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Rolling Stone's 100 Greatest Albums

Name the musical acts that recorded the greatest albums of all time, according to a 2020 list by Rolling Stone magazine.
Quiz by Quizmaster
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Last updated: October 2, 2020
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First submittedSeptember 3, 2013
Times taken44,031
Average score42.5%
Rating4.27
8:00
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Albums
Artist
What's Going On
Marvin Gaye
Pet Sounds
The Beach Boys
Blue
Joni Mitchell
Songs in the Key of Life
Stevie Wonder
Abbey Road
The Beatles
Nevermind
Nirvana
Rumours
Fleetwood Mac
Purple Rain
Prince
Blood on the Tracks
Bob Dylan
The Miseducation of
______ ____
Lauryn Hill
Revolver
The Beatles
Thriller
Michael Jackson
I Never Loved a Man the
Way I Love You
Aretha Franklin
Exile on Main Street
The Rolling Stones
It Takes a Nation of Millions
to Hold Us Back
Public Enemy
London Calling
The Clash
My Beautiful Dark
Twisted Fantasy
Kanye West
Highway 61 Revisited
Bob Dylan
To Pimp a Butterfly
Kendrick Lamar
Kid A
Radiohead
Born to Run
Bruce Springsteen
Ready to Die
The Notorious B.I.G.
___ ______ _________
and Nico
The Velvet Underground
Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts
Club Band
The Beatles
Tapestry
Carole King
Horses
Patti Smith
Enter the __-____
(36 Chambers)
Wu-Tang Clan
Voodoo
D’Angelo
White Album
The Beatles
Are You Experienced
Jimi Hendrix
Kind of Blue
Miles Davis
Lemonade
Beyoncé
Back to Black
Amy Winehouse
Innervisions
Stevie Wonder
Rubber Soul
The Beatles
Off the Wall
Michael Jackson
The Chronic
Dr. Dre
Blonde on Blonde
Bob Dylan
Remain in Light
Talking Heads
The Rise and Fall of
Ziggy Stardust and the
Spiders From Mars
David Bowie
Let It Bleed
The Rolling Stones
OK Computer
Radiohead
The Low End Theory
A Tribe Called Quest
Illmatic
Nas
Sign O' the Times
Prince
Graceland
Paul Simon
______
Ramones
Legend
Bob Marley and
the Wailers
Aquemini
Outkast
The Blueprint
Jay-Z
Albums
Artist
The Great Twenty-Eight
Chuck Berry
Station to Station
David Bowie
Electric Ladyland
Jimi Hendrix
Star Time
James Brown
The Dark Side of the Moon
Pink Floyd
Exile in Guyville
Liz Phair
__ ____
The Band
___ ________ IV
Led Zeppelin
Talking Book
Stevie Wonder
Astral Weeks
Van Morrison
Paid in Full
Eric B. and Rakim
Appetite for Destruction
Guns N' Roses
Aja
Steely Dan
Stankonia
Outkast
Live at the Apollo
James Brown
A Love Supreme
John Coltrane
Reasonable Doubt
Jay-Z
Hounds of Love
Kate Bush
Jagged Little Pill
Alanis Morissette
Straight Outta Compton
N.W.A.
Exodus
Bob Marley and
the Wailers
Harvest
Neil Young
Loveless
My Bloody Valentine
The College Dropout
Kanye West
Lady Soul
Aretha Franklin
Superfly
Curtis Mayfield
Who's Next
The Who
The Sun Sessions
Elvis Presley
Blond
Frank Ocean
Never Mind the Bollocks
Here’s __ __ ______
The Sex Pistols
______
Beyoncé
There’s a Riot Goin’ On
Sly and the
Family Stone
Dusty in Memphis
Dusty Springfield
Back in Black
AC/DC
Plastic Ono Band
John Lennon
___ ______
The Doors
Bitches Brew
Miles Davis
Hunky Dory
David Bowie
Baduizm
Erykah Badu
After the Gold Rush
Neil Young
Darkness on the Edge
of Town
Bruce Springsteen
Axis: Bold as Love
Jimi Hendrix
Supa Dupa Fly
Missy Elliott
Fun House
The Stooges
Take Care
Drake
Automatic for the People
R.E.M.
Master of Puppets
Metallica
Car Wheels on a
Gravel Road
Lucinda Williams
Red
Taylor Swift
Music From Big Pink
The Band
74 Comments
+8
Level 69
Sep 4, 2013
It's funny that there is nothing other than rock records post 1990. Do they not have any respect for classic records from Hip Hop, R&B, Soul, Electronica, Pop, etc... for the past 23 years?

