The N&G Top 500 Albums of All Time!!!

well...that was hard.

not sure what everyone's tact was, but I leaned big into my favorites, their influences, seminal works of either a certain genre or of a particular juncture in my life and the general sounds that resonate with me most. there are no Beatles, no Stones, no Zeppelin...and maybe this makes my "greatest" list incomplete...I have the utmost respect for their creativity and works, but I've never done the deep dive beyond hits...and figure this board will cover plenty I missed

50. Psychedelic Rock / Expirimental Rock / Conecpt (1968) **1pt**
49. Indie-tronica / Indie Pop (2003)
48. Jazz (2015)
47. Expirimental Rock / Noise Rock / Drone (2014)
46. Roots Rock / Blues Rock (1978)
45. Progressive Folk / Psychedelic Folk / Indie (2006)
44. Trip Hop / Chill Out / British Hip Hop (1991)
43. East Coast Hip Hop / Gangsta Rap / Hardcore Hip Hop (1994)
42. Post-Punk / Punk Rock (1982)
41. Soft Rock / Pop Rock / Folk Rock (1977)
40. Ambient / Contemporary Classical / Electronic Composition (2018)
39. Alternative Rock (1993)
38. Jazz / Bossa Nova (1964)
37. West Coast Hip Hop / Gangsta Rap / Hardcore Hip Hop (1988)
36. Roots Rock / Americana (1968)
35. Hip Hop / Instrumental Hip Hop (1996)
34. Progressive Rock (1977)
33. Electronic / IDM / Experimental (2003)
32. Art Rock / Gothic Rock / Alternative Rock (2013)
31. Jazz Fusion / Avant Funk / Experimental Jazz (1970)
30. Post-Punk Revival / Garage Rock Revival / Indie Rock (2006)
29. Cowpunk / Punk Blues / Post-Punk (1982)
28. Trip Hop / Art Rock / Alternative Rock (2005)
27. Southern Hip Hop (1994)
26. Folk / Blues / Singer-Songwriter (1963)
25. Folk (1972)
24. Art Rock / Space Rock / Soul (1976)
23. Indie Rock / Alt-Country (2019)
22. Country (1968)
21. Post-Punk (1983)
20. Indie Rock / Chamber Pop (2007)
19. Jazz Poetry / Proto-Rap / Spoken Word (1970)
18. Blues / Vocal Jazz (1965)
17. Grunge / Alt Rock / Noise Rock (1994)
16. Alt Rock / Art Rock / Indie Rock (1997)
15. East Coast Hip Hop / Jazz Rap / Alt-Hip Hop (1991)
14. Post-Punk Revival / Dance Punk (2005)
13. Post Punk / Dance Punk (1979)
12. Folk / Blues / Jazz (1974)
11. New Wave / Post-Punk / Art Pop (1980)
10. Indie Rock / Art-Punk (1997)
9. Post-Rock / Art Rock / Progressive Pop (1988)
8. Hip Hop / Jazz Rap / Neo-Soul (2015)
7. New Wave / Post-Punk / Alt-Rock(1986)
6. Post-Punk Revival / Indie Rock (2002)
5. Soul / R&B / Psychedelic Soul (1971)
4. Folk / Art Rock / Alt-Rock (1994)
3. Psychedelic Rock / Garage Rock (1966)
2. Alternative Hip Hop (1998)
1. Folk Rock / Indie Folk / Slowcore (2008) **50pt**

By Year:
60s - 7
70s - 10
80s - 7
90s - 11
00s - 9
10s - 6

1994 - 4 albums
1968 - 3 albums
 
cbl said:
if that would make you depressed, how would Top 10 v. Unranked make you feel?
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Well that’s the same thing really isn’t it, regardless of where either finishes, one above the other is still ranking imitation above art.
 
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cbl said:
maybe this makes my "greatest" list incomplete
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That’s ok, because you (we?) are doing a “favorites” list, not a “greatest” list. And don’t worry, plenty of us will pick boring classic rock albums!
 
