Music - The Ultimate Guide To Faking It

[vic_orthdox]

Article in The Age, which lists the 101 Albums that you should have in your collection. How many do you own?


THE PILLARS
They're undeniable, the classics that hold up every good CD shelf. In some cases they've survived decades of play and baby boomer deification, but still sound vital and imposing.1) The Beatles - Revolver
1) The Beatles - Revolver
2) The Beatles - The White Album
3) The Clash - London Calling
4) The Velvet Underground - The Velvet Underground and Nico
5) Bob Dylan - Highway 61 Revisited
6) Marvin Gaye - What's Going On
7) Van Morrison - Astral Weeks
8) The Beach Boys - Pet Sounds
9) The Rolling Stones - Exile on Main Street
10) Nirvana - Nevermind
11) Kraftwerk - Trans-Europe Express
12) Stevie Wonder - Innervisions
13) Prince - Sign O' the Times
14) Radiohead - OK Computer
15) David Bowie - The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars
16) Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin IV
17) Michael Jackson - Off the Wall
18) Elvis Costello and the Attractions - Armed Forces
19) The Sex Pistols - Never Mind the ********
20) The Stooges - The Stooges
21) Television - Marquee Moon
22) AC/DC - Back in Black
23) You Am I - Hi-Fi Way
24) Midnight Oil - 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1
25) The Saints - I'm Stranded
26) Beck - Odelay
27) The Smiths - The Queen is Dead
28) Public Enemy - Fear of a Black Planet
29) Sonic Youth - Daydream Nation
30) Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Tender Prey
Casual aside: Thriller has the gaudy hits, but Off the Wall is Jacko's enduring classic.

CENTRE STAGE
Dodgy live albums are a dime a dozen, now augmented by often banal unplugged performances. But a great live set can recapture the atmosphere and transcend the original studio recordings.
31) Johnny Cash - At Folsom Prison
32) The Rolling Stone - Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out!
33) James Brown - Live at the Apollo (1963)
34) Wilco - Kicking Television
35) The Who - Live at Leeds
Casual aside: The quicksilver noise guitar on Kicking Television is Nels Cline.

ALLOWABLE GREATEST HITS
Some snobs will tell you that a Best of is cheating. Pay no attention. Some artists just aren't worthy of a full-length studio session, but if you compile their finest singles you've got distilled magic.
36) Blondie - The Best of
37) Madonna - The Immaculate Collection
38) New Order - Substance
39) Duran Duran - Decade
40) Aretha Franklin - 30 Greatest Hits
41) Bruce Springsteen - The Essential Bruce Springsteen
42) Simon and Garfunkel - Collected Works
43) Crowded House - Recurring Dream
44) Jimi Hendrix - The Ultimate Experience
45) The Kinks - Greatest Hits, Vol. One
Casual aside: You've gotta love Ray Davies' songwriting with the Kinks but his brother Dave hated him.

OBSCURE BUT INFLUENTIAL
Not all great art conquers the chart. A seasoned stockpile needs unexpected detours and some titles that will confound the casual observer - put in a little research and you'll easily justify them.
46) My Bloody Valentine - Loveless
47) The Hummingbirds - Lovebuzz
48) David Byrne and Brian Eno - My Life in the Bush of Ghosts
49) Captain Beefheart - Trout Mask Replica
50) Can - Tago Mago
51) Human League - Dare
52) Pere Ubu - Dub Housing
53) Tortoise - TNT
54) Wu-Tang Clan - Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)
55) Love - Forever Changes
56) New York Dolls - New York Dolls
57) Snoop Dogg - Doggystyle
58) Patti Smith - Horses
59) The International Submarine Band - Safe at Home
60) Underworld - Dubnobasswithmyheadman
Casual aside: Country-rock wouldn't exist if it wasn't for the International Submarine Band.

