Rolling Stone's Top 500 - Part Two
Albums 21-40, or, a lot of stalling and wondering why I took this on, and then remembering it's actually kinda fun to have a spreadsheet tell you when to listen to Stevie Wonder.
Day 10 - 10/21/20
Born to Run - Bruce Springsteen (21)
Been thinking a lot about Springsteen and the difference between earnestness and honesty lately and still think about Patti Smith once referring to him as a sexy mumbler more often than is reasonable. Bought a vintage Springsteen shirt with money I shouldn’t have spent, and it smells like stale cigarette smoke and someone’s long ago failed attempt at masking that… Anyway, wearing it today and trying not to follow the call of “Thunder Road” to heed the call and get the hell out of town.
Day 11 - 10/22/20
Ready to Die - The Notorious B.I.G. (22)
This - especially the skits - was a lot today. Should’ve waited for a Friday mood.
Day 12 - 10/28/20
The Velvet Underground and Nico - The Velvet Underground (23)
”All tomorrows parties…” feels something like a threat these days.
Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band - The Beatles (24)
A good bit of the discussion around the list’s update this time around was about Sgt. Pepper’s “fall from grace” as it fell from its #1 place, and fell far-ish, I guess. I think it’s a fair slip because the two Beatles albums that now come above it in the list are ones that I enjoy more than this one… but also, can we please just get to Help! already?
Day 13 - 10/29/20
Tapestry - Carole King (25)
I think somehow I thought this album was sad? Was expecting a very mopey morning but this + the sun coming out was much much better.
Horses - Patti Smith (26)
Good day gets better. Patti forever.
Day 14 - 11/12/20
Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) - Wu-Tang Clan (27)
Another album that made me have to make a separate playlist to listen to it because Spotify’s insistence on deluxe / expanded albums without the option to not have the bonus tracks easily and I know I’m coming off as an old grouch, but I very very very rarely want to listen to a deluxe album when I’m trying to get to know the original and I don’t like having to do extra work but, anyway, this one was worth it.
Day 15- 12/15/20
Voodoo - D’Angelo (28)
This is a weird album to try and listen to in the middle of a work day. (also VERY highly recommend this recording of Faith Pennick talking about her 33 1/3 book on this album.)
White Album - The Beatles (29)
Only 239 more albums to go before I get to listen to Help! as a part of this project. Only 239 more.
Day 16- 12/16/20
Are You Experienced - The Jimi Hendrix Experience (30)
One song in (and already nerding up the experience of listening to this album) and I was sent to google to find the article about misheard lyrics and mondegreens that I read years ago. Anyway, excuse me while I kiss this guy..
Kind of Blue - Miles Davis (31)
Will always love a mid-day Miles album.
Lemonade - Beyoncé (32)
Been a long time since I’ve revisited this one, but I remember the “baseball bat swinging, joyful rage at being wronged” moment on this album being very well timed in my general life trajectory when it dropped. Still fun to listen to, but very glad I’m not still there emotionally.
Day 17- 12/17/20
Back to Black - Amy Winehouse (33)
I try not to get too hung up on things that can’t happen, but Amy is one of the people who I can’t help but wonder about the music we’d have been blessed with if we’d gotten to keep her around here for longer.
Innervisions - Stevie Wonder (34)
Listened to over lunch - nice to hear songs I knew out of context put back in.
Rubber Soul - The Beatles (35)
Kind of wild that with the number of people who voted, the number of albums on this list, the number of albums in the WORLD, 14.3% of the albums I’ve listened to so far in this project have been Beatles albums. This is not a complaint, just an observation that the world is vast but apparently there are Beatles everywhere. Also, had forgotten how good of a song “I’m Looking Through You” is.
Day 18- 12/18/20
Off the Wall - Michael Jackson (36)
Starting off the work day listening to an album that is very expressly about NOT working was maybe not the right move, but this got me to dance around while brushing my teeth and it’s a Friday so maybe it was actually exactly the right move.
The Chronic - Dr. Dre (37)
”And no, this ain’t Aerosmith” feels like a call-out that is both delightful and unnecessary given that Mr.Tyler and co. don’t appear on this list for another 329 albums. Also would have felt better if this ended with another Lady of Rage feature instead of the decidedly anti-ladies (of Rage or otherwise) vibe that it did, but life, I guess.
Blonde on Blonde - Bob Dylan (38)
Listened to this one while mostly sitting in traffic, but was reminded that I’d decided a few years ago that if I’m ever going to marry someone he’ll have to be okay with the idea that at the wedding I will be walking in to the Tom Waits song “I Want You” and we will be walking out to the Dylan song that is not the same song, but has the same title and is on this album. Was reminded today, that the lyrics of the Dylan one make it sort of questionable in the wedding context but I assume he’ll have gotten over a lot of my other questionable demands by the time this comes up that it’ll be mostly a non-issue.
Day 19- 12/21/20
Remain in Light - Talking Heads (39)
This was the equivalent of stepping into a shower you don’t expect to be cold, but is actually very very cold, in terms of how much it woke me up as the first thing I listened to today.
The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars - David Bowie (40)
The phrase and intonation of the very last time Bowie sings “Ziggy played guitar” gets stuck in my head more often than makes sense for the fact that I’ve probably only listened to this full album twice, but I assume it’s going to move in and unpack its bags in my brain and live there for the next six months.
And that’s it! That takes us through the first 40 albums. Only 460 more to go which seems completely and totally reasonable.
Spoilers: the next group of 20 has zero albums by the Beatles OR Bob Dylan. What’s a girl to do?