The 100 Greatest Classic Rock Albums of All Time: #1. Sticky Fingers (4 Viewers)

[northern exposure]

Anybody think Tim will have a surprise for us in the top 2 or are the albums so obvious there can be no surprises? I'm not asking anybody to name one or both of the albums and spoil it, just wondering if Tim can still throw us a curveball.

 

[Don Quixote]

Anybody think Tim will have a surprise for us in the top 2 or are the albums so obvious there can be no surprises? I'm not asking anybody to name one or both of the albums and spoil it, just wondering if Tim can still throw us a curveball.

On quick scan, I see three albums out there that would either make or be close to my top 10, and would seem to fit Tim’s criteria/taste.

 

[timschochet]

Anybody think Tim will have a surprise for us in the top 2 or are the albums so obvious there can be no surprises? I'm not asking anybody to name one or both of the albums and spoil it, just wondering if Tim can still throw us a curveball.

On quick scan, I see three albums out there that would either make or be close to my top 10, and would seem to fit Tim’s criteria/taste.

Again it makes me nervous that you see 3. What the hell did I miss?

 

[Don Quixote]

Anybody think Tim will have a surprise for us in the top 2 or are the albums so obvious there can be no surprises? I'm not asking anybody to name one or both of the albums and spoil it, just wondering if Tim can still throw us a curveball.

On quick scan, I see three albums out there that would either make or be close to my top 10, and would seem to fit Tim’s criteria/taste.

Again it makes me nervous that you see 3. What the hell did I miss?

I’ll put in spoiler the three that I was thinking:

Spoiler

Pet Sounds, Revolver, Abbey Road

 

[AAABatteries]

Anybody think Tim will have a surprise for us in the top 2 or are the albums so obvious there can be no surprises? I'm not asking anybody to name one or both of the albums and spoil it, just wondering if Tim can still throw us a curveball.

On quick scan, I see three albums out there that would either make or be close to my top 10, and would seem to fit Tim’s criteria/taste.

Again it makes me nervous that you see 3. What the hell did I miss?

Maybe he was like me and missed the time period?

I have two left from my list and it's just a matter of order, IMO. I know what my order would be but not positive on yours.

 

[AAABatteries]

Anybody think Tim will have a surprise for us in the top 2 or are the albums so obvious there can be no surprises? I'm not asking anybody to name one or both of the albums and spoil it, just wondering if Tim can still throw us a curveball.

On quick scan, I see three albums out there that would either make or be close to my top 10, and would seem to fit Tim’s criteria/taste.

Again it makes me nervous that you see 3. What the hell did I miss?

I’ll put in spoiler the three that I was thinking:

Spoiler

Pet Sounds, Revolver, Abbey Road

Assuming one of those is considered classic rock I think it still misses the time period Tim chose.

 

[AAABatteries]

Oh and @Don Quixote - two of your three miss the time period. You are still missing an album.

 

[Don Quixote]

Oh and @Don Quixote - two of your three miss the time period. You are still missing an album.

Ah, ok. Thanks.

 

[Ghost Rider]

I actually thought this would be the number 1 album. Six of the eight are stone cold classic rock radio classics, which is super impressive. I have never been wild about Misty Mountain Hop (I find the vocal melodies annoying), but When the Levee Breaks and Stairway to Heaven are quite possibly their two best songs (even if I might rank one or two ahead of one or both). I am fine with never hearing Black Dog and Rock and Roll again, but both are major classics for a reason.

 

[DocHolliday]

I knew this one was coming. I have long been in the "Who's Next is good, but overrated" camp. It doesn't help that I have never been overly wild about Won't Get Fooled Again (I find that synth way too chirpy and irritating), but I like The Who better in the 60s when their sound was raw and slammed you in the face, Keith Moon sounds too emasculated on Who's Next; there are too many times where it feels like he's lightly tapping on his drums. Baba O'Riley was certainly a WOW the first time I heard it for sure, however, and The Song Is Over has long been a sneaky favorite of mine as well. Good album, just not great.

