The Edmondson Blog

The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time is the cover story of a special issue of Rolling Stone magazine published in November 2003. The list was based on the votes of 273 rock musicians, critics and industry figures, each of whom submitted a weighted list of 50 albums. Various music genres were featured in the list, including pop, hip hop, rock, country, ska, punk, heavy metal, soul, blues, folk, jazz, and combinations thereof. The accounting firm Ernst & Young devised a point system to weigh votes for 1,600 submitted titles.

The top 10 albums are:

1. Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, The Beatles ,June 1967
2. Pet Sounds, The Beach Boys, May 1966
3. Revolver, The Beatles, August 1966
4. Highway 61 Revisited, Bob Dylan, August 1965
5. Rubber Soul, The Beatles, December 1965
6. What's Going On, Marvin Gaye, May 1971
7. Exile on Main Street, The Rolling Stones, May 1972
8. London Calling, The Clash, December 1979
9. Blonde on Blonde, Bob Dylan, May 1966
10. The White Album, The Beatles, November 1968

The artists with the most albums in the list are:

• The Beatles (with 4 in the top 10) – 10 of their 12 studio albums along with U.S. exclusive Meet The Beatles!
  
• Bob Dylan (with 2 in the top 10) – 10 of his 31 studio albums.
  
• The Rolling Stones (with 1 in the top 10) – 10 of their 21 studio albums.
  
• Bruce Springsteen – 8 of his 12 studio albums.
  
• The Who – 6 of their 10 studio albums; 1 live album.
• David Bowie – 5 of his 22 studio albums; 1 compilation album.
• Elton John – 5 of his 27 studio albums; 1 compilation album.
• Led Zeppelin – 5 of their 9 studio albums.
• Neil Young - 5 of his 29 studio albums.
• The Byrds - 4 of their 12 studio albums; 1 compilation album.
• U2 – 5 of their 10 studio albums.
  
• Bob Marley and the Wailers - 4 of their 15 studio albums; 1 compilation album.

Number of albums from each decade:

• 1950s and earlier – 29 albums (5.8%)
• 1960s – 126 (25.2%) (with 7 of the top 10)
• 1970s – 183 (36.6%) (with 3 of the top 10)
• 1980s – 88 (17.6%)
• 1990s – 61 (12.2%)
• 2000s – 13 (2.6%)