Vatican picks the Beatles and Oasis among its top ten albums
Many would consider them a rather ungodly collection of rockers, Sixties drug-takers and hell-raisers - but they have all been given the holy seal of approval from the Vatican.
Choral music and canticles make up its normal areas of interest but the Vatican has extended its musical tastes to issue a list of the top ten pop and rock albums of all time.
The Beatles, Pink Floyd and Oasis are among the British artists featured in the chart in the the Holy See's newspaper.
L'Osservatore Romano, said the 10 albums were the perfect listening material for anyone who found themselves marooned on a desert island.
The paper said its "semi-serious" list including the likes of Michael Jackson, U2 and Carlos Santana was offered as an alternative to the cheesy tunes that feature at the San Remo festival in Liguria, in north-eastern Italy, which starts tomorrow.
Aside from British and American artists, the only other nationality to be represented in the list was Ireland, with U2's Achtung Baby, released in 1991. No Italian groups or singers appeared in the top ten.
L'Osservatore Romano wrote in an editorial yesterday (Sunday): "A little handbook of musical resistance could be useful during this time of the year in which, in addition to having put up with the rigours of winter, we have to endure a rising tide of musical festivals.
"So as not to be totally overwhelmed, and to remember that an alternative exists, our modest guide can point you on the road to good music."
The newspaper admitted that identifying the 10 best albums in the history of pop music was not "easy" and inevitably the choice might seem "partial".
Until recently the staid and stuffy journal of record for goings-on at the Vatican, L'Osservatore Romano has recently tried to strike a more contemporary tone, commenting on everything from the Harry Potter books and films to The Simpsons and James Cameron's blockbuster Avatar, which it called overly-sentimental and derivative.
THE TOP TEN (In order of release)
1. Revolver by the Beatles
2. If I could Only Remember My Name by David Crosby
3. The Dark Side of the Moon by Pink Floyd
4. Rumours by Fleetwood Mac
5. The Nightfly by Donald Fagen
6. Thriller by Michael Jackson
7. Graceland by Paul Simon
8. Achtung Baby by U2
9. (What's the story) Morning Glory by Oasis
10. Supernatural by Carlos Santana
Discuss.
Oh, and I have 7 of those albums.
God has no place within these walls, just like facts have no place within organized religion. - Superintendent Chalmers
It's not up to us to choose which laws we want to obey. If it were, I'd kill everyone who looked at me cock-eyed! - Rex Banner
The Bluebird of Happiness long absent from his life, Ned is visited by the Chicken of Depression. - Gary Larson
About me: If I had my way I'd buy a few acres of land and an old tractor. I'd drive the old tractor around the land and passers-by would stop to ask me what kind of crop I was farming. "Crop?" I'd say, "Crops are work, I'm planting ideas."
Actually, The Nightfly is the one album on that list that I'm not familiar with. Even if it's fantastic, one good pick isn't going to salvage the rest o the list.
heyzeus wrote:Actually, The Nightfly is the one album on that list that I'm not familiar with. Even if it's fantastic, one good pick isn't going to salvage the rest o the list.
HEATHEN!!!!!!
You are granted a reprieve on the grounds of tender years.
God has no place within these walls, just like facts have no place within organized religion. - Superintendent Chalmers
It's not up to us to choose which laws we want to obey. If it were, I'd kill everyone who looked at me cock-eyed! - Rex Banner
The Bluebird of Happiness long absent from his life, Ned is visited by the Chicken of Depression. - Gary Larson
The name sounds familiar. I'm assuming it's a solo record from one of the Steely Dan members? If so, is it really better than any of the Steely Dan albums? Regardless, it seems an oddly obscure selection, as is the solo David Crosby disc
People think "queue" is just "q" followed by 4 silent letters.
tattuchu wrote:The name sounds familiar. I'm assuming it's a solo record from one of the Steely Dan members? If so, is it really better than any of the Steely Dan albums? Regardless, it seems an oddly obscure selection, as is the solo David Crosby disc
I think that language has a lot to do with interfering in our relationship to direct experience. A simple thing like metaphor will allows you to go to a place and say 'this is like that'. Well, this isn't like that. This is like this.
About me: I have prehensile eyebrows. I speak 9 languages fluently, one of which other people can also speak. When backed into a corner, I fit perfectly - having a right-angled arse.
orpheus wrote:They left out Frank Zappa? How could they!
I agree. You Are What You Is should have been on the list, definitely!
And Supernatural? Not the best Santana album by a mile - why not Abraxis, or Moonflower?
A book is a version of the world. If you do not like it, ignore it; or offer your own version in return. Salman Rushdie You talk to God, you're religious. God talks to you, you're psychotic. House MD Who needs a meaning anyway, I'd settle anyday for a very fine view. Sandy Denny This is the wrong forum for bluffing Paco Yes, yes. But first I need to show you this venomous fish! Calilasseia I think we should do whatever Pawiz wants. Twoflower Bella squats momentarily then waddles on still peeing, like a horse Millefleur
Pretty insulting to be picked to be in this list but, especially for David Crosby.
If I could Only Remember My Name is a minor masterpiece, I think and contains a song that has a lyric that means more than all of the Latinate codswollop and bigoted tripe emananting from the vatican:
I thought I met a man
Who said he knew a man
Who knew what was going on
I was mistaken
Only another stranger
That I knew
And I thought I had found a light
To guide me through
My night and all this darkness
I was mistaken
Only reflections of a shadow
That I saw
And I thought I'd seen someone
Who seemed at last
To know the truth
I was mistaken
Only a child laughing
In the sun
Ah, ah, ah ...
In the sun
OK. he was a bit stoned when he made the album...well, a lot stoned but you have to hear it to appreciate it.
Not even the Catholic church could stop me liking this album.