Comments on: Another musical debate

Another musical debate

pyramid termite — Fri, 21 Nov 2003 22:54:08 -0800

Rolling Stone's 500 greatest albums. Not a bad list at all, but I'm sure that some of us will find something they missed ...

By: y2karl

y2karl — Fri, 21 Nov 2003 23:09:42 -0800

Colossal Youth - Young Marble Giants

By: muckster

muckster — Fri, 21 Nov 2003 23:12:46 -0800

Are these "Beatles" something I need to have a record player to know about?

By: y2karl

y2karl — Fri, 21 Nov 2003 23:17:39 -0800

A brain stem will suffice.

By: MiguelCardoso

MiguelCardoso — Fri, 21 Nov 2003 23:27:08 -0800

How embarrassing - I seem to have all these records. Most of them bought twice. And here was I thinking I was a free spirit or something. Turns out I'm a museum piece. Or a boring archivist. Very depressing.

By: iamck

iamck — Fri, 21 Nov 2003 23:44:58 -0800

341. Play, Moby

By: Dillonlikescookies

Dillonlikescookies — Sat, 22 Nov 2003 00:13:58 -0800

The thing about list like these is that they always concentrate on the music of the author's generation. I feel like they've included all the popular bands they had while growing up, and albums from other times just to make the list seem more balanced. Having said that, yeah not a bad list. They should have a competition to win all of them.

By: dgt

dgt — Sat, 22 Nov 2003 00:28:34 -0800

Sing the Sorrow - AFI. that's my call. geez, i haven't commented in months.

By: keswick

keswick — Sat, 22 Nov 2003 00:46:14 -0800

Son Volt, Trace

By: feelinglistless

feelinglistless — Sat, 22 Nov 2003 01:04:52 -0800

Boy For You Astrid There's a Wild Thing in the House Pal Shazar Sings Salvador Poe Lisa Ekdahl

By: SilentSalamander

SilentSalamander — Sat, 22 Nov 2003 01:08:55 -0800

Man, lists like this really piss me off.

By: shoos

shoos — Sat, 22 Nov 2003 01:17:52 -0800

This list is definitely in the top 10 of my list of tired lists.

By: shoos

shoos — Sat, 22 Nov 2003 01:19:06 -0800

A brain stem will suffice. Or perhaps a random assemblage of half-alive neurons.

By: Devils Slide

Devils Slide — Sat, 22 Nov 2003 02:23:02 -0800

I can't wait for the 500 Reasons Corporate Magazines Still Suck issue.

By: cadastral

cadastral — Sat, 22 Nov 2003 03:35:52 -0800

Ctrl+F "Slint" = Cannot Find "Slint" Ctrl+F "King Crimson" = Cannot find "King Crimson" Ctrl+F "Velvet" = Found "White Light/White Heat" But ALSO found Janet Jackson "the Velvet Rope" Ctrl+F "Pere Ubu" = Cannot Find "Pere Ubu" Ctrl+F "Faust" = Cannot Find "Faust" Ctrl+F "Greatest Hits" = NINE MATCHES I gave up pretty quickly. If anything was designed to get a music snob's hackles up, it's a "500 greatest albums" list without "spiderland" on it. Followed closely by inclusion of "greatest hits" albums. My dire need for lists like this seems to be in a perfect harmonic ballance with my need to anally pour over them and tear them apart. My name is Cadaster, and I'm addicted to "Greatest Albums" lists. And Devils Slide is exactly right... Corporate magazines still suck.

By: HTuttle

HTuttle — Sat, 22 Nov 2003 03:35:53 -0800

Caring about rock is about as timely as caring about ragtime. Move on already!

By: stavrosthewonderchicken

stavrosthewonderchicken — Sat, 22 Nov 2003 04:07:32 -0800

Slow's self-titled debut (and only) isn't on anybody's best-of list (other than the personal ones of some alt-community refugees from the mid-80's Vancouver scene), but it oughta be, by golly. Is there really a favorite unknown band for every person on the planet? I didn't even bother looking, as the last RS list linked to from MeFi was one entry per (ad-laden) page, with no other nav option, but I hope there was some Replacements there, at least. Caring about rock is about as timely as caring about ragtime. Well, that's pretty dumb. *whacks the cowbell, wallowing in the other kind of dumb, the caring-about-shit-kind, which is way more fun*

By: stavrosthewonderchicken

stavrosthewonderchicken — Sat, 22 Nov 2003 04:12:15 -0800

Slow. Er, and the album was non-eponymously titled 'Against The Glass'. Sorry, I was drunk at the time.

