EW New Music Classics

                     
            To the editors of EW…This little kitty is MUCH bigger now!

Okay…this one is a tough sell because I am totally biased in my opinion that the 90’s were a total waste of time when it came to music. Seriously, the 90’s totally KILLED the album as a concept and melted the music industry down to singles. So, with that thought in mind, let’s go ahead and take a look at what EW had to say about their picks for the Top 25 New Music Classics in music (dating back 25 years!)…

25. Interpol - “Turn On The Bright Lights”
24. Shania Twain - “Come On Over”
23. The Flaming Lips - “The Soft Bulletin”
22. De La Soul - “3 Feet & Rising”
21. Mariah Carey - “The Emacipation Of Mimi
20. Fiona Apple - “Tidal”
19. Beyonce - “Dangerously In Love”
18. A Tribe Called Quest - People’s Instinctive Travels…”
17. Beck - “Odelay”
16. Tom Waits - “Rain Dogs”
15. Eminem - “The Marshall Mathers LP”
14. The Cure - “Disintegration”
13. Cat Power - “You Are Free”
12. Outkast - “Stankonia”
11. Nirvana - “Unplugged In NY”
10. Radiohead - “In Rainbows”
9. Amy Winehouse - “Back To Black”
8. Paul Simon - “Graceland”
7. Jay-Z - “Blueprint”
6. Green Day - “American Idiot”
5. Madonna - “Madonna”
4. Kanye West - “The College Dropout”
3. U2 - “Achtung Baby”
2. Lauryn Hill - “The Miseducation Of…”
1. Prince - “Purple Rain”

My first reaction to this listing of a group of professionals who get paid to put this crap together went something like this…”WHAAAAAT??? HELLOOOOOOO??? Anybody in there???” Because, let’s be honest…this is a TERRIBLE listing of albums. Look…when I am thinking CLASSIC, I think, what will people be listening to in 25 or more years from this era. Take The Beatles for example. Or if they are too heavy for you, even The Eagles will work! ANYBODY can listen to them and think back on a memory or two when those guys had a new album out! Are you telling me that someone is gonna throw Amy Winehouse’s album in in 25 years and think…”Man! That was a great album!”??? Uh…no. She’s a one-hit wonder at best, folks. So I went through the rest of their list and found, in their Top 100 New Classics, Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” wasn’t even included!? Uh…I don’t know what those guys are smoking, but ignoring the greatest pop album of all time is probably a bad call. So here is MY list of the 25 New Classic Albums of the last 25 Years.

25. Van Halen - “1985″
24. Bruce Springsteen - “Born In The USA”
23. The Police - “Synchronicity”
22. Pearl Jam - “Ten”
21. Jay Z - “The Blueprint”
20. Eminem - “The Marshall Mathers LP”
19. Outkast - “Stankonia”
18. Justin Timberlake - “FutureSex/Love-Sounds”
17. Alanis Morrisette - “Jagged Little Pill”
16. Peter Gabriel - “So”
15. Violent Femmes - “Violent Femmes”
14. The Smiths - “The Queen Is Dead”
13. Bryan Adams - “Reckless”
12. Public Enemy - It Takes A Nation Of Millions…”
11. Bob Marley - “Legend”
10. Guns N’ Roses - “Appetite For Destruction”
9. REM - “Automatic For The People”
8. Beastie Boys - “Licensed To Ill”
7. Run DMC - “Raising Hell”
6. Green Day - “Dookie”
5. Nirvana - “Nevermind”
4. Madonna - “Madonna”
3. Prince - “Purple Rain” 
2. U2 - “Joshua Tree”
1. Michael Jackson - “Thriller”

Now…are there more “artistic” albums out there? Yes! Beck’s “Odelay”, Radiohead’s “OK Computer” and Dr. Dre’s “The Chronic” and many more all could be compiled into a list of albums that are definately “classic” albums. However, if you are looking at what kind of influence these albums have and what you’ll hear on the radio from this day and age, I’m thinking this is a much better list than what EW is putting out there. So, as good as the movie list was, EW tanks on the music list. Better luck with the television list guys!

Addition: So it occurs to me…when was Thriller made? I totally goofed! Thriller was released in November of 1982. So that is more than 25 years! So that is probably why it was left off the list! For some reason I always lump Thriller, Purple Rain, Madonna & Born In The USA together when actually they weren’t released in the same years. So I am amiss. However, that being said, they still didn’t put together what I would consider to be the true “classics” of the past 25 years. Just remove Thriller, slide everyone up and add just about any album by Tom Petty from the 80’s and there ya go!