Mini Reviews of Rolling Stone's Top 500 Albums: 490-481
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! Hell, maybe the next edition of the "500 Greatest Albums" will be out before I finish this one. 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 entry, here was my rundown on #'s 500-491
Here are my thoughts on numbers 490-481:
Rating: 7.5/10
A good, if not particularly memorable, classic 70s country-rock record that feels like a precursor to the rise of 'girl rock' in the late 80s and 90s.
Rating: 6/10
Sort of cheating to call this 3 hr.+ compilation an "album," methinks. Even if it were a bona fide album, having listened to all 208 minutes of crooning and doo-woping, I'm not entirely sure what about it constitutes it as one of the greatest ever, especially given that's a vanity project for one Phil Spector...big yikes.
Rating: 7/10
Other than a strange 10-minute interlude that evokes images of monastery chanting, this is a pretty straightforward grungy, up-tempo rock. You can tell the influences it would have on bands like Jet and The Strokes years on, which is pretty cool.
Rating: 4/10
I recognize my bias, and can acknowledge this was a pioneering album, but I just can't do screaming punk rock other than every now and then when I'm in a particularly aggressive mood. It certainly woke me up to start my workday, though, I'll give it that!
Rating: 8/10
I wanted to not like this, because John Mayer and his fans have always annoyed me...but this was a great record. I didn't realize how many of Mayer's biggest and best hits are on this album alone.
Rating: 8/10
This was an unexpected delight! The album from British couple Richard and Linda Thompson was a great folk rock record, one that made me feel like I was bouldering through Galway. (Is that geographically accurate? I have no clue.)
Rating: 6.5/10
I hope this isn't the only Gaga album on this ranking, because although it's fine, it's nowhere near her most memorable. It's not without a couple bangers though, the title track and "Americano" in particular.
Rating: 5.5/10
Similar to both the Black Flag album and the Phil Spector compilation album, I can appreciate the influence Muddy Waters might have had on the industry with this record, but it's tough for me to do 2+ hours of the same ol' blues. This does get bonus points for having the iconic "Mannish Boy," though.
Rating: 7/10
This one lived up to its name; what a bizarre, trippy ride of a Rap record. I'm not sure I'll listen to it again any time soon, but I grooved to most of it!
Rating: 8/10
Really good album from the Scottish indie-rock group, probably my favorite thus far out of all the ones I had never heard of before this project. No individual track particularly stood out, but the album as a whole feels like it was a precursor to the indie heyday of the late aughts/early 2010s.
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