Every now and then some magazine or other sort of publication decides to trot out their “100 Greatest Indie Rock Albums Of All Time.” The last of note we wrote about was Blender (RIP, dudes) in 2007, so it’s ostensibly time for the folks at Amazon to show their own. Before you guffaw, the list has strengths. Like someone finally remembered Jawbreaker and Unrest’s Imperial f.f.r.r. … albeit the “Deluxe Edition.” (It’s clearly a site designed to sell you these very records, so grains of salt, please.) As with all lists, there are head scratchers, i.e. the Postal Service beating Hüsker Dü’s Zen Arcade, the Replacement’s Let It Be, and the Fall, etc., by a landslide. The criteria:
The term “Indie Rock” is undeniably tricky. We challenge anyone to definitively define what is and what is not indie rock–you will fail. For the purposes of compiling this list we’ve decided to use a combination of hard and fast rules and gut instinct. Our hard and fast rules are listed below, but as for gut instinct–you just kind of have to know. For example: John Oates put out a rock record called Phunk Shui on an indie label, however, in no way should Phunk Shui be mistaken for indie rock. Likewise, Black Flag put out many seminal punk albums on SST, but we’re not talking about punk or grunge or classic post-kraut-rock, we’re talking about indie rock. Are Black Flag really indie rock? Not to our ears.
Important to note that there was only one album per artist, Guided By Voices, Sonic Youth, and Sebadoh (Liz Phair is cool with this rule), plus no singles or EPs or comps or greatest hits. Dig in:
