101 Albums that Changed Popular Music

by Chris Smith

Chris Smith's 101 Albums That Changed Popular Music tells the fascinating stories behind the most groundbreaking, influential, and often controversial albums ever recorded, ranging from The Anthology of American Folk Music (1952) to Elephant (2003) by The White Stripes.
Organized chronologically to capture the flow of culture from one album to the next, this volume illuminates how these classic recordings reflected--and sometimes changed--the political, social, and economic culture of their eras. Among the featured albums are releases from the hard-blues explosion of the '60s, including Robert Johnson's King of the Delta Blues Singers , a landmark collection whose songs were later covered by the likes of Cream, Led Zeppelin, and the Rolling Stones. Punk made its mark in the '70s with Patti Smith's Horses and the Clash's London Calling . In the '80s Michael Jackson's blockbuster LP, Thriller , not only topped the charts, it became the best-selling record of all time. Diversity defined the '90s, with the most influential albums ranging from Garth Brooks' No Fences , which made country one of the hottest musical genres of the decade, to Dr. Dre's debut, The Chronic , a multi-platinum smash hit that brought West Coast hip hop into the mainstream. For each
album, the book lists the basic publication information, including release date, label, and producer. More important, Chris Smith sheds light on the history of these albums, revealing the inspiration behind their creation, and why they continue to stand the test of time. Selected on the basis of their popular appeal and influence on later genres, the albums included represent a wide variety of genres, such as blues, jazz, rock, reggae, rockabilly, folk, soul, hip-hop, and country.
A timeline of important events, a selected bibliography for further reading, and an appendix of albums that almost made the cut round out this volume, making it a gold mine of information for everyone who loves popular music.

Genres: Music, Nonfiction

304 pages, Paperback

First published December 30, 2006

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.

Chris Smith is a music journalist and professor of cultural critcism, U. British Columbia. His books include Inside New York, The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Rock History: The Rise of Album Rock, an The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Rock History: From Arenas to the Underground.

Reviews

[Jymi Cliche · Rating 5 out of 5]

i really enjoyed this book, although i took it to another level when i read it several years ago and i listened to every single album in chronological order as they were listed, on youtube or in my collection and even bought a couple. it was a real mind blowing experience. it took me months and i reviewed them all on instagram as i listened. there were a few i didn't like, but it opened up me up far more to a wide range of music than i ever had been and i continued to explode further down the road in every direction. i don't know that the book alone is as exciting as it was for me to listen along with it and to hear how each artist influenced the next. if you read this book, i recommend you di what i did and listen to the albums too

[Jeffrey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Solid synopsis of influential albums released from the 1950's to around 2000. Selection and discussion not substantially different than reading the Rolling Stone Top 100 album books. Discussion straight-forward, not too many surprises compared to most rock criticism on this subject.

[Erin Weil · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'd strongly recommend "101 Albums That Changed Popular Music" to any lover of music. The book covers a wide variety of genres through an extensive amount of time, starting with the "Anthology of American Folk Music" by various artists in 1956 up until "Elephant" by the White Stripes in 2003.

Each of the albums gets around a two page write-up, giving a brief description of the artist(s), the album's sound, and the impact of the album on the music of the years to follow. While the write-ups are interesting enough that I was willing to read all the entries, even if I wasn't particularly interested (or aware) of the album in question, I found that a lot of Smith's language was repetitive. He often used the same adjectives to describe aspects of the album ("thundering" bass and "avant-garde" were major offenders). I can't completely blame him, however, when there's 101 albums each requiring a description. Overall I thought the descriptions were pretty insightful, giving a basic understanding that provides enough information to decide if the album seemed like something I was interested in, and allowing me to form an opinion on whether or not I thought the album belonged on the list, while remaining laconic enough to never bore me with details.

I found the list itself to be questionable in some regards, but I think everyone who reads this book will object to certain albums that made the cut, and others that didn't. Smith clearly addresses this in the Preface, which I found to do a great job of explaining the conditions under which the list was made. I think overall, almost all genres are represented in an appropriate amount and that a good mix of popular and more "underground" albums were included.


Although the list of 101 albums is the main focus of the book, I found myself enjoying the history of Recorded sound in the beginning of the book and the "Ten Important Producers" section at the end of the book. Overall, I think the book was a good read if you enjoy reading about all kinds of music. I also think it'll be more enjoyable if you've heard most of the albums, as I found myself enjoying the passages about albums Iv'e heard more than passages about albums I haven't heard. However, if you haven't heard most of the albums this book may very well peak your interest on certain albums. My only major complaint is the repetitiveness of the writing, which only gets worse and worse as you progress through the book. Other than that I felt like it was very enjoyable.

[Andrew Etringer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to make sure I did not ignore some important music from the past, and it turns out I did:
some great, and some terrible. This book covers all genres of pop music chronologically, and in a basic manner. Unless you've been listening to FM radio consistently for years, you will learn something. I stopped reading full descriptions starting in 1979, as everything that year and later that was new to me did not intrigue me enough to want to give a real listen. So far I've been enjoying for the first time: Harry Smith's Anthology of American Folk Music (1926-1934), Muddy Waters at Newport Folk Festival 1960, Pet Sounds (Beach Boys, 1966), Trout Mask Replica (Captain Beefhart, 1969), The Mahavishnu Orchestra, and Discreet Music (Brian Eno, 1975), among others. There are certain genres that have stuck with me through the years (Avante Garde jazz and rock; bluegrass; late-60s/early-70s rock,), and others I no longer have an interest in (metal; punk; overly cheesy stuff).

[Kurt Klopmeier · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good short history of the album, and thumbnail reviews of a bunch of records, both in the canon and outside. Helpful for a basic introduction to American music through the decades and to find previously-overlooked albums. But the Spice Girls? Really?

[Bill · Rating 2 out of 5]

Predictable, like pop-journalism with rose-colored glasses.

[Cody Ewing]

It wasn't as much an actual novel as it was a list of someone's opinion of 101 albums that changed popular music. I agreed with some, but others I disagreed with.