Rolling Stone's "50 Coolest Albums of All Time"

"I think cool means 'second or third best album from given artist.'"

Which sounds about right to me.

Actually I like the list more because there's clearly no rhyme nor reason to it at all.

Hah! I beat you! I have exactly 2! Or not even. Vespertine is a CD R. The other is Massive Protection (ahem).

But they're all so GOOD...

In that vein, no MBV either. You may smile, Mr. Raggett.

So cool people have big record collections. Flattering for the kind of people who are interested in lists in Rolling Stone. But as the embarassed owner of a sizeable collection myself (including at least 35 on this pretty decent list) I also know that:

-I can't think of anyone I'd consider cool who owns hundreds of pop records. - Most people think a big collection of pop is a sign of dorkish obsession - not a coolness indicator. - They are damn right.

I should say that the list is only good if you get rid of the word 'coolest'.

Andy, I also wonder where Goddess in the Doorway is. But, going on my friend's premise, Goddess is such an obvious masterpiece, therefore Wandering Spirit should be on that list. This is troubling.

As far as including Quicksilver Messenger Service -- does liking really bad bands make you cool too?

Hey, you're right. A good sign. How many *do* I own? *checks* 21. *shrug*

This holds up pretty well for the first few - Velvets, Stones, ok - but by the time we come to Aretha and Dusty, it gets hard to see how this explanation applies. For better and worse, I don't think "cool" means anything specific in this context. Presumably there was some sort of voting process - although the results are more idiosyncratic than you'd expect from a critic's poll. I'm actually curious about what the process was. Perhaps an open round of nominations, followed by a weeding out by veto, and then the final ordering by consensus? Do they explain it somewhere?

I can beat your ratio...I have at least 3000 CDs, and I only have three of these (10, 30, and 47). And I can't stand the Beatles one, but for Tomorrow Never Knows. I am decidedly uncool, thank you very much. Well, ok, I do like V.U., but I just don't have this particular album (#1) - I have the other less-cool albums by them. And 500 krautrock albums that ripped them off. :)

I have 3, BTW.

Maybe what they define as cool is "something that would make your average Joe/Jane say 'cool' to by announcing you just got the latest CD of___" To be the first on the block with it. Just a thought.

Radio Crystal Blue http://www.radiocrystalblue.com

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But RS loses points for not including The Kinks Kompilation Tape that Frank Made for Us as a Wedding Gift.

Def'n of "cool": an album that looks cool when included on a list of cool albums.

You should also mention Michigan then-- it's got that funky disconnected part to it. And so does Washington state (Pt. Roberts) but it's much smaller.

This must be why I can't pull, then. "Come 'ere darlin', how's about we discuss Pavement?" They were right all along...

I do! One of my favorite groups evah for those first two recs alone. John Cipollina levitates me baby. Wonderful, tasteful command of the tremolo bar combined with great jazzy chording and thrilling gushes of feedback. Gary Duncan not too shabby either. 'Majestic' is the vibe I get when I listen to those albums. Something like "Calvary" really does evoke a tableau of like moving through a windswept plain on horseback. They went to shit in a hurry once Valente got out of jail, but those first two are flawless.

Agreed that they're probably "uncool" though. Because like they're male and rock and probably hippies and can't sing and stuff. I once searched 'em on ILM and predictably found a bunch of lukewarm dismissals (probably from the Brit contingent if I recall). Cool is about the farthest thing from my mind when I down a couple whiskies, smoke a spliff, turn up "The Fool" ridiculously loud and melt into the floor.

ALso I'm shocked - shocked - that I only have 25 of the albums on the list. That Brides of Funkenstein record is really terrible though.

so often it's the measured marketing/public relations breakthrough in understanidng or street cred or even public consciounsness of

"aftermath" meaning the feminist bitter pill evidence that the worlds mothers and daughters accept or realise they have to live with jagger-richards songs like "mother's little helper", "under my thumb", "stupid girl"

"revolver" meaning dangerously politically and sexually loose and inevitable (russian roulette) whilst artfully beatle-esque in quaintness, home-boys englishness and pretend-naivete triviality that your mother might quite admire

or the welcome to my coke-addled world jetson-pollock lyrical wackiness/honesty of "station to station", ahead-of-it's-time now of "1999" (which will never die m***f*** !), as risque a display of skin as fashionable sex 'cross race/gender as "parallel lines" or "it went down at the apollo",

and we're the real chic people, next-door Swingin' Lovers or beastie boys tastefulness as acceptable small business in your urban territory, with as much artful respect for your neighbourhood, demographic and sister as "for your pleasure", respect for your homefront heartfelt americana kitsh as this real found obscure folk singer artifact "john wesly harding"

and the "we reckon you can just handle this in your taste place" of the cover of "velvet underground live 1969", or home truths of "heroin", "venus in furs", "femme fatale", pushed to eno-level self-possessed rock righteousness/ sprawling camp decadent now-ishness of the most truly indulgently absurd song cycle yet that is "white light/ white heat"

that self-assured "we know this rocks" adolescant i-wanna-fuck "that's cool"