THE 50(ISH) GREATEST ALBUMS OF ALL TIME
Pie-nteen Ate-y Pie-ne
Album #48 : Taylor Swift — 1989
Is this the most culturally significant event of the last 6 or 7 years? It feels like a career defining moment, the instant that catapulted the artist from relative success to super stardom. The thing that made people sit up, listen, think to themselves ‘they’re not a kid anymore, this is for real.’ A breakthrough that changed the face of our culture, no… our society. Nothing was the same after this point.
I mean, you might say that and I wouldn’t argue too strongly. But it might be a bit much. It’s only a pie after all.
That’s right, this week was #LetsPie. For the 6th year in a row, I have live tweeted and Instagram-storied my way through baking a pie. This year, it was beef, stilton & onion and, like every year, it was delicious.
Someone asked me a very good question about #LetsPie this week, it was a simple question and one I didn’t really have an answer to. The question was…
Why?
And, honestly, I don’t know. It is just something that I do now. Honestly, it is always quite a stressful experience. I have written about cooking previously but basically what it comes down to is that I am not a very confident cook and food is very, very important to people. So why do I lay everything out for people to judge every year?
There is something about putting a piece of finished work out into the world that is incredibly nerve wracking. So, imagine how traumatic it is to show the whole working progress as well. What if I drop the pie? What if it goes wrong? It is incredible stressful and I don’t know why I do it. But actually, I do, because it is a lot of fun and people really get involved. The jeopardy is what makes the pie.
Obviously, Taylor Swift — world expert in courting drama — would agree. What is life without a little drama, without the thrill of putting something you have created out into the world?
Swift knows better than anyone how harsh the critics can be but she still keeps putting great music out there. None better, in my opinion, than 1989. There’s an argument to be had (perhaps over a pint) that it is the greatest pop album of all time.
That said, as far as I know Taylor Swift has never put her neck on the line and live tweeted herself making an album. That takes real courage.
Thanks for reading — over the course of 2021, I’ll be reviewing 50(ish) of the greatest albums ever recorded. You can see the list here:
There is also a playlist featuring the best song from each album here.