I would think whether you are a fan of hip hop or not that Dr Dre's "The Chronic" or NWA's "Straight Outta Compton" would make the list.

+1
Level 71
Sep 1, 2014
I agree so much!! I wasn't precisely thinking of hip hop since I don't know much about it, but still, it seems like the time past makes old albums seem better than new ones for some reason. Nostalgia and stuff I guess
+8
Level 52
Apr 18, 2016
I'd add 'Illmatic' by Nas to that list as well
+11
Level 67
Apr 19, 2016
There are barely any records post-1990, including rock. There's one from Nirvana, one from Radiohead, and one U2 album from 1990 itself. First, Rolling Stone always had a critical bias towards music from the 50's-70's because that is when it's egotistical founder and editor-in-chief, Jann Wenner, came of age. That's the music he favors, so that is what is counted.

Second, the list is compiled by "experts," most of whom are established (i.e., older) writers and artists, so their tastes skew older. Bruce Springsteen, Elton John...they don't know Nas's music. It's not they're trashing him; it's that the people's whose opinions are consulted for this list are unfamiliar with him.

+1
Level 74
Sep 18, 2017
The list is rather heavily skewed, that's true, but all the albums and artists and genres in this thread, and quite a few other post-1990 albums, do appear on the full list (Top 500).
+2
Level 90
Oct 1, 2020
They have pure crap like Nas if that makes people happy.
+6
Level 90
Oct 2, 2020
@someone2018 Don't hate what you don't understand
+3
Level 90
Oct 6, 2020
I don't understand Yoko Ono. It's crap that I hate.
+12
Level 89
Oct 24, 2020
Strong words. I'm guessing you just don't like hip hop music in general. If I'm wrong about that and you actually hate Nas specifically, then what's your beef with him? He is widely considered one of the greatest rappers of all time.
+1
Level 43
Sep 5, 2013
Odd that you have "The Doors" showing as the name of the self-titled album for The Doors, but for The Ramones self-titled, the album name is "_______"?
+1
Level ∞
Sep 5, 2013
Fixed
+2
Level 73
Oct 18, 2013
Only 18% for Curtis Mayfield? That's ruined my Friday.
+1
Level 40
Nov 3, 2023
now it's only 16%... and only 11% for Sly
+5
Level 67
Oct 18, 2013
As a recovering Rolling Stone subscriber, I feel I should state at the fore that these lists are nothing to get annoyed about. RS has had the same stubborn critical biases for 46 years, and nothing's going to change until Jann Wenner is dead. It's terrible.
+1
Level 29
Oct 18, 2013
Ditto.
+1
Level 76
Oct 18, 2013
CCR's entry should read 'Chronicle, Vol. 1', not Chronicles.
+1
Level 81
Oct 20, 2013
Yeah, I know music is all subjective and personal and crap. And that these lists are always going to be arbitrary BS and probably meant to provoke more than definitively answer anything. And I know the editors of Rolling Stone are old out-of-touch fuddy duddys. But personally I say any list of greatest albums that does not include a minimum of 2-3 of these albums, and 4-5 would be better, is an abysmal failure. Get over the Beatles already.
+2
Level 66
Sep 2, 2018
Pretty Hate Machine or The Downward Spiral, at the very least, deserve to be on here. I would also put Antichrist Superstar by Marilyn Manson on the list from that genre.
+1
Level 81
Dec 1, 2018
The Fragile is, for my money, the greatest album ever recorded by anyone. I'd also rank With Teeth and Hesitation Marks over Pretty Hate Machine (and I might like WT more than TDS). But I love Pretty Hate Machine, even if it seems a bit dated now.
+1
Level 76
Oct 20, 2013
Dear Quizmaster, please change "Chronicles Vol. 1" to "Chronicle, Vol. 1" - not plural - for some reason it drives me crazy when an obvious mistake is not addressed! Thank you!!
+7
Level ∞
Oct 21, 2013
You must not go on the internet very often!
+6
Level 76
Oct 21, 2013
Yeah, I know, I have no life...that's why I'm here!!
+8
Level 78
Jan 23, 2014
Wow...Captain Beefheart but no Queen? Sigh...Rolling Stone...you suck
+1
Level 69
Jul 12, 2020
Captain freaking beefheart? geebus, got to be kidding me
+3
Level 66
Jun 28, 2023
Queen is the greatest Singles band ever made. The have so many classic individual songs, but not one of there albums are an essential listen.
+1
Level 76
May 26, 2014
Kill me now. I forgot about Led Zeppelin. Also confused Dylan and Bowie as usually. One is D.B. and the other one is B.D. Others I forgot and shouldn't have (in my opinion, not yours): The Doors, Neil Young, The Ramones.
