I was just looking through artist rankings on the main site and noticed something a little preculiar to me. Nick Cave, with his dozen albums, only has one that is top 5 for the year. I kept looking around for things like this. Talking Heads, wth 4 albums in the top 300, have only one album in the top 5 for a year. The Beatles, with all of their songs, never had a song that was considered the best song of the year. Psychocandy, Stankonia, Born to Run, Thriller, Never Mind the Bollocks, Like A Virgin, and In Utero are the only albums to have more than one single make the top 5 for the same year.

So I decided to rank the artists by how many songs or albums they have in top 5s for the year. It’s a slightly different way of ranking them, where you can compare them throughout history but the rankings are determined by how critically acclaimed they are against their contemporaries. I think it paints a very different picture then just looking at each song’s overall ranking (how the pre-1955 artists came out was very surprising when I started making the list.) It also gets rid of one-hit wonders, showing that these artists had prolonged success. So here’s the list. I hope I didn’t randomly miss out on someone.

Title – Year - Rank

Songs

7

Hank Williams
Lovesick Blues – 1949 – 2
Lost Highway – 1949 – 4
I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry – 1949 – 1
Cold, Cold Heart – 1950 – 5
Hey Good Lookin’ – 1951 – 4
I’ll Never Get Out of This World Alive – 1952 – 2
Your Cheatin’ Heart – 1953 – 1

6

Madonna
Like a Virgin – 1984 – 3
Into the Groove – 1985 – 1
Like a Prayer – 1989 – 4
Vogue – 1990 – 5
Ray of Light – 1998 – 4
Hung Up – 2005 – 4

Duke Ellington
Black and Tan Fantasy – 1927 – 3
Mood Indigo – 1930 – 1
Take the “A” Train – 1941 – 1
Come Sunday – 1943 – 2
Black, Brown, & Beige – 1944 – 2
In a Sentimental Mood – 1945 – 4

Elvis Presley
That’s All Right (Mama) – 1954 – 2
Mystery Train – 1955 – 3
Heartbreak Hotel – 1956 – 1
Hound Dog – 1956 – 2
Don’t Be Cruel – 1956 – 5
Suspicious Minds – 1969 - 5

5

The Beatles
She Loves You – 1963 – 4
I Want To Hold Your Hand – 1963 – 3
Strawberry Fields Forever – 1967 – 2
A Day in the Life – 1967 – 3
Hey Jude – 1968 – 4

Bing Crosby
Pennies From Heaven – 1936 – 3
White Christmas – 1942 – 1
Don’t Fence Me In – 1943 – 4
Swinging on a Star – 1944 – 3
Pistol Packin’ Momma – 1944 – 4

Robert Johnson
Cross Roads Blues – 1936 – 1
Sweet Home Chicago – 1936 – 4
Terraplane Blues – 1936 – 5
Hellhound on my Trail – 1937 – 2
Love in Vain – 1937 – 4

4

Prince
Little Red Corvette – 1983 – 3
When Doves Cry – 1984 – 1
Kiss – 1986 – 2
Sign ‘o’ The Times – 1987 – 2

R.E.M.
Radio Free Europe – 1983 – 4
It's the End of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine) – 1987 – 5
Losing My Religion – 1991 – 2
Man on the Moon – 1992 – 5

Marvin Gaye
I Heard It Through the Grapevine – 1968 – 2
What’s Going On – 1971 – 2
Let’s Get It On – 1973 – 4
Sexual Healing – 1982 – 4

Muddy Waters
I Can’t Be Satisfied – 1948 – 3
Rollin’ Stone – 1950 –1
Hoochie Coochie Man – 1954 – 4
Mannish Boy – 1955 - 5

Bessie Smith
'T Ain't nobody's Bizness If I Do – 1922 – 3
Downhearted Blues – 1923 – 1
St. Louis Blues – 1925 – 1
Nobody Knows When You're Down and Out – 1929 – 5

