Decker

You don't hear a clear progression in God Only Knows over California Girls or I Get Around? I think God Only Knows is one of the most gorgeous songs ever recorded. I hear those little jingle bells at the beginning and I still get chills.

Kurt D

You owe me a new computer. My previous one burst into flames due to how hot this take is.

LurkerDan

What a bizarre list.

IMO, the greatest album ever recorded is Kind of Blue by Miles Davis, at least it got on the list at 25. But apparently only two jazz albums are among the 100 greatest albums of all time.

Coral

I'm not a Beach Boys fan by any means... in fact, I think most of their hits are just childish. But I definitely don't equate "Pet Sounds" to anything they've done before it. That's on a whole different level. It's not in my Top 100 albums (not that I've ever compiled a list), but I have to get it major props.

That's what I'm talking about! I'm sure I can create a Top 100 albums list myself, I just wouldn't know how to rank them. And if I did rank them, it would constantly change depending on how I feel at the time.
But however I order the ranking, Kind of Blue would probably be in the Top 5 in any iteration of my list.

There really should be more than 2 traditional jazz albums on the list (3 if you also include jazz vocals of Nina Simone). I would've included Charles Mingus Ah Um, Art Blakey's Moanin' and Cannonball Adderley's Somethin’ Else.

Count Dooku

I never got the SGT PEPPER is the greatest album of all time thing. I understand how important it is in terms of production and concept and representing a cultural moment, but song by song it does not hold up as great music.

I'd put BAT OUT OF HELL up there, except the last track "For Crying Out Loud" sucks.

Nesbit

Sgt Pepper is one of my least favorite Beatles albums. I like it and understand it’s very important historically just one of the last I personally go to.

My personal biggest misses from the list after thinking on it and seeing other’s thoughts

Fiona Apple - When the Pawn …
Ramones - either the debut or It’s Alive (maybe my favorite live album ever)
Pink Floyd - Animals
Little Simz - Sometimes I might be Introvert
System of a Down - Toxicity
Pixies - Doolittle
Weezer - Weezer
Black Sabbath - Paranoid

tommyp007

"Purple Rain" isn't even Prince's best album.

cultshock

I never got the whole Pepper worship either, although I'm sure it was something a bit revolutionary for its time. Now, if the Strawberry Fields/Penny Lane single was added, and replaced a couple of the duff tracks, that may have been different. But I'm happy to see Revolver on the list, that Beatles album was a huge step forward in pop music at the time.

Josh-da-man

I've never really been into the Beach Boys, so I can't really comment on any kind of progression; I really only know their music from pop culture osmosis. I can probably rattle off ten or so of the greatest hits, but that's about it.

Though I will say that the first few times I heard "God Only Knows" I didn't realize it was a Beach Boys number. Decent song, but it doesn't really resonate with me; maybe because it's been used in so many movies/tv shows that it feels kind of watered down.

I do remember reading a while back that one of the Beatles said Sgt Pepper was then trying to make their own Pet Sounds, and it blew me away that the Beatles would even feel like they were competing with the Beach Boys.

The Beach Boys' music has just always felt bland and milquetoast to me, even though they used to hang around with Charles Manson and Brian Wilson took so much acid he went crazy.

Kurt D

Being glancingly familiar with maybe 10 greatest hits through osmosis isn't the greatest foundation for rating a band ... just sayin'

Coral

I agree with this.
I would've also included Aimee Mann's Bachelor No. 2 (or even Lost in Space) personally.

Other big misses:
Lucinda Williams - Car Wheels on a Gravel Road
Dire Straits - Love Over Gold
Tom Waits - The Heart of Saturday Night, Swordfishtrombones, Rain Dogs, Mule Variations (any of them - take your pick)
Van Morrison - Moondance
Roxy Music - Avalon
Wilco - Yankee Hotel Foxtrot

PhantomStranger

Apple's list is brutal but what do you expect in 2024? Popular music seems to be producing slightly fewer all-time classic albums on a rate basis with each passing decade. We may just be rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic at this point. I doubt we can do much more with a guitar sound, that potential is mostly tapped at this point. I'm assuming there's still a little more to mine from electronics but I foresee AI-driven music soon becoming a dominant musical force.

The placement for The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill is exactly what it is, clickbait for viral marketing purposes. Nothing more, nothing less. Nothing to do with anyone's truth but an editorial looking for clicks and buzz. And I consider The Score from the Fugees one of rap's greatest albums with Lauryn Hill making huge contributions. It would be a huge reach placing Miseducation even in the top 100 albums ever recorded since World War II.

Decker

I mean it's not THAT controversial. In the most recent Top 500 album list from Rolling Stone, they had it at 10

rocket1312

That sounds to me like you've never actually listened to Pet Sounds. I'm going to guess it still wouldn't be your thing, but it is a seismic leap over the stuff they were doing previously. The thing about Pet Sounds is that it's not really a rock record like most of the other albums it gets grouped with. It's more George Gershwin and the Everly Brothers than it is Chuck Berry. After Pet Sounds came Good Vibrations, which was another jump and was a glimpse at what could have been with the Smile album had Brian Wilson's brain not melted. I think the original intended versions of tracks like Surf's Up and Heroes & Villains are spectacular and just as visionary as anything the Beatles were doing on Sgt. Pepper.

As for the Beach Boys overall, one thing to remember about them is that while Brian is a musical genius, he had a lot of help with lyrics. You kind of have to look beyond a lot of the words to understand their pleasures, especially with the early stuff. After Brian broke, the other guys started writing their own songs. Late 60's/70's Beach Boys are much more like a traditional rock/pop band with a variety of styles and influences, but Brian's best days were behind him and the music just isn't as good as a lot of their contemporaries.

Rival11

Not only that, but the Nevermind album is passable at best.

Kdogg

Miseducation is a fine album. I won't put it first but it's definitely one of the best albums of all time. What we are seeing is a generational change with these lists. It's not Boomers making then anymore. This one has a heavy Gen X influence with a sprinkle of Millennials in there. It's a shift in demographics.

cultshock

Yeah, there was a competition at the time. I recall reading that Brian Wilson first heard Strawberry Fields Forever on the car radio, and pulled over to the side of the road, listened to the song in awe as it sounded like nothing ever heard before, and then thought "Oh my god, what the hell do I write now?"

stvn1974

Rolling Stone's original review of Nevermind was 3 out of 5 and was still pretty negative when it was first published. Then it blew up and the magazine had its head so far up Cobain's ass that they then did a hit job cover story on Eddie Vedder. The magazine has been a joke for a long time.

jpcamb

I'm surprised that the list is not simply streaming numbers and is very subjectively chosen.

https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2024/...100-best-list/

I would call a list with no Tom Petty, Aerosmith or Elvis that includes a lot of rap and whatnot as biased and flawed at best. Almost have to wonder if it was meant to be divisive and a conversation starter.

Coral

Love him or hate him, Elvis really wasn't known for his albums. He was basically a "singles" artist, even though he probably sold a ton of albums. I honestly couldn't name an Elvis studio album and I don't think I've ever seen an album of his on a "Best Albums" list.

PhantomStranger

The list was 100% meant to be controversial. But I did a little digging and apparently it looks like they often went with the most streamed album for a particular year as top candidates. That's how I suspect the Lauryn Hill album got consideration. It's the most streamed album on Spotify from 1997, though its numbers are dwarfed by top albums from other years in the 1990s.