Another interesting tidbit last week was the 
publication in the official Vatican newspaper, Lā Osservatore Romano, of the Top Ten Rock And Pop Albums of all time, as reported by The Wall Street Journal. The Beatles’ Revolver got the top spot, MJ’s Thriller made the list (Gott sei dank!), as did Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of The Moon, Achtung Baby and Rumours. A few curious inclusions include David Crosby’s If I Could Only Remember My Name, Santana’s Supernatural, and Donald Fagan’s The Nightfly. Oasis’ (What’s The Story) Morning Glory also snuck in there, oddly enough. As for Dylan’s noticeable absence, the article explains:
“Dylan was excluded from the list despite his āgreat poetic veinā because he paved the way for generations of unprofessional singer-songwriters who have āharshly tested the ears and patience of listenersā with their tormented stories.”
I for one have never shied away from an opportunity for an impromptu desert-island discs list… If I’m being honest, mine would look something like this:
1. Pet Sounds – The Beach Boys
2. Rock Of Ages – The Band
3. HIStory Vol II – Michael Jackson
4. Use Your Illusion – Guns N Roses
5. From Elvis In Memphis – Elvis Presley
6. Street Legal – Bob Dylan
7. Louder Than Bombs – The Smiths
8. All Things Must Pass – George Harrison
9. This Is Hardcore – Pulp
10. Never A Dull Moment – Rod Stewart
(Many) Others: The Hoople, Achtung Baby, Pinkerton, Tumbleweed Connection, Radio City, Dangerous, Tusk, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, Appetite, Revolver, Lola Versus The Powerman, Hard Days Night, Sunflower, Rubber Soul, Tim, Armed Forces, London Calling, Day & Age, Late For Sky, Room On Fire, All Summer Long, Odyssey And Oracle, Hotel California, Nod Is As Good As Wink To A Blind Horse, Jesus Of Cool, Amorica, Crooked Rain Crooked Rain, Mott, Demolition, Exile, Scott 4, Dog Man Star, Bona Drag, Zooropa, etc etc etc
What would yours be?
COMMENTS
21 responses to “God Gave Rock N Roll To You”
Leave a Reply
Thank you, L'Osservatore Romano, for yet another excellent reason not to swim the Tiber.
As someone with a significant music inferiority complex (looking at you, DZ š ), I am going to be brave and give you my top 10. These are the cd's I've killed on repeat more than any others. Let the skewering begin.
1. Third Eye Blind – Third Eye Blind
2. Counting Crows – Recovering the Satellites
3. John Mayer – Room for Squares
4. The Wallflowers – Bringing Down the Horse
5. Counting Crows – August and Everything After
6. Weezer – Weezer
7. Fall Out Boy – From Under the Cork Tree (we said honesty, right?)
8. The Format – Interventions and Lullabies
9. Jack Johnson – Brushfire Fairytales
10. Mat Kearney – Nothing Left to Lose
Can't live without these:
1. U2 Achtung Baby
2. Beatles Abbey Road
3. REM Automatic For the People
4. Counting Crows August and Everything After
5. Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers Greatest Hits
6. U2 Joshua Tree
7. Sufjan Stevens Illinois
8. Bob Marly Legend
9. Bob Dylan Blood on the Tracks
10. Pearl Jam Ten
This is so hard. I did a top 10 of the '00s for a facebook group but 10 "desert island discs" is nearly impossible…hence why you've got a paragraph of extras! There's just so much incredible music yet to discover…How about 10 hours with Dylan's record collection instead of 10 discs on a desert island?
Important to consider here is what would be encouraging in your new life as an exiled ascetic (probably nothing) vs. what would trap you in nostalgia and loneliness (probably any recorded music).
here are a few that stand out to me in this present moment as worth packing along:
1.Dvorak – Cello Concerto in B Minor, op. 104
2.Miles Davis – Jack Johnson sessions
3.Glen Velez – Rhythms of the Chakras
4.Led Zeppelin – Led Zeppelin IV
5.Bob Marley – Exodus š
6.Phish – A Live One
7.Bob Dylan – Another Side of Bob Dylan & 8.Blood on the Tracks
9.Lil Wayne – Tha Carter III
10.Andrew Lloyd Weber/Stephen Sondheim + Various artists – Jesus Christ Superstar soundtrack
My desert island band: Roxy Music.
Thanks DZ, for mentioning the other Beatles albums, as well as the awesome Lola Vs. Powerman.
Incidentally, regarding "Pet Sounds", back in 1987 a friend of mine was the grad assistant for a course on the 60s offered by IU's music department. She was generally pretty quiet and allowed the prof to lead everything — except for one time. The prof asked his students who owned PET SOUNDS. No hands. Then he asked who had heard it or knew of it. No hands. Apparently that was too much for her and her voice reverberated around the lecture hall: "You've GOT to be kidding me?!!!"
