Q Magazine

If you love music then Q magazine is compulsory reading. I first came across a copy when my Dad brought one in with him when he came to visit from HK. My sister had actually asked him for O, the Oprah magazine. The 150 page publication featured in depth interviews with musicians, features and reviews of old and new music, bands, and albums, and some thought provoking articles. I have not found a shop her that sells Q but I bought the February 2006 issue in Singapore. It was a collector’s edition and it was packed in a printed sleeve.

In this edition they feature the 100 Greatest Albums Ever as voted by the readers. The inside cover is designed by Peter Blake who also designed the album cover for The Beatles Sgt Peppers album. That is the one that features Timothy Leary, Aldus Huxley, and Alistair Cowley amongst numerous others. It features the covers of all the albums nominated.

Only 33 pages of the magazine are actually dedicated to the cover story. This includes a small paragraph about each album, obviously a picture of each album, and a couple of articles and interviews relating to some of the albums. The rest of the magazine is filled with articles about some new break through bands. It’s a great tool when you are bored of the music out there and just want to hear something new. One of the new bands I picked up from this is Bloc Party. Very original sounds. One thing Q does not feature is useless gossip articles. It’s all about the music.

I guess I should list all 100 albums for you now. But rather than just regurgitate the information on to my blog, I am gonna give my abbreviated 2 cents. So I guess that would make it my Buck Fitty. In short, feel free to retaliate.

100. Yankee Hotel Foxtrot – Wilco 2002
Never heard it or of it.

99. Rain Dogs – Tom Waits 1985
Never heard it.

98. Paul’s Boutique – Beastie Boys 1989
Old school, they rock.

97. Transformer – Lou Reed 1972
Amazing.

96. The Man-Machine – Kraftwerk 1978
Never heard it, but sounds interesting.

95. Raw Power – Iggy and the Stooges 1973
Punk rock is coming to be.

94. Purple Rain – Prince 1984
This should be in the top 10!!!

93. Exodus – Bob Marley 1977
Don’t even let me start. And this is his only nominated album!!!

92. Everything Must Go – Manic Street Preachers 1996
I hear its good.

91. It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back – Public Enemy 1988
Hell yeah!

90. Disintegration – The Cure 1989
Great and painful.

89. Vauxhaul & I – Morissey 1994
Sounds strange.

88. After The Goldrush – Neil Young 1970
He is the man.

87. Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea – PJ Harvey 2000
Never heard it.

86. The Marshall Mathers LP – Eminem 2000
Well I guess it sells so some people love it.

85. Different Class – Pulp 1995
I used to love this.

84. Songs In The Key Of Life – Stevie Wonder 1976
Everybody loves little Stevie.

83. Stanley Road – Paul Weller 1995
Not my style.

82. Born To Run – Bruce Springsteen 1975
He paid the coss to be The Boss. Bruce is the man.

81. Word Gets Around – Stereophonics 1997
Don’t know it.

Okay I am done typing. I guess if anyone really wants to see the rest then let me know and I will post them up in 10’s or 20’s. It does get pretty interesting and you will be surprised by some of the nominees and some who weren’t nominated. So if you didn’t get the gist of it, Q is an awesome publication all about music. I gotta give a shout out to my man Albert Hoffman who turned 100 years old on the 11th of this month!!! He was the dude who discovered LSD and contributed to opening my mind as well as millions of other individuals when he accidentally spilled the chemical on his skin and took a, trip.


If the doors of perception were cleansed everything would appear to man as it is, infinite. - William Blake