Rolling Stone's Top 50 Albums Of 2008
RS's list is an interesting and at times odd mix of fogies and new blood, with a few representatives from each camp who don't seem like they really belong here. For instance, it's the second list in two days that shows kindness towards Chinese Democracy. The Jonas Brothers also did quite well. Outside of that, you'll recognize names from the Gummys, and the Magnetic Fields' Distortion received a deserved nod.
Things become a little strange in the top 20, Axl and Lars, but the top spot goes to a band that's been quietly placing high on just about all the year-end lists we've seen so far.
50 No Age - Nouns
49 Hot Chip - Made In The Dark
48 Raphael Saadiq - The Way I See It
47 Of Montreal - Skeletal Lamping
46 The Academy Is... - Fast Times at Barrington High
45 Be Your Own Pet - Get Awkward
44 The Raconteurs - Consolers of the Lonely
43 Nas - Untitled
42 David Byrne and Brian Eno - Everything That Happens Will Happen Today
41 AC/DC - Black Ice
40 Jonas Brothers - A Little Bit Longer
39 Taylor Swift - Fearless
38 Ra Ra Riot - The Rhumb Line
37 Nine Inch Nails - The Slip
36 The Hold Steady - Stay Positive
35 Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!
34 Stephen Malkmus - Real Emotional Trash
33 Ne-Yo - Year Of The Gentleman
32 Jamey Johnson - The Lonesome Song
31 MGMT - Oracular Spectacular
30 Duffy - Rockferry
29 Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago
28 The Knux - Remind Me in Three Days...
27 Brian Wilson - That Lucky Old Sun
26 Mudcrutch - Mudcrutch
25 The Magnetic Fields - Distortion
24 Girl Talk - Feed The Animals
23 Conor Oberst - Conor Oberst
22 Jackson Browne - Time the Conquerer
21 Kaiser Chiefs - Off With Their Heads
20 Kings of Leon - Only By The Night
19 Erykah Badu - New Amerykah, Part 1 (4th World War)
18 Lucinda Williams - Little Honey
17 B.B. King - One Kind Favor
16 Randy Newman - Harps and Angels
15 The Black Keys - Attack & Release
14 Ryan Adams And The Cardinals - Cardinology
13 Blitzen Trapper - Furr
12 Guns N' Roses - Chinese Democracy
11 Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes
10 Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend
09 Metallica - Death Magnetic
08 Beck - Modern Guilt
07 Coldplay - Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends
06 Santogold - Santogold
05 John Mellencamp - Life, Death, Love and Freedom
04 My Morning Jacket - Evil Urges
03 Lil Wayne - Tha Carter III
02 Bob Dylan - Tell Tale Signs:The Bootleg Series Vol. 8
01 TV on the Radio - Dear Science
The one and two positions sort of crystallize the strange duality of this thing. Also, John Mellencamp is that beloved? This is our John Mellencamp? You can read year-end blurbs, etc., at RS.
Posted at 1:40 PM by brandon in Year-End List
I'm actually proud that they put Blitzen Trapper over the Jonas Brothers.
Score = 17
That's cool...I'm just glad the Jonas Brothers MADE the list. They are good. NOT BAD! Who knew massive popularity could leave you underrated. LOL.
Score = -65
FINALLY a relevant year end list...
Score = -51
David Byrne & Brian Eno at 42...Jonas Brothers at 40....yup, sounds about in line with my cancelling my RS subscription 3 years ago.
Score = 55
I can't believe so many people are stuck on this issue. At least Rolling Stone included David Byrne and Brian Eno on their list, unlike Stereogum and every other blog or magazine I've checked so far. Where were all you Byrne/Eno fans when we were voting for the Gummies?
Score = 3
MY MORNING JACKET @ 4!
blitzen trapper! fleet foxes! hooray!
Score = -8
Thats the problem with magazines like Rolling Stone. how do you compare Bob Dylan and TV on the Radio? What makes John Mellencamp comparable to Kaiser Chiefs? What the fuck is Kaiser Chiefs doing on a list at all?
