Tuesday, December 31, 2013

Sales v critics v fans 2.2: Critics top 100 albums of all time - artists

What artists do the critics like - and how does that compare with the best seller list?

Unsurprisingly, the critics are not as enamoured with soundtracks as the album buying public. In fact there are no soundtracks on the critics list. Another difference - there are very few greatest hits collections or anthologies in the critics list.

1. The Beatles - 6 entries

No surprise that the Beatles are #1 - but Please Please Me is an interesting inclusion.

Revolver (#1 overall)
White Album (#2 overall)
Abbey Road
Rubber Soul
Sgt Pepper
Please Please Me


2. The Rolling Stones - 5 entries

A fitting acknowledgement of an incredible creative period from 1968 to 1978

Exile on Main Street (#3 overall)
Beggars Banquet
Let It Bleed
Sticky Fingers
Some Girls


3. Bob Dylan - 4 entries

Another incredible creative decade - from 1965 to 1975

Blood on the Tracks
Highway 61 Revisited
Blonde on Blonde
Bringing it All Back Home


4. David Bowie - 3 entries

Ziggy Stardust
Hunky Dory
Low


5.= - 2 entries

Now things really open up...

Blur, Elvis Presley, Joy Division, Michael Jackson, Nirvana, The Band, The Clash, U2


Everyone else - 1 entry

Some very worthy inclusions here. Surprising that Led Zep, Floyd, Radiohead, Neil Young don't record more entries. Tall poppy syndrome?

AC/DC
Adele
Al Green
Amy Winehouse
Arcade Fire
Arctic Monkeys
Aretha Franklin
Beastie Boys
Bob Marley and the Wailers
Bruce Springsteen
Carole King
Chuck Berry
Daft Punk
Doors
Dusty Springfield
Eagles
Eminem
Fleetwood Mac
Guns N' Roses
James Brown
Jay-Z
Jimi Hendrix Experience
John Lennon
Johnny Cash
Joni Mitchell
Kanye West
Lauryn Hill
LCD Soundsystem
Led Zeppelin
Love
Marvin Gaye
Miles Davis
Muddy Waters
My Bloody Valentine
Nas
Neil Young
Oasis
Otis Redding
Patti Smith
Paul Simon
Pink Floyd
Pixies
PJ Harvey
Primal Scream
Prince and the Revolution
Public Enemy
Pulp
Radiohead
Ramones
Robert Johnson
Sly and the Family Stone
Sonic Youth
Stevie Wonder
Suede
Talking Heads
Television
The Beach Boys
The Notorious B.I.G.
The Sex Pistols
The Smiths
The Stone Roses
The Strokes
The Velvet Underground & Nico
The Who
Van Morrison
Wu-Tang Clan

Monday, December 30, 2013

Sales v critics v fans 2.1: Critics top 100 albums of all time

Now its time to shift our focus to the critics.

I started with the top 100 from the Rolling Stone 500 which was compiled in 2009.

"The RS 500 was assembled by the editors of Rolling Stone, based on the results of two extensive polls. In 2003, Rolling Stone asked a panel of 271 artists, producers, industry executives and journalists to pick the greatest albums of all time. In 2009, we asked a similar group of 100 experts to pick the best albums of the 2000s. From those results, Rolling Stone created this new list of the greatest albums of all time."

I combined this with lists published in 2013 by New Musical Express and Entertainment Weekly to create my own meta-list.



