Updated on 1/23/2013 to Include: the reissue of Illmatic by Nas.  Obviously.

Updated on 1/16/2013 to include: J Dillas’s Donuts (45 Box Set).  I don’t know much about J Dilla so this will be fun to listen to.

Updated on 12/12/2012 to include: D’Angelo’s Voodoo.  Naturally I can’t craft a logical argument against this.

Updated on 11/20/2012 to include: The Velvet Underground’s: The Velvet Underground and Nico.  Okay so the deluxe version only gets a 9.0 but the remastered version of the original album gets a 10.  Allegedly Pitchfork wrote a previous review for this album and gave it a 10 but at some point that review vanished; maybe they’re making up for it now.

Updated on 11/20/2012 to include: William Basinski’s The Disintegration Loops. Cool album with a cool story.

Updated on November 9th to include: Joni Mitchell’s Blue, Court and Spark, and The Hissing of Summer Lawns.  I for sure agree with Blue, not so sure about the others.  Thoughts?

Updated on 8/13/2012 to include: Roxy Music’s reissue of their 1973 album For Your Pleasure. I will be honest I’ve never spent a lot of time with Roxy Music; I guess I’ll make them a priority.

Updated on 11/18/2011 to include: The Smith’s The Queen is Dead and Hatful of Hollow.

Updated on 7/27/2012 to include: GZA’s Liquid Swords: Chess Box Deluxe Edition. I’m not surprised by this.  Great album.

Updated on 5/11/2012 to include: My Bloody Valentine’s Isn’t Anything and Loveless.  Who didn’t see this coming once they were finally released.

Updated on 12/9/2011 to include: Can’s Tago Mago [40th Anniversary Edition]. Apparently I missed this one.  Thanks to a few readers for pointing it out.  They got it right with this one; it’s a pretty great album.

Updated on 12/7/2011 to include: Throbbing Gristle’s 20 Jazz Funk Greats.  I don’t know anything about this album; this will change soon.

Updated on 11/28/2011 to include: The Smashing Pumpkin’s Siamese Dream Deluxe Edition.  Does this reissue deserve a perfect 10?  The answer is an overwhelming yes.  This is probably my quintessential album of the 90′s, or at least the one I remember listening to the most.  I’m certain that I  heard “Today” one million times during the early to mid-nineties.

Updated on 11/2/2011 to include: The Beach Boy’s The Smile Sessions. The legendary album finally gets a proper release and not surprisingly it lives up to all the hype built over the last forty some odd years. That’s impressive.

Updated on 10/21/2011 to include: Talk Talk’s Laughing Stock. A gorgeous album that I’ve never spent enough time with. Hopefully that will change soon.

Updated on 9/27/2011: to include Nirvana’s Nevermind [20th Anniversary Edition], an album more than worthy of the coveted perfect 10. Of course it also has the changing music as we know it thing going for it. Not to mention it was the soundtrack to my twelfth year, for no other reason than I knew it was supposed to be.

Updated on 1/11/2011: to include The Dismemberment Plan’s vinyl reissue of Emergency & I. I’m glad to see this album grab a perfect 10. I listened to it a lot last year as I started the slow painful journey to 30. Yep 30.

Updated on 11/22/2010: to include Kanye West’s album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy.  This is the first real non-reissue to get a perfect 10.0 since Wilco’s Yankee Hotel Foxtrot received a 10.0 in 2002.  It is also only the 12th “new” release to receive the coveted perfect 10.

This is pretty surprising,  I thought P4k was finished giving 10.0′s to new albums.  I guess I was wrong.  Although if a recent album deserves a 10.0 it is probably this one.  It’s one of those albums that I can’t quit listening to.   Every listen is such an emotional roller-coaster, but rewarding in the fact that it brings something new and amazing to the table.  It really is an incredible album that I’ll be listening too for a long time to come.

Updated on 11/3/2010: to include Weezer’s Pinkerton Deluxe Edition.

