# RS best 500 albums of all time **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** music\ **Created:** [September 22, 2020, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rs-best-500-albums-of-all-time/921241 "2020-09-22T14:35:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2020, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rs-best-500-albums-of-all-time/921241/61 "2020-09-23T20:14:44Z")
> [@Dr\_Paprika](#): > > Some names I **like** are almost certainly over-represented - Kanye with 4 or 5 Perhaps so, but a lot of people (even on these boards) tend to scoff when rap fans mention that Kanye West was responsible for multiple genre redefining albums (and hence we don’t quibble too much when he calls himself a musical genius). So I’m actually quite happy than Rolling Stone acknowledges this. ---
**Author:** ![thdudescar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thdudescar/32/4638_2.png) [@thdudescar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thdudescar)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2020, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rs-best-500-albums-of-all-time/921241/62 "2020-09-23T20:26:28Z")
Progressive rock is completely disrespected. There are three Pink Floyd albums: _Dark Side of the Moon, The Wall and Wish You Were Here_. Rush’s _Moving Pictures_ came in at #379 and _Close to the Edge_ by Yes at #445. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2020, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rs-best-500-albums-of-all-time/921241/63 "2020-09-23T21:39:01Z")
I’ve looked through the list twice and did not see “Frampton Comes Alive”. Are you kidding me? Apart from Fleetwood Mac “Rumours”, that was one of the hugest albums of the 70s. I also found it interesting that there was only one Richard (& Linda) Thompson album in the list, “I Want To See The Bright Lights Tonight”, way down around 380-something. No “Shoot Out The Lights”? That was one of RS’s top 10 albums of the 1980s, and it didn’t even make the list here? ---
**Author:** ![gnarator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gnarator/32/8266_2.png) [@gnarator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnarator)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2020, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rs-best-500-albums-of-all-time/921241/64 "2020-09-23T22:46:05Z")
> [@gnarator](#): > > No, it was earlier than that, maybe 1982; I was in high school at the time. I believe they had critics rank albums from 1 to 20 or something, and then they weighted the responses. _Astral Weeks_ was #4, and _Moondance_ came in around #12 or #15. _Exile on Main Street_ was in the top ten. > _Rubber Soul_ and _Revolver_ were in the top ten, I think. I think that’s the book I was thinking of, Paul Gambacccini’s \* _ **Rock Critics’ Choice: The Top 200 Albums** _\* I probably encountered it in the early '80s. My memory was somewhat faulty, but pretty close. Here’s his top 25: 1. The Beatles - Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band 1967 2. Bob Dylan - Blonde On Blonde 1966 3. Bob Dylan - Highway 61 Revisited 1965 4. Van Morrison - Astral Weeks 1968 5. The Beatles - Rubber Soul 1965 6. The Beatles - Revolver 1966 7. The Rolling Stones - Exile On Main Street 1972 8. The Rolling Stones - Let It Bleed 1969 9. The Beatles - Abbey Road 1969 10. Bruce Springsteen - Born To Run 1975 11. Elvis Presley - The Sun Collection 1975 12. The Beach Boys - Pet Sounds 1966 13. The Band - The Band (Brown Album) 1969 14. The Velvet Underground - The Velvet Underground & Nico 1967 15. Derek & the Dominos - Layla And Other Assorted Love Songs 1970 16. Love - Forever Changes 1967 17. Jimi Hendrix Experience - Are You Experienced 1967 18. The Beatles - The Beatles (White Album) 1968 19. The Who - Who’s Next 1971 20. Buddy Holly - Legend 1974 21. Carole King - Tapestry 1971 22. Van Morrison - Moondance 1970 23. Otis Redding - Otis Blue/Otis Redding Sings Soul 1965 24. The Clash - The Clash 1977 25. Bob Dylan - Blood On The Tracks 1974 Mike Nesmith came in at 58. > **[Critic's Choice: Top 200 Albums](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Critic%27s_Choice:_Top_200_Albums)** > > Critic's Choice: Top 200 Albums (titled Rock Critics' Choice: The Top 200 Albums in the United States) is a musical reference book compiled by American-British journalist and broadcaster Paul Gambaccini. It was first published in the United Kingdom by Omnibus Press in January 1978, and then by Quick Fox in the US. The book comprises an annotated and illustrated list of the best albums in popular music, as selected from top-ten lists provided by its 47 contributors. As a multi-contributor work A ... ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2020, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rs-best-500-albums-of-all-time/921241/65 "2020-09-23T23:11:54Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > And I know it goes against the tide, but _Isn’t Anything_ is better than _Loveless_ . It’s a close second. I think the difference is that “Loveless” is an album that surprised me as something I’d never heard anything close to before, and I must admit that I heard it for the first time in as late as maybe 2008 or so. No album else sounds like it, also nothing that came later. It’s irreproducible. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2020, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rs-best-500-albums-of-all-time/921241/66 "2020-09-23T23:33:09Z")
I like some rap music, and certainly think Kanye’s _best_ album should be on the list. Not five albums, surely. I was enthused to see Public Enemy. I would have liked to see Grandmaster Flash. Lists that contain only hits from 1960-1980 are dated and flawed. So are lists counting YouTube views which overfocus on 2005+ (did Psy write other songs too?). I give the list an 8/10 overall - looking at the 500 albums and assuming they are in no particular order, which muddies it slightly. My list, of course, would differ and be more diverse. The album “more relevant than ever”? Just no. Not even close. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2020, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rs-best-500-albums-of-all-time/921241/67 "2020-09-24T00:51:04Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > What a shit list - not in what’s on it but in what’s left off - _nothing_ by _anyone_ on Creation or Mute, and the only 4AD albums on there are two Pixies and the shittiest Cocteau Twins one. The only Rough Trade one is The Raincoats (and The Smiths slipped in on Sire). No Bunnymen either, or Furs for that matter. [or Dead Can Dance but you indirectly ref’fed them] ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2020, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rs-best-500-albums-of-all-time/921241/68 "2020-09-24T00:53:19Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Okay, but it’s the 500 Greatest Albums, not 500 Albums By Great Artists. A Kraftwerk album has to be defended on its merits as literally better than all the other albums ever recorded in the history of popular music except for no more than 499 of them. Right. If you’re going to be totally pure and strict about picking a list of Best _Albums_ per se, it’s out of bounds to talk about whether an artist (or genre) got represented or neglected or how many albums they have on the list. Albums are to be judged as themselves, against other albums, and not as representatives of an artist or a type of music. (Though I am not prepared to argue that the creators of this list were this pure and strict about it, nor that they should have been.) ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2020, 7:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rs-best-500-albums-of-all-time/921241/69 "2020-09-24T07:27:57Z")
Whereas for me, I’d been listening to MBV since the EPs came out, so I perceived it as one more step in a progression. A step too far, in my loving-the-singing-as-much-as-the-guitar opinion. Yes, the singing. I’m also a huge Pastels fan… ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2020, 7:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rs-best-500-albums-of-all-time/921241/70 "2020-09-24T07:40:44Z")
Nick Cave in some form is the one I felt was most missing. That and something from the Throwing Muses/Breeders/Belly area. Oh, and The Fall. Also, unless I missed it, no Goth whatsoever. No RiotGrrl (no, wait, I see just Sleater-Kinney are on). No Industrial other than NIN. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2020, 7:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rs-best-500-albums-of-all-time/921241/71 "2020-09-24T07:43:11Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > Albums are to be judged as themselves, against other albums, and not as representatives of an artist or a type of music. I would hold the _worst_ album by Nick Cave as aesthetically better than the best album by Madonna. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2020, 9:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rs-best-500-albums-of-all-time/921241/72 "2020-09-24T09:39:15Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > Nick Cave in some form is the one I felt was most missing. That and something from the Throwing Muses/Breeders/Belly area. Oh, and The Fall. > > Also, unless I missed it, no Goth whatsoever. No RiotGrrl (no, wait, I see just Sleater-Kinney are on). No Industrial other than NIN. “Last Splash” is there at 293. Other omissions I noticed: Warren Zevon, Alice Cooper, Boz Scaggs, ZZ Top, Mott the Hoople. mmm ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2020, 9:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rs-best-500-albums-of-all-time/921241/73 "2020-09-24T09:47:27Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > “Last Splash” is there at 293. Aaargh, again with the not listing the _original_ label 4AD. Frustrating - most bands I like are label-associated, and it’s mostly how I search catalogs and lists like this. ---
