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Saturday, October 26, 2019

Something I've Been Meaning to Get Around to and Finally Just Started

I'm going to listen to each and every one of what Rolling Stone considers to be the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time  (here's a convenient list format versus RS's broken up article/review format).

Of course, some of them I've listened to straight through before a bazillion times, and some of those (including their #1, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band -- a ranking I disagree with) I won't be listening to straight through again as part of this "listening tour" (I'll just check them off).

I'm on #3 (Revolver) at the moment. I had never done a straight play-through of  #2 (the Beach Boys' Pet Sounds) before, did that one last night and it was definitely worth the listening time.

I do find the list generally defective. The Beatles have four of the top 10, Bob Dylan has two. Then again, Dylan has the most albums on the full list (11), to the Beatles' 10. So it's not like he got short shrift in general.

I think I'd have spread the top 10 across 10 different artists (and the top 10 Beatles pick would have been The White Album).

The top 10 choices (one per artist) I agree unreservedly agree with with are that one (it comes it at #10) and the Stones' Exile on Main Street (#7). I think Pet Sounds probably deserves its top 10 placement.

The top two Dylan picks are Highway 61 Revisited (#4) and Blonde on Blonde(#9). I could see one of those making the cut, but I probably would have gone with either The Freewheeling Bob Dylan or Bringing it All Back Home or maybe even Blood on the Tracks. But I can't complain.

Some bands' top showings boggle the mind. You're out of the top 25 before you see any Who, Zeppelin, Doors, or Pink Floyd; and out of the top 50 before any Simon and Garfunkel or Paul Simon solo stuff shows up.

Now that I have that record player I mentioned in an earlier post, I'll be keeping an eye out for vinyl of records on the list. Might even have to print the list out for use at e.g. garage sales, etc.

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