Great rock albums

So I was watching television at 3 AM this morning because I have nothing better to do and while scrolling through my 600 channels (I love digital cable), I saw that TOMMY was about to start. For those of you who don't know, TOMMY is the Who's greatest accomplishment. A rock opera. The whole album is the story of one boy who witnesses his parents murder a man and he becomes deaf, blind, and mute because of that trauma. The story follows him as he learns to play pinball, becomes a celebrity, becomes cured of his ailments, becomes an international celebrity, starts a religious cult, and then becomes a nbody again after hie followers revolt against him. Pete Townsend, who wrote almost the entire thing, states that Tommy is an anti-organized religion story. I had never seen the movie so I decided to watch the whole thign and it cleared up a lot of questions about it, like who the hell is the acid queen and why was that song necessary. It's quite a trippy movie and while wathcing it, I was wishing I had some pot with me. The movie starred Ann Margaret (who was quite the major hottie in the 70's), Jack Nicholson, Tina Turner, Eric Clapton, Elton John, and all the members of the Who, with lead singer Roger Daltry playing Tommy. Afterw atching the movie I wikipedie'd it juyst for the hell of it and the entry mantioned that TOMMY was listed as the 96th greatest album on Rolling Stone's top 500 list. So curiosity hit me and I checked the list out and here are the top ten rock albums according to Rolling Stone:

1. Sgt. Pepper - The Beatles
2. Pet Sounds - The Beach Boys
3. Revolver - The Beatles
4. Highway 61 Revisited - Bob Dylan
5. Rubber Soul - The Beatles
6. What's Going On - Marvin Gaye
7. Exile on Main Street - The Rolling Stones
8. London Calling - The Clash
9. Blonde on Blonde - Bob Dylan
10. The White Album - The Beatles

http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/5938174/the_rs_500_greatest_albums_of_all_time/

Now it's hard to argue with Sgt Pepper at number one, so I won't even try. What I do have beef with is that the Beatles have 4 albums in the top ten. The Beatles are a LEGENDARY band, but let's make some room for others. Where's the Zeppelin and the Floyd in the top ten? Are they saying that spending a record 800 consecutive weeks in the top 500 billboard charts doesn't warrant Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon a top ten ranking? Back to the Beatles, Abbey Road is a much better album than Rubber Soul and the White Album. Springsteen's opus, Born to Run, is number 18, which is right about where I'd put it also. But The Clash in the top ten?! I know a few songs by them, but I don't think of the Clash and think legends. The Sex Pistols are still the gold standard by which punk should be measured (with the Ramones a VERY close second). And I don't see any Who in the top ten either. You don't get much more iconic than the Who. If not Tommy, then maybe's Who's Next as their top album. Rolling Stone magazine needs to get over their masturbatory love of Dylan and the Beatles and recognize other Legends.


Tags: Rock Music