Album of the week

Not really a connection, other than the guy you linked being in—I think—industrial waters, which just reminded me of my recent failed attempt at listening to Downward Spiral.

It’s not even surprising for New Order, since Sonic Youth was such a sure bet too.

I honestly thought New Order had it in the bag, so I didn't even bother voting.😵

So, I was just wondering... what's the actual cutoff date for getting a thread opened?

Casey Flores said:So, when's the actual deadline to get a thread started...?

Still nothing. We’re all still sitting here waiting for kungfuhrcak to finally start that thread for the album that dropped like, what, a week ago? I haven't the slightest clue what the hold-up is... guess we just keep waiting... 😁 I really hope you don't end up waiting too long though! Seriously, if you can make it happen soon, that would be just perfect... right around now would be the best time...

brightwolf48 said:I was totally convinced New York City was going to breeze through, so I didn't even bother voting...😵

Did any of you guys vote for someone else thinking they’d actually win? Because if you did, New York City would be sitting pretty as the album of the week right now... what a missed opportunity! ☕ It’s already hit ten voters regularly... not like we have a massive crowd or anything, but hey... progress!

I don't really mind that it didn't happen... Honestly! It’ll probably get its moment in the spotlight eventually, or maybe someone else will just step up and pitch one of them in the meantime... doesn't matter to me at all!

So, I’m just gonna throw it out there and let everyone weigh in on what we should be blasting next week... whatever happens, happens! Let's see those picks... 🙂

Honestly, New York City was the only album of that genre we even heard this week—and yet, somehow, it still managed to be the most famous one among all the suggestions.

I mean, if we're being real, I feel like Sonic Youth is way more iconic, and John Frusciante is definitely pulling more weight popularity-wise. 🙂 Honestly, trying to guess what might actually win is just impossible... It’s wild. If Jessica Morris6 had suggested some random country singer from Tennessee this week, I wouldn't even be surprised if they beat out all these names—they actually did pretty well last time. 😬 (just look at this week's New Fossil). It’s kind of hilarious how unpredictable the voting can be, isn't it? 😁

Anyway, I won't ramble on forever! I think I already know exactly what I'm going to nominate for next week...

Sample sizes are consistently too small, which just leaves the door wide open for all kinds of bias. Thinking you can predict an album's success based on popularity alone is a trap. It’s happened before. Floyd didn't make the cut, Bowie didn't make it, The Velvet Underground failed their second attempt, and now we're seeing it with New York City. Those are the big names that come to mind.

Since we're talking about it, NIN was already suggested—I think by Konoyo—but that stalled out too.

I’d honestly suggest we scrap this whole multi-campaign voting system moving forward, because let's face it, everyone just ends up voting for their own favorite clique, which basically just serves to tank the chances for any albums we don't already love...

Mark Cruz15 said:I’d suggest we ditch this multi-vote campaign thing in the future. Everyone just votes for their favorite group, which basically kills any chance for the underdog albums to stand a shot.

But that’s exactly how we started! And honestly, looking at how many people are actually voting right now, there's really no point in pushing for 10 different albums. The whole idea is to give everyone more options so the best ones can actually rise to the top... It's not perfect, sure, but let's not get too intense about a simple poll. Plus, I have no clue what you mean by "enemy" albums... 🙂

Mark Cruz15 said:I’d honestly suggest we ditch this multi-vote campaign thing in the future—everyone just votes for their favorite group, which basically kills any chance for the underdog albums.

If everyone just picks one album, you end up with five different records getting one vote each—or nothing at all—and maybe four or five getting two. I can't commit to listening to five different albums every single week—I don't just listen to whatever gets posted here.
And look, out of ten suggestions, I’ll probably vote for my own pick 8 or 9 times—not because I need to win, but because my taste is usually spot on or at least top three.
Look, I know I'm biased toward certain genres—it is what it is. There's zero chance I'm voting for experimental stuff, cacophony, jazz, or most of those 80s picks—so that pretty much covers half the suggestions we get.

Dennis Hall41 said:If we all just vote for one album each, you'll end up with five albums getting one vote—or zero—and maybe four or five getting two. I can't really commit to listening to five different albums every single week... I don't just listen to whatever gets suggested here on the forum.
And honestly, out of ten things I suggest, I’ll probably vote for my own stuff eight or nine times. Not because I need to win, but because my picks are almost always either the best or in the top three.
Man, I know I'm biased toward certain genres, but I can't help it. There's basically no chance I'm voting for experimental, cacophonous, jazz, or most of those 80s choices—so that pretty much clears out half of the suggestions we've had so far.

