Lists

Is This Smiths Album the Greatest Record Ever Made?

It is–according to The NME, anyway.  The Queen is Dead finished at the top of the magazine’s latest update of their Greatest 500 Albums of All Time List.

Hey, they need to sell magazines at a time when weekly circulation is plummetting.  Nothing like putting a controversial choice at #1 at the same time the lead singer of said band is the hottest-selling author in Britain, thanks to his new autobiography.

You can bet that Beatles fans are more than a little pissed.

Alan Cross

is an internationally known broadcaster, interviewer, writer, consultant, blogger and speaker. In his 40+ years in the music business, Alan has interviewed the biggest names in rock, from David Bowie and U2 to Pearl Jam and the Foo Fighters. He’s also known as a musicologist and documentarian through programs like The Ongoing History of New Music.

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4 thoughts on “Is This Smiths Album the Greatest Record Ever Made?

  • Beatles fans know that the choice was made because of it's overall Britishness and the fact that NME is actively attempting to stay relevant to younger fans by making their number 1 an album that came out after they were born.

    But let's face it, this is an album that rarely cracks the top 50 (and often not even the top 100) on most respectable critics polls. It's a very good album, but there are far better albums out there that aren't even Beatle records that could easily be in competition for the top spot.

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  • Nahh, "Dark Side Of The Moon" by Pink Floyd

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  • In Critic land this isn't controversial, it's safe and conservative. No critic will ever lose credibility for choosing an album like this… or "London Calling" or "Blonde on Blonde" or "Nevermind". It would have been controversial if they picked a really popular album like "Rumours", "Thriller" or "IV" because then they would have to face the wrath of all the cool kids telling them they sold out. Personally, I couldn't possibly pick a best album, I think it's a silly exercise. But for critics it's important to cultivate an aura of possessing superior taste… I say mission accomplished.

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  • There is a true sense that The Queen Is Dead really is safe and conservative. Many people with serious knowledge of music recognise that the college rockers of the Reagan Era were not truly underground compared to thrash metal bands who often sold far better like Metallica, Slayer, Suicidal Tendencies and latterly Pantera or Sepultura.

    It would be a brave person who put a record like Master of Puppets or Reign in Blood or Vulgar Display of Power or something by Eminem at number one, despite the influence those artists have on the ideals and tastes of the mass of Europeans and North Americans. It would be still braver to do what a writer called “janitor-x” did circa 2004 and wrote about how the Beatles were completely derivative of Berry and Holly and had no reason to be on this sort of list at all. Such a move would mean major alterations to the canon of rock music and would lead to numerous negative responses if artists like the Beatles, U2, Prince and Radiohead were completely absent as some writers on the topic would in fact wish.

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