✅ NME - 500 Greatest Albums Of All-Time

Lists of all time (or back to the early rock years) that include all genres (or rock or pop music in a broad sense).
User avatar
Mattceinicram
Different Class
Posts: 496
Joined: Tue Jan 08, 2013 8:26 am
Location: Indiana when home. Minneapolis, Minnesota during college

Re: NME - 500 Greatest Albums Of All-Time

Post by Mattceinicram »

First off I love this list!! Leaps and bounds better than Rolling Stone's similar list. A lot of great surprises! Now I'm very interested to see how high My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy is going to skyrocket in the next AM update after being number 8 all time on Entertainment Weekly's list, and now 21 on this one.
Check out my music review blog! Matt and Music! mattandmusic.blogspot.com
Kingoftonga
Rust Never Sleeps
Posts: 759
Joined: Thu Feb 09, 2012 9:50 pm

Re: NME - 500 Greatest Albums Of All-Time

Post by Kingoftonga »

Harold wrote: Haven't digested the whole list yet, but am I wrong in thinking that Arctic Monkeys' AM turned out to be the only 2013 release to make it?
Trouble Will Find Me also made the list, at 478.
User avatar
Moonbeam
Full of Fire
Posts: 2543
Joined: Mon Feb 06, 2012 11:40 am
Location: Sydney, Australia

Re: NME - 500 Greatest Albums Of All-Time

Post by Moonbeam »

No 1999? :(
User avatar
JimmyJazz
Shake Some Action
Posts: 1296
Joined: Mon Sep 16, 2013 2:28 am
Location: Arizona

Re: NME - 500 Greatest Albums Of All-Time

Post by JimmyJazz »

Moonbeam wrote:No 1999? :(
I feel for ya, Moonbeam :(
o.m.
Different Class
Posts: 460
Joined: Sun Jul 08, 2012 8:56 am

Re: NME - 500 Greatest Albums Of All-Time

Post by o.m. »

No 1999? :(
Maybe a sign of the times....? :mrgreen:
User avatar
Henrik
Site Admin
Posts: 6439
Joined: Sun Feb 05, 2012 10:09 am
Location: Älvsjö, Stockholm, Sweden
Contact:

Re: NME - 500 Greatest Albums Of All-Time

Post by Henrik »

There are several artists and genres that NME wasn't kind to. Prince definitely, as well as other soul, funk, disco, reggae..., metal/hard rock (not just Black Sabbath, there's no LZ in the top 100 and their first two album are not even in the top 500), there's basically no prog at all except for Dark Side of the Moon way down the list (and even prog-ish stuff like The Who took a hit), and not much jazz or electronic (although Kraftwerk did great!). Hip hop is covered quite well though.
Everyone you meet fights a battle you know nothing about. Be kind. Always.
Harold
Into the Groove
Posts: 2331
Joined: Fri Feb 10, 2012 3:56 pm

Re: NME - 500 Greatest Albums Of All-Time

Post by Harold »

A couple of clarifications, identical in nature: Crystal Castles, at #477, and The House of Love, at #453, are those artists' self-titled debut albums (from 2008 and 1988, respectively), not their also-self-titled follow-ups.
Harold
Into the Groove
Posts: 2331
Joined: Fri Feb 10, 2012 3:56 pm

Re: NME - 500 Greatest Albums Of All-Time

Post by Harold »

Harold wrote:
Merlo wrote:NME printed one of the first 100 Album lists ever, in 1974. It was very good on the whole. However, here's 10 albums from the 1974 list that I don't think will survive:

75. Rundgren, Todd - A Wizard, A True Star 

Oh, I don't know - I can see a few of the above possibly surviving into a current top 500.
Well, I was right about one... Very, very odd, though, that this album and 1974's Todd both made it in but Something/Anything? didn't.
JR
Rust Never Sleeps
Posts: 667
Joined: Sun Feb 12, 2012 3:54 pm

Re: NME - 500 Greatest Albums Of All-Time

Post by JR »

NME's list definitely has more indie/less mainstream acts than Rolling Stone's.
Bruno
Shake Some Action
Posts: 1384
Joined: Sun Feb 19, 2012 1:33 pm
Location: São Paulo, Brasil
Contact:

Re: NME - 500 Greatest Albums Of All-Time

Post by Bruno »

