The Top 100 Canadian Albums

"The Top 100 Canadian Albums" is a book by Bob Mersereau, published in 2007 by Goose Lane Editions.

Mersereau acknowledged that the list will cause heated debate among music fans across the country. "The important part is to talk about Canadian music and enjoy it", he said. "I'd be shocked if there wasn't complaints and arguments and debates."

Mersereau surveyed 600 music journalists, retailers, musicians and disc jockeys of all ages, from all parts of Canada. They each submitted a list of 10 favourite Canadian albums released between 1957 and 2007.

Criticism

This book has been harshly criticized for having a strong regional bias. It has also been criticized for having a genre bias.

A review from the "Montreal Gazette" by Juan Rodriquez stated, “Bogus might be the only polite word to describe The Top 100 Canadian Albums … actually a slightly longer B-word pops into mind.” Rodriquez debunks the list by exposing the “pure bush-league” research methodology that has led to its strong biases. He focuses on the lists bias against Quebec artists, particularly francophone Quebec artists. He notes that only 8% of the artists on the list are from Quebec, a province with over 23% of the population of Canada, and he further notes that only 2% of the artists are francophone artists from Quebec, a group that comprises 80% of the population of Quebec and close to 19% of the population of Canada. Rodriquez analyzed Mersereau's list of “experts”, a group comprised of journalists, artists, DJs, retailers, distributors, and record industry people, and found that only 10% of them were from Quebec, and only 5% were francophones from Quebec. Rodriquez also raises some serious questions about the people who were excluded from Mersereau's list of experts. “Alain Brunet of "La Presse" - and dean of local French-language music critics - was not asked for his opinions. Indeed, "La Presse", "Le Journal de Montréal" and "The Gazette" were shut out. Major observers of "la scène local" like Patrick Baillargeon and Olivier Robillard Laveaux of "Voir" aren't there.” In his conclusion Rodriquez states, “Mersereau's inability to face all the music created in Canada in a cogent critical manner is disturbing.” [ [http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/news/preview/story.html?id=c3b09d89-de43-42d9-8bf5-481e8d04342a Spot the francophones ] ]

A review from the "National Post" by Mark Medley identifies regional and genre biases as well. “While any list of "Top 100" anything is sure to ignite some controversy, there are definitely some glaring omissions from journalist Bob Mersereau's new book.” He lists 10 albums he considers to be amongst these glaring omissions. Four of these albums are from British Columbia artists. One of these was The New Pornographers’ "Mass Romantic". “To completely leave off Carl Newman, Neko Case et. al is plain wrong. I'm grouping in Stars' 2004 album "Set Yourself on Fire" in with this.” Stars is a band from Montreal, Quebec. Medley also noted the omission of BC band The Grapes of Wrath's album "Now and Again". “This album cracked the top 50 in "Chart Magazine"'s 1996 and 2000 top 50 Canadian albums polls.” He also notes the under representation of hip hop artists, and lists Maestro Fresh Wes’ "Symphony in Effect" and Dream Warriors' "And Now the Legacy Begins" as two of his omissions. [ [http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/theampersand/archive/2007/10/20/top-10-overlooked-canadian-albums-of-all-time.aspx Top 10 overlooked Canadian albums - The Ampersand ] ]

The List

References

External References

* [http://www.canada.com/globaltv/globalshows/et_story.html?id=981a7cd4-4a31-4c0a-a024-0ffd50445df4 canada.com article]
* [http://jam.canoe.ca/Music/2007/10/18/4584835-cp.html canoe.com article]
* [http://www.cbc.ca/arts/music/story/2007/10/18/mersereau-cancon-albums.html CBC.ca article]
* [http://www.amazon.ca/dp/086492500X amazon.ca]