THE GREATEST ALBUMS OF ALL TIME (Rankings 42-31)

Submitted by AfterHours on Mon, 10/30/2006 - 12:29
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  • 42. REMNANTS OF A DEEPER PURITY-BLACK TAPE FOR A BLUE GIRL (1996)

  • MY RATING: 9.0/10

  • TRACK LISTING:

  • OVERALL QUALITIES
  • 1. PROFUNDITY
  • 2. DEPTH
  • 3. INGENUITY
  • 4. CONTINUITY

  • CHALLENGE RATING: 6.5/10

  • CRITICS' LIST RANKINGS':

  • CRITICS' QUOTES:

  • MY REVIEW:


  • 41. IN THE AEROPLANE OVER THE SEA-NEUTRAL MILK HOTEL (1998)

  • MY RATING: 9.0/10

  • MY FAVORITE TRACKS:
  • 4. TWO-HEADED BOY
  • 6. HOLLAND, 1945
  • 8. OH COMELY
  • 11. TWO-HEADED BOY, PART 2

  • CHALLENGE RATING: 4.0/10

  • GREATEST MOMENT:

  • CRITICS' LIST RANKINGS:
  • Fast 'n' Bulbous (USA) - The 500 Best Albums Since 1965: 289
  • Magnet (USA) - 10th Anniversary Issue, Top 60 Albums 1993-2003: 1
  • Music Underwater (USA) - Top 100 Albums 1990-2003 (2004): 4
  • Nude as the News (USA) - The 100 Most Compelling Albums of the 90s (1999): 3
  • Pitchfork (USA) - Top 100 Favorite Records of the 1990s (1999): 85
  • Pitchfork (USA) - Top 100 Favorite Records of the 1990s (2003): 4
  • Spin (USA) - Top 100 Albums of the Last 20 Years (2005): 97

  • CRITICS' RATINGS:
  • All Music Guide (USA) - Album Ratings 1-5 Stars: 4.5 Stars
  • MusicHound Rock, R&B and Country (USA) - Album Ratings 0-5 Bones (1998-99): 2 Bones
  • Rolling Stone Album Guide, Ratings 1-5 Stars (USA, 2004): 4 Stars

  • CRITICS' QUOTES:

  • MY REVIEW: Neutral Milk Hotel's In the Aeroplane Over the Sea is an indie rock masterpiece that primarily combines pop, folk and punk music to a kaleidescope of the intense and determined stream-of-conscious perceptions of singer Jeff Mangum, who courageously unveils deep-seated emotions of his love and sympathy for the being, death and resurrection of Anne Frank. The result is a devastatingly powerful concept album that is rather complicated lyrically but very direct emotionally and musically.

  • In the Aeroplane Over the Sea is the ultimate album for those who are unwilling or too impatient for more experimental music, because it provides the same degree of depth and profundity as rock music's greatest masterworks without resorting to very complex structures or particularly innovative techniques. Because of Jeff Mangum's astoundingly powerful voice and his nostalgic, poetically and often strangely evocative imagery, it achieves an uninhibited, unabashed sense of wonder and intense, sustained sadness, while relaying some of the harrowing pathos of The Holocaust, but from a more central and personalized viewpoint than most. Perhaps its greatest achievement is being probably the only pop album to ever match the emotional power only previously achieved by those of rock musics' avante-garde. And I think it's safe to say that In the Aeroplane Over the Sea is the greatest pop album ever created.


  • 40. BRILLIANT CORNERS-THELONIOUS MONK (1956)

  • MY RATING: 9.0/10

  • MY FAVORITE TRACKS:
  • 1. BRILLIANT CORNERS
  • 5. BEMSHA SWING

  • CHALLENGE RATING: 5.5/10

  • GREATEST MOMENT:

  • CRITICS' LIST RANKINGS: N/A

  • CRITICS' RATINGS:
  • All Music Guide (USA) - Album Ratings 1-5 Stars: 5 Stars

  • CRITICS' QUOTES:

  • ALL MUSIC GUIDE: "Although Brilliant Corners is Thelonious Monk's third disc for Riverside, it's the first on the label to weigh in with such heavy original material. Enthusiasts who become jaded to the idiosyncratic nature of Monk's playing or his practically arithmetical chord progressions should occasionally revisit Brilliant Corners. There is an inescapable freshness and vitality saturated into every measure of every song. The passage of time makes it all the more difficult to imagine any other musicians bearing the capacity to support Monk with such ironic precision. The assembled quartet for the lion's share of the sessions included Max Roach (percussion), Sonny Rollins (tenor sax), Oscar Pettiford (bass), and Ernie Henry (alto sax). Although a compromise, the selection of Miles Davis' bassist, Paul Chambers, and Terry Clark (trumpet) on "Bemsha Swing" reveals what might be considered an accident of ecstasy, as they provide a timeless balance between support and being able to further the cause musically. Likewise, Roach's timpani interjections supply an off-balanced sonic surrealism while progressing the rhythm in and out of the holes provided by Monk's jackrabbit leads. It's easy to write Monk's ferocity and Forrest Gump-esque ingenuity off as gimmick or quirkiness. What cannot be dismissed is Monk's ability to translate emotions into the language of music, as in the freedom and abandon he allows through Sonny Rollins' and Max Roach's mesmerizing solos in "Brilliant Corners." The childlike innocence evoked by Monk's incorporation of the celeste during the achingly beautiful ode "Pannonica" raises the emotional bar several degrees. Perhaps more pointed, however, is the impassioned "I Surrender, Dear" -- the only solo performance on the album. Brilliant Corners may well be considered the alpha and omega of post-World War II American jazz. No serious jazz collection should be without it."

  • BARNES & NOBLE: "By the time pianist Thelonious Monk joined Riverside Records, a great many of his classic compositions could already be found on his earlier Blue Note albums. But the modern master still had a few tricks up his sleeve. Along with such brilliant players as tenor saxophone giant Sonny Rollins, drummer Max Roach, trumpeter Clark Terry, and bassists Oscar Pettiford and Paul Chambers, Monk also brought some soon-to-be classic tunes with him into the studio. " "Ba-lue Bolivar Ba-lues-are," "Pannonica," " Bemsha Swing," and "Brilliant Corners" are superb Monk compositions that receive spirited performances. Monk also characteristically slips in an old chestnut, "I Surrender Dear," which he proceeds to reconstruct in his inimitable way. Although each of the accompanying players is perfectly tuned in to Monk's demanding alternate world of skewed harmony, melody, and rhythm, one tune kept throwing them for a loop. The drastic rhythmic changeups of "Brilliant Corners" were not to be mastered in one take. Listen closely and you can hear the tape splice joining two different takes."

