Entertainment Weekly Top 100 Albums list

The magazine Entertainment Weekly has recently compiled a list of the top 100 albums from 1983 to 2008.

To be fair, most of the list appears to be a compilation of other lists, since the albums do not fit a clear pattern. Of itself, not fitting a pattern of taste is no bad thing, but the fact that it combines exceedingly popular albums but widely hated by critics with those widely praised is surprising.

#100: Faith - George Michael
#99: Live Through This - Hole
#98: Transatlanticism - Death Cab for Cutie
#97: Britney - Britney Spears
#96: Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea - PJ Harvey
#95: Trap Muzik - T.I.
#94: Synchronicity - The Police
#93: Either/Or - Elliott Smith
#92: The Writing's on the Wall - Destiny's Child
#91: Siamese Dream - Smashing Pumpkins
#90: Toxicity - System of a Down
#89: Bachelor No. 2 - Aimee Mann
#88: So - Peter Gabriel
#87: All Eyez on Me - 2Pac
#86: Loveless - My Bloody Valentine
#85: Home - Dixie Chicks
#84: Low Life - New Order
#83: Learning to Crawl - The Pretenders
#82: Grace - Jeff Buckley
#81: The Downward Spiral - Nine Inch Nails
#80: Back to Basics - Christina Aguilera
#79: Let It Be - The Replacements
#78: Vs. - Pearl Jam
#77: Dummy - Portishead
#76: Heartbreaker - Ryan Adams
#75: Born in the U.S.A. - Bruce Springsteen
#74: Play - Moby
#73: The Queen is Dead - Smiths
#72: 1984 - Van Halen
#71: Rock Steady - No Doubt
#70: My Life - Mary J. Blige
#69: Give Up - The Postal Service
#68: Wrecking Ball - Emmylou Harris
#67: Metallica - Metallica
#66: The Chronic - Dr. Dre
#65: Elephant - The White Stripes
#64: Mama's Gun - Erykah Badu
#63: The Joshua Tree - U2
#62: OK Computer - Radiohead
#61: Paid in Full - Eric B. & Rakim
#60: Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain - Pavement
#59: Ray of Light - Madonna
#58: Surfer Rosa - The Pixies
#57: Harvest Moon - Neil Young
#56: Yankee Hotel Foxtrot - Wilco
#55: It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back - Public Enemy
#54: Rhythm Nation 1814 - Janet Jackson
#53: King of America - Elvis Costello
#52: Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga - Spoon
#51: The Score - Fugees
#50: Sounds of Silver - LCD Soundsystem
#49: A Rush of Blood to the Head - Coldplay
#48: American IV: The Man Comes Around - Johnny Cash
#47: Exile in Guyville - Liz Phair
#46: Homogenic - Björk
#45: If You're Feeling Sinister - Belle and Sebastian
#44: Car Wheels On A Gravel Road - Lucinda Williams
#43: Paul's Boutique - Beastie Boys
#42: Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) - Wu-Tang Clan
#41: Legend - Bob Marley and the Wailers
#40: Ready to Die - The Notorious B.I.G.
#39: Sheryl Crow - Sheryl Crow
#38: Raising Hell - Run-DMC
#37: The Moon & Antarctica - Modest Mouse
#36: CrazySexyCool - TLC
#35: Jagged Little Pill - Alanis Morissette
#34: Is This It - The Strokes
#33: As I Am - Alicia Keys
#32: Life's Rich Pageant - R.E.M.
#31: FutureSex/LoveSounds - Justin Timberlake
#30: Appetite for Destruction - Guns'N'Roses
#29: Breakaway - Kelly Clarkson
#28: Illmatic - Nas
#27: Funeral - Arcade Fire
#26: Time Out of Mind - Bob Dylan
#25: Turn On the Bright Lights - Interpol
#24: Come On Over - Shania Twain
#23: The Soft Bulletin - The Flaming Lips
#22: 3 Feet High and Rising - De La Soul
#21: The Emancipation of Mimi - Mariah Carey
#20: Tidal - Fiona Apple
#19: Dangerously in Love - Beyoncé
#18: People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm - A Tribe Called Quest
#17: Odelay - Beck
#16: Rain Dogs - Tom Waits
#15: The Marshall Mathers LP - Eminem
#14: Disintegration - The Cure
#13: You Are Free - Cat Power
#12: Stankonia - OutKast
#11: MTV Unplugged in New York - Nirvana
#10: In Rainbows - Radiohead
#9: Back to Black - Amy Winehouse
#8: Graceland - Paul Simon
#7: The Blueprint - Jay-Z
#6: American Idiot - Green Day
#5: Madonna - Madonna
#4: The College Dropout - Kanye West
#3: Achtung Baby - U2
#2: The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill - Lauryn Hill
#1: Purple Rain - Prince and the Revolution

Of the list, the only ones I could remotely agree with are numbers 86 and 79. I think Björk deserves a great deal of praise and definite recognition from this list, but would have put Post, Medúlla or even the remix album Telegram (my absolute favourite album by her) above Homogenic.

Just having read a few other books is enough to make me see that the list is very flawed. Where is the post-rock of albums like Spiderland or Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven? Where are albums like Hounds of Love, Days of Open Hand or even somthing as challenging as Within the Realm of a Dying Sun? Why is Dummy only at #79?