So Gibson (yes, the guitar people) have struck out and named the top five alt-country albums of all time. Well, Dave Hunter writing on behalf of Gibson made the list anyway. That’s quite the task since the genre really is a loose-association of underground music essentially, but one they undertook with gleeful abandon:

This is a doozy of a task, folks, but so it is with picking a best five albums in any genre. With the full awareness that passions can run high when you get to ranking good music, and fans of alt-country and Americana are going to have their own favorites, undoubtedly…

Before we go any further, let me state unequivocally that opinions are like assholes–it’s best to keep it to yourself. But, I rarely have the compunction to follow advice, let alone good advice. Such lack of forethought is a hallmark of my life.

First, let me commend Mr. Hunter for his unwillingness to follow logical constructs. Such tasteless endeavors as building a defensible argument are a waste of time to critics. He docks Wilco’s AM for being too much like Uncle Tupelo while praising Son Volt’s Trace for the same quality. Kudos to Hunter for writing like a fan rather than a pissed off “journalist” who only blogs to bide time to finish his novel.

Second, the guy nails Ryan Adams for being a pompous fool–find me one person other than Ryan Adams and his publicist that will disagree with that one. OK…and maybe his mother.

But the real mustard here is that the list is complete. While everyone will have different opinions about the top 5 alt-country albums, everyone and the brother will agree that you can listen to the albums on the list between Tupelo and its spawns, The Jayhawks, and Whiskeytown and have a very good feeling for what defines the genre. I can’t think of five better albums to play for someone who wanted to understand what alt-country sounds like.

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