  • MY REVIEW: Brilliant Corners is the earliest jazz masterpiece I've heard, yet it still remains wondrously fresh and vital despite being recorded way back in the mid-50s. It is among the brightest, most lively performances ever recorded. One of its many strengths is that its compositions are quite complex and multi-faceted while still maintaining nearly perfect unity, and completely unforgettable, melodious tunes. There is an exhilerating, almost marching band vigor that permeates 4 out of the 5 pieces, that gives the force of the album a sense of the victorious and a regal, grandiose atitude. The pieces here sound like statements and overall there's a zesty, playful character that is completely, utterly irresistable.


  • 39. SPIRIT OF EDEN-TALK TALK (1988)

  • MY RATING: 9.0/10

  • TRACK LISTING: / RATING
  • 1. THE RAINBOW (8.25/10)
  • 2. EDEN (8.75/10)
  • 3. DESIRE (9.0/10)
  • 4. INHERITANCE (9.0/10)
  • 5. I BELIEVE IN YOU (8.75/10)
  • 6. WEALTH (8.5/10)

  • OVERALL QUALITIES:
  • 1. PROFUNDITY (9.5/10)
  • 2. DEPTH (8.75/10)
  • 3. INGENUITY (8.75/10)
  • 4. CONTINUITY (9.75/10)

  • CHALLENGE RATING: 5.5/10

  • GREATEST MOMENT: The profound opening piano chords to Inheritance.

  • CRITICS' LIST RANKINGS:
  • Fast 'n' Bulbous (USA) - The 500 Best Albums Since 1965: 342
  • Pitchfork (USA) - Top 100 Favorite Records of the 1980s (2002): 34
  • Mojo (UK) - The 100 Greatest Albums Ever Made (1995): 87
  • The Observer (UK) - The 100 Greatest British Albums (2004): 33
  • Panorama (Norway) - The 30 Best Albums of the Year 1970-98 (1999): 1
  • David Kleijwegt (Netherlands) - Top 100 Albums of All Time (1999): 79
  • Musik Express/Sounds (Germany) - The 50 Best Albums from the 80s (2003): 5
  • Rolling Stone (Germany) - The 500 Best Albums of All Time (2004): 158
  • Mucchio Selvaggio (Italy) - 100 Best Albums by Decade (2002): 21-50

  • CRITICS' RATINGS:
  • All Music Guide (USA) - Album Ratings 1-5 Stars: 5 Stars
  • Rolling Stone Album Guide, Ratings 1-5 Stars (USA, 1992): 1 Star
  • Martin C. Strong (UK) - The Great Rock Discography 7th Edition, Ratings 1-10: 8
  • Virgin Encyclopedia of Popular Music (UK) - Album Ratings 1-5 Stars (2002): 4 Stars

  • CRITICS' QUOTES:

  • POPMATTERS: "Spirit of Eden is a record that cuts to the marrow, challenging our resigned contentment with the way things are. It's a spirit that slides under the gates of time and genre, reaching up to haunt us out of a stupor. Like any great art, it defies analysis and can only be experienced at the most individual level.

  • Heaven bless you, Mark Hollis."

  • STYLUS MAGAZINE: "The notion of originality has been refuted by Hollis, who believes all music to be essentially derivative. The way to achieve innovation, to create something original, he says, is to take things from as wide and varied a scheme of influences as possible. The list of names checked as sources for the creation of Spirit Of Eden is wide and diverse; Can, Miles Davis, Debussy, Satie, Delius, Coltrane, Roland Kirk, John Lee Hooker. It was the punk insurgency of late 70s London that inspired him to pick up a guitar and cemented in his ideology the need for ‘feel’ over technique. He is almost militant about how music should be listened to, an advocate of intense engagement and undivided attention. Despite aesthetic similarities, I imagine he has little theoretical common ground with Eno. Spirit Of Eden is intended to be listened to late at night in darkened rooms, focused and free of distractions. Every note and beat is in place for a reason, every texture mulled over and deliberate. At one point Hollis and Friese-Green recorded a 25-piece choir, only to delete their contribution the next day because it was “too perfect.” The imperfections and flaws beget the power of the record, reflecting and refracting the fallibility and frailty of the mortal creator. The juxtaposition of the unsound and the magnificent reminds us of our own flaws, of our ego and insignificance; it is this almost unconscious recognition, this profound truth within the music that charges me with feeling.

  • The eddies of influence flow outwards in concentric circles from Spirit Of Eden, artists at different compass points echoing its ripples, unknowingly swept in its tides. The overt appropriation of aesthetic by Bark Psychosis. Jason Pierce’s godless drone and surge. A learning curve abided by Radiohead. Sigur Ros; Elbow; Ride; all and more in thrall. But Spirit Of Eden itself is oblivious, standing outside of time and consideration, a deeply personal music made for deeply personal reasons, not to influence few but to satisfy one. Enduring a great burden of coercive influence from EMI, Mark Hollis consented to allow them to edit “I Believe In You” for radio. A mistake. Distraught and prostituted; perhaps the record’s most transcendent moment shorn of context and arc; Hollis despaired, protective of his creation, his expression, a part of himself. Within the framework of the album, “I Believe In You” is an instant of sublime; wraiths of guitar, gentle folds of piano, a click and thump of drums as herald for an anguished cry; “I just can’t bring myself to see it starting”. The magnetic, liquid groove, observance of a broken world, the sea of organs, a curtain of sound and... a chorus, angels, light... a dream of noise...

  • “Create upon my breath / create reflection on my flesh / the wealth of love... / take my freedom...” “Wealth” is the album’s final and most explicitly devout movement, an overt and honest supplication. A caress of organ, a fractured, delicate brush of acoustic guitar. Pace, as throughout the record, is key; the slower the motion the more important the progression, a momentum of spirit. “Wealth” is a lingering plea for gospel, a bargaining with God; “take my freedom for giving me a sacred love.” In my eyes it is an admission of man’s inability to guide his destiny, a divulgence of impotence and a desperate appeal for fate in the face of free will. It is recognition and refutation of our solitude in the absence of God. If we pray hard enough and long enough and pure enough, perhaps we can create God, make God hear us, love us, and bless us with salvation. It is a weak but gracious yearning, futile and human."

  • MY REVIEW: Spirit of Eden, Talk Talk's masterwork, is among the most poignant, passionate and heavenly rock albums ever made. It employs spacious song structures to achieve an oblique sense of partially free-form composition, as hesitant, natural and exotic forces emerge from live jazz instrumentation. Throughout, lead singer Mark Hollis emotes in sudden and intense, controlled eruptions of spiritually charged fervor. Spirit of Eden is a very thoughtful, expertly realized and well-organized work, resulting in an experience that rewards the listener with undying faith, cognitions on the nature of life, and the utterly divine. This is a miraculous, singular offering from a band that advanced markedly from previous years to become a set of uniformly competent individuals who managed to create an environment of great synergy and subtle strokes of genius, embodying the kind of austere framework usually reserved for some of the finest jazz works.

