Greatest Albums Of All Time

Long Playing: Listening To Rolling Stone’s Greatest Albums of All Time (Final Summary)

It took me five months, but I finally finished listening to Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. My initial goal was to group them in sets of 10 and write a little blurb about each one, but that started to become both tedious and repetitive. By that I mean I was essentially doing reaction posts to the albums, which already had capsule reaction/reviews attached to them. At first, I thought I’d post a summary of what albums I really connected to — and those that I didn’t. But that was too broad. So, perhaps an X/Y axis of preferences, then? Nope. I’m not a data cruncher. So what’s left? How about genre? That’s something a guy with a Humanities background can work with, but it’s a bit sloppy for purists. Why? Well, if you take the category of rock, you’ll find yourself subdividing them into subgenres like folk rock, grunge rock, country rock, alternative rock, and the like. The same with soul. New soul, classic soul, retro soul, soul/rock, hip-hop/soul…and the list can go on.

So…I just did a quick scan of the magazine issue with all 500 albums and put checkmarks by the records I like. Not the most elegant way of doing it, but math was never my thing. So, what I’m going to do is break it down by decades — by starting at the most recent and working backward in time — and offer some remarks about what the checkmarks say about my musical tastes for a particular decade.

2000s*


*Yes I know…I’ve lumped the two decades of music under the heading “2000s”

Kanye West, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy

Amy Winehouse, Back to Black

Jay-Z, The Blueprint

Drake, Take Care

Taylor Swift, Red

Adele, 21

Jay-Z, The Black Album

Erykah Badu, Mama’s Gun

Robyn, Body Talk

Kanye West, 808s & Heartbreak

Daft Punk, Random Access Memories

Kanye West, Graduation

Green Day, American Idiot

PJ Harvey, Stories From the City, Stories From the Sea

Coldplay, A Rush of Blood to the Head

Vampire Weekend, Modern Vampires of the City

My Chemical Romance, The Black Parade

Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Fever to Tell

Billie Eilish, When We Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?

Bob Dylan, Love and Theft

Fiona Apple, Extraordinary Machine

The White Stripes, Elephant

Lorde, Melodrama

Muddy Waters, The Anthology

Lady Gaga, Born This Way

Harry Styles, Fine Line

What does this say about my music tastes?

Just to acknowledge what I noted at the beginning: I lumped two decade’s worth of music into one decade. Is that fair? Probably not. But when you see the albums in this list lined up, there’s certainly variation in styles of a particular genre, but from what I picked in this grouping, they aren’t all that dissimilar. Most decades have a moment when it’s clear the music has broken from the past, but the 2000s haven’t had that hard break yet. There’s still a lot of lingering styles that continued for 20 years. From this list, however, it’s clear that I like hip hop way more than I admit. Granted, these records are some of the big sellers of the era, so it’s not like I’m really being a trailblazer here. As far as non-hip hop goes, the records I really like tend to hew closely to musical styles I tend to gravitate toward. Lady Gaga has a great voice, and Robyn crafts some wonderfully catchy songs, but their music is very 80s. The White Stripes and Amy Winehouse are kissing cousins to the 1960s, and Harry Styles is also a throwback artist. I’d say the most original sounding non- hip hop albums in this lot are Billie Eilish and PJ Harvey. So, what this list says about my tastes is that I tend to like music that reminds me of other eras — while sometimes venturing out of my comfort zone to see what all the hubbub is about other popular music.