100 Dangerous Magical Noise – The Dirtbombs
99 Passover – The Black Angels
98 To Survive – Joan As Police Woman
97 Ultimate Alternative Wavers – Built To Spill
96 Trans Am – Trans Am
95 The Discovery Of A World Inside… – The Apples In Stereo
94 Waiter: ‘You Vultures!’ – Portugal The Man
93 Alligator – The National
92 Horses In The Sky – Silver Mt. Zion
91 Gallowsbird’s Bark – The Fiery Furnaces
90 Louden Up Now – (!!! Chk Chik Chick)
89 The Milk-Eyed Mender – Joanna Newsom
88 The Power Out – Electrelane
87 Cure For Pain – Morphine
86 Worn Copy – Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti
85 Vivian Girls – Vivian Girls
84 Hearts Of Oak – Ted Leo/Pharmacists
83 Save Yourself – Make Up
82 The Last Match – The Aislers Set
81 The Sea and the Bells – Rachel’s
80 The Ugly Organ – Cursive
79 De Stijl – The White Stripes
78 Nothing Feels Good – The Promise Ring
77 The Smell Of Our Own – The Hidden Cameras
76 Jane From Occupied Europe – Swell Maps
75 Furnace Room Lullaby – Neko Case
74 The Curtain Hits The Cast – Low
73 The R&B Of Membership – The Delta 72
72 II & III – Camper Van Beethoven
71 Ladies And Gentlemen We Are Floating… – Spiritualized
70 The Fawn – The Sea And Cake
69 Feast of Wire – Calexico
68 Oh, Inverted World – The Shins
67 Will You Find Me – Ida
66 Milk Man – Deerhoof
65 Coquelicot Asleep In The Poppies… – Of Montreal
64 Rejoicing in The Hands – Devendra Banhart
63 Destroyer’s Rubies – Destroyer
62 TNT – Tortoise
61 Neon Golden – The Notwist
60 Daddy’s Highway – The Bats
59 Set Yourself On Fire – Stars
58 Fabulous Muscles – Xiu Xiu
57 Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes – TV On The Radio
56 The Decline And Fall Of Heavenly – Heavenly
55 The Mysterious Production of Eggs – Andrew Bird
54 Pussy-Whipped – Bikini Kill
53 Sing No Evil – Half Japanese
52 Liberty Belle And The Black Diamond Express – The Go Betweens
51 Emperor Tomato Ketchup – Stereolab
50 And Don’t The Kids Just Love It – Television Personalities
49 Wild Love – Smog
48 Agaetis Byrjun – Sigur Ros
47 Red House Painters I – Red House Painters
46 Advisory Committee – Mirah
45 How Memory Works – Joan Of Arc
44 On Fire – Galaxie 500
43 On – Imperial Teen
42 Mass Romantic [Remastered] – The New Pornographers
41 Gulag Orkestar – Beirut
40 This Nation’s Saving Grace – The Fall
39 You Forgot It In People – Broken Social Scene
38 I Am A Bird Now – Antony & The Johnsons
37 When Your Heartstrings Break – Beulah
36 Our Endless Numbered Days – Iron & Wine
35 Person Pitch – Panda Bear
34 Let’s Get Out of This Country – Camera Obscura
33 Merriweather Post Pavilion – Animal Collective
32 Let It Be [Expanded Edition] – The Replacements
31 Repeater + 3 Songs – Fugazi
30 Zen Arcade – Hüsker Dü
29 24 Hour Revenge Therapy – Jawbreaker
28 Lift Your Skinny Fists… – godspeed you black emperor!
27 Yellow House – Grizzly Bear
26 The Glow Pt. 2 – The Microphones
25 Black Candy – Beat Happening
24 Funeral – Arcade Fire
23 Moon Pix – Cat Power
22 Diary – Sunny Day Real Estate
21 Lifted Or The Story Is In The Soil… – Bright Eyes
20 I Can Hear The Heart Beating As One – Yo La Tengo
19 Kill the Moonlight – Spoon
18 Give Up – The Postal Service
17 Dig Me Out – Sleater-Kinney
16 No Pocky for Kitty – Superchunk
15 I See A Darkness – Bonnie “Prince” Billy
14 We Have The Facts and We’re Voting Yes – Death Cab For Cutie
13 Michigan – Sufjan Stevens
12 Daydream Nation – Sonic Youth
11 69 Love Songs Volume 1 – The Magnetic Fields
10 Bakesale – Sebadoh
09 Either/Or – Elliott Smith
08 Surfer Rosa – Pixies
07 If You’re Feeling Sinister – Belle & Sebastian
06 Slanted & Enchanted – Pavement
05 Imperial f.f.r.r. (Deluxe Edition) – Unrest
04 Exile In Guyville – Liz Phair
03 Spiderland – Slint
02 In the Aeroplane Over the Sea – Neutral Milk Hotel
01 Bee Thousand – Guided by Voices
Yellow House > MPP, for those keeping track. You can see it all in context at Amazon.com. (True, some of the records we chose for our Friendly Deals are on this puppy, too. Including #1. What good taste we have.)
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Good to see Hearts of Oak and Destroyer’s Rubies on here. But no Dino Jr, Modest Mouse, or THE FUCKING DISMEMBERMENT PLAN?! WTF MATES?!
So awesome to see De Stijl on the list, that is still my favorite White Stripes album.
“pathetic” “garbage” “how dare they leave out…” how dare AMAZON.COM leave out one of your personal favorite albums!?!?! who cares. you’re all assbags. shut up.
One would think they would at least mention the Velvet Underground in there somewhere.. this list fails on so many levels.
Velvet Underground has no business being on the list at all. Go to the amazon page and see what their criteria for inclusion.
They maybe should’ve relaxed the criteria a bit for the band the created indie rock in the first place.
hell yeah for 57, and 15.
my two favorite albums at the moment
very please to see in the aeroplane under the sea number 2
methinks this list is severely hampered by the “only one entry per artist” rule they’ve come up with. i’m in and out of various states of umbrage with this list. whack.
This is one fucked up list.
This list is more like “albums your dad likes”. I almost had a seizure from scoffing so much!
Your dad is cooler than you are.
This indie rock list is good to get new tracks, however i can’t see any good, popular known person like Greenday. The Greenday is also a good one album.
a list with vivian girls, and yet no early modest mouse or turn on the bright lights ? very strange. i do agree that michigan > illinoise, though, since the latter is composed of about 1/2 filler.
I don’t hate this list. I agree with a lot of choices, but I feel like it’s lacking. I would have included Old World Underground… by Metric, Interstate 8 from Modest Mouse & 11.11 from Regina Spektor. I also feel like Digital Ash in a Digital Urn was a better Bright Eyes album.
i’m happy there are my beloved bands like Grizzly Bear on the list. but i don’t see Beach house, mgmt, fleet foxes, clientele, the bird and the bee, husky rescue and Regina Spektor.
it’s the ok list but not that perfect.
whoever said that theres not 100 great indie rock albums is right.
theres maybe 50. if that.
half of these albums are so obscure and all around generally worthless.
how is guided by voices bee thousand the best?
there is no way that album could be the greatest ever. It just doesnt have
the direction, inspiration, or musicianship to be even in the top ten. Yes it has
tape hiss in every song. that doesnt make it the best. jandek has tape hiss.
yes it has a couple nifty hooks. so does U2.
im just sayin.
but not sayin.
If all you hear is tape hiss when you listen to Bee Thousand, I feel sorry for you. You’re missing out on a great album. BTW, U2 hasn’t written a hook on par with Hot Freaks or Tractor Rape Chain in over a decade.
Wow, so because you think they’re obscure that makes them “worthless?” Idiot.
MGMT aren’t indie and even if they were they wouldn’t be close to making this list.
Cool that Bee Thousand was up there, but the Vampire On Titus/Propeller cd that was floating around prior to that was more of a gem to me than the one that broke them. And I also like Alien Lanes better as an album. All in all, would have put Pavement’s Slanted and Enchanted at the top. That tape was literally stuck in my car’s tape deck for a year when it first came out. And Sebadoh has to be numero 3, at least for “calling the bottom” (ha that’s a popular phrase these days) on Indie rock when they began poking fun of the concept with songs like “Gimmie Indie Rock.” Anyway, my two cents after a quick scan.
no minus the bear?? crazy.
diary is not better than how it feels to be something on.
Seriously, no fucking Polvo? I think it should have been called “Lame amazon employee picks for what they believe are the best “indie”
records.” EPIC FAIL.
For that matter, where the hell are Dinosaur Jr, Modest Mouse, The Dismemberment Plan, Pinback? I’d say those are pretty “indie rock” bands, no?…..I fail to see how the Vivian Girls even made this list. Give me a break.
I don’t see the strokes, or modest mouse :_{
But so glad Neutral Milke Hotel got #2 =D
The next person who comments on the lack of Modest Mouse deserves to be shot. Read the comments. WE KNOW
No Airborne Toxic Event?
Where are The Frames, My Morning Jacket, Gomez, Uncle Tupelo, The Black Keys, etc, etc.
Nice to see Deerhoof represented but Milk Man isn’t even their best album, let alone one of the Top 100 indie albums ever.
Pretty good list, considering. However, not including Sleater Kinneys “the Woods” is a huge omission. That album dwarfs so so many of the albums on this list. I could make a strong case for some others as well. The Glow part 2 and Beat Happening are some good looks that often get ignored. However, the last half of the list looks like it was constructed by a reviewer who doesn’t really know his stuff.
The fact that ther is no MODEST MOUSE on the entire list, yet spiritualized snd the NOtwist make the list, as well as probably twenty other marginal albums, makes this list completely irrelevant.
I’ve got a problem with this list when it doesn’t include:
interpol- TOTBA
the strokes- Is This It
mogwai- Young Team
Oh yeah…and no Modest Mouse? I think The Moon and Antarctica could have made the list.
TM&A came out on a major label, fool.
With the exceptions of White Stripes, Marnie Stern, some Thermals, the first Arcade Fire, and the last Fugazi, indie rock hasn’t been worthy of the name since about 1997. I mean, the shit is still independent, I guess, but it hasn’t rocked in ages.
Oh, and Death. …For the Whole World to See should be Top 3 easy.
they should have allopecia by WHY? on here but idk if it is an indie thing. im pretty sure its anticon and that was made by yoni and friends
criminally underrated band. also on dismemberment plan ‘emergency and I’ was the predecessor to every dancy indie band (and better than them)…should be on.
ogame oyun oyna
film izle
neutral milk hotel should be higher on this list, anyone agree?
you people really all suck
Built to Spill should have been much much higher on this list and it should have been you in reverse.
I think I might like Illinois better, but I can see how Michigan would be considered a better album. Illinois just blows you away instrumentally/compositionally, but Michigan had the all-around package–the signature maximalist amazingness of Sufjan Stevens, plus straight-out good songwriting that would have been just as enjoyable on an album done in a conventional rock style. “Romulus” is a piece of lyric genius; so is “Say Yes! to M!ch!gan!!”. And “Vito’s Ordination Song” only has a few lines of lyrics, but it packs so much meaning into the one repeated line that it manages to mean something slightly different every time it’s repeated. From an artistic standpoint, Michigan might well be considered the better album. But Illinois is closer to my heart.
Sad that they picked MMP as their sole Animal Collective addition. It was a great album, but not as good as Strawberry Jam, Sung Tongs or Feels.