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if you write "of all time", it has to be "of all time", not a good 50% of it from modern years to appeal to the kidz.
I agree. Not having Beethoven’s 5th on an “of all time” list is ridiculous (to the extent that I inherently think the concept of top lists is ridiculous in the first place)
 
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There are albums going back to the 50's on the top 100 list. What year, in your estimation, did good music stop being made?
It’s still being made, but it isn’t topping the charts, so isn’t going to make it onto one of these lists, unfortunately

I have like 2k albums in my music but of that only a handful made this list 🥲
 
This isn't a list of the 100 best pieces of music of all time. It's a list of albums and classical music simply doesn't fit the "album" format very well. Classical music predates the format, which came about as a way to package and present 20th century popular music.
Why do you believe classical music doesn’t fit albums? It is a commonly known fact that a CD is 74 minutes long to accomodate Beethoven’s 9th. So if anything, modern albums are formatted against classical music!

If anything, modern pop music doesn’t fit albums. It’s all singles now. Nothing wrong with that, but the whole concept of albums is old hat.
 
Why do you believe classical music doesn’t fit albums? It is a commonly known fact that a CD is 74 minutes long to accomodate Beethoven’s 9th. So if anything, modern albums are formatted against classical music!

If anything, modern pop music doesn’t fit albums. It’s all singles now. Nothing wrong with that, but the whole concept of albums is old hat.

An album IS a collection of singles. So no, the format isn’t outdated or unfitting for current popular music.

Meanwhile, what in the world makes you think that the 9th symphony is representative of all of orchestral music? How much of Wagner’s Ring Cycle would fit on a CD, for example?

Classical or orchestral music is less suited to the album format than pop. The album itself was conceived as a collection of singles. The CD was anecdotally influenced by the 9th but that doesn’t really prove any point since CD is basically an extension of vinyl records. Albums. Of singles. Concept records like Pepper and Dark Side are the exception, not the rule.
 
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Why do you believe classical music doesn’t fit albums? It is a commonly known fact that a CD is 74 minutes long to accomodate Beethoven’s 9th. So if anything, modern albums are formatted against classical music!
Stunning, I had no idea albums did not exist until the release of CDs to the market in the 80's. 🙄

A principal (and industry giant) behind the development of the CD disputes that "commonly known fact" as a myth anyway.


If anything, modern pop music doesn’t fit albums. It’s all singles now. Nothing wrong with that, but the whole concept of albums is old hat.
What are you talking about? Most modern pop music still exists as albums. The difference is that since folks don't have to buy entire albums anymore to get music, they often just buy or add the individual songs they like to their libraries.
 
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I don’t get the complaint either. #28 may actually be a record for DSotM on a list of greatest albums. It’s ranked lower on the 2003 and 2020 Rolling Stone lists. And the 2003 was even heavy on classic rock albums while this list has much more breadth.
Yeah, ultimately 90s and early 00s lists were still very boomer leaning. This list has some bizarre choices but it also has a group of albums commonly found near the top of many lists. I do not think 6 out of the 10 best popular music albums ever were made in my lifetime but perhaps I'm just getting old.
 
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This top 100 list has been rubbish. Personally, As a non American, especially so because the list is full of hardcore African American albums that really weren’t that popular abroad. Additionally, the list seems uncorrelated with album sales, concert sales and streaming plays. Who came up with this nonsense? Some of the most successful albums based on sales were way down in the lower half then to have attention seeking singers like Beyoncé in the top 10 is a joke. How many millions of albums did the Beatles sell vs. Beyoncé? Many people around the world wouldn’t even know who Frank Ocean is and yet Apple has his album at #5, seriously???

No Pet Sounds, no Rumors, no lots of things. But I’m not gen Y or Z so my list would be completely different.
No, I’m Gen Y. The list is garbage. Pet Sounds should be in the top 10 over an Album by Frank Ocean that most people never listened to.

Lauren Hill is number 1? I don't believe that, that album was garbage.
It was a one hit wonder album. She released like 2 or 3 singles. Rubbish!

View attachment 2381263
Did you look at the list?
Kanye at 26. lol! Can he even sing or write a song?
 
I don’t get the complaint either. #28 may actually be a record for DSotM on a list of greatest albums. It’s ranked lower on the 2003 and 2020 Rolling Stone lists. And the 2003 was even heavy on classic rock albums while this list has much more breadth.
Much of the recent Rolling Stone list is worse than this Apple top 100...

But I agree about DSotM. I adore a few of the tracks but don't particularly like listening to the whole thing from start to finish.
 
I will never get people's obsession with Beyonce. Her music is all incredibly mediocre.

