http://www.rollingstone.com/features/coverstory/featuregen.asp?pid=2164
Seems pretty ok to me up to #50, at least.
Additional comments from the peanut gallery?
Well, people are going to get pissed anytime there are lists like this. I think it did a good job (suprising, coming from RS) of representing most styles of the last 40-50 years. They had some very unexpected choices in there.
Plus, I am giddy that they included The Minutemen’s Double Nickels on the Dime.
There are some (from 1 to 50) which I have never listened to, but I must say I was a little surprised to see Dark Side of the Moon at number 43. I would have thought it would have been a little higher up.
(Plus I’ve never been a great fan of Stevie Wonder, sooooo…)
I have most of these albums. Some of these puzzle me – I love Bob Dylan, but I don’t think he deserved 4 in the top 50, when Radiohead’s OK Computer is down at 162 (the Bends, which I think is less revolutionary is at 110). One has to judge what one means by “best album ever” – if we are talking about the best albums that worked as albums, surely Sgt. Pepper’s is #1, but Dark Side of the Moon has to come up a huge amount. If we are talking about the best or most revolutionary music, then Elvis has to come up (and probably so do some of the old school guys like Robert Johnson).
There is a prejudice here against rap and more modern music, but we should expect that. But we can start to get a firm grip on what albums were formative to the 1990s, and IMHO these are underrepresented at the top of the list. The most influential albums of the 1990s, IMHO, were Nevermind by Nirvana, (#17), The Chronic by Dr. Dre (#137) and OK Computer (#162). This is in my mind not true of the 1980s: London Calling (#8), Thriller (#20), the Joshua Tree (#26) and It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back (#48). But I suppose most of the roots of rock were laid down in the 1960s and 1970s, and fittingly most of the albums are from that period.
The Beatles White album doesn’t deserve so high IMHO. The second disk is in parts unlistenable. I would move Magical Mystery Tour or Abbey Road up. And Let It Be doesn’t deserve to crack the top 100. And I also think Zep IV (and actually Zep II) deserve to be higher as well. Bjork’s Homogenic belongs up there, and I think jazz albums are also underrepresented.
No “Loveless” -My Bloody Valentine?
For shame!
Actually this was the first album I looked for when I skimmed through the list. Should’ve been in the top 20.
I think if lists like this are made, it’s not fair to include “Greatest Hits”-type albums. In some cases, like with Robert Johnson, it’s necessary, but for Elton John or the Buzzcocks or the Smiths?
A couple of BIG omissions:
-
Warren Zevon. Not a single album of his in the top 500? A lot of critics thought “Excitable Boy” and “Warren Zevon” were two of the best albums of the 1970’s. Both of those should be on the list, and at least one should be in the top 100.
-
Did I miss Beck’s Odelay? It should be in the top 100.
I would also have put Street Survivors by Lynyrd Skynyrd on the list.
Atrocities:
Too high:
26. The Joshua Tree, U2
41. Never Mind the Bollocks, Here’s the Sex Pistols, The Sex Pistols – how often do you actually get the urge to play this album?
42. The Doors, The Doors – hahaha!
58. Trout Mask Replica, Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band – I actually like this album, but give me a break.
Too low:
136. Tim, The Replacements
157. Closer, Joy Division – this is just insulting
216. The Queen Is Dead, The Smiths – even more insulting
226. Doolittle, Pixies – the best album of the 80’s
268. Psycho Candy, The Jesus and Mary Chain – okay, maybe not, but I still think 268. is really, really low
329. Daydream Nation, Sonic Youth
358. Singles Going Steady, Buzzcocks
410. Pink Flag, Wire – good God!
411. Double Nickels on the Dime, Minutemen
433. Another Green World, Brian Eno
495. New Day Rising, Husker Du – Red Hot Chili Peppers 185 spots above Husker Du? Yeah, okay.
What the fuck?
310. BloodSugarSexMagik, Red Hot Chili Peppers
367. Is This It, The Strokes
390. Elephant, The White Stripes
440. Sea Change, Beck
473. A Rush of Blood to the Head, Coldplay
441. Tragic Kingdom, No Doubt
No Fugazi? Two Pavement albums, but no Guided By Voices?
