Wednesday, January 31, 2007

In Praise of Yoggoth's Favorite Albums List

I really like this list. It captures Yoggoth's musical taste with economy, and yet it suggests a larger, grander aesthetic at work. It's much more of a "rock critic's" list than mine; it's more eclectic and idiosyncratic, and it spans a lot more years. If I were trying to hire a rock critic, I'd look at Yoggoth's list and say "Yeah, you're hired," and I'd look at my list and say, "Gimme a break kid, go DJ at a classic rock station and call me when you discover punk." But I thought it would be dishonest and unproductive of me to alter my "real" favorite albums list to make it more edgy and varied; those really are, deep down, my ten favorite albums. Nevertheless, my list does seem to make my musical taste look narrower than it actually is. I guess I have a very specific idea of what an "all-time great" album is, and if stuck on that proverbial desert island...I'd probably smash those albums to pieces and wonder why the fuck I couldn't have been provided with anything useful.

But seriously, I'd say at least five of the albums on Yoggoth's list would make my own top 50, and only a couple of them are albums I don't really like, but even those that I don't like I respect. Well done, Yoggoth, well done.

5 comments:

  1. Yeah, when I finished it I was actually pleasantly surprised. I decided to do it quickly and to leave out albums that I really, really respect but don't listen to very often. I think it's a pretty respectable list.

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  2. What albums did you leave out? (Beatles?!)

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  3. I left out,

    The Beatles,
    The Pixies,
    Radiohead,
    Yo La Tengo,
    and probably some others I can't think of right now.

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