THE WORST NME COVER OF ALL TIME

I put this on twitter a while ago, but I think the most baffling thing about the individual staff top 10s is that most of them are younger than me, but their favourite records are from 20+ years before they were born, in most cases, and that always baffles me. A damn good chunk of mine would be from when I was 15-30, if not 10-22. Older stuff, as much as I might love it, often feels like someone else's favourite music that I just appreciate a lot. Like, I much prefer Four Tet to Kraftwerk, because he's mine, he's my era, I've been able to see him live and enjoy anticipating his records and going and buying them on the day they came out.

500. Outkast, 'Stankonia'
499. Belly, 'Star'
498. Lou Reed, 'Berlin'
497. Daft Punk, 'Random Access Memories'
496. Girls, 'Album'
495. The Killers, 'Hot Fuss'
494. The Cure, 'The Head On The Door'
493. This Mortal Coil, 'Blood'
492. These New Puritans, 'Hidden'
491. Pet Shop Boys, 'Actually'
490. MC5, 'Back In The USA
489. The Wedding Present, 'George Best'
488. Leonard Cohen, 'I'm Your Man'
487. The Jam, 'Sound Affects'
486. Bjork, 'Homogenic'
485. Kendrick Lamar, 'Good Kid M.A.A.D City'
484. Bruce Springsteen, 'The River'
483. Elvis Costello And The Attractions, 'Blood And Chocolate'
482. Billie Holiday, 'Lady In Satin'
481. Brian Wilson, 'Smile'
480. Aretha Franklin, 'I Never Loved A Man The Way I Love You'
479. Throwing Muses, 'The Real Ramona'
478. The National, 'Trouble Will Find Me'
477. Crystal Castles, 'Crystal Castles'
476. Foo Fighters, 'Foo Fighters'
475. Kurt Vile, 'Smoke Ring For My Halo'
474. Fuck Buttons, 'Tarot Sport'
473. The Verve, 'A Storm In Heaven'
472. Smashing Pumpkins, 'Melon Collie And The Infinite Sadness'
471. MGMT, 'Oracular Spectacular'
470. Kanye West, 'Graduation'
469. The Beach Boys, 'Holland'
468. The Shins, 'Chutes Too Narrow'
467. Iggy Pop, 'The Idiot'
466. The Wu-Tang Clan, 'The W'
465. The National, 'High Violet'
464. Kings Of Leon - 'Because Of The Times'
463. The Breeders, 'Pod'
462. Metallica, 'Master of Puppets'
461. Manic Street Preachers, 'Generation Terrorists'
460. Nirvana, 'Bleach'
459. Jay-Z, 'The Black Album'
458. Wilco, 'Yankee Hotel Foxtrot'
457. Goldfrapp, 'Black Cherry'
456. Frank Sinatra, 'September Of My Years'
445. Vampire Weekend, 'Vampire Weekend'
454. Destiny's Child, 'The Writing's On The Wall'
453. The House Of Love, 'The House Of Love'
452. The B-52's, 'The B-52's'
451. Big Star, 'Third/Sister Lovers'
450. PJ Harvey, 'Rid Of Me'
449. Arctic Monkeys, 'AM'
448. Suede, 'Sci-Fi Lullabies'
447. David Bowie, 'Diamond Dogs'
446. Hot Chip, 'The Warning'
445. Fleetwood Mac, 'Tusk'
444. Depeche Mode, 'Violator'
443. Bill Callahan, 'Sometimes I Wish We Were An Eagle'
442. Al Green, 'Al Green Is Love'
441. Abba, 'Arrival'
440. Billy Bragg, 'Life's A Riot With Spy Vs Spy'
439. The Futureheads, 'The Futureheads'
438. Kings Of Leon, 'Aha Shake Heartbreak'
437. TV On The Radio, 'Dear Science'
436. Battles, 'Mirrored'
435. Patti Smith, 'Easter'
434. Prefab Sprout, 'Steve McQueen'
433. Dr. Dre '2001'
432. Tindersticks, 'Tindersticks'
431. Soundgarden, 'Badmotorfinger'
430. Scott Walker, 'Scott 4'
429. Jimmy Eat World, 'Bleed American'
428. Bruce Springsteen, 'Born In The USA'
427. Brian Eno, 'Here Come The Warm Jets'
426. Sonic Youth, 'Goo'
425. Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazlewood, 'Nancy And Lee'
424. U2, 'The Joshua Tree'
423. The Who, 'Live At Leeds'
422. Dexy’s Midnight Runners, 'Too-Rye-Ay'
421. Big Star, 'Radio City'
420. A Tribe Called Quest, 'People’s Instinctive Travels And The Paths Of Rhythm'
419. Spiritualized, 'Let It Come Down'
418. Eels, 'Electro-Shock Blues'
417. Ash, '1977'
416. Animal Collective, 'Merriweather Post Pavilion'
415. Chet Baker, 'Chet Baker Sings'
414. Chemical Brothers, 'Dig Your Own Hole'
413. Happy Mondays, 'Pills ‘N’ Thrills And Bellyaches'
412. DJ Shadow, 'Entroducing'
411. Madvillain, 'Madvillainy'
410. Interpol, 'Antics'
409. Can, 'Tago Mago'
408. Pavement, 'Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain'
407. Ride, 'Going Blank Again'
406. Queens Of The Stone Age, 'Rated R'
405. Otis Redding, 'Otis Blue'
404. Gene Clark, 'No Other'
403. Björk, 'Vespertine'
402. Mystery Jets, 'Twenty One'
401. Throbbing Gristle, '20 Jazz Funk Greats'

