Rolling Stone: 500 Greatest Albums of All Time - Updated in 2012

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Norm Apter, Apr 11, 2012.

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  1. genesisfan

    genesisfan Forum Resident

    Location:
    Santiago, Chile
    Who select the people involved in voting? RS politburo of course

    The list represents what Jann Wenner and RS try to put as the "Greatest" albums of all times. They're not going to select people to pick up Yes, Genesis or King Crimson albums. Not, they select people who vote for Kayne West instead.
     
  2. Aghast of Ithaca

    Aghast of Ithaca Forum Resident

    Location:
    Angleterre
    "Politburo"?!

    Rolling Stone isn't planning to drive tanks into Czechoslovakia. It's just a discussion about a few albums.
     
  3. sami

    sami Mono still rules

    Location:
    Down The Shore
    +1

    :cheers:
     
  4. Driver 8

    Driver 8 Senior Member

    Kanye's My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy samples King Crimson, so perhaps Kanye is a double agent using his hip-hop coolness to sneak a bit of prog past Jann Wenner onto the hallowed ground of the RS Top 500 list. :D
     
  5. mantis4tons

    mantis4tons Forum Resident

    Location:
    Denver, CO, USA
    I think there's a lot of people out there today who would consider Kanye's best albums - say, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy - to be better than anything by Yes, Genesis, or King Crimson. Taste in music is subjective and there are no right or wrong answers. I like hip hop more than prog, and I prefer Kanye's output to the bands you mentioned.
     
  6. WolfSpear

    WolfSpear Music Enthusiast

    Location:
    Florida
    But see, what's odd is that Sunrise existed even before the 2003 list was made. Not sure why they decided to include it now ... You have to include the skimpy starter packs for historical reasons, at least that's how I feel.
     
  7. Rob C

    Rob C Forum Resident

    Location:
    Chicago, IL, USA
    All this talk got me interested to see the whole list, but the magazine is pretty content-light: just the list with a sentence or two about most of the albums. Couldn't bring myself to spend $12 on it.

    But I am always attracted to lists like this. They're fun as thought experiments, but nothing to get so worked up about.

    That said, I think Kanye West is a genius and I have no problem with his triple inclusion on this list. He's certainly made some of the best and most interesting music of the past decade and I'm convinced that his work will endure.

    As for some of the comments I've seen here that seem to say that RS is not giving enough respect to the 60s and 70s--give me a break. The list is, if anything, disproportionately favorable to those decades. The vast majority of the highest ranked albums are classics from that era. Which is understandable--I love the Beatles and Dylan and a lot of other stuff from those years as much as anyone. But making a little room for more recent stuff is appropriate.

    And yes, Virginia, Rolling Stone IS just trying to sell magazines.... That's what they do.
     
  8. KenJ

    KenJ Forum Resident

    Location:
    Flower Mound, TX
    It's good to see a lot of newer albums added to the list...even if those aren't the ones we all would have included. A list heavily favoring the same pre-1977 albums would be boring and not worth publishing.

    Rather than bash the newer artists named it would be more interesting to suggests newer albums overlooked.

    Comps don't below except for maybe some 1950's mostly singles artists where w/o comps they would be excluded.
     
  9. Roger Thornhill

    Roger Thornhill Senior Member

    Location:
    Ilford, Essex, UK
    I don't see why - something like the Anthology of American Folk Music was hugely influential (Nuggets being another) and I see no point in removing it just so you can get Yes or Iron Maiden in there.

    Besides, ditch compilations and the 50s disappears almost entirely. No Buddy Holly or Chuck Berry? Let alone Robert Johnson.
     
  10. Tangledupinblue

    Tangledupinblue Forum Resident

    Location:
    London, UK
    Really? I'm not trying to catch you out or anything, but on reading that post I remembered clearly your review of The College Dropout from last August from your Rolling Stone '00s Top 100 thread, which was quite favourable:

     
  11. Mike B

    Mike B Forum Resident

    Location:
    New York City
    Wait... are you saying opinions about music popular music are fickle and shouldn't be taken seriously?! Oh no, you got me!

    Also, that's kind of my entire point. College Dropout and Late Registration are good rap albums with great tracks on them and some filler. They can be on lists. Or not. Whatever.... dig?
     
  12. moople72

    moople72 Forum Resident

    Location:
    KC
    An album should be out for 10 years before it's eligible for a list like this.

