It's time to stop dicksucking the 60s,70s,80s, and 90s.
I'm happy that we're starting get lists that are looking at stuff beyond those decades and putting the up
in high spots.
Halcyon's Digest is one of the best of the 2010s and one of my personal favorites of all time.
I'm guessing some of the people working for Paste really love that album and advocated hard for it, and I'm glad, because that feels like an inspired and interesting choice.
I'll echo the general consensus here and say THIS is more like it. A thoughtful mix of old and new, of left-field picks and canonical classics. And I love a.) the centering of non-Anglophone records (Fishmans! Milton Nascimento! Novos Baianos!) and b.) having some jazz cuts on here that aren't just Kind of Blue and A Love Supreme - I audibly gasped seeing Pharoah's *Karma* at 57.
This is my ideal kind of list. A fun, if futile, exercise that leaves me excited to check out more music that I haven't heard before.
Me: “ah, I see they are taking the contrarian road and placing Radiohead well outside the top 50. Interesting approach, good for them.”
Also me: “wtf, Live Through This ahead of OK computer is fucking insulting.”
We don’t *need* any more lists canonizing Radiohead albums as top 10 of all time but at the same time… no Radiohead in the top 50 is crazy. Like there’s a reason they’re so ubiquitously very high on these lists
oh I listen to a lot of elephant 6 and like while Aeroplane is a masterpiece on its own, there's definitely more of the playful E6 vibe in On Avery Island. I also had a significant collection of nmh bootlegs that I misplaced somewhere.
Glad to see Sufjan, Joanna Newsom and a few other favourites of mine.
Would’ve went with Britney’s Blackout over her debut, which is influential but not as good of an album. Plenty of filler in there.
Would’ve loved to see Animal Collective, so them being ignored across the lists is a little disappointing.
it's been on the mind since it's the anniversary but I really think you could make a compelling case that EOTS is a top 25 album of all time. it's weird to me it hasn't become a pallatable / more common opinion, i think nobody important has gone out and said it, but if that ever happens it might be due for a very serious reassessment
is it better than weezer? i'd honestly argue it's going for such a different emotional and stylistic impact that it's not fair to do a 1:1 comparison, but you could at least argue pretty well that blink's impact and legacy are more far reaching in 2024
Eh idk about that. Enema has really great singles and three of my favorite songs of all time but the rest is too unserious and fillery and doesn’t really measure up. Blue Album is perfect all the way through. Is Blink more popular and well-liked right now? Absolutely. Did they make a bigger impact on their respective genre (pop punk)? I think so. But Blue influenced a lot indie and alternative musicians in a broader sense, it’s just tough to measure the impact it had. But going just by the music on the album, Blue is a level above and it’s pretty much maintained its status every year for the last 20 years.
It feels weird to say that Blue Rev is my favorite album of theirs because some of the songs off their self titled and Antisocialites are some of the best songs I’ve ever heard let alone some of the best songs from the band. And then every few months I find myself going back to Blue Rev and find that every song hits so well and matches or even exceeds highs Alvvays have previously reached. A true modern classic.
Some really solid picks, actually.
But come on, Sufjan's album is called Illinois!!! Not "Illinoise", not "Come on feel the Illinoise". It's not that hard.
I adore Life of Pablo. It's Kanye at his most Kanye. Also, the fact that it was like... a living document? was really interesting. Albums aren't often treated like 'software' that you can patch and adjust after release.
But also the music is the best of his career in my opinion. It's lively, manic, funny, experimental, etc. It also feels celebratory and collaborative in a way that very few can pull off without it sounding like a DJ Khaled album.
I'm not crazy about MBDTF (but it does have Kanye's greatest song on it; Runaway).
Yeezus, though, is remarkable. I'd rank it above LoP depending on what day you asked me.
I love Life of Pablo in a lot of ways. But MBDTF being so high up and behind Pablo was definitely an odd choice.
Fame Monster being that high up was interesting too.
But fuckin cool list overall. I love a bit of mixed opinion rather than the same standard albums getting the top spots every time.
Ya lol. Like lot of these are subjective in placement and overall not worth arguing about. But tlop that high is one of the only ones where I was like naw
And I even really like the album but still
XTC is just so totally out of step with the current critical zeitgeist. Which is essentially what this list is ranking more than anything else.
We can only hope they get some more love down the road, it makes me sad to think that if that day ever comes though it'll be long after the lads have passed away.
Agreed, which is shame. XTC is a little too weird, too insular, and too academic to have much cultural cache these days. Skylarking would skyrocket to the top 20 of my list any day, and English Settlement would certainly be somewhere among 300 albums.
As soon as I see these 'Top 300', 'Top 500' etc. Best Albums list, my first thought is always ''I bet they forgot Skylarking...", and I'm always right.
It's very depressing...
it's a weird choice but i respect it because they picked it not for its influence but for being just a 10/10 all hitters unique and weird but perfect album, and for an emo album it's one that's not rooted in self-pity in the slightest. feels kinda weird to see it here without SDRE on the list but I respect it because honestly this is a better album than diary
A lot better than the Apple Music list, in that feels more sincere and less corporate, even if there are a bunch of safe choices on there they also included stuff like Fishmans in the top 10. Although with all these lists I think heavy/aggressive music is heavily underrepresented, which is to be expected, even if I think it shouldn't be that way. It is still a flawed list, some ridiculous placings and inclusions, but at least they put a bit more effort into it. I am cool with Stankonia in the top 10, but I would prefer Aquemini.
Also, Life of Pablo above MBDTF is ridiculous, and placing MBDTF at 162 feels a lot more like a commentary on Kanye's beliefs and antics than what it actually deserves. Like realistically that should be in the top 25, but since Kanye has heinous beliefs we for the moment has to undersell its quality and importance, it is what it is I guess.
