For Those Who Have Good Taste, We Salute You

It is an advantage which the English have over us that in all classes they take great interest in every form of music. It may be that they are richer than we, or it may be that they are more idle, but whatever the reason, I nonetheless was pleasantly surprised to see the results of a new poll of English television viewers conducted by Channel Four of their favourite albums of all-time. Before you mock some of the choices (yes, Jagged Little Pill is absurdly high), take a moment to imagine what a similar poll conducted by NBC (or even HBO) would look like. You can rest assured that Radiohead would not be top of the list, and that the Smiths, the Verve, the Stone Roses, Joy Division, the Libertines, Blur, Pulp and Nick Drake would be absent all together. Yes, yes, I will say this of the English, they were always generous enemies and very good people with whom to listen to a well-crafted pop tune.

1. RADIOHEAD - OK Computer
2. U2 - The Joshua Tree
3. NIRVANA - Nevermind
4. MICHAEL JACKSON - Thriller
5. PINK FLOYD - Dark Side of the Moon
6. OASIS - Definitely Maybe
7. THE BEATLES - Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
8. MADONNA - Like a Prayer
9. GUNS N' ROSES - Appetite For Destruction
10. THE BEATLES - Revolver
11. R.E.M. - Automatic for the People
12. THE BEATLES - The White Album
13. QUEEN - A Night at the Opera
14. COLDPLAY - Parachutes
15. OASIS - (What's the Story) Morning Glory
16. ALANIS MORISSETTE - Jagged Little Pill
17. LED ZEPPELIN - Led Zeppelin IV
18. THE VERVE - Urban Hymns
19. JIMI HENDRIX - Are you Experienced
20. THE SMITHS - The Queen Is Dead
21. JOHN LENNON - Imagine
22. RADIOHEAD - The Bends
23. BOB MARLEY AND THE WAILERS - Exodus
24. THE STONE ROSES - The Stone Roses
25. SIMON AND GARFUNKEL - Bridge Over Troubled Water
26. BJORK - Debut
27. THE DOORS - The Doors
28. ABBA - Arrival
29. MICHAEL JACKSON - Off the Wall
30. DURAN DURAN - Rio
31. SEX PISTOLS - Never Mind the Bollocks Here's the Sex Pistols
32. DAVID BOWIE - The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars
33. THE BEACH BOYS - Pet Sounds
34. JOY DIVISION - Closer
35. THE ROLLING STONES - Let It Bleed
36. BLUR - Parklife
37. BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN - Born to Run
38. BILLIE HOLIDAY - Lady Sings the Blues
39. THE WHITE STRIPES - Elephant
40. BLACK SABBATH - Paranoid
41. THE SPECIALS - Specials
42. THE ROLLING STONES - Exile on Main Street
43. FRANK SINATRA - Songs for Swingin' Lovers!
44. THE CLASH - London Calling
45. THE PRODIGY - The Fat of the Land
46. THE VELVET UNDERGROUND - The Velvet Underground and Nico
47. DIRE STRAITS - Brothers in Arms
48. PIXIES - Doolittle
49. ARETHA FRANKLIN - I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You
50. THE LIBERTINES - The Libertines
51. HAPPY MONDAYS - Pills 'N' Thrills and Bellyaches
52. PATTI SMITH - Horses
53. THE WHO - Tommy
54. LOU REED - Transformer
55. BOB DYLAN - Blood on the Tracks
56. PRINCE - Sign 'o' the Times
57. DIDO - No Angel
58. AIR - Moon Safari
59. ELTON JOHN - Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
60. THE JAM - All Mod Cons
61. JEFF BUCKLEY - Grace
62. FLEETWOOD MAC - Rumours
63. MOBY - Play
64. RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS - Blood Sugar Sex Magik
65. THE POLICE - Synchronicity
66. JONI MITCHELL - Blue
67. CURTIS MAYFIELD - Superfly
68. ELVIS PRESLEY - The Sun Sessions
69. OUTKAST - Speakerboxxx/The Love Below
70. PULP - Different Class
71. KRAFTWERK - Trans-Europe Express
72. MASSIVE ATTACK - Blue Lines
73. BECK - Odelay
74. STEVIE WONDER - Songs in the Key of Life
75. KATE BUSH - Hounds of Love
76. TALKING HEADS - Fear of Music
77. EMINEM - The Marshall Mathers LP
78. MARVIN GAYE - What's Going On
79. GEORGE MICHAEL - Faith
80. SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER - The Original Movie Soundtrack
81. PRIMAL SCREAM - Screamadelica
82. JOHN COLTRANE - A Love Supreme
83. LOVE - Forever Changes
84. PAUL SIMON - Graceland
85. NICK DRAKE - Five Leaves Left
86. MEAT LOAF - Bat Out of Hell
87. DUSTY SPRINGFIELD - Dusty in Memphis
88. DE LA SOUL - 3 Feet High and Rising
89. THE STROKES - Is this It
90. MADNESS - One Step Beyond...
91. ROBBIE WILLIAMS - I've Been Expecting You
92. NEIL YOUNG - After the Gold Rush
93. PUBLIC ENEMY - It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back
94. BLONDIE - Parallel Lines
95. THE EAGLES - Hotel California
96. JAMES BROWN - Sex Machine
97. THE STREETS - A Grand Don't Come for Free
98. DEXY'S MIDNIGHT RUNNERS - Searching for the Young Soul Rebels
99. ROD STEWART - Every Picture Tells a Story
100. THE HUMAN LEAGUE - Dare!

As for glaring omissions, as with any list of this type, there are many, including In the Aeroplane Over the Sea; Astral Weeks; Beggars Banquet; Hunky Dory; Suede; Power, Corruption & Lies; and Abbey Road.