I guess we're trying to go for which is more important, more essential. If you had a friend and he was only ever going to buy one Pavement record, which would you tell him to get?

I guess it could be similar to which do you like more, but try to stay away from that, if possible.

I'll gladly make the case for CRCR not sucking and for "Range Life" not being Pavement's worst song, but I still can't really choose between these two albums.

S&E is easily "more important", but that's no reason to recommend an album to anyone.

I love both and my favorite between the two changes from day to day. I'll try to vote on this later.

boring

I like CR/CR more but its not like that means I hate Slanted.....Its their fourth best album and really really strong.

CRCR.

S&E is great. but CRCR never gets old for me.

If Pavement is essential, you should probably learn to pull a trigger with your toe.

I always used to say CR/CR was my favourite, but now I'm a S&E man.

As usual, corey finds ways of saying better what I was going to express

Slanty.

my top five essential albums include both Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain and Exile on Main St.

how does that make you feel inside?

i like S&E more, but CRCR is definitely has more in the instant gratification dept...

you all know my answer

I wanna know how many people who say CRCR were introduced to Pavement via that record

and let's get one thing straight - I love Silence Kit, Ell Ess Two and Gold Soundz. I just think the rest of the record left a shitload to be desired.

Come to think of it, there might not be a record I've listened to that I've tried to force myself to like more than CRCR

i used to enjoy crcr more, until i really sat down and appreciated each of the slanted songs for what they are. there are two or three songs around the end of crcr (not at all "range life") that kind of lose me, but it's still a great album.

as for the band not being essential, when i was in high school they were singlehandedly responsible for allowing me to enjoy music to the extent that i do today, and they remain one of my favorite bands. to each his own. and to me, a juicy porterhouse steak.

regarding sk's question i believe i went in this order of discovery:
brighten the corners
crcr
wowee zowee
slanted and enchanted
terror twilight
westing

Slanted and Enchanted. I like all the albums though and have no intention of shooting myself over it.

S+E was the first indie/college rock record I ever bought that wasn’t passed down to me from any of my brothers or sisters. My friends hated it, which made me pretty sure I liked it even more. And “Loretta’s Scars” might still be my favorite song of all time. might.

On its release, Slanted and Enchanted held a dark, mysterious sorta vibe for me, and I actually believed Pavement might be something special. On CR,CR they became just another rock band - and I've never been able to hear that initial magic since then.

This pretty much sums it up for me as well

Slanted is great, everything else they did is boring.

i so love both of these but slanted gets the nod...

Pavement was my favorite band by the time CRCR came out (as only an 18 year old can declare of a band they learned about in the last year) and CRCR is my favorite. i love and adore Slanted, but i think CRCR has stronger songwriting and performing.

though i'll give you that the old dude was a more creative drummer.

i'm surprised how close the vote is on this one.