11	7.18
23	OB1	168	2253	Crime of the Century	Supertramp	1974	20	7.17
24	Saddleworth2	129	1598	Hats	The Blue Nile	1989	19	7.15
25	LGWIO	153	2026	London 0 Hull 4	The Housemartins	1986	17	7.15
26	GoatersLeftShin	89	1053	Live at the Star Club	Jerry Lee Lewis	1964	11	7.14
27	threespires	152	2014	Rumor and Sigh	Richard Thompson	1991	14	7.11
28	mancity2012_eamo	57	629	Viva Dead Ponies	The Fatima Mansions	1990	11	7.09
29	southamptonblue	44	468	Beautiful Freak	Eels	1996	12	7.08
30	RobMCFC	92	1095	American Man	The Yawpers	2015	12	7.08
31	bennyboy	146	1935	Ocean Rain	Echo and the Bunnymen	1984	15	7.07
32	bennyboy	126	1531	All Mod Cons	The Jam	1978	16	7.06
33	RobMCFC	1	11	The Lonesome Jubilee	John Cougar Mellencamp	1987	19	7.05
34	FogBlueInSanFran	115	1369	Gun-Shy	The Screaming Blue Messiahs	1986	14	7.04
35	RobMCFC	145	1923	Tellin' Stories	The Charlatans	1997	13	7.00
36	stoneblue	97	1142	Feats Don't Fail Me Now	Little Feat	1974	12	7.00
37	GornikDaze	109	1288	Absolution	Muse	2003	11	7.00
38	Journolud	114	1362	Crossing The Red Sea	The Adverts	1978	12	6.96
39	FogBlueInSanFran	80	979	Siren	Roxy Music	1975	14	6.93
40	LGWIO	118	1399	Pacific Street	The Pale Fountains	1984	14	6.93
41	EDITOR'S CHOICE	164	21xx	Lives Outgrown	Beth Gibbons	2024	12	6.92
42	BimboBob	77	928	The Battle at Garden's Gate	Greta Van Fleet	2021	10	6.90
43	bennyboy	82	1001	Radio City	Big Star	1974	9	6.89
44	Saddleworth2	35	392	10cc	10cc	1973	16	6.88
45	Black&White&BlueMoon Town	107	1273	The Last Broadcast	Doves	2002	13	6.88
46	OB1	112	1329	Rocks	Aerosmith	1976	18	6.87
47	FogBlueInSanFran	2	24	Let It Be	The Replacements	1984	14	6.86
48	threespires	74	901	Strong Persuader	Robert Cray	1986	13	6.85
49	BimboBob	58	639	The Colour of Spring	Talk Talk	1986	12	6.83
50	OB1	148	1953	Sheer Heart Attack	Queen	1974	14	6.82
51	BlueHammer85	3	40	The Masterplan	Oasis	1998	18	6.81
52	Mancitydoogle	14	200	Southeastern	Jason Isbell	2013	10	6.80
53	Bill Walker	24	310	Bare Wires	John Mayall's Bluesbreakers	1968	10	6.80
54	threespires	134	1701	Dummy	Portishead	1994	17	6.79
55	Saddleworth2	4	54	Before The Dawn	Kate Bush	2014	14	6.79
56	threespires	117	1389	Down to Believing	Allison Moorer	2016	14	6.79
57	BimboBob	120	1413	The Lexicon of Love	ABC	1982	14	6.79
58	Saddleworth2	84	1016	The Wild, The Innocent and the E-Street Shuffle	Bruce Springsteen	1973	13	6.77
59	FogBlueInSanFran	93	1102	The Tubes	The Tubes	1975	13	6.77
60	Marklr	8	111	Foxtrot	Genesis	1972	20	6.75
61	GoatersLeftShin	75	914	What's Going On	Marvin Gaye	1971	14	6.75
62	denislawsbackheel	55	606	Flat Baroque and Berserk	Roy Harper	1970	15	6.73
63	bennyboy	166	2227	On The Beach	Neil Young	1974	15	6.73
64	GornikDaze	91	1089	Have You Lost Your Mind Yet?	Fantastic Negrito	2020	9	6.72
65	RobMCFC	63	775	Living With The Law	Chris Whitley	1991	14	6.71
66	Onholiday(somemightsay)	7	99	Rage Against The Machine	Rage Against The Machine	1992	22	6.68
67	GornikDaze	132	1659	Black Sabbath	Black Sabbath	1970	19	6.68
68	Saddleworth2	169	2262	Jagged Little Pill	Alanis Morissette	1995	17	6.68
69	Black&White&BlueMoon Town	141	1860	JPEG Raw	Gary Clark Jr	2024	15	6.67
70	OB1	36	402	Moving Pictures	Rush	1981	23	6.65
71	mancity2012_eamo	15	207	Paradise in the Picturehouse	The Stunning	1990	11	6.64
72	Saddleworth2	49	513	The Crossing	Big Country	1983	15	6.63
73	BimboBob	157	2099	The Real Thing	Faith No More	1989	13	6.62
