Thank you! I remember reading their OG top 500 list in middle school, and if I remember correctly, they had 6 Beatles albums in their top 10. And I love me some Beatles, but I find it hard to believe that a seminal music magazine could point to only 4 artists/albums that have bested the Beatles’s 6th best album.
This is what I always hated about the top 100 lists from the big, established magazines. They always read more like "these are the albums that are required to be listed" — that is, for cultural impact above musical merit. I, too, love the Beatles, but I want to hear about the stuff that didn't break through the collective consciousness just as much as I wanted to hear about the blockbuster hits.
I mentioned on Kevin's version of this post how much lists stress me out to make. Part of it has to do with setting those kinds of expectations up front. Culturally impactful records ≠ best sounding records. Everyone else here has already talked and the need for hyperspecific criteria... all of which underscore just how Sisyphean of a task this is. I end up running on vibes in the end!
Totally agree. Cultural impact was part of my consideration, and once the top 50 of my list is cracked, my picks will start to be more agreeable. Like, I'm not gonna pretend that "Pet Sounds" isn't an influential and beautiful pop record (it also helps that I love it). But I wanted to throw in albums that I grew up with as well because there's a lot of awesome music being produced that can go toe-to-toe with the classics.
The issue with greatest albums lists whether they're done by music publications or readers polls is they always gravitate towards the safe option. I remember in 2022, I was going through the top 50 albums of the year lists from every major music site, and they were essentially the same list of albums but reshuffled. They all defaulted to picking Beyonce's "Renaissance" as #1. While it's a good album, it's the agreeable pick. Whenever I see these lists all blatantly trying to appeal to young urban left-leaning listeners, I do wonder what's the point of all these publications if they're surrendering any discernible taste and distinct POV to capture the same audience.
Well thought out rationale for the "here's why I'm doing this while acknowledging that's it's mostly arbitrary subjective taste" question. There's only a couple of your picks I'm familar with (Vampire Weekend, Bone) but those bode well for the others.
It's important to recognize when doing these kind of lists to have some self-awareness about it because I want the conversations to be more about why we appreciate certain albums instead of bickering over which one is better.
For music magazines, it would be more helpful to just have different genre-specific lists of widely acknowledged classics:
- Begin with a starter pack of 5-10 albums that are widely known and accessible
- Deep cuts that start to push the boundaries of the genre once the listener gets their feet wet
- Experimental or more abstract/demanding albums once the listener gets a good sampling of what to expect
These lists can evolve every 5 or so years as new music is released or previous albums are reevaluated. Sequencing lists this way makes them more focused and actually guides the user through a listening experience of different genres of music instead of sparking mindless internet arguments. Especially when a lot of these lists between the big music publications are more or less the same albums but reshuffled.
100%. One of my hangups about these Top 100s is how one decides all those interim steps. What's the spread between #82 and #81 ? Is #68 really "fourteen better" than #82 ? What does that even mean?
I lile your idea of Here's a List Of N great albums that a serious fan of Genre X should know.
As I already mentioned on Kevin’s version of this post, I’m REALLY looking forward to this series! I thought the Apple top 100 list was trash to put it kindly and can’t disagree with anything you’ve said about it.
I also appreciate you laying out your criteria for inclusion as it provides a good context to your thinking and your musical universe.
I’ve never given any thought to creating a top 100 list, that would be quite a challenge! I do have a list of eight Desert Island Discs, albums that I absolutely love, but not sure all of those would make a top 100 list as some of them are VERY subjective and it would be hard to justify them knocking legitimately objective top 100 albums out of the list.
A lot of new stuff here for me so I’ll spend some time exploring - thanks for posting the Spotify links. I don’t think I gave Solange’s album enough time, I need to go back and revisit it. Love your selection of Dots and Loops as it’s my favorite Stereolab album albeit I don’t have huge experience of their catalog.
Thank you! Yeah it was a really fun exercise. I knew it would be tough, but the final cuts felt like I was neglecting my own children lol. I definitely want to coordinate with Kevin to do an epilogue of albums that just missed the cut, because there are many more that could've easily gone in my final list.
The Solange album has aged like fine wine and I love it more every time I listen to it. "Dots and Loops" got me into Stereolab, and while their '90s run is all fantastic, it still remains my favorite.
Oh my god, I've spent the last 20-30 minutes on this piece, reliving memories and making new discoveries. I can tell I'm in for a real treat with this series you and Kevin have started. Can't wait to keep going!
I plan to write about this subject too: how my upbringing shaped my taste in music, though mine won’t necessarily be in list form. It’s interesting to consider though, especially because my musical taste is so eclectic. I’m just realizing that my music preference is a sort of roadmap for where my life has taken me. Trippy. No pun intended.
