By Emma Lewis

A Rolling Stone cover from August 1970, featuring singer Janis Joplin. Image credit: Ron Cogswell via flickr.

Rolling Stone magazine is a monthly publication founded by Jan Wenner in 1967 in San Francisco, at the time a UC Berkeley dropout and activist, and Ralph Gleason, music critic and columnist. It started as a sort of in-between magazine and a newspaper, reporting on music, politics, and hippie counterculture. Both founders were enchanted by music at the time, Wenner calling it the “glue holding a generation together.” 

The pair raised $7,500 to create the first issue of the magazine, which was released on November 9, 1967, featuring John Lennon on the cover. Among its 24 pages, Wenner writes, “The name of it is Rolling Stone, which comes from an old saying, ‘A rolling stone gathers no moss’…We have begun a new publication reflecting what we see are the changes in rock and roll and the changes related to rock and roll.” The magazine’s name was also inspired the song “Rollin’ Stone” by blues legend Muddy Waters, and The Rolling Stones, who took their name from Waters’ song. 

The magazine has boasted writers such as outspoken punk icon Patti Smith, future filmmaker Cameron Crowe, P. J. O’Rourke, and photographer Annie Leibovitz. Its most famous stories include longer features and hallmarks of New Journalism, including Hunter Thompson’s “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas,” Tom Wolfe’s “Post Orbital Remorse,” and Lester Bang’s “The Rolling Stones Disaster at Altamont: Let it Bleed.” 

In the 1980’s and 90’s, Rolling Stone shifted its brand to more of an entertainment magazine, covering popular culture targeted towards younger audiences. This caused backlash among older readers, like journalist Samuel G. Freedman, who wrote in USA Today in 2002 that “one of the most worthless trends in magazine journalism… has been handed the living legacy that is Rolling Stone.”

In late 2016, Wenner sold 49% of Rolling Stone to Singaporean company BandLab Technologies and later sold the remaining 51% to Penske Media. Penske Media later acquired Bandlab Technologies’ share, spending around $50 million on complete control over licensing rights, international distribution and editions, and future events. 

More recent criticism of the magazine notes how the magazine tends to stray towards the white male artist. In Wenner’s 2023 collection The Masters, he published interviews with iconic musicians, all of whom happen to be white men. In an interview with David Marchese of The New York Times, when asked about the lack of black and female artists in the novel, Wenner stated that “just none of them were as articulate enough on this intellectual level.” This comment received abundant backlash, including his removal from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame board, and it sparked commentary on the exclusion and lack of recognition of Black and female artists in the music industry, both past and present.

Rolling Stone’s Top 500 Albums list originated in 2003. The first list was based on votes from 273 musicians, critics, and other industry insiders, who all submitted a ranking of their top 50 albums. The first list was criticized by many as not being diverse enough. Edna Gunderson from USA Today said in her 2003 article that “predictably, the list is weighted toward testosterone-fueled vintage rock.” Amended lists were released in 2005, 2012, 2020, and 2023, all of which made an effort to include a broader array of musicians. However, even the most recent editions of the list have received criticism for their highly western-centric views towards the album-ranking process. In his The Japan Times article entitled “Ten Japanese albums Rolling Stone missed on its ‘500 Greatest’ list,” Jonathan McNamara said that “t seems a shame then that Rolling Stone’s musical brain trust of writers and industry contributors — among them the likes of Beyoncé, Billie Eilish, The Edge and Stevie Nicks — didn’t take the opportunity to hold up albums from the world’s non-English-speaking artists and bands.”

In the brainstorming process of this article, I thought that perhaps I would listen to all 500 albums off the Rolling Stone’s top 500 list, but, as 500 is much more than I initially thought, I did not complete this feat. So, the albums listed below are ten of my favorite albums of the ones I listened to, ranked. 

I do want to mention that this is not an unbiased review. I listen to or have listened to some of these albums on the regular and definitely have an emotional tie to several of them, which did influence my ranking. 