3

OutKast
B.O.B – 2000 – 4
Ms. Jackson – 2000 – 1
Hey Ya! – 2003 – 1

David Bowie
Space Oddity – 1969 – 5
Ziggy Stardust – 1972 – 4
Heroes – 1977 – 2

The Andrews Sisters
Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy – 1941 – 4
Don’t Fence Me In – 1942 – 4
Pistol Packin’ Mama – 1944 - 4

The Everly Brothers
Bye Bye Love – 1958 – 5
All I Have To Do Is Dream – 1958 – 4
Cathy’s Clown – 1960 – 5

U2
Sunday Bloody Sunday – 1983 – 5
With or Without You – 1987 – 4
One – 1991 – 4

Nirvana
Smells Like Teen Spirit – 1991 – 1
Heart-Shaped Box – 1993 – 3
All Apologies – 1993 – 5

The Rolling Stones
(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction – 1965 – 2
Jumpin’ Jack Flash – 1968 – 5
Sympathy for the Devil – 1968 - 3

Fats Weller
Ain’t Misbehavin’ – 1929 – 2
Handful of Keys – 1929 – 4
Honeysuckle Rose – 1934 – 2

The Carter Family
Keep on the Sunny Side – 1928 – 3
Wildwood Flower – 1929 – 1
Can the Circle Be Unbroken (Bye and Bye) – 1935 – 1

Eminem
My Name Is – 1999 – 1
Stan – 2000 – 2
Lose Yourself – 2002 - 4

The Smiths
This Charming Man – 1983 – 3
How Soon is Now? – 1984 – 4
There Is a Light That Never Goes Out – 1986 – 3

Michael Jackson
Don’t Stop Till You Get Enough – 1979 – 5
Billie Jean – 1982 – 1
Beat It – 1982 – 5

Bruce Springsteen
Thunder Road – 1975 – 3
Born to Run – 1975 – 1
Born in the USA – 1985 – 5

Radiohead
Creep – 1992 – 1
Fake Plastic Trees – 1995 – 5
Paranoid Android – 1997 – 4

Beastie Boys
Fight For Your Right (To Party) – 1986 – 4
Sabotage – 1994 – 3
Intergalactic – 1998 – 2

2

The Beach Boys
Good Vibrations – 1966 – 1
God Only Knows – 1966 – 4

Bob Dylan
Like a Rolling Stone – 1965 – 1
Tangled Up in Blue – 1975 – 5

The Clash
(White Man) In Hammersmith Palais – 1978 – 1
London Calling – 1979 – 1

Led Zeppelin
Whole Lotta Love – 1969 – 4
Stairway to Heaven – 1971 – 1

Sex Pistols
Anarchy in the U.K – 1976 – 1
God Save the Queen – 1977 – 1

Chuck Berry
Maybellene – 1955 – 2
Johnny B. Goode – 1956 – 1

Johnny Cash
I Walk The Line – 1955 – 4
Hurt – 2002 – 5

Public Enemy
Bring the Noise – 1987 – 4
Fight the Power – 1990 – 1

Little Richard
Tutti Frutti – 1955 – 1
Good Golly Miss Molly – 1958 – 5

Oasis
Live Forever – 1994 – 1
Wonderwall – 1995 – 2

Blur
Girls Like Boys – 1994 – 2
Song 2 – 1997 – 2

The Temptations
My Girl – 1964 – 5
Papa Was A Rolling Stone – 1972 – 3

Roy Orbison
Only The Lonely – 1960 – 2
Crying – 1961 – 4

Bob Marley & The Wailers
Get Up, Stand Up – 1973 – 5
No Woman, No Cry – 1974 – 1

Smokey Robinson & The Miracles
You Really Got a Hold on Me – 1962 – 5
The Tracks of My Tears – 1965 – 5

Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five
The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash on the Wheels of Steel – 1981 – 5
The Message – 1982 – 1

