Wednesday, 07 March 2007

Listing the Night Away

So during this morning's internet perusal of the intellectual kind, I mosied on through to the Rolling Stones Magazine site. I have always heard of how it has been a cornerstone in the music and printed news industry. I put it to the test. And yes, they do stand up as an informative, slightly subjective magazine.
How can you argue against a magazine that has Fall Out Boy on thier cover one week and follows that up with a cover featuring South Park?

So I clicked onto the news and turns out they perused the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame's top 200 albums. They then compared it to thier own list.


I was curious to see what the comparisons were.

Let's just say that if I were a cat, I'd be dead...

At first glance, the two lists seem to agree on one thing - The Beatles Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club is the greatest album. Ever.
Ok, I haven't listened to it personally, but being a Beatles fan in general, I'll go with them on that one.
But on closer perusal, it becomes evidently clear that the "Rock n Roll" Hall of Fame list reads more like a Billboard magazine sales list. I think that if you're going to compile a list of albums, make sure they're albums and NOT soundtracks (case in point:The Grease soundtrack at number 37 above albums like Green Day's Dookie.)
Also, for a "Rock n Roll" Hall of Fame list, why do we find Shania Twain in the top 25?? I demand an explanation. If you felt that you needed women in the top 25, I can provide a list longer than my arm who deserve that slot.

I can keep griping on and on about the list, but you check it out yourself and make up your own mind. All I can say is that its obvious who calls the shots for the lists.



Onto other lists...Kerrang magazine has released thier list and special edition magazine of top 100 icons in rock. This is obviously opening up a can of worms especially when you have youngsters with no more than a debut to thier name listed above legends such as Sid Vicious, Johnny Rotten, Jon Bon Jovi and Johnny Ramone.
But then again, you need to look at it from a young fan's point of view. Currently, the 'icons' of the past few years would be newbies eg: Pete Fall-Out-Boy Wentz, Gerard Way (I'm not complaining about his inclusion), Amy Lee and co. these are faces familiar to kids and by putting them alongside true icons such as Eddie Vedder, Kurt Cobain, Dave Grohl, Billy Joe Armstrong, and older rockers, a fan is not alienated, but instead educated about the bands who influenced thier current icons. Good Job Kerrang.
Just one little gripe - Did you really have to include Brandon Urie? Panic! At The Disco has one album and a few singles...hardly icon material. Icons in the making...maybe..not. We'll see.

I'll give a full listing later and you can tear it apart at leisure.

4 comments:

Unknown said...

Firstly, Shania Twain is technically still a Country & Western singer, country music is technically still classified in the large genre of Rock n Roll. And she once wore a leopard print outfit. maybe that's the ticket.

I'm trying to compile the list for my party...when we hit the dance floor. I've got all the usual suspects and some MCR, rolling stones, amy winehouse...it's a work in progress

Anonymous said...

I'll see what I can throw together..maybe ask Mike?

Unknown said...

Memsaab,
I know what you mean about Rolling Stone being off a bit. I mean I can't really complain that Pet Sounds is number two when it should be number one. But where I'm puzzling is the listing of all three Nick Drakes albums in the Top 500. I mean sure, I love Nick Drake as much as the next person, but damnit, all three? With Pink Moon, the utter pinnacle of his brilliance being the lowest rated one of the bunch?

There's a reason I hate Rolling Stone, and it's because of lists like that. I'd pass on subscribing if you were still seeking input on that decision...

cheers,
me

Anonymous said...

Thanks Crawdaddy,

I'll pass on Rolling Stone. Rather stick to Kerrang. Way more informative.I so want to work for them!!!