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Spin's top 125 album of the past 25 years
Warning: There is no Weezer (Pinkerton or Blue), no In The Aeroplane Over The Sea, no Franz Ferdinand, no Technique, no Moon & Antarctica, no Illinois, no Silent Shout, no Kid A - in fact no 00s Radiohead AT ALL - no It's A Shame About Ray, no Since I Left You, no Disintegration, no Person Pitch, no Holy Bible, no Hounds of Love, no Screamadelica. Right, now that's out the way:
125 Moby – Play
124 Prince Paul – A Prince Among Thieves
123 The Hives – Veni Vidi Vicious
122 LCD Soundsystem – Sound of Silver
121 Queens of the Stone Age – Rated R
120 Lil Wayne – Tha Carter III
119 Green Day – American Idiot
118 Yeah Yeah Yeahs – It’s Blitz!
117 The Flaming Lips – Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots
116 Against Me! – New Wave
115 OutKast – Speakerboxxx/The Love Below
114 Animal Collective – Merriweather Post Pavilion
113 Danger Mouse – The Grey Album
112 Interpol – Turn On The Bright Lights
111 Teenage Fanclub – Bandwagonesque
110 Spiritualized – Ladies And Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space
109 The Chills – Submarine Bells
108 Fugees – The Score
107 Coldplay – A Rush of Blood to the Head
106 Fiona Apple – When the Pawn…
105 Massive Attack – Mezzanine
104 The Magnetic Fields – 69 Love Songs
103 M.I.A. – Arular
102 Queen Latifah – All Hail the Queen
101 Blur – Parklife
100 Kanye West – Late Registration
99 PJ Harvey – Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea
98 Johnny Cash – American Recordings
97 Arcade Fire – Neon Bible
96 The Roots – Things Fall Apart
95 Soundgarden – Superunknown
94 Jane’s Addiction – Ritual de lo Habitual
93 The Chemical Brothers – Dig Your Own Hole
92 Jay-Z – The Black Album
91 The Smiths – Strangeways, Here We Come
90 Elliott Smith – XO
89 Basement Jaxx – Remedy
88 Jeff Buckley – Grace
87 The White Stripes – White Blood Cells
86 TV on the Radio – Return to Cookie Mountain
85 Missy Elliott – Supa Dupa Fly
84 LL Cool J – Radio
83 Steve Earle – Guitar Town
82 Dr. Dre – The Chronic
81 Wilco – Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
80 The Fall – This Nation’s Saving Grace
79 The Breeders – Last Splash
78 Lauryn Hill – The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill
77 Boogie Down Productions – Criminal Minded
76 OutKast – Aquemini
75 Bjork – Post
74 Sleater-Kinney – Dig Me Out
73 The Pogues – Rum, Sodomy and the Lash
72 Lucinda Williams – Lucinda Williams
71 Oasis – Definitely Maybe
70 Pearl Jam – Ten
69 The Stone Roses – The Stone Roses
68 Raekwon – Only Built 4 Cuban Linx…
67 Tom Waits – Rain Dogs
66 Arcade Fire – Funeral
65 Eminem – The Marshall Mathers LP
64 The Flaming Lips – The Soft Bulletin
63 R.E.M. – Fables Of The Reconstruction
62 U2 – The Joshua Tree
61 Smashing Pumpkins – Siamese Dream
60 Fugazi – 13 Songs
59 Belle and Sebastian – If You’re Feeling Sinister
58 DJ Shadow – Endtroducing…
57 The White Stripes – Elephant
56 Aphex Twin – Selected Ambient Works 85-92
55 Hole – Live Through This
54 Dinosaur Jr. – You’re Living All Over Me
53 The Cure – The Head on the Door
52 Kanye West – The College Dropout
51 Rage Against the Machine – The Battle of Los Angeles
50 Jay-Z – Reasonable Doubt
49 D’Angelo – Voodoo
48 Elliott Smith – Either/Or
47 Portishead – Dummy
46 N.W.A. – Straight Outta Compton
45 The Pixies – Surfer Rosa
44 The Beastie Boys – Licensed to Ill
43 The Notorious B.I.G. – Ready to Die
42 Green Day – Dookie
41 Pulp – Different Class
40 Tricky – Maxinquaye
39 Public Enemy – Fear of a Black Planet
38 Run-D.M.C. – Raising Hell
37 Liz Phair – Exile in Guyville
36 The Jesus and Mary Chain – Psychocandy
35 R.E.M. – Automatic for the People
34 Beck – Odelay
33 Björk – Debut
32 Wu-Tang Clan – Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)
31 Massive Attack – Blue Lines
30 A Tribe Called Quest – The Low End Theory
29 Pavement – Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain
28 Radiohead – The Bends
27 Nirvana – In Utero
26 Guided by Voices – Bee Thousand
25 Nas – Illmatic
24 Metallica – Master of Puppets
23 Daft Punk – Discovery
22 Eric B. & Rakim – Paid in Full
21 Oasis – (What’s the Story?) Morning Glory
20 My Bloody Valentine – Loveless
19 Jay-Z – The Blueprint
18 The Strokes – Is This It
17 De La Soul – 3 Feet High and Rising
16 The Pixies – Doolittle
15 Hüsker Dü – New Day Rising
14 The Beastie Boys – Paul’s Boutique
13 Sonic Youth – Daydream Nation
12 OutKast – Stankonia
11 The Replacements – Tim
10 Nine Inch Nails – The Downward Spiral
09 Pavement – Slanted and Enchanted
08 PJ Harvey – Rid of Me
07 Guns N’ Roses – Appetite for Destruction
06 Public Enemy – It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back
05 Radiohead – OK Computer
04 Nirvana – Nevermind
03 The Smiths – The Queen is Dead
02 Prince – Sign O’ the Times
01 U2 – Achtung Baby
Also meant to be some of the most influential recordings, as well as the best. I think.
