Still, I come to praise the NME, which served me so well as I was growing up, and, though I hardly get it anymore, strikes me as, on reflection, one of the fairest, purest, most honest and unpseudy music publications out there.
So, sure, the Queen is Dead by the Smiths came Number 1. That's the NME. No problem.
You may recall I did my own list a few months ago 51 Albums, which in my arrogance was an attempt to come up with a DEFINITIVE list of my own rather than just my favourites.
So hopefully the lists stack up pretty well. Do they? I employed various factors which occasionally produced slightly surprising results in my list. Funnily enough, one of those was how low the NME's top album The Queen is Dead came in my list, in the 70s. I'm surprised at that looking back. It's an album I love and it's certainly been a favourite at times. However I stand by it having 2 or 3 total dud tracks which seriously counts against it. Come on, Vicar in a Tutu and Some Girls are Bigger than Others are not even filler, they're active horror.
In terms of the NME's 500, I own or have owned in their entirety almost exactly half and own some part via downloads of another 130, so I think I'm pretty well placed to compare.
Anyway, let's look at my Top 50 and the NME's Top 50 and see where they fell in the other list.
NME
1 The Queen is Dead (David's list 77)
2 Revolver (1, hurrah!)
3 Hunky Dory (68)
4 Is This It (13)
5 The Velvet Underground and Nico (8)
6 Different Class (unplaced, oops)
7 The Stone Roses (27)
8 Doolittle (unplaced, to be fair, i mainly came at the Pixies via Greatest Hits and never have been able to quite get into their albums)
9 The White Album (35)
10 Definitely Maybe (26)
11 Nevermind (32)
12 Horses (unplaced, never dug this album)
13 Funeral (47)
14 Low (unplaced)
15 Let England Shake (34)
16 Closer (unplaced, will never get this band's status)
17 It Takes A Nation of Millions To Hold Us Back (31)
18 Loveless (unplaced, sorry, never got this)
19 Whatever People Say I am that's What I'm Not (102)
20 OK Computer (4)
21 My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (unplaced, and I've never heard it all the way through)
22 Parklife (37)
23 Ziggy Stardust (5)
24 Exile on Main Street (90)
25 What's Going On (112, this album is OVER RATED!)
26 Pet Sounds (23)
27 Screamadelica (unplaced, I hate this band, but I'm clearly wrong, i do know this is a great album)
28 Back to Black (unplaced)
29 Marquee Moon (unplaced)
30 Enter the Wu-Tang (60)
31 Dog Man Star (unplaced)
32 Paul's Boutique (unplaced, and, as with Kanye, haven't listened to)
33 Modern Life is Rubbish (75)
34 Abbey Road (50)
35 In Utero (unplaced)
36 Blood on the Tracks (45)
37 Forever Changes (28)
38 Never Mind the Bollocks (unplaced)
39 London Calling (15)
40 Unknown Pleasures (unplaced)
41 Daydream Nation (unplaced, and have never listened to all the way through)
42 Innervisions (79)
43 Rubber Soul (10)
44 The Holy Bible (91)
45 Parallel Lines (58)
46 Debut (unplaced, again, an artist I haven't really experienced via album)
47 Strangeways Here We Come (unplaced)
48 Hounds of Love (unplaced, i do like it though)
49 Sound of Silver (36)
50 Dusty in Memphis (142)
Not bad
Here's my Top 50 and where the NME put them
| 1 Revolver - The Beatles (NME 2) | ||
| 2 Automatic for the people - REM (65) | ||
| 3 Blue - Joni Mitchell (63) | ||
| 4 OK Computer - Radiohead (20) | ||
| 5 Ziggy Stardust - David Bowie (23) | ||
| 6 Grace - Jeff Buckley (86) | ||
| 7 Come on Feel the Illinoise - Sufjan Stevens (138) | ||
| 8 The Velvet Underground and Nico - The Velvet Underground (5) | ||
