Winston-Salem, NC -- The week long, feels like eternity, wait is over. The top album of the last 30 years was revealed today on Dave FM. Please, before you go irate, this countdown was NOT my own; it was voted on by the listeners of Dave FM in the Atlanta area. Did I vote? Yes, I did... and my number one choice came out on top. So, without further ado, here are the top ten albums of the last thirty years:
10. Madonna - "Like A Virgin"
9. Peter Gabriel - "So"
8. The Clash - "London Calling"
7. Pink Floyd - "The Wall"
6. Nirvana - "Nevermind"
5. Michael Jackson - "Thriller"
4. Bruce Springsteen - "Born in the USA"
3. R.E.M. - "Automatic for the People"
2. The Police - "Syncronicity"
1. U2 - "The Joshua Tree"
Let the controversy begin. Until today, I didn't realize that a band could only be featured once in the countdown. You could make the case that "Achtung Baby" is U2's best album. Here's why "The Joshua Tree" is number 1. The album is stacked, in that, every song 1 through 11 could be a single. Look at the lineup: 1. Where The Streets Have No Name, 2. I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For, 3. With or Without You, 4. Bullet the Blue Sky, 5. Running to Stand Still, 6. Red Hill Mining Town, 7. In God's Country, 8. Trip Through Your Wires, 9. One Tree Hill, 10. Exit, 11. Mothers of the Disappeared. U2 wanted to tap into the musical roots of America. Symbolically, this album is "a musical journey through America. In turn, America discovered who U2 was during the Joshua Tree tour. Without America's discovery, U2 would not be the internationally known band that it is today. Not only are Bono's lyrics obsessed with America, but country and blues influences are heard throughout the record. U2 could have used these two musical flavors as the roots, but instead they're used as methods to add texture to the music.
The first five tracks are all radio singles along with tracks seven and nine. I love how the album starts with "Streets" since it has the ultimate crescendo -- it's so exciting -- the paramount song to blast driving down the highway with the windows down during summertime. "Still Haven't Found" is a gospel song with a nifty drum beat. "With or Without You" is an antipode, in that, the words don't depict the musical tone. As Bono said in the U2 By U2 book, "I cringe everytime a couple plays this song as their first dance at their wedding." "Exit" is a flat-out jam song, it's like the band is warming up, just trying to make as much noise as possible. Speaking of waking up, the instrumental entrance in "One Tree Hill" always reminds me of the sun rising. "Mothers" is what the name says; it portrays the sad situation in South America where children have lost their mothers.
The rest of the countdown: I love R.E.M., but they received the ATL boost in this countdown. You can never go wrong with The Police either. They may have received a lift because old man Sting just pulled a Clemens by unretiring. Nirvana at #6 and Peter Gabriel at #9 are two albums that I enjoyed in middle school. All of the dancing wannabes put Michael in the top 5. I was kind of surprised that a Rolling Stones album wasn't in the top 10. The Beatles and The Doors were DQ'd since this countdown only dates back to 1977.
Snubs: I thought the Allman Brothers would have an album somewhere in the countdown. I also thought that The Wallflowers' "Bringing Down The Horse" had the merit to break the top 30. It's one of those stacked albums; 1-11. If the Foo Fighters combined all of their albums, no doubt they would be in the top 30. It's just that all of their good songs are scattered two apiece to an album. Same goes for Beck, Garbage, Soundgarden, and Our Lady Peace. I'm shocked that the Smashing Pumpkins, "Mellon Collie & the Infinite Sadness" didn't make the cut. Yes, it's a double album, but there's a smorgasbord of good songs between the two CD's. Another album that I played over and over in the 90's was Bush's "Sixteen Stone." That album was a stacker.
All in all, I enjoyed the countdown and especially the final album. Any albums that you felt were snubbed? Let the controversy begin!
2 comments:
The Rolling Stones did not make the chart via the same way that the Beatles and the Doors were refused. Their best albums came out during the Mick Taylor era, which was circa 1969-1974.
Siamese Dream is a much better album than Mellon Collie (but a Chicago band is not likely to be popular in Larry the Cable Guy country). I would also argue than In Utero is a better album than Nevermind (and Curt Cobain himself agreed with me on that one). Syncronicity is awesome, but I think I prefer the Police's first 2 albums (they are more punk rock than their later stuff). I also believe that the first 2 Foo Fighters records are their best, and there are a lot of good songs on both of them. Also, saying that Beck only has a few good songs on each of his albums is a pretty bold statement, and I'll have to disagree with you there. Radio play is NOT a measure of quality, my dear sir. No way the Wallflowers belong on that last; they were just a mid-90's blah pop band. Likewise, Bush is dated and doesn't stand the test of time. I don't know enough about the Allman Brothers to agree or disagree, but I'm not a fan of what I've heard. Those other records are all pretty well established classics, and I can't argue with their presence on the list. All in all, I think it's a pretty reasonable (and not surprising) top 10.
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