1990s

Lauryn Hill, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill

Radiohead, OK Computer

Liz Phair, Exile in Guyville

Alanis Morissette, Jagged Little Pill

R.E.M., Automatic for the People

Lucinda Williams, Car Wheels on a Gravel Road

Fiona Apple, When the Pawn…

Nine Inch Nails, The Downward Spiral

U2, Achtung Baby

Mary J. Blige, My Life

Fugees, The Score

Madonna, The Immaculate Collection

PJ Harvey, Rid of Me

Oasis, (What’s The Story) Morning Glory

Pearl Jam, Ten

Depeche Mode, Violator

Nirvana, In Utero

Public Enemy, Fear of a Black Planet

Bjork, Homogenic

TLC, CrazySexyCool

Madonna, Ray of Light

Dixie Chicks, Fly

Blue Lines, Massive Attack

Cocteau Twins, Heaven or Las Vegas

LL Cool J, Mama Said Knock You Out

Sade, Love Deluxe

Beastie Boys, Check Your Head

Nirvana, MTV Unplugged in New York

Bjork, Post

Destiny’s Child, The Writing’s on the Wall

The Breeders, Last Splash

Weezer, The Blue Album

Janet Jackson, The Velvet Rope

Snoop Doggy Dogg, Doggystyle

The Smashing Pumpkins, Siamese Dream

Green Day, Dookie

Massive Attack, Mezzanine

Beck, Odelay

Sinead O’Connor, I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got

Manu Chao, Clandestino

Sheryl Crow, Sheryl Crow

Selena, Amor Prohibido

Boyz II Men, II

Shakira, Donde Estan Los Ladrones

What does this say about my music tastes?

The ’90s get a bad reputation for fracturing a kind of monoculture that some say existed prior to hip-hop, grunge, and country separating into rival teams. Maybe there’s something to that for a brief period. However, surveying this list of records, it’s clear that whatever teams people aligned themselves with, didn’t affect how diverse the decade was. Yes, I know that Nirvana’s Nevermind is missing from this list, and that’s because I completely burned out on the record. But even setting that one aside, there was a lot of pushing the proverbial envelope going on in the ’90s. Radiohead, PJ Harvey, Massive Attack, The Smashing Pumpkins, and Nine Inch Nails, and even Bjork released a lot of music that was a clear break from the decade before. Oh, I should add U2 into the mix, too. If there’s one thing about the albums featured from the ’90s here, there are some big changes with the music-buying public. For example, Spanish-language records from Shakira to Manu Chao, to the new soul sounds from Boyz II Men, Janet Jackson, and Destiny’s Child, to the undeniable dominance of rap and hip-hop all sold a lot of copies. And yes, while my taste in hip-hop music is pretty limited, I’m not so locked into my preferences to ignore good material when it comes down the road.

1980s

Prince and the Revolution, Purple Rain

Michael Jackson, Thriller

Public Enemy, If Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back

Talking Head, Remain in Light

Prince, Sign O’ The Times

Bob Marley and the Wailers, Legend

Kate Bush, Hounds of Love

N.W.A., Straight Outta Compton

AC/DC, Back in Black

Janet Jackson, Control

The Smiths, The Queen is Dead

The Cure, Disintegration

Beastie Boys, Paul’s Boutique

Prince, 1999

U2, The Joshua Tree

Bruce Springsteen, Nebraska

Pretenders, Pretenders

The Police, Syncronicity

R.E.M. Murmur

Cyndi Lauper, She’s So Unusal

Michael Jackson, Bad

Sade, Diamond Life

Run-DMC, Raising Hell

Joy Division, Unknown Pleasures

Whitney Houston, Whitney Houston

Tracy Chapman, Tracy Chapman

New Order, Power, Corruption & Lies

Peter Gabriel, So

Joy Division, Closer

X, Los Angeles

The Clash, Sandinista!

Prince, Dirty Mind

Madonna, Like a Prayer

Roxy Music, Avalon

Janet Jackson, Rhythm Nation 1814

Tom Waits, Rain Dogs

Luther Vandross, Never Too Much

Run-DMC, Run DMC

Rush, Moving Pictures

Diana Ross, Diana

The Go-Go’s, Beauty and the Beat

Dire Straits, Brothers In Arms

Los Lobos, How Will The Wolf Survive?

Pet Shop Boys, Actually

David Bowie, Scary Monsters

Nine Inch Nails, Pretty Hate Machine

Bonnie Raitt, Nick of Time

Various Artists, The Indestructible Beat of Soweto

What does this say about my music tastes?