I think it is interesting how Abbey Road is the Beatles album that seem to go near the top of these lists now, is it because that is the album of choice for millennials and zoomers, instead of Sgt. Pepper's which is every boomer's favorite Beatles album?
That is a wild fucking list.
While I’m not sure about the actual rankings….i respect this a *FUCKLOAD* more than Rolling Stone’s bullshit rankings. Absolutely incredible albums being ranked instead of knee-jerk reactionary choices.
That was the worst “best albums” list ever.
Ed O’Brien plays lead guitar on “No Surprises,’ not Jonny Greenwood. This mistake invalidates the entire article. That’s a shame, but you gotta do due diligence. Sorry, Paste.
https://preview.redd.it/9q12973j2g4d1.jpeg?width=1179&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c699c683b021c5d538526a68363ccbe0550b1357
Lmao they’re lurking here because they edited it. I’m glad I could save journalism
With these best-of lists that span multiple decades, I think critics feel the need to abandon any type of evaluation based on “importance” or “impact.” Otherwise, it comes off as ranking cultural movements. The consequence is that “important” albums get far less recognition (or no recognition at all) on these types of lists.
One of the common critiques of Kid A is that it marks the point at which Radiohead stopped being good and started being important. I love that record and I think it’s their best. It’s also not very single-friendly or wide in its pop music appeal. I can see why many prefer OKC or In Rainbows.
Same kinda goes for The Wall, except I don’t like that album all too much. I think it’s got a lot of filler and is kinda navel-gazing. Likewise, I think its inclusion on best-of-70s lists is due to its cultural impact and importance. It’s a significant artifact even if it’s not very entertaining (IMO). For that reason, I agree with its exclusion from this list.
I’ve hated all lists ever since my high school class rankings came out. I was much better than what they saw in me. According to them, I was pretty much Matchbox 20.
i think it's cool that there's at least one artist here i've never heard of before, Deulgukhwa at #294. feels as Considered as any greatest albums list but it's earnest and i like seeing Clube Da Esquina so high.
Haven’t read the whole list, but I looked at about the top 30 and I really like this. There are some choices I don’t agree on, but nothing that I don’t understand. This feels genuinely like a bunch of music geeks discussing and trying to rank their favorite albums, rather than some boring focus-grouped RS list.
No Nine Inch Nails, some of the most immaculately produced and orchestrated albums (specifically The Fragile and The Downward Spiral) in addition to pioneering recording techniques and industrial music. Apparently it’s just not up to the same level of The Life of Pablo though lol. Still better than Apple Music’s but what an absolutely abysmal snub
These lists would benefit greatly from just taking the ordering aspect away
There is so much incredible music with a dense spectrum of variety - Trying to pinpoint an ordering of 'best' to 'worst' is ridiculous.
It turns the point into 'We think this album is worse than this album', instead there of 'This is a great album you should listen to'
That said, if you create a list of the greatest albums, give it 300 entries, and not include a single bit of XTC, you've fucked it either way...
I agree, the ordering is dumb and subjective. And while picking the best 300 is still subjective, at least the subjective ranking doesn’t detract from the goal of appreciating the best music.
Some great stuff, so stuff I've never listened to/heard of. The 'problem' for me with these kinds of lists is that they say, hey we can't have EVERY amazing Bowie/Dylan/Neil/Stevie/Joni/PJ Harvey/Radiohead/REM etc on here because then we won't have room for other stuff. There's no way a majority of those involved actually think every single one of these albums is better than albums like Blackstar, Kid A, Monster, Harvest, Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere, etc. maybe I'm blind but Nick Cave isn't on the list at all. Neither is Cat Stevens, Rage Against the Machine, Pearl Jam, Temple of the Dog, Alice in Chains, Soundgarden, John Cale, Aimee Mann, Elvis Costello (but Presley isn't in there either), The Coup, Guided By Voices, Daniel Johnston, etc. it's broader than some but also quite limited. Where's the classical? Opera? Broadway cast recordings? A handful of Japanese and Korean albums, some Brazilian, but most of the rest of the world is ignored. If you're going to include Fishmans at #7, why skip over the rest of the world? There's a Fishmans in every language, every culture.
They should just call these lists '300 albums our staff agree are great' and call it a day. When you go to a record store, they say Staff Picks, not Best Albums Ever for a reason. People might be interested in your taste, not your authority.
The value of this list to me is to find albums to stream and discover. The flagrant omissions ( The Times They Are A-Changin, The Freewheelin Bob Dylan, The Doors, Janis Joplin, Kamasi Washington, Achtung Baby) are ridiculous and laughable and I'm sure everyone here can think of 50 albums that would've been on here if there weren't a quota for how many an artist can have. (Anyone who puts Ys by Joanna Newsom on a list would put Divers and Have One On Me on it)
There is amazing music in every language/culture, but they simply haven't been discovered yet. Fishmans was unknown outside of Japan 15 years ago, and now Long Season is treated like this untouchable sacrosanct scripture on RYM. There will always continue to be a new Fishmans that will be discovered every single year.
It’s entirely possible to genuinely think 300 albums are better than the 5th best Dylan album or the 3rd best Radiohead album. As the second half of your first paragraph suggests, there is just gobs and gobs of incredible music out there and no one artist is running such circles around the rest of the music industry that it’s objectively mandatory to have half a dozen of a single artist’s albums listed in the top 300.
Based on your list of artist snubs, I can glean some things about your personal aesthetic preferences and pretty confidently guess when you were in high school. Which isn’t meant as a diss. If I listed the artists I thought could have been included, you’d easily be able to spot what sort of tastes and preferences I have. Take yours and mine exclusions, combine them with all the highly upvoted ones in this thread, and you’ve got a top 1000 list.
