Best Albums By Women

[Phoebe]

Also feeling like Suzanne Vega should have figured larger with their listmakers, but that's another issue.

[poorpete]

She's a blindspot for me too. Though it has no Vega, I did find out that NPR did a reader's poll of the 150 greatest, and the readers did better here and there (more Joni! Janelle Monae represented! Aimee Mann in there too!) and less elsewhere (less eclectic, less Aretha, still no Van Lear Rose). Anyways, sounds like the Turning Tables crew is doing a new list soon of the women artists of the 21st century. I kinda wish there next list was on the pre-1964 artists, but their advocacy is to change things for the future, not necessarily appreciate the past past.

https://www.npr.org/2018/04/09/60011605 ... sen-by-you



This is some great stuff. I'd dare call it possibly the best Sheryl Crow album, as it reaches the heights of Crow, but there are no missteps here like there are on Tuesday Night Music Club. I love its mood, I respect it even without a big "Respect"-like hit but it's hard to beat the Queen of Soul, especially the album generally considered her most complete.

Madonna - Like a Prayer
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list ... 1YQurh3C44
Joanna Newsom - Ys
https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=cJ1yF ... ture=share

(This will be a very close one, as evident in the critic poll this is a #13 vs. #141, but for the readers poll it's reversed, as a #76 vs #20)

[poorpete]

Madonna's "Like a Prayer" at first sounded like just another Madonna album. Solid but not noteworthy. The title song remains one of her best songs, maybe the first song from hers I liked, at age 9, and my favorite until her Ray of Light/Beautiful Stranger/Music era. But there is a lot to like about this album, and one is its staying power. Also, Madonna is a great producer. Or I guess technically co-producer. But if she was indeed heavily involved in the production here, if she was a guy I wonder if she'd have had a second career (more like seventh career) as a sought-out producer of other peoples work. Now it's entirely possible she was way too busy being super successful to produce others' work or at the very least, of her talents, earning money producing is probably low compared to, i dunno, singing on records, singing in concerts, acting in films, doing ads, doing things people in their early 30s do. The album itself is hook-filled, fun, and creative, and here she begins her career as a chance-taker. I read how some are not fans of "Dear Jesse" for instance, but I think it's a quality Beatles-if-they-still-were-a-band-in-the-80s song. It deserves to be on this list. But Ys, I agree with the readers, is underrated.

The Ronettes – Presenting the Fabulous Ronettes Featuring Veronica
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list ... E9Br-AZR-w
Terri Lyne Carrington – The Mosaic Project
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list ... 0jbNpLzPwY

[poorpete]

This is uncompromisingly feminist. Though, does that adjective change anything? Is there a such thing as compromisingly feminist? "Oh, sorry patriarchy, for advocating our wants and needs with pride." Anywho, I guess you can see some compromises in Mosaic, as some of the songs (like the fun cover above) are written by men and the production work was done by men, but the singers and the musicians are all women, and they are great. I mean, The Ronnettes you could say were just Phil Spektor's plaything (in more ways than one), as he wrote and produced and controlled (and in the case of Ronnie, married and abused). But with Phil's downfall, comes greater appreciation for Ronnie, thank goodness. More on that in like a month or two. Anyways, back to Mosaic, which is a fun album, and I'm happy the list made me aware of it. Love good albums by drummers, because they are almost always collaborative and humble. It's not one long drum solo, its rarely the lead instrument, but it's always doing something right.

Missy Elliott – Supa Dupa Fly
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list ... DOaW_Fn56k
Carly Simon – No Secrets
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list ... HapJYxQMto

[Phoebe]

Lol, I'm kind of a compromising feminist. Fine, I will keep doing the dishes and pretending my career permits being regularly subjugated to frustrating domestic labor because you make more money. Also, I will clean the dog poop all the time because you did it that one time and it was so hard for you and I can take it. Wait, what album were we discussing? Yes! An album I still haven't managed to listen through but now, thanks to it coming this far, I need to get on top of quickly!

And your next one, well, good luck! I LOVE Missy and she's a groundbreaker for sure, but Carly Simon is - for those who like her sort of thing - undeniably an incredible singer/songwriter. It's a tough comparison. Your song by song breakdown may be necessary!

[poorpete]

Good point. I guess maybe uncompromising is impossible?



