What are the best Canadian albums of all time?
It’s a big question, but it’s answered in a new book, The Top 100 Canadian Albums (Goose Lane Editions).
Veteran music columnist Bob Mersereau surveyed many people to come up with the top 100 Canadian albums. Nearly 600 music fans, critics, artists, retailers and other industry players submitted their votes.
The book also includes interviews with many of the musicians whose albums made the list. There are colour reproductions of the cover art for all 100 albums and fascinating sidebars including personal picks and trivia from celebrity contributors.
Mersereau is a veteran music writer and long-time arts reporter with CBC TV in New Brunswick. He has been covering the emerging and now vibrant music world of the East Coast since 1982, and has written thousands of music reviews and interviewed just as many Canadian musicians.
Mersereau says while you can debate the jury's choices, you can't deny the quality of the music.
"These 100 Canadian albums would make the core of any great music collection,” he holds.
”This is Canadian culture at its finest.”
Check out the top book’s top ten below, and listen to Jian Ghomeshi’s conversation with Bob Mersereau and an all-star national playlist-style panel. [runs 18:05] First aired October 18, 2007 on Q.
According to the book, Canada’s top 10 are:
1. Harvest
By Neil Young
Reprise, 1972
2. Blue
By Joni Mitchell
Reprise, 1970
3. After The Gold Rush
By Neil Young
Reprise, 1970
4. Music From Big Pink
By The Band
Capitol, 1968
5. Fully Completely
By The Tragically Hip
MCA, 1992
6. Jagged Little Pill
By Alanis Morissette
Maverick, 1995
7. The Band
By The Band
Capitol, 1969
8. Funeral
By Arcade Fire
Merge, 2004
9. Moving Pictures
By Rush
Anthem, 1981
10. American Woman
By The Guess Who
RCA, 1970
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Comments
Mersereau parle des English dans le pays au nord des États-Unis. Ne pas le dire démontre son manque de respect des valeurs de son dit pays et sa reconnaissance que le Québec et les français parlant n'y font pas partie...
Roland Godin
Du Numéro-Brunswick
Posted by: Roland Godin | October 28, 2007 08:17 AM
My first response? Snore...But i guess any list of the best in music will be very predictable. What Mersereau should have done is asked his respondents to give a list of Canadian albums that you should listen to, and why, instead of this contentious top 100 junk. The first thing most poeple will say about this book is 'why didn't so and so make it?' or 'why are the top ten mired in the 60's and 70's?'
my core feeling about this is yeah it's nice but not really interesting.
Posted by: John | October 28, 2007 09:09 AM
Arcade Fire? Gimme a break! Where's Stand Back or Harder,Faster by April Wine? Where is anything by Triumph or Mahogany Rush? And what about some of the great Quebecois acts, like Offenbach? Was anyone over the age of 25 consulted?
Posted by: Russell Gelfand | October 28, 2007 01:06 PM
Re: Top albums: This looks like a list with obvious classics and some popular titles thrown in. Hopefully, titles 11 to 100 are a little more adventurous. I'd bump Alanis and Rush. I like the Arcade Fire but I think it's a bit premature to include them at eight. By the way, where is Whale Music by the Rheostatics? They should have at least one album in the top 10, if not a couple.
Posted by: Mike Chouinard | October 28, 2007 11:21 PM
Maybe I'm missing something here, but Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, The Band and Alanis Morissette may have been born here, but aren't they all as American now as apple pie and Texas? They all live in the States, have done so for a long time and none have any intention of leaving their homeland (viz., the USA). There is a lot of good Canadian music, I agree, so surely we can do better than having to pick albums by once-upon-a-time-but-no-longer-Canadian musicians, instead of Canadian musicians?
Posted by: Lorenzo | October 29, 2007 12:19 AM
interesting selections
see the full top 100 list>
http://rateyourmusic.com/list/IamAleem/the_top_100_canadian_albums
Posted by: AK | May 22, 2008 12:37 AM
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