Where the Story Ends

Time recently released the All-TIME 100 Albums list, which is the sort of thing that always leaves me a little wrankled, I guess, because the best little gems tend to get swept aside by best sellers coming easily to the memory, presumably, of music journalists brainstorming on a deadline.

What makes for an all time greatest disc? My answer is this: You still find yourself listening to it 5 years later--maybe 10--or 15--or even more. One such disc in my collection is Reading, Writing & Arithmetic by The Sundays, released in 1990.

I found a fairly recent (2004) re-review by John Polewich at Stylus who writes 14 years after the The Sundays debut:

"It takes some time before even the joy on its surface starts to shimmer--but once it does, Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic slowly begins to reveal itself. Only a few weeks later will one, while patiently watching the ripples on that surface, finally spot the tiny sparks of light that flicker beneath it like small, silvery fish. And perhaps a few months later, won over by the intensity of those sparks, one will begin to think about the album. "

In my humble opinion, it's one of the finest pop discs I own--even though it probably never stood a chance of making Time's list. Here's a link to the excellent video for Here's Where the Story Ends featuring Harriet Wheeler and her beautiful, dreamy voice.