I know there are more pressing things going on than Rolling Stone’s new edition of the 500 Greatest Albums of All-Time being released last week, while things are also on the verge of getting a whole lot spookier on this blog. Still, I feel compelled to share some thoughts on this new edition of the RS 500 list, since this new list is quite an overhaul of the original one that was published in 2003 (there was also a slight update to the list in 2012). I’m not sure that Rolling Stone necessarily needed to publish an updated version, since it’s already become apparent that contemporary tastes in “great albums” have changed considerably since the 2003 list came out, whether or not there was a list to confirm it. But I’m glad they did, as the new list both preserves what was good about the original 500 while also adding plenty more albums that feel much more applicable to today’s music landscape. Continue reading →