Score = 33
In answer to your first question, Village Voice did in '06 I remember...but that time the Bobcat won, as illustrated with this great cover:
http://cache.gawker.com/assets/resources/2007/02/villagevoice34.jpg
Score = 6
yeah it's just really disorienting seeing nas and the jonas brothers and b.b. king and tv on the radio all in the same place. how could you possibly rank those against each other (well...other than with jonas brothers a mile behind the rest)?
Score = 8
It's what the year was though....Jonases quickly put cracks in their Mickey Mouse ceiling, because (having seen them a number of times) they are surprisingly credible artists/performers (don't underestimate the gospel/blues/rock roots of little white Jersey boys, even if they are now singing bubblegum). They are a mile behind the others you named, true, but only because they are pretty much noobs...I think it's not a pure-quality rank, but factors in relative career and artist significance.
Score = -24
Just because Jonas Brothers record with Disney, does not automatically make them suck. If you honestly listened to their new album with an open mind, you would realize it isn't your preferred style of music, but they are good at what they dot.
Score = -1
I was on the Kaiser Cheifs bandwagon until I saw them headline @ Webster Hall a couple of years back with The Cribs, who were much better than the former that night. Halfway through their set, the KC frontman and keyboardist came to the front of the stage and did the most chessy thing I've ever seen with the "my-side-is-louder-than-your-side" banter. It was obviously rehearsed and they treated us like children. I remember leaving after that with a bunch of other people.
Just as mad and cheated I was that night, I was just as surprised about how GOOD their new album is. They played on Leno last month and blew me away. The frontman though, needs to stop doing his best Jules Casablancas impersonation, as he did @ Webster Hall that night, and work the crowd. Nonetheless, they're in my Top 20 also.
Score = 0
This list isn't so bad, it's not great, but it's not bad.
Score = 5
I'm sorry but Dear Science is just not as good as their last two albums, so it wouldn't get a top spot if I were making a list (I didn't vote for it on the Gummys)
But it's obviously better than pretty much the rest of this list!
I'm also starting to feel like Ra Ra Riot's album is getting way too much praise, it was alright but the pretty much released a compilation of demos they had put out this past 3 years!
Score = 0
I hate Rolling Stone.
Score = 26
Other than the inexcusable absence of Sigur Ros, I'd say this list is pretty good.
Score = -10
chinese democracy at # 12 and you'd say this list is pretty good?
Score = 30
no age should be higher. also, why do music critics hate loud/hard/punk rock until it gets popular? the following bands should be on way more lists this year:
the gaslight anthem, no age, crystal antlers, the constantines, the bronx, abe vigoda, fucked up, pissed jeans, the night marchers (did that come out in 07?), health etc.
Score = 2
I was disappointed by The Knux's album. Nothing felt well-written and it was all just 3-4 minute-long choruses. Big letdown.
Score = 1
Yeah, it's a ridiculous list. They've done almost zero on TV on the Radio, then wham! No. 1 record! Like last year when they picked MIA for cred. But I mean, this magazine isn't really relevant anymore. Pretty much every issue is just a reason to laugh at people for doing horribly at their jobs.
Score = 9
Duffy was totally better than that Breeders album.
Score = -3
Worst year-end list ever. So many albums that deserve to be on all year-end lists are on none, but none of the others have the fucking Jonas Brothers or Ra Ra fucking Riot. Booooooo.
Score = 1
How does Ra Ra Riot not deserve to be on this list? I loved their album
Score = 0
what's rolling stone?
Score = 12
You know. My gut reaction was to hate on the Jonas Brothers for all the obvious reasons, but after seeing them on the TV I thought that maybe I wrongly judged them. Was I wrong? Are they good?
Score = -7
Better than the Gummy list in a couple of respects: Real Emotional Trash and The Slip. It's all subjective, of course, but those albums are both aces in my book.
Score = -2
GnR on any best-of list, let alone #12???
RS must be gunning for an exclusive interview with Axl, that's the only way this makes any sense.