74	GornikDaze	171	2303	Before the Fire	Rival Sons	2009	15	6.60
75	Black&White&BlueMoon Town	122	1438	A Black Mile To The Surface	Manchester Orchestra	2017	13	6.58
76	bennyboy	40	444	Lost Songs of the Confederacy	James King and the Lonewolves	2014	12	6.58
77	Saddleworth2	68	827	Purple Rain	Prince	1984	14	6.57
78	RobMCFC	108	1283	Spirit Trail	Bruce Hornsby	1998	8	6.56
79	mancity2012_eamo	27	329	Irish Tour '74	Rory Gallagher	1974	13	6.54
80	Journolud	71	875	Curtains	Tindersticks	1997	15	6.53
81	BlueHammer85	147	1942	Blonde On Blonde	Bob Dylan	1966	15	6.50
82	RobMCFC	16	217	Earth and Sun and Moon	Midnight Oil	1993	12	6.50
83	EDITOR'S CHOICE	123	1446	OK Computer	Radiohead	1997	20	6.44
84	KnaresboroughBlue	69	841	Music Complete	New Order	2015	14	6.43
85	threespires	172	1161	Aman Iman	Tinariwen	2007	14	6.43
86	GoatersLeftShin	42	455	Hejira	Joni Mitchell	1976	15	6.40
87	KnaresboroughBlue	6	88	Má Vlast	Bedřich Smetana	1874-79	15	6.40
88	bennyboy	25	316	Fuzzy	Grant Lee Buffalo	1993	15	6.40
89	Bill Walker	9	138	Red	King Crimson	1974	17	6.40
90	Big Joe Corrigan	144	1893	XO	Elliot Smith	1998	14	6.39
91	FogBlueInSanFran	33	372	Candy-O	The Cars	1979	13	6.38
92	GoatersLeftShin	102	1199	Pocket Symphony	Air	2007	11	6.36
93	southamptonblue	106	1264	Odyssey Number Five	Powderfinger	2000	11	6.36
94	BimboBob	38	432	Sule Skerry	Erland Cooper	2019	9	6.33
95	bennyboy	95	1129	Head Over Heels	Cocteau Twins	1983	11	6.32
96	Coatigan	150	1984	Arc Light	Lau	2009	11	6.32
97	Coatigan	53	577	Painting of a Panic Attack	Frightened Rabbit	2016	16	6.31
98	southamptonblue	31	356	Dogs at Bay	Bad \\ Dreems	2015	14	6.29
99	Coatigan	113	1436	Clarity: Pheonix Sessions	Jimmy Eat World	2021	14	6.29
100	Black&White&BlueMoon Town	158	2110	They Want My Soul	Spoon	2014	14	6.29
101	bennyboy	12	177	Southern Rock Opera	Drive-By Truckers	2001	11	6.27
102	shackattack	160	2146	Gorgeous George	Edwyn Collins	1994	14	6.21
103	Journolud	86	1029	Twelve Dreams of Dr.Sardonicus	Spirit	1970	10	6.20
104	GoatersLeftShin	143	1884	I Should Coco	Supergrass	1995	17	6.18
105	BlueHammer85	65	797	Chasing Yesterday	Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds	2015	11	6.18
106	bennyboy	66	809	A Black and White Night	Roy Orbison	1989	13	6.15
107	Coatigan	85	1025	Burst and Decay	The Wonder Years	2017	7	6.14
108	BimboBob	22	287	Songs of Faith and Devotion	Depeche Mode	1993	15	6.13
109	BimboBob	139	1815	Musical Version of War of the Worlds	Jeff Wayne	1978	19	6.11
110	Mancitydoogle	41	449	Crazy on the Weekend	Sunhouse	1998	10	6.10
111	denislawsbackheel	72	888	Rough Mix	Pete Townshend and Ronnie Lane	1977	10	6.10
112	Journolud	137	1774	Wet Dream	Richard Wright	1978	15	6.09
113	RobMCFC	79	972	Girlfriend	Matthew Sweet	1991	11	6.09
114	Saddleworth2	19	247	Jordan: The Comeback	Prefab Sprout	1990	12	6.08
115	FogBlueInSanFran	17	226	Welcome Interstate Managers	Fountains of Wayne	2003	14	6.07
116	threespires	60	667	Stand	Sly and the Family Stone	1969	14	6.07
117	Coatigan	131	1633	Crawler	Idles	2021	16	6.00
118	OB1	128	1587	Pretty Vicious	The Struts	2023	14	6.00
119	RobMCFC	32	364	So Runs The World Away	Josh Ritter	2010	11	6.00
120	Coatigan	43	463	Puzzle	Biffy Clyro	2007	11	6.00
121	southamptonblue	121	1429	Day for Night	The Tragically Hip	1994	11	6.00
122	GornikDaze	62	739	Doolittle	Pixies	1989	19	5.97
123	GornikDaze	78	963	Degüello	ZZ Top	1979	14	5.92
