Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time (2020 edition)

[JR]

I meant to write 2012 in my last post- the 2 was missing at the end.

cregis- of note is that the two most obvious remixes on Immaculate - "Like a Prayer" and "Express Yourself" - gained prominence when Madonna performed those version on the Blond Ambition tour. She also set a second version of the "Express Yourself" to the Shep Pettibone mix. "Into the Groove" would be next, though not as mixed compared to those two; the extended "Now I know you're mine" is missed, for sure. Other than that, the general public probably wouldn't pick up on differences between the versions on the album vs. the original hit versions.

Holden- thanks for compiling the combined 2012/2020 list- interesting to see.

[StevieFan13]

I like the hybrid list, but it would’ve been even cooler if you’d thrown in the German list

[cregis]

cregis- of note is that the two most obvious remixes on Immaculate - "Like a Prayer" and "Express Yourself" - gained prominence when Madonna performed those version on the Blond Ambition tour. She also set a second version of the "Express Yourself" to the Shep Pettibone mix. "Into the Groove" would be next, though not as mixed compared to those two; the extended "Now I know you're mine" is missed, for sure. Other than that, the general public probably wouldn't pick up on differences between the versions on the album vs. the original hit versions.

Yes, “Like a Prayer” and “Express Yourself” definitely saw the most drastic changes (and EY was a vast improvement), but I would say it’s most difficult for me now to listen to the original mixes of “Borderline” and “Material Girl,” with the former especially receiving a huge upgrade on the IC. I think I remember reading that Madonna herself was unhappy with the original production? I would agree a casual pop listener might not notice any difference on the radio, though I suspect anyone who owned and listened to the IC might be confused if exposed to the original mix. Especially since there’s no obvious indication on the CD (if I’m remembering correctly) that the songs aren’t their original format.

[jdizzle83]

Here in no particular order are 25 albums I think are really missing from the RS 500

Animal Collective: Merriweather Post Pavillion
Sufjan Stevens: Illinois
Sufjan Stevens: Carrie and Lowell
Interpol: Turn in the Bright Lights
Flaming Lips: Soft Bulletin
Flaming Lips: Yoshimi
Aphex Twin: Selected Ambient Works Vol. I
Boards of Canada: Music Has the Right to Children
Arcade Fire: The Suburbs
Burial: Untrue
The xx: The xx
Modest Mouse: The Moon and Antarctica
White Stripes: White Blood Cells
The National: Boxer
Beach House: Teen Dream
Sigur Ros: Ageatis Byrjun
Avalanches: Since I Left You
David Bowie: Blackstar
Joanna Newsom: Have One on Me
War on Drugs: Lost In the Dream
Queens of the Stone Age: songs for the deaf
Godspeed you black emperor: life you skinny fists
Postal service: give up
FKA Twigs: LP1
Grimes: Visions

[jdizzle83]

At least 20 of those seem like they definitely, no doubt, deserve to be on there...

[Illiniq]

Inexcusable Drops bolded

R.I.P.

