Apple Music reveals Top 10 albums of all time... WTF?!

[stoken6]

On 5/29/2024 at 12:13 AM, Truthurts said:

Its the woke top 10, of course. Lauren Hill, while talented, had only one hit, a cover song. Prince and Stevie ok, but the rest is crap. Nirvana most overrated band ever. 

I'm not a big Nirvana fan, but nobody can deny their influence in sweeping away the superficial glitz of stadium rock and synth-pop. But I can't see how you can omit "What's Going On" from any top 10 list. Or "Kind of Blue".

 

Cheers, Mike.

[Paul Woodward]

So I listened to the top album there and, despite a few catchy hits, I didnt really feel it was that good. Maybe back in the day, but surely this is meant to be of 'all time'.....

[ProfD]

I'm amused that this top 10 list is taking up so much bandwidth especially among the demographic here.😁😎

[Bill H.]

Looking over this list again this morning...

 

If I think of it as a list made up by today's artists, songwriters, and industry professionals it kind of makes a little more sense. These are the artists they look up to when making the popular music of today. I'm not sure how much Apple music professionals were involved, but I hope that this is a representative sample anyway. 

 

I'm familiar with Lauryn Hill  - both through Fugees and her solo work - through my daughter when she was a teenager 25 years ago. She and her friends played this stuff constantly... it was huge with her age group back then.

 

Just listening to a few tracks, it took me back to those times - back to when my wife was alive and we all lived together. There could be an emotional connection like that with some of today's professionals as well. We all love the music we grew up with.

 

I liked the Miseducation of Lauryn Hill back then and still do - a blend of R&B, hip-hop, and a touch of reggae (she was involved with a Marley) that kind of summed up where pop music was at the end of the 20th Century. The best LP ever made? Nah, but I'm not young anymore. 

[Sean M. H.]

53 minutes ago, ProfD said:

I'm amused that this top 10 list is taking up so much bandwidth especially among the demographic here.😁😎

 

 

Lol...yes, the reaction to the list is much more surprising to me than the list itself! 

 

They have every decade from the 60s-2010s represented...a handful of different genres...I really don't think this list is any worse than other similar lists thay have been made in the past.  Do people really expect these lists to perfectly match their own personal tastes and preferences? 

 

Hell, if I made this list myself, I'd have at least a couple of classic gospel albums, a bunch of jazz, one or two hip hop albums, and no less than 3 each of 1) Stevie Wonder albums and 2) Steely Dan albums...

...oh wait, that's more than 10...

[CrossRhodes]

45 minutes ago, ProfD said:

I'm amused that this top 10 list is taking up so much bandwidth especially among the demographic here.😁😎

It's no "Rick Beato has ruined my life and now haunts my every waking moment" thread but it does seem to have some legs. 😆

 

[CrossRhodes]

5 hours ago, Bill H. said:

Looking over this list again this morning...

 

If I think of it as a list made up by today's artists, songwriters, and industry professionals it kind of makes a little more sense. These are the artists they look up to when making the popular music of today. I'm not sure how much Apple music professionals were involved, but I hope that this is a representative sample anyway. 

 

I'm familiar with Lauryn Hill  - both through Fugees and her solo work - through my daughter when she was a teenager 25 years ago. She and her friends played this stuff constantly... it was huge with her age group back then.

 

Just listening to a few tracks, it took me back to those times - back to when my wife was alive and we all lived together. There could be an emotional connection like that with some of today's professionals as well. We all love the music we grew up with.

 

I liked the Miseducation of Lauryn Hill back then and still do - a blend of R&B, hip-hop, and a touch of reggae (she was involved with a Marley) that kind of summed up where pop music was at the end of the 20th Century. The best LP ever made? Nah, but I'm not young anymore. 

It was definitely a huge album at the time. From wiki:

 

The album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 chart, selling over 422,000 copies in its first week, which broke a record for first-week sales by a female artist. It was promoted with the release of the hit singles "Doo Wop (That Thing)", "Ex-Factor", and "Everything Is Everything", while "Lost Ones" and "Can't Take My Eyes Off You" were released as promotional singles.[4] To further promote the album, Hill made televised performances on Saturday Night Live and the Billboard Music Awards before embarking on a sold-out, worldwide concert tour.

