Best Albums By Women

[poorpete]

A. Tough. One. I know, right now, I like "Dusty in Memphis" better, but Ys is more likely to be the greatest album, if that makes sense. Ys is a one-of-its-kind, pretentious-or-magnificent opus, that I have yet to get tired of. It takes a risk with only five songs across 50 minutes, but it lets you luxuriate in each tune, knowing not to be impatient for one to end. Kinda weird that a 3 minute song that's stretched to 6 can be torturous but tell me it's 18 minutes long and I'll be fine. I know what I'm getting into when I hit play. I enjoy the quirkiness of her vocals, her lyrics, of her instrument, of Van Dyke Park's orchestrations but I could see how others could be turned off. Anyways, for an album I've first heard this year, one that NPR put in the 140s, and one that has many decades to improve-or-fall in stature, this seems to be a good spot to land.

Kate Bush – Hounds Of Love
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list ... 1EK2XLmJLE
Cyndi Lauper – She’s So Unusual
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list ... UEWo-X3A3k

[poorpete]

Another cruel game, as I had to choose between an album that amazed and surprised me, and it's almost-endlessly listenable, and one that has all the pretention of being a Greatest Album of All Time. This time I'm doing the opposite of what I did with the previous choice. Kind of frustrates me, but there's two things that keep Cyndi's "She's So Unusual", with it's 80% awesome song rate, from being a greatest album. Let's start with the last one: I know people can find her annoying, but I find her voice and spirit beautiful, buuuut I don't find Betty Boop any of those, and to have a Betty Boop impersonation in the last TWO songs, is a bit much (also dophin vocalizing on the last song doesn't help either). Also also, to be honest, I more-than-half-the-time skip Girls Just Wanna Have Fun. I feel bad doing it because it's
1. obviously a cultural touchtone
2. pretty assuredly feminist and girl power
3. super fun to sing at open mic nights and karaokes
And it's not as if I don't have issues with Kate Bush's Hounds of Love, either. I don't think it is the top album, or maybe even one in the top 10. But, for now, I'll let it advance. Let your and my second guessing begin!

Linda Ronstadt – Heart Like A Wheel
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list ... StvQI3V-bI
Alicia Keys – Songs In A Minor
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list ... T_TPh6FZi0

[poorpete]

It's a tremendous debut album, with a ton of great songs, and I very-much disagree with it being placed at #148 on the original list (the readers poll didn't rank it at all). Love the mixture here of 90s R&B with 80s and 70s and 60s R&B and also looking forward a bit too, with her fantastic piano playing and voice. The real issue with this album is that it's super-long and sometimes get caught with songs that don't live up to the others. I get it, that's what we did in the 90s, but an album with 5 less songs might be a better listen. I personally don't hear other complaints I've heard, like that her songwriting is pedestrian... have you heard popular music? Anywho, this is a very very good album, and a great debut, that is always enjoyable on repeat listens, and pales maybe only in comparison to an album featured next:

Lauryn Hill – The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list ... nOpxmXvKhw
Liz Phair – Exile In Guyville
https://open.spotify.com/album/444zYF83XQOTXmjke2JWU9

[poorpete]

Cool and hip and hipster and fresh and so please but also fuck off. This is a great album, and you can see how people would be up in arms when she went pop, but like the persona this album imbibes would care what you think. She did what she wanted. Anyways, listen to the album, and you might get garage grunge feels, but it's definitely pop. It's hooky as hell, and would have continued farther if it went up against some of the wimps still on this list. It had to go up against Lauren Hill, but hey, that's cool, whatever. This album is great, what else do you want her to do?

Lucinda Williams – Car Wheels On A Gravel Road
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list ... no6x4JHu2I
Hole – Live Through This
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list ... BobyVjL9kc

[poorpete]

This was the last of the grunge and 90s rock acts on the list, and I'm a bit bummed out that none are continuing into the final 16 (though they might- in the losers bracket). If I had to pick, I think I'd still put The Breeders' Last Splash first, followed by this or Liz Phair's debut. Well, this album really was unexpectedly great, but I should have expected it. I think a lot of what I thought I'd hate about this was based on Love's life post-Kurt. It's not as if I'm all-in on here but not-all-in elsewhere. Like the song above is an anti-Riot Grrl anti-Olympia screed, and is very unnecessary, as their sound and goals and feminism are all about the same. It's petty and it's mean and it's angry and it fuckin rocks and I love it. It definitely deserves to be on this list.

