How Critics Rank the Greatest Albums

Rolling Stone 2020 update of its 500 greatest albums put Marvin Gaye Whats Going On at number one, with the Beatles and Bob Dylan filling most of the top ten. Earlier versions of the list, published in 2003 and condensed from votes by hundreds of musicians and writers, had topped with Sgt.

Pepper. Lists from NME, Pitchfork and encyclopedia polls shift with each decade as canon widens beyond rock.

Treat them as snapshots of critical mood, not settled science..