The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time

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The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time was the cover story of a special issue of Rolling Stone magazine published in November 2003. The list was based on the votes of 273 rock musicians, critics and industry figures, each of whom submitted a weighted list of 50 albums. Several music genres were featured in the list, including rock, blues, jazz, hip hop, and combinations thereof.

The list was released in book form in 2005, with an introduction written by Steven Van Zandt. The book's list was slightly different, with the addition of such albums as Aquemini by OutKast. The order was also rearranged, with Chuck Berry's The Great Twenty-Eight being lower on the list.

The list's apparent generational bias toward the 1960s and 1970s prompted a response. 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 1569802769) in 2004. This featured a number of younger critics arguing against the magazine's high evaluation of various "classic" albums, including DeRogatis taking on Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, which had been Rolling Stone's top choice.

Besides four albums from The Beatles and two from Bob Dylan, the top 10 included albums from The Beach Boys, Marvin Gaye, The Rolling Stones, and The Clash.

Contents

1 Statistics

1.1 Artists with the most albums in the list
1.2 Acts with the highest percentage of their catalogue in the list
1.3 Number of albums from each decade
1.4 Number of albums by gender

2 External links

Statistics

Artists with the most albums in the list

1. The Beatles (11 with 4 in the top ten)
2. Bob Dylan (10 with 2 in the top ten)
2. The Rolling Stones (10 with 1 in the top ten)
4. Bruce Springsteen (8)
5. The Who (7)
6. David Bowie (6)
6. Elton John (6)
8. Led Zeppelin (5)
8. The Byrds (5)
8. Neil Young (5)
8. Otis Redding (5)
8. U2 (5)

Acts with the highest percentage of their catalogue in the list

This list only contains artists who had at least 3 albums on the list and include the ones only at time of publication

The Jimi Hendrix Experience (3/3), Nick Drake (3/3), The Stooges (3/3), and Big Star (3/3) - 100%
The Beatles (11/13) - 85% (Including the American release of Meet the Beatles)
The Smiths (4/5), The Police (4/5), The Velvet Underground (4/5) - 80%
Cream (3/4) and Eminem (3/4) 75%
The Who (7/11) - 64%
Led Zeppelin (5/8) - 62.5%
Bruce Springsteen (8/13) - 62%
Nirvana (3/5), Simon and Garfunkel (3/5, excluding their Greatest Hits album) - 60%
U2 (5/10), Roxy Music (4/8), Radiohead (3/6), and The Clash (3/6) - 50%
The Rolling Stones (10/23) - 47%
Creedence Clearwater Revival (3/7), Michael Jackson (3/7) - 43%

Number of albums from each decade

1950s or before - 29 albums (5.8%)
1960s - 126 (25.2%)
1970s - 183 (36.6%)
1980s - 88 (17.6%)
1990s - 61 (12.2%)
2000s - 13 (2.6%)

Number of albums by gender

Albums by predominantly male acts - 439 (87.8%)
Albums by predominantly female acts - 47 (9.4%)
Albums by evenly mixed acts - 14 (2.8%)

External links

[The list on the Rolling Stone website]

["It's Certainly a Thrill: Sgt. Pepper Is Best Album"], Edna Gundersen, USA Today, November 17, 2003.

[The list on Rhino.com]

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