By: emf

emf — Sat, 22 Nov 2003 04:14:03 -0800

The Sex Pistols and Costello should be in the top 20, at least. I like Miles Davis, but he had nothing to do with rock, and In A Silent Way is his best, anyway. IMHO.

By: thrakintosh

thrakintosh — Sat, 22 Nov 2003 04:50:57 -0800

500 Worst Magazines of All Time: 1. Rolling Stone

By: Blue Stone

Blue Stone — Sat, 22 Nov 2003 04:58:44 -0800

I have my own personal top 500 albums of all time. Would MeFi like me to share? </bore>

By: attackthetaxi

attackthetaxi — Sat, 22 Nov 2003 05:09:49 -0800

It's all one song.

By: stavrosthewonderchicken

stavrosthewonderchicken — Sat, 22 Nov 2003 05:14:40 -0800

I have my own personal top 500 albums of all time. Would MeFi like me to share? Why not? One of the reasons I love the 'filter is that the people here introduce me to stuff (which occasionally includes music) that I didn't know about before.

By: stavrosthewonderchicken

stavrosthewonderchicken — Sat, 22 Nov 2003 05:17:31 -0800

(And, er, yeah, I realize the 'links to interesting things on the web' guideline for posts, but there's no reason in-thread to not selflink to your own list, hosted offsite, if it exists.)

By: angry modem

angry modem — Sat, 22 Nov 2003 05:34:42 -0800

That list sucks. if they cut off the first 250, randomized the rest, you'd have "The 250 most decent, horrible, or mediocre albums ever made."

By: angry modem

angry modem — Sat, 22 Nov 2003 05:35:21 -0800

Except for: 412. Mezzanine, Massive Attack :)

By: salmacis

salmacis — Sat, 22 Nov 2003 05:37:29 -0800

Who are they trying to kid? I mean, there's no way the Rolling Stones have released more than 20 or 30 albums...

By: birdherder

birdherder — Sat, 22 Nov 2003 05:43:49 -0800

This list does show the dissonance that is Rolling Stone magazine. Most of the top 200 or so songs are about 30 years old. At the same time the magazine goes out of its way to have Brittney and Christina and Justin on the cover. Part of the magazine is living in the past, the other is trying to be young hip and cool. To me it seems to miss the mark in both cases. I still read RS from time to time, but it is for the non-music related content. And Peter Travers' movie reviews.

By: Stynxno

Stynxno — Sat, 22 Nov 2003 06:05:25 -0800

hey, they have the clash at #8 and the ramones at #33... you have to give them credit for that at least.

By: jpoulos

jpoulos — Sat, 22 Nov 2003 06:27:29 -0800

I like Miles Davis, but he had nothing to do with rock ???!!!

By: Busithoth

Busithoth — Sat, 22 Nov 2003 06:49:50 -0800

hey, they have the clash at #8 and the ramones at #33... you have to give them credit for that at least. Stynxno The only credit I give them is the ability to keep with a bad idea to the end. (who can read through 500 subjective items that'll be reposted in a year anyway? is anyone keeping track of an album's going up or down this list?) man.

By: MegoSteve

MegoSteve — Sat, 22 Nov 2003 06:51:13 -0800

It's odd that The Bends (110) is ranked higher than OK Computer (162).

By: andrew cooke

andrew cooke — Sat, 22 Nov 2003 07:19:16 -0800

is it possible to see all 500 at once? you can imagine the editors meeting: "hmmm. do you think people will say it's all dad-rock?" "oh, hadn't thought of that. what other music is there?" "errr... lemme think a minute..." "jazz, that's music, right?" "oh, right, yeah. do you know any jazz musicians?" "errr... lemme think a minute..." "that guy with the trumpet. smiles? wiles?" "oh yeah! miles davies. or davis. my brother-in-law has one of his albums. i'll search amazon. ... ok, i've stuck a few in the list." "ok, that's jazz done. what other music is there?" "err... lemme think a minute... that hoppity-hip stuff." "yeah, err. hip-hop, right? so who does that?" "hang on, i'll call my grandson." etc etc.