But whatever, it’s just a list, and it’s actually not that bad.
Agreed. I like this album, but I only listen to it maybe once every 3 months. Not that great. Especially not good enough to put it in front of Dark Side of the Moon, The Wall, The Clash, and Rocket to Russia.
Too high:
Ramones - Ramones
How can they, in good conscience, put this ahead of either Rocket to Russia or Leave Home?
Well any list of this sort tells us a lot about the people the compile it (how was it compiled? was it the writers or the readers who voted, or what?), and we can see that Rolling Stone magazine caters to middle aged W.A.S.P.S.
Seriously though, I think black music of all styles is seriously underrepresented here.
Plus, having followed similar polls in English music magazine’s, I can tell you that we Brits value some of our own more highly than Rolling Stone does- David Bowie, The Cure, The Smiths, Radiohead and Massive Attack would all have charted in much higher positions in a comparble list ( Plus a few people not even mentioned- like the Stone Roses- hugely influential band in Britain, didn’t make any impact at all in America I guess.)
Just goes to show, these things are all subjective- but for shame with the underrepresnted balck music- or do they still think Elvis Presley invented Rock n’ Roll at Rolling Stone?
Years ago, RS had London Calling as the best album. Got me to buy it. I didn’t like it much at first, and didn’t see the reason for the rating. But it grew on me…
The first four Ramones albums are all sort of blurred together in my head, but yeah; Rocket To Russia is way better than the self-titled debut. But I’m not so sure about Leave Home.
Oh man, I gonna sound like such a stereotypical indie rock nerd when I continue harping on about the lack of Guided By Voices albums, the worlds tinniest violin is playing my tune.
But I can’t get over the fact that Bee Thousand isn’t on that list. It is, IMHO, one of the best albums of the 90’s, containing 20 perfect pop songs. It has probably the highest replay value of any album I own, except for Doolittle and Loveless. They fake Beatles songs a hundred times better than goddamn Oasis, so you would imagine a rag like Rolling Stone would be all over it.
Since it was recorded in a laundry room on a four track, it isn’t for everyone, but I would’ve settled for an inclusion in the lower 400, just nicely. Okay, I probably would’ve bitched about that too.
If a British magazine, like the NME, ran a similar list, I’m almost certain The Stone Roses’ self-titled debut would’ve been on the first place, ahead of The Beatles.
Actually I saw a T.V programme a few years ago where the general public voted for their top 100 albums, and The Stone Roses-the Stone Roses was at No. 2, just behind Sergeant Pepper. The assorted rock critics and musicians got very huffy about this and said that it was only because “young” people made up the majority of respondants.
I guess that album will not be at the same place 10 years from now, but at the same time I don’t think having a top 10 made up of albums that are all at least 20 years old is very interesting either.
Other recent-ish pools I’ve seen in British magazines in the last few years have had both O.K Computer, and Nevermind at No.1
That list was pretty worthless. Much as I can tolerate The Strokes and The White Stripes above most of the drivel in pop music today, they don’t deserve to be included among the top 500 greatest albums of all time.
Likewise, what the hell is a Jay-Z album doing in there? Above albums by X and Metallica, no less. At least Elvis Costello got his due, but there’s not nearly enough jazz on there, and far too much flash-in-the-pan flavor of the week music is up there.
I’d put London Calling at #1.
- Son of Schmilsson - Harry Nilsson ;j
Less happy with choices 51 through 100, though. I think
Imagine (76)
Harvest (78)
Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (91)
and especially
Sticky Fingers (63)
should have rated (much) higher.
I was about to blow a gasket when I didn’t see “Songs in the Key of Life”, but I went back and saw it was #53. Needs to be much higher though.
It’s strange that a band that is so beloved in Britain, both by critics and the public, isn’t even mentioned in an American list of 500 albums. The Stone Roses had a huge impact in the British music scene in the early 90’s, setting the tone for years to come with the whole Madchester thing along with Happy Mondays, and influencing bands such as: Oasis, Pulp, Suede, The Verve and many others. So maybe that explains it, since brit-pop never really broke through in the US. Or did it?
Token rap album? Okay, there are some other rap albums on the list as well, but that’s the only reasonable answer I can come up with.