Illmatic is seminal in reviving East Coast hip-hop to be a major game-player once again and served as a template and benchmark for modern hip-hop. The production, the lyrical content, etc., have had a huge impact in the hip-hop world for nearly two decades since its release, and it remains among the most legendary hip-hop albums of all time. It was the breakthrough that quickly made Nas one of hip-hop's greatest MC's of all time. Virtually all of the songs on the album are staples of hip-hop. It definitely needs to be scooted up on this list.

Illmatic is now platinum.

See, folks, THIS is useful. Saying "Album X beats Album on the criteria" doesn't tell me anything. An explanation like this tells me a lot. I'm just saying.

So why, not to pick on Paul, does the Oasis album beat ELP? Certainly in terms of initial popularity, ELP wins *in the US*, but probably not when you factor in the UK. What else makes Oasis' debut so important.

Two thoughts here: One is that Oasis had two hit singles in the UK before the album (and a third released roughly simultaneously with the album), which lessens the impact of the debut. The other is that perhaps ELP should be declared a supergroup and disqualified. Lake had certainly had some success as lead singer of King Crimson before that album. So--any objections to dropping ELP on those grounds? Note that that shouldn't stop anyone from making arguments about Oasis one way or another....

DefMayb currently is Platinum in the US, ELP only Gold. DefMayb also is 4 × Platinum in the UK though, where ELP hasn't received any certification. So while ELP may win initial popularity (at least in the US), DefMayb takes lasting popularity fairly easily. What you say about the singles is true though and probably hurts DefMayb's credentials quite a bit. Neither album was very innovative, though both were rather important in the further popularization of their respective subgenres I guess. So even if this is not a clear win for Oasis, I'd say both albums should be much closer together.

I don't necessarily object, but if ELP is dropped on those grounds, then shouldn't Fresh Cream also be dropped? Clapton had already made a real mark before that.

And that should happen to Led Zeppelion too, probably

Well, the Cream and Zep guys were well known as musicians, but I don't know that they were really stars. For me one of the big deciding points is whether the singer is familiar. Lake was the lead singer of KC, and Winwood was the lead singer of Spencer Davis Group, and both were lead singers of the new bands. Clapton wasn't the singer in the Yardbirds. The Zep guys were mostly session musicians, well known in the industry but not to the general public. Plant had sung on a couple things but nothing really notable (and I don't think any albums).

The Yardbirds whether featuring Clapton, Beck and/or Page were not unknown, were one of the biggest live acts at the time in the UK, were doing very well in the charts (5 Top 10 singles in the UK by 1966, 5 Top 20 US singles) and had an appearance in the movie Blow Up etc ... and Zep on its first go round was called the New Yardbirds ... when Cream formed the UK music media announced Cream as the birth of a supergroup in the trade papers (The Blues Breaker album reached #6 in 1966 in the UK).... Keith Emerson was well known in the Nice that had respectable chart success in the UK and in Europe etc etc... Take care

Thank you Trance for the excellent breakdown for Nas. Generally when I question a position on a list I ask why, leaving it up to the editor to explain their reasonings for the positions first, then see what might be missing and fill in the blanks, but every editor does it differently so had I known Brett Alan would prefer me do the breakdown to start with, I would've. But Trance covered everything in a nutshell brilliantly.

So let's move on to another that is far too low, De La Soul's "Three Feet High And Rising". Right now Brett Alan has it tentatively at #70. Compare it to King Crimson's "In The Court Of The Crimson King", which is at #22 on the list. Both do virtually the same in initial popularity. De La Soul went to #24, KC to #28. The success of KC in Britian can be offset by De La Soul on the R&B charts, where it hit #2. Both remain lastingly popular and accepted benchmarks for their styles.

The real big comparison, and where both albums do their best, is in influence. King Crimson in progressive rock, a new, long lasting subgenre of rock they're credited with spearheading, and De La Soul in two areas, alternative rap, which had a fruitful life over the next decade, but more importantly in sampling, which continues to dominate hip-hop (as well as worked its way into other styles) to this day. The sampling influence, the way De La Soul took all of these disparate sources and wove them into an entirely new sound was groundbreaking and there has hardly been a rap record released since that hasn't been effected by it. It's truly one of the single most influential albums ever released. We could even compare it favorably to "The Velvet Underground & Nico", which has influence has its primary calling card but doesn't do as well as De La Soul in initial popularity. That's how strong "3 Feet High & Rising" is in influence.

The two albums (DLS & KC) are remarkably similar in their strengths, almost to the letter, and yet they remain nearly fifty spots apart, which makes absolutely no sense. Either King Crimson should fall or De La Soul should rise, or the difference be split, because you can't get a wedge between the two in the criteria to separate them.

Thanks, Sampson. To be fair, I'll sometimes go by a similar method like yours.

And yeah, I agree with De La Soul moving up.

OK, taking into account the last batch of comments, I've got this. Thoughts?