It's Blitz > Fever To Tell? nar m8
also imo Speakerboxxx/The Love Below and Turn On The Bright Lights are around 100 slots too low.
Uh, number one can gargle.
But the list is preeeetty, preeeety good,
Superunknown has been on constant rotation for the last month or so since I rediscovered it in a pile of old CD's. That album is LARGE.
Nah, Achtung Baby is a solid album
There's no way I'd put it anywhere near number 1, but it's not so easily dismissed, I reckon.
I suppose you have to respect they're courage
for leaving out iconic records like Disintegration, In the Aeroplane Over the Sea and Kid A, but when you consider Coldplay, U2 and Oasis were put in ahead of those albums all that respect disappears immediatly for me...
iconic?
o rly
erm yh
within an indie sphere.
I've never heard of the Spin, but although it's quite a good list, it seems to be looking at it from a pretty mainstream perspective, and I guess people forget that Neutral Milk Hotel are still pretty indie, and it's sometimes hard to find them in HMV, wheras even stuff like Sonic Youth and Pavement are pretty much household names.
In a way it's the most boring list imaginable in that it reaffirms everything everyone already knows. "Oh, Loveless is a good album, really?" but hey, it's got D'Angelo, Boogie Down Productions and no Franz Ferdinand so who cares.
Alto, Aquemini is sooo much better than Stankonia and the fact ATLiens isn't in there at all while Speakerboxx/Love Below is a little bit whack.
this
You're right about NMH I suppose...
But that was only one example.
I'd also like to take this opportunity to apologise for the appalling grammatical error in my original post.
Well, maybe
but Disintegration was hardly some obscure indie release. And in terms of influence, it's not too much of a stretch to say that "emo" wouldn't have been half as...well, emo, if it weren't for Disintegration.
and what's your explanation for leaving out radiohead
umm
ignore this. question answered.
especially seems odd if it's talking about influence.
...
"Defending the unlikely number one, Spin Magazine editor Charles Aaron said: "Unlike Radiohead with 'OK Computer' and 'Kid A,' U2 took their post-industrial, trad-rock disillusionment not as a symbol of overall cultural malaise, but as a challenge to buck up and transcend."
Considering what and awful, car crash, disaster their number one is
the rest of the list is not too bad. There are 7 great albums in the top ten (excluding U2, GnR and NIN)and 11-20 are all pretty good too.
Imagine there's no Bono. It's easy if you try.
You know, I was totally into Achtung Baby when it came out, especially the non-singles (Love is Blindness, Acrobat). But damn, I can't even stand the sight of Bono anymore, which sucks, 'cause he's everywhere you look. I'm afraid he's standing behind me right now as I type this. Wanting something.
I'm loath to admit it, but if U2 had broken up/disappeared after Achtung Baby, I can easily see ranking it in the top 10 as a nostalgic favourite, but it's so tainted now.
I don't like these lists in general
but this is pretty ok, some stupid choices up at the top though. Props for Husker Du, Fugazi and Sleater Kinney.
why is this here i dont even
U2 only started getting interesting from Achtung Baby
pretty shit list if you ask me
good to see Aquemini in there though
Double-dippers
Awfully strange how OK Computer and New Day Rising can appear in the top 15, but Kid A and Flip Your Wig don't crack the top 125. I guess the Huskers' quality control really took a dive within the space of eight months.
It'd make sense if there were a "one album per act" policy, but...
battle of los angeles?
really? not self titled debut? really? REALLY? I beg to disagree.
Seconded
wha?!?!?!
I think it's mental that both Arcade Fire albums are in there.
Funeral is a good shout but Neon Bible? No way. Whether you like it or not I'm pretty sure everyone can agree that it's not in the top 125 of the past 25 years.
I disagree
I think it probably should be. In the lower echelons, sure, but it still merits a place imo