Friday 18 January 2013

51 Albums

Oh Jesus no, I'm not going to do this, am I?

This whole blog began in early 2009 with an attempt to consider, subjectively, what might be the best 101 Songs of All Time (ie the rock era and just before), in terms of some nebulous idea of accumulated praise and place in our culture etc It was a fun task, inevitably polluted (now I look back on it) more than I could realise by personal taste. But the thing was - it was  a task just about possible to carry out, considering I had probably heard at some stage a pretty large proprtion of what might have been deemed contenders to the throne.

I mean, we all hear a lot of songs. There are lots of songs we don't hear too, but I think I've heard a pretty large number of songs widely within Western pop music considered to be great songs, even if they're not in genres I'm that well acquainted with.

Albums, that's a different matter. How many albums do we actually listen to properly? More, I suppose, if you've got Spotify, but in general you have to own something and listen to it several times to have a full perspective on it.

Like, I own Stevie Wonder's 'Fulfilingness' First Finale' and sure I've probably listened to it all the way through, but hardly ever and not for several years, whereas, say, 'Talking Book' by the same artist, I happened to own and listen to a lot for a while. It's an unfair comparison. Of course I'm going to rate Talking Book higher.

Likewise, albums aren't always how we come to an artist - like The Jam and Blondie, I came to via tremendous Greatest Hits compilations, and though i've bought their albums since, I can't really pay proper heed to All Mod Cons and Parallel Lines, because that's not really how I've listened to these bands primarily.

Hmm, obstacles, unfairnesses, still, I'm going to go ahead. I'm going to try and provide a list of the Best ... Albums Ever (with the proviso that, of course, that just means Albums I've given a really good listen to, which is more than most people, but you know, there are probably around 500,000 I'm not considering and only about 1000, if that, that I can, so it's utterly daft!)

And I am going to try to be subjective, to the extent that that's possible. I'm actually going to use criteria and a tally system. Perhaps the results will surprise me.

What will the criteria be?

Impact/ Capturing its time 10
Popularity 10
Critical Acclaim10
Consistency/ No weakspots 10
Extent to which it reflects/encapsulates artists 5
Packaging (eg Name, Cover etc) 5
How it makes me feel 10
Unity 10
Artistic Achievement10
Timelessness/Longevity 10
Breadth/Range including range of talent 10

I know, I know, utterly daft - I'm going to give 10 for all those and so each album will get a score out of 100 and I'll list them. And what albums will I pick? Will I veer towards personal favourites when they have no real critical mass behind them eg 'The World Won't End' by the Pernice Brothers. Well, I'll try not to. Oh, this is going to useless. Anyway, here we go ...

... right, I've done it. I'll tell you how it went down.

I began to take the task seriously and try to be as fair as possible, so I poured through various lists and books to make sure I handn't missed much. I went through the Rolling Stone Greatest 500 Albums of All Time (jesus, it's a great magazine but their lists are fogeyish), the Q Top 100, all the NME Albums of the Year, Uncut Albums of the Year, the Mercury Winners, Grammy Winners, I asked one or two other people for their thoughts.

But of course there were problems. I had to have listened to the album properly - so there is quite a lack of representation in pop, dance, hip-hop, Krafwerk, Pet Shop Boys, Jay-Z, Underworld, whoever you like. If it were songs/singles, it would be different, I know plenty of  these artists' songs, but i just haven't listened to their albums. Sorry.

And personal taste did come into it. U2 aren't on the list, or Never Mind the Bollocks, for example. But, generally, my points system rather weighted against personal taste. Only 10% was actually how it made me feel, which, actually, actually, when it all comes down to it, is the only thing that really matters.

If that had been the only criterion, the winner would probably have been Gold Against the Soul by the Manic Street Preachers, and you know, that is NOT one of the best albums of all time, but, gosh, it made me feel something when i used to listen to it.

So I went through 140 albums, a few personal favourites included but generally "consensus" classics. Scores have ranged from 94 to 64 - the one that got 64, Surf's Up by The Beach Boys, probably shouldn't have been on the list, but as an example of how "fair" I think I've been, one of the lowest scores ended up being 'The World Won't End' by the Pernice Brothers (mentioned above) which happens to be one of my own personal five favourites in the world ever.

This was not a list where the alt-country middleweights have flourished.

The list may well be accused of being a little bland, but so be it. Remember the criteria.

Impact/ Capturing its time 10
Popularity 10
Critical Acclaim10
Consistency/ No weakspots 10
Extent to which it reflects/encapsulates artists 5
Packaging (eg Name, Cover etc) 5
How it makes me feel 10
Unity 10
Artistic Achievement10
Timelessness/Longevity 10
Breadth/Range including range of talent 10
There were a lot of ties, and where there were ties, I will use personal taste to rank the artists, if that's ok.