Talking Heads
Psycho Killer – 1977 – 5
Once in a Lifetime – 1980 – 2

Missy Elliot
Get Ur Freak On 2001 – 1
Work It – 2002 – 1

Beck
Loser – 1993 – 1
Where Its At – 1996 – 2

Benny Goodman
Sing, Sing, Sing – 1937 – 1
Solo Flight – 1941 – 5

Jerry Lee Lewis
Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On – 1957 – 2
Great Balls of Fire – 1957 – 4

Leadbelly
Goodnight Irene – 1936 – 1
Midnight Special – 1940 - 2

The White Stripes
Fell in Love With a Girl – 2001 – 3
Seven Nation Army – 2003 – 3

Franz Ferdinand
Take Me Out – 2004 – 1
Do You Want To – 2006 – 5

The Jesus & Mary Chain
Never Understand – 1985 – 4
Just Like Honey – 1985 – 5

The Chemical Brothers
Setting Sun – 1996 – 4
Block Rockin’ Beats – 1997 – 4

Dr. Dre
Ain’t Nuttin But A G Thang – 1992 – 2
No Diggity – 1996 – 3

TLC
Waterfalls – 1994 – 4
No Scrubs – 1999 – 2

Billie Holliday
Strange Fruit – 1939 – 1
God Bless The Child – 1941 – 2

Britney Spears
Baby One More Time – 1999 – 3
Toxic – 2003 – 4

M.I.A
Galang – 2005 – 4
Paper Planes – 2007 – 5

Jimmie Rodgers
Blue Yodel (T For Texas) – 1928 – 2
Blue Yodel No. 9 (Standin' on the Corner) – 1930 – 2

Gene Autry
Back in the Saddle Again – 1939 – 4
Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer – 1949 – 5

Bill Monroe
Mule Skinner Blues – 1940 - 5
Blue Moon of Kentucky – 1947 – 2

The Orioles
It’s Too Soon To Know – 1948 – 2
Crying in the Chapel – 1953 – 3

Charlie Parker
Koko – 1945 – 1
Ornithology – 1946 – 4

Albums

8

Bob Dylan
The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan – 1963 – 2
Bringing It All Back Home – 1965 – 4
Highway 61 Revisited – 1965 – 1
Blonde on Blonde – 1966 – 3
Blood on the Tracks – 1975 – 3
Time out of Mind – 1997 – 3
Modern Times – 2001 – 4
Love & Theft – 2006 - 4

7

The Beatles
With The Beatles – 1963 – 3
A Hard Day’s Night – 1964 – 1
Rubber Soul – 1965 – 2
Revolver – 1966 – 2
Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Heart Club Band – 1967 – 2
The Beatles – 1968 – 2
Abbey Road – 1969 – 1

6

Radiohead
The Bends – 1995 – 2
OK Computer – 1997 – 1
Kid A – 2000 – 1
Amnesiac – 2001 – 5
Hail to the Thief – 2003 – 4
In Rainbows – 2007 – 1

The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones/England's Newest Hitmakers – 1964 – 3
Aftermath – 1966 – 4
Beggar’s Banquet – 1968 – 7
Let It Bleed – 1969 – 2
Sticky Fingers – 1971 – 5
Exile on Main St. – 1972 – 1

5

Neil Young
After the Goldrush – 1970 – 1
Harvest – 1972 – 5
Tonight’s the Night – 1975 –5
Rust Never Sleeps – 1979 – 5
Ragged Glory – 1990 – 5

Bruce Springsteen
Born to Run – 1975 – 1
Darkness on the Edge of Town – 2
The River – 1980 – 5
Nebraska – 1982 – 2
Born in the USA – 1985 - 5

4

Miles Davis
Birth of the Cool – 1954 – 1
Porgy & Bess – 1958 – 1
Kind of Blue – 1959 – 1
Sketches of Spain – 1960 – 2

