Top 500 Albums of All Time by Rolling Stone (2005)

Rolling Stone is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California. These are their best albums of all time. Rolling Stone is an American magazine devoted to music and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco in 1967. In 2003, Rolling Stone published an article describing what it considered to be the top 500 music albums of all time. In 2005, this list was updated and released as a book.
(Official website: www.rollingstone.com)

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There is a more recent chart by Rolling Stone in which rank scores have been awarded - The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time by Rolling Stone (2020) .

View the complete list of 53,000 charts on BestEverAlbums.com from The Charts page.

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1.

Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band 

 The Beatles

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Year of Release:

1967

Appears in:

3,414 charts

Rank Score:

50,924

Rank in 1967:

1

Rank in 1960s:

3

Overall Rank:

7

Average Rating:

 90 (4,483 votes)

Comments:

480

2.

Pet Sounds 

 The Beach Boys

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Year of Release:

1966

Appears in:

2,776 charts

Rank Score:

45,162

Rank in 1966:

2

Rank in 1960s:

5

Overall Rank:

11

Average Rating:

 88 (3,191 votes)

Comments:

354

3.

Revolver 

 The Beatles

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Year of Release:

1966

Appears in:

3,477 charts

Rank Score:

57,058

Rank in 1966:

1

Rank in 1960s:

2

Overall Rank:

4

Average Rating:

 91 (4,470 votes)

Comments:

477

4.

Highway 61 Revisited 

 Bob Dylan

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Year of Release:

1965

Appears in:

2,309 charts

Rank Score:

31,105

Rank in 1965:

1

Rank in 1960s:

8

Overall Rank:

26

Average Rating:

 89 (2,733 votes)

Comments:

226

5.

Rubber Soul 

 The Beatles

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Year of Release:

1965

Appears in:

2,285 charts

Rank Score:

30,604

Rank in 1965:

2

Rank in 1960s:

9

Overall Rank:

28

Average Rating:

 88 (3,286 votes)

Comments:

256

6.

What's Going On 

 Marvin Gaye

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Year of Release:

1971

Appears in:

1,567 charts

Rank Score:

19,751

Rank in 1971:

4

Rank in 1970s:

16

Overall Rank:

53

Average Rating:

 85 (1,883 votes)

Comments:

143

7.

Exile On Main St. 

 The Rolling Stones

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Year of Release:

1972

Appears in:

1,906 charts

Rank Score:

22,560

Rank in 1972:

2

Rank in 1970s:

12

Overall Rank:

44

Average Rating:

 86 (2,290 votes)

Comments:

209

8.

London Calling 

 The Clash

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Year of Release:

1979

Appears in:

2,751 charts

Rank Score:

36,247

Rank in 1979:

1

Rank in 1970s:

5

Overall Rank:

20

Average Rating:

 87 (3,080 votes)

Comments:

256

9.

Blonde On Blonde 

 Bob Dylan

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Year of Release:

1966

Appears in:

1,968 charts

Rank Score:

27,873

Rank in 1966:

3

Rank in 1960s:

11

Overall Rank:

31

Average Rating:

 88 (2,329 votes)

Comments:

173

10.

The Beatles (The White Album) 

 The Beatles

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Year of Release:

1968

Appears in:

2,866 charts

Rank Score:

43,320

Rank in 1968:

1

Rank in 1960s:

6

Overall Rank:

13

Average Rating:

 89 (3,729 votes)

Comments:

337

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Total albums: 100. Page 1 of 10

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Top 500 Albums of All Time composition

Decade	Albums	%
1930s	0	0%
1940s	0	0%
1950s	3	3%
1960s	36	36%
1970s	43	43%
1980s	11	11%
1990s	6	6%
2000s	1	1%
2010s	0	0%
2020s	0	0%

Artist	Albums	%
The Beatles	8	8%
Bob Dylan	5	5%
Led Zeppelin	4	4%
The Rolling Stones	4	4%
Stevie Wonder	3	3%
The Jimi Hendrix Experience	3	3%
Bruce Springsteen	2	2%
Show all

Country	Albums	%
	57	57%
	32	32%
	5	5%
	2	2%
	2	2%
	1	1%
	1	1%

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Top 500 Albums of All Time similarity to your chart(s)