Labelle – Nightbirds
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list ... DRzOWqW6d4
Gillian Welch – Time (The Revelator)
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list ... ttvNBxpn64

[poorpete]

Tough. One. If you asked me what album do I want to listen to more, it's probably Nightbirds. It's some funky soulful fun. There's one stone cold classic, there's a couple other ones, like the song above and All Girl Band, which should be stone cold classics. You Turn Me On is an all-time great last song. It didn't so much end the album as tell me "damn, these girls are incredible, and I'm bummed it's over." What a wonderful vamping fade. Btw, I also like their album Chameleon, which has it's parts too. I think I'm going to deep dive on LaBelle. Some of the songs are more forgetful, but I don't care. I wish this would go farther.

Carole King – Tapestry
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list ... 7cRlQbm3EA
Aretha Franklin – Amazing Grace
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list ... c3KpR6kfm4

[poorpete]

This album has improved on each listen. At first I thought it was a good soul album of religious songs. Slowly but surely I felt more comfortable or more (I think they call it feeling the holy spirit) at these essential songs. And they only got more potent after her death. I played more of this album than the others in the wake. And her funeral was a celebration and mourning of her life, but also a celebration of her gospel music. It might not always be, or it may always be like it is right now: an essential album for my life. Then there's the film, that has still yet to be seen by the public, trailer of which is above, that's stuck in lawsuits and injunctions and such, that I am now obsessed with seeing.

Adele – 21
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list ... PFMdqDC8Oo
Nina Simone – I Put A Spell on You
https://music.amazon.com/albums/B000W194EU/LIBRARY

[poorpete]

NPR placed this as #3 and I can understand why. Nina was ignored for so long and we want to make up for that, in this case, by putting her and her incredibleness at a more-rightful place. I'd counter that Nina deserves a #3 in a lot of lists, say #3 female artist of the last 60 years. #3 underrated artist of the last century. Stuff like that. Maybe #3 album of 1965... I could see that. But #3 album of all time by woman (which, in a just world, would be a top 10 album of all time), is an extremely high position for this great album. In particular I'd note the pretty but imperfect "Beautiful Land", in which she imitates a young possibly-asian child -- and it's... good at best, cringe-inducing at worst. Other songs are better, some great, some masterpieces, enough, you know, to make it into the top 50, but not enough to make it to the final 16.

Emmylou Harris – Wrecking Ball
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list ... PSDPd_BVAU
Iris DeMent – My Life
https://open.spotify.com/album/7HFafIRKcw2mfQqGAAadzc
A country-tinged mid-90s folk hoedown showdown!

[poorpete]

A 90s arena rock album of folk songs sung by a country superstar with the voice of an aging angel. It lives and dies by its atmospheric production. Most of the time, a song with a great voice and great lyrics and great atmospheric production brings me to a never-visited area in my mind. I love it. A few times, not all the time, the atmospheric production gets in the way. The producer worked with U2 and members of U2 play on this, and when you know that you can't unhear U2 from the sound. I mean, great! Emmylou deserves what U2 deserves. Her voice works great with that sound. But still, sometimes it's hard not to hear "oh, this is U2, but with Emmylou singing." And there's more than a few times where it sounds like The Edge is playing but he doesn't appear on this album at all. It adds some confusion to the otherwise blissful experience.

Beyoncé – Lemonade
https://listen.tidal.com/album/59727856
Alabama Shakes – Sound & Color
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list ... kkqjKZG9xs
Ohhhhh my, this match!

