Here is a complete rundown of annual top tens from the Village Voice Pazz & Jop poll, going back to the first one in 1971 (there was no poll in 1972 or 1973). To illustrate how well each year's picks have withstood the test of time, I've also provided each album's ranking on Acclaimed Music as of the February 7 update.

1971
1. The Who, Who’s Next - 37
2. The Rolling Stones, Sticky Fingers - 48
3. Rod Stewart, Every Picture Tells a Story - 131
4. Van Morrison, Tupelo Honey - 900
5. John Lennon, Imagine - 78
6. Joy of Cooking - ---
7. Grateful Dead - ---
8. The Concert for Bangladesh - 1908
9. Joni Mitchell, Blue - 38
10. Carole King, Tapestry - 56

1974
1. Joni Mitchell, Court and Spark - 123
2. Steely Dan, Pretzel Logic - 275
3. Randy Newman, Good Old Boys - 368
4. Stevie Wonder, Fulfillingness’ First Finale - 720
5. The Rolling Stones, It’s Only Rock ‘n’ Roll - 1946
6. Bob Dylan/The Band, Before the Flood - 1323
7. Roxy Music, Stranded - 462
8. Jackson Browne, Late for the Sky - 301
9. Eric Clapton, 461 Ocean Boulevard - 350
10. New York Dolls, In Too Much Too Soon - 710

1975
1. Bob Dylan/The Band, The Basement Tapes - 284
2. Patti Smith, Horses - 22
3. Bruce Springsteen, Born to Run - 17
4. Bob Dylan, Blood on the Tracks - 25
5. Neil Young, Tonight’s the Night - 129
6. Steely Dan, Katy Lied - 565
7. Roxy Music, Country Life - 795
8. Bob Marley and the Wailers, Natty Dread - 121
9. The Band, Northern Lights - Southern Cross - ---
10. The Who by Numbers - 1619

1976
1. Stevie Wonder, Songs in the Key of Life - 46
2. Graham Parker and the Rumour, Heat Treatment - 1099
3. Jackson Browne, The Pretender - 626
4. Graham Parker and the Rumour, Howlin’ Wind - 730
5. Kate and Anna McGarrigle - 610
6. Steely Dan, The Royal Scam - 1597
7. Joni Mitchell, Hejira - 482
8. Ramones - 34
9. Rod Stewart, A Night on the Town - 2364
10. Blue Oyster Cult, Agents of Fortune - 921

1977
1. Never Mind the Bollocks Here’s the Sex Pistols - 9
2. Elvis Costello, My Aim is True - 79
3. Television, Marquee Moon - 27
4. Fleetwood Mac, Rumours - 52
5. Steely Dan, Aja - 267
6. The Ramones, Rocket to Russia - 246
7. Talking Heads: 77 - 295
8. Randy Newman, Little Criminals - 804
9. Garland Jeffreys, Ghost Writer - ---
10. Cheap Trick, In Color - 1072

1978
1. Elvis Costello and the Attractions, This Year’s Model - 72
2. The Rolling Stones, Some Girls - 303
3. Nick Lowe, Pure Pop for Now People - 907
4. The Clash, Give ‘Em Enough Rope - 796
5. Talking Heads, More Songs about Buildings and Food - 229
6. Bruce Springsteen, Darkness on the Edge of Town - 93
7. The Ramones, Road to Ruin - 1387
8. Neil Young, Comes a Time - 1984
9. The Cars - 567
10. David Johansen - 1936

1979
1. Graham Parker and the Rumour, Squeezing Out Sparks - 505
2. Neil Young and Crazy Horse, Rust Never Sleeps - 126
3. The Clash - 49 [UK version]
4. Talking Heads, Fear of Music - 241
5. Elvis Costello and the Attractions, Armed Forces - 253
6. Van Morrison, Into the Music - 1064
7. The B-52’s - 420
8. Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Damn the Torpedoes - 399
9. Pere Ubu, Dub Housing - 686
10. Donna Summer, Bad Girls - 943

1980
1. The Clash, London Calling - 10
2. Bruce Springsteen, The River - 216
3. Talking Heads, Remain in Light - 39
4. Pretenders - 133
5. Public Image Ltd., Second Edition - 183
6. Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band, Doc at the Radar Station - 956
7. Elvis Costello and the Attractions, Get Happy!! - 255
8. Stevie Wonder, Hotter Than July - 1680
9. Prince, Dirty Mind - 344
10. Gang of Four, Entertainment! - 161