On the other side of the GnR fence, go to this site for the mullethead reaction to this list:
http://www.mygnrforum.com/index.php?s=ea652bec6cbf2e16600ac11c87b55b16&showtopic=132843
My favorite:
" Some really retarded band names in there.
Also I wish this, "I'm a depressed pussy with thick glasses, a beard, and a stupid hat that your grandfather used to wear" fashion in music would go away."
Score = 4
Mind you, this is coming from a 40 Something, mother of 4. Your mullet head comment is hillarious. I actually had to exterminate a mullet cut that my husband came home with last week just prior to our daughter's wedding. He actually denied the horrific hair cut he came home with even was a mullet. ICK!! "Good grief! There will be pictures, you CANNOT look like that"
I'm not trying to be younger than I am, and to be honest, I can only tell you who about 1/5 of the bands on the list are. I'm shifting to sounding like my parents, 'What kind of band name is Saliva??!!" But Dylan and Mellancamp have always been overrated. They stunk 25 years ago too. Quite frankly, I never really thought RS was all that cutting edge even in my days in the late 70's and 80's. Way back when he was John Cougar. I got here quite by accident, clicking on the link wondering what the hell Brad Pitt's face had to do with the top 50 albums of the year. Then it dawned on me. Doh! He's only on the cover.
As for that whole GNR forum thing, I find it sad that there is a legion of desperate old farts large enough to create a fan base for a washed out hair band, but I will give GNR credit for capitalizing on them.
Score = -1
My Morning Jacket is so overrated. TV on the Radio's previous albums had good songs but the production was annoyingly noisy. Dear Science is the best, glad to it at the top. Wait, John Mellencamp is still alive? But where the hell is SIgur Ros?
Score = -9
I'd say it's a fair year end list considering what kind of magazine we're talking about here.
Score = 8
They forgot Deerhunter. I will contact Rolling Stone and have them correct the mistake.
Score = 12
I think we can all honestly say that we were expecting much worse.
Score = 15
agreed
Score = 2
For some reason I feel like these lists from major publications have gotten better in the past few years. Maybe I'm just shocked that Rolling Stone has listened to No Age or Fleet Foxes. Although Bob Dylan at No. 2: not very shocked.
Score = 0
I have about 10 of these albums -- which is not bad -- l like seeing Santogold on the list and the John Mellencamp CD is pretty damn good too.
Score = 0
No Keane? What gives?
(And for you indie hipsters who will invariably detect sarcasm in my statement, I am totally serious.)
Score = -6
I haven't heard the album yet, but it's not as if including the Dylan release is just some token nod a la Rolling Stone's embrace of anything that Mick Jagger craps out. Tell Tale Signs got an 8.6 on Pitchfork and an A- on the AV Club. Sure, it's an archival release, but if your criteria extend that far, it makes sense as a pick.
Now, if you want to complain about tokenism for the sake of pleasing the masses, attack Mellencamp, Beck, and Metallica at will. But, overall, I guess my expectations for RS are low enough that this list is almost a pleasant surprise.
Score = 2
What the fuck is Rolling Stone?
Score = 6
Ha!
Oh I see what you did there.
Score = 5
Rolling Stone covers music? I thought it was just an outlet for shitty left-wing propaganda.
Score = 1
If they only did leftist propaganda, they'd have gone under years ago.
Score = 3
Am I the only person that thinks Evil Urges is a glorified b-sides album? MMJ is way over-rated.
Score = 12
I'm going to have to strongly disagree with you here. Yes, MMJ's best work is still Z, which is a masterpiece I may add, but it's not like Metallica, GnR, the Jonas Brothers, or Lil Wayne are any better (In fact, they're all god awful), yet Rolling Stone felt the need to include those acts as well.
Score = -1
Yeah, Evil Urges was horrible, in my opinion anyway. One listen to "Highly Suspicious" and Jim's shrieking is enough for me to want to turn it off. It Still Moves is still my favourite.
Score = -1
Just like every year, the RS list blows arse. These guys know as much about music as the Governor of IL knows about integrity.
