Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time: Album-by-Album Thread

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Jmac1979, Sep 19, 2021.

  1. danasgoodstuff

    danasgoodstuff Forum Resident

    Location:
    Portland, OR
    Listened to Presenting the Fabulous Ronettes all the way through and it's surprisingly solid, but it wouldn't make my top 1000 albums. At least a couple of the singles would make my top 100.
     
    Last edited: Sep 26, 2021
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  2. Flaevius

    Flaevius Left of the dial

    Location:
    Newcastle, UK
    Great idea for a thread, and a welcome spin given that 'Top 500 from Rolling Stone' (or other) threads are usually no more than a vehicle for complaint. I will be glad to pitch in where I can, and also undoubtedly hear some new music along the way. Once we are further into the selections, I'll start to keep a Top 20 list or similar. Thoughts on the albums I am familiar with so far:

    #498 Suicide: Suicide
    '76-'78 is my favourite period and music that is as challenging and nihilistic as Suicide should be right in my zone. However, the joys of this album largely pass me by. The production promises much but ultimately delivers little, Rev's repetition quickly becoming tedious when combined with Vega's very sparse and eccentric vocal delivery. I can understand why the album is considered a landmark, but more for it's style than any substance contained within.

    #496 Shakira: Donde estan los ladrones
    I started purchasing albums in earnest in my late teens and one of my first was Shakira's 'Laundry Service'. I have a lot of respect for Shakira; distinctive vocalist, music well-crafted and I find her engaging whether she is singing in Spanish or English. This album is more earthy than her slick follow-up efforts, and none the worse for it. Favourites here are the anthemic Inevitable and Ojos Asi, which may have inspired a Eurovision entry or three. Shakira rightly went on to become a modern pop phenomenon and it doesn't surprise me that she is featured here.

    #495 Boyz II Men: II
    Overly-slick, saccharine, devoid of any punch or reason to ever listen again. At least one of the tracks here would fit very nicely in the recent 'Music That Makes You Cringe' thread.

    #494 The Ronettes: Presenting The Fabulous Ronettes
    Coincidentally, I listened to this for the first time only a few days ago. Commercial pop isn't a particular interest of mine, but Ronnie featured on a music doc I was watching and I had a sudden urge to hear some of their hits. Spottily produced, but some of the material is first-rate in this genre.
     
  3. danasgoodstuff

    danasgoodstuff Forum Resident

    Location:
    Portland, OR
    Forgot to say that Ronnie's voice epitomizes girl group singing, for me there couldn't be a more perfect voice for this sort of thing - and I don't really care for things that are idiomatically correct generally, but I just love her voice. Even though some of the sentiments expressed make me wince since I know what we all know now about her life with Phil.
     
  4. Terrapin Station

    Terrapin Station Master Guns

    Location:
    NYC Man/Joy-Z City
    We're taking a day off maybe?

    Might not be a bad idea to do every once in awhile. Although I'm okay with it either way.
     
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  5. Randall DeBouvre

    Randall DeBouvre forum resident

    Location:
    Illinois
    :-popcorn:just browsing
     
  6. EyeSock

    EyeSock Forum Resident

    Location:
    United States
    Since the thread starter is not here for now, I think we should move on without them for now.

    #494. Bonnie Raitt - Nick of Time (1989)

    Producer: Don Was
    https://open.spotify.com/album/6wxpS5o0ty5CLqyH5fIRln?si=pJFbDrD8TP-FYX152CPf8Q&dl_branch=1

    Nick of Time is the tenth studio album by the American singer Bonnie Raitt, released on March 21, 1989. It was Raitt's first album to be released by Capitol Records. A commercial breakthrough after years of personal and professional struggles, Nick of Time topped the Billboard 200 chart, selling five million copies, and won three Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year, which was presented to Raitt and producer Don Was. In 2003, the album was ranked number 229 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time,[1] then was re-ranked at number 230 on the 2012 list. As of September 2020, it is ranked at number 492. [2] The album was also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.