The 1980s were also a pretty diverse decade. Hard rock and new wave seemed to be all the rage at the beginning of the decade, while hip-hop and pop tended to dominate the mid to late-’80s. Most of the albums on my list reflect the slicing and dicing of genres that made up my collection in some form or fashion back then. While there are no sales receipts for N.W.A., Public Enemy, and Luther Vandross albums from the ’80s buried deep in the archives of my financial transaction history, you could check my streaming choices on Apple or YouTube Music to see that those artists have been added to a library connected to my account. But, if you were really doing financial forensic work, you would find evidence that I slapped down cash on the counter for Dire Straits, Pretenders, Bowie, The Police, U2, and a whole host of other bands and artists. At the time, many of the titles from these artists were, yes new, but also not all that mainstream. So, at the time, I felt like I was buying records from off the proverbial beaten path. Well, now that these albums are being canonized by Rolling Stone, it’s difficult to argue with LPs that I thought were great in the first place. As far as what this says about my musical taste, I would say it runs the gamut of left-of-center to the mainstream.

1970s

Marvin Gaye, What’s Going On

Joni Mitchell, Blue

Stevie Wonder, Songs in the Key of Life

Fleetwood Mac, Rumours

Bob Dylan, Blood on the Tracks

The Rolling Stones, Exile on Main Street

The Clash, London Calling

Bruce Springsteen, Born to Run

Carole King, Tapestry

Stevie Wonder, Innervisions

Michael Jackson, Off The Wall

David Bowie, The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust

David Bowie, Station to Station

Pink Floyd, Dark Side of the Moon

Led Zeppelin, Led Zeppelin IV

Stevie Wonder, Talking Book

Steely Dan, Aja

Bob Marley and the Wailers, Exodus

Curtis Mayfield, Superfly

The Who, Who’s Next

Miles Davis, Bitches Brew

David Bowie, Hunky Dory

Bruce Springsteen, Darkness on the Edge of Town

The Clash, The Clash

The Rolling Stones, Sticky Fingers

The Allman Brothers, At Fillmore East

Elton John, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road

Van Morrison, Moondance

Elvis Costello, This Year’s Model

Led Zeppelin, Led Zeppelin II

Queen, A Night At the Opera

Pink Floyd, The Wall

Led Zeppelin, Physical Graffiti

Blondie, Parallel Lines

Various Artists, Saturday Night Fever

Buddy Holly, 20 Golden Greats

Steely Dan, Can Buy a Thrill

Simon and Garfunkel, Bridge Over Troubled Waters

Rod Stewart, Every Picture Tells a Story

The B-52’s, The B-52’s

Cat Stevens, Tea for the Tillerman

David Bowie, Low

John Lennon, Imagine

Black Sabbath, Master of Reality

Elton John, Honkey Chateau

Devo, Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo

Joni Mitchell, The Hissing of Summer Lawns

Pink Floyd, Wish You Were Here

Curtis Mayfield, Curtus

Led Zeppelin, Houses of the Holy

Donna Summer, Bad Girls

Van Halen, Van Halen

Kiss, Alive!

The Who, Live At Leeds

Santana, Abraxas

Brian Eno, Another Green World

The Beatles, Let It Be

Sly and the Family Stone, Greatest Hits

Bruce Springsteen, The Wild, The Innocent, & the E Street Shuffle

Stevie Wonder, Music of My Mind

The Cars, The Cars

Black Sabbath, Black Sabbath

Kraftwerk, Trans-Europe Express

Funkadelic, One Nation Under a Groove

Parliament, The Mothership Connection

Talking Heads, More Songs About Buildings and Food

Aerosmith, Rocks

Blondie, Blondie

Creedence Clearwater Revival, Cosmo’s Factory

Chic, Risque

Earth, Wind and Fire, That’s the Way of the World

Paul Simon, Paul Simon

Al Green, Call Me

Elvis Costello, My Aim Is True

James Brown, Sex Machine

Loretta Lynn, Coal Miner’s Daughter

Yes, Close to the Edge

Al Green, Greatest Hits

The Isley Brothers, 3+3

Rufus, Ask Rufus

What does this say about my music tastes?

