My OCPD Top 500 Recording List

This is me putting my categorisation and music obsession to work. My favourite albums, live recordings and significant compilations.

1 Sparks Sparks 1971

2 The Kinks Arthur (The Rise And Fall Of The British Empire) 1969

3 Sparks Lil' Beethoven 2002

4 Radiohead Ok Computer 1997

5 Radiohead The Bends 1995

6 The Who Quadrophenia 1973

7 Genesis Selling England By The Pound 1973

8 The Beatles Abbey Road 1969

9 Sparks Kimono My House 1974

10 The Rolling Stones Let It Bleed 1969

11 The Beatles Sergeant Peppers Lonely Heart Club Band 1967

12 Sparks No. 1 In Heaven 1979

13 The Kinks Muswell Hillbillies 1971

14 Kate Bush The Dreaming 1982

15 Roxy Music Roxy Music 1972

16 Sparks Hello Young Lovers 2006

17 Jimi Hendrix Are You Experience? 1967

18 Bob Dylan Blonde On Blonde 1966

19 The Rolling Stones Sticky Fingers 1971

20 The Rolling Stones Exile On Main Street 1972

21 Genesis Foxtrot 1972

22 The Beatles The Beatles (White Album) 1968

23 The Who Live At Leeds 1970

24 U2 Live At Red Rocks 'Under A Blood Red Sky' DVD 1983

25 The Who Live At Isles Of Wight 1970

26 Midnight Oil Head Injuries 1979

27 The Beatles Rubber Soul 1965

28 King Crimson In The Court Of The Crimson King 1969

29 Yes Drama 1980

30 Pink Floyd Animals 1977

31 Jethro Tull Thick As A Brick 1972

32 Sparks Propaganda 1974

33 Genesis Lamb Lies Down On Broadway 1974

34 Kate Bush The Kick Inside 1978

35 The Doors Strange Days 1967

36 The Kinks Village Green Preservation Society 1968

37 The Zombies Odessey And Oracles 1968

38 The Beach Boys Smile Sessions/Smile 1967

39 The Beatles Revolver 1966

40 Sparks A Woofer In Tweeter's Clothing 1972

41 Sparks Exotic Creatures Of The Deep 2008

42 Split Enz Mental Notes 1975

43 Paul McCartney Ram 1971

44 The Who Tommy 1969

45 Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds The Firstborn Is Dead 1985

