đŸŽ” How Good Are They Really đŸŽ” Fiona Apple

Is she the apple of your eye? Let’s find out.

Animal Collective end up midtable, ish:

Summary

Leaderboard:

Artist Rating
Aretha Franklin 4.64
Nina Simone 4.57
A Tribe Called Quest 4.56
Kraftwerk 4.50
Neil Young 4.48
Miles Davis 4.42
Alice Coltrane 4.42
Talking Heads 4.39
R.E.M. 4.38
John Coltrane 4.37
Beastie Boys 4.36
Otis Redding 4.34
The Velvet Underground 4.33
The Temptations 4.32
David Bowie 4.31
The Beatles 4.31
Pixies 4.30
Leonard Cohen 4.30
The Cure 4.28
Boards Of Canada 4.28
Björk 4.27
Mogwai 4.24
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds 4.22
Marvin Gaye 4.21
Fugazi 4.21
Tom Waits 4.20
Johnny Cash 4.19
Aphex Twin 4.18
PJ Harvey 4.17
Stevie Wonder 4.17
Four Tet 4.17
Nirvana 4.15
Joy Division 4.15
Radiohead 4.13
The Supremes 4.13
Pavement 4.12
The Four Tops 4.12
Prince 4.11
Wu-Tang Clan 4.11
Cocteau Twins 4.11
Orbital 4.11
Nick Drake 4.10
De La Soul 4.10
The Stooges 4.10
Elliott Smith 4.09
Yo La Tengo 4.09
Pulp 4.08
Public Enemy 4.08
Sonic Youth 4.08
Sleater-Kinney 4.08
Kate Bush 4.07
OutKast 4.07
Portishead 4.03
Super Furry Animals 4.03
Black Sabbath 4.03
Simon & Garfunkel 4.02
Joanna Newsom 4.02
Mclusky 4.02
MF DOOM 4.01
Sufjan Stevens 4.01
The Knife 4.01
My Bloody Valentine 4.01
Run The Jewels 4.00
Sharon Van Etten 4.00
New Order 3.99
Bob Dylan 3.97
Kendrick Lamar 3.97
Wilco 3.97
Low 3.96
Robyn 3.96
Grandaddy 3.96
The Beach Boys 3.93
Jimi Hendrix 3.93
Sigur RĂłs 3.93
LCD Soundsystem 3.92
Joni Mitchell 3.89
Massive Attack 3.89
Janelle MonĂĄe 3.89
Frank Ocean 3.86
Spiritualized 3.85
Bruce Springsteen 3.84
Deftones 3.84
Future Of The Left 3.84
Siouxsie & The Banshees 3.83
Underworld 3.82
The Kinks 3.82
At The Drive-In 3.82
Guided By Voices 3.82
Deerhunter 3.81
Fucked Up 3.80
Run-D.M.C. 3.78
The Clash 3.77
Dolly Parton 3.77
Pet Shop Boys 3.76
Modest Mouse 3.76
Blondie 3.73
Bright Eyes 3.71
Rage Against The Machine 3.71
Nine Inch Nails 3.70
The National 3.68
Paul Simon 3.68
M.I.A. 3.68
The Ramones 3.67
Spacemen 3 3.67
ABBA 3.66
Kanye West 3.65
Solange 3.65
Arcade Fire 3.64
Mercury Rev 3.63
Blur 3.61
The Magnetic Fields 3.61
N.W.A. 3.61
Beck 3.59
Elvis Costello 3.59
The Smiths 3.57
Beyoncé 3.54
Yeah Yeah Yeahs 3.54
Eels 3.52
Carly Rae Jepsen 3.51
Roxy Music 3.51
Daft Punk 3.50
The Chemical Brothers 3.49
Jimmy Eat World 3.49
Explosions In The Sky 3.49