 

The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill was among the most acclaimed albums of 1998, as most critics praised Hill's presentation of a woman's view on life and love, along with her artistic range. At the 41st Annual Grammy Awards, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill earned ten nominations, winning five awards, making Hill the first woman to receive that many nominations and awards in one night. The album's success propelled Hill to international superstardom, and contributed to bringing hip hop and neo soul to the forefront of popular music. New Ark, however, felt Hill and her record label did not properly credit the group on the album; a lawsuit filed by the group was settled out of court in 2001.

 

Since its release, the album has been ranked in numerous best-album lists, with a number of critics regarding it as one of the greatest albums of the 1990s, as well as one of the greatest albums of all time. Among its honors are inclusion in Rolling Stone magazine's "500 Greatest Albums of All Time" list, Harvard University's Loeb Music Library, the Smithsonian National Museum of African American history, the 200 Definitive Albums in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the Library of Congress' National Recording Registryand the Grammy Hall of Fame. It was ranked as the greatest album of all time on Apple Music's 100 Best Albums list.

 

In 2021, the album was certified Diamond by the Recording Industry Association of America, for estimated sales of 10 million copies in the US, making Hill the first female rapper to accomplish this feat.[5]Worldwide, the album has sold over 20 million copies, making it one of the best-selling albums of all time, the best-selling album by a female rapper,[6] and the best-selling neo-soul album of all time.[7]

[DroptopBroham]

On 5/22/2024 at 12:51 PM, CyberGene said:

... I've never heard about Lauryn Hill before, ... I just started listening to it and I couldn't, it sounds like complete crap to my ears!

 

Can someone explain to me what dafuq is going on here?!

 

Boomers gonna Boomer.

[Docbop]

Lauryn Hill is known for making ONE good album The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, it is an excellent album, but is it greatest oh no way.   Me, I would replace it with Stevie Wonder's   Songs in the Key of Life,  I think it is the best of Stevie's MANY great albums and definitely one of the greatest albums of all time. 

 

Looking over the whole 100 albums on the list most the list is pretty good, but I think the order is really screwed up.   Strange most of the list is one album per artist only a couple have more than one album listed.   

[harmonizer]

As an old guy in my 60s, I am pleasantly surprised that I like 4 out of the top 10 entries, and understand two additional ones.

I agree with some of the other posts here about how maybe "Songs in the Key of Life" might merit #1. It's so everything.

[Bill Heins]

Apple...hip, trendy, and PC...here's some interesting info https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best-selling_albums

 

[AROIOS]

22 hours ago, DroptopBroham said:

 

Boomers gonna Boomer.

Nah, CyberGene dislikes "The Miseducation" and HipHop likely for the same reason I disliked Trance: Boring Harmony.

Both genres depend heavily on sound and rhythmic design, but often suffer from anemic harmony.

Luckily for us, it's an easily solvable problem. There's a plethora of Urban and Neo-Soul tunes with rich harmony driven by dope HipHop beats. And it only takes a few extra notes to turn Trance from manic noise into rad anthems.

[CrossRhodes]

5 hours ago, AROIOS said:

Nah, CyberGene dislikes "The Miseducation" and HipHop likely for the same reason I disliked Trance: Boring Harmony.

Both genres depend heavily on sound and rhythmic design, but often suffer from anemic harmony.

Luckily for us, it's an easily solvable problem. There's a plethora of Urban and Neo-Soul tunes with rich harmony driven by dope HipHop beats. And it only takes a few extra notes to turn Trance from manic noise into rad anthems.

Nah, it’s 100% a classic album for millions of people which is why it has remained in the cultural zeitgeist for the past 25 years. It’s also undeniable that Hill broke new ground with the success of that record (see wiki post above). The fact that you don’t like it or that CyberGene hates rap music in general doesn’t change those facts. Is it the GOAT? I don’t think so but I’m sure for some people out there it is. 

