New 2020 rolling stone ranking of the 500 greatest albums of all time

[fredoamigo]

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/...e-1062063/rufus-chaka-khan-ask-rufus-1062734/

It is one of the most discussed and sometimes questionable rankings ... There are newcomers and others who disappear especially in the first 50 ...
as long as my all-time favorite album stays in the top 50 I'm fine with it (they put kind of blue 31st )
but I would not like at all that they go further with him !!

 

[Harmonie]

Strange to limit to 500 and even stranger to let your loved ones move away.
Once I like an album, I like it, period.

 

[fredoamigo]

I think that 500 is the right number . of course there are albums that we love and that are not in this list . how can we be objective . these are only the most outstanding albums in the history of "modern" music . the discussion often focuses on the ranking of the top 50 .

 

[Harmonie]

Then 1000 would be a more magical number IMO
When you see today's 15 to 20.000 libraries that some have ...

I agree that it's totally subjective.
I just wouldn't like some mythical albums be forgotten ... (the seventies in particular).

 

[Sukie]

I think it's incredibly difficult to compare across the decades. Popular culture, by its definition, lends itself to specificity and transience. Lists like these can be mere exercises in nostalgia.

And yet I rather like to look through them. I wait with anticipation to see if I approve of top spot. Great to see Marvin at no.1. He's had this once or twice before (NME and Guardian over here in the UK come to mind).

I also love to see the evolving appreciation of the Beatles albums. Remember the days when Sgt Pepper was always no.1? Only 24 today!!!

 

[weasels]

I got to about #395 before confirming that the list is better used as a source to see albums I may have overlooked (right now, listening to Can's album and it's great). The actual rankings themselves are the kind of meaningless subjectivism that spawns holy wars online.

 

[Harmonie]

For me, it's not the ranking.
It's just to be mentioned there.
Think over a teenager who is looking for some "modern music" education.

 

[Sukie]

For me, it's not the ranking.
It's just to be mentioned there.
Think over a teenager who is looking for some "modern music" education.

When I was a young lad I'd often go the library to check various "guides to the best albums" before spending my hard earned cash on a classic.

Happy days!

 

[bluefuzz]

right now, listening to Can's album and it's great

Can's Future Days should be no. 1. No discussion!

 

[bobbooo]

I really don't think they should have any 'greatest hits' on there. They're compilations, not albums.

 

[anmpr1]

So I go there to check it out, and Brave warns me that RS is trying to install some sort of Google software--for DRM purposes. Why do I need DRM software to read about some album ratings? It's not that I don't trust Google, but I don't trust them at all.

 

[StevenEleven]

Very easy to criticize this list, from my perspective there’s a lot wrong with it, actually by my way of thinking more wrong than right, but it’s high entertainment with a lot of good and fascinating information. So in the end I say, an impossible task well done.

 

[bobbooo]

No Aphex Twin on there but...Harry Styles? Criminal.

 

[Robin L]

I'm still reading it. It's one giant ad for Apple Music, one can stream everything on the list if one signs up for Apple Music. Interesting how much I haven't heard.

 

[bluefuzz]

There's a lot to be puzzled about on that list. Two Miles Davis albums are the only jazz entries. The totality of country music is represented by Johnny Cash at Fulsom and Loretta Lynn (and the Burritos if you count them as country). No folk music or even folk-rock at all. A single Fela Kuti entry represents the whole African continent. A single Kraftwerk and Can album each (neither of them their best) represent the whole of Europe. Nothing at all from Asia ... And yet Big Star has three entries! Had anyone really heard of them before they started getting name dropped by everyone a decade or so ago? Then there are swathes of distinctly mediocre R&B/rap from the last few years that, while undoubtedly popular surely can't be considered top 500 (or even top 5000 material).

And why oh why do Pet Sounds and What's going On always top these sort of charts? Really? The best albums ever?

 

[SIY]

When you're rapidly sliding into journalistic irrelevance, creating "lists" like this is a sure means of viral publicity.

 

[ElNino]

I think it's incredibly difficult to compare across the decades. Popular culture, by its definition, lends itself to specificity and transience. Lists like these can be mere exercises in nostalgia.

And yet I rather like to look through them. I wait with anticipation to see if I approve of top spot. Great to see Marvin at no.1. He's had this once or twice before (NME and Guardian over here in the UK come to mind).

I also love to see the evolving appreciation of the Beatles albums. Remember the days when Sgt Pepper was always no.1? Only 24 today!!!

I agree with you. Some of the choices are a definite product of Rolling Stone staff coming of age in a particular era. Like Liz Phair’s Exile in Guyville... it was influential for people of a certain age, but going back to it now it’s got a kind of dated angst that’s hard to get into. Definitely not top 20 material. But I kind of agree with where they’ve placed Sgt Pepper... in the big picture, that placement is fair. Some of its appeal is only generational, though it is a great album.

 

[Robin L]

There's a lot to be puzzled about on that list. Two Miles Davis albums are the only jazz entries. The totality of country music is represented by Johnny Cash at Fulsom and Loretta Lynn (and the Burritos if you count them as country). No folk music or even folk-rock at all. A single Fela Kuti entry represents the whole African continent. A single Kraftwerk and Can album each (neither of them their best) represent the whole of Europe. Nothing at all from Asia ... And yet Big Star has three entries! Had anyone really heard of them before they started getting name dropped by everyone a decade or so ago? Then there are swathes of distinctly mediocre R&B/rap from the last few years that, while undoubtedly popular surely can't be considered top 500 (or even top 5000 material).

And why oh why do Pet Sounds and What's going On always top these sort of charts? Really? The best albums ever?

No, there's Ornette Coleman and John Coltrane, Charles Mingus as well. There's more country, more Africa. You're skimming. There's plenty of the usual Rolling Stone collection of musical biases. What were you expecting, a tribute to Shonen Knife and Franco? Harry Partch? Sun Ra?

 

[bluefuzz]

What were you expecting, a tribute to Shonen Knife and Franco? Harry Partch? Sun Ra?

A guy can dream ... ;-)

 

[q3cpma]

How can you rank completely different genres? I myself maintain a ~200 favourite albums list, but I would never think about ranking them.

Here's some corrections to apply to make it less ridiculous:
* Cocteau Twins - Heaven or Las Vegas -> Head over Heels or Garlands.
* Kraftwerk - Trans-Europe Express -> Die Mensch-Maschine.
* Metallica - Metallica (lol) and Master of Puppets -> ...And Justice for All or Ride the Lightning.
* Grateful Dead - American Beauty -> Aoxomoxoa.
* Black Sabbath's Paranoid over Master of Reality? No.
* Same with NIN's The Downward Spiral over Pretty Hate Machine.

Not even mentioning that it should be called "The 500 Greatest Popular Albums of All Time", metal being represented only by Black Sabbath and Metallica is a complete joke; see all the bias you want, as this is coming from an extreme metal enthusiast.