posted: Mon, 04 Dec 2006 11:15 | filed under: / blog/ | permalink | Comments: 6
Yesterday, I watched My Favourite Album on the ABC, which, for those living under a log the past few weeks, was a show where for four weeks, people could vote for their favourite album, and the top 10 got discussed on TV. Great concept :P Anyway, I thought I might offer some thoughts as to the the top 100, since I'm sure you want to hear them.
Albums that should have rated higher
- #92 -- Crowded House, by Crowded House: Famous for the song "Don't Dream It's Over". Enough said.
- #81 -- Whispering Jack by John Farnham: As far as Australian Albums go, this is generally accepted as one of the classics (not that I necessarily agree)... so it's a bit odd that it didn't make it higher. Oh well.
- #48 -- Hotel California by The Eagles: Not many albums have three number one singles, all of which are played some 30 years after their release.
- #28 -- A Night at the Opera by Queen: As far as concept albums go, you know it's good when Bohemian Rhapsody blends in perfectly, without standing out
- #27 -- Eternal Nightcap by the Whitlams: My favourite album by my favourite band (but not my favourite album), with some of my favourite songs in the context of an album. Nothing more to be said.
- #13 -- Revolver by the Beatles: Revolver is the product of release (amongst other things). Many people would argue that Sargent Pepper's is the better album (I would agree) -- Revolver, however, allowed Sargent Pepper to happen, both in terms of music and in terms of production: It's where all of the necessary experimentation occurred, and that's what makes it sound so interesting.
- #5 -- Sargent Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band by the Beatles: See above. This needs to be higher to bump out Abbey Road
Albums I expected would rank lower (but still appear on the list)
- #2 -- Grace by Jeff Buckley.
- #6 -- Nevermind by Nirvana.
- #4 -- Abbey Road by The Beatles: Why? It's a good record, that has several fantastic songs on it, however, I don't think it has the "album" quality that Revlover does. Therefore, I think #5 should have been Revolver, #4 as Sargent Pepper's, and Abbey Road somewhere in the teens.
Albums that are quite obviously products of the Giggly Teenage/Pre-teen Girl Vote (i.e. Albums that really should not be as high on the list as they are, if at all)
I've ordered this list beginning from "Least Giggly" to "Most Giggly".
- #72 -- American Idiot by Green Day. Not to say that this isn't a good album (it is)... but I get the idea that it's a bit too new to stand the test of time yet. And I honestly think it's only people like my sister who would vote for it at the moment.
- #83 -- The Tension & The Spark by Darren Hayes: Uh-huh.
- #95 -- Hot Fuss by the Killers: A good album, yes, but I'm not entirely sure it will stand the test of time just yet.
- #80 -- Innocent Eyes by Delta Goodrem. Same principle as above. Except that I get the idea that a certain person in my year group at school would have boosted it highly as well.
- #32 -- Anthony Callea by Anthony Callea. Either it's giggly teenage girls, or the sizable population of Italian Housewives in Melbourne who bought the first Italian-language album made in Australia in how many years? It's an untapped market, yes. But it could have been tapped by something much better.
My Favourite Album
was OK Computer by Radiohead. I'll discuss why in a later post. Maybe.
Anyway, feel free to dump some comments. I'll be sure to respond to them. In the mean time, you may want to view the top 100 so you can comment for yourself.