Avoid At All Costs – Influential Albums – How may Do You Own
Be careful, very careful.
There is a list of worthy albums that you should own floating around the internet. The idea is that you tick the albums in the list to see how many you own and to feel comfy with your record collection and not have any of those pesky ‘uncool’ records or admit that you may just prefer Bauhaus to Bob Dylan or think the Stranglers were more influential to the Clash and are baffled by the comfy slipper brigade rewriting music history for you- like there is only one narrative that has to be adhered to.
The list has got some great albums on it but they are missing several key really influential albums and the whole notion that you are defined by the hip records you own is one of the reasons that music chokes itself to death on the classic.
I’m more interested in the list of albums that don’t appear on the comfy slippers top 100 influential albums…comments please!
agreed – I did it and had about 60….mainly as I am old and have been buying records for nearly 40 years – what annoyed me is that its just a play to get you to buy more…wait for the follow ups….most influential Jazz, RnB, Reggae punk etc….I have deleted it.
Also influentual doth not automatically maketh any good. I didn’t bother with it….asked someone if there was Fugs and there ain’t no Fugs so it can fug off.
Its just for fun, innit.
Fell for this myself… have to say I was rather glad to not have many of the ones on the list
Its one of those things you just can’t help yourself doing though! Gotta be said that I’m quite sure that The Deldados (who I love) would be more than a little surprised to find themselves on said list.
I only have about three off that list, and am proud of it.
influential?? … makes you wanna pick up thy instrument and play it. not these , maybe a few , 1 or2 … maybe link wray is he there
Agree, totally. Also I prefer Bauhaus to Bob Dylan. Its all over Facebook, annoying. If I want to know what albums someone has I’d much prefer to be invited round to their house and have a coffee or summat and then when they go looking for biscuits have a quick peruse of their collection but even then I’m more interested in the biscuits.
I agree, It’s a very ‘Q’ magazine list. Some great stuff there and it covers a fair range of genres, but it doesn’t actually tell me anything I don’t know about my tastes. Still, it filled a few minutes and led to an exchange of comments with my mates on FB about it!
what a crock. this has to be one of the worst lists ever
Everybody I know who’s seen it has commented on how poor the selection of albums is. And why is Astral Weeks there. Fabulous record, but was anybody ever influenced by it?
One glaring omission is Liege and Lief by Fairport Convention – which kick started an entire genre. Folk Rock may never have been hip, but it was always popular.
And for that matter any of the early Pogues albums, which launched Folk Rock’s cooler cousin Folk Punk.
Come on then John give us your top 100, I am guessing it includes, Trout Mask Replica, The Velvet Undergound and Nico and Never Mind The Bollocks and Unknown Pleasures – at least I’d hope so! ;)
Ironicolically, I just did it after reading this. 61%. Patio by Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci should be in there. Bunch of schoolkids made an album that John Cale described as “the greatest bloody album ever made”. Some good shouts though to be fair. All these list style things are essentially bollocks though.
Well. If it were an American mathematics test I got a C+. Of course I don’t think such lists are worth their salt. One can’t when we are presently living in a world where young festival goers haven’t a clue who The Stone Roses are. Moreover, I’d rather my right eardrum take an icepick than listen to Bon Iver. Done and done.
It is quite a joke that The Strokes – who mostly based their sound on mid to late 90’s albums by Guided by Voices – are seen as influential. I don’t think the criteria has really been applied to this list – The Stone Roses’ debut is extremely “influenced” by lots of prior acts (The Bunnymen, The Byrds, Cream, Hendrix, Simon & Garkunkel, Primal Scream, The Hollies etc), but who has it influenced? Oasis and Northern Uproar? No more influential than ‘Children’ by The Mish…
Here are 10 influential albums I’d have hoped to have seen:
1. Earth 2 by Earth
2. any of the Dub-Triptych by Lee Perry
3. My War by Black Flag
4. Paid in Full by Eric B & Rakim
5. Force the Hand of Chance by Psychic TV
6. My Life in the Bush of Ghosts by Eno/Byrne
7. Cats and Dogs by Royal Trux
8. Let It Be by The Replacements
9. Entertainment! by Gang of Four
10. Spiderland by Slint
List-type things have become the norm since the late 90’s when Q-magazine declared OK Computer the best LP ever (!!!); they need to be more varied and with purpose, certainly not the case with this list…I never knew my record collection could be so boring!!!
Bowie Low, Joy Division Unknown Pleasures, Gang of Four Entertainment,,, Comsat Angels Sleep No More…
I totally agree, Dylan was fine in his day but…. I would much prefer seeing the Violent Femmes, Stranglers, early Human League and Nine Inch Nails thrown in the mix.
Not bothered to look these lists are always full of crap. Article on Black Flag reforming would be better John!!! Well the fact that there seems to be more than one!!! and none of them have Henry in!
Much ado about nothing …again
I was embarrassed that I owned 24 of those on the list, was expecting it to be less. One thing that did annoy, the ones I did own were more often than not, not the ones I would consider the best by the artist, The Fall choice for example.
never take these things too seriously and these things are a bit od nostaligic fun… some great albums on there, some great ones missing, music is all subjective, I’ve lost. lent out, threw away half the albums on this list.
here is the list.