46 Television Marquee Moon 1977

47 U2 Boy 1980

48 R.E.M. Murmur 1983

49 Blur Blur 1997

50 Joy Division Unknown Pleasures 1979

51 Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds The Good Son 1990

52 PJ Harvey Rid Of Me 1993

53 John Lennon Plastic Ono Band 1970

54 Paul McCartney Memory Almost Full 2007

55 Steve Hackett Out Of The Tunnel's Mouth 2009

56 Sparks Indiscreet 1975

57 The Who Who's Next 1971

58 The Rolling Stones Beggars Banquet 1968

59 George Harrison All Things Must Pass 1970

60 King Crimson Red 1974

61 Can Tago Mago 1971

62 The Beach Boys Pet Sounds 1966

63 Yes Yes 1969

64 Gentle Giant Octopus 1972

65 Mike Oldfield Ommadawn 1975

66 Jimi Hendrix Electric Ladyland 1968

67 Bob Dylan Desire 1976

68 Paul McCartney Band On The Run 1973

69 Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds Tender Prey 1988

70 The Aliens Luna 2008

71 John Lennon Imagine 1971

72 Sparks FFS 2015

73 Steve Hackett Beyond The Shrouded Horizon 2011

74 Radiohead Hail To The Thief 2003

75 The Kinks Face To Face 1966

76 Can Soundtracks 1970

77 Radiohead Kid A 2000

78 Midnight Oil Midnight Oil 1978

79 The Sugarcubes Life Is Good 1988

80 Jeff Buckley Grace 1994

81 Bob Dylan Blood On The Tracks 1975

82 Genesis Trespass 1970

83 Van Der Graaf Generator H To He Who Am The Only One 1970

84 Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin I 1969

85 Yes Magnification 2001

86 PJ Harvey Dry 1992

87 Dennis Wilson Pacific Ocean Blue 1977

88 Kate Bush Never For Ever 1980

89 The Beach Boys Sunflower 1970

90 Brian Eno Before And After Science 1977

91 Kate Bush Hounds Of Love 1985

92 U2 October 1981

93 Pink Floyd Pipers At The Gates Of Dawn 1967

94 Mike Oldfield Tubular Bells 1973

95 The Doors The Doors 1967

96 Crowded House Farewell To The World 1996

97 Pink Floyd Dark Side Of The Moon 1973

98 Banco Del Mutuo Soccorso Darwin! 1972

99 Emerson Lake Palmer Tarkus 1971

100 Brian Eno Here Comes The Warm Jets 1974

101 Deep Purple In Rock 1970

102 Midnight Oil Place Without A Postcard 1981

103 The Kinks Something Else 1967

104 Caravan If I Could Do It All Over Again, I'd Do It All Over You 1970

105 The Doors Morrison Hotel 1970

106 Harmonium Si On Avait Besoin D'une Cinquieme Saison 1970

107 Gentle Giant Acquiring The Taste 1971

108 Patti Smith Easter 1978

109 Bob Dylan Time Out Of Mind 1997

110 The Rolling Stones Live In England '65 1965

111 Black Sabbath Sabotage 1975

112 The Band Music From Big Pink 1968

113 Genesis Nursery Cryme 1971

114 King Crimson THRAK 1995

115 The Beatles Pastmasters 1988

116 Brian Eno Another Green World 1975

117 The Flaming Lips The Terror 2013

118 The Who The Who Sell's Out 1967

119 Deep Purple Machine Head 1972

120 Talking Heads Fear Of Music 1979

121 Blondie Parallel Lines 1978

122 Gentle Giant Gentle Giant 1970

123 Sparks Music That You Can Dance To 1986

124 Harmonium Harmonium 1974

125 The Smiths Louder Than Bomb 1987

126 The Smiths Queen Is Dead 1986

127 Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds Grinderman 2 2010

128 The Beatles Let It Be 1970

129 U2 Zooropa 1993

130 Blur 13 1999

131 AC/DC T.N.T 1975

132 R.E.M. New Adventures In Hi-Fi 1996

133 The Flaming Lips At War With The Mystics 2006

134 AC/DC Back In Black 1980

135 Jethro Tull Aqualung 1971

136 Spirit Spirit 1968

137 Emerson Lake Palmer Brain Salad Surgery 1973

138 Yes Fragile 1971

139 Renaissance Ashes Are Burning 1973

140 Caravan In The Land Of Grey And Pink 1971

141 King Crimson Lizard 1970

142 Neil Finn 7 Worlds Collide Live At The St. James April 2001 DVD 2001

143 The Alan Parsons Project Tales Of Mystery And Imagination 1976

144 The Moody Blues Days Of Future Past 1967

145 King Crimson In The Wake Of Poseidon 1970

146 Blur The Great Escape 1996

147 Procol Harum Procol Harum 1967

148 Bob Dylan Highway 61 Revisited 1965

149 Ben Folds Five Ben Folds Five 1995

150 The Rolling Stones Tattoo You 1981

151 The Beach Boys Today! 1965

152 Roxy Music For Your Pleasure 1973

153 King Crimson Absent Lovers 1984

154 Paul McCartney Venus And Mars 1975

155 The Triffids Calenture 1987

156 The Rolling Stones Their Satanic Majesties Request 1967

157 Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds Henry's Dream 1992

158 Bruce Springsteen Darkness On The Edge Of Town 1978

159 Pink Floyd Wish You Were Here 1975

160 Family Music In A Doll House 1968

161 Roxy Music Stranded 1973

162 The Rolling Stones Aftermath 1966

163 Joy Division Closer 1980

164 Split Enz Second Thoughts 1976

165 The Rolling Stones Between The Button 1967

166 The Flaming Lips Transmission From The Satellite Heart 1993

167 The Clash London Calling 1979

168 The Rolling Stones Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out! 1970

169 Midnight Oil 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 1982

170 The Beatles Hard Day's Night 1964

171 Ben Folds Five Whatever And Ever Amen 1997

172 Neil Finn Try Whistling This 1998

173 Graham Coxon Crow Sit On Blood Tree 2001

174 The Cars The Cars 1978

175 Nirvana MTV Unplugged 1994

176 Paul McCartney Driving Rain 2001

177 10CC 10CC 1973

178 Jimi Hendrix Axis: Bold As Love 1967

179 Radiohead In Rainbows 2007

180 Renaissance Scheherazade And Other Stories 1975

181 Electric Light Orchestra Eldorado 1974

182 Paul McCartney Chaos And Creation In The Backyard 2005

183 Crowded House Together Alone 1993

184 Sparks Angst In My Pants 1982

185 Sparks Whomp That Sucker 1981

186 Pixies Doolittle 1989

187 Genesis A Trick Of The Tails 1979

188 Kate Bush The Sensual World 1989

189 Midnight Oil Red Sails In The Sunset 1984

190 Brian Eno 801 Live 1976 1976

191 Steve Hackett Spectral Morning 1979

192 Arcade Fire Funeral 2001

193 U2 Achtung Baby 1991

194 The Byrds Mr. Tambourine Man 1965

195 XTC Skylarking 1986

196 The Triffids Born Sandy Devotional 1986

197 Frank Zappa Hot Rats 1969

198 Blur Parklife 1994

199 R.E.M. Automatic For The People 1992

200 Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds No More Shall We Part 2001