By: alms

alms — Sat, 22 Nov 2003 07:45:22 -0800

Quote Baby Boomers top 500 albums, including a few that they've heard their kids listen or seen headlines about in the New York Times. /Quote

By: stbalbach

stbalbach — Sat, 22 Nov 2003 07:51:33 -0800

At the bottom it says Buy the Rolling Stone 500 at rhino.com You can be sure, this list is biased in many ways.

By: psmealey

psmealey — Sat, 22 Nov 2003 07:55:52 -0800

This should more appropriately be called the "500 Most Overrated Albums in Descending Order". What kind of effete baby boomer/geezer would put Sgt. Pepper above Revolver, Hard Day's Night, Rubber Soul etc? Did they pull Ben Fong-Torres out of mothballs for this crap? The sheer number of truly great albums that has gone missing here is insulting to anyone with a halfway decent collection. Notably: Killing Joke, Killing Joke; Mission of Burma, Vs. and Neutral Milk Hotel, In the Aeroplane Over the Sea. Anyone else?

By: damnitkage

damnitkage — Sat, 22 Nov 2003 08:06:18 -0800

How sick am I of hearing about Bob Dylan, the Beatles, etc...blah, blah, fucking blah. For christ sake, Dylan and the Beatles where nine million years ago. Listening to Dylan is like having a scalding hot molasses enema. Yeah, it's slow and painful, but it's good for you. Right. Kiss my ass Rolling Stone. Christ, why don't they just give it up and let Jann go cavort with whatever his sexual preclivites are these days.

By: mischief

mischief — Sat, 22 Nov 2003 08:10:55 -0800

As entertaining as reading all this faux indignation is (poseurs!), this list is a far better compilation than RS's recent guitarist list.

By: cmonkey

cmonkey — Sat, 22 Nov 2003 08:13:51 -0800

"Stations of the Crass" by Crass should be in the top 20, at least. "Too Dark Park" by Skinny Puppy, too. And where the hell is Iron Maiden in the list? Damn baby boomers. On preview: what damnitkage said.

By: psmealey

psmealey — Sat, 22 Nov 2003 08:16:55 -0800

Faux indignation? faux indignation?? I can assure you, sir, my indignation is entirely vrai. I unplug my nostrils at that comment.

By: pyramid termite

pyramid termite — Sat, 22 Nov 2003 08:23:33 -0800

My impression of the list was that it did a fairly good job of representing various genres of rock, although it is rather weighted towards the 60s. What struck me is that there's practically no electronic dance music on it. That's a serious omission. Don't they consider that rock? If they're going to throw Miles Davis and John Coltrane in there, why not 808 State and Orb? The Beatles and Bob Dylan get overrated because they were the "first", at least on the surface of things. Of course, anyone who's rummaged around through obscure records of that time will realize that there were other artists who were close to making the same innovations or DID make them. Much of the innovation was technical - 4 and 8 track recording were happening in the 60s regardless and other bands were innovating with this equipment. The Beatles and Dylan were excellent, but I think they're given too much credit - they were not the only musical leaders of that time and were led as much as they were leading.

By: languagehat

languagehat — Sat, 22 Nov 2003 08:30:16 -0800

I like Miles Davis, but he had nothing to do with rock ???!!! Even more ???!!!-worthy is the followup: and In A Silent Way is his best, anyway. I like In A Silent Way too, but I don't think any real Miles fan would consider it his best. Ever heard his '50s quintet? His mid-'60s quintet? Kind of Blue?? Oh, and how many more of these "hey, here's a list of the X best Ys ever -- discuss!" front page posts are we going to have? If you really, really like discussing albums, there's always MusicFilter, ya know.

By: jed

jed — Sat, 22 Nov 2003 09:41:43 -0800

My personal take for missing album would be Jawbreaker's seminal 24 Hour Revenge Therapy, but I realize that I'm kind of a young'un on MeFi. In general, these lists strike me as a way for lazy RS editors to fill the magazine and generate some controversy.

By: soplerfo

soplerfo — Sat, 22 Nov 2003 09:50:27 -0800

this is the first appearance of Tom Waits on the list: 339. The Heart of Saturday Night, Tom Waits Rain Dogs is at 397? words fail me...