| 9 Tapestry - Carole King (82) | ||
| 10 Rubber Soul - The Beatles (10) | ||
| 11 Searching for the Young Soul Rebels - Dexys Midnight Runners (118) | ||
| 12 Have one on Me - Joanna Newsom (unplaced) | ||
| 13 Is This It - The Strokes (4) | ||
| 14 Astral Weeks - Van Morrison (68) | ||
| 15 London Calling - The Clash (39) | ||
| 16 Yankee Hotel Foxtrot - Wilco (458) | ||
| 17 The ArchAndroid - Janelle Monae (unplaced) | ||
| 18 Songs in the Key of life - Stevie Wonder (172) | ||
| 19 Ys - Joanna Newsom (unplaced) | ||
| 20 If You're feeling Sinister - Belle and Sebastian (113) | ||
| 21 Talking Book - Stevie Wonder (unplaced, bafflingly) | ||
| 22 Times they are a Changin - Bob Dylan (likewise) | ||
| 23 Pet Sounds - The Beach Boys (26) | ||
| 24 Blonde on Blonde - Bob Dylan (62) | ||
| 25 Hour of the Bewilderbeast - Badly Drawn Boy (unplaced) | ||
| 26 Definitely Maybe - Oasis (10) | ||
| The Stone Roses - The Stone Roses (7) | ||
| 28 Forever Changes - Love (37) | ||
| 29 Freewheelin Bob Dylan - Bob Dylan (306) | ||
| 30 Fuzzy Logic - Super Furry Animals ( 245) | ||
| 31 It takes a nation of millions to Hold Us Back - Public Enemy (17) | ||
| 32 Nevermind - Nirvana (11) | ||
| 33 Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes (unplaced) | ||
| 34 Let England Shake - PJ Harvey (15) | ||
| 35 The White Album - The Beatles (9) | ||
| 36 Sound of Silver - LCD Soundsystem (49) | ||
| 37 Parklife - Blur (22) | ||
| 38 Songs of Leonard Cohen - Leonard Cohen (232) | ||
| 39 The Boatman's Call - Nick Cave (257) | ||
| 40 Everything Must Go - Manic Street Preachers (182) | ||
| 41 A Ghost is Born - Wilco (unplaced) | ||
| 42 22 Dreams - Paul Weller (unplaced) | ||
| 43 Moondance - Van Morrison (unplaced) | ||
| 44 What's the Story, Morning Glory? - Oasis (67) | ||
| 45 Blood on the Tracks - Bob Dylan (36) | ||
| 46 Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space - Spiritualized (156) | ||
| 47 Funeral - Arcade Fire (13) | ||
| 48 Thriller - Michael Jackson (131) | ||
| 49 Bringing it all Back home - Bob Dylan (73) | ||
| 50 Abbey Road - The Beatles (34) |
So not bad, eh? A few misses on both side, but I can't squabble too much with the NME. They're more Anglocentric than me, but why shouldn't they be?
My list is better though, isn't it? And certainly more DEFINITIVE!
I'm interested in the close parallels between your and the NMEs' similar rankings of older albums - Beatles, Velvet Undergorund, Dylan, Love, Beach Boys etc.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if it's easier to appreciate/evaluate an album when you know beforehand that it's supposed to be great, rather than having to react to a new piece of music and all the context that goes with it, and then sift out the nuances of emotional response when judging it?
And yes, your definitive list IS better, not because I agree with it as such, but because I think your list of criteria is bolder, more honest and, crucially, statistically more valid than adding up and dividing a bunch of contributors' own lists. (Unless, of course, each critic themselves drew up their own lists using criteria similar to your own, which strikes me as unlikely).
Bayes, man, BAYES.
That's a very good point. Consensus has not yet emerged on the great albums of recent times, and there are various diverse media who'll say something completely different.
ReplyDeleteI appear to be wildly out in my high placing of the Janelle Monae album and the Newsom albums, but I've seen other (either American or Americana-focused) publications which DO see those among the great albums of modern times