     
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  7. John C Bradley Jr

    John C Bradley Jr Forum Resident

    Location:
    Columbia, SC
    Way back in 1989 I was out of school and grad school, had been working for a few years, had just gotten married - my wife was not working and we had no kids. I probably had the most "disposable" income that I had ever had in my life to that point. I bought a ton of music pretty indiscriminately. While I had built a pretty big vinyl collection through the years, I had just started buying CD's a few years before and I was buying a lot of them.

    This record totally reminds me of that era. I bought it I am sure because of the singles/videos and liked it. I saw Jackson Browne on either the Running on Empty or Hold Out tour so I knew who Bonnie Raitt was. I don't have this record anymore though. It did not serve as a "gateway" to any of her other albums, either before or after this. "Thing Called Love" did lead me to John Hiatt, though.
     
  8. Terrapin Station

    Terrapin Station Master Guns

    Location:
    NYC Man/Joy-Z City
    Bonnie Raitt – Nick of Time

    So I often say that “I have 250-300 or so artists in my top 50.” In other words, there are at least 300 artists I like well enough to have them in my top 50, but they just won’t fit, obviously. Bonnie Raitt is one of those.

    Raitt is rather underrated/underrecognized. She has a bit of a “hip insider” status—like a musician’s musician, a bit like, say, John Prine’s or Loudon Wainwright III’s stature. “People in the know” dig her, but she’s not exactly a household name for most folks, despite a 50-year career with numerous critical peaks—only the rarest musicians have that sort of sustained longevity with continued critical respect.

    Nick of Time is a fantastic album from a peak 20 years into her run. It’s full of extremely crafty songwriting and musicianship that covers a pretty wide range of styles/subgenres, executed with a deceptively simple pop-country meets r&b-influenced rock with a side of adult contemporary sheen, while all still sounding “uniquely Bonnie.” Definitely a 5/5 for me.

    At that, though, I like the following album, Luck of the Draw, even more. If I wound up with only one Bonnie Raitt album in my own top 500, Luck of the Draw would be it, and it would be at least in my top 200. But Nick of Time is a solid candidate for my top 500 as well.

    Bonnie Raitt - Nick of Time
    Rufus - Ask Rufus
    The Indestructible Beat of Soweto
    (various artists)
    Shakira - Dónde están los ladrones
    Boyz II Men - II
    Arcade Fire - Funeral
    The Ronettes - Presenting the Fabulous Ronettes
    Marvin Gaye - Here, My Dear
    Suicide - Suicide
     
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  9. Danby Delight

    Danby Delight Forum Resident

    Location:
    Boston
    I'm glad Bonnie cleaned up her act before this came out, and I'm happy she made a lot of money with this album and the follow-up because she deserves it.

    I'm even happier for songwriter Bonnie Hayes, whose "Love Letter" and "Have A Heart" are here and finally gave her some notice after way too long as a cult favorite. And of course this is the album that pulled Don Was out of the avant-garde ghetto and into the boardroom at Blue Note, and well done him.

    But man, this record is up there with, like, Steve Winwood's Roll With It when it comes to glossy yuppie-pop albums from once-credible artists. ****in' snoozeville from the first note to last.

    I would rather listen to even the worst, most drunken of Bonnie's Warner Brothers albums before I listen to this again willingly. 2/10
     
  10. prymel

    prymel Forum Resident

    Location:
    Houston
    Nick Of Time is certainly pleasant and agreeable. It works fine as background music to do chores by or as drive home music after a rough day at the office. But there are countless other albums that fit the same bill. I struggle to see what's special about this. If someone put it on, I wouldn't leap to turn it off, so I guess that's something?
     
  11. Terrapin Station

    Terrapin Station Master Guns

    Location:
    NYC Man/Joy-Z City
    That's one of my bags, man. ;)

    Seriously, it's basically in the soft rock, yacht rock, AOR-etc. tradition. Some of us dig that thread of music. Bonnie just emphasizes country and (older) r&b sides of that thread of music more than most. There are a bunch of different branches of it, and contemporary r&b is basically a branch of the same sort of music, as is smooth jazz. I like all of that sort of stuff. It's extremely crafty, and it tends to be subtly sophisticated (music theoretically).
     
