Zagat: Springsteen Tops Beatles for Popular Album
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Bruce Springsteen is indeed the boss, beating the Beatles and all others for making the most popular album of all time, according to Zagat Survey’s “Music Guide,” which hit stores on Tuesday.
Zagat’s new 332-page guide lists the top 1,000 albums of all time, according to ratings from more than 10,500 music aficionados. Topping the guide’s most popular list is Springsteen’s “Born to Run,” with the Beatles’ “Abbey Road” and “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” taking second and third places, respectively.
An original list of 2,500 albums, compiled for guidebook publisher Zagat by music industry specialists, was whittled down to the final 1,000 by respondents, who listed their five favorite albums and then rated other albums they were familiar with on a 30-point scale.
Survey participants applauded Springsteen’s 1975 breakthrough album for its “cinematic vision of American teen-age romanticism” and its “promise of the endless Saturday night.”
“Abbey Road,” on the other hand, was praised by one participant as “the Sistine Chapel of rock ‘n’ roll.”
Rounding out the “most popular” top 10 list are U2’s “The Joshua Tree,” the Beatles’ “The White Album,” Miles Davis’s “Kind of Blue,” Springsteen’s “Darkness on the Edge of Town,” The Beatles’ “Revolver,” Pink Floyd’s “Dark Side of the Moon” and U2’s “Achtung Baby.”
The survey’s publisher, Tim Zagat, said he hopes the rankings will spark a lively debate among readers.
“I hope there is some controversy,” Zagat said in an interview. “People can argue until the cows come home over whether Mozart was a better songwriter than Bob Dylan, but just that you are juxtaposing Dylan and Mozart catches you by surprise and makes you think.”
Zagat, best known for restaurant guides based on customer surveys, also publishes books on travel, shopping and most recently, wireless Internet hotspots.
The music guide, which sells for $14.95, also ranks the top 12 albums in 22 genres ranging from blues to classical to hip-hop. It also lists music recommended for specific occasions.
The “make-out” list includes Marvin Gaye’s “Anthology” and Prince’s “Purple Rain,” while the soundtrack to “Flashdance” and ABBA’s “Gold/Greatest Hits” top the “work-out” list.
Categories