  • Opener The Rainbow collects a slew of patient, seamlessly building ideas before marching into a bluesy march towards Hollis' outpourings of emotion between releases of timely piano chords and striking, cutting spews of harmonica. Eden is a triumph of explosive, barely refrained, nakedly open emotions, enveloping in its sweeping, breathtaking beauty. Desire is a climactic, cathartic masterpiece, lifted by sudden and furious periods of ecstatic, stormy release. Inheritance is a momentous, extremely profound and complexley orchestrated miracle. At its mid-point it unleashes an instrumental passage both reflective and organic, its unique, elemental beauty reminiscent of nature: a sunset on the horizon, a blossoming flower, or light filtering through a thick morning fog. It's opening is touched by a set of profound, hypnotic and relaxed piano chords, a perfect anecdote to the storm that just followed from Desire. I Believe In You has an impeccably sung and melodic build-up that shifts into various gears while pressing with momentum. It is a wonder to behold as its inspirational, lifting verses unfold into life-changing epiphanies for Hollis. Closer Wealth is almost startling in its simplicity, Hollis' soul fully bared as he ends the work on a heartbreaking round of spine-tingling cries. Hollis is so engulfed and so utterly lost in his conviction that his voice positively quivers with intensity as it rises through his repeating pronouncements.

  • Talk Talk succeed in attaining their masterpiece because they totally and unashamedly believe in what they're creating with Spirit of Eden. The album flows with such craft that it's difficult to believe it's the same band of a few years prior. Here they grew into what was perhaps the most mature and visionary rock bands of the 80's. And this, Spirit of Eden, is among the most personal and profound visions in rock history.


  • 38. TAGO MAGO-CAN (1971)

  • MY RATING: 9.0/10

  • TRACK LISTING:

  • OVERALL QUALITIES

  • CHALLENGE RATING: 7.5/10

  • GREATEST MOMENT:

  • CRITICS' LIST RANKINGS':

  • CRITICS' RATINGS:

  • CRITICS' QUOTES:

  • MY REVIEW:


  • 37. LOVELESS-MY BLOODY VALENTINE (1991)

  • MY RATING: 9.0/10

  • TRACK LISTING:
  • 1. ONLY SHALLOW
  • 2. LOOMER
  • 3. TOUCHED
  • 4. TO HERE KNOWS WHEN
  • 5. WHEN YOU SLEEP
  • 6. I ONLY SAID
  • 7. COME IN ALONE
  • 8. SOMETIMES
  • 9. BLOWN A WISH
  • 10. WHAT YOU WANT
  • 11. SOON

  • OVERALL QUALITIES
  • 1. PROFUNDITY
  • 2. DEPTH
  • 3. INGENUITY
  • 4. CONTINUITY

  • CHALLENGE RATING: 7.0/10

  • GREATEST MOMENT: The mesmerizing vortex created by the imploding layers and waves of guitars on I Only Said.

  • CRITICS' LIST RANKINGS':
  • Alternative Press (USA) - The 90 Greatest Albums of the 90s (1998): 7
  • Alternative Press (USA) - Top 99 Albums of '85 to '95 (1995): 14
  • Fast 'n' Bulbous (USA) - The 500 Best Albums Since 1965: 117
  • Gear (USA) - The 100 Greatest Albums of the Century (1999): 37
  • LostAtSea (USA) - 90 Albums of the 90s (2000): 59
  • Music Underwater (USA) - Top 100 Albums 1990-2003 (2004): 1
  • Nude as the News (USA) - The 100 Most Compelling Albums of the 90s (1999): 11
  • Pitchfork (USA) - Top 100 Favorite Records of the 1990s (1999): 1
  • Pitchfork (USA) - Top 100 Favorite Records of the 1990s (2003): 2
  • Rolling Stone (USA) - The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time (2003): 219
  • Spin (USA) - 100 Alternative Albums (1995): 35
  • Spin (USA) - Top 100 Albums of the Last 20 Years (2005): 22
  • Spin (USA) - Top 90 Albums of the 90s (1999): 16
  • The Review, University of Delaware (USA) - 100 Greatest Albums of All Time (2001): 54
  • Guitarist (UK) - 101 Essential Guitar Albums (2000): 11
  • Hot Press (Ireland) - The 100 Best Albums Ever (2006): 32
  • Melody Maker (UK) - All Time Top 100 Albums (2000): 63
  • New Musical Express (UK) - Top 100 Albums of All Time (2003): 11
  • Select (UK) - The 100 Best Albums of the 90s (1996): 95
  • The Observer (UK) - The 100 Greatest British Albums (2004): 20
  • Pop (Sweden) - The World's 100 Best Albums + 300 Complements (1994): 85
  • Musik Express (Germany) - The 50 Best Albums of the 90s (2005): 27
  • Rolling Stone (Germany) - The 500 Best Albums of All Time (2004): 179
  • Zundfunk (Germany) - The Best Albums of the 90s (2000): 37
  • Les Inrockuptibles (France) - The 100 Best Albums 1986-1996 (1996): 16
  • Rock de Lux (Spain) - The 150 Best Albums from the 90s (2000): 4
  • Rock de Lux (Spain) - The 200 Best Albums of All Time (2002): 54
  • Juice (Australia) - The 100 (+34) Greatest Albums of the 90s (1999): 62
  • The Movement (New Zealand) - The 101 Best Albums of the 90s (2004): 6
  • BigO (Singapore) - The 100 Best Albums from 1975 to 1995 (1995): 73
  • Mucchio Selvaggio (Italy) - 100 Best Albums by Decade (2002): 1-20
  • Pure Pop (Mexico) - The 50 Best Albums of the 90s (2000): 10
  • Pure Pop (Mexico) - The Best Albums of All Time (1993): 63

  • CRITICS' RATINGS:
  • All Music Guide (USA) - Album Ratings 1-5 Stars: 5 Stars
  • MusicHound Rock, R&B and Country (USA) - Album Ratings 0-5 Bones (1998-99): 5 Bones
  • Robert Christgau (USA) - Consumer Guide Album Grade: A-
  • Rolling Stone Album Guide, Ratings 1-5 Stars (USA, 1992): 3.5 Stars
  • Rolling Stone Album Guide, Ratings 1-5 Stars (USA, 2004): 5 Stars
  • Spin's Book of Alternative Albums, Ratings 1-10 (USA, 1995): 10
  • Martin C. Strong (UK) - The Great Rock Discography 7th Edition, Ratings 1-10: 9
  • Virgin Encyclopedia of Popular Music (UK) - Album Ratings 1-5 Stars (2002): 3 Stars
  • José Ramón Pardo (Spain) - The 1000 Best Pop-Rock Albums, Ratings 1-5 (1997): 3.5 Stars

  • CRITICS' QUOTES:

  • PITCHFORK: "Now that Kevin Shields is in better health and is slowly returning to the scene, he's explained that Loveless was something of an albatross for him, that he never could find a proper way to follow it. He should be comforted by the fact that no one else has been able to follow it, either. I've long dreamt of an album that was "Like Loveless, but more," but I haven't found it. And so many hundreds of albums have tried. Perhaps this is the sound of a single idea perfected. We should move on and continue to explore the vast spectrum of sound and feeling music provides, but we'll always return to Loveless for what it alone can deliver."