Score = 1
Not only should any list that doesn't include Black Mountain be disregarded immediately, but any list that doesn't include Black Mountain, yet includes GnR, Metallica, and the Jonas Brothers(!? WTF?) should be set fire to immediately.
This all goes hand in hand with me cancelling my Rolling Stone subscription like a year ago, yet they keep sending me their crappy magazine.
Score = 2
Yup. Nothing wrong with that statement. Not a thing.
Score = 1
nice songs
but honestly there is nothing special, the guys got old
Score = 0
wow, i don't own a single one of those albums. i'm not saying this because i thinks it's cool or not, just...damn.
Score = -5
FAIL. No M83, no Elbow, no Neon Neon...
Alright, OK, maybe not an OUTRIGHT fail. There are some good records on this list. But Hot Chip is boring and samey after two listens, for example, whereas M83 keeps on synthin' months later.
Score = -4
Does anyone even listen to music anymore?
Score = 2
say what? i was too busy listening to snippets of songs on facebook that i missed what you said.
Score = 5
What the hell is Taylor Swift doing on this list? Since when did complacency deserve any spot on a top 50 list?
Score = 5
Note to the world: Oracular Spectacular came out in 2007.
Score = 3
Yeah, I'll say it; I don't get the popularity of MMJ, Weezy (a lot of that album is unlistenable), TV on the Radio, and most of alll Santogold. I don't get her popularity at all--it's very nearly Lady Gaga when she was all trying to be MIA.
Where is the list with Madlib, Jackson Conti, or, more incredibly, the Cool Kids?
Score = -8
Ok, I've always dug Madlib, always will. He has true originality and progression...but The Cool Kids? My friend hosted a snowboard jump event here in San Francisco and had the Cool Kids as the headliner. Another friend's little brother's band, 3OH!3, opened for them had the entire crowd moving. Cool Kids came on stage and all but maybe 30 of the thousands attending eventually left because their J5-ish act was a complete snore. At first I thought it was maybe due to the cold weather that night but the same line-up played the after party with the same result. 3OH!3 had the entire place on their feet and dancing and half the crowd took a cigarette break when the Cool Kids took the stage.
I only say this because the claim that the Cool Kids deserve respect with their impressively un-original sound and act (again, sounds like J5 or PUTS a la 10 years ago) yet Santogold is overrated, is absurd to me. I don't agree with most of this list, a few high points, but Santogold was one of the most refreshing albums I'd heard in a while when it was released. Bringing some hip-hop-ish beats to an alt-indie sound is nothing close to being a copy of MIA's rap throw-back style with her island influences. MIA was a story, Santogold is talented...though both are more worthy than the snore-ish Cool Kids.
Score = 1
hey. hazim here...again.
Santogold is M.I.A with more pop sensibility and sans the political ranting
IIf M.I.A can score a tp 5 hit with 'Paper Planes" Santogold can score five number ones.
Blitzen Trapper? that's good
Taylor Swift? bad. and putting her a notch over The Jonas Brothers (cus.ya know... she dated a Jonas and all...I watch ET lol)just for irony's sake? Not ironic.
And no Britney Spears? That's just stupid.
Score = -1
As much as I dislike a list that tries to be everything to everyone and tries to placate tweens (Jonas) to boomers (Dylan), I miss having a mainstream musically, and Rolling Stone is one of the few remnants from those days that even preceded me (and I'm not young). I was young when "alternative" broke, but I'm so far beyond trying to prove my tastes are more obscure or different from everyone else's. I'm just glad with this year end polls to hear that other folks liked the Fleet Foxes. I'm the only person I know who listens to it.
Keep plugging on RS: even with the dispicable hills cover this year, I'll likely re-up for 2009.
I own 10 of these albums on CD, and I would take at least 5 more--the local shops never have No Age and I should get off my duff and order it.
Score = -2
No matter what the article is about, there is invariably some disgruntled Deerhunter fan commenting on the dire lack of Deerhunter in the list/article/story.