Updated on 6/10/2010: This update adds The Cure’s Disintegration [Deluxe Edition] to the perfect 10.0 list.

Updated on 5/19/2010: This update adds The Rolling Stone’s Exile on Main St. to this list.

Updated on 3/30/2010: This update adds Galaxie 500′s deluxe reissue version of On Fire to the list of perfect 10.0′s.

Updated on 3/8/2010: Pavement’s first retrospective compilation, Quarantine the Past, has been added to the perfect 10.0 list.

Updated on 3/2/2010: Pitchfork have added Spiritualized’s Ladies and Gentleman We Are Floating in Space [Collector's Edition] to their list of perfect 10 reissues.

Updated on 12/11/2009: P4k have added Neil Young’s Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere and After the Gold Rush reissues to their list of perfect albums.  A couple of good choices in my opinion.  Harvest missed out by receiving a 9.3.

Updated on 9/11/09: Jesus Christ all these perfect 10′s in one week has to be some type of record for P4k.  Today they handed out another one for the 20th anniversary reissue of the Stone Rose’s self-titled album.  For those counting they’ve issued seven 10′s this week.  Of course they’ve all been deserved in my opinion.

Updated on 9/10/09: To include the Beatles’ Stereo/Mono Remastered Reissues of The White Album and Abbey Road.

Updated on 9/9/09: To Include the Beatles’ Stereo/Mono Remastered Reissues of Rubber Soul, Sgt Pepper’s, Magical Mystery Tour and Revolver.

Updated on 8/25/2009: To include Radiohead’s Kid A: Special Collectors Edition.

Updated on 7/2/2009: To include R.E.M’s Reckoning (Deluxe Edition) reissue.

Updated on 5/26/2009: A commenter by the name of Chris was kind enough to point us to a web archive that shows Pitchfork as if it were 2001 (Thanks Chris!).  This is actually pretty fun  to look around.  The first news topic talks about Radiohead announcing the Amnesiac tracklist via bulletin board. After looking around for quite sometime I forced myself to focus and as a result I’ve updated all the links to show their original reviews. Some of these reviews I couldn’t find links to in the first place (cough cough Kiss) so there might be some new materiel for you guys to check out.

Updated on 4/20/2009: To include the Radiohead reissues of OK Computer and The Bends.

 

Updated on 3/26/2009: to Include Serge Gainsbourg’s Histoire de Melody Nelson.

Updated on 3/19/2009: It appears that in their recent site redesign Pitchfork decided to get rid of any album review that was over ten years old. This means reviews to albums like OK Computer, The Soft Bulletin and I See A Darkness no longer exist. I’m not sure why they did this, but I imagine it had something to do with reviews like this one.

Updated on 2/13/2009: to included the Beastie Boy’s 20th anniversary reissue of Paul’s Boutique.

Updated on 11/24/2008: to include R.E.M.’s Deluxe Edition of Murmur.

 

 

Regardless of how you feel about Pitchfork, I don’t think any of us can argue the sites relevancy within the small confines of our music world. Needless to say Pitchfork is always a polarizing topic. You have those that hate the sheer existence of it and consider the writers pretentious music elitists with a little too much power, and then there are those people who appreciate the site and rely heavily on its recommendations. Regardless of what side of the fence we are on when it comes to this issue, we all still inevitably read Pitchfork. Truthfully, I read it every day and I look forward to it. I don’t always agree with their reviews (I’m looking at you Fuck Buttons), but I have my coffee, check the news and right before I start working I check the Pitchfork reviews.

I do hate that so many people put so much stock in their reviews, but like it or not a good/bad Pitchfork review can make or break a band. Many people claim Pitchfork is responsible for breaking bands like Arcade Fire, Sufjan Stevens, Interpol, Wolf Parade, and Broken Social Scene. I think it’s safe to say all these bands have plenty of talent, but I’m sure the little nudge Pitchfork gave them didn’t hurt their chances. On the other hand a poor Pitchfork review can destroy a band’s career just as quickly. We all remember the monkey drinking its own piss review of Jet’s, Shine On, and the satirical review of the Black Kid’s Partie Traumatic.