11 Elvis Presley - Sunrise 1999 - Not really, basically same album made top 200 under a different name
22 Robert Johnson - The Complete Recordings 1990
39 The Beatles - Please Please Me 1963
59 Credence Clearwater Revival - Chronicles Vol. 1 1976
60 Captain Beefheart And His Magic Band - Trout Mask Replica 1969
102 Cream - Fresh Cream 1966
112 The Mamas And The Papas - If You Can Believe Your Eyes And Ears 1966
116 The Rolling Stones - Out of Our Heads 1965
124 Moby Grape - Moby Grape 1967
127 The Byrds - Younger Than Yesterday 1967
128 Iggy and The Stooges - Raw Power 1973
136 Elton John - Greatest Hits 1974
137 The Replacements - Tim 1985
139 The Meters - Rejuvenation 1974
142 Various Artists - A Christmas Gift for You from Philles Records/Phil Spector 1963
149 Santana - Santana 1969
158 Elton John - Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy 1975
161 Otis Redding - The Dock of the Bay 1968
164 Linda Ronstat - The Very Best Of 2002
166 Elvis Costello and The Attractions - Imperial Bedroom 1982
171 The Byrds - The Notorious Byrd Brothers 1968
174 Bob Dylan - Desire 1976
175 Carpenters - Close to You 1970
178 Curtis Mayfield And The Impressions - The Anthology - 1961-1977 1992
180 The Rolling Stones - No. 2/The Rolling Stones Now! 1965
181 Bob Marley and The Wailers - Natty Dread 1974
182 Fleetwood Mac - Fleetwood Mac 1975
186 Sly and the Family Stone - Fresh 1973
188 Buffalo Springfield - Buffalo Springfield Again 1967
189 Quicksilver Messenger Service - Happy Trails 1969
195 John Mayall - Blues Breakers with Eric Clapton 1966
198 The Best Of... - Little Walter - 1958
200 AC/DC - Highway to Hell 1979
202 Simon and Garfunkel - Parsley, Sage, Rosemary & Thyme 1966
204 Bob Dylan - Modern Times 2006
205 Cream - Wheels of Fire 1968
213 The Rolling Stones - Tattoo You 1981
217 Bobby Bland - Two Steps from the Blues 1961
222 New Orleans Piano - Professor Longhair 1972
223 U2 - War 1983
224 The Neil Diamond Collection - Neil Diamond 1999
229 Aerosmith - Toys in the Attic 1975
232 The Kinks - The Kink Kronikles 1972
234 Simon and Garfunkel - Bookends 1968
236 Jackie Wilson - Mr Excitement 1992
237 The Who - My Generation/The Who Sings My Generation 1965
238 Howlin' Wolf - Howlin' Wolf 1962
246 The Mothers of Invention - Freak Out! 1966
247 Grateful Dead - Live / Dead 1969
253 Bruce Springsteen - The River 1980
260 Willie Nelson - Stardust 1978
265 Ray Charles - The Genius of Ray Charles 1959
266 Blood, Sweat & Tears - Child Is Father to the Man 1968
267 The Who - Quadrophenia 1973
269 The Jesus and Mary Chain - Psychocandy 1985
274 Labelle - Nightbirds 1974
278 Harry Smith - Anthology Of American Music 1952
279 David Bowie - Aladdin Sane 1973
280 U2 - All That You Can't Leave Behind 2000
282 Muddy Waters - Folk Singer 1964
283 Barry White - Can't Get Enough 1974
288 Grateful Dead - Anthem of the Sun 1968
291 Talking Heads - Talking Heads: 77 1977
296 The Smiths - Meat Is Murder 1985
297 The Mothers of Invention - We're Only in It for the Money 1968
308 Frank Sinatra - Songs for Swingin' Lovers! 1956
311 Various Artists - The Sun Records Collection 1994
312 Jane's Addiction - Nothing's Shocking 1988
318 The O'Jays - Back Stabbers 1972
319 The Wailers - Burnin' 1973
320 Radiohead - Amnesiac 2001
323 The Police - Ghost in the Machine 1981
325 Eric Clapton - Slowhand 1977
329 James Brown - In The Jungle Groove 1986
332 Richard and Linda Thompson - Shoot Out the Lights 1982
333 X - Wild Gift 1981
334 Graham Parker & The Rumour - Squeezing Out Sparks 1979
