NME readers: And the greatest British albums ever are...

[Chris D.]

... Pulp?  There wasn't one song on that album I cared all that much about listening to twice.

That album is better than half the stuff on that list.

Guess you just beat me to this one, Ian.

At least go back to "Disco 2000."

[I. Spaceman]

Sorry, man! 

[smackdaddy]

That Pulp is a masterpiece.
But This Is Hardcore was even better.

A masterpiece it may (not) be, but I can still think of at least 10 British masterpieces that wipe the floor with it.  Jarvis Cocker still gets mad propz for bum rushing Michael Jackson.

[smackdaddy]

NOT ON THE LIST:

Anything from Public Image Ltd.

T. Rex - "Slider" "Electric Warrior"

Nick Drake - "Pink Moon"
 
ANY DAMN CURE ALBUM BESIDES "HEAD ON THE DOOR"

OH, AND A LITTLE ROLLING STONES ALBUM CALLED "STICKY FINGERS"

ON THE LIST:

2 Oasis albums!?  Putting one in the top ten was already pushing it...

Manic Street Preachers - The Holy Bible

The Streets - A Grand Don't Come For Free & Original Pirate Material

The Human League - Dare!

Albums by the Libertines, who NME won't acknowledge has been thouroughly exposed as a hypejob

Muse - Absolution

i'm beginning to see why all the new hyped UK bands end up sucking.  at least they resisted the temptation to jam Art Brut in there.

[al]

There was an EXCELLENT documentary last week on BBC4 about the making of Common People - probably my favourite 90's Brit-pop moment. Pulp were a very good band - loved Babies as well.

I would certainly put Different Class in a top 100, but it wouldn't be in my top 10.

Yes it is difficult to place new albums into perspective - (which is why the presence of the Arctic Monkeys in the top 5 in the same month as it's release is so ludicrous). I would certainly place at least 3 PJ Harvey albums in a top 25, but looking at the other modern ones (48 of the top 100 were from the last 15 years), I wouldn't rate any of them very highly - particulalry when you look at what is missing from the 70's.

Take these LPs from one year - 1971 - none of which are in the NME top 100, and tell me which of these is not better than anything by the Libertines

1) Who's Next
2) Sticky Fingers
3) Imagine
4) Never A Dull Moment
5) Long Player
6) Meddle
7) Ram
Electric Warrior
9) Low Spark Of High Heeled Boys
10)Bless The Weather

That was off the top of my head - but I could probably do the same for every year from 65 onwards. But, like great football players that kids haven't seen, they don't count.

[I. Spaceman]

Groovy list. Interesting that you place less highly regarded Rod stuff in for the more obviously acclaimed Every Picture and Gasoline Alley!

[al]

oops - I did in fact mean Every Picture Tells a Story - Never A Dull moment (which is a damn fine record) was 1972. Gasoline Alley is ace too - love the title track. What a shame he became such a twat!.

What is it about using 8 and a ) that produces a smiley?

[Jeff Mason]

That was one of the old shortcuts in text days for a smiley and some message boards like this one interpret that to mean Smiley instead of 8 . ) in an outline.

[MoogDroog]

A couple of points:

That list was voted for by the writers of NME, not the readers. This probably explains the high placing of Arctic Monkeys, as NME seem determined to convince everyone that they discovered them, despite the fact that most people were listening to them months before NME caught on. Stone Roses at number one? Well, most NME writers were probably in their late teens when that came out, so a bit of nostalgia there i'd say. I'm not defending the list - it's toss. Yet another reminder of how far NME has fallen.

Secondly, it's about as cool to dislike The Libertines now as it was cool to love them a few years ago. The fact is though, that album struck a massive chord with people here when it was released and sent shockwaves through the British guitar scene, inspiring many bands for better or worse (mostly worse). It's well worth a listen. Whatever you think of Pete Doherty, The Good Old Days, Horrorshow, Death On The Stairs, Time For Heroes and Up The Bracket are superb songs. Also, not many bands these days can be as thrilling live as The Libertines were at their peak. I didn't buy into it all at the time, but still feel i should stick up for them now and again. They weren't just a fad.



My top ten would include:

Spiritualized - Ladies And Gentlemen
Ultrasound - Everything Picture
The Who - Sell Out
The Stones - Sticky Fingers
The Beatles - A Hard Days Night
The Smiths - Strangeways Here We Come
Bert Jansch - Jack Orion
Suede - Suede
Pulp - Different Class (Hardcore is too patchy)
Super Furry Animals - Fuzzy Logic

...in no order.



