《滚石》史上最伟大的 500 张专辑（2003 版）

"The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time" is a recurring opinion survey and music ranking of the finest albums in history, compiled by the American music magazine Rolling Stone. It is based on weighted votes from selected musicians, critics, and industry figures. The first list was published in a special issue of the magazine in 2003 and a related book in 2005.

Critics have accused the lists of lending disproportionate weight to artists of a particular ethnicity and gender. In the original list, most of the selections were albums by white male rock musicians, with the top position held by the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967). In 2012, Rolling Stone published a revised edition, drawing on the original and a later survey of albums released up until the early 2000s.

Another updated edition of the list was published in 2020, with 269 new entries replacing albums from the two previous editions. It was based on a new survey and did not consider the surveys conducted for the 2003 and 2012 lists. The 2020 list featured more artists of color and female artists, topped by Marvin Gaye's What's Going On (1971). It received similar criticisms as the previous lists. Another revision was published in 2023.

Since 2020 Rolling Stone has also produced a weekly podcast called Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums, which, according to the magazine, is based on an "updated version of Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums list". The podcast is hosted by Brittany Spanos, a staff writer at the magazine.

Background

The first version of the list, published as a magazine in November 2003, was based on the votes of 273 rock musicians, critics, and industry figures, each of whom submitted a ranked list of 50 albums. The accounting firm Ernst & Young devised a point system to weigh votes for 1,600 submitted titles. The Beatles' 1967 album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band topped the list, with Rolling Stone's editors describing it as "the most important rock 'n' roll album ever made". The Beach Boys' Pet Sounds (1966) was ranked second in recognition of its influence on Sgt. Pepper. The list also included compilations and "greatest hits" collections.

An amended list was released as a book in 2005, with an introduction by guitarist Steven Van Zandt. Some compilation albums were removed, and Robert Johnson's The Complete Recordings was substituted for both of his King of the Delta Blues Singers volumes, making room for a total of eight new entries on the list.

On May 31, 2012, Rolling Stone published a revised list, drawing on the original and a later survey of albums up until the early 2000s. It was made available in "bookazine" format on newsstands in the US from April 27 to July 25. The new list contained 38 albums not present in the previous one, 16 of them released after 2003. The top listings remained unchanged.

On September 22, 2020, another revision of the list was published. It drew upon a new survey conducted with "more than 300 artists, producers, critics, and music-industry figures", including:

Each voter was asked to submit a ranked list of 50 favorite albums. This time, the list included more musicians who were female and people of color, with many such artists represented at higher rankings than on the previous lists. Eighty-six of the entries were 21st-century releases; 154 new entries were not on either of the two previous editions, and rap albums figured three times as much. Marvin Gaye's What's Going On (1971) was featured at the number one spot.