I listened to 50 albums AGAIN

In January, I listened to the top 50 albums of 2021 according to NME. I zooooooomed through them. I found a few new albums I really loved, and I enjoyed the whole process of finding new things to love that I did it again straight away. Across February and March, I listened to the top 50 albums of 2021 according to Pitchfork. A bit slower this time, this list was a bit more depressing than NME had been. I found less I liked but I felt very… accomplished in my task. So, yeah, I did it again. But jesus fucking christ. I decided to take the top 50 of Rolling Stone’s 500-long list of the best albums of all time and it took me March, April and the whole of May to get through it.

Do you know what, I’d gone into this wanting more variety in my life but I think this list made me realise I want variety to a point. It was just too much to go from OutKast to Paul Simon, and I hate Paul Simon’s music anyway (it’s his whiny whiny voice, I can’t help it). I saved 5 or so albums from both the NME and Pitchfork runthroughs to my library because I wanted to listen to them on my little walks to the offy and back, and no offence to the past but I didn’t save a single one off this Rolling Stones list. I felt… educated more than I felt entertained. I didn’t know Bruce Springsteen sounded like that. I didn’t know how many Lauryn Hill songs I already knew. I finally could hear the difference in the main Beatles' albums (because there were 5 on this list); I decided Revolver was my favourite until I got to Abbey Road and then I dropped Revolver and never looked back.

One thing that surprised me was how many of the men around the David Bowie times all had the exact same affectations in their voices. It made me appreciate 1. the Nirvana Nevermind album and 2. Amy Whinehouse’s Back to Black, because they both really stood out amongst the blur of Old Music by Men.

I learnt I don’t like Prince or Carole King. I learnt I like the Ramones and Nas.

Zarina was up in my house when I was doing the top 5. She initially said I am mental for being a person that listens to full albums instead of playlists, but then a few days later she said that finishing an album is like ticking something off a list. It feels good to complete something, and I think these lists and the albums on them are doing wonders for my completionist tendencies. So yes, I’m going to do it again. I’m working from this list next: ‘40 Greatest Emo Albums of All Time.' I despise that it is 40 instead of 50. But I am ready for an emo summer, so let’s goooo.