Rolling Stone's "50 Coolest Albums of All Time"

Rolling Stone Magazine ^ | 03/19/02

[socal_parrot]

Top 50 Coolest Albums of All Time

1. Velvet Underground - White Light/White Heat
2. Rolling Stones - Aftermath
3. James Brown - Live at the Apollo
4. Chuck Berry - The Great Twenty-Eight
5. Beastie Boys - Paul's Boutique
6. Blondie - Parallel Lines
7. Aretha Franklin - Spirit in the Dark
8. Massive Attack - Protection
9. Dusty Springfield - Dusty in Memphis
10. The Beatles - Revolver
11. Sly & the Family Stone - Fresh
12. Pavement - Wowee Zowee!
13. Steely Dan - Countdown to Ecstasy
14. Prince - 1999
15. Bob Dylan - John Wesley Harding
16. Bjork - Vespertine
17. Various - Heavyweight Sound: Blood and Fire Sampler
18. Otis Redding - The Otis Redding Dictionary of Soul
19. Eric B. & Rakim - Paid in Full
20. Chic - Real People
21. David Bowie - Station to Station
22. Jorge Ben - Africa Brasil
23. Frank Sinatra - Songs for Swingin' Lovers!
24. Joy Division - Unknown Pleasures
25. Culture - Two Sevens Clash
26. Brides of Funkenstein - Never Buy Texas from a Cowboy
27. Beck - Odelay
28. The Ronettes - Best of the Ronettes
29. Miles Davis - In A Silent Way
30. Roxy Music - For Your Pleasure
31. Michael Jackson - Off the Wall
32. Chemical Brothers - Dig Your Own Hole
33. Howlin' Wolf - Howlin' Wolf
34. White Stripes - De Stijl
35. Various - Super Bad is Back
36. Joan Jett - Bad Reputation
37. Jungle Brothers - Done by the Forces of Nature
38. Alexander Spence - Oar
39. Cheap Trick - Heaven Tonight
40. Bikini Kill - Reject All American
41. Smokey Robinson & the Miracles - Anthology
42. Merle Haggard - Songs I'll Always Sing
43. Roxanne Shante - Bad Sister
44. Quicksilver Messenger Service - Happy Trails
45. Serge Gainsbourg - Comic Strip
46. Isaac Hayes - Hot Buttered Soul
47. Blue Oyster Cult - Secret Treaties
48. Aphex Twin - Classics
49. The Strokes - Is This It
50. Madonna - You Can Dance

--

[BluesDuke]

I'm surprised they didn't think at least of More Songs About Building And Food, though I have to admit - dearly though I love that album - I'd have gone with Remain In Light. I'm taking a wild guess that, with the B-52s, their almost absolute-party ethic was the turnoff for the smugger-than-thou contingency on the Rolling Stone panel in question. Personally, I wouldn't trade one chorus of "Rock Lobster" for the whole damn Madonna catalogue.

And they did give Isaac Hayes's Hot Buttered Soul some props, after all. (They should have: Barry White only forged an entire damn career out of ripping off Isaac's cool...)

[BluesDuke]

The Bob Marley album I mentioned isn't exactly a best-of album; it's a 1997 album which comprised ambient dubs of Marley classics and, in essence, turned them into new recordings off the root Wailers tracks. And they are breathtaking: the dubs of "Rebel Music" and "Exodus" are absolute dream musics...

I'd have put The Beach Boys Today on the list first. And as for "cool" and "Eric Clapton," show me which one outrates Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs. I can't, either.

[RangeRatt]

It's called "Down To Earth", originally released in 1970 by Barnaby Records (#Z 30093), was re-released in 1981, and in 1998, on CD by Varese Vintage, VSD-5775, and the CD includes a track called Robert Frost, The Christian (which has not been on any of the live albums), and the original Captain & The Kid. I would recommend it.

[socal_parrot]

I like the song, The Captain and the Kid. I see the album is available on CDNow.com.

[Texaggie79]

32. Chemical Brothers - Dig Your Own Hole

Actually, that WAS a good album. I need to dig through my CD's and find that thing. I think it was pretty equal to Vegas by Crystal Method though.

[socal_parrot]

Don't you think albums should mean original albums? "Best of" and compilations are cherry picking.

[RangeRatt]

Then there's "High Cumberland Jubilee", (which was the album I was referring to originally), recorded in '71, and conveniently lost until '76, when Barnaby Records decided to release it (in the wake of "You Had To Be There / LIVE").Varese Vintage VSD-5776, same release date as "Down to Earth". (There is a lawsuit story connected with the release, as JB wasn't under contract to Barnaby anymore in '76, I believe he settled out of court and got the master tapes, but I would have to do a lot more research.)

[A Navy Vet]

Cheap Trick, Joan Jett, Beatie Boys, Blondie...cool?

If they want a cool album by the Stones try, "Out of Our Heads", although "Aftermath" had its moments.

Cool is any anthology by the Supremes, the Temptations, Marvin Gaye, the Four Tops, and most Phil Spector productions.

Cool was Jimmy Smith
Cool was Booker T. & the MGs
Cool was Jackie Wilson
Cool was Soul!

[socal_parrot]

Most of your selections were left out to make room for Bjork.

It makes no sense.

[ValerieUSA]

There Goes Rhymin' Simon
Joe Cocker
Bob Seegar
Pat Benatar
Weird Al Yankovich
Am I kidding?

[RangeRatt]

Bjork...what's she all about?

BTW, in another lifetime, after Desert Storm, I moved to a small island to work, and wound up running the radio station in my spare time...it had a vinyl library going back to 1952. I could reach blindly into the stacks and pull out enough gold for a six hour shift in minutes. Sadly, though, the station went to a satellite feed a few years ago (in my absence), the record library was remodelled into a conference room, and ALL of that precious, irreplaceable vinyl was hauled to the dump, and eventually burned. When I returned last year and found out this news, I cried.

[BluesDuke]

Don't you think albums should mean original albums? "Best of" and compilations are cherry picking.

Keep in mind - the Marley set was done conceptually as a new album...it wasn't strictly a best-of, since the idea was to do a series of ambient electronic dubs. Otherwise, I shy from best-of albums unless, as was the case with Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits Vol. II, the performer himself puts it together in a way so as to tell a certain kind of story through it...

[Texaggie79]

Sorry, but Beastie Boys are VERY COOL.

[RangeRatt]

from somewhere in the fog, I still hear "NO SLEEP TILL BROOKLYN!!!!!"

[NYCVirago]

Having anthologies and complilations on it ruins the integrity, such as it is, of the list.

[BikerTrash]

This list SUCKS!

[mn12]

ALL of that precious, irreplaceable vinyl was hauled to the dump, and eventually burned. When I returned last year and found out this news, I cried.

That's just sad. And not at all uncommon either, I'm sure. Thankfully, records are still plentiful and cheap at thrift stores and the like. But I hate to think of how many obscure, irreplaceable albums are gone because of radio stations, libraries, etc. chucking them.

And yeah, as others are saying, I can think of a ton of albums that are a lot cooler than these. Just where in the heck do they get off not including Dark Side of the Moon, anyway?

[PaulJ]

Cool? Ok, who remembers the Masked Marauders? It was very cool to own this album, circa 1968

[Caipirabob]

Well, what happened to these guys?!?

Hey come on, they were pretty cool, right? Guys?

[PaulJ]

Hey come on, they were pretty cool, right? Guys?

Nope.