I picked HF.

To me HF is such a jazzy piece of work. I am a fan of jazz, so of all her albums, the particular genre of this album, makes it the best. In most cases, I heard HF versions of the songs, before I went and listened to the songs they were derived from. I remember getting the album direct download from batsu. It was my first shiina album. I fell so deep in love with this album. It was not until later that I found out... this is not what shiina really does. Or I should say, it is not what shiina had been doing. I found myself sway back and forth in an alternate state. I was mezmorized by the beauty of the music. I listened to the soft strings and shiina's "unique" voice, I was caught hook line and sinker. At tht particular time my favorite track was poltergiest (I prefer it to the ksk version, but the ksk version kicks arse too, but it just sounds like a demon circus chat, lol), but now it is yume no ato, I can not get enough of this song. I currently have not listened to HF in a while, because I am trying to listen to all the rest of her music. Add in the demos and I have been doing a lot of shiina lis'nin. To be honest, I prefer a lot of the demo songs to some of her released stuff.

Edit: I forgot to say that after watching sakuran, I loved the music that much more. I think the music fit well with sakuran, mostly because of anna's spunk, lol.

KSK is my favorite.
Utaite is currently second, and more specifically the Mori Toshiyuki CD. From the first burst of noise of Kimi wo Aisu to the end of Kuroi Orufe I'm in heaven. I like the rest of the tracks as well, but the first five are what keep luring me back to this disk. Inventive, clever, complex, with a deep, rich soundscape. Even the simply arranged Won't Last A Day is augmented by the hushed thump and crackle of the inner groove of an LP used as percussion, a subtle reference to the song's original medium.
Originally I thought SS would be number two, but playing it immediately after Utaite made me realize how dynamically flat and two dimensional this album is. Undoubtedly the severe compression was intentional, but it lost just enough points to slip into third place.
HF is next. Hatsukoi Shojo is one of my favorite Ringo songs. I don't know if its noticeable on everyone else's audio systems, but during most of the song, every note that Ringo sings and each woodwind arpeggio is panned to a different point in the stereo soundfield. The result is a chorus of ethereal voices spread from left to right, combining in a shifting series of brief, beautiful chords. Woodwinds arpeggiate amongst them, as they hover above a bed of lush strings and mechanical percussion. The artful combination of the synthetic and organic is one of my main attractions to this album.
MM comes in fifth. To be truthful, I bought it and about five other CDs at the same time, and I haven't given it as much attention as it deserves.
Kyouiku just sounds awful. Its painful for me to listen to. I thought it was destined to a life as a shiny drink coaster or Munchkinland frisbee, but as a responsible member of this forum I will give it a fair listen.

Variety is out on loan. No opportunity to listen to it last night.
Adult is MIA. I lent it to a friend months ago, and when I opened the box last night it wasn't there.:(
I'll go to BookOff tomorrow and see if there is a cheap copy.

I think a lot of us agree that the recording on Kyouiku doesn't quite do its music justice. Just skip it and go watch Dynamite Out. You'll probably enjoy it more, especially since you sound like you have an awesome sound system.

Yeah, but definitely give MM more attention!

I would have said KSK, but im so attached to Shouso Strip.
I can relate alot to this 'period' i guess.
But i'd never be able to choose one over another, between thoses two ..

I choosed KSK. There is lots of special things in all the albums but in KSK.. it holds the best idea yet. The music and everything is of course great but it's not just a "song after song" -type of album (though Ringo's albums hardly ever are anyway).
KSK connects everything and it plays through like a damn great book.

i choose KSK too.. it's just the most phenomenal piece of work she's done in my eyes.. start to finish it's simply immense and even people who dislike Japanese music could not overlook the sonic marvel of it! and if they do they are lying.. my sister (younger) does not like Japanese music but even she liked the sound of Poltergeist & Souretsu.. hell she liked the whole album! it's just bloody epic no mistake about it!!!

How motherfuckin Variety has as many votes as MM is a travesty and shows you shouldnt make this kinda thread right after an album release

Variety should not even be on the list to pick from.. votes always have a margin of error so just assume all 4 votes are with the error boundaries!

Yeah, looking back through this thread seeing people put Variety above any of her main 3 solo albums was :o

MM is vastly underrated. I wonder if the people that rated Variety quite high feel the same now.