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Spin Magazine's Top 100 CDS since '85


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Spin Magazine Picks Radiohead CD As Best

By JAKE COYLE, Associated Press Writer Sun Jun 19, 2:24 PM ET

NEW YORK - Spin magazine named Radiohead's "OK Computer" the top album of the past 20 years, praising a futuristic sound that manages to feel alive "even when its words are spoken by a robot."

The British band's album edged out Public Enemy's "It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back" and Nirvana's "Nevermind" on a list in Spin's 20th anniversary issue, currently on newsstands.

"Between Thom Yorke's orange-alert worldview and the band's meld of epic guitar rock and electronic glitch, (`OK Computer') not only forecast a decade of music but uncannily predicted our global culture of communal distress," reads the editorial note on what separated the 1997 disc from the other 99 ranked albums.

Sandwiched between Radiohead's straight-ahead rock disc "The Bends" and the more experimental, electronic "Kid A," "OK Computer" was the album that propelled Radiohead to worldwide, stadium-sized popularity. Though it never went higher than No. 21 on the Billboard charts, it won critical raves and a Grammy for best alternative music performance.

Spin's Chuck Klosterman says the album "manages to sound how the future will feel. ... It's a mechanical album that always feels alive, even when its words are spoken by a robot."

Years earlier, Spin ranked Nirvana's "Nevermind" the greatest album of the nineties. In the time since, however, editor-in-chief Sia Michel and others simply found they were reaching for "OK Computer" more than the slightly less relevant "Nevermind."

"Whereas when Nirvana came out, everybody was talking about negation and slackers and everything like that — seven years later, it was the dot-com boom and 22-year-olds were making $80,000 on Web sites," Michel recently told The Associated Press.

Also in the top 10, in order, are Pavement's "Slanted and Enchanted," The Smiths' "The Queen is Dead," Pixies' "Surfer Rosa," De La Soul's "3 Feet High and Rising," Prince's "Sign `o' the Times,"

PJ Harvey's "Rid of Me" and N.W.A.'s "Straight Outta Compton."

The entire list of 100 is just as eclectic; a photograph of an atypical trio of Dr. Dre, Bono and Beck dons the issue's cover.

The amount of hip-hop on the list may surprise some (25 albums in all — 26 if you count

Rage Against the Machine), given that Spin is predominantly a rock magazine. Michel, however, points out that Spin started several years before hip-hop mag Source was founded: "We put hip-hop on the cover before anyone else did."

"Because we started this list in 1985, we pretty much hit hip-hop in its golden age," she says. "There were so many important, groundbreaking albums coming out right about that time."

After gathering suggestions from everyone at the magazine, a tribunal of Michel and editors Jon Dolan and Charles Aaron sorted out the ultimate records of "the Spin era." Their criteria, Michel says, was the basic brilliance of the record, its innovation and its overall relevance.

"Relevance doesn't have to mean it sold 10 million copies," she says. "Someone like the Pixies never really sold records, but Nirvana has said it wouldn't exist without the Pixies."

Both the approach and content stands in stark contrast to fellow rock magazine Rolling Stone's 2003 issue on the top 500 albums of all time. Topping that collection was the more hallowed (and less surprising) like of the Beatles, the Beach Boys,

Bob Dylan and the Rolling Stones.

Some of the most recent entries to Spin's list are 2004's "College Dropout" by Kanye West, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs' 2003 "Fever to Tell" and Wilco's 2002 "Yankee Foxtrot Hotel."

Of course, judgments of these kind are always subject to debate.

"The art department was just railing against us all the time and campaigning against things," says Michel. The lack of inclusion of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, she says, pushed them to the brink: "That was a band that the art department was like, `You guys are crazy! Don't even talk to us!'"

1. radiohead - ok computer

2. public enemy - it takes a nation...

3. nirvana - nevermind

4. pavement - slanted and enchanted

5. the smiths - the queen is dead

6. the pixies - surfer rosa

7. de la soul - 3 ft high..

8. prince - sign o' the times

9. pj harvey - rid of me

10. nwa - straight outta compton

11. u2- achtung baby

12. beastie boys- paul's boutique

13. husker du - new day rising

14. sonic youth - daydream nation

15. liz phair - exile in guyville

16. beck - odelay

17. nas - illmatic

18. guns n roses - appetite for destruction

19. hole - live through this

20. wu-tang clan - enter the wu-tang 36 chambers

21. public enemy - fear of a black planet

22. my bloody valentine - loveless

23. outkast - stankonia

24. sleater-kinney - dig me out

25. nine inch nails- downward spiral

26. bjork- post

27. the cure - the head on the door

28. oasis - definitely maybe

29. fugazi - 13 songs

30. biggie - ready to die

31. dinosaur jr. - you're living all over me

32. the replacements - tim

33. ice cube - amerikka's..

34. elliot smith - either/or

35. dr. dre - the chronic

36. pixies - doolittle

37. guided by voices - bee thousand

38. a tribe called quest - low end theory

39. lucinda williams - lucinda williams

40. run dmc- raising hell

41. smashing pumpkins - siamese dream

42. jane's addiction - nothing's shocking

43. bdp - criminal minded

44. green day - dookie

45. kanye west - college dropout

46. the fall - this nation's saving grace

47. eric b and rakim - paid in full

48. radiohead - kid a

49. lauryn hill - the miseducation..

