NME released another list, this
time it's the greatest 500 albums of all time. Like all lists, they're
subjective, and we must respect opinions and such. But by looking at some of
their writers choices, it seems like an absolute mockery how this list has been
put together. So like most things NME related, we look at it, disagree with
some, agree with others, and write about it. The following five albums are in
surprise positions, then the latter five are albums NME shockingly missed by
poor taste, poor positioning, and pure subjectivity.
Surprised? #15 - PJ Harvey - Let England Shake
Key lyrics: "The West's asleep. Let England shake,"
There's no disputing the quality and class on PJ Harvey's eight studio
album, but to be considered a top 15 contender - nonsense. Let England Shake
is a great album, with fantastic lyrics and even better compositions by PJ
Harvey's trusted band. She won our song-writer of the year for 2011, and had Let
England Shake nominated for an MRD award. Our Best Albums of 2011 list had Let
England Shake placed in second behind M83's Hurry Up, We're Dreaming.
Placing this album in the top 20, is baffling to me. It's only two years old, probably
wont age well, and sits above some very strong albums in the 300s and 400s.
Putting Let England Shake in the top 15 is a bold move by NME, they're assessment
on female released albums is completely flawed. The top four = Patti Smith >
PJ Harvey > Amy Winehouse > Blondie.
Surprised? #63 - Joni Mitchell - Blue
Key lyrics: "Acid, booze, and ass, needles, guns, and grass; Lots of
laughs, lots of laughs."
I'm always shocked to see Joni Mitchell so low down in these lists. Blue is
a pinnacle album, not just for the female singer-songwriter, but for folk and
folk rock in general. Her use of alternate tunings gave her music an unusual
sound, which has never been reciprocated. It also included some of the bravest
and bulkiest lyrics heard on a 60s folk album. Now this period is gold, but
Mitchell owned it with Blue. Tracks like "California" and
"Carey" were delightful songs, uplifting on the ear mixing perfectly
with the slower, sadder tracks like "Blue" and "River".
Truly an inspirational album that deserves more than being positioned lower
than Pulp's Different Class.
Surprised? #21 - Kanye West - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
Key lyrics: "One hand in the air if you don’t really care, two hands
in the air if you don’t really care, it’s like that sometimes I mean
ridiculous, it’s like that sometimes the shit’s ridiculous."
My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy is one of the most overrated albums
of all time. Even listing this album in the top 500 is wrong, for many reasons.
Kanye West isn't a genius, he's not a top song-writer, and the production
quality is no way near the quality and impact of underground rappers. It's an
average album, at best. Using samples, successfully, maybe a little over the
top in places with these samples and guests; but still, using them to good
effect. "Power" is a great single, that's the one true comment
critics can say about Kanye's fifth album. It's not the work, of a legend, nor
a 'greatest' of anything. The hype took this album way over the accepted level
of 'good'. The back album tracks are atrocious at times, with some bright
sparks. I gave this album a 6.9
when it was initially reviewed, and my opinions that may be disagreed with by a
majority of people, still stand.
Surprised? #28 - Amy Winehouse - Back To Black
Key lyrics: "All I can ever be to you, is a darkness that we knew,
and this regret I've got accustomed to."
Amy Winehouse's Back To Black, is also a good album. It's doesn’t have the
content to be considered a top 100 album, but from a British perspective, could
well be within the top 500 albums of all time - could. Her singles touched on
versions of old soul classics, and topics British female artists just weren’t
inclined to cover at the time. There was a female takeover of the music scene
when Winehouse released Back To Black in 2006, but this popularity and constant
replaying of "Rehab" brought forward an album with a lacklustre
second half. It has little filler as such, but it lacks in originality and
direction at times. An album with some poor tracks, should in no way be
considered a top 100 album, let alone a top 30.
Surprised? #1 - The Smiths - The Queen Is Dead
Key lyrics: "Now I know how Joan of Arc felt, as the flames rose to her roman nose, and her Walkman started to melt."
The Smiths, a top band in a period of cheesy pop and bad dance music. Surprised to see it top NME's list? I'm not. NME have idolised Morrissey since the 80s and have been his personal PR since this album was released in 1986. It's not just arse licking though, NME have a point. The Smiths' The Queen Is Dead is a very good album. Every track tells a story, and a good one of that. Perhaps it's shallow in places, but still stands strong enough to be considered one of the greatest albums ever made. This is an album good enough to make the top 50, but not good enough to be in the top 20. There's so much quality and influence in other albums that just knock The Smiths down to where they deserve to be, somewhere between 40 and 50. As usual, NME are placing The Smiths above and beyond the American greats, and as usual, it's eccentric British bullshit perspectives of 'hey we have The Beatles' and you have - The Strokes (#4 on NME's list).
Missed: Nick Drake - Pink Moon
Key lyrics: "I saw it written and I saw it say, pink moon is on its
way. And none of you stand so tall, pink moon gonna get you all."