Unfortunately a good majority of people like whatever is popular and forced on us by radio and the record industry. This top ten list looks like something out of South Park, predictable and terrible. They’re telling us that the best album of all time, is one by Lauren Hill???

Mayyyyybe 1,001?

Beyoncé is just pop junk like most music, not even in the top 5,000. But Apple has to be Apple.
 
Each generation does have its own generation of music - but lets be honest, in 100 years which of those albums from 2006 onwards will still be recognised or listened to as much as The Beatles or Michael Jackson?

Seems bizarre there's no Sam Cooke, Fleetwood Mac, Bee Gees, Eagles (all way before my time), Oasis (who personally I don't like but there music pretty much dominated an entire decade) or about 20 others you could easily spout from the top of your head.
These are all artists/bands that you could play a song anywhere in the world and people will recognise it. Frank Ocean and Amy Winehouse on the other hand...

...and dare I say it - I think Beyonce peaked in the Mid 2000s waaaay before Lemonade.

Full disclosure: Millennial here 🤣
I’m a millennial and I totally agree with this being a more sensible way of considering top 100 albums. Anyone over 50 would likely not have heard of Frank Ocean so he shouldn’t be in the top 10. Did Peter Gabriel make the list? He’s had multiple European number 1 albums across his 50 year career and sells out shows across the globe. What about Phil Collins? The Beach Boys? Tina Turner who was filling stadiums again for 30+ years? Robbie Williams could even pack any stadium around the world in the 1990’s though not to my taste. Taylor Swift is very popular with kids these days though I couldn’t name one of her albums, perhaps she could make it to top 10 based on the ticket sales for her recent tour. U2 filled stadiums around the world for 10+ years. INXS did well internationally and sold out shows around the world. Billy Joel, Elton John, Cold Play again did incredibly well for their first decade. Daft Punk, David Bowie, Dolly Parton, Ella Fitzgerald, Elvis Presley, Eurhythmics, Johnny Cash, Paul Simon, Queen, Talking Heads, Simply Red, Willie Nelson, Roy Orbison? Sorry, Apple you really failed 100% with this list. Horrible list and really niche African American focused. Frank Ocean above any of these artists is nonsense! Could he even fill 10 shows in a European city or somewhere like Australia at his peak?

Also an album isn’t always a collection of singles. Artists, from the 1970’s I think, created albums to take the listener on a journey. They were designed to be listened to as a whole and told a story.
 
I wouldn't have put VH in the top 10, but I am surprised neither Van Halen nor 1984 made the cut for the list at all. Van Halen (the album) in particular was a game changer for hard rock.

To think that they didn’t make the list, but several pop albums did, that were written by a team of people, and the “artists” probably couldn’t play a musical instrument to save their lives, is crazy. Buying a Samsung S24 ultra right now.
 
You go into the app where they advertise this album list, so you tap on it and it takes you outside of the app to a web page so that you can see the list, and as you browse the list you are either stuck on the web page, or you do several taps to take you back into the app to see the album you want to listen to.

Apple always has the best user experience. /s
 
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Funny how I don't know almost half...
And these are the 10 best!
Who knew Beyonce was superior to Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Madonna, Joni Mitchell and whatnot.

And garbage like Kanye, Drake, Alanis Morisette, all better than Queen, Metallica, Van Halen?

There’s some good ones on the list, I think what’s most problematic is what shouldn’t be on it, and there’s a lot. I’m not even a fan of most old music myself, but I do respect and appreciate talent, like I don’t personally care for the Beatles or Led Zeppelin, but I can see why so many people do. When I see some of this newer absolute crap made by people who can’t sing, write, or play music, it goes to show Apple is crazy!
 
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Lana Del Ray? Holy crap this is an eff'd up list.

Not that any list covering so many decades would be acceptable to all, but
 
Lana Del Ray? Holy crap this is an eff'd up list.

Not that any list covering so many decades would be acceptable to all, but

Decades, genres and a dozen other aspects that make a list like this pretty silly. They should have dumped the word “best” and called it something like AppleMusic Favorite 100 or something. Inserting “best” gives too much opportunity for people to get bent out of shape. “Best” is completely subjective and we don’t even know who created this list.
 
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Looking at the list of the five artists that repeated, as with the collection of albums, it seems that they really wanted to be fairly equitable across time.

Broadly you could say each act represented a certain decade.

60's: The Beatles
70's: Stevie Wonder
80's: Prince
90's: Radiohead
00's: Beyonce
 
Abbey Road and Songs in the Key of Life belong, the others in the Top 10 are ludicrous
Dumbest list I've seen so far
 
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