Over the last few days, Apple has been releasing albums it says rank in the top 100 recordings of all time — now, it's finally released the top 10, and what comes at number one feels like something of a curveball.
But before number one, there are numbers 10 through two that Apple, Nile Rodgers, and Maggie Rogers (no relation to me, of course) have chosen.
Apple's final 10
Coming in at number 10 there's Beyonce's Lemonade, from 2016. "Every second of Lemonade deserves to be studied and celebrated," Apple tells us, as Zane Lowe adds "It was the first time I feel that an artist of that magnitude, with that much attention on them, decided to take the narrative and really try to control it and share what they wanted to share."
Number nine comes as no surprise — Nirvana's Nevermind. The grunge classic is the top-performing rock album on the list and brings some dirt to the top 10. "When this album came out, it made everyone who heard it and connected to it feel like we finally had a band, a real band that was ours," Lowe says of the album — we feel you, Zane.
Number eight? That goes to Amy Winehouse's classic Back to Black, giving some much-needed soul to the final ten. "Right from the beginning, I felt like her voice was delivered to us from another time," Ebro Darden says, echoed when Rogers says that Amy "took all that tradition and then added something to it and moved it forward."
Kendrick Lamars good kid, m.A.A.d city takes the number seven spot, for the rap showing on the list. Lamar's brand of poetic rap resonates with Dobro who says that "He delivered on a Black consciousness that you don’t always get in hip-hop. And that’s why I’m really proud of the fact that it ranks where it does on this list."
Songs in the Key of Life by Stevie Wonder is up next. Taking the number six spot, the rich and engaging entry struck a chord with Rodgers. "or me, no matter what instrument he’s playing, he sort of speaks with the same voice. It’s a real unique gift" he says. "I can’t imagine a world that doesn’t have this record in it." Us neither, Maggie, us neither.
Number five on the list is Frank Ocean's Blonde. "It is music put on canvas." says Lowe, continuing that "I see strokes of color I never saw before or even knew existed. There’s so many layers and thoughts and emotions and hooks and ideas."
Coming in at number four is none other than Prince himself, with Purple Rain, the soundtrack that was leagues better than the movie it accompanied. Dobro loves Prince's hands-on approach: "He actually writes the song. He’s actually singing on stage. He’s actually doing his own art direction. He did his own fashion design. That was all him."
We're getting close to that top spot now — number three is The Beatles and Abbey Road. There's that famous crossing, and McCartney's bare feet, the base for roughly one million rumors around his supposed death. "There’s something about the Beatles that’s always really magical to me. Believe it or not, the first song I ever actually learned to play on guitar was a Beatles song," Rodgers says. A sentiment we can all follow, if you've ever picked up a guitar you've almost certainly tried the riff from Come Together.
Number two — almost there! This time it's Michael Jackson's hit album Thriller, with the best Halloween-themed track ever put to tape. "When Michael dropped this record, to me, the world changed. It was a seismic shift. Having a Black artist do a music video on the level of “Thriller” just changed the world," says Rodgers — no disagreements from us.
What about number one?
And finally, number one on the list — and it's one we weren't expecting. Apple and its judging panel have decided that The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill by Lauryn Hill is the best album of all time. "This album doesn’t just resonate with the people who were around when it came out and who hold it dear," Says Lowe. "You hear people; you hear the voices talking… It’s so open and so expansive and so direct… To have an artist like Lauryn Hill be the number one, that means a lot," says Maggie Rogers, showing how important Lauryn's voice is.
So those are Apple's top 100 albums of all time — what do you think? We're reserving judgment for when we've managed to get our heads in order over the whole thing, although it's likely that the top ten is going to divisive in opinion. But isn't that just part of the fun?
