Apple’s ludicrous list of the 100 greatest albums seems to exist solely to aggravate you
Are you upset about Apple’s list of the 100 greatest albums ever made? Alright. (From their point of view.) That’s precisely how you should feel, considering that the list aims more for an apparent randomness that can only be dismissed as clickbait than it does for any kind of knowledgeable or authoritative voice. The ideal answer to a list that compares millions of pieces from dozens of different genres over a 70-year period and thinks they can all be judged on the same scale is not “Nailed it!” as if there were any people in the world who would say that. “Nailed it!” would only signify a virality failure. (Additionally, Apple is not in the business of failure, no matter what you remember about Newton or Cube.)
Now, that’s a sign of success when your MIAs can stoke anger to that extent (multiplied by 10,000 other artists who will eventually be mentioned in chat rooms or on Reddit forums). Bravo, then; if we could only find a way to direct all of this fury onto the country’s electrical system, it would prove to be a beneficial endeavor.
The best advice comes from Bob Dylan, who said, “Now ain’t the time for your tears.” (To paraphrase one of his best-ever albums that wasn’t on the list, but he did have one that was.) However, perhaps now is the appropriate moment for, oh, a little bit of eye-rolling on the ridiculous relativity of what made and did not make the top 100. Additionally, there may be concerns regarding whether some of the choices made in the upper levels were the result of youthful naivete or mature cynicism.
Recall how Adele apologized during her 2017 Grammy Awards speech for winning Album of the Year, despite the fact that it was not her fault. Perhaps she will now feel the same temptation to apologize for letting “21” in on the fifteenth. Assuming that recorded music as we know it started about 2010, this would not be a poor choice for so high a position at all. However, it didn’t. And it makes me question whether there was a purposeful perversity in ranking “21” precisely one position above Joni Mitchell’s “Blue,” which frequently appears at the top of most lists of all-time albums that are agreed upon.
Furthermore, “21”—yet another excellent album!—is ranked two places higher than Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Going On,” which was at the top of the most recent Rolling Stone list of the 500 greatest albums ever released. Due to the fact that Gaye’s album topped the most recent Rolling Stone list of the 500 best albums of all time, it is probably not in the top 10 here. The Beach Boys’ “Pet Sounds,” which is widely acknowledged as one of the most mind-boggling albums ever, then deducts ten or fifteen spots from any reasonable, rightful position for the sin of already being a part of an orthodoxy. As a result, it lands at No. 20, below more recent releases like “OK Computer” and “The Blueprint.”
The term “recency bias” seems to fit with every item on the list. It seems as though a group of well-meaning individuals between the ages of 25 and 35 were asked to rank the best records they had ever heard. In addition, the arbiters of the list combed through Rolling Stone’s 500-best list to see which earlier classics they would be severely criticized for omitting. They included a good number of those as well but in a somewhat arbitrary sequence. Regarding the pre-2000 albums that were chosen, there are no shocks at all; it’s not as though someone thought to throw a curveball and include “Swordfishtrombones,” “Marquee Moon,” or “Good Old Boys” to demonstrate how out of touch we are. No, there are a lot of films like “Led Zeppelin II,” “Rumours,” “Sign of the Times,” and “The Dark Side of the Moon” (not that I’m complaining about their inclusion), but nothing so bizarre as to give the impression that anyone who was involved in the selection process was profoundly aware of the deep cuts of those eras. It seems as though the editors saw the classic rock genre as an essential source of monotony and never gave it much thought as to whether they could have chosen some less dull options for “classic.”
It is fair to say that Bad Bunny’s 2022 song “Un Verano Sin Ti” will be widely discussed as the only representative of the last 65 years or more of Latin music. Comparatively speaking, the list proves that, up to Kacey Musgraves’s crossover hit “Golden Hour,” there was reportedly never a single outstanding country album released. Willie’s legendary concept albums from the 1970s? Or anything from Dolly or Loretta during those revolutionary cultural eras when they were genuine feminist forces among American women? They weren’t Lorde at sixteen, even though they were good. To briefly return to the rock genre, what chance did the Who, one of the most influential album acts ever, have to place “Tommy,” “Who’s Next,” or “Quadropenia” on the list when those incredible feats had to compete with the unquestionably better 21st-century acts like the Strokes and Arctic Monkeys?
Naturally, the polar-opposite issue resulting from recency bias will be the cause of a great deal of the grievances that are directed against the list. The Apple editors and voters were not incorrect in including challenging Wenner-era conventions as a part of their purpose. And if there’s one area where they at least got some way toward getting things right, it’s in the acknowledgment and placement of hip-hop classics across the list — something it’s simpler to get right than rock ‘n’ roll because the era it represents is much shorter, for one thing.
It’s also acceptable to desire to see modern pop music included on a list like this. Nevertheless, a few of the options seem strange. One of the best pop musicians ever, Taylor Swift, belongs. However, it’s strange that “1989 (Taylor’s Version)” is the only song that represents her, as not even a large number of die-hard Swiftites—who understandably listen to the “Taylor’s Version” versions—would agree that the re-recordings made years later are far better than the originals. Saying as much is both ludicrous and obviously political. The fact that Apple can’t direct its listeners to Big Machine’s bank account, for obvious reasons, puts them in a difficult situation, but it also compromises the list’s credibility. (For the record, selecting “Folklore” would have been a great method to get around that specific issue.)
