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I’ve spent the past several
years thinking about making a “top ten” list of my favorite albums. I
haven’t spent so much time thinking about what goes on it as opposed to
what it is and how to do it. I decided early on to
make the list cumulative, but then I struggled with how to do
that,
in order to better describe me as a whole. This very issue is what's
taken me so many years to actually put this list together. Think
about it: there are probably many albums
that you might have loved back in the day, but haven't listened to in
years. How do you rate these?? This is where it gets confusing - does an
older album get rated lower than a less-qualified newer album, just
because the newer album is fresh in your mind? I
look back and kind of laugh that Duran Duran was my first favorite band,
but I know that back in the early 80s I was all about them.
Embarrassing as it might be in some circles, I simply cannot not
put Duran Duran on this list. I could be "cool" and fill the list up
with Coldplay and Oasis albums, but that'd be a lie. And what
about bands like New Order or The Smiths?? As much as I loved them back
in the 80s, I don't think I *ever* enjoyed one of their studio albums,
preferring instead to buy their greatest hits discs. What to do
with them?? How about albums that I loved so much that I played them over and
over and over - and never want to hear again? The
Police's Synchronicity was one of the best albums of the 80s, but
I sure as hell never want to hear it again. Ever. Or what
about the thousands of individual songs that I loved but never
owned the full album? Or maybe an album with one song I dearly
loved but didn't care for the rest of the disc?? Sure, most of us loved
that old The Sundays song "Love", but can you honestly name any other
song from that album? Can you even give me the name of the
album that "Love" appeared on? If you said Blind,
please let me know so I can invite you to go with me to the trivia night
sometime.
About the only thing that I
decided for sure was that ten simply wasn’t enough... so now it’s a “top
twenty”. After years of hemming and hawing, I also came up with
the following rules:
The List is Cumulative:
As mentioned, this list tries to capture all of my favorite albums
ever.
The Entire Album Counts:
Be honest now: "Rebel Rebel" might be your favorite song ever, but the
rest of Diamond Dogs sucks.
Greatest Hits,
Soundtracks and Box Sets Don’t Count: Because
ChangesBowie
is just plain cheating.
Live Albums Don’t Count
Either: There are some wonderful live albums out there, but
they’re not “original material”, are they?
BUT – compilations by DJs
do: the idea being that the DJ is the one being rated for his
spinning skills, not the actual songs themselves.
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