NME's The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time

"The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time" is a 2013 special issue of British magazine NME, available digitally or in newsstands on October 23.[1] The list presented was compiled based on votes from current and past NME journalists.[2] The list and writer's choices voting several times for the same act, were criticized by several papers including The Guardian.[3]

NME's "500 Greatest Albums of All Time" magazine cover

The number one album was The Queen Is Dead by The Smiths.[4]

Background

Made in a similar fashion to the Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, the list was voted for by NME journalists past and present, each of whom submitted a weighted list of 50 albums.[1]

Reception

This NME listing was criticized by the media. The Guardian noted that NME's Features Editor in 2013, Laura Snapes, rated in her top four spots four albums by the same band, the National.[3] Snapes included a fifth National's album at number 7 in her top ten greatest albums of all time.[3] Similarly another NME journalist, Kevin EG Perry, also selected four albums by the same band in his top four spots, this time The Rolling Stones.[3]

Ben Kaye of Consequence of Sound wrote that "if Laura Snapes had her wish, the top four would all be The National albums".[5] He wrote:

The Smiths’ The Queen Is Dead is the greatest album of all time. It’s better than anything the Beatles ever did (though Revolver came close). Meanwhile, the band Queen is nowhere on the list at all, whereas Queens of the Stone Age shows up thrice (they also show up Thrice, who don’t appear). Some other interesting highlights include Oasis’ Definitely Maybe starting the top 10, PJ Harvey’s Let England Shake making an impressive No. 15, Arcade Fire’s Funeral (13) slotting higher than My Bloody Valentine’s Loveless (18), and Outkast’s Stankonia only good enough to slip in at 500.

More oddities: The highest ranked Michael Jackson album (Thriller) hits at 131, while LCD Soundsystem broke the top 50 with Sound of Silver (49). It’s rad that Jimmy Eat World’s Bleed American (429) made it on, but having it one spot below Bruce Springsteen’s Born in the U.S.A. and two above Soundgarden’s Badmotorfinger seems kinda crazy. Speaking of the Boss, Nebraska (148) isn’t quite as good as Frank Ocean’s Channel Orange (147), but slightly better than Elliott Smith’s Either/Or (149) and The Streets Original Pirate Material (150). Also, apparently Arctic Monkeys’ one-month-old AM (449) is already better than Big Star’s Third (451).[5]

He also pointed out the differences between the list and the Top 100 British Albums Ever, released by NME in 2006.[5] Michael Nelson of Stereogum thought the top three albums were a good choice, but said the rest was "a waking nightmare."[6]

Statistics

Artists with the most albums
ArtistNumber of albumsHighest album position
David Bowie103
The Beatles72
Bob Dylan736
Bruce Springsteen585
Elvis Costello5256
PJ Harvey515
Radiohead520
The Smiths51
Beck4307
Blur422
Nirvana411
R.E.M.465
The Rolling Stones424
Tom Waits4105
The Who4275
The National4162
Neil Young456
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds4165
Arcade Fire313
Beastie Boys332
The Beach Boys326
Björk346
The Clash339
Leonard Cohen3232
Daft Punk376
Dexys Midnight Runners3118
Jay-Z3186
Kanye West324
Kings of Leon3212
Kraftwerk357
Manic Street Preachers344
Michael Jackson3131
New Order3122
Pavement3206
Pixies38
Prince391
Public Enemy317
Pulp36
Queens of the Stone Age393
Sonic Youth341
Spiritualized3156
Stevie Wonder342
Suede331
Super Furry Animals392
Velvet Underground35
The Verve3128
The White Stripes377
Arctic Monkeys219
Oasis210

See also

References

  1. "The Smiths' 'The Queen Is Dead' tops NME's list of 500 greatest albums of all time". NME. October 22, 2013. Retrieved August 4, 2014.
  2. "NME Staff Pick Their Top 10 Greatest Albums Of All Time". NME Blog. NME. October 22, 2013. Retrieved August 4, 2014.
  3. Hann, Michael (24 October 2013). "What's the difference between best and favourite albums?". Retrieved 6 August 2014.
  4. Barker, Emily (2013-10-25). "The 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time: 100-1". NME. Retrieved 2019-05-13.
  5. Kaye, Ben (October 25, 2013). "The Top 500 Albums of All Time, according to NME". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved August 4, 2014.
  6. Nelson, Michael (25 October 2013). "NME's Top 500 Albums Of All Time". Stereogum. Retrieved 4 August 2014.
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