[poorpete]

Question isn't so much as which one is worst, is which one do I want to let loose on the losers in the loser-bracket, where they'd likely dominate. (Oh wait, this faces Laurie Anderson and then Sade, so maybe I spoke too soon). Anywho, my brief confusion over Alabama Shakes' racial and gender makeup during my first few days listening, not-withstanding, this is a great fun alternative-soul-blues-roots-rock album. The backing band is great, but who knows where'd it be without the incredible Brittany Howard singing, wailing, and riffing through her top-tier songs. There's a great reason why she gets the final profile in this book: https://www.amazon.com/Women-Who-Rock-B ... 0316558877 (buy this book for me) she's the past and the future of rock. I can't wait to hear where her career goes, and if it falters, I'm happy with what she gave us.

Sade – Diamond Life
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list ... LUgWO6yDe0
Donna Summer – Bad Girls
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list ... YWLKy-c5Bc

[poorpete]

Cool, 80s R&B, seems stuck in a time and timeless. A really great collection of songs, sequenced well, great voice and great confidence. Classic saxophone riffs. For it's style, for it's era, it's one of the best. I mean, when I'm figuring out what to play, am I always ready to listen to 80s cleanly-produced sax-riff-heavy stuff, more often no. But, it's great. It's solid. I just think Bad Girls is a little better. I also need to listen apart from this stuff.

OK, we got 16/24 to go!
https://challonge.com/2h99qng4

Starting with... oh my

Aretha Franklin – Young, Gifted and Black
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list ... ZErqYH6OtM
Joni Mitchell – Blue
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list ... aFJt4qlIjE

[poorpete]

Undefeated albums:
Joni Mitchell – Blue
Aretha Franklin – Young, Gifted and Black
Janis Joplin – Pearl
Tracy Chapman – Tracy Chapman
Aretha Franklin – I Never Loved a Man The Way I Love You
Dusty Springfield – Dusty in Memphis
Kate Bush – Hounds Of Love
Linda Ronstadt – Heart Like A Wheel
Lauryn Hill – The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill
Lucinda Williams – Car Wheels On A Gravel Road
Carole King – Tapestry
Gillian Welch – Time (The Revelator)
Adele – 21
Iris DeMent – My Life
Beyoncé – Lemonade
Donna Summer – Bad Girls

Albums with one loss:
Alice Coltrane – Journey in Satchidananda
Aretha Franklin – Amazing Grace
Patti Smith – Horses
Alabama Shakes – Sound & Color
Björk – Post
Roberta Flack – First Take
Joanna Newsom – Ys
Cris Williamson – The Changer and the Changed

[poorpete]

If these two face each other again in the final, I would not be surprised. I have track-by-tracked Young Gifted and Black, which is my favorite Aretha, and my view of it has only improved. Before I was unsure if it was her best, as her 1967 Atlantic debut "I Never Loved a Man The Way I Love You" is full of hits and this one drops off on side 2. But I've really enjoyed side 2 lately, and side 1 of I Never Loved contains a few unmemorable ones. Also, I think Young Gifted and Black is more cohesive album. Instead of "let's start each side with a hit and then add whatever", this album seems sequenced masterfully. Aretha is also saying more here. She's also mixing genres (there's R&B, Rock, Gospel, and early Funk/Disco). Also the music here is more modern and "I Never Loved" feels more of that era. I think it's her opus. A grand statement on her life (at the time), and the life of a young, gifted, black woman in the early 1970s. Also she really shows off her songwriting skills here, penning multiple classic songs on side 1. I mean, I get it, if you had to rank Aretha's musicality, you'd definitely go

1. Arguably the greatest voice in the history of popular music
2. A masterful piano player
3. A top-notch arranger
4. A very good songwriter

That #4 gets lost normally, but I really admire it here, more than anywhere. But all four of those traits are working at their peak here. And part of me, because it's close, wants to give it to Aretha, so "Blue" will not waltz into the final, but I gotta be honest.

Janis Joplin - Pearl
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list ... jmEZ-8nkk0
Tracy Chapman – Tracy Chapman
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list ... OA5RGSiLUs

[Phoebe]

I'm interested to hear your take on all these! The finalist list is amazing.