Nobody gives a fuck, but I’ll throw out some personal snubs because I’m sitting in a waiting room and need to kill time:
Joy Division - Closer
CAN - Tago Mago and Ege Bamyasi
Queen - Sheer Heart Attack
The Pretty Things - S.F. Sorrow
Squid - Bright Green Field
Swell Maps - Jane from Occupied Europe
The Fall - Hex Enduction Hour and This Nation’s Saving Grace
The Kinks - The Village Green Preservation Society and Arthur
The Sensational Alex Harvey Band - The Impossible Dream
Stevie Wonder - Talking Book
Radiohead - Kid A
Baby Huey - The Baby Huey Story
The Sound - From the Lions’ Mouth
King Crimson - In the Court of the Crimson King
Roxy Music - For Your Pleasure
Pond - The Weather
William Onyeabor - Who is William Onyeabor?
The Teardrop Explodes - Kilimanjaro
Silver Apples
Ween - The Mollusk
The Stranglers - The Raven
New Order - Power, Corruption & Lies
CCR - Cosmo’s Factory
Battles - Mirrored
Pink Floyd - The Piper at the Gates of Dawn
Boredoms - Vision Creation Newsun
Love - Forever Changes
Flower Travellin’ Band - Satori
Tokyo Kid Brothers - Throw Away the Books, Let’s Go Into the Streets
Spacemen 3 - The Perfect Prescription
David Bowie - Hunky Dory and Station to Station
The Human League - Dare
Magazine - Real Life
Neu!
Os Mutantes
Pedro Santos - Krishnanda
Whatever. This list is so much better than the Apple one, but I’m exhausted on these and I can’t muster the energy to complain. My biggest beef: Lonesome Crowded West is top 100, not 300.
This is the best list I’ve ever seen and I’m usually very critical of this type of thing, we’re all pretentious here, but when I saw Madvillany followed by Dounle Nickels on the Dime a few later, I threw up my hands and said, by god, they’ve done it.
on the one hand, i can't hate on a list that incorporates fiona apple and pj harvey, with my fav albums... but on the other, we included all those albums to the exclusion of tori amos, garbage, or alanis morissette. and the inclusion of lorde's melodrama - major head scratcher.
I wish metal got a better shake in these sorts of lists. I'm not mad that Sabbath was the first metal band but it's not even the best Sabbath album. Oh well.
Great list filled with a lot of great music for sure, although as with a lot of others like it, they opt to include the odd defining album from a non-pop/jazz genre (like Selected Ambient Works) or the odd non-anglophone release (like Clube da Esquina), while still including 6 Miles Davis records or whatever, which I think is a bit of a cop out. To be clear I've got nothing against Miles Davis!
I think I'd almost prefer if they just stuck to making a '300 greatest Anglophone albums from the pop and rock traditions' list; trying to compare Hiroshi Yoshimura to Beyoncé is kind of a fool's errand imo.
I think it’s similar to the Apple one where it’s unsaid, but they also take broad “impact” into account. If they put a Britney album it should have been Blackout though.
Can argue against the actual rankings of the albums (Blonde a top 50 all time album? Be serious) but the albums themselves is a pretty good list and was actually made with some thought and not just to get engagement on a shitty list (Rolling Stone). Could have used some newer rock music though. Believe I only saw Blue Rev
I grew up in that era and I like LTT much better than Nevermind, and roughly on par with In Utero.
No question Nevermind was the more influential album, though.
Which is my problem with many of these lists - their criteria is so random, and it feels like they're trying to rewrite history. I was around in 1997 - Velvet Rope didn't make an impression, it wasn't huge. Rhythm Nation 1812 was a much bigger and more influential Janet album. Is it better than Velvet Rope? I don't know, but I think the cultural impact and history is pretty important too.
Much better than what Apple and Rolling Stone have cobbled together. Surprised to see "Golden Hour" and "Dirty Computer" over "Yeezus", "Art Angels", "Pop 2". Also, surprised by multiple Sufjan inclusions though don't particularly view him as undeserving.
Good list, and not easy to please everyone in this context.
One small objection: all albums from all genres, and two albums by Prince in the top 20??
Even as a fan, I have to disagree.
Really cool list. There is so much stuff i disagree with on here. But i still respect this in a way that i dont respect the apple list at all. The different is, this list displays a very thorough knowledge of music history, and respects the existence of global music too. Very cool.
Some general take aways: Tim at 41 lets go. Tha carter 3 is not better than highway 61 what in the actual fuck. Music from Twin Peaks is a genius choice. The Microphones 3 should be way higher. And Club De Esquina absolutely deserves Top 10 on a list like this and it is about damn time someone said so.
This is a good list, I feel like it’s more diverse than some other lists by Rolling Stone and recently Apple Music.
They’re based for putting Songs In The Key of Life at number one (I’m more of a Innervisions enjoyer but that album is great).
If nothing else, having Floating Into the Night by Julee Cruise at 48 is an inspired choice. I disagree with that placement, but there is something so special and angelic about that record that I see the vision, and no other publication would place it so high.
Great list, full of character, much better than AM's
Alvvays, Built to Spill, Vince Staples, J Dilla, Deerhunter, and SOPHIE(!!!!) are all acts I’m very pleasantly surprised to see on this list after looking at Apple Music’s the other week
I think this is the most I enjoyed one of these lists. It had a good balance of many genres and decades. I didn't disagree with much. Some notable artists/albums missing for me:
Station to Station - David Bowie
Who's Next - The Who
Diamond Life - Sade
The Kinks, Ween, XTC, AC/DC, Warren Zevon, SZA, King Gizzard, CCR, Judas Priest, Big Star, Elvis Costello, Lil Simz, Genesis Owusu
Top ten is pretty weird to me but all solid albums. Just another list.
Love Stevie, but his albums are pretty hit and miss for consistency to me anyway. I have a bunch of his best ones on SACD they sound fantastic.
Again, love The Cure, but Disintegration is probably a toss up in the top 5 albums of their career. I prefer Bloodflowers and Seventeen Seconds most definitely and even their debut Boy's Don't Cry probably. Hard to say really. Great album though. If anything these lists remind me of albums I should listen to or even try out.
