Bob Dylan left off of Vatican newspaper's list of best albums of all time

roblisameehan

​The Beatles, Michael Jackson, and U2 made it. But the Vatican's official newspaper, L' Osservatore Romano, flipped the holy bird to Bob Dylan, leaving him off their list of the best rock and pop albums ever made.

Why has the Catholic Church has gotten into the business of rock criticism? Apparently L' Osservatore Romano is trying to let its hair down a little, and feature a wider range of topics of interest to their flock.

The list is a who's who of safe choices, including Paul Simon's "Graceland," Pink Floyd's "The Dark Side of The Moon," and Michael Jackson's "Thriller." We're not disagreeing, per se, but a few contemporary choices would've been nice. Maybe Daft Punk's "Discovery," thrown in just to titillate the 70-year-olds?

For the reason behind the Dylan snub, we turn to the WSJ:

...Dylan was excluded from the list despite his "great poetic vein" because he paved the way for generations of unprofessional singer-songwriters who have "harshly tested the ears and patience of listeners" with their tormented stories.

Apparently influencing generations of musicians makes you a bad artist these days. Who knew? We know the rejection must come as a blow to Dylan, who we've heard has just been trying to get to Heaven before they close the door.