At the end of last year I decided that one of my goals for 2024 would be to listen to more new music – not just music that is new in 2024 but music that I haven’t listened to before. I knew for me the best way to do this would be to have some sort of structure to it, so what I’m doing throughout 2024 is listening to the top 150 of Rolling Stone Magazine’s greatest albums of all time list. This means that in January I’ve been listening to the albums ranked 138th-150th on this list and have ranked them in order of my own preference below. Only one month in and I’ve already thoroughly enjoyed not only listening to classic albums that I should have listened to before now, but testing my musical palette and enjoying albums that traditionally I wouldn’t have thought I’d enjoy.

13. Doolittle – Pixies (1989)

I’m sure Pixies fans, and quite possibly indie/rock fans more generally, might shoot me down for this, but I found Doolittle a little annoying at times and its awkward vocal melodies didn’t impress me in the way that originality and creative experimentation should. There are moments on this album that shine through, such as Monkey Gone To Heaven and hit song Here Comes Your Man, but when pitted against the other 12 albums on this list it has to come last for me.

12. Nebraska – Bruce Springsteen (1982)

I was interested to see that Nebraska was one of two Bruce Springsteen albums within 13 places of Rolling Stone Magazine’s 500 greatest albums of all time list. Whilst Nebraska exposes a deeper and rawer side of the Boss and is generally mellower than the rest of his discography, it doesn’t hit quite as hard as the majority of the albums on this list, including its successor Born In The U.S.A.

11. The Velvet Underground – The Velvet Underground (1969)

What I found as interesting as listening to The Velvet Underground’s self-titled sophomore album was reading (and learning) about the band itself, particularly the relationship between Reed and Cale and their mutual love for experimental music. There are some really interesting themes and melodies that run throughout the album, but in a similar vein to Doolittle and Nebraska I perhaps haven’t been patient enough to allow a connection to blossom.

10. The Immaculate Collection – Madonna (1990)

My first thoughts when listening to the Immaculate Collection were a.) how do I somehow I know every single song on this despite never listening to Madonna of my own accord? And b.) it’s strange that this was released in 1990 when it sounds so stereotypically 80s. Everything started to click though when I discovered that this is in fact a greatest hits album! If I’m honest, it’s a bit disappointing to see a greatest hits in this ranking as it feels a bit like cheating…but I did enjoy listening to this collection of songs and there’s no denying that Madonna has a lot of incredibly well-written and catchy songs that really define 80s pop.

9. John Prine – John Prine (1971)

One of my favourite songs ever is Clay Pigeons, which was made famous by John Prine, so I was excited to sit down and listen to this album. I’m not convinced that any of the songs off his self-titled debut struck me emotionally in the same way as Clay Pigeons, but it’s an enjoyable album nonetheless and difficult not to enjoy if you’re a fan of artists like James Taylor and Jackson Browne.

8. Parallel Lines – Blondie (1978)

In the first year of my music production A-Level at school I was tasked with recreating Heart of Glass (which I’m sure if Debbie Harry had had the misfortune of hearing would have been horrified to see our results). Not only did I do the song a complete disservice during this exercise due to my lacklustre production skills, but I was also completely sick of the song by the end of it! That being said, I’ve fallen in love with it again after listening to it whilst surrounded by its Parallel Lines comrades. The album as a whole doesn’t even rely on Heart of Glass too heavily – there are so many classics on this album, including one of the band’s more commercially successful songs One Way or Another.

7. Catch a Fire – Bob Marley & The Wailers (1973)

Catch A Fire is the debut from Bob Marley & the Wailers, which celebrated its 50th anniversary last year, and their classic reggae sound is already in full swing with this album. It’s a little rough around the edges compared to later albums, but the interesting guitar licks, slick vocal melodies and solid grooves blend so well together to produce a solid first effort from the greatest reggae artist of all time.

6. Born In The U.S.A. – Bruce Springsteen (1984)

Besides being one of the most American albums in existence, Born In The USA is also the album I always turn to when I think of Bruce Springsteen. It contains arguably his greatest hits – the title track, Dancing In The Dark, I’m On Fire – it’s uplifting stadium rock that could quite easily (and may very well have been) the soundtrack to any coming-of-age American film of the 80s, and it’s just a lot of fun to listen to. For me it’s hands down better than Nebraska, but it’s also one of the better albums on this month’s list.

