200 best albums of the 20th century

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rockdelux, spain's most influential music mag, is celebrating its 200 issue in october. among other articles, they've made a list with the best 200 albums of the 20th century.
i'm sending it because i know a lot of people loves this kind of lists, even if they don't agree with them. i love them, too.

AMERICAN MUSIC CLUB CALIFORNIA
APHEX TWIN SELECTED AMBIENT WORKS 85-92
ARETHA FRANKLIN LADY SOUL
AUGUSTUS PABLO KING TUBBY MEETS ROCKERS UPTOWN
B-52'S B-52'S
BEASTIE BOYS ILL COMMUNICATION
BENY MORE EL BARBARO DEL RITMO
BESSIE SMITH THE ESSENTIAL BESSIE SMITH
BIG BLACK SONGS ABOUT FUCKING
BIG STAR SISTER LOVERS
BILLIE HOLIDAY LADY IN SATIN
BJÖRK DEBUT
BOB DYLAN BLONDE ON BLONDE
BOB DYLAN HIGHWAY 61 REVISITED
BOB MARLEY NATTY DREAD
BOB WILLS ANTHOLOGY 35-73
BOOGIE DOWN PRODUCTIONS CRIMINAL MINDED
BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN BORN TO RUN
BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN NEBRASKA
BURT BACHARACH THE LOOK OF LOVE
BUZZCOCKS SINGLES GOING STEADY
BYRDS YOUNGER THAN YESTERDAY
CAETANO VELOSO ESTRANGEIRO
CAN TAGO MAGO
CAPTAIN BEEFHEART TROUT MASK REPLICA
CREEDENCE CLEARWATER REVIVAL COSMO'S FACTORY
CURTIS MAYFIELD CURTIS
CHARLES MINGUS THE BLACK AND THE SINNER LADY
CHARLEY PATTON THE DEFINITIVE CHARLEY PATTON
CHARLIE PARKER THE COMPLETE SAVOY & DIAL RECORDINGS 44-48
DAVID BOWIE ZIGGY STARDUST
DAVID BOWIE HUNKY DORY
DAVID BYRNE/BRIAN ENO MY LIFE IN THE BUSH OF GHOST
DE LA SOUL THREE FEET HIGH AND RISING
DEAD KENNEDYS FRESH FRUIT FOR ROTTEN VEGETABLES
DERRICK MAY INNOVATOR
DINOSAUR JR BUG
DIZZY GILLESPIE THE COMPLETE RCA VICTOR RECORDINGS 1937-1949
DJ SHADOW ENDTRODUCINGŠ
DR DRE THE CHRONIC
DUKE ELLINGTON AT NEWPORT 1956
DUSTY SPRINGFIELD DUSTY IN MEMPHIS
ELVIS COSTELLO THIS YEAR'S MODEL
ELVIS PRESLEY FROM ELVIS IN MEMPHIS
ELLA FITZGERALD THE GEORGES & IRA GERSHWIN SONGBOOK
ERIC B AND RAKIM PAID IN FULL
ERIC DOLPHY OUT TO LUNCH
FANIA ALLSTARS LIVE AT THE CHEETAH VOL. 1 & 2
FELA KUTI BLACK PRESIDENT
FINGERS INC ANTOHER SIDE
FRANK SINATRA SONGS FOR SWINGIN LOVERS
GANG OF FOUR ENTERTAINMENT
GOLDIE TIMELESS
GRAM PARSONS GP
GRATEFUL DEAD AMERICAN BEAUTY
HANK WILLIAMS 40 GREATEST HITS
HAPPY MONDAYS PILLS'N'THRILLS AND BELLYACHES
HUSKER DU ZEN ARCADE
JACQUES BREL LES MARQUISES
JAMES BROWN LIVE AT THE APOLLO
JAMES BROWN SEX MACHINE
JEFFERSON AIRPLANE SURREALISTIC PILLOW
JIMI HENDRIX ELECTRIC LADYLAND
JIMI HENDRIX ARE YOU EXPERIENCED
JOHN CALE PARIS 1919
JOHN COLTRANE A LOVE SUPREME
JOHN LENNON PLASTIC ONO BAND
JOHN ZORN SPILLANE
JOHNNY CASH AT FOLSOM PRISON
JONI MITCHELL BLUE
JOY DIVISION CLOSER
KING SUNNY ADE JUJU MUSIC
KLF CHILL OUT
KRAFTWERK TRANSEUROPE EXPRESS
LAURIE ANDERSON BIG SCIENCE
LED ZEPPELIN IV
LEE SCRATCH PERRY ARKOLOGY
LEONARD COHEN SONGS OF LEONARD COHEN
LEONARD COHEN I'M YOUR MAN
LOU REED BERLIN
LOU REED TRANSFORMER
LOUIS ARMSTRONG HOT FIVES AND HOT SEVEN
LOVE FOREVER CHANGES
MADONNA IMMACULATE COLLECTION
MARVIN GAYE WHAT'S GOING ON
MARVIN GAYE LET'S GET IT ON
MARY MARGARET O'HARA MISS AMERICA
MASSIVE ATTACK BLUE LINES
MC5 KICK OUT THE JAMS
MICHAEL JACKSON THRILLER
MILES DAVIS KIND OF BLUE
MILES DAVIS BITCHES BREW