JR wrote:NME's list definitely has more indie/less mainstream acts than Rolling Stone's.
Yes, by a large margin.
Chris K.
Let's Get It On
Posts: 234
Joined: Tue Feb 28, 2012 6:13 am

Re: NME - 500 Greatest Albums Of All-Time

Post by Chris K. »

Harold wrote:A couple of clarifications, identical in nature: Crystal Castles, at #477, and The House of Love, at #453, are those artists' self-titled debut albums (from 2008 and 1988, respectively), not their also-self-titled follow-ups.
Those are both the original self-titled albums from 2008 and 1988, respectively.
Harold
Into the Groove
Posts: 2331
Joined: Fri Feb 10, 2012 3:56 pm

Re: NME - 500 Greatest Albums Of All-Time

Post by Harold »

Chris K. wrote:
Harold wrote:A couple of clarifications, identical in nature: Crystal Castles, at #477, and The House of Love, at #453, are those artists' self-titled debut albums (from 2008 and 1988, respectively), not their also-self-titled follow-ups.
Those are both the original self-titled albums from 2008 and 1988, respectively.
Sorry - looking at my post again, it's worded in such a way that it might look like I was asking. I wasn't. I had gone to the NME website to clarify those two albums and I was noting it here. Thanks, though.
User avatar
Listyguy
Running Up That Hill
Posts: 3012
Joined: Sun Feb 05, 2012 8:34 pm

Re: NME - 500 Greatest Albums Of All-Time

Post by Listyguy »

I just heard about this list today (I really need to start reading this section of the forum), and I have to say this list is pretty bad. How can you put Is This It at #4? I love the album, but 4? C'mon. Also, Arctic Monkeys and the wrong PJ Harvey album in the top 20 is disturbing. But my real problem here is the fact the Jimi Hendrix doesn't have a single album in the top 100. And the fact that there are only two REM albums (both below 250) here. I'll give the list props for having In Utero and Low very high, but this list has more holes than Swiss cheese.
Harold
Into the Groove
Posts: 2331
Joined: Fri Feb 10, 2012 3:56 pm

Re: NME - 500 Greatest Albums Of All-Time

Post by Harold »

Listyguy wrote:And the fact that there are only two REM albums (both below 250) here.
There are actually two R.E.M. albums in the top 100 - Automatic for the People and Murmur. If you were searching for "R.E.M.," for some reason the periods are missing in the top 100. Not really sure how you missed these, though. Agreed on Hendrix and the overly high rankings for Is This It and Let England Shake.
User avatar
JimmyJazz
Shake Some Action
Posts: 1296
Joined: Mon Sep 16, 2013 2:28 am
Location: Arizona

Re: NME - 500 Greatest Albums Of All-Time

Post by JimmyJazz »

The exclusion of Hendrix from the Top 100 and the presence of only one Prince (and a low number!) is pretty unforgivable IMO. Considering that The Strokes never had a bigger success than Is This It, I have to also agree that it does not need to be ranked that high (influential album as it is). Britpop was way too overprepresented, but I will spare that as it is a British publication, and that music scene is still very important for the British people as a culture. The female presence on this list is quite nice, though, and I personally am delighted by seeing Let England Shake almost in the Top 100. (Less so about the very high ranking of MBDTF, but once again I'm not going to stir anything up!) Finally, while their massive support from NME may not please everyone, I am glad that The Smiths and Bowie did quite well.
Harold
Into the Groove
Posts: 2331
Joined: Fri Feb 10, 2012 3:56 pm

Re: NME - 500 Greatest Albums Of All-Time

Post by Harold »

Chris K. wrote:
Harold wrote:A couple of clarifications, identical in nature: Crystal Castles, at #477, and The House of Love, at #453, are those artists' self-titled debut albums (from 2008 and 1988, respectively), not their also-self-titled follow-ups.
Those are both the original self-titled albums from 2008 and 1988, respectively.
Just caught this - the same goes for Tindersticks (1993) at #432.
Chris K.
Let's Get It On
Posts: 234
Joined: Tue Feb 28, 2012 6:13 am

Re: NME - 500 Greatest Albums Of All-Time

Post by Chris K. »

JimmyJazz wrote: Finally, while their massive support from NME may not please everyone, I am glad that The Smiths and Bowie did quite well.
I was very pleased as well, although when you break it down by decade, their dominance on the list becomes even more apparent (and possibly a little difficult to justify):

