80 - Black Sabbath
Paranoid (Vertigo, 1970)
Before he became the lumbering pater familias of reality TV’s first family, Ozzy was the scariest man in rock, as demonstrated by the brilliant ‘War Pigs’ and ‘Electric Funeral’. Oh, and lets not forget the title track, a riff big enough to sink the Titanic. BN
79 - Teenage Fanclub
Bandwagonesque (Creation, 1991)
The enormously loveable Glasgow four-piece took the best bits of glam, indie and classic rock to create a timeless, hook-laden masterpiece. Part Big Star, part grunge: all brilliant
78 - Aphex Twin
Selected Ambient Works 85-92 (R&S, 1992)
The twisted genius of dance music stalked Britain’s discos, mutating the genre in his own mischievous image. Twitching, pulsing, light, bouncy yet urgent, ‘Selected Ambient Works’ contains pure beauty and pure evil. PS
77 - The Beta Band
The Three EP’s (Regal, 1998)
It’s a fitting mark of their martyrdom that every great idea The Beta Band
ever had was plagiarized by those of lesser imaginations (even Embrace had a
go), but this album stands as testament to their wilful oddness and –on
songs like ‘Dry The Rain’ and ‘She’s The One’ – surprising melodic nous. BN
76 - Cornershop
When I Was Born For The 7th Time (Wiiija, 1997)
After spending most of the 1990s underachieving, Tjinder Singh and Ben Ayers realized their kaleidoscopic musical ambitions with a multi-genre masterpiece and made the entire nation sing the words “everybody needs a bosom for a pillow” for six months solid to boot. HP
75 - Tricky
Maxinquaye (Island, 1995)
From out of Bristol’s darkest corners came Britpop’s worst nightmare. Tricky’s first album still stands as the Holy Bible of trip-hop and also features his take on Public Enemy’s ‘Black Steel’- recasting the strident anti-government rant into one of sly dissent, making it twice as powerful. HP
74 - Prodigy
Music For The Jilted Generation (XL, 1994)
'Jilted Generation' sparked a revolution on the streets of provincial
Britain, and Prodigy's tribal, psycedelic second album that stands as
their masterwork. With 'No Good (Start The Dance)' and 'Poison' they
taught the Britpop generation how to dance, and kick-started a whole
generation of cross-cultural chemistry. DM
73 - Kaiser Chiefs
Employment (B-Unique, 2005)
The rain, the pub, hating your job, falling in love, parties, one night stands, getting drunk, falling over… that’s Britain. Forget glossy tourist brochures, ‘Employment’ celebrates and cherishes the spice and the fizzle that make modern life great – meaning you’ve never had it so good. PS
72 - Joy Division
Closer (Factory, 1980)
The band’s second and last album was released shortly after singer Ian Curtis’ suicide, and the dark overtones of the likes of the magnificently gloomy ‘New Dawn Fades’ and ‘Decades’ can be seen as eerily prophetic in aftermath of such terrible events. A haunting masterpiece. AW
71 - Buzzcocks
Love Bites (United Artists, 1978)
Proving that punks were capable of moving on, Shelley and co’s second has both the youthful zest of their early singles and – gasp! – some acoustic guitars. And it’s got ‘Ever Fallen In Love?’. HMc
70 - Spacemen 3
The Perfect Prescription (Glass, 1987)
The Perfect Prescription (Fire, 1987)
Long before Spiritualized seized the bliss-rock crown Jason Pierce and sonic soul-brother Sonic Boom created this narcotic album of transcendent beauty. NC
69 - Roxy Music
For Your Pleasure (Island, 1973)
Foisting that typically British paradox - the seedy gentlemen with an eye for the ladies but also maybe the fellas - on the nations discerning music fans, this sexually charged mixture of avant-garde pop and sleazy disco paved the way for the cultural whiplash that was the arrival of punk in 1977. LC
68 - The Pretty Things
SF Sorrow (Columbia, 1968)
The original Thamesbeat band’s 1968 psychedelic masterpiece invented the rock opera, but don’t blame them – just marvel at the way ‘SF Sorrow’ gives you new ideas every second. PL
67 - Coldplay
A Rush Of Blood To The Head (Parlophone, 2002)
Where this “bunch of bedwetters”(© Alan McGee) became world-beating multinational botherers, thanks solely to good ol’ fashioned classic songwriting and Chris Martin’s awkward yet massive charisma.HMc
66 - Elvis Costello
This Year’s Model (Radar, 1978)
Fuelled by anger, regret, jealousy, vodka and what Costello euphemistically described as “assisted insomnia”, ‘This Year’s Model’ is a vicious tour of the heart’s dark side. Picking at the fresh scabs of broken relationships, Costello’s launches a spikey tirade, while the Attractions’ new wave stomp ensures his second album is the essential break-up revenge record. PS
65 - Radiohead
Kid A (Parlophone, 2000)
Replacing guitars with warped electronica and Aphex Twin glitches, Radiohead here did what any self-respecting biggest band in the world should do and look at the formula. Destroy it. And make it all over again. HMc
64 - Gang Of Four
Entertainment! (EMI, 1979)
Proto-Franz, proto-Bloc Party, proto-bloody everyone, Gang Of Four's bristling debut matched strident political polemic with edgy guitars and taut rhythms and invented all your favourite spiky guitar bands. MMc
63 - David Bowie
The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars (RCA, 1972)
Bowie’s Ziggy was about animal drama, all too revealing catsuits and big choruses. It wasn’t just glam rock- it was a polysexual, personality- crisis-covered-in-glitter masterwork of reinvention that was never seen in the history of rock before.
62 - Saint Etienne
Fox Base Alpha (Heavenly, 1991)
One of the rare occasions where music hacks forming bands turns out to be a good idea, St Etienne were the high concept brainchild of Melody Maker journo Bob Stanley (who wrote rather an accurate, not to say prescient review of the Stone Roses debut) and Pete Wiggs. Fusing kitsch ‘60s stylings to post-acid house electronica and various breathless female singers, their 1990 debut gave the world one of the greatest cover versions of all time. KM
61 - Echo & The Bunnymen
Ocean Rain (Korova, 1984)
Reflecting the decadence of the decade, the Bunnymen threw everything into the mix, but when the result was string-drenched songs as beautiful as ‘Silver’, who cares? NC
[此贴子已经被作者于2006-1-29 21:35:44编辑过]