philloak said:
i hate to equate commercial success with artistic whatever but seriously, whose sound is infinitely more recognizable to the average person, franklin or eno?
Eno is more than some button-twiddling ambient nerd (just check the list of albums he's produced, it's nuts). I imagine putting one of his albums on the list is a vote of confidence for all the other ways he's influenced music. And he definitely beats Aretha on that point.
PointBlank said:
Like all lists, it hits and misses:
Kraftwerk is a great choice, as are Mary J Blige and the Byrds.
Aretha Franklin: " 'R-E-S-P-E-C-T. Find out what it means to me!' Is there a more potent female lyric in pop? " Well, maybe not. But Otis Redding wrote it and sang it first. The Observer should know this
Sgt Pepper might be the better album, or the weirder, but I doubt it's more influential than Revolver or Rubber Soul (unless they mean "influential on making lists")
I'd also (unfortunately) put the terrible Bob Marley "Legend" album ahead of anything else by him in terms of influence. Everyone had that record at one point, and it was the impetus for thousands of terrible suburban ska/reggae bands (sublime, I'm looking at you!).
Robert Johnson's songs were recorded well before 1956, so I don't think it should make the list.
No Funkadelic? Far more influential than Herbie Hancock.
The Strokes? Really? No Television, or Gang of Four?
A British List without the Arctic Monkeys or Oasis? Unpossible!!
The absence of King Crimson is a huge miss. For better or worse (mostly worse, no matter how much I like the original), their first album was the template for a bajillion prog rock monstrosities to follow. HUGE influence.
Aretha Franklin: " 'R-E-S-P-E-C-T. Find out what it means to me!' Is there a more potent female lyric in pop? " Well, maybe not. But Otis Redding wrote it and sang it first. The Observer should know this
D'oh!!
I guess that I should know that Otis doesn't sing that line. I'm an idiot.
I was also thinking that an album by REM should be on that list, especially considering the state of American indie music right now.
Anton
Australia
September 2003
JUL 17, 2006 08:08 AM