  • TOWER RECORDS: "To simply call this album the apotheosis of the shoegazing scene--that brief epoch of U.K. indie-rock in which bands turned away from melodic clarity and instead chased after the incendiary rapture of sheer guitar-driven noise--would be an understatement. LOVELESS is the sound of what might've happened if Brian Eno had produced DAYDREAM NATION. Or perhaps it's the thundering ambience of SISTER recorded backwards. Whatever the case, rarely has such a pristine, hypnotic record had such an ungodly amount of sonic tonnage. Opening with four quick beats from some kind of skeletal kick-drum and then proceeding through eleven gleaming movements of titanic distortion and severe melancholy, MBV's great wall of guitar architecture on this recording stands as a monument to the brilliance of its inventors. Released at roughly the same time that Nirvana birthed NEVERMIND, LOVELESS could not have been more different and yet as utterly relevant in shaping future soundscapes. A heavy, heavy record."

  • MY REVIEW: My Bloody Valentine's Loveless is a stunning, gargantuan wormhole of melodious refrains and multiple layers of swirling, mesmerizing harsh rhythms and pulsating swaths of guitars, creating a horde of living, breathing feedback and overtaken, melodious vocals combining to envelope the listener between a parallel universe of heaven and hell.


  • 36. YERSELF IS STEAM-MERCURY REV (1991)

  • MY RATING: 9.0/10

  • MY FAVORITE TRACKS:

  • CHALLENGE RATING: 6.5/10

  • GREATEST MOMENT:

  • CRITICS' LIST RANKINGS:

  • CRITICS' RATINGS:

  • CRITICS' QUOTES:

  • MY REVIEW:


  • 35. SPIDERLAND-SLINT (1991)

  • MY RATING: 9.0/10

  • MY FAVORITE TRACKS:
  • 4. WASHER
  • 6. GOOD MORNING CAPTAIN

  • CHALLENGE RATING: 6.0/10

  • GREATEST MOMENT: The intense, cathartic release during the unforgettable finale of album closer, Good Morning Captain.

  • CRITICS' LIST RANKINGS:
  • Alternative Press (USA) - The 90 Greatest Albums of the 90s (1998): 34
  • Alternative Press (USA) - Top 99 Albums of '85 to '95 (1995): 61
  • Fast 'n' Bulbous (USA) - The 500 Best Albums Since 1965: 116
  • LostAtSea (USA) - 90 Albums of the 90s (2000): 32
  • Music Underwater (USA) - Top 100 Albums 1990-2003 (2004): 49
  • Nude as the News (USA) - The 100 Most Compelling Albums of the 90s (1999): 23
  • Pitchfork (USA) - Top 100 Favorite Records of the 1990s (1999): 34
  • Pitchfork (USA) - Top 100 Favorite Records of the 1990s (2003): 12
  • Spin (USA) - Top 100 Albums of the Last 20 Years (2005): 94
  • Stylus (USA) - Top 101-200 Albums of All time (2004): 190
  • Melody Maker (UK) - All Time Top 100 Albums (2000): 55
  • New Musical Express (UK) - Top 100 Albums of All Time (2003): 53
  • Spex (Germany) - The 100 Albums of the Century (1999): 76
  • Rock de Lux (Spain) - The 150 Best Albums from the 90s (2000): 15
  • Rock de Lux (Spain) - The 200 Best Albums of All Time (2002): 126

  • CRITICS' RATINGS:
  • All Music Guide (USA) - Album Ratings 1-5 Stars: 4.5 Stars
  • Robert Christgau (USA) - Consumer Guide Album Grade: C+
  • Rolling Stone Album Guide, Ratings 1-5 Stars (USA, 2004): 2.5 Stars
  • Spin's Book of Alternative Albums, Ratings 1-10 (USA, 1995): 8
  • Martin C. Strong (UK) - The Great Rock Discography 7th Edition, Ratings 1-10: 8
  • Virgin Encyclopedia of Popular Music (UK) - Album Ratings 1-5 Stars (2002): 4 Stars

  • CRITICS' QUOTES:

  • THE NEW YORKER: "Slint spawned so many imitators—Mogwai may be the best known—that the band became a genre within indie rock, a style in which boys, choked with emotion and capable only of murmurs or shouts, play each song more slowly than it wants to be played, and find deep significance in their every utterance. “Spiderland” deserves the overheated praise, but it was partly responsible for the enervation and increasing insularity of independent rock music during the nineties, a decade in which hip-hop, teen pop, and dance-hall, by contrast, became ever more formally omnivorousand pleasurable. The problem was that Slint did not create a simple, easily imitated beat like Bo Diddley, or an elemental song like the Sex Pistols’ “Anarchy in the U.K.,” which anyone could learn to play. Slint—or “Spiderland,” because the two had become interchangeable—was like that grilled-cheese sandwich bearing the face of the Virgin Mary: an unlikely and irreproducible marvel."

  • NUDE AS THE NEWS: "Almost all of the passages, despite these excursions, feature sudden winces of hard, hard rock, with "Nosferatu Man" perhaps more struck by this than any other track. The closer, "Good Morning, Captain," seems to summarize all of these highbrow techniques, alternating between fragments of irritable guitar and haunting vocal recitations. The effect erects an iceberg of tragic suspense, and actually constitutes a true upsetting of modern rock history.

  • Spiderland expresses emotions often put aside in modern rock, bucking stereotypes and never resorting to the prefabricated ideas of earlier sonic icons. Here, in only six tracks, Slint achieve the nirvana of alternative rock, wedding masterful playing, thoughtful composing and lyrical expression to a degree seldom reached by popular music. And even though its members probably never thought twice about it, they gave true inspiration, for better or for worse, to an entirely new subgenre of rock."

  • MY REVIEW: Slint's monumental work, now an indelible figure in the fabric of math-rock and indie-rock as a whole, continues to inspire musicians in much the same way The Velvet Underground's debut did twenty-four years prior, when one considers the sheer vastness of its influence, especially throughout the 90's. It will remain a worshipped cult phenomenon because it veers so far from pop music cliches and rewards the patient, attentive and demanding listener--and only them.

  • Spiderland is the masterpiece of brooding, climactic suspense in all of rock music. So far as I know, there is nothing to actually compare. It plays out like a smart horror film because it doesn't merely sing about startling moments, it lives them, and so the listener goes exactly where the performance does, making the overall experience simultaneously harrowing, awe-inspiring, and completely gratifying. Think Blair Witch Project and you begin to get the idea.

