The People Have Spoken!

When we set out to discover those albums that were held in highest esteem by Irish people, we had certain assumptions about the likely results. Some of those were vindicated – but others were thoroughly confounded as the votes poured in.

To begin with, the results of the Hot Press Public Vote for the 100 Greatest Irish Albums of All Time differ considerably from those produced when we polled Irish musicians for their favourites towards the end of last year.

Over 10,000 people voted giving us a very accurate representation of what music fans – especially of people who know their music well – believe to be the great and enduring albums. The final selection mixes the unpredictable with the reliable, the old with the new, the rowdy with the profound, in a way that is thoroughly fascinating.

Musicians had chosen Astral Weeks, that great debut abum by Van Morrison as their all-time favourite. It was almost a given setting out that this classic would slip down the rankings in the public vote, with a U2 album taking on the status of favourite for the top slot. But which one?

And then there was the battle of the old and the new. How would Van, Rory Gallagher and Thin Lizzy, the great pioneers of Irish rock, fare against latter day heroes like The Frames, Damien Rice, Paddy Casey and The Thrills? How would Sinéad fare, especially in the context of her then current retirement from music?

We knew that The Cranberries would do better in the public vote. We thought the same would be true of The Corrs – but how much better?

And with The Frames, like U2, there was a mini-contest all of their own. Would Dance The Devil, Fitzcarraldo, For The Birds or even Setlist top the list of Frames albums? And would their vote – like U2’s – be split in a way that would deny their leading album a higher spot it might richly deserve?

And what of cult heroes like My Bloody Valentine and Whipping Boy, who polled well among musicians? How would they fare with the broader constituency of rock fans all over Ireland, and further afield?

Well, these are issues on which you can now ponder at your leisure. The results are in, the verdict is final. (Well, until the next time we have a run at it, that is!)

Click here to see the results of the Public Vote, including comments by you, the voters, plus Gerry Ryan, Jim Sheridan, Colin Murphy, Lorraine Keane and many more.

Click here to see the results of the original Top 100 Irish Albums poll, as voted by the musicians in November 2004