Acclaimed Music

I enjoy the Acclaimed Music list of the top 50 artists based on albums – http://www.acclaimedmusic.net/top_artists/t0a.htm

This is what I’ve covered from their top 50 artists:

Already have a page
1 The Beatles
2 Bob Dylan
3 The Rolling Stones
4 David Bowie
6 Neil Young
7 Bruce Springsteen
8 Radiohead
9 R.E.M.
10 Led Zeppelin
12 The Velvet Underground
13 Elvis Costello
14 Pink Floyd
16 Tom Waits
17 Van Morrison
18 U2
19 The Beach Boys
20 Jimi Hendrix
23 The Clash
24 Talking Heads
25 Stevie Wonder
31 The Smiths
35 The Byrds
37 Joni Mitchell (although 37 is way too low….)
39 The Band
40 Pixies
42 Arcade Fire
43 Roxy Music
44 Brian Eno
45 Kraftwerk
46 Wilco

Have enough albums for a page, and planning to cover them:
11 The Who
15 Prince
26 Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
28 PJ Harvey
29 Kanye West
30 Sonic Youth
32 Marvin Gaye
33 Beck
36 The Doors
41 Public Enemy
47 Björk
49 Michael Jackson
50 Frank Zappa/The Mothers of Invention
Kendrick Lamar (I grabbed this list a few years ago, and Lamar’s climbed into the top 50 in the meantime).

Interested, but haven’t heard enough yet
5 Miles Davis – so many albums, and I’m not confident in writing and judging jazz. In A Silent Way is amazing though, so I might do a little page on his fusion stuff sometime.
27 John Coltrane – same as Davis, it’s an intimidating discography.
34 Lou Reed – I don’t think I’ll ever manage to cover more than his 1970s prime – I’m bored by acclaimed late-career albums like Magic and Loss and New York.
38 Beastie Boys – haven’t ventured beyond the Sounds of Science compilation and 1989’s Paul’s Boutique.

Not really interested
21 Nirvana – I’ve given them a few chances, but I don’t enjoy listening to them. I’d rather listen to Husker Du or The Replacements or lots of the other 1980s alternative bands that did similar stuff first.
22 Bob Marley and The Wailers – I used to have all of Marley’s major label albums, but found them a chore to sit through – Legend is great though. I like his pop side, not his militant side.
48 Elvis Presley – seems like a singles kind of guy?

5 Comments

youngflier

January 13, 2024 / 10:32 pm Reply

Funny, what you say about Miles Davis and feeling like you aren’t equipped to judge. That’s how I feel, too. With rock and pop I feel like I understand the ins and outs and the development of it. I have the requisite context. I don’t feel that way with jazz. Still, I love a lot of Davis’s stuff, and his “electric period” in particular. In A Silent Way. Bitches Brew. Jack Johnson. Get Up With It. I’ve listened to those a lot. Great stuff.

I was turned on to it by Robert Quine’s ancient website. Actually, I was turned on to a fair bit of older stuff from that site (especially wrt 50s rock). He had lists of his favourite/most influential records that is/was great. Quine was a huge booster of Get Up With It and it’s epic first side composition “He Loved Him Madly” in particular. Called it something like “one of the greatest artistic statements”, which coming from Quine, who was, I think it’s safe to say, was not exactly the most effusive of men or given to easy, sunshiney praise, is quite an endorsement.
- Aphoristical
  
  January 18, 2024 / 10:08 pm Reply
  
  I’ve never even heard of Get Up With it, I should check it out. In a Silent Way is a top ten record for me, I think, I need to do a little electric Miles Davis page sometime. I’m not quite so keen on tackling Kind of Blue, feels weird to single it out when I haven’t heard the records around it.
  
  I didn’t know Quine had a site – is it still around?
- Aphoristical
  
  January 18, 2024 / 10:10 pm Reply
  
  This page? http://www.robertquine.com/influences.html
  - youngflier
    
    March 19, 2024 / 7:13 pm Reply
    
    Yes, that’s it. Although that’s like a shorted version of what I’m thinking of. The one I’m thinking of has his list of fav/influential records. It was quite detailed and had a fabulous amount of detail about records from the early period. I’ll see if I can find it, and if I succeed I’ll post it here.
    
    Apologies for the wait, Graham. I missed your reply.
    - Aphoristical
      
      March 20, 2024 / 8:09 pm Reply
      
      I found a brief list on https://www.furious.com/perfect/staff3.html#quine
      
      Byrds Fifth Dimension
      Velvet Underground White Light/White Heat
      Bill Evans Trio Portrait In Jazz
      Bill Evans Trio ’64
      Ritchie Valens (1st two albums)
      Miles Davis Get Up With It
      Charlie Parker Bird On 52nd Street
      Grant Green Complete Quartets With Sonny Clark
      Ricky Nelson Rockin’ Roll with Ricky
      Jimmy Raney Visits Paris I and II