UNEXPECTED ALTERNATIVES
You can't be too predictable. The clever interloper might expect to find certain CDs, so that's why you have to have a different title by the same artist. It shows that you have a discerning eye and aren't afraid to reject the established canon.
61) Bjork - Homogenic (not Debut)
62) U2 - Zooropa (not Achtung Baby)
63) Neil Young - Tonight's the Night (not Harvest)
64) Massive Attack - Mezzanine (not Blue Lines)
65) De La Soul - De La Soul is Dead (not 3 Feet High and Rising)
66) Cold Chisel - Circus Animals (not East)
67) The Pixies - Surfer Rosa (not Doolittle)
68) REM - Green (not Out of Time)
69) Tom Waits - Blue Valentine (not Swordfishtrombones)
70) Blur - 13 (not Parklife)
Casual aside: Blur's 13 is the requiem for Britpop - tender, soulful and damaged.

TOMORROW'S CLASSICS TODAY
It's important to keep ahead of the field and show that your antennae are well tuned to contemporary currents. Remember, you don't need a list in Rolling Stone to program your purchases.
71) Ladytron - Witching Hour
72) The Drones - Wait Long By the River and the Bodies of Your Enemies Will Float By
73) Dizzee Rascal - Boy in da Corner
74) P.J. Harvey - Stories From the City, Stories From the Sea
75) Jeff Buckley - Grace
76) Dr Dre - The Chronic
77) Sleater-Kinney - All Hands on the Bad One
78) Refused - Shape of Punk to Come
79) Portishead - Dummy
80) Interpol - Turn on the Bright Lights
81) Susumu Yakota - The Boy and the Tree
82) Joanna Newsom - The MilkEyed Mender
83) The Strokes - Is This It
84) Roni Size - New Forms
85) Arcade Fire - Funeral
Casual aside: Witching Hour is dark, seductive and inevitable - it's an ode to power.

DOUBTFUL BUT JUSTIFIABLE
This category covers the eyebrow-raisers. Their presence may embolden your guest/opponent to think they have caught you out, but in reality they've simply failed to see the baited trap.
86) Fleetwood Mac - Rumours
87) Dusty Springfield - Dusty in Memphis
88) Depeche Mode - Music For the Masses
89) Justin Timberlake - Justified
90) INXS - Kick
91) LL Cool J - Radio
92) Kiss - Destroyer
93) Peter Gabriel - Peter Gabriel (3)
94) Rod Stewart - Every Picture Tells a Story
95) Grace Jones - Nightclubbing
Casual aside: Destroyer is bubblegum rock perfection.

DOMESTIC HARMONY
Patriotism may be the last refuge of the scoundrel, but some local titles that demonstrate your knowledge of Australian music and its rich history are essential.
96) The Easybeats - Easy
97) Underground Lovers - Leaves Me Blind
98) Hunters and Collectors - Human Frailty
99) Something for Kate - Echolalia
100) The Avalanches - Since I Left You
Casual aside: Human Frailty is the perfect mash-up of St Kilda and pub rock.

THE PERFECT FLAW
Compare and contrast; as good as your collection may be with the addition of the 100 titles listed above, you need one failure to offset and bring your holdings into perfect focus.
101) The worst CD from your current stash

[vic_orthdox]

Also, Mathieson writes this at the end:

Despite the fact that it is routinely described as the greatest album of all time, Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band by the Beatles is not on this list. That's because it's naff and overrated. A concept album that represents everything bad about the Beatles (in the same way that Revolver and The White Album are a perfect precis of their enduring brilliance), it has one great song - A Day in the Life - that's tacked on the end, refuting the chicanery and hollow melodrama preceding it.

[pasag]

I have:
1) The Beatles - Revolver
2) The Beatles - The White Album
5) Bob Dylan - Highway 61 Revisited
8) The Beach Boys - Pet Sounds
10) Nirvana - Nevermind
15) David Bowie - The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars
16) Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin IV
42) Simon and Garfunkel - Collected Works (I think I have this one, perhaps its the essential)

Its a pretty good list. Disagree with the Sgt Pepper comment as well, although its not their best, but it does deserve a place.

