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

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?

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 24 Hour Revenge Therapy - Jawbreaker
28 Lift Your Skinny Fists... - godspeed you black emperor!
27 Yellow House - Grizzly Bear
26 The Glow Pt. 2 - The Microphones
25 Black Candy - Beat Happening
24 Funeral - Arcade Fire
23 Moon Pix - Cat Power
22 Diary - Sunny Day Real Estate
21 Lifted Or The Story Is In The Soil... - Bright Eyes
20 I Can Hear The Heart Beating As One - Yo La Tengo
19 Kill the Moonlight - Spoon
18 Give Up - The Postal Service
17 Dig Me Out - Sleater-Kinney
16 No Pocky for Kitty - Superchunk
15 I See A Darkness - Bonnie "Prince" Billy
14 We Have The Facts and We're Voting Yes - Death Cab For Cutie
13 Michigan - Sufjan Stevens
12 Daydream Nation - Sonic Youth
11 69 Love Songs Volume 1 - The Magnetic Fields
10 Bakesale - Sebadoh
09 Either/Or - Elliott Smith
08 Surfer Rosa - Pixies
07 If You're Feeling Sinister - Belle & Sebastian
06 Slanted & Enchanted - Pavement
05 Imperial f.f.r.r. (Deluxe Edition) - Unrest
04 Exile In Guyville - Liz Phair
03 Spiderland - Slint
02 In the Aeroplane Over the Sea - Neutral Milk Hotel
01 Bee Thousand - Guided by Voices

Okay. So. Obviously there's no way to address a list of this size in its entirety, so I'll pick my battles. Let's start by noting what is NOT on this list, most notably: The Smiths, Throwing Muses, My Bloody Valentine, Dinosaur Jr., and (wait.for.it) R.E.M. Yeah. Those are kind of enormous, gaping holes in a list that would boldly (if misguidedly) place Unrest's stylized and frankly somewhat repetitive Imperial f.f.r.r. (Deluxe Edition) in the Top 10 (OF ALL TIME! Lest we forget!). And while I give that album (and Teenbeat Records more broadly) a respectful nod for being an important part of indie rock's evolution, seriously Amazon editors, you want to tell me that Imperial f.f.r.r. is a better album than The Queen Is Dead, House Tornado, Isn't Anything, Bug, and Reckoning? As a certain internet-nesting owl might say, ORLY?

And yes, I so understand that it would be nearly impossible to come up with a list that would please everyone's tastes, and I realize that of course there are going to be unfortunate oversights. Slack? SHE IS CUT. But -- and it's just my humble opinion of course -- even the particular albums selected from specific artists' catalogs smack of a kind of self-conscious calculation I just can't get with. Based on some of their picks I can't help but imagine these editors holed up in the web editor's version of a boiler room, weighing and measuring which one album by X, Y, or Z artist is the choice that would provide them with the most cred and an aura of insidery knowingness, even if it isn't really the best choice.

Examples of what I mean are numerous. In reading over just the top twenty albums I find myself convulsing about the selection of Superchunk's No Pocky for Kitty (an earlier, rawer album) over the infinitely superior Foolish (a later, more polished-sounding album -- and I'm not a fan of polished believe me, the album is just so fantastic in every way it transcends its own production). Similarly, Elliott Smith's early, lo-fi Either/Or, while lovely in all sorts of notable ways, can't hold a candle to the emotionally expansive, melodic sure-footedness of his later XO. And don't even get me started on their choosing Pavement's Slanted & Enchanted over what I think is quite clearly the band's crowning achievement, Wowee Zowee... but come now, at the very least we can all agree that Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain is a far more developed and complex work than S&E, right? Hell-o?

Dear Amazon.com music editors,

Low production values does not equal authenticity. That something was recorded earlier in the timeline of a band's life, or is notably less popular than other titles from their catalog, does not mean it is somehow inherently more worthy, nobler, or less tainted by commerce. And picking albums for your list in this manner doesn't enhance your credibility, it makes you look insecure and faltering.

Exile in Guyville as number FOUR? Are you high?

Indignantly and hrrmph,
Tracey

Okay, okay, so clearly I could go on and on like this, picking nits from sunrise til sunset. INDEED. But frankly I'd rather hear from you. What are your thoughts on this list? Things you strongly agree or disagree with? Missing pieces? C'mon, tell us what you really think. RELEASE THE HOUNDS!

. . . . . .
^{[This was originally posted to BlogHer.com during my tenure as a Contributing Editor for their Entertainment Section]}

Comments

[TwoBusy]

Somewhere, Bob Pollard is raising a fifth of something grotesque in tribute to his own genius.

[Peter]

But Tracey...wasn't The Queen Is Dead released on Sire Records (part of the Warner Music Group) in this country? I generally agree with your outrage, though. Joan As Police Woman? On a "best-of" anything?

[Amy]

Michigan over Illinoise? I don't think so. Diary over LP2? No way.

[Teresa]

I probably agree with you on all your objections, but I suspect a list made by people in a business is probably advertising more than anything else. They're trying to move some CDs, and they got all the guys to vote on bands.

T.

[Amy]

Teresa, I'm sure you are right. They probably choose them based on merit AND availability on Amazon in MP3 and CD format. But the pretense of such a list is pretty ridiculous.

[Holmes]

I feel an odd sort of pride that I find so much wrong with this list, its existence and its contents. Dig your note.

[The Queen of Hyperbole]

I'll play devil's advocate and wager that The Smiths and REM were too "mainstream" to make the cut. But my advocacy ends there, because some of these choices, yes, are just fucking dumb.

I do agree with their Yo la Tengo pick, though. "I Can Hear the Heart Beating as One" is definitely one of my all-time favorites.

[dadshouse]

I noticed The Smiths missing, also. I loved them back in the day. I saw this oversized poster of "Boy with a thorn in his side" at Newberry comics in Cambridge. To this day, I regret not buying it.

This is an Indie list, not an Alt rock list, so I was thrown a bit. Lots of bands I don't recognize, and bands I would have put on a list like this.