And I can't possibly be the only one who finds it devastatingly tragic about how Taylor "Teardrops On My Guitar" Swift has made more than one list...even if it was only Rolling Stone and that other one.
Score = 4
it's good to see some love for the superb dylan album (even though it's a rarties comp). on the other hand, rs still sucks.
Score = -2
i have a different taste in music than rolling stone magazine does and its extremely important that i let the whole world know about it.
Score = 7
Bon Iver should have been closer to the top of the list. Otherwise, this is probably the best "Best Of" I've seen this year.
Score = 1
If they made a playlist of these albums, I think my head would explode listening to it. I'm just surprised they didn't preemptively give Springsteen the top spot. Weird, weird list, even for a craptastic baby boomer magazine who's cultural relevance went out with LSD.
Score = 2
Am I the only one here who actually listened to Dylan's Tell Tale signs? Give it a shot -- it's better than the albums the songs come from.
Score = 1
whats with all the animal band names these days?
Score = 2
How could they have left out BASSMASTER??
Score = -2
Liz, don't let the all the red get you down. I laughed when I read that.
Score = 0
No Imperial Wax Solvent (The Fall), You Are Here (thenewno2), Midnight Boom (The Kills)?! They do have some good stuff on there (David Byrne/Brian Eno, TV on the Radio, Hot Chip, Nick Cave), it's just that the order is a bit odd...
Score = 1
Jonas Brothers No.40. AC/DC No.41. That's an awesome contrast. And then you have Byrne and Eno, both legends, at No.42, So in what universe does a record by a prefabricated teenybopper act like the Jonas Brothers rated more highly than a record, any record, made by David Byrne or Brian Eno. Even more weird, they're two artists who are in Rolling Stone's demographic, so what are they trying to do? Impress the tweenies who pick up their uncle's Rolling Stone because that Bob Dylan guy looks funny on the cover?
Score = 2
Jonas Brothers over David Byrne and Of Montreal? This entire list is therefore null and void... oh and BON IVER IS 2007 PEOPLE, WHEN WILL YOU UNDERSTAND THAT SIMPLE FACT!!?!?!?! i mean hell, with this kind of logic i think i might go ahead and make the Beatles Abbey Road the top album of 2008.
Score = 1
The circumstances of the Bon Iver album are pretty well known. It's not as if publications are including it on these lists out of ignorance - they're including it because it was self-released at the tail end of the year (possibly after some of these lists had been written or even published), and it wouldn't have been available to a wide audience until early 2008. Aren't there better things to focus your attention on than the inclusion policies of year-end album lists?
Score = 6
my subscription to RS lapsed one year after they went gloss cover and that was over 20 years ago. RS is so irrelevent, aren't they bankrupt anyway?
...btw...some of my favorites this year raconteurs, opeth and kings of leon, the lindsey buckingham release is pretty damn good music too.
Score = -1
The Wire-List is out too. Let's talk about this list...
Score = 0
I don't like reading people's critique of lists such as these, especially when I'm sure many people haven't listening to all of these albums in full. But the fact that Brad Pitt is on the cover of this magazine's top 50 edition makes it tougher for me to carefully consider this list's rankings.
Score = 2
No Gutter Twins, no Eagles of Death Metal, no Ben Folds, and no Flobots. This list FAILS!!!!
Score = -3
metallica ftw, easy, easy
Score = 0
Cardinology?
Score = 1
Its almost eerie how closely this year's list follows the bizarre "we love everything" format they used in 2007's list
#1- Someone deserving (TVOTR and M.I.A.)
#2- Dad-rock (Dylan and Springsteen)
#3 Average hip-hop album from well-known artist (Weezy, Jay-Z)
#4 Okay album by well-known indie band (Evil Urges, Neon Bible)
#40-50 Shitty pop-acts (Jonas Brothers, The Academy Is; Britney Spears, Fall Out Boy)
Score = 12
Meh...Can Agree With Some Can Disagree With Others (*Coughs#2*)
Don't Really Read Music Magazines For Reviews Anymore There Stupid All They Do Is Tell You What To Listen To :/
Score = -3
Où est Wolf Parade?????
