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Mini Reviews of Rolling Stone's Top 500 Albums: 360-351



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 360-351:


Rating: 8/10













Interestingly enough, this album isn't streaming anywhere, which is why the hyperlink in the title goes to a YouTube playlist. Anyways, if you've kept up with this series, you know by now how much I love funk. This whole album, but in particular the classic title track and 10-minute "Promentalshitbackwashpsychosis Enema Squad" were a total rockin' groove from start to finish.




Rating: 7/10













I'm realizing this is the second album thus far in this ranking from Big Star, a band I had never heard of prior to this series, and I think I felt pretty much the same way as I did about #1 Record (ranked #474): really good, classic rock sound! But nothing feels particularly standout about it, other than that it kinda sounds like a bunch of guys from Memphis trying to sound like The Beatles.




Rating: 8/10









Given how much of this list is made up of classics from decades ago, it's always fun to see a name from more recent times pop up. I wrote this in my first-listen review of SOUR when it was all the rage in Summer 2021, and it still holds true: "I don’t find SOUR necessarily groundbreaking the way I did the debut releases from fellow teen sensations Lorde and Billie Eilish. . . But! I refuse to blame Olivia Rodrigo for her own hype, especially when the hype is not unwarranted. This is a very good— 8/10 at the very least —album from a young artist who clearly has a seriously impressive songwriting future ahead of her."



Rating: 6/10













For my generation and younger generations, I think Tom Waits might just be one of those artists you have to grow up with to really appreciate, and I did not, so I do not. Musically and thematically very interesting, at least, so I can appreciate that. But a bit too experimental and gruff for me to be interested in returning to it.



Rating: 7/10













Hey, speaking of experimental and gruff! This was also my extended introduction to Dr. John, and boy, this was weird stuff, too. But I don't know, maybe just because it was a little more funky, this one landed with me more than the Tom Waits record did.



Rating: 7.5/10













I've never thought of myself as a big Black Sabbath guy, but... I dunno. Maybe it was just because I was listening to this late at night while I was trying to crank some work out and it was the perfect soundtrack, but this really hit. I was involuntarily nodding along from start to finish.




Rating: 5.5/10













I've mentioned this earlier in this series, but I just can't do much of this kind of yell-rock that was all the rage at that time. A song or two here or there, sure; it's energetic and fun, after all. But 45 minutes straight of it takes its toll on me.



Rating: 8.5/10














Good, ol-fashioned New Wave fun. A jam from start to finish, and "Just What I Needed" still holds up. What a tune.




Rating: 7.5/10













I had older siblings who loved him, so I grew up with some Eminem, but peak was juuuuust enough before my time that I've never been a full-blown fan. That said, I know this album is viewed as both a classic and a cultural "moment," and upon first listen, it's easy to see why it's viewed as an 'introduction' to the Eminem that would take over the Rap game shortly thereafter. It's short on individually memorable songs, but it's chock full of the humorous skits, shockingly obscene but often self-deprecating lyricism, and rapid-fire delivery that would become trademarks of Em's style.



Rating: 9/10













Of all the albums I've listened to so far in this series, I don't think it's a stretch to say this is one I return to the most, perhaps even more so than SZA's debut album Ctrl (ranked at # 472), which I actually think I might still slightly prefer overall. But there's a reason her sophomore effort ranked in the Top 5 of my Best Albums of 2022 (an enormously strong year for music), and launched an angry Grammy post-mortem when it was snubbed for Album of the Year last year. SOS features the same heartbreaking lyrical vulnerability and delicious vocals, and little-to-no filler, just an hour-plus of smooth listening.


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