MINOR THREAT COMPLETE DISCOGRAPHY
MOTORHEAD NO SLEEP TILL HAMMERSMITH
MY BLOODY VALENTINE LOVELESS
NEIL YOUNG AFTER THE GOLD RUSH
NEIL YOUNG RUST NEVER SLEEPS
NEU! NEU 1
NEVILLE BROTHERS YELLOW MOON
NEW ORDER TECHNIQUE
NICK CAVE YOUR FUNERALŠMY TRIAL
NICK DRAKE FIVE LEAVES LEFT
NIRVANA NEVERMIND
NUSRAT FATEH ALI KHAN EN CONCERT A PARIS
OLIVER NELSON BLUES AND THE ABSTRACT TRUTH
ORNETTE COLEMAN FREE JAZZ
OTIS REDDING OTIS BLUE
P.I.L. METAL BOX/SECOND EDITION
PALACE BROTHERS THERE'S NO ONE THAT WILL TAKE CARE OF YOU
PARLIAMENT THE MOTHERSHIP CONNECTION
PATSY CLINE SHOWCASE
PATTI SMITH HORSES
PERE UBU THE MODERN DANCE
PET SHOP BOYS BEHAVIOUR
PHIL SPECTOR BACK TO MONO
PINK FLOYD THE PIPES AT THE GATES OF DAWN
PIXIES DOOLITTLE
PJ HARVEY RID OF ME
PREFAB SPROUT STEVE MCQUEEN
PRIMAL SCREAM SCREAMADELICA
PRINCE SIGN OF THE TIMES
PUBLIC ENEMY IT TAKES A NATION OF MILLIONS
PULP DIFFERENT CLASS
R.E.M. AUTOMATIC FOR THE PEOPLE
RAMONES RAMONES
RESIDENTS COMMERCIAL ALBUM
RICKIE LEE JONES PIRATES
ROBERT JOHNSON THE COMPLETE RECORDINGS
ROBERT WYATT ROCK BOTTOM
ROXY MUSIC FOR YOUR PLEASURE
RUBEN BLADES BUSCANDO AMERICA
SALIF KEITA SORO
SAM COOKE LIVE AT HARLEM SQUARE
SCOTT WALKER III
SERGE GAINSBOURG HISTOIRE DE MELODY NELSON
SEX PISTOLS NEVER MIND THE BOLLOCKS
SKIP JAMES THE COMPLETE EARLY RECORDINGS
SLAYER REIGN IN BLOOD
SLINT SPIDERLAND
SLY AND THE FAMILY STONE THERE'S A RIOT GOING ON
SONIC YOUTH SISTER
SPECIALS SPECIALS
STAN GETZ & JOAO GILBERTO GETZ & GILBERTO
STEVE REICH MUSIC FOR 18 MUSICIANS
STEVIE WONDER INNERVISIONS
SUICIDE SUICIDE
SUN RA SPACE IS THE PLACE
T REX THE SLIDER
TALKING HEADS REMAIN IN LIGHT
TELEVISION MARQUEE MOON
THE BAND MUSIC FROM BIG PINK
THE BEACH BOYS PET SOUNDS
THE BEATLES REVOLVER
THE BEATLES SGT PEPPER'S
THE BOO RADLEYS GIANT STEPS
THE CLASH LONDON CALLING
THE CRICKETS THE CHIRPING CRICKETS
THE CURE DISINTEGRATION
THE DOORS DOORS
THE FALL THIS NATION SAVING GRACE
THE HUMAN LEAGUE DARE
THE IMPRESSIONS PEOPLE GET READY
THE JAM ALL MOD CONS
THE JESUS AND MARY CHAIN PSYCHOCANDY
THE KINKS FACE TO FACE
THE MAGNETIC FIELDS 69 LOVE SONGS
THE MOTHERS OF INVENTION WE'RE ONLY IN IT FOR THE MONEY
THE NEW YORK DOLLS NEW YORK DOLLS
THE POP GROUP Y
THE ROLLING STONES EXILE ON MAIN STREET
THE ROLLING STONES BEGGARS BANQUET
THE SMITHS THE QUEEN IS DEAD
THE STOOGES FUN HOUSE
THE VELVET UNDERGROUND THE VELVET UNDERGROUND AND NICO
THE WAILERS CATCH A FIRE
THE WHO WHO'S NEXT
THELONIOUS MONK GENIUS OF MODERN MUSIC VOL. 1 AND 2
TIM BUCKLEY STARSAILOR
TINDERSTICKS I
TOM WAITS SWORDSFISHTROMBONES
TRICKY MAXINQUAYE
VAN MORRISON ASTRAL WEEKS
VAN MORRISON MOONDANCE
VARIOS THE CHESS STORY 1947-1975
VARIOS THE SUN RECORDS COLLECTION
VARIOS HARRY SMITH ANTHOLOGY OF AMERICAN FOLK MUSIC
VARIOS ATLANTIC RYHTM & BLUES 1947-1974
VARIOS HITSVILLE U.S.A.: THE MOTOWN SINGLES COL 1959-1971
VARIOS TOUGHER THAN TOUGH-THE STORY OF JAMAICAN MUSIC
VARIOS NUGGETS-ORIGINAL ARTIFACTS FROM THE FIRST PSY
VARIOS TROPICALIA
VARIOS NO NEW YORK
VARIOS THE HOUSE SOUND OF CHICAGO
VARIOS RAI REBELS
VARIOS RETROTECHNO-DETROIT DEFINITIVE
VIOLENT FEMMES VIOLENT FEMMES
WOODY GUTHRIE DUST BOWL BALLADS
WU-TANG CLAN ENTER THE WU-TANG
YOUNG MARBLE GIANTS COLOSSAL YOUTH
YOUSSOU N'DOUR IMMIGRES

