The Ticket’s Top 40 Irish Albums of All Time
Jim Carroll
In this week’s Ticket, we’ve counted down the Top 40 Irish Albums of All Time as voted for by the paper’s rock music writers.
No doubt, readers will be surprised and shocked as they go through the Top 40. The process was simple – the rock writers sent in their Top 40 lists, the votes were counted, the results were tallied and a list of 40 emerged. Remember, these are the 40 best Irish albums, as chosen by our rock critics. If they choose to include a trad or jazz album, then that’s their choice.
Now, your turn. What albums did we overlook? What albums should not be in the Top 40? Is My Bloody Valentine’s “Loveless” really the best Irish album of all-time or do you think it should have been Enya? Let the fuming begin.
paul – thanks for that link to the MP3s, will put them in a seperate post
caro – I’m blaming the cold snap for people’s anger. I have to blame something
Enya – I’ll tell Madam to expect your letter
I deplore the publication of this list, its obviously a cheap gimmick to deflect attention from the gin-sodden Senior Counsel mumblings of the Mahon Tribunal.
Bertie, along with his group of four shady friends, should be hauled in to account for the non-appearance of Freddie White in this list
RE (189)
Oh holy jaysus..Hot Lunch does politics as well..is there no end to this man’s talents?
No Skid Row?
No “Skid”? No “34 Hours”?
Have you people no testicles?
Ouch, that reminds me, where’s that cream…
So saying the owner of this blog would make quite a good chairperson is ‘doing politics’? Is there no end to your ignorance?
Hot Lunch – I call it babysitting
Really enjoyed the Top 40. Well done! Not the usual junk list, that hot press et al. would produce.
Only complaints:
Why did you include live albums. Surely Van had enough truly great records in the early 70′s to omit “too late to stop now”, even if thin lizzy didn’t.
Here are a few that should have made it (may not be everyones cup of tea.
39 minutes – Microdisney
Pop – U2
Power of Dreams – immigrants, emigrants and me
Twist -Fat lady sings
Touch of Oliver – Touch of Oliver
Des
no problem with inclusions but where is Pierce Turner’s
“Now is Heaven ” sean-nos,gregorian chant,classical meets electro comes out as unique rock n’roll with lyrics and melody to match .Grossly overlooked .
what about Simple Kid, Franks ,The stunning -Paradise in the Picturehouse -The Walls Hi- Lo . Thankfully the list is endless .
There was and is great music being made . especially by Pierce Turner .
Thanks
Eh?
Hot Lunch, take a look at your own blog for some prime examples of the aformentioned ignorance…!
Back in bleak showband ridden God fearing 1970′s Cavan what kept me going was liberal doses of The Horslips ” The Tain” and Gallaghers ” Irish Tour 74″. Least we forget also… Moving Hearts and…..Midnight Well !
Eoin Dunlea doesn’t have a clue. Repetition of artists is permissable if warranted.
jim
what about a “granny rule” list. the top twenty albums by 2nd generation irish. smiths, beatles, oasis, costello, PIL, Culture Club etc.
Jim,
What’s up with that non-existent Snow Patrol album title in today’s Ticket? (Page 7, number 82). Classic mis-print!
I can’t believe Dublin band HAL didn’t get a mention [their self-titled debut in 2006]? Not only one of the best albums of that year, but one of the best to come out of this country … ever. It’s a modern classic. I honestly can’t believe how you have managed to leave this out? Please explain. P.s. Keep Love As Your Golden Rule …
I notice your list lacks one great irish band. Where are toasted heretic? I understand that you have to make your articles as appealing and attractive to young people as possible but its no excuse for putting in utter shite(Snow Patrol,Damien Rice etc.) at the expense of quality music. In fact any of Toasted Heretics albums are better than some of the bollix in your list. I expect a formal written apology to all music lovers as soon as possible. Thank you.
My Bloody Valentine eligibility query: as far as I can ascertain, only Colm O’Ciosoig was born on “the island of Ireland” (“hold hands across the border”, sung in Enya-like voice). So, for MBV albums to be eligible, at least two other band members must hold Irish passports, for there to be a majority. Can you produce some documentary evidence, please?
What! No Chris deBurgh who put Ireland on the world map with Lady In Red, Revolution, Spanish Train!!! Sure, some had some exposure world wide but CDB was massive, selling out stadiums everywhere, and all this before U2. Surely a mis-carriage of justice but then again, music critics like to dance about architecture.
What! No T’Pau-Heart and Soul was a bang up single. Horslips are missing too as are a host of other great Irish bands like Chieftans, Irish Rovers, and what about that guy we see on TV all the time singing songs to old ladies and wearing clothes that look like they came from the local habitat for the poor and downtrodden.
Dear sweet Jesus, but it sounds like a list Liam Fay and Niall Stokes put together over too many pints in Toners……It has 80′s “right on-ness” smeared all over it. What about
Long Distance Runner
Hard Station????
Welcome Here Kind Stranger
I didnt read all the comments but no Aslan!!!!???
I was so disppointed by your list that I had to compile my own:
1 Horslips – The Book Of Invasions
2 The Radiators – Ghostown
3 U2 – Boy
4 Thin Lizzy – Thin Lizzy
5 The Sultans – Good Year For Trouble
6 My Bloody Valentine – Loveless
7 Rory Gallagher – Rory Gallagher
8 Mellow Candle – Swaddling Songs
9 The Undertones – Hypnotised
10 Horslips – The Man Who Built America
11 The Virgin Prunes – If I Die, I Die
12 Horslips – The Táin
13 U2 – Achtung Baby
14 The Sultans Of Ping FC – Casual Sex In The Cineplex
15 The Blades – Raytown Revisited
16 Whipping Boy – Submarine
17 My Bloody Valentine – Isn’t Anything
18 Rory Gallagher – Deuce
19 Thin Lizzy – Vagabonds Of The Western World
20 Taste – On The Boards
21 The Pogues – If I Should Fall From Grace With God
22 The Radiators From Space – T.V. Tube Heart
23 A House – I Want Too Much
24 Big Self – Stateless
25 Rory Gallagher – Live! In Europe
26 The Slowest Clock – Life Still
27 The Atrix – Procession
28 Fatima Mansions – Viva Dead Ponies
29 Rory Gallagher – Against The Grain
30 Whipping Boy – Heartworm
31 That Petrol Emotion – Chemicrazy
32 Rudi – Big Time: The Best Of Rudi
33 Into Paradise – Churchtown
34 Horslips – Aliens
35 Power Of Dreams – Immigrants, Emigrants And Me
36 The Outcasts – Self Concious Over You
37 Van Morrison – Tupelo Honey
38 Skid Row – 34 Hours
39 S.L.F. – Inflammable Material
40 Dr Strangely Strange – Kip Of The Serenes
Honourable mentions:
Rollerskate Skinny – Shoulder Voices
Light A Big Fire –
Gunpowders
my list woulld, go. for the moat aprt, in a very different direction. gald to see Planxty, Martin Hayes & Dennis Cahill, and a few more trad sorts on the list. but how could you overlook these? these muscians, anyway, even if you prefer otherr bits of their work–
Altan — Local Ground
Mary Black — By the Time It Gets Dark
Sharon Shannon -The Diamond Mountain Sessions
various — A Woman’s Hesrt: A Decade On
Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh — Fainne an Lae/Daybreak
Cathie Ryan — The Farthest Wave
Manus McGuire — Fiddlewings
Danu — When All Is Said and Done
Nice article – good luck in the blog awards for this!