On Sunday December 5th, Rolling Stone Australia’s managing editor Poppy Reid and editor Tyler Jenke teamed up with triple j’s Michael Chow to unveil the Greatest Australian Albums in an audio/video livestream, powered by Sonos.
By selecting one song from each of the top 100 albums, the livestream highlighted the significant role the records have played in enriching and evolving the story of Australian-made music. The stream was a celebratory occasion for Australian music fans and Sonos ensured the sound experience was apt for the occasion.
The livestream started at 11am with a track from the 100th ranked album, The Return, by Zambia-born and formerly Melbourne-based artist Sampa the Great. By the time The Church’s 1988 release, Starfish, was announced as the 50th greatest Australian album of all time, the stream had included tracks from the likes of Ben Lee, Hilltop Hoods, Gang of Youths, Missy Higgins and Beasts of Bourbon, and featured guest appearances from Vance Joy, Custard’s Dave McCormack and Eskimo Joe’s Kav Temperley.
The business end of the countdown kicked off just after 4pm when the Hoodoo Gurus’ Stoneage Romeos was revealed as the 25th ranked album. We heard tracks from The Whitlams, The Saints, Sia, The Go-Betweens, Dr G. Yunupingu and 5 Seconds of Summer before reaching the top ten.
The collection of artists listed at the top of the pile is every bit as iconic as you’d expect. Kylie Minogue’s Fever (2001) comes in at number 10; The Avalanches’ Since I Left You—released 12 months prior to Kylie’s pièce de resistance—lands at number eight; Savage Garden’s monumental self-titled LP from 1997 slots in at number nine; and at number six, Silverchair’s earth-moving debut, Frogstomp (1995), is the only other ’90s release in the top ten.
The remaining six albums are all 1980s releases: Crowded House’s impeccable self-titled album (1986) at number seven; Midnight Oil’s commercial high water mark, Diesel and Dust (1987), at number five; Cold Chisel’s enduring East (1980) at number four; and John Farnham’s Whispering Jack (1986) at number three.
Rolling Stone Australia’s picks for the top two Australian albums of all time are, unsurprisingly, two of the biggest records to ever come out of Australia: INXS’ international hit, Kick (1987), at number two and, in the gold medal spot, AC/DC’s gargantuan commercial success, Back in Black, released in 1980.
The quality production of the livestream reaffirmed Sonos as a leader in home audio technology. Since its launch in the early years of the 21st Century, Sonos has sought to reinvent home audio. Sonos’ range of portable and multi-room Wi-Fi speakers makes it easy for consumers to engage with all the content they love, and share these experiences with friends and family.