I probably only like 20-ish Who songs . . . but 7 of them are on Who’s Next. It’s the only studio album of theirs that I can listed all the way through. I like other isolated tracks more, but usually only a couple from the same album. I probably would have had it in my Top 5, but IMO it’s their strongest album overall. Again, I am not a huge fan, so I really am in no position to debate the merits of other albums. As I mentioned earlier, I also enjoy Live At Leeds but that wasn’t eligible here.

Like the Stones, The Who is very overrated. The Who gets old after one song.

 

[DocHolliday]

I love The Beatles but this easily my least favorite album.
There are many good but no truly great songs on it.
And it has too much Rocky Raccoon and filler type of junk for a band of this magnitude.

I will take Sgt. Pepper and A Hard Days Night over this one by a mile.

Totally agree. Ranking the top 25 Beatles songs is very difficult due to their huge number of incredible songs but the White album has always been tough for me to listen to since it is full of clunkers.

 

[DocHolliday]

LZIV could have been the number 1 album on this list. I said that about LZII also, but looking at the list of songs again, LZIV is probably it.

I'd personally skip Stairway to Heaven when listening though. Just can't.

Either Zep album could have been number one on the list. LZIV is incredibly strong even if ever song has been heard a million times. LZ showed everyone how to play rock and roll.

 

[Anarchy99]

If I were one of my kids, I'm not sure I would 1) be as into music (given what's out there today) and 2) not sure I would be compelled to have to research old bands to find things I like.

If you have any teenagers or college-age kids in your life, pick their brains about this topic a little bit. You may be surprised.

My daughter (college junior) is into not much 21st-century music -- she likes some Bruno Mars, Katy Perry, George Ezra, Sam Smith and a few other odds and ends, but that's it for this century. Her favorites right now, through, are The Kinks, Pink Floyd (including the Syd Barret material), Blondie, Talking Heads, The Cure, Oingo Boingo, Bon-Scott-era AC/DC and a bunch more I'm forgetting. She also had gone through a Beatles phase in her early teens.

Of our 5 kids, only one of them likes much in the rock category. He's a big Beatles fan and likes some other old timer music. The other kids are predominantly pop, hip-hop, and country fans . . . meaning they are dead to me musically speaking. Our son in college has roommates that enjoy classic rock. But in general, I don't know of too many kids in their 20s (the age group of my kids) that really likes to rock out.

 

[rockaction]

Poptimism became the dominant musically correct ideology and leaves its infernal stink on these very boards. I won't say who I'm thinking of, but it's obvious given her fervent supporters.

 

[rockaction]

Freddie deBoer has written extensively and at great length about poptimism's sway over the sociopolitical arbiters of what's cool and what isn't. Classic rock is too masculine and come-onish and has been left to the dustbin of history.

 

[Gr00vus]

Poptimism became the dominant musically correct ideology and leaves its infernal stink on these very boards. I won't say who I'm thinking of, but it's obvious given her fervent supporters.

As much as I am blah about a lot of the music on this here list - it's all still better than she who must not be named in this thread. The epitome of manufactured pop phenomenon, a blight.

 

[rockaction]

Classic rock, a byproduct of young teenage men slanging guitars in their garages, has long gone the way of cultural unacceptability. It was only time before the charges of sexism, racism, and classism got to it.

It was replaced by gay and female friendly dance/pop, and the critics knew it.

I am currently listening to CCR followed by Vampire Weekend in my algorithm and loving the dichotomy of "Fortunate Son" mixed with "Campus."

Spilled coffee on your kiffayeh
How am I supposed to pretend
I never want to see you again

The afternoon you're out on the stone and grass
And I'm sleeping on the balcony after class

 

[timschochet]

Poptimism became the dominant musically correct ideology and leaves its infernal stink on these very boards. I won't say who I'm thinking of, but it's obvious given her fervent supporters.

As much as I am blah about a lot of the music on this here list - it's all still better than she who must not be named in this thread. The epitome of manufactured pop phenomenon, a blight.