  • Through a near perfect sequencing of tracks, Spiderland evolves from its simplest songs (rather complex actually), through the sustained, slow-motion jazz of Don Aman and Washer, to the sleepy, sinister, dark-forest instrumental, ...For Dinner, before eclipsing everything: itself, rock music, and the kitchen sink, in the gripping Good Morning Captain.

  • In conclusion, the band couldn't weather its own storm, having unfortuantely committed themselves to the sorry state of mental institutions from the psychosis endured that their own music played upon them. It's a wonder if they would've ever followed this work with something equally genius. Indeed, it's hard to imagine they would have. It seems Spiderland, like true horror, was something not even they so much self-determinatedly created, but rather, got so frightened by that its magnified release of terror was the only answer.


  • 34. NOT AVAILABLE-RESIDENTS (1978)

  • MY RATING: 9.0/10

  • MY FAVORITE TRACKS:

  • CHALLENGE RATING: 8.5/10

  • GREATEST MOMENT:

  • CRITICS' LIST RANKINGS:

  • CRITICS' RATINGS:

  • CRITICS' QUOTES:

  • MY REVIEW:


  • 33. NEU!-NEU! (1972)

  • MY RATING: 9.0/10

  • MY FAVORITE TRACKS:
  • 1. HALLOGALLO
  • 5. NEGATIVLAND

  • CHALLENGE RATING: 7.5/10

  • GREATEST MOMENT: Probably the swaths of build-up on Negativland.

  • CRITICS' LIST RANKINGS:
  • Fast 'n' Bulbous (USA) - The 500 Best Albums Since 1965: 391
  • Pitchfork (USA) - Top 100 Albums of the 1970s (2004): 25
  • Musik Express/Sounds (Germany) - The 50 Best German Records (2001): 7
  • Rolling Stone (Germany) - The 500 Best Albums of All Time (2004): 428
  • Rock de Lux (Spain) - The 200 Best Albums of All Time (2002): 122

  • CRITICS' RATINGS:
  • All Music Guide (USA) - Album Ratings 1-5 Stars: 4.5 Stars
  • Rolling Stone Album Guide, Ratings 1-5 Stars (USA, 2004): 4 Stars
  • Martin C. Strong (UK) - The Great Rock Discography 7th Edition, Ratings 1-10: 8
  • Virgin Encyclopedia of Popular Music (UK) - Album Ratings 1-5 Stars (2002): 4 Stars

  • CRITICS' QUOTES:

  • BBC.CO.UK: "Neu! are often touted as one of the most influential bands of the last thirty years; they've been praised by Julian Cope and imitated by the likes of Stereolab, yet it's only now their three albums have made it to CD after years of legal wrangles and poor bootleg releases. In fact, for a long time it's been easier to get a Neu ! T-shirt than any of their records.

  • Neu!,their 1971 debut is arguably the strongest record the duo of Michael Rother and Klaus Dinger made; its stunningly reductionist stuff, rock stripped down to its essentials of pulse and texture, arguably predating techno and the whole post-rock movement by a good fifteen years. It's music with no narrative structure, not much in the way of dynamics - it just is.

  • The opening "Hallogallo" is the classic Neu! sound in a nutshell - Dinger's crisp, insistent tribal drums underpin Rother's yearning guitar figures and the whole thing spends 10 minutes going nowhere beautifully.

  • Elsewhere, "Sonderangebot" is an illbient dronescape of processed cymbals, "Negativland" is a wholseome slice of proto punk squeal featuring Dinger's infamous Japan banjo, while "Weisensee" recalls Meddle era Floyd without the pomposity. All three albums are essential, but if you're (ahem) new to Neu!, this is the place to start."

  • MY REVIEW: Effortlessy cool, confident and often harrowingly intense, Neu! is a landmark, extremely influential recording and one of the greatest masterworks in all of Krautrock. It brought "rock" down to its core, its essence and leaves in its wake swaths and motorik beats, held together by nothing but atmospheres and the purest emotional currents. The album is among the greatest dichotomies in all music in that it sounds industrial, an evocation of motors and the future and the cutting edge, yet also maintains a striking sense of natural wonder and the supernatural, and is ultimately a spiritual experience.


  • 32. BITCHES BREW-MILES DAVIS (1970)

  • MY RATING: 9.0/10

  • MY FAVORITE TRACKS:

  • CHALLENGE RATING: 7.0/10

  • GREATEST MOMENT:

  • CRITICS' LIST RANKINGS:
  • Dave Marsh & Kevin Stein (USA) - The 40 Best of Album Chartmakers by Year (1981): 7
  • Fast 'n' Bulbous (USA) - The 500 Best Albums Since 1965: 171
  • Gear (USA) - The 100 Greatest Albums of the Century (1999): 51
  • Pitchfork (USA) - Top 100 Albums of the 1970s (2004): 18
  • Radio WXPN (USA) - The 100 Most Progressive Albums (1996): 11
  • Rod Underhill (USA) - The Top 100 Rock/Pop Albums (2003): 25
  • Rolling Stone (USA) - The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time (2003): 94
  • Rolling Stone (USA) - Top 100 Albums of the Last 20 Years (1987): 81
  • The Review, University of Delaware (USA) - 100 Greatest Albums of All Time (2001): 52
  • VH1 (USA) - The 100 Greatest Albums of R 'N' R (2001): 64
  • Guardian (UK) - 100 Albums that Don't Appear in All Other Top 100 Album Lists (1999): 89
  • Mojo (UK) - The 100 Greatest Albums Ever Made (1995): 82
  • The Anarchist (UK) - The 33 Best Albums Ever (1997): 13
  • Max Magazine (Germany) - The 50 Best Albums of All Time (1997): 25
  • Rolling Stone (Germany) - The 500 Best Albums of All Time (2004): 223
  • Spex (Germany) - The 100 Albums of the Century (1999): 79
  • Wiener (Austria) - The 100 Best Albums of the 20th Century (1999): 16
  • Zounds (Germany) - The Top 30 Albums of All Time + Top 10 by Decade (1992): 17
  • Rock de Lux (Spain) - The 100 Best Albums of the 1970s (1988): 19
  • Epoca (Italy) - The 100 Best Albums of All Time (1988): 50
  • Mucchio Selvaggio (Italy) - 100 Best Albums by Decade (2002): 1-20

  • CRITICS' RATINGS:
  • All Music Guide (USA) - Album Ratings 1-5 Stars: 5 Stars
  • Robert Christgau (USA) - Consumer Guide Album Grade: A-
  • Rolling Stone Album Guide, Ratings 1-5 Stars (USA, 1992): 5 Stars
  • Martin C. Strong (UK) - The Great Rock Discography 7th Edition, Ratings 1-10: 8
  • Virgin Encyclopedia of Popular Music (UK) - Album Ratings 1-5 Stars (2002): 5 Stars
  • José Ramón Pardo (Spain) - The 1000 Best Pop-Rock Albums, Ratings 1-5 (1997): 5 Stars

  • CRITICS' QUOTES:

  • MY REVIEW: Bitches Brew is a huge album, clocking it at around 95 minutes. It is also one of the most spacious, infectious and adventurous rock or jazz albums ever made. Davis and company provide relaxed but strikingly vibrant atmospheres touching on funk, soul, R & B, and especially crossing the line into the deep trenches of Jimi Hendrix's soul. Not to mention it's something of an editing miracle, in that Davis took pieces of the performances and "taped" them together in order to form Brew's abstract cohesiveness. The result were some of the freest trips jazz has ever taken. Each work gets the freedom to open up and ride intensely focused, long-winded journeys of great energy, going on for infinities. Bitches Brew is the all-out, sweaty assault that forged fusion, and remains one of the most influential, revolutionary albums in jazz history.


