Woohoo! This is better than the album poll. Rollerskate Skinny and The Blades make it in, still no Dirty Beatniks though. Eoghan, am I the only person who voted for them? Please tell me at least one other person voted for them. Also, we finally have an "electronic" entry in the form of Alphastates, but am I happy. Nah, you know cranky old me, I've gotta get the dig in. In the fickle and fast moving world of Electronica/Dance, Alphastates sound a bit dated to me, a throwback to when bands like Portishead and even Hooverphonic were all the rage. Saint Ettiene are probably having a bit of a quiet chuckle too. In fairness to Alphastates, I have not heard their entire album, but I have heard one or two tracks from them, and in the dance/electronic world, entire reputations are often built on a handful of tracks rather than albums anyway. Don't mean to sound cynical here but their entry in the charts wouldn't have anything to do with the fact that one of them used to be in the Frames would it? Kind of a Belle and Sebastian/Looper thing going on methinks. I don't mean do sound like I'm "down" on Irish electronica. It's just that it isn't quite there yet, a bit like UK hip hop was a few years ago, whereas now UK Hip Hop is quite healthy with the likes of Dizzee Rascal and Roots Manuva. There is hope for the scene with emerging acts like Neosupervital who is more deserving of an entry in the chart in my opinion. He still doesn't stand shoulder to shoulder with his international contempories just yet, but give him some time, the potential is definitely there.

I daresay there'll be a few raised eyebrows at The Frames coming in ahead of the likes of Thin Lizzy, Van Morrison and The Pogues. Sad to see Something Happens so far down the list. I always thought they were one of the best Irish bands ever and I've always thought they were a severely under rated band. I suppose it's good that they're in the poll at at all, even if it is below f*cking losers like The Hot House Flowers ( easy winner for Most Over Rated Irish Band Ever ) or, God in Heaven help us, The Prayer Boat.

Interesting list. Bands who came much further down the 'album' poll rank much higher in the 'act' poll and vice versa. For example: Therapy? (no: 50 Album), (no: 31 Act) Rory Gallagher(no: 33,40 Album), (no: 13 act) Christy Moore (no: 22 Album), (no: 10 Act) Future Kings of Spain, Martin Finke, Horslips, Toasted Heretic, The Thrills, The Blades (all not ranked Album) made it into (no: 43-50 Act) I guess this points to the fact that these artists were better loved for their overall output such as live concerts than solely their recorded works. Of the top ten artists in the 'act' poll, 8 are also included in the top ten of the 'album' poll with the exception of Christy Moore and Thin Lizzy. There are some acts listed (both in the album and act polls) which I don't believe should be there at all but, in the words of Declan McManus, I'll keep my strong opinions to myself. I disagree with John Doe about Hothouse Flowers. The hype has long vanished but they are still recording, releasing and touring. Unlike other acts of their vintage such as Blue in Heaven, Light A Big Fire, Cactus World News and In Tua Nua who were also promoted heavily but have vanished in the wind. Any truth in the rumour that Bruce Springsteen recently joined Glen Hanzard on stage for a bit of an old jam ?

Fast off the block there Jules. I was waiting for the first person to point out that some bands got a higher rank in the ‘best act’ poll than they got in the 'best album' poll. The reason for this is dead simple. It goes like this: An act may have an album that landed enough votes to get it in to the top 50 albums list (e.g. Therapy? Who landed #49 best album spot). But that act may have other albums that landed votes but not enough votes for the album to make the top 50. When counting votes for the ‘top 50 act list’ I counted ALL votes an act got (whether or not the albums voted for made the top 50 albums). Hence the total of ALL votes for Therapy? albums was enough for them to make the #31 spot in the best act list, despite only having one album that scraped in at #49 of the best album list. Jayzuz, this is all very convoluted. But maybe ye get my drift. As for the acts who were in the top 50 act list but not in the top 50 album list, bear this in mind: in the top 50 album list there was only 35 different acts who made it (due to a number of acts having more than one album in the top 50). Therefore you would expect to see those 35 acts in the top 50 act list, along with 15 ‘new’ acts who never made the grade for the top 50 albums. And indeed there they are, filling in the last few spots on the list – the likes of Future Kings of Spain, Martin Finke, Horslips, Toasted Heretic, The Thrills, The Blades, etc. Having said that I’ve just noticed that Microdisney got the number 37 album but don’t appear on the top 50 act list! It would seem I screwed up somewhere (having said that I had matchsticks keeping my eyes open when I posted this top 50 act list to the site last night at 1am…). I’m gonna check this Microdisney oversight out tonight and fix it. By the way, I don’t know if anybody noticed but I (deliberately) took out the Waterboys album ‘This is the Sea’ from the original top 50 best album list as, let’s face it, their claim to Irishness with that particular album is a bit slim (granted, their later stuff could probably get through on the eligibility criteria, but those albums just didn’t get the votes…) More later. eoghan

As per my last posting, I fixed up the 'Top 50 Acts of All Time' poll last night. Microdisney are no longer ommitted. Also I divided the votes for the Chieftains & Van Morrison album 'Irish Heartbeat' equally between Van Morrison and the Chieftains (which resulted in Van stealing the top spot from U2 by the thinnest of margins). Also I've indicated more clearly the acts which tied for a place in the top 50 list. Anyway, have a goo at it now: http://www.cluas.com/bestalbums/top_50_acts.htm eoghan

Where on earth is Jack L????? One of the best Irish artists ever. Bizarre...

Jack L? His fans are gonna hate me for this, but the modern cabaret crooner thing isn't entirely original is it? The voice is a deep rich baritone similar to Nick Caves but with more power, however he lacks Caves' subtlety or emotional range for anything other than a theatrical crescendo and certainly can't match Caves' artistic and literary prowess. Of course then again, few can. Gavin Friday probably did the cabaret thing better. (Binokular runs for cover before the inevitable flame war starts )

I remember slinking by the Other Stage in Glastonbury, cringing with embarrassment as Jack L flew the flag for Irish music a couple of years back. Christ.