But isn't every single one of his suggestions essentially the "best" one? If he didn't think that was the case, he wouldn't be suggesting the album in the first place, right?😁

That's actually why I avoid voting for my own albums—I figure I'm already an automatic vote for them the moment I suggest them. It's really up to you guys if you want to give him your vote or not.

PS, I agree with the rest of what was said.👍

Dennis Hall41 said:If we all just cast one vote per album, you’d end up with five albums getting one vote each—meaning nothing happens—or maybe four or five getting two votes... and honestly, I can't commit to listening to five different albums every single week because my playlist isn't just dictated by whatever gets suggested on this forum.
And let's be real, out of ten suggestions, eight or nine times I'm going to vote for myself, simply because my taste usually lands in the top three picks, and it's not even about being stubborn or wanting to win...
Look, I know I'm biased toward certain genres, but there's no fighting it. There's basically zero chance I'm voting for anything experimental, cacophonous, jazz-heavy, or most of those 80s picks, which pretty much wipes out half of everything suggested so far...

You make a fair point, it probably wouldn't work anyway since we don't have enough voters to make it move. Besides, 99% of the time, I only ever vote for one thing...

Look, nobody is actually stopping you from starting a thread about any album you want. The only difference is it won't be under the official Album of the Week banner... 🤷

Henry Campbell5 said:But honestly, nobody is stopping you from starting a thread about any album you want. The only difference is it won't be under the official Album of the Week banner. 🤷

Exactly.

In my view, this whole voting thing is really just a side note.
It’s much better when we get into a deep dive about any of the albums suggested... rather than just focusing on the one that happens to win the round.

Charles Ramos4 said:Isn't every single one of his suggestions basically the best choice anyway? If that weren't true, he wouldn't be the one suggesting 😁

That’s actually why I don't vote for my own albums—I feel like I'm just an automatic vote for them once I suggest them. It's really up to you guys if you want to back him or not.

PS—I'm with you on the rest of what was said 👍

But honestly, every once in a while someone suggests something just as good—maybe even better—than what I picked.

Honestly, I find myself voting for other candidates more often than my own. It’s just not always the most compelling option on the ballot...

It’s always fun to vote for your own side, even if it feels like a little bit of democratic assault 👍

If the forum software actually allowed it—or if we could just hire Puck to do the math for us—the most logical approach would be this: once the nominations for Album of the Week are set, every voter gets a pool of points ranging from 1 up to whatever the total number of nominees happens to be. It keeps things balanced. Personally, I’d rank my top pick at number four. My first choice would be Fruchtman, followed by Sonic Youth in second, and then New Order in third—though I actually skipped voting for them since I was one of the earliest voters and felt certain they’d breeze through anyway.

I think this voting system has actually worked out pretty well. If someone just wants to vote for a single album, that's totally fine by me. Also, I don't see any real issue with having ties between three albums, especially looking at this week... all three threads had great intros. 🙂 Plus, they're already getting plenty of eyes on them considering the overall traffic on the main forum.

The other thing is that we're missing a concrete number of voters. It would be way better if we consistently had 15-20 people participating like we did in a few previous rounds, instead of hitting a max of 10. Then again, the specific album choice isn't even the biggest deal; what matters more is what analogbear40 keeps bringing up—actually jumping into the discussions within the individual threads. 🙂

I know for a fact that a lot of people are reading us, but they aren't voting or posting anything. Why that is, or how we can fix it, I honestly don't know, though maybe Puck and I could try putting something together.

Lisa Davis46 said:I think this voting system has actually worked out pretty well. If someone just wants to vote for one album, they’re free to do that. Also—I don't really see the issue with having three albums tied, especially this week... all three topics have great intros. 🙂 Plus, they're already getting plenty of eyes on them, considering how much the root gets read overall.

The other thing is we're missing a solid number of voters. It would definitely be better if we regularly had 15–20 people participating, like in a few previous rounds, rather than peaking at maybe 10. Then again, the specific album choice isn't even the main point—it's more about what our friend over there keeps mentioning, which is actually getting people to join the discussions within the individual threads. 🙂

I know for a fact that plenty of people are reading us, but they aren't voting or posting anything. Why that is, or how we change it... I don't know. I guess Amanda Robinson4 and I might try to come up with something.

It's not exactly a secret, since everyone can see the view counts on every thread. Unless those views mean something else entirely? Maybe I'm just tech-illiterate, but I doubt I'm *that* 🙂

I agree that the scoring criteria is totally fine. The only thing that felt a bit off to me was voting for your own albums, since that didn't seem to make much sense. But if nobody else sees an issue with it, I guess I'll just go along with the majority.