Score = 1
one word: ROFLMAO.
Score = 2
ha ha ha rolling stone mag is suitable for all family members. put in the toilet everyone can share it. i mean this mag tries to please everyone who loves different kinds of music.
Score = -2
i dont get how mgmt is making these list, they only made a half a cd. If they only released a ep with the first 5 songs it would be the best ep ever but with 5 other songs that are ehh, why are they making these list.
Score = -3
I'm pretty surprised that this list is as good as it is. That being said, was John Mellancamp even relative in the mid 90's????? How the fuck is he relative today?????? It almost makes me want to get the album because you'd think it would have to drastically different from anything he's ever done to even make ANY year end list, no matter how contrived it may be. Also, Bon Iver should have done MUCH better than 29 and MMJ should be on the list, but at #40, not #4.
Score = -1
UHHH, don't you mean "relevant?" - maybe you should reconsider how "relative" your comments are.... and maybe Johnny Cougar should kick your arse.
Score = 0
they have got to be taking the piss with this!
Score = 0
I feel like everyone should list theyre top 5 or 10 to see what everyone is listening to. I would honestly love reading them.
Score = 0
Where's Portishead?
Score = -1
Here's mine (written Nov. 29th)
1. Album of the Year: TV on the Radio, “Dear Science”
The other 24, in no particular order:
2. Portishead, “Third”
3. Deerhunter, “Microcastle/Weird Era Cont.”
4. Flying Lotus, “Los Angeles”
5. My Morning Jacket, “Evil Urges”
6. Beck, “Modern Guilt”
7. Girl Talk, “Feed the Animals”
8. Erykah Badu, “New Amerykah: Pt. One”
9. Fleet Foxes, “Fleet Foxes
10. MGMT, “Orcular Spectacular”
11. Santogold & Diplo, “Top Ranking”
12. The Raconteurs, “Consolers of the Lonely”
13. Black Mountain, “In the Future”
14. No Age, “Nouns”
15. Nine Inch Nails, “Ghosts I-IV”
16. King Khan and the Shrines, “The Supreme Genius of King Khan and the Shrines”
17. Steinski, “What Does It All Mean? 1983-2006”
18. The Bug, “London Zoo”
19. The Fireman, “Electric Arguments”
20. David Byrne & Brian Eno, “Everything That Happens Will Happen Today”
21. Daedelus, “Love to Make Music To”
22. The Black Keys, “Attack & Release”
23. DJ/rupture, “Uproot”
24. Bob Dylan, “Tell Tale Signs: The Bootleg Series Vol. 8”
25. Gang Gang Dance, “Saint Dymphna”
Honorable mention: Eagles of Death Metal, “Heart On”
Favorite Reissue: Otis Redding, “Otis Redding Sings Soul (Collector’s Edition)”
And my picks for the five most overrated albums of the year:
1. Guns N’ Roses, “Chinese Democracy”
2. Lil Wayne, “Tha Carter III”
3. Vampire Weekend, “Vampire Weekend”
4. Kanye West, “808s and Heartbreak”
5. Kings of Leon, “Only by the Night”
Score = 1
Not bad, just forgot Death Magnetic in the overrated albums. Also, do you really think Dear Science is THAT much better than all the other albums? I mean, it's not even TV's best, let alone the best of the year.
Score = 0
FINALLY Brian Wilson's That Lucky Old Sun makes an appearance on one of these year-end lists. What a fantastic album.
Score = 1
WHO MADE THIS LIST? Do you even listen to music? Do you wear a hearing apliance? This list is so bad I want to go out side and choke my self while stomping a kitten to death. You should be ashamed of this list. It is obvious that you did not form the list based of artistic content. It would seem the people that produce the albums told you who to put on here. That Guns N Roses album should not be on any list except for the WalMart soon to be on clerance list. Further, how did Jonas Brothers get rated highed than ACDC? John Mellencamp, Beck and Metallica in the top 10.....Your dead to me.