― joan vich (joan vich), Friday, 13 September 2002 11:59 (twenty-three years ago)

what? no nu-metal??? wankers!

― joan vich (joan vich), Friday, 13 September 2002 12:02 (twenty-three years ago)

"3 feet high...", "innovator", "another side", "technique", "behaviour"...
certainly more interesting and less
canonical than these things usually are.

― michael w., Friday, 13 September 2002 12:10 (twenty-three years ago)

no radiohead, u2 or msp

― mark p (Mark P), Friday, 13 September 2002 12:14 (twenty-three years ago)

I guess the 20th Century beats the hell out of the 19th Century for albums.

― Curt (cgould), Friday, 13 September 2002 12:15 (twenty-three years ago)

Oh look, they have Fela Kuti and Nusrat Fetah Ali Khan. I guess that means their list is truly comprehensive and global.

― DeRayMi, Friday, 13 September 2002 12:18 (twenty-three years ago)

It's rubbish of course.

― Dr. C (Dr. C), Friday, 13 September 2002 12:18 (twenty-three years ago)

Hey dont forget King Sunny Ade!!

― Tom (Groke), Friday, 13 September 2002 12:21 (twenty-three years ago)

I always said Varios were the best band on the planet. ;-)
I like lists. This list could be a lot worse.

― Jeff W, Friday, 13 September 2002 12:25 (twenty-three years ago)

i like how they've included a few comps to piss off the album fascists.

― michael w., Friday, 13 September 2002 12:27 (twenty-three years ago)

What's the point of this?

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Friday, 13 September 2002 12:44 (twenty-three years ago)

is there one?

― michael w., Friday, 13 September 2002 12:47 (twenty-three years ago)

what? no nu-metal??? wankers!
Uh the lack of nu-metal somehow implies they ARENT into masturbation, non?

― nathalie (nathalie), Friday, 13 September 2002 12:59 (twenty-three years ago)

"certainly more interesting and less canonical than these things usually are."

Is it?

― Matt DC (Matt DC), Friday, 13 September 2002 13:21 (twenty-three years ago)

i just knew that line would come back to haunt me. ok, perhaps i was talking more about what they'd included than any of the usual suspects that they'd left out. scratch what i wrote and replace with:

perhaps more interesting and less canonical than these things usually are.

― michael w., Friday, 13 September 2002 13:25 (twenty-three years ago)

I have 8 of them!

― jel -- (jel), Friday, 13 September 2002 13:28 (twenty-three years ago)

"pet sounds", "revolver", "sgt pepper's...", "trout mask replica", "astral weeks", "what's going on?", "forever changes", "bitches brew", "exile on main street", "n.m.t. bollocks", "closer".....

*coughs* *looks for big hole to be swallowed up by*

look, i was just pleased to see "innovator" in there, ok?

― michael w., Friday, 13 September 2002 13:31 (twenty-three years ago)

What's the point of this?

Isn't it obvious? The point of this is for us pathetic music geeks to skim over it and go "ooooh, I own that, great album!" and "damn, I gotta buy that!" and "WHAT?? THIS piece of crap?? What were they thinking???" and "how dare they forget about (insert album here), it's OBVIOUSLY the greatest thing ever released!".