I'll stop short of 101, so my list will be

THE GREATEST 51 ALBUMS OF ALL TIME (hohum)


Revolver - The Beatles
1
Automatic for the people - REM
2
Blue - Joni Mitchell
3
OK Computer - Radiohead
4
Ziggy Stardust - David Bowie
5
Grace - Jeff Buckley
6
Come on Feel the Illinoise - Sufjan Stevens
7
The Velvet Underground and Nico - The Velvet Underground
8
Tapestry - Carole King
9
Rubber Soul - The Beatles
10
Searching for the Young Soul Rebels - Dexys Midnight Runners
11
Have one on Me - Joanna Newsom
12
Is This It - The Strokes
13
Astral Weeks - Van Morrison
14
London Calling - The Clash
15
Yankee Hotel Foxtrot - Wilco
16
The ArchAndroid - Janelle Monae
17
Songs in the Key of life - Stevie Wonder
18
Ys - Joanna Newsom
19
If You're feeling Sinister - Belle and Sebastian
20
Talking Book - Stevie Wonder
21
Times they are a Changin - Bob Dylan
22
Pet Sounds - The Beach Boys
23
Blonde on Blonde - Bob Dylan
24
Hour of the Bewilderbeast - Badly Drawn Boy
25
Definitely Maybe - Oasis
26
The Stone Roses - The Stone Roses
27
Forever Changes - Love
28
Freewheelin Bob Dylan - Bob Dylan
29
Fuzzy Logic - Super Furry Animals
30
It takes a nation of millions to Hold Us Back - Public Enemy
31
Nevermind - Nirvana
32
Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes
33
Let England Shake - PJ Harvey
34
The White Album - The Beatles
35
Sound of Silver - LCD Soundsystem
36
Parklife - Blur
37
Songs of Leonard Cohen - Leonard Cohen
38
The Boatman's Call - Nick Cave
39
Everything Must Go - Manic Street Preachers
40
A Ghost is Born - Wilco
41
22 Dreams - Paul Weller
42
Moondance - Van Morrison
43
What's the Story, Morning Glory? - Oasis
44
Blood on the Tracks - Bob Dylan
45
Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space - Spiritualized
46
Funeral - Arcade Fire
47
Thriller - Michael Jackson
48
Bringing it all Back home - Bob Dylan
49
Abbey Road - The Beatles
50
Blur - Blur
51=
Grievous Angel - Gram Parsons
51=
The Soft Bulletin - The Flaming Lips
51=

Pretty safe, eh? A few ties at the end. I'm not surprised by the Top 2 - I'm not even, as such, a massive REM fan, but i do think that album is an extraordinary unifying achievement without a fault, and I think it's ok to have "the greatest band" at their most fruitful, tuneful and imaginative at Number 1.

If anyone's interested in the full working and full scores, get in touch, and please tell me what i've missed. There are some notable omissions, like 'Sgt Pepper's', which i think a lot of people share my view of being hit-and-miss (it finished 63rd). Also, no Rolling Stones, another band i've mainly enjoyed through songs, not albums, though I do actually like Exile on Main Street a lot.

It really has veered quite a long way from personal preference, which is quite fun really.
If you're interested, my Favourite 10 would be something like (not in order)

Blue - Joni Mitchell
The World Won't End - The Pernice Brothers
Have One on Me - Joanna Newsom
Blood on the Tracks - Bob Dylan
More Adventurous - Rilo Kiley
Grace - Jeff Buckley
No More Shall We Part - Nick Cave
Searching for the Young Soul Rebels - Dexys
Van Occupanther - Midlake
London Calling - The Clash

though five of those could be different on any given night.

This has been fun. I'll do one more post, and then I'll get back to the Songs ...


2 comments:

  1. Best ellpsis ever!
    And the post I have been waiting for.
    I do not know Janelle Monae, you'll have to post about her one day. And I sincerely do not believe that Ms Newsom, for all her talents (and indeed I like her albums just fine) is really a double-entry artist on this list.
    For what it's worth, I don't think any one Pet Shop Boys of Kraftwerk offering would trouble this list. Possibly the Human League's 'Dare' or Depeche Mode's 'Violator'?

    Pleasing to see what, at a glance, looks like a decent selection of albums from across the decades.

    More maths, please. And do we get to see the albums that made the 140 (i.e. those 'greatest ever albums' that you happen to be intimate with?) Because your blog needs more lists.

    Where did the Queen is Dead place?

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  2. It's quite good, I was genuinely surprised by some of the results - like what that Paul Weller album is doing in there - it scored so highly on eclecticism and imagination and conception, but one key fact i didn't score for was simply "How catchy the songs are!" in which case it would have plummeted.
    Ha! The Queen is Dead was 74th, it really lost out badly cos i think 2 of its 10 songs are real blights. Janelle Monae is RnB. It's an amazing album. Amazing. Yes, i really do think Newsom does deserve to be there, and i'm a little surprised Have One on Me is not higher as i think she's working at the highest level of artistry of anyone this century. Just amazing. Albeit squeaky and annoying.

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