I haven’t heard much from Jet lately, and I guess we will have to wait and see if the Black Kid’s can overcome their poor review. This got me thinking about how consistent Pitchfork has been with their reviews in the past, so I decided to try to find a list of albums that have received perfect 10.0’s throughout the years as well as a listing of those unfortunate albums that have received 0.0′s.. I didn’t have to look very long as some members of the Ateaseweb forum kindly pointed me to Pitchfork’s wiki page complete with all the information I needed.

I went ahead and linked to as many of the real reviews as I could, but some of them have been taken down over the years. The list is broken down into three categories. The first list includes actual albums that received 10.0’s upon first release, the second list included albums that received 10.0’s upon re-release, and lastly is the list of albums receiving a 0.0.

View the lists after the jump…

Albums that have received a perfect 10.0 from P4k

1. Radiohead – Kid A

MP3: Radiohead - The National Anthem (mp3)

2. Radiohead – OK Computer

MP3: Radiohead – Karma Police (mp3)

3. Bonnie “Prince” Billy – I See A Darkness

MP3: Bonnie “Prince” Billy – I See A Darkness (mp3)

4. The Flaming Lips – The Soft Bulletin

MP3: The Flaming Lips – Race for the Prize (mp3)

5. …And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead – Source Tags and Codes

MP3: …And You Will Know Us BY the Trail of Dead – “Source Tags and Codes”

6. 12 Rods – gay? (EP)

7. Bob Dylan – The Bootleg Series Vol. 4: Bob Dylan Live 1966, The “Royal Albert Hall” Concert 1

8. Robert Pollard – Relaxation of the Asshole (received a 0.0 and a 10.0)

edit – It looks like it might just be a 10.0 now.

 

 

9. Amon Tobin – Bricolage

 

10. Walt Mink – El Producto

11. Wilco – Yankee Hotel Foxtrot

MP3: Wilco – I Am Trying To Break Your Heart (mp3)

12. Kanye West – My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy

Kanye West – Runaway (Feat. Pusha T) by Posh Magazine

Reissues that have received a perfect 10.0 from P4k

 

 

 

1. Boards of Canada – Music has the Right to Children

MP3: Boards of Canada -”Aquarius”

Boards of canada – Turquoise Hexagon Sun

2. Glenn Branca – The Ascension

3. James Brown – Live at the Apollo (Expanded Edition)

4. The Clash – The Essential Clash

5. The Clash – London Calling: 25th Anniversary Edition

6. John Coltrane – The Olatunji Concert: The Last Live Recording

7. Elvis Costello and The Attractions – This Year’s Model

8. Miles Davis – Kind of Blue

9. Miles Davis – Sketches of Spain

10. DJ Shadow – Endtroducing….. (Deluxe Edition)

11. The Fall – This Nation’s Saving Grace

12. Iggy and The Stooges – Raw Power

13. Joy Division – Closer

14. Joy Division – Unknown Pleasures

MP3: Joy Division – “Disorder”

15. KISS – Alive!

16. Neutral Milk Hotel – In the Aeroplane Over the Sea

MP3: Neutral Milk Hotel – Holland, 1945

MP3: Neutral Milk Hotel – King Of Carrot Flowers Pt. 1

17. Pavement – Slanted and Enchanted: Luxe and Reduxe

18. Pavement – Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain: LA’s Desert Origins

19. Pink Floyd – Animals

20. Otis Redding – Otis Blue: Otis Redding Sings Soul (Collector’s Edition)

21. The Replacements – Let It Be

22. Sonic Youth – Daydream Nation: Deluxe Edition

23. Bruce Springsteen – Born to Run: 30th Anniversary Edition

24. Television – Marquee Moon

25. The Velvet Underground – Loaded

26. The Velvet Underground and Nico – S/T

Review no longer exists.

