Australia’s Top 100 Favourite Albums
Monday, December 11th, 2006So what did people think about Australia’s top 100 favourite albums, as voted on ABC’s online poll?
My favourite album came in first: Pink Floyd’s “Dark Side of the Moon”. I first heard the album at high school in 1975. The music teacher was into jazz rock fusion and progressive rock. I was part of a team integrating classical, jazz and rock music with synthesized sounds and light shows. It wasn’t long before I knew every song from “Dark Side to the Moon” back to front. At the age of 16 I decided to ditch the album - I was becoming prone to depression and Pink Floyd’s cynical take on life wasn’t helping. I made up for that choice a few years later, when I was more emotionally stable, by purchasing the album in vinyl and again on CD. “Wish You Were Here” came in at number 11, “The Wall” at 14.
The second from the top in Australia was Jeff Buckley’s “Grace” album, which my kids bought me for Christmas last year. Buckley certainly has an amazing vocal range which makes his cover of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” a masterpiece. Dicko, (Ian Dickson) as a member of ABC commentary panel, suggested that it was only Buckley’s covers that were attractive. His own music was fairly ordinary, Dicko said. Perhaps it was Buckley’s concert appearances in Australia (which I missed) that made him so popular here. Having listened to the album a few times I think I agree.
Radiohead’s “OK Computer” album was third from the top. Obviously the competition was pushed on Triple J Radio, leading to a high percentage of alternative music listeners in the poll. The album is a divisive force in this household. One member of the family is right into it. I enjoy the music in occasional doses. Others are becoming irritated by whining tone of the music. We won’t mention anything about Poms. “The Bends” came in at 15, “Kid A” at 35.
The Beatles two albums, “Abbey Road” and “Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” made it to number four and five. I have to admit I’ve never owned “Abbey Road”, despite being in a Beatles cover band as a teenager. Listening to the album for the first time last week was a great experience. “White Album” came in at 12, “Revolver” at 13, “Rubber Soul” at 36.
U2’s “The Joshua Tree” came in at number 10. I bought the album on vinyl in 1987 while living in Katikati. It’s the album that introduced “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For”, a song used by critics as evidence that U2 had left Christianity behind. At a conference in the early 1990s I used the song with a Biblical passage, Romans 8:22, in which it is clear that we live in anticipation of our potential as God’s world. We haven’t made it yet. We don’t have the full picture, even if some Christians think they’ve got truth cornered. U2 also came in with “Achtung Baby” at 33, “Rattle and Hum” at 79. I was surprised that “War” didn’t make it in the top 100.
Tags: Australia, Music, Pink Floyd, Radiohead, The Beatles, U2