1981
1. The Clash, Sandinista! - 479
2. X, Wild Gift - 524
3. Elvis Costello and the Attractions, Trust - 983
4. The Rolling Stones, Tattoo You - 852
5. Rickie Lee Jones, Pirates - 926
6. Squeeze, East Side Story - 799
7. Tom Verlaine, Dreamtime - 2138
8. Prince, Controversy - ---
9. Rick James, Street Songs - 1475
10. The Go-Gos, Beauty and the Beat - 937

1982
1. Elvis Costello and the Attractions, Imperial Bedroom - 239
2. Richard and Linda Thompson, Shoot Out the Lights - 251
3. Bruce Springsteen, Nebraska - 132
4. King Sunny Ade and His African Beats, Juju Music - 599
5. Lou Reed, The Blue Mask - 1333
6. Prince, 1999 - 155
7. The English Beat, Special Beat Service - 1970
8. Marvin Gaye, Midnight Love - 995
9. Marshall Crenshaw - 843
10. X, Under the Big Black Sun - 2204

1983
1. Michael Jackson, Thriller - 31
2. R.E.M., Murmur - 58
3. Talking Heads, Speaking in Tongues - 1309
4. X, More Fun in the New World - 1646
5. The Police, Synchronicity - 232
6. U2, War - 269
7. Lou Reed, Legendary Hearts - 2179
8. Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers, Jonathan Sings! - ---
9. Richard Thompson, Hand of Kindness - 1968
10. Bob Dylan, Infidels - 2057

1984
1. Bruce Springsteen, Born in the U.S.A. - 125
2. Prince and the Revolution, Purple Rain - 41
3. Los Lobos, How Will the Wolf Survive? - 579
4. The Replacements, Let It Be - 233
5. Tina Turner, Private Dancer - 529
6. R.E.M., Reckoning - 616
7. The Pretenders, Learning to Crawl - 711
8. Husker Du, Zen Arcade - 234
9. Lou Reed, New Sensations - 1564
10. Run-D.M.C. - 568

1985
1. Talking Heads, Little Creatures - 998
2. The Replacements, Tim - 489
3. John Cougar Mellencamp, Scarecrow - 1041
4. Tom Waits, Rain Dogs - 138
5. Artists United Against Apartheid, Sun City - 2028
6. Husker Du, Flip Your Wig - 924
7. R.E.M., Fables of the Reconstruction - 1043
8. Husker Du, New Day Rising - 401
9. Aretha Franklin, Who’s Zooming Who? - ---
10. John Fogerty, Centerfield - 1651

1986
1. Paul Simon, Graceland - 67
2. Elvis Costello, King of America - 624
3. Robert Cray Band, Strong Persuader - 1144
4. Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, Live 1975-85 - 1669
5. Run-D.M.C., Raising Hell - 185
6. The Beastie Boys, Licensed to Ill - 160
7. Peter Gabriel, So - 189
8. R.E.M., Lifes Rich Pageant - 687
9. Elvis Costello and the Attractions, Blood and Chocolate - 754
10. The Indestructible Beat of Soweto - ---

1987
1. Prince, Sign O’ the Times - 24
2. Bruce Springsteen, Tunnel of Love - 501
3. The Replacements, Pleased to Meet Me - 700
4. U2, The Joshua Tree - 40
5. John Hiatt, Bring the Family - 558
6. Los Lobos, By the Light of the Moon - 1953
7. John Cougar Mellencamp, The Lonesome Jubilee - 1403
8. R.E.M., Document - 330
9. XTC, Skylarking - 480
10. Husker Du, Warehouse: Songs and Stories - 446

1988
1. Public Enemy, It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back - 18
2. Sonic Youth, Daydream Nation - 87
3. Tracy Chapman - 346
4. Midnight Oil, Diesel and Dust - 600
5. Michelle Shocked, Short Sharp Shocked - 1473
6. Was (Not Was), What Up, Dog? - 1850
7. Pere Ubu, The Tenement Year - ---
8. Keith Richards, Talk is Cheap - 1691
9. Traveling Wilburys, Volume One - 1592
10. Randy Newman, Land of Dreams - 1854

1989
1. De La Soul, 3 Feet High and Rising - 71
2. Neil Young, Freedom - 464
3. Lou Reed, New York - 345
4. The Neville Brothers, Yellow Moon - 713
5. Neneh Cherry, Raw Like Sushi - 1687
6. N.W.A., Straight Outta Compton - 134
7. Elvis Costello, Spike - ---
8. The Mekons Rock ‘n’ Roll - 1037
9. Soul II Soul, Keep on Movin’ - 527
10. The Pixies, Doolittle - 70

