OPINION: Stereolab Albums – Ranked from Best to Worst

Stereolab seem to be one of those weird bands that everyone knows about and have been around forever, but they’re never really called out as notable. They were even one of the first groups to be labeled post rock before post rock became about the crescendos and overly dramatic guitar playing. But for me, they’re one of the most innovative and ambitious groups of the 90’s, with records which still sound fresh even 15-20 years later. But like all bands, they aren’t without their missteps (there’s some big ones), and as such, I present my personal opinion on their discography, each album ranked from best to worst.

1. Dots & Loops
It's front to back flawless. It’s Stereolab’s best work and one of my favourite albums of all time. Screw Merriweather Post Pavillion, I personally think this is the best blending of experimental and pop that there has ever been. The two seamlessly coexist in a world of jazzy lounge-type keyboards, fucked up time signatures and vocals that jump between French to English from song to song. Every time I listen to this record I pick up something new, even if it’s a quiet sound effect or a backing instrument. Either way, I love it.

Best track: Too hard to choose from.
Worst track: None

2. Emperor Tomato Ketchup

This is the one that the critics love, the one that is most widely known as their best, and it is pretty damn good. At this stage they were still holding onto their rock roots, but slowly starting to add in the weird effects and electronics which would be more brought to the surface in Dots & Loops. There’s actually nothing wrong with this, it’s just a personal choice for me that Dots & Loops is above this.

Best track: Motoroller Scalatron

Worst track: Emperor Tomato Ketchup

3. Margerine Eclipse

This was the last great Stereolab record. To me it takes everything that was great about their entire back catalogue, and condenses it into a solid record. There’s no misses here, and despite this was the first album without Mary Hansen’s trademark backing vocals, it sounds as if they’ve been reinvigorated. The songwriting is on point, the melodies are as strong as ever, and the arrangements are complex, but they’re not flashy or overly technical. Overall, it’s just a really good album.

Best track: The Man with 100 Cells

Worst track: Dear Marge

4. Mars Audiac Quintet

Rewind 10 years before Margerine Eclipse, and you’ve got Mars Audiac Quintet, a record steeped in the catchiest walls of noise you’ll ever hear. This was the record that Stereolab used to try to break away from being a krautrock/noise rock band and expand their sound into a poppier, more accessible sound. The noisey guitars are still here, but gone are the rough edges, except on a few tracks. The tracks are very polished, very nice sounding. They still grind and buzz, but they also shine and sparkle here too. Despite a few missteps, it’s a solid record.

Best track: Nihilist Assault Group

Worst track: Anamophose

5. Transient Random-Noise Bursts with Announcements

I often forget that Stereolab could create as much noise as Sonic Youth in their early days. This is by far their noisiest record, the guitars chug and clang like they're being hit with scrap metal, and the keyboards buzz and whir like chainsaws. But over the top are Laetitia Sadier’s beautiful vocals, and a steady krautrock beat holding it together and keeping it all moving. On the negative side, some of the tracks sound like they were sloppily put together, and I know that’s probably intentional, but the Stereolab I know is a clean and neat band. Even though, I still enjoy this record a lot, and it’s still growing on me to this day.

Best track: Jenny Ondioline

Worst track: Golden Ball

6. Sound-Dust

This is an interesting record, it contains some of the best Stereolab songs ever written, but it’s wedged between some really overly long and uninteresting ones. For example, Naught More Terrific Than Man and Nothing to Do with Me, the former a classic which sounds like it could fit easily on Dots & Loops, and the latter a hilarious yet insanely catchy track with Hansen doing a duet with Sadier. In between Suggestion Diabolique, an 8 minute mesh of 1-2 minute songs, none of which work together or are at all ear catching, and Gus the Mynah Bird, an alright song, but with a 3 minute outro of blurbling synths. This happens throughout the whole album, it’s up and down like a roller coaster. Thankfully, there’s more good than bad here, and what’s bad isn’t really bad, just more uninteresting.

Best track: Naught More Terrific than Man/Hallucinex (can’t split them)

Worst track: Suggestion Diabolique

7. Chemical Chords

With this outing, Stereolab tried to condense their earlier more expansive work, trying not to change tracks mid-song, but make just nice short pop songs. In some ways it works, with tracks like Valley Hi! and Cellulose Sunshine being great tracks, but of course, Stereolab always gets ahead of themselves and creates more lifeless and go nowhere tracks like the title track, and Vortical Phonotheque, which has a melody which is not memorable at all. Overall, a weak effort, but it pulls a few nice tunes despite the negatives.

Best track: Three Women

Worst track: Chemical Chords

8. Cobra and Phases Group Play Voltage in the Milky Night

I always say, no matter what Stereolab album, no matter how bad overall, you will always get one, two or even three really amazing songs. That’s the case here, you get Infinity Girl, one of the best Stereolab songs ever written, and a handful of others. Besides these tracks, the rest is either flat out horrible, or just half formed ideas, extended by electronic noodling and overly long endings. This is the only album where Stereolab is actually bad. Blue Milk is an 11 minute mess because it does absolutely nothing. I can’t listen to the whole album because of this song alone, and it’s surrounded by mostly just mediocre and middle of the road stuff.

Best track: Infinity Girl
Worst track: Blue Milk

9. Peng!
The first Stereolab record is admirable, but ultimately forgettable. There’s nothing here that they didn’t do better and expand upon in Transient, but there’s a few nice haunting tracks like K-Stars and Super Falling Star. Everything else is not really notable at all. That’s all I really have to say.

Best track: K-Stars

Worst track: Mellotron

10. Not Music

You know what I said earlier, that there’s an amazing track on every Stereolab album? Forget it; this album has no memorable tracks. Nothing bad, but the tracks that I remember are the remixes, nothing of the actual album. It’s a bunch of tracks left over from the Chemical Chords session, and that’s what it sounds like, there’s nothing exciting, nothing interesting, just like if you took a good Stereolab record and drained all of the colour out of it. There’s nothing here, save two nice remixes. Sorry guys.

Best track: Silver Sands [Emperor Machine Mix]

Worst track: I couldn’t tell you, none of them stick out as bad, or good, to be honest.