Mini Reviews of Rolling Stone's Top 500 Albums: The First Ten
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:
Here are my thoughts on numbers 500-491:
Rating: 8.5/10
At the risk of sounding like every indie white guy, this is a terrific album; criminally underrated by this list.
Rating: 7.5/10
Nothing groundbreaking, but some sweet, sweet funk.
Rating: 8/10
I'm really glad I was introduced to this album; enticing, evocative prog-rock.
Rating: 7.5/10
You won't be able to stop from dancing. Guaranteed.
Rating: 6/10
I love me some Shakira, but I really thought this was just okay.
Rating: 6.5/10
It's Boyz II Men. They're a one-trick pony, but they do that one trick very, very well.
Rating: 5.5/10
Honestly pretty forgettable, but it did have the timeless "Chapel of Love."
Rating: 6.5/10
There's nobody better than Marvin Gaye, but this all starts to sound the same from about the 2nd track onward, and it's got a runtime of 1 hr. 20 minutes....soooo....
Rating: 7/10
Nothing about this will rock your world, but it's some good, smooth listening.
Rating: 8.5/10
This album takes a sharp turn about halfway through from contemporary funk-pop to trippy folk rock; both halves work incredibly well, but I almost wonder if it does harm to the cohesiveness of the album as a whole.
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