27. The Who – Odds and Sods

28. Wire – Pink Flag

29. Wire – Chairs Missing

30. XTC – English Settlement

31. Various Artists – No Thanks!: The 70s Punk Rebellion

32. R.E.M. – Murmur (Deluxe Edition)

33. Beastie Boys – Paul’s Boutique: 20th Anniversary Edition

34.  Serge Gainsbourg - Histoire de Melody Nelson

35. Radiohead – The Bends: Collector’s Edition

36. Radiohead – OK Computer: Collector’s Edition

37. R.E.M. – Reckoning (Deluxe Edition)

38. Radiohead – Kid A: Special Collectors Edition

39. The Beatles – Magical Mystery Tour

40. The Beatles – Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band

41. The Beatles – Revolver

42. The Beatles – Rubber Soul

43.  The Beatles – The Beatles (White Album)

44. The Beatles – Abbey Road

45.  The Stone Roses – The Stone Roses (20th Anniversary Reissue)

46. Neil Young – Everybody Knows this Is Nowhere

MP3: Neil Young – “Cinnamon Girl”

47.  Neil Young – After the Gold Rush

MP3: Neil Young – “After the Gold Rush”

48. Spiritualized – Ladies and Gentleman We Are Floating in Space [Collector's Edition]

50.  Pavement – Quarantine the Past

51.  Galaxie 500 – On Fire

52. The Rolling Stones – Exile on Main St.

53.  The Cure – Disintegration [Deluxe Edition]

54. Weezer – Pinkerton [Deluxe Edition]

55. The Dismemberment Plan – Emergency & I (vinyl reissue)

56. Nirvana – Nevermind [20th Anniversary Edition]

57. Talk Talk – Laughing Stock

58. The Beach Boys – The Smile Sessions

59. Smashing Pumpkins – Siamese Dream Deluxe Edition

60. Throbbing Gristle – 20 Jazz Funk Greats

61. Can – Tago Mago [40th Anniversary Edition]

62. My Bloody Valentine – Isn’t Anything

63. My Bloody Valentine – Loveless

64. Gza – Liquid Swords: Chess Box Deluxe Edition

65. Roxy Music – For Your Pleasure (reissue)

66. Joni Mitchell – Blue

67. Joni Mitchell – Court and Spark

68. Joni Mitchell – The Hissing of Summer Lawns

69. William Basinski – The Disintegration Loops

70. The Velvet Underground – The Velvet Underground and Nico

71. The Smiths – Hatful of Hollow

72. The Smiths – The Queen is Dead

73. D’Angelo – Voodoo

74. J Dilla – Donuts (45 Box Set)

75. Nas – Illmatic

Albums that have received a 0.0 from P4k

1. Bachman-Turner Overdrive – Remastered Hits: The Best of…

2. The Flaming Lips – Zaireeka

A feature defending the album and criticizing the review was later also published on the website.

3. John Frusciante – Smile from the Streets You Hold

In this review, the critic writes “I’m giving it a 0.0 because you’ll have to call this one on your own, sorry.”

4. Jet – Shine On

This album was not given a rating—the review consisted only of a video of a chimpanzee urinating into its own mouth.

5. Francisco Lopez – Untitled #104

6. Travis Morrison – travistan

7.Kiss – Music From “The Elder”

8. Kiss/Peter Criss

9. Liz Phair – Liz Phair

The review of Phair’s subsequent album expressed regret that the 0.0 was “wasted” on Liz Phair, because “it’s much better than Somebody’s Miracle.”

10. Robert Pollard – Relaxation of the Asshole

In the review, this album was given a “(1)0.0″ theoretically giving it both a 10.0 and 0.0 rating.

edit – It looks like it might just be a 10.0 now.

11. Sonic Youth – NYC Ghosts and Flowers

12. Various Artists – This Is Next