Bowie has the #1, 3, 4 and 15 highest ranked albums of the 70's (along with another 6 albums below that).
The Smiths have the #1, 8, 15, 16 and 42 highest ranked albums of the 80's.
Harold
Into the Groove
Posts: 2331
Joined: Fri Feb 10, 2012 3:56 pm

Re: NME - 500 Greatest Albums Of All-Time

Post by Harold »

Here's the breakdown of all artists with two or more albums in the top 500:

David Bowie / 10
Beatles / 7
Bob Dylan / 7
Bruce Springsteen / 5
Elvis Costello / 5
PJ Harvey / 5
Radiohead / 5
Smiths / 5
Beck / 4
Blur / 4
National / 4
Neil Young / 4
Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds / 4
Nirvana / 4
R.E.M. / 4
Rolling Stones / 4
Tom Waits / 4
White Stripes / 4
Who / 4
Arcade Fire / 3
Beach Boys / 3
Beastie Boys / 3
Bjork / 3
Clash / 3
Daft Punk / 3
Dexys Midnight Runners / 3
Jay-Z / 3
Kanye West / 3
Kings of Leon / 3
Kraftwerk / 3
Leonard Cohen / 3
Manic Street Preachers / 3
Michael Jackson / 3
New Order / 3
Pavement / 3
Pixies / 3
Prince / 3
Public Enemy / 3
Pulp / 3
Queens of the Stone Age / 3
Sonic Youth / 3
Spiritualized / 3
Stevie Wonder / 3
Suede / 3
Super Furry Animals / 3
Velvet Underground / 3
Verve / 3
Aphex Twin / 2
Arctic Monkeys / 2
Aretha Franklin / 2
Belle and Sebastian / 2
Big Star / 2
Bob Marley and The Wailers / 2
Breeders / 2
Byrds / 2
Can / 2
Coldplay / 2
Cribs / 2
Cure / 2
Dr. Dre / 2
Echo and The Bunnymen / 2
Eels / 2
Eminem / 2
Fall / 2
Flaming Lips / 2
Fleetwood Mac / 2
Frank Sinatra / 2
Hole / 2
Horrors / 2
Iggy Pop / 2
Interpol / 2
Jam / 2
Janis Joplin/Big Brother / 2
Jimi Hendrix Experience / 2
John Lennon / 2
Joni Mitchell / 2
Joy Division / 2
Kate Bush / 2
LCD Soundsystem / 2
Led Zeppelin / 2
Libertines / 2
Lou Reed / 2
Marvin Gaye / 2
Massive Attack / 2
MC5 / 2
Metallica / 2
Metronomy / 2
Miles Davis / 2
My Bloody Valentine / 2
Nick Drake / 2
Oasis / 2
OutKast / 2
Patti Smith / 2
Pet Shop Boys / 2
Pink Floyd / 2
Portishead / 2
Primal Scream / 2
Prodigy / 2
Roxy Music / 2
Smashing Pumpkins / 2
Stooges/Iggy and The Stooges / 2
Streets / 2
Strokes / 2
Talking Heads / 2
Teenage Fanclub / 2
Todd Rundgren / 2
Weezer / 2
Wild Beasts / 2
Wire / 2
Wu-Tang Clan / 2
Yeah Yeah Yeahs / 2
Harold
Into the Groove
Posts: 2331
Joined: Fri Feb 10, 2012 3:56 pm

Re: NME - 500 Greatest Albums Of All-Time

Post by Harold »

Harold wrote:
Chris K. wrote:
Harold wrote:A couple of clarifications, identical in nature: Crystal Castles, at #477, and The House of Love, at #453, are those artists' self-titled debut albums (from 2008 and 1988, respectively), not their also-self-titled follow-ups.
Those are both the original self-titled albums from 2008 and 1988, respectively.
Just caught this - the same goes for Tindersticks (1993) at #432.
And Weezer at #250, although that probably goes without saying.
Jackson
Into the Groove
Posts: 2075
Joined: Sun Feb 12, 2012 6:05 am
Location: Los Angeles

Re: NME - 500 Greatest Albums Of All-Time

Post by Jackson »

