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- by MarkAndrew
- in General
We're commenting on Entertainment Weekly's list of "The 100 best albums from 1983 to 2008."
Being that it's an Entertainment Weekly list it's not very diverse. Or very good.
But Blogger Johnny Bacardi posted the list and I felt mystically/spiritually compelled to comment/rip on it. At length. And somehow I roped Jonathan Bogart who's done some really good music writing in the past into helping me.
So we're going five by five, down the whole list, through George Michael and Tupac and Christina Aguilera and Tom Waits and Nirvana and Madonna (And sorry Greg. No Abba.) all the way to number one.
Some teaser quotes on the first batch o' five.
# 100:
And [the video]does change the context, by showing us who's the real star here.
GEORGE MICHAEL'S ASS! guest starring George Michael.
# 97: That narrative, of course, is that Britney Spears is a blank slate, a plastic doll which various producers, critics, and the fascinated, gluttonous, self-righteous public can dress up in whatever costume they wish - and only her complete vacuum of personality has enabled her to successfully embody the spirit of the age.
# 98:
Whhhoooo! P! J! P! J! P! J! I'm listening to the even numbered albums tonight, and this more than (crossed out) almost (crossed out) EXACTLY makes upfor Death Cab back at # 98. It's nice to see someone who's recorded work I'm intimately familiar with, and also am kind of in love with a lot.
# 96: I'd dispute Mark's characterization of this as "emo," though; at least compared to crap like Dashboard Confessional, it's far more melodic and interested in sonic details that emo tends to bury under layers of "passionate" guitars, and Gibbard's lyrics are less self-pitying than oblique (which is a triumph, in my book). In fact, there's a family resemblance to the Shins (and why the fuck isn't Chutes Too Narrow on the list?
So, hey. Come read! Argue with us! Leave comments! It'll be fun.
- Posted on July 19, 2008 @ 02:27 PM
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9 Comments
Brad Curran
July 19, 2008 at 2:35 pm
I did not see a single thing about team-up comics, Steve Gerber, Dave Sim, Kim Deitch, or dropped letters at the end of words, so I can only assume you are Skrull Mark Andrew.
Greg Burgas
July 19, 2008 at 3:07 pm
ABBA broke up in 1982, or else they would have DOMINATED this list.
Stefan
July 19, 2008 at 5:05 pm
Enjoyed some of the comments, but the Death Cab For Cutie hate is inexplicable, aside from the obvious (and understandable) grudge against the list as a whole, which is likely to bias you against anything on it that you don't already love (like PJ). And aside from the merits of the music in question, judging an album from one listen has hardly ever been a good idea. The best music grows on you.
Incidentally... wasn't Murmur released in '83?
MarkAndrew
July 19, 2008 at 7:05 pm
"Murmur" was 1983, but I figured it was early enough to miss the 25 year deadline.
"Synchronicity" (June of '83) was the earliest.
(And, I mean, there's some strange calls here, but I can't honestly think they'd go "Life's Rich Pageant" over "Murmur" if they had their choice. That way lies madness.)
And, yeah, I was writing in word which actually wouldn't LET me drop the "g".
Which was annoying. "Getting laid" is an entirely different concept than "gettin' laid."
Stefan
July 20, 2008 at 1:32 am
I prefer Life's Rich Pageant to Murmur myself, although it's pretty close, and if I were choosing any REM album from the 80s it'd be Document, far and away.
Murmur is more consistent and it's full of great songs, and yeah, it's more important in the history of rock music. But the highlights of LRP are much more pronounced than Murmur's. Murmur doesn't have anything that outshines "Begin the Begin," "These Days," "Swan Swan H..." I'm kind of amazed LRP made their list, but the list overall is pretty ridiculous so I can't expect much rhyme or reason from it.
Mike Loughlin
July 20, 2008 at 11:01 am
Hell, I like Reckoning more than Murmur. Suck it, indie snobs even snobbier than I!
Mike Loughlin
July 20, 2008 at 11:10 am
And I like Stories From the City... _because_ it was such a departure from PJ Harvey's usual sounds, even if I would have put Rid of Me or To Bring You My Love on the list instead.
MarkAndrew
July 20, 2008 at 1:35 pm
I guess it's been a couple years (pushing a decade) since I've listened to Life's Rich Pageant. I did like it just not as much as the others.
And I forgot about Reckoning. Yeah, I might put that as the token REM album. Murmur's more cohesive, but Reckoning has most of my favorite songs.
Shade
July 21, 2008 at 7:01 am
It's EW so they don't venture to far out of the mainstream obviously. I would have liked them include DC Talks "Jesus Freak".