Rolling Stone Magazine's 500 Greatest Albums
by 
I know it's a little late for this, since the issue came out in November, but I don't think anyone covered this and it was just an awesome issue of Rolling Stone Magazine, listing the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, as voted on by such luminaries as Britney Spears. That was sarcastic, but still, the other voters were better than Britney...and they came up with a huge list of the top 500, with an article or blurb for each of the top albums. Highly recommended, if anyone can still find the issue. It really helped me learn a lot about the albums. Here's the list, see what you think. What are your favorite albums of all time?
Read on to see Rolling Stone's Top 25.
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
21. The Great Twenty-Eight, Chuck Berry
22. Plastic Ono Band, John Lennon
23. Innervisions, Stevie Wonder
24. Live at the Apollo (1963), James Brown
25. Rumours, Fleetwood Mac
For the rest of the top 500, go to http://www.rollingstone.com/features/coverstory/featuregen.asp?pid=2164
AI Summary
19 Comments
where is the album "elmo goes to jail"? i remember listening to that as a kid and dreaming of prison.
what makes an album "the best"? i don't understand how stuff can get ranked like this. i mean, i could make up my own rankings of my favorite music, but would that make it the best? it would be the best to me. i'm sure there's a lot of good music in that list there, but i think the whole premise of the idea of ranking music is stupid.
i agree. i usually hate these list things. I've heard VERY little of what was on that 500 best albums list. but in terms of creativity, timing, and music prior to those releases...who knows. i wasn't around. i'm sure it was amazing and magical. but i'll certainly stick to my tastes and preferences and not let any person or magazine dictate to me exactly what is good, essential, important, ispirational, or creative.
Probably because of its influence and creativity. Sgt. Pepper probably was not as good an album in terms of how fun it was to listen to as other Beatles albums like Revolver and Rubber Soul, but Rolling Stone explains that it is due to the creativity involved in making it, taking a whole new approach to music on the part of the Beatles.
right, i respect that. but it's still mostly opinion and taste. i could say that koyomon takiki's solo "Drumming for Rain - Live from Titikaka" was the most influential cd ever. just because.
I understand that they can say what their general favorites are, but to rank one above another? I think Queen is amazing, yet they don't appear until the late 100's. I don't think Beastie Boys are that great but I saw them on there at least twice. Who decides this?
Weezer is at 297..Yay!
beastie boys are great! maybe my fav band ever!
they're amazing. Hello Nasty was genius. my favorite songs on there are the last two. the non-rap songs! they're very versatile.
that's what i love about em, they're old stuff is cool, but its awesome that they didn't lock themselves into that. i love hello nasty, i just wish they would get their butts in gear and release a new album already!!
HEY LADIEEESSS!!!
I agree with you, they are great! 3 white boys who rap....who knew....
Although, Joshua Tree - U2 - should be in the Top 10
least there is no pop produced crap in the first 25
I think it was voted on by about 300 artists, producers, and critics.
London Calling is a great album. I just got the Essential Clash, the new 2-disc set, it's awesome. Dylan's Highway 61 is just an amazing album too, if I could recommend any of those top albums, those are the ones to go for. Jimi's Are You Experienced? is really good too. I must say Sgt. Pepper shouldn't have been #1, I would have put Dylan's Highway 61 at #1, and Beatles' Revolver and Rubber Soul at 2 and 3.
I still think Bob Dylan was the most horrendous singer and perfomer ever. His writing on the other hand was amazing, almost enough to get him out of the grave he dug with his singing, almost.
i cannot beleive there is no YES albums on this STOOOOOPid list.
hardcore existentialists
oh. i got a point! nice! yeah, they're hardcore all right.
wow, another one...dan is kickin' butt
who, Rolling stone mag or Yes?