Every year after the Village Voice Pazz & Jop critics' poll is released, I've been posting the list of albums that have made the P&J top ten over the years, along with where they currently ranked on Acclaimed Music. It's a great shorthand way of seeing how the albums that were deemed the best of any given year have stood the test of time.
I've decided to expand on that idea this year and do a series of posts listing the entire P&J top 40 for each year (well, until 1979 the paper only printed the top 30) and their AM rank as of the October 24 site update. I'll also note the highest-charting album for each year that DIDN'T make the poll at the time - and some of those are very surprising.
Keep in mind, if you glance at the AM year lists as you read these posts, that albums didn't always make the poll the same year they were initially released (e.g., LONDON CALLING, which came out at the very end of 1979 and was #1 on the 1980 poll). Also, some albums made the P&J list twice (e.g., THRILLER).
Now that those introductory notes are out of the way, here goes.
The first Pazz & Jop poll appeared in 1971:
1. The Who, Who’s Next - 34
2. The Rolling Stones, Sticky Fingers - 48
3. Rod Stewart, Every Picture Tells a Story - 141
4. Van Morrison, Tupelo Honey - 1157
5. John Lennon, Imagine - 99
6. Joy of Cooking - ---
7. Grateful Dead ---
8. The Concert for Bangladesh ---
9. Joni Mitchell, Blue - 43
10. Carole King, Tapestry - 61
11. Mahavishnu Orchestra, The Inner Mounting Flame - 661
12. The Beach Boys, Surf’s Up - 469
13. Janis Joplin, Pearl - 194
14. The Kinks, Muswell Hillbillies - 1344
15. Randy Newman Live - ---
16. The Allman Brothers Band, At Fillmore East - 108
17. Sly and the Family Stone, There’s a Riot Goin’ On - 52
18. David Bowie, Hunky Dory - 59
19. The Move, Message from the Country - ---
(tie) Procul Harum, Broken Barricades - ---
21. Traffic, The Low Spark of High Heeled Boys - 2338
22. Jethro Tull, Aqualung - 485
23. Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen, Lost in the Ozone - ---
(tie) Jeff Beck Group, Rough and Ready - ---
25. The Band, Cahoots - ---
26. Alice Cooper, Killer - 1023
27. Yes, The Yes Album - 860
28. Delaney and Bonnie, Motel Shot - ---
29. Nilsson Schmilsson - 927
30. Led Zeppelin IV - 31
Highest AM-ranking album not on poll:
Marvin Gaye, What's Going On - 8
