My Favorite Album

A program like ABC's my favorite album tells a lot about the australian music market and culture of Australia.
I don't have a copy of the list but it was something like:

10. U2 - some piece of shit
9. Meatloaf - Bat out of Hell
8. Red Hot Chilli Peppers - Blood Sugar Sex Magic
7. Led Zeppelin - 4
6. Nirvana - Nevermind
5. Beatles - Sgt Peppers
4. Beatles - Abbey Road
3. Radiohead - OK Computer
2. Jeff Buckley - Grace
1. Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon

I gotta say the panelist I found myself agreeing with most often was dicko, fuck, as Judith Lucy said 'aren't you the guy who brought Shannon Noel to us all?'
I'd qualify these polls as all having one thing in common, Democratic process often removes all chance of producing any quality list. One thing I do agree with is the dominance by 60's and 90's albums, one thing I don't and reflects poorly on unprogressive Australia is the complete absence of Black artists from the list.
Mif Taylor the complete wrong person to host what in the end was a fairly balanced panel was the wrong person to host it but hit that demographic the managed to get the most unworthy album in my opinion #2 in the list. #2 & especially #3 are those quintessential overated albums out on the market.
Dying was the best thing Jeff Buckley did, the statement was made and validated by all bar Miff that Jeff would not be in the list if he had mixed alcohol with night swimming as opposed to Nevermind that would be there even if Kurt was still alive today. Jeff Buckley's a bandwagon and I enjoy his songs but they were covers at the end of the day they were covers and I like a fucker who can fucking play but you gotta write your own music.
Radiohead is just plain fucking overrated, I can't stress it enough. the early 90's were something special, in fact if anything the early 90's were the American equivalent in music to Britain's late 60's. The likes of Beatles, Cream, Led Zep, Jimi Hendrix, The Who were being matched in the 90's by the US's Nirvana, Faith No More, Mettallica, Pearl Jam, Sound Garden, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Primus, Jane's Addiction. These are what when I'm 80 I'll be thankful I was alive for this often overlooked musical period.
For me OK Computer for the 6 weeks I enjoyed the pop over the pretentiousness, the Beatles like inability of so many fans to move on where white music changed again, as riske as the album was supposed to be it did the opposite of the Nirvana blowing away manufactured music of the 80's and having to take risks on bands with genuine creativity to Radio Head's new status as a band that can release any old contrived shit and be a hit, Radio Head didn't carry with it a genre of musicians who deserved a tilt at the charts, it was depressing and unempowered a lot like Buckley, and just fundamentally over rated, it is hard to see OK Computers influence on anything other than the bouyancy in the charts afforded to albums like Kid A and Amnesiac that let's face it wouldn't even be listened to in the first place if it wasn't for Radiohead having there name on it.
Nirvana changed the music industry briefly for the better with Nevermind and gave a bunch of artists particullarly in the Seattle Grunge scene but also at the time when Alternative truly was the appropriate label and covered such a breadth of musical offerings that hasn't been seen since 97 and the emergance of Nu Metal.
That being said I think it unarguable that Dark Side of The Moon shouldn't be number one, It's not my favorite album but in terms of what it offers it shits on the rest of the list. Plus it's good to see a demograph vote match up with the voting of the feet, no other album will ever stay in the charts for 14 years, that's as close to timeless as you'll ever get.
My list would probably be just as devisive, and obviously wouldn't represent the demographics of Baby Boomers with sheer numbers and internet savy Gen Y's who are still giving the crawling ABC a chance. Mine would look like:

10. Pearl Jam - Ten
9. Soundgarden - Down on the Upside
8. Beatles - Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band
7. Pink Floyd - Animals
6. De La Soul - De La Soul is Dead
5. Beatles - White Album
4. A Tribe Called Quest - Midnight Maruaders
3. Jimi Hendrix - Are You Experienced
2. Faith No More - King For A Day
1. Cream - Wheels of Fire

I find it as hard to explain what I look for in Rock music as I do explaining how I tell good Hip Hop from Bad. I've tried to Avoid duplications but it is worth noting, I owe a massive apology to Hip Hop in general. I explain myself by way of saying it is hard for a teenager in Australia to understand. Hip Hop is clouded by the charts, an abundant supply of pop artists whether they call themselves poets or gangsta's or whatever they are shitty pop acts. It is hard in a market like Autralia to feel hip hop. I understand if one was to look at white music like punk and rock through the prism of the charts they'd be hard pressed to jump on board, fortunately I had access to the non machine driven albums of the 60's and Nirvana's miraculous break out of music artists of the early 90's where the chart machine just fell apart and was an entrepreneur's game. It took Nine Inch Nails of all bands to introduce me to fucking A Tribe Called Quest and I was hooked from the get go, the Anthology changed my life and then it took 6 more years and Faith No More's Mike Patton doing a side project with Dave Nakamura to introduce De La Soul to me, aside from that there was PE, RATM and Cypress Hill that managed to make a break for rap and two of those are Latino.
My point is it's hard to make the break when you've been raised on white bread but I'm glad the slow agonising process is happening for me if not mainstream Australia, because Hip Hop may be just the single most Unique* thing to have emerged in my lifetime.

*Aside from Mike Patton I mean my chart if I really had my way would look like this:

10. De La Soul - 3 feet High and Rising
9. A Tribe Called Quest - Low End Theory
8. De La Soul - De La Soul is Dead
7. A Tribe Called Quest - Midnight Maruaders
6. FNM - We Care A Lot
5. Cream - Farewell Cream
4. FNM - Album of the Year
3. Cream - Disreali Gears
3. FNM - Angel Dust
2. FNM - King For A Day
1. Cream - Wheels of Fire

You know Just cos I like some variety. Check it out fuck it up all right.