It's Science

I know that when I come across "Top X of X All Time" lists, I invariably get annoyed at how opaque the rationale and criteria is behind the list. Witness Entertainment Weekly's recent lists of the best 100 movies, books, TV shows, and albums of the last 25 years, for just one example. So seeing that the Yahoo! music blogger (who knew such a beast existed!) has published his list of the 20 greatest albums ever, as determined by a, if not unassailable, at least fair and rigorous statistical analysis of sales figures, critical acclaim, staying power, and Grammy love, kind of makes me happy.

Here's his list:

#20. Faith - George Michael
#19. Appetite For Destruction - Guns N' Roses
#18. Purple Rain - Prince
#17. Houses Of The Holy - Led Zeppelin
#16. Born In The U.S.A. - Bruce Springsteen
#15. Nevermind - Nirvana
#14. Van Halen - Van Halen
#13. Rumours - Fleetwood Mac
#12. The Wall - Pink Floyd
#11. The Joshua Tree - U2
#10. Metallica - Metallica
#9. Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin
#8. Hotel California - Eagles
#7. The White Album - The Beatles
#6. Led Zeppelin IV - Led Zeppelin
#5. Abbey Road - The Beatles
#4. Physical Graffiti - Led Zeppelin
#3. Thriller - Michael Jackson
#2. Dark Side Of The Moon - Pink Floyd
#1. Songs In The Key Of Life - Stevie Wonder

Do click over though and take a look at how he compiled it - the approach seems pretty fair and comprehensive to me.

Until Whenever