Chicago Snags Few Spots On SPIN's 125 Best Albums List

By Tankboy in Arts & Entertainment on Apr 28, 2010 5:40PM

SPIN has released their list of the 125 greatest albums in the last 25 years, and for once they seem to have actually compiled one of their lists in the interest of trying to display some sense of history since it is the first we’ve seen in a while not dominated by albums released in the last five years.

Quelle shock!

There aren’t many Chicago acts here, Wilco and The Smashing Pumpkins each make a single appearance, Kanye West racks up two mentions, and Liz Phair’s debut is the highest rated on the list from a local act. Sadly, there is no Fall Out Boy, sorry emo kids.

As usual there’s lot to dicker about - Nine Inch Nails’ The Downward Spiral is better than The Beastie Boys’ Paul’s Boutique? Jane’s Addiction’s Ritual de lo Habitual over Nothing’s Shocking? - but for the most part we find ourselves agreeing with a lot of the selections.

It's also worth noting that this time around, Nirvana ends up outranking Teenage Fanclub ... by quite a bit.

Check out the full list after the jump.

125 Moby – Play
124 Prince Paul – A Prince Among Thieves
123 The Hives – Veni Vidi Vicious
122 LCD Soundsystem – Sound of Silver
121 Queens of the Stone Age – Rated R
120 Lil Wayne – Tha Carter III
119 Green Day – American Idiot
118 Yeah Yeah Yeahs – It’s Blitz!
117 The Flaming Lips – Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots
116 Against Me! – New Wave
115 OutKast – Speakerboxxx/The Love Below
114 Animal Collective – Merriweather Post Pavilion
113 Danger Mouse – The Grey Album
112 Interpol – Turn On The Bright Lights
111 Teenage Fanclub – Bandwagonesque
110 Spiritualized – Ladies And Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space
109 The Chills – Submarine Bells
108 Fugees – The Score
107 Coldplay – A Rush of Blood to the Head
106 Fiona Apple – When the Pawn…
105 Massive Attack – Mezzanine
104 The Magnetic Fields – 69 Love Songs
103 M.I.A. – Arular
102 Queen Latifah – All Hail the Queen
101 Blur – Parklife
100 Kanye West – Late Registration
99 PJ Harvey – Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea
98 Johnny Cash – American Recordings
97 Arcade Fire – Neon Bible
96 The Roots – Things Fall Apart
95 Soundgarden – Superunknown
94 Jane’s Addiction – Ritual de lo Habitual
93 The Chemical Brothers – Dig Your Own Hole
92 Jay-Z – The Black Album
91 The Smiths – Strangeways, Here We Come
90 Elliott Smith – XO
89 Basement Jaxx – Remedy
88 Jeff Buckley – Grace
87 The White Stripes – White Blood Cells
86 TV on the Radio – Return to Cookie Mountain
85 Missy Elliott – Supa Dupa Fly
84 LL Cool J – Radio
83 Steve Earle – Guitar Town
82 Dr. Dre – The Chronic
81 Wilco – Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
80 The Fall – This Nation’s Saving Grace
79 The Breeders – Last Splash
78 Lauryn Hill – The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill
77 Boogie Down Productions – Criminal Minded
76 OutKast – Aquemini
75 Bjork – Post
74 Sleater-Kinney – Dig Me Out
73 The Pogues – Rum, Sodomy and the Lash
72 Lucinda Williams – Lucinda Williams
71 Oasis – Definitely Maybe
70 Pearl Jam – Ten
69 The Stone Roses – The Stone Roses
68 Raekwon – Only Built 4 Cuban Linx…
67 Tom Waits – Rain Dogs
66 Arcade Fire – Funeral
65 Eminem – The Marshall Mathers LP
64 The Flaming Lips – The Soft Bulletin
63 R.E.M. – Fables Of The Reconstruction
62 U2 – The Joshua Tree
61 Smashing Pumpkins – Siamese Dream
60 Fugazi – 13 Songs
59 Belle and Sebastian – If You’re Feeling Sinister
58 DJ Shadow – Endtroducing…
57 The White Stripes – Elephant
56 Aphex Twin – Selected Ambient Works 85-92
55 Hole – Live Through This
54 Dinosaur Jr. – You’re Living All Over Me
53 The Cure – The Head on the Door
52 Kanye West – The College Dropout
51 Rage Against the Machine – The Battle of Los Angeles
50 Jay-Z – Reasonable Doubt
49 D’Angelo – Voodoo
48 Elliott Smith – Either/Or
47 Portishead – Dummy
46 N.W.A. – Straight Outta Compton
45 The Pixies – Surfer Rosa
44 The Beastie Boys – Licensed to Ill
43 The Notorious B.I.G. – Ready to Die
42 Green Day – Dookie
41 Pulp – Different Class
40 Tricky – Maxinquaye
39 Public Enemy – Fear of a Black Planet
38 Run-D.M.C. – Raising Hell
37 Liz Phair – Exile in Guyville
36 The Jesus and Mary Chain – Psychocandy
35 R.E.M. – Automatic for the People
34 Beck – Odelay
33 Björk – Debut
32 Wu-Tang Clan – Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)
31 Massive Attack – Blue Lines
30 A Tribe Called Quest – The Low End Theory
29 Pavement – Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain
28 Radiohead – The Bends
27 Nirvana – In Utero
26 Guided by Voices – Bee Thousand
25 Nas – Illmatic
24 Metallica – Master of Puppets
23 Daft Punk – Discovery
22 Eric B. & Rakim – Paid in Full
21 Oasis – (What’s the Story?) Morning Glory
20 My Bloody Valentine – Loveless
19 Jay-Z – The Blueprint
18 The Strokes – Is This It
17 De La Soul – 3 Feet High and Rising
16 The Pixies – Doolittle
15 Hüsker Dü – New Day Rising
14 The Beastie Boys – Paul’s Boutique
13 Sonic Youth – Daydream Nation
12 OutKast – Stankonia
11 The Replacements – Tim
10 Nine Inch Nails – The Downward Spiral
09 Pavement – Slanted and Enchanted
08 PJ Harvey – Rid of Me
07 Guns N’ Roses – Appetite for Destruction
06 Public Enemy – It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back
05 Radiohead – OK Computer
04 Nirvana – Nevermind
03 The Smiths – The Queen is Dead
02 Prince – Sign O’ the Times
01 U2 – Achtung Baby