I’ve seen some speculation that the decision to put it at number one was a calculated move by Apple to generate more discussion and attention on Apple Music as nominating something more expected wouldn’t have generated near the amount of press this has gotten. In that regard, CyberGene lead us into Apple’s click bait trap hook, line and sinker making us all pawns in their diabolical agenda. 😆

[CrossRhodes]

6 hours ago, Bill Heins said:

Apple...hip, trendy, and PC...here's some interesting info https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best-selling_albums

 

Most streamed artists of 2023 on Spotify’s platform. I’d wager a lot of folks here won’t know many of these artists either. 

https://pr-newsroom-wp.appspot.com/2023-11-29/top-songs-artists-podcasts-albums-trends-2023/

 

[Mark Schmieder]

How strange; my assumption going into this topic (which I almost ignored) was that it was about sales figures, not artistic importance.

[AROIOS]

4 hours ago, CrossRhodes said:

Nah, it’s 100% a classic album for millions of people which is why it has remained in the cultural zeitgeist for the past 25 years.

You are comparing apples to oranges, and then, potatoes.

I was talking about "The Reason" CyberGene disliked an album, not its "Cultural Significance", nor its "Popularity".

And it was a direct response to DroptopBroham's speculation on, you guessed it, "The Reason" CyberGene disliked the album.

Stay focused, brother.
 

4 hours ago, CrossRhodes said:

...CyberGene lead us into Apple’s click bait trap hook, line and sinker making us all pawns in their diabolical agenda

Indeed, CyberGene owe us beer for that. 😃

[elsongs]

On 5/22/2024 at 10:59 AM, Delaware Dave said:

If the album wasnt released in the 70's i probably never heard of it.  Were they still releasing 'albums' in 1998? Didnt we move to CD's by then? 

An "album" is a singular collection of songs from a musical artist. It can be released in various playback formats, such as vinyl records, compact discs, cassette tape, reel to reel tape, 8-track tape, digital download or streaming playlist.

[elsongs]

On 5/22/2024 at 10:51 AM, CyberGene said:

 

1. The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill (1998), Lauryn Hill

2. Thriller (1982), Michael Jackson

3. Abbey Road (1969), The Beatles

4. Purple Rain (1984), Prince & The Revolution

5. Blonde (2016), Frank Ocean

6. Songs in the Key of Life (1976), Stevie Wonder

7. good kid, m.A.A.d city (2012), Kendrick Lamar

8. Back to Black (2006), Amy Winehouse

9. Nevermind (1991), Nirvana

10. Lemonade (2016), Beyoncé

 

I must be missing something enormous here but I've never heard about Lauryn Hill before, and apparently it's not a new album since it's from 1998 and I was born in 1979. I just started listening to it and I couldn't, it sounds like complete crap to my ears!

 

Can someone explain to me what dafuq is going on here?! Is that something US people know well and love? Do you consider that album the GOAT? 🤔

 

FWIW, I haven't heard of Kendrick Lamar or Frank Ocean either. And not sure if I'm somehow biased, out of my mind or just missing a huge part of our world but for the life of me I can't understand how Pink Floyd might not be in Top 10, whereas Amy Winehouse is 🤦🏻‍♂️

 

I'm 8 years older than you and I'm familiar with all of the artists on this list. 

What I find laughable here is that Apple Music per se didn't exist until 2015, and even its predecessor, the Apple iTunes store didn't exist until 2003. So I don't think they're qualified to be an authority on any album released before they were in existence. 

 

[DroptopBroham]

17 hours ago, AROIOS said:

I was talking about "The Reason" CyberGene disliked an album, not its "Cultural Significance", nor its "Popularity".

And it was a direct response to DroptopBroham's speculation on, you guessed it, "The Reason" CyberGene disliked the album.
 