335 Soundgarden - Superunknown 1994
337 Jethro Tull - Aqualung 1971
339 Tom Waits - The Heart of Saturday Night 1974
341 Moby - Play 1991
343 Meat Loaf - Bat out of Hell 1977
344 Lou Reed - Berlin 1973
345 Talking Heads - Stop Making Sense 1984
348 Muddy Waters - Muddy Waters at Newport 1960 1960
350 Yardbirds - Yardbirds/Over Under Sideways Down/Roger the Engineer 1966
354 Billy Joel - 52nd Street 1978
355 Yardbirds - Five Live Yardbirds/Having a Rave Up with The Yardbirds 1964
356 Randy Newman - 12 Songs 1970
357 The Rolling Stones - Between the Buttons 1967
358 Miles Davis - Sketches of Spain 1960
363 New Order - Substance 1987
364 The Doors - L.A. Woman 1971
366 Johnny Cash - American Recordings 1994
369 The Smiths - Louder Than Bombs 1987
370 Mott the Hoople - Mott 1973
371 Arctic Monkeys - Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not 2006
372 The Police - Reggatta de Blanc 1979
373 Jefferson Airplane - Volunteers 1969
374 Roxy Music - Siren 1975
375 Jackson Browne - Late for the Sky 1974
377 John Lee Hooker - The Ultimate Collection 1991
381 The Beach Boys - The SMiLE Sessions 2011
384 The Who - A Quick One 1966
386 Steely Dan - Pretzel Logic 1974
389 Don Henley - The End Of The Innocence 1989
391 Jackson Browne - The Pretender 1976
393 M.I.A. - Kala 2007
394 Randy Newman - Good Old Boys 1974
398 ZZ Top - Eliminator 1983
404 Dr. John - Dr. John's Gumbo 1972
409 The Doors - Strange Days 1967
410 Bob Dylan - Time Out of Mind 1997
411 Eric Clapton - 461 Ocean Boulevard 1974
416 Tom Waits - Mule Variations 1999
417 U2 - Boy 1980
418 Paul McCartney and Wings - Band on the Run 1973
420 Buddy Holly And The Crickets - The "Chirping" Crickets 1957
421 Various Artists - The Best Of The Girl Groups Volumes 1 & 2 1990
424 Bruce Springsteen - The Rising 2002
425 Gram Parsons - Grievous Angel 1974
426 Cheap Trick - At Budokan 1978
427 Peter Wolf - Sleepless 2002
428 The Police - Outlandos D'Amour 1978
430 Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend 2008
436 Beck - Sea Change 2002
438 The Cure - Boys Don't Cry 1979
440 The Pogues - Rum, Sodomy & the Lash 1985
443 Cheap Trick - In Color 1977
444 War - The World Is a Ghetto 1972
445 Steve Miller Band - Fly Like an Eagle 1976
446 MC5 - Back in the USA 1970
447 Stan Getz and João Gilberto - Getz/Gilberto 1964
450 Jackson Browne - For Everyman 1973
453 EPMD - Strictly Business 1988
454 Alice Cooper - Love It to Death 1971
457 My Morning Jacket - Z 2005
458 Elton John - Tumbleweed Connection 1970
459 The Drifters - Golden Hits 1968
461 Public Image Ltd. - Metal Box 1979
462 R.E.M. - Document 1987
463 Echo and the Bunnymen - Heaven Up Here 1981
464 Def Leppard - Hysteria 1987
467 Bruce Springsteen - Tunnel of Love 1987
468 The Paul Butterfield Blues Band - The Paul Butterfield Blues Band 1968
470 LL Cool J - Radio 1985
473 The Smiths - The Smiths 1984
474 Manu Chao - ...próxima estación... Esperanza 2001
475 Elvis Costello and The Attractions - Armed Forces 1979
478 Loretta Lynn - All Time Greatest Hits 2002
482 Steve Earle - Guitar Town 1986
484 Mott the Hoople - All the Young Dudes 1972
485 Pearl Jam - Vitalogy 1994
489 Kiss - Destroyer 1976
490 ZZ Top - Tres Hombres 1973
491 Albert King - Born Under a Bad Sign 1967
492 Eurythmics - Touch 1983
494 MGMT - Oracular Spectacular 2007
495 Bonnie Raitt - Give It Up 1972
496 Boz Scaggs - Boz Scaggs 1969
497 The White Stripes - White Blood Cells 2001
499 B.B. King - Live in Cook County Jail 1971

