ZEPPELIN, BEATLES, NIRVANA, BEACH BOYS AMONG ROCK HALL DEFINITIVE 200

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has released their first ever Definitive 200, which is a list comprising the Top 200 Albums of All Time which every music fan should own. With the top 5 being #1 ‘Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band’ by The Beatles, #2 Pink Floyds ‘Dark Side of the Moon’, #3 Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller’, Led Zepplin’s ‘IV’ coming in at #4 and U2’s ‘Joshua Tree’ rounding out the 5, it’s hard to argue the beginning of the list.

During the press conference to announce the list, Brian Wilson and his band, which included fellow Beach Boy Al Jardine, ran through a few songs off their ground breaking album ‘Pet Sounds’ which coincidentally came in at #9 on the list. After the performance both Brian Wilson and Al Jardine talked about how proud they are of the album.

“(Wilson) I think ‘Pet Sounds’ I’m very proud and so is Al.” (Jardine) “Yeah, I am too.” (Wilson) “We’re both very proud of it and we think it’s really good.”

Much has been made about the competitive song writing inspiration between The Beatles and The Beach Boys, with each band challanging each other to write new material. It was said that ‘Pet Sounds’ was The Beach Boys answer to The Beatles ‘Rubber Soul’ and The Beatles ‘Sgt Peppers’ was their direct answer to ‘Pet Sounds.’ We also discussed what Brian and Al thought about The Beatles ‘Sgt Peppers’ being influenced by their landmark album ‘Pet Sounds.’

“(Wilson) I wouldn’t know what to say about that, I’m just very proud.” Jardine went on to add “It was inspired by ‘Pet Sounds’ obviously. They (The Beatles) loved what Brian did and what we did as a band and I think ‘Pet Sounds’ stands alone on it’s own pedestal.”

The albums and their rankings on the Definitive 200 list were determined by a committee of members of NARM, The National Association of Recording Merchandisers, which includes retailers BestBuy, Amazon.com, K Mart, WalMart, Virgin and many smaller retailers around the country. Rounding out the top ten on the Definitive 200 is The Rolling Stones ‘Exile on Main Street’, Carole King’s ‘Tapestry’, Bob Dylan’s ‘Highway 61 Revisited’, The Beach Boys ‘Pet Sounds’ and ‘Nevermind’ by Nirvana. Artists on the list range from Miles Davis, The Grateful Dead, Shania Twain, Stevie Wonder, Nas, Fleetwood Mac, The Dixie Chicks, Bruce Springsteen, Black Sabbath, Enimen, Jimi Hendrix, Green Day, 50 Cent, NWA, Jay Z, Public Enemy, Creed, Coldplay, Metallica, Elvis Presley and many others. For the complete list go to www.definitive200.com