The 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time Article Index for
The 500
Website Links For
500
 

Information About

The 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time




''The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time'' was the cover story of a special issue of '' Rolling Stone '' magazine published in November 2003 . 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.


CRITICISM

The list has provoked considerable discussion and debate among musicians and fans. Criticisms of the list include:

  • It was too focused upon albums by The Beatles , who had four albums in the top 10, including #1, as well as #14 and many more in the top 500.

  • It was too focused upon music from the 1960s and 1970s —the top 10 included only two albums released since 1970, The Rolling Stones ' '' Exile On Main Street '' (1972) and The Clash 's '' London Calling '' (1979).

  • The list was limited to English-language albums.

  • It emphasized Rock at the expense of Jazz , Hip-hop , and certain rock genres like Progressive Rock .

  • It contained few entries by Female artists.

  • It contained too many entries from the United States , although the top 10 featured six entries from UK artists.

  • It elected to include "Greatest Hits" and "Best of" compilations alongside studio releases.



INFLUENCE AND IMPORTANCE IN POPULAR CULTURE

Still, the list was influential, and supporters of bands often point to the presence of an album on the list as tantamount to inclusion in the pop-cultural canon. Even those who seriously challenge the rankings on terms of artistic merit generally accept their validity as indicators of influence and fame.

It should also be noted that, while the list purports to contemplate the 500 greatest albums of all time, it ignores entirely several major genres of music (as these are not genres typically covered by ''Rolling Stone''). Among these are Classical Music , Film Music , Showtunes , Electronic Music , Bluegrass , and traditional music. All of these genres have at least some albums that were influential ( Glenn Gould 's second recording of The Goldberg Variations ), popular (the original recording of '' Rent '') or both ( John Williams ' score to '' Star Wars '').

The list was released in book form in 2005 , with an introduction written by Steven Van Zandt . The book's list was slightly different, with the addition of such albums as '' Aquemini '' by OutKast . The order was also rearranged, with Chuck Berry 's '' The Great Twenty-Eight '' being lower on the list.

The apparent generational bias toward the 1960s prompted a different response as well. Following the publicity surrounding the list, rock critic . This featured a number of younger critics skewering various supposedly classic rock albums, with DeRogatis taking on '' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band '', which had been ''Rolling Stone'''s top choice.

Besides four albums from The Beatles and two from Bob Dylan , the top 10 included albums from The Beach Boys , Marvin Gaye , The Rolling Stones, and The Clash.




EXTERNAL LINKS