The weirdest thing about this list to me is the total dismissal of The Kinks. For a list so biased towards British artist, it's a little inexplicable Something Else, Village Green and / or Arthur aren't top 100.
Bruno
Shake Some Action
Posts: 1384
Joined: Sun Feb 19, 2012 1:33 pm
Location: São Paulo, Brasil
Contact:

Re: NME - 500 Greatest Albums Of All-Time

Post by Bruno »

10 albums from Bowie is really nonsense.
User avatar
JimmyJazz
Shake Some Action
Posts: 1296
Joined: Mon Sep 16, 2013 2:28 am
Location: Arizona

Re: NME - 500 Greatest Albums Of All-Time

Post by JimmyJazz »

Bruno wrote:10 albums from Bowie is really nonsense.
Realistically, 10 albums from ANY act is nonsense. Personally, if I were doing a list like this, an act would only have at most five albums throughout the 500, so as to be fair to other acts. Similarly, if the list were just a Top 100, an act would only get at most two entries.
antonius
Movin' On Up
Posts: 977
Joined: Fri Feb 10, 2012 7:47 pm
Location: Hoboken, Antwerp, Belgium

Re: NME - 500 Greatest Albums Of All-Time

Post by antonius »

Jackson wrote:The weirdest thing about this list to me is the total dismissal of The Kinks. For a list so biased towards British artist, it's a little inexplicable Something Else, Village Green and / or Arthur aren't top 100.
I agree. "Muswell Hillbillies", "Face to Face", "Lola versus..." , ANY Kinks album should have been included.
I'm glad that "Horses" and "Funeral" are this high, though.
luvulongTIM
Different Class
Posts: 480
Joined: Mon Jun 03, 2013 6:14 am
Location: Rowland Heights
Contact:

Re: NME - 500 Greatest Albums Of All-Time

Post by luvulongTIM »

JimmyJazz wrote:The exclusion of Hendrix from the Top 100 and the presence of only one Prince (and a low number!) is pretty unforgivable IMO. Considering that The Strokes never had a bigger success than Is This It, I have to also agree that it does not need to be ranked that high (influential album as it is). Britpop was way too overprepresented, but I will spare that as it is a British publication, and that music scene is still very important for the British people as a culture. The female presence on this list is quite nice, though, and I personally am delighted by seeing Let England Shake almost in the Top 100. (Less so about the very high ranking of MBDTF, but once again I'm not going to stir anything up!) Finally, while their massive support from NME may not please everyone, I am glad that The Smiths and Bowie did quite well.
Well from somebody who actually admittedly LOVES LATE 90s Britpop I even think it's strange to see a band like the Bluetones whose singles I adore rank as high as they did. But they did include the Long Blondes who I'll take over Savages and Elastica any day as brilliant as both acts are:)
Jackson
Into the Groove
Posts: 2075
Joined: Sun Feb 12, 2012 6:05 am
Location: Los Angeles

Re: NME - 500 Greatest Albums Of All-Time

Post by Jackson »

Upon digging deeper this list isn't as bad as I thought. I enjoy the 90s bias throughout, as I feel that decade will only gain stature over time. I guess those records can be considered 'classics' now, huh? Radiator in the top 100 is really cool, and something no other publication would do.
blackboab
I'm New Here
Posts: 2
Joined: Sun Dec 09, 2012 9:49 pm

Re: NME - 500 Greatest Albums Of All-Time

Post by blackboab »

remember this is a list of the nme writers favourite albums and i would imagine a number of them are under 30 so anything from before 1990 is really going to struggle and probably why albums like pulp and the strokes are so high...its not a terrible list in my view..just not very reflective of what is considered a list of the very best albums of all time...no dsotm by pink floyd in the top 100 is pretty damaging to its credibilty imo and sign o the times by prince barely making the top 200 is very strange...the number one album is also a strange one...its a very good album but is the queen is dead really the greatest album ever made ?...no ...at least revolver is up there but ..as i said..a good list of great albums but not very accurate really..
luvulongTIM
Different Class
Posts: 480
Joined: Mon Jun 03, 2013 6:14 am
Location: Rowland Heights
Contact:

Re: NME - 500 Greatest Albums Of All-Time

Post by luvulongTIM »

