I was just guessing at numbers and figures, pulling the puzzles apart

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

#325 : All Killer, No Filler - Jerry Lee Lewis (1993)

Jerry Lee Lewis is best known for his frenzied piano-pumping Sun classics like “Great Balls of Fire” and “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On,” cut in the late Fifties (before he derailed his success by marrying his 13-year-old cousin), yet his career as a country hitmaker lasted decades. Listen to “What’s Made Milwaukee Famous (Has Made a Loser Out of Me)” and you might agree with the Killer’s characteristically self-deprecating claim that “Elvis was the greatest, but I’m the best.”

Given that this album includes tracks released in the 50s, I think we can quite safely take it that this is squarely in the "greatest hits" arena, so it's not going to get too much consideration.  Jerry Lee is one of those artists who I can see did what they did well and they have been very influential but that doesn't mean I like them - I find him very repetitive.  And a quick listen to this album did nothing to dissuade me from that notion.

Wikipedia has pretty much nothing to say about the album - the biggest section is the one listing all the people who feature across all the tracks.  The entry for the man himself is unsurprisingly slightly longer - there have been a few events on interest in his life (I didn't realise he was still going at the grand old age of 85).  I also didn't realise he swapped from rock and roll to country in the late 60s after his rock and roll career suffered somewhat in the wake of his marriage to his 13 year old cousin (a less kind person than me might suggest that such a thing doesn't unduly concern country music fans).  "Customers also listened to" a load of names from back in the day - most of whom mean nothing to me - but I'm afraid that for me greatest hits albums like this are particularly invalid for consideration in this list.

#324 : A Rush Of Blood To The Head - Coldplay (2002)

In the early 2000s, starry-eyed Brit-pop boys doing a cuddly version of Radiohead were a dime a dozen. (Remember Starsailor?) It was Coldplay’s second album that showed they were true contenders. Songs like “Green Eyes” and “The Scientist” brought back the comforting melodies of “Yellow,” but the twinkling sonics suggested prime Smiths or U2. And darker stuff, like the austerely beautiful death meditation “Amsterdam” and the OK Computer-worthy “God Put a Smile Upon Your Face,” showed the group had more than arena anthems on its mind.

I must admit to being partial to a spot of early Coldplay (although I do think they've somewhat outstayed their welcome) and I think this album is probably their high point, although I must admit to not having listened to it for quite some time, so was happy to do so.  And I still like it - it's a fine selection of tracks, with "Clocks" and "The Scientist" probably being the highlights for me.  I'm not entirely sure "cuddly version of Radiohead" is an entirely fair description - Wikipedia describes it as "alternative rock" and "post-Britpop" - neither of which is entirely helpful either!  I'm not sure it's worth me thinking about it too much though - if you're going to like this album you've probably already heard it.  They're another random band I've seen live and they put on a good show - although the thing I remember most about it is being forced to hold hands with Grant Donald and promising to make poverty history (I'm not sure we managed it, tbh)

Wikipedia has quite a lot to say about the album including that the first version was completed in June but almost all the tracks on that version were discarded before the version that came out in August was released.  The chart placings for the album are somewhat odd - it was top 10 almost everywhere except for Poland (#25), Spain (#49) and Mexico (#38 - but in 2010!).  

"Customers also listened to" Snow Patrol (it'll be interesting to see if they appear in the list later) and Keane (I really like Hopes and Fears).  The Wikipedia entry for the band is interesting - they somewhat have a reputation for being overly earnest, but you'd have to say they walk the walk giving 10% of their profits to charity and turning down multi-million dollar contracts for the use of their tracks on adverts.  All in all, I can see how they can be annoying (I mean there's never going to be a good reason for anyone to marry Gwyneth) but I think they get a bad rap, often from other far less worthy sources and I'm happy to say I like this album.  I also like the intriguing album cover as well!

#323 : Sandinista! - The Clash (1980)

The Clash’s ballooning ambition peaked with Sandinista!, a three-album set named after the Nicaraguan revolutionary movement. Joe Strummer and Mick Jones reached beyond punk and reggae and into dub, R&B, calypso, gospel, and even a kids’ chorus on “Career Opportunities” — whatever crossed their minds. As Strummer said years later, “Even though it would have been better as a double album, or a single album, or an EP! Who knows? The fact is that we recorded all that music in one spat, at one moment. In one three-week blast. For better or worse, [Sandinista!] is the document.”

I know they're very highly regarded by a lot of people, but I've never really seen the point to The Clash - I don't really understand who they're expecting to like the random selection of music they produce. I was also struggling to imagine a three-album set was going to improve my overall view on the matter.  And let me assure you it most certainly did not - the best tracks are fine (if you like that sort of thing) but there's a load of utterly random stuff on here which was a massive struggle to get through (I must admit to quite a lot of fast forwarding of tracks on the last album).  If I was being unkind I'd say my suspicion is that a lot of people claimed to like this album because they'd painted themselves into the Clash corner and couldn't find a way to get out of it - but they never listened to it again (or maybe even once).

Wikipedia points out that the critics disagreed with me, but not as vigorously as it has done for other albums, so I've a sneaking suspicion they quietly agree with me.  The band's entry is much more enlightening and has an interesting section about them "selling out" by signing to CBS - apparently their £100k recording contract was set up such that "the group had to pay for their own tours, recordings, remixes, artwork, expenses", which seems "interesting".  It's a good read though - even for a non-Clash fan such as myself - I giggled at the comment about the film London Town which is allegedly about a Clash-obsessed fan but manages to feature characters singing the wrong lyrics, which suggests a certain lack of research (or an attempt to get around copyright issues!).  "Customers also listened to" Joe Strummer albums - I guess I can imagine that!  However, there's no danger of me ever revisiting this album and I'd have to say it's scared me off other Clash albums - at least until we get to London Calling which I suspect we'll be seeing further down this list.

Easy win for Coldplay this time around - no contest!

#328-326 - Three "maybes"
#322-320 - Three albums spanning 50 years