If you guys are talking about Taylor Swift you’re completely completely off base. As much as I love the albums I’m reviewing here, I would put up Folklore and Evermore against almost all of them- perhaps the top 20 on my list are slightly better-maybe- but that’s about it.

The backlash against Taylor is really silly.

 

[rockaction]

The backlash against Taylor is really silly.

Says the poptimist. And it could very much as well be Beyoncé. Same impulse. Same propulsion to the moon because we need to accept the screams of the debased inartful females as legitimate art.

 

[timschochet]

Poptimism became the dominant musically correct ideology and leaves its infernal stink on these very boards. I won't say who I'm thinking of, but it's obvious given her fervent supporters.

I have no idea why you decided to come into this thread to rip on Taylor Swift but you’re so wrong. She’s actually the musical heir to the Fleetwood Mac albums listed here- if you won’t take my word for that, ask Stevie Nicks.

 

[rockaction]

Walcott
All the way to New Jersey
All the way to the Garden State
Out of Cape Cod tonight
Hyannesport is a ****show

 

[timschochet]

The backlash against Taylor is really silly.

Says the poptimist. And it could very much as well be Beyoncé. Same impulse. Same propulsion to the moon because we need to accept the screams of the debased inartful females as legitimate art.

Beyoncé isn’t a rock artist. On her last 3 albums, Taylor has shown she is.

 

[rockaction]

I made no comment about Taylor. At all. I was answering anarchy's lament about his kids not liking classic rock and liking pop and was merely explaining why, generationally, that happened. Taylor is just ancillary and incidental to poptimism as a philosophy.

The kids don't stand a chance

 

[rockaction]

UP AGAINST THE WALL YOU WILL LIKE POP MUSIC AND ITS PATHETIC ATTEMPTS AT ART

 

[rockaction]

And I am not getting suspended because Ghost Rider (or some other Taylor nutjob) reports me again, so I'll bow out. Good day, and pop on!

 

[Gr00vus]

Poptimism became the dominant musically correct ideology and leaves its infernal stink on these very boards. I won't say who I'm thinking of, but it's obvious given her fervent supporters.

As much as I am blah about a lot of the music on this here list - it's all still better than she who must not be named in this thread. The epitome of manufactured pop phenomenon, a blight.

If you guys are talking about Taylor Swift you’re completely completely off base. As much as I love the albums I’m reviewing here, I would put up Folklore and Evermore against almost all of them- perhaps the top 20 on my list are slightly better-maybe- but that’s about it.

The backlash against Taylor is really silly.

Sorry Tim, can't agree. Musically, I find her output indistinguishable from many of the other female pop singers of the current era.

I don't hate her, I just don't think she's that good.

 

[Ghost Rider]

Poptimism became the dominant musically correct ideology and leaves its infernal stink on these very boards. I won't say who I'm thinking of, but it's obvious given her fervent supporters.

I have no idea why you decided to come into this thread to rip on Taylor Swift but you’re so wrong. She’s actually the musical heir to the Fleetwood Mac albums listed here- if you won’t take my word for that, ask Stevie Nicks.

He has Taylor Swift Derangement Syndrome. It's an illness that affects a lot of men these days who cannot stand that a female musician is now the ruling the music world.

 

[Ghost Rider]

I knew this one was coming. I have long been in the "Who's Next is good, but overrated" camp. It doesn't help that I have never been overly wild about Won't Get Fooled Again (I find that synth way too chirpy and irritating), but I like The Who better in the 60s when their sound was raw and slammed you in the face, Keith Moon sounds too emasculated on Who's Next; there are too many times where it feels like he's lightly tapping on his drums. Baba O'Riley was certainly a WOW the first time I heard it for sure, however, and The Song Is Over has long been a sneaky favorite of mine as well. Good album, just not great.

I probably only like 20-ish Who songs . . . but 7 of them are on Who’s Next. It’s the only studio album of theirs that I can listed all the way through. I like other isolated tracks more, but usually only a couple from the same album. I probably would have had it in my Top 5, but IMO it’s their strongest album overall. Again, I am not a huge fan, so I really am in no position to debate the merits of other albums. As I mentioned earlier, I also enjoy Live At Leeds but that wasn’t eligible here.