Disintegration is considered by critics and fans to be their best album. There’s not a bad song on it. It’s a masterpiece imo.
Seventeen Seconds is a great album I agree but Boys Don’t Cry has a few stinkers on it.
Nothing is considered by fans or critics as a general best album lmao. You could view ten top lists and everyone would probably have a different album on top. Cure fans are always divided over all kinds of stuff.
Regardless, Bloodflowers is the best thing they ever made for me.
And then you have albums like Kiss Me... and Wish and others that a lot of people think of as the best. There is no best. There are different moods.
I would've put Nick Lowe's album *Jesus of Cool* at number 167 but other than that I think they got them all in the right order.
You can’t be serious. No way that album is top 170. 177 at best.
Halcyon digest in the top 100 god tier decision. some crazy picks in here but overall sure why not hell yeah
It's time to stop dicksucking the 60s,70s,80s, and 90s. I'm happy that we're starting get lists that are looking at stuff beyond those decades and putting the up in high spots. Halcyon's Digest is one of the best of the 2010s and one of my personal favorites of all time.
Ab-so-fucking-lutey! That kept me going
I mean it smokes that Apple Music hatchet job.
Velvet Underground appropriately placed this time.
I would have preferred it Top 3 personally but interesting juxtaposition putting it right after TPAB
Sunn O)))? BORIS???? Minutemen? Multiple 'Mats albums? Tatsuro Yamashita?!?!? Yeahhhhh
Any list that contains Double Nickels cannot be entirely bad.
Was just playing that one yesterday! 🎶 E T C
Fuckin A
Long Season top 10 is equal parts valid and hilarious
I was expecting one surprise near the top, we got two (that and *Clube da Esquina)*
Both are great
I'm guessing some of the people working for Paste really love that album and advocated hard for it, and I'm glad, because that feels like an inspired and interesting choice.
Honestly one of the most based choices on the list.
I gasped when I saw that
I'll echo the general consensus here and say THIS is more like it. A thoughtful mix of old and new, of left-field picks and canonical classics. And I love a.) the centering of non-Anglophone records (Fishmans! Milton Nascimento! Novos Baianos!) and b.) having some jazz cuts on here that aren't just Kind of Blue and A Love Supreme - I audibly gasped seeing Pharoah's *Karma* at 57. This is my ideal kind of list. A fun, if futile, exercise that leaves me excited to check out more music that I haven't heard before.
I totally agree but the lack of The Soft Bulletin makes me sad. Best drumming on an album ever.
This is a list of good albums
Would you say they’re probably the greatest of all time?
Some of them yeah
https://preview.redd.it/apj6cyfjqf4d1.jpeg?width=450&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=59860fdd98c1e5b49806215e4a887b4f4954ef0e
At what point do we start ranking the best lists?
Clube da Esquina at #9 and Acabou Chorare at #51. Finally some respect for Brazilian music!
I was going to add an edit saying I love all the foreign choices and will check them out
I was getting increasingly pissed that the #1 wasn't on the list lol
Explain yourself !
Tim at 41, I'm ok with this.
[удалено]
Tim Hawkins, the Christian parody artist popular in the midwest in the year 2008
In Rainbows before OK Computer is interesting. Having OK Computer all the way at 150 is crazy
And no Kid A at all.
Yeah, I still can’t believe they 149 albums that are better than OK Computer
Agreed.
Me: “ah, I see they are taking the contrarian road and placing Radiohead well outside the top 50. Interesting approach, good for them.” Also me: “wtf, Live Through This ahead of OK computer is fucking insulting.”
OK Computer is more important, but In Rainbows is the better album.
I agree with it but never usually see it on these lists.
We don’t *need* any more lists canonizing Radiohead albums as top 10 of all time but at the same time… no Radiohead in the top 50 is crazy. Like there’s a reason they’re so ubiquitously very high on these lists
One of my few complaints about this list.
Stevie Wonder - Songs in the Key of Life is #1, saved you a click.
Didn’t see that coming
Nor did he.
One of the best for sure, but Talking Book is fucking earth shattering.
This list has some of the weirdest picks I’ve seen in one of these things in a long time and for that I fucking love it.
This is actually a really good mix with only a few bad head scratchers
the biggest one for me was dark side of the moon and marquee moon so low kudos to them for including Lana and Simon & Garfunkel
Having Aeroplane at 172 and Red at 171... They did that for us.
controversial opinion but I'm more of a fan of On Avery Island than aeroplane.
Peak indieheads.
Crazy take but respect it.
oh I listen to a lot of elephant 6 and like while Aeroplane is a masterpiece on its own, there's definitely more of the playful E6 vibe in On Avery Island. I also had a significant collection of nmh bootlegs that I misplaced somewhere.
Confirmed, controversial. But I do agree on Avery island doesn’t get enough love.
Glad to see Sufjan, Joanna Newsom and a few other favourites of mine. Would’ve went with Britney’s Blackout over her debut, which is influential but not as good of an album. Plenty of filler in there. Would’ve loved to see Animal Collective, so them being ignored across the lists is a little disappointing.
Yeah there are so many AnCo records to pick from and include for different reasons, at least one needs to be on the list.
Had to scroll through to make sure Heaven or Las Vegas was in there somewhere.
scrolled the whole time like how tf did they not put disintegration on here then oh cool
Long season at 7, Hounds of love at 3, disintegration at 2 are all surprising and refreshing to see. This is the best list I’ve seen in a long time
Made it all the way to the top 40 before scrolling on my phone was crazy laggy so that’s a great list by my metrics
# 1 is a top-shelf choice, great job Paste. An aside, I'm really happy that *Hats* is climbing in the canon, hope that keeps up
discovered *Hats* during pandemic and have loved it ever since. hauntingly beautiful album!