John Coltrane
Blue Train – 1957 – 4
Giant Steps – 1960 – 1
My Favorite Things – 1961 – 2
Live at the Village Vanguard – 1962 - 4

3

U2
War – 1983 – 4
The Joshua Tree – 1987 – 2
Achtung, Baby – 1991 - 5

Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley – 1956- 1
Elvis – 1956 – 5
Elvis Is Back! – 1950 - 1

Frank Sinatra
In The Wee Small Hours – 1955 – 1
Songs for Swingin’ Lovers – 1956 – 2
Sings for Only the Lonely – 1958 – 2

Prince
1999 – 1982 – 2
Purple Rain – 1984 – 1
Sign ‘o’ The Times – 1987 – 1

R.E.M.
Murmur – 1983 – 1
Document – 1987 – 5
Automatic for the People – 1992 - 1

Thelonious Monk
Genius of Modern Music, Vol. 1 – 1951 – 1
Genius of Modern Music, Vol. 2 – 1952 – 1
Brilliant Corners – 1957 – 3

Charles Mingus
Jazz at Massey Hall/The Greatest Jazz Concert Ever – 1953 – 1
Mingus Ah Um – 1957 – 4
The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady – 1964 – 4

Beastie Boys
Licensed to Ill – 1986 – 4
Paul’s Boutique – 1989 – 4
Check Your Head – 1992 - 5

Charlie Parker
Charlie Parker with Strings – 1950 – 3
Bird & Diz – 1952 – 2
Jazz at Massey Hall/The Greatest Jazz Concert Ever – 1953 – 1

Elvis Costello
My Aim Is True – 1977 – 5
This Year’s Model – 1978 – 1
Imperial Bedroom – 1982 - 4

Led Zeppelin
II – 1969 – 2
IV – 1971 – 2
Physical Graffiti – 1975 – 4

Stevie Wonder
Talking Book – 1972 – 4
Innerversions – 1973 – 2
Songs in the Key of Life – 1976 – 2

2

Art Blakey
A Night at Birdland Vol. 1 – 1954 – 1
Moanin’ – 1958 – 5

Ornette Coleman
The Shape of Jazz to Come – 1959 – 2
Free Jazz – 1961 – 5

David Bowie
The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars – 1972 – 2
Station to Station – 1976 - 4

Arcade Fire
Funeral – 2004 – 1
Neon Bible – 2007 – 2

Joni Mitchell
Blue – 1971 – 4
Court & Spark – 1973 – 3

Kanye West
The College Dropout – 2004 – 4
Late Registration – 2005 – 5

Jimi Hendrix
Are You Experienced? – 1967 – 3
Electric Ladyland – 1968 – 3

The Smiths
The Smiths – 1983 – 3
The Queen is Dead – 1986 – 1

The Band
Music From Big Pink – 1968 – 5
The Band – 1969 – 3

Van Morrison
Astral Weeks – 1968 – 1
Moondance – 1970 – 4

Pink Floyd
Dark Side of the Moon – 1973 – 1
The Wall – 1979 – 5

Nirvana
Nevermind – 1991 – 1
In Utero – 1993 – 1

Michael Jackson
Off the Wall – 1979 – 3
Thriller – 1982 - 1

The Stooges
Fun House – 1970 – 5
Raw Power – 1973 – 3

Oasis
Definitely Maybe – 1994 – 2
(What’s the Story) Morning Glory? – 1995 – 1

Kraftwerk
Autobahn – 1974 – 5
Computer World – 1981 – 5

The Clash
The Clash – 1977 – 3
London Calling – 1979 – 1

Joy Division
Unknown Pleasures – 1979 – 2
Closer – 1979 – 2

The White Stripes
White Blood Cells – 2001 – 2
Elephant – 2003 - 1

Tom Waits
Swordfishtrombones – 1983 – 2
Rain Dogs – 1985 – 2

Sonic Youth
Sister – 1987 – 4
Daydream Nation – 1988 – 2

Jane’s Addiction
Nothing’s Shocking – 1988 – 5
Ritual de lo Habitual – 1990 – 4

Pixies
Surfer Rosa – 1988 – 3
Doolittle – 1989 – 2

Public Enemy
It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back – 1988 – 1
Fear of a Black Planet – 1990 - 1

