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.