+1
Level 94
Jul 16, 2015
Had less than a minute left when I finally remembered who did the Joshua Tree album. *Hangs head in shame*
+3
Level 74
Apr 18, 2016
With all the blanks and "greatest hits" type of clues, this was basically just typing every singer and band I could remember.
+2
Level 58
Dec 29, 2016
When the title of the album is simply the name of the band, that's not very much to go on.
+3
Level 66
Jan 28, 2017
Well, I came into this quiz knowing this list would be terrible (because nobody knows less about music than Rolling Stone magazine), but they still managed to disappoint me with how awful it was somehow.
+1
Level 70
Sep 19, 2017
After just going over this in Survey of World Music, I am thoroughly dissapointed in myself for missing Kind of Blue
+13
Level 70
Jan 17, 2019
Rolling Stone is a joke and will always be a joke. Their absolutely blatant bias to 60s music like The Beatles and Bob Dylan (both incredible acts) is woeful. Now, the Beatles are one of the most revolutionary bands of all time, but they have 23 SONGS IN THE TOP 500, which is really quite ridiculous. They also have this built in hatred of both Pink Floyd and Queen. They placed Bohemian Rhapsody at no 166 of all time, the only Queen song to make the top 500, placed Freddie Mercury at no 18 of best singers, and put Pink Floyd and Queen at no 51 and 52 respectively, clearly to not disturb their precious top 50. I could go on for ages about how absurdly biased they are but I really don't think I need to it is that obvious.
+1
Level 57
Mar 6, 2022
So true and nice to see people notice this
+4
Level 92
Mar 14, 2019
There's no Queen :(
+5
Level 74
Oct 20, 2019
I don't even see why they bother even making a nod to jazz by listing Miles Davis and John Coltrane, but then do not list one of the great American composers of all time, Duke Ellington, or a great instrumentalist like Louis Armstrong, or perhaps the most influential American vocalist, Billie Holiday. Are they really suggesting that the best Billy Joel album is greater than the least Duke Ellington album? Cause that's just...lunacy. Leaving jazz off the list completely would be wiser, and simply acknowledge that this really is list for aging Boomers who are bitter that they missed Woodstock and the Summer of Love. And fans of Ellington and Tupac alike don't have to be pissed off.
+1
Level ∞
Dec 3, 2019
So true. Someday this list will be in Wikipedia in an article about viewpoint bias.
+1
Level 58
Sep 27, 2020
Looks like it's time to update this quiz
+8
Level ∞
Oct 1, 2020
Updated. This new list does have a bit of a whiff of desperation, as they are obviously pandering to the current political zeitgeist. That said, I think the new list is actually quite a bit better than the old one! Only five Beatles albums this time instead of seven, and a much better selection of newer music.
+9
Level 78
Oct 1, 2020
whats wrong with the beatles? Magical Mystery Tour and Help! are definitely better than anything Beyonce or Taylor Swift have put out. Also Beyonce isn't working on this quiz fyi
+2
Level 73
Oct 13, 2020
Summed up well QM. That list is, being polite, interesting. If I was being less polite, I would use a word that also ends “ite”
+3
Level 71
Nov 2, 2020
I mean, yeah, it's a better list than before. But still missing Queen. And no need for Kanye West to have two albums on here. Or for Taylor Swift to have one. I personally think her music is pretty good, but she absolutely does not have any of the best 100 albums of all time...
+4
Level 85
Oct 1, 2020
Beyoncé seems to be broken here
+2
Level 81
Oct 1, 2020
Same
+2
Level ∞
Oct 2, 2020
Fixed now, thanks!
+1
Level 86
Oct 1, 2020
Rolling Stone's 100 Greatest Albums are better than they sound.
+4
Level 83
Oct 2, 2020
So I know Rolling Stone just ignores whole genres, but when I saw "Red" as one of the album titles I couldn't work out why it wouldn't accept "King Crimson". I still can't.
+2
Level 61
Oct 6, 2020
Frank Ocean's album is "Blonde", not "Blond"..
+2
Level ∞
Oct 6, 2020
Apparently, both spellings were used. Rolling Stone has it as "Blond".
+4
Level 76
Oct 9, 2020
Just a lot of scribbling and bibbling, bibbling and scribbling. No One can possibly put together a list of the greatest albums of all time covering 65 years. It doesn't even make sense to try. Everything from Chuck Berry to Drake. The Beatles to Beyonce.

