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Amazon.com's "Greatest Indie Rock Albums Of All Time" List Makes Me Itchy, Gives Me Not-So-Fresh Feeling

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Authoring any sort of hierarchical "Greatest Albums" genre list is an undertaking inherently fraught with peril, a thankless task that can't help but invite confrontation and dissent. Those who disagree with the list-maker's choices, whatever they may be, indeed have valid points to back up their needling: how can anyone's taste and judgment be considered definitive when addressing an entire genre of music? And by what universally acceptable criteria is an album determined to be "Great" anyway? I mean, isn't every component in this equation just endlessly debatable?

Amazon-100-greatest-indie-rock-albums
Well whatever truth there is in such criticisms it hasn't stopped the music editors over at Amazon.com from jumping into the fray with their newly-released "100 Greatest Indie Rock Albums Of All Time." Yes that's right, they actually said ALL TIME. I can't decide if that's what one would call daring or nerve.

But before we bring the hammer of judgment down upon their heads (heads topped with perfectly mussed hair sheathed in organic cruelty and gluten-free styling products no doubt), let's look at what these so-and-so smartypants know-it-all editors came up with, starting with the tail end of the list and working our way toward the Top 10:

100 Dangerous Magical Noise - The Dirtbombs
99 Passover - The Black Angels
98 To Survive - Joan As Police Woman
97 Ultimate Alternative Wavers - Built To Spill
96 Trans Am - Trans Am
95 The Discovery Of A World Inside... - The Apples In Stereo
94 Waiter: 'You Vultures!' - Portugal The Man
93 Alligator - The National
92 Horses In The Sky - Silver Mt. Zion
91 Gallowsbird's Bark - The Fiery Furnaces
90 Louden Up Now - (!!! Chk Chik Chick)
89 The Milk-Eyed Mender - Joanna Newsom
88 The Power Out - Electrelane
87 Cure For Pain - Morphine
86 Worn Copy - Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti
85 Vivian Girls - Vivian Girls
84 Hearts Of Oak - Ted Leo/Pharmacists
83 Save Yourself - Make Up
82 The Last Match - The Aislers Set
81 The Sea and the Bells - Rachel's
80 The Ugly Organ - Cursive
79 De Stijl - The White Stripes
78 Nothing Feels Good - The Promise Ring
77 The Smell Of Our Own - The Hidden Cameras
76 Jane From Occupied Europe - Swell Maps
75 Furnace Room Lullaby - Neko Case
74 The Curtain Hits The Cast - Low
73 The R&B Of Membership - The Delta 72
72 II & III - Camper Van Beethoven
71 Ladies And Gentlemen We Are Floating... - Spiritualized
70 The Fawn - The Sea And Cake
69 Feast of Wire - Calexico
68 Oh, Inverted World - The Shins
67 Will You Find Me - Ida
66 Milk Man - Deerhoof
65 Coquelicot Asleep In The Poppies... - Of Montreal
64 Rejoicing in The Hands - Devendra Banhart
63 Destroyer's Rubies - Destroyer
62 TNT - Tortoise
61 Neon Golden - The Notwist
60 Daddy's Highway - The Bats
59 Set Yourself On Fire - Stars
58 Fabulous Muscles - Xiu Xiu
57 Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes - TV On The Radio
56 The Decline And Fall Of Heavenly - Heavenly
55 The Mysterious Production of Eggs - Andrew Bird
54 Pussy-Whipped - Bikini Kill
53 Sing No Evil - Half Japanese
52 Liberty Belle And The Black Diamond Express - The Go Betweens
51 Emperor Tomato Ketchup - Stereolab
50 And Don't The Kids Just Love It - Television Personalities
49 Wild Love - Smog
48 Agaetis Byrjun - Sigur Ros
47 Red House Painters I - Red House Painters
46 Advisory Committee - Mirah
45 How Memory Works - Joan Of Arc
44 On Fire - Galaxie 500
43 On - Imperial Teen
42 Mass Romantic [Remastered] - The New Pornographers
41 Gulag Orkestar - Beirut
40 This Nation's Saving Grace - The Fall
39 You Forgot It In People - Broken Social Scene
38 I Am A Bird Now - Antony & The Johnsons
37 When Your Heartstrings Break - Beulah
36 Our Endless Numbered Days - Iron & Wine
35 Person Pitch - Panda Bear
34 Let's Get Out of This Country - Camera Obscura
33 Merriweather Post Pavilion - Animal Collective
32 Let It Be [Expanded Edition] - The Replacements
31 Repeater + 3 Songs - Fugazi
30 Zen Arcade - Hüsker Dü
29

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Mom101 5 pts

I started going through this list and I realized that part of the title must have fallen off. What they meant to write is The Greatest Indie Albums of All Time And By All Time I Mean the Last Ten Years Plus the Replacements.

