The Top 200 Rock 'N' Roll Albums Of All Time (1977)

Why? Because it was the first music book of any stripe that I ever owned (and still own, though it's been a long time falling apart). It was given to me as a present by my older sister, when I was around 15 years old. And it can largely be blamed for whatever polling/listing madness I have engaged in ever since.

Enjoy.

That John Stewart, he's so funny.

Even though I sort of remember this book as a kid, I didn't realize that the VU were so firmly entrenched as critic fav's by 1977. As much as this was assembled in the "classic rock" era, there's a lot of discs deserved to get bumped off, even in a rock context. There weren't really 200 great albums at that point, it seems.

This thread:

http://uk.cityofheroes.com/images/structure/decoration/hallOfFame.jpg

http://www.sonic.net/~ckelly/Seekay/HallOfFameSticker.jpg

OK, so Joni Mitchell doesn't appear until #142 and it's for For the Roses? And her only other entry is for Clouds? What the hell.

re: the VU, Bangs wasn't even involved (unfortunately).

xp to Dom (aka, my favorite stalker):

Ahh, my loving public...

Fuck this poll. No Funkadelic or Parliament. What a joke.
(Forever Changes gets a vote here then)

OK, so Joni Mitchell doesn't appear until #142 and it's for For the Roses? And her only other entry is for Clouds? What the hell.

For the Roses is her best album, fyi

At least the Brits managed to get the Wailers and The Harder They Come in there. That's something.

xp

wtf with all the live albums and greatest hits?? (Endless Summer? Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits?)

P-Funk (and black music in general - JB and Sly get one nom apiece and not even for their strongest albums) always got shafted by this kind of this crap

Appletree Theatre ~ Playback 1969

what the hell is this?

For the Roses is her best album, fyi

RONG

RONG

at least, it isn't more than the faintest margin worse than the only other contender (Court and Sparks(TM))

Good question, Shakey. I've always wondered about that one myself. IIRC Lenny Kaye voted for it.

I mean, I get why Hissing of Summer Lawns and Hejira wouldn't appear on this poll (too recent, too weird, etc.) -- but I thought that Blue and Court and Spark were more acclaimed (both popularly and critically) than For the Roses.

obviously they're more talked about. but most people are morons.

maybe in 1977 people actually listened all the way through

Well, I also happen to find For the Roses the only dud of hers between 1971-76. It's like Blue but without the tunes and not even the exciting arrangements of Court and Spark (which is my favorite by far).

For the Roses = no pop single = automatically dud

"You Turn Me On (I'm a Radio)" was a pop single.

barely

the songwriting is comparable to Court and Spark and better on average, though with lower peaks, than Blue, and the production is more naturalistic than either (none of the drawing room bullshit of Blue and with fewer ornamental pretensions than Court and Spark, not that I dislike those per se)

Barely? It was her fourth-biggest single ever, after "Help Me," "Free Man in Paris," and "Big Yellow Taxi (Live)."

i'm calling it barely a pop song

and the production is more naturalistic than either

Probably this is what I dislike. It's just so boring. I long for Larry Carlton guitar licks and LA Express horn riffs, to say nothing of Jaco Pastorius fretlass bass lines.

fretless

Mike Nesmith is on the list but no Black Sabbath album. Possibly the worst list ever. I hope my computer doesn't blow up from having that fucking H-bomb of a list on the screen

too folkie for contempo tastes, quite unlike those other three

Mike Nesmith is better htan Black Sabbath

:D

OBVIOUSLY its average white band, they reshaped the history of modern music in countless ways

The funny thing is that Sabbath actually did reshape the history of modern music. But I guess in '78 the Jackson Browne/Eagles rockcrit crowd didn't have a crystal ball.

This list is insulting.

David Ackles? Genevieve Waite?

As Easter Everywhere is mysteriously missing, I'll have to go for Love.

At least the Brits managed to get the Wailers and The Harder They Come in there. That's something.

Obviously, they weren't rated much by US critics at the time either as they had substantial input into it too.

Precicely my point. The UK has always seemed to be a far more reggae-friendly environment than the US.

surely that's due to the UK having a higher proportional population of Jamaican immigrants than the US, thus a bigger support network for the subculture, etc.

Of course. Also, let's not forget that Chris Blackwell was a Brit.

er...is a Brit. The man ain't dead, after all.

terrible list. voted for Hunky Dory.