  • 31. BLONDE ON BLONDE-BOB DYLAN (1966)

  • MY RATING: 9.0/10

  • MY FAVORITE TRACKS:
  • 3. VISIONS OF JOHANNA
  • 6. STUCK INSIDE OF MOBILE WITH THE MEMPHIS BLUES AGAIN
  • 8. JUST LIKE A WOMAN
  • 11. ABSOLUTELY SWEET MARIE
  • 14. SAD-EYED LADY OF THE LOWLANDS

  • CHALLENGE RATING: 5.5/10

  • GREATEST MOMENT: On Sad-Eyed Lady of the Lowlands Dylan sings:

  • With your silhouette when the sunlight dims
  • Into your eyes where the moonlight swims

  • There is a special, personalized level of emotion with which he sings the line, making it particularly profound.

  • CRITICS' LIST RANKINGS:
  • Blender (USA) - The 100 Greatest American Albums of All time (2002): 21
  • Dave Marsh & Kevin Stein (USA) - The 40 Best of Album Chartmakers by Year (1981): 1
  • Entertainment Weekly (USA) - The 100 Greatest CDs of All Time (1993): 6
  • Fast 'n' Bulbous (USA) - The 500 Best Albums Since 1965: 51
  • Gear (USA) - The 100 Greatest Albums of the Century (1999): 21
  • Kitsap Sun (USA) - Top 200 Albums of the Last 40 Years (2005): 9
  • Paul Gambaccini - The World Critics Best Albums of All Time (1977): 2
  • Paul Gambaccini - The World Critics Best Albums of All Time (1987): 3
  • Radio WXPN (USA) - The 100 Most Progressive Albums (1996): 1
  • Robert Santelli - Sixties Rock: The 25 Best Albums of the 60s (1985): 11
  • Rolling Stone (USA) - The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time (2003): 9
  • Spin (USA) - The 25 Greatest Albums of All Time (1989): 3
  • The Review, University of Delaware (USA) - 100 Greatest Albums of All Time (2001): 3
  • VH1 (USA) - The 100 Greatest Albums of R 'N' R (2001): 9
  • Guardian (UK) - The 100 Best Albums Ever (1997): 24
  • Hot Press (Ireland) - The 100 Best Albums Ever (2006): 19
  • Hot Press (Ireland) - The 100 Best Albums of All Time (1989): 27
  • Mojo (UK) - All Back to My Place: The Stars' All-Time 10 Favourite Albums (2003): 8
  • Mojo (UK) - The 100 Greatest Albums Ever Made (1995): 8
  • New Musical Express (UK) - All Times Top 100 Albums (1974): 2
  • New Musical Express (UK) - All Times Top 100 Albums (1985): 8
  • New Musical Express (UK) - All Times Top 100 Albums + Top 50 by Decade (1993): 17
  • New Musical Express (UK) - Some of the Greatest Double LPs Ever Issued (1991): 1
  • Sounds (UK) - The 100 Best Albums of All Time (1986): 45
  • Time Out (UK) - The 100 Best Albums of All Time (1989): 6
  • Uncut (UK) - The 20 Best Albums of 1966 (2006): 1
  • Adresseavisen (Norway) - The 100 (+23) Best Albums of All Time (1995): 54
  • Expressen (Sweden) - The 100 Best Records Ever (1999): 7
  • Platekompaniet (Norway) - Top 100 Albums of All Time (2001): 36
  • Pop (Sweden) - The World's 100 Best Albums + 300 Complements (1994): 12
  • Schlager (Sweden) - The 30 Best Albums of All Time (1984): 3
  • Slitz (Sweden) - The 50 Best Albums of All Time (1990): 4
  • Soundi (Finland) - The 50 Best Albums of All Time + Top 10 by Decade (1995): 7
  • Aloha (Netherlands) - The 50 Best Albums of All Time (1999): 32
  • David Kleijwegt (Netherlands) - Top 100 Albums of All Time (1999): 18
  • Nieuwe Revu (Netherlands) - Top 100 Albums of All Time (1994): 7
  • OOR (Netherlands) - The Best Albums of the 20th Century (1987): 2
  • Berlin Media (Germany) - The 100 Best Albums of All Time (1998): 7
  • Max Magazine (Germany) - The 50 Best Albums of All Time (1997): 16
  • Rolling Stone (Germany) - The 500 Best Albums of All Time (2004): 1
  • Rolling Stone (Germany) - The Best Albums of 5 Decades (1997): 7
  • Spex (Germany) - The 100 Albums of the Century (1999): 46
  • Wiener (Austria) - The 100 Best Albums of the 20th Century (1999): 37
  • Zounds (Germany) - The Top 30 Albums of All Time + Top 10 by Decade (1992): 5
  • Telerama (France) - 50 LPs in the History of Rock (2004): 15
  • Discoplay (Spain) - The 50 Best Albums of All Time (1997): No Order
  • Plásticos y Decibelios (Spain) - The 80 Best Albums of All Time (2000): 20
  • Rock de Lux (Spain) - The 200 Best Albums of All Time (2002): 4
  • Alternative Melbourne (Australia) - The Top 100 Rock/Pop Albums (1996): 11
  • Fred Muller, AudioEnz (New Zealand) - The 10 Best Albums of the Rock Era (2001): 2
  • Juice (Australia) - The 50 Best Albums of All Time (1997): 1
  • CDNOW (Japan) - 100 Essential Albums (2001?): 13
  • Yediot Ahonot (Israel) - Top 99 Albums of All Time (1999): 19
  • Mucchio Selvaggio (Italy) - 100 Best Albums by Decade (2002): 51-100
  • Pure Pop (Mexico) - The 10 (+50) Most Important Albums of All Time (2004): 1
  • Pure Pop (Mexico) - The Best Albums of All Time (1993): 3
  • Rolling Stone (Mexico) - The 100 Greatest Albums of All Time (2004): 11
  • Showbizz (Brazil) - 100 CDs of All Time (1999): 13

