Times change. People change. Lists change. I’m listening to every album on the 2020 iteration of the Rolling Stone 500 greatest albums of all time list. And it’s driving me mad!
You can follow along on my journey by checking out this snazzy Google Sheet with my progress and ratings.
If you’ve missed a post in this series, don’t worry! You can see them all here.
#400: Beauty and the Beat
The Go Go’s
Combining power pop, new-wave and just the right amount of punk attitude, each of Beauty and the Beat‘s eleven tracks is an absolute earworm. In terms of sheer catchiness, there aren’t many albums that can match up with how absolutely addictive this one is front to back. Which makes it hard to believe that no major labels wanted to sign the Go Go’s to a record deal, even though they were armed with this excellent set of songs all but ready for their debut. Whether that was due to the fact that the Go Go’s were relatively new musicians (almost none of them knew how to play instruments only a couple years prior to this album!), or they didn’t see the potential in an all girl pop rock band, they would soon regret their mistake as the Go Go’s became one of the biggest pop acts of the early 80s on the backs of the singles “Our Lips are Sealed” and “We Got the Beat.” These singles are iconic, but songs like “Skidmarks on My Heart,” “Lust for Love,” “How Much More,” “This Town,” and “Tonite” all could have easily been hits as well. In terms of influence, the Go Go’s were only second to the Runaways as an entirely female group with household name recognition; more than likely Beauty and the Beat inspired an endless number of girls who had dreams of moving to California and becoming rock stars. Case in point, when Belinda Carlisle sings: “bet you’d live here if you could/and be one of us” on “This Town,” not only is it a brag, but it was also a beckoning call for girls to join in on the rock star fun.
Key Tracks: Our Lips are Sealed, How Much More, Lust for Love, This Town, We Got the Beat
RS 2020: #400 // RS 2012: #414 (up 14)
My Rating: 5.0 (8/6/23) // 3.5 (2014)
#215: American Beauty
The Grateful Dead
What a long strange trip it’s been. The Grateful Dead started off as one of the hippest, most influential bands of the late 60s hippie scene in San Francisco, but by the time the early 70s came around, they were dealing with numerous problems stemming from being involved in a drug bust in New Orleans, debt from the recording of their last psychedelic album, Aoxomoxoa and their manager cooking their books. In response – and with the desire to churn out an album quickly – they changed to reflect the “Bakersfield Sound,” that was developing in the southern part of California. This meant that the songs they were producing were more laid back, more based in rock and roll and country, and less densely layered than the acid rock that they had helped pioneer just a few years earlier. Workingman’s Dead heralded this changed in June 1970, but just five months later, American Beauty expanded and solidified the change that the Dead were going for. The addition of vocal harmonies (something they would become well known for throughout the decade following) gave their new countryfied/folk-rock music more depth, and the triple guitar work of Jerry Garcia, Phil Lesh and Bob Weir was clearer, but still hypnotic and engaging. So many songs here are essential in the Dead’s canon: “Truckin'”, “Friend of the Devil,” “Sugar Magnolia,” “Ripple,” and “Box of Rain” are all great places to start if you’re looking to get into the Dead. Where I find this album to fall short just a little bit are the three tracks in the middle of the flip side: “Brokedown Palace,” “Till the Morning Comes” and “Attics of My Life”; they’re not bad by any stretch but they don’t hit as well as the more famous songs here.
Key Tracks: Friend of the Devil, Sugar Magnolia, Ripple, Box of Rain
RS 2020: #215 // RS 2012: #261 (up 46)
My Rating: 4.0 (8/7/23) // 4.0 (2014)
#156: Let It Be
The Replacements
There were a couple of rules in the punk world in the early 80s, one of the cardinal ones was that you had to play fast and loud. The Replacements, who were originally a punk band, changed that rule during the middle of the decade, and by doing so, helped kick open the door to the alternative revolution. Sick of playing in the hardcore scene and not getting anywhere, Paul Westerberg and company injected more relatable angst and emotion into their punk sound, and for the first time in their careers, took the time to arrange their songs. There are still straight up punk moments (“We’re Comin’ Out,” “Tommy Gets His Tonsils Out,” “Gary’s Got A Boner”), but the band really shines on the more melodic songs like “I Will Dare,” “Androgynous,” “Unsatisfied,” and “Sixteen Blue,” all of which are infused with R.E.M style jangle pop and Big Star power pop into the mix (R.E.M guitarist Peter Buck even contributes the solo on “I Will Dare). The Replacements’ sound here is still a little rough around the edges, they feel much more comfortable and confident in their own skin on their follow-up Tim (which in my opinion is the better album and was ranked highly on every RS list prior to 2020 and then was excluded on this one, go figure). Let It Be is undoubtedly an influential and important album in rock history, and has a number of great moments, but its higher ranking above other genre defining albums is more than likely a reflection of its crossover appeal with fans of hardcore, post-punk, power-pop and indie rock.
