< Walkmen, party of five? Your table is ready. | Main | Steve's Aggregator: Start Your Day With Knowledge, Yo! >

Monday Laundry List: The Greatest Albums of All Space and Time

Posted at 1:00 PM on September 18, 2006 by Hans Eisenbeis (5 Comments)

As we've mentioned a couple of times, the British love to make endless Desert Island lists--top ten songs, top twenty worst public nuisances, five silliest Nick Hornby novels, that kind of thing. These are usually somewhat lighthanded and unambitious, and therefore relentlessly reworked according to deadlines and the price of tea in China. Americans, on the other hand, prefer to attempt the Massive All-Inclusive, All-Authoritative List to End All Lists in the Universe. Thus, the Rolling Stone list of the "500 Hundred Greatest Albums of All Time," posted to the web three years ago, continues to be a site of great internet traffic and consternation.

Let's take a moment to revisit the only Minnesotan records to make it into Rolling Stone's rock 'n' roll heaven:

495. New Day Rising, Husker Du
239. Let It Be, The Replacements
204. Dirty Mind, Prince
163. 1999, Prince
136. Tim, The Replacements
93. Sign 'o' the Times, Prince
72. Purple Rain, Prince

You will note that we did not include any Bob Dylan, who landed nine albums on the hallowed list. You will also note that we did not make any snarky comments about the Trashmen or Lipps, Inc. Nor will we attempt a Minnesota-centric list of the 500 greatest Minnesota albums of all time, probably because that list would--due to the limits of simple math--have to include "Gravedancers Union."

We leave that heavy lifting up to you, dear reader. In the comments.

Comments (5)

The real problem is that they ranked Tim higher then Let it Be. . . what were they thinking?

Posted by Jodi | September 18, 2006 1:57 PM

And what about the Jayhawks' Hollywood Town Hall?!

I have to go look again to be sure...

Posted by Hans | September 18, 2006 2:37 PM

Snarky comments are welcome here,right?I think and hope.
Comments reveal your subjective opinion at the time.
Lists don't work.Ask somebody what's good in 50 years.They might have a clue.
I'll defend the Trashmen and Lipps inc..til the bitter, bloody end.Because of my own perspective.
Just because they're popular doesn't mean they're not good.
An old boring argument,nonetheless, still true.

Posted by Barry | September 18, 2006 5:09 PM

So, has Bob Dylan been officially made an ex-Minnesotan? How do they do that?

Posted by handsome cary | September 18, 2006 10:34 PM

I think Bob kinda excommunicated himself; He said some pretty disparaging things in that Scorsese film about being from nowhere, or being born in the wrong place at the wrong time. But aside from all that, he's sort of risen to the level of International Celebrity From Nowhere. Or maybe you just say he came from God.

Do people still say Tom Cruise is from Indiana--except maybe in Indiana? (Or wherever he's from.)

The relations between Bob and Minnesota have improved considerably in recent years. For decades, he wouldn't play here because he supposedly didn't want people hassling his parents for free tickets.

That and he's never been comfortable with his actual past, preferring a sort of romantic, idealized, more Woody Guthrie-esque sort of personal history. At least that's what some people say.

Posted by Hans | September 19, 2006 7:10 AM

September 2006
S	M	T	W	T	F	S
					1	2
3	4	5	6	7	8	9
10	11	12	13	14	15	16
17	18	19	20	21	22	23
24	25	26	27	28	29	30

Master Archive