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  12. EyeSock

    EyeSock Forum Resident

    Location:
    United States
    #491. Harry Styles - Fine Line (2019)
    Producers: Jeff Bhasker, Kid Harpoon, Tyler Johnson, Greg Kurstin, Sammy Witte

    Fine Line is the second studio album by English singer and songwriter Harry Styles, released on 13 December 2019 by Columbia and Erskine Records. The album's themes involve breakups, happiness, and "having sex and feeling sad",[1] as Styles has said himself. The record has been described as pop rock, with elements of prog-pop, psychedelic pop, folk, soul, funk and indie pop.



    7.3/10 from 25 critic reviews (AlbumoftheYear.org)
    7.3/10 from 1,568 users on AlbumOfTheYear
    3.14/5 from 3,801 users on RateYourMusic.com
    4.1/5 from 6050 users on Musicboard
     
    Last edited: Sep 29, 2021
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  13. EyeSock

    EyeSock Forum Resident

    Location:
    United States
    It’s good, but it is definitely flawed. At its best, it’s a fun, Summer album that does a great job at blending 60s/70s inspired Sunshine Pop with modern pop conventions. At worse, it’s mediocre, boring pop music. Solid effort, but something tells me his next album will be better

    7/10
     
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  14. Terrapin Station

    Terrapin Station Master Guns

    Location:
    NYC Man/Joy-Z City
    Harry Styles – Fine Line

    Well, I’ve already mentioned that I really dig boy and girl bands and pop in general. So it should be no surprise, contra what I’d expect to be the norm around here, that I like One Direction quite a bit, and I’ve liked all five members’ solo albums so far. Of the five, Harry Styles’ work has probably been the strongest. Styles’ two solo albums to date—this is the second—are both outstanding. He’s showed great range. He seems to have sort of an “old soul” sophistication, where I often suspect that he’s tempted to do more progressive, experimental work—maybe even a la some of Todd Rundgren’s more adventurous stuff, though so far he’s kept his commercial pop sensibilities at the forefront to good effect.

    I wouldn’t think it ridiculous to put either of Styles’ albums in my top 500. But it’s one of those situations where I’d have at least 1500-2000 albums that I’d say that about, so lots would have to be cut, and I don’t know if either Styles album would quite make it. They’re not in the vein of something where I’d say it’s imperative that they make it, but both are great albums in my view.

    My album ranking so far:
    1. Bonnie Raitt - Nick of Time
    2. Rufus - Ask Rufus
    3. The Indestructible Beat of Soweto (various artists)
    4. Harry Styles – Fine Line
    5. Shakira - Dónde están los ladrones
    6. Boyz II Men – II
    7. Arcade Fire – Funeral
    8. The Ronettes - Presenting the Fabulous Ronettes
    9. Marvin Gaye - Here, My Dear
    10. Suicide - Suicide
     
  15. prymel

    prymel Forum Resident

    Location:
    Houston
    Many of these albums I'm going to have to sample, since I won't have time to listen to all the ones I haven't heard in their entirety. I listened to the first six songs (which I believe cover at least two of the hits) on Fine Line. The singing and songs are decent and well crafted but they suffer from the same sterile prefabricated production that plagues most of the music of the last 5-10 years. The lifeblood is sucked out of otherwise potentially good songs and performances, and I just can't get past it, no matter how hard I try. So my comments on newer albums are going to become largely "rinse/repeat" I'm afraid.
     
  16. Jimbino

    Jimbino Goad Kicker, Music Lover

    Location:
    Northern CA, USA
    I'm not familiar enough with any of these enough to provide a ranking. But I will stay tuned and participate once I start to see a critical mass.
     
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  17. Danby Delight

    Danby Delight Forum Resident

    Location:
    Boston
    Fun, smartly-constructed pop songs, and the dude's clearly got charisma to burn. Plus a hit single about eating *****. As chart pop goes, you could clearly do a lot worse. 6/10
     
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  18. danasgoodstuff

    danasgoodstuff Forum Resident

    Location:
    Portland, OR
    I remember when Nick of Time hit, I was happy for Bonnie but it's not something I'm drawn back to.
     
