Brits & Americans
Three years after the American public had their say in the 2002 Rolling Stone Readers' 100, an occasionally dubious list of what they collectively considered the greatest 100 albums of all-time, the British replied with an equivelant list for Q magazine earlier this year. In 1998 when a similar poll was conducted, the Brits showed themselves to have goldfish-like memories in voting in a number of mediocre 1996/1997 releases, such as Oasis' Be Here Now which is famous as one of the great disappointments of the decade, and not surprisingly many of those have disappeared from the top 20 to not even chart anywhere; so who knows if many of their new picks will stand the test of time?
Americans:
Rolling Stone Readers' 100
Brits:
Q Readers' 100
The problem with both lists is obvious: this is popular opinion, and as such there's bias toward more widely-known releases (as shown by bands more commercially popular in Britain charting higher in the Q poll and vice-versa, oh and of course Britian's failure to recognise Pinkerton in any way shape or form :D). Overall: they're interesting and worth a look, but nothing quite beats a comprehensive list made by the people who listen to everything when it comes to a list determined by actual quality:
Critics' 500
Honestly, with new music mostly sucking ass (especially once you go back and listen to some Led Zeppelin for a few days...) I've been using this critics' list as a guide to what albums to consider buying from some of my favourite older artists and it's worked out awesomely so far.
On that note, and because Dennis showed it can be fun to review music as much as movies:
Exile On Main Street- The Rolling Stones
A or 5 out of 5. A sixteen track album-album with few of their gazillion famous singles and none that get much airplay, this is the work of a band in love with rock and roll and not seeking out commercial success (they'd had plenty by then anyway) and the result is widely considered their greatest achievement - and for good reason. Listen to this album if you have interest in music of any sort whatsoever. It's that good.
Track picks: Rocks Off, Casino Boogie, Sweet Virginia, Loving Cup, Happy, Let It Loose, All Down The Line, Soul Survivor
Americans:
Rolling Stone Readers' 100
Brits:
Q Readers' 100
The problem with both lists is obvious: this is popular opinion, and as such there's bias toward more widely-known releases (as shown by bands more commercially popular in Britain charting higher in the Q poll and vice-versa, oh and of course Britian's failure to recognise Pinkerton in any way shape or form :D). Overall: they're interesting and worth a look, but nothing quite beats a comprehensive list made by the people who listen to everything when it comes to a list determined by actual quality:
Critics' 500
Honestly, with new music mostly sucking ass (especially once you go back and listen to some Led Zeppelin for a few days...) I've been using this critics' list as a guide to what albums to consider buying from some of my favourite older artists and it's worked out awesomely so far.
On that note, and because Dennis showed it can be fun to review music as much as movies:
Exile On Main Street- The Rolling Stones
A or 5 out of 5. A sixteen track album-album with few of their gazillion famous singles and none that get much airplay, this is the work of a band in love with rock and roll and not seeking out commercial success (they'd had plenty by then anyway) and the result is widely considered their greatest achievement - and for good reason. Listen to this album if you have interest in music of any sort whatsoever. It's that good.
Track picks: Rocks Off, Casino Boogie, Sweet Virginia, Loving Cup, Happy, Let It Loose, All Down The Line, Soul Survivor
posted by Steve @ 8:08 AM
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