Top 5 Albums by Popular Rock Artists

[Brian]

Pauldrach, I've looked over your last group of proposed lists, and the first thing I want to do is ask about the 2 artists in that group that I'm not sure really merit lists: Bow Wow and XXXTentacion. It looks to me like their albums have little going for them besides initial popularity, and in Bow Wow's case, that's primarily the debut with the others selling a bit because the debut made him well enough known. In XXXTentacion's case, the first 2 albums were popular, and then he faded. So I think I'll set those 2 artists aside, unless you feel strongly about one or the other. Let me know, and then we can talk about the rest of the lists.

[ManPerson]

XXXTentacion seems to have retained a fair amount of popularity n the years since his death and his early mixtapes were fairly important for the Soundcloud rappers who came after so I'd say he warrants a list.

[Brian]

XXXTentacion seems to have retained a fair amount of popularity n the years since his death and his early mixtapes were fairly important for the Soundcloud rappers who came after so I'd say he warrants a list.

Which mixtapes did you have in mind? Revenge and Members Only, Volume 1 are too short to be eligible. I don't know how long XXX (Members Only) is, but in any case, I'm not inclined to list that because many of the tracks have been deleted, so it seems like a real obscurity. If Members Only, Volumes 2, 3, and 4, were important in the manner you describe, they're long enough to be eligible.

[ManPerson]

If Revenge and Members Only 1 aren't eligible I guess he mostly just excels in popularity.

[pauldrach]

Pauldrach, I've looked over your last group of proposed lists, and the first thing I want to do is ask about the 2 artists in that group that I'm not sure really merit lists: Bow Wow and XXXTentacion. It looks to me like their albums have little going for them besides initial popularity, and in Bow Wow's case, that's primarily the debut with the others selling a bit because the debut made him well enough known. In XXXTentacion's case, the first 2 albums were popular, and then he faded. So I think I'll set those 2 artists aside, unless you feel strongly about one or the other. Let me know, and then we can talk about the rest of the lists.

Of course, it always depends on how exclusive you want to be about these. Bow Wow certainly doesn't have anything to go for him except popularity but he has six albums certified at least Gold by the RIAA, which is an impressive feat. Most artists with that many certified albums already have lists.

XXXTentacion as a rather recent artist whose career was tragically cut short imo is the type of artist lew would be particularly interested in having represented since he probably generates traffic. He has had three huge albums within two years. What's the loss in listing him?

[ManPerson]

X also has 41 million monthly listeners on Spotify to this day so (at least for now) he seems to have solid lasting popularity.

[Brian]

Pauldrach, I've looked over your last group of proposed lists, and the first thing I want to do is ask about the 2 artists in that group that I'm not sure really merit lists: Bow Wow and XXXTentacion. It looks to me like their albums have little going for them besides initial popularity, and in Bow Wow's case, that's primarily the debut with the others selling a bit because the debut made him well enough known. In XXXTentacion's case, the first 2 albums were popular, and then he faded. So I think I'll set those 2 artists aside, unless you feel strongly about one or the other. Let me know, and then we can talk about the rest of the lists.

Of course, it always depends on how exclusive you want to be about these. Bow Wow certainly doesn't have anything to go for him except popularity but he has six albums certified at least Gold by the RIAA, which is an impressive feat. Most artists with that many certified albums already have lists.

XXXTentacion as a rather recent artist whose career was tragically cut short imo is the type of artist lew would be particularly interested in having represented since he probably generates traffic. He has had three huge albums within two years. What's the loss in listing him?

OK, I'll give XXXTentacion a list. What I'll do first is show the lists as I think they should be even if I didn't change them, since we can no longer see your post that I took these from. I'll then tell what changes I made. I thought that your Florence + The Machine, Godsmack, Travis Scott, and XXXTentacion/Members Only lists were perfect as you posted them. So here's how I think all of the lists should look:

THE BROTHERS JOHNSON
1. Look Out for #1
2. Right on Time
3. Light Up the Night
4. Blam!!
5. Winners

FLORENCE + THE MACHINE
1. Lungs
2. Ceremonials
3. How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful
4. Dance Fever
5. High as Hope

GODSMACK
1. Godsmack
2. Awake
3. Faceless
4. IV
5. The Oracle

HANSON
1. Middle of Nowhere
2. This Time Around
3. Snowed In
4. Underneath
5. Live from Albertane

