Critics Vs. Fans

If you read enough about music, you will most certainly come across the inevitable best/all-time/top album list. Music critics love to make lists. Everyone has one. If you read enough of them you start to see patterns. Lots of artists have that keystone album that have to be mentioned. It's always interesting to me one that album turns out to be the band's least commercially successful or unheard of by mainstream fans. Here are some that I've come across. These are based purely on my experience with top album lists. I've compared their sales ranking versus their other studio albums and their Rolling Stone Top 500 Albums ranking.

Beastie Boys - Paul's Boutique

The Beastie Boy's second album is what got me thinking about this list. This could be the least recognizable Beastie Boys album by the general populace, but if a critical list includes a Beastie Boys album it is more often than not this one. This album recently reached it's 20th anniversary. The Beasties remastered it and rereleased it in multiple formats to mark the event.



Sales Rank: 5/7 (Licensed to Ill 1/7)
Rolling Stone Rank: 156/500 (Licensed to Ill 217/500)

The Beatles - Revolver

The Beatles have so many hits to their credit it's ridiculous. Most top album lists have multiple Beatles albums on them. Then there's Revolver. This album came out right between Rubber Soul and Sgt. Pepper's. What's the hit song on this? "Eleanor Rigby". That's it. You could make an argument for "Yellow Submarine" or "Good Day Sunshine" but come on. "Tomorrow Never Knows" is considered a masterpiece but hardly a hit. To be fair, Sgt. Pepper's is #1 on Rolling Stone's list, but Revolver is #3 despite only selling more than Let It Be of The Beatles' major albums.

Sales Rank: 6/7 (Abbey Road 2/7)
Rolling Stone Rank: 3/500 (Abbey Road 14/500)

The Rolling Stones - Exile on Main St.

The king of all critic's darlings. The Rolling Stones' 1972 double album. Somebody name a hit off this album. "Happy"? "Tumbling Dice"? I wouldn't put either of those songs in the top 10 of Rolling Stones big hits. There are two discs of songs here. This album is also a favorite "influence" for hundreds of artists. It also has probably the most parodied album title ever.



Sales Rank: 8 (Sticky Fingers 3 or 4)
Rolling Stone Rank: 7/500 (Sticky Fingers 63/500)