Anytime a music magazine or website presents a massive “best of” list (see: “Rolling Stone‘s 100 Greatest Guitarists“; Pitchfork‘s Top 100 Albums of the ’80s; etc.) based entirely upon immeasurable value, it opens itself up to massive amounts of criticism and ire — which is just how they like it. That kind of publicity — especially if it’s negative — opens up heated dialogue that swirls all around their central viewpoint, and, ultimately, equals dollar signs galore.

Why else, then, would SPIN rank U2’s Achtung Baby as the best album in their list of the 125 Best Albums of the Past 25 Years? Simply put, they know bloggers are going to vent about it, therefore spreading the word about how they somehow chose such a painfully dull album as “the best,” and thusly driving their unique hits through the roof by leeching off all us little guys.

I hate this game, but I’ll play along anyway. Here’s the list. Go have your say.