The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time

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Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, Magazine Cover, November 2003.

The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time is the cover story of a special issue of Rolling Stone magazine published in November 2003.[1] The list was based on the votes of 273 rock musicians, critics and industry figures, each of whom submitted a weighted list of 50 albums. Various music genres were featured in the list, including pop, rock, ska, soul, blues, folk, jazz, hip hop, and combinations thereof. The accounting firm Ernst & Young devised a point system to weigh votes for 1,600 submitted titles.[2]

The list was released in book form in 2005, with an introduction written by Steven Van Zandt. The book's list was slightly different, explained in the editor's foreword as the removal of some compilation albums and the consolidation of the two LPs of Robert Johnson's King of the Delta Blues Singers into The Complete Recordings, making room for eight additional albums on the list. Madonna is the only female artist to have four of her albums included on the list.

The list's apparent generational bias toward the 1960s and 1970s prompted a response. Following the publicity surrounding the list, rock critic Jim DeRogatis, a former Rolling Stone editor, published Kill Your Idols: A New Generation of Rock Writers Reconsiders the Classics (ISBN 1-56980-276-9) in 2004. This featured a number of younger critics arguing against the magazine's high evaluation of various "classic" albums, including DeRogatis taking on Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, which had been Rolling Stone's top choice.

As with other similar lists from Rolling Stone, it is almost totally made up of the output of British and American artists. Only two albums produced in a non-English speaking country are included in it: Trans-Europe Express, by the German band Kraftwerk (#253) and the Cuban production Buena Vista Social Club (#260). Moreover, the first ten albums were all produced in the 1960s and 1970s. Notably, only five female artists are included in the first one hundred albums.

The list also includes many compilations such as "greatest hits" collections and soundtracks.

Contents

[edit] Top Ten albums

Pos. Album Name Artist
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 St. The Rolling Stones
8
 London Calling The Clash
9
 Blonde on Blonde Bob Dylan
10
 The Beatles (The White Album) The Beatles

[edit] Artists with the most albums in the list

(Numbers in parentheses represent actual number of studio albums by the artist while the other represents the number published by artist as the list was being decided. Actual number is subject to change without update.)

  • 11 The Beatles (with 4 in the top 10, including #1) – 10 of their 12 studio albums along with U.S. exclusive "Meet The Beatles!"
  • 10 Bob Dylan (with 2 in the top 10) – 10 of his 31 studio albums (32)
  • 10 The Rolling Stones (with 1 in the top 10) – 10 of their 21 studio albums (22)
  • 8 Bruce Springsteen – 8 of his 12 studio albums (15)
  • 7 The Who – 6 of their 10 studio albums(11); 1 live album
  • 6 Elton John – 5 of his 27 studio albums(29); 1 compilation album
  • 6 David Bowie – 5 of his 22 studio albums(23); 1 compilation album
  • 5 Led Zeppelin - 5 of their 8 studio albums
  • 5 U2 – 5 of their 12 studio albums(15); 3 compilation album

[edit] Number of albums from each decade

  • 1950s and earlier – 29 albums (5.8%)
  • 1960s – 126 (25.2%) (with 7 of the top 10)
  • 1970s – 183 (36.6%) (with 3 of the top 10)
  • 1980s – 88 (17.6%)
  • 1990s – 61 (12.2%)
  • 2000s – 13 (2.6%)

[edit] References

  1. ^ Levy, Joe; Steven Van Zandt (2006) [2005]. Rolling Stone The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time (3rd ed.). London: Turnaround. ISBN 1932958614. OCLC 70672814. 
    Related news articles:
  2. ^ "It's Certainly a Thrill: Sgt. Pepper Is Best Album", USA Today, November 17, 2003.

[edit] External links

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