The Top 15 Albums of All Time (By Women)
I knew the column "Top 20 Albums Of All Time (For Real)" would get some attention, but the post is now showing over 7500 comments. I honestly wanted to read them all, but it's just impossible for me to do so. Thanks for commenting - I did read a lot of them!
If you did not see the original post you can view it here. Basically the idea was to select the top 20 albums of all time based on statistics instead of personal opinion. To recap the parameters, they were:
1. The list was based on the American market - I did this only because I had mounds of detailed data on the American music market at hand - to include the whole world or even Europe would increase the complexity of the analysis greatly - So it was really the "Top 20 Albums of All Time (To Americans)"
2. "Greatest Hits" albums and live albums were not eligible. The idea was to identify the very best true albums, not compilations that cherry pick the best songs from an artist's career.
3. The following mathematical formula was used:
"Album Staying Power Value + Sales Value + Critical Rating Value + Grammy Award Value"
If you would like to see the complete analysis you can download the Microsoft Excel version here: (Top Album Analysis.xls).
After reading through a slew of comments the following points caught my attention:
1. You should have included "cultural value" or the album's "influence" on popular culture.
I completely agree with all the posters who made this point, but how do we capture it? Maybe a poll or the total number of biographical books and video sales on each artist? We all know who has influence - The Beatles are probably #1, but how do we quantify it from there and how do we get the data?
2. The Staying Power Value for double albums is too high since they cost more.
This was factored into the numbers
3. SPV is flawed as it doesn't take inflation, population, etc into account.
Good points that I am reflecting on, I tend to agree that the formula can absolutely be improved on. It's finding the data and analyzing it that's the hard part.
4. You should have included world wide sales and albums that sold less than 10 million.
Man, I love your enthusiasm! But this is a part time gig for me and I have to be realistic. I am publishing a blog, not writing a thesis. But if you want to support me and my family while I work on it please contact me and let me know.
5. Thriller won 8 Grammys, not 4!
I only include album specific Grammys, not song or performance related ones. i.e.: Record of the year, best rock performance, etc., were not included
6. Only one album fronted by women! What gives?
Good question, and I will address it now. I have filtered the list further to include only those bands fronted by women.
The Top 15 Albums of All Time By Women Artists
15. Come On Over - Shania Twain
14. Falling Into You - Celine Dion
12. Wide Open Spaces - Dixie Chicks
9. Jagged Little Pill - Alanis Morissette
7. Come Away With Me - Norah Jones
6. Oops!...I Did It Again - Britney Spears
4. ...Baby One More Time - Britney Spears
3. Whitney Houston - Whitney Houston
Here is what the author wrote, "Basically the idea was to select the top 20 albums of all time based on statistics instead of personal opinion."
It's not a list based on personal preferences. You can't make a list about music or art that says one piece is better than another. Art and music is subjective. This is about statistics and which albums were TOP SELLING, had lengthy chart stays and won Grammys.
You can whine all you want that Lauren Hill, Janet Jackson or other idol isn't on the list...bottom line is that these other artists are more successful whether you like it or not (at least with these specific albums).
Personally, I love mariah carey and I buy her music. She is an exceptionally talented artist truly worthy of joining the ranks of The Beatles and Elvis. Here she is almost 20 years into the business and she can still create music that millions of people want to buy. She is relevant and gifted.
She is an example of how much harder women have to work to earn respect. She is where she is because she's the hardest working woman in the business. Doing it all: singing, writing, producing as well as marketing, promoting and looking completely fabulous ALL THE TIME!
She's worked hard to earn respect - but bitter snobs have a hard time giving it.
Another entry that was real brillant was the person who told the blogger to LISTEN to the music. He told you how he based his list, and that was crunching numbers...