Other all time overall charts

• Top 100 Albums by ABC (published 2006)
• The 100 Greatest Albums Of All Time by Absolute Radio (published 2012)
• Top 100 Greatest Music Albums by Channel 4 (published 2005)
• The 100 Greatest Rock Albums Of All Time by Classic Rock (published 2001)
• The 100 Greatest Albums of All Time by Consequence of Sound (published 2022)
• Top 100 Albums Ever by Consequence of Sound (published 2010)
• The 100 All-Time Greatest Albums by Entertainment Weekly (published 2013)
• The Guardian 100 Best Albums Ever by The Guardian (published 1997)
• Greatest 100 Albums of All Time by The Guinness Book of British Hit Singles & Albums with NME (published 2006)
• Greatest Albums Of All Time by Hartbeat! (published 1996)
• Top 90.3 Listener Voted Albums by KEXP (published 2008)
• Top 100 Greatest Music Albums by Melody Maker (published 2000)
• Mojo Readers: The 100 Greatest Albums Ever Made by Mojo (published 1996)
• 100 Greatest Albums of All Time by Mojo (published 1995)
• Die 20 besten Alben der Geschichte by Musikexpress.de (published 2011)
• The Definitive 200 by National Association of Recording Merchandisers (published 2007)
• NME's Best Albums Of All Time by New Music Express (published 1985)
• NME Readers' All-Time Top 100 Albums by New Music Express (published 1988)
• The 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time by New Music Express (published 2013)
• New Musical Express Writers Top 100 Albums by New Music Express (published 1993)
• NME 's 100 Best Albums Of All Time by New Music Express (published 2003)
• 100 Greatest Albums Ever by Q (published 2003)
• Top 100 Greatest Music Albums by Q (published 1997)
• 100 Greatest Albums Ever by Q (published 2006)
• Die 100 besten Alben der Musikgeschichte by radioeins (published 2019)
• Top 500 Albums of All Time by Rolling Stone (published 2012)
• Top 500 Albums of All Time by Rolling Stone (published 2003)
• Top 500 Albums of All Time by Rolling Stone (published 2005)
• The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time by Rolling Stone (published 2020)
• Die besten Alben aller Zeiten by Rolling Stone Deutschland (published 2004)
• Die besten Platten aus 5 Jahrzehnten: Top 100 by Rolling Stone Deutschland (published 1997)
• Os 100 Melhores Discos de Todos Os Tempos by Sinewave (published 2012)
• The Top 50 Albums of All Time by Sound & Vision Magazine (published 2010)
• 100 Greatest Albums Of All Time by The Sound (published 2018)
• All Time Top 100 Albums by Sounds (UK) (published 1985)
• Die 100 Alben des Jahrhunderts by Spex (published 2000)
• The Greatest Rock Albums by uDiscoverMusic (published 2015)
• 200 Greatest Albums of All Time by Uncut (published 2016)
• The Top 100 Albums by VH1 (published 2001)
• Virgin All-Time Top 1000 Albums by Virgin (published 1998)
• Virgin All-Time Top 1000 Albums by Virgin (published 2000)
• Virgin All-Time Top 1000 Albums by Virgin (published 1994)
• Die 100 besten Platten des Jahrhunderts by Wiener (published 1999)
• Albums of the Century by ZigZag (published 1975)
• Best Album Ever by ZigZag (published 1971)

Other charts by Rolling Stone

Year charts

• The 100 Best Albums of 2023 by Rolling Stone (2023 year chart)
• Top 100 Music Albums of 2022 by Rolling Stone (2022 year chart)
• The 50 Best Albums of 2021 by Rolling Stone (2021 year chart)
• The 50 Best Albums of 2020 by Rolling Stone (2020 year chart)
• 50 Best Albums of 2019 by Rolling Stone (2019 year chart)
• 50 Best Albums of 2018 by Rolling Stone (2018 year chart)
• 50 Best Albums of 2017 by Rolling Stone (2017 year chart)
• 50 Best Albums of 2016 by Rolling Stone (2016 year chart)
• 50 Best Albums of 2015 by Rolling Stone (2015 year chart)
• 50 Best Albums of 2014 by Rolling Stone (2014 year chart)
• 50 Best Albums of 2013 by Rolling Stone (2013 year chart)
• Best Albums of 2006 by Rolling Stone (2006 year chart)
• Best Albums of 2005 by Rolling Stone (2005 year chart)

