The 111 Best Indie Albums of All-Time

The blogger world is abuzz with Amazon's list of the 100 best Indie albums of all time. Have to say there are some quality choices in there...but the "exclusion" of punk music doesn't make a lot of sense since indie music would likely not exist without it. And excluding some band who started as indie rockers but became mammoth rock stars also feels wrong. Part of the reason bands like REM, Jane's, and Green Day made the leap was because their "indie" release was so good. And they included Death Cab For Cutie which negates their own rule. I'd have to say I agree with Blender's list from a couple years back much more...and I usually hate every list they've ever done. (thank god they're gone).

Anyway, lots of people love to complain when they don't like something...then do nothing about it. So I'm going to put my money where my mouth is and make my own list. But as you know...I always do lists one better and I go to 11. In this case, 111. My rules are such:

A. One album per band.
B. No compilations
C. If an album "originally" was indie distributed (Jack Johnson) then it was included...but if it parterned with a major label distribution company, it was excluded. I may have screwed up on a couple...
D. No rap. I love rap...but there were too many great indie rap albums to include. (DJ Shadow and Danger Mouse sneak in because they are cross-genre)

* Why Elliott? I'll tell you why I choose Elliott. It was a tough call...any of the albums in the 10 could be number one...but in my opinion, Elliott's album was slightly more important. Most people forget that many of the songs from this album went onto be the soundtrack for Good Will Hunting and Elliott's track Miss Misery was nominated for an Oscar. Though MM was not on the album, that moment in time is a very symbolic moment. On the very stage in front of 100 million people, Celine Dion performs her song which was one of the most popular songs of the decade, only to be followed moments later by elliott's hushed tone. I think that moment on stage is the moment indie rock changed forever. That was the moment that indie rock became legit. And it was Elliott's "either/or" that made that moment possible. *

Here are the 111 Best Indie Albums of All-Time:

1. Elliott Smith - either/or
2. Jane's Addiction - Jane's Addiction
3. Pixies - Doolittle
4. Pavement - Slanted & Enchanted
5. The Stone Roses - The Stone Roses
6. Sonic Youth - Daydream Nation
7. R.E.M. - Life's Rich Pageant
8. Fugazi - Repeater
9. Belle and Sebastian - If You're Feeling Sinister
10. Neutral Milk Hotel - In the Aeroplane Over The Sea
11. My Bloody Valentine - Loveless
12. Sleater-Kinney - Dig Me Out
13. Husker Du - Zen Arcade
14. The Replacements - Let It Be
15. Sigur Ros - Agaetis Byrjun
16. Bright Eyes - Lifted or The Story is in The Soil
17. Zero 7 - Simple Things
18. The Damned - Damned Damned Damned
19. Sebadoh - Bakesale
20. Interpol - Antics
21. Bad Religion - No Control
22. Liz Phair - Exile in Guyville
23. Yo La Tengo - I Can Hear The Heart Beating As One
24. Built To Spill - There's Nothing Wrong With Love
25. Modest Mouse - Lonesome Crowded West
26. Black Flag - Damaged
27. Morphine - Cure For Pain
28. The Chemical Brothers - Exit Planet Dust
29. Superchunk - On the Mouth
30. Beck - One Foot In the Grave
31. Mogwai - Young Team
32. Camper Van Beethoven - Camper Van Beethoven
33. Cat Power - You Are Free
34. Guided By Voices - Bee Thousand
35. The Fall - This Nation's Saving Grace
36. Bauhaus - In The Flat Field
37. The Orb - Adventures Beyond the Ultraworld
38. Arcade Fire - Funeral
39. Slint - Spiderland
40. Green Day - Kerplunk!
41. Archers of Loaf - Icky Metal
42. Unrest - Imperial f.f.r.r.
43. DJ Shadow - Entroducing...
44. Minutemen - Double Nickels on the Dime
45. The National - Boxer
46. Stephen Malkmus - Stephen Malkmus
47. Ryan Adams - Heartbreaker
48. The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion - Orange
49. Nirvana - Bleach
50. Dead Kennedys - Fresh Fruit For Rotting Vegetables
51. Bad Brains - I Against I
52. Ride - Nowhere
53. Nine Inch Nails - Pretty Hate Machine
54. The Arctic Monkeys - Whatever People Say I Am
55. My Morning Jacket - At Dawn
56. Happy Mondays - Pills 'n' Thrills and Bellyaches
57. Sunny Day Real Estate - Diary
58. Cocteau Twins - Blue Bell Knoll
59. Feist - Let It Die
60. Spoon - Gimme Fiction
61. Spiritualized - Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space
62. Smog - Wild Love
63. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
64. Dinosaur Jr. - You're Living All Over Me
65. Moby - Moby
66. The Cult - Love
67. The Descendents - Milo Goes To College
68. Love and Rockets - Seventh Dream of a Teenage Heaven
69. The Magnetic Fields - 69 Love Songs
70. Jawbreaker - 24 Hour Revenge Therapy
71. At The Drive In - In/Casino/Out
72. Cold War Kids - Robbers & Cowards
73. Big Black - Songs About Fucking
74. Saint Etienne - Good Humor
75. The Go-Betweens - 16 Lovers Lane
76. The Beat Happening - The Beat Happening
77. Tortoise - TNT
78. Shins - Oh, Inverted World
79. Danger Mouse - The Grey Album
80. The Get Up Kids - Something To Write Home About
81. The New Pornographers - Electric Version
82. Death Cab For Cutie - We Have The Facts and We Are Voting Yes
83. Flipper - Generic Flipper
84. LCD Soundsystem - LCD Soundsystem
85. Television Personalities - And Don't The Kids Just Know
86. Calexico/Iron & Wine - In the Reigns
87. Bonnie "Prince" Billy - I See A Darkness
88. The Sea and Cake - The Sea and Cake
89. Whiskeytown - Faithless Street
90. Soundgarden - Ultramega OK
91. Low - Secret Name
92. Tapes N Tapes - The Loon
93. M. Ward - Post War
94. The Anniversary - Your Majesty
95. The White Stripes - De Stijl
96. The Flaming Lips - In A Priest Driven Ambulance
97. Mastodon - Levithan
98. Meat Puppets - Meat Puppets II
99. Orbital - Snivilisation
100. Bikini Kill - Pussy-Whipped
101. Drive-By Truckers - The Dirty South
102. Mudhoney - Mudhoney
103. Rilo Kiley - The Execution of All Things
104. godspeed you black emperor - lift your skinny fists...
105. Stereolab - Peng!
106. TV on the Radio - Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes
107. Afghan Whigs - Up In It
108. Cursive - The Ugly Organ
109. The Jesus Lizard - Liar
110. Jack Johnson - Brushfire Fairytales
111. The Brian Jonestown Massacre - Her Satanic Majesty's Second Request

Visit my Amazon store for none of these.