A track-by-track is tempting, as they are both quality, but one is 10 songs the other is 17 so it'd be hard to match-em-up. This album I didn't have high hopes for, and after a few listens i was like "meh!" but the earworms continued, and although "She's So Vain" is the clear stand-out, there a bunch of solid songs here. I liked it alot!

Erykah Badu - Baduism
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list ... 3YYk2SwhJc
Norah Jones - Come Away with Me
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list ... fUWO_PtOIU

(#12 vs #140, but in the reader poll #78 vs #73. I'm biased to Come Away with Me as I liked it before this challenge but I really like Baduism, so we'll see)

[poorpete]

[poorpete]

Don't Know Why vs. Rim Shot
A classic that deserves to be a classic. Wonderfully wistful. 5 pts
A decent intro, sets mood, not much more. 3.5pts

Seven Years vs. On and On
Smooth and sweet. 5pts
Coool beans. 4.5pts

Cold Cold Heart vs. Apple Tree
A cool cool Hank Williams Cover. 5pts
First signs of Erykah blending her songs together. A fun song. 4 pts

Feelin' the Same Way vs. Otherside of the Game
She keeps the streak going. Another solid song. Only thing, she really hasn't stepped out of her sound 4.5pts.
Solid song with Roots grooves that she explorers to great heights in her next album, but we're talking this album, so shhh. 4.5 pts.

Come Away With Me vs. Sometimes (Mix 9)
Like a ship swaying on the sea or a tired couple slow dancing. 5pts
40 second mood piece over too soon. 3.5pts

Shoot the Moon vs. Next Lifetime
Same mood, sounds fine, enjoy it, but not as memorable as what else is on here. 4 pts
an ok slow jam to not cheating but seriously wanting to. 3 pts

Turn Me On vs. Afro (Freestyle Skit)
Grest slow burning goodness. 5 stars
The best *Skit* I've ever heard (most skits suck, this is actually great). 5 pts

Lonestar vs. Certainly
Props to sweetly harmonize with herself. Brings back the country. 5pts.
A great start to the back half of this album, where it really locks into its groove. 4.5 pts

I've Got to See You Again vs. 4 Leaf Clover
Back into the same slowly sweet mood. 4.5 pts
Poppy jazzy groove, sometimes kinda silly lyrics. 3.5 pts

Painter Song vs. No Love
Completely fine, but this is where I start falling asleep. Good accordion tho 3.5 pts
Throwback groove, with record static and all. Solid. 5pts

One Flight Down vs. Drama
zzzzz, 3pts, zzzzzzz
Pretty good. A bit forgettable but at least I'm still awake. 3.5pts.

Nightingale vs. Sometimes
Benefit of being so twee and sweet and competent is that there's no way any of these are going below 3 stars. She definitely keep her music safe, waltzing to the finish line, 3pts
Solid! 5 pts.

The Long Day is Over vs. Certainly (Flipped it)
It's the second to last song and she's like, let's just do a final song here. 3pts
And we're back again, with a different groove but the same Erykah. That whole "slipped a micky" line is good 3 times, but I dunno about 6. 4pts.

The Nearness of You vs. Rim Shot (outro)
Honk shoe honk shoe honk shoe. 3pts
an alright song but an apt completion to an album. 3pts

Flow:
Norah slays side one, and it's good the songs fit into a groove: a sweet sleepy groove. There's no harm putting this album, except maybe side 2 if your driving, then it's a terrible idea. 8 pts
Erykah mixes it up, brings songs back for second chances, and cycles back to the beginning, all while keeping the music party chugglin long. 8 pts

Girl Power:
Lots of love songs. Nothing great but no offenses, it ok. 5 pts
Minus a few songs where she addresses herself as belonging to a guy, it's mostly positive. She cowrites 13 songs here, and whatever Baduizm is, I assume part of adhering to Baduizm is being a strong black woman. So let's go 7pts.

Influence:
Norah sells 30 million copies, bringing vocal jazz back into a mild popularity, welcoming a ton of twee singers to culture. 7 pts
Baduizm ushers in the neo-soul era, the infuence of we are seeing today with the soul-drenched successes from Amy to Adele and onward. 8 pts.