Score = 0
where the fuck is deerhunter?
Score = -1
i really don't like these lists and i'll tell you why. Some albums are just for fun, entertaining listening while some are supposed to be like a journey or another dimension that you can immerse yourself in. When these two different types of music are compared and ranked amongst eachother, it's kind of like ranking voda with orance juice.
Score = 4
hooray for peacefullness
at least one person on the internet isn't angry
Score = 2
That list is BS. Black Ice was teh suck, the new GnR is alright, but its not top 20, and where the fuck is Weezer, Disturbed, and The Offspring (who made what might be their best album EVER)
Score = -5
i hate NME...but at least they put The Kills - Midnight Boom on the list. Did Rolling Stone and Spin and...Stereogum forget about this amazing album?
Score = -1
Glad to see RS appreciates GNRs Chinese Democracy. I like it more each time I listen.
Score = -1
1. Little Feat "Join the Band" 2. Cactus "5" 3.Moby Grape reissues. Not the ripoffs of Matthew Katz. Your day will come you SOB! 4.Jo Jo Gunne reissue
5.Arlen Roth"Toolin Around Woodstock"
Score = 0
It's pretty bad that the only list David Byrne & Brian Eno made this year is Rolling Stone... Everything That Happens is easily one of the ten best albums of the year,
Score = 0
WTF..........?????
Metallica should have been way higher on the list fuck whoever put them only at 9.
If John Mellencamp is that high Metyallica should be placed higher.........?????
WTF WTF WTF WTF is the world coming to.
Score = -1
Rolling Stone's ridiculous list!
Score = 0
My main man Dangermouse produced 2 of those top 20 LPs. Wait til he does another hip hop album.
Score = 0
Sorry I just want to make this post have 100 comments. But yeah, I still hate Rolling Stone.
Score = 1
The Cute Lepers will make a Best of 2008 list in 2030 when people finally know about their stellar debut album. Just wanted to mention that ya time lords.
Score = 0
I tried cleaning my monitor and adjusting the resolution, but somehow I still can't seem to find Rising Down on that list.
Score = 0
Where is "Fate" by DR. DOG? It has had great reviews all year by everyone, including Rolling Stone. Kanye West and Beck even like them.
Score = 1
FLEET FOXES!! FF deserved higher than #11, I think... but not bad for a debut LP!
Score = 0
Where's Lykke Li?
Frightened Rabbit?
No Sigur Ros or Portishead? Didn't they acclaim those albums in their reviews?
This list make Rolling Stone look behind the times.
Score = 0
Ah, TV On The Radio take the crown. I like that. A good band getting the recognition they deserve. Hopefully that adds to sales for the band, it should.
Score = 0
bob dylan rules
beck rules
Score = 1
I have my final list for the year up here: http://is.gd/cbhQ
Girl Talk is #50
and Why? is #1
Score = -1
Wtf? The Jonas Brother at #40 and AC/DC at #41, since when were the joehoes better than AC/Dc?
...
The person who wrote this is gay
Score = -2
I think what it comes down to is the fact that music is not that interesting as it was in the late 70's or early 90's. So it's not so much about the list but more about the fact that most bands with exceptions of a few SUCK. So the lists will never be right until people start creating something different than the tired old format that is derived from so much that its lost its focus and revolution. Blame it on mainstream media for being too shitty that they have to target indie bands or blame it on indie bands that market themselves to teen soap operas and car commercials. Either way it's boring and so are all of you. I just see douche bags at shows and annoying chatty girls. UGHHH
Score = 0
Bullshit! Metallica's Death Magnetic should be #1!
Score = 1
Can someone explain to me why everyone hates Rolling Stone? I mean yeah, they went too far with their Obama makeout session, and some of the albums they've reviewed well (Chinese Democracy, Jonas Brothers, Tha Carter III) are non-deserving.
But they still constantly put out good stuff, at least I think.