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cbl said:
'tis the modern motto.

how do you separate "imitation" from "influence" then?
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bettim84 said:
That’s ok, because you (we?) are doing a “favorites” list, not a “greatest” list. And don’t worry, plenty of us will pick boring classic rock albums!
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If I’m being serious, rather than my usual irreverent self, you can’t seperate them really, only judge merit. Personally I don’t rhink any of the 00s Joy Division devotees had anything like their edge or intensity, but thats my taste and city bias thrown into the equation too.

As to the second bit, let’s be totally honest, is there a person in existence who can genuinely say that they can dispassionately pick the greatest album of all time? Of course they can’t, I dont believe that there is such a thing as an individual person having objectivity when it comes to such things and that objectivity only exists by us picking our favourite, which we must think is the greatest to us as our number 1. Anything else is a mixture of chin stroking, ego masturbation and self importance.
 
Joe Mac said:
I dont believe that there is such a thing as an individual person having objectivity when it comes to such things and that objectivity only exists by us picking our favourite, which we must think is the greatest to us as our number 1. Anything else is a mixture of chin stroking, ego masturbation and self importance.
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IIRC we already discussed this before, and you and I disagree.

It seems like you have found a rationale that works well for you (“objectivity only exists by us picking our favourite, which we must think is the greatest to us as our number 1”), so in your mind “favorites” and “greatests” are one and the same.

Yet over and over again people (myself included) come here and post that they’re struggling to balance out their personal favorites versus more obvious, pseudo-mandatory, classic picks.

This is obviously a common feeling and perspective (i.e. that “favorites” and “greatests” are not necessarily the same), and it seems unnecessarily offensive to call it “a mixture of chin stroking, ego masturbation and self importance.”

Because I’m kinda curious to know what a true favorites list will look like (as opposed to a regurgitated version of RS/Spin/P4k canon), I continue to encourage people to pick their favorites.
 
Joe Mac said:
I was just thinking that, as much as I really like it, it’d be a depressing state of affairs if anyone rated Turn Out The Bright Lights, or any of the other early 00s Joy Division apists, ahead of Unknown Pleasures.
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Both narrowly escaped my list! But as albums - Turn on the Bright Lights actually would be rated higher for me - altho I love Unknown Pleasures too. I never really linked Interpol as coming from Joy Division lineage tho but now that you mention it - I guess they do have similar vocal style.
 
zomgbear said:
Both narrowly escaped my list! But as albums - Turn on the Bright Lights actually would be rated higher for me - altho I love Unknown Pleasures too. I never really linked Interpol as coming from Joy Division lineage tho but now that you mention it - I guess they do have similar vocal style.
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...similar...

😂😂😂
 
Joe Mac said:
I was just thinking that, as much as I really like it, it’d be a depressing state of affairs if anyone rated Turn Out The Bright Lights, or any of the other early 00s Joy Division apists, ahead of Unknown Pleasures.
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I can almost understand if someone had that. Now, if I saw Greta Van Fleet over Led Zeppelin? That would cause a damn blood bath!
 
chrb98 said:
I can almost understand if someone had that. Now, if I saw Greta Van Fleet over Led Zeppelin? That would cause a damn blood bath!
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I mean that goes without saying, one is a good band following in the linage of an excellent one and the other is bad karaoke 😂
 
bettim84 said:
IIRC we already discussed this before, and you and I disagree.

It seems like you have found a rationale that works well for you (“objectivity only exists by us picking our favourite, which we must think is the greatest to us as our number 1”), so in your mind “favorites” and “greatests” are one and the same.

Yet over and over again people (myself included) come here and post that they’re struggling to balance out their personal favorites versus more obvious, pseudo-mandatory, classic picks.

This is obviously a common feeling and perspective (i.e. that “favorites” and “greatests” are not necessarily the same), and it seems unnecessarily offensive to call it “a mixture of chin stroking, ego masturbation and self importance.”

Because I’m kinda curious to know what a true favorites list will look like (as opposed to a regurgitated version of RS/Spin/P4k canon), I continue to encourage people to pick their favorites.
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You have and your attempts convince me make me more and more adamant and entrenched in my position.

