rolling stone's 500 greatest albums of all time

447. Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo!, Devo

....but the ranking is really up the butt. Am I really supposed to believe that Sleepless Peter Wolf (rank #432) is a SUPERIOR album to Metal Box by Public Image Ltd. (ranked #469)???

Side 1:
Blue Suede Shoes
I'm Counting on You
I Got a Woman
One-Sided Love Affair
I Love You Because
Just Because

Side 2:
Tutti Frutti
Tryin' to Get to You
I'm Gonna Sit Right Down and Cry
I'll Never Let You Go
Blue Moon
Money Honey

So, no.

that "so, no" was in response to Nom de Plume. Obviously there is some Sun stuff on the RCA lp (5 songs, i think?).

I don't get what the point of mentioning this is. The fucked up inclusion of box sets in the list? Because Dreams is an anthology, Dictionary is a proper LP.

79. Star Time, James Brown
330. In the Jungle Groove, James Brown
414. Greatest Hits, James Brown

equally mind-boggling is elton john's "capt. fantastic and the brown dirt cowboy" at #158. i mean, i realize they feel it's their obligation to include four or five beatles albums in the top 10 and all of jimi hendrix's output somewhere in the top 100 and the token three or four women in the top 50 -- otherwise it wouldn't be a rolling stone list -- but "capt fantastic and the brown dirt cowboy?" are they absolutely, positively sure that's a better album than "whitney houston" (#254), "ghost in the machine" (#322), "sea change" (#440) and "goddess in the doorway" (not listed!), not to mention elton's own "tumbleweed connection" (#463)? are they totally, truly sure? i demand a recount!

What kills me -- as I posted in the other thread -- is that 30 #1 Hits or some comparable collection of his RCA hits is not on this list, yet they found room for FOUR Simon & Garfunkel records.

If nothing else, this list only strengthens my complete boredom with second-tier "classic-rock" (Cream, Doors, Santana, Pink Floyd)

It's having The Complete Hank Williams (is this that 11-disc box or whatever?) and 40 Greatest Hits that's silly (along with the James Brown thing Matos cited).

And not to beat the Elvis thing too much, but if you gave someone who didn't own any modern pop music all 500 of these titles for their collection, they would take them home and still not be able to hear "Don't Be Cruel." How is that possible?

Kill them now, I still demand.

are both of the last two albums included on star time?

Can RS please please please stop bigging up Seargent Pepper. Anyone stale enough to be an avid RS reader already owns it. It doesn't need any publicity.

12. Kind of Blue, Miles Davis
47. A Love Supreme, John Coltrane
94. Bitches Brew, Miles Davis
102. Giant Steps, John Coltrane
356. Sketches of Spain, Miles Davis
454. Getz/Gilberto, Stan Getz and Joao Gilberto Featuring Antonio Carlos Jobim

It was very generous of them to include one album by someone who isn't Miles Davis or John Coltrane. What a shame they didn't have space left over for Thelonious Monk, Duke Ellington, Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, Charles Mingus, Charlie Parker, etc. etc.

303. Grace, Jeff Buckley

A Neil Diamond compilation ranks 81 places higher than Jeff Buckley? That's sickening.

But what bugs me isn't the list itself - I mean, who among you clicked on this thread and seriously thought it wouldn't be all bitching that it was crap - but the spurious, 'official' nature of it.

1) It's impossible, obviously.
2) Even if it was possible, why should Rolling Stone get to be the officiator?
3) And why should they get to make money hand over fist by selling copies of it?

Lists can be fun. This one is not.

For that matter, Blood Sweat and Tears? What stopped Wenner from slipping in a Peter Cetera boxed set?

Seriously I want someone to slap these fucks in the skull and tell them that putting a lot of the music on this list is the same thing as putting a lot of James Michener on a greatest books list.

why? does jeff buckley's album have any songs as good as "cherry cherry" or "sweet caroline" or "cracklin' rosie"? the only problem i have here is that "the neil diamond collection" is far from the definitive neil diamond comp.

Do you really need me to answer that?

no zappa (BAD)
no gary numan or human league (ABSOLUTELY INEXCUSABLE)
only ONE kraftwerk album and only ONE depeche mode album (INEXCUSABLE, ROCKIST AND ANTI-SYNTH)
VERY poor on the techno/electro front (anti-synth/electronic music bias YET AGAIN)
the top 100 or so are the usual sixties retread/boomer-favorite suspects (e.g., is anyone surprise AT ALL by anything b/w 1 and 100 on this list?)
if they had to have an EATB album, it should've been ocean rain
no XTC (though they're not really "my group," this is also a glaring omission)

otherwise, this list isn't as bad as i feared it would be ... particularly the deeper down you go

Soo, soooooo true!

