'OK Computer' tops Spin's best since '85 list
Last Updated: Monday, June 20, 2005 | 4:33 PM ET
CBC Arts
The British band beat Public Enemy's It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back and Nirvana's Nevermind on the list of the 100 top albums since 1985 currently featured in the July issue, which celebrates the U.S. rock music magazine's 20th anniversary. Dr. Dre, Bono and Beck are pictured on the cover.
"Between [frontman] Thom Yorke's orange-alert worldview and the band's meld of epic guitar rock and electronic glitch, [OK Computer] not only forecast a decade of music but uncannily predicted our global culture of communal distress," the editors wrote, describing why the 1997 Radiohead album – which won a Grammy Award – came out tops.
Spin magazine has named Radiohead's 'OK Computer' the top album of the past 20 years, in part due to frontman Thom Yorke's 'orange-alert worldview.' (AP Photo)
- RELATED: More on music from CBC Arts Online
After Spin staffers submitted suggestions, editor-in-chief Sia Michel and editors Jon Dolan and Charles Aaron sorted out the ranking, explaining in an editorial that "each album on the list finds a sweet spot between artistic brilliance, stylistic innovation, and cultural relevance."
"Relevance doesn't have to mean it sold 10 million copies," Michel told the Associated Press. "Someone like the Pixies never really sold records, but Nirvana has said it wouldn't exist without the Pixies."
Rounding out the top 10 are:
- Pavement, Slanted and Enchanted.
- The Smiths, The Queen is Dead.
- Pixies, Surfer Rosa.
- De La Soul, 3 Feet High and Rising.
- Prince, Sign 'o' the Times.
- PJ Harvey, Rid of Me.
- N.W.A., Straight Outta Compton.
Despite generally leaning towards coverage of rock music, the magazine's editors devoted about 25 per cent of the list to hip-hop albums.
Since Spin pre-dates popular U.S. hip-hop magazine Source, "we put hip hop on the cover before anyone else did," Michel said. "Because we started this list in 1985, we pretty much hit hip hop in its golden age. ... There were so many important, groundbreaking albums coming out right about that time."
The July issue of Spin is now on newsstands.