Ok, so they they threw a few of us old-timers a bone with Camper Van Beethoven and Husker Du and the Pixies . But seriously - no Smiths? No Talking Heads? No David Bowie? No Velvet Underground? No Flaming Lips (Thanks, Keegsmom)? 

No Radiohead???

Bah.

Mom-101 ( http://mom-101.blogspot.com )
( http://coolmompicks.com )

Cool Mom Picks.com ( http://coolmompicks.com )

KeegsMom 5 pts

Wow, once you pointed out their omission, i had to take a closer look.  My first take was, "Oh, lists are to be argued with."

BUT: No FLips? No Minutemen (as someone else spoketh)?? No Chills, Clean, Delta 5, Big Black, Mogwai, Slits? (ok, Slits may have been too punk... and i understand punk being excluded here--)

Something's really just downright WRONG with a list that includes Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti,  Rachel's, and Portugal the Man, who have all made fine and interesting records, but do NOT rate higher than some of the very critical bands mentioned here and in others' posts .... Great to see Electrelane and TV Personalities (oh, and Swell Maps!) b-b-but ....Hmmm....

KeegsMom

KIDSFLIX

http://kidsflix.blogspot.com

Snarky Amber 5 pts

And then I went back and noticed The PROMISE RING is on this list. O RLY, Amazon? I wouldn't wipe my ass with that whiny, poorly written emo pap.

HEAD EXPLODY. 

sweetney 5 pts

Oh god, you just pointed out the absence of "The Soft Bulletin" and I think I had an aneurysm.

Also, picking anything from Built To Spill except There's Nothing Wrong With Love is ridiculous. I LAFF, HA HA, IT AMUSES ME. gaaaah.

Tracey Gaughran-Perez, aka Sweetney
CE, Entertainment & Culture
Author/Editor of Sweetney ( http://www.sweetney.com ), MamaPop ( http://www.mamapop.com ), & We Covet
( http://www.wecovet.com )

Snarky Amber 5 pts

So here are a few, in a bulleted list:

1. Dig Me Out? No. One Beat and The Woods are far superior albums. Of course, because they are less gritty and better produced, they're ignored, but The Woods is a nearly perfect album. Grr.

2. Excuse me, but Guided By Voices is number one? I do not acknowledge that decision. For me, the list ends with #2, Neutral Milk Hotel. Whatever, Amazon.

3. The lack of punk on this list is irritating.

4.  Also glaring omissions: Olivia Tremor Control, Jawbox, The Dismemberment Plan and The Flaming Lips. OMG Flaming Lips. The fact that The Soft Bulletin isn't on this list makes my brain smoke and spark.

I had more, but I just short-circuited. 

jimmcquiggin 5 pts

A lot of the list is comprised of complete crap, probably to gain hipster stripes.

Devandra Banhart? Spiritualized? The White Stripes? DCFC?

AYFKM?

Half the bands are OK but not deserving of a place on the list, IMHO. And there's a pathetic paucity of punk (excuse the alliteration) - no X? No Black Flag? No Clash? No Descendants?

And a dearth of indie vanguards - where is Grandaddy? Jesus & Mary Chain? Mission of Burma? Big Black? Or BritPop bands (Blur or Oasis)? Or industrial bands - Throbbing Gristle, Swans, Cabaret Voltaire, KMFDM, et al? Or, or, or...

I'm so steamed, I'm sure I've forgotten a dozen more that should have been on this list but were left off. Like Tom Waits, Television, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, The Notwist, A Place to Bury Strangers...

Lists. Feh.