[cameeel]

I own exactly none of those albums.

At all.

[Mr Casson]

I have:

The Beatles - Revolver
The Beatles - The White Album
The Beach Boys - Pet Sounds
The Strokes - Is This It?

The rest are crap anyway! I really do hate being told about stuff I "Should have in my collection." I reckon even if I listened to all of those albums I wouldn't like most of them.

And on that note, all three of The Strokes albums should be there if it's any kind of definitive list!

[FaaipDeOiad]

I own 21. 12 of the first list and 9 of the rest.

The Clash - London Calling
The Velvet Underground - The Velvet Underground and Nico
Bob Dylan - Highway 61 Revisited
Nirvana - Nevermind
Radiohead - OK Computer
David Bowie - The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars
Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin IV
The Sex Pistols - Never Mind the ********
Midnight Oil - 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1
Beck - Odelay
Public Enemy - Fear of a Black Planet
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Tender Prey

Johnny Cash - At Folsom Prison
New Order - Substance
Bjork - Homogenic (not Debut)
Massive Attack - Mezzanine (not Blue Lines)
The Pixies - Surfer Rosa (not Doolittle)
Tom Waits - Blue Valentine (not Swordfishtrombones)
P.J. Harvey - Stories From the City, Stories From the Sea
Jeff Buckley - Grace
Portishead - Dummy

In the case of the Bjork and Tom Waits selections for the "other album" bit, I own both. Not sure if that counts.

Incidentally, they are all pretty good albums. The only ones on my list I'd disagree with are the Massive Attack, PJ Harvey and Portishead albums. The PJ Harvey one is pretty crappy in my opinion, and the others are okay, but not great album material. I just happen to own them.

[Mister Wright]

I can't believe Deep Purple's Machine Head isn't on that list! It might only have 7 songs on it, but 4 of them are classics; Highway Star, Never Before, Smoke on the Water and Space Truckin'.

[Smudge]

I have:

Bob Dylan - Highway 61 Revisited
Radiohead - OK Computer
Beck - Odelay
Bruce Springsteen - The Essential Bruce Springsteen
Simon and Garfunkel - Collected Works
Crowded House - Recurring Dream
Jimi Hendrix - The Ultimate Experience
Roni Size - New Forms

My random CD is Arlo Guthrie - Alice's Restaurant. A wee cracker though - I also have it on vinyl.

[Adamc]

I've got:

The Velvet Underground - The Velvet Underground and Nico
The Smiths - The Queen Is Dead
Interpol - Turn On The Bright Lights

I don't own many albums. While we're griping about albums not being included, I may as well throw in a 'where the hell are Joy Division?' .

[pasag]

And where is Dark SIde of the Moon?

[Barney Rubble]

I own three of those albums. Two of them I don't like, and one I've never listened to.

[vic_orthdox]

I have...

14) Radiohead - OK Computer
41) Bruce Springsteen - The Essential Bruce Springsteen
43) Crowded House - Recurring Dream
75) Jeff Buckley - Grace
80) Interpol - Turn on the Bright Lights
83) The Strokes - Is This It
99) Something for Kate - Echolalia

And plenty of 101)

[Barney Rubble]

Originally Posted by vic_orthdox

I have...

14) Radiohead - OK Computer
41) Bruce Springsteen - The Essential Bruce Springsteen
43) Crowded House - Recurring Dream
75) Jeff Buckley - Grace
80) Interpol - Turn on the Bright Lights
83) The Strokes - Is This It
99) Something for Kate - Echolalia

And plenty of 101)

Those are two of the ones I have - yet to get around to listening to the Interpol one, got it off a mate the other day. Not a Radiohead fan though.

[NZTailender]

I have a few of those albums, but I have quite a few more albums by artists on the list...

[Buddhmaster]

I don't own any albums or singles. That's what the internet is for