Henrik, do you think Dylan could beat the Stones from the second place in the am rank with his new album??

I hate the stones

my fingers are cross

I hope you are right

I do not hate the Stones, but they are really overated

Amen

they were just in the right place at the right time.

The top artist list is based on each artist's 5 most acclaimed albums and 5 most acclaimed songs. I think I will extend this to 6 albums and songs in the next update, but anyway this means that "Modern Times" has to beat "Time Out Of Mind" to increase the artist score and this seems a little unlikely.

The limitation to 5 or 6 records in the formula is because an artist's reputation is usually based on the most acclaimed efforts. With no limitation highly acclaimed short-lived bands (e.g. Sex Pistols) would end up behind less-acclaimed long-lived bands, which I think would be wrong.

I worship at the alter of Dylan, but to call the Stones 'overrated' doesn't fly in my book. When you acknowledge their influence on rock, amazing studio work (Exile,Sticky Fingers,Let It Bleed,Beggars Banquit,etc.), great live perfomances(Get Yer Ya Ya's Out), the bridge between the original greats of music & now(Robert Johnson,Buddy Holly,etc); as well as their own shit-kicking rock sound...well, call me a Stones finatic but they've givin' me so much "satisfaction".

BUT...I know how it feels to consider a group 'overrated'...for me, the fact that the Beatles had nothing to offer as a great live act has caused me to handicap them on my lists.

Yes, Stones are extremely and yes they aresuperb BUT I still do no think they are the 2nd greatest artis ever... My top 10 as follows

1. Bob Dylan
2. The Beatles
3. Nirvana
4. David Bowie
5. Prince
6. The Rolling Stones
7. Radiohead
8. R.E.M
9. Elvis
10. Beach Boys

to me the stones were such staunch r&bvangelists that I find the vast majority of their work disposable. I have four stones albums (eoms, sf, lib, sg) and I rarely listen to any of them. They definitely did not have the innovative spirit of the beatles or dylan (nor the social relevance). They really weren't much more than a typical rock n roll act, albeit a very popular one.

thanks Henrik.

What about the Kinks?? dont someone else think that the Stones make his entire carrer after (in great part outside others rip offs) the sound of "You really got me"???? and what about the vast popularity of the Stones in the US after the Kinks got banned from there?? i never had heard Mick Jagger talking about them, and dont let me start about "Muswell Hillbillies" 1971 and "Exile on main street" 1972 similarities.

To tell you the truth when I was younger and less knowledgable I thought "You Really Got Me" was the Stones

I ahte The Stones, they're boring, unemotional dad-rock!! Haha, oml;y joking, but seriously i don't like them. Dylan is amazing though, much better than The Beatles & The Stones put together.

Although if this was a perfect world Radiohead would be the top artist, as they're clearly the best act of all-time :P

I've always thought if you consider the Stones and Dylan level up to the end of the 70's surely Dylan's last three and Oh Mercy would but him ahead, obviously Henrik's explanation clears that up to an extent though.

Henrik - you write that only the 5 most acclaimed albums and songs are taken into account for the artist score. Then why is Dylan among the most acclaimed artists in the 80s, 90s and 00s? All his top albums and songs are from the 60s and 70s.

The 5 albums & 5 songs method is applied within each decade as well. So for an artist who has 10 songs on AM from the 1980s, only the 5 most acclaimed songs will be counted for in the top artist of the 80s list. Then, none of these 5 songs may be among the 5 best of the artist's whole career and counted for in the all-time artists list.

Maybe this was a complicated answer, but the method makes perfect sense. At least to me!

Makes excellent sense to me too, but, gee, am I glad I'm not the one figuring out how to make the calculations! You're a statistics guy by trade, Henrik, right?

Thanks for the clarification! It indeed seems like the right method - your site really is flawless.