bloggedy blog: the personal weblog of a music lover and aging punk wannabe

:: Friday, March 05, 2004 ::

Greatest Pop/Rock Albums, Vol. 1: 100-91
Several weeks ago I put out a call to the blogosphere to help me assemble the greatest pop/rock albums of all time, and the vast, vast majority of the blogosphere shrugged, yawned, scratched its collective rear end, and ignored the call. I even sent emails to several blogging acquiantances listed on my blogroll, and while the vast majority again blew me off. Oh, a few decent but busy souls took the time to fire off an email to apologize for being too busy to take part in this project. But a hearty group took me up on the challenge and submitted their rankings of the greatest pop and rock albums of all time. I've compiled the results, and will begin by revealing the top 100 greatest pop and rock albums of all time, starting with the bottom 10 on the list and continuing 10 at a time until all is revealed. Also with each entry of 10 albums, I'll include the top 10 list of one of our judges.

Before I reveal albums No. 100-91, a brief introduction of our international panel of experts:

Rick Stilwell, CCM lover, South Carolina Gamecocks fan, and all-around good guy.
Ganns Dean, writer, publicist, musician and perhaps the Philippines' most famous blogger.
Mista Sinista, a non-blogger friend who reads this site faithfully and also deejays at KMNR.
Ben Squires, a Lutheran minister and music lover who's always giving away CDs at his blog, MusicSpectrum.
K Jo, another non-blogging friend, former student assistant in my office and the most musically knowledgable geological engineer I know.
David Hopkins, English teacher, Antihero Comics creator, music lover, ex-editor of Next-Wave, Renaissance man.
Richard Hall, Methodist minister from the UK, ex-punker.
Josh Claybourn, political pundit/commentator.
MarcV aka Spudlets, another wild-eyed southern boy who has a blog and isn't afraid to use it.
Paul Oyler, aka SteelerDirtFreak, another music and dirt racing fan who blogs about "what it means to be a follower of Jesus in the real world today."
Post-Modern Pilgrim, who blogs about art, life, music, faith, and just about anything else.
Me.

*****

So there you have it. The panel of experts. They submitted their lists of top 25, 30, 50 or even 100 greatest albums, and I assigned a point value, compiled the scores, and created the top 100 ranking. Here, without further ado, are albums No. 100 through 91:

100. Sign O’ the Times, Prince
Less popular than his 1999 album but one of K Jo’s favorites.

99. Waiting for Columbus, Little Feat
Mista Sinista says, "some bands were meant to be heard live, and Little Feat is one of these. With their dixieland-meets-rock style complete with extended solos, Little Feat proves on this record that they are meant for a live listener."

98. Kind of Blue, Miles Davis
Another one of K.Jo’s faves.

97. Weezer (Blue Album), Weezer
Features one of the best songs about sweaters ever. David Hopkins: "Weezer decides to create their greatest hits album in one album. Radio stations drool."

96. Hymns to Silence, Van Morrison
One of Richard Hall's top picks.

95. At Fillmore East, the Allman Brothers
High on SteelerDirtFreak's list.

94. Pronounced LEN-herd SKIN-nerd , Lynyrd Skynyrd
I had this on eight-track and played it so much the player eventually ate the tape. It would switch tracks right before the scorching three-guitar blast of "Free Bird." While "Sweet Home Alabama" gave southern rock radio cred and "Free Bird" became one of rock's full-blown guitar anthems, the ballads "Tuesday's Gone" and "Simple Man," and honky tonk tunes like "Gimme Three Steps" and "I Ain't the One" make this album the classic of southern rock.

93. The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan, Bob Dylan
The first Dylan disc on the list, includes great stuff from his folkie days, like "Blowin' in the Wind" and "Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall." Ben Squires of MusicSpectrum calls Dylan "a folk singer who changed the rock world in terms of lyrics, melody and style."

92. Various Positions, Leonard Cohen
Richard Hall and I have a lot in common, but appreciation for this CD isn't one of them. Richard likes it; I'm just not too wild about Cohen. Still, he's No. 92 on the list.

91. Nickel Creek, Nickel Creek
Says Rick & 1j13: "Got me into my bluegrass/newgrass phase -- woo hoo."

*****

My Top 10
by Ganns

10. South to the Lord 2000, Hillsong Australia.
Darlene Zschech and the Hillsong worship ministry team up with Ron Kenoly and Alvin Slaughter for the most powerful, dynamic live worship experience you'll ever hear. Amen.

9. Think With Your Heart, Deborah Gibson.
Deborah has come a long way since Electric Youth (the video of which cracks me up fifteen years later). This is her most adult, mature collection to date (even better than Colored Lights, her latest), a sweet collection of ballads.

8. Oxygen, Avalon.
There are few groups in contemporary Christian music that are as good vocally as Avalon. This Brown Barrister-produced collection is stunning, stellar, and simply evangelistic. "The Glory" is amazing.

7. Swamp Ophelia, Indigo Girls.
Simply brilliant. The cover art is amazing, the songwriting skill at its best, and "Power of Two" is the most overplayed Indigo Girls song in history.

6. Heart in Motion, Amy Grant.
This album spawned "Baby, Baby" among other hits. I long for the simpler days when a woman could simply sing a great song without screeching or sampling some other person's song.

5. Wilson Phillips, Wilson Phillips.
I was a Wilson Phillips nutcase. I still am. This collection sold over six million albums and resulted in three #1 singles, including "Hold On," which is still one of my favorite songs of all time, 14 years later. If it weren't for wilson Phillips, I would never have trained myself to harmonize.

4. Honey Lingers, Voice of the Beehive.
This quirky collection of pop gems sparkles and shines like no other. They're virtually unheard of, but you've got to try giving one listen to this pleasantly pleasing album. Think B-52s but withou that irritating male guy.

3. Change Your World, Michael W. Smith.
A lof ot people think Smitty's a sellout. I disagree. I was first brought to an awareness of Christ through this man's "Place in This World" (off the Go West Young Man opus), but this collection is a winner across the board.

2. Power of Love/Love Power, Luther Vandross.
"Power of Love/Love Power" was one of the first solid R&B songs that I truly loved. This 10-track collection is an amazing display of his sensitive songwriting and dynamic vocal abilities.

1. Rites of Passage, Indigo Girls.
This 1992 opus is amazing. With harmonies and lyrics that work together in brilliant unison, Amy ray and Emily Saliers have proven why, 17 years later, they're still rocking the free world.

:: Andrew 15:42 + ::
...