Damn freakin' straight.
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"VH1 Awards Beatles for Top Album" By DAVID BAUDER
NEW YORK (AP) - ``Revolver,'' which bridged the Beatles' moptop era with their experimental years in the studio, was judged the best album in rock 'n' roll history by experts in a VH1 poll released Thursday.
The Beatles accounted for five of the top 11 on VH1's list of the 100 greatest albums.
VH1 polled more than 500 journalists, music executives and artists. Wyclef Jean, Britney Spears, Carole King, Jackson Browne, Elvis Costello and Roberta Flack were among the respondents.
``Revolver,'' which was released in 1966, included ``Eleanor Rigby,'' ``She Said She Said,'' ``Taxman,'' ``Here, There and Everywhere'' and ``Tomorrow Never Knows.''
''`Revolver' is just invulnerable,'' said Bill Flanagan, VH1 executive producer. ``Every track is great. Every track is like a polished jewel.''
The album's reputation has grown recently, particularly when its CD re-release restored songs left off the original American record. It has eclipsed the better-known ``Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band,'' which was No. 10 on VH1's list but judged only the fourth best Beatles album.
``Rubber Soul'' (No. 6), ``Abbey Road'' (No. 8) and ``The Beatles,'' also known as the White album (No. 11), were the other Beatles discs on the list.
Nirvana's 1991 ``Nevermind,'' which launched the grunge rock era, was No. 2 on the list, followed by the Beach Boys' 1966 ``Pet Sounds,'' which founder Brian Wilson performed in its entirety on a concert tour last year.
Two artists who died under tragic circumstances rounded out the top 5: Marvin Gaye's socially conscious ``What's Going On'' from 1971 and the Jimi Hendrix Experience's ``Are You Experienced?'' from 1967.
The oldest music on the list was from Elvis Presley's ``Sun Sessions,'' recorded in 1954-55 although not released as an album until 1976, and the newest was Lauryn Hill's 1998 ``The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill'' (No. 37).
The Rolling Stones and Bob Dylan each had four albums on the list. Artists with three each included Led Zeppelin, the Who, Aretha Franklin, Hendrix, Prince, Paul Simon and Michael Jackson.
While mega-selling albums like Jackson's ``Thriller'' (No. 23) and Carole King's ``Tapestry'' (No. 39) made the list, many judged influential were poor sellers at the time.
Examples include Kraftwerk's 1977 ``Trans-Europe Express'' (No. 56), Television's 1977 ``Marquee Moon'' (No. 83) and the late Jeff Buckley's 1994 debut, ``Grace'' (No. 73).
``It reminds you of the fact that ultimately albums that stand the test of time mean a lot to people in isolation - millions of people in isolation,'' Flanagan said.
There's also a lot to be said for first impressions: 18 of the top albums were debuts, from the Doors to Lauryn Hill.
And newlywed Madonna has something else to celebrate. Her ``Like a Prayer'' album made it on the list, barely, at No. 100.
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"Beatles' 'Revolver' tops VH1 list of greatest rock albums"
LOS ANGELES, Jan 4 (Reuters) - The Beatles' landmark 1966 LP "Revolver," released the same month the band toured America for the last time, was crowned the greatest album of rock 'n' roll in a survey of musicians and critics released on Thursday.
"Revolver," which crystallized the Beatles' transformation from a live pop act mobbed by screaming fans into a trend-setting studio band, capped a list of the 100 best rock albums in a poll conducted by the cable music channel VH1.
The Beatles, who are topping the charts again, 30 years after their breakup, with "1," a collection of all their No. 1 hits, dominated the VH1 survey with a total of five albums.
In addition to "Revolver" at No. 1, the Beatles made the list with "Rubber Soul" (No. 6), "Abbey Road" (No. 8), "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" (No. 10) and "The Beatles," better known as the White Album (No. 11).
"Revolver," released the same month as the Beatles' last live U.S. performance at San Francisco's Candlestick Park in August, 1966, marked a quantum leap in the sonic experimentation featured on "Rubber Soul" a year earlier. And it paved the way for the groundbreaking "Sgt. Pepper's" concept album the following year.
With songs such as "Eleanor Rigby," "Taxman," "I'm Only Sleeping," "Here, There and Everywhere," "She Said, She Said" and "Got to Get You into My Life," the "Revolver" album blended sophisticated, sometimes opaque lyrics with influences of pop, Motown, chamber music, Hindu instruments and hallucinogenic drugs.
"Revolver" also showed influences of two other leading rock acts of that era -- Bob Dylan and the Beach Boys, who figure prominently on the VH1 poll as well.
Dylan and the Beatles' biggest contemporary rivals on the British rock scene, the Rolling Stones, each had four LPs on the VH1 top 100, and seven other acts claimed three albums on the list, including Led Zeppelin, The Who, Aretha Franklin and Jimi Hendrix.
Ranked No. 2 on the list was "Nevermind" by grunge rock band Nirvana, followed by the Beach Boys' classic "Pet Sounds" at No. 3. Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On" and Hendrix's "Are You Experienced?" round out the top five.
The earliest recording on the list is Elvis Presley's "The Sun Sessions," which was recorded in 1954-55 but not released as an album until 1976. The earliest release is Miles Davis' "Kind of Blue" (1959), and the most recent release is Lauryn Hill's Grammy-winning "The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill (1998).
The list devised from a VH1 poll of 500 rock journalists and musicians, including Britney Spears, Jackson Browne, Elvis Costello, Roberta Flack, Art Garfunkel, Wyclef Jean and Carole King.
Music and documentary footage of artists on the list will be shown in a five-hour special, "100 Greatest Albums of Rock & Roll," airing on VH1 Jan. 15 through Jan. 19.