On a diferent note, nuestros hermanos included plenty of albums from France, Jamaica, Brazil and Germany, but not a single album by Zeca Afonso, Amalia Rodrigues or GNR (not Guns N Roses.) I expect nothing else from US/UK lists, but you'd think Spain would take pity on its neighbour...

― Daniel_Rf, Friday, 13 September 2002 13:33 (twenty-three years ago)

AMERICAN MUSIC CLUB CALIFORNIA
APHEX TWIN SELECTED AMBIENT WORKS 85-92
BEASTIE BOYS ILL COMMUNICATION
BJÖRK DEBUT
DERRICK MAY INNOVATOR
DJ SHADOW ENDTRODUCINGŠ
DR DRE THE CHRONIC
GOLDIE TIMELESS
HAPPY MONDAYS PILLS'N'THRILLS AND BELLYACHES
KLF CHILL OUT
MASSIVE ATTACK BLUE LINES
MY BLOODY VALENTINE LOVELESS
NIRVANA NEVERMIND
PALACE BROTHERS THERE'S NO ONE THAT WILL TAKE CARE OF YOU
PET SHOP BOYS BEHAVIOUR
PJ HARVEY RID OF ME
PRIMAL SCREAM SCREAMADELICA
PULP DIFFERENT CLASS
R.E.M. AUTOMATIC FOR THE PEOPLE
SLINT SPIDERLAND
THE BOO RADLEYS GIANT STEPS
THE MAGNETIC FIELDS 69 LOVE SONGS
TINDERSTICKS I
TRICKY MAXINQUAYE
WU-TANG CLAN ENTER THE WU-TANG

The 90s according to this list. Thought it might be useful for the Pinefox - tracking an emergent canon so to speak.

― Tom (Groke), Friday, 13 September 2002 13:38 (twenty-three years ago)

of course i don't know if there is any point in doing this kind of lists, except that many of us like to waste our time with this kind of conversations... and it gives you the chance to say things like: "maybe they missed radiohead, but fortunately enough they didn't include u2 or msp!".

daniel: there are no portuguese albums, but please note that there are no spanish albums, either. strange: i thought that at least some camaron de la isla or other flamenco myths would be included (if only for chauvinistic or political reasons).

― joan vich (joan vich), Friday, 13 September 2002 13:51 (twenty-three years ago)

Have two magazines ever yet produced the exact same list of best albums?

― Tom (Groke), Friday, 13 September 2002 13:59 (twenty-three years ago)

of course not! (er, i guess...)

― joan vich (joan vich), Friday, 13 September 2002 14:02 (twenty-three years ago)

i mean: choose your ten favourite albums out of this list. your choice would probably change if you choose ten albums again tomorrow, or next week (either that, or you're steve lamacq).

― joan vich (joan vich), Friday, 13 September 2002 14:03 (twenty-three years ago)

I just wish they would leave jazz out of these lists. If the perspective is meant to reflect a genuine appreciation of jazz then the ratio of 10 pop albums to 1 jazz album is absurd. If its not, why include any jazz?

― ArfArf, Friday, 13 September 2002 15:30 (twenty-three years ago)

It's about 100 pop to 1 jazz. I completely agree, and that's speaking as a pop fan with about 5 token jazz albums. It pretty much betrays the obvious fact that nobody is actually thinking about this list when they make it/vote in it.

― Tom (Groke), Friday, 13 September 2002 15:34 (twenty-three years ago)

Although if you compiled the jazz picks into their own list, it would make a pretty good shopping list for the rocker trying to get into jazz for the first time.

― o. nate (onate), Friday, 13 September 2002 15:43 (twenty-three years ago)

that's the point, i guess. it's supposed to be a list done from a rocker's point of view, but with an open mind and interested in discovering new things.

― joan vich (joan vich), Friday, 13 September 2002 15:49 (twenty-three years ago)

Bah! It is all marketing...

― Julio Desouza (jdesouza), Friday, 13 September 2002 15:55 (twenty-three years ago)

No, I thought of that but it doesn't work on that level either. Bird, Diz and Louis would not be high up most people's list of music offering modern pop fans an easy entry to jazz. Presumably they are too "important" to leave out. But if importance is a criterion, well, you know, Tindersticks instead of Art Tatum? (And so on........ I'm sure you can make up your own list).

― ArfArf, Friday, 13 September 2002 16:08 (twenty-three years ago)

The jazz to pop ration has absolutely NOTHING on the classical to pop ratio.

― Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Friday, 13 September 2002 16:32 (twenty-three years ago)

pop/classical = 200/0 = computer crash

They said 20th century, but they didn't mean it.