My top few would be these, but not in any order:
Santogold - Santogold (overrated? just because "l.e.s. artistes" has been saturated with blog and talk doesnt discredit the rest of the album)
Evil urges - MMJ (stop hating on this album. it's way different than Z if not as good, but i consider it a transition album for them, and there are great parts. "highly suspicious" can become annoying but there is a certain time when that can be the greatest jam ever. fuck, theyre playing madison square garden.)
Oracular spectacular - MGMT
I havent listened to Dear Science in full, but i guess so.
Bon Iver - for emma, forever ago (ahhhh)
Can i still say In Rainbows?
Vampire Weekend
Weezer -red album
stephen malkmus - real emotional trash
m83 - saturdays = youth
and finally
Killers - Day and Age (its a great album.)
Score = 1
Um... does anyone remember that Giant Sand album? The one that I've had on repeat for three months? Anyone?
Score = 0
OH MY GOD!!!!! This list sucks. Taylor Swift and the Jonas Brothers over R.E.M.'s Accelerate. I hate Rolling Stone and it reinforces why I stopped paying for that colorful toilet paper 12 years ago.
Score = 0
where is pink funhouse??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
Score = -2
The problem I think is it doesn't really seem like they know who their audience is. All the bands they picked are the best at what they do...at least this year they were. I'm pretty indifferent to Rolling Stone, but they are trying to stay rooted in the 60s and 70s with throwing a bone to Dylan and, although misguided it seems to me, they put the Jonas Brothers on there. I just think this is a prime example of what happens when you forget who your audience is.
Score = 1
by the looks of the cover it looked like brad pitt made #1!
yay!
mission complete
Score = 0
I can't believe The Jonas Sisters surpassed AC/DC, one of the best rock bands of ALL TIME!! Black Ice was the #1 album in 29 countries! Nowadays, music (if it can be called that) is all about the money, pop-culture success, and who has the #1 downloaded song. What happened to real music and good albums, not just a few good songs?
Score = 1
How did "Ill Bill - The Hour of Reprisal" not make the list????????????????
Score = 0
As if anyone will read this now, but this list is just ridiculous, RS doesnt know shit about music and they just try to find whats popular or whats on other peoples lists, while trying to please who they choose and gave good reviews to throughout the year. ACDC and Metallica in the top 50!!!!!?? Thats a joke, welcome to the year 2000, fuck both those bands they suck and need to throw in the towel. Dont worry cause wolf parade, cloud cult, crystal castles, black moth and tobacco, why, and so much more are left totally out. WTF. And for that last comment, Ill Bill? Yeh lets put Necro and other death hop up there, really cool. Oh yeh, nas and erika baddhu on the list: thats a good one, really cracked me up. Oh yeh lil wayne in the top five? Thats a good one, the last to hop on synth voice studio shit, and the rappers who's been ghost written for a decade. Funny stuff. RS is a corporate whore, faux-avant garde p.o.s. magazine. And TV on the radio sucks, even thought they have a lot of hype. And yeh I like bob dylan, but these are old songs and shouldn't be considered in the running for new albums of 2008. Thats it, thats all.
Score = 0
Utter rubbish with 90% of entries coming from the good ole USA and 10% from the rest of the world. Highest British entry is MOR cack Coldplay. Need I say more. Bout time this magazine went the same way as Melody Maker did over here and died.
Score = 1
rolling stone is great
Score = -1
Ummmmmm, dude, I'm pretty sure I'm pointing out the obvious but I'm 99.999% sure that you haven't even LISTENED to JB's A Little Bit Longer album. So you have absolutly no right to go around and say other albums are better then theirs. You hate them just because they're with Disney. If you would read their review of the album (and not only their review, there are many professional reviews similar to this one) that say JB are definatly more than their Disney affiliations and they all say people need to actually LISTEN to their songs before judging who they are better or worse than.
Score = 0
All you people saying GnR shouldn't be on this list are just showing what a bunch of pseuds you are.
And as for 'Is [insert artist] relevant these days?' - what the hell has 'relevance' got to do with it? It's supposed to be about enjoying listening to music not worrying about whether you're listening to the same music as everyone else!
You sad, sad losers.!
Score = 0