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Clip of the Week

Portishead is a town in Somerset, on the coast of South West England, eight miles west of Bristol. It is famous for its fishing industry and the fact it had not one but (count them) two coal-fired power stations. But we are not here to talk about desolate coastal towns. Or are we? Portishead is also the name of an incredible electronic band, instrumental in the formation of the trip-hop sound associated with Bristol and artists such as Tricky and Massive Attack. They took their name from that “dreary” town. They released three principal albums, Dummy (1995), Portishead (1997), and pivoted their sound in 2008 with Third, blowing my mind in the process. Their Roseland NYC live album could also be considered a classic… (READ ON)

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This Week’s Book Choice

Bill Wyman’s Rock & Roll Lists: Every Song by The Beatles, Michael Jackson, Led Zeppelin, Nirvana, Pink Floyd, The Eagles, The Clash and Every Artist in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame — Ranked from Worst to Best (2026)

Bill Wyman’s Rock & Roll Lists presents itself as an exercise in provocation: every song by the Beatles, the Clash, the Eagles, Led Zeppelin, Michael Jackson, Nirvana and Pink Floyd ranked from worst to best, followed by all 271 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductees. Wyman – the American critic, not the former Rolling Stones bassist – uses those rankings as more than an invitation to argument. He threads biography, recording history and cultural criticism through hundreds of compact entries, turning each list into a critical history of its subject.

At his best, Wyman listens and writes vividly about what musicians actually do. His discussions of McCartney’s contrapuntal bass, Mick Jones’s arrangements, Jimmy Page’s studio architecture, Quincy Jones’s restraint, Cobain’s dynamics and Gilmour’s melodic patience will reward readers who know the records. The winners matter less than the reasoning, although choices such as A Day

in the Life, Kashmir and Billie Jean suggest a defensible preference for records in which composition, performance and production become inseparable.

The original Vulture readers’ comments, hilariously reproduced in one preface, confirm how fiercely people police lists. Wyman’s disarming style makes disagreement enjoyable: he writes with wit, knowledge and a pleasure in the music, while never pretending that critical judgements can be objective. His humour gives even the strongest verdicts the character of an animated conversation rather than a final pronouncement. His ranking of the Hall of Fame inductees grows particularly funny in its lower reaches. I would place KISS higher – not for virtuosity, but because Ace Frehley and Gene Simmons inspired generations to pick up guitars and basses – but disagreement is integral to the pleasure.

Toppermost readers are the natural audience for this informed, argumentative criticism. Wyman may not settle arguments, but that is the point: his greatest achievement is sending us back to the records, listening more carefully. You’ll laugh, rage, grind your teeth, nod thoughtfully and love every word. I did.

David Lewis

Read all our previous book reviews here.

Toppermost Recommends

London’s The Hanging Stars return with their sixth album, Just A Day – a dazzling collection of four-part harmonies, shimmering twelve-string guitars and chiming songs, touching on themes of longing, new beginnings and the fragility of the everyday. Recorded at Edwyn Collins’ legendary Clashnarrow Studios in the Scottish Highlands, the album marks a bold new chapter for the band, produced with the invaluable guidance of Teenage Fanclub’s Gerard Love.

“An exhilarating album of cascading riffs and rhythms, harmonies and hooks that are very much rooted in the present while paying respect to the influences that inform this innovative and gifted band.” Americana UK