Sometimes the 1970s gets a bad rap — like when Denis Leary asked if he could sue Dan Fogelberg for making him into a f*cking p*ssy in the mid-70s? Or when people moan about bloated Arena Rock, or when Disco rules, or Punk rebelled (albeit, briefly)…sometimes dunking on the ’70s can be as easy as shooting fish in the proverbial barrel. However, if you look at the list of albums from that era, there was some really fantastic music being created in so-called “Me Decade.” What this slimmed down list from the ’70s says about my musical tastes is pretty much what it say about my tastes in the ’80s. Most of it is pretty mainstream. Again, that presumes that when these records were released, they were mainstream hits. Some were, many weren’t. But, it still doesn’t take away from their greatness.

1960s

The Beach Boys, Pet Sounds

The Beatles, Abbey Road

The Beatles, Revolver

Aretha Franklin, I Never Loved A Man The Way I Love You

Bob Dylan, Highway 61 Revisted

The Beatles, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band

The Beatles, The White Album

Jimi Hendrix, Are You Experienced

The Beatles, Rubber Soul

Bob Dylan, Blonde on Blonde

The Rolling Stones, Let It Bleed

The Band, The Band

Van Morrison, Astral Weeks

John Coltrane, A Love Supreme

The Doors, The Doors

The Band, Music from Big Pink

Led Zeppelin, Led Zeppelin

Led Zeppelin, Led Zeppelin II

Ray Charles, Modern Sounds In Country and Western Music

Crosby, Stills, and Nash, Crosby Stills and Nash

Johnny Cash, At Folsom Prison

Cream, Disraeli Gears

Bob Dylan, Bringing It All Back Home

The Rolling Stones, Beggars Banquet

The Who, Tommy

Etta James, At Last

Creedence Clearwater Revival, Will and the Poor Boys

The Beatles, Meet the Beatles

John Coltrane, Giant Steps

Bob Dylan, The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan

The Beatles, Help!

B.B. King, Live at the Regal

The Rolling Stones, Aftermath

Bob Dylan, John Wesley Harding

MC5, Kick Out The Jams

The Beach Boys, Wild Honey

Roberta Flack, First Take

Laura Nyro, Eli and the 13th Confession

The Beach Boys, The Beach Boys Today

What does this say about my music tastes?

Boy, I sure do like The Beatles, The Beach Boys, Dylan, Led Zeppelin, and The Rolling Stones. You know what that makes me? Mainstream. Sure, not everyone love Zep or Dylan’s music, but for a decade that was marked by an explosion of rock music, it’s kind of surprising that this list only has the superstars. I guess in a way, these bands and artists were like Big Tech: They were innovative, disruptive, and dominated the market.

1950s

Miles Davis, Kind of Blue

Little Richard, Here’s Little Richard

Frank Sinatra, In the Wee Small Hours

Elvis Presley, Elvis Presley

Charles Mingus, Mingus Ah Um

Bo Diddley, Go Bo Diddley

Howlin’ Wolf, Moanin’ in the Moonlight

What does this say about my music tastes?

The 1950s weren’t really part of “The Album Era,” but what few albums from this decade made my list shows that I have good taste in jazz! Presley, Sinatra, Little Richard, and Bo Diddley aren’t that difficult to like. I was never a big Elvis fan, but that first album sure is good!

Concluding Thoughts…

If these 500 albums are canon (as Rolling Stone defines them), then you can’t go wrong with the bulk of these records. Where you will find more diverging opinions are among the albums whose music is kind of “out there” — kind of like when people don’t understand modern art.

Familiar things bring comfort to us. A strong hook, a catchy chorus, some pleasing power chords, and a singer whose vocal phrasing hits all the right notes tend to succeed with the public. However, those who are more experimental tend to be treated with a kind of “That’s considered great?” So, while this list contains some outliers, the majority of records here are pretty safe for mass consumption. So, in the end, what’s considered “great” seems to be what was popular with the public and loved by the critics. When you add those two factors together and repeat them over and over through time, their greatest status tends to remain so because, well, we’ve been told so.