The Music Snob Album Meme (be very, very afraid)

[slipjig3]

Some of you may have noticed that I tend to avoid the whole meme-sheepage thingamabob in general. No particular reason, other than not wanting to find myself on an unscalable slippery slope. The only times I'll indulge in a meme are when the meme catches me in just the right way at just the right time, or when I've had a hand in its creation.

Which brings us to the Music Snob Meme.

This one was my idea, and co-compiled with the ever-lovely rafaela after an evening of rifling through every critic's list we could find. It's based on the old "here's the top 100 movies/books/songs according to [insert only-semi-impeachable source here]; highlight the ones you've seen/read/heard" concept, which works very well. The focus here, though, is albums that are coveted by the Music Snobs, the "critics' darling" albums that the elite and ostensibly well-informed sing the praises of from sunup to sundown, but which sell for diddly-squoink and go unheard by most of the population at large, who prefer to listen to "Hey Ya" and "Stairway to Heaven" for the 78,406th time. I wanted to make this happen because so many of my friends fall under the Music Snob category (a title which I bestow as an honor, not an insult), and because I know—being one myself—that the Music Snob's favorite activity above all is Showing Off. You know who you are.

So:

The Music Snob Album Meme

Copy the following list to your journal.
Italicize the ones you've listened to.
Bold-face the ones you own, or have owned in the past.


1) Trout Mask Replica (Captain Beefheart and his Magic Band)
2) Marquee Moon (Television)
3) Shoot Out the Lights (Richard and Linda Thompson)
4) Radio City (Big Star)
5) Loaded (Velvet Underground)
6) Skylarking (XTC)
7) This Year's Model (Elvis Costello and the Attractions)
8) Plastic Ono Band (John Lennon)
9) Los Angeles (X)
10) A Love Supreme (John Coltrane)
11) In the Court of the Crimson King (King Crimson)
12) What's Going On (Marvin Gaye)
13) Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers (self-titled)
14) Pet Sounds (The Beach Boys)
15) Murmur (REM)
16) Doolittle (The Pixies)
17) The Ramones (self-titled)
18) Rid of Me (P.J. Harvey)
19) The Gilded Palace of Sin (The Flying Burrito Brothers)
20) Squeezing Out Sparks (Graham Parker and the Rumour)
21) Mothership Connection (Parliament)
22) Bryter Layter (Nick Drake)
23) Kick Out the Jams (The MC5)
24) Damaged (Black Flag)
25) The Madcap Laughs (Syd Barrett)
26) Mott (Mott the Hoople)
27) Siren (Roxy Music)
28) Slanted and Enchanted (Pavement)
29) Tim (The Replacements)
30) Forever Changes (Love)
31) Superfly (Curtis Mayfield)
32) Astral Weeks (Van Morrison)
33) GP (Gram Parsons)
34) Kate and Anna McGarrigle (self-titled)
35) Nilsson Schmilsson (Harry Nilsson)
36) Joan Armatrading (self-titled)
37) Exile in Guyville (Liz Phair)
38) In the Aeroplane Over the Sea (Neutral Milk Hotel)
39) Raindogs (Tom Waits)
40) Bad Brains (self-titled)
41) The Lion and the Cobra (Sinead O'Connor)
42) I'm Your Man (Leonard Cohen)
43) 10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1 (Midnight Oil)
44) Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (Wilco)
45) 3-Way Tie for Last (The Minutemen)
46) We're Only in It For the Money (Mothers of Invention)
47) Odessey and Oracle (The Zombies)
48) London Calling (The Clash)
49) Blue (Joni Mitchell)
50) Amazing Disgrace (The Posies)
51) Chelsea Girl (Nico)
52) Entertainment! (Gang of Four)
53) The Bends (Radiohead)
54) Sweetheart of the Rodeo (The Byrds)
55) The New York Dolls (self-titled)
56) Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo (Devo)
57) Elliott Smith (self-titled)
58) Living in Clip (Ani Difranco)
59) Liege and Lief (Fairport Convention)
60) She Hangs Brightly (Mazzy Star)
61) Car Wheels on a Gravel Road (Lucinda Williams)
62) Violent Femmes (self-titled)
63) Meat Is Murder (The Smiths)
64) United States (Laurie Anderson)
65) Orange (The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion)
66) Frankenchrist (Dead Kennedys)
67) LIFTED: Or the Story Is in the Soil, Keep Your Ear to the Ground (Bright Eyes)
68) The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter (The Incredible String Band)
69) Kind of Blue (Miles Davis)
70) Talking Book (Stevie Wonder)
71) Dirty (Sonic Youth)
72) John Prine (self-titled)
73) Ege Bamyasi (Can)
74) Horses (Patti Smith)
75) The Raincoats (self-titled)
76) Hounds of Love (Kate Bush)
77) Rumour and Sigh (Richard Thompson)
78) All Mod Cons (The Jam)
79) Catholic Boy (The Jim Carroll Band)
80) SMiLE (Brian Wilson)
81) Trans Europe Express (Kraftwerk)
82) I Often Dream of Trains (Robyn Hitchcock)
83) More Songs About Buildings and Food (Talking Heads)
84) Village Green Preservation Society (The Kinks)
85) The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway (Genesis)
86) Dragonfly (The Strawbs)
87) Grace (Jeff Buckley)
88) Time Passages (Al Stewart)
89) Suzanne Vega (self-titled)
90) Independent Worm Saloon (The Butthole Surfers)
91) New Day Rising (Hüsker Dü)
92) Rum, Sodomy and the Lash (The Pogues)
93) Poses (Rufus Wainwright)
94) The Stooges (self-titled)
95) Closer (Joy Division)
96) Metal Machine Music (Lou Reed)
97) Song Cycle (Van Dyke Parks)
98) Another Green World (Brian Eno)
99) Tigermilk (Belle and Sebastian)
100) Gorilla (The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band)

(The following comments are not part of the meme:)
* Note: It doesn't matter if you like the album in question, so long as you've heard it.
* Yes, we missed a bunch of important ones. We had to be selective.
* rafaela asked me to make clear that the bold-faced items reflect our combined collections, lest y'al think that's her copy of Exile in Guyville.
* If you wish to claim bonus points for #96, be my guest.

Comments

[icarusfallen8.livejournal.com]

My question on this meme is such: There may be albums you own that you haven't heard. There may be albums you've heard, but don't own. The majority of the albums you own, you've probably heard (and vica versa if you are not counting a music collective of multiple people) What takes precedence, heard, or own, or should you italicize bold enties?

[slipjig.livejournal.com]

*shrug* It's all good. A couple of people have taken on the meme, and they've done it both ways. Whichever works for you is fine.

[techstep.livejournal.com]

I do, in fact, own a copy of Metal Machine Music, and I kind of liked it, even though it was weaker than any of the noise and power electronics I was listening to at the time.

[slipjig.livejournal.com]

All right, you have just seriously impressed me. Not only because it's such difficult listening, but because it's bloody hard to find.