For sure same with me. Growing up at the dawn of social media/digital music/streaming allowed me to transcend decades and give me access to whatever I liked, regardless of what radio stations or the publications said was cool.
Yep, we’ve now lived roughly 25 years with digital music, which means I have one foot rooter in the past (buying vinyl, recording music off the radio, etc.) and one in the modern age of streaming. Unless someone was alive back in the day when you had to record to cassette something you liked off the radio, it’s hard to imagine. Even now, it’s hard to believe that at one time that was a thing I’d do. i mean, I’m only 50 so not that old, but it still blows my mind that we walk around with all the music in the world in our pockets, readily accessible anytime. It’s a privilege too easily taken for granted.
Kacey Musgraves reminds me of Crystal Gayle more than her even more famous Sister. To get Kacey Musgraves first Record when it came out I had to ask my Country Record Store to import it to Switzerland.
I was sure from the Beginning that this Texan Answer to Olivia Newton-John had the Glamour Factor of Kylie Minogue.
A new Pop Star was born. So I thought in 2013 and I was right.
She doesn’t sing like the Coal Miners Daughter, but that will be done again sometimes.
Chet Atkins and Ray Charles founded Countrypolitan! And more often than not that Stuff was not what I wanted, but one can find great Stuff in that glitzy Kitsch from Time to Time.
I'm not trying to throw shade at them. They are all insanely talented musicians and I respect them as legends of prog rock. I just don't really vibe with that genre of music outside of Pink Floyd and King Crimson.
I would agree with your take on Hair Metal, you had to be there. And it's really great to see what a fantastic time we had... Most of us in the thick of of it, don't really remember all that much of it. Sort of like the 1970s with leather and safety pins.
If I was doing just a hip-hop list, it would land somewhere in the bottom half of my top 10. Outside of maybe my top 25, all of these albums could be interchangeable depending on my mood (and this includes all the albums that just missed the cut).
Your lists are, only ten albums in, much more interesting than Rolling Stone's.
Thank you! I remember reading their OG top 500 list in middle school, and if I remember correctly, they had 6 Beatles albums in their top 10. And I love me some Beatles, but I find it hard to believe that a seminal music magazine could point to only 4 artists/albums that have bested the Beatles’s 6th best album.
This is what I always hated about the top 100 lists from the big, established magazines. They always read more like "these are the albums that are required to be listed" — that is, for cultural impact above musical merit. I, too, love the Beatles, but I want to hear about the stuff that didn't break through the collective consciousness just as much as I wanted to hear about the blockbuster hits.
I mentioned on Kevin's version of this post how much lists stress me out to make. Part of it has to do with setting those kinds of expectations up front. Culturally impactful records ≠ best sounding records. Everyone else here has already talked and the need for hyperspecific criteria... all of which underscore just how Sisyphean of a task this is. I end up running on vibes in the end!
Totally agree. Cultural impact was part of my consideration, and once the top 50 of my list is cracked, my picks will start to be more agreeable. Like, I'm not gonna pretend that "Pet Sounds" isn't an influential and beautiful pop record (it also helps that I love it). But I wanted to throw in albums that I grew up with as well because there's a lot of awesome music being produced that can go toe-to-toe with the classics.
The issue with greatest albums lists whether they're done by music publications or readers polls is they always gravitate towards the safe option. I remember in 2022, I was going through the top 50 albums of the year lists from every major music site, and they were essentially the same list of albums but reshuffled. They all defaulted to picking Beyonce's "Renaissance" as #1. While it's a good album, it's the agreeable pick. Whenever I see these lists all blatantly trying to appeal to young urban left-leaning listeners, I do wonder what's the point of all these publications if they're surrendering any discernible taste and distinct POV to capture the same audience.
Yesss that's it. Like, people will get angry if you omit certain things, so we all end up regressing to the mean.
Well thought out rationale for the "here's why I'm doing this while acknowledging that's it's mostly arbitrary subjective taste" question. There's only a couple of your picks I'm familar with (Vampire Weekend, Bone) but those bode well for the others.
It's important to recognize when doing these kind of lists to have some self-awareness about it because I want the conversations to be more about why we appreciate certain albums instead of bickering over which one is better.
For music magazines, it would be more helpful to just have different genre-specific lists of widely acknowledged classics:
- Begin with a starter pack of 5-10 albums that are widely known and accessible
- Deep cuts that start to push the boundaries of the genre once the listener gets their feet wet
- Experimental or more abstract/demanding albums once the listener gets a good sampling of what to expect
These lists can evolve every 5 or so years as new music is released or previous albums are reevaluated. Sequencing lists this way makes them more focused and actually guides the user through a listening experience of different genres of music instead of sparking mindless internet arguments. Especially when a lot of these lists between the big music publications are more or less the same albums but reshuffled.