Like the Stones, The Who is very overrated. The Who gets old after one song.

I wouldn't go that far, but I feel like The Who are one of those bands where most of their albums are tough to get through. The ones that are good from start to finish for the most part (the big three) kind of hide the fact that almost every other album of theirs is more miss than hit, but the hits on some of their albums had some of their classic rock hits/mainstays, so it is easy to overlook the bad, IMO.

 

[Ghost Rider]

I love The Beatles but this easily my least favorite album.
There are many good but no truly great songs on it.
And it has too much Rocky Raccoon and filler type of junk for a band of this magnitude.

I will take Sgt. Pepper and A Hard Days Night over this one by a mile.

Totally agree. Ranking the top 25 Beatles songs is very difficult due to their huge number of incredible songs but the White album has always been tough for me to listen to since it is full of clunkers.

Just thinking about trying to determine 25 favorite Beatles song and then putting them in any order makes my head hurt, haha. It would be difficult. I agree that The White Album has some clunkers, but they are almost part of the charm of the album (almost!). It's an album that you just turn on and enjoy the little bit of great, the a lot of good and the little bit of blah (and then just skip the wretched NUMBER 9).

 

[FatMax]

UP AGAINST THE WALL YOU WILL LIKE POP MUSIC AND ITS PATHETIC ATTEMPTS AT ART

Are there any Poptimists in the theater tonight? Get 'em up against the wall! (against ... the .... wall!) There's one in the spotlight, he don't look right. Get 'em up against the wall! (against ... the .... wall!)

 

[ConstruxBoy]

3. Led Zeppelin- Untitled (Led Zeppelin IV) (1971)

When the Levee Breaks
And of course we save the best for last. A cover of an old blues song, both I and apparently many other people regard this as Led Zeppelin’s greatest song of all time. A big part of the reason for this is John Bonham whose drums sound otherworldly and godlike on this track. Beyond that, it’s one of the most menacing tunes you’re ever going to hear.

I've often thought that if we ever have a situation where alien ships are hovering over Earth, like in Independence Day, then we really just need to have everyone on the planet crank up Levee and that would send those aliens right back to their home planet in fear of Earthlings.

 

[ConstruxBoy]

Poptimism became the dominant musically correct ideology and leaves its infernal stink on these very boards. I won't say who I'm thinking of, but it's obvious given her fervent supporters.

I have no idea why you decided to come into this thread to rip on Taylor Swift but you’re so wrong. She’s actually the musical heir to the Fleetwood Mac albums listed here- if you won’t take my word for that, ask Stevie Nicks.

He has Taylor Swift Derangement Syndrome. It's an illness that affects a lot of men these days who cannot stand that a female musician is now the ruling the music world.

Or men that think that Travis Kelce is an *******.

 

[Tau837]

Anybody think Tim will have a surprise for us in the top 2 or are the albums so obvious there can be no surprises? I'm not asking anybody to name one or both of the albums and spoil it, just wondering if Tim can still throw us a curveball.

I think the top 2 are obvious, given his time window.

 

[Tau837]

Anybody think Tim will have a surprise for us in the top 2 or are the albums so obvious there can be no surprises? I'm not asking anybody to name one or both of the albums and spoil it, just wondering if Tim can still throw us a curveball.

On quick scan, I see three albums out there that would either make or be close to my top 10, and would seem to fit Tim’s criteria/taste.

Again it makes me nervous that you see 3. What the hell did I miss?

I’ll put in spoiler the three that I was thinking:

Spoiler

Pet Sounds, Revolver, Abbey Road

Two of these miss the time window, which begins in 1967. I didn't realize that which is why I missed one (released in 1966) in my top 10 prediction.