― dleone (dleone), Friday, 13 September 2002 16:41 (twenty-three years ago)

Bird, Diz and Louis would not be high up most people's list of music offering modern pop fans an easy entry to jazz

That's true. Maybe their angle is more along the lines of, "Include enough of the jazz canon in order to lend an aura of credibility to our pop/rock picks."

― o. nate (onate), Friday, 13 September 2002 16:51 (twenty-three years ago)

I think it's a pretty good list. I don't think I've ever seen Palace or Wu-Tang show up on a "best of the century" list before.

― Clay, Friday, 13 September 2002 17:06 (twenty-three years ago)

Oh come on. The Stone Roses' debut isn't even on there.

― Rahul Kamath (Rahul Kamath), Friday, 13 September 2002 17:27 (twenty-three years ago)

VIOLENT FEMMES VIOLENT FEMMES

This is my new favourite list of all time.

― Dom Passantino (Dom Passantino), Friday, 13 September 2002 17:39 (twenty-three years ago)

Joan: Blimey, you're right. Can it be possible that us other countries are so in the shadow of the mighty English Speaking Nations (or, eh, USA & UK at least) that not only do we compile "best of" lists featuring almost nothing but music from those countries, but also the only non-English choices we make are from artists that are "popular" in those countries (.i.e. Salif Keita, Kraftwerk, Caetano Veloso) ?

― Daniel_Rf, Friday, 13 September 2002 17:51 (twenty-three years ago)

That list is about right, (YAY Prefab Sprout)

― A Nairn (moretap), Friday, 13 September 2002 19:43 (twenty-three years ago)

you can't take this stuff seriously...

― Julio Desouza (jdesouza), Friday, 13 September 2002 19:51 (twenty-three years ago)

No lists are good unless they're mine.

― Melissa W (Melissa W), Friday, 13 September 2002 20:04 (twenty-three years ago)

would it have all radiohead albums Melissa?

― Julio Desouza (jdesouza), Friday, 13 September 2002 20:13 (twenty-three years ago)

in the top 10 that is.

― Julio Desouza (jdesouza), Friday, 13 September 2002 20:13 (twenty-three years ago)

If I was being honest with myself, there'd be 2 in the top 10, and 1 in the rest of the top 100. If I felt guilty and self-conscious about it, there'd be 1 in the top 10, and 2 in the rest of the top 100. If I felt really into Radiohead one day, there'd be 3 in the top 10, and 1 in the rest of the top 100. But NEVER 5 in the top 100, and never 4 in the top 10. DO YOU SEE?

Ahem. Anyway, my list would rock, regardless of the Radiohead inclusions.

― Melissa W (Melissa W), Friday, 13 September 2002 20:26 (twenty-three years ago)

any list that's organised alphabetically with "The" bands in the T section sucks

― ddd, Friday, 13 September 2002 20:32 (twenty-three years ago)

I don't like it when influential music mags say something is "The Best" as its a fact. It's their opinion...It is the very essence of rockism...Tie down the person who wrote this, like Sun Ra in Space Is The Place, and force them to listen to 1000 hours of Borbetomagus through headphones at full volume...

― brg30 (brg30), Friday, 13 September 2002 22:16 (twenty-three years ago)

''It's their opinion...It is the very essence of rockism...Tie down the person who wrote this, like Sun Ra in Space Is The Place, and force them to listen to 1000 hours of Borbetomagus through headphones at full volume...''

brg b-but you'd kill that person...cool!

― Julio Desouza (jdesouza), Saturday, 14 September 2002 09:43 (twenty-three years ago)

I don't like it when influential music mags say something is "The Best" as its a fact. It's their opinion...It is the very essence of rockism

Could we have a ruling on this use of "rocksim" by one of the in-house experts on its meaning? (I have a feeling the answer is no, we cannot.)

― DeRayMi, Saturday, 14 September 2002 10:08 (twenty-three years ago)

I don't like it when influential music mags say something is "The Best" as its a fact. It's their opinion...It is the very essence of rockism.

Nah, it's just honesty. No matter how much ILM might go on about subjectivity and all that, the truth of the matter is that we all secretly think that what we consider to be the best stuff actually IS the best stuff, and that anyone who disagrees must be TOTALLY INSANE!

― Daniel_Rf, Saturday, 14 September 2002 12:16 (twenty-three years ago)

rockist: using the word "album" and picking 200 rather than say 201 (yay melissa!! YES I SEE!!)
not rockist: making ridiculous claims for a list
(making such lists is an activity very busily undertaken by seemingly rockist-skewed orgs, it's true, but the activity has become so seamlessly unending that it speaks more to their uneasy near-resigned awareness of the reality-pressure of other ways to hear, see and see, than to any unquestioned confidence in the claims being made)

(dr vick told me this compulsive repetition thing producing the opposite to the effect intended is called "cryptamnesia", but we were zipping along on her motorbike at the time so i may have misunderstood)

― mark s (mark s), Saturday, 14 September 2002 12:28 (twenty-three years ago)

haha "ONE of the experts" => it is the schleswig-holstein question of pop!!