201 Elvis Costello This Year Model 1978

202 Peter Gabriel 3 1980

203 Emerson Lake Palmer Emerson Lake Palmer 1970

204 The Moody Blues To Our Children's Children's Children 1969

205 The Pretty Things S.F. Sorrow 1968

206 Yes The Yes Album 1971

207 The Who My Generation 1965

208 The Beatles Magical Mystery Tour 1967

209 David Bowie Heroes 1977

210 Deep Purple Made In Japan 1972

211 Graham Coxon The Spinning Top 2009

212 Bob Dylan The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan 1963

213 The Flaming Lips The Soft Bulletin 1998

214 Premiata Forneria Marconi Photos Of Ghosts 1973

215 Banco Del Mutuo Soccorso Banco Del Mutuo Soccorso 1972

216 King Crimson Lark's Tongues In Aspic 1973

217 The Clash The Clash 1977

218 Simon & Garfunkel Bridge Over Troubled Water 1970

219 Spirit Twelve Dreams Of Dr. Sardonicus 1970

220 Van Der Graaf Generator Godbluff 1975

221 The Doors Waiting For The Sun 1968

222 The Rolling Stones Goats Head Soup 1973

223 U2 War 1983

224 The Beach Boys Surf Up 1971

225 Fleetwood Mac Rumours 1977

226 Franz Ferdinand Franz Ferdinand 2004

227 Prince Purple Rain 1984

228 The Flaming Lips Clouds Taste Metallic 1995

229 Alice Cooper Dada 1983

230 King Crimson Discipline 1981

231 Nine Inch Nails Downward Spiral 1994

232 Queen A Night At The Opera 1975

233 U2 Joshua Tree 1987

234 Mike Oldfield Platinum 1979

235 Blur Modern Life Is Rubbish 1993

236 R.E.M. Life's Righ Pageant 1986

237 Neil Young Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere 1969

238 The Byrds Younger than Yesterday 1967

239 Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin II 1971

240 PJ Harvey Is This Desire 1998

241 Syd Barrett The Madcap Laughs 1970

242 David Bowie Hunky Dory 1971

243 Blondie Blondie 1976

244 David Bowie Station To Station 1976

245 The Aliens Astronomy For Dogs 2007

246 David Bowie The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spider From Mars 1972

247 New Order Low Life 1985

248 Bjork Vespertine 2001

249 Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds Let Love In 1994

250 Graham Coxon The Sky Is Too High 1998

251 Can Future Days 1973

252 Nine Inch Nails Broken 1992

253 Jimi Hendrix Miami Pop Festival 1968

254 Steve Hackett Till We Have Faces 1984

255 Radiohead Amnesiac 2001

256 Joy Division Substance 1988

257 New Order Substance 1987

258 Pulp This Is Hardcore 1998

259 Radiohead Pablo Honey 1993

260 Nirvana In Utero 1993

261 John Lennon Walls And Bridges 1974

262 The Beach Boys Summer Days And Summer Nights 1965

263 Blondie Eat To The Beat 1979

264 Split Enz Frenzy 1979

265 The Animals The Animals On Tour 1965

266 The Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones 1964

267 Bjork Debut 1993

268 Bob Dylan Bob Dylan 1962

269 Sparks Introducing Sparks 1977

270 Gentle Giant Three Friends 1972

271 The Smiths Strangeways Here I Come 1988

272 Morrissey Bona Drag 1990

273 Heart Dreamboat Annie 1976

274 Big Star No. 1 Record 1972

275 David Bowie The Next Day 2013

276 The Easybeats Friday On My Mind 1967

277 St. Vincent Marry Me 2007

278 Muse Black Holes And Revelation 2006

279 Roxy Music Country Life 1974

280 Genesis Abacab 1981

281 St. Vincent Strange Mercy 2011

282 St. Vincent St. Vincent 2014

283 R.E.M. Up 1998

284 Cocteau Twins Treasure 1984

285 The Smashing Pumpkins Siamese Dream 1993

286 The Monkees Good Times 2016

287 Jellyfish Spilt Milk 1993

288 Steve Hackett A Life Within The Day 2012

289 Mike Oldfield Crises 1983

290 Argent Argent 1969

291 Peter Gabriel Peter Gabriel I 1977

292 Brian Eno Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy) 1974

293 Black Sabbath Paranoid 1970

294 Genesis Wind & Wuthering 1976

295 Black Sabbath Black Sabbath 1970

296 Kate Bush Aerial 2005

297 Morrissey Your Arsenal 1993

298 Nirvana Nevermind 1991

299 Electric Light Orchestra A New World Record 1976

300 Morrissey Vauxhall And I 1994

301 PJ Harvey Uh Huh Her 2004

302 Blues Magoos Psychedelic Lollipop 1966

303 Paul McCartney London Town 1978

304 Bob Dylan New Morning 1970

305 The Kinks Lola Versus Powerman and the Moneygoround, Part One 1970

306 Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds Abattoir Blues/Lyres Of Orpheus 2004

