AVRev.com's Top 100 Rock Albums of All Time |
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Monday, 28 July 2008 |
In a world where record companies seem happy to sell consumers songs by the single via a low-resolution, non-surround sound download - AVRev.com wanted to point out the importance of the album concept. Inspired by the Sabermetric system used by Bill James in his baseball abstracts that attempt to make seemingly subjective elements more scientific in comparison - the AVRev.com staff compiled a set of categories to rate the Top 100 Rock Albums of all time. We offer a link below for readers to download the same sheet to see how your favorites do. You can even post them on our forum and discuss them with other music and audio fans. The Judges The team of judges include: AVRev.com Music Editor Charles Andrews, 5.1 music executive David Delgrosso, Xhifi's President Howard Schilling, Definitive Audio's Eric Ward, Bel Canto's President John Stronczer and record industry veteran and high-resolution enthusiast, Ted Cohen. The Categories Performance: (100 Points) Simply put, how well did the band or artist play on the record? Technical ability, soul and beyond. Songs and Songwriting: (100 Points) How good are the songs on the record? Were they great originals, killer covers, reinterpretations that were better than the original? All would spike the score in this category. Sound: (50 Points) - How good does the record sound? Did it ever get released in a high-resolution or surround sound format? If so, that would get a few extra points. Was the record a breakthrough record for recording techniques or does it just plain sound good on a CD? These are all factors in a high score for sound. Production: (50 Points) - Great sound doesn’t always match with great production (think Wall of Sound from Phil Spector). Slick production, unique instrumentation, development of important "sounds" all factor into a high score in this category. Staying Power: (50 Points) - To be a truly great album, the record needs to be as relevant today as it when it came out. Concept/Continuity: (50 Points) - This is the X Factor category where albums that are great from the first note to the last get the highest grades. Think of The Police's Synchronicity and the stiff song "Mother" as an example of a great record with one bad track. Records that are great from top to bottom receive the best grades here. And with no more delay: Here is the AVRev.com list of the Top 100 Rock Albums of All Time | Album | Band | 1 to 100 | 1 to 50 | 1 to 400 | | Performance | Songs | Sound | Production | Staying Power | Continuity/ Concept | Total | 1. | Dark Side Of The Moon | Pink Floyd | 98 | 99 | 50 | 49 | 49 | 49 | 394 | 2. | Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band | The Beatles | 98 | 98 | 48 | 49 | 50 | 49 | 392 | 3. | Electric Ladyland | The Jimi Hendrix Experience | 99 | 98 | 48 | 48 | 49 | 49 | 391 | 4. | Led Zeppelin II | Led Zeppelin | 98 | 98 | 48 | 46 | 49 | 49 | 388 | 5. | The Wall | Pink Floyd | 97 | 97 | 48 | 49 | 49 | 47 | 387 | 6. | Led Zeppelin I | Led Zeppelin | 97 | 98 | 47 | 46 | 48 | 49 | 385 | 7. | Security | Peter Gabriel | 98 | 99 | 45 | 48 | 46 | 48 | 384 | 8. | Are You Experienced? | The Jimi Hendrix Experience | 98 | 98 | 43 | 46 | 50 | 48 | 383 | 9. | The Joshua Tree | U2 | 96 | 97 | 46 | 47 | 48 | 48 | 382 | 10. | Led Zeppelin III | Led Zeppelin | 94 | 99 | 46 | 46 | 48 | 47 | 380 | 11. | Abbey Road | The Beatles | 97 | 98 | 44 | 47 | 48 | 45 | 379 | 12. | Led Zeppelin IV | Led Zeppelin | 96 | 94 | 45 | 45 | 49 | 47 | 376 | 13. | (MCMLXXXIV) 1984 | Van Halen | 96 | 95 | 44 | 47 | 47 | 46 | 375 | 14. | Mothership Connection | Parliament | 96 | 97 | 41 | 44 | 49 | 47 | 374 | 15. | Rubber Soul | The Beatles | 94 | 96 | 44 | 44 | 48 | 47 | 373 | 16. | ABACAB | Genesis | 93 | 97 | 46 | 47 | 45 | 43 | 371 | 17. | Aja | Steely Dan | 92 | 93 | 47 | 46 | 46 | 46 | 370 | 18. | Unplugged | Eric Clapton | 96 | 96 | 45 | 42 | 46 | 44 | 369 | 19. | Peter Gabriel III | Peter Gabriel | 95 | 95 | 43 | 43 | 43 | 48 | 367 | 20. | Fragile | Yes | 98 | 95 | 45 | 42 | 42 | 45 | 367 | 21. | Magical Mystery Tour | The Beatles | 93 | 95 | 42 | 42 | 47 | 46 | 365 | 22. | Axis Bold As Love | The Jimi Hendrix Experience | 95 | 92 | 43 | 44 | 45 | 45 | 364 | 23. | Thriller | Michael Jackson | 90 | 93 | 44 | 47 | 45 | 44 | 363 | 24. | Hell Freezes Over | The Eagles | 89 | 94 | 48 | 43 | 44 | 44 | 362 | 25. | Wish You Were Here | Pink Floyd | 91 | 90 | 45 | 44 | 45 | 47 | 362 | 26. | BBC Sessions | Led Zeppelin | 94 | 97 | 37 | 39 | 48 | 46 | 361 | 27. | Hotel California | The Eagles | 90 | 92 | 45 | 43 | 46 | 43 | 359 | 28. | Appetite For Destruction | Guns N' Roses | 91 | 93 | 44 | 44 | 44 | 42 | 358 | 29. | Van Halen | Van Halen | 94 | 94 | 40 | 42 | 45 | 43 | 358 | 30. | Close To The Edge | Yes | 97 | 89 | 40 | 43 | 41 | 47 | 357 | 31. | In The Court Of The Crimson King | King Crimson | 94 | 92 | 39 | 43 | 41 | 47 | 356 | 32. | Let It Be | The Beatles | 89 | 91 | 43 | 43 | 45 | 44 | 355 | 33. | Synchroncity | The Police | 90 | 93 | 44 | 43 | 43 | 41 | 354 | 34. | Revolver | The Beatles | 91 | 93 | 40 | 42 | 43 | 43 | 352 | 35. | The Doors | The Doors | 87 | 91 | 42 | 41 | 48 | 42 | 351 | 36. | LA Woman | The Doors | 87 | 89 | 42 | 42 | 45 | 45 | 350 | 37. | Graceland | Paul Simon | 89 | 85 | 45 | 44 | 42 | 42 | 347 | 38. | Houses Of The Holy | Led Zeppelin | 89 | 87 | 44 | 43 | 42 | 41 | 346 | 39. | Peter Gabriel I | Peter Gabriel | 90 | 92 | 38 | 40 | 41 | 44 | 345 | 40. | Talking Book | Stevie Wonder | 86 | 87 | 42 | 43 | 44 | 40 | 342 | 41. | Rio | Duran Duran | 84 | 87 | 40 | 44 | 45 | 41 | 341 | 42. | Physical Graffiti | Led Zeppelin | 87 | 86 | 42 | 42 | 41 | 41 | 339 | 43. | Purple Rain | Prince and the Revolution | 86 | 85 | 40 | 42 | 43 | 42 | 338 | 44. | Back In Black | AC/DC | 81 | 88 | 42 | 41 | 44 | 40 | 336 | 45. | Brothers In Arms | Dire Straits | 83 | 85 | 46 | 43 | 39 | 39 | 335 | 46. | Tattoo You | The Rolling Stones | 84 | 85 | 42 | 40 | 42 | 38 | 331 | 47. | Joshua Judges Ruth | Lyle Lovett | 84 | 85 | 44 | 42 | 38 | 37 | 330 | 48. | Slowhand | Eric Clapton | 87 | 84 | 41 | 39 | 41 | 37 | 329 | 49. | So | Peter Gabriel | 84 | 86 | 37 | 40 | 40 | 40 | 327 | 50. | Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs | Derek And The Dominos | 83 | 85 | 36 | 37 | 43 | 40 | 324 | 51. | Born To Run | Bruce Springsteen | 81 | 80 | 38 | 40 | 42 | 42 | 323 | 52. | Rumours | Fleetwood Mac | 83 | 84 | 39 | 39 | 39 | 38 | 322 | 53. | Discipline | King Crimson | 90 | 79 | 39 | 38 | 34 | 39 | 319 | 54. | Moving Pictures | Rush | 86 | 81 | 37 | 37 | 37 | 39 | 317 | 55. | ...And Justice For All | Metallica | 89 | 85 | 26 | 35 | 40 | 41 | 316 | 56. | Ride The Lightning | Metallica | 83 | 84 | 34 | 37 | 36 | 41 | 315 | 57. | Learning To Crawl | The Pretenders | 84 | 82 | 34 | 36 | 40 | 36 | 312 | 58. | Nothing Like The Sun | Sting | 83 | 83 | 38 | 37 | 34 | 36 | 311 | 59. | Born In The USA | Bruce Springsteen | 78 | 79 | 37 | 38 | 39 | 38 | 309 | 60. | Chicago Transit Authority | Chicago | 82 | 78 | 37 | 38 | 35 | 36 | 306 | 61. | Tommy | The Who | 81 | 77 | 37 | 36 | 37 | 37 | 305 | 62. | Quadrophenia | The Who | 80 | 75 | 37 | 38 | 35 | 39 | 304 | 63. | Van Halen II | Van Halen | 83 | 78 | 35 | 36 | 35 | 36 | 303 | 64. | The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars | David Bowie | 77 | 81 | 35 | 35 | 37 | 36 | 301 | 65. | A Night At The Opera | Queen | 76 | 68 | 41 | 39 | 40 | 36 | 300 | 66. | Blood Sugar Sex Magik | Red Hot Chili Peppers | 77 | 79 | 37 | 36 | 35 | 35 | 299 | 67. | Ten | Pearl Jam | 80 | 79 | 33 | 34 | 36 | 36 | 298 | 68. | Zooropa | U2 | 81 | 79 | 36 | 37 | 29 | 34 | 296 | 69. | Metallica (Black Album) | Metallica | 77 | 74 | 35 | 32 | 39 | 38 | 295 | 70. | No Jacket Required | Phil Collins | 74 | 75 | 37 | 38 | 34 | 35 | 293 | 71. | Saturday Night Fever Soundtrack | Various Artists | 76 | 79 | 33 | 35 | 38 | 31 | 292 | 72. | Never Mind The Bollocks | The Sex Pistols | 82 | 77 | 27 | 31 | 40 | 34 | 291 | 73. | That's The Way Of The World | Earth, Wind & Fire | 76 | 78 | 35 | 35 | 32 | 32 | 288 | 74. | In Through The Out Door | Led Zeppelin | 71 | 72 | 36 | 36 | 36 | 35 | 286 | 75. | This Is Spinal Tap Soundtrack | Spinal Tap | 71 | 77 | 30 | 37 | 37 | 33 | 285 | 76. | Pet Sounds | The Beach Boys | 77 | 73 | 38 | 36 | 36 | 24 | 284 | 77. | At Fillmore East | The Allman Brothers | 75 | 72 | 34 | 31 | 35 | 36 | 283 | 78. | Master Of Puppets | Metallica | 75 | 70 | 31 | 33 | 36 | 36 | 281 | 79. | Disraeli Gears | Cream | 74 | 71 | 33 | 33 | 33 | 36 | 280 | 80. | Again | Buffalo Springfield | 73 | 72 | 33 | 32 | 34 | 35 | 279 | 81. | Thick As A Brick | Jethro Tull | 69 | 73 | 32 | 32 | 33 | 37 | 276 | 82. | Music From Big Pink | The Band | 69 | 68 | 35 | 40 | 32 | 31 | 275 | 83. | Slippery When Wet | Bon Jovi | 74 | 73 | 30 | 31 | 35 | 30 | 273 | 84. | Emerson, Lake & Palmer | Emerson, Lake & Palmer | 72 | 68 | 35 | 33 | 29 | 34 | 271 | 85. | Blind Faith | Blind Faith | 73 | 72 | 32 | 31 | 31 | 31 | 270 | 86. | The Yes Album | Yes | 75 | 69 | 31 | 31 | 30 | 33 | 269 | 87. | Blood, Sweat & Tears | Blood, Sweat & Tears | 71 | 70 | 31 | 32 | 32 | 30 | 266 | 88. | Undertow | Tool | 73 | 65 | 36 | 33 | 27 | 31 | 265 | 89. | Paul's Boutique | The Beastie Boys | 76 | 73 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 31 | 264 | 90. | Déjà Vu | Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young | 68 | 64 | 32 | 33 | 33 | 33 | 263 | 91. | Pump | Aerosmith | 67 | 67 | 32 | 33 | 31 | 31 | 261 | 92. | 1999 | Prince | 68 | 65 | 29 | 32 | 33 | 32 | 259 | 93. | Abraxas | Santana | 70 | 64 | 30 | 30 | 34 | 29 | 257 | 94. | Bad | Michael Jackson | 66 | 64 | 33 | 36 | 28 | 29 | 256 | 95. | Like A Virgin | Madonna | 59 | 66 | 30 | 38 | 34 | 28 | 255 | 96. | Supernatural | Santana | 72 | 59 | 33 | 31 | 30 | 26 | 251 | 97. | The Long Run | The Eagles | 63 | 65 | 31 | 32 | 30 | 29 | 250 | 98. | Toys In The Attic | Aerosmith | 64 | 66 | 30 | 30 | 31 | 27 | 248 | 99. | Exodus | Bob Marley & The Wailers | 61 | 65 | 28 | 27 | 34 | 32 | 247 | 100. | The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway | Genesis | 68 | 61 | 29 | 30 | 25 | 31 | 244 |
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