Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time
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"The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time" is a recurring opinion survey and music ranking of the finest
album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...
s in history, compiled by the American magazine ''
Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...
''. It is based on weighted votes from selected musicians, critics, and industry figures. The first list was published in a special issue of the magazine in 2003 and a related book in 2005.
Related news articles: * *
Critics have accused the lists of lending disproportionate weight to artists of particular races and genders. In the original list, most of the selections were albums by white male rock musicians of Anglo backgrounds, with the top position held by
the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...
' '' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band'' (1967). In 2012, ''Rolling Stone'' published a revised edition, drawing on the original and a later survey of albums released up until the early 2000s. Another updated edition of the list was published in 2020, with 154 new entries not in either of the two previous editions. It was based on a new survey and did not factor in the surveys conducted for the 2003 and 2012 lists. The 2020 list featured more artists of color and female artists, and was topped by Marvin Gaye's '' What's Going On'' (1971). It received similar criticisms as the previous lists.


Background

The first version of the list, published as a magazine in November 2003, was based on the votes of 273 rock musicians, critics, and industry figures, each of whom submitted a ranked list of 50 albums. The accounting firm
Ernst & Young Ernst & Young Global Limited, trade name EY, is a multinational professional services partnership headquartered in London, England. EY is one of the largest professional services networks in the world. Along with Deloitte, KPMG and Pricewat ...
devised a point system to weigh votes for 1,600 submitted titles.
The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...
' 1967 album '' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band'' topped the list, with ''Rolling Stone''s editors describing it as "the most important rock 'n' roll album ever made".
The Beach Boys The Beach Boys are an American Rock music, rock band that formed in Hawthorne, California, in 1961. The group's original lineup consisted of brothers Brian Wilson, Brian, Dennis Wilson, Dennis, and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and frie ...
' ''
Pet Sounds ''Pet Sounds'' is the 11th studio album by American rock band the Beach Boys, released on May 16, 1966, by Capitol Records. It was initially met with a lukewarm critical and commercial response in the United States, peaking at number 10 on the ...
'' (1966) was ranked second in recognition of its influence on ''Sgt. Pepper''. The list also included compilations and "greatest hits" collections."It's Certainly a Thrill: Sgt. Pepper Is Best Album"
''USA Today'', November 17, 2003.
An amended list was released as a book in 2005, with an introduction by guitarist
Steven Van Zandt Steven Van Zandt (né Lento; born November 22, 1950), also known as Little Steven or Miami Steve, is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and actor. He is a member of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band, in which he plays guitar and mandoli ...
. Some compilation albums were removed, and
Robert Johnson Robert Leroy Johnson (May 8, 1911August 16, 1938) was an American blues musician and songwriter. His landmark recordings in 1936 and 1937 display a combination of singing, guitar skills, and songwriting talent that has influenced later generati ...
's '' The Complete Recordings'' was substituted for both of his ''
King of the Delta Blues Singers ''King of the Delta Blues Singers'' is a compilation album by American Delta blues musician Robert Johnson, released in 1961 on Columbia Records. It is considered one of the greatest and most influential blues releases. In 2020, ''Rolling Stone ...
'' volumes, making room for a total of eight new entries on the list. On May 31, 2012, ''Rolling Stone'' published a revised list, drawing on the original and a later survey of albums up until the early 2000s. It was made available in "bookazine" format on newsstands in the US from April 27 to July 25. The new list contained 38 albums not present in the previous one, 16 of them released after 2003. The top listings remained unchanged. Most of the albums on the initial lists were by white male rock musicians. Among the top 50 rankings, only 12 entries were by artists of color, none of whom were female, and only three albums by white women figured in the top 50. On September 22, 2020, another revision of the list was published. It drew upon a new survey conducted with "more than 300 artists, producers, critics, and music-industry figures", including: *
Craig Kallman Craig Kallman is an American entrepreneur and former DJ. He is currently the chairman and CEO of Atlantic Records. His career in music began in the 1980s as a DJ in Manhattan. He is the founder of the independent label Big Beat, which was es ...
* Beyoncé *
Taylor Swift Taylor Alison Swift (born December 13, 1989) is an American singer-songwriter. Her discography spans multiple genres, and her vivid songwriting—often inspired by her personal life—has received critical praise and wide media coverage. Bor ...
*
Billie Eilish Billie Eilish Pirate Baird O'Connell ( ; born December 18, 2001) is an American singer-songwriter. She first gained public attention in 2015 with her debut single " Ocean Eyes", written and produced by her brother Finneas O'Connell, with whom ...
*
H.E.R. Gabriella Sarmiento Wilson (born June 27, 1997), known professionally as H.E.R. (pronounced "her", an acronym for "Having Everything Revealed"), is an American singer, songwriter, musician and actress. She has received several awards includin ...
*
Tierra Whack Tierra Helena Whack (born August 11, 1995) is an American rapper, singer, and songwriter. She originally performed as "Dizzle Dizz" as a teenager, but later on reverted to her birth name in 2017. Her debut studio album, ''Whack World'', was releas ...
* Lindsey Jordan *
Adam Clayton Adam Charles Clayton (born 13 March 1960) is an English-born Irish musician who is the bass guitarist of the rock band U2. He has resided in County Dublin, Ireland since his family moved to Malahide in 1965, when he was five years old. Cla ...
*
The Edge David Howell Evans (born 8 August 1961), better known as the Edge or simply Edge,McCormick (2006), pp. 21, 23–24 is an English-born Irish musician, singer, and songwriter. He is best known as the lead guitarist, keyboardist, and backing voca ...
*
Raekwon Corey Woods (born January 12, 1970), better known by his stage name Raekwon The Chef, or simply Raekwon (), is an American rapper. He rose to prominence as a founding member of the hip-hop group Wu-Tang Clan, which achieved mainstream success ...
* Gene Simmons * Stevie Nicks Each voter was asked to submit a ranked list of 50 favorite albums. This time, the list included more musicians who were female and people of color, with many such artists represented at higher rankings than on the previous lists. 86 of the entries were 21st-century releases. One hundred fifty-four new entries were not on either of the two previous editions, and rap albums figured three times as much. Marvin Gaye's '' What's Going On'' (1971) was featured at the number one spot.


