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The Vatican's Top Ten Albums of All Time

Posted at 10:52 AM on February 16, 2010 by Mac Wilson (2 Comments)

Most of the time, L'Osservatore Romano, the newspaper of the Vatican City, publishes news about the Vatican's day-to-day operations and rad new encyclicals (I wonder if they have a gossip section). But in an apparent effort to reach out to younger readers/parishioners/converts, they have listed their top ten albums of all time. It's a bit of a 180 from the establishment's previously staid stance on rock & roll (although Pope Benedict XVI's predecessor, John Paul II, was known to hang out with rock stars on occasion. And so we get a "semi-serious" look at the best of rock & roll, courtesy of the Vatican:

1. The Beatles, Revolver

Revolver was declared #1; all the rest are listed in chronological order:

2. David Crosby, If I Could Only Remember My Name
3. Pink Floyd, Dark Side of the Moon
4. Fleetwood Mac, Rumours
5. Donald Fagen, The Nightfly
6. Michael Jackson, Thriller
7. Paul Simon, Graceland
8. U2, Achtung Baby
9. Oasis, (What's the Story) Morning Glory
10. Carlos Santana, Supernatural

Wow, the Vatican has even more cred than we thought, name-dropping a David Crosby obscurity and recognizing that The Nightfly is better than anything Steely Dan ever did. Also, I'm surprised to see Achtung Baby make the list, considering that "Until the End of the World" draws an elaborate parallel between Judas' betrayal of Jesus and a lovers' quarrel, complete with nails-being-pounded-into-cross sound effects.

Full story here.

Comments (2)

I was surprised at the inclusion of Donald Fagen's "Nightfly" as well, an underrated classic. That being said, why be so harsh on Steely Dan? I think a large portion of Gen X-Y misses the point of what Fagen & Becker were trying to accomplish. Cheesy Michael McDonald backing vocals aside, "Aja" is a masterpiece, even if it accidentally inspired much of the horrible smooth jazz/lite rock we here in places like the dentist office and department stores. And does anybody out there think "Supernatural" belongs on any "Best of..." list in place of either "Santana" or "Abraxas?"

Posted by Stephen Kohlmann | February 16, 2010 4:25 PM

I said this on my blog, but I guess this means that the Vatican has forgiven John Lennon for the whole, "we're bigger than Jesus" thing. I mean Jesus was all about forgiveness. I also find Thriller interesting since the the title song and subsequent video is about the rise of the living dead. Once again though, Jesus was kind of known for that too.

Oh and ditto on the U2 thing.

Posted by Sarah | February 21, 2010 8:20 PM

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