100%. One of my hangups about these Top 100s is how one decides all those interim steps. What's the spread between #82 and #81 ? Is #68 really "fourteen better" than #82 ? What does that even mean?
I lile your idea of Here's a List Of N great albums that a serious fan of Genre X should know.
As I already mentioned on Kevin’s version of this post, I’m REALLY looking forward to this series! I thought the Apple top 100 list was trash to put it kindly and can’t disagree with anything you’ve said about it.
I also appreciate you laying out your criteria for inclusion as it provides a good context to your thinking and your musical universe.
I’ve never given any thought to creating a top 100 list, that would be quite a challenge! I do have a list of eight Desert Island Discs, albums that I absolutely love, but not sure all of those would make a top 100 list as some of them are VERY subjective and it would be hard to justify them knocking legitimately objective top 100 albums out of the list.
A lot of new stuff here for me so I’ll spend some time exploring - thanks for posting the Spotify links. I don’t think I gave Solange’s album enough time, I need to go back and revisit it. Love your selection of Dots and Loops as it’s my favorite Stereolab album albeit I don’t have huge experience of their catalog.
Really looking forward to following along!!
Thank you! Yeah it was a really fun exercise. I knew it would be tough, but the final cuts felt like I was neglecting my own children lol. I definitely want to coordinate with Kevin to do an epilogue of albums that just missed the cut, because there are many more that could've easily gone in my final list.
The Solange album has aged like fine wine and I love it more every time I listen to it. "Dots and Loops" got me into Stereolab, and while their '90s run is all fantastic, it still remains my favorite.
Oh my god, I've spent the last 20-30 minutes on this piece, reliving memories and making new discoveries. I can tell I'm in for a real treat with this series you and Kevin have started. Can't wait to keep going!
Thanks for tuning in! It’s been a fun project to compare and contrast our lists and see how our upbringings shaped our musical tastes.
I plan to write about this subject too: how my upbringing shaped my taste in music, though mine won’t necessarily be in list form. It’s interesting to consider though, especially because my musical taste is so eclectic. I’m just realizing that my music preference is a sort of roadmap for where my life has taken me. Trippy. No pun intended.
For sure same with me. Growing up at the dawn of social media/digital music/streaming allowed me to transcend decades and give me access to whatever I liked, regardless of what radio stations or the publications said was cool.
Yep, we’ve now lived roughly 25 years with digital music, which means I have one foot rooter in the past (buying vinyl, recording music off the radio, etc.) and one in the modern age of streaming. Unless someone was alive back in the day when you had to record to cassette something you liked off the radio, it’s hard to imagine. Even now, it’s hard to believe that at one time that was a thing I’d do. i mean, I’m only 50 so not that old, but it still blows my mind that we walk around with all the music in the world in our pockets, readily accessible anytime. It’s a privilege too easily taken for granted.
Kacey Musgraves reminds me of Crystal Gayle more than her even more famous Sister. To get Kacey Musgraves first Record when it came out I had to ask my Country Record Store to import it to Switzerland.
I was sure from the Beginning that this Texan Answer to Olivia Newton-John had the Glamour Factor of Kylie Minogue.
A new Pop Star was born. So I thought in 2013 and I was right.
She doesn’t sing like the Coal Miners Daughter, but that will be done again sometimes.
Chet Atkins and Ray Charles founded Countrypolitan! And more often than not that Stuff was not what I wanted, but one can find great Stuff in that glitzy Kitsch from Time to Time.
Damn. You lost me when you said no Rush…
I'm not trying to throw shade at them. They are all insanely talented musicians and I respect them as legends of prog rock. I just don't really vibe with that genre of music outside of Pink Floyd and King Crimson.
Ha. I was being dramatic. They’re not for everybody, that’s for sure. That’s the beautiful human part of being alive. Nuance is what makes art.
I never see anyone talk about that Tresvant record, but it’s really great! Rad list
Thats Kevin's pick! But, yeah, it's smooth as hell.
I would agree with your take on Hair Metal, you had to be there. And it's really great to see what a fantastic time we had... Most of us in the thick of of it, don't really remember all that much of it. Sort of like the 1970s with leather and safety pins.
Fantastic start.
I can't deny that even Motley Crue had some bangers. "Kickstart My Heart" is so much fun to drive to.
Honestly, Piñata has better bars on it than all the other rap records listed higher so far. Freddie is on another level on that project. 🔥
If I was doing just a hip-hop list, it would land somewhere in the bottom half of my top 10. Outside of maybe my top 25, all of these albums could be interchangeable depending on my mood (and this includes all the albums that just missed the cut).
IGOR and Death grips getting some love I see!
Very divisive projects, which is a sign that they will in years be remembered as boundary pushing.
I’m glad to see you and Kevin manifesting this project.
It's gonna be a doozy!
Loved your picks!
Thank you!