The Finch Formerly Known As Gold

8 March 2007

That "Definitive 200" list

It is, like all such lists, deeply flawed, and there's always the suspicion that there are criteria other than musical merit for the ranking. (There is, for example, no planet in this solar system where Pink Floyd and the Dixie Chicks have comparable musical importance.)

For those who asked, or will ask:

  • Number of these I have: 47
  • Number of the top 10 I have: 7
  • Earliest: Frank Sinatra, In the Wee Small Hours (1954)
  • Latest: Shania Twain, Come On Over (1997)
  • Most embarrassing revelation: I originally wrote down for "Latest" Alanis Morissette's Jagged Little Pill (1995), then sorted the list by date to be sure, and: "Wait a minute. Do I have that damn Shania album?"

Also, anybody who prefers Sparkle to Young, Gifted and Black doesn't know squat about Aretha. I'm just saying.

Posted at 10:16 AM to Tongue and Groove


I can think of at least three Beatles albums I'd consider more definitive than Sgt. Pepper, at least in hindsight.

But considering only about one-tenth of the albums I own are represented, this list isn't exactly up my alley.

Posted by: Joel at 4:49 PM on 8 March 2007

there is, for example, no planet in this solar system where pink floyd and the dixie chicks have comparable musical importance.)

maybe on planet louis armstong, where it is said "there ain't but two kinds of music; good music and bad music."

without getting all hoity-toity, i think what mr. armstrong was getting at was that irrespective of genre, music, when done well, has the power to transcend. now i would never compare pink floyd to the dixie chicks, and mrs. skippy loves the chicks way more than she likes floyd, while it's versa vice for me. however, i have thoroughly enjoyed the chicks on occasion, and whole-heartedly endorse their (and other country) music.

that being said, i agree w/joel above, and go so far as to say the #2 album dark side of the moon is far superior to sgt. pepper, and practically literally all the other top ten twenty five albums wipe thriller off the face of the billboard charts.

Posted by: skippy at 8:53 PM on 8 March 2007

Well, I never argue with Satchmo.

The Chicks do what they do well enough, but I've never found them all that compelling. Then again, I didn't ooh and aah over The Wall, either, which no doubt costs me points with serious Floydians.

Agreed on Sgt. Pepper's: it's a lot more interesting as a concept than it is as an actual album.

Posted by: CGHill at 9:20 PM on 8 March 2007