By: Mayor Curley

Mayor Curley — Sat, 22 Nov 2003 10:07:11 -0800

anyone else? Billy Bragg's Talking With The Taxman About Poetry generally makes any British list's Top 50. I guess it's too political for the modern, money-stuffed-up-his-rectum Jan Wenner and his shill piece.

By: kirkaracha

kirkaracha — Sat, 22 Nov 2003 10:38:23 -0800

Is there really a favorite unknown band for every person on the planet? Mine's The Connells.

By: Hildago

Hildago — Sat, 22 Nov 2003 10:42:20 -0800

Yeah, soplerfo, I stopped paying attention to the list when I saw that Waits wasn't in the top 200. I just assumed they didn't put him on the list, cause I didn't even look at the rest. "Bob Dylan and the Beatles are soooo old! None of their music was even randomly generated using fractal geometry as a random seed! Man, they play real instruments! How totally lame, dude!" "Yeah, most of this stuff would never get used in a movie trailer." "Not to mention on Tony Hawk Pro Skater! "Who are they sponsored by anyway, Geritol?!" "LOL!"

By: kindall

kindall — Sat, 22 Nov 2003 10:43:50 -0800

anally pour over them Now that's a visual I didn't need. Billy Bragg's Talking With The Taxman About Poetry generally makes any British list's Top 50. I guess it's too political for the modern, money-stuffed-up-his-rectum Jan Wenner and his shill piece. Another possible reason is that it's a terrible album. Can't stand to listen to it.

By: bonaldi

bonaldi — Sat, 22 Nov 2003 13:51:05 -0800

I liked a song once, when I was young.

By: Jimbob

Jimbob — Sat, 22 Nov 2003 14:24:11 -0800

Shameful. "Loveless" by My Bloody Valentine makes it to only 219, Fear of a Black Planet is at 300, and Sonic Youth's "Daydream Nation" sneaks in at a pathetic 329 (in my opinion, it should sneak in someone just behind Miles Davis's "Kind of Blue" at the very least).

By: hoborg

hoborg — Sat, 22 Nov 2003 14:45:20 -0800

psmealey - It hurts me to say it, but I'd put On Avery Island above Aeroplane. Still, huge kudos for both knowing about and mentioning NMH. oh yeah: Rolling Stone/Music/Indignation sucks. How dare they put a Randy Newman album above Siamese Dream? We all know musical tastes are different - even the editors at Rolling Stone. So instead of suggesting CDs that should have gone onto the list, why not suggest albums that shouldn't, but you like anyway? Sting - Dream of the Blue Turtles

By: y2karl

y2karl — Sat, 22 Nov 2003 14:48:15 -0800

Yeah, and Monkey Man by the Maytals should be in the top 20, at least...

By: Eekacat

Eekacat — Sat, 22 Nov 2003 15:04:50 -0800

Another sucky list by a sucky magazine. No Frank Zappa? You've got to be kidding me! This whole farce should be ignored for that alone! (I remember when Rolling stone was a pretty decent magazine many years ago and it was printed on newsprint even)

By: L. Ron McKenzie

L. Ron McKenzie — Sat, 22 Nov 2003 15:29:28 -0800

Fun House should be the highest ranked Stooges album. They have it ranked third, which is clueless. All Things Must Pass ranked ~430 with stuff like Dookie ranked a couple hundred places higher is absurd. But they're just trolling, so I guess I'm a sucker/fish.

By: squirrel

squirrel — Sat, 22 Nov 2003 18:20:34 -0800

Well, I NEVER! Those lovable moptops appear THIRCE before Exile on Mainstreet! And Tom Waits doesn't show up until the 300s, and then it's "Heart of Saturday Night"! Swordfishtrombones much? *hastens to cancel subscription, realizes he doesn't have one, puts on #169, rolls fatty*

By: the fire you left me

the fire you left me — Sat, 22 Nov 2003 19:21:02 -0800

Ah yes, Nine Ince Nails, but no Autechre. Dadrock 101, this list.

By: jalexei

jalexei — Sat, 22 Nov 2003 19:54:16 -0800

Ctrl+F "Pere Ubu" = Cannot Find "Pere Ubu" Thank God -

By: emf

emf — Sat, 22 Nov 2003 20:57:51 -0800

WTF? etc. Call me an iconoclast. I'm not that shook on Dusty In Memphis, either, much as I love her voice.