Reception

The original ''Rolling Stone'' 500 was criticized for being male-dominated, outmoded and almost entirely Anglo-American in focus. Writing in ''
USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgini ...
'',
Edna Gundersen Edna Gundersen is an American journalist who was a longtime music writer and critic for ''USA Today''. Gundersen grew up in El Paso, Texas. She attained a degree in journalism from the University of Texas at El Paso and then wrote features and en ...
described the list as predictable and "weighted toward testosterone-fueled vintage rock". Following the publicity surrounding the list, rock critic
Jim DeRogatis James Peter DeRogatis (born September 2, 1964) is an American music critic and co-host of '' Sound Opinions''. DeRogatis has written articles for magazines such as ''Rolling Stone'', '' Spin'', '' Guitar World'' and ''Modern Drummer'', and for ...
, a former ''Rolling Stone'' editor, published ''Kill Your Idols: A New Generation of Rock Writers Reconsiders the Classics'' in 2004. The book featured a number of critics arguing against the high evaluation of various "great" albums, many of which had been included in the list. Jonny Sharp, a contributor to ''NME''s own 500 greatest albums list, described the 2012 ''Rolling Stone'' list as a "soulless, canon-centric
ist Ist or IST may refer to: Information Science and Technology * Bachelor's or Master's degree in Information Science and Technology * Graduate School / Faculty of Information Science and Technology, Hokkaido University, Japan * Graduate School ...
of the same tired old titles", adding: "looking at their 500, when the only album in their top 10 less than 40 years old is ''
London Calling ''London Calling'' is the third studio album by English rock band the Clash. It was originally released as a double album in the United Kingdom on 14 December 1979 by CBS Records, and in the United States in January 1980 by Epic Records. T ...
'', I think I prefer the ''NMEs less critically-correct approach." Responding to the 2020 revision, ''
Consequence of Sound ''Consequence'' (previously ''Consequence of Sound'') is an independently owned New York-based online magazine featuring news, editorials, and reviews of music, movies, and television. In addition, the website also features the Festival Outlook ...
''s Alex Young wrote that the lesser representation of white male rock musicians was "the biggest takeaway". According to
CNN CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by ...
's Leah Asmelash, "The change represents a massive shift for the magazine, moving to recognize more contemporary albums and a wider range of tastes."


Statistics


Number of albums from each decade


Artists with the most albums

The following table lists the artists who had at least three albums included on at least one edition of the list (68 artists in total).


See also

*
Album era The album era was a period in English-language popular music from the mid-1960s to the mid-2000s in which the album was the dominant form of recorded music expression and consumption. It was primarily driven by three successive music recording ...
* ''
All Time Top 1000 Albums ''All Time Top 1000 Albums'' is a book by Colin Larkin, creator and editor of the ''Encyclopedia of Popular Music''. The book was first published by Guinness Publishing in 1994. The list presented is the result of over 200,000 votes cast by th ...
'' * '' Critic's Choice: Top 200 Albums'' * ''NMEs The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time * '' 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die'' * ''Rolling Stones 500 Greatest Songs of All Time * ''Rolling Stones 100 Greatest Songwriters of All Time * ''Rolling Stones 100 Greatest Artists of All Time


Notes


References


Further reading

* Paul Donoughue
"Rolling Stone's 500 'greatest albums of all time' list makes us question the meaning of classic"
Australian Broadcasting Corporation The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is the national broadcaster of Australia. It is principally funded by direct grants from the Australian Government and is administered by a government-appointed board. The ABC is a publicly-own ...
, September 26, 2020.
"Internet reacts to Rolling Stone's more inclusive 500 Greatest Albums list"
Radio X, September 24, 2020.
"'Rolling Stone' Updates Its List of the Greatest Albums of All Time"
National Public Radio National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...
, September 25, 2020. * Sheldon Pearce
"The Futility of Rolling Stone's Best-Albums List"
''
The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...
'', October 2, 2020.


External links


500 Greatest Albums of All Time (2020 edition)
by ''Rolling Stone'' {{DEFAULTSORT:500 Greatest Albums Of All Time Lists of albums Rolling Stone articles