rolling stone's 500 greatest albums of all time

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rolling stone's 500 greatest albums of all time...
...and not a surprise in the whole list.

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.

Lord Custos Omicron (Lord Custos Omicron), Monday, 24 November 2003 20:37 (twenty years ago) link

yes, disco stu, they effectively are--about half of Jungle Groove is, and depending on which Greatest Hits they're talking about, that is too, most to all of it.

M Matos (M Matos), Monday, 24 November 2003 20:39 (twenty years ago) link

Jazz according to RS:

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.

o. nate (onate), Monday, 24 November 2003 20:41 (twenty years ago) link

Do they even review jazz in RS?

o. nate (onate), Monday, 24 November 2003 20:43 (twenty years ago) link

222. The Neil Diamond Collection, Neil Diamond

303. Grace, Jeff Buckley

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


Miggie (Miggie), Monday, 24 November 2003 20:44 (twenty years ago) link

The inconsistencies are surely to do with Eric H's point that its essentially a compilation of other lists. Ditto the inclusion of greatest hits etc I assume.

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.

Jim Robinson (Original Miscreant), Monday, 24 November 2003 20:48 (twenty years ago) link

Ah, but the true abomination is that
343. Bat Out of Hell, Meat Loaf
was deemed better than 157 other albums.
(xpost)

Lord Custos Omicron (Lord Custos Omicron), Monday, 24 November 2003 20:49 (twenty years ago) link

A Neil Diamond collection ranks?

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.

Gear! (Gear!), Monday, 24 November 2003 20:50 (twenty years ago) link

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

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.

fact checking cuz, Monday, 24 November 2003 21:03 (twenty years ago) link

I scanned it - was there *any* vaguely techno/electronic stuff on there? Besides Kraftwerk.

fletrejet, Monday, 24 November 2003 21:05 (twenty years ago) link

why? does jeff buckley's album have any songs as good as "cherry cherry" or "sweet caroline" or "cracklin' rosie"?

Do you really need me to answer that?

Miggie (Miggie), Monday, 24 November 2003 21:06 (twenty years ago) link

Fuck Neil Diamond

Alex in NYC (vassifer), Monday, 24 November 2003 21:07 (twenty years ago) link

i wouldn't have asked if i didn't need an answer! but i'm just saying that neil diamond -- and i'm not even that big a fan -- has a bunch of bonafide pop classics and it is by no means silly or sickening to include a good comp of his somewhere in the middle of such a list (the silliness or sickeningness of the list itself notwithstanding).

fact checking cuz, Monday, 24 November 2003 21:11 (twenty years ago) link

I'd rather listen to Neil Diamond than fucking Jeff Buckley, but that's neither here nor there.

M Matos (M Matos), Monday, 24 November 2003 21:15 (twenty years ago) link

Mr. Matos speaks my mind, admittedly.

Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 24 November 2003 21:15 (twenty years ago) link

my bitches re this list:

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

Eisbär (llamasfur), Monday, 24 November 2003 21:18 (twenty years ago) link

this bad is worse than I could ever have feared

M Matos (M Matos), Monday, 24 November 2003 21:20 (twenty years ago) link

no XTC (though they're not really "my group," this is also a glaring omission)

Soo, soooooo true!

Alex in NYC (vassifer), Monday, 24 November 2003 21:21 (twenty years ago) link

Another vote for Diamond over Buckley.

Mark (MarkR), Monday, 24 November 2003 21:22 (twenty years ago) link

o. nate, you forgot:

246. Ornette Coleman - The Shape of Jazz to Come

Broheems (diamond), Monday, 24 November 2003 21:27 (twenty years ago) link

my bad, freak out! and WOIFTM are on the list ... which means that there are 2 zappa albums on this thing. (ASIDE: who picked this fucking list, george gosset clones?) in other words -- the usual token zappa picks, but better than none at all i suppose.

Eisbär (llamasfur), Monday, 24 November 2003 21:27 (twenty years ago) link

most bizarre demotion of a british invasion giant to the bottom of the class:

no kinks album higher than #231

fact checking cuz, Monday, 24 November 2003 21:33 (twenty years ago) link

Thanks, Mr. Broheems. Indeed a good, nay, great album - though obviously it still doesn't change the essential tokenism of their choices.

o. nate (onate), Monday, 24 November 2003 21:36 (twenty years ago) link

oh, i'm definitely not disagreeing!

Broheems (diamond), Monday, 24 November 2003 21:37 (twenty years ago) link

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

81 isn't nearly enough places.

Colin Beckett (Colin Beckett), Monday, 24 November 2003 21:39 (twenty years ago) link

The Kinks being that low IS actually one of the most surprising things about this list.

jaymc (jaymc), Monday, 24 November 2003 21:44 (twenty years ago) link

i'm not at all surprised. the kinks have always gotten the short end of the stick from americans as far as the british invasion groups go. i mean, did they even make any of the eighties lists?

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!

Eisbär (llamasfur), Monday, 24 November 2003 21:54 (twenty years ago) link

at least there's no fucking wilco on this list. that's very good.

Eisbär (llamasfur), Monday, 24 November 2003 22:00 (twenty years ago) link

I think Wilco is always referred to as "fucking Wilco" now.

Gear! (Gear!), Monday, 24 November 2003 22:13 (twenty years ago) link

At least they didn't include Boston.

billstevejim, Monday, 24 November 2003 22:15 (twenty years ago) link

I finally hung out with my downstairs neighbors, who it turns out have thousands more CDs than me, because, while playing one song from each album they had from the list, they ended up blasting "Books About UFOs" followed by "All The Young Dudes." For that reason this list has done more for me than any other really shitty rock list. Plus they didn't have Here Come The Warm Jets so I got to play "Baby's On Fire" for them!