307 The Left Banke Walk Away Renee/Pretty Ballerina 1967

308 Jefferson Airplane Surrealistic Pillows 1967

309 Pixies Come On Pilgrim/Surfa Rosa 1988

310 Paul McCartney Off The Ground 1993

311 R.E.M. Green 1988

312 Franz Ferdinand You Could Have It So Much Better 2005

313 King Crimson Three Of A Perfect Pair 1984

314 King Crimson Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Columbus, OH April 28, 1974 1974

315 The Cure Three Imaginary Boys 1979

316 Patti Smith Waves 1979

317 Roy Wood Boulders 1972

318 Elvis Costello My Aim Is True 1977

319 AC/DC Highway To Hell 1979

320 The Byrds Fifth Dimension 1966

321 Bob Dylan Another Side Of Bob Dylan 1964

322 Morrissey Beethoven Is Dead 1993

323 Jethro Tull Stand Up 1967

324 Cream Disraeli Gears 1967

325 Graham Coxon The Kiss Of Morning 2002

326 Pink Floyd The Wall 1979

327 The Smiths Meat Is Murder 1984

328 The Nice The Thoughts Of Emerlist Davjack 1968

329 The Doors Soft Parade 1969

330 The Beach Boys 20/20 1969

331 The Beach Boys Wild Honey 1967

332 The Beatles Help 1965

333 The Rolling Stones Some Girls 1978

334 Creedence Clearwater Revival Cosmo's Factory 1970

335 Derek And The Dominos Layla 1970

336 Bob Dylan Bringing It All Back Home 1965

337 PJ Harvey Let England Shake 2011

338 Morrissey Viva Hate 1989

339 Split Enz Time And Tide 1982

340 Curved Air Air Conditioning 1970

341 Genesis Genesis 1983

342 Steve Hackett Voyage Of The Acolyte 1975

343 Split Enz Dizrythmia 1977

344 Premiata Forneria Marconi Storia Di Un Minuto 1972

345 Sebastian Hardie Four Moments 1975

346 The Beach Boys Love You 1977

347 Yes Going For The One 1977

348 Weezer Pinkerton 1996

349 Beck Midnite Vultures 1999

350 10cc The Original Soundtrack 1975

351 Primal Scream Screamadelica 1991

352 Elvis Costello Imperial Bedroom 1982

353 Pulp Different Class 1995

354 Crowded House Temples Of Low Men 1988

355 The Kinks Misfits 1978

356 The Kinks Sleepwalker 1977

357 Deep Purple Fireball 1971

358 Ben Folds Five The Unauthorized Biography Of Reinhold Messner 1999

359 Bob Dylan Together Through Life 2009

360 Nine Inch Nails The Fragile 1999

361 Franz Ferdinand Tonight 2009

362 Nirvana From The Muddy Banks Of The Wishkah 1996

363 U2 The Unforgettable Fire 1984

364 The Beach Boys All Summer Long 1964

365 Pixies Bossanova 1990

366 Steve Hackett Defector 1980

367 Funkadelic Maggot Brain 1971

368 Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin IV 1969

369 Sparks Gratuitous Sax & Senseless Violins 1994

370 Gentle Giant Free Hand 1975

371 Pink Floyd A Saucerful Of Secrets 1968

372 The Darkness One Way Ticket To Hell And Back 2005

373 Paul McCartney Red Rose Speedway 1973

374 XTC Apple Venus Volume 1 1999

375 The Darkness Permission To Run 2003

376 Oasis Heathen Chemistry 2002

377 The Beatles With The Beatles 1963

378 Gomez Bring It On 1998

379 Midnight Oil Earth And Sun And Moon 1993

380 The Flaming Lips Hit To Death In The Future Head 1992

381 Blue Oyster Cult Agents Of Fortune 1976

382 The United States Of America The United States Of America 1968

383 Talking Heads Remain In Light 1980

384 Sparks Big Beat 1976

385 Mike Oldfield Incantations 1978

386 King Crimson Beat 1982

387 The Who Who Are You 1978

388 PJ Harvey To Bring You My Love 1994

389 PJ Harvey Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea 2000

390 Yes Close To The Edge 1972

391 Midnight Oil Diesel And Dust 1987

392 Pearl Jam Ten 1991

393 R.E.M. Out Of Time 1991

394 Jeff Buckley Sketches for My Sweetheart the Drunk 1998

395 The Jam Sound Affects 1980

396 Zammuto Zammuto 2012

397 The Ramones Ramones 1976

398 The Rolling Stones Bridges To Babylon 1997

399 The Small Faces The Small Faces 1967

400 Coldplay A Rush To The Blood In The Head 2002

401 The Rolling Stones It's Only Rock 'n Roll 1974

402 Stevie Wright Hard Road 1974

403 The Smiths The Smiths 1984

404 Ray Davies Other People's Lives 2006

405 The Band The Band 1969

406 Pixies Trompe le Monde 1991

407 Oasis Definitely Maybe 1994

408 Nine Inch Nails With Teeth 2005

409 Ringo Starr Ringo Rama 2005

410 The Flaming Lips Embryonic 2009

411 The Rolling Stones Voodoo Lounge 1994

412 The Rolling Stones A Bigger Bang 2005

413 Harmonium L'Heptade 1976

414 The Buggles The Age Of Plastic 1980

415 Steven Wilson The Raven That Refused To Sing (And Other Stories) 2013

416 Graham Coxon The Golden D 2000

417 Deep Purple Deep Purple 1969

418 The Sensational Alex Harvey Band Framed 1972

419 Ben Folds Five The Sound of the Life of the Mind 2012

420 The Who A Quick One 1966

421 Morrissey Ringleader Of The Tormentors 2006

422 The Police Synchronicity 1983

423 The Police Ghost In The Machine 1981

424 The Cure The Cure 2004

425 Yes 90125 1983

426 Pavement Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain 1994

427 Pink Floyd Atom Heart Mother 1970

428 R.E.M. Document 1987

429 Pink Floyd Meddle 1971

430 Gorillaz Demon Days 2005

431 The Duckworth Lewis Method The Duckworth Lewis Method 2009

432 Spirit The Family That Plays Together 1968

433 Sigur Rós Ágætis Byrjun 1999

434 Graham Coxon Happiness In Magazine 2004

435 Gomez Liquid Skin 1999

436 Bjork Post 1995

437 Bjork Homogenic 1997

438 Peter Gabriel Security 1982

439 Genesis From Genesis To Revelation 1969

440 Elvis Costello Get Happy 1980

441 The Zombies Begin Here 1965

442 Dire Straits Dire Straits 1978

443 The Beatles Beatles For Sale 1964

444 a-Ha Analogue 2005

445 The Beatles Please Please Me 1962

446 St. Vincent Actor 2009

447 Tom Waits Rain Dog 1985

448 AC/DC Let There Be Rock 1977

449 Midnight Oil Blue Sky Mining 1990

450 St. Vincent Masseduction 2017

451 Van Halen 1984 1984

452 XTC Black Sea 1980

453 Talk Talk It's My Life 1984

454 ABC Lexicon Of Love 1982

455 Gorillaz Gorillaz 2001

456 Stevie Wonder Innervisions 1973

457 Stevie Wonder Fulfillingness' First Finale 1974

458 Todd Rundgren A Wizard, A True Star 1973

459 Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin III 1970

460 Hiromi Uehara Time Control 2008