I can get with 400-500

why?

bcz so token

481?

I suspect metal is going to be less represented in this list than hip-hop.

can i just make a quick plea to AG (and everyone) to not c/p the entire top 400, think of our scrolling fingers

I'm forgetting, it probably rated highly 7 years ago, or whenever it was (re 481)

lex otm

Sorry lex but i had nowhere to link to as i got the list via imessage

http://pastebin.com

Lots of my favourite albums in the 500-401 section that should be way higher (Tindersticks, Gene Clark, Prefab Sprout, Big Star, Bjork, Scott Walker, The B-52's etc) I think the big problem is their choices from the last ten years. The Futureheads, The Killers, Arctic Monkeys and Kings Of Leon are just the pits. Is that the best they can do? I'm presuming everything Pete Doherty has been involved with will be higher up. Maybe they'll even find some room for Glasvegas?

Also LOL at 417!

NME Album of the Year 2010 in with a bullet at #492

Guessing that all the ones in this part of the list only got one or two votes?

Glasvegas are indeed in there.

ugh

Amazing! Hopefully they're in the top 100 just for the comedy value. Who else? Did they find room for Hard-Fi? Have they remembered what an important band The Cooper Temple Clause were? I'm actually kind of excited to see the rest of the results now.

Terris?

Get scrolling you bums:

1. The Smiths - The Queen Is Dead (1986)
2. The Beatles - Revolver (1966)
3. David Bowie - Hunky Dory (1972)
4. The Strokes - Is This It (2001)
5. The Velvet Underground - The Velvet Underground & Nico (1966)
6. Pulp - Different Class (1995)
7. The Stone Roses - The Stone Roses (1989)
8. Pixies - Doolittle (1989)
9. The Beatles - The Beatles (1968)
10. Oasis - Definitely Maybe (1994)

11. Nirvana - Nevermind (1991)
12. Patti Smith - Horses (1975)
13. Arcade Fire - Funeral (2004)
14. David Bowie - Low (1977)
15. PJ Harvey - Let England Shake (2011)
16. Joy Division - Closer (1980)
17. Public Enemy - It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back (1988)
18. My Bloody Valentine - Loveless (1991)
19. Arctic Monkeys - Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not (2006)
20. Radiohead - OK Computer (1997)

21. Kanye West - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (2010)
22. Blur - Parklife (1994)
23. David Bowie - The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars (1972)
24. The Rolling Stones - Exile On Main St. Street (1972)
25. Marvin Gaye - What's Going On (1971)
26. The Beach Boys - Pet Sounds (1966)
27. Primal Scream - Screamadelica (1991)
28. Amy Winehouse - Back To Black (2006)
29. Television - Marquee Moon (1977)
30. Wu-Tang Clan - Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) (1993)

31. Suede - Dog Man Star (1994)
32. Beastie Boys - Paul's Boutique (1989)
33. Blur - Modern Life Is Rubbish (1993)
34. The Beatles - Abbey Road (1969)
35. Nirvana - In Utero (1993)
36. Bob Dylan - Blood On The Tracks (1975)
37. Love - Forever Changes (1967)
38. Sex Pistols - Never Mind The Bollocks... Here's The Sex Pistols (1977)
39. The Clash - London Calling (1979)
40. Joy Division - Unknown Pleasure (1979)