 

[pecorino]

Great album, LZ IV. Well deserved to be in the #3 slot. As for the Taylor Swift digression, I think it’s laughable to put it in the same zip code as Zep IV, Ziggy, Dark Side of the Moon. I’m talking purely on quality, not genre, not popularity. I’ve heard a lot of Taylor Swift this year (my daughter is 8.) The music is good pop, in my opinion, but that’s it.

 

[Don Quixote]

Anybody think Tim will have a surprise for us in the top 2 or are the albums so obvious there can be no surprises? I'm not asking anybody to name one or both of the albums and spoil it, just wondering if Tim can still throw us a curveball.

On quick scan, I see three albums out there that would either make or be close to my top 10, and would seem to fit Tim’s criteria/taste.

Again it makes me nervous that you see 3. What the hell did I miss?

I’ll put in spoiler the three that I was thinking:

Spoiler

Pet Sounds, Revolver, Abbey Road

Two of these miss the time window, which begins in 1967. I didn't realize that which is why I missed one (released in 1966) in my top 10 prediction.

Yeah, AAA mentioned that earlier. I’m pretty sure what the two now are.

 

[rockaction]

He has Taylor Swift Derangement Syndrome.

I couldn't care less about Taylor Swift and never even mentioned her. You're the one with the report button/derangement coterie in tow. I've been suspended twice over and to your little report button functionairies' delight. Don't point that jabby, knobby little finger my way.

 

[northern exposure]

Poptimism became the dominant musically correct ideology and leaves its infernal stink on these very boards. I won't say who I'm thinking of, but it's obvious given her fervent supporters.

I have no idea why you decided to come into this thread to rip on Taylor Swift but you’re so wrong. She’s actually the musical heir to the Fleetwood Mac albums listed here- if you won’t take my word for that, ask Stevie Nicks.

He has Taylor Swift Derangement Syndrome. It's an illness that affects a lot of men these days who cannot stand that a female musician is now the ruling the music world.

So if I'm not a Taylor Swift fan it's because I can't stand a female artist ruling the music world?

 

[Ghost Rider]

Poptimism became the dominant musically correct ideology and leaves its infernal stink on these very boards. I won't say who I'm thinking of, but it's obvious given her fervent supporters.

I have no idea why you decided to come into this thread to rip on Taylor Swift but you’re so wrong. She’s actually the musical heir to the Fleetwood Mac albums listed here- if you won’t take my word for that, ask Stevie Nicks.

He has Taylor Swift Derangement Syndrome. It's an illness that affects a lot of men these days who cannot stand that a female musician is now the ruling the music world.

So if I'm not a Taylor Swift fan it's because I can't stand a female artist ruling the music world?

Haha, nah, I should have left that part out of my post (yes, I have my bad moments, I can admit that), even if the first part was true.

Let's get this back on the classic rock road.

 

[rockaction]

Haha, nah, I should have left that part out of my post (yes, I have my bad moments, I can admit that), even if the first part was true.

No, you shouldn't have. Because it's what you really mean. And that, my friend, informs my wariness of people who revere her solely for the fact that she's a woman speaking from a female perspective and cannot accept criticism even when it comes from a genuinely artistic place. You—yes, you—are the ones that then make it sociopolitical. And it sounds as stupid in practice as it does in theory.

Like the Onion nailed many moons ago

Women: A Very Special Half of the Population

 

[rockaction]

Enough of that in this thread. I'm really pissed because I've just been suspended twice for totally innocuous takes on Swift from some deranged report button aficionado that seems to be looking for me to talk about her, which is damn nigh impossible considering everybody talks about her and Kelce and her drippy poptimism/attempts at music. This time it was talking about how the A.V. Club used to talk about her, and I caught the banhammer.

 

[Mister CIA]

Can I get a letter 'P'?

 

[timschochet]

Haha, nah, I should have left that part out of my post (yes, I have my bad moments, I can admit that), even if the first part was true.

No, you shouldn't have. Because it's what you really mean. And that, my friend, informs my disgust of people who revere her solely for the fact that she's a woman speaking from a female perspective and cannot accept criticism even when it comes from a genuinely artistic place. You—yes, you twits—are the ones that then make it sociopolitical. And it sounds as stupid in practice as it does in theory.

