Polling Without Context

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

[Poll #1018696]

Comments

SURPRISE SURPRISE

[bengraham.livejournal.com]

For me, the biggest surprise (and one which I don't think anyone has mentioned yet) is the appearance in that top 30 of Bloc Party. Bearing in mind that neither Franz Ferdinand or the Kaiser Chiefs made the list, I think this is quite a statement about Bloc Party. After all, their albums made #114 and #12 in the US charts, better than the Kaiser Chiefs (#86 and #45) but worse than Franz (#32 and #8). But it's especially surprising when you think about the bands that haven't made the list - The Rolling Stones, The Pixies, REM... hell, even Panic! At The Disco, who I would have expected to be unbelievably popular with the last.fm demographic.

Re: SURPRISE SURPRISE

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

Don't they have an album out much more recently than the other bands you mentioned? Like, within the last month?

Re: SURPRISE SURPRISE

[bengraham.livejournal.com]

Bloc Party and Kaiser Chiefs albums came out a week apart in February this year. Franz Ferdinand's second album was in 2005, it's true, but then it charted higher than any of the other albums in question, and stuck around the US charts a lot longer. Does this chart cover the whole of last.fm's history or just the current top 30?

Re: SURPRISE SURPRISE

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

The last week.

Kaisers have zero traction outside the UK I'd have thought - too zany.

Re: SURPRISE SURPRISE

[dubdobdee.livejournal.com]

yeah i've seen much discussion of bloc party on the us pol-blogs i read

Re: SURPRISE SURPRISE

[bengraham.livejournal.com]

I disagree... catchy, easy to understand songs are just what the North American market craves. And they got a huge reception from the Spanish at Benicassim. Whereas Bloc Party write fairly political songs that are very England London-centric. I'd have thought the reverse was true - Bloc Party have zero traction outside the UK. Turns out I must be wrong.

Re: SURPRISE SURPRISE

[vumgarda.livejournal.com]

Pixies, R.E.M. and Panic! At The Disco might all easily suffer from incorrect tagging splitting their plays, unless those getautomatically fixed now

Re: SURPRISE SURPRISE

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

Pixies/The Pixies gets fixed I'm pretty sure. Dunno about REM but you'd think they'd have noticed by now. Panic! At The Disco might well find themselves in a spot of bother.