Naming the best 500 albums of all time is bound to cause controversy. So it’s not surprising that Rolling Stone magazine’s latest attempt has raised some eyebrows.
The last time the chart was updated, in 2003, it looked very different. But while the latest version is still very American, it is much more diverse.
More than 300 industry figures sent their top 50 lists, including Beyonce, Taylor Swift, Gene Simmons of Kiss, and The Edge and Adam Clayton from U2.
Soul legend Marvin Gaye has knocked the Beatles off the top spot. There are five women in the top 30 as well as 13 black musicians.
Three Scottish bands make the cut. Belle & Sebastian’s 1996 chamber pop classic If You’re Feeling Sinister is at No481.
Rolling Stone describes it as “like a cup of tea brewed for you by a hopeless crush with a really good record collection”.
Primal Scream’s 1991 decade-defining classic Screamadelica is at No473 and the American magazine seems less than sure of it, saying: “Some of Screamadelica feels like meandering mood music but that’s proof that sometimes the journey is more fun than the destination.”
The highest placed Scots, at 245, are the Cocteau Twins.
The magazine’s description of them as “Scot goths” hits a bum note but it’s hard to argue that this is “their arrestingly beautiful pop peak”.
Scottish critics agree that these are strong, if predictable, choices.
Writer Stuart Smith said: “The US are crazy for Belle & Sebastian, they have a big cult following. If You’re Feeling Sinister is one of their best albums.
“Screamadelica is a classic crossover album, it introduced a lot of people to dance music while still having a rock element.
“The Cocteau Twins are another big cult band for US indie fans.
There is such a romantic myth around them, coming from Grangemouth, putting on their own gigs, creating their own world and their own sound.”
Music journalist Euan L Davidson added: “Heaven or Las Vegas, arguably their most coherent LP, is littered with classics.”
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