Pink Moon is one of my favourite albums, and by that alone - needs to
be in NME's list. They actually included the other two Nick Drake albums Bryter
Layter and Five Leaves Left, respectively. Neither album comes close to the
emotional, and creativity Pink Moon contains. It's an insult not to
include this classic album in their list, an absolute disgrace. The pure
simplicity of Drake's guitar puts a severe pressure on the listener to hold
back and feel for the unheard song-writer who only received his gratification
post-death. And even now, in 2013, Britain’s second biggest music publication
are omitting his best work from their top 500 list; to include Arctic Monkeys'
mediocre AM instead.
Missed: Belle & Sebastian - Tigermilk
Key lyrics: "The priest in the booth had a photographic memory for
all he had heard. He took all of my sins and he wrote a pocket novel called The
State That I'm In. And so I gave myself to God, there was a pregnant pause
before he said okay. Now I spend my days turning tables around in Mark's and Spencer’s,
they don't seem to mind"
NME rightfully included Belle & Sebastian's second album If You're
Feeling Sinister, however not in the top 100 where it belongs. Belle & Sebastian's
debut album Tigermilk also deserves to be in the top 100. It's not as
good as the follow-up, but for a debut album recorded on a minimal budget, it's
amazing. Truly one of the greatest Scottish albums and the second best Belle
& Sebastian album behind If You're Feeling Sinister. NME also
included The Boy With The Arab Strap, which is a good album, but in no
way better than Tigermilk. It's opening track "The State I Am
In" is better than Arab Strap in itself. Song-writing at its
best, with tracks like "Expectations" being twee youthful anthems for
kids just out of school.
Missed: Led Zeppelin - II
Key lyrics: "Well, it's been 10 years and maybe more since I first
set eyes on you. The best years of my life gone by, here I am alone and
blue."
Led Zeppelin's sophomore album II really should be included in everyone’s
top 500 list. It's a little disrespectful to one of our greatest bands by not
including one of their strongest works. Granted, III and IV made the list, but
that doesn't mean other Led Zeppelin albums don't deserve to be there. Both II
and Physical Graffiti should be within the top 500, regardless of how many Zeppelin
albums you should have on a list. The number doesn’t matter because these are
great albums - II in particular for "Heartbreaker", "Thank
You", and "Moby Dick".
Missed: Red House Painters - Rollercoaster
Key lyrics: "A rare and blistering sun shines down on grace
cathedral park. There with you I fear the time when air gets dark, you know I
don't spend days like this, caught up in lost times of youth that I miss."
Red House Painters are one of the best artists to emerge from the 80s / 90s
sadcore / slowcore movement which never really existed (but it really did!).
Their fabulous self-titled sophomore album is titled Rollercoaster
due to its cover. Mark Kozelek may not have the strongest of vocals, but
his song-writing both with lyrics and instrumentation are a step above anyone
else in the early 90s. The magnificent eight minutes of "Katy Song",
and the grizzly distorted "Mistress" pave forward an album of
emotionally binding material. "New Jersey" is a great track, with
absolutely stunning lyrics: "You're an American girl, red headed,
eyes blank, living in a freckle on the face of the world." Rollercoaster
would definitely be in the top 100 albums if MRD made a similar list.
Missed: Tim Buckley - Goodbye and Hello
Key lyrics: "The sunshine reminds you of concreted skies, you
thought you were flying but you opened your eyes. And you found yourself
falling back to yesterday's lies, hello, pleasant street, you know she's back
again."
It’s no secret that I adore Tim Buckley. His latter albums may have slid
down the slide a little too fast, but his early work and experimental period
deserves all the credit. NME actually included Buckley's Happy Sad in
their list, which surprises me to be honest. It's a jazz-folk classic that
combines the three great artists of the period, Buckley, Mitchell, and
Morrison. Buckley's folk rock period is one fans remember the most. It's where
he picked up fans, and women, especially with Hello and Goodbye. His second
album features some of his most famous and cherished songs. There's a
completely unnatural psychedelic folk track in "I Never Asked to Be Your
Mountain", and a ballad with "Once I Was". Buckley then goes on
to sing one of his most radio-friendly tracks, "Phantasmagoria In
Two". The nine minute self-titled track points towards Buckley's
experimental future with albums Lorca and Starsailor. There's an
evident lack of production quality in these 10 tracks, but ultimately, the
emotion, atmosphere and strength of these combines tracks make for a ground-breaking
album and one of my favourites.
~Eddie Gibson
10 More Missed Albums
Frank Zappa - Uncle Meat / Pere Ubu - Modern Dance / Burning Spear -
Marcus Garvey / Tim Buckley - Lorca / Red House Painters - Down Colorful Hill /
The Magnetic Field - The Charm Of The Highway Strip / Tim Buckley - Starsailor
/ Spacemen 3 - The Perfect Prescription / Galaxie 500 - On Fire / Sly and the Family Stone - Stand!