In Addition to that - some obvious indie titles of the last 20 years that seem to have been forgotten far too quick - not saying all belong, just that all are as quality worthy as many of the titles that did make the list - but typing this list just reinforces my early sense that this iteration of the RS list basically served two audiences - classic rock of th 60s - 90s loving boomers, and 21st century mainstream hip hop and poptimist fans. The Indie side of the equation, which dominated the entire first decade of this century, almost completely ignored. And I get it in part - RS isn't Pitchfork or Spin, the two audiences listed above have been the magazine's two main marketing targets for decades now - but personally - I feel the loss of 5-10 hip hop/R&B titles, another 5-10 poptimist titles, and 5-10 non 50s/early 60s greatest hits compilations to allow for the inclusion of 15-30 more of these titles would have made for a much more quality balanced list.

Sufjan Stevens - Illinois
Sleater-Kinney - The Woods
The Mountain Goats - The Sunset Tree
Eels - 1 of either Electro Shock Blues or Blinking Lights
Mark Lanegan - Bubblegum
The Streets - A Grand Don't Come For Free
Car Seat Headrest - Teens Of Denial
Parquet Courts - Both Light Up Gold and Wide Awake
Something this decade from Nick Cave - so many worthy choice but I'd go with Abattoir or Push The Sky Away
Low - Double Negative
Kamasi Washington - The Epic
Courtney Barnett - Sometimes I Sit And Think
One of St. Vincent's Last 3 - Take your pick
A second by LCD - if D'Angelo gets three, LCD should get at least 2
I Love You, Honeybear - Father John Misty
Sun Kil Moon - Benji
Swans - Both The Seer and To Be Kind
War On Drugs - Lost In The Dream
Deafheaven - Sunbather
2 from Nationals big 4 of Alligator, High Violet, Trouble Will Find Me or Boxer (I'd go High Violet and Boxer)
Black Keys - El Camino
PJ Harvey - Let England Shake - (Better than Rid Of Me)
Destroyer - Kaputt
Tuneyards - Whokill
Janelle Monae - The Archandroid
Anais Mitchell - Hadestown (2010)
Four Tet - There Is Love In You
Grizzly Bear - Vecktimest
The Xx
Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavillion
TV On The Radio - Dear Science
Fleet Foxes
Deerhunter - Microcastle or Halcyon Digest
All Right, Still - Lily Allen (Take this over AW Back In Black any day)
Elbow - The Seldom Seen Kid
Patty Griffin - Children Running Through
Of Montreal - Hissing Fauna
Stars Of The Lid - And The Refiniment Of
Grinderman
Howe Gelb - Sno Angel Like You (betting most haven't heard, no one has, it belongs)
The Knife - Silent Shout
Beirut - Gulag Orkestra
Clipse - Hell Hath No Fury
The Hold Steady - Separation Sunday
Okkervil River - Black Sheep Boys
The Decemberists - Picaresque
Antony & The Johnsons - I Am A Bird Now
Wolf Parade - Apologies To The Queen Mary
The New Pornographers - Twin Cinema
Franz Ferdinand
The Shins - Chutes To Narrow
The Notwist - Neon Golden
Queens Of The Stone Age (Rated R - always like it better than Deaf)
Tool - One of Aenima or Lateralus
Modest Mouse - The Moon And...
Godspeed - Skinny Fists
The Avalanches - Since I Left You

[jdizzle83]

Yeah it just seems so close to an almost perfect updated canonization that includes old classics, does away with some from the old list that are strictly more boomer generation, and updates the list for more diversity and modernizes it. But it feels like there’s definitely a weird gaping hole where indie rock in a certain era just didn’t get its due, and by getting rid of the comps and greatest hits records (which really don’t belong) as well as maybe just a few of those real questionable poptimist choices that could have been easily fixed.

[keater]

They should get some credit for adding the likes of Fela Kuti & Elliott Smith, but there's a lot of ridiculous placements.

