Q Magazine - Top 50 British Albums

[JayKeeley]

Has anyone seen this yet? Can't be arsed to type out the full list, but here's the top 20:

1. OASIS - Definitely Maybe
2. THE BEATLES - Revolver
3. SEX PISTOLS - Never Mind the Bollocks
4. RADIOHEAD - OK Computer
5. THE CLASH - London Calling
6. DAVID BOWIE - Rise & Fall of Ziggy...
7. ROLLING STONES - Beggars Banquet
8. THE SMITHS - The Queen is Dead
9. LED ZEPPELIN - III
10. MASSIVE ATTACK - Blue Lines
11. VAN MORRISON - Astral Weeks
12. BLUR - Parklife
13. PRIMAL SCREAM - Screamadelica
14. PINK FLOYD - Dark Side of the Moon
15. THE SPECIALS - s/t
16. QUEEN - Night at the Opera
17. STONE ROSES - s/t
18. THE WHO - My Generation
19. COLDPLAY - Rush of Blood to the Head
20.THE JAM - All Mod Cons

Discuss.

Oh yeah, the metal albums:

33. BLACK SABBATH - Paranoid
45. IRON MAIDEN - Number of the Beast

Sorry BWD, no GENESIS anywhere in the list.

 

[NAD]

1. OASIS - Definitely Maybe
2. THE BEATLES - Revolver

Where's that giant middle finger foam hand when you need it? Although having Zeppelin III above any other Zep is good. I hope a King Crimson is on the list somewhere. Carcass too, but I'm sure they're absent.

 

[Under a Stone]

Oasis placed above The Clash? Well i never.

 

[JayKeeley]

No King Crimson. Carcass' Heartwork must have been at #51.

They got Radiohead right at least, although I always find it a bit weird when newer albums turn out higher than something like "Rise & Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars" or even "III".

Here's the write up for Radiohead's OK Computer - it's fucking awesome, and basically spells it all out....

It felt pretty good to be British in the summer of 97. For one thing, the world seemed to be looking at our little island with something approaching envy. We had Trainspotting and Britpop, we had Vanity Fair hailing Cool Britannia, we had Noel Gallagher cracking cocaine jokes with our New Labour Prime Minister. Then OK Computer dropped a smart bomb into the daydream.

Omnious, desolate and utterly out of step with the musical and political climate, Radiohead's third album was a quantum leap even from 1995's The Bends. Here was a beautiful nightmare of fractured melodies, garbled self-help slogans and distorted shards of digital noise. A futuristic vision of a world suffocated by conformity, at its angriest (Paranoid Android, Electioneering) the whole experiment - Yorke, guitars, programming and all - seemed to seethe with revulsion at modern life. More chilling still was the notion, as presented on Fitter, Happier and Exit Music (for a Film), that "traditional" British values of level-headedness and reserve would accept, indeed welcome, a steady stroll into oblivion. "I'll take a quiet life" crooned Yorke on No Surprises, "A handshake, some carbon monoxide and no alarms." Welcome to your nightmare; we hope you enjoy the ride. Suddenly living forever didn't seem quite so appealing.


I think it spells out why it's so annoying when other bands try to copy this album style/sound. You know, it's done, it belongs to them, now leave it alone in its place in history.

 

[NAD]

Radiohead is the only stuff even remotely comparable to the 60's and 70's British masterpieces. Oasis at #1? Fuck you.

By the way, I declare all of Q Magazine to be utter shite without including In The Court of the Crimson King on the list, the album is simply monumental in terms of quality and influence. I've never even heard of Q Magazine before today, so obviously my opinion is well-founded.

 

[Demonspell]

Sex Pistols ahead of Pink Floyd? What the fuck gives? I think Mojo is the only British music rag worth reading, at least based on its album guide, which towers above any other so-called definitive best of all time list I've seen...

 

[NAD]

Mojo is awesome, I have their bigass book guide thingy, it rules. Even has Slayer in it.