Seminal Sevens

Today I listened, I mean, really listened to Radiohead's OK Computer for the first time. Fine. Shut up. I've been busy. And snobby. And I even followed it up with Kid A and Liked that, if you can believe it. Maybe I've mellowed or perhaps it was that oatmeal with Vitamin MDMA I had for breakfast.
Anywhoo, it got me thinking.

In 1967 The Beatles released one of the most important and ifluential albums of all time. You know it. You love it. This was the 40th anniversary of it. Yes, I speak of Sgt. Pepper.



Ten years later, in the fall of 1977, The Sex Pistols unleashed Never Mind the Bollocks and a paradigm shift from "classic rock" (read:corporate) to stripped down three chord aggro rock changed how we thought about music and fashion.



Ten years after that, after New Wave and Disco and synth pop and new romanticism, U2 put out the era defining album The Joshua Tree. I can't believe it's been 20 years. And I can't believe they are still making records. The Joshua Tree is still listenable today, as are most classic albums but it is definitely OF IT'S TIME.



Then, in 1997, Radiohead's OK Computer came out. I can imagine this being the theme song to just about every rave. With its devotion to ProTools and Cubase and it's slavish adoration of all things PRODUCED, the album seems to have held up really well. And, for me, it really helps to (here's that word again) define the time. Artists seemed to be less interested in following the dictatorial pattern of record labels and due to this and the explosion of the single song download, the reemergence of the one hit wonders appeared. Or, rather, artists that, in a different time, one absent of publicists, trl and 40000 music rags calling themselves magazines, would have only had one hit and been gone. Can you hear me, Sisco?



So, I ask you this:

What is the era defining album this year? Has the pattern been broken? Did I miss something? I am so hard pressed to believe that Justin Timberlake's Futurecrap/LoveDisco will be looked at 10 years from now as the seminal album of the decade. So, what is it?
Someone? Anyone?
And, if you are a blogger who reads this, could you ask your readers the same question? I'm dying to know.