 

Don't forget that Cyergene claims to have never even heard of Lauryn Hill before either. Not sure if Cybergene is for real, if so, his boomer is showing. If not he's probably got his Youtube "FIRST TIME HEARING Lauryn Hill - Doo-Wop (That Thing) REACTION" video locked and ready to upload. I can imagine the amount of warheads and airheads he's eating to help him hold his sourpuss face for 4 whole minutes.

 

Seriously who hasn't heard of Lauryn Hill even if you didn't hear her on the radio, her name was all over the news with the tax evasion stuff back in the day. Has Cybergene been living under a rock for the past 30 years? 

[Mighty Motif Max]

My favorite thing about this thread is that probably 70% of the songs people have named (and a few of the albums in that list) are ones I've never heard of. That isn't a statement really of any sort, just an observation as a 22 year old guy. I'm well versed in a lot of stuff, but not necessarily past the surface level in some of the mainstream genres like hip hop or country or some of the "classic rock" era stuff. But ask me about the 1880s-1930s ragtime to jazz transition, or about Russian folk music and how it was shaped by communism during and after the 1920s, and I can say plenty. That stuff is way, way older than anything touched by a recent Top 10 list, but I guess my point is that all of us are going to have different ideas of what should and should not be in a Top 10 list, and eventually someone's going to have to choose a certain metric to go by. In this case, it seems streams are part of that equation for Apple.

[Mighty Motif Max]

4 hours ago, DroptopBroham said:

 

Don't forget that Cyergene claims to have never even heard of Lauryn Hill before either. Not sure if Cybergene is for real, if so, his boomer is showing. If not he's probably got his Youtube "FIRST TIME HEARING Lauryn Hill - Doo-Wop (That Thing) REACTION" video locked and ready to upload. I can imagine the amount of warheads and airheads he's eating to help him hold his sourpuss face for 4 whole minutes.

Last time I checked, '40s isn't a boomer.

 

4 hours ago, DroptopBroham said:

Seriously who hasn't heard of Lauryn Hill even if you didn't hear her on the radio, her name was all over the news with the tax evasion stuff back in the day. Has Cybergene been living under a rock for the past 30 years? 

Was it all over international news?

 

 

Out of sheer curiosity, what would you put in a Top 10 albums list?

[CyberGene]

7 hours ago, DroptopBroham said:

Don't forget that Cyergene claims to have never even heard of Lauryn Hill before either. Not sure if Cybergene is for real, if so, his boomer is showing.

 

Further down this thread I mentioned that I realized I knew Lauryn Hill as voice from Killing Me Softly which was indeed a popular cover that I nevertheless hated for that sitar riff and rapping 😀 So, I had heard her indeed, just not by her name. I'm 44 now, born in 1979, that's at the end of X, some people might even call me a millennial 🤣

 

7 hours ago, DroptopBroham said:

Seriously who hasn't heard of Lauryn Hill even if you didn't hear her on the radio, her name was all over the news with the tax evasion stuff back in the day. Has Cybergene been living under a rock for the past 30 years?

 

Again, that may have been a huge news in the US but I'm living in Europe and I don't recall reading that news.

 

In another forum someone recommended that I listen to the entire album because it's not only hip-hop but also R&B and soul. OK, I tried to listen to all the tracks and while yes, they are not all hip-hop, it's still not something I find revolutionary, mind-blowing and ultimately deserving to be called "The best album of all times". BTW, I appreciate Soul and R&B and used to listen to Erykah Badu a lot, sounds much better to my ears than that Miseducation stuff, although still not deserving any "best of all time" award.

 

Once again, maybe this is just a US "best album of all times" list. On the other hand, Apple Music is an international music service and the ranking was recommended to me on the main page of my Apple Music account which is Bulgarian.

[stoken6]

7 hours ago, Mighty Motif Max said:

ask me about the 1880s-1930s ragtime to jazz transition, or about Russian folk music and how it was shaped by communism during and after the 1920s

Both those topics sound fascinating. Srsly. Do you have a blog/have you written any articles on the subject?

 

Cheers, Mike.

[chinus]

Any list without Miles Davis "Kind of Blue" is bogus.