1990
1. Neil Young and Crazy Horse, Ragged Glory - 431
2. Sinead O’Connor, I Do Not What I Haven’t Got - 354
3. Public Enemy, Fear of a Black Planet - 107
4. Sonic Youth, Goo - 525
5. Living Colour, Time’s Up - 1345
6. Ice Cube, AmeriKKKa’s Most Wanted - 775
7. Paul Simon, The Rhythm of the Saints - 2476
8. Roseanne Cash, Interiors - 2117
9. LL Cool J, Mama Said Knock You Out - 802
10. Prince, Graffiti Bridge - ---

1991
1. Nirvana, Nevermind - 3
2. Public Enemy, Apocalypse 91: The Enemy Strikes Black - 914
3. R.E.M., Out of Time - 206
4. U2, Achtung Baby - 73
5. PM Dawn, Of the Heart, of the Soul, and of the Cross: The Utopian Experience - 1671
6. Richard Thompson, Rumor and Sigh - 1804
7. Matthew Sweet, Girlfriend - 1052
8. Metallica - 224
9. Chris Whitley, Living With the Law - ---
10. The Curse of the Mekons - ---

1992
1. Arrested Development, 3 Years, 5 Months and 2 Days in the Life of … - 589
2. Pavement, Slanted and Enchanted - 109
3. R.E.M., Automatic for the People - 44
4. PJ Harvey, Dry - 379
5. The Beastie Boys, Check Your Head - 282
6. Los Lobos, Kiko - 829
7. Sugar, Copper Blue - 555
8. Sonic Youth, Dirty - 676
9. Tom Waits, Bone Machine - 609
10. Basehead, Play With Toys - 1861

1993
1. Liz Phair, Exile in Guyville - 201
2. Nirvana, In Utero - 122
3. PJ Harvey, Rid of Me - 364
4. The Breeders, Last Splash - 470
5. Pet Shop Boys, Very - 709
6. Dr. Dre, The Chronic - 135
7. Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Spinning Around the Sun - ---
8. De La Soul, Buhloone Mind State - 1887
9. U2, Zooropa - 1528
10. Digable Planets, Reachin’ (A New Refutation of Time and Space) - 2240

1994
1. Hole, Live Through This - 254
2. Pavement, Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain - 230
3. R.E.M., Monster - 1033
4. Nirvana, MTV Unplugged in New York - 332
5. Neil Young and Crazy Horse, Sleeps With Angels - 920
6. Liz Phair, Whip-Smart - 2317
7. Johnny Cash, American Recordings - 372
8. Guided by Voices, Bee Thousand - 660
9. Nine Inch Nails, The Downward Spiral - 289
10. Beck, Mellow Gold - 258

1995
1. PJ Harvey, To Bring You My Love - 120
2. Tricky, Maxinquaye - 117
3. Moby, Everything is Wrong - 885
4. Elastica - 834
5. Neil Young, Mirror Ball - 2394
6. Foo Fighters - 881
7. Bjork, Post - 319
8. Bruce Springsteen, The Ghost of Tom Joad - 950
9. Yo La Tengo, Electr-O-Pura - 1124
10. Oasis, (What’s the Story) Morning Glory? - 86

1996
1. Beck, Odelay - 47
2. The Fugees, The Score - 320
3. Sleater-Kinney, Call the Doctor - 1217
4. Endtroducing …DJ Shadow - 124
5. Los Lobos, Colossal Head - ---
6. Steve Earle, I Feel Alright - ---
7. Stereolab, Emperor Tomato Ketchup - 588
8. Amy Rigby, Diary of a Mod Housewife - ---
9. Tricky, Pre-Millennium Tension - 1349
10. Pulp, Different Class - 137

1997
1. Bob Dylan, Time Out of Mind - 220
2. Radiohead, OK Computer - 14
3. Cornershop, When I Was Born for the 7th Time - 644
4. Sleater-Kinney, Dig Me Out - 570
5. Yo La Tengo, I Can Hear the Heart Beating as One - 488
6. Missy Elliott, Supa Dupa Fly - 619
7. Erykah Badu, Baduizm - 652
8. Belle and Sebastian, If You’re Feeling Sinister - 389
9. Bjork, Homogenic - 407
10. Pavement, Brighten the Corners - 967