461 Steve Hackett Please Don't Touch 1978

462 The Velvet Underground Loaded 1970

463 Oasis Dig Out Your Soul 2008

464 The Rolling Stones Out Of Our Heads 1965

465 The Kinks The Kinks Kontroversy 1965

466 The Animals The Animals 1964

467 The Kinks Kinks 1964

468 Gentle Giant In A Glass House 1973

469 The Cure The Head On The Door 1985

470 Oasis What's The Story Morning Glory 1995

471 The Cure Disintegration 1989

472 U2 How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb 2004

473 J.J. Cale Naturally 1971

474 Fleetwood Mac Fleetwood Mac 1975

475 Blood, Sweat & Tears Child Is Father To The Man 1968

476 Muse Absolution 2003

477 Neil Young After The Gold Rush 1970

478 Neil Young On The Beach 1974

479 Steely Dan Countdown To Ecstasy 1973

480 Yes Tales From Topographic Oceans 1973

481 Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds Murder Ballads 1996

482 Black Sabbath Master Of Reality 1971

483 Sparks Hippopotamus 2017

484 Sparks Plagiarism 1998

485 R.E.M. Fables Of The Reconstruction 1985

486 Crowded House Crowded House 1986

487 Dennis Wilson Bambu 1978

488 Sparks Balls 2000

489 Neil Finn Dizzy Heights 2014

490 Banco Del Mutuo Soccorso Io Sono Nato Libero 1973

491 Rod Stewart Gasoline Alley 1970

492 Elvis Costello Armed Forces 1979

493 The Triffids In The Pines 1986

494 Steely Dan Can't Buy A Thrill 1972

495 New Order Brotherhood 1986

496 Van Halen Van Halen 1978

497 Steely Dan The Royal Scam 1976

498 The Left Banke Too 1968

499 Paul McCartney Tug Of War 1982

500 T. Rex Electric Warrior 1971

Critique Of Star Trek First Contact

Star Trek First Contact is probably my favourite Star Trek movie however I have to admit it has flaws and I understand why certain hardcore Trek fans hate the film. If I try to be objective and say which film is the most well written I probably pick the typical Wrath Of Khan.

However because First Contact was my introduction to the Trek series and made me seek out TNG (and later on the rest of the series) it has a special place with me. I think the issue is that as an independent film disconnected to the series, First Contact is a excellent film and is for the most part internally consistent.  If you never watch a single Star Trek film in your life, you can easily watch this film and enjoy it. However as a film that is connected to the franchise it may well be considered a betrayal of taking the Borg and radically changing it for the worst.

Problems with the film

1) The actions of the Borg in the film are inconsistent of their motivation that was established in the series.

Borg sees people as resources and are purely interested in acquiring knowledge and acquiring technology. Assimilation was a means to the end. Why would they be interested in going back in time to assimilate earth when they have primitive technology and will not gain anything from it? Humanity was really no threat to the Borg survival and there is no desperate need for them to wipe out humanity. They only attack the Federation because they want their resources and time travel undermined that. If they really want to have this plot, then they should have gave a logical reason for the Borg to go back in time such as Federation developed a weapon that could wipe out the Borg and hence their survival is at stake and have to go back in time and assimilate them before they can deploy that weapon. As it is though it is present in the film, their motivation is completely contradictory. Also a question has to be ask that if the Borg were able to time travel. Why don't they just time travel when they were a lengthy distance from Earth and then travel and take over an undefended Earth? Why they have to go all the trouble in combating the Federation fleet when they can bypass them completely?

Now as an independent film this is fine, bad guys who want to go back in time to enslave the human race, which is perfectly fine. However connected to the series this is problematic and I don't think this is a minor nitpicking error

2) The Borg Queen undermine the whole premise of the Borg

The Best Of Both Worlds episode presented the Borg as this cold, emotionless monolithic species where there is no such thing as individual and free will as all the individuals that make up the Borg are part of the collective whole. This was what made them such a threat that many minds together are greater than the sum of its part (but also their weakness that the main characters expose). Every individual of the Borg are just part of the whole. There was Locutus who was the spokeman for the Borg but it was clear that he wasn't speaking as an individual but speaking in behalf of the Borg as a whole and he remained cold and emotionless.

Now what happen in this film is that we have the Borg Queen who is behaving very as an individual, also instead of the robotic communication that Locutus has in TNG, she behaves quite emotionally throughout the film. Then not only that she tries to seduce Data. Is there anything more antithetical to the Borg than sex? Not only that when she dies, the entire Borg crew dies. Essentially the Borg was weaken and neutered where before every single individuals are just part of the whole to now where they behave under chess rules where you just kill the leader and everyone dies. This is one major retcon of the Borg and essentially undermines what made them such a big threat. IMO First Contact was the film that started the trend of weakening the Borg as a villain until they became a joke in Star Trek Voyager.

Now as an independent film disconnected to the series this isn't that much of an issue. We have a dictator (the borg queen) enslaving the entire collective to behave on her behalf. There's nothing intrinsically wrong with that but it's not the Borg. although I will say even as an independent film, the idea of the borg queen trying to seduce Data was pretty weird and a bad scene of the movie.

3) Picard's character arc is contradictory

This critique actually applies to the film as an independent film as well rather than just continuity error.

