From the erudite Village Voice and scuzzier Creem to the underground stylings of Spin and faded indie sensibility of Pitchfork, Rolling Stone has always distinguished itself from its music competitors through a steady commitment to mainstream rock and roll.
The times however are a-changing. Rap is the new rock and roll, and it’s been like that for a minute, while a generation of female visionaries – producers and songwriters from Björk, Beyoncé, and M.I.A. to Taylor Swift, Solange, and Grimes – have upended traditional categories and hold old constructs in their thrall. In the digital age moss is perilous, which is why the magazine this week updated its list of the greatest ever records.
The Rolling Stone list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time was originally published in 2003, and again in 2012 with minor revisions. The 60s and 70s dominated proceedings, with eleven albums by Bob Dylan, and ten by The Beatles and The Rolling Stones. Highway 61 Revisited by Dylan and Pet Sounds by The Beach Boys made up a top five boyishly captivated by The Beatles, with Rubber Soul and Revolver making way for Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band at number one.
The original list was short on women, with Joni Mitchell the highest ranking solo female artist at number thirty. Madonna was the only woman with as many as three featuring albums, while hip hop hegemony shifted from 2003 to 2012 between the socially conscious Public Enemy and a soul-sampling Kanye West.
The new list by Rolling Stone is the product of more than 300 artists, producers, critics, and music industry figures, from Beyoncé and Billie Eilish to H.E.R. and Tierra Whack. Collectively they shifted the balance in terms of genre and gender, with a greater focus on rap, R&B, and soul music, and a generational fondness for the 90s in addition to a contemporary understanding of the 2000s and 2010s.
The Beatles, Bob Dylan, and Neil Young still predominate, but with six albums Kanye West is now on par with The Rolling Stones. Aretha Franklin and Joni Mitchell can boast four albums apiece, while the diversity of artists on three albums includes the sonic explorations of Janet Jackson and Fiona Apple, slacker rock from Pavement, and rap luminaries from Beastie Boys and Outkast to Jay-Z and Kendrick Lamar.
The Beatles hold on to a spot in the top five thanks to Abbey Road, with Songs in the Key of Life by Stevie Wonder, Blue by Joni Mitchell, and Pet Sounds by The Beach Boys offering an evocative prelude to a new champion, Marvin Gaye’s weary but hopeful, environmentally conscious song cycle What’s Going On.
