disco battles of the 1970s, it is nice to see Rolling Stone finally acknowledging the importance of artists like Chic, Rufus, and Donna Summer. Although the majority of the new additions were recent releases, there were some surprising blasts from the past, including Laura Nyro’s Eli and the 13th Confession (1968) and Harry Nilsson’s Nilsson Schmilsson (1972). After mostly ignoring Spanish-language or Latinx music in its previous two lists (with Santana as – I think – the only exception), the 2020 list makes amends by adding Selena, Shakira, Daddy Yankee, Bad Bunny, and Rosalia. I was also glad to see two new African artists on the list (King Sunny Adé and Fela Kuti) and five new jazz additions (Billie Holiday, Charles Mingus, Nina Simone, Herbie Hancock, and Alice Coltrane). (2) I welcome the inclusion of some prog rock (which Rolling Stone has generally eschewed), particularly Close to the Edge (1972) by Yes. I do think it was a mistake to remove Harry Smith’s Anthology of American Folk Music, however, which is a foundational document for so many folk, blues and rock styles. (1) It looks like the 2020 listers were trying to avoid compilation albums whenever possible, which seems like a good policy, at least for artists who recorded after the mid-1950s. Some initial observations of the changes in the 2020 list: If you notice any mistakes, please let me know. I have organized all the album lists in chronological order and the artist lists in alphabetical order. (You can find the 2020 version HERE.) I looked in vain for an analysis of the three lists online, so I decided to do it myself. The first list came out in 2003, followed by a revised list in 2012, and then a complete overhaul that was just published in September 2020. Over the past 20 years, Rolling Stone magazine has published three different versions of a list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.
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