Now Hear This!

The Ottawa Citizen's Weekly Arts and Books section included an article that could not be more apropos if I had edited it myself: Bruce Deachman reviews 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. How do you tackle a 960-page tome? Deachman compares his own (short) list of "must haves" to the book, and bases his judgement on whether or not those certain few gems are included. It is a good way to do it: an album everyone agrees on is certainly a must-hear. I will refrain from publishing my own set of prerequisites; the book has (so far) not disappointed and I will spend too much time thinking about what should have been included. If you think about it, 1001 albums is really too much. The editors must have been scrounging for semi-worthy albums (one major omission, I must say, is Dylan's Desire. It includes "Hurricane," which is enough, but also other gems, such as "One More Cup of Coffee." Like I said, I could go on for a while with this). Deachman's article isn't that great. But I like the coincidence.
I'm at 1996. Next up: 1997.