Rolling Stone's 500 greatest albums of all time

[Dan]

I've included only the first 20 here, what do you guys think? Agree/disagree? The list doesn't seem to be much different from the top 100 albums as-voted-by-the-readers thing they did last year.

I'd probably put Nirvana or Michael Jackson higher than the Velvet Underground, if only because they were far more culturally significant and influential. Overall, it's a decent list, though.


1. Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, The Beatles

2. Pet Sounds, The Beach Boys

3. Revolver, The Beatles

4. Highway 61 Revisited, Bob Dylan

5. Rubber Soul, The Beatles

6. What's Going On, Marvin Gaye

7. Exile on Main Street, The Rolling Stones

8. London Calling, The Clash

9. Blonde on Blonde, Bob Dylan

10. The Beatles ("The White Album"), The Beatles

11. The Sun Sessions, Elvis Presley

12. Kind of Blue, Miles Davis

13. Velvet Underground and Nico, The Velvet Underground

14. Abbey Road, The Beatles

15. Are You Experienced?, The Jimi Hendrix Experience

16. Blood on the Tracks, Bob Dylan

17. Nevermind, Nirvana

18. Born to Run, Bruce Springsteen

19. Astral Weeks, Van Morrison

20. Thriller, Michael Jackson

 

[janeeng]

I could agree! I am just surprised that Michael Jackson made it at all - I must say it is an excellent video, but I am surprised that some just didn't ban him off things like this.

 

[jimnyc]

1. Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, The Beatles - deserves top 20, not #1 though

2. Pet Sounds, The Beach Boys - not top 20

3. Revolver, The Beatles - not top 20

4. Highway 61 Revisited, Bob Dylan - not top 20

5. Rubber Soul, The Beatles - not top 20

6. What's Going On, Marvin Gaye - not top 100

7. Exile on Main Street, The Rolling Stones - there are even better Stones albums

8. London Calling, The Clash - uh, yeah, sure! not top 100

9. Blonde on Blonde, Bob Dylan - not top 20

10. The Beatles ("The White Album"), The Beatles - deserving

11. The Sun Sessions, Elvis Presley - good, but he has better - not top 20

12. Kind of Blue, Miles Davis - very good, not top 20 though

13. Velvet Underground and Nico, The Velvet Underground - not top 100

14. Abbey Road, The Beatles - deserving

15. Are You Experienced?, The Jimi Hendrix Experience - deserving

16. Blood on the Tracks, Bob Dylan - not top 20

17. Nevermind, Nirvana - very influential, but I don't think top 20

18. Born to Run, Bruce Springsteen - deserving

19. Astral Weeks, Van Morrison - not top 20

20. Thriller, Michael Jackson - deserving (I hope he dies though)

 

[green lantern]

not a bad top twenty, a little to much of the beatles for my taste, and i think nirvana should have been higher up.

 

[MtnBiker]

Where the hell is Led Zepplin ZOFO (4)? Come on, Stairway to Heaven.

 

[jon_forward]

and where is Iron Butterfly? Inagodadavetta

 

[MtnBiker]

Dan, was this a reader poll? or were there other quailifications, such as sales numbers?
Seems to me Dark Side of the Moon by Pink Floyd would at least be in the top 20.

 

[Joan]

Of "ALL TIME" - I think NOT

 

[eric]

a little to much of the beatles for my taste

Jon, there can never be enough beatles, and Mtn, I agree where is the Zep.

And what about Unchained Melody - righteous brothers ?

 

[Joan]

What about all the pre-70's music?? None of it any good - again, I don't think so!

 

[Dan]

Dan, was this a reader poll? or were there other quailifications, such as sales numbers?

Well, a year ago, they did a readers' poll on the top 20 albums of the last 25 years, but since this was the cover story, I just assumed it was the magazine. You can't really go by what they say, anyway, they're really biased by what music it's hip and cool to like. For example, they give the FLaming Lips' "Soft Bulletin" three stars, saying it was okay nothing great. A few years later, the Flaming Lips start to get this underground following and everyone's hailing "Bulletin" as a classic. Their new CD comes out, and guess what the four-star review says? "The album doesn't quite match up to the greatness of The Soft Bulletin, but they will probably never match that level of greatness again." Ah, music critics are just musicians who are too ugly to be rock stars anyway.

I agree, though, Zeppelin and "Dark Side..." should be up there.

 

[MtnBiker]

Originally posted by Joan
Of "ALL TIME" - I think NOT

I don't know Joan, Dark Side of the Moon was on the top 200 for years. They finally just removed it from the ranking, but it was not because of lack of sales.

 

[MtnBiker]

Originally posted by Dan
Ah, music critics are just musicians who are too ugly to be rock stars anyway.

That's funny, there are some ulgy rock stars, must be some really ugly critics.

 

[5stringJeff]

How about Bob Marley's Legend?!?!?

Stupid Rolling Stone...

 

[Dan]

Lol, I knew that was coming, Jeff.

 

[jon_forward]

seems to be a lot of FLOYD fans here, must be a 70s thing heh?

 

[Dan]

seems to be a lot of FLOYD fans here, must be a 70s thing heh?

They never really did much for me. Always seemed like the sort of thing that I guess would be good if I was stoned, but since I'm not, I don't like it. Oh, well, diffrent strokes and all that.

 

[Moi]

Okay, I gotta say it: where the @#$#$#$ are the women? And, before you say there were no significant ones, what about Janis Joplin? Carole King? Madonna? Diana Ross & the Supremes?

I don't like any of them personally but if you have to count significance how can you possibly put some of these on there without naming at least one of these gals?

And, puh-lease, Led Zepplin, Def Leppard and Simon & Garfunkel also had significant impact.

 

[5stringJeff]

I agree, Moi, Madonna's "Immaculate Collection" would be a good addition to the list.