By: TomSophieIvy

TomSophieIvy — Sat, 22 Nov 2003 21:14:06 -0800

Besides the dancing about architecture aspect of such lists, I'm a bit of a sucker for them in a High Fidelity kind of way. Including box sets and greatest hits collections is cheating, as well is including albums that you can only name one or two songs from. Sure RS is showing their age (and so are the critics), but there is something to be said for the consistency with which some albums are voted in the Top 20. (Insert snappy retort here about the masses and taste. You know you want to.) Until recently I rarely noticed many of the top 100 in any quantity at used CD stores - I've seen lots of stores pay well for used Beatles CDs and have seen many stores pay $0.50 for a year old Green Day or No Doubt CD. As for the notable omissions, I'd name Cab Calloway, Gene Vincent's Blue Jean Bop, Hypocrisy is the Greatest Luxury by the Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy, nearly anything by Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Gordon by BNL, JJ Cale, Air's Moon Safari, The Seeds . . .

By: Slagman

Slagman — Sat, 22 Nov 2003 22:06:46 -0800

They forgot: 69 Love Songs - Magnetic Fields Not a single "They Might Be Giants" album, for shame. I'd second the Neutral Milk Hotel comments. Sure, the Beatles were great, but so overplayed that I can't bear to hear them anymore -- but I still like Dylan, as long as it's not the greatest hits stuff, Like a Rolling Stone etc. I am one of the few people I know my age (early 40's) who buys new artists and albums (or knows how to download'em from the internet)....My impression of this list is there's a bunch of respectable 60's choices, then some skimpy picks from later decades that seem based mainly on sales and hype -- ie, the Strokes. A good album, but one of the 500 best? Too soon to tell. Ask me if I'm still playing it in five years. Still, that could account for the lack of recent music -- if one can even accept the premise of such a list, then one has to concede that it's too soon to judge anything from the last five years. But I'll throw one out anyway: Belle & Sebastian's Catastrophe Waitress will be on this list some day. And Hail to the Thief is better than OK Computer. And The Bends should not be on the list. And where the hell is the Leonard Cohen? One more thing: No Doubt -- holy crap. No way.

By: KevinSkomsvold

KevinSkomsvold — Sat, 22 Nov 2003 23:18:52 -0800

By: furiousthought

furiousthought — Sun, 23 Nov 2003 00:04:03 -0800

You know, screw this "best 500 albums in rock" crap. What I want to see is a list of the 500 most ass-kicking albums in rock. The difference is clear. The time is now.

By: crasspastor

crasspastor — Sun, 23 Nov 2003 03:08:00 -0800

The day The Smiths wind up on a Rhino compilation is the day I slit my wrists.

By: arto

arto — Sun, 23 Nov 2003 03:19:57 -0800

You won't want to pick up a copy of "How Soon Was Then: Pretentious Wrist-Slitting Greats of the '80s", then. Unless somebody nicked all your Joy Division albums, of course.

By: hilker

hilker — Sun, 23 Nov 2003 14:47:15 -0800

Add Computer World and The Man Machine (at least) by Kraftwerk, add Apollo and Before and After Science (at least) by Brian Eno (and cut Here Come the Warm Jets), add Spirit of Eden and Laughing Stock by Talk Talk, add Future Days and Ege Bamyasi (at least) by Can, Major Malfuction by Keith LeBlanc (or something by the Tackhead crew), plus a bunch of electronic stuff ((Who's Afraid Of?) The Art of Noise!, Frequencies, Chill Out, Bytes, 76 14, Music Has the Right to Children, etc).

By: sgt.serenity

sgt.serenity — Sun, 23 Nov 2003 15:55:15 -0800

cant seem to see syd barretts first album in here......

By: biffa

biffa — Mon, 24 Nov 2003 02:29:40 -0800

And where the hell is Iron Maiden in the list? I 'd just seen Def Leppard on the list and thought F*!k, I bet there's some Iron Maiden crap in there too. Where, I would like to know is Infected, by The The? (Looking up this link reveals that the new CD version has an additional track, so I may have to update from my old vinyl version - also that amazon's no1 reviewer agrees with me)

By: Ptrin

Ptrin — Tue, 25 Nov 2003 17:34:29 -0800

343. Bat Out of Hell, Meat Loaf 381. Modern Lovers, Modern Lovers WHAT. THE. FUCK. ROLLING STONE?