Thursday, December 10, 2009

Top Songs/Albums List on Rollingstone

In these musically-splintered times, Rollingstone is the only magazine that still tries to cover it all. Maybe that's good, maybe it's dumb, but it makes their "Best of" lists the only ones that come close to representing all of pop music. Their Top 100 Albums of the Decade (Kid A, #1), and Top 100 Songs of the Decade (Crazy, #1) are based on surveying performers (from ?uestlove to Miranda Lambert to Colin Meloy), insiders (Cameron Crowe), and their own editors (list here). More fun, they publish 25 artists' ballots (often handwritten) here, with some real surprises. Lars Ulrich names U2's Moment of Surrender as his #1 Song of the Decade?!? (The song is #34 on the overall list? I was stunned). Anyway, a fun list full of some real surprises.

5 comments:

ch said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
ch said...

Between the A.V. Club, Paste Magazine, Uncut and countless other hipster top albums of the decade, Rolling Stone was the only one to put a U2 album in their count.

Sometimes I feel like some of the lists try to out hipster each other...like Uncut had every album listed that Jack White ever sneezed near.

Paste had Sufjan Steven's #1 and a who's who of Indie pop I won't be listening to in five years.

I agree that Rolling Stone's was the most well rounded. Props for the post.

Doctor said...

Thanks for posting this. It seems more inclusive and less intentionally obscure than the last similar best of 00s music post. Gives me a good place to go to fill in my huge 00s music gaps.

Europpraiser said...

Thanks for the post Priest. This is a really solid & well-rounded list. Can't really argue much with the Albums listed. Although The Strokes might be a little high at #2. I might have moved them to 59. and pushed Interpol up a little. I guess when it comes to top 50 or 100 or whatever...The order isn't as important as letting the right one's in. There's only 5 - 10 selections i might argue with...1 M.I.A. is plenty.

I agree with CH. Screw Sufjan. This is the first list I've read this year, b/c usually they're a great source of frustration. I know my extremely small reputation (about 7 of my friends) is that of a contrarian...But, at the end of the day, I can separate the wheat from the chaff.

Besides, everyone needs a good bit. I like checking out new music, Doctor and Lawyer enjoy great films. And Preist is oddly intrigued by the preditory nature of gay men...


iest

Europpraiser said...

Oops. Predatory...