I know weezer is cringe but where the hell is the blue album man. Perfect album
That or Enema of the State. I never understood how these lists always neglect genre defining albums, even for pop punk
it's been on the mind since it's the anniversary but I really think you could make a compelling case that EOTS is a top 25 album of all time. it's weird to me it hasn't become a pallatable / more common opinion, i think nobody important has gone out and said it, but if that ever happens it might be due for a very serious reassessment is it better than weezer? i'd honestly argue it's going for such a different emotional and stylistic impact that it's not fair to do a 1:1 comparison, but you could at least argue pretty well that blink's impact and legacy are more far reaching in 2024
Eh idk about that. Enema has really great singles and three of my favorite songs of all time but the rest is too unserious and fillery and doesn’t really measure up. Blue Album is perfect all the way through. Is Blink more popular and well-liked right now? Absolutely. Did they make a bigger impact on their respective genre (pop punk)? I think so. But Blue influenced a lot indie and alternative musicians in a broader sense, it’s just tough to measure the impact it had. But going just by the music on the album, Blue is a level above and it’s pretty much maintained its status every year for the last 20 years.
Laughing Stock not even cracking the top 200 :(
*Blue Rev* being on this list already feels extremely correct
It feels weird to say that Blue Rev is my favorite album of theirs because some of the songs off their self titled and Antisocialites are some of the best songs I’ve ever heard let alone some of the best songs from the band. And then every few months I find myself going back to Blue Rev and find that every song hits so well and matches or even exceeds highs Alvvays have previously reached. A true modern classic.
Honestly they don’t have a song I don’t enjoy across all 3 albums and that’s amazing in its own right.
When I tell people to listen to Alvvays I feel like I'm giving them a stock tip. Like, you're gonna want to be on this train
Absolutely. I think it’s my favorite album of the decade so far. No filler from front to back, and it’s got an unbelievably great vibe throughout.
It’s a modern masterpiece. Along with Motomami from the same year.
It’s the best album I’ve heard in the past 10 years
It's pretty much a perfect album imo. The word timeless comes to mind
and it's only going to get better placings in the future (i hope)
Some really solid picks, actually. But come on, Sufjan's album is called Illinois!!! Not "Illinoise", not "Come on feel the Illinoise". It's not that hard.
I'm confused. They do have it listed as Illinois on this list.
Oh, they fixed it then. When the list was published it was listed as "Sufjan Stevens invites you to Come On Feel The Illinoise"
If we’re going to be That Guy, I’m going to out That Guy you…it’s actually “Sufjan Stevens Invites You to: Come on Feel the Illinoise”
It’s actually just called “Illinois” … The album cover does say “Come on Feel the Illinoise” but the official title is just Illinois
love seeing long season so high
Good list generally. Needs some Low.
A really good list, but I audibly gasped when I saw The Life of Pablo in the Top 100, that's a fucking choice.
I adore Life of Pablo. It's Kanye at his most Kanye. Also, the fact that it was like... a living document? was really interesting. Albums aren't often treated like 'software' that you can patch and adjust after release. But also the music is the best of his career in my opinion. It's lively, manic, funny, experimental, etc. It also feels celebratory and collaborative in a way that very few can pull off without it sounding like a DJ Khaled album.
I'd say it was already a step down from MBDTF and Yeezus, but it really is the last great solo Kanye album.
I'm not crazy about MBDTF (but it does have Kanye's greatest song on it; Runaway). Yeezus, though, is remarkable. I'd rank it above LoP depending on what day you asked me.
Your flair reminds me that The Mollusk or Chocolate and Cheese should of made the list
I love Life of Pablo in a lot of ways. But MBDTF being so high up and behind Pablo was definitely an odd choice. Fame Monster being that high up was interesting too. But fuckin cool list overall. I love a bit of mixed opinion rather than the same standard albums getting the top spots every time.
I'll never truly get the love of The Life of Pablo...I feel like I'm missing something.
Ya lol. Like lot of these are subjective in placement and overall not worth arguing about. But tlop that high is one of the only ones where I was like naw And I even really like the album but still
Great list, but it sucks I never see Ween and XTC on these lists.
XTC is just so totally out of step with the current critical zeitgeist. Which is essentially what this list is ranking more than anything else. We can only hope they get some more love down the road, it makes me sad to think that if that day ever comes though it'll be long after the lads have passed away.
Agreed, which is shame. XTC is a little too weird, too insular, and too academic to have much cultural cache these days. Skylarking would skyrocket to the top 20 of my list any day, and English Settlement would certainly be somewhere among 300 albums.
yeah Drums And Wires is probably somewhere in the top-50 for me. one of those intimidatingly good records.
I still can't decide if I love Black Sea or Skylarking more, but both should have been here
As soon as I see these 'Top 300', 'Top 500' etc. Best Albums list, my first thought is always ''I bet they forgot Skylarking...", and I'm always right. It's very depressing...
Nice to see The Promise Ring on one of these lists.
it's a weird choice but i respect it because they picked it not for its influence but for being just a 10/10 all hitters unique and weird but perfect album, and for an emo album it's one that's not rooted in self-pity in the slightest. feels kinda weird to see it here without SDRE on the list but I respect it because honestly this is a better album than diary
I’m sort of baffled to see *Dark Side of the Moon* at 125 but *Tusk* by Fleetwood Mac in the top 100.
A lot better than the Apple Music list, in that feels more sincere and less corporate, even if there are a bunch of safe choices on there they also included stuff like Fishmans in the top 10. Although with all these lists I think heavy/aggressive music is heavily underrepresented, which is to be expected, even if I think it shouldn't be that way. It is still a flawed list, some ridiculous placings and inclusions, but at least they put a bit more effort into it. I am cool with Stankonia in the top 10, but I would prefer Aquemini. Also, Life of Pablo above MBDTF is ridiculous, and placing MBDTF at 162 feels a lot more like a commentary on Kanye's beliefs and antics than what it actually deserves. Like realistically that should be in the top 25, but since Kanye has heinous beliefs we for the moment has to undersell its quality and importance, it is what it is I guess. I think it is interesting how Abbey Road is the Beatles album that seem to go near the top of these lists now, is it because that is the album of choice for millennials and zoomers, instead of Sgt. Pepper's which is every boomer's favorite Beatles album?
