Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time
"The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time" is a 2003 special issue of American magazine Rolling Stone, and a related book published in 2005.[1] The lists presented were compiled based on votes from selected rock musicians, critics, and industry figures, and predominantly feature British and American music from the 1960s and 1970s. From 2007 onwards, the magazine published similarly titled lists in other countries around the world.
In 2012, Rolling Stone published a revised edition of the list drawing on the original and a later survey of albums in the 2000s.[2] It was made available in "bookazine" format on newsstands in the US from April 27 to July 25.[2]
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Background [edit]
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 weighted list of 50 albums. The accounting firm Ernst & Young devised a point system to weigh votes for 1,600 submitted titles. The list includes a few compilations, and "greatest hits" collections.[3]
The following authors contributed to the citations made of each album:
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An amended list was released in book form in 2005, with an introduction written by Steven Van Zandt. As the editor's foreword explains, some compilation albums were removed, and Robert Johnson's The Complete Recordings was substituted for both of his King of the Delta Blues Singers volumes, making room for a total of eight new entries on the list.
List statistics [edit]
- Artists with the most albums
- 10 The Beatles (four in the top 10 including the #1 spot; an additional four from their solo careers make the list beyond the 10 as a group) [4]
- 11 Bob Dylan (two in the top 10; counting Bob Dylan and The Band)[4]
- 10 The Rolling Stones (one in the top 10)[5]
- 8 Bruce Springsteen[4]
- 7 The Who[4]
- 5 Elton John[5]
- 5 Radiohead[5]
- 5 David Bowie[5]
- 5 Bob Marley and The Wailers[5]
- 5 Led Zeppelin[5]
- 5 U2[5]
Reception [edit]
Writing in USA Today newspaper, Edna Gundersen described the list as predictable and "weighted toward testosterone-fueled vintage rock".[3]
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 generally younger critics arguing against the high evaluation of various "great" albums, some of which had been included in the list, including DeRogatis taking on Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, which had been Rolling Stone's top choice.
See also [edit]
- All Time Top 1000 Albums, a similar list
- Albums considered the greatest ever, a discussion of this and similar lists
- The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, also from Rolling Stone magazine
References [edit]
- ^ Levy, Joe; Van Zandt, Steven, eds. (2006) [2005]. Rolling Stone 500 Greatest Albums of All Time (3rd ed.). London: Turnaround. ISBN 1-932958-61-4. OCLC 70672814.
Related news articles:- "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time". Rolling Stone (937) (Straight Arrow). December 11, 2003. pp. 83–178. ISSN 0035-791X. OCLC 1787396.
- "500 Greatest Albums of All Time". rollingstone.com. Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2010-07-01.
- ^ a b Collett-White, Mike (April 27, 2012). "Kanye West gets 3 albums on Rolling Stone's revised 500 greatest list". msnbc.com. MSN. Retrieved 2012-05-10.
- ^ a b "It's Certainly a Thrill: Sgt. Pepper Is Best Album", USA Today, November 17, 2003.
- ^ a b c d "Journal de RadioKaKa – Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of all time (2012 Edition) – Last.fm". Lastfm.fr. Retrieved 2012-07-05.
- ^ a b c d e f g "Journal de RadioKaKa – Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of all time (2012 Edition) – Last.fm". Lastfm.fr. Retrieved 2012-07-05.
External links [edit]
- 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, Rolling Stone
