Top 100 albums of all time

Sorry for the delay in writing, good readers. Life has been nuts. Last Saturday was Logan's last baseball game (he was the bat boy since breaking his arm) in the morning, and the end-of-season party in the evening. Work, since I got back from North Carolina, has been insanely busy. I haven't had time to think, let alone blog.

Enough of the excuses.

Back on June 2nd, The Scotsman posted the results of a poll for a book about British hit singles. The poll asked people what they thought was the best albums of all time. The results are quite surprising. Topping the list was Definitely Maybe, by Oasis. I always thought of British radio as being insipidly infested with pop, but that was from my trip to Scotland in '92 and what I've seen of British culture in television shows. Pop music is rather under represented in the poll. Oh, sure, Michael Jackson (when he was still black) is at #35, but there are surprisingly few other pop albums on the list.

There is a strong 80s and 90s presence. Part of this is refreshing, having grown up with "top 100 album" countdowns on Toronto radio during holiday long weekends, where nothing good seemed to come out after 1980. Part of it is a little unfortunate: the Spice Girls at #89 but Jimi Hendrix at #98? Even so, a number of classic 70s albums made the list, proving that the taint of disco could not hide the good stuff that came from that decade.

My own list would differ, having been exposed to more excellent Canadian music than the average Brit. There's almost nothing from Motown or the late 50s (which, to be honest, were better known for singles, not albums). Eighties New Wave bands are overrated, in my opinion. The Who doesn't show up until woefully low on the list. I understand that most non-Canadians don't have the sophisticated palate to appreciate The Tragically Hip, but no Rush??? There are a few groups I've never heard of (Kaiser Chefs; are Manic Street Preachers even a group?) and a few albums I want but never got around to buying (Radiohead's OK Computer, and Green Day's Dookie). Overall though, I like the list.

Below is the list, in order. I've bolded the albums I have on CD, and italicized those I have on vinyl... I'm not sure why, just thought someone might wonder if I had anything on the list. I notice that I have greatest hits CDs that cover most of the songs on a number of albums. I also realize there are a few I have on vinyl that for some reason I never got on CD. Need to hunt some of those down (particularly ELO's Out of the Blue, which was the first rock album I ever bought).

[Edit: Alana wants me to add albums she has, too. You see, our albums are completely comingled. Our musical tastes are so close that I can't remember when we last bought a CD for just one of us... though I do want to get the last Tragically Hip album.]

The Scotsman article is here: http://news.scotsman.com/music.cfm?id=813472006

1. Definitely Maybe, Oasis
2. Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Heart's Club Band, The Beatles
3. Revolver, The Beatles
4. OK Computer, Radiohead
5. (What's The Story) Morning Glory?, Oasis
6. Nevermind, Nirvana
7. The Stone Roses, The Stone Roses
8. Dark Side Of The Moon, Pink Floyd
9. The Queen Is Dead, The Smiths
10. The Bends, Radiohead
11. The Joshua Tree, U2
12. London Calling, The Clash
13. The Beatles (The White Album), The Beatles
14. Abbey Road, The Beatles
15. Up The Bracket, The Libertines
16. Never Mind The Bollocks Here's The Sex Pistols, Sex Pistols
17. Four Symbols (Led Zeppelin IV), Led Zeppelin
18. The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars, David Bowie
19. A Night At The Opera, Queen
20. Is This It, The Strokes
21. Hot Fuss, The Killers
22. Pet Sounds, The Beach Boys
23. Grace, Jeff Buckley
24. The Holy Bible, Manic Street Preachers
25. Bat Out Of Hell, MeatLoaf
26. Appetite For Destruction, Guns 'N' Roses
27. Employment, Kaiser Chiefs
28. Rubber Soul, The Beatles
29. Rumours, Fleetwood Mac
30. The Libertines, The Libertines
31. Urban Hymns, The Verve
32. American Idiot, Green Day
33. A Rush Of Blood To The Head, Coldplay
34. Parklife, Blur
35. Thriller, Michael Jackson
36. The Wall, Pink Floyd
37. Automatic For The People, R.E.M.
38. Franz Ferdinand, Franz Ferdinand
39. Tubular Bells, Mike Oldfield
40. Achtung Baby, U2
41. Wish You Were Here, Pink Floyd
42. Exile On Main Street, The Rolling Stones
43. Bridge Over Troubled Water, Simon and Garfunkel
44. Led Zeppelin II, Led Zeppelin
45. Parallel Lines, Blondie
46. Brothers In Arms, Dire Straits
47. Blood On The Tracks, Bob Dylan
48. Hunky Dory, David Bowie
49. X&Y, Coldplay
50. Who's Next, The Who
51. Hopes And Fears, Keane
52. Parachutes, Coldplay
53. Arrival, Abba
54. Different Class, Pulp
55. The Velvet Underground & Nico, The Velvet Underground
56. Forever Changes, Love
57. What's Going On, Marvin Gaye
58. Let It Bleed, The Rolling Stones
59. Elephant, The White Stripes
60. Doolittle, Pixies
61. Absolution, Muse
62. Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, Elton John
63. Sheer Heart Attack, Queen
64. Come On Over, Shania Twain
65. Sign O The Times, Prince
66. Ten, Pearl Jam
67. Kasabian, Kasabian
68. Dookie, Green Day
69. Origin Of Symmetry, Muse
70. Hounds Of Love, Kate Bush
71. Blonde On Blonde, Bob Dylan
72. All Mod Cons, The Jam
73. Blue, Joni Mitchell
74. White Blood Cells, The White Stripes
75. Dog Man Star, Suede
76. Metallica (The Black Album), Metallica
77. Dare!, Human League
78. Closer, Joy Division
79. In Utero, Nirvana
80. Back In Black, AC/DC
81. Funeral, Arcade Fire
82. Up All Night, Razorlight
83. Ray Of Light, Madonna
84. Born To Run, Bruce Springsteen
85. Physical Graffiti, Led Zeppelin
86. Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not, Arctic Monkeys
87. A Day At The Races, Queen
88. The Lexicon Of Love, ABC
89. Spice, Spice Girls
90. Violator, Depeche Mode
91. Final Straw, Snow Patrol
92. Electric Warrior, T. Rex
93. Jagged Little Pill, Alanis Morissette
94. Unknown Pleasures, Joy Division
95. Kid A, Radiohead
96. Out Of The Blue, Electric Light Orchestra
97. The Smiths, The Smiths
98. Electric Ladyland, Jimi Hendrix
99. Rage Against The Machine, Rage Against The Machine
100. Hotel California, Eagles