[poorpete]

Much like Janis' cheeky line beginning "Mercedes Benz", Tracy Chapman's debut album is "of great social and political import." Most songs are nearly flawless, singer-songwriter classics often of struggles of racism, sexism, homophobia, and poverty in America. Even the love songs infers how forbidden their love is (which could be because or race or orientation or both or even, classical, Shakesperian reasons, as in the song above). Many songs feel of-this-moment, with the upbeat sadness of "Across the Lines" ("they killed the dream of America"), the chilling spousal abuse acapella Behind the Wall ("The police always come late if they arrive at all"), the greedy "Mountains O'Things", the questioning of why we accept so much awfulness in our rich and polite society in the aptly titled "Why?" Another good question is, "Why if this is such an important and near-flawless album, am I eliminating it this round" and the answer is: I'd like to. I like being a contrarian and claim Tracy as the better. I was "meh" about Pearl at first. Thought it was just a good album that got a bump as Janis was gone too soon. But not anymore. NPR is right. It's definitely a close call (took me an extra day to decide), but there's something extra-special about Pearl.

Next, 60s soul titans battle it out:
Aretha Franklin – I Never Loved a Man The Way I Love You
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list ... ntiLbxPOQI
Dusty Springfield – Dusty in Memphis
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list ... EQ4RVyZ2QA

[poorpete]

Kinda wanted to skip this one because they are magnificent in their own ways. Both contain each artist's greatest hit, both contain other gems, both are fun to just. put. on. and. listen. Both are the peak heights of 60s R&B and have two incredible backing bands. But both also contain a few tracks that don't reach the heights of the others. I guess same could be said of Blue. Both seem disinterested in flow. Put the single near the beginning and then scatter the rest throughout. Dusty loses a tiny bit because they left out one of my favorite of her songs from the final tracklisting, What do You do When Live Dies, though it is on all the deluxe versions and was later a minor single. To give girl power points, Aretha changed R&B (and music) history and became a giant superstar, with RESPECT and others leading the feminist way. Dusty has great songs, and was a powehouse, and a closeted gay icon, but overall I gotta let Aretha continue...

[Phoebe]

Ya, I agree with both of these, but you really see all the merits of albums. I am excited to find out who survives this round!

[poorpete]

If you have any that you prefer to move on, let me know


A top notch 70s soft rock backing band teams with a top notch singer to sing top notch song. Here she is doing what the Eagles did before the Eagles (well, they were her backing band first, some of them play here, so I'm not really sticking my neck out with that opinion) but with much less albums sold. All these songs sound like they'd be wonderful to play on an acoustic guitar with friends at a get-together or alone in the dorm room. I should probably go ahead and start learning them. And she's not afraid of sharing, scoring beautiful harmonies with Cissy Houston, Emmylou Harris, and Don Henley. And after hitting you with such crisp and perfect soft rock songs, it let's the steal guitar take front and center and moves me to tears with the final song. Yet, you live by the Eagles, you die by the Eagles. Also, Trio is a better Ronstadt album.

[poorpete]

Now THIS is the Sheryl Crow album I always wanted. This gets the country-tinged rock-tinged singer-songwriter down perfectly. A dozen or so near-perfect guitar-based songs about life in the south, sung with joy and sadness and comedy. This really benefited from listening to 11 times instead of just 3. After three I was like, what, is, the, big, deal? It was underwhelming, but the power of the stories and the mood and the hooks got me and it got me good. Now since I'm getting rid of it, i guess I need to complain about something, hmmmm. Oh! It's big hit "Can't Let Go" is indeed the best song, though the one above is mighty good, I mean most of these are mighty good. Uhh, some are mearly very very not-quite mighty good. Plus, I want to know what Junebug vs. Hurricane means and no one will tell me.

[poorpete]

I'm a fan of song-based holidays. You got yourself Sept 21, aka "Do You Remember, the 21st of September" holiday. They you got May 1st, aka "It's gotta be May!" But I think April the 14th, which was indeed a huge historical day (the Titanic hits iceberg, Lincoln is shot, Dust Bowl begins), and I will (and thus we all should always) call it Ruination Day. The song (above) is the highlight from Gillian Welch's opus, full of bluegrass and country-tinged and old timey songs. It's great. It's timey might be old, but the stories are often modern, and either way it's often beautiful. There's a good four or five classics here, and it's a complete album, and I will keep listening to it, but we're talking all-time-greats here, and Tapestry has four or five classics on side one.