Yet another list of the Best! Albums! In! History! has come to light, this time presented by the damned Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Number one, of course, is Sgt. Pepper's, which I'm fine with. Peeks of Pet Sounds and Nevermind and Tapestry, naturally. But the top 100 overall scared the crap out of me. Specifically, but not limited to:

#21 ... Shania Twain, "Come On Over." (Only 20 albums in HISTORY are "better" than this? Wow!)
#64 ... Jewel, "Piece of You."
#76 ... Faith Hill, "Breathe."
#95 ... Creed, "Human Clay." (My heartbeat has stopped.)
#97 ... Celine Dion, "Falling Into You." (I surrender.)

I dip into 101-200 and become confronted with the worthy albums this quintet "beat":

#109 ... Sex Pistols, "Never Mind the Bollocks"
#110 ... The Beatles, "Rubber Soul"
#119 ... The Police, "Synchronicity" (only Police on the list)
#156 ... Public Enemy, "It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back" (only PE on the list)
#171 ... David Bowie, "The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust" (the only Bowie on the list)

Missing entirely from the whole list? New Order. Duran Duran (of course). The Kinks. Sly and the Family Stone. Roxy Music. Ramones. Pixies. Velvet Underground.

Who am I to quibble with the taste of anyone, especially a mass consortium of critics, but ... seriously? It's as though style and sales won out over substance or influence this time around, which would be fine if the list was framed as such. Shania was significant as a crossover country-to-pop artist, sure, but number 21 of all time? And CREED? There is just absolutely no fecking excuse. In two years Nickelback will be on this list, shoving Pearl Jam overboard with a flip of their split ends.