Ultimately, not a fan just like I'm not a fan of their previous lists. There's a lot of good to great albums here, though.

[keater]

Aw man, seeing those Blues records drop hurts. Blues is being swept behind and it doesn't feel right.

[Nassim]

The previous list was representative of the worst of old critics who don't want to move with the time imo, that one is still strange but an improvement. 90% of the albums that got removed deserved it, about half of the new inclusions are good ones.

It's hard to summarize the changes simply though, for instance the climb of some hip-hop classics like Aquemini, Enter the Wu Tang or Illmatic is awesome, but did they need to put 6 Kanye albums in the top half ? I love most of those, 6 in the top 500 would have been nice, but even Graduation at the doors of the top 200 is too much.

I kinda wished they kept a tiny bit of their old style though, the White Stripes ranking (Elephant at the bottom and White Blood Cells out) looks like a bit too much of overcompensation for instance.

[jdizzle83]

Thinking about it a bit more this morning, I still think there should be no compilations included, but now am thinking it would be cool to have a bonus list or something where they have collections from artists not typically considered album artists. This way you give some recognition to complications such as Chuck Berry’s The Great 28.

[Jeff]

I think these large Rolling Stone lists are about as close to a Sight & Sound-style poll for albums as we’re going to get anytime soon, though it is disappointing how Anglocentric its voters are (and US-centric at that) compared to how international Sight & Sound has become (and no, I don’t just mean involve the UK press, that would only make it worse). But, they did seem to do a better job at getting a diverse set of respondents within that US/Anglocentric framework. For me, the value of these kinds of lists are in seeing how musical tastes shift overtime. I don’t have the old (2003?) poll at hand, but it seems like Beck is a big loser (haha) here, not even placing in the top 400, which seems strange considering how revered he was in the ‘90s and even through the 2000s. U2 took quite a hit as well. Meanwhile, Nirvana, Radiohead, and Lauryn Hill’s places seem secure.

It’s disappointing to see so few electronic dance music albums in the top 500. I’m not expecting a Basic Channel comp in this kind of list, but I at least expected indie-adjacent acts like Aphex Twin or maybe Boards of Canada to make an appearance, but I think Daft Punk is all there is. That said, I kind of get why that genre wouldn’t show up with such a large pool of voters. It's the same reason so many indie albums from the past decade aren’t on there: few people actually listen to them. If it were only a critic’s list, I’m sure it would be different, but with all the industry types and musicians polled too, it makes sense. Afterall, consensus is rarely satisfying. Though, I like that it polled a such a broad swathe of the music industry. I wouldn't want every list to look like this—it’s a shame that so many do—but having a big, industry-spanning poll is very interesting from time to time.

I agree that it would be better if it ignored jazz completely rather than opting for a few token selections. That way it would be easier to look at the list for what it is (a list of pop musics) rather than fretting about its lack of jazz or modern classical.

[jdizzle83]

You make some excellent points regarding the fact that because this isn’t a critics only poll you might see less indie or electronic music, genres that maybe don’t have the widest audience.

Still would have been nice to at the very least have some more entry level “discovery” records like the first Selected Ambient Works, Music Has the Right to Children, and Untrue.

[baraka92]

I think these large Rolling Stone lists are about as close to a Sight & Sound-style poll for albums as we’re going to get anytime soon, though it is disappointing how Anglocentric its voters are (and US-centric at that) compared to how international Sight & Sound has become.

I believe the comparison between this list and the Sight and Sound one (or any serious film list) is an apple to oranges situation. That list has been very broad since its inception in 1952 because you can go back as far as the 1900’s and find shorts from pretty much anywhere in the world. Film has been universal since day one. You can’t write or even think about film history without people like Murnau, Kurosawa, Buñuel, Tarkovski, or Truffaut. Meanwhile, rock/pop music was born in the US and the UK and it started to evolved there before beginning to have a major influence in artists around the world. I’m not saying that non-english music should be ignored, of course not, but in the end there’s a reason why even the rock/pop pioneers from other european countries or from Asia or Latin America will always cite guys like The Beatles, The Stones, Dylan, Zep, Floyd, Madonna and MJ as influences. And also it shouldn’t be a surprise that an american publication favors american artists, just like NME favors british artists, and so on and so on.

