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The Apple Music 100 Best Albums is a list of the best albums in history created by the streaming service Apple Music based upon an opinion survey and curated music ranking. Its team crafted the list alongside a group of artists that included Pharrell Williams, J Balvin, Maren Morris, and Charli XCX.[1] The list is an editorial statement, rather than being data-based, and does not take into account any streaming figures on Apple Music or any other streaming service.[2][3]
They named the Miseducation of Lauryn Hill as the best album, followed by Michael Jackson's Thriller and then the Beatles' Abbey Road.
Background
The lowest 10 placements (#91–100) of the list were announced on May 13, 2024, via a press release by Apple. It was also revealed that the whole list would be released as a countdown revealing 10 albums each day for the next 9 days.[4] To accompany the list, Apple Music unveiled a dedicated microsite to analyze and discuss the albums.[2]
Reception
The list received mixed reviews from fans and critics. Aidin Vaziri of the San Francisco Chronicle wrote that "The selection sharply contrasts with the traditional rankings by legacy music publications, such as Rolling Stone."[5] Ben Cohen of The Wall Street Journal wrote that the list "was clearly a stunt to get attention and sell subscriptions to Apple Music", with its ultimate goal being to "get people to actually engage with these albums",[6] while Chris Willman of Variety wrote that the list "exists almost expressly to make you mad".[7] Multiple critics cited recency bias, with the list overrepresenting newly released albums.[7][8][9]
Gwilym Mumford of The Guardian called the list "certainly baffling in places", noting the absence of artists such as Johnny Cash, Diana Ross, The Supremes, and The Who, as well as the list's underrepresentation of country music.[9] Ryan Teague Beckwith of MSNBC commented that the list generously represents rock and hip hop, while only including "token nods" to jazz, folk, reggae, and punk, and neglecting to include blues, gospel, or world music albums.[10] Many fans criticized the list's placement of 1989 (Taylor's Version) by Taylor Swift at number 18, topping highly-regarded pop albums such as Pet Sounds by The Beach Boys and Hounds of Love by Kate Bush, with Cohen calling the placement "absurd".[6][11][12][13]
Several critics commended Apple Music's unorthodox placement of The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill as the greatest album of all time.[7][9][14] In response to the placement, Lauryn Hill said, "I appreciate the acknowledgement, I really do, but I’d be remiss not to also acknowledge all of the music and artists who informed and inspired me ... The leaders of community and movements that sparked me, the social dynamics and music scenes, both older and current at the time, that intrigued and inspired me to contribute."[11]