  • CRITICS' RATINGS:
  • All Music Guide (USA) - Album Ratings 1-5 Stars: 5 Stars
  • MusicHound Rock, R&B and Country (USA) - Album Ratings 0-5 Bones (1998-99): 5 Bones
  • Rolling Stone Album Guide, Ratings 1-5 Stars (USA, 1992): 5 Stars
  • Rolling Stone Album Guide, Ratings 1-5 Stars (USA, 2004): 5 Stars
  • Martin C. Strong (UK) - The Great Rock Discography 7th Edition, Ratings 1-10: 10
  • Virgin Encyclopedia of Popular Music (UK) - Album Ratings 1-5 Stars (2002): 5 Stars
  • José Ramón Pardo (Spain) - The 1000 Best Pop-Rock Albums, Ratings 1-5 (1997): 5 Stars

  • CRITICS' QUOTES:

  • ROLLING STONE: "Released on May 16th, 1966, rock's first studio double LP by a major artist was, as Dylan declared in 1978, "the closest I ever got to the sound I hear in my head . . . that thin, that wild-mercury sound." There is no better description of the album's manic brilliance. After several false-start sessions in New York in the fall of 1965 and January 1966 with his killer road band the Hawks -- "One of Us Must Know (Sooner or Later)" was the only keeper -- Dylan blazed through the rest of Blonde on Blonde's fourteen tracks in two three-day runs at Columbia's Nashville studios in February and March 1966.

  • The pace of recording echoed the amphetamine velocity of Dylan's songwriting and touring schedule at the time. But the combined presence of trusted hands such as organist Al Kooper and Hawks guitarist Robbie Robertson with expert local sessionmen including drummer Kenneth Buttrey and pianist Hargus "Pig" Robbins created an almost contradictory magnificence: a tightly wound tension around Dylan's quicksilver language and incisive singing in barrelhouse surrealism such as "Rainy Day Women #12 and 35" and "Stuck Inside of Mobile With the Memphis Blues Again." Amid the frenzy, Dylan delivered some of his finest, clearest songs of comfort and desire: the sidelong beauty "Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands," recorded in just one take, and "I Want You," the title of which Dylan almost used for the album."

  • ALL MUSIC GUIDE: "If Highway 61 Revisited played as a garage rock record, the double album Blonde on Blonde inverted that sound, blending blues, country, rock, and folk into a wild, careening, and dense sound. Replacing the fiery Michael Bloomfield with the intense, weaving guitar of Robbie Robertson, Bob Dylan led a group comprised of his touring band the Hawks and session musicians through his richest set of songs. Blonde on Blonde is an album of enormous depth, providing endless lyrical and musical revelations on each play. Leavening the edginess of Highway 61 with a sense of the absurd, Blonde on Blonde is comprised entirely of songs driven by inventive, surreal, and witty wordplay, not only on the rockers but also on winding, moving ballads like "Visions of Johanna," "Just Like a Woman," and "Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands." Throughout the record, the music matches the inventiveness of the songs, filled with cutting guitar riffs, liquid organ riffs, crisp pianos, and even woozy brass bands ("Rainy Day Women #12 & 35"). It's the culmination of Dylan's electric rock & roll period -- he would never release a studio record that rocked this hard, or had such bizarre imagery, ever again."

  • MY REVIEW: Blonde On Blonde is a massive, epic work on Dylan's ruminations through the adventures of love, its often odd conclusions and the idiosynchrocies within the experiences that carry one there. It patiently unveils a series of multi-layered, richly textured laments and raucous folk-rock blues numbers before transcending all of Dylan's canonical works with the astounding ode Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands.
Author Comments: 

These are my picks for the greatest albums of all time. ONLY MASTERPIECES ARE GOING TO BE ALLOWED ON THIS PARTICULAR LIST (9.0 & ABOVE). I've found true masterpieces to be very rare in music, so these albums deserve special attention and therefore their own list. Rankings are based on my opinion of their merit. To me, the overall greatness of an album is primarily dependant on the four categories listed below. These are the factors I believe to be most important in making up an astonishing and profound musical experience, which is the ideal effect a work of art can have on one. My ratings are derived from a combined score from each of these four factors, in addition to the value I prescribe to each individual album track:

1. PROFUNDITY
-How powerful is it? Does it make me want to cry? Stare forth in awe? Is it miraculous? Does it give me goosebumps? Chills?

2. DEPTH
-How expansive is its content? As a work does it blossom and flourish, or is it just a stand-still of repetitive content? Does it make you feel as though you've endured a full experience by its conclusion, or is it insignificant and slight?

3. INGENUITY
-How inventive is it? Do you feel you are at the hands of great intelligence, subjectively creative ideas, or is it merely an artist or group just trying to get by?

4. CONTINUITY
-How consistent is the album's flow? Does it feel like an uneven hodgepodge, or is it carefully constructed for maximum climax and maximum impact?

All album ratings are based on the following scale:

RATINGS SCALE:

0.0-4.9 NOT WORTH LISTENING TO
5.0-5.4 AVERAGE
5.5-5.9 ABOVE AVERAGE
6.0-6.4 GOOD
6.5-6.9 QUITE GOOD
7.0-7.4 VERY GOOD
7.5-7.9 EXCELLENT
8.0-8.4 OUTSTANDING
8.5-8.9 AMAZING
9.0-9.4 MASTERPIECE
9.5-9.9 SUPREME MASTERPIECE
10.0 ULTIMATE MASTERPIECE

To give you an idea of how I conduct my ratings, and the quality I am looking at here on this list, here are some examples of where I would rate some well-known albums:

0.0-4.9 NOT WORTH LISTENING TO
FOREVER-SPICE GIRLS

5.0-5.4 AVERAGE
BACK TO BEDLAM-JAMES BLUNT

5.5-5.9 ABOVE AVERAGE

6.0-6.4 GOOD
THE FREEWHEELIN' BOB DYLAN-BOB DYLAN
A HARD DAYS NIGHT-THE BEATLES
PABLO HONEY-RADIOHEAD
RUBBER SOUL-THE BEATLES

6.5-6.9 QUITE GOOD
THE BEATLES-THE BEATLES ("White Album")-THE BEATLES
BRINGING IT ALL BACK HOME-BOB DYLAN
HUNKY DORY-DAVID BOWIE
IS THIS IT-THE STROKES
REVOLVER-THE BEATLES
THE RISE AND FALL OF ZIGGY STARDUST AND THE SPIDERS FROM MARS-DAVID BOWIE
RUMOURS-FLEETWOOD MAC
THE VELVET UNDERGROUND-THE VELVET UNDERGROUND

