I KNOW all best of/greatest lists are link bait, and they are meant to be a bit divisive but shall we take a look at NME's latest top 500 albums of all time. Let's start with the top 20 …
20. Radiohead – OK Computer
19. Arctic Monkeys – Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not
18. My Bloody Valentine – Loveless
17. Public Enemy – It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back
16. Joy Division – Closer
15. PJ Harvey – Let England Shake
14. David Bowie – Low
13. Arcade Fire – Funeral
12. Patti Smith – Horses
11. Nirvana – Nevermind
10. Oasis – Definitely Maybe
09. The Beatles – The Beatles
08. Pixies – Doolittle
07. The Stone Roses – The Stone Roses
06. Pulp – Different Class
05. The Velvet Underground – The Velvet Underground & Nico
04. The Strokes – Is This It
03. David Bowie – Hunky Dory
02. The Beatles – Revolver
01. The Smiths – The Queen Is Dead
I'm sorry but in which parallel universe is the Strokes - Is This It the 4th best album ever made? Seriously?. And, as much as I love Polly, Let England Shake in the top 20? (Dry at 151, Ride of Me at 450 both better albums IMO)
As far as I can see Todd gets two mentions at 189 for AWATS and 268 for Todd (no S/A?). Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon is 132. What I suppose is interesting is that 10 years ago St pepper was a guaranteed top 10 album (87) in any list – often the 'winner' – and just five years ago Radiohead would have been top dog and probably would have had more than one album in the top 10/5.
How many of this top 20 would be in my list if I could be focussed enough to do one? Between 1-4 depending on my mood.