Another List

The July issue of Spin magazine (subscription required) lists the top 100 albums of the last 20 years. Here are the top 10:

1 Radiohead - OK Computer
2 Public Enemy - It Takes A Nation of Millions To Hold Us Back
3 Nirvana - Nevermind
4 Pavement - Slanted And Enchanted
5 The Smiths - The Queen Is Dead
6 Pixies - Surfer Rosa
7 De La Soul - 3 Feet High And Rising
8 Prince - Sign O' The Times
9 PJ Harvey - Rid Of Me
10 NWA - Straight Outta Compton

I usually view these lists as pretty silly - taste being taste. But, it is always nice to stroke the ego a bit by reaffirming the objective superiority of your own subjective tastes with the concurrence of "experts." Heh. I do agree that "OK Computer" is a killer album - innovative, beautiful, dark and timeless (at least for the past 10 years). That being said, I don't know how you compare Public Enemy and Nirvana. I suppose both stomped on the status quo, revolutionized their particular form of art, and changed the direction of "popular" music - but still, how do you compare? It is like saying Van Gogh is better than Picasso.