50. new order - low life

51. nirvana - in utero

52. beastie boys - licensed to ill

53. rage - battle of la

54. the breeders - last splash

55. the chemical brothers - dig your own hole

56. pj harvey - to bring you my love

57. white stripes - white blood cells

58. metallica - master of puppets

59. modest mouse - the lonesome crowded west

60. de la soul - de la soul is dead

61. weezer - pinkerton

62. missy elliot - supa dupa fly

63. pavement - crooked rain, crooked rain

64. eminem - marshall mathers lp

65. basement jaxx - remedy

66. outkast - aquemini

67. slayer - reign in blood

68. tricky - maxiquaye

69. dj shadow - endtroducing dj shadow

70. jay-z - the blueprint

71. the jesus and mary chain - psychocandy

72. raekwon - only built for cuban linx

73. pulp - different class

74. portishead - dummy

75. le tigre - le tigre

76. belle and sebastian - if you're feeling sinister

77. wilco - yankee hotel foxtrot

78. the stone roses - the stone roses

79. moby - everything is wrong

80. d'angelo - voodoo

81. beck - mellow gold

82. jeff buckley - grace

83. at the drive-in - relationship of command

84. soundgarden - superunknown

85. rem - automatic for the people

86. meat puppets - up on the sun

87. blur - parklife

88. stereolab - emperor tomato ketchup

89. yeah yeah yeahs - fever to tell

90. sonic youth - sister

91. xtc - skylarking

92. big black - atomizer

93. pearl jam - ten

94. slint - spiderland

95. elastica - elastica

96. the pogues - rum, sodomy, and the lash

97. neutral milk hotel - in the aeroplane over the sea

98. cornershop - when i was born for the 7th time

99. afghan whigs - gentlemen

100. the strokes - is this it

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I had caught this at the bottom when I was watchin' E!. I knew U'd be on this. And I was tryna figure out what it was for so I could tell ya. For the most part, that's a pretty solid list. Some albums should probably be above others, but to make a Top 100 in the course of 20 years and having various genres, is pretty impressive. I liked how it wasn't based on sales either. Overall relevance as they put it. The only hip hop of today that I saw them put in was Kanye's "College Dropout" and Jay-Z's "black album".

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The albums i listed below are the only ones i think are any good...and only 4 or 5 of them even fit in that top 100 area. Awful list.

2. public enemy - it takes a nation...

7. de la soul - 3 ft high..

8. prince - sign o' the times

10. nwa - straight outta compton

12. beastie boys- paul's boutique

17. nas - illmatic

20. wu-tang clan - enter the wu-tang 36 chambers

21. public enemy - fear of a black planet

23. outkast - stankonia

33. ice cube - amerikka's..

35. dr. dre - the chronic

38. a tribe called quest - low end theory

40. run dmc- raising hell

43. bdp - criminal minded

45. kanye west - college dropout

47. eric b and rakim - paid in full

49. lauryn hill - the miseducation..

60. de la soul - de la soul is dead

62. missy elliot - supa dupa fly

64. eminem - marshall mathers lp

66. outkast - aquemini

80. d'angelo - voodoo

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2. public enemy - it takes a nation...

3. nirvana - nevermind

7. de la soul - 3 ft high..

8. prince - sign o' the times

10. nwa - straight outta compton

12. beastie boys- paul's boutique

16. beck - odelay

17. nas - illmatic

18. guns n roses - appetite for destruction

20. wu-tang clan - enter the wu-tang 36 chambers

21. public enemy - fear of a black planet

23. outkast - stankonia

27. the cure - the head on the door

28. oasis - definitely maybe

35. dr. dre - the chronic

38. a tribe called quest - low end theory

40. run dmc- raising hell

43. bdp - criminal minded

44. green day - dookie

45. kanye west - college dropout

47. eric b and rakim - paid in full

49. lauryn hill - the miseducation..

52. beastie boys - licensed to ill

53. rage - battle of la

55. the chemical brothers - dig your own hole

58. metallica - master of puppets

60. de la soul - de la soul is dead

61. weezer - pinkerton

63. pavement - crooked rain, crooked rain

64. eminem - marshall mathers lp

65. basement jaxx - remedy

69. dj shadow - endtroducing dj shadow

78. the stone roses - the stone roses

81. beck - mellow gold

87. blur - parklife

100. the strokes - is this it

I've heard/got all of those.

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I don't understand how they could say record sales don't matter when they ignore albums like Will Smith's "Big Willie Style", Fugees "The Score", and LL Cool J's "Mr. Smith" then they put Eminem's "Marshall Mathers LP"(he bites off 2Pac/Biggie like everyone else but gets shine 'cause he's white, Beastie Boys were mentioned already so he shouldn't get any merit), Jay-Z' "The Blueprint"(more impact than Big Daddy Kane or even Biggie?), and Kanye West's "College Dropout"(more impact than "Paid In Full"? that just came out last year too, give it some time and we'll see not that much impact) which were high selling albums but didn't have that much of an impact, they gave too much props to gangsta/hardcore rap then they should've but I guess that's the only rap rock heads get down with. I think Slick Rick(for storytelling), 2Pac(for making introspective/thugged out rhymes that most rappers do now), and MC Hammer(for the way rappers make videos) should've been mentioned too 'cause they're influence on commercial rap is evident today. Queen Latifah and MC Lyte had more impact on female rappers than Lauryn Hill and Missy Elliot have had even though their album were great, that'd be in the top 200. I noticed D'angelo's album was the only r&b album they mentioned, they should've mentioned Babyface, Boyz II Men, Guy, Bobby Brown, New Edition, Keith Sweat, Mary J. Blidge, Toni Braxton, Jill Scott, and even Usher before they mentioned D'angelo. How the hell could Michael Jackson's "Bad" and Janet Jackson's "Rhthym Nation" be ignored? This list does suck but it's make a perfect list with music categories together but you could say that JJFP, 2Pac, and LL Cool J have had a big impact just like Public Enemy and Run-DMC for people that don't even listen to rap so they should've been mentioned.

Edited by bigted
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