Rolling Stone magazine is not known to have the most progressive of musical tastes, but the Internet still erupted into surprised laughter when the venerable publication rolled out its best albums of 2014 list and U2's controversial "Songs of Innocence" was sitting there at the top. (The number two spot, by the way, was secured by the less controversial but even older Bruce Springsteen.)
Surely the magazine wanted to get us talking, but they also had to expect the result would instead be mocking.
This was Rolling Stone's explanation:
"There was no bigger album of 2014 — in terms of surprise, generosity and controversy. "Songs of Innocence" is also the rebirth of the year. Bono, the Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr. put their lives on the line: giving away 11 songs of guitar rapture and frank, emotional tales of how they became a band out of the rough streets and spiritual ferment of Seventies Dublin. This is personal history with details."
And this was Twitter's reaction:
For more, just visit twitter yourself.
By the way, we're still rolling out our own year-end lists but here are our best indie, electronic, R&B and country albums of the year with more to come.
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