Voted #186. Chuck Berry ~ Chuck Berry's Golden Decade. Like, what the shit? Chuck Berry rates less than the Eagles? Less than Supertramp?

Few albums will have more than one vote.

No Genesis, so voted "Pet Sounds".

http://www.exclaim.ca/images/up-iggy_lrg.jpg

Oh stop being cranky, y'all. This is fun! Besides, just imagine what the music processors of 2037 will think of what we're pumping now.

Went with the Dolls. But you gotta love this one-two punch at the end:

199. New York Dolls ~ New York Dolls 1973
200. Richie Havens ~ Mixed Bag 1967

Never even heard of these artists:

John Stewart ~ California Bloodlines 1969
Genevieve Waite ~ Romance Is On The Wire 1974
Appletree Theatre ~ Playback 1969
Graham Bond ~ Sound Of '65 1965

Any good?

Ok, right, these are silly:

Bob Dylan ~ Greatest Hits 1967
Beatles ~ 1962-1966
Beatles1967- 1970
Rolling Stones ~ Big Hits (High Tide And Green Grass) 1966
Rolling Stones ~ Hot Rocks 1964-1971 1972

Who voted for these:

Peter Framton ~ Framton Comes Alive! 1975
Blood, Sweat And Tears ~ Blood, Sweat And Tears 1969
David Bowie ~ David Live At The Tower Philadelphia 1974
Dory Previn ~ Live At Carnegie Hall 1973

Are these greatest hits type things:

Who ~ Direct Hits 1969
Velvet Underground ~ Golden Archive Series 1970

yes they are.

Yeah, I went with the Dolls too. Well, it was actually between that and The Clash, but I decided to get all a'murrican on your asses, gawddamit, and voted for NY's finest.

M.I.A. critically beloved albums of the time:

The Basement Tapes
Court and Spark
Blue
Howlin' Wind
Heat Treatment
Marquee Moon
Another Green World
Tonight's the Night
Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere
Radio City

Also far too many others I'm sure.

199

no Zombies? I always heard they were underappreciated in the '60s, but by '77?

Hooray for Ege Bamyasi! And Eno!

I voted for Graham Bond. Because I can.

Haven't got a f*cking clue what he sounds like, tho'.

Shit! Just realised I should have voted for Huey "Piano" Smith & The Clowns (134).

there was a new poll/edition of this book (top 100 instead of 200) put out by paul gambaccini in 1987 (the 20th anniversary of sgt. pepper! ooh!) that righted a handful of the wrongs in this list. specifically, live at the apollo appears in the top 10 (but no other jb on the list), as does what's going on. but the '87 list excludes greatest-hits comps on principle (they're not true albums! pfft!), and still excludes p-funk. but it does include tim buckley's starsailor, bobby "blue" bland's dreamer, and big star's radio city, among others.

oh. here's the 1987 list: http://www.rocklistmusic.co.uk/world.html#1987

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Just re-listened to Highway 61 Revisited tonight (I guess in hopes of solidifying/coming to terms with my vote) - There are so many rekkids here I love and play often - but Dylan's '65 masterpiece just blew the doors off all in its wake and opened the floodgates for the future - the here and now lyrics, the most awesome band and so much more. I re-listened to Bringing It All Back Home tonight too and it does as much for the year but the stronger, consistent material is on the later.

wish they wouldn't confuse things by putting in greatest hits type releases. doesnt' seem fair to compare Endless Summer, the best greatest hits double album ever.
but The Clash by a hair over NY Dolls for me and this list

Well at least it has Fun House.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

When is the poll for best album that got 0 votes?

Looking back, one of the most baffling choices was John Lennon's Mind Games at #64. It didn't deserve to come anywhere near the top 200, and especially not 56 spots higher than Plastic Ono Band.

"P-Funk (and black music in general - JB and Sly get one nom apiece and not even for their strongest albums) always got shafted by this kind of this crap"

in polls like this i think they should just omit all non-rock artists instead of including the few predictable token black artists. why JB or stevie or aretha are in it im not sure.

Because they aren't "Rock 'N' Roll" ?

At least Love won.

Thought they might.

Did ILX ever attempt a best 100 rock n roll tracks of all time?

Is it even possible?

This is a good start, though