124	FogBlueInSanFran	64	792	Under The Big Black Sun	X	1982	13	5.92
125	Mancitydoogle	73	896	Warren Zevon	Warren Zevon	1976	11	5.91
126	OB1	50	525	Women and Children First	Van Halen	1980	18	5.88
127	RobMCFC	125	1524	Listen Like Thieves	INXS	1985	17	5.88
128	Journolud	155	2064	Live at the Witch Trials	The Fall	1979	17	5.88
129	BimboBob	103	1209	Split	The Groundhogs	1971	12	5.88
130	Mancitydoogle	56	621	Hard Station	Paul Brady	1981	13	5.85
131	Mancitydoogle	26	323	New York	Lou Reed	1989	14	5.82
132	Mancitydoogle	161	2157	Songs for Silverman	Ben Folds	2005	14	5.82
133	KnaresboroughBlue	37	425	Rusalka	Antonín Dvořák	1900	11	5.82
134	Journolud	13	188	Gypsy Blood	Doll By Doll	1979	14	5.79
135	RobMCFC	165	2215	I'm With Stupid	Aimee Mann	1995	12	5.79
136	FogBlueInSanFran	47	485	Last Splash	The Breeders	1993	13	5.77
137	Journolud	23	302	Aldous Harding	Aldous Harding	2014	12	5.75
138	Bill Walker	45	476	From This Place	Pat Metheny	2020	8	5.75
139	denislawsbackheel	105	1244	Greatest Hits	Bob Seger	1994	15	5.73
140	Mr Grumpy	162	2168	Seal	Seal	1991	13	5.73
141	shackattack	124	1478	The Magical World of the Strands	Michael Head & The Strands	1997	17	5.68
142	Coatigan	70	853	So Much for the Afterglow	Everclear	1997	15	5.67
143	Journolud	99	1154	Astral Weeks	Van Morrison	1968	14	5.64
144	BlueHammer85	18	240	A Century Ends	David Gray	1993	13	5.62
145	southamptonblue	140	1844	Lovers Electric	Lovers Electric	2007	16	5.59
146	Coatigan	30	352	Given to the Wild	The Maccabees	2012	9	5.56
147	Journolud	54	591	American Gothic	David Ackles	1972	17	5.47
148	shackattack	142	1874	Strange Times	The Chameleons	1986	14	5.46
149	KnaresboroughBlue	52	559	At Budokan (Live)	Bob Dylan	1978	13	5.46
150	Journolud	39	439	The Magical Record of Blue Orchids	Blue Orchids	2019	10	5.40
151	Mancitydoogle	133	1682	Guitar Town	Steve Earle	1986	14	5.39
152	southamptonblue	59	650	A Graveyard of Empty Bottles	The Dogs D'Amour	1989	13	5.38
153	BlueHammer85	34	378	Once (OST)	Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova	2006	14	5.36
154	GornikDaze	151	1997	Rust in Peace	Megadeth	1990	14	5.32
155	FogBlueInSanFran	136	1746	The Rise And Fall Of A Midwest Princess	Chappel Roan	2023	16	5.28
156	RobMCFC	46	481	King Swamp	King Swamp	1989	15	5.27
157	BlueHammer85	81	987	Surrender	The Chemical Brothers	1999	13	5.27
158	GoatersLeftShin	119	1405	People on Sunday	Domenique Dumont	2020	12	5.08
159	GoatersLeftShin	11	169	Planetary Unfolding	Michael Stearns	1981	18	5.00
160	OB1	20	255	Destroyer	KISS	1976	16	5.00
161	LGWIO	104	1237	Selected Ambient Works 85-92	Aphex Twin	1992	15	5.00
162	Gaudion M	90	1060	Songs of Her's	Her's	2017	9	4.89
163	denislawsbackheel	28	337	Death of a Ladies' Man	Leonard Cohen	1977	14	4.71
164	BlueHammer85	110	1297	Endless Summer	The Midnight	2016	12	4.67
165	BlueHammer85	167	2239	The Good Will Out (Live At The Roundhouse)	Embrace	2019	13	4.58
166	denislawsbackheel	10	151	The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter	The Incredible String Band	1968	15	4.52
167	KnaresboroughBlue	21	276	Voice	Eyeless In Gaza	1993	14	4.50
168	GoatersLeftShin	29	347	All Possible Futures	Miami Horror	2015	12	4.33
169	mrbelfry	138	1790	1956	Soul-Junk	1999	13	4.28
170	southamptonblue	159	2118	Take Me Back To Eden	Sleep Token	2023	16	4.16
171	threespires	101	1181	A Grand Don't Come For Free	The Streets	2004	16	4.06
172	mrbelfry	156	2085	Soil	serpentwithfeet	2018	14	3.71

