50 Albums That Changed Music

I don’t know why I bother with these lists, but whenever I’m presented with one I can’t help but gravitate to it – knowing full well that I’ll either be left scratching my head in confusion or downright irritated with the selection. Fortunately, the UK’s Guardian-Observer's 50 Albums That Changed Music list didn’t result in either of those – although their ranking does tend to defer to a number of UK artists (The Spice Girls and The Stone Roses? OK, whatever...).

Of the 50 listed, these would have to be some of my favorites: the self titled albums by The Velvet Underground and Nico, The Ramones and The Smiths, Straight Outta Compton from NWA's, Joni Mitchell's Blue, The Stooges' Raw Power, London Calling from The Clash, and Prince and the Revolution's Purple Rain (I admit that my friends and I saw this movie at least a dozen times and memorized all the lines and songs - like some weird 80s version of The Rocky Horror Picture Show...).

To see who else made the cut (confusion or irritation is optional) visit:
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/review/story/0,,1821230,00.html