Fades in Slowly

There’s a theory that the only reason ‘Citizen Kane’ is considered the greatest films of all time is because people who compile lists need a film to stick in at number one. I’ve only seen it once myself, don’t feel the need to sit through it again and really don’t care what rosebud is. ‘Star Wars’, on the other hand, is a different matter (shame about the most recent three).

Music is very much the same if you ask me. How many of the so-called classic albums can you sit through on a fairly regular basis? I can’t honestly say that I’ve listened to Sgt Pepper even once in the last 20 years, and don’t even get me started on Pet Sounds. Consequently, I was really happy to stumble on this article in The Guardian the other day, that goes some way to debunking the myths of these apparently untouchable albums. In fact, going through the list of albums discussed, the only ones I wanted to defend were the ones I’d grown up listening to, and so the connection is more to do with the time and place I was in when they came out, rather than because they in some way transcend musical genres or define styles in any way.

Please take a look and see if you agree with me, here are the classics that are discussed:

Tupac Shakur, All Eyez On Me: Nominated by Mark Ronson, producer

Nirvana, Nevermind: Nominated by Wayne Coyne of the Flaming Lips

The Beach Boys, Pet Sounds: Nominated by Luke Pritchard of the Kooks

The Stone Roses, The Stone Roses: Nominated by Eddie Argos of Art Brut

The Strokes, Is This It: Nominated by Ian Williams of Battles

Television, Marquee Moon: Nominated by Alex Kapranos of Franz Ferdinand

The Beatles, Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band: Nominated by Billy Childish, prime mover of British garage rock

Abba, Arrival: Nominated by Siobhan Donaghy, former Sugababe turned solo artist

Arcade Fire, The Neon Bible: Nominated by Green Gartside of Scritti Politti

The Doors, LA Woman: Nominated by Craig Finn of the Hold Steady

The Smiths, Meat Is Murder: Nominated by Jackie McKeown of 1990s

Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band, Trout Mask Replica: Nominated by Peter Hook, ex- New Order and Joy Division