Ground rules

1. Let me know if you want to nominate an album. Don't say what the album is yet as we want a bit of mystery and anticipation.
2. A schedule of nominators will be maintained in this post so people know when their nomination is due to appear.
3. Each Tuesday, a nominator will give a review of their album and tell us why it means so much to them. You do not get to score on your own album
4. All other members score the album 1-10 (0 or less will be rounded up to 1) and comment/discuss at will.
5. Voting will continue until the following Monday when votes will be counted and scoreboard on page 1 updated.
6. Once all regular and new contributors have nominated, everybody can have a 2nd choice and we'll carry on until every album ever made has been reviewed. Or until people get bored.

Obviously I can't enforce this, but it would be nice if everybody who wants to nominate joins in reviewing and scoring other nominations.


Nominators List

Round #11

07/05/2025 RobMCFC
14/05/2025 bennyboy
21/05/2025 BlueHammer85
28/05/2025 OB1
04/06/2025 Saddleworth2
11/06/2025 Coatigan
18/06/2025 GornikDaze
25/06/2025 threespires
02/07/2025 FogBlueInSanFran
09/07/2025 LGWIO
16/07/2025 Journolud
23/07/2025 mrbelfry
30/07/2025 BimboBob
06/08/2025 Black&White&BlueMoon Town
13/08/2025 southamptonblue
20/08/2025 shackattack
27/08/2025 Mancitydoogle
03/09/2025 Mr Grumpy
10/09/2025 GoatersLeftShin


Previous nominators not on the current list

KnaresboroughBlue
Bill Walker
Mancity2012_eamo
Marklr
Gareth Barry Conlon (aka Gaudion M)
stoneblue
denislawsbackheel
BlueMoonRisin'
Big Joe Corrigan

 

[mancity2012_eamo]

Another music voting thread!