246. Ornette Coleman - The Shape of Jazz to Come

no kinks album higher than #231

81 isn't nearly enough places.

as far as their zappa picks go: i guess it's verboten to admit to liking any of his post-original mothers stuff (and by no means is this restricted to rolling stone). even when the post-original mothers stuff blows the original mothers stuff off the map (see roxy and elsewhere, one size fits all, and joe's garage, just for starters). and if they had to pick a token sixties Zappa album (other than woiiftm), both absolutely free and uncle meat are INFINITELY better than freak out!

I did actually buy two of the albums listed in the top 10 there (one in person, and one via mail after leaving NYC).

I like Sgt Peppers, but I think 4 Beatles albums in the top 10 is a bit much. To be honest I don't care much for Revolver or Rubber Soul. I never got into Pet Sounds either, but I can see why people like it. London Calling is good but not sure why that gets to be the new wave album in the top 10, there are tons of others just as good. Highway 61, Exile, Sgt Peppers and the White Album are all time though, I can't argue with those.

I’m a big Dylan guy, but Highway 61 has never been one of my faves... seeing it rated above Blonde on Blonde is surprising to me (Nirvana at #17 is another story, but whatever).

The Airplane not showing up until #146, with Surrealist Pillow, is an eye-roll for sure.

*ic

If only Prince and the Revolution had tried 10x harder, Purple Rain could have been rated as high as Kid A.

RS once famously dubbed R.E.M. “America’s Best Rock and Roll Band”—but they don’t show up until #197 (with Murmur)... four slots below mother fucking Dookie.

To their credit, R.E.M. shows up twice more—AFTP at #249 (five slots beneath The Marshall Mathers LP), and Document (their “best rock & roll band” album) in the nosebleed seats at #462.

At least MGMT made it into the top 500; I can call it a night, relieved.

Woah ROFL @ Geir Hongro posts upthread.

Anyway the RS list is right on par with that awful ILM jazz albums one.

Why don't you guys just realised that hip-hop will never be even remotely as important as rock. Hip-hop is just as passing fad - completely forgotten in 20 years - while rock will live forever.

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Tuesday, November 25, 2003 5:55 PM (sixteen years ago)

Whoa there, Nostradamus.

So uh, the only evidence of this i can find is a picture of the October issue's cover on Bruce Springsteen's facebook page, but it looks like they're revising the top 500 again

https://www.facebook.com/brucespringsteen/posts/10158393622925250

Will Arctic Monkeys crack the top 200 this time? Stay tuned.

I did my best.

Geir still has 3 years left to be proven right. Give him a chance guys.

i can't at this list being a hype-able intellectual property

Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin II
Led Zeppelin III
Led Zeppelin IV
Led Zeppelin V
Led Zeppelin VI
Led Zeppelin VII
Led Zeppelin VIII
Led Zeppelin IX
Led Zeppelin X

imaginary Rolling Stone otm

I’m a big Dylan guy, but Highway 61 has never been one of my faves.. seeing it rated above Blonde on Blonde is surprising to me

Highway 61 was the first Dylan album where I really understood what the fuss was about, so that may be coloring my perceptions. But I still think that song for song, it is the most consistent Dylan album. Blonde on Blonde has better sound and better vocals. For a while it was my favorite. To be honest I mostly listen to post-2000 Dylan and/or bootleg series stuff these days, and haven't played either of these in a while.

To be honest I mostly listen to post-2000 Dylan and/or bootleg series stuff these days

Me too! That's funny.

New list, new #1:
https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/best-albums-of-all-time-1062063/

As safe as ever.

Trying to read that on my phone and it’s just impossible to scroll down far enough to see number one. So I’m just gonna guess Wesley Willis finally made the top spot.

Here you go:

50 Best Albums of All Time According to Rolling Stone's BRAND NEW, 100% Revamped Top 500

Your service is as unsettling as it is quick, ty!

RS apparently revamped this list in December, but I can’t find a comprehensive rundown of the changes:

EDITOR’S NOTE, DECEMBER 2023: In the three years since Rolling Stone rolled out the all-new, fully revamped version of our 500 Greatest Albums list, artists like Beyonce, Bad Bunny, and Taylor Swift have all released undeniable classics. So we’ve updated the list, adding those albums while making a few other tweaks. The 2020 list covered many decades of popular music, and was the result of a vote among more than 300 artists, writers, producers and industry figures; this update covers just three years. So we kept the changes light.

(or I guess “updated” the “revamped” list)

Ok, Reddit to the rescue: https://www.reddit.com/r/Music/comments/18vmy8b/so_rolling_stone_just_did_a_mini_update_on_their/