As I noted in one of the five entries I wrote for our Top 50 Albums of All Time list (actually, I also penned three of the uncredited entries for albums 41-50 — see if you can guess which ones once our master list posts), I became an audio journalist to extol the virtues of great-sounding recordings. Reading the music coverage in magazines like our predecessor, Stereo Revie, as well as Musician and High Fidelity — and specifically album reviews written by the likes of Lester Bangs, David Fricke, Bill Flanagan, Steve Simels (hi Steve!), and Ken Richardson (hi Ken!) — schooled me on how recording technology, musicianship, and emotion all need to come together to forge great music. But make no mistake — it’s not all about clinical perfection. Deploying technology for technology’s sake is a hollow pursuit when it comes to making, and listening to, music. The human element must be present, and felt, whenever you cue up a CD or LP (or, okay, fine, even an MP3 file) if you truly want to connect with what you’re hearing.
And if there’s one thing I know about lists like these, it’s that everybody has an opinion about them. We’ve already gotten a ton of responses, ranging from “Congrats! This is what Rolling Stone has tried to do several times, with limited success” to “How old are you guys anyway?” to “That was the dumbest list of records I have ever seen.” And you know what? It’s all good. What the contents of our e-mailbag proves is that the S&V readership is passionate about music and how it sounds — passionate enough to wanna fight about it.
Like many of the dozen writers/contributors/staffers who voted for the Top 50, I wrestled with my choices. Constantly. I changed them again and again, wondering what I may have left out, what was too high up, what was too low. While on a business trip in Chicago back in July, I spent almost an entire day in front of a computer screen, just shuffling and revising the order, continually saying to myself, “No, wait, that’s gotta be on there, and that’s gotta be on there, and that’s gotta be on there.” When I took my hands off the keyboard long enough to see that my list had ballooned to 220 entries, that’s when I had to say no mas.
One thing I realized pretty early on was that my list was heavily skewed toward what are genearlly considered “classics” — that is, most of my entries came from the ’60s and ’70s. Given that we were taking the long view here — it is a rock-centric “All Time” list, after all — albums that have stood the test of time and made indelible marks on music, recording and production techniques, and the culture at large have to be on the main list, IMO. More recent releases need the proper distance of time and perspective in order to gauge their true impact. Some of us call this the “Arrested Development” syndrome. Not to knock Speech and his Atl/Southern hip-hop crew, but 3 Years, 5 Months & 2 Days in the Life Of. . ., the 1992 album that spawned “Tennessee” and “Mr. Wendal” — and one that topped many a critic’s best lists that year — hasn’t exactly held up in the interim.
What are the names of more “current” albums that didn’t make my Top 50 that have a chance to move up in the future, you ask? Okay, I’ll note a few: Porcupine Tree’s Deadwing (#66), Rage Against the Machine’s self-titled debut (#96), Secret Machines’ Now Here Is Nowehere (#117), My Morning Jacket’s It Still Moves (#137), the White Stripes’ Elephant (#143), Franz Ferdinand’s self-titled debut (#210), Jeff Buckley’s Grace (#215), and Green Day’s American Idiot (#219).
Anyhow, that’s just a taste of what is and what may someday be. Meanwhile, over the course of the next week or so, I will incrementally count down from 50 to 1 (an approach that will at least make reader Michael Angus happy) and comment on each album’s impact and merit, along with any relevant personal anecdotes. Until then, happy listening.
50. Steely Dan: Aja. ABC; MCA
Whither Steely Dan? (Spolier Alert in case you haven’t seen the actual Top 50 list yet!) I think an embarrassment of riches did them in re: not appearing on the big list. I mean, how do you choose amongst Pretzel Logic, Katy Lied, and my personal favorite, Aja? True, while other artists had multiple entries on the big list, I believe that most of the S&V critics who voted for them felt compelled to choose just one SD album apiece, thus gutting the band’s overall chances.