The problem is that the movie has two contradictory message about Picard

Picard was so scarred by his assimilation that he wanted revenge and was fueled with bloodlust that override his compassion. In fact Lily used that as an argument against him about him killing Ensign Lynch, he was able to gun down a Borg and screaming and enjoying killing the Borg even though they were member of his own crew instead of trying to save them like the crew tried to save Picard when he was assimilated.

However how can Lily tell Picard off for not trying to save the crew on one hand and then on the other hand tell him to blow up the ship killing everyone on board including crewmembers who were assimilated. It seems a little bit hypocritical of her to do that.

If the movie wanted to stay consistent with that message, I would suggest the movie would have improved if they have the crew found a way to destroy the Borg ability to communicate and enforced their control over the collective (hence liberate all the individuals who were assimilated). However that plan is incredibly dangerous and that it would be easier to just wiped out the Borg.  Essentially instead of risking getting the win-win scenario, Picard decided to play it safe and blow up the ship and kill all the Borg out of bloodlust and Lily has to convince him to find compassion and overcome his desire for revenge.

This is because I believe in a film about how Picard was so blinded by bloodlust and fueled with revenge, it seems like him blowing up the ship and killing all the Borg would have granted his revenge.

If they really wanted to go into why Picard wanted to refuse to blow up the ship then the movie should have gone through his background on why he refuse to do that. I mean there has to be more to the situation than just simply revenge as revenge can be achieved blowing up the ship. For example if they wanted to keep that direction they should have gone through the aftermaths of the Enterprise D destruction and how he felt about that lost and how that destruction hurt him bad especially as he wasn't there to save the Enterprise and wondered if he was on the Enterprise D perhaps it would have never been destroyed. Perhaps even bring up the Stargazer and how when that was destroyed he was scrutinised by a overzealous lawyer and how that left a sore spot in his career about the destruction of the ship he was captaining and how much he takes it personally. That he was so determine not to let this happen again least of all to his worst enemy the Borg.

I just don't think the whole blinded by revenge was sufficient to explain his actions.

4) Data could have ended the movie pretty early on in the film :)

Lyrics (Over)Analysis - Everyday Is Like Sunday by Morrissey

This song is often one of the examples used to demonstrate Morrissey miserable nature and whilst I would certainly say that reputation is somewhat deserved, I don’t believe that completely captures the message of the song. Usually the line “Everyday is silent and grey” is often the line that is focus on to show his miserable nature but I think that is quite deceptive

This song was inspired by Morrissey visited a seaside resort and thought it was terrible idea for a holiday resort to be based in England due to the infamous English weather where normally it is “silent and grey” This context adds a certain dark humour to the song about spending time in a british holiday resort on the beach marred by terrible weather wishing for the town to be nuked to end the drabness of the experience.

However the one thing people often overlook when discussing this song is the title. If you notice the song is called “Everyday Is Like Sunday” not “Every Day Is Like Sunday” and the fact that everyday isn’t separated is done deliberately.  Singing, “Every Day is like Sunday, every day is silent and grey” would be a hymn to miserable depressing life where every single day of life is terrible without a light at the end of the tunnel.

However “Everyday is Silent and Grey” doesn’t project that message and is a clever switch by Morrissey.  Everyday is defined as “the ordinary or routine day or occasion”. This song isn’t telling people that every single day is silent and grey but is essentially having message that the routine normalcy of life is silent and grey.

If that’s what the line says then perhaps the message is actually a more optimistic calling people to not behave, dress, think and live in such an everyday manner as life would be dull if everyone was like that. Perhaps this song is call to arms of a free-spirited mentality by depicting the drudgery of the outcome of “everyday” mentality. The call for the nuclear bomb is less of a call for wishing you were dead to but a rather dark humour call for something exciting to break the tedium of "everyday" life .

This song plays with the expectation of mopey and miserable Morrissey and the downtempo music adds to that vibe. The song was deliberately written for people to misinterpret it to be how "every day is silent and grey"  but with just a single change in word from Every Day to Everyday Morrissey subverts that expectation in a clever way.  

Lyrics (Over)Analysis – Rubber Ring by The Smiths

The Smiths developed a reputation of attracting a fan base of lonely socially awkward teenagers that used The Smiths as a sort of therapy for their own problems because they were able to relate to his introspective lyrics.  There was a criticism of the The Smiths that their target audience are immature teenagers and that once those teenagers grew up and overcome their shyness and get laid, they will no longer need The Smiths and the band will become obsolete. This song explores the phenomenon that adults tend to think of troubles they suffer as kids and as adolescent as trivial and now they are more “clever” then that.

Cleverly enough Morrissey decided to satirically write about this phenomenon and this song is about Morrissey lamenting the fans “growing up” and abandoning The Smiths when they no longer needed the band as therapy. I have to say it’s one of the things I like about Morrissey and The Smiths that elevate them above other mope-rockers is that they have a sense of humour albeit a self-mocking one. This is probably my favorite Smith song in terms of quality of the lyrics.

“A sad fact widely known
The most impassionate song
To a lonely soul
Is so easily outgrown”

The song starts off with Morrissey acknowledging that even the greatest song that speaks for the lonely broken hearted person will become obsolete when the person becomes happy.

“But don't forget the songs
That made you smile
And the songs that made you cry
When you lay in awe
On the bedroom floor
And said : "Oh, oh, smother me Mother..."”

This is Morrissey pleading to his fan base not to forget him and his songs and remember the times when they were depressed lying on the floor listening to ‘I Know It’s Over” with awe (smother me mother is a reference to that song from Queen Is Dead album which is probably known as one of his most emotionally dramatic song of his career).