Several people have commented that the randomizer in @BlueHammer85 's Top 1100 album review thread isn't doing a great job of selecting albums.
Some people have suggested that we'd be better selecting the albums ourselves.
I would argue that the randomizer is doing a perfect job - it's completely random after all - but I understand the sentiment.

However, it got me thinking: given that some of us spend a lot of time on the thread, wouldn't it be nice if we were reviewing and commenting on albums that meant something to us? Even better, we could get an insight into why an album means so much to the person who selected it.
I agree with @FogBlueInSanFran 's comment that this should NOT replace BlueHammer85 's excellent album thread, but should run alongside it.
Therefore I want to make continued contributions to that thread a qualifying requirement for nominating in the new thread.

With this in mind, I have come up with a list of ground rules, all of which are up for debate and modification as others see fit.

Ground rules

1. A list of nominators will be drawn up for the next phase (between 6 and 12 weeks, depending on the number of nominators available).
I will select the first list of nominators, and first nominator, based on contributions to BlueHammer's album review thread.
Members may wish to opt out of being a nominator, which is no problem - just let me know.
2. One member will select an album to review each week. They will be given one week's notice to prepare their nomination.
If a member can't participate for the selected week, we'll just re-jig the order as required.
3. A new album will appear on Tuesday - seems like a good time when posts on the original thread are running out of steam.
This day may vary, depending on holidays, but I'll try to keep it Tuesday-Monday.
4. The first task for the nominator is to select NEXT WEEK's NOMIMATOR (from the approved list) and then give their review of the album.
Maybe let us know what it means to them. Note that they will NOT cast a vote for obvious reasons.
5. Any member may vote or comment, regardless of nominator status. Voting will use the 1-5 scale (0 or less rounded up to 1).
6. Voting will continue until the following Monday when votes will be counted and scoreboard on page 1 updated.
Page 1 will also be kept up to date with the current and past nominators list.
7. Steps 2 to 6 will be repeated until the current list of nominators is empty.
8. Everybody on the current list of nominators can help decide the next list of nominators.
The exact process is tbd, but it won't be a heavyweight affair! However, regular contributions and scoring on BlueHammer85 's album review thread during the
current phase is a requirement.
9. Repeat steps 2 to 8 until we have a core list of regular contributors as nominators. At this point, members can get a 2nd album choice as we "reset" the list.
I think an ideal number would be 15-26 so that we all select 2-3 albums per year, but let's see how it goes.
10. If I suspect that the new thread is causing a decline in participation in BlueHammer85 's album review thread, I'll kill it (the new thread that is!)
The in-built participation rules will hopefully ensure that this is not the case.

Any thoughts?

Sounds complicated.

 

[Saddleworth2]

Another music voting thread!

Several people have commented that the randomizer in @BlueHammer85 's Top 1100 album review thread isn't doing a great job of selecting albums.
Some people have suggested that we'd be better selecting the albums ourselves.
I would argue that the randomizer is doing a perfect job - it's completely random after all - but I understand the sentiment.

However, it got me thinking: given that some of us spend a lot of time on the thread, wouldn't it be nice if we were reviewing and commenting on albums that meant something to us? Even better, we could get an insight into why an album means so much to the person who selected it.
I agree with @FogBlueInSanFran 's comment that this should NOT replace BlueHammer85 's excellent album thread, but should run alongside it.
Therefore I want to make continued contributions to that thread a qualifying requirement for nominating in the new thread.

With this in mind, I have come up with a list of ground rules, all of which are up for debate and modification as others see fit.

