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Vatican Names Beatles, Michael Jackson, U2 Among Top Albums

The Vatican's newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano, has released a list of its top ten rock and pop albums, and among them are seminal albums by the Beatles, Oasis, Pink Floyd, Michael Jackson and U2. L'Osservatore Romano, as the Daily Telegraph explains, was once considered the "staid and stuffy journal of record for goings-on at the Vatican," but has recently tried to change its image in order to "strike a more contemporary tone," opining on the 'Harry Potter' series, 'Avatar,' and other cultural items of note.

The newspaper lists Michael Jackson's 'Thriller,' Oasis's arguable crowning achievement '(What's the Story) Morning Glory?,' the Beatles' 'Revolver,' Pink Floyd's 'Dark Side of the Moon,' and U2's 'Achtung Baby,' as well as Fleetwood Mac's 'Rumours,' Donald Fagen's 'The Nightfly,' Carlos Santana's 'Supernatural,' Paul Simon's 'Graceland' and David Crosby's 'If I Could Only Remember My Name.' 'Revolver' was given the top slot.

L'Osservatore prefaced its list in an editorial Sunday, saying, "A little handbook of musical resistance could be useful during this time of the year in which, in addition to having put up with the rigours of winter, we have to endure a rising tide of musical festivals." One such festival, the Sam Remo festival in Liguria, starts Monday.

But the paper also called its pop and rock picks "semi-serious," perhaps so that the publication doesn't appear to be endorsing the hard-partying lifestyles of some of the musicians in the list.

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MusicMan

I'm going to start by saying that Michael Jackson's music is quite amazing, and what he did to our musical culture was wonderful. However, to Sunshine and Pansie particularly..., Michael Jackson went through various procedures to change his race and other aspects of his appearance (degrading who he TRULY was). In addition, wasn't he was attracted to little children...??? I have a HUGE respect for Michael Jackson in his original days of creating and singing talents in Thriller and ABC 123, but seriously... he changed a lot and defiled who he was as the true Michael Jackson. I love what he did for music but having the Vatican support him is very very surprising. Sunshine and Pansie... I've got to be honest, you are both naive dumbasses who have a scary obsession with Michael Jackson. Get over it, people will have their opinions and our nation has ALREADY triumphed Michael as our pop king. So, what else do you want? He has already earned the respect he deserves for his music, but I completely disagree with how he turned out as a person... It's really disappointing to be honest. Once again, I love his music and will miss his brilliant talent.

March 08 2010 at 11:47 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to MusicMan's comment
sue

They, as you so ignorantly put it, are not "dumb asses," they are expressing their opinions which is their right.
Michael did have a Vitiligo, that couldn't be helped, hence his changing colour. As for any cosmetic changes, that is his business.
Allot of the changes I saw in Michael I think were caused by age and weight loss. He was only 130-136 when he died. When he was younger, at 5'9" he was at least 160.

April 21 2010 at 3:47 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
m

Very happy to see that they are honoring Michael. RIP MJ, we love you...

February 17 2010 at 1:31 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Kathy

Dear Michael, I am glad to see you are recognized, you deserve that. We love you and miss you. R. I. P yOU WILL GET THE RESPECT YOU DESERVE.

February 16 2010 at 6:03 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to Kathy's comment
Pansie

more power to ya Kathy

February 17 2010 at 3:44 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
sia

vatican respect that michael had deep faith in god better than any celeb .he was true genius.he was soul follower of jeovah religion.i think people can learn how much he weighed throughout the 80s

February 16 2010 at 4:26 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Cham

It seems like they are not big fans of Elvis Presley! Wonder how he missed the cut!

February 15 2010 at 6:12 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
2 replies to Cham's comment
Pansie

he simply was not as good as Michael Joseph Jackson. GET OVER IT. Michael was just simply THE BEST

February 17 2010 at 3:34 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
sue

Maybe he just didn't make the top 10.
Also The Beatles and the others that did were The Pope's generation.

April 22 2010 at 11:44 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
gmartinz

David Crosby's "If Only I Could Remember My Name?" I thought I was the only person who even recalled that album. "Almost Cut My Hair," "Cowboy Movie," "I Wonder Who They Are." That's the best I can do off the top of my head almost 40 years later. One of the best albums ever? This'll really piss off Neil Young.

February 15 2010 at 1:30 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Dan

Michael Jackson even had big fans in the Vatican..
We love you and we miss you MJ!

February 14 2010 at 10:18 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
mr. wildflowers

It's nice to see them recognizing The Beatles even after John's "bigger than Jesus" comment.

February 14 2010 at 8:16 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to mr. wildflowers's comment
sue

I'm happy their recognizing the Beatles as well as Michael Jackson, they deserve it.

May 10 2010 at 6:10 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Nellieo

Glad to see that the Vatican recognized Michael Jackson & Thriller. How could they not? It was and is probably the most important album of the 20th century.

February 14 2010 at 5:43 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Saint Subversive

Ahh, the irony of them overlooking the more blatantly spiritual "Joshua Tree" album in favor of "Achtung Baby", which includes a song with the lyrics "you can swallow, you can spit, you can throw it up, or choke on it". Maybe they figured that Bono was singing about communion wafers. ;)

February 14 2010 at 5:13 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to Saint Subversive's comment
Paul Lavery

You forget the next line......."...I'd break bread
and wine if there was church I could receive in
cause I need it now....."

February 19 2010 at 8:55 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply