[samdjstephens]

> No, but there's such thing as a "somewhat objective album ranking".

I wouldn't disagree with that, I'm sure all of the various versions of this list by RS are "somewhat objective"

> Not when it hasn't change that much for 3 decades prior...

That's an interesting point - but look at the last decade: western society has been going through some turmoil, change is happening faster in some areas

> As if Marvin Gaye represents some new taste/genre? It's as old or older as a lot of the stuff it went above in ranking. > > And it's not like 2020 sensibilities are somehow closer to Joni Mitchel's Blue suddenly over, say, Velvet Underground (which, iirc, got dropped in ranking).

I think Marvin Gaye is more relevant to modern tastes (and therefore universal tastes) than the Beatles, for example. But yes, that doesn't explain all, or even most, of the shift in the rankings.