**Author:** ![dorvann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df705f/32.png) [@dorvann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorvann)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2020, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rs-best-500-albums-of-all-time/921241/74 "2020-09-24T16:32:04Z")
What? No albums by Zamfir–The Master of the Pan Flute? But seriously it seems like an almost impossible task—comparing every album from every genre published in the past 50 to 100 years and then selecting the 500 Best. I am sure not up to it. I am not a fan of rap or electronica or country so I would have a hard time knowing how to rank them compared to what I like. Of the 500 albums I only listened 14 to in their entirety: Nine Inch Nails ‘Pretty Hate Machine’; Madonna ‘Like a Prayer’; Tom Petty ‘Full Moon Fever’; Nirvana ‘MTV Unplugged in New York’; LL Cool J ‘Mama Said Knock You Out’; Metallica ‘Metallica (The Black Album)’; Michael Jackson ‘Bad’; Nirvana ‘In Utero’; Pearl Jam ‘Ten’; George Michael ‘Faith’; Madonna- ‘The Immaculate Collection’; Guns N’ Roses ‘Appetite for Destruction’; Michael Jackson ‘Thriller’;and Nirvana ‘Nevermind’. Of those I would rank my top 5: 1. Appetite for Destruction 2. Metallica (The Black Album) 3. Nevermind 4. Bad 5. MTV Unplugged in New York ---
**Author:** ![Yookeroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yookeroo/32/323_2.png) [@Yookeroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yookeroo)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2020, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rs-best-500-albums-of-all-time/921241/75 "2020-09-24T19:22:57Z")
> [@Treppenwitz](#): > > Joy Division #s 308 and 211 > New Order # 262 Ah, my “find” failed me Thanks. Also missing: Fatboy Slim & Moby ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2020, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rs-best-500-albums-of-all-time/921241/76 "2020-09-25T01:28:04Z")
However much Kanye has influenced rap, and he has, you would struggle to convince me he did more than Grandmaster Flash, for example. These things tend to be against “best of” and mixed albums, including movie soundtracks. Pulp Fiction, Trainspotting and a few others are decent. ---
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2020, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rs-best-500-albums-of-all-time/921241/77 "2020-09-25T02:31:35Z")
Influence matters, but it only takes you so far. An all influence album chart would have a lot of very old artists on it. The influence combined with fantastic musical albums (as albums and not merely a collection of songs) I think elevate Kanye’s albums on a list such as this. It also helps that people can easily see which modem popular artists he’s influenced directly (like there is no Drake without 808s and Heartbreak) as opposed to saying someone influenced every artist. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2020, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rs-best-500-albums-of-all-time/921241/78 "2020-09-25T02:39:38Z")
Those are fair points. ---
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2020, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rs-best-500-albums-of-all-time/921241/79 "2020-09-25T02:44:20Z")
Now granted, I’d probably be ok if they didn’t include College Dropout, Late Registration, AND Graduation. But I think Graduation was too influential to drop (even though I don’t like it as much as the others) and I can’t decide which of College Dropout and Late Registration to kick off because both are so good. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2020, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rs-best-500-albums-of-all-time/921241/80 "2020-09-25T02:49:51Z")
> [@Dr\_Paprika](#): > > These things tend to be against “best of” and mixed albums, including movie soundtracks. Pulp Fiction Maybe I missed it, but I didn’t see instrumental Surf Music represented anywhere on the list; not even Dick Dale or the Shadows. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rs-best-500-albums-of-all-time/921241.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rs-best-500-albums-of-all-time/921241.md?page=5)