MIKE OLDFIELD
1. Tubular Bells
2. Ommadawn
3. Hergest Ridge
4. Tubular Bells II
5. Crises

NICKI MINAJ
1. Pink Friday
2. The Pinkprint
3. Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded
4. Queen
5. Beam Me Up Scotty

SINÉAD O'CONNOR
1. I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got
2. The Lion and the Cobra
3. Universal Mother
4. How About I Be Me (And You Be You)?
5. Faith and Courage

TRAVIS SCOTT
1. Astroworld
2. Rodeo
3. Utopia
4. Birds in the Trap Sing McKnight
5. Days Before Rodeo

XXXTentacion/Members Only
1. ?
2. 17
3. Skins
4. Bad Vibes Forever
5. Members Only, Vol. 4

For The Brothers Johnson, the only change was I put Right on Time ahead of Light Up the Night. For Michael Oldfield, the only change was that I replaced Crises at #5 with Incantations. For Nicki Minaj, the only change was I replaced Beam Me Up Scotty with Pink Friday. For Hanson, I moved This Time Around ahead of Snowed In and Underneath ahead of Live from Albertane. For Sinéad O'Connor, I kept the top 3 the same, moved How About I Be Me (And You Be You)? up to #4, added Faith and Courage at #5, and dropped Am I Not Your Girl? from the list.

[pauldrach]

I'm fine with these changes.

[Brian]

OK, I'll send the lists to Lew.

[pauldrach]

Ten brand new lists:

Jeezy/Young Jeezy
1. Let's Get It: Thug Motivation 101
2. The Recession
3. The Inspiration
4. TM:103 Hustlerz Ambition
5. Seen It All: The Autobiography

“Trap or Die 3” is another possible #5.

Not sure how to label him. He calls himself Jeezy nowadays but four of the listed albums were released as Young Jeezy. Filing him under "J" might be preferrable to having him under "Y".

Alison Moyet/Yazoo
1. Upstairs at Eric's
2. Alf
3. Raindancing
4. You and Me Both
5. The Minutes

#'s 3 and 4 could be in either order. "Hoodoo" and "Voice" would be other possibilities for #5.

Another one that's kinda hard to label as Yazoo were known as Yaz in the US. Alison Moyet/Yazoo/Yaz? Alison Moyet/Yaz(oo)?

Paramore
1. This Is Why
2. Riot!
3. After Laughter
4. Paramore
5. Brand New Eyes

Definitely the correct albums but I could see them ordered differently.

Third Eye Blind
1. Third Eye Blind
2. Blue
3. Ursa Major
4. Out of the Vein
5. Dopamine

Godspeed You! Black Emperor
1. Lift Yr. Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven!
2. F♯A♯∞
3. Yanqui U.X.O.
4. 'Allelujah! Don't Bend! Ascend!
5. G_d's Pee at State's End!

Now known with the exclamation mark at the back instead of in the middle but I guess that doesn't matter much.

The Coral
1. The Coral
2. Magic and Medicine
3. The Invisible Invasion
4. Roots & Echoes
5. Coral Island

I could see "Coral Island" higher. I could see "Butterfly House" somewhere.

Robert Palmer/The Power Station
1. Riptide
2. The Power Station
3. Heavy Nova
4. Secrets
5. Sneakin' Sally Through the Alley

Other possibilities might be "Clues", which was particularly successful in Canada, Germany and Sweden and has the most ratings of his on RYM. Maybe also "Don't Explain", which was his second-highest charting album in the UK.

The Residents
1. Meet the Residents
2. Eskimo
3. Not Available
4. The Third Reich 'n Roll
5. Commercial Album

Probably these 5 in whatever order. "Duck Stab/Buster & Glen" might not look out of place either.

Mos Def/Black Star
1. Black on Both Sides
2. Mos Def & Talib Kweli Are Black Star
3. The Ecstatic
4. The New Danger
5. No Fear of Time

"True Magic" might be a possible #5 if you want to give popularity more weight than acclaim.

Post Malone
1. Beerbongs & Bentleys
2. Hollywood's Bleeding
3. Stoney
4. F-1 Trillion
5. Twelve Carat Toothache

[ManPerson]

For Paramore, I'd say in terms of acclaim:
This Is Why > After Laughter > Paramore > Brand New Eyes > Riot!

In terms of popularity:
Riot > Paramore/Brand New Eyes > After Laughter > This Is Why

Since Riot! was their breakthrough, I'd say it should probably be number one, otherwise that order looks fine.