7.0-7.4 VERY GOOD
ABBEY ROAD-THE BEATLES
BEGGAR'S BANQUET-THE ROLLING STONES
THE BENDS-RADIOHEAD
BORN TO RUN-BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN
DARK SIDE OF THE MOON-PINK FLOYD
LET IT BLEED-THE ROLLING STONES
LONDON CALLING-THE CLASH
THE MOON AND ANTARCTICA-MODEST MOUSE
NEVERMIND-NIRVANA
PET SOUNDS-THE BEACH BOYS
THE RIVER-BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN
SGT. PEPPER'S LONELY HEARTS CLUB BAND-THE BEATLES
THERE'S A RIOT GOIN' ON-SLY AND THE FAMILY STONE
WHAT'S GOING ON-MARVIN GAYE

7.5-7.9 EXCELLENT
ARE YOU EXPERIENCED?-JIMI HENDRIX
BLOOD ON THE TRACKS-BOB DYLAN
BLUE-JONI MITCHELL
DOOLITTLE-PIXIES
EXILE ON MAIN STREET-THE ROLLING STONES
FOREVER CHANGES-LOVE
FUNERAL-THE ARCADE FIRE
HORSES-PATTI SMITH
IN UTERO-NIRVANA
LOW-DAVID BOWIE
OK COMPUTER-RADIOHEAD
THE STONE ROSES-THE STONE ROSES
SURFER ROSA-PIXIES
YANKEE HOTEL FOXTROT-WILCO

8.0-8.4 OUTSTANDING
THE DOWNWARD SPIRAL-NINE INCH NAILS
FUN HOUSE-THE STOOGES
HIGHWAY 61 REVISITED-BOB DYLAN
IN THE COURT OF THE CRIMSON KING-KING CRIMSON
MARQUEE MOON-TELEVISION
PINK MOON-NICK DRAKE
REMAIN IN LIGHT-TALKING HEADS
ZEN ARCADE-HUSKER DU

8.5-8.9 AMAZING
SEE MY "AMAZING ALBUMS" LIST

9.0-9.4 MASTERPIECE
SEE MY "GREATEST ALBUMS OF ALL TIME" LIST

9.5-9.9 SUPREME MASTERPIECE
SEE MY "GREATEST ALBUMS OF ALL TIME" LIST

10.0 ULTIMATE MASTERPIECE
NONE KNOWN

There are two categories that are currently being added and gradually updated throughout the list: "TRACK LISTING" and "OVERALL QUALITIES". The bolded entries under these headings indicates that particular track or "overall quality" (given in order of importance) are of masterpiece stature (rated 9.0 or above). In the "Track Listing" portion, if a song is bolded, than I consider the song a masterpiece. In the "Overall Quality" portion, if an album had "Profundity" in bold, this would mean that I consider the album a "masterpiece of profundity". If it were "Ingenuity" bolded, then it would be a "masterpiece of ingenuity".

Challenge Ratings are based on the level of challenge an album poses to the listener. By this, I usually mean the degree of experimentation found on the album. The key determining factor is: how much does it diverge from pop music, from what most listeners are accustomed to? Length of tracks and the entire album are taken into account as well. Agreement with these will vary some from person to person, but I've found are usually quite accurate with most anyone, having made these evaluations based on my own experiences as well as numerous recommendations I've given over the years. One can use these ratings to presume how much work he or she will have to put into "understanding" or "getting" the album. Conceptually understanding the artists' vision is key to enjoying it on an ideal level, so these challenge ratings can be helpful in convincing someone to "giving it another shot" while they remain unconvinced of an album that just hasn't appealed to them yet. I should also note that I have observed that the more one persists in listening to and understanding the most challenging albums, the easier it becomes to take on the next one. That said, if you are reading this list and are used to simple, radio-friendly artists such as Nickleback, The Beatles and others, then it is recommended you start on the album with the lowest challenge rating and gradiently work your way up towards the more difficult ones, step-by-step.

The Challenge Ratings are defined as follows:

1.0 EXTREMELY EASY
2.0 VERY EASY
3.0 EASY
4.0 PRETTY EASY
5.0 NEITHER TOUGH NOR EASY
6.0 PRETTY CHALLENGING
7.0 DIFFICULT
8.0 VERY DIFFICULT
9.0 EXTREMELY DIFFICULT
10.0 NEARLY IMPENETRABLE

I would like to thank Piero Scaruffi (www.scaruffi.com) for the immense help he has been in the discovery of many of the albums on this list. I would also like to thank him for his valuable insight in his reviews and through e-mail correspondance (both of which I've occasionally derived some of my own views). Additionally, I would like to thank all the other webzines/publications and their reviewers I've utilized in the CRITICS QUOTES sections of this list, as well as www.acclaimedmusic.com for their existence, without which posting the multiple rankings of many of these albums from worldwide "best albums" polls, would be a real chore.

G_Riv11/21/2006

Very interested to see the new Joanna Newson record on here! I had it earmarked as one of the 2006 releases I should listen to, but that's high praise indeed.

AfterHours11/21/2006

I love the album. I'm very curious to see how Scaruffi rates it. I predict he'll give it an 8/10.

If you pick it up, please let me know what you think of it, especially after 5+ listens.

Lorem ipsum11/21/2006

$100 says it wont get an 8/10

i don't think he's ever given such a high rating to an album that stands or falls by its lyrics.

it also wont help that she occasionally sounds exactly like bjork, who scaruffi thinks is the most overrated artist of recent times

AfterHours11/25/2006

You have a very good point there and I agree with you that Scaruffi wouldn't rate it so high on lyrics alone. I now think it's more likely to be a 7.5/10 but I do believe an 8 is a possibility. Here's why:

While lyrics are definitely a plus with Ys I think the most significant plus with the album is in how it turns into a voyage of continuous discovery, of passages that keep building upon eachother and adding to the whole. It takes on a narrative, novelistic approach (particularly Only Skin). It's just a matter of whether Scaruffi finds this exciting enough or not. I'm not sure now if this quality is strong enough to garner an 8 from Scaruffi, but I wouldn't be too surprised if it did. My approximations as of now would be 20% chance of a 7/10, 60% chance of a 7.5/10 and 20% chance of an 8/10.

Lorem ipsum11/25/2006

Another reason i dont think it'll get an 8: he hasn't given any 8s in 5 years

AfterHours11/25/2006

No kidding. I wonder if there will be any 9's rated by Scaruffi this decade. In your opinion have there been?

What do you think are the "greatest albums of all time"?

lukeprog11/22/2006

I predict he'll give it a 6.0-7.0.

AfterHours11/22/2006

I think 7.5 minimum. 8.0 max. Consider it a friendly gentlemen's bet. ( :

AfterHours11/23/2006

After listening to it today, I've decided that I overrated Joanna Newsom's album Ys. I no longer consider it a masterpiece, but it is still an outstanding album. I'd now give it an 8.3/10. I highly recommend it to anyone who likes emotional folk music with fantastic imagery and lyrics, sung by a voice that is quite beatiful and unique (compared to most). Though both albums are quite different in structure, I suspect most anyone who's a big fan of In the Aeroplane Over the Sea would love Ys.