Decade charts

• 100 Best Albums of the 2010s by Rolling Stone (2010s decade chart) (published 2019)
• 100 Best Albums of the 2000s by Rolling Stone (2000s decade chart) (published 2011)
• 100 Best Albums of the Nineties by Rolling Stone (1990s decade chart) (published 2010)
• 100 Best Albums of the Eighties by Rolling Stone (1980s decade chart) (published 1989)

Overall charts

• Top 500 Albums of All Time by Rolling Stone (published 2003)
• Top 500 Albums of All Time by Rolling Stone (published 2005)
• Top 500 Albums of All Time by Rolling Stone (published 2012)
• The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time by Rolling Stone (published 2020)

[Rolling Stone was founded in 1967.]

Top 500 Albums of All Time ratings

Showing latest 5 ratings for this chart. | Show all 62 ratings for this chart.

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Rating	Date updated	Member	Chart ratings	Avg. chart rating
90/100	06/04/2021 01:49	Skroskznik	94	92/100
50/100	04/20/2021 12:55	Guigou	44	76/100
75/100	12/11/2020 07:55	pjohnsongolf	273	89/100
85/100	11/24/2020 21:53	sampins	17	84/100
90/100	09/30/2020 02:16	wordnat	10	93/100

Rating metrics: Outliers can be removed when calculating a mean average to dampen the effects of ratings outside the normal distribution. This figure is provided as the trimmed mean. A high standard deviation can be legitimate, but can sometimes indicate 'gaming' is occurring. Consider a simplified example* of an item receiving ratings of 100, 50, & 0. The mean average rating would be 50. However, ratings of 55, 50 & 45 could also result in the same average. The second average might be more trusted because there is more consensus around a particular rating (a lower deviation).
(*In practice, some charts can have several thousand ratings)
This chart has a Bayesian average rating of 64.9/100, a mean average of 61.9/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 61.7/100. The standard deviation for this chart is 24.1.

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Top 500 Albums of All Time comments

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Rating:  

50/100

From Guigou 04/20/2021 12:55

Similaire au 2003

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Rating:  

60/100

From 0129114 06/30/2020 15:58

Too many compilations, as well as a strong focus on 60s and 70s. Otherwise, these are all excellent choices.

Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)

From Azkushang 08/10/2015 20:51

Jackwx you are the ofensive one, your chart is offensilevy trash.

Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)

Rating:  

85/100

From tgarritsen 02/11/2014 17:16

Pretty nice overview of music even though it's perhaps to focused on 60's and 70's music.

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From nutso42 06/10/2013 22:05

Slight improvement over the other one.

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Rating:  

65/100

From Fedfan 10/16/2012 18:51

list is ok, nothing spectacular

Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)

From Saoirse 05/15/2012 00:16

The List was a little bet better this time around, but still too narrow in it's focus. And still too many greatest hits and compilation albums, although a few of the most un-necessary we're removed. Still, it's a very dissapointing list, especially given the hype.

Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)

Rating:  

80/100

From Kleinfall 04/23/2012 01:28

A little better than the 2003 list.

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Rating:  

10/100

From cannychub1 04/19/2012 11:22

RS have definitely got a hard on for the Beatles.

Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | -1 votes (0 helpful | 1 unhelpful)

Rating:  

55/100

From dwils0891 03/23/2012 18:58

A little better than their previous greatest album list but this one is still bad. How can anyone truly believe that the 60s and 70s had all of the good music. That is ignorance at its finest. What about bands like Nirvana, Radiohead, Kraftwerk, Blur, The Arcade Fire, Animal Collective, Beach House, Beastie boys, Beck, Outkast, the Black Keys, Bjork, Bloc Party, Built to spill, Daft Punk, Kanye West, Jay-Z, The Cure, Depeche Mode, Elliott Smith, The Flaming Lips, Pavement, Fugazi, Black Flag, Joy Division, Meat Puppets, Gorillaz, Grizzly Bear, Interpol, The Strokes, LCD Soundsystem, M83, Public Enemy, Nas, N.W.A., A Tribe Called Quest, Modest Mouse and many many many many many many more. I'm just tired of typing now but I could go on forever with great 80s 90s and 2000s artists.

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