Blender Selects the 100 Greatest American Albums of All Time

I, too was a bit shocked at this list and it is certainly up for debate. I think Nirvana's "Nevermind" deserves a higher ranking (I am not a big Madonna fan), but I think some greats have been missed. Where is the Band? What about a any Simon & Garfunkel LP? Where is the first Boston LP? And "Hotel California" at #91? No Zappa, Alice Cooper, ZZ Top? What about the Cars debut album? Buffalo Springfield or Jefferson Airplane or maybe Chicago's first LP? And as long as they inlcude Canada, what about the Guess Who? I think they need to rework this, but I am sure that anyone could argue about some of the bands on the list. There are some glaring omissions.


What do you get when you take the greatest albums ever made and remove any by the Beatles, Rollings Stones, Kinks, AC/DC, the Who, Led Zeppelin, the Clash, Elvis Costello, etc.?

You get Blender's list of the 100 Greatest American Albums of All Time. This one should generate a lot of discussion because for every good thing about the list, there's something equally off.

Let's start with the good. Blender has managed to name a number of albums to the list that aren't usually recognized in such compilations. Albums by Billie Holiday, Louis Armstrong, Miles Davis and Chic deserve to be recognized along with all the "regulars."

They've been adventurous in some of their selections within an artist's repertoire. For Steely Dan, it's Katy Lied that made the list instead of Aja. Off the Wall for Michael Jackson instead of Thriller. Let's Get It On for Marvin Gaye instead of What's Goin' On.

On the other hand, can a list that doesn't include classics like What's Goin' On really be taken seriously, especially when so many other lists include it in the top ten albums ever made in ANY country...and what's the deal with including Bruce Springsteen's Darkness on the Edge of Town but omitting Born to Run?

There are also a great many greatest hits and compilation albums, including the Madonna album deemed to be the greatest by an American artist. While these albums sell in great quantities, the fact remains that they are mainly tracks taken from other works by the artists and the only real new "art", save for the occasional bonus track, is the sequencing and the liner notes. About the only good reason to include them on the list is to acknowledge acts that were never considered to be album artists like Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Hank Williams, the Coasters and the Carpenters (but definitely not Madonna).

Finally, these are supposed to be albums by American artists. Joni Mitchell and Neil Young are Canadian and don't really belong here.

Here is the full top ten and all other listings for veteran artists.


1. The Immaculate Collection - Madonna
2. Licensed to Ill - Beastie Boys
3. Highway 61 Revisited - Bob Dylan
4. Innervisions - Stevie Wonder
5. Appetite For Destruction - Guns N' Roses
6. Ramones - Ramones
7. Parallel Lines - Blondie
8. The Great Twenty-Eight - Chuck Berry
9. Nevermind - Nirvana
10. Blue - Joni Mitchell
12. Metallica - Metallica
13. Off the Wall - Michael Jackson
14. Pet Sounds - Beach Boys
15. Let's Get It On - Marvin Gaye
16. Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music - Ray Charles
17. The Velvet Underground & Nico - Velvet Underground, Nico
18. Purple Rain - Prince & the Revolution
19. Rust Never Sleeps - Neil Young
20. Sex Machine - James Brown
21. Blonde on Blonde - Bob Dylan
22. King of the Delta Blues Singers - Robert Johnson
23. Murmer - R.E.M.
24. Mothership Connection - Parliament
26. Van Halen - Van Halen
27. Call Me - Al Green
28. Rocks - Aerosmith
30. Grooviest 17 Original Hits! - Little Richard
31. The Complete Hot Five and Hot Seven Recordings - Louis Armstrong
32. Superfly - Curtis Mayfield
33. 40 Greatest Hits - Hank Williams
34. Katy Lied - Steely Dan
35. The B-52's - B-52's
36. Risque - Chic
37. Paul's Boutique - Beastie Boys
38. I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You - Aretha Franklin
39. The Sun Sessions - Elvis Presley
41. Electric Ladyland - Jimi Hendrix
42. Horses - Patti Smith
43. There's a Riot Goin' On - Sly & the Family Stone
46. Raising Hell - Run-DMC
47. Back to Mono: 1958-1969 - Various Artists (Phil Spector)
48. Kind of Blue - Miles Davis
50. Destroyer - KISS
51. Court and Spark - Joni Mitchell
52. 12 Songs - Randy Newman
54. In the Wee Small Hours - Frank Sinatra
55. The Basement Tapes - Bob Dylan
58. American Beauty - Grateful Dead
60. Graceland - Paul Simon
61. 50 Coastin' Classics - Coasters
62. Darkness on the Edge of Town - Bruce Springsteen
63. At Folsom Prison - Johnny Cash
64. Grevious Angel - Gram Parsons
65. Lady in Satin - Billie Holiday
66. Modern Lovers - Modern Lovers
69. (Pronounced Leh-nerd Skin-nerd) - Lynyrd Skynyrd
70. Sign "O" the Times - Prince
71. Radio - L.L. Cool J
72. The Singles 1969-1981 - Carpenters
74. Lady Soul - Aretha Franklin
76. At Newport 1960 - Muddy Waters
78. From Elvis in Memphis - Elvis Presley
79. Dust Bowl Ballads - Woody Guthrie
81. Nuggets - Various Artists
83. Double Nickles on the Dime - Minutemen
84. Greatest Hits - Buddy Holly
85. Red Headed Stranger - Willie Nelson
86. After the Goldrush - Neil Young
87. Automatic For the People - R.E.M.
89. Remain in Light - Talking Heads
91. Hotel California - Eagles
92. Lucinda Williams - Lucinda Williams
95. Nilsson Schmilsson - Nilsson
97. The Doors - Doors
98. Let It Be - Replacements
99. Fulfillingness First Finale - Stevie Wonder
100. Otis Blue/Otis Redding Sings Soul - Otis Redding

SOURCES: http://winkscollectibles.blogspot.com
http://www.blender.com/