The Flaming Lips
The Soft Bulletin – 1999 – 1
Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots – 2002 – 4

Coldplay
Parachutes – 2000 – 5
A Rush of Blood to the Head – 2002 – 3

M.I.A
Arular – 2005 – 3
Kala – 2007 – 4

Another few interesting facts:

The artist with the most albums but without one in the top 5 is Ella Fitzgerald, with 12. For rock n’ roll era artists, its Steely Dan, John Cale, and The Cure with 8 each.

The most songs without any top 5s? Neil Young, with 14. The Velvet Underground is next with 13, and Elvis Costello and The Cure come up next with 12.

Radiohead and Miles Davis have the most #1 albums, with 3 each.

Hank Williams, Duke Ellington, The Carter Family, Bessie Smith, The Sex Pistols, OutKast, Missy Elliot, and The Clash have the most #1 songs, with 2.

Once (…or if) a new update appears, a few artists may join this group, like Nick Cave, Portishead, and TV on the Radio for albums, Kanye, MGMT, and maybe Coldplay for songs. Of course, if more than a few decades-spanning lists are brought in, this list may change a lot, but I think a lot of it will stay pretty steady.

This is very cool! It seems to even out the decades nicely.

You put "Beggar's Banquet" down as-

Beggar’s Banquet – 1968 – 7

when it should be number 4 of the year, not number 7.

sorry it was just something that bothered me.

Great list BTW, it's really interesting to see where the artists fall in respect to their own time periods.

Thank you! My two favorite artists are Hank Williams (1st in songs) and Bob Dylan (1st in albums). I knew that I was onto something.

Arcade Fire had 2 #2 albums

Here are some more stats:

Elvis Presley and Bob Dylan are the only artists to have 2 albums in the Top 5 for any given year: 1956 and 1965, respectively.

Robert Johnson and Elvis Presley are the only artists to have 3 songs in the Top 5 for any given year: 1936 and 1956, respectively.

Other artists who have had 2 songs in the top 5 for a year:
Fats Weller (1929), Robert Johnson (1937), Bing Crosby (1944), Hank Williams (1949), Jerry Lee Lewis (1957), The Everly Brothers (1958), The Beatles (1963 & 1967), The Beach Boys (1966), The Rolling Stones (1968), Bruce Springsteen (1975), Michael Jackson (1982), The Jesus & Mary Chain (1985), Nirvana (1993), OutKast (2000)

I really like this topic, by the way. Looking at the top 5 for each year makes me think that this is what the Grammys should look like. I'm kind of curious to see what it would look like to branch off into other categories and see what the top 5 highest-rated songs and albums of each year by genre (rock/country/R&B/blues/electronica/rap/etc). I might start doing that, but it would take awhile.

I'm gonna do an update for the albums tops 5 in the next month or so. It shouldn't take me too long but I have alot of stuff to do. Most things didn't change, but some artists have been added and some have been dropped.

Wilco has two top 5 albums: Yankee Hotel Foxtrot and A Ghost is Born.

PJ Harvey has two albums too (1995's To Bring You My Love & 2000's Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea), 1992's Dry & 1993's Rid Of Me, both of them are at number 6, by one position!! Same with Bjork, she had a number one album, two albums at number 6 and one at 7. Frustrating! I just love them, you know it's not everyday that a female singer/songwriter manages to be high and/or constantly critically acclaimed for two decades running, imagine two of them.

wow I just realized that Nirvana is the only band to simultaneously take all three number ones of a decade; Best artist, best album, and best song. No other artist even has two of these.