U2 took quite a hit as well.

I’m beginning to think that the rankings of The Joshua Tree and Achtung Baby aren’t that bad. The thing is that there isn’t a clear consensus about their best album anymore and they divided votes (Entertainment Weekly put AB at #23 and if the band does something big for the 30th anniversary it might be definitive). Otherwise they would probably be at something like #70 and #175 which wouldn't look bad at all, considering the massive shake up. Still, they both are quite close to the top 100 and above everything by CCR, Parliament/Funkadelic, Leonard Cohen, Madonna, RHCP, Pixies, Sabbath, The Kinks, Pavement, Eminem, The Police, Pearl Jam, Sonic Youth, Bjork, PJ Harvey, Tom Petty, Oasis, Daft Punk, Massive Attack and Green Day. If RS does a new 500 songs list I bet U2 would do well. One, With or Without You, I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For, and Sunday Bloody Sunday should be locks, alongside the possibilities of Pride, Streets and Beautiful Day.

Can’t be that optimistic about Beck though.

[fabrizioalbertini]

Late to this but I have to express my hatred towards their inclusion of latin american and jazz artists... like why would they talk about something they are clearly not educated on. I would've loved to see La Lupe, Sergio Mendes, Chico Buarque, Nara Leão, Celia Cruz, Hector Lavoe, Tribalistas and even Calle 13.
Like an user already said, I would've much rather them leaving these genres out of this, it just seems disrespectful.
Also, the large inclusion of hip-hop albums is a twofold situation. On one hand, I'm glad Kendrick and other artists are getting all the acclaim they so rightfully deserve, but a lot of other picks (like Drake ) just goes on to show that they don't fully understand hip-hop and were forcing it on the list, (essentially taking spots away from actual deserving hiphop artists) imo.
Other choices that made my head hurt include Taylor Swift and Drake being way above MF DOOM, Pink Floyd, Björk (whose Vespertine I believe didn't make the list sadly; her best album by far imo). The absence of Joanna Newsom is sad tbh, probably the greatest songwriter of the 21st century... would've loved to see Y's on this list.
And omg what was Harry Styles doing in this?! that was simply funny.

[JR]

cregis- Immaculate notes that the album was engineered in Q sound, and in each individual song credit, it says "Mixed by Shep Pettibone and..." one of two other people.

"Borderline" isn't far off of the hit version, which was used in the video; I prefer that one to the original album version. As for "Express Yourself," my favorite version is the 7-inch one (used in the shorter video).

[Sweepstakes Ron]

While we're talking about this, I need to talk about something that's been bothering me for years and nobody else seems to care about. On streaming services, Immaculate features a track that is titled "Borderline (Remix)" but is actually the original album version. Meanwhile, the album itself features an extended remix instead of the original version. The album also uses a shortened version of "Holiday" though the full length version is on the Celebration comp.

[cregis]

JR - right. I was just thinking that a casual listener who picked up the CD (when that was something people still did) would probably assume it was just a greatest hits compilation. I also much prefer the single mix of Borderline to the album version. And Express Yourself is such an interesting phenomenon to me. I also like the 7 inch version. Both that and the album version have such a decidedly 80s sound compared to the Shep Pettibone mix, which is rooted in 90s dance. I guess it just speaks to how that album straddled both decades.

Sweepstakes Ron - I noticed this! It’s reasons like this I don’t use streaming services and still have an iPod Classic (with increased storage).

fabrizioalbertini - I was also surprised and bummed by the Joanna Newsom snub.

