The indisputably correct list of the ten best albums ever
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Here is the indisputably correct list of the best ten (non-compilation/ Greatest Hits) albums ever, in no particular order.
- "Never Mind The Bollocks Here’s The Sex Pistols"
The lurid, ransom note logo and album cover by Jamie Ried (cf my own at the top of this page). The sheer fucking excitement of the opening of "God Save The Queen" or "Pretty Vacant" makes this a fantastic album. The opening of "Bodies" still sends a shiver up my spine.
- Blue – Joni Mitchell
Mitchell’s guitar, dulcimer, piano playing is perfect. But it’s the songs that make it: the heart-on-her-sleeve lyrics, the melodies with their key changes. Sublime. Maaaan.
- dubnobasswithmyheadman – Underworld
Electronica with real vocals. Dada-esque cut-up lyrics. Dance songs and chill-out songs. I have vivid memories of getting stoned and travelling through the skyscrapers of Bangkok in the back of a taxi listening to this.
- Loveless – My Bloody Valentine
What on earth is wrong with this pressing? I asked myself on my 25th birthday as I played my brand new CD. Then every time I listened, I heard new sounds amongst the feedback and gently melodic crooning.
- Dark Side of the Moon – Pink Floyd
Nothing to be said that hasn’t already been said. Wonderful, even if it is hippie/ rock shit.
- "London Calling" – The Clash
I’ll never forget buying this double album in 1979 for £3.50 (the same price as a single album) and the first time I played it. It was the first time I’d heard political music. It was my first exposure to reggae; I know it was from white boys, but until then I’d only heard sanitised pop reggae. The Clash just melted down loads of influences into something amazing. The cover is great – and the Elvis reference is genius.
- The Velvet Underground and Nico – The Velvet Underground
Nothing to be said that hasn’t already been said.
- Revolver – The Beatles
It’s got ballads, kids’ songs, psychedelia, string sections. It’s got it all. The latest reissue, remixed into real stereo by Giles Martin, has crystal-clear bass that wasn’t really possible in the 60s (too much bass would cause record player styluses to jump out of the groove) so you can hear McCartney’s genius, and also the non-album single from the same sessions: Paperback Writer and its even more marvellous B-side, Rain, with its backwards vocals, stunning harmonies and bass.
- Dummy – Portishead
No-one had ever heard music like this before. Shares in theramins went through the roof.
- Blonde on Blonde – Bob Dylan
It’s got loads of great tracks. And “Visions of Johanna”, which is His Bobness’ towering achievement.
- Bonus runner-up: Wrong Way Up – Brian Eno And John Cale
Two geniuses, legendary pioneers of experimental music get together, combining loads of different and unusual instruments and cut-up loops. Instead of some unlistenable avant-garde weirdness, they produce an album of slightly off-kilter pop songs full of melodies and harmony. It initially sounds catchy but slight, and as you listen more, new depths are revealed. The album’s title comes from its song “Empty Frame,” a sea shanty about a cursed ship going around in circles, never returning to port. A lost classic.
Buy "Calling For The Moon", my debut album of songs I wrote while living in Thailand, India, Turkey. (Only £2, on Bandcamp.)
Fantastic list! But I’d love to see room for Talk Talk’s Laughing Stock which, in its own way, has proved as influential as these, not least because of where it came from. But I guess you have that with Dark Side of the Moon and Revolver and a load of other albums from “pop” bands who managed to do something great when they were given the freedom.
And, of course, it’s also generational. Younger listeners will probably make different choices.