A list of YOUR favorite albums of all time? Sure. And that's exactly what this is.

+4
Level 57
Nov 1, 2020
I give RS credit this time around for making it somewhat of a poll (they asked a wide variety of musicians across many genres and age demographics). So it's no more or less likely to align with any person's own opinion, but at least it's not just one old guy as the gatekeeper of greatness.
+1
Level 69
Nov 1, 2020
'eric b and rakim' didn't work for me, i put rakim and it brought up Eric B. and Rakim, would it be possible to add what I put, save a bit of confusion, jetpunk doesn't usually care about punctuation
+2
Level 59
Nov 1, 2020
Really no Madonna, Queen, Billy Joel, Aerosmith, Bon Jovi, Lady Gaga? I could go on and on.
+2
Level 59
Nov 1, 2020
Put in Queen, didn't work. Put in King as a joke, and well...................
+2
Level 68
Nov 1, 2020
The Rolling Stone Revisionist Ridiculous Pandering Irrelevant Top 100
+3
Level 59
Nov 1, 2020
Kinda funny all the complaints about music bias despite the list being pretty damn eclectic. A good mix of hip hop (including r&b and rap) rock (rock n roll,punk,hard,metal,pop) as well as funk, disco, blues and country.

The only things really missing from the list would be classical, jazz and opera.

Sure there are always going to be artists that dont appear on these lists that people will question. For me the absence of Queen, Cher, the Bee Gees, The Supremes, Elton John and Tina Turner is questionable.

But then considering the Sex Pistols is on the list as opposed to a massive number of arguably better selling punk groups and Amy Winehouse who was very much a one hit wonder being there in place of the likes of Diana ross or Whitney Houston shows that the list is generally well balanced to most modern western music genres.