Key Tracks: Androgynous, I Will Dare, Unsatisfied, Sixteen Blue
RS 2020: #156 // RS 2012: #241 (up 75)
My Rating: 3.5 (8/14/23) // 4.0 (10/23/15)
#393: 1989
Taylor Swift
A meticulously crafted, joyous, and unapologetic pop album, 1989 not only forever altered Taylor Swift’s career arc, but changed the shape of pop music in the 2010s and beyond. We may not look back on “Swift goes pop” the same way as “Dylan goes electric,” especially since the writing had already been on the wall in the blazon sonics of two of Red’s pop singles “22” and “I Knew You Were Trouble.” Nevertheless, Swift ditching country and ascending the pop superstar throne was still a momentous moment. With superstar producers Max Martin and Shellback still in tow from the Red sessions, along with contributions from Jack Antonoff and Ryan Tedder, 1989 is 49 minutes of sparkling and intoxicating, guilt-free pop that still sounds miraculously fresh, even nearly a decade after its release. The enthusiasm and energy that Swift and her team of producers wrangle into every single track give this album a palpable sense of drive and momentum, but also emotion and feeling. Swift is engaging on every track, but also marvelously dynamic; one minute she’s exuberant and wants you to know it on tracks like “Shake It Off,” “All You Had to Do Was Stay” and “How You Get the Girl,” before turning in melancholic, wistful performances on “Wildest Dreams,” “This Love” and “Clean.” But, when these two divergent worlds merge together, 1989 really sets itself apart, most clearly shown on the soft-crush of “Style,” and the pulsing synth backed mantras of “Out of the Woods.” As the moment where Taylor Swift went from being a crossover country heart-on-her-sleeve songwriter to a full blown pop icon, 1989‘s inclusion on the Rolling Stone list is well deserved, and the album may only increase in stature as time goes on.
Key Tracks: Style, Out of the Woods, All You Had To Do Was Stay, How You Get the Girl, Blank Space
RS 2020: #393 // RS 2012:N/A
My Rating: 5.0 (8/13/23)
#77: Who’s Next
The Who
For all the revolutionary things that the Who did in the 60s, they found themselves at a crossroads as the 70s began. They had closed the previous decade with Tommy, and first of its kind “rock opera,” then Live at Leeds, an album which showed off the Who’s stellar and powerful live performances. The original plan for the official follow up to Tommy was Lifehouse, another rock opera by Pete Townshend that would emerge from developing songs in the Vic Theatre in London in front of a group of audience members. During these performances, the audience members would then interact with the band to further develop the ideas. Speaking of ideas, Townshend had a lot of them for this project. He envisioned getting audience members’ physical characteristics and astrological signs and feeding them into a computer at the exact same moment to produce a note, or a vibration of “mass nirvana.” If all of this sounds convoluted…it was, and as the project progressed, Townshend had trouble conveying his increasingly bizarre ideas to the rest of the band, ultimately resulting in a mental breakdown. Enter Who’s Next, a much more straight-forward album than Tommy or what Lifehouse was going to be: nine songs, forty-three minutes long, no rock opera window dressing in sight. Who’s Next is firmly lodged into the classic rock canon for a few reasons – the Who were at the peak of their popularity, the songs were big, bold and arena ready, and the singles that start and end the album (“Baba O’Riley” and “Won’t Get Fooled Again”) are nothing short of legendary and remain popular to this day. But here’s a hot take, Who’s Next, like some other massive albums of that decade, is flat out overrated. Sure, “Bargain,” and the LZIII aping “Love Ain’t For Keeping” are good too, but half of the songs on the album are either overlong (“The Song is Over” is six minutes of the song not being over) or just flat out annoying (the beep-beep of “Going Mobile,” all of “My Wife”). Yes, Who’s Next was one of the first times that an arena rock band had utilized a synthesizer to such an extent, and yes, it has a couple of all time classic songs that everyone knows. But, look again, and while I hate to cite it as an argument, even look at the Spotify play counts for the album tracks. Now ask yourself – is it really deserving of being this highly revered? I look forward to your angry letters.
Key Tracks: Baba O’Riley, Won’t Get Fooled Again, Bargain, Love Ain’t For Keeping
RS 2020: #77 // RS 2012: #28 (down 49)
My Rating: 3.5 (8/16/23) // 3.5 (12/3/13)
Hot One Hundo 