― mark s (mark s), Saturday, 14 September 2002 12:42 (twenty-three years ago)

These things are always unspeakable (and I was less than optimistic about Spain's most influential rock mag), but I have the majority of these albums (106/200) so I can't complain too much - except there is no Mott, Lexicon Of Love, Jerry Lee Lewis Live At The Star Club, Al Green, Underworld, Louis Prima...

― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Saturday, 14 September 2002 13:55 (twenty-three years ago)

this list ain't bad as these things go - if you're cheesed off must be cos the ones you don't know on it are better than your alternate choices - ha! ha!

― Paul (scifisoul), Saturday, 14 September 2002 14:17 (twenty-three years ago)

um......

― Ronan (Ronan), Saturday, 14 September 2002 14:40 (twenty-three years ago)

so the list-gods have passed their latest 'more predictable unanimity' edict. zzzzzzzzzzzz.

― angelo (angelo), Sunday, 15 September 2002 06:25 (twenty-three years ago)

Why get so vein-burstingly annoyed by these lists and things like the Mercury Prize? It's just a small group's subjective opinion, in this case a pretty decent one I'd venture, and the nature of consensus means that individual quirky choices are lost in the drift towards the canonical.

I'm going to be in a minority here but sometimes, amidst the desperate clamour for the new, it's nice to be told "here's some older music, it's good stuff". It might be difficult to believe but not everyone picked up on Loveless at the time.

The problem is that canons are self-perpetuating, Trans-Europe Express and There's A Riot Goin' On are passed like a watch from one generation to the next, and it's difficult to explore forgotten avenues simply because there isn't enough time to keep up with what's going on right now. Are there any examples of albums that slipped through the cracks for, say, twenty years or more, that have subsequently been sanctified?

― Mike (mratford), Sunday, 15 September 2002 09:21 (twenty-three years ago)

"Are there any examples of albums that slipped through the cracks for, say, twenty years or more, that have subsequently been sanctified?"

The Monkees!!!

― Daniel_Rf, Sunday, 15 September 2002 14:04 (twenty-three years ago)

mark, click:

http://sdam.com/pseudocool/images/cryptom.gif

― david h (david h), Sunday, 15 September 2002 15:06 (twenty-three years ago)

cheers david but i *did* ask you not to publish that pic of me and dr vick anywhere

― mark s (mark s), Sunday, 15 September 2002 15:14 (twenty-three years ago)

you put yr hat on before yr shoes, again.

― david h (david h), Sunday, 15 September 2002 15:30 (twenty-three years ago)

WOT!?!?!?!? no Throbbing Gristle? :(

― THE MIGHTY RETURNING CRUSADER FATNICK I, Sunday, 15 September 2002 20:38 (twenty-three years ago)

No Zappa? And This Is Our Music is better than Free Jazz.

Wankers.

― Tad (llamasfur), Sunday, 15 September 2002 22:28 (twenty-three years ago)

Obviously any best ever rock list that excludes Zappa is immediately quite good (something like what Twain wrongly said about a library excluding Jane Austen).

― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Monday, 16 September 2002 19:43 (twenty-three years ago)

I like this list better:

http://www.sundayherald.com/bestalbums1.shtml

― o. nate (onate), Monday, 16 September 2002 21:27 (twenty-three years ago)

mike : don't get me wrong, i think lists have their place. and yes, in theory, they're someone's subjective opinion, but reading the one that spawned this thread (as with so many others) leaves me with a feeling that it was compiled after a month-long bout of reading every other list around. how about a bit of dissent, for crissakes (and five token jazz records doesn't count)! i prefer o. nate's list too - it actually seems like it's been put together by a fan and appears GENUINELY subjective. i like that it pisses on accepted list-wisdoms (i.e. the only rem record worth exalting is 'automatic for the people', thou shalt bow eternally to the temple of 'screamdelica' etc etc) and there's actually an EXPLANATION as to why it was included in the first place; there's actually a sense of engagement with the stuff listed. having said that, i probably own more of the stuff listed in the 'top 200' list (on a percentage basis at any rate), but lists that reflect the curiousity we all have about music are far more instructive than anything that just runs with the pack. aren't they?

― angelo (angelo), Monday, 16 September 2002 22:46 (twenty-three years ago)

Angelo hit on some of the very reasons why I like that Sunday Herald list. There's probably actually more overlap between my collection and the Spanish magazine's list, but the Herald list challenges me and persuades me that I've been missing some great music. It never picks the obvious choice - and yet it reveals a genuine feeling for each record - so you never get the feeling that records were chosen just to be different. Taken as a whole, it makes me think that there is more than one way to listen to popular music and encourages me to widen my own listening.