Bob Marley & The Wailers 3.48
Jeff Buckley 3.47
Teenage Fanclub 3.47
The Flaming Lips 3.46
Hot Chip 3.44
Bon Iver 3.43
Idlewild 3.42
The Fall 3.42
George Michael 3.41
Madonna 3.40
Manic Street Preachers 3.39
Fleetwood Mac 3.39
Queens Of The Stone Age 3.39
Big Thief 3.39
The Postal Service 3.38
The Notorious B.I.G. 3.37
TV On The Radio 3.37
Toots & The Maytals 3.35
The White Stripes 3.34
Supergrass 3.32
Dr. Dre 3.32
Hole 3.31
Squarepusher 3.31
Iggy Pop 3.31
The Smashing Pumpkins 3.30
Suede 3.30
Steely Dan 3.29
Elton John 3.28
The Pogues 3.28
Kylie Minogue 3.27
The Specials 3.26
Vampire Weekend 3.26
Doves 3.26
Death Cab For Cutie 3.24
Laura Marling 3.24
James Brown 3.23
Sugababes 3.22
Thin Lizzy 3.22
Hall & Oates 3.21
Rihanna 3.19
The Prodigy 3.18
Led Zeppelin 3.16
Ash 3.16
The Streets 3.16
Pink Floyd 3.15
Pearl Jam 3.15
Taylor Swift 3.14
Jay-Z 3.14
Arctic Monkeys 3.14
Goldfrapp 3.14
Gorillaz 3.13
Interpol 3.12
TLC 3.12
Lana Del Rey 3.11
Los Campesinos! 3.10
The Rolling Stones 3.09
Animal Collective 3.07
Iron Maiden 3.06
Placebo 3.06
The Charlatans 3.06
Destiny’s Child 3.05
Primal Scream 3.04
The Divine Comedy 3.04
Everything Everything 3.04
The Strokes 3.03
Elvis Presley 3.02
AC/DC 3.00
The Bee Gees 2.99
Weezer 2.97
Grimes 2.96
Garbage 2.96
Amy Winehouse 2.95
Girls Aloud 2.93
Frank Sinatra 2.92
2Pac 2.91
Elbow 2.91
The Stone Roses 2.90
The Doors 2.89
Franz Ferdinand 2.89
The Mars Volta 2.89
Ariana Grande 2.88
Tool 2.88
Lizzo 2.86
Belle And Sebastian 2.85
Britney Spears 2.85
Metallica 2.81
Green Day 2.81
Madness 2.80
Slipknot 2.80
The Jam 2.75
Basement Jaxx 2.75
Miley Cyrus 2.73
Oasis 2.71
Whitney Houston 2.69
The Verve 2.67
Slayer 2.65
The Sex Pistols 2.63
Lady Gaga 2.61
Queen 2.60
Billy Joel 2.57
Foo Fighters 2.57
U2 2.55
My Chemical Romance 2.54
Justin Timberlake 2.52
Biffy Clyro 2.48
Dire Straits 2.43
The Beautiful South 2.43
Meat Loaf 2.43
Bloc Party 2.41
Cher 2.40
Michael Jackson 2.39
Eminem 2.38
Mariah Carey 2.32
Coldplay 2.31
IDLES 2.29
Rancid 2.26
Guns N’ Roses 2.26
The Killers 2.22
The Who 2.22
Blink-182 2.21
Muse 2.20
Robbie Williams 2.20
Katy Perry 2.18
Bon Jovi 2.11
No Doubt 2.10
Christina Aguilera 2.09
The Offspring 2.08
Moby 2.06
Adele 2.05
Aerosmith 2.03
Kings Of Leon 2.01
The Libertines 1.99
Red Hot Chili Peppers 1.90
The Eagles 1.86
The Spice Girls 1.81
Stereophonics 1.74
Kasabian 1.57
Ed Sheeran 1.29