The Pretty Things – S.F. Sorrow
Ride – Nowhere
Wire – Chairs Missing
The Jesus And Mary Chain – Psychocandy
Jimi Hendrix – Axis: Bold As Love
New Order – Technique
Harry Nilsson – Nilsson Schmilsson
Mazzy Star – So Tonight That I Might See
Captain Beefheart – Trout Mask Replica
Elliott Smith – Roman Candle
Devo – Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo
Tim Buckley – Goodbye And Hello
Big Star – Third/Sister Lovers
Incredible String Band – The Hangman’s Beautiful Daughter
Public Enemy – It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back
Van Morrison Astral Weeks
Yes – Close To The Edge
Pink Floyd – The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn
T. Rex – Electric Warrior
Talking Heads – Remain In Light
Bloc Party – Silent Alarm
The Flying Burrito Brothers – The Gilded Palace Of Sin
The Fall – Perverted By Language
Blur – Parklife
The Stooges – Fun House
Love – Forever Changes
Cocteau Twins – Heaven Or Las Vegas
Magazine – Real Life
Slint – Spiderland
XTC – Drums And Wires
Donovan – A Gift From A Flower To A Garden
The The – Soul Mining
Nirvana – Nevermind
Dexy’s Midnight Runners – Searching For The Young Soul Rebels
Nick Drake – Five Leaves Left
Sonic Youth – Daydream Nation
Lou Reed – Transformer
The Stone Roses – The Stone Roses
AC/DC – Back In Black
Joy Division – Closer
Bert Jansch – Bert Jansch
The Go-Betweens – Before Hollywood
The Cure – Disintegration
Jeff Buckley – Grace
Pere Ubu – The Modern Dance
Bob Dylan – Blonde On Blonde
Belle And Sebastian – If You’re Feeling Sinister
The Beach Boys – Pet Sounds
The Breeders – Last Splash
Stevie Wonder – Innervisions
David Bowie – Hunky Dory
Ramones – Ramones
Oasis – (What’s The Story) Morning Glory
King Crimson – In The Court of The Crimson King
Johnny Cash – The Man Comes Around
Neil Young – After The Gold Rush
Sufjan Stevens – Illinoise
The Strokes – Is This It?
My Bloody Valentine – Loveless
Led Zeppelin – Led Zeppelin IV
Massive Attack – Blue Lines
Slowdive – Souvlaki
REM – Automatic For The People
Mercury Rev – Deserter’s Songs
Sex Pistols – Never Mind The Bollocks
Patti Smith – Horses
Gerry Rafferty – City To City
The Chameleons – Script of The Bridge
Brian Eno – Here Come The Warm Jets
Roy Harper – Stormcock
John Cale – Paris
The Velvet Underground – The Velvet Underground
Spritualized – Ladies And Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space
The White Stripes – Elephant
Leonard Cohen – Songs of Leonard Cohen
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah – Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
Felt – The Strange Idols Pattern And Other Short Stories
The Clash – London Calling
Arcade Fire – Funeral
Marvin Gaye – What’s Going On?
John Martyn – Solid Air
The Delgados – Peloton
Bon Iver – For Emma, Forever Ago
Super Furry Animals – Radiator
Cream – Disraeli Gears
I Am Kloot – Gods And Monsters
Pixies – Doolittle
The Wedding Present – George Best
Dave Brubeck Quartet – Time Out
The Smiths – The Queen Is Dead
The Beatles – Revolver
The Kinks – Face To Face
Television – Marquee Moon
Can – Tago Mago
Radiohead – OK Computer
The Smashing Pumpkins – Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness
The Rolling Stones – Exile On Main Street
Joni Mitchell – Hejira
Kraftwerk – Computer World
Primal Scream – Screamadelica
obviously some great records there but some really gaping holes like Black Sabbath…
Felt are great but more influential than Black Sabbath or the Stranglers or Mott The Hoople or Black Flag or Minor Threat or the Doors or the Cramps or even Green Day or Bad Religion or many other bands or genres…?
Some of the albums on there aren’t even the best example of that particular band.
I don’t think it needs to be taken seriously at all, it’s just something to kill time with on the internet and then forget about, at least that’s how I viewed it. I was amused to see that it pretends that metal doesn’t exist though (and a number of other genres for that matter).
Don’t see what the fuss is about. It’s a list and like all lists its subjective. Few more hits to this site, a few rants by those who love to demonstrate how they have better taste than most, a few discussions on FB, a few surprises amongst acquaintances record collections. Everybody’s happy.
Influential is all a matter of opinion and prerefence. I personally enjoy heavier music, so for me I would like to have seen Number of the Beast, Master of Puppets & Appetite for Destruction on the list as they have influenced me and I’m sure a lot of people have them in their collection, but as they’re not ‘hip & cool’ they didn’t feature. I do however own 12 albums on the list, but am happy listening to what I want to, and not what people think I should listen to.
Where the hell is bob marley? I mean reggae purist or not if you’re talking influential.. top 100, since when was donovan more influential than bob marley? Plus, I love it how each artist is allocated just one album. Surely the beatles should have a couple