Like the Onion nailed many moons ago

Women: A Very Special Half of the Population

I don’t believe there are many people who revere Swift solely for the reason you stated. I certainly like her feminism but it’s an added thing, not consequential. For me, I love the albums I mentioned, Folklore, Evermore, and Midnights. I play them all the time. I just think it’s terrific music. Her other stuff is fine but too pop for me.

I’m sorry you were suspended but, lol, don’t take it out on Taylor.

 

[rockaction]

I don’t believe there are many people who revere Swift solely for the reason you stated.

I get what you're saying but there's a big difference in saying "You like Artist X because of Y" than saying that her defenders say "You don't like Artist X because of Z." In this case, I'm not saying people primarily appreciate her politics (until recently I was pretty unaware of hers), I'm saying that her detractors get labeled with a political assumption. I don't think people like Taylor because of her politics; I'm saying people's politics become suspect when they raise their voices in disagreement that she's a great artist.

That's a really dangerous cultural mindset. Being accused of some sort of wrongthink (as Orwell might put it) for disliking a work of art.

 

[BassNBrew]

Poptimism became the dominant musically correct ideology and leaves its infernal stink on these very boards. I won't say who I'm thinking of, but it's obvious given her fervent supporters.

As much as I am blah about a lot of the music on this here list - it's all still better than she who must not be named in this thread. The epitome of manufactured pop phenomenon, a blight.

If you guys are talking about Taylor Swift you’re completely completely off base. As much as I love the albums I’m reviewing here, I would put up Folklore and Evermore against almost all of them- perhaps the top 20 on my list are slightly better-maybe- but that’s about it.

The backlash against Taylor is really silly.

Are you a big enough fan to know her drummer and bass guitar player?

 

[Psychopav]

This thread sure got weird fast. Makes me want to go listen to some Taylor Swift, since I am entirely unaware of any work of hers that hasn't been used in a commercial (even though one of my kids apparently worships her).

 

[AAABatteries]

This thread sure got weird fast. Makes me want to go listen to some Taylor Swift, since I am entirely unaware of any work of hers that hasn't been used in a commercial (even though one of my kids apparently worships her).

Yeah - I’m the same even though my girls are both fans and my boys have said she’s really good. It’s just not my cup of tea but I have no doubt she’s uber talented.

It reminds me of people who crap on country or rap or <insert genre here> - just because you don’t like it doesn’t make that artist any less talented.

 

[rockaction]

Sorry for yesterday's "weirdness," everybody. Hopefully we can get back to tim's countdown instead of debates that tend to sidetrack the point of the thread. I'm guilty of that. Peace.

 

[Uruk-Hai]

I agree with @rockaction in that there's a push that, if you don't like a certain artist, you are somehow "wrong/sexist/racist/whatever-ist".

But the ironic thing is that this whole thread is proof of that, just flipped on its head. Most of us fell for Wenner's Original Sin: white guys with guitars are the apogee and everything else is.......... "else". Many of tim's reveals include critics' stances on the music he's highlighting. We've had it drilled into our heads for over 5 decades by a relative handful of critics/writers.

I fell into this trap for longer than I want to admit, but I'm too old & sick to worry about it anymore.

 

[rockaction]

white guys with guitars are the apogee and everything else is.......... "else"

This would seem to be true by both recorded history and anecdotal happenings. It's pretty clear how the rock magazines were. They shaped the culture, and the culture was not friendly to alternative pop music stylings like disco and funk. That's pretty clear from the magazines themselves. As for personal happenings and anecdotes, my liking of disco back when I was listening to Nirvana in the early '90s was considered awfully weird (it was considered another word I won't use), and it wasn't until techno broke through to the mainstream and made disco acceptable to modern ears that people dropped the preconceptions they had about dance music and what it meant.

And that indeed was a function of rockists like those that wrote at Rolling Stone, Creem, etc. There was indeed a lot of "othering" going on in the rock and roll culture.