That said we all think the list is a big frikkin' joke. Blender's Top 1000 list was way better, esp. since they didn't do any ranking and didn't end up with overlapping hits comps like this one.

Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Monday, 24 November 2003 22:20 (twenty years ago) link

Also this is probably the only Best Albums Of All Time list that was made with consultation from Geezer Butler, Britney Spears AND Lars Ulrich.

Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Monday, 24 November 2003 22:23 (twenty years ago) link

Ah, but the true abomination is that
343. Bat Out of Hell, Meat Loaf
was deemed better than 157 other albums.
(xpost)

You speak wisely, should have been top 100 at least.

Billy Dods (Billy Dods), Monday, 24 November 2003 22:28 (twenty years ago) link

Yeesh

nate detritus (natedetritus), Monday, 24 November 2003 22:48 (twenty years ago) link

wouldn't have asked if i didn't need an answer!

I don't find any redeeming value in Diamond, despite the debatable tag of memorable some of his songs could have. I shrug in my indifference, though I'm glad some of you like the man.

Miggie (Miggie), Monday, 24 November 2003 22:56 (twenty years ago) link

i'm amazed that i have 56 of these

robin (robin), Monday, 24 November 2003 23:01 (twenty years ago) link

why? does jeff buckley's album have any songs as good as "cherry cherry" or "sweet caroline" or "cracklin' rosie"?

fact checking cuz is completely OTM here. And kudos for speaking up about it.

Sean (Sean), Monday, 24 November 2003 23:13 (twenty years ago) link

agreed

Fritz Wollner (Fritz), Monday, 24 November 2003 23:32 (twenty years ago) link

Portishead's Dummy at 419? I don't think so.

Where's Pulp, Saint Etienne, The Magnetic Fields? Even the Stone Roses didn't make it. What the...

daavid, Monday, 24 November 2003 23:57 (twenty years ago) link

276. Anthology of American Folk Music, Harry Smith, ed.

Balls. Proof that albums can't make sense of music.

Jim Robinson (Original Miscreant), Tuesday, 25 November 2003 00:07 (twenty years ago) link

Geez, what are you guys getting all hot and bothered over? It's Rolling Stone, for crying out loud. It means NOTHING. Shots in the dark, is all.

Francis Watlington (Francis Watlington), Tuesday, 25 November 2003 00:14 (twenty years ago) link

very depressing list, yeah - ESPECIALLY the top ten. i love "sgt pepper" and it's actually kind of funny to see it back at #1 after all these years, but the rest is totally disspiriting and predictable. even for rolling stone.

J.D. (Justyn Dillingham), Tuesday, 25 November 2003 00:18 (twenty years ago) link

Reading Rolling Stone, though, is like listening to that crotchety old great uncle you had going on and on and on about how his generation was the best and nothing that followed ever measured up, which of course he's going to say because he's so far removed from anything new and interesting that he's cocooned up, and he keeps telling the same story every years and at every family gathering til you get up and jab a finger at him, much to the shock of your relatives, spittle flying from your lips and landing on the turkey, shouting "why can't the cancer take you already?!!", sitting down, leaving later that night, and never being invited back to family gatherings for reasons that are obv.

Gear! (Gear!), Tuesday, 25 November 2003 00:26 (twenty years ago) link

that crotchety old great uncle you had going on and on and on about how his generation was the best and nothing that followed ever measured up, which of course he's going to say because he's so far removed from anything new and interesting that he's cocooned up...... Music for a 10 yr old nephew

Alex in NYC (vassifer), Tuesday, 25 November 2003 00:38 (twenty years ago) link

the one thing I like about RS publishing this silly list is that it includes sales figures and peak chart placing for every single album...I'm going to keep this issue around a long time just for easy reference purposes.

Al (sitcom), Tuesday, 25 November 2003 00:42 (twenty years ago) link

Shots in the dark, is all.

Jann gives love a bad name

nate detritus (natedetritus), Tuesday, 25 November 2003 00:45 (twenty years ago) link

the one thing I like about RS publishing this silly list is that it includes sales figures and peak chart placing for every single album

That is cool. I wonder how high Trout Mask Replica charted.

o. nate (onate), Tuesday, 25 November 2003 01:19 (twenty years ago) link

Except I don't trust their figures. Surely Songs in the Key of Life sold more than just one million copies, didn't it?

Eric H. (Eric H.), Tuesday, 25 November 2003 01:28 (twenty years ago) link

Spector's A Christmas Gift For You is INCLUDED in its entirety on Back to Mono. Why would you have both on here?!?!?

Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Tuesday, 25 November 2003 01:34 (twenty years ago) link

WHY IS THIS EVEN BEING DISCUSSED!?

BLOCKHEADS!

reo, Tuesday, 25 November 2003 02:31 (twenty years ago) link

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

jaymc, Tuesday, 22 September 2020 14:57 (three years ago) link

As safe as ever.

sock solipsist (pomenitul), Tuesday, 22 September 2020 15:00 (three years ago) link

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.

Monte Scampino (Le Bateau Ivre), Tuesday, 22 September 2020 15:13 (three years ago) link

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

Monte Scampino (Le Bateau Ivre), Tuesday, 22 September 2020 15:16 (three years ago) link

three years pass...

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.

Wooly Bully (2005 Remaster) (morrisp), Sunday, 7 January 2024 01:04 (three months ago) link

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

Wooly Bully (2005 Remaster) (morrisp), Sunday, 7 January 2024 01:05 (three months ago) link


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