I've got a blank space, baby

Continuing my trip up Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time...

#394 : Diana - Diana Ross (1980)

By 1980, Diana Ross’ tenure with the Supremes had ended a decade earlier, and she had spent the Seventies basking in the glow of her successful film career and soundtrack hits. But she still wanted to shake things up. Her 10th album, Diana, was a Nile Rogers-assisted disco jaunt at a time when disco backlash was running rampant; featuring classics like “Upside Down” and “I’m Coming Out,” it became her biggest and most acclaimed album to date.

I remember Disco Diana Ross from those days and remembered "Upside Down" and "I'm Coming Out" with fondness and "My Old Piano" with less fondness - so I wasn't expecting too many surprises from this album.  And mostly, it didn't deliver any such thing - there are a couple of slightly slower tracks, but they're not earth-shatteringly different!  Disco isn't exactly my sort of thing, so I can't claim to love the album - but it's a fine example of that sort of thing if you're in the mood for it.  Interestingly, when I was listening to it I thought that "Upside Down" was waaay too long - but it's only 4 minutes long so unless some weird kind of time travel occurred, it obviously just feels that way.  

Whilst listening to the album I didn't know for sure that Nile Rodgers was involved - but I would have been super surprised if I'd found out afterwards that he wasn't.  However, Wikipedia tells me that although they originally produced the album, the whole thing was remixed by Ross and Russ Terrana "removing extended instrumental passages" - and from my earlier comment, I can only view this to be what's commonly known as "a good idea".  The fact that this is Ross' best selling album of her career suggests that others agree.  In other, less surprising news from Wikipedia - "'I'm Coming Out' has since become an anthem for the LGBT movement'.  No shit, Sherlock.

"Customers also listened to" Sister Sledge and Donna Summer - they're definitely not a million miles away!  All in all, I tolerated this rather than loved it - it felt very much of its time and it's not a time that I feel a huge affinity for.

#393 : 1989 - Taylor Swift (2014)

Swift set out to make “blatant pop music” on 1989 and came up with a love letter to the Pet Shop Boys and Eurythmics, all glossy synths, icy snares, and the manic rush of “Blank Space” and “Bad Blood.” She ends the album with the electro-chill of “Clean,” one of her starkest, grandest romantic exorcisms, comparing love’s memory to “a wine-stained dress I can’t wear anymore” and unspooling images of drowning and surviving that can bring to mind another Eighties hero, Kate Bush.

As part of the other list I've been working my way down, I recently listened to Taylor's folklore and was surprised at how much I enjoyed it - Wikipedia suggested that might be because it wasn't a usual Taylor Swift album, so I was interested to listen to this one to see what I thought.  

And it was generally OK although I'm somewhat perplexed as to why she's quite so popular - the best bits of the album strike me as "nearly as good as Robyn", which is admittedly pretty good but it doesn't really explain the situation.  I did particularly like "Clean" and "Blank Space" - although the message behind the latter seems to be "I know I'm an idiot for going for bad guys and I'm quite happy to keep doing it" which does seem an odd message to be sending out.  But apparently, it's satirical - kids, eh?!?  I guess I have to mention "Shake It Off" as well - I can't quite decide if it's catchy or annoying (I guess there's no reason it can't be both)

Strangely, Wikipedia has nothing to say on either this album or Taylor Swift - weird, huh?!?  Oh, hang on, there is something there after all - which mentions that this wasn't considered to be a typical Taylor Swift album.  Oh, OK - maybe such a thing doesn't exist.  "Customers also listened to" Katy Perry - it's going to be interesting to see if she appears in the list. I'd say I liked this album more than I was expecting to but it doesn't really answer the question as to how she's conquered the world.

#392 : Proud Mary: The Best of Ike and Tina Turner - Ike and Tina Turner (1991)

These hits set introduced the world to Tina Turner, back when she was the raw R&B belter from Nutbush, Tennessee, starring in her husband Ike’s band. The world didn’t know yet the private hell Tina was living through — or that she’d move on to solo stardom. But Tina’s grit and Ike’s guitar combine from the start, in duets like “I Idolize You.” Her triumph is “Proud Mary,” seizing the already-classic Creedence song and turning it into her own soul testimony.

The version I listened to wasn't the version listed (there was no "I Idolize You" for starters) but given the general disdain with which I hold "best ofs" on this list, that doesn't seem to overly matter (and there's not even the excuse for this one that the tracks weren't on other albums).  There are, without doubt, some cracking tracks on here - stand outs for me are "River Deep, Mountain High", "Nutbush City Limits" and "Proud Mary" (which I didn't know was originally a Creedence Clearwater Revival track, so I checked it out and I liked it).

But - we're not going to encourage such albums on the list, so we're just going to leave it there.

So, Taylor takes this round partly because of my greater affinity for 80s music than 70s music, but mostly because it's just a better album!

#397-395 - well done to the "least bad" winner
#391-389 - I hate you so much right now!