41. Sonic Youth - Daydream Nation (1988)
42. Stevie Wonder - Innervisions (1973)
43. The Beatles - Rubber Soul (1965)
44. Manic Street Preachers - The Holy Bible (1994)
45. Blondie - Parallel Lines (1978)
46. Björk - Debut (1993)
47. The Smiths - Strangeways, Here We Come (1987)
48. Kate Bush - Hounds Of Love (1985)
49. LCD Soundsystem - Sound Of Silver (2007)
50. Dusty Springfield - Dusty In Memphis (1969)

51. Fleetwood Mac - Rumours (1977)
52. The Rolling Stones - Let It Bleed (1969)
53. David Bowie - Station To Station (1976)
54. Talking Heads - Remain In Light (1980)
55. The Rolling Stones - Sticky Fingers (1971)
56. Neil Young - After The Gold Rush (1970)
57. Kraftwerk - The Man Machine (1978)
58. Pixies - Surfer Rosa (1988)
59. Radiohead - In Rainbows (2007)
60. Massive Attack - Blue Lines (1991)

61. The Clash - The Clash (1977)
62. Bob Dylan - Blonde On Blonde (1966)
63. Joni Mitchell - Blue (1971)
64. Bob Dylan - Highway 61 Revisited (1965)
65. REM - Automatic For The People (1992)
66. Radiohead - The Bends (1995)
67. Oasis - (What's The Story) Morning Glory (1995)
68. Van Morrison - Astral Weeks (1968)
69. REM - Murmur (1983)
70. The Libertines - Up The Bracket (2002)

71. Neil Young - Harvest (1972)
72. Lou Reed - Transformer (1972)
73. Bob Dylan - Bringing It All Back Home (1965)
74. Nas - IIImatic (1994)
75. Green Day - Dookie (1994)
76. Daft Punk - Discovery (2001)
77. The White Stripes - White Blood Cells (2001)
78. Suede - Suede (1993)
79. Miles Davis - Kind Of Blue (1959)
80. Iggy And The Stooges - Raw Power (1973)

81. Kraftwerk - Trans-Europe Express (1977)
82. Carole King - Tapestry (1971)
83. The Band - The Band (1969)
84. Hole - Live Through This (1994)
85. Bruce Springsteen - Born To Run (1975)
86. Jeff Buckley - Grace (1994)
87. The Beatles - Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967)
88. Roxy Music - For Your Pleasure (1973)
89. Lauryn Hill - The Miseducation Of Lauryn Hill (1998)
90. The Streets - A Grand Don't Come For Free (2004)

91. Prince And The Revolution - Purple Rain (1984)
92. Super Furry Animals - Radiator (1997)
93. Queens Of The Stone Age - Songs For The Deaf (2002)
94. The Rolling Stone - Beggars Banquet (1968)
95. Talk Talk - Spirit Of Eden (1988)
96. Public Enemy - Fear Of A Black Planet (1990)
97. The Smiths - The Smiths (1984)
98. Neutral Milk Hotel - In The Aeroplane Over The Sea (1998)
99. The Libertines - The Libertines (2004)
100. The Smiths - Hatful Of Hollow (1984)

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token canonical jazz pick!

Well Billie Holiday was in the upper 400's too don't forget, keeping good company with the Wedding Present and the Shins.

rofl

Rank the White Albums

Read down to #40 before I fell asleep. "Definitely Maybe" is ranked way TOO LOW.

Both The Libertines albums in the top 100! Pretty annoyed they didn't manage to make room for something by Babyshambles and Dirty Pretty Things too.

Libertines + Oasis would have made a good top 10. Assuming they have 10 albums between them.

They'd have to include some Beady Eye (and why not?) but yeah it's doable.

Just realised they think My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy is the second best rap album of all time! They didn't even have it that high in their 2010 list, think it was just inside the top 30.

On a more positive note, nice to see Spirit of Eden make the list. It's about 80 places too low but still, I was pleasantly surprised to see it there.

97. The Smiths - The Smiths (1984)
100. The Smiths - Hatful Of Hollow (1984)

Definitely need both of those in the top 100, you really do not want to go freeing up some space for some reggae or something.

if this list prompts even one kid to check out the beatles it'll all be worth it

xp don't you know that reggae is vile?

xpost I've never understood that rule about letting Hatful of Hollow in these lists when most other compilations aren't allowed? Are The Smiths just that special?