Yeah but look at the members of this site alone especially when we had that artist poll a few weeks ago. Many are under 21 and they listed so many artists from before their time (depressingly the 90s, I feel so old:() even as far back as the 50s. In fact 60s and 70s bands dominated the poll. Just goes to show how much more varied OUR musical tastes are compared to their biased list.
User avatar
StevieFan13
Wuthering Heights
Posts: 6967
Joined: Mon Jan 02, 2017 5:00 pm
Location: New York, New York
Contact:

Re: NME - 500 Greatest Albums Of All-Time

Post by StevieFan13 »

JimmyJazz wrote:The female representation in the Top 100 is pretty good, however. I quite like seeing PJ Harvey's Let England Shake all the way at #15. :music-listening:
It's a bit of a bummer that there were no women or non-white people in the top 10 (the name of the game is mostly "white and British"), but one thing they do way better than RS is putting multiple rap albums in the top 100. I like how they took some risks with this lists. (No The Stranger or Talking Book though, and the online version doesn't have Achtung Baby).
Music is a world within itself, with a language we all understand - Sir Duke (1976)
User avatar
StevieFan13
Wuthering Heights
Posts: 6967
Joined: Mon Jan 02, 2017 5:00 pm
Location: New York, New York
Contact:

Re: NME - 500 Greatest Albums Of All-Time

Post by StevieFan13 »

But yeah, there's something to keep in mind, though I don't know how we'd distinguish it on the main site: online, Random Access Memories is #497, but in a PDF of a special issue that combined the albums and songs lists, its spot was occupied by Achtung Baby (as if even they realized that overlooking it was kind of bizarre).
Music is a world within itself, with a language we all understand - Sir Duke (1976)
User avatar
bootsy
Shake Some Action
Posts: 1297
Joined: Fri Aug 22, 2014 10:38 pm

Re: NME - 500 Greatest Albums Of All-Time

Post by bootsy »

StevieFan13 wrote:
JimmyJazz wrote:The female representation in the Top 100 is pretty good, however. I quite like seeing PJ Harvey's Let England Shake all the way at #15. :music-listening:
It's a bit of a bummer that there were no women or non-white people in the top 10 (the name of the game is mostly "white and British"), but one thing they do way better than RS is putting multiple rap albums in the top 100. I like how they took some risks with this lists. (No The Stranger or Talking Book though, and the online version doesn't have Achtung Baby).
Yeah out of the two lists I definitely prefer this one. This list has a lot of albums that RS would never dream of putting in a top 500 albums list. I like the diversity and out of the box thinking on this list.
RB
Strange Fruit
Posts: 90
Joined: Thu Jun 14, 2012 12:17 pm

Re: NME - 500 Greatest Albums Of All-Time

Post by RB »

Surprised how much they shafted U2 on these two lists considering they ranked them their 9th Greatest Artist Of All Time (in 2002) & gave them the Godlike Genius award (in 2001). The Achtung Baby entry was in the later deluxe magazine version of the same 500 Greatest Albums part. So should it actually be included?

497. Achtung Baby - U2's much-needed industrial electro-rock makeover with 'The Fly' made for a formidable rejuvenation and paved the way for tech-rock transformations from many other acts over the decade to come.
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.
Last edited by RB on Thu Feb 16, 2017 2:22 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Go your own way
User avatar
StevieFan13
Wuthering Heights
Posts: 6967
Joined: Mon Jan 02, 2017 5:00 pm
Location: New York, New York
Contact:

Re: NME - 500 Greatest Albums Of All-Time

Post by StevieFan13 »

RB wrote:Surprised how much they shafted U2 on these two lists considering 10 years earlier they voted them their 9th Greatest Artist Of All Time. The Achtung Baby entry was in the later deluxe magazine version of the same 500 Greatest Albums part. So should it actually be included?

497. Achtung Baby - U2's much-needed industrial electro-rock makeover with 'The Fly' made for a formidable rejuvenation and paved the way for tech-rock transformations from many other acts over the decade to come.
Maybe if we indicated some kind of distinction on the main site.
Music is a world within itself, with a language we all understand - Sir Duke (1976)
RB
Strange Fruit
Posts: 90
Joined: Thu Jun 14, 2012 12:17 pm

Re: NME - 500 Greatest Albums Of All-Time

Post by RB »

Achtung Baby retrospectively included?
Go your own way
Post Reply

Return to “ALL TIME”