The Guardian Observer has a list today of 50 record that changed music.
Here’s the top 20 on the list with my short take on each.
1) The Velvet Underground and Nico (1967): Venus in Furs is one of my all time favorite songs, but the most influential rock album of all time? Please.
2) Beatles/Sargent Pepper (1967): Great record, can’t argue with a number 2 rating.
3) Kraftwerk/Trans-Europe Express (1977): Never heard it.
4) NWA/Straight Outta Compton (1989): I actually had this record before I wrote off rap altogether. I’d put Public Enemy’s It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back ahead of this one. If you want to be completely accurate, it was Sugarhill Gang’s Rapper’s Delight that started the entire rap movement.
5) Robert Johnson/King of the Delta Blues Singers (1961): This record was a momentum play, fueled by the sold his soul to the devil marketing plan. I’ll take any Howlin’ Wolf or Muddy Waters record over this one any day.
6) Marvin Gaye/What’s Going On (1971): Can’t argue too much, but Johnnie Taylor and Al Green were doing the same sort of stuff just as well.
7) Patti Smith/Horses (1975): Everybody treats this record like it’s a sacred relic. It’s pretty good. Not number 7. I’d put the Sex Pistols as the top punk act.
8) Bob Dylan/Bringing it All Back Home (1965): Not my favorite Dylan record, but still a trend setter.
9) Elvis Presley/Elvis Presley (1956): Can’t argue with this, but where is Little Richard, the true creator of rock and roll?
10) The Beach Boys/Pet Sounds (1966): Absolutely a top 10 music changer. I still listen to this record regularly.
11) David Bowie/The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars (1972): Glam rock that was still good music.
12) Miles Davis/Kind of Blue (1959): I’m not a jazz fan, but hard to argue.
13) Frank Sinatra/Songs for Swingin’ Lovers (1956): I’m not much of a Frank fan either, but hard to argue.
14) Joni Mitchell/Blue (1971): Sorry, but I would have to agree with the cash register and go with Carole King’s Tapestry. Court and Spark was the Joni record that changed me musically.
15) Brian Eno/Discreet Music (1975): To my knowledge, I have never heard a Brian Eno song.
16) Aretha Franklin/I Never Loved a Man the Way I love You (1967): Girl power, round one.
17) The Stooges/Raw Power (1973): About right for these punk pioneers.
18) The Clash/London Calling (1979): Should be much higher.
19) Mary J Blige/What’s the 411? (1992): Never heard it.
20) The Byrds/Sweetheart of the Rodeo (1968): This first marriage of rock and country should be way, way higher. Other possibilities are the Dillard and Clark records and the early Eagles.
Where in the world are The Allmans/At Fillmore East, Grateful Dead/American Beauty, and early the Who? Where is Exile on Main Street, a record that scads of artists still try to emulate?
My favorites from 21-50:
26) Stevie Wonder/Songs in the Key of Life (1976)
27) Jimi Hendrix/Are You Experienced (1967)
35) The Ramones/The Ramones (1976)
36) The Who/My Generation (1965)
42) The Smiths/The Smiths (1984)
44) Talking Heads/Fear of Music (1979)
49) De La Soul/3 Feet High and Rising (1989)
Overall, a good list chock full of good music.
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