(first post on this board - i like it!)

[Jason]

No Stereolab on that list....weird.

I'd put Emperor Tomato Ketchup on there, just for the INFLUENCE that record had.

[al]

Secondly, it's about as cool to dislike The Libertines now as it was cool to love them a few years ago. The fact is though, that album struck a massive chord with people here when it was released and sent shockwaves through the British guitar scene, inspiring many bands for better or worse (mostly worse). It's well worth a listen. Whatever you think of Pete Doherty, The Good Old Days, Horrorshow, Death On The Stairs, Time For Heroes and Up The Bracket are superb songs. Also, not many bands these days can be as thrilling live as The Libertines were at their peak. I didn't buy into it all at the time, but still feel i should stick up for them now and again. They weren't just a fad.

I don't think they are totally useless either, but I wouldn't rate them above The Three Johns, The Mekons or the Sisters Of Mercy, to use some 80's examples of bands. or The Waterboys, Echo and The Bunnymen, Wah or the Teardrop Explodes, or Free or Traffic or even Jethro Tull, The Moody Blues, The Kinks, Deep Purple or The Move, Procul Harem or Steeleye Span, The Yardbirds, The Sound, Bogshed, The Buzzcocks, Aztec Camera, Orange Juice, Josef K, Dr Feelgood, THe Albion Band, Spooky Tooth, The Blue Nile, The Blue Aeroplanes, - I could go on for a long time here.

I remember when The Alarm were temporarily 'big' trying to tell people that they were a third division Clash, and if they heard the originals they would no longer be intersted in such crappy copies. Guns n Roses were a third Generation Stones (via Aerosmith) and the quality had dropped massively every time.

Each generation finds their own new bands, it's just a shame the NME hacks have try so hard to stir up interest in each new band as though the past didn't exist.

Ultrasound....? Weren't they the coming thing a few years ago with the fat guy? Whatever happened to them?

[MoogDroog]

Ultrasound released an 85 minute double album which sold poorly, then they split. They're all working in E-list indie bands and squandering their considerable talents. They were the first band i fell head-over-heels in love with and i would rank their album against any other album. I'm starting to think i'm going mad though, as no one else seems to see it.




Btw, i'm not expecting a lot of people here to like The Libertines, it's just that they were very exciting for a while and it's a shame to see them written off. There's more to them than a lot of people think.

[al]

Now The Screaming Blue Messiahs - they were a belting band for about 25 seconds!

Saw The Libertines again on a Jools Holland/Later compilation over xmas and I certainly thought they had some energy, but were they GREAT? Were they half as good as The Wedding Present (a band I never had much time for as I was pissed off they made it we didn't despite them opening for my band a couple of times!)?

Other than seeing the Arctic Monkeys on Later (does that get seen in the US? Shame - good music tv is so rare) I haven't heard much other than the single. I'll go in with as open a mind as is left!

[MoogDroog]

Well, i  think the Libs approached greatness, but it's not to be found on their records necessarily - more the atmosphere and energy of their early gigs.

With the Arctic Monkeys, skip straight to A Certain Romance - a very good song. They're nothing special though, just a good little indie band who became insanely successful by accident.

[koeeoaddi there]

libertines? puh-lease!
tell you what boyo, watching the 1st disc of Zeppelin's How THe West Was Won DVD was a revelation.
i'd loved them before seeing that just makes you realise that if people today are looking for bands like the libertines to kick start guitar music then there's something wrong with the world!

but then each to their own.
but i am right!

[MoogDroog]

Yeah, i know all the old bands but they're not around any more - it's about working with what you've got. Anyway, i'll stop now - i feel like i'm repeating myself..

[Campion Bond]

I don't agree about The Libertines, I think Doherty is a waste of space, but I agree about the NME being a big steaming pile of cack these days.
I've not seen the entire list but I think Teenage Fanclub should be on it (see my avatar). One of the finest british bands ever in IMO and they are still going, releasing a great album last year.

[Sir Rob]

You can see the full 100 in the 'under-rated albums' thread. You can all go ang get even more upset!

I wont I see that Q Mgazine's poll of the best 100 albums ever (not British only) has 3 Radiohead in its top 10

1 - OK Computer
2 - The Bends
10 - Kid A

So seee I'm not crying anymore 

I am quite surprised that a poll of NME readers didn't place a Radiohead album in their top 10 British albums.  Clearly, they've got more taste and discretion than might previously have been thought!   

[Campion Bond]

I should think that Radiohead are way uncool to NME readers (average age 15 I should think), now if this had been a Q magazine poll...