5. Paranoid – Black Sabbath (1970)

I put Paranoid on a pedestal before sitting down to listen to it in its entirety for the first time, I think in part because I know how much of an impact this album – and the band – had on the heavy metal genre. Whilst I still didn’t ‘get’ it after the first couple of listens, I now understand and appreciate the originality of the riffs, the riskiness of the lyrics and the energy it brings, especially considering the fact it was released in 1970 (a time when metal music was practically non-existent). I’m sorry to say I’m still not a fan of Iron Man (apart from the riff, which is great), but the rest of the album is strong. It may be cliche to say but the title track is amazing, especially knowing it was the last song to be written (and was written in only a few hours).

4. Grace – Jeff Buckley (1994)

Grace is one of those albums that seemingly wasn’t appreciated in its time, but whether the insane popularity of Hallelujah has helped garner interest in the rest of the album or not, there is so much to love about it. The unique chord progressions and falsetto vocals bounce off each other fantastically well, there is so much emotion in Buckley’s singing and the clean guitar tone, and I have no doubt that this album will now continue to stand the test of time as one of the greats.

3. channel ORANGE – Frank Ocean (2012)

Despite only having two albums to his name, Frank Ocean’s reputation is still held in high regard and he remains insanely popular. This is in large part down to his debut album, channel ORANGE. This album throws the rulebook away and breaks the boundaries of the expected album format. With each song seeming to have its own genre and a selection of interludes to keep listeners on their toes, channel ORANGE strikes an interesting balance of being acceptable background music as well as an album that requires – and deserves – the listener’s full attention.

2. The Marshall Mathers LP – Eminem (2000)

I have to admit that the Marshall Mathers LP is the only album on this list that I’d actually listened to from start to finish before sitting down to do this article. I was just a bit too young to be listening to Eminem when the Marshall Mathers LP was released in 2000, and the Eminem Show is the album that got me hooked, but it’s this album that really stands out as his greatest album in my opinion. The majority of the lyrics are incredibly offensive (even if they are tongue-in-cheek) and there is no way in hell it could be released today, but I’m glad it was released at a time where cancel culture didn’t exist because it’s real, aggressive and undeniably genius.

1. Physical Graffiti – Led Zeppelin (1975)

Casual Led Zeppelin fans like myself will be most familiar with Led Zeppelin I-IV and consider this era as peak Led Zep, but I’m more than happy to admit that for the time being Physical Graffiti is my favourite Led Zeppelin album. So much of what makes Led Zeppelin one of the greatest rock and roll bands of all time finally makes sense to me because of the time I’ve spent listening to this album over the past few weeks. Plant’s effortless and haunting vocals cut through Page’s brilliantly clever guitar, and John Bonham’s subtly original beats are amazingly impressive. With a clear lack of eagerness to move from one song to next, and its abundance of groove, it’s easy to get lost in Physical Graffiti and feel like you’re being transported to another dimension. The melodies and riffs are infectious, and like many great albums it only gets better with each listen.

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That brings us to the end of my ranking, so now we can move onto how it differed to Rolling Stone magazine’s ranking. Below is the order in which these 13 albums were ranked by RS, with 1 being the highest ranked album (138th) and 13 being the lowest (150th). In brackets next to each album name you’ll see a number and either a + or – next to it; this shows how my ranking of the album differed to RS magazine’s ranking (so for example, I ranked Madonna’s Immaculate Collection 10th, which is 9 places lower than RS magazine’s ranking):

1. The Immaculate Collection – Madonna (-9)
2. Paranoid – Black Sabbath (-3)
3. Catch A Fire – Bob Marley & The Wailers (-3)
4. Doolittle – Pixies (-9)
5. Born In The USA – Bruce Springsteen (-1)
6. The Velvet Underground – The Velvet Underground (-5)
7. Physical Graffiti – Led Zeppelin (+6)
8. The Marshall Mathers LP – Eminem (+6)
9. Parallel Lines – Blondie (+1)
10. Grace – Jeff Buckley (+7)
11. Channel ORANGE – Frank Ocean (+7)
12. John Prine – John Prine (+3)
13. Nebraska – Bruce Springsteen (+1)