    Didn't Eminem have three albums on the list once upon a time?

    Some stuff on lists like these is trendy other stuff is overlooked----need some distance for an unclouded assessment (subjective though it may be).
     
  13. live evil

    live evil Senior Member

    Location:
    ohio
    I glanced at this at the grocery store tonight. It amazes me that there are 68 albums better than LZ4.

    I don't think so.
     
  14. Tangledupinblue

    Tangledupinblue Forum Resident

    Location:
    London, UK
    Well perhaps I'm taking your comment about not liking any of Kanye West's albums too literally, but to me rating an album as "good" and liking many (if not all) of the songs from it equates to liking the album as a whole.

    I'm not trying to get into an argument or anything, just slightly confused by the wording of your earlier post in light of your largely positive College Dropout review last year. :)
     
  15. serge

    serge Forum Resident

    Location:
    Arlington, VA
    :righton:
     
  16. nbakid2000

    nbakid2000 On Indie's Cutting Edge

    Location:
    Springfield, MO
    Yeah, especially when he says that the deep cuts are just as good as the singles?

    I'm confused.
     
  17. Oatsdad

    Oatsdad Oat, Biscuits, Abbie & Mitzi: Best Dogs Ever

    Location:
    Alexandria VA
    I agree. Gotta be at least a few hundred albums better than "Led Zeppelin 4"...
     
  18. ChrisPineo

    ChrisPineo Active Member

    Location:
    Dade City, FL
    I looked at the list of additions and deletions for a minute, started to feel the blood pressure surge a bit as I began to lose that grip on my new, more mellow, more tolerant persona. Then I took a deep breath, relaxed and realized it would all be OK. Yes I have turned the corner. I am truly kinder and gentler now ;).

    I do think the comment about waiting ten years before putting something on the list is on the right track. I think its important to digest and see the long term impact and influence of any artistic work. Seinfeld being named by TV Guide to be the greatest sitcom ever just after its cancellation was a bit misguided to me. And I really like Seinfeld and still do. I think it was on target but premature. Just a thought, it is what it is.

    Really it isn't that big of a deal (I am surprised by the CCR deletions). I use the list as suggestions for music to listen to anyway so the newer stuff being on the list is more useful to me. ;)

    See, I would have gotten very annoyed at that statement 10 years ago. Now I just laugh. Actually I'm thinking about it and it might have trouble cracking my personal top 50, maybe even 100. Its 3rd on my Zep list (3 and HotH are ahead of it)
     
  19. live evil

    live evil Senior Member

    Location:
    ohio
    That's cold.
     
  20. Oatsdad

    Oatsdad Oat, Biscuits, Abbie & Mitzi: Best Dogs Ever

    Location:
    Alexandria VA
    Hey, I was just agreeing with you! :angel:

    (And it could've been worse - I could've said "thousands"!)
     
  21. Larry Mc

    Larry Mc Forum Dude

    Agree 100%, every time they get a chance it's blame Jann Wenner time...:rolleyes:
     
  22. serge

    serge Forum Resident

    Location:
    Arlington, VA
    overall its a mixed bag.. many decisions I agree with on deleting stuff from the list but many of the albums added are not the ones I would have picked


    seeing Manu Chao's Proxima Estacion Esperanza to the top 500 makes my day.. one of my favorites...

    in principle I am against picking Greatest Hits for these lists
     
  23. Wow. CCR's "Green River" and Roxy Music's "Country Life" were DELETED? Both essential IMHO.
     
  24. Larry Mc

    Larry Mc Forum Dude

    Ever think maybe Jann Wenner would be an asset to our host career?
     
  25. Mike B

    Mike B Forum Resident

    Location:
    New York City
    Right now I don't think all the tracks are equally strong, some are better than others, and it's overall a very strong album, just not perfect.

    Perhaps my opinion just changed a little on some tracks since I made that thread like, what, a year ago?

    I'm sure if I went back and listened to the same 500 albums and re-did the thread there would be some differences, because tastes change. Of course the stuff I really love or dislike would not change, but there is plenty of wiggle room in the middle.

    When I did that thread I emphasized how subjective it all was and how it was just for us to have fun talking about 500 albums. The folks who enjoyed it and participated got that. This thread seems like the inverse of that ("Someone made a list and it's SO SERIOUS")
     
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