  19. Flaevius

    Flaevius Left of the dial

    Location:
    Newcastle, UK
    #492 Bonnie Raitt - Nick Of Time
    I am familiar with Bonnie Raitt by name, rather than this album. Sampled the first handful of songs. Country sits fairly low down my genre-spectrum and although this kind of pop-tinged effort isn't disagreeable, it leaves no impression. I decided to also sample a few songs from her earlier works and found that rawer sound more interesting. Not an album I would return to.

    #491 Harry Styles - Fine Line
    Upbeat pop sung by ex-boyband member. If there is one form of modern album where - given the choice between a hot poker thrust into an eyeball or listening to it - I may have to pause for thought, this would be it. Again I sampled the first handful of songs. To Styles' mild credit I didn't have the immediate urge to hit the stop button; there were some nice touches such as the brief burst of sitar on 'Sunflower'. Ultimately it is harmless by-the-numbers pop music for which I am not the target demographic, but there's nothing of interest at all for me here.

    Current favourites:

    1. Shakira - Donde estan los ladrones
    2. The Ronettes - Presenting The Fabulous Ronettes
     
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  20. NettleBed

    NettleBed Forum Transient

    Location:
    new york city
    First Line
    The guy has some talent, but it's not wholly developed yet and it's not being channeled in a direction that I really care about .
    But not bad or anything. Granted, I only listened to the actual album once.
    B-
     
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  21. frightwigwam

    frightwigwam Talented Amateur

    Location:
    Oregon
    Harry Styles/ Fine Line

    Safe, anonymous, assembly-line pop that could've come out at any time in the last 25 years. Any also-ran from a TV talent show could have done just as well with the material. If I ever heard the singles while I was at the skating rink with my kids, they would have blended right in with Pharrell, Bruno Mars, and Taylor Swift, but without making any impression on me. Despite having listened to the album a few times today, I'll probably forget all about it tomorrow.

    In 2019, Fine Line came in at #23 on the Rolling Stone list of the best albums that year. Now, it's one of the 500 Best Albums of All-Time? o_O

    Yeah, sure. I guess they polled some poptimist critics and showbiz industry folk who are especially impressed by competent professional craft and recent commercial success.
     
  22. Wildest cat from montana

    Wildest cat from montana Humble Reader

    Location:
    ontario canada
    I liked ' Nick of Time' well enough. It was a big hit for her and brought her a wider audience but it's kind of glossy and sterile and lacks that gutsy, earthy vibe of her early albums.
     
  23. danasgoodstuff

    danasgoodstuff Forum Resident

    Location:
    Portland, OR
    Yeah, but if someone was going to make some $ from a cleaned up version of her, it might as well have been her - right?
     
  24. Terrapin Station

    Terrapin Station Master Guns

    Location:
    NYC Man/Joy-Z City
    :wave:
     
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  25. EyeSock

    EyeSock Forum Resident

    Location:
    United States
    #490. Linda Ronstadt - Heart Like a Wheel (1975)
    Producer: Peter Asher

    Heart Like a Wheel is the fifth solo studio album by Linda Ronstadt, released in November 1974. Her first to reach the top of the Billboard 200 and winning a Grammy Award, it is considered Ronstadt's breakthrough album.

    It was Ronstadt's last album to be released by Capitol Records. At the time of its recording, Ronstadt had already moved to Asylum Records and released her first album there; due to contractual obligations, though, Heart Like a Wheel was released by Capitol.[2]

    Professional Ratings

    AllMusic 5 stars[3]
    Christgau's Record Guide A–[4]
    Pitchfork 8.5/10[5]
    The Rolling Stone Album Guide 5 stars[6]
    Tom Hull B[7]

    Audience Ratings
    7.5/10 from 36 ratings on AlbumOfTheYear.org
    3.60/5 from 956 ratings on RateYourMusic.com
    3.5/5 from 23 ratings on Musicboard



     

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