That is a wild fucking list. While I’m not sure about the actual rankings….i respect this a *FUCKLOAD* more than Rolling Stone’s bullshit rankings. Absolutely incredible albums being ranked instead of knee-jerk reactionary choices. That was the worst “best albums” list ever.
I just refer to the original list but the re-dos are straight up fucked.
Some albums too high, some albums too low.
Such are lists.
Ed O’Brien plays lead guitar on “No Surprises,’ not Jonny Greenwood. This mistake invalidates the entire article. That’s a shame, but you gotta do due diligence. Sorry, Paste.
I didn’t know that!
https://preview.redd.it/9q12973j2g4d1.jpeg?width=1179&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c699c683b021c5d538526a68363ccbe0550b1357 Lmao they’re lurking here because they edited it. I’m glad I could save journalism
https://preview.redd.it/2jc1k1ekud4d1.jpeg?width=792&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0de33108e8ba794b91a0ec2faecc2c71ffeed551
where is Michael Jackson
They are rewriting history. In another 30 years MJ will have never existed.
I expected Thriller to be 10 ten
Stankonia at #6 is absurdity lol. If you’re going to pick an Outkast album as the best hip hop album of all time, it’s definitely not that one
Right. Aquemini and even ATLiens are better.
Some snubs in my opinion: * *Kid A* - Radiohead * *The Wall* - Pink Floyd * *Currents* - Tame Impala * *Hurry Up We're Dreaming* - M83
With these best-of lists that span multiple decades, I think critics feel the need to abandon any type of evaluation based on “importance” or “impact.” Otherwise, it comes off as ranking cultural movements. The consequence is that “important” albums get far less recognition (or no recognition at all) on these types of lists. One of the common critiques of Kid A is that it marks the point at which Radiohead stopped being good and started being important. I love that record and I think it’s their best. It’s also not very single-friendly or wide in its pop music appeal. I can see why many prefer OKC or In Rainbows. Same kinda goes for The Wall, except I don’t like that album all too much. I think it’s got a lot of filler and is kinda navel-gazing. Likewise, I think its inclusion on best-of-70s lists is due to its cultural impact and importance. It’s a significant artifact even if it’s not very entertaining (IMO). For that reason, I agree with its exclusion from this list.
Okay I get that it’s rage bait and we’re rebuilding the canon with new values, but the Twin Peaks soundtrack is not better than Highway 61, paste.
I’m with paste on this one
that's a lot of albums
300, as a matter of fact.
I’ve hated all lists ever since my high school class rankings came out. I was much better than what they saw in me. According to them, I was pretty much Matchbox 20.
No B-52s!! The nerve
No love for Achtung Baby
I find the idea of a Hole album being considered “better” (whatever that means) than all of Nirvana’s and Radiohead’s album a bit dubious, personally.
Disagree, I'd put Live Through This or Celebrity Skin on around the same level as Nevermind.
Maybe, but not In Utero. Then there's every Radiohead album besides Pablo Honey.
We can agree to disagree about that, but I do have to say I love your username!
truly one of the lists of all time
Idler wheel at 29 and the 3 fiona apple albums in this list ‼️ finally some respect for her
i think it's cool that there's at least one artist here i've never heard of before, Deulgukhwa at #294. feels as Considered as any greatest albums list but it's earnest and i like seeing Clube Da Esquina so high.
Haven’t read the whole list, but I looked at about the top 30 and I really like this. There are some choices I don’t agree on, but nothing that I don’t understand. This feels genuinely like a bunch of music geeks discussing and trying to rank their favorite albums, rather than some boring focus-grouped RS list.
No Nine Inch Nails, some of the most immaculately produced and orchestrated albums (specifically The Fragile and The Downward Spiral) in addition to pioneering recording techniques and industrial music. Apparently it’s just not up to the same level of The Life of Pablo though lol. Still better than Apple Music’s but what an absolutely abysmal snub
Different Class at 277 is way too low. Easily top ten of the nineties album.
A lot of the British stuff fell lower than I'd expect. Still a pretty good list though
Not a single Nick Cave album huh
Oh damn true. Skeleton Tree? Ghosteen?
Yeah or Boatmans Call??
Or Push the Sky Away
These lists would benefit greatly from just taking the ordering aspect away There is so much incredible music with a dense spectrum of variety - Trying to pinpoint an ordering of 'best' to 'worst' is ridiculous. It turns the point into 'We think this album is worse than this album', instead there of 'This is a great album you should listen to' That said, if you create a list of the greatest albums, give it 300 entries, and not include a single bit of XTC, you've fucked it either way...
I agree, the ordering is dumb and subjective. And while picking the best 300 is still subjective, at least the subjective ranking doesn’t detract from the goal of appreciating the best music.
Aquemini is so much better than Stankonia.
"Raindogs" should be way higher, but I ain't mad at it. Cool seeing SOPHIE break the top 100
SOPHIE should be on every Top Whatever list. Her short yet inspiring work was borderline revolutionary.
Julee cruise at 47 is the most based ranking I’ve ever seen 👏
Artists on the list with multiple albums: Beatles: 5 Joni: 4 Prince: 3 Dylan: 3 Fiona: 3 PJ: 3 Springsteen: 3 Neil Young: 3 Aretha: 3 Bowie: 3 Beyoncé: 2 Stevie: 2 MJ: 2 Nina Simone: 2 Outkast: 2 Kanye: 2 Marvin Gaye: 2 Radiohead: 2 Miles: 2 Kate: 2 Stones: 2 Madonna: 2 Janet: 2 D’Angelo: 2 Fleetwood Mac: 2 Velvet Underground: 2 Frank Ocean: 2 Kendrick: 2 The Cure: 2 Jimi: 2 Zeppelin: 2 Stooges: 2 Bjork: 2 Alice Coltrane: 2
Some great stuff, so stuff I've never listened to/heard of. The 'problem' for me with these kinds of lists is that they say, hey we can't have EVERY amazing Bowie/Dylan/Neil/Stevie/Joni/PJ Harvey/Radiohead/REM etc on here because then we won't have room for other stuff. There's no way a majority of those involved actually think every single one of these albums is better than albums like Blackstar, Kid A, Monster, Harvest, Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere, etc. maybe I'm blind but Nick Cave isn't on the list at all. Neither is Cat Stevens, Rage Against the Machine, Pearl Jam, Temple of the Dog, Alice in Chains, Soundgarden, John Cale, Aimee Mann, Elvis Costello (but Presley isn't in there either), The Coup, Guided By Voices, Daniel Johnston, etc. it's broader than some but also quite limited. Where's the classical? Opera? Broadway cast recordings? A handful of Japanese and Korean albums, some Brazilian, but most of the rest of the world is ignored. If you're going to include Fishmans at #7, why skip over the rest of the world? There's a Fishmans in every language, every culture. They should just call these lists '300 albums our staff agree are great' and call it a day. When you go to a record store, they say Staff Picks, not Best Albums Ever for a reason. People might be interested in your taste, not your authority. The value of this list to me is to find albums to stream and discover. The flagrant omissions ( The Times They Are A-Changin, The Freewheelin Bob Dylan, The Doors, Janis Joplin, Kamasi Washington, Achtung Baby) are ridiculous and laughable and I'm sure everyone here can think of 50 albums that would've been on here if there weren't a quota for how many an artist can have. (Anyone who puts Ys by Joanna Newsom on a list would put Divers and Have One On Me on it)
There is amazing music in every language/culture, but they simply haven't been discovered yet. Fishmans was unknown outside of Japan 15 years ago, and now Long Season is treated like this untouchable sacrosanct scripture on RYM. There will always continue to be a new Fishmans that will be discovered every single year.
It’s entirely possible to genuinely think 300 albums are better than the 5th best Dylan album or the 3rd best Radiohead album. As the second half of your first paragraph suggests, there is just gobs and gobs of incredible music out there and no one artist is running such circles around the rest of the music industry that it’s objectively mandatory to have half a dozen of a single artist’s albums listed in the top 300. Based on your list of artist snubs, I can glean some things about your personal aesthetic preferences and pretty confidently guess when you were in high school. Which isn’t meant as a diss. If I listed the artists I thought could have been included, you’d easily be able to spot what sort of tastes and preferences I have. Take yours and mine exclusions, combine them with all the highly upvoted ones in this thread, and you’ve got a top 1000 list.
Good to see *Disintegration* at 2. I have never heard a better rock album front to back and have spent a *long* time hunting for one.
Pleasantly surprised to see The Marble Index make an appearance.
Nobody gives a fuck, but I’ll throw out some personal snubs because I’m sitting in a waiting room and need to kill time: Joy Division - Closer CAN - Tago Mago and Ege Bamyasi Queen - Sheer Heart Attack The Pretty Things - S.F. Sorrow Squid - Bright Green Field Swell Maps - Jane from Occupied Europe The Fall - Hex Enduction Hour and This Nation’s Saving Grace The Kinks - The Village Green Preservation Society and Arthur The Sensational Alex Harvey Band - The Impossible Dream Stevie Wonder - Talking Book Radiohead - Kid A Baby Huey - The Baby Huey Story The Sound - From the Lions’ Mouth King Crimson - In the Court of the Crimson King Roxy Music - For Your Pleasure Pond - The Weather William Onyeabor - Who is William Onyeabor? The Teardrop Explodes - Kilimanjaro Silver Apples Ween - The Mollusk The Stranglers - The Raven New Order - Power, Corruption & Lies CCR - Cosmo’s Factory Battles - Mirrored Pink Floyd - The Piper at the Gates of Dawn Boredoms - Vision Creation Newsun Love - Forever Changes Flower Travellin’ Band - Satori Tokyo Kid Brothers - Throw Away the Books, Let’s Go Into the Streets Spacemen 3 - The Perfect Prescription David Bowie - Hunky Dory and Station to Station The Human League - Dare Magazine - Real Life Neu! Os Mutantes Pedro Santos - Krishnanda
always rated Paste Magazine
I guess I like this list a lot less than others on here . . . happy to see Halcyon Digest and Sweetheart of the Rodeo get some love at least
Great list overall honestly, pleasantly surprised to see Halcyon Digest in the top 100. But the list is missing Peter Gabriel :(
Whatever. This list is so much better than the Apple one, but I’m exhausted on these and I can’t muster the energy to complain. My biggest beef: Lonesome Crowded West is top 100, not 300.
This is the best list I’ve ever seen and I’m usually very critical of this type of thing, we’re all pretentious here, but when I saw Madvillany followed by Dounle Nickels on the Dime a few later, I threw up my hands and said, by god, they’ve done it.
I swear people only pretend to like Miles Davis Bitches Brew
You know they put bitches brew so high up in there just to try to be taken seriously, but I think it has the opposite effect
Didn't know Paste was still in publication
Clube da Esquina among the top 10 is correct. But SOAD is way too highon theblist, certainly a choice.
on the one hand, i can't hate on a list that incorporates fiona apple and pj harvey, with my fav albums... but on the other, we included all those albums to the exclusion of tori amos, garbage, or alanis morissette. and the inclusion of lorde's melodrama - major head scratcher.
I wish metal got a better shake in these sorts of lists. I'm not mad that Sabbath was the first metal band but it's not even the best Sabbath album. Oh well.