Actually, 1977’s Aja makes the most sense to me. It’s the perfect mesh of sonic sophistication and savvy songwriting, all of it performed by top-notch studio players at the height of their respective games. Aja is the quintessential ’70s L.A. album — one that in fact lyrically pines for New York, but I digress — and, frankly, it’s an audiophile’s dream (which, in and of itself, should have qualified it for our list). I’ve often used Aja to demo both home systems and car stereo systems. My favorite moments occur during the solo section where Wayne Shorter’s tenor-sax bursts play off Steve Gadd’s ever-more-explosive drumming before the song “settles” back into its groove. Beautiful. Make sure to listen for the crystalline triangle hits that pan across the soundstage throughout the song.
IMO, the best way to hear this one is via Cisco Music’s limited-edition 180-gram 30th anniversary 2007 reissue LP. Of course, I’d love to hear it in surround sound someday. . .
. . . though that may not be possible. Walter Becker told me in a January 2005 interview that the master tapes are lost — something later confirmed to me by engineer/producer Elliot Scheiner, who said he’d jump at the chance to do this one in surround. If you know of the whereabouts of those tapes, contact us. (Seriously!)
Oh well. At least 1980’s Gaucho made the cut on our Top 10 Multichannel-Music Discs [a.k.a. Surround] list.
And now, to the rest of my list. Over the next few weeks I will be adding detailed comments to each entry, so please check back — and feel free to let me know what you think of my tally, as well as the overall S&V List.
49. John Cougar Mellencamp: Scarecrow. Riva/Polydor
48. Pearl Jam: Ten. Epic
47. The Replacements: Pleased to Meet Me. Sire; Rhino
46. Van Halen: Van Halen. Warner Bros.
45. Guns N’ Roses: Appetite for Destruction. Geffen
44. Bruce Springsteen: Born to Run. Columbia
43. Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young: Déjà Vu. Atlantic; Rhino
42. Bob Dylan: Blood on the Tracks. Columbia
41. The Beatles: Abbey Road. Apple; Capitol
40. Jeff Beck: Truth. Epic
39. The Jimi Hendrix Experience: Are You Experienced. Reprise; Experience Hendrix
38. The Modern Lovers: The Modern Lovers. Beserkley; Rhino
37. Frank Zappa: Over-Nite Sensation. DiscReet
36. John Hiatt: Bring the Family. A&M
35. Neil Young + Crazy Horse: Ragged Glory. Reprise
34. Moby Grape: Moby Grape. Columbia; currently out of print (but you can look around for the pulled Sundazed reissue if so inclined. . .)
33. Fleetwood Mac: Rumours. Warner Bros. Interview with Mac sound guru Lindsey Buckingham coming soon.
32. Black Sabbath: Paranoid. Warner Bros.
31. AC/DC: Back in Black. Atlantic; Columbia/Legacy
30. Boston: Boston. Epic. See interview with Tom Scholz.
29. The Rolling Stones: Exile on Main St. Rolling Stones/Atlantic; Hip-O
28. The Doors: The Doors. Elektra; Rhino. See interview with Ray Manzarek
27. Supertramp: Crime of the Century. A&M
26. Led Zeppelin: IV. Atlantic
25. Midnight Oil: Diesel and Dust. Columbia. Interview with founding guitarist/songwriter Jim Moginie coming soon.
24. The Tragically Hip: Fully Completely. MCA; Sire
23. Radiohead: OK Computer. Capitol
22. Television: Marquee Moon. Elektra; Rhino
21. Dire Straits: Making Movies. Warner Bros.
20. The Band: Music from Big Pink. Capitol
19. Bob Dylan: Blonde on Blonde. Columbia
18. The Beach Boys: Pet Sounds. Capitol
17. The Beatles: Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. Capitol
16. Nirvana: Nevermind. DGC. See my writeup on the main list.
15. Paul Simon: Graceland. Warner Bros.
14. R.E.M.: Murmur. I.R.S.; A&M
13. U2: The Joshua Tree. Island; UMe
12. John Mayall: Bluesbreakers with Eric Clapton. Decca/London
11. Bob Dylan: Highway 61 Revisited. Columbia
10. The Velvet Underground & Nico: The Velvet Underground & Nico. Verve; Polydor
9. Derek and the Dominos: Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs. Polydor. See my writeup on the main list.