(In addition, given that albums from the past few years are appearing on the list, isn’t it strange that “Future Nostalgia,” which is deserving of the title of true modern classic, was overlooked? It feels as strange to discover Dua’s pop classic absent here as it does “Astral Weeks” or “Blood on the Tracks,” given the ambiguous criteria and tendency towards the new.
Then, we are supposed to think that a voting group truly chose Burial’s “Untrue” record above, say, “Rubber Soul,” despite the fact that most people have never heard of it. However, everyone is aware of the necessity for its inclusion: electronic music must be represented. If there was almost anything else on the list that felt like an interesting, quirky, or truly cult pick, it wouldn’t stand out.
Apple’s complete list of 100 Best Albums:
- “The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill” by Lauryn Hill
- “Thriller” by Michael Jackson
- “Abbey Road” by the Beatles
- “Purple Rain” by Prince and the Revolution
- “Blonde” by Frank Ocean
- “Songs in the Key of Life” by Stevie Wonder
- “good kid, m.A.A.d city (Deluxe Version)” by Kendrick Lamar
- “Back to Black” by Amy Winehouse
- “Nevermind” by Nirvana
- “Lemonade” by Beyonce
- “Rumours” by Fleetwood Mac
- “OK Computer” by Radiohead
- “The Blueprint” by Jay-Z
- “Highway 61 Revisited” by Bob Dylan
- “21” by Adele
- “Blue” by Joni Mitchell
- “What’s Going On” by Marvin Gaye
- “1989 (Taylor’s Version)” by Taylor Swift
- “The Chronic” by Dr. Dre
- “Pet Sounds” by the Beach Boys
- “Revolver” by the Beatles
- “Born to Run” by Bruce Springsteen
- “Discovery” by Daft Punk
- “The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars” by David Bowie
- “Kind of Blue” by Miles Davis
- “My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy” by Kanye West
- “Led Zeppelin II” by Led Zeppelin
- “The Dark Side of the Moon” by Pink Floyd
- “The Low End Theory” by A Tribe Called Quest
- “When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?” by Billie Elish
- “Jagged Little Pill” by Alanis Morissette
- “Ready to Die” by the Notorious B.I.G.
- “Kid A” by Radiohead
- “It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back” by Public Enemy
- “London Calling” by the Clash
- “Beyonce” by Beyonce
- “Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)” by Wu-Tang Clan
- “Tapestry” by Carole King
- “Illmatic” by Nas
- “I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You” by Aretha Franklin
- “Aquemini” by Outkast
- “Control” by Janet Jackson
- “Remain in Light” by Talking Heads
- “Innervisions” by Stevie Wonder
- “Homogenic” by Bjork
- “Exodus” by Bob Marley & the Wailers
- “Take Care” by Drake
- “Paul’s Boutique” by Beastie Boys
- “The Joshua Tree” by U2
- “Hounds of Love” by Kate Bush
- “Sign O’ the Times” by Prince
- “Appetite for Destruction” by Guns N’ Roses
- “Exile on Main St.” by the Rolling Stones
- “A Love Supreme” by John Coltrane
- “Anti” by Rihanna
- “Disintegration (Remastered)” by The Cure
- “Voodoo” by D’Angelo
- “(What’s The Story) Morning Glory” by Oasis
- “AM” by Arctic Monkeys
- “The Velvet Underground and Nico (45th Anniversary Edition)” by Velvet Underground & Nico
- “Love Deluxe” by Sade
- “All Eyez on Me” by 2Pac
- “Are You Experienced?” by the Jimi Hendrix Experience
- “Baduizm” by Erykah Badu
- “3 Feet High and Rising” by De La Soul
- “The Queen Is Dead” by the Smiths
- “Dummy” by Portishead
- “Is This It” by the Strokes
- “Master of Puppets (Remastered)” by Metallica
- “Straight Outta Compton” by N.W.A
- “Trans-Europe Express” by Kraftwerk
- “SOS” by SZA
- “Aja” by Steely Dan
- “The Downward Spiral” by Nine Inch Nails
- “Supa Dupa Fly” by Missy Elliott
- “Un Verano Sin Ti” by Bad Bunny
- “Like A Prayer” by Madonna
- “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” by Elton John
- “Norman F****** Rockwell!” by Lana Del Rey
- “The Marshall Mathers LP” by Eminem
- “After the Gold Rush” by Neil Young
- “Get Rich or Die Tryin’” by 50 Cent
- “Horses” by Patti Smith
- “Doggystyle” by Snoop Dogg
- “Golden Hour” by Kacey Musgraves
- “My Life” by Mary J. Blige
- “Blue Lines” by Massive Attack
- “I Put a Spell on You” by Nina Simone
- “The Fame Monster (Deluxe Edition)” by Lady Gaga
- “Back in Black” by AC/DC
- “Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1” by George Michael
- “Flower Boy” by Tyler, the Creator
- “A Seat at the Table” by Solange
- “Untrue” by Burial
- “Confessions” by Usher
- “Pure Heroine” by Lorde
- “Rage Against the Machine” by Rage Against the Machine
- “Astroworld” by Travis Scott
- “Hotel California” by the Eagles
- “Body Talk” by Robyn