Why do you believe that someone else’s opinions and tastes are more important that your own? Why does a man writing for pitchfork/NME/Rolling Stone have more sway that you? Why would you say that someone else’s first pick is better than your own?

There are reasons why something might be more important to sales of music, developments of trends and breaking barriers but to say that it’s greater to an individual that the album they actually like above it is utter hogwash.

I’m sorry I stand by my opinion and I don’t think my statement was offensive.
 
Joe Mac said:
You have and your attempts convince me make me more and more adamant and entrenched in my position.

Why do you believe that someone else’s opinions and tastes are more important that your own? Why does a man writing for pitchfork have more sway that you? Why would you say that someone else’s first pick is better than your own?

I’m sorry I stand by my opinion and I don’t think my statement was offensive.
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Well, I guess I should start by pointing out that I didn’t say any of those things. You’re putting words in my, err, keypad.

The best argument I can come up with is a hazy concept of cultural importance/relevance. One can say that Thriller is one of the greatest albums of the album era because it sold a ton a copies, and to this day people who were not even born when that album came out know most of those songs. That’s not the same as calling Thriller one of your favorite albums.

We both agree that the lists will be more interesting if they feature everyone’s personal favorites. You just happen to think that that (a list composed of favorites) is a given, whereas I believe other people have to consciously make that distinction.
 
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Joe Mac said:
You have and your attempts convince me make me more and more adamant and entrenched in my position.

Why do you believe that someone else’s opinions and tastes are more important that your own? Why does a man writing for pitchfork/NME/Rolling Stone have more sway that you? Why would you say that someone else’s first pick is better than your own?

There are reasons why something might be more important to sales of music, developments of trends and breaking barriers but to say that it’s greater to an individual that the album they actually like above it is utter hogwash.

I’m sorry I stand by my opinion and I don’t think my statement was offensive.
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I think the poster may've been just offended by the superfluous "u" in "favorite"...

bettim84 said:
IIRC we already discussed this before, and you and I disagree.

It seems like you have found a rationale that works well for you (“objectivity only exists by us picking our favourite, which we must think is the greatest to us as our number 1”), so in your mind “favorites” and “greatests” are one and the same.

Yet over and over again people (myself included) come here and post that they’re struggling to balance out their personal favorites versus more obvious, pseudo-mandatory, classic picks.

This is obviously a common feeling and perspective (i.e. that “favorites” and “greatests” are not necessarily the same), and it seems unnecessarily offensive to call it “a mixture of chin stroking, ego masturbation and self importance.”

Because I’m kinda curious to know what a true favorites list will look like (as opposed to a regurgitated version of RS/Spin/P4k canon), I continue to encourage people to pick their favorites.
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I think ego comes into play on that bolded part when you ask yourself why are you struggling separating the two. is it because you can recognize either an influence-lineage or something objectively better in a classic v. a favorite...or is it because not ticking certain boxes, Sgt. Pepper/Pet Sounds/Thriller, will make you look musically "un-woke" in the eyes of others. if it's the latter more than the prior, your ego is talking.
 
bettim84 said:
Well, I guess I should by pointing out that I didn’t say any of those things. You’re putting words in my, err, keypad.

The best argument I can come up with is a hazy concept of cultural importance/relevance. One can say that Thriller is one of the greatest albums of the album era because it sold a ton a copies, and to this day people who were not even born when that album came out know most of those songs. That’s not the same as calling Thriller one of your favorite albums.

We both agree that the lists will be more interesting if they feature everyone’s personal favorites. You just happen to think that that (a list composed of favorites) is a given, whereas I believe other people have to consciously make that distinction.
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I wasn’t attempting to put words in your mouth. I was attempting to argue my point. I don’t see how you can step outside of your own taste an engage in a dispassionate argument about “greatness” and it be of merit or substance. What make something great is a weight of opinion and taste saying it’s great. What should make something great on here is us genuinely believing in our hearts that it’s great, not engaging in a confirmation bias exercise.
 
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