[Styx]

Being Australian I am continually frustrated by these All Time best that exclude pretty much the rest of the world other than the UK and to a lesser extent Canada. I understand the lack of serious regard for Jazz and Latin as well. Also, Drake? Really? You might as well have Robbie Williams on the list.
In regard to Australian Artists, following are the Top 20 from the book The 100 best Australian Albums of All Time, there are problems with this list (inclusion of compilations, lack of female and Australian Aboriginal representation) but I’d argue that all these albums deserve a place in any top 500 list (well except for the compilations ):

1.Midnight Oil – Diesel and Dust (1987)
2.AC/DC – Back in Black (1980)
3.Crowded House – Woodface (1991)
4.Cold Chisel – Circus Animals (1982)
5.The Triffids – Born Sandy Devotional (1986)
6.The Easybeats – The Best of the Easybeats (1967)
7.Paul Kelly and the Coloured Girls – Gossip (1986)
8.You Am I – Hi Fi Way (1995)
9.Skyhooks – Living in the 70's (1974)
10.The Avalanches – Since I Left You (2000)
11.INXS – Kick (1987)
12.The Go-Betweens – 16 Lovers Lane (1988)
13.Radio Birdman – Radios Appear (1977)
14.Daddy Cool – Daddy Who? Daddy Cool (1971)
15.Richard Clapton – Goodbye Tiger (1977)
16.Bee Gees – Best of Bee Gees (1969)
17.The Birthday Party – Junkyard (1982)
18.Hunters & Collectors – Human Frailty (1986)
19.Sarah Blasko – As Day Follows Night (2009)
20.The Saints – (I'm) Stranded (1976)

[prosecutorgodot]

Drake has been the most influential artist of the past decade it's no wonder artists are listing him off left and right y'all need to stop hating

[Holden]

Drake has been the most influential artist of the past decade it's no wonder artists are listing him off left and right y'all need to stop hating

Not QUITE a sentiment I’d say I agree with. I’d say Kanye West and Kendrick Lamar have both been way more influential. Honestly, the direction taken by Arcade Fire on The Suburbs is one of the more influential moments in my eyes... I can hear the Suburbs on almost every indie rock record since, while I can’t say the same about Take Care and rap.

[prosecutorgodot]

Drake has been the most influential artist of the past decade it's no wonder artists are listing him off left and right y'all need to stop hating

Not QUITE a sentiment I’d say I agree with. I’d say Kanye West and Kendrick Lamar have both been way more influential. Honestly, the direction taken by Arcade Fire on The Suburbs is one of the more influential moments in my eyes... I can hear the Suburbs on almost every indie rock record since, while I can’t say the same about Take Care and rap.

Link me one example of what The Suburbs influenced.

[Holden]

Drake has been the most influential artist of the past decade it's no wonder artists are listing him off left and right y'all need to stop hating

Not QUITE a sentiment I’d say I agree with. I’d say Kanye West and Kendrick Lamar have both been way more influential. Honestly, the direction taken by Arcade Fire on The Suburbs is one of the more influential moments in my eyes... I can hear the Suburbs on almost every indie rock record since, while I can’t say the same about Take Care and rap.

Link me one example of what The Suburbs influenced.

For a high profile example I’d say Lost in the Dream by The War on Drugs.

[VanillaFire1000]

Drake has been the most influential artist of the past decade it's no wonder artists are listing him off left and right y'all need to stop hating

Not QUITE a sentiment I’d say I agree with. I’d say Kanye West and Kendrick Lamar have both been way more influential. Honestly, the direction taken by Arcade Fire on The Suburbs is one of the more influential moments in my eyes... I can hear the Suburbs on almost every indie rock record since, while I can’t say the same about Take Care and rap.

Link me one example of what The Suburbs influenced.

There is a difference in influencing something sonically and influencing things in the industry. I would argue the latter for the Suburbs emphatically.