Final score
Norah: 78.5
Erykah: 79

OK! So it goes


Next:
PJ Harvey - Rid of Me
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list ... uMgA81h8t0
Alicia Key - Songs in A Minor
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list ... T_TPh6FZi0

[poorpete]

I like teenage angst songs, and I like PJ Harvey, and I like her band, they kick ass, but these aren't hitting me, and I really don't know why. Five listens and it's still loud and honest and punky but it hasn't really spoken to me yet. I get that it speaks to lots of other people, a lot of girls in the 90s that I never was nor never will be, so if anyone wants to overrule this, feel free. I want to love it, right now, I don't, and Songs in A Minor is underrated for a multi-platinum debut album that shot a piano-playing R&B singer-songwriter into pop stardom.

Lauren Hill - The Miseducation of Lauren Hill
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list ... nOpxmXvKhw
Teena Marie - Wild and Peaceful
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list ... NDzdaixIuo

[Phoebe]

The breakdown made it close, but after unwillingly listening to Jones' album a good 5000 times at the office, I don't ever need to hear it again.

Totally agree on both Alicia Keys and now Lauryn Hill, who is a genius but apparently struggling with it.

[poorpete]

I lost a long thing I wrote about this because my office internet doesn't not currently like Nerd Pride Radio's site. So I'll try again. What I like about this song, well I love the song, but what I like is, not only it's feminist message, but also that it's unlike everything on this album. The album is dance oriented, disco and funk specifically. The album is broken up and has a "Wild" side and a "Peaceful" side and this is one of 3 on the peaceful side. But it's so good, so not-the-rest-of-the-album that it made me appreciate the rest of the album more, because I could have seen myself dismiss this as a Chic-lite album or one that's Rick James in everything but the voice (he wrote and produced all tracks except this one), so it made me happy that she was able to stake a claim to her album.

But... Lauryn Hill. I'll save it.

Diana Ross and the Supremes – Where Did Our Love Go
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list ... OOuVZ2axSk
Robyn - Body Talk
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list ... hO7TZs0LoA

[Phoebe]

I love it! I feel like I should listen to Teena Marie more often, it's my kind of thing. But Lauryn Hill... Also Diana Ross. I recently went back and listened to some Supremes and it was a great experience. Their list of goodies goes very deep.

[poorpete]

This is fun dance music. I'd have eaten this up in college. Its creative like Gorillaz and sex-positive and poppy like Madonna. It probably would have won this match, as I wasn't big on The Supremes' lesser-known songs on their album. But after six listens of "Where Did Our Love Go", I'm to the point where I can't remember what songs I've known for 30 years and which ones I've only heard in the last 13 months. In the loser bracket, "Body Talk" will go up against Portishead, and I have no idea how who will win, but the thought that this creative dance mix ends up with 0 wins is a hard pill to take.

Lucinda Williams – Car Wheels On A Gravel Road
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list ... no6x4JHu2I
Patty Griffin – Flaming Red
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list ... uf5gNDmUQE

[Phoebe]

Baby Love and Come See About Me are both pretty good. The big problem is the horrible arrangement and production of the songs - some of them are just unlistenable because of all their 60s gimmicky garbage. That love light song could have been good except for all the dumb clapping. And it's too bad that we don't have Ain't No Mountain High Enough.

[poorpete]

Move over Shelby Lynn, Now this is the Sheryl Crow album that I always wanted! No wait. Lucinda's album is, nevermind. This is a great collection of bluesy country rock songs, with a great opening and closing track and everything's good in the middle. Nothing is even as close to as blistering as the opening track, but that's okay. I mean not okay enough to overcome Lucinda, but hey.

Patti Smith – Horses
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list ... y6i-PK62P4
Siouxsie and the Banshees – The Scream
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list ... kJEeKe_gIM

[poorpete]

A big surprise and the first (though maybe not last) time a top 10 album gets kicked to the loser bracket. And I would not have expected this, as it's a very good album. It was close and I figured that after six listens, Horses would have sunk in. The first three songs, in fact, are incredible. I bow to Patti Smith and her awesomeness. And the other songs aren't bad, they just haven't hit me in the gut like the first three. And it influenced REM, PJ Harvey, The Smiths and especially Siouxsie Sioux. You'd think the debut album that inspired Siouxie to form her band and record her debut album should get a bit of credit, and probably should. There'd be no "Scream" without "Horses," but... Scream is (after six listens each) just a tad better.

