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Mini Reviews of Rolling Stone's Top 500 Albums: 290-281

  • 23 hours ago
  • 5 min read


Back in September of 2020, Rolling Stone did something rather audacious and released out to the world a ranking of, in their estimation, the Top 500 albums ever made. By any musician, any band, anywhere.


It's a mammoth undertaking, of course, and one that is never going to be without controversy, dispute, and backlash. But Rolling Stone has to have known that by now, as this is actually their third go-round with this; the original "Greatest 500" was released to much furor in 2003, and then an updated list came in 2012. What sets this ranking apart is it's not just Rolling Stone contributors; this time, they sought input from some of the biggest artists and producers on the scene, to essentially make this ranking more of an aggregation of what are generally considered the greatest albums, than just a compilation ranking by the staff of one entertainment outlet, I suppose.


Anyways! I was always aware of this list, but at the outset of 2022, being ever the musichead, ever the listophile, I made a plan to complete what some might argue is just as audacious an undertaking: I want to listen to all 500, regardless of my familiarity (or lack thereof) with a particular album, regardless of my feelings towards its artist. I'm going to listen to all 500, in order. And I'm going to share my thoughts on them, but because there are literally hundreds of albums to get through, I pledge to keep said thoughts to a sentence or two.


I recognize this is going to take me ages. It's a marathon, not a sprint! In fact, as I imagined might be the case, there's already been a revision to the"500 Greatest Albums" before I even finished this edition. But regardless of whether you will take this epic journey with me, I hope you will check in on me from time-to-time, to gauge how I feel about what Rolling Stone deemed the 491st-best album of all time.


In case you need the link to reference the source material:



And in case you missed my previous entries, here were my rundowns on:


Now, here are my thoughts on 290-281:


Rating: 8.5/10













That this is the last hip-hop album to win Album of the Year at the Grammys, over 20 years ago, is as much an indictment of the awards show as anything else. That said, the longer that drought goes on, the cooler the famous win for this album feels in retrospect. It had been years since I listened to the whole thing, so I honestly forgot that this was literally two solo albums by the respective members of Outkast smushed together; no question the transition between the two is a little jarring, but it works. What an awesome, varied, hilarious body of work.




Rating: 7/10













Well, that was every bit as insane as I've come to expect from Björk; who is doing it like her? Post is so all over the place sonically that it doesn't make for the smoothest listen, but the highs far outnumber the lows here.



Rating: 6.5/10













There's been a number of rock groups featured in this series that I had never even heard of before making my way through it, and The Modern Lovers is yet another example. Their eponymous album is quintessential 70s American punk rock. I enjoyed the sound, but it started to feel a little monotonous over the course of the album, and the vocal style tired on me a bit.



Rating: 9/10













It probably sounds like a jab to describe The Byrds as the Monkees to Bob Dylan's Beatles, but it's not intended to be. I am fully Dylan-pilled, but there's something to be said for a group that was able to repackage his appeal (including a famous cover of one of his most famous songs) in a more pleasant folk-pop sound. This was just great listening, start to finish.



Rating: 7.5/10













Red Hot Chili Peppers are another one of those bands that it's become vogue to hate, but they were very much THE band when I was young, so I have a lot of positive associations with them, especially in this era. This was a fun reminder of their appeal; the big hits from it are of course great, and the rest is high-octane without being unpleasant.



Rating: 7.5/10













This is crazy-- I literally had never even heard of this band before this series, and now this is their third album named among the 500 greatest of all time! As for this entry, I dig it. Not sure how many songs from it I will return to, but there are hints of The Who, Led Zeppelin, and even The Beatles in here (tell me "For You" doesn't remind you of "Eleanor Rigby").




Rating: 7.5/10













By now, you know my opinion on compilation albums. I especially think it's egregious to include NEARLY 5-HOUR compilation albums on this list, but because I'm dedicated, I listened to all 283 minutes of Merle Haggard. I'll tell you what, it's pretty great "background music to my workday," which may sound like damning by faint praise, but I really mean it! The kind of country croonin' that simultaneously makes me want to be sitting by the fire at Christmastime and also yearn for a breakfast at Cracker Barrel.



Rating: 9/10













THAT'S what I'm TALKIN' about!!!! Disco + funk is just so unparalleled, man. Impossibly infectious. I listened to this on a dreary, chilly Monday and the way it completely turned my day around was truly impressive. I honestly thought we were headed for my first 10/10 of this series, but then it just slowed down so drastically in the final third; still a good sound, but had it kept the pace all the way through, this likely would have been my favorite new listen thus far.




Rating: 8/10













I feel like I should have a cigarette in my hand. Or at least a glass of scotch. Yeah, I mean, look man, he was beloved for a reason! Such a smooth, suave voice. This album feels like one slow croon after another, which depending on your mood, could get tiresome. But as the soundtrack to a working morning on a sunny day, it was pretty damn pleasant.


Rating: 7/10













I didn't expect to know a single song off of Nilsson Schmilsson, an all-timer of an album name, but then the lime and coconut song came on and unlocked several core childhood memories. This was good stuff! Felt a little Paul McCartney, a little Billy Joel, and a hearty dash of wackiness.


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