8. Rush: Moving Pictures. Anthem/Mercury. New interview with guitarist Alex Lifeson coming soon.
7. Led Zeppelin: II. Atlantic
6. The Jimi Hendrix Experience: Electric Ladyland. Reprise; Experience Hendrix. See my writeup on the main list.
5. John Lennon: Plastic Ono Band. Apple; Capitol. See my writeup on the main list.
4. The Who: Who's Next. MCA
3. The Mothers of Invention: Freak Out! Verve; Rykodisc
2. The Beatles: Revolver. Capitol
1. Pink Floyd: The Dark Side of the Moon. Harvest/Capitol.
Keep an eye on this page, as Mike looks deeper into the various items on his list.
Extras! Bonus Material! Etc.!
And here are my votes for the Top 10s in the other categories we ran as sidebars to the mail list. Again, more commentary on each entry will be forthcoming.
MIKE METTLER’S TOP 10 SURROUND-MUSIC TITLES
10. Talking Heads: Naked. Sire/Rhino, DVD-Audio on DualDisc
9. Donald Fagen: The Nightfly. Reprise, DVD-Audio
8. Fleetwood Mac: Rumours. Warner Bros., DVD-Audio.
7. David Gilmour: Remember That Night — Live at the Royal Albert Hall. Columbia, Blu-ray Disc
6. Genesis: A Trick of the Tail. Atco/Rhino, DVD-Video
5. Nine Inch Nails: The Downward Spiral. Halo/Interscope, SACD
4. Rush: Rush in Rio. Anthem/Zoe, DVD-Video. New interview with guitarist Alex Lifeson coming soon.
3. Dire Straits: Brothers in Arms. Warner Bros., DVD-Audio on DualDisc
2. The Flaming Lips: Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots 5.1. Warner Bros., DVD-Audio
1. Porcupine Tree: Fear of a Blank Planet. Atlantic, DVD-Audio. See interview with PTree surround-soundscape mastermind Steven Wilson.
MIKE METTLER’S TOP 10 LIVE ALBUMS BY A SINGLE ACT
10. Neil Young & Crazy Horse: Weld. Reprise
9. Cheap Trick: At Budokan — The Complete Concert. Epic/Legacy
8. Porcupine Tree: Coma Divine. Delerium; Snapper
7. The Who: Live at Leeds [Deluxe Edition]. MCA
6. Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band: Live Bullet. Capitol
5. Jimi Hendrix: Band of Gypsys — Live at the Fillmore East. Experience Hendrix
4. Bob Dylan: The Bootleg Series, Vol. 4: Live 1966, The "Royal Albert Hall" Concert.Columbia/Legacy
3. Nirvana: Unplugged in New York. DGC
2. Talking Heads: Stop Making Sense. Sire
1. Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band: Live 1975-85. Columbia
MIKE METTLER’S TOP 10 “WHATEVERS”
10. The Concert for Bangladesh. Apple; Capitol
9. A Very Special Christmas. A&M
8. Howlin’ Wolf: The London Howlin’ Wolf Sessions. Chess/MCA
7. O Brother, Where Art Thou?: Music from a Film by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen. Mercury
6. Steve Martin: A Wild and Crazy Guy. Warner Bros.
5. Twin Peaks: Soundtrack from Twin Peaks — Music Composed by Angelo Badalamenti. Warner Bros.
4. George Carlin: Class Clown. Little David; Atlantic
3. Woodstock: Music from the Original Soundtrack and More. Cotillion; Atlantic
2. The Rolling Stones: Rock and Roll Circus. ABKCO
1. Nuggets: Original Artyfacts From the First Psychedelic Era, 1965-1968. Elektra/Rhino
Like the top 50 list, keep an eye here for future ruminations by Mike on these lists.