[prosecutorgodot]

Not QUITE a sentiment I’d say I agree with. I’d say Kanye West and Kendrick Lamar have both been way more influential. Honestly, the direction taken by Arcade Fire on The Suburbs is one of the more influential moments in my eyes... I can hear the Suburbs on almost every indie rock record since, while I can’t say the same about Take Care and rap.

Link me one example of what The Suburbs influenced.

There is a difference in influencing something sonically and influencing things in the industry. I would argue the latter for the Suburbs emphatically.

Interesting, could you elaborate more on the industry impact? I had forgotten the album had won the Best Album Grammy, and also debuted at the top of Billboard, events which could be used to form an argument. But the picture still isn't clear to me.

[VanillaFire1000]

Arcade Fire, through The Suburbs, had proven themselves as the most commercially successful indie band in the United States. They hit #1, beating Eminem in the summer of 2010 - who could have predicted that coming? Arcade Fire and Vampire Weekend were a signal change in American rock music - a death knell of the post-grunge malaise that dominated charts and radio in the 2000s. Do you remember when it was, like, shocking a year before when Grizzly Bear made the top 10? No indie band was selling out Madison Square Garden before The Suburbs. Maybe this kind of "breaking" wasn't as big as Nirvana and Pearl Jam were - in the fractured media environment and death of most of the music industry, who could? - but they were pushing new, previously bubbling work out there. It was a big deal in mainstreaming and legitimizing those "Style" of bands - because musically late 2000s indie was everywhere. But there was definitely some kind of "peak" movement in 2009-2011 during the worse parts of the Great Recession. You could say that this was the beginning of the end for the movement as well - the mp3 blogs and indie websites where new bands "broke" supporting it were slowly being sucked away by social media giants like Twitter and Facebook. Maybe we're not far away enough to look at that era this way though - we've barely gotten enough hagiographies on the early 2000s rock revival stuff (which I would call distinct from this movement, although there is some overlap in bands like Yeah Yeah Yeahs or The National.)

Again, not in musical content, because the real winners in that regard would be Bon Iver and Fleet Foxes.

[Listyguy]

Arcade Fire, through The Suburbs, had proven themselves as the most commercially successful indie band in the United States. They hit #1, beating Eminem in the summer of 2010 - who could have predicted that coming? Arcade Fire and Vampire Weekend were a signal change in American rock music - a death knell of the post-grunge malaise that dominated charts and radio in the 2000s. Do you remember when it was, like, shocking a year before when Grizzly Bear made the top 10? No indie band was selling out Madison Square Garden before The Suburbs. Maybe this kind of "breaking" wasn't as big as Nirvana and Pearl Jam were - in the fractured media environment and death of most of the music industry, who could? - but they were pushing new, previously bubbling work out there. It was a big deal in mainstreaming and legitimizing those "Style" of bands - because musically late 2000s indie was everywhere. But there was definitely some kind of "peak" movement in 2009-2011 during the worse parts of the Great Recession. You could say that this was the beginning of the end for the movement as well - the mp3 blogs and indie websites where new bands "broke" supporting it were slowly being sucked away by social media giants like Twitter and Facebook. Maybe we're not far away enough to look at that era this way though - we've barely gotten enough hagiographies on the early 2000s rock revival stuff (which I would call distinct from this movement, although there is some overlap in bands like Yeah Yeah Yeahs or The National.)

Again, not in musical content, because the real winners in that regard would be Bon Iver and Fleet Foxes.

In a similar vein, it was pretty shocking when The Suburbs won the grammy for album of the year.

[Kingoftonga]

I don't know if anyone posted this, but Robert Pollard of Guided By Voices released the Top 50 that he submitted to Rolling Stone. Mostly classic rock; at first glance I don't see an album released after Trompe de la Monde, and even that one is an outlier.

https://twitter.com/_GuidedByVoices/sta ... 83682?s=20

[Jirin]

I don’t mind also adding more pop but it also needs indie to balance it out. Not having a single National or Flaming Lips album is insane.