Today, a Menless Monday special


  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5

0 voters

1 Like

Best album?

  • Tidal
  • When the Pawn
 [I am not typing this all out]
  • Extraordinary Machine
  • The Idler Wheel Is Wiser Than the Driver of the Screw and Whipping Cords Will Serve You More Than Ropes Will Ever Do
  • Fetch the Bolt Cutters

0 voters

Best single?

  • Shadowboxer
  • Sleep to Dream
  • The First Taste
  • Criminal
  • Never Is A Promise
  • Across the Universe
  • Fast as You Can
  • Limp
  • Paper Bag
  • O’ Sailor
  • Parting Gift
  • Not About Love
  • Get Him Back
  • Every Single Night
  • Pure Imagination
  • Shameika

0 voters

Ive only really heard fetch the boltcutters, which was one of my favourites of last year.

What else is good?

Abstain/5

1 Like

Slightly strange artist for me.

Like all her albums except the first one (I know that is lots of peoples favorites btyg).

But I basically liked listening to each album intensely for about a week and then had no interest in listening again.

Also seems like pretty much the coolest person in the world.

going for a 4.

1 Like

The previous album The Idler Wheel
 is not dissimilar and has better tunes.

3 Likes

Quite like her, Idler Wheel is ace. I really don’t understand the critical acclaim for Fetch The Bolt Cutters at all I just thought it was alright.

Anyone got a good playlist, or recommendation on where is best to start?

I’ve liked some bits i’ve heard over the years but never really managed to explore any further.

Really didn’t get the hype for fetch the boltcutters. Was fine. Think she’s fine too.

3/5

1 Like

Only heard Boltcutters based on the hype last year, made me think of Regina Spektor though apparently Apple was around first?

Wasn’t David Cameron once spotted at a Fiona Apple concert?

Probably going to have to abstain.

Yeah me neither. Can’t really understand in particular why Pitchfork declared it a perfect album over Idler Wheel (not to mention everything else released in the last decade), which was a stronger album for me. It also felt like she’d gone away for 10 years and delivered more of the same musically (more or less), which doesn’t seem like the thing critics usually go nuts over. I honestly think that a lot of US music types and fans have a lot invested in her as an artist and as this godlike musical prodigy, with her sporadic albums seen as major events, and I think divorced from that context and hype, she’s just a very good singer songwriter.

Still, all of her albums are good, and a couple of them are really excellent (When the Pawn and Idler Wheel more or less justify the fanfare). She’s a 4/5 for me, but I think because of the extreme level of hype she receives, where everything is supposedly perfect and on another plane of excellency to what anyone else is doing, she’ll always seem like an artist I don’t quite get


1 Like

I go hot and cold on Fiona, so it would’ve probably been a 3, but FTBC was so bloody good, i’ve pushed it up to 4.

Still wish the first version of Extraordinary Machine was the real one.

I think the first four albums are one of the strongest runs of music in the modern era – the absolute definition of all killer no filler. Was happy to wait seven years between LPs when everything was that bloody good.

Really hard to pick a favourite; could be any of the When The Pawn, Extraordinary Machine or Idler Wheel on any given day depending on what I’ve most recently listened to.

Completely failed to the hype over Fetch The Bolt Cutters, especially that ludicrous Pitchfork review which seemed to suggest that she had completely reinvented music by banging on her lounge room walls.

Still a five for me, despite FTBC.

1 Like

She’s the cool older sister I wish I had. 4.

2 Likes

(Caveat: I listen to the “original” version of Extraordinary Machine only and will not acknowledge the existence of the rerecorded version :upside_down_face:)

1 Like

Same but for me that’s a 4 out of 5

1 Like

I was really held back on FTBC by the monstrous level of hype and it’s only when I divorced the album from the Pitchfork nonsense that I really appreciated it. There was always something I kept coming back to even when I wasn’t sure about it, and it is an album that really speaks to women’s youthful insecurities. For Her is so good

I’ve not really managed to get on with any of the others but bung some Idlers recommendations my way and I’ll have a listen.

2 Likes

If you can find the original Jon Brion version of ‘Extraordinary Machine’, I can definitely recommend that. It was my favourite Apple album until FTBC came out. Such a shame she didn’t get to release that version.

2 Likes

She’s the best. Idler Wheel is one of my all time favourites - had the CD in the car for the last 3 years and it’s very rarely not in the player.

Some of my picks from that album for the less familiar: