I have compiled meta-lists of the best movies, TV shows, music, and books of 2022 by combining multiple end-of-year lists published in magazines, newspapers, and websites. These lists provide a critical consensus of the year’s best.
In 2008, I joined last.fm, a music website (and app) that keeps track of the music I listen to on my computer and my smartphone (excluding Youtube videos), and also makes recommendations based on my listening habits. Below are the top 150 albums I’ve listened to between 2008 and today (2/6/2022), based on last.fm‘s calculations. I’ve listed the albums in order of frequency and have included a genre description (usually borrowed from Wikipedia).
After classical music (26 out of 150 albums), the genre I listen to the most is “indie rock” (20 albums). This term originated as a way to identify artists whose music was released by independent record labels, although it has now expanded to describe a brand of alternative rock music. I’m not sure how alternative rock and indie rock differ. If someone wants to explain in the comments, that would be great. (For example, does an “indie rock” band stop being “indie rock” if it is signed to a major record label, even if the style of music they play remains basically the same?)
I also listen to music that is categorized as “indie pop” (eight albums) and “indie folk” (six albums) (including some overlap with “indie rock”). Once again, I’m not sure I understand how the nature of the company distributing the music tells us anything about the music itself, other than to say that it differs (but how?) from mainstream rock, pop, and folk music. Other big categories are jazz (18 albums), alternative rock (15 albums), blues (13 albums), and rhythm & blues (R&B) (13 albums). The artists with the most albums on the list are The New Pornographers and Aimee Mann, with five albums each.
Some caveats:
(1) These are not necessarily my favorite albums. They are the albums I’ve listened to the most. Many of my favorite artists are not represented on this list.
(2) This is all music that I personally own – I don’t use Spotify, Pandora or other streaming services.
(3) I rarely listen to an entire album at once, so these ratings mean that I have listened to tracks from the album, not necessarily the entire album.
(4) I often listen to my music in “shuffle” mode. This means that albums with more tracks are more likely to be played, which biases the list in favor of the albums with the most tracks. This also means that there is a bias in favor of albums with shorter tracks and against albums with longer ones.
(5) This list does not take into account CDs that I have played on my CD players at home and in my car.
Antisocialites (2017) – Alvvays [indie pop]
Challengers (2007) – The New Pornographers [indie rock]
Memorial Collection (rec. 1955-1959) – Buddy Holly [rock & roll]
Shostakovich: The String Quartets (2000) – Emerson String Quartet [classical]
I’ve added three more “best albums of all time” lists to the best albums meta-list. Thanks to Make Lists, Not War reader Keith Nutter for the update suggestions. As before, the meta-lists includes every album on at least three of the original source lists.
In addition to rearranging the meta-list somewhat, the new lists added 35 new albums and 14 new artists. Here are the new-to-the-list artists:
The Avalanches
Beyoncé
Dave Brubeck
Daft Punk
Fleet Foxes
GZA
Lorde
Madvillain
M.I.A.
Mobb Deep
Slowdive
Solange
Talk Talk
Vampire Weekend
The latest update has increased the number of recent albums on the meta-list, which is heavily weighted towards music of the 1960s and 1970s. Here are the 15 albums on the meta-list from 2010 on.
Kanye West My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (2010)
The full meta-list contains 656 pieces of music (659 if you count Wagner’s Ring cycle as 4 instead of 1.) That’s a lot of music. For those who may be intimidated by such a large list, I’ve created a miniature version that contains fewer than 70 compositions (see below). This list includes only those pieces of music on at least 10 of the original source lists. It is an odd and fairly conservative list. The Germans and Austrians dominate. Most of the music is symphonic, with a number of operas, but there is very little chamber music and only one piece of solo piano music. The vast majority of the music comes from the Classical and Romantic periods (roughly 1750-1900), with nothing from the Renaissance and nothing from any composers born in the 20th Century. There in no Chopin (!?!), no Liszt, no Shostakovich, and only one work by an American composer. But it is an interesting list nonetheless, and contains some of the best known, most popular, and most highly-regarded pieces of classical music ever written. I’ve organized it by composer, with the composers listed in chronological order by date of birth. For composers with more than one piece on the list, I’ve listed the compositions in chronological order. Enjoy.
Best Classical Music: Works on 10 or More of the Original Source Lists
Antonio Vivaldi (Italy, 1678-1741)
The Four Seasons (1725)
Johann Sebastian Bach (Germany, 1685-1750)
Cello Suites (approx. 1717-1723)
Brandenburg Concertos (1721)
St. Matthew Passion (1727)
Goldberg Variations (1741)
Mass in B minor (1749)
George Frideric Handel (Germany, 1685-1759)
The Water Music (1717)
Messiah (1741)
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Austria, 1756-1791)
Piano Concerto No. 20 in D minor (1785)
Piano Concerto No. 21 in C major (1785)
The Marriage of Figaro (1786)
Serenade No. 13 in G major “Eine Kleine Nachtmusik” (1787)
Symphony No. 40 in G minor (1788)
Symphony No. 41 in C major “Jupiter” (1788)
The Magic Flute (1791)
Clarinet Concerto in A major (1791)
Requiem (1792)
Ludwig van Beethoven (Germany, 1770-1827)
Piano Sonata No. 14 in C# minor “Moonlight” (1801)
Symphony No. 3 in Eb major “Eroica” (1804)
Violin Concerto in D major (1806)
Symphony No. 5 in C minor (1808)
Symphony No. 6 in F major “Pastoral” (1808)
Symphony No. 7 in A major (1812)
Symphony No. 9 in D minor “Choral” (1824)
String Quartet No. 14 in C# minor (1826)
Gioachino Rossini (Italy, 1792-1868)
The Barber of Seville (1816)
Franz Schubert (Austria, 1797-1828)
Piano Quintet in A major “The Trout” (1819)
Symphony No. 8 in B minor “Unfinished” (1822)
String Quintet in C major (1828)
Hector Berlioz (France, 1803-1869)
Symphonie Fantastique (1829)
Felix Mendelssohn (Germany, 1809-1847)
A Midsummer Night’s Dream: Overture (1826)
A Midsummer Night’s Dream: Incidental Music (1842)
Robert Schumann (Germany, 1810-1856)
Piano Concerto in A minor (1845)
Richard Wagner (Germany, 1813-1883)
Der Ring des Nibelungen: 1. Das Rheingold (1854)
Der Ring des Nibelungen: 2. Die Walküre (1856)
Der Ring des Nibelungen: 3. Siegfried (1871)
Der Ring des Nibelungen: 4. Götterdämmerung (1874)
Giuseppe Verdi (Italy, 1813-1901)
La Traviata (1853)
Requiem (1874)
Anton Bruckner (Austria, 1824-1896)
Symphony No. 7 in E major (1881-1883, revised 1885)
Johannes Brahms (Germany, 1833-1897)
A German Requiem (1865-1868)
Violin Concerto in D major (1878)
Symphony No. 3 in F major (1883)
Symphony No. 4 in E minor (1884-1885)
Georges Bizet (France, 1838-1875)
Carmen (1874)
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (Russia, 1840-1893)
Piano Concerto No. 1 in Bb minor (1874-1875; revised 1879 and 1888)
Swan Lake (1875-1876)
Symphony No. 5 in E minor (1888)
The Nutcracker (1892)
Symphony No. 6 in B minor “Pathetique” (1893)
Antonín Dvořák (Czech Republic, 1841-1904)
Symphony No. 9 in E minor “From the New World” (1893)
I’ve published meta-lists of the best films, albums, TV shows, and books of 2021. I made these lists by combining numerous “best of” lists I found online. Here are the links:
The most popular and the most critically-acclaimed rarely line up and 2021 was no exception. There was very little overlap between the bestselling films, books and music and the critics’ favorites. An exception was television, where the critics and audiences seemed to appreciate the same shows.
For example, the top grossing movies globally were:
Spider-Man: No Way Home (US, Jon Watts)
The Battle at Lake Changjin (China, Chen Kaige, Tsui Hark & Dante Lam)
Hi, Mom (China, Jia Ling)
No Time to Die (UK/US, Cary Joji Fukunaga)
F9 (US, Justin Lin)
Detective Chinatown 3 (China, Chen Sicheng)
Venom: Let There Be Carnage (US, Andy Serkis)
Godzilla vs. Kong (US, Adam Wingard)
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (US, Destin Daniel Cretton)
Eternals (US, Chloé Zhao)
But the top critically-acclaimed films were:
1. Licorice Pizza (US, Paul Thomas Anderson) 2. Drive My Car (Japan, Hamaguchi Ryūsuke) 3. The Power of the Dog (UK/US/New Zealand, Jane Campion) 4. Dune (US, Denis Villeneuve) 5. The Souvenir Part II (UK, Joanna Hogg) 6. The French Dispatch (US, Wes Anderson) 7. Summer of Soul (US, Ahmir Khalib Thompson) 8. The Worst Person in the World (Norway, Joachim Trier) 9. Petite Maman (France, Céline Sciamma) 10. The Velvet Underground (US, Todd Haynes) 11. The Card Counter (US, Paul Schrader) 12. Annette (France, Leos Carax) 13. The Green Knight (US/Canada, David Lowery) 14. The Lost Daughter (US, Maggie Gyllenhaal)
The most popular songs of the year were:
Save Your Tears — The Weeknd ft. Ariana Grande
MONTERO (Call Me By Your Name) — Lil Nas X
Levitating — Dua Lipa feat. Da Baby
Blinding Lights — The Weeknd
drivers license — Olivia Rodrigo
good 4 u — Olivia Rodrigo
Kiss Me More — Doja Cat ft. Sza
Stay – The Kid Laroi ft. Justin Bieber
Positions – Ariana Grande
Peaches – Justin Bieber ft. Daniel Caesar & Giveon
But the most critically-acclaimed albums were:
Floating Points, Pharoah Sanders, and the London Symphony Orchestra – Promises
Tyler, the Creator – Call Me if You Get Lost
Dry Cleaning – New Long Leg
Low – Hey What
Little Simz – Sometimes I Might Be Introvert
Arlo Parks – Collapsed in Sunbeams
Olivia Rodrigo – Sour
The Weather Station – Ignorance
Japanese Breakfast – Jubilee
Turnstile – Glow On
For books, the story was similar. Here are the year’s bestsellers (book published in 2021):
Dog Man: Mothering Heights. By Dav Pilkey
The Four Winds. By Kristin Hannah
American Marxism. By Mark R. Levin
The Last Thing He Told Me. By Laura Dave
The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse. By Charlie Mackesy
Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Big Shot. By Jeff Kinney
A Court of Silver Flames. By Sarah J. Maas
The Judge’s List. By John Grisham
Twelve and a Half. By Gary Vaynerchuk
The Real Anthony Fauci. By Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
The list of top critically-acclaimed books is very different:
1, Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty. By Patrick Radden Keefe 2. Harlem Shuffle. By Colson Whitehead 3. Detransition, Baby. By Torrey Peters 4. Great Circle. By Maggie Shipstead 5. Crying in H Mart: A Memoir. By Michelle Zauner 6. How the Word Is Passed: A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America. By Clint Smith 7. A Little Devil in America: Notes in Praise of Black Performance. By Hanif Abdurraqib 8. Crossroads. By Jonathan Franzen 9. Hell of a Book. By Jason Mott 10. Cloud Cuckoo Land. By Anthony Doerr 11. No One Is Talking About This. By Patricia Lockwood 12. The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois. By Honorée Fanonne Jeffers 13. Klara and the Sun. By Kazuo Ishiguro 14. The Prophets. By Robert Jones Jr. 15. Afterparties: Stories. By Anthony Veasna So
The list focuses on pop, rock, R&B, country, and folk. I excluded classical, jazz, and blues covers, except in few cases where pop, rock or country artists covered a jazz standard or blues song. The list is presented in chronological order.
That’s All Right (1954) – Elvis Presley. Original: Arthur “Big Boy” Crudup (1946).
I’ve updated the Best Albums meta-lists to include the most recent Rolling Stone list of the 500 best albums. I also added the new albums from the latest edition of 1001 Recordings to Listen to Before You Die. The meta-lists include every album on three or more of the 35+ original source lists. Here are the links:
Please forgive me for failing to update the number of lists the album is on in the Chronological and By Artist lists (provided in parentheticals). I’ll get to this eventually.
There are 27 new artists on the updated meta-lists:
1. Adele 2. Animal Collective 3. Anita Baker 4. Mary J. Blige 5. Boogie Down Productions 6. Cocteau Twins 7. Ornette Coleman 8. Earth, Wind & Fire 9. Elbow 10. Herbie Hancock 11. Howlin’ Wolf 12. Ice Cube 13. Janet Jackson 14. Kendrick Lamar 15. Cyndi Lauper 16. LL Cool J 17. Lynryd Skynyrd 18. George Michael 19. Charles Mingus 20. Motörhead 21. Neutral Milk Hotel 22. Frank Ocean 23. Raekwon 24. Toots & the Maytals 25. Gillian Welch 26. Hank Williams 27. X-Ray Spex
The artists with the most albums on the meta-list are familiar names:
1. Bob Dylan: 11 albums 2. The Beatles: 10 albums 3. The Rolling Stones: 8 albums 4. Led Zeppelin: 7 albums 5. Bruce Springsteen: 6 albums 6. Neil Young: 6 albums 7. David Bowie: 5 albums 8. Jimi Hendrix: 5 albums 9. R.E.M.: 5 albums 10. U2: 5 albums 11. The Who: 5 albums
If you’re interested in my personal favorites from the year, I’ve set them out below. As you can see, I don’t normally focus on the most recent releases, but tend to watch, read, and listen to items from various time periods.
Favorite films watched in 2020:
Rated 10/10 The Life of Oharu (Japan, 1954) Dir: Kenji Mizoguchi Cleo from 5 to 7 (France, 1962) Dir: Agnes Varda Night of the Living Dead (US, 1968) Dir: George Romero Songs from the Second Floor (Sweden, 2000) Dir: Roy Andersson I’m Thinking of Ending Things (US, 2020) Dir: Charlie Kaufman
Rated 9/10 Au hasard Balthazar (France, 1966) Dir: Robert Bresson Z (France, 1969) Dir: Costa-Gavras W.R.: Mysteries of the Organism (Yugoslavia, 1971) Dir: Dusan Makavejev The Passenger (Italy/France, 1975) Dir: Michelangelo Antonioni Stalker (USSR, 1979) Dir: Andrei Tarkovsky Paris, Texas (Germany/US, 1984) Dir: Wim Wenders Come and See (USSR, 1985) Dir: Elem Klimov Uncut Gems (US, 2019) Dir: Joshua & Ben Safdie American Factory (US, 2019) Dir: Julia Reichert & Steven Bognar
Favorite books read in 2020:
The Faerie Queen (UK, 1590, 1596). By Edmund Spenser King Lear (UK, 1605). By William Shakespeare Tartuffe (France, 1664). By Moliere Paradise Lost (UK, 1667). By John Milton Two Treatises of Government and A Letter Concerning Toleration (UK, 1669). By John Locke The Narrow Road to the Deep North and Other Travel Sketches (Japan, 1702). By Matsuo Basho The Genius of the Later English Theater (UK, 1962). Edited by Sylvan Barnet A Thousand Acres (US, 1991). By Jane Smiley. Time’s Arrow (UK, 1991). By Martin Amis Jazz (US, 1992). By Toni Morrison Operation Shylock (US, 1993). By Philip Roth
Favorite TV shows watched in 2020:
The Queen’s Gambit Unorthodox Shtisel Atypical Call My Agent Lovesick
Albums listened to most frequently in 2020
Father John Misty – Pure Comedy (2017) Bob Dylan – No Direction Home: Bootleg Series Vol. 7 Waxahatchee – Out in the Storm (2017) Charlie Musselwhite – Sanctuary (2004) Blind Lemon Jefferson – Blind Lemon Jefferson (1925-1929) David Bowie – The Singles 1969-1993 PJ Harvey – Let England Shake (2011) St. Vincent – Masseduction (2017) Big Thief – U.F.O.F. (2019) Khruangbin – Con Todo El Mundo (2018) Steely Dan – Can’t Buy A Thrill (1972) T-Bone Walker – The Complete Imperial Recordings (1950-1954) The New Pornographers – Twin Cinema (2005) Brittany Howard – Jaime (2019) John Dowland – Farewell, Unkind – Songs and Dances (2007) (Joel Cohen & Boston Camerata) Count Basie – Complete Decca Recordings (1937-1939)
Rolling Stone magazine has published three different versions of its 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list: in 2003, 2012, and 2020. There are a total of 691 albums on the combined lists and quite a few of them are on my personal list of favorite albums. But I found 126 albums on my list that were not on any of the Rolling Stone lists – many of them from artists who are not on any of the lists – that I think merit consideration for the next list. (If you want to see the full list of my five-star albums (including classical music), go HERE.)
NOTE 1: This is not a meta-list: these albums don’t represent anything but my personal opinions.
NOTE 2: If the artists on my list is on one or more of the Rolling Stone lists, but with a different album (or albums), I have placed an asterisk next to the selection. This means that if there is no asterisk, none of the three Rolling Stone lists has any albums by the artist.
Various Artists – Ken Burns Jazz (rec. 1917-1995)
Bessie Smith – The Collection (rec. 1923-1933)
Louis Armstrong – The Complete Hot Fives and Hot Sevens (rec. 1924-1929)
Lonnie Johnson – Steppin’ on the Blues (rec. 1925-1932)
Jelly Roll Morton – Birth of the Hot (rec. 1926-1927)
Over the past 20 years, Rolling Stone magazine has published three different versions of a list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. The first list came out in 2003, followed by a revised list in 2012, and then a complete overhaul that was just published in September 2020. (You can find the 2020 version HERE.) I looked in vain for an analysis of the three lists online, so I decided to do it myself. The results are below. I have organized all the album lists in chronological order and the artist lists in alphabetical order. If you notice any mistakes, please let me know.
Some initial observations of the changes in the 2020 list:
(1) It looks like the 2020 listers were trying to avoid compilation albums whenever possible, which seems like a good policy, at least for artists who recorded after the mid-1950s. I do think it was a mistake to remove Harry Smith’s Anthology of American Folk Music, however, which is a foundational document for so many folk, blues and rock styles.
(2) I welcome the inclusion of some prog rock (which Rolling Stone has generally eschewed), particularly Close to the Edge (1972) by Yes. I was also glad to see two new African artists on the list (King Sunny Adé and Fela Kuti) and five new jazz additions (Billie Holiday, Charles Mingus, Nina Simone, Herbie Hancock, and Alice Coltrane). After mostly ignoring Spanish-language or Latinx music in its previous two lists (with Santana as – I think – the only exception), the 2020 list makes amends by adding Selena, Shakira, Daddy Yankee, Bad Bunny, and Rosalia.Although the majority of the new additions were recent releases, there were some surprising blasts from the past, including Laura Nyro’s Eli and the 13th Confession (1968) and Harry Nilsson’s Nilsson Schmilsson (1972). For those of us veterans of the rock vs. disco battles of the 1970s, it is nice to see Rolling Stone finally acknowledging the importance of artists like Chic, Rufus, and Donna Summer. And on the other side of that coin, the 2020 list includes several lesser-known punk bands of the late 70s, including The Raincoats, The Slits and X-Ray Spex. Fellow alternative and indie rock/pop fans will appreciate the addition of artists like Arcade Fire, Belle and Sebastian, Neutral Milk Hotel, Bon Iver, Fiona Apple, Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Yo La Tengo.
(3) On the omission side, we’ve lost all the Frank Zappa/Mothers of Invention albums, which feels like a significant loss. And we lost several important blues artists: Albert King, John Lee Hooker, Bobby “Blue” Bland, Little Walter, Professor Longhair, John Mayall, and The Paul Butterfield Blues Band. Also dropped were several classic 60’s rock mainstays, including The Mamas and the Papas, Buffalo Springfield, Blood, Sweat and Tears, and Neil Diamond. I miss alternative country guys Gram Parsons and Steve Earle, as well as some R&B stalwarts (Jackie Wilson, Labelle, The O’Jays) and the inimitable War, but it’s difficult to feel bad about the loss of Don Henley or Moby. Although the 2020 list still includes four albums by the Who, I do take personally the omission of my favorite, 1973’s Quadrophenia.
(4) Not This One but That One. In a number of cases, an artist with a single album on the 2012 list is represented by a different single album on the 2020 list: — Arctic Monkeys: Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not (2006) replaced by AM (2013) — Leonard Cohen: Songs of Love And Hate (1971) replaced by Songs of Leonard Cohen (1967) — Manu Chao: Proxima Estacion Esperanza (2001) replaced by Clandestino (1998) — M.I.A.: Kala (2007) replaced by Arular (2005) — Vampire Weekend: Vampire Weekend (2008) replaced by Modern Vampires of the City (2013)
THE NUMBERS
Albums Albums on all three lists: 318 Albums on 2003 and 2012, but not 2020: 145 Albums on 2003 only: 29 Albums on 2012 only: 17 Albums on 2012 and 2020, but not 2003: 19 Albums on 2003 and 2020, but not 2012: 7 Albums on 2020 only: 156
Artists Artists on all three lists: 207 Artists on 2003 and 2012, but not 2020: 41 Artists on 2003 only: 2 Artists on 2012 only: 3 Artists on 2012 and 2020, but not 2003: 7 Artists on 2003 and 2020, but not 2012: 2 Artists on 2020 only: 105
ALBUMS ON 2003, 2012 & 2020 LISTS
Hank Williams – 40 Greatest Hits (rec. 1947-1952, rel. 1978)
Muddy Waters – The Anthology (rec. 1947-1972, rel. 2001)
Sam Cooke – Portrait of a Legend (rec. 1951-1964, rel. 2003)
Ray Charles – The Birth of Soul: The Complete Atlantic Rhythm and Blues Recordings (rec. 1952-1959, rel. 1991)
Elvis Presley – The Sun Sessions (rec. 1954-1955, rel. 1976)
Frank Sinatra – In the Wee Small Hours (1955)
Patsy Cline – The Ultimate Collection (rec. 1955-1961, rel. 2000)
Chuck Berry – The Great Twenty-Eight (rec. 1955-1965, rel. 1982)
Jerry Lee Lewis – All Killer, No Filler: The Anthology (rec. 1955-1985, rel. 1993)
Elvis Presley – Elvis Presley (1956)
Buddy Holly & the Crickets – 20 Golden Greats (rec. 1956-1958, rel. 1978)
James Brown – Star Time (rec. 1956-1984, rel. 1991)
Little Richard – Here’s Little Richard (1957)
Bo Diddley – Bo Diddley/Go Bo Diddley (1958)
Various Artists – Phil Spector: Back to Mono (rec. 1958-1969, rel. 1991)
Miles Davis – Kind of Blue (1959)
Howlin’ Wolf – Moanin’ in the Moonlight (1959)
Ornette Coleman – The Shape of Jazz to Come (1959)
John Coltrane – Giant Steps (1960)
Ike and Tina Turner – Proud Mary: The Best of Ike and Tina Turner (rec. 1960-1975, rel. 1991)
Etta James – At Last! (1961)
Ray Charles – Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music (1962)
Merle Haggard – Down Every Road (rec. 1962-1994, rel. 1996)
Bob Dylan – The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan (1963)
James Brown – Live at the Apollo (1963)
Sam Cooke – Live at the Harlem Square Club (rec. 1963, rel. 1985)
Various Artists – Nuggets: Original Artyfacts From the First Psychedelic Era (rec. 1963-1968, rel. 1972, 1998)
The Ronettes – Presenting the Fabulous Ronettes (1964)
The Beatles – Meet the Beatles! (1964)
The Beatles – A Hard Day’s Night (1964)
The Temptations – Anthology (rec. 1964-1972, rel. 1973)
Diana Ross and the Supremes – Anthology (rec. 1964-1971, rel. 1974)
Richard and Linda Thompson – I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight (1974)
Bob Dylan – Blood on the Tracks (1975)
Bruce Springsteen – Born to Run (1975)
Patti Smith – Horses (1975)
Led Zeppelin – Physical Graffiti (1975)
Kiss – Alive! (1975)
Queen – A Night at the Opera (1975)
Pink Floyd – Wish You Were Here (1975)
Parliament – The Mothership Connection (1975)
Neil Young – Tonight’s the Night (1975)
Brian Eno – Another Green World (1975)
Earth, Wind & Fire – That’s the Way of the World (1975)
Ramones – Ramones (1976)
The Eagles – Hotel California (1976)
Stevie Wonder – Songs in the Key of Life (1976)
David Bowie – Station to Station (1976)
Aerosmith – Rocks (1976)
Fleetwood Mac – Rumours (1977)
Sex Pistols – Never Mind the Bollocks, Here’s the Sex Pistols (1977)
Billy Joel – The Stranger (1977)
The Clash – The Clash (1977)
Ramones – Rocket to Russia (1977)
Television – Marquee Moon (1977)
Steely Dan – Aja (1977)
Elvis Costello – My Aim Is True (1977)
Bob Marley & Wailers – Exodus (1977)
Willie Nelson – Red Headed Stranger (1977)
Various Artists (incl. Bee Gees) – Saturday Night Fever (Original Soundtrack) (1977)
David Bowie – Low (1977)
Kraftwerk – Trans-Europe Express (1977)
Wire – Pink Flag (1977)
Suicide – Suicide (1977)
Elvis Costello – This Year’s Model (1978)
Blondie – Parallel Lines (1978)
Bruce Springsteen – Darkness on the Edge of Town (1978)
Funkadelic – One Nation Under a Groove (1978)
The Rolling Stones – Some Girls (1978)
The Cars – The Cars (1978)
Talking Heads – More Songs About Buildings and Food (1978)
Van Halen – Van Halen (1978)
Devo – Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo! (1978)
Big Star – Third/Sister Lovers (1978)
Marvin Gaye – Here, My Dear (1978)
Michael Jackson – Off the Wall (1979)
The Clash – London Calling (1979)
Pink Floyd – The Wall (1979)
The B52’s – The B-52’s (1979)
Gang of Four – Entertainment! (1979)
Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers – Damn the Torpedoes (1979)
Neil Young – Rust Never Sleeps (1979)
Buzzcocks – Singles Going Steady (1979)
AC/DC – Back in Black (1980)
Talking Heads – Remain in Light (1980)
The Pretenders – Pretenders (1980)
Joy Division – Closer (1980)
Prince – Dirty Mind (1980)
X – Los Angeles (1980)
The Clash – Sandanista! (1980)
The Go-Gos – Beauty and the Beat (1981)
Black Flag – Damaged (1981)
Michael Jackson – Thriller (1982)
Prince – 1999 (1982)
Bruce Springsteen – Nebraska (1982)
R.E.M. – Murmur (1983)
Run-DMC – Run D.M.C. (1983)
The Police- Synchronicity (1983)
Cyndi Lauper – She’s So Unusual (1983)
Madonna – The Immaculate Collection (rec. 1983-1990, rel. 1990)
Minutemen – Double Nickels on the Dime (1984)
The Replacements – Let It Be (1984)
Los Lobos – How Will the Wolf Survive? (1984)
Prince – Purple Rain (1984)
Bruce Springsteen – Born in the U.S.A. (1984)
Hüsker Dü – New Day Rising (1985)
Whitney Houston – Whitney Houston (1985)
Dire Straits – Brothers in Arms (1985)
Tom Waits – Rain Dogs (1985)
Paul Simon – Graceland (1986)
Run DMC – Raising Hell (1986)
Metallica – Master of Puppets (1986)
Peter Gabriel – So (1986)
The Smiths – The Queen Is Dead (1986)
Beastie Boys – Licensed to Ill (1986)
U2 – The Joshua Tree (1987)
Guns ‘N’ Roses – Appetite for Destruction (1987)
Prince – Sign o’ the Times (1987)
Michael Jackson – Bad (1987)
Eric B. and Rakim – Paid in Full (1987)
George Michael – Faith (1987)
Public Enemy – It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back (1988)
N.W.A. – Straight Outta Compton (1988)
Tracy Chapman – Tracy Chapman (1988)
Pixies – Surfer Rosa (1988)
Sonic Youth – Daydream Nation (1988)
Beastie Boys – Paul’s Boutique (1989)
Pixies – Doolittle (1989)
Bonnie Raitt – Nick of Time (1989)
Madonna – Like a Prayer (1989)
Janet Jackson – Rhythm Nation 1814 (1989)
The Cure – Disintegration (1989)
De La Soul – 3 Feet High and Rising (1989)
Public Enemy – Fear of a Black Planet (1990)
Depeche Mode – Violator (1990)
Sinéad O’Connor – I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got (1990)
Nirvana – Nevermind (1991)
U2 – Achtung Baby (1991)
A Tribe Called Quest – The Low End Theory (1991)
Pearl Jam – Ten (1991)
My Bloody Valentine – Loveless (1991)
Metallica – Metallica (The Black Album) (1991)
Red Hot Chili Peppers – Blood Sugar Sex Magik (1991)
Massive Attack – Blue Lines (1991)
R.E.M. – Automatic for the People (1992)
Dr. Dre – The Chronic (1992)
Rage Against the Machine – Rage Against the Machine (1992)
Pavement – Slanted and Enchanted (1993)
Smashing Pumpkins – Siamese Dream (1993)
Wu-Tang Clan – Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) (1993)
PJ Harvey – Rid of Me (1993)
Nirvana – In Utero (1993)
Liz Phair – Exile in Guyville (1993)
Notorious B.I.G. – Ready to Die (1994)
Green Day – Dookie (1994)
Nine Inch Nails – The Downward Spiral (1994)
Pavement – Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain (1994)
Mary J. Blige – My Life (1994)
Weezer – Weezer (The Blue Album) (1994)
Jeff Buckley – Grace (1994)
Nirvana – Unplugged in New York (1994)
TLC – CrazySexyCool (1994)
Nas – Illmatic (1994)
Portishead – Dummy (1994)
Hole – Live Through This (1994)
Björk – Post (1995)
Oasis – (What’s the Story) Morning Glory? (1995)
Beck – Odelay (1996)
Jay-Z – Reasonable Doubt (1996)
Fugees – The Score (1996)
The Notorious B.I.G. – Life After Death (1997)
Radiohead – OK Computer (1997)
Janet Jackson – The Velvet Rope (1997)
Radiohead – Kid A (2000)
Lucinda Williams – Car Wheels on a Gravel Road (1998)
Lauryn Hill – The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill (1998)
Madonna – Ray of Light (1998)
Eminem – The Slim Shady LP (1999)
Red Hot Chili Peppers – Californication (1999)
Eminem – The Marshall Mathers LP (2000)
D’Angelo- Voodoo (2000)
Outkast – Stankonia (2000)
The Strokes – Is This It? (2001)
Jay-Z – The Blueprint (2001)
Bob Dylan – Love and Theft (2001)
Coldplay – A Rush of Blood to the Head (2002)
The White Stripes – Elephant (2003)
ALBUMS ON 2003 and 2012 LISTS, BUT NOT 2020 LIST
Various Artists – Anthology of American Folk Music (rec. 1926-1933, rel. 1952)
John Lee Hooker – The Ultimate Collection (rec. 1948-1990, rel. 1991)
Professor Longhair – New Orleans Piano (rec. 1949, 1953, rel. 1972)
Various Artists – The Sun Records Collection (rec. 1950-1958, rel. 1994)
Little Walter – The Best of Little Walter (rec. 1952-1955, rel. 1958)
The Drifters – Golden Hits (rec. 1954-1964, rel. 1968)
Frank Sinatra – Songs for Swingin’ Lovers! (1956)
Bobby Bland – Two Steps From the Blues (rec. 1956-1960, rel. 1961)
Jackie Wilson – Mr. Excitement! (rec. 1956-1975, rel. 1992)
The Crickets (feat. Buddy Holly) – The “Chirping” Crickets (1957)
Ray Charles – The Genius of Ray Charles (1959)
Muddy Waters – At Newport 1960 (1960)
Miles Davis – Sketches of Spain (1960)
Howlin’ Wolf – Howlin’ Wolf (rec. 1959-1962, rel. 1962)
Various Artists – The Best of the Girl Groups, Vols. 1 and 2 (rec. 1960-1965, rel. 1990)
Curtis Mayfield & the Impressions – The Anthology (rec. 1961-1977, rel. 1992)
Various Artists – A Christmas Gift for You from Phil Spector (1963)
The Beatles – Please Please Me (1963)
Stan Getz and João Gilberto – Getz/Gilberto (1964)
Muddy Waters – Folk Singer (1964)
Loretta Lynn – All Time Greatest Hits (rec. 1964-1978, rel. 2002)
The Rolling Stones- Out of Our Heads (1965)
The Who – The Who Sings My Generation (1965)
The Yardbirds – Having a Rave Up With the Yardbirds (1965)
The Paul Butterfield Blues Band – The Paul Butterfield Blues Band (1965)
The Rolling Stones – The Rolling Stones, Now! (1965)
The Mamas and the Papas – If You Can Believe Your Eyes and Ears (1966)
Cream – Fresh Cream (1966)
John Mayall – Blues Breakers with Eric Clapton (1966)
The Mothers of Invention – Freak Out! (1966)
The Yardbirds – Roger the Engineer (1966)
The Who – A Quick One (Happy Jack) (1966)
Simon and Garfunkel – Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme (1966)
Albert King – Born Under a Bad Sign (rec. 1966-1967, rel. 1967)
Moby Grape – Moby Grape (1967)
Buffalo Springfield – Buffalo Springfield Again (1967)
The Rolling Stones – Between the Buttons (1967)
The Doors – Strange Days (1967)
The Byrds – Younger Than Yesterday (1967)
Linda Ronstadt – The Very Best of Linda Ronstadt (rec. 1967-1995, rel. 2002)
Otis Redding – The Dock of the Bay (1968)
Cream – Wheels of Fire (1968)
The Byrds – The Notorious Byrd Brothers (1968)
Blood, Sweat and Tears – Child Is Father to the Man (1968)
Mothers of Invention – We’re Only in It for the Money (1968)
Simon and Garfunkel – Bookends (1968)
Grateful Dead – Anthem of the Sun (1968)
Neil Diamond – The Neil Diamond Collection (rec. 1968-1972, rel. 1999)
Santana – Santana (1969)
Captain Beefheart – Trout Mask Replica (1969)
Quicksilver Messenger Service – Happy Trails (1969)
Grateful Dead – Live/Dead (1969)
Jefferson Airplane – Volunteers (1969)
James Brown – In the Jungle Groove (rec. 1969-1971, rel. 1986)
The Carpenters – Close to You (1970)
MC5 – Back in the USA (1970)
Elton John – Tumbleweed Connection (1970)
Randy Newman – 12 Songs (1970)
Elton John – Greatest Hits (rec. 1970-1974, rel. 1974)
The Doors – L.A. Woman (1971)
Alice Cooper – Love It to Death (1971)
Jethro Tull – Aqualung (1971)
The Kinks – The Kink Kronikles (1972)
The O’Jays – Back Stabbers (1972)
Dr. John – Dr. John’s Gumbo (1972)
Mott the Hoople – All the Young Dudes (1972)
War- The World Is a Ghetto (1972)
The Rolling Stones – Tattoo You (rec. 1972-1981, rel. 1981)
Sly and the Family Stone – Fresh (1973)
The Wailers – Burnin’ (1973)
Jackson Browne – For Everyman (1973)
The Stooges – Raw Power (1973)
ZZ Top – Tres Hombres (1973)
Paul McCartney and Wings – Band on the Run (1973)
Mott the Hoople – Mott (1973)
Lou Reed – Berlin (1973)
The Who – Quadrophenia (1973)
David Bowie – Aladdin Sane (1973)
Tom Waits – The Heart of Saturday Night (1974)
Gram Parsons – Grievous Angel (1974)
Jackson Browne – Late for the Sky (1974)
Barry White – Can’t Get Enough (1974)
Labelle – Nightbirds (1974)
The Meters – Rejuvenation (1974)
Steely Dan – Pretzel Logic (1974)
Eric Clapton – 461 Ocean Boulevard (1974)
Bob Marley and the Wailers – Natty Dread (1974)
Randy Newman – Good Old Boys (1974)
Elton John- Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy (1975)
Roxy Music – Siren (1975)
Aerosmith – Toys in the Attic (1975)
Fleetwood Mac – Fleetwood Mac (1975)
Bob Dylan – Desire (1976)
Steve Miller Band – Fly Like an Eagle (1976)
Jackson Browne – The Pretender (1976)
Kiss – Destroyer (1976)
Cheap Trick – In Color (1977)
Meat Loaf – Bat Out of Hell (1977)
Eric Clapton – Slowhand (1977)
Talking Heads – Talking Heads: 77 (1977)
Cheap Trick – At Budokan (1978)
Billy Joel – 52nd Street (1978)
The Police – Outlandos D’Amour (1978)
Willie Nelson – Stardust (1978)
The Cure – Boys Don’t Cry (rec. 1978-1979, rel. 1980)
The Police – Regatta de Blanc (1979)
Graham Parker – Squeezing Out Sparks (1979)
AC/DC – Highway to Hell (1979)
Public Image, Ltd. – Metal Box (1979)
Elvis Costello and the Attractions – Armed Forces (1979)
Bruce Springsteen – The River (1980)
U2 – Boy (1980)
Echo and the Bunnymen – Heaven Up Here (1981)
X – Wild Gift (1981)
The Police – Ghost in the Machine (1981)
New Order – Substance (rec. 1981-1987, rel. 1987)
Elvis Costello & the Attractions – Imperial Bedroom (1982)
Richard and Linda Thompson – Shoot Out the Lights (1982)
Eurythmics – Touch (1983)
ZZ Top – Eliminator (1983)
U2 – War (1983)
The Smiths – Louder Than Bombs (rec. 1983-1987, rel. 1987)
The Smiths – The Smiths (1984)
Talking Heads – Stop Making Sense (1984)
The Replacements – Tim (1985)
The Pogues – Rum Sodomy & the Lash (1985)
LL Cool J – Radio (1985)
The Jesus and Mary Chain – Psychocandy (1985)
The Smiths – Meat Is Murder (1985)
Steve Earle – Guitar Town (1986)
R.E.M. – Document (1987)
Def Leppard – Hysteria (1987)
Bruce Springsteen – Tunnel of Love (1987)
Jane’s Addiction – Nothing’s Shocking (1988)
EPMD – Strictly Business (1988)
Don Henley – The End of the Innocence (1989)
Pearl Jam – Vitalogy (1994)
Johnny Cash – American Recordings (1994)
Soundgarden – Superunknown (1994)
Bob Dylan – Time Out of Mind (1997)
Tom Waits – Mule Variations (1999)
Moby – Play (1999)
U2 – All That You Can’t Leave Behind (2000)
Peter Wolf – Sleepless (2002)
Beck – Sea Change (2002)
ALBUMS ON 2003 LIST ONLY
Robert Johnson – King of the Delta Blues Singers, Vol. 2 (rec. 1936-1937, rel. 1970)
Hank Williams- The Complete Hank Williams (rec. 1946-1952, rel. 1998)
James Brown – 20 All-Time Greatest Hits (rec. 1956-1976, rel. 1991)
Otis Redding – Dreams to Remember: The Otis Redding Anthology (rec. 1960-1967, rel. 1998)
The Beatles – With the Beatles (1963)
Simon and Garfunkel – Simon and Garfunkel’s Greatest Hits (rec. 1964-1969, rel. 1972)
The Byrds – The Byrds’ Greatest Hits (rec. 1965-1966, rel. 1967)
The Mamas & the Papas – Greatest Hits (rec. 1966-1968)
Otis Redding – Live in Europe (1967)
Creedence Clearwater Revival – Green River (1969)
Nick Drake – Five Leaves Left (1969)
David Bowie – ChangesOneBowie (rec. 1969-1976, rel. 1976)
The Beach Boys – Sunflower (1970)
Elton John – Elton John (1970)
Nick Drake – Bryter Layter (1971)
Paul Simon – There Goes Rhymin’ Simon (1973)
Bruce Springsteen – Greetings From Asbury Park N.J. (1973)
Roxy Music – Country Life (1974)
Def Leppard – Pyromania (1983)
Public Enemy – Yo! Bum Rush the Stage (1987)
Jane’s Addiction – Ritual De Lo Habitual (1990)
No Doubt – Tragic Kingdom (1995)
PJ Harvey – To Bring You My Love (1995)
Smashing Pumpkins – Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness (1995)
Buena Vista Social Club – Buena Vista Social Club (1997)
Rage Against the Machine – The Battle of Los Angeles (1999)
Madonna – Music (2000)
No Doubt – Rock Steady (2001)
Eminem – The Eminem Show (2002)
ALBUMS ON 2012 LIST ONLY
1. The Complete Recordings – Robert Johnson (rec. 1936-37, rel. 1990) 2. The Beach Boys – The Smile Sessions (rec. 1965-1971, rel. 2011) 3. Boz Scaggs – Boz Scaggs (1969) 4. B.B. King – Live in Cook County Jail (1971) 5. Leonard Cohen – Songs of Love And Hate (1971) 6. Bonnie Raitt – Give It Up (1972) 7. Creedence Clearwater Revival – Chronicle, Vol. 1 (1976) 8. Manu Chao – Proxima Estacion Esperanza (2001) 9. The White Stripes – White Blood Cells (2001) 10. Radiohead – Amnesiac (2001) 11. Bruce Springsteen – The Rising (2002) 12. My Morning Jacket – Z (2005) 13. Bob Dylan – Modern Times (2006) 14. Arctic Monkeys – Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not (2006) 15. MGMT – Oracular Spectacular (2007) 16. M.I.A. – Kala (2007) 17. Vampire Weekend – Vampire Weekend (2008)
ALBUMS ON 2003 AND 2020 LISTS BUT NOT 2012 LIST
Robert Johnson – King of the Delta Blues Singers (rec. 1936-1937; rel. 1961)