“No...
Rubber ring, rubber ring, rubber ring, rubber ring
La...”

I interpret that the ring in the chorus is used to symbolise a wedding ring. This is recognizing the loyalty that the fan has with their favourite group to be akin to a marriage. However because the ring is made out of rubber which I believe is connected to the ring-shaped flotation device that was originally made out of rubber that prevented people from drowning.  Essentially this is a disposable ring that may save the lives of the fan but the fans will eventually discard and dispose when it is no longer useful to them once they have grown up.

“The passing of time
And all of its crimes
Is making me sad again
The passing of time
And all of its sickening crimes
Is making me sad again”

The passage of time will make Morrissey to remain cynical and sad as he considers the fan that “grows out” of the music to be considered a betrayal or a “sickening crime”. As all his fans will eventually move on, he will always remain the same.

“But don't forget the songs
That made you cry
And the songs that saved your life
Yes, you're older now
And you're a clever swine
But they were the only ones who ever stood by you”

This is another plea from Morrissey to his fan that even though the fan is now older, wiser and “clever” and more emotionally stable, that they should always keep his songs close to their hearts because those were the songs that stood by them and “saved” their lives  when life was rough.

“The passing of time leaves empty lives
Waiting to be filled (the passing...)
The passing of time
Leaves empty lives
Waiting to be filled

I'm here with the cause
I'm holding the torch
In the corner of your room
Can you hear me?”

However despite the passage of time leading to people growing out of listening to The Smiths, the passing of time also leaves a new generation of depressed lonely socially awkward people needing their lives to be fulfilled by someone that can empathized with them. Morrissey will always be available to comfort the new generation of fans and will hold the flame for every generation of socially awkward youths.

“And when you're dancing and laughing
And finally living
Hear my voice in your head
And think of me kindly”

He is reminding the people that when the depressed socially awkward fans finally recover to be happy with their lives to continue to remember and honour Morrissey for keeping thems afloat when times were tough.

“Do you
Love me like you used to?
Oh...
Rubber ring, rubber ring, rubber ring, rubber ring
La...”

Morrissey then emotionally pleads to the fans that grew out of him whether they still love him and then lament that his songs are just the rubber ring to the fans. Just like previous Smiths songs cover the topics of shyness and social rejection and isolation, this song is about the isolation and rejection he feels about fans who previously had kinship and related with him.

“You're clever
Everybody's clever nowadays”

The audio sample plays over Morrissey lament over the chorus snidely remarking that everybody is clever, too clever for The Smiths when the teenager becomes adults.

“You are sleeping
You do not want to believe”

The song end with an enigmatic sample from an LP "Breakthrough: An Amazing Experiment In Electronic Communication With The Dead" by Latvian psychologist Konstantin Raudive that supposedly is translation of people who hear from the dead. I interpret the last line of the typical Smiths fan who do not believe in themselves and are waiting to be “awaken” by The Smiths and eventually grow out of the group.

The Psychology Of The Code Wars

Once in a while a Code War article pops up on The Roar and they are generally the most commented article of the day. It is obvious why the code war exist for the CEO of the sporting organization as there are limited resources and the different sports are competing with each other for the share of the market. However, this blog post is trying to analyse why the code war exist for the supporters of the sport who often don’t care much about the economic machination of the people in suits upstairs.

1.      The ties that bind us is the ties that divide us

It is often say that sport is entertainment but although that is an aspect of professional sport, it is a limited definition as video game, movies, TV shows, theatre, music are also entertainment. It could also be argued that sport is any activity that displays any degree of athletic ability but even if that is a component of sport, however people don’t always consider working out in the gym as “sport”. What binds all sports fan together is the love of competition. There have to be individual or teams competing with other individuals and teams. Generally there is a side that represents you and you are supporting that side to defeat the opposition. It is the sense of competition that unites all sports fan together to follow the game but divide us as we are competing with each other. The fact that the codes are all considered to be called a variation of “football” and have historical linkage, it makes the football codes natural competitors.

Also in sports the fans who attend the match often are active participants of the match and often the fans feel they have a role in making their side “win” with their support (such as the home ground advantage phenomenon). It’s not far fetch that people will bring that competitive active support mentality over the internet where they can do battle with the opposition with written words.

Of course this explains why fans of one particular club do battle with a fan of another particular club. However you may ask why they will battle with a completely different sport?

2. The Code War is the internet fandom equivalent of representative football.

The bread and butter of most of the football codes are club football. However once in a while players from two different clubs that could actually be bitter historical rivals suddenly are united  and become brothers in arm to represent their country or state. 

The Code Wars have fans of competing clubs suddenly become brothers in arm arguing against supporters of different codes of football. The code war has a role in developing a sense of unity within the football community when normally they are divided amongst club lines. As a coincidence a code war article general pops up in a similar infrequent but regular occurrence as an international fixture in association football.

This is in combination with the nature of the internet that also adds to the unity where instead of relying on some degree of luck with meeting someone out there with similar interest, the internet allows people to seek out community with similar interest. The resultant is that the internet represents the most hardcore fans of the sporting community where in the general community; people generally have broader taste and have a higher proportion of crosscoders. However in the internet, where you are surrounded by people who are interested in the same sport as you, bring out the club mentality. That this is Club Association Football, Club Australian Rules Football, Club Rugby League, Club Rugby Union. When this club is form, you are going to look out for another club to compete against and the code war article are a lightning rod to demonstrate your loyalty to that club.

Of course, if there is a code war, surely there must be a winner and a loser of the war. Then why does code wars article keep on popping up?

