In their most recent cover story, the staff of Entertainment Weekly released their lists of what they termed “The New Classics”: works of art created over the last 25 years that “deserv[e] recognition as classic.” These lists were understandably ambitious. They were also (and also understandably) incomplete, and as such, the magazine opened itself up to nitpickers like yours truly. As it happens, EW’s list of The New Classic albums is so incomplete that picking it apart is almost impossible: Every time a glaring omission is noted, three or four other glaring omissions make themselves apparent. I have no problem with EW’s choice of No. 1 album — Prince’s Purple Rain — but right after that, things get weird. So, rather than quibble over what is where on their list (Green Day at No. 6? Amy Winehouse at No. 9?? Interpol at No. 25???), I’m simply going to mention a bunch of albums that deserve to be on any list of “The New Classics,” but are absent from this one.
advertisement
THE BRIT-POPPERS: The Stone Roses, The Stone Roses (1989) Were this list created by NME or Mojo or Uncut or any other list-happy British publication, you can be sure that The Stone Roses’ flawless and timeless debut would be somewhere in the top five — you can also be sure that the Britpop genre would be generously represented throughout. Why EW chose to ignore it entirely is curious to be sure, but that doesn’t undercut the greatness of that genre’s greatest works — all of which are more deserving than, say, Coldplay’s A Rush of Blood to the Head (No. 49). OTHER OMISSIONS: Definitely Maybe, Oasis (1994); Parklife, Blur (1994); Different Class, Pulp (1995).
THE HIP-HOPPERS: Straight Outta Compton, N.W.A. (1989) EW included Dr. Dre’s The Chronic on their list (at No. 66), and with that, they must have decided their West Coast gangsta rap quota had been met. But: (A) What the hell kind of crazy logic is that?; and (B) Even if you’re following that line of crazy logic, why not go with Dre’s first masterwork, the album that created the blueprint for all gangsta rap to follow? Omitting Compton feels less like a conscious decision than an oversight. And that’s not the only hip-hop classic they missed…OTHER OMISSIONS: Death Certificate, Ice Cube (1991); Things Fall Apart, The Roots (1999); Hell Hath No Fury, Clipse (2006).
THE HEAVY HITTERS: Reign in Blood, Slayer (1986) Perhaps not surprisingly, EW’s list gives pretty short shrift to metal — after Guns N’ Roses’ Appetite for Destruction (No. 30), Metallica’s self-titled “Black Album” (No. 67) and System of a Down’s Toxicity (No. 90), the genre is entirely unrepresented — and none of those albums truly qualifies as metal anyway. Even so, the omission of Reign in Blood is shocking and almost criminal: It’s such a landmark work that without it, the genre would never have produced a score of other landmark works that EW also missed, such as…OTHER OMISSIONS: Blessed Are the Sick, Morbid Angel (1991); Necroticism — Descanting the Insalubrious, Carcass (1991); Slaughter of the Soul, At the Gates (1995).
THE PROTO-INDIE ROCKERS: Daydream Nation, Sonic Youth (1988) To be fair, Interpol’s Turn on the Bright Lights (No. 25), Arcade Fire’s Funeral (No. 27) and Modest Mouse’s The Moon & Antarctica (No. 37) are all fine albums and arguably New Classics. But let’s put this into some perspective here: All of them are among EW’s top 50…and Daydream Nation didn’t even crack the top 100? Nuh-uh. Sonic Youth are one of the two or three greatest and most influential American bands of the last 25 years, and without them, the indie-rock landscape (including the aforementioned alleged New Classics) would look a whole lot different and less interesting. OTHER OMISSIONS: Green Mind, Dinosaur Jr. (1991); Painful, Yo La Tengo (1993); In the Aeroplane Over the Sea, Neutral Milk Hotel (1998).
THE TWO-TIMERS: Nevermind, Nirvana (1991) EW’s policy on including two albums from one act on their list is shaky at best: Madonna gets a pair on there (Madonna at No. 5; Ray of Light at No. 59), as do Radiohead (In Rainbows, No. 10; OK Computer, No. 62) and U2 (Achtung Baby, No. 3; The Joshua Tree, No. 63) — but somehow, they feel Nirvana is adequately represented with just MTV Unplugged at No. 11. Is it clever and argument-provoking to make a list of The New Classics that does not include Nevermind? Yes, but that’s the only reason to exclude it, and it’s a lame reason at that. OTHER OMISSIONS: Master of Puppets, Metallica (1986); Ten, Pearl Jam (1991); Slanted & Enchanted, Pavement (1992).
