Originalna lista Rolling Stonea imala je svega 12 crnih umjetnika i tri žene unutar top 50 albuma.
Nova verzija Top 500 albuma magazina Rolling Stone ugledala je svjetlo dana. To više nije lista na kojoj dominiraju bijeli muški rokeri. Vremena su se promijenila. Ameriku tresu društvene promjene. Žene su prve ustale s #meetoo pokretom prije nekoliko godina, potom se dogodio #blacklivesmatter, a sve Amerikance za nešto više od mjesec dana čekaju predsjednički izbori u polariziranoj i paraliziranoj zemlji. Pandemija koronavirusa je tu, kao uostalom i u cijelom svijetu, nešto poput ‘šlaga na torti’, dakako u negativnom smislu.
U svemu tome Rolling Stone s novom listom 500 najboljih albuma revalorizira svoju ulogu, a time i smisao.
Usporedi li se prvih 50 odabira današnjice s onim objavljenim prije dva desetljeća, razlika je itekako vidljiva. Popis iz 2003. (koji je blago ažuriran 2012.) imao je samo tri albuma ženskih glazbenika među prvih 50, a prvi unos – Joni Mitchell “Blue” – pojavio se tek na 30. mjestu. U međuvremenu, pet albuma Beatlesa pojavilo se na vrhu. Popis iz 2003. brojao je samo 12 albuma crnih muških umjetnika, a od crnih žena nije bila niti jedna. Među prvih 50 najboljih bio je i samo jedan hip-hop album – “It Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back” grupe Public Enemy, a i taj je bio na 48. mjestu.
Aažurirana ovogodišnja lista je daleko raznolikija. “What’s Goin On” Marvina Gaya, koji je bio 6. na listi 2003. godine, sada vlada kao broj 1. “Blue” Joni Mitchell pomaknuo se od 30. do 3. mjesta. “Songs in the Key of Life” Stevieja Wondera je na 4. mjestu, dok “The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill” Lauren Hill zatvara Top 10. “Thriller” Michaela Jacksona je na 12. mjestu, a slijedi ga “I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You” Arethe Frankin. Top 20 zatvara trio hip-hop albuma: “It Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back” Public Enemyja, “My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy” Kanye Westa i “To Pimp A Butterfly” Kendricka Lamara.
U brojkama gledano Rolling Stone je prvih 50 mjesta osvježio sa sedam albuma autorica i 24 albuma crnih izvođača, dok cijela Top 500 lista broji 154 nova albuma od kojih su 86 iz 21. stoljeća. Na novoj listi je i tri puta više hip-hop albuma nego što ih je bilo 2003. godine.
Evo i usporednih lista prvih 50:
Rolling Stone Top 50 albuma svih vremena (2020):
01. Marvin Gaye – What’s Going On
02. The Beach Boys – Pet Sounds
03. Joni Mitchell – Blue
04. Stevie Wonder – Songs in the Key of Life
05. The Beatles – Abbey Road
06. Nirvana – Nevermind
07. Fleetwood Mac – Rumours
08. Prince and the Revolution – Purple Rain
09. Bob Dylan – Blood on the Tracks
10. Lauryn Hill – The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill
11. The Beatles – Revolver
12. Michael Jackson – Thriller
13. Aretha Franklin – I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You
14. The Rolling Stones – Exile on Main Street
15. Public Enemy – It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back
16. The Clash – London Calling
17. Kanye West – My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
18. Bob Dylan – Highway 61 Revisited
19. Kendrick Lamar – To Pimp a Butterfly
20. Radiohead – Kid A
21. Bruce Springsteen – Born to Run
22. The Notorious B.I.G. – Ready to Die
23. The Velvet Underground & Nico – The Velvet Underground
24. The Beatles – Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band
25. Carole King – Tapestry
26. Patti Smith – Horses
27. Wu-Tang Clan – Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)
28. D’Angelo – Voodoo
29. The Beatles – The White Album
30. The Jimi Hendrix Experience – Are You Experienced?
31. Miles Davis – Kind of Blue
32. Beyoncé – Lemonade
33. Amy Winehouse – Back to Black
34. Stevie Wonder – Innervisions
35. The Beatles – Rubber Soul
36. Michael Jackson – Off the Wall
37. Dr. Dre – The Chronic
38. Bob Dylan – Blonde on Blonde
39. Talking Heads – Remain in Light
40. David Bowie – The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and Spiders From Mars
41. The Rolling Stones – Let It Bleed
42. Radiohead – OK Computer
43. A Tribe Called Quest – The Low End Theory
44. Nas – Illmatic
45. Prince – Sign O’ the Times
46. Paul Simon – Graceland
47. Ramones – Ramones
48. Bob Marley and the Wailers – Legend
49. OutKast – Aquemini
50. Jay-Z – The Blueprint
Rolling Stone Top 50 albuma svih vremena (2003):
01. The Beatles – Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band
02. The Beach Boys – Pet Sounds
03. The Beatles – Revolver
04. Bob Dylan – Highway 61 Revisited
05. The Beatles – Rubber Soul
06. Marvin Gaye – What’s Going On
07. The Rolling Stones – Exile on Main Street
08. The Clash – London Calling
09. Bob Dylan – Blonde on Blonde
10. The Beatles – The White Album
11. Elvis Presley – The Sun Sessions
12. Miles Davis – Some Kind of Blue
13. The Velvet Underground & Nico – The Velvet Underground
14. The Beatles – Abbey Road
15. The Jimi Hendrix Experience – Are You Experienced?
16. Bob Dylan – Blood on the Tracks
17. Nirvana – Nevermind
18. Bruce Springsteen – Born to Run
19. Van Morrison – Astral Weeks
20. Michael Jackson – Thriller
21. Chuck Berry – The Great Twenty-Eight
22. Robert Johnson – The Complete Recordings
23. John Lennon – Plastic Ono Band
24. Stevie Wonder – Innervisions
25. James Brown – Live at the Apollo
26. Fleetwood Mac – Rumours
27. U2 – The Joshua Tree
28. The Who – Who’s Next
29. Led Zeppelin – Led Zeppelin
30. Joni Mitchell – Blue
31. Bob Dylan – Bringing It All Back Home
32. The Rolling Stones – Let It Bleed
33. Ramones – Ramones
34. The Band – Music From Big Pink
35. David Bowie – The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and Spiders From Mars
36. Carole King – Tapestry
37. The Eagles – Hotel California
38. Muddy Waters – The Antology
39. The Beatles – Please Please Me
40. Love – Forever Changes
41. Sex Pistols – Never Mind the Bollocks, Here’s the Sex Pistols
42. The Doors – The Doors
43. Pink Floyd – The Dark Side of the Moon
44. Patti Smith – Horses
45. The Band – The Band
46. Bob Marley and the Wailers – Legend
47. John Coltrane – A Love Supreme
48. Public Enemy – It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back
49. The Allman Brothers Band – At Fillmore East
50. Little Richard – Little Richard