No New Order or Pet Shop Boys in the top 100 is pretty surprising. 80s pop in general has been mostly ignored apart from Purple Rain. Lexicon of Love and Dare should obviously be right up there. The last time they did this they had Rio, Thriller and Like a Prayer in there obviously that era is not in vogue now.

The post-2000 albums in the list:

4. The Strokes - Is This It (2001)
13. Arcade Fire - Funeral (2004)
15. PJ Harvey - Let England Shake (2011)
19. Arctic Monkeys - Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not (2006)
21. Kanye West - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (2010)
28. Amy Winehouse - Back To Black (2006)
49. LCD Soundsystem - Sound Of Silver (2007)
59. Radiohead - In Rainbows (2007)
70. The Libertines - Up The Bracket (2002)
76. Daft Punk - Discovery (2001)
77. The White Stripes - White Blood Cells (2001)
90. The Streets - A Grand Don't Come For Free (2004)
93. Queens Of The Stone Age - Songs For The Deaf (2002)
99. The Libertines - The Libertines (2004)

Im surprised they didn't slip the new arctic monkeys into the top 10 to troll everyone

PJ Harvey ahead of Arctic Monkeys is actually rather cool. As a matter of fact, I don't really think that list looks different than what I would expect?

They'd have to include some Beady Eye (and why not?)
They'd have to include some Beady Eye (and why not?)
They'd have to include some Beady Eye (and why not?)
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PJ Harvey ahead of Arctic Monkeys is actually rather cool.

They'd have to include some Beady Eye (and why not?)
They'd have to include some Beady Eye (and why not?)
They'd have to include some Beady Eye (and why not?)
They'd have to include some Beady Eye (and why not?)They'd have to include some Beady Eye (and why not?)They'd have to include some Beady Eye (and why not?)They'd have to include some Beady Eye (and why not?)They'd have to include some Beady Eye (and why not?)

― nemo me chimpune lacessit (Noodle Vague)

http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/47921000/jpg/_47921692_009291201-1.jpg

top 100 breakdown. i'm counting the band as canadian but ymmv.

usa: 47
uk: 45
canada: 4
kraftwerk: 2
iceland: 1
france: 1

Hatful of Hollow seems to be the only compilation album represented here. I suspect a lot of most people’s top 100 albums would be greatest hits or similar.

When NME polled its writers in 1986 The Queen Is Dead only came ninth; the eight albums above it were as follows:

1. Prince & the Revolution – Parade
2. Anita Baker – Rapture
3. Janet Jackson – Control
4. Sonic Youth – EVOL
5. Cameo – Word Up
6. Paul Simon – Graceland
7. The Fall – Bend Sinister
8. Run-DMC – Raising Hell

I have no problems with any of these.

On a Then Play Long basis only four of the top ten albums (not including TQID) made number one.

If you'd told someone at NME in 1994 that Dookie would have made their Top 80 of all time they'd have pissed themselves laughing.

Especially since it came 18th in the NME's '94 EOY list.

obviously that era is not in vogue now.

The 80s are very much in vogue with bands but maybe not in canon-building circles.

enjoyed this a bunch just now http://thequietus.com/articles/13683-nme-greatest-albums-list-johnny-sharp-cigarettes

Found the rest of the list if anyone's interested:

http://www.acclaimedmusic.net/forums/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=1317#p16748

Has there ever been a great or even decent music writer called "Johnny"? The NME list was '85 not '86, I don't remember The Nightfly being in it and obviously in "Johnny Cigarettes"' world such a record pales against the majesty of the Senseless Things and Five Thirty.

Have to say, though, that a list without contributions from Kent, Murray, Burchill, Parsons, Baker, Morley, Penman etc. etc. (I bet they all had their price) is not really representative.

Paul Morley? Make a list? Nah, couldn't see it myself.

hahah!

VOTING INSTRUCTIONS: "Definable drumbeats are banned - only treble-heavy, off-the-beat, biscuit-tin-rattle indie drums allowed."

Oh yeah, in 1985 wasn’t the 100th slot left empty for readers to write in with their suggestions? I think The Nightfly might have got in there.

That was the same poll wherein it was said that Psychocandy would have been one of the greatest albums ever made had it come out two weeks earlier.

1985 list here.

http://www.timepieces.nl/chart/9620/1985-nme-writers-all-time-top-100-albums#.Umj94CROxyg