Jim

http://jimandmara.com/

palinode 5 pts

I love their first three albums, from Starlite Walker to American Water.  The last few have not been so enjoyable for me - maybe David Berman is getting too well-adjusted for great music.  I've heard that he's ended the group.

palinode 5 pts

First, let's get this out of the way: you said seminal.

No Eric's Trip - damn, I miss that band. Sloan is a great group but they're so very Canadian - I get the sense that not many people have heard of them in the US.

theclevermom 5 pts

A Pixies album behind Belle and Sebastian? I love B&S enough to put videos of my small sons dancing to Scottish twee on youtube, but any Pixies album should be ranking higher. 

I get the feeling that the author/collaborators who contributed to this list were perhaps not born or in kindergarten when REM began releasing their seminal works. This might explain some of the oversights.

Of course, no indie metal and punk included.  No Pizzicato 5? No Sloan? No Eric's Trip? No Sianspheric?

So many holes! You need a top 1000 indie rawk albums of all time!

the clever mom
http://www.theclevermom.com
living life with kids

hamilton doula
http://www.hamiltondoula.com
pregnancy, birth and beyond

sweetney 5 pts

SEE?!?! EXACTLY. Because "Doolittle" and "Illinoise" - while clearly the better albums in all sorts of ways -- are also more popular/known... released after they "broke" as it were. (Also, I'm sorry: The Shins "Oh, Inverted World" over "Chutes Too Narrow"? Arrrgh! I FEEL STABBY.)

To be fair, a couple they got right on: Galaxie 500's "On Fire" and the Neutral Milk Hotel, though I would've placed that #1 and moved GBV down to about 25 or 30, and picked "Alien Lanes" because I know best :)

Tracey Gaughran-Perez, aka Sweetney
CE, Entertainment & Culture
Author/Editor of Sweetney ( http://www.sweetney.com ), MamaPop ( http://www.mamapop.com ), & We Covet
( http://www.wecovet.com )

sweetney 5 pts

Aidan, you ARE my sekrit boyfriend. You said Silver Jews (I assume you mean "Starlite Walker"), and my heart melted. :)

Tracey Gaughran-Perez, aka Sweetney
CE, Entertainment & Culture
Author/Editor of Sweetney ( http://www.sweetney.com ), MamaPop ( http://www.mamapop.com ), & We Covet
( http://www.wecovet.com )

palinode 5 pts

Surfer Rosa over Doolittle? Michigan over Illinoise? And really, how did they pick a single Yo La Tengo album out of the 10,000 or so those guys have released? Could you harness the prolific creative output of Yo La Tengo and turn it into a cheap and efficient energy source to keep us in power for the next century? Can Jeff Bezos get on that? Wait, is that the purpose of this list? Are we unwittingly furnishing Jeff Bezos with the best of indie music so he can capture them and turn them into an alternative fuel supply for America's fleet of trucks and ships to get Amazon goods out to us? Based on the evidence, I'd have to say yes.

palinode 5 pts

The Milk-Eyed Mender is a really good album, but Ys is five steps beyond all that. Like you said, it looks as if the compilers chose earlier works over more accomplished ones.

My first "Hells yeah that's a great album" moment came when I saw Emperor Tomato Ketchup on the list.  And I'm seriously happy to see The Sea and Cake, as well as Destroyer, in the top 100.

But no Silver Jews? What did they do to anger the gods of Amazon?

BaltimoreGal 5 pts

Right. Apparently "indie" does not mean punk, either. More like OBSCURE.

Maria Niles 5 pts

Yeah, this is a tad head scratching. It reeks of look-at-me coolness by naming obscure or not the most popular stuff. I'd personally only cosign about half-a-dozen of their picks.

Give what I'm sensing their definition of "indie" is based on the list, my nomination for criminally overlooked would be "Double Nickles on the Dime" by The Minutemen. Classic and a masterpiece.

BlogHer Contributing Editor ( http://www.blogher.com/blog/maria-niles )
PopConsumer ( http://consumerpop.typepad.com/popconsumer )
Beyond Help ( http://mariax.vox.com/ )

ccarfi 5 pts

>Exile in Guyville as number FOUR? Are you high?

 Ha!  That was the first one I looked for.  :-)