What an inspired
Romish choice:
'The Nightfly'!
Trevor is ABSOLUTELY correct about the might Led Zep IV!!
1. Led Zep – Led Zep IV
2. Allman Bros – Live at the Fillmore
3. Stones – Hot Rocks
4. Clash – London Calling
5. Who – Its Hard
6. Sinatra — Songs for Swinging Lovers
7. Beatles – Sgt Pepper
8. Bowie – Diamond Dogs
9. Dylan – Blonde on Blonde
10. Elton – Honky Chateau
Jeff Buckley — Grace
Prince — Sign O The Times
U2 — Achtung baby
U2 — Joshua Tree
John Lennon — Imagine
Led Zeppelin — Presence
The Class — London Calling
The Smiths — Louder Than Bombs
The Beatles — White Album
Sunny Day Real Estate — The Pink Album
Honorable mention:
Every other Zeppelin Album
Willie — Stardust
Bruce — Nebraska
Mehldau — Art of Trio Vol. 3
Holst — The Planets
Ok here's my attempt:
Weezer- Pinkerton
Wilco- YHF
Ben Folds- Rockin the Suburbs
Beatles- The White Album has a couple of my very favorites but I'd go with either Abbey Road or Revolver.
Beach Boys- Pet Sounds
Mountain Goats- We Shall All Be Healed
Blitzen Trapper- Furr
Ryan Adams- Heartbreaker or Cold Roses
Ingrid Michaelson- Girls and Boys
Kings of Convenience- Riot on an Empty Street
And if I could cheat and bring an 11th, it'd be the Weepies' Say I am You or Blind Pilot's 3 Rounds and a Sound.
Excluding jazz and classical works, let's try this.
Rolling Stones – Let It Bleed
Townes Van Zandt – For the Sake of the Song
Bruce – Darkness on the Edge of Town
U2 – The Joshua Tree
Pink Floyd – Wish You Were Here
Bob Dylan – Bringing It All Back Home
Radiohead – OK Computer
Johnny Cash – Live at Folsom Prison
Beatles – Abbey Road
R.E.M. – Automatic for the People
Honorable Mention:
Wilco – YHF; Low – Things We Lost in the Fire; The Smiths – Louder than Bombs; Son Volt – Trace; Built to Spill – Keep It Like a Secret; Modest Mouse – Moon & Antarctica
These are great lists, everyone! Even you, Colton… Seriously, despite the obvious potential for cooler-than-thou-Law-related nonsense, this is always a fun exercise. Keep them coming.
p.s. I repent.
Forgot Ryan Adams – Heartbreaker: Yo La Tengo – I Can Feel Heart Beating as One; The Who – Who's Next; Velvet Underground and Nico and the next two albums; Exile on Main Street, Sympathy for the Devil; Kid A; Amnesiac; Faithless Street, Anodyne; After the Gold Rush; Pink Moon; You Are Free; Repeater; 13 Songs; Iggy and the Stooges….so much fun to talk about this.
And all things Tom Waits. how could I forgot?
Aaron Here.Why has no one mentioned Rush? Moving Pictures or Spirit of Radio. And from another genre: Stevie Wonder. Innervisions or FFF.
Other all-time fave artists:
A Certain Ratio
T. Rex
Supermax
Chas Jankel
Blonde Redhead
Can
Dennis Wilson
Stephin Merritt
Ganymed
Serge Gainsbourg
Japan
Madlib
Pixies
Vitesse
MF Doom
Substitute Pearl Jam "Vs." for Mat Kearney on my list.
I've loved reading all these!
I feel old as hell. I've never heard of 95% of the people on these lists. Wait, I AM old as hell! Thank you all for some great tips for my limited listening future š
Well, Michael, God bless these kids on MB. But they ARE in their 20s and early 30s — so it's not a surprise that 80% of what they mention in the thread has been recorded in the last 15 years, with the REALLY OLD stuff being in the 60s (eek! ancient history).
I'm not sure what Michael likes, but to stay in the universe of pop music I'll admit that a lot of what I love is from the 20s and 30s and 40s. Jerome Kern, Cole Porter, George and Ira Gershwin, and so on. And I liked this stuff even before my beard went gray. š
I could stay sane for at least a few months if I had these albums…
1. Beethoven – "Eroica, Symphony No. 3 in Eb" (Paavo Jarvi conducting)
2.The Living End – "Roll On"
3.Damien Rice – "9"
4.Incubus – "Morning View"
5.Johnny Cash – "At Folsom Prison"
6.Anton Bruckner – "Symphony No. 4 in Eb" (Gunter Wand conducting)
7.Coldplay – "A Rush of Blood…"
8.Greenday – "Dookie"
9.U2 – "Boy"
10.Less than Jake – "Hello Rockview"