3. Person A: Hey, look at the scoreboard. Person B: Which scoreboard?

Often players on the pitch in response to a sledge will respond in look at the scoreboard if their side is winning.  The same is with fans of two different clubs. Look at the scoreboard. Or look at the ladder or look at the name engraved on the trophy. Sure people may argue about the referee or whether one side cheated but in the end what matters in the end is who is leading in the scoreboard and everything else is academic. Two side debate and the debate is resolve when the match is played or when the season is finish before the cycle is repeated next season.

However what is the scoreboard used to determine who is winning the code war?

Is it crowd attendance aggregate? Is it crowd attendance average? Is it revenue the league makes? Is it the value of the TV rights? Is it the value of the TV rights per game? Is it participation rate? Is it international appeal?

The answer to that question is whatever scoreboard shows your side to be winning. The Code War is essentially a sporting match where there are 20 different scoreboards and each one showing a completely different side is winning and people are arguing which scoreboard they should use.

So people may ask, why do people keep on arguing when there is absolutely no way to definitively determine who is winning the Code War?

4. Everyone is a Winner

The Code War is one of the very few wars where there is no loser. In fact it’s impossible to lose a Code War because there is always a scoreboard out there that shows your side is winning.

Of course I previously mention about measures of the success of a code such as crowd figures or revenue or participation rate which have some degree of objectivity even whether its importance and value can be subjective. Often code war debates revolve around even more  subjective matters such as which game is more entertaining to watch? This type of debate again is something that is impossible to lose. For example to used Association Football and it’s low scoring nature of the game, from one perspective that low scoring makes the game tense as any goal can prove decisive and it makes any attacking move to be a nail biting affair. Or alternatively the lack of goals could make the game really boring as there is a lack of end product to a lot of the play of the game. Which one is right? The answer is both of them are right… from a certain point of view.

Hence two sides will argue against each other and both of them can make perfectly logical arguments without any logical fallacy and then walk away thinking they won the war. You know what they say, everyone loves being a winner. So whenever another code war article pops up, it’s a moth to the flame for any code loyalist whose competitive nature will always be fulfilled as they will always win.

To summarise, the competitive nature of the sporting fan + unity and loyalty to the sports + no objective method to resolve conflict + everyone is a winner will results in a perpetual code war that will never end.

Lyrics (Over)Analysis – You Can’t Always Get What You Want by The Rolling Stones

To me “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” is one of the best songs of all time (in my top 10 songs) and one of the most positively emotionally resonant rock songs ever made. In fact in my opinion this song approaches a spiritual and religious experience that no other song I’ve heard in rock music has ever captured.

I know people may baulk with the idea of The Rolling Stones writing “spiritual” and “emotionally resonant” songs during this period and there are people who even believe “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” to be a pessimistic song reflecting the end of the idealism of flower power at the end of the 60’s. So I have to give some context why I feel that way about this song.

I'll mention I do come from a family with a Buddhist background. One of the key tenants of that religion is the idea that happiness can't be fulfilled by external forces and the environment as it is out of your control. The idea is that our desires or “attachment” is the root cause of unhappiness.  People desires and want can never be fully satisfied and the only way to reach happiness is by accepting that "You Can't Always Get What You Want" and that you’ll have to be happy despite whatever you face in life. For someone to be truly happy, there happiness has to be unconditional. As long as you put conditions to your happiness then the person is destined to be unhappy and dissatisfied with life. Whether Jagger/Richards intended it or not, I believe this song captures that message perfectly. Who knows maybe they did intend it as Mick Jagger is a practising Buddhist.

So after the choir intro (that I always felt a bit tacked on), the song starts off with just plain acoustic guitar strumming with Jagger painting a bleak picture of a women drinking her sorrows with wine about her relationship with a man who display no commitment or responsibilities. Then Jagger starts singing in a mournful way "You can't always get what you want" however the organ appears with some chords and there is this gorgeous descending and ascending piano line (one of the best keyboard moment in rock music IMO). To me that combination of the piano and organ signifies a religious epiphany where the protagonist discovered “the truth" and he sings “But if you try sometime you find” and then the female gospel singer joins in and sings “You get what you need" which explodes into music that is filled with joy. You see the protagonist realized the basic truth “that you get what you need” (which is happiness) when you accept that “you can't get what you want” and the song explodes into one of the most joyful and soulful music you can ever hear signifying the wave of happiness out of discovering that “truth”. 

Also notice that throughout the following verses, the music still remain joyful despite the lyrics about the various disappointments various characters experience in life which signifies that the person is remaining happy despite the troubles in life. Also notice how the chorus throughout the song differs to the chorus at the beginning as the first chorus sounds sad and desperate with the sparse arrangement and the absence of the female backing vocalist until the “epiphany” but in later chorus the female backing vocalist sings at the beginning of the chorus signifying that the character of the song is embracing the joyfulness of not getting what he wants.

For a person who is raised in a Buddhist family but grew up in a Western culture, this song resonated with me especially as it is in my opinion a perfect synthesis of Eastern Buddhist philosophy with Western music. Gospel music is a western music that is associated with spiritual joy with Christianity and it is an ingenious arrangement choice to mesh that spiritual joy with the line that is superficially pessimistic “You can’t always get what you want” to bring out the message that spiritual joy is derived by realizing that message.  The female gospel backing vocalist that jumped in throughout the song did the perfect job in delivering that message.  This song is a perfect example of how the arrangement can be used to craft the message of the song