I have an embarrasing confession to make. A couple of weeks ago I participated in a poll about electing the best (pop, rock etc) album of all times. At least that’s what I thought I was doing. Reading the titles the other participants voted for made me a bit confused, cause I didn’t think their choises made sense at all, but for some reason it didn’t ring a bell – yet.
I listed my favorite album, Forever Changes by a Californian group called Love (see earlier post).
It took me more than a week to realise that the contest had been about “The best album name”, not “The name of the best album”!
Anyway, the last two weeks I spent a lot of time, going through in my mind, all the albums that have moved me, and I might as well let it all out now. Therefore I have made a list of the albums that have been important to me.
Remember that this list is not the “general” Top Ten, but about albums that have had a real impact on me as a person. I was born in 1950, so it should be no surprise that, for the Top Ten, I have chosen only albums published in the 60’s.
1. The Beatles – Please, please me.
No band has influenced popular music the way the Beatles have. They were unmatched innovators who were bigger than both Jesus and rock & roll itself: During the week of April 4, 1964, the Beatles held the first five slots on the Billboard Singles chart; they went on to sell more than a billion albums.
Many lists of “All time greatest” have named Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band as their finest achievment, sometimes it has been “Revolver” or “The White Album. They are all educated choices, but my first long-play record was Please Please Me, the Beatles’ first album, and therefore it has had the biggest impact on me.
I will continue the list in next post.