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Mini Reviews of Rolling Stone's Top 500 Albums: 310-301

  • Daniel Woodiwiss
  • 1 day ago
  • 4 min read

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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:


Here are my thoughts on numbers 330-321:


Rating: 5.5/10

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Punk is not ever my preferred genre, so this was always going to face a bit of an uphill battle. It had some funk in there at least, though, and I can certainly tolerate Brit punk a good deal more than I can whiny American pop punk.




Rating: 9/10

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I had heard a little Joy Division in my lifetime, but probably nowhere near as much as a "classic rock" fan and Britpunk appreciator like myself should have. This was delightfully intense and pulsating; I could practically smell the cigarette smoke and see the strobing lights throughout the entire album.




Rating: 6.5/10

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I don't know how much Brian Eno I expected in this list, but I certainly didn't expect to be on the 4th Brian Eno album within the first 200. I've liked everything I've heard, but this was ironically probably my least favorite of his thus far: certainly the most experimental, and had plenty of highlights, but plenty of sonic shark-jumping, too. And even the highlights mostly just played like the B-sides of Paul McCartney's McCartney II. 



Rating: 6.5/10

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Say it with me: greatest hits/compilation albums don't belong on this list!!! But as I am powerless to change that, I will judge this only on listening merits. There's no question Sam's an all-time great vocalist, but the truth is, musically this album mostly sounded the same, and very little of it stuck-- at least until "A Change Is Gonna Come." Goodness gracious, what a song.



Rating: 9/10

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Yeah, this is the good stuff. Just 35 minutes of smooth, easy listening with a guitar that occasionally goes off the map.



Rating: 7.5/10

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I've never been a KISS guy-- blame my upbringing, which was rooted much more in the soft rock of The Beatles and CSNY than the hair metal of KISS, AC/DC, Aerosmith, etc. That said, there's no denying the energy of hard rock; it almost involuntarily fires you up. So a live performance is, for me, probably the best setting for this kind of music, and this is a very good album of live performances. 




Rating: 6.5/10

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Bill's just so good, and when your album has one of the greatest songs of all time on it ("Ain't No Sunshine"), it's gonna be a winner. That said, what was previously an incredibly soulful and funky listen did lose me a little bit with the final couple tracks, which felt a bit like tonal whiplash.



Rating: 8/10

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You already know how I feel about compilation albums being on this ranking, but I'm at least appreciative of any body of work that streamlines ABBA's best and biggest. This was a demonstration on how much the group's peak years were approximately 1975-1981. The first half or so of Disc 1 and second half or so of “Disc 2” were both fine but fairly forgettable, but from right around “Mamma Mia” through “When All Is Said And Done”? Nonstop greatness.




Rating: 6.5/10

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I was raised on Neil Young, so in some ways, listening to him is like hearing the voice of an old relative. This was good music to throw on during my workday, but I’d be lying if I said this was his most interesting stuff, musically or lyrically.


Rating: 4/10

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Yeah, this just isn't for me. Good energy, definitely, and I imagine seeing their gigs in New York City in the 70s would have been electric. But for an album? I tired of this about 3 songs in.


 
 
 

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