1. To Pimp a Butterfly, Kendrick Lamar, 2015

To Pimp a Butterfly. Image credit: Top Dawg Entertainment.

I had, surprisingly, never listened to most of this album prior to this endeavor, but I thought it was phenomenal. The album reflects on political and personal themes, like institutionalized racism and depression. It is chiefly a hip-hop/rap album, with strong jazz, funk, and soul influences, and its passionate, cinematic sound is extremely compelling. Lamar is also the only non-classical or jazz musician to win a Pulitzer Prize for music, for his album Damn in 2018.

     2. Rumours, Fleetwood Mac, 1977

Rumours. Image credit: Warner Brothers Records.

This album is probably my personal all-time favorite. It was created amidst rampant drug use and romantic turmoil among members of the band, which led to an extremely dynamic, emotionally charged collection of songs. 

     3. Lady Soul, Aretha Franklin, 1968

Lady Soul. Image credit: Atlantic Records.

Franklin’s third album in two years reflected the wild career success and intense instability in her home life at the time, with her soulful vocals contrasting between admiration and contempt. She has one of the most famous voices of all time, and for good reason.

     4. Lemonade, Beyoncé, 2016

Lemonade. Image credit: Parkwood Entertainment and Columbia Records.

Lemonade, Beyoncé’s sixth studio album, was a R&B/pop album, with influences from many other genres. The album chronicles Beyonce’s reactions to her husband, Jay-Z’s, infidelity. It is a fierce, heartfelt feat of collaboration and culture, and received extensive critical acclaim. 

    5. The Velvet Underground and Nico, The Velvet Underground, Nico, 1967

The Velvet Underground and Nico. Image credit: Verve Records.

This is another one of my favorite albums prior to researching the list. I find its art-rock sound and unconventional lyrics enchanting. This album was one of the first art-rock albums produced, and it was widely disliked and even banned for its explicit content. Years later, however, it was recognized as a classic and remains one to this day.

   6. Grace, Jeff Buckley, 1994

Grace. Image credit: Columbia Records.

Although this album received varied reviews and relatively low sales at the time, but has risen immensely in esteem in recent years. It is the only studio album Buckley ever made and is revered for its proficiency in a debut album. His haunting, romantic vocals complement the instrumentals exceedingly well.

   7. A Night at the Opera, Queen, 1975

A Night At The Opera. Image credit: EMI Records.

This is an album I grew up listening to, and it remains one of my favorites due to its experimental, individual sound. Queen employed a myriad of influences for this album, including ballads, sea shanties, and, of course, opera. A Night at the Opera was the most expensive album recorded at the time of its release, due to the complex multitrack recording method used. 

   8. Let it Bleed, The Rolling Stones, 1969

Let It Bleed. Image credit: Decca Records.

Let it Bleed was composed during a difficult time in history, and for the band. It is hard not to feel like you are living in the late ‘60s while listening to this album. It is such a classic for the time period, with a blues-y rock feel and tenacious lyrics.

   9. Horses, Patti Smith, 1975

Horses. Image credit: Arista Records.

One of the first of the genre, Horses was monumental for punk rock and was an influence for many, notably female, rock musicians. I found it thematically engaging and lyrically, it is intuitive and impassioned, with an imaginative, rejuvenating feel. 

   10. OK Computer, Radiohead, 1997

OK Computer. Image credit: Parlophone Records.

In their third studio album, Radiohead dissociated themselves from their prior albums with more abstract, experimental work. The lyrics chiefly describe a dystopian future with themes of anti-capitalitalism and isolation. 

Of all of the albums on the Rolling Stone’s top 500 list, the vast majority of them were recorded before the 21st century. In my opinion, this is a major obstacle in the magazine as a whole. In recent times, magazine appears to try to appeal to a younger audience, including articles about TikTok phenomena and the Disney Channel, but in lists/rankings like the top 500 albums, it refuses to acknowledge the value and cultural influence of modern music as well as old. In the top 50 albums listed, there are six made after the year 1999. The magazine doesn’t seem to know who its readers are anymore.