― o. nate (onate), Tuesday, 17 September 2002 13:28 (twenty-three years ago)

Who chose the Sunday Herald list? It looks like one bloke with a Pastels fixation. I sort of agree with your points, o nate. At the same time, however, it's an unsatisfying list. Definitely one for people who say ABBA were rubbish. Kudos for putting "Heathen Earth" at no.2, though. And it's beautifully presented.

― Jeff W, Tuesday, 17 September 2002 13:54 (twenty-three years ago)

It's not in order as such. It's a compilation of David Keenan's one-album-a-week columns for the paper. I don't think he's a big fan of ABBA but they weren't on the Spanish list either.

― Tom (Groke), Tuesday, 17 September 2002 14:22 (twenty-three years ago)

i just finished reading EVERY SINGLE WORD of the comments on the album list sent by o. nate.
it made me want to run and get some of these albums. it made me want to relisten to some of them and talk about them -royal trux! the pastels! (yeah, i have a fixation, too; everyone should)-. the list is great, but the comments are glorious: passionate and contagious. thanks for the link.

― joan vich (joan vich), Tuesday, 17 September 2002 15:07 (twenty-three years ago)

The Sunday Herald list is clearly by someone who spent too much time in the Byres road branch of John Smith (RIP), the Pastels/Big Star?half Japanese trio is the big giveaway.

Having said that any list which features Dusty S, the Dictators and the Kronos Quartet is worth investigating. Though it works best as an alternate route map through the 60's and 70's.

― Billy Dods (Billy Dods), Tuesday, 17 September 2002 15:21 (twenty-three years ago)

two weeks pass...

¿Qúé pasa con la música en Español? ¿Qué pasa con la música en otros idiomas que no sean el inglés?hay un montón de lenguas en el mundo. No creo que el monopolio de la música buena sea el inglés, aunque viendo las últimas aportaciones de España a las listas internacionales (aserejé, macarena) no es de extrañar esta lista.

best wishes. Good list. I would say Eric Clapton and Carlos Santana.

― Enrique Avila, Sunday, 6 October 2002 13:49 (twenty-three years ago)

I followed that list and did comment on the website i think. not one classical recording and that's always a big disadvantage for me but i liked some of the comments as o.nate says that's a big plus and also the fact that he didn't rank anything helps (though he did say that the first velvets rec is his favourite).

― Julio Desouza (jdesouza), Sunday, 6 October 2002 15:31 (twenty-three years ago)

No pearl jam????? no "no code", no "vitalogy"???? Is an error???

― In My Tree, Monday, 7 October 2002 21:21 (twenty-three years ago)

The Bob Wills inclusion is a nice suprise.

― Colin Beckett (Colin Beckett), Monday, 7 October 2002 21:35 (twenty-three years ago)

My list:
Blink - Enema of the state
Nirvana - Nevermind
Reo Speedwagon - The Ballads
Bon Jovi - Crossroads
Bon Jovi - New Jersey
Bryan Adams - 18 til I die
Garbage - Version 2.0
U2 - Greatest Hits
Madonna - Greatest Hits Volume 1
Linkin Park - Hybrid Theory
Offspring - americana

This i my list like it or not but its mine :)!

― Pablo Porcar, Friday, 11 October 2002 17:15 (twenty-three years ago)

I like it. Not the music, but the list.

― o. nate (onate), Friday, 11 October 2002 17:26 (twenty-three years ago)

(actually, there is some good stuff on there)

― o. nate (onate), Friday, 11 October 2002 17:30 (twenty-three years ago)

yeah, the Bon Jovi ones are classic!

― jel -- (jel), Friday, 11 October 2002 18:11 (twenty-three years ago)

And I'm sure there are some gems on that Madonna collection.

― o. nate (onate), Friday, 11 October 2002 18:20 (twenty-three years ago)

Para mi que te dejas algunos más q importantes como:

Queen - A Kind Of Magic
Queen - Innuendo
George Harrison - All things must pass
Iron Maiden - The number of the Beast
Iron Maiden - Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son
Judas Priest - British Steel
Motorhead - Ace Of Spades

― Javier de la Coruña, Tuesday, 15 October 2002 12:58 (twenty-three years ago)

Y THIN LIZZY>>>>>>>>>=? PALURDOS!!!!!!!!

― josemartin278@terra.es, Friday, 25 October 2002 17:32 (twenty-two years ago)

one month passes...