+2
Level 56
Nov 1, 2020
Keep in mind that this list is not a single person or editorial board systematically ranking the albums - it was a survey of hundreds of people in the industry. People have different tastes so if you don't like the list you should really just get over it
+1
Level 66
Nov 2, 2020
Isn’t Fine Line by Harry Styles added?
+4
Level 72
Nov 2, 2020
I saw the title of this quiz and thought "There's no way The Rolling Stones have released more than 100 albums".
+3
Level 55
Nov 2, 2020
Only 6% of you guys got D'Angelo and only 8% got MBV. You guys are missing out!
+1
Level 49
Nov 2, 2020
This is a very silly list. Bob Marley has released many great albums. Why choose a greatest hits? They may as well opt for Beatles blue and red albums. Is Pet Sounds really 'better' than Abbey Road? Why all this adulation for What's Going On which is half a great album? Why no Pink Floyd? Why is Michael Jackson so high. Why no Kraftwerk or Can? Entire genres are not represented. Why so much [c]rap? One could go on and on. All this list shows is that such lists have become completely meaningless.
+5
Level 59
Nov 3, 2020
Not a lot of music nerds on here clearly, seeing the low percentages for Loveless and Remain in Light, both are which are extremely well known to music followers.
+1
Level 92
Nov 3, 2020
Love how they squeeze Miles and Trane onto this list, the two jazz artists that every cool kid knows. No Mingus, Bird, Monk, etc.? Half this list would be jazz records if they really wanted to open that door.
+1
Level 58
May 1, 2021
how is mariah carey not here at least once?
+2
Level 68
Jun 7, 2023
They tried to please everybody and messed up. Except they didn't include any electronic album, but found a spot for Taylor Swift and Drake. Okay.
+1
Level 66
Jun 28, 2023
Hey, Red's a masterpiece, definitely wouldn't argue with it being on a top 100 albums list. But yeah, Discovery is a surprising abscence from the list.
+1
Level 70
Jul 3, 2024
Take Care's valid though, sure there are plenty of albums I'd put above it that should have been on here but I'd say Take Care is Drake's main project worthy of being on an all time list, saying this as someone who is often very critical of Drake and other rappers like Kanye. But yeah I think Red being on here doesn't make sense, if anything they should have put Fearless or Speak Now in its place. I never go out of my way to listen to Taylor Swift but I do appreciate her earlier work and those 2 albums are good I'd respect them being on this list
+1
Level 74
Jun 25, 2023
No Eagles? No Boston? Oof. Boo Rolling Stone. 0 stars. Would not recommend.
+1
Level 36
Jan 22, 2024
this list is terrible, clear PC going on with some if not most of these names.
+1
Level 47
Jun 1, 2024
My first thought was The Rolling Stones didn't make 100 albums... oh... yeah

I know everybody has different tastes, but Beyonce, Taylor Swift, Drake, etc. put out better albums than Rush?

I'd like to know the criteria used. Rush has arguably the best musicians ever assembled.

+1
Level 58
Jun 16, 2024
taylor swift being in this is an abomination. "of all time" has been relegated to mean nothing
+1
Level 70
Jul 3, 2024
I could respect if Fearless or Speak Now was on here, she's the perfect example of an artist who I've never really been a fan of and I won't typically go out of my way to listen to her music but I do appreciate her presence and influence in music the past decade and a half. But yeah I think Red being on here is kind of ridiculous
+1
Level 70
Jul 3, 2024
I will say the list has gotten better and they've made an effort to include more contemporary artists
+1
Level 70
Jul 3, 2024
I been listening to Baduizm a lot, probably one of the best RnB albums I've ever heard, pretty much every song is a banger, everyone should listen to it
+1
Level 70
Jul 3, 2024
My personal favorite album has probably gotta be Illmatic, but lately I've been trying to listen to more full albums and make more objective lists (take that with a grain of salt) and I'd say Songs in the Key of Life is probably the best album I've heard, What's Goin On is definitely in top 5 so I think they got that right