What The? NME Compiles A Crazy Top 500 Albums List

So here’s the thing. If you were making a list of the best 500 albums of all time, would you really include Foo Fighters? How about MGMT’s Oracular Spectacular? I mean really? Come on. Seriously?

How about Nirvana’s “Bleach”? I’m a huge Nirvana fans. But if you’re picking 500 albums and you’ve got albums by James Brown and the Rolling Stones and Radiohead and Bob Dylan and Miles Davis and John Coltrane and Billie Holiday and Prince and Johnny Cash and Sleater-Kinney and Tom Waits and the Beach Boys and Woody Guthrie and Joanna Newsom and Bob Iver’s For Emma, Forever Ago, and on and on, would you really include include “Bleach”? Or two Kings of Leon albums?

Or how about Arctic Monkeys’ Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not as the 20th best of all time.

Oh well.

Here’s the Top 20:

1. The Smiths – The Queen Is Dead
2. The Beatles – Revolver
3. David Bowie – Hunky Dory
4. The Strokes – Is This It
5. The Velvet Underground – The Velvet Underground & Nico
6. Pulp – Different Class
7. The Stone Roses – The Stone Roses
8. Pixies – Doolittle
9. The Beatles – The Beatles
10. Oasis – Definitely Maybe
11. Nirvana – Nevermind
12. Patti Smith – Horses
13. Arcade Fire – Funeral
14. David Bowie – Low
15. PJ Harvey – Let England Shake
16. Joy Division – Closer
17. Public Enemy – It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back
18. My Bloody Valentine – Loveless
19. Arctic Monkeys – Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not
20. Radiohead – OK Computer

Check the rest here.

Thanks, Stereogum.

About Michael Goldberg

Michael Goldberg is a distinguished pioneer in the online music space; Newsweek magazine called him an ‘Internet visionary.’ In 1994 he founded Addicted To Noise (ATN), the highly influential music web site. He was a senior vice-president and editor in chief at SonicNet from March 1997 through May 2000. In 1997, Addicted To Noise won Webby awards for best music site in 1998 and 1999, and also won Yahoo Internet Life! awards for three years running as best music site in 1998, 1999 and 2000. Prior to starting Addicted To Noise, Goldberg was an editor and senior writer at Rolling Stone magazine for 10 years. His writing has also appeared in Wired, Esquire, Vibe, Details, Downbeat, NME and numerous other publications. Michael has had three novels published that comprise the "Freak Scene Dream trilogy": "True Love Scars," "The Flowers Lied" and "Untitled" which can be ordered here. His new book, "Wicked Game: The True Story of Guitarist James Calvin Wilsey," can be pre-ordered from HoZac Books. In November Backbeat Books will publish "Addicted To Noise: The Music Writings of Michael Goldberg," which can be be pre-ordered here.

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