Blink, Linkin Park ja ja ja. U2, Madonna, Bon Jovi, Greatest Hits???!!! Queen??? are you sure? Well, but are you sure A Kind Of Magic? Iron Maiden, Bruce Dickinson mega heavy rock super star, Yeahhhhh!!! I prefer Killers album. I hate Dickinson and his Heavy Metal topic. Ace of Spades is great, but in my opinion Overkill is better.
Men, oh men, what about: Little Richard, Chuck Berry, Gene Vincent, Dick Dale, The Trashmen, Chocolate Watchband, The Seeds, 13th Floor Elevators, Count Five, The Music Machine, The Zombies, Left Banke, Blues Magoos, HP Lovecraft, Spirit, Flaming Groovies, Hawkwind, Black Sabbath, Blue Cheer, Radio Birdman, Misfits, Damned, The Cramps, Bad Brains, Youth Of Today, 7 Seconds, Hard Ons, Bad Religion, Turbonegro, Sepultura, Jane's Addiction, Faith No More, Autechre, Add N to (X)... and more and more...
Lists suck. Lists reduce. Lists for nothing. Lists for clean my ass. List for oficialists. Lists for "Wellthinkings". Lists for RockDeLux magazine.
Sorry for my english.

― FreaKZ, Saturday, 7 December 2002 16:57 (twenty-two years ago)

The Merzbox clearly dominates a large portion of this list.

― ian johnson, Saturday, 7 December 2002 19:38 (twenty-two years ago)

one month passes...

And "Ten" of Pearl Jam. Where is it?

― A Pearl Jam's fan, Tuesday, 14 January 2003 09:11 (twenty-two years ago)

Where's Tom "The Rebel Is In" Goddamn Petty?

― Spinning Magnet, Tuesday, 14 January 2003 09:16 (twenty-two years ago)

two weeks pass...

menos "varios" y más PEARL JAM "TEN", THE BEATLES "WHITE ALBUM", U2 "POP", MANIC STREET PREACHERS "A DESIGN FOR LIFE" TOM WAITS "CLOSING TIME" Y The best of Chet Baker sing

las B.S.O no cuentan ?, where are the O.M.P.?

― midnight cowboy, Wednesday, 29 January 2003 15:02 (twenty-two years ago)

nine months pass...

I've just found this list looking for the record of Jacques Brel. And I'm shocked about the absence of CARLOS GARDEL. It's not just a list of authors, there's Elvis there, it's OK, he has to be there, but what about Gardel? Tango is something more than a stereotype, it is genuine popular culture of the XXth century, as much as the blues, though it has not been as influential, mainly because it belongs to the spanish speaking world. I'm shocked because Rockdelux belongs to the same world, and has consciously ignored it, as something demodé, regardless of its intrinsical value.

― Málaga Virgen, Sunday, 2 November 2003 03:06 (twenty-one years ago)

three weeks pass...

pretty much canonic.they pick the more influential artists (in my opinion) with one or two records and their choices aren´t always the more obvious ones, so congratulations. I have 41 of them.
And yeah....uhh...I am one of those who likes to read these lists.

― Francisco José Pires, Friday, 28 November 2003 21:25 (twenty-one years ago)

The few from each approach is hopeless. David Bowie and The Beatles clearly have made more than two albums each that belong in such a list.

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Friday, 28 November 2003 22:24 (twenty-one years ago)

I disagree. I wouldn't put a single bowie or beatles album in a top 200. If multiple albums per artist were allowed, i wouldn't even put them in a top 500...

MMT might come close though.

― Michael Dubsky, Saturday, 29 November 2003 00:44 (twenty-one years ago)

one month passes...

Wher the hell is KISS?You put assholes like Metallica!I think you should put KISS' Alive! , Psycho Circus or similar.Idont see Deep Purple's In Rock.Ihate metal,ROCK rules!

Love Rusty Blade

― Rusty Blade, Friday, 16 January 2004 17:49 (twenty-one years ago)

one month passes...

I think this (the RDL) is the best list I've read so far. I don't mean that I agree 100% on the selection but just compare it with the Rolling Stone's, the Q's and the NME's. Also look and the 90's list and name one serious omission: OK, maybe Portishead. I know many may be pissed about Radiohead not being there but not me.

I also like a few things like The Beach Boys on top of The Beatles and VU on top of them all. I think compilations and greatest hits should have been omited though.

― daavid (daavid), Tuesday, 9 March 2004 22:34 (twenty-one years ago)

two years pass...

All the BEATLES CD S AND MOST OF NEIL YOUNGS STUFF , call me old but have a alittle listen to em .

― ron kavanagh, Friday, 12 May 2006 11:50 (nineteen years ago)

Although these lists are way stoopid, I don't mind this one, except
no ac/dc? I guess the absence of Radiohead makes up for it.

― dr lulu (dr lulu), Friday, 12 May 2006 12:21 (nineteen years ago)

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