Skip to main content

Instant classic?

I've been reading Rolling Stone since high school. While my tastes have slowly moved away from the stuff they usually cover, I always think highly of their writing. I've always respected what they've said in their reviews, but as of late, I've been thinking about their grading scale for record reviews. I don't know how long they've used their "star" scale but here is the rundown: one star is "poor," two stars is "fair," three is "good," four is "excellent" and five is "classic." I don't know about you, but I think "classic" should be taken off the scale.

In my time of reading RS, only a handful of albums have received the prestigious five-star rating. Off the top of my head, albums like Automatic for the People by R.E.M., August & Everything After by Counting Crows, Sea Change by Beck, Elephant by The White Stripes, Goddess in the Doorway by Mick Jagger and Love & Theft by Bob Dylan have received such rating. Not to piss on the merits of the other albums, but I believe only Automatic for the People is a truly time-tested, classic album.

Whatever is or isn't considered a "classic," I have to call attention to something: aren't things considered "classic" after they've been around for a few years and have really held up? So, how can anyone claim that a new album is a classic upon its initial release? I don't mean to knock the knowledge of RS's writing staff (David Fricke is one of the finest music critics of our time), but come on, these records don't come with tarot cards.

Greg Kot said on last weekend's episode of Sound Opinions that Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I Am Not by Arctic Monkeys was recently voted by the NME as the #5 best album ever in UK music history, ahead of The Clash's London Calling and The Beatles' Revolver. What? Granted, there is a lot of sensational excitement right now around Arctic Monkeys, but the important thing to wonder is: is this excitement going to stick around for years to come? Probably not, but the true litmus test for all classic albums is time.

For me, I don't believe that a young band's debut album can come in and sit high with time-tested classics right away. In regards to records that have come out in the past six years, I believe a record like Is This It? by the Strokes will be continue to be highly-praised for years and years to come. The album was praised royally when it was originally released in '01, but it wasn't considered one of the best albums ever. After the flood of 'the' bands playing some form of stripped-down rock & roll for the masses, Is This It? will probably be thought of as highly as the Ramones' debut album. As for right now, it's a big crapshoot for Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I Am Not.

There is usually no point of reference or legacy with a new, young band. The excitement is in the now, but sustaining a classic status can only come with repeated listens over many years. I guess some people like jumping the gun. I guess these same people like eating their words too.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Catherine Wheel

Originally posted: Tuesday, August 29th, 2006 Despite managing to release five proper albums, Catherine Wheel was one of those bands that always seemed to slip past the mainstream rock crowd. Yes, they got some nice airplay in their day, but people seem to have forgotten about them. You may hear “Black Metallic” or “Waydown” on a “classic alternative” show on Sirius or XM or maybe even on terrestrial radio, but that’s about it. For me, they were one of most consistent rock bands of the ’90s, meandering through shoegazer, hard rock, space rock and pop rock, all while eluding mainstream pigeonholing. Led by the smooth, warm pipes of vocalist/guitarist Rob Dickinson (cousin of Iron Maiden’s Bruce Dickinson), Catherine Wheel featured Brian Futter on lead guitar, Dave Hawes on bass and Neil Sims on drums. They weren’t a pretty-boy guitar band, but they weren’t a scuzzy bunch of ragamuffins either. Though the band hailed from England, Catherine Wheel found itself more welcome on American air

Best of 2021

  Last year, my attention span was not wide enough to listen to a lot of LPs from start to finish. Too much went on in 2020 to focus on 10-15 albums, so I went with only a couple to spotlight. Well, 2021 was a little better, as I have a list of top four records, and a lot of individual tracks.  (I made a lengthy Spotify playlist ) So, without further ado, here’s my list of favorites of the year: Albums Deafheaven, Infinite Granite (listen) Hands down, my favorite album of the year. I was not sure where Deafheaven would go after another record that brought My Bloody Valentine and death metal fans together, but they beautifully rebooted their sound on Infinite Granite. The divisive goblin vocals are vastly pared-down here, as are the blast beats. Sounding more inspired by Slowdive, the band has discovered a new sonic palette that I hope they explore more of in the future. It’s a welcome revelation. I still love their older material, but this has renewed my love of what these guys do.  J

Hello, Control

I'm still a big fan of iTunes . I haven't tried Napster , Urge or eMusic as I've been perfectly happy with Apple's program ever since I downloaded it two years ago. However, an annoying new feature has come up with its latest version, 7.0. Whenever you pull up your music library, a sidebar taking up 3/4ths of the screen appears plugging the iTunes Music Store. Why is this an annoyance? Well, first and foremost, since you can't close the sidebar, you can't escape it. I believe a music library is a private collection, a spot away from the music store. So what's the need for constant advertisements and plugs? To provide a better visual, let me describe what I see whenever I pull up a song in my iTunes library. When I listen to "This is a Fire Door Never Leave Open" by the Weakerthans, I see a graphic for Left and Leaving , the album that it comes from (and available in the iTunes Music Store), along with a list of the Weakerthans' other albums,