1998
1. Lucinda Williams, Car Wheels on a Gravel Road - 331
2. The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill - 112
3. Bob Dylan, Live 1966: The Royal Albert Hall Concert - 549
4. Billy Bragg/Wilco, Mermaid Avenue - 808
5. Elliott Smith, XO - 618
6. OutKast, Aquemini - 614
7. PJ Harvey, Is This Desire? - 2258
8. Air, Moon Safari - 180
9. The Beastie Boys, Hello Nasty - 801
10. Rufus Wainwright - 1698

1999
1. Moby, Play - 279
2. The Magnetic Fields, 69 Love Songs - 335
3. Beck, Midnite Vultures - 572
4. The Flaming Lips, The Soft Bulletin - 165
5. Tom Waits, Mule Variations - 681
6. Rage Against the Machine, The Battle of Los Angeles - 1022
7. Fiona Apple, When the Pawn … - 2226
8. Wilco, Summer Teeth - 459
9. Beth Orton, Central Reservation - 1532
10. Mos Def, Black on Both Sides - 870

2000
1. OutKast, Stankonia - 171
2. PJ Harvey, Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea - 440
3. Radiohead, Kid A - 159
4. Eminem, The Marshall Mathers LP - 139
5. I Am Shelby Lynne - 1264
6. D’Angelo, Voodoo - 751
7. U2, All That You Can’t Leave Behind - 707
8. Yo La Tengo, And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out - 800
9. Who is Jill Scott? Words and Sounds Vol. 1 - 1551
10. Sleater-Kinney, All Hands on the Bad One - ---

2001
1. Bob Dylan, Love and Theft - 296
2. The Strokes, Is This It - 62
3. Bjork, Vespertine - 592
4. The White Stripes, White Blood Cells - 145
5. Radiohead, Amnesiac - 598
6. Ryan Adams, Gold - 1055
7. Jay-Z, The Blueprint - 287
8. The Coup, Party Music - ---
9. Lucinda Williams, Essence - 1826
10. Rufus Wainwright, Poses - 2130

2002
1. Wilco, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot - 156
2. Beck, Sea Change - 679
3. The Flaming Lips, Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots - 402
4. The Streets, Original Pirate Material - 193
5. Sleater-Kinney, One Beat - 992
6. Bruce Springsteen, The Rising - 1404
7. The Roots, Phrenology - 816
8. The Eminem Show - 977
9. Coldplay, A Rush of Blood to the Head - 360
10. Missy Elliott, Under Construction - 933

2003
1. OutKast, Speakerboxxx/The Love Below - 130
2. The White Stripes, Elephant - 108
3. Fountains of Wayne, Welcome Interstate Managers - 1160
4. Radiohead, Hail to the Thief - 383
5. Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Fever to Tell - 923
6. The Shins, Chutes Too Narrow - 410
7. The New Pornographers, Electric Version - 1522
8. Basement Jaxx, Kish Kash - 1692
9. Drive-By Truckers, Decoration Day - 2193
10. Dizzee Rascal, Boy in da Corner - 365

2004
1. Kanye West, The College Dropout - 249
2. Brian Wilson, Smile - 218
3. Loretta Lynn, Van Lear Rose - 508
4. Franz Ferdinand - 65
5. Green Day, American Idiot - 1126
6. The Arcade Fire, Funeral - 114
7. The Streets, A Grand Don’t Come for Free - 231
8. U2, How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb - 1311
9. Modest Mouse, Good News for People Who Love Bad News - 824
10. Danger Mouse, The Grey Album - 2387

2005
1. Kanye West, Late Registration - 237
2. M.I.A., Arular - 149
3. Sufjan Stevens, Illinois - 82
4. Sleater-Kinney, The Woods - 680
5. Fiona Apple, Extraordinary Machine - 1409
6. The White Stripes, Get Behind Me Satan - 836
7. Antony and the Johnsons, I Am a Bird Now - 202
8. The Hold Steady, Separation Sunday - 1577
9. The New Pornographers, Twin Cinema - 668
10. My Morning Jacket, Z - 642

LITTLE CREATURES is, by far, the lowest-ranking #1 album. It's one update away from falling out of the top 1000.

Most albums in the AM top 500: 1980 (8) and 1977 (7).

Only year to place all 10 albums in the AM top 1000: 1997.

There are 19 albums listed here - including three from a single year (1996) - which do not currently appear on the AM top 2500. Think about that - 19 albums that were considered among the finest of their year of release, which now don't make the cut on a ranking of the top 2500 albums of _all time_.

That's 33 polls, 330 albums, and only 19 (5.8%) didn't stand the test of time that well. I think Pazz & Jop has been a pretty steady barometer for what have been considered acclaimed albums over the years.