On this date in 2013, NME published their latest 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list. It was topped by The Smiths’ The Queen Is Dead. Other albums in the top 10 included The Beatles’ Revolver, David Bowie’s Hunky Dory, and The Strokes’ Is This It.
Made similarly to the Rolling Stone‘s 500 Albums of All Time, the list was voted for by NME journalists past and present, each of whom submitted a weighted list of 50 albums.
NME highly praised The Strokes’ debut album, Is This It, often citing its significant impact on music. NME originally gave 𝘐𝘴 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘐𝘵 a perfect 10/10 review, calling it one of the best debut LPs by a guitar band in the preceding 20 years.
NME celebrated the album’s raw energy, melodic pop-influenced sound, and gritty, lo-fi aesthetic, which was a deliberate contrast to the polished mainstream rock of the time.
In 2009, NME named Is This It the Greatest Album of the Decade (2000s).
However, This NME listing was criticised by the media. The Guardian noted that NME‘s Features Editor in 2013, Laura Snapes, rated in her top four spots four albums by the same band, the National. Snapes included a fifth National album at number 7 in her top ten greatest albums of all time. Another NME journalist, Kevin EG Perry, also selected four albums by the same band in his top four spots, the Rolling Stones. Ben Kaye of Consequence of Sound wrote that “if Laura Snapes had her wish, the top four would all be the National albums.”
Which tracks from Is This It are your favourites?
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Featured image by Stewart Isbell