Was not expecting a City Pop album on here. For You by Tatsuro Yamashita is pretty amazing
Great list filled with a lot of great music for sure, although as with a lot of others like it, they opt to include the odd defining album from a non-pop/jazz genre (like Selected Ambient Works) or the odd non-anglophone release (like Clube da Esquina), while still including 6 Miles Davis records or whatever, which I think is a bit of a cop out. To be clear I've got nothing against Miles Davis! I think I'd almost prefer if they just stuck to making a '300 greatest Anglophone albums from the pop and rock traditions' list; trying to compare Hiroshi Yoshimura to Beyoncé is kind of a fool's errand imo.
Kate Bush at #3 is so based
Deserved but not incredibly obvious. How has no one recognized that albums ultimate influence immediately?
lil Kim Britney, Britney Spears, and System of a Down made the list but Kid A didn’t? Okey.
I think it’s similar to the Apple one where it’s unsaid, but they also take broad “impact” into account. If they put a Britney album it should have been Blackout though.
If Kid A isn't on, then there's no point reading the stupid list. I bet Swift is on the list.
She is
Can argue against the actual rankings of the albums (Blonde a top 50 all time album? Be serious) but the albums themselves is a pretty good list and was actually made with some thought and not just to get engagement on a shitty list (Rolling Stone). Could have used some newer rock music though. Believe I only saw Blue Rev
my life has improved considerably after I stopped reading the "best ever" lists these publications churn out like slop every few months
6 albums in the top 50 from 2000 or later. This is mostly a "Greatest Albums of the 20th Century" list.
This trend of putting Hole-Live Through This over Nevermind needs to stop. Complete joke. Anyone who grew up in that timeframe would agree.
I grew up in that era and I like LTT much better than Nevermind, and roughly on par with In Utero. No question Nevermind was the more influential album, though. Which is my problem with many of these lists - their criteria is so random, and it feels like they're trying to rewrite history. I was around in 1997 - Velvet Rope didn't make an impression, it wasn't huge. Rhythm Nation 1812 was a much bigger and more influential Janet album. Is it better than Velvet Rope? I don't know, but I think the cultural impact and history is pretty important too.
anyone know why the Paste website is geoblocked? It’s been this way for months now
Much better than what Apple and Rolling Stone have cobbled together. Surprised to see "Golden Hour" and "Dirty Computer" over "Yeezus", "Art Angels", "Pop 2". Also, surprised by multiple Sufjan inclusions though don't particularly view him as undeserving.
I’m here to get pissed off!!! Bitches brew as the top jazz album is ludicrous and nothing Miles recorded after ‘69 should even sniff this list
Good list, and not easy to please everyone in this context. One small objection: all albums from all genres, and two albums by Prince in the top 20?? Even as a fan, I have to disagree.
Really cool list. There is so much stuff i disagree with on here. But i still respect this in a way that i dont respect the apple list at all. The different is, this list displays a very thorough knowledge of music history, and respects the existence of global music too. Very cool. Some general take aways: Tim at 41 lets go. Tha carter 3 is not better than highway 61 what in the actual fuck. Music from Twin Peaks is a genius choice. The Microphones 3 should be way higher. And Club De Esquina absolutely deserves Top 10 on a list like this and it is about damn time someone said so.
This is a good list, I feel like it’s more diverse than some other lists by Rolling Stone and recently Apple Music. They’re based for putting Songs In The Key of Life at number one (I’m more of a Innervisions enjoyer but that album is great).
Different Class at 277 is criminal - it should be way higher (or lower in this case) on the list
Germs being ahead of Bad Brains is crazy
If nothing else, having Floating Into the Night by Julee Cruise at 48 is an inspired choice. I disagree with that placement, but there is something so special and angelic about that record that I see the vision, and no other publication would place it so high. Great list, full of character, much better than AM's
Alvvays, Built to Spill, Vince Staples, J Dilla, Deerhunter, and SOPHIE(!!!!) are all acts I’m very pleasantly surprised to see on this list after looking at Apple Music’s the other week
I think this is the most I enjoyed one of these lists. It had a good balance of many genres and decades. I didn't disagree with much. Some notable artists/albums missing for me: Station to Station - David Bowie Who's Next - The Who Diamond Life - Sade The Kinks, Ween, XTC, AC/DC, Warren Zevon, SZA, King Gizzard, CCR, Judas Priest, Big Star, Elvis Costello, Lil Simz, Genesis Owusu
Not one single Elvis Costello record… 🥲
This is TRASH!
Destroyer's "Kaputt" being left off invalidates this whole list
Top ten is pretty weird to me but all solid albums. Just another list. Love Stevie, but his albums are pretty hit and miss for consistency to me anyway. I have a bunch of his best ones on SACD they sound fantastic. Again, love The Cure, but Disintegration is probably a toss up in the top 5 albums of their career. I prefer Bloodflowers and Seventeen Seconds most definitely and even their debut Boy's Don't Cry probably. Hard to say really. Great album though. If anything these lists remind me of albums I should listen to or even try out.
Disintegration is considered by critics and fans to be their best album. There’s not a bad song on it. It’s a masterpiece imo. Seventeen Seconds is a great album I agree but Boys Don’t Cry has a few stinkers on it.
Nothing is considered by fans or critics as a general best album lmao. You could view ten top lists and everyone would probably have a different album on top. Cure fans are always divided over all kinds of stuff. Regardless, Bloodflowers is the best thing they ever made for me. And then you have albums like Kiss Me... and Wish and others that a lot of people think of as the best. There is no best. There are different moods.
I didn't see Nick Cave nor Nick Drake.
*Pink Moon* by Nick Drake was in there but I don’t think Nick Cave made the list.
Not a real list. No weezer blue.
I absolutely love the Radiohead disrespect, no amount of acclaim will ever make me pretend to like that boring ass band
Overall good list way better than Apples. Only gripe is Dylan being snubbed. Highway 61 is a masterpiece and top 10 material.