Rank Artist Album Year
1 The Beatles Revolver 1966
2 The Beatles The Beatles (White Album) 1968
3 The Rolling Stones Exile on Main Street 1972
4 The Beach Boys Pet Sounds 1966
5 Nirvana Nevermind 1991
6 Marvin Gaye What's Going On 1971
7 The Clash London Calling 1979
8 The Velvet Underground The Velvet Underground & Nico 1967
9 Bob Dylan Blood on the Tracks 1975
10 The Beatles Abbey Road 1969
11 Stevie Wonder Innervisions 1973
12 David Bowie Ziggy Stardust 1972
13 The Beatles Rubber Soul 1965
14 Bob Dylan Highway 61 Revisited 1965
15 Joni Mitchell Blue 1971
16 Fleetwood Mac Rumours 1977
17 Bruce Springsteen Born to Run 1975
18 Michael Jackson Thriller 1982
19 Kanye West My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy 2010
20 Public Enemy It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back 1988
21 Patti Smith Horses 1975
22 Jimi Hendrix Experience Are You Experienced 1967
23 Love Forever Changes 1967
24 The Smiths The Queen is Dead 1986
25 John Lennon Plastic Ono Band 1970
26 Wu-Tang Clan Enter the Wu-Tang 1993
27 Radiohead OK Computer 1997
28 The Who Who's Next 1971
29 Prince and the Revolution Purple Rain 1984
30 Arcade Fire Funeral 2004
31 Bob Dylan Blonde on Blonde 1966
32 The Rolling Stones Beggars Banquet 1968
33 Chuck Berry The Great Twenty-Eight 1982
34 The Sex Pistols Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols 1977
35 The Rolling Stones Let it Bleed 1969
36 U2 Achtung Baby 1991
37 Van Morrison Astral Weeks 1968
38 The Beatles Sgt Pepper's Lonely hearts Club Band 1967
39 Paul Simon Graceland 1986
40 Pixies Doolitle 1989
41 Miles Davis Kind of Blue 1959
42 Aretha Franklin Lady Soul 1968
43 Television Marquee Moon 1977
44 Guns N' Roses Appetite for Destruction 1987
45 My Bloody Valentine Loveless 1991
46 Neil Young After the Gold Rush 1970
47 LCD Soundsystem Sound of Silver 2007
48 Daft Punk Discovery 2001
49 Johnny Cash At Folsom Prison 1968
50 Amy Winehouse Back to Black 2006
51 Bob Dylan Bringing it all Back Home 1965
52 David Bowie Hunky Dory 1971
53 Beastie Boys Paul's Boutique 1989
54 The Strokes Is This It 2001
55 Pulp Different Class 1995
56 Otis Redding Otis Blue 1965
57 The Stone Roses The Stone Roses 1989
58 Sonic Youth Daydream Nation 1988
59 Oasis Definitely Maybe 1994
60 Michael Jackson Off the Wall 1979
61 Elvis Presley The Sun Sessions 1999
62 Sly and the Family Stone Greatest Hits 1970
63 David Bowie Low 1977
64 PJ Harvey Let England Shake 2011
65 Joy Division Closer 1980
66 Lauryn Hill The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill 1998
67 Elvis Presley Sunrise (Anthology) 1999
68 Carole King Tapestry 1971
69 Adele 21 2011
70 The Rolling Stones Sticky Fingers 1971
71 AC/DC Back in Black 1980
72 Al Green Call Me 1973
73 Arctic Monkeys Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not 2006
74 Robert Johnson The Complete Recordings 1990
75 Blur Parklife 1994
76 James Brown Live at the Apollo 1963
77 Bob Marley and the Wailers Catch a Fire 1973
78 The Band The Band 1969
79 U2 The Joshua Tree 1987
80 Primal Scream Screamadelica 1991
81 Nas Illimatic 1994
82 Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin 1969
83 Talking Heads Remain in Light 1980
84 Suede Dog Man Star 1994
85 The Notorious B.I.G. Ready to Die 1994
86 Ramones Ramones 1976
87 Blur Modern Life is Rubbish 1993
88 Band Music From Big Pink 1968
89 Dusty Springfield Dusty in Memphis 1969
90 The Rolling Stones Some Girls 1978
91 Nirvana In Utero 1993
92 Jay-Z The Blueprint 2001
93 Pink Floyd Dark Side of the Moon 1973
94 Eagles Hotel California 1976
95 Muddy Waters The Anthology 2001
96 The Beatles Please Please Me 1963
97 Joy Division Unknown Pleasures 1979
98 The Clash The Clash 1977
99 Eminem The Marshall Mathers LP 2000
100 Doors The Doors 1967

Saturday, December 28, 2013

Sales v critics v fans 1.3: Biggest selling albums of all time - Decades

You might think that albums from the 70s would have outsold albums from the 80s, which in turn would have outsold albums from the 90s, etc simply because the older albums have been around longer and therefore would have had the chance to sell more.

The truth is just the opposite, as shown in the following chart. (Click to enlarge.)


Each decade had more big selling albums than the one before - until a wall was hit in the 2000s. The wall was the Net, as discussed in the prior post.

But what of the trend before then? Either: (a) the whole market was expanding from decade to decade; or (b) the market was concentrating (i.e. the big sellers were getting a bigger share of the pie); or a combination of (a) and (b). We can't tell from these data alone.

Sales v critics v fans 1.2: Biggest selling albums of all time - Years

In this post we look at the year of release of the albums in the top 100 - shown in the chart below. (Click on the chart to enlarge.)



  • The first entry is in 1967 - the Beatles with Sgt Pepper. No Sinatra or Miles Davis. The big sellers are products of the modern era beginning in the late 60s.
  • Surprisingly, the biggest year was not in the glory days of the 60s or 70s - but was 8 entries in 1991. Rock, in all its manifestations, was going off - with 2 entries from G'n'R and entries from Metallica, Nirvana, Pearl Jam and U2. Here are the entries for 1991: 

Guns n' Roses   Use Your Illusion 2 
Guns n' Roses   Use Your Illusion 1
Metallica   Metallica (Black Album) 
Michael Jackson   Dangerous
Nirvana   Nevermind
Pearl Jam   Ten 
Queen   Greatest Hits II 
U2   Achtung Baby 
  • Even though 1991 had the most entries, the half way mark was 1987. 49 entries were released in 1987 or earlier. 51 entries were released in 1988 or later.
  • Things die after 2002. There are no entries for 8 consecutive years until the final entry - 21 by Adele.
The bottom line is that the age of the blockbuster album is over and ended in 2002. The causes are probably threefold:
  • the internet era and the unbundling of albums made possible by iTunes and streaming services; 
  • the democratisation of the means of music production with an attendant flood of product, diluting sales over a greater number of releases; and
  • greater competition for the entertainment dollar from entertainment forms that didn't exist in the heyday of the album.
There will be occasional exceptions (witness Adele), but they will be rare.

To conclude on a positive note - Adele's achievement is quite extraordinary. 21 was the biggest selling album in 2011 and 2012. It has continued to sell strongly in 2013. When this list was compiled (Feb 2013) it was already at equal 30th place in all time sales. I suspect that by now it is one of the top 20 biggest selling albums of all time. And she did it while keeping her clothes on.

The only other album from the 2000s and beyond to make the top 20 is 1 by the Beatles.


Sales v critics v fans 1.1: Biggest selling albums of all time - Artists

Which artists have the most entries on the Top 100 biggest selling albums of all time? Glad you asked.

The artist with the most entries is - Soundtrack, with 8 entries. In descending sales order they are:

Grease, The Bodyguard, Saturday Night Fever, Dirty Dancing, Titanic,  Footloose, Top Gun, The Lion King    

Ok, let's put them to one side.

1. The Beatles - 6 entries

Well, that makes sense. Sgt Pepper, Abbey Rd, White Album, Rubber Soul, Revolver, Let It Be - all worthy contenders right? Wrong.

The biggest selling Beatles album of all time is: 1 - the greatest hits collection released in 2000. So far it has outsold Sgt Pepper, the next biggest selling. Then comes Abbey Rd, then two more greatest hits collections released in 1973 (originally as two LP sets), 1962-1966 and 1967-1970. Finally the White Album rounds out the half dozen.


2. Michael Jackson - 5 entries

Probably not too surprising. Thriller is, of course, the biggest selling album of all time - by a long way. Then come (in order of sales) Bad, Dangerous and Off the Wall. Finally the greatest hits collection HIStory. So MJ actually has one more original album in the top 100 than the Beatles.


3.= Celine Dion, Guns'n'Roses, Led Zeppelin, Madonna, Pink Floyd, U2 - 3 entries

Not a bad club. I was a little surprised to see Celine and the Gunners there. But combined with the Beatles and MJ this would be an ok desert island collection.

Celine Dion: Let's Talk About Love, Falling Into You, All the Way...a Decade of Song

Guns'n'Roses: Appetite for Destruction, Use Your Illusion 2, Use Your Illusion 1

Led Zeppelin: IV, II, Houses of the Holy

Madonna: The Immaculate Collection, True Blue, Like a Virgin

Pink Floyd: Dark Side of the Moon (#2 overall), The Wall, Wish You Were Here

U2: The Joshua Tree, The Best of 1980-1990, Achtung Baby


9.= Backstreet Boys, Bon Jovi, Britney Spears, Eagles, Eminem, Fleetwood Mac, Mariah Carey, Phil Collins, Queen, Simon & Garfunkel, Whitney Houston - 2 entries

Surprised to see Eminem here with The Marshall Mathers LP and The Eminem Show. The rest not so surprising. Only a couple of what I would call truly disposable artists - but I must admit to guilty pleasure with Backstreet Boys and Britney.

Backstreet Boys: Millenium, Backstreet Boys

Bon Jovi: Slippery When Wet, Crossroad (The Very Best of)

Britney Spears: Baby One More Time, Oops!...I Did it Again

Eagles: Their Greatest Hits 1971-1975, Hotel California

Fleetwood Mac: Rumours, Greatest Hits

Mariah Carey: Music Box, Daydream

Phil Collins: No Jacket Required, ...But Seriously

Queen: Greatest Hits, Greatest Hits II

Simon & Garfunkel: Greatest Hits, Bridge over Troubled Water

Whitney Houston: Whitney Houston, Whitney


Everyone else - 1 entry

An interesting bunch. Not suprising that most of these are on the list. But I was surprised that artists like Prince and Elton John didn't have more entries.

Abba
AC/DC 
Ace Of Base 
Adele 
Alanis Morissette 
Andrea Bocelli 
Avril Lavigne 
Billy Joel 
Bob Marley 
Boston 
Bruce Springsteen 
Carole King 
Cranberries 
Def Leppard 
Dire Straits 
Elton John 
Eric Clapton 
Garth Brooks 
George Michael 
Green Day 
Hootie & The Blowfish 
James Taylor 
Journey 
Kenny G 
Linkin Park 
Lionel Richie 
MC Hammer 
Meat Loaf 
Metallica 
Nirvana 
Norah Jones 
Oasis 
Pearl Jam 
Prince 
Santana 
Shania Twain 
Spice Girls 
Supertramp 
The Police 
Tracy Chapman 
ZZ Top 

Notable absences from the top 100 include David Bowie, Bob Dylan, Rolling Stones. I hypothesise that this is because they are relatively prolific artists who have been working over many decades - so their sales are diluted by being spread over many releases meaning that none make it onto the top 100.  

Sales v critics v fans 1: Biggest selling albums of all time

We are going to start our three way play off by looking at the biggest selling albums of all time.

The first challenge is sourcing the data. I've chosen the Alltime Album Chart from Mediatraffic. This combines "official" sales figures from around the world.

Rank Artist Album Date Sales (million)
1 Michael Jackson   Thriller (inc. 25th Anniversary Reissue) 1983 34
2= Pink Floyd   The Dark Side Of The Moon 1973 20
2= Soundtrack   Grease 1978 20
4= Soundtrack   The Bodyguard 1992 19
4= Eagles   Their Greatest Hits 1971-1975 1976 19
6 Soundtrack   Saturday Night Fever 1978 18
7= Led Zeppelin   Led Zeppelin IV 1971 17
7= Shania Twain   Come On Over 1997 17
7= AC/DC   Back In Black 1980 17
7= Michael Jackson   Bad 1987 17
11= Fleetwood Mac   Rumours 1977 16
11= Bob Marley & The Wailers   Legend 1984 16
11= Alanis Morissette   Jagged Little Pill 1995 16
11= Beatles  1 2000 16
15= Beatles   Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band 1967 15
15= Michael Jackson   Dangerous 1991 15
15= Celine Dion   Let's Talk About Love 1997 15
15= Pink Floyd   The Wall 1979 15
19= Guns n' Roses   Appetite For Destruction 1988 14
19= Celine Dion   Falling Into You 1996 14
19= Dire Straits   Brothers In Arms 1985 14
19= Bruce Springsteen   Born In The U.S.A. 1984 14
19= Eagles   Hotel California 1976 14
19= Soundtrack   Dirty Dancing 1987 14
19= Abba   Gold Greatest Hits 1992 14
19= Simon & Garfunkel   Greatest Hits 1972 14
19= Meat Loaf   Bat Out Of Hell 1978 14
19= U2   The Joshua Tree 1987 14
19= Queen   Greatest Hits 1981 14
30= Beatles   Abbey Road 1969 13
30= Soundtrack   Titanic 1998 13
30= Madonna   The Immaculate Collection 1990 13
30= Mariah Carey   Music Box 1993 13
30= Adele   21 2011 13
35= Nirvana   Nevermind 1991 12
35= Metallica   Metallica 1991 12
35= Backstreet Boys   Millennium 1999 12
35= Santana   Supernatural 1999 12
35= Beatles  1962-1966 1973 12
35= Beatles  1967-1970 1973 12
35= Eric Clapton   Unplugged 1992 12
35= Norah Jones   Come Away With Me 2002 12
43= Whitney Houston   Whitney Houston 1985 11
43= Britney Spears   Baby One More Time 1999 11
43= Bon Jovi   Slippery When Wet 1986 11
43= Elton John   Greatest Hits 1974 11
43= Queen   Greatest Hits II 1991 11
43= Phil Collins   No Jacket Required 1985 11
43= Spice Girls   Spice 1996 11
43= Madonna   True Blue 1986 11
43= Phil Collins   ...But Seriously 1989 11
43= Simon & Garfunkel   Bridge Over Troubled Water 1970 11
43= Backstreet Boys   Backstreet Boys (Original + U.S.Version)  1996 11
43= Eminem   The Marshall Mathers LP 2000 11
43= Beatles   The Beatles (White Album) 1968 11
56= Boston   Boston 1976 10
56= Celine Dion   All The Way...A Decade Of Song 1999 10
56= Mariah Carey   Daydream 1995 10
56= Lionel Richie   Can't Slow Down 1983 10
56= Ace Of Base   The Sign / Happy Nation 1994 10
56= Madonna   Like A Virgin 1984 10
56= Pink Floyd   Wish You Were Here 1975 10
56= Whitney Houston   Whitney 1987 10
56= Prince   Purple Rain 1984 10
56= Eminem   The Eminem Show 2002 10
56= Bon Jovi   Cross Road (The Very Best Of) 1994 10
56= Britney Spears   Oops!...I Did It Again 2000 10
56= Led Zeppelin   Led Zeppelin II 1969 10
56= Michael Jackson   Off The Wall 1979 10
56= Michael Jackson   HIStory 1995 10
71= Tracy Chapman   Tracy Chapman 1988 9
71= Carole King   Tapestry 1971 9
71= George Michael   Faith 1987 9
71= Soundtrack   Top Gun 1986 9
71= Def Leppard   Hysteria 1987 9
71= Hootie & The Blowfish   Cracked Rear View 1994 9
71= Garth Brooks   No Fences 1990 9
71= Linkin Park   Hybrid Theory 2000 9
71= U2   The Best Of 1980-19 1998 9
71= Billy Joel   Greatest Hits I & II 1985 9
71= Guns n' Roses   Use Your Illusion 2 1991 9
71= Green Day   Dookie 1994 9
71= James Taylor   Greatest Hits 1976 9
71= Soundtrack   Footloose 1984 9
71= Supertramp   Breakfast In America 1978 9
86= MC Hammer   Please Hammer Don't Hurt 'em 1990 8
86= Soundtrack   The Lion King 1994 8
86= U2   Achtung Baby 1991 8
86= ZZ Top   Eliminator 1983 8
86= Guns n' Roses   Use Your Illusion 1 1991 8
86= Kenny G   Breathless 1992 8
86= Oasis   (What's The Story) Morning Glory? 1995 8
86= Pearl Jam   Ten 1991 8
86= Andrea Bocelli   Romanza 1997 8
86= Led Zeppelin   Houses Of The Holy 1973 8
86= Cranberries   No Need To Argue 1994 8
86= Fleetwood Mac   Greatest Hits 1988 8
86= Avril Lavigne   Let Go 2002 8
86= Journey   Greatest Hits 1988 8
86= The Police   Synchronictiy 1983 8

Friday, December 27, 2013

Christmas 2013 - plenty of music geekiness coming up

Holidays are when I get to kick back from analysing businesses - and spend a few hours analysing music. I've found a few new sources of music data, so over the festive season I aim to write two series of posts.

The first is the highly contentious Best Albums of All Time. This will be a three way analysis comparing the 100 best selling albums of all time with the top 100s as voted by fans and critics.

The other series will be be a similar analysis just for the year 2013.

Wednesday, October 9, 2013

Best albums of the 2000s - Rolling Stone vs The People 5: Best of the Best

Wouldn't it be great if somehow we could combine the Rolling Stone and People's lists into one uber-list?

Loose no more sleep pining! With the magic of Excel I have done just that.

I gave each album on each list a score out of 100. This was just 101 minus the rank - so the top album has a score of 100 while the lowest album has a score of 1. Then I added the scores on the two lists together. So if an album appeared on both lists its total score was the sum of the separate scores. For albums appearing on only one list, the total score was just the score from that list. Then I ranked the albums by total score and took the top 100.

Here is the resulting top 100.

Best albums of the 2000s - Rolling Stone and People (RYM) combined


1 . Radiohead  Kid A
2 . Arcade Fire  Funeral
3 . Wilco  Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
4 . The Strokes  Is This It
5 . Radiohead  Amnesiac
5 . Radiohead  In Rainbows
7 . The Flaming Lips  Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots
8 . Jay-Z  The Blueprint
9 . Interpol  Turn On The Bright Lights
9 . The White Stripes  Elephant
11 . Kanye West  The College Dropout
12 . Daft Punk  Discovery
13 . Sigur Rós  ()
13 . Sufjan Stevens Illinoise
15 . Björk  Vespertine
16 . LCD Soundsystem  Sound Of Silver
17 . Godspeed You Black Emperor!  Lift Yr. Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven! 
17 . PJ Harvey  Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea
19 . Opeth  Blackwater Park 
20 . Madvillain  Madvillainy 
21 . Eminem The Marshall Mathers LP
22 . Bob Dylan Modern Times
22 . Tool  Lateralus 
24 . M.I.A. Kala
25 . Bob Dylan Love And Theft
26 . Modest Mouse  The Moon & Antarctica 
26 . U2 All That You Can’t Leave Behind
28 . Arcade Fire  Neon Bible
28 . J Dilla  Donuts 
28 . Jay-Z The Black Album
31 . Bruce Springsteen The Rising
31 . Queens of the Stone Age  Songs for the Deaf 
31 . Radiohead  Hail To The Thief
34 . At the Drive-In  Relationship of Command 
34 . OutKast Stankonia
36 . Beck Sea Change
37 . MGMT Oracular Spectacular
37 . Portishead  Third 
39 . Amy Winehouse Back To Black
39 . The National  Boxer 
41 . Isis Panopticon 
41 . The White Stripes White Blood Cells
43 . Agalloch  The Mantle 
43 . Coldplay A Rush Of Blood To The Head
45 . Green Day American Idiot
46 . Agalloch  Ashes Against the Grain 
46 . D’Angelo Voodoo
48 . Bruce Springsteen Magic
48 . Electric Wizard  Dopethrone 
50 . Tom Waits  Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers & Bastards 
51 . Cat Power The Greatest
51 . Joanna Newsom  Ys 
53 . Johnny Cash American III: Solitary Man 
53 . Porcupine Tree  In Absentia 
53 . Yeah Yeah Yeahs Fever To Tell
56 . Sigur Rós Ágætis Byrjun
56 . The Mars Volta  De-Loused in the Comatorium 
58 . Converge  Jane Doe 
59 . Boards of Canada Geogaddi 
59 . My Morning Jacket Z
61 . Lil Wayne Tha Carter III
62 . The Microphones  The Glow Pt. 2 
63 . OutKast Speakerboxxx/The Love Below
63 . Unwound  Leaves Turn Inside You 
65 . Clint Mansell  The Fountain 
66 . Broken Social Scene  You Forgot It in People 
66 . Fleet Foxes  Fleet Foxes
66 . U2 No Line On The Horizon
69 . 50 Cent Get Rich Or Die Tryin’
69 . The National  Alligator 
71 . Opeth  Ghost Reveries 
71 . Ryan Adams Heartbreaker
73 . Kings Of Leon Aha Shake Heartbreak
73 . Yann Tiersen  Amélie 
75 . Kanye West Late Registration
76 . Arctic Monkeys Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not
76 . Sigur Ros Takk 
78 . Elliott Smith Figure 8
78 . Immolation  Close to a World Below 
80 . The Avalanches  Since I Left You 
80 . The Killers Hot Fuss
82 . Opeth  Damnation 
82 . System Of A Down Toxicity
84 . Kanye West Graduation
84 . Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds  No More Shall We Part 
86 . Deltron 3030  Deltron 3030 
86 . Justin Timberlake FutureSex/LoveSounds
88 . Johnny Cash  American IV: The Man Comes Around 
89 . Panda Bear  Person Pitch 
89 . TV On The Radio Dear Science
91 . Fiona Apple Extraordinary Machine
91 . 山岡晃 [Akira Yamaoka]  Silent Hill 2: Original Soundtrack 
93 . Bright Eyes I’m Wide Awake It’s Morning
94 . Mastodon  Leviathan 
94 . Spoon Kill The Moonlight
96 . Coil  The Ape of Naples 
96 . M.I.A. Arular
98 . Fugazi  The Argument 
98 . Kings Of Leon Only By The Night
100 . Animal Collective  Merriweather Post Pavilion 
100 . Norah Jones Come Away With Me


Now that's a list!

Best albums of the 2000s - Rolling Stone vs The People 4: Differences

In this post I look at albums that appeared on one list but not on the other.

Albums on the Rolling Stone list but not the RYM list

50 Cent  Get Rich Or Die Tryin’
Alicia Keys  Songs In A Minor
Amadou & Miriam  Dimanche A Bamako
Amy Winehouse  Back To Black
Antony & The Johnsons  I Am A Bird Now
Arctic Monkeys  Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not
Beck  Sea Change
Bob Dylan  Love And Theft
Bob Dylan  Modern Times
Brian Wilson  Smile
Bright Eyes  I’m Wide Awake It’s Morning
Bright Eyes  Lifted Of The Story Is In The Soil, Keep Your Ear To The Ground
Bruce Springsteen  Magic
Bruce Springsteen  The Rising
Cat Power  The Greatest
Coldplay  A Rush Of Blood To The Head
Coldplay  Parachutes
Coldplay  Viva La Vida
D’Angelo  Voodoo
Danger Mouse  The Grey Album
Death Cab For Cutie  Transatlanticism
Elliott Smith  Figure 8
Eminem  The Eminem Show
Eminem  The Marshall Mathers LP
Fiona Apple  Extraordinary Machine
Franz Ferdinand  Franz Ferdinand
Gillian Welch  Time The Revelator
Gnarls Barkley  St. Elsewhere
Green Day  American Idiot
Jay-Z  The Black Album
Jay-Z  The Blueprint
Johnny Cash  Unearthed
Justin Timberlake  FutureSex/LoveSounds
Kanye West  808s And Heartbreak
Kanye West  Graduation
Kanye West  Late Registration
Kings Of Leon  Aha Shake Heartbreak
Kings Of Leon  Youth And Young Manhood
Leonard Cohen  10 New Songs
Lil Wayne  Tha Carter III
M.I.A.  Arular
M.I.A.  Kala
Manu Chao  Próxima Estación Esperanza
MGMT  Oracular Spectacular
Missy Elliott  Under Construction
My Morning Jacket  Z
Norah Jones  Come Away With Me
OutKast  Speakerboxxx/The Love Below
OutKast  Stankonia
Phoenix  Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
Red Hot Chili Peppers  Stadium Arcadium
Robert Plant & Alison Krauss  Raising Sand
Ryan Adams  Gold
Ryan Adams  Heartbreaker
Sigur Rós  Ágætis Byrjun
Sleater-Kinney  The Woods
Spoon  Kill The Moonlight
System Of A Down  Toxicity
The Black Keys  Attack & Release
The Hives  Veni Vidi Vicious
The Hold Steady  Almost Killed Me
The Killers  Hot Fuss
The Libertines  Up The Brackett
The New Pornographers  Electric Version
The Postal Service  Give Up
The Shins  Oh, Inverted World
The Streets  Original Pirate Material
The White Stripes  White Blood Cells
TV On The Radio  Dear Science
TV On The Radio  Return To Cookie Mountain
U2  All That You Can’t Leave Behind
U2  How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb
U2  No Line On The Horizon
Vampire Weekend  Vampire Weekend
Wilco  Sky Blue Sky
Yeah Yeah Yeahs  Fever To Tell

3 each by Coldplay, Kanye and U2. 2 each by Dylan, Bright Eyes, Springstein, Eminem, Jay-Z, Kings of Leon, OutKast, Ryan Adams, TV on the Radio. There's a lot of big names here.

Albums on the RYM list but not the Rolling Stone list

Agalloch  Ashes Against the Grain 
Agalloch  The Mantle 
Animal Collective  Merriweather Post Pavilion 
Animal Collective  Strawberry Jam 
Arcturus  The Sham Mirrors 
At the Drive-In  Relationship of Command 
Boards of Canada Geogaddi 
Bob Dylan  The Bootleg Series Vol. 8: Tell Tale Signs - Rare and Unreleased 1989-2006 
Boris  Boris at Last -Feedbacker- 
Brand New  The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me 
Broken Social Scene  You Forgot It in People 
Burial Untrue 
Cannibal Ox  The Cold Vein 
Clint Mansell  The Fountain 
Coil  The Ape of Naples 
Converge  Jane Doe 
CunninLynguists  A Piece of Strange 
Deftones  White Pony 
Deltron 3030  Deltron 3030 
Devin Townsend  Terria 
Electric Wizard  Dopethrone 
Explosions in the Sky  The Earth Is Not a Cold Dead Place 
Fugazi  The Argument 
Ghostface Killah  Supreme Clientele 
Godspeed You! Black Emperor  Lift Yr. Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven! 
Godspeed You! Black Emperor  Yanqui U.X.O. 
Howard Shore  The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring 
Immolation  Close to a World Below 
Isis Panopticon 
Isis  Oceanic 
J Dilla  Donuts 
Jay-Z  The Blueprint 
Joanna Newsom  Ys 
Johnny Cash  American IV: The Man Comes Around 
Madvillain  Madvillainy 
Mastodon  Crack the Skye 
Mastodon  Leviathan 
Mitch Hedberg  Mitch All Together 
Modest Mouse  The Moon & Antarctica 
Moonsorrow  Kivenkantaja 
Moonsorrow  Verisäkeet 
Morton Feldman  String Quartet No. 2 
Neurosis  A Sun That Never Sets 
Neurosis  The Eye of Every Storm 
Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds  No More Shall We Part 
Opeth  Blackwater Park 
Opeth  Damnation 
Opeth  Ghost Reveries 
Pain of Salvation  Remedy Lane 
Pain of Salvation  The Perfect Element I 
Panda Bear  Person Pitch 
Porcupine Tree  Deadwing 
Porcupine Tree  In Absentia 
Porcupine Tree  Lightbulb Sun 
Portishead  Third 
Primordial  To the Nameless Dead 
Queens of the Stone Age  Songs for the Deaf 
Sigur Ros Takk 
Stars of the Lid  The Tired Sounds of Stars of the Lid 
Sun Kil Moon Ghosts of the Great Highway 
The Avalanches  Since I Left You 
The Mars Volta  De-Loused in the Comatorium 
The Microphones  The Glow Pt. 2 
The National  Alligator 
The National  Boxer 
The Roots  Game Theory 
Tim Hecker  Harmony in Ultraviolet 
Tom Waits  Alice 
Tom Waits  Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers & Bastards 
Tool  Lateralus 
Ulver  Perdition City 
Unwound  Leaves Turn Inside You 
Vektor  Black Future 
Venetian Snares  Rossz csillag alatt született 
Yann Tiersen  Amélie 
山岡晃 [Akira Yamaoka]  Silent Hill 2: Original Soundtrack 



Opeth and Porcupine Tree each appear 3 times. Aggaloch, Animal Collective, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Isis, Mastodon, Moonsorrow, Neurosis, Pain of Salvation, The National and Tom Waits each appear twice. So this is a heavier, more progressive, less mainstream list.