Carole King – Tapestry
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list ... QH8XdMrnR8
Cocteau Twins – Heaven or Las Vegas
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list ... ldJ6Y2myVw

[poorpete]

I'm not happy that The Cocteau Twins ran into the near flawless soft-rock masterpiece that is Tapestry, but here we are. 2018 is my introduction to their songs and sound (unless you count Elizabeth Fraser's awesome vocals in Massive Attack's "Teardrop") and I'm enthralled. I love the mix of incomprehensible and soothing vocals and beautiful melodies, loud but pretty guitars and hooks. If seeded differently (and deservedly) Heaven or Las Vegas would have gone much farther I think... and I think I'll listen to it again right now. Check out the great opening and keep listening if you dig it.

Nina Simone - I Put a Spell on You
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list ... PQEVe56PuA
Shirley Horn – I Thought About You — Live At Vine St
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list ... nwJv6lcQSQ

[poorpete]

I'd be happy to put this on during any dinner (I think I already have at least once), it's cool, relaxing, and exact. Of course the highlight is Shirley's voice and intricate piano playing. It sounds like a decent jazz album, but when knowing that she's playing complicated counter-melodies and modal solos while singing (if that's what it is, i honestly don't know if i know what I'm talking about), it's amazing. It's like a brain that only a translator has. Anyways, very impressed, but then there's Nina.

Whitney Houston – Whitney Houston
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list ... 1KpIovK8y0
Iris DeMent – My Life
https://open.spotify.com/album/7HFafIRKcw2mfQqGAAadzc

(With the last five in this round, if I had to pick now, they'd all be upsets, but I'm going to give each a couple more listens and we'll see how my opinion changes. Fun!)

[Phoebe]

I am agreeing on all of this... Siouxsie, Nina, etc., but it is wonderful to spend time with people like Shirley Horn!

[poorpete]

Whit vs. DeMent

"You Give Good Love" vs "Sweet Is the Melody"
A good chorus vs. good chorus. Both are good openings but don't give a clue to the jewels that show up later. Tie (.5,.5)

"Thinking About You" vs "You've Done Nothing Wrong"
Both these albums taking time to warm up, another tie, both are good (1,1)

"Someone for Me" vs "Calling for You"
Another solid fine song by Whitney vs. a top quality breakup song (1,2)

"Saving All My Love for You" vs "Childhood Memories"
Maybe my least fav of her classic songs but still classic vs. solid folk one, i'll give it to Whit (2,2)

"Nobody Loves Me Like You Do" vs "No Time to Cry"
Most forgettable thing on here vs. heartbreaking should-be classic, each listen leaves me in more tears. Point for DeMint. (2,3)

"How Will I Know" vs "Troublesome Waters"
A great pop tune vs a good folk song (3,3)

"All at Once" vs "Mom and Dad's Waltz"
Very cheesy so much I either love it or want to skip it whenever it comes up vs. very sweet. Tie (3.5,3.5)

"Take Good Care of My Heart" vs "Easy's Gettin' Harder Every Day"
Good duetting chorus here vs. another should-be classic (3.5,4.5)

"Greatest Love of All" vs "The Shores of Jordan"
Teach your children well, teach them how to write the greatest cheesy song ever vs decent bluegrassy tune. (4.5, 4.5)

"Hold Me" vs "My Life"
Maybe best duet here. They should have ended side 1 with it. Should I be icked out at the line, "make me a woman tonight"? vs. My Life is such a twee sweet sorrowful and tear-jerking song about her and about all of us. See if anyone else would write "My Life" it'd be a book. But here she gets down to the basics, and it's beautiful. (4.5,5.5)

Flow:
My Life flows powerfully, while Whitney's successes and failures are all mixed about. Point for Iris (4.5,6.5)

Girl power:
One is a strong lady talking love sometimes with male duets, the other a strong woman talking life and love and aging and death. Half point each. (5,7)

Influence:
Uh, one was an album that launched 1000 singers, the other, though a revelation, did little. Full point for Whitney. (6,7)




Selena – Amor Prohibido
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list ... oBWWTw95Qk
Meredith Monk – Dolmen Music
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list ... BCV30bTE9M

(Boil this down to simply: pop vs. art)