maroon man said:

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No Boston? No list.

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The first Boston album was the highest selling debut album ever for years, and still gets radio airplay often.

AI says AI could have created this list. A real person (me) says AI was 100% used without a doubt to slap together some garbage in the name of diversity and call this a top 100 list. It is so diverse that it is unnatural.

You can't compare apples to oranges to dragonfruit to durian fruit.

Quote:

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It is indeed possible that Apple employees utilized AI to curate this list, leveraging several points that could guide an AI-driven selection process:

### Genre Diversity
AI algorithms can analyze vast amounts of music data across different genres, identifying influential and popular albums within each genre. By examining streaming data, critical reviews, and social media mentions, AI can curate a diverse list that includes rock, hip-hop, pop, R&B, electronic, alternative, and more.

### Temporal Range
AI can track the historical popularity and critical acclaim of albums over time. By analyzing trends and patterns in music consumption from different eras, AI can ensure the list includes classic albums from the 60s, 70s, and 80s, modern classics from the 90s and 2000s, and recent releases.

### Iconic Artists and Albums
AI can identify artists with significant cultural impact by aggregating data from music awards, critic reviews, and fan ratings. By recognizing artists with multiple influential albums, the AI ensures that icons like Beyonc, Radiohead, and The Beatles are appropriately represented.

### Gender Representation
AI can be programmed to consider diversity, including gender representation, by analyzing the contributions of female artists in various genres. Ensuring a balanced representation of influential female musicians can be part of the curation algorithm.

### Critical Acclaim vs. Popular Success
AI can balance critical acclaim and commercial success by weighing different metrics, such as sales data, streaming numbers, and critic scores. This allows the list to feature both critically lauded albums like "A Love Supreme" and commercially successful ones like "21."

### Unique Choices
AI can identify unique and innovative albums by analyzing niche music communities, specialist critic reviews, and genre-specific discussions. This ensures the inclusion of albums like "Untrue" by Burial, which may not be mainstream but are highly influential within their genres.

### Data Sources and AI Algorithms
AI curation would likely involve a combination of data sources and machine learning algorithms:
- **Streaming Data**: Analysis of streaming platforms to identify frequently played and highly rated albums.
- **Critic Reviews**: Natural language processing (NLP) to analyze reviews from music critics and aggregate scores from sites like Metacritic and Pitchfork.
- **Social Media Analysis**: Sentiment analysis on social media platforms to gauge public opinion and buzz around certain albums.
- **Historical Data**: Historical sales and chart performance to understand long-term popularity and impact.

### Implementation
To implement AI in curating such a list, Apple employees could have followed these steps:
1. **Data Collection**: Gather data from streaming platforms, music review sites, social media, and historical charts.
2. **Algorithm Development**: Develop machine learning models to analyze the data, identify patterns, and rank albums based on the criteria mentioned.
3. **Validation and Refinement**: Validate the AI-generated list against expert opinions and known benchmarks, refining the model to address any discrepancies or biases.
4. **Final Curation**: Combine AI insights with human expertise to finalize the list, ensuring it aligns with the intended diversity, representation, and balance.

### Conclusion
Given the complexity and multi-faceted nature of curating a list of top 100 albums, it's plausible that Apple employees employed AI to assist in this process. AI can efficiently handle large datasets, identify trends, and ensure a balanced representation across various dimensions, making it a valuable tool in compiling such a comprehensive and diverse list.

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Big Al 1992 said:

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Just AI'd this list and it's better than Apple's.

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Much better, although Legend is a greatest hits album, so doesn't really count.

Big Al 1992 said:

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Just AI'd this list and it's better than Apple's.

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Meh.

1. No disagreement that the Apple Music is pretty out of wack or at the very least, provocative. However, at least they seemed to at least try to factor in music from this century (albeit the order is all off) because there have been ALL-TIME albums that have dropped in the last 25 years.

2. This AI list has a "2009 Grammy's" feel where it feels over biased to older music. Yes, I know it's just an AI list, but the newest album on it is 27 years old and another top 20 album is just a compilation (which are not real albums to me).

The new era of music has adversely changed how music is consumed for the majority of people. I still love listening to albums at a time over shuffling in general, but most people get their music in bits and pieces across a couple of songs. It's not a surprise that the best albums may skew older.

Not a single Clapton album.

I would change songs/stations with anything in that top 20 (as far as a read.).

MD1993 said:

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I would change songs/stations with anything in that top 20 (as far as a read.).

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You don't like anything in the top 20? Not sure which list you are talking about, but still.

Ozzy's Boneyard is counting down the top 200 hard and heavy classic rock songs this weekend and I find myself agreeing with that list more than apple's

Brian Earl Spilner said:

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I mean the reason for that is because most music from the past 20 years is *****

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Totally disagree. If you like hard rock check out the following: The Pretty Reckless, Dirty Honey, Eclipse, Crazy Lixx, Black Stone Cherry, The Struts. All young bands and excellent rock n roll.

BES did say "most". Also, just listing good new bands doesn't dispel the argument. Have any of the ones you mentioned had a full album that belongs up there with Abbey Road, Master of Puppets, or Ten? Doubtful. We are talking top 100 albums all time here.

Chipotlemonger said:

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BES did say "most". Also, just listing good new bands doesn't dispel the argument. Have any of the ones you mentioned had a full album that belongs up there with Abbey Road, Master of Puppets, or Ten? Doubtful. We are talking top 100 albums all time here.

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As already mentioned the whole idea of an album is a bit nebulous in the current streaming era. That being said I would put Eclipse- Momentum and Pretty Reckless- Death by Rock n Roll on my list at least. It is just that there is no significant money being poured into new rock by radio & producers so you have to seek it out a bit. Luckily many classic bands are helping by having the young bands open. For example The Pretty Reckless is opening for AC/DC now and we saw Dirty Honey opening for Black Crowes last tour.

Metal gets snubbed again. I don't see how Metallica doesn't make the list. Black Album or AJFA, if you are a purist, are timeless IMO and so powerful they managed to transcend and elevate themselves into mainstream.

MoP was 69 (nice)

G.I.Bro said:

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MoP was 69 (nice)

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Ah. I even scanned it twice and still missed it. I retract my previous statement. They even picked the album correctly too.

Mea culpa everyone. Carry on!

That is some grade A trolling by Apple. Does seem like AI with some criteria was used here.

Is Radiohead the most overrated band of all-time?

I never hear any of their songs on any 90s playlist yet they are always on these greatest whatever lists.

Cynic said:

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Is Radiohead the most overrated band of all-time?

I never hear any of their songs on any 90s playlist yet they are always on these greatest whatever lists.

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Definitely up there.

Yes.

I don't know half of that list, but I do know #1. It is REALLY good and she is incredibly talented, but #1 is a stretch. Love some Fugees and Lauryn Hill.

Lauryn Hill's heyday is probably a pretty solid marker for when I slowed down listening to anything new and went all-nostalgia, all the time. That's why I don't know half of the other albums.

And any list without Depeche Mode - Violator is a joke.