Favourite Stina album poll

[RobB]

It seems like years now since we've had one of these 'favourite Stina album' polls.........actually, it probably has been years since we've last had a favourite Stina album poll.

Ok, so have our opinions on what is Stina's most popular album collectively changed? Can anyone remember what our original collective opinions were anyway?

So please placed your favourite Stina albums,as of now, in descending order below:

Mine are:

1) This Is Stina Nordenstam
2) And She Closed Her Eyes
3) The World Is Saved
4) Dynamite
5) Memory Of A Color
6) People Are Strange.

[sound world]

Love them all unreservedly, but if held over a pit of boiling oil and threatened with gravity if I didn't choose an order, I might say:-

1. The World is Saved. Product of a master at the top of her game, all her conflicting styles from the previous albums brought into focus. If this is to be Stina's swansong, well, how fitting.
2. ASCHE. Which is my desert island disc top choice, just for me. It contains my private Higgs-Boson particle, I think.
3. Dynamite. Marvellous and bleak and full of Stina's brilliant slacker-guitar.
4. MOAC. It's where I came in. It's where SHE came in. Unforgettable and contains a few of her very best songs alongside...some others
5. PAS. Only a few mini-notches below any of the above. If you've ever tried to cover someone else's song and make a whole new thing of it, you'll know how difficult it is and how brilliantly Stina has done it.
6. This Is. Again, a sliver separates it from any of the above, and it has better production than any except TWIS, and contains a couple more of Stina's all-time best alongside, ahem, Lori Glory.

What a body of work. And that's only some of it.

[paulr]

Alright, here's my take. I can't remember my previous order. But hey, new era, new chances.


1. And She Closed Her Eyes: My first meeting with SN. For me still the unbeaten nr. 1. Gentle, subtle, but oh so rough the same time. in my opinion a very balanced CD. Favorites: View From The Spire; Crime (and the B-side First Day In Spring)
2. People Are Strange: Despite many others, I really love her new take on old ' worn-out' tracks. Interesting how she combines all kinds of tracks which have no relation to each other to one cohesive style of music. (Favs: I Came So Far From Beauty, I Dream Of Jeanie, People Are Strange, (and the jap bonus track Treat Me Nice)
3. This Is Stina Nordenstam: In combination with the DVD it makes a great cohesive collection of tracks/vids. With this CD SN seems to have delivered the most mainstream of all her CD's (favs Circus, Clothe Yourself and Stations)
4. Dynamite: Dark and depressive, aggressive and haunting CD, difficult to 'enjoy'. almost impossible to digest, but nevertheless a brilliant piece of work. (Dynamite, This Time John, Under Your Command)
5. The World Is Saved: Still A great CD, but if I have to choose..It has it's moments, but overall, she did better on her other work.(Favs: The End Of A Love Affair, Butterfly, Failing To Fly)
6. Memories Of Color: A first try, a first journey, a start to define her -unique, recognizable- style. And that's what this album is: A start. The least album of all of them. (Favs He Watches Her From Behind, Memories Of A Color)

[paul-pgss]

This is a hard one for me. But if I have to tell what are my favourites now (it changes from time to time), it would be this:

1. The World Is Saved: it's an album that sort of sums up all the styles that Stina did on the previous albums. It contains some of her most beautiful lyrics. Favourite songs: On Falling, The End of a Love Affair and The World Is Saved.
2. And She Closed Her Eyes: I rediscovered this album lately. Her voice seems so close to the microphone that every breath seems to be captured in the recording. Favourite songs: I See You Again, Murder in Mairyland Park and When Debbie's Back From Texas.
3. People Are Strange: it's a love/hate thing. I love the production on this album. It also contains two songs which I think are really awful: Come To Me and Lonesome Road. But I adore what Stina's done with Sailing, Purple Rain and People Are Strange. These tracks have been reïnvented.
4. This Is Stina Nordenstam: this album's production is wonderful (I'm hooked to many other albums by Froom & Blake). The tracks aren't so gloomy, but there seems to be some hope in it. Best tracks: Everyone Else In The World, Lori Glory and Sharon and Hope.
5. Dynamite: love the industrial sounds of the drums and the guitar. But some tracks are a bit too much for me. I really think that Mary Bell lacks any proper arrangement for the voice as the music. Best tracks: Until, Almost A Smile and Dynamite.
6. Memories of a Color: it feels a bit strange to put this album last, because I love it and it definitely has it's moments. But when listening I'm always aware of the things Stina said about this album. In retrospect she wasn't happy with the way it's produced. Also her lyrical style seems to have changed radically after this album. Best tracks: His Song, He Watches Her From Behind and Soon After Christmas.

[bigmouth]

Mine would be as follows:

1. Dynamite/People are Strange
2. This is/The World is Saved
3. Memories of a color/And she closed her eyes

I separate Stina Nordenstam in three periods, as I see it, with the mid-nineteenth- in the top, where she, in general, is really experimenting with new instruments and challenging lyrics, which (in my opinion) is a lot more creative than the early period - and Dynamite is the starting point of this change. Most of the covers in People are Strange are quite original.
The last one, 2001-2004, has a touch of nostalgia - but that feeling is probably depending on (what we now know) that she haven't released anything new yet.