Ground rules

1. A list of nominators will be drawn up for the next phase (between 6 and 12 weeks, depending on the number of nominators available).
I will select the first list of nominators, and first nominator, based on contributions to BlueHammer's album review thread.
Members may wish to opt out of being a nominator, which is no problem - just let me know.
2. One member will select an album to review each week. They will be given one week's notice to prepare their nomination.
If a member can't participate for the selected week, we'll just re-jig the order as required.
3. A new album will appear on Tuesday - seems like a good time when posts on the original thread are running out of steam.
This day may vary, depending on holidays, but I'll try to keep it Tuesday-Monday.
4. The first task for the nominator is to select NEXT WEEK's NOMIMATOR (from the approved list) and then give their review of the album.
Maybe let us know what it means to them. Note that they will NOT cast a vote for obvious reasons.
5. Any member may vote or comment, regardless of nominator status. Voting will use the 1-5 scale (0 or less rounded up to 1).
6. Voting will continue until the following Monday when votes will be counted and scoreboard on page 1 updated.
Page 1 will also be kept up to date with the current and past nominators list.
7. Steps 2 to 6 will be repeated until the current list of nominators is empty.
8. Everybody on the current list of nominators can help decide the next list of nominators.
The exact process is tbd, but it won't be a heavyweight affair! However, regular contributions and scoring on BlueHammer85 's album review thread during the
current phase is a requirement.
9. Repeat steps 2 to 8 until we have a core list of regular contributors as nominators. At this point, members can get a 2nd album choice as we "reset" the list.
I think an ideal number would be 15-26 so that we all select 2-3 albums per year, but let's see how it goes.
10. If I suspect that the new thread is causing a decline in participation in BlueHammer85 's album review thread, I'll kill it (the new thread that is!)
The in-built participation rules will hopefully ensure that this is not the case.

Any thoughts?

What you are saying I think, is that anyone that wants to nominate an album passes their name to you and you will produce a list/order for those album nominations. Anyone can vote or Bly those that have put their name forward?

 

[RobMCFC]

What you are saying I think, is that anyone that wants to nominate an album passes their name to you and you will produce a list/order for those album nominations. Anyone can vote or Bly those that have put their name forward?

The initial list of nominators will those who have contributed most to the existing Top 1100 thread. Nobody needs to pass their name to me.
The way to get on that nominators list is to keep scoring and contributing to that thread
Any Blue Moon member is free to vote and comment here, regardless of their participation on the other thread.

 

[Saddleworth2]

The initial list of nominators will those who have contributed most to the existing Top 1100 thread. Nobody needs to pass their name to me.
The way to get on that nominators list is to keep scoring and contributing to that thread
Any Blue Moon member is free to vote and comment here, regardless of their participation on the other thread.

ok. understand. I haven't contributed that much to the thread as I haven't had much interest in the albums randomly chosen. Not a great fan of the original Colin Larkin list tbf.

 

[Mad Eyed Screamer]

The Smiths - The Queen Is Dead.

 

[RobMCFC]

The Smiths - The Queen Is Dead.

Ha ha. Seems your name is not recognised on the "members" server. Who'd have thought it?

 

[Bill Walker]

Sounds complicated.

 

[FogBlueInSanFran]

Another music voting thread!

Several people have commented that the randomizer in @BlueHammer85 's Top 1100 album review thread isn't doing a great job of selecting albums.
Some people have suggested that we'd be better selecting the albums ourselves.
I would argue that the randomizer is doing a perfect job - it's completely random after all - but I understand the sentiment.

However, it got me thinking: given that some of us spend a lot of time on the thread, wouldn't it be nice if we were reviewing and commenting on albums that meant something to us? Even better, we could get an insight into why an album means so much to the person who selected it.
I agree with @FogBlueInSanFran 's comment that this should NOT replace BlueHammer85 's excellent album thread, but should run alongside it.
Therefore I want to make continued contributions to that thread a qualifying requirement for nominating in the new thread.

With this in mind, I have come up with a list of ground rules, all of which are up for debate and modification as others see fit.

Ground rules

1. A list of nominators will be drawn up for the next phase (between 6 and 12 weeks, depending on the number of nominators available).
I will select the first list of nominators, and first nominator, based on contributions to BlueHammer's album review thread.
Members may wish to opt out of being a nominator, which is no problem - just let me know.
2. One member will select an album to review each week. They will be given one week's notice to prepare their nomination.
If a member can't participate for the selected week, we'll just re-jig the order as required.
3. A new album will appear on Tuesday - seems like a good time when posts on the original thread are running out of steam.
This day may vary, depending on holidays, but I'll try to keep it Tuesday-Monday.
4. The first task for the nominator is to select NEXT WEEK's NOMIMATOR (from the approved list) and then give their review of the album.
Maybe let us know what it means to them. Note that they will NOT cast a vote for obvious reasons.
5. Any member may vote or comment, regardless of nominator status. Voting will use the 1-5 scale (0 or less rounded up to 1).
6. Voting will continue until the following Monday when votes will be counted and scoreboard on page 1 updated.
Page 1 will also be kept up to date with the current and past nominators list.
7. Steps 2 to 6 will be repeated until the current list of nominators is empty.
8. Everybody on the current list of nominators can help decide the next list of nominators.
The exact process is tbd, but it won't be a heavyweight affair! However, regular contributions and scoring on BlueHammer85 's album review thread during the
current phase is a requirement.
9. Repeat steps 2 to 8 until we have a core list of regular contributors as nominators. At this point, members can get a 2nd album choice as we "reset" the list.
I think an ideal number would be 15-26 so that we all select 2-3 albums per year, but let's see how it goes.
10. If I suspect that the new thread is causing a decline in participation in BlueHammer85 's album review thread, I'll kill it (the new thread that is!)
The in-built participation rules will hopefully ensure that this is not the case.

Any thoughts?

So the idea is for whomever is selected to pick a record and give their thoughts about why it was picked, but not to give it a review, yes? It doesn't necessarily have to be a record we love or hate or even one we've listened to, right?

I do think, assuming I get a slot, I'd pick records that aren't on Larkin's Top 1000 list so we get some variety and avoid repetition . . . who knows, we could be reviewing Nevermind in 2038!!! :)

 

[RobMCFC]

So the idea is for whomever is selected to pick a record and give their thoughts about why it was picked, but not to give it a review, yes? It doesn't necessarily have to be a record we love or hate or even one we've listened to, right?

I do think, assuming I get a slot, I'd pick records that aren't on Larkin's Top 1000 list so we get some variety and avoid repetition . . . who knows, we could be reviewing Nevermind in 2038!!! :)

The person picking the album definitely gets to review it in as much detail as they want. I was thinking that we'd (probably) all pick our favourite albums most of the time so a 5/5 was a given, which is why I thought it would be pointless scoring it yourself. But obviously you can pick an album to annoy everybody if you so wanted.

As somebody who's reviewed and voted on every album so far, you're definitely in the first batch of nominators! ..... assuming people are happy with the system.

 

[bennyboy]

The Smiths - The Queen Is Dead.

Vastly overrated.

 

[FogBlueInSanFran]

The person picking the album definitely gets to review it in as much detail as they want. I was thinking that we'd (probably) all pick our favourite albums most of the time so a 5/5 was a given, which is why I thought it would be pointless scoring it yourself. But obviously you can pick an album to annoy everybody if you so wanted.

As somebody who's reviewed and voted on every album so far, you're definitely in the first batch of nominators! ..... assuming people are happy with the system.

Gotcha. I think I’d be looking for records I’d wish other people were fans of — great bands gone too soon, or underrated classics, though maybe not 5/5s necessarily. This will be fun! Thanks mate.

 

[Deleted member 77198]

Another music voting thread!

Several people have commented that the randomizer in @BlueHammer85 's Top 1100 album review thread isn't doing a great job of selecting albums.
Some people have suggested that we'd be better selecting the albums ourselves.
I would argue that the randomizer is doing a perfect job - it's completely random after all - but I understand the sentiment.

However, it got me thinking: given that some of us spend a lot of time on the thread, wouldn't it be nice if we were reviewing and commenting on albums that meant something to us? Even better, we could get an insight into why an album means so much to the person who selected it.
I agree with @FogBlueInSanFran 's comment that this should NOT replace BlueHammer85 's excellent album thread, but should run alongside it.
Therefore I want to make continued contributions to that thread a qualifying requirement for nominating in the new thread.

With this in mind, I have come up with a list of ground rules, all of which are up for debate and modification as others see fit.

Ground rules

1. A list of nominators will be drawn up for the next phase (between 6 and 12 weeks, depending on the number of nominators available).
I will select the first list of nominators, and first nominator, based on contributions to BlueHammer's album review thread.
Members may wish to opt out of being a nominator, which is no problem - just let me know.
2. One member will select an album to review each week. They will be given one week's notice to prepare their nomination.
If a member can't participate for the selected week, we'll just re-jig the order as required.
3. A new album will appear on Tuesday - seems like a good time when posts on the original thread are running out of steam.
This day may vary, depending on holidays, but I'll try to keep it Tuesday-Monday.
4. The first task for the nominator is to select NEXT WEEK's NOMIMATOR (from the approved list) and then give their review of the album.
Maybe let us know what it means to them. Note that they will NOT cast a vote for obvious reasons.
5. Any member may vote or comment, regardless of nominator status. Voting will use the 1-5 scale (0 or less rounded up to 1).
6. Voting will continue until the following Monday when votes will be counted and scoreboard on page 1 updated.
Page 1 will also be kept up to date with the current and past nominators list.
7. Steps 2 to 6 will be repeated until the current list of nominators is empty.
8. Everybody on the current list of nominators can help decide the next list of nominators.
The exact process is tbd, but it won't be a heavyweight affair! However, regular contributions and scoring on BlueHammer85 's album review thread during the
current phase is a requirement.
9. Repeat steps 2 to 8 until we have a core list of regular contributors as nominators. At this point, members can get a 2nd album choice as we "reset" the list.
I think an ideal number would be 15-26 so that we all select 2-3 albums per year, but let's see how it goes.
10. If I suspect that the new thread is causing a decline in participation in BlueHammer85 's album review thread, I'll kill it (the new thread that is!)
The in-built participation rules will hopefully ensure that this is not the case.

Any thoughts?

Indeed. I’d say most of my favourite albums would be nowhere near a big all-time greats list. So would be good for me!

 

[RobMCFC]

Indeed. I’d say most of my favourite albums would be nowhere near a big all-time greats list. So would be good for me!

As things stand, regular participation in the Top 1100 albums thread is a must for anybody wishing to nominate, but as noted, everybody is welcome to comment and vote once we get started.

Also, just a general note to all - it really isn't that complicated - it's basically the same as the current thread. It's just that the albums will be nominated by regular contributors rather than randomly picked - which is something that people have been asking for.

 

[Saddleworth2]

The person picking the album definitely gets to review it in as much detail as they want. I was thinking that we'd (probably) all pick our favourite albums most of the time so a 5/5 was a given, which is why I thought it would be pointless scoring it yourself. But obviously you can pick an album to annoy everybody if you so wanted.

As somebody who's reviewed and voted on every album so far, you're definitely in the first batch of nominators! ..... assuming people are happy with the system.

So I like your idea of reviewing favourite albums. Don't like the proposal that only those that have reviewed extensively on @BlueHammer85 1000 thread can play.
But thats just one opinion :-)
Why not just open it up to anyone that wants to review and create a list and schedule?

 

[RobMCFC]

So I like your idea of reviewing favourite albums. Don't like the proposal that only those that have reviewed extensively on @BlueHammer85 1000 thread can play.
But thats just one opinion :-)
Why not just open it up to anyone that wants to review and create a list and schedule?

I can understand there being a few objections to that but one of the main points of this was to not let the existing thread get lost due to another new shiny thread. Despite it's random nature, there's enough of us who enjoy it.

The initial list of nominators (that I will put on here once everybody has had chance to throw in their two-penneth) is made up of those who have contributed significantly to the Top 1100 thread. I'm not saying that everybody has to comment or review every album in that thread, just that participation would be nice - for everybody's benefit.

Let's say what others think on the matter before setting anything in concrete.

 

[OB1]

Just pick people with good taste to nominate the albums: they need to be worth listening to!

 

[RobMCFC]

Just pick people with good taste to nominate the albums: they need to be worth listening to!

I'm confident we'll get a good mix of stuff worth listening to or else I wouldn't have proposed this. I'd be surprised if we got Def Leppard's 7th best album or a Carly Simon effort propped up by one hit single.

 

[PragueBlue]

Any restrictions on music genres?

 

[OB1]

I'm confident we'll get a good mix of stuff worth listening to or else I wouldn't have proposed this. I'd be surprised if we got Def Leppard's 7th best album or a Carly Simon effort propped up by one hit single.

Well, I trust that you will set the ball rolling with Lonesome Jubilee.