1 Are You Experienced? (1967) - Jimi Hendrix Experience
2 Led Zeppelin (1969) – Led Zeppelin
3 The Doors (1967) – Doors
4 Ten (1991) – Pearl Jam
5 Elvis Presley (1956) – Elvis Presley
6 Run-D.M.C. (1984) – Run-D.M.C.
7 Licensed To Ill (1986) – Beastie Boys
8 Whitney Houston (1985) - Whitney Houston *****
9 The Velvet Underground & Nico (1967) – Velvet Underground
10 Appetite For Destruction (1987) – Guns N' Roses
11 My Aim Is True (1977) – Elvis Costello
12 Van Halen (1978) – Van Halen
13 Mr. Tambourine Man (1965) – Byrds
14 Boston (1976) – Boston
15 Black Sabbath (1970) – Black Sabbath
16 Music From Big Pink (1968) – The Band
17 Please Please Me (1963) – The Beatles
18 Ramones (1976) – Ramones
19 Mariah Carey (1990) – Mariah Carey *****
20 Ready To Die (1994) – Notorious B.I.G.
21 If You Can Believe Your Eyes and Ears (1966) – The Mamas & The Papas
22 The Fame (2008) – Lady Gaga *****
23 Fresh Cream (1966) – Cream
24 Chicago Transit Authority (1969) – Chicago
25 Kill 'Em All (1983) – Metallica
26 In The Court Of The Crimson King (1969) – King Crimson
27 Songs In A Minor (2001) – Alicia Keys *****
28 Kick Out The Jams (1969) – MC5
29 The College Dropout (2004) – Kanye West *****
30 What's The 411? (1992) – Mary J. Blige *****
31 Paid In Full (1987) – Eric B & Rakim *****
32 Vincebus Eruptum (1968) – Blue Cheer
33 Never Mind The Bollocks Here's The Sex Pistols (1977) – Sex Pistols
34 Yourself Or Something Like You (1996) – Matchbox 20 *****
35 3 Feet High And Rising (1989) – De La Soul
36 Dire Straits (1978) – Dire Straits
37 The Stooges (1969) – Stooges
38 The Pretenders (1980) – The Pretenders
39 Piper At The Gates Of Dawn (1967) – Pink Floyd
40 Santana (1969) – Santana
41 The Cars (1978) – The Cars
42 Reasonable Doubt (1996) – Jay-Z *****
43 Freak Out (1966) – Mothers Of Invention
44 Illmatic (1994) – Nas
45 Unknown Pleasures (1979) – Joy Division
46 Enter The Wu-Tang: 36 Chambers (1993) – Wu-Tang Clan
47 Can't Buy A Thrill (1972) – Steely Dan
48 My Generation (1965) – The Who
49 Rolling Stones (1964) – Rolling Stones
50 The Stylistics (1971) – The Stylistics *****
51 Forever Your Girl (1988) – Paula Abdul *****
52 Boy (1980) – U2
53 The B-52s (1979) – The B-52s
54 Bluejean Bop (1956) – Gene Vincent & the Blue Caps
55 The Chirping Crickets (1957) – Buddy Holly & the Crickets
56 The Clash (1977) – The Clash
57 Texas Flood (1983) – Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble
58 Horses (1975) – Patti Smith Group
59 Look Sharp! (1979) – Joe Jackson
60 Creedence Clearwater Revival (1968) – Creedence Clearwater Revival
61 The Monkees (1966) – The Monkees
62 Dreamboat Annie (1976) – Heart
63 Beauty And The Beat (1981) – The Go-Go's
64 New York Dolls (1973) – New York Dolls
65 Outlandos d'Amour (1978) – The Police
66 Supa Dupa Fly (1997) – Missy “Misdemeanor” Elliott *****
67 Shotgun (1965) – Jr. Walker & The All-Stars
68 The Smiths (1984) – The Smiths
69 Eagles (1972) – Eagles
70 Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers (1976) – Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers
71 Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J. (1973) – Bruce Springsteen
72 Steppenwolf (1968) – Steppenwolf
73 Procol Harum (1967) – Procol Harum
74 Aerosmith (1973) – Aerosmith
75 Rage Against The Machine (1992) – Rage Against The Machine
76 Foreigner (1977) – Foreigner
77 Diana Ross Presents The Jackson 5 (1969) – Jackson 5
78 Radio (1985) – LL Cool J
79 The Animals (1964) – The Animals
80 Green Onions (1962) – Booker T. & the MG's
81 The Stone Roses (1989) – The Stone Roses
82 Marquee Moon (1977) – Television
83 Yo! Bum Rush The Show (1987) – Public Enemy
84 Psychocandy (1985) – The Jesus & Mary Chain
85 The Meters (1969) – The Meters
86 Iron Maiden (1980) – Iron Maiden
87 Big Brother & The Holding Company (1967) – Big Brother & the Holding Company
88 Is This It (2001) – The Strokes *****
89 Tubular Bells (1973) – Mike Oldfield
90 In The Heat Of The Night (1979) – Pat Benatar
91 Get The Knack (1979) – The Knack
92 19 (2008) – Adele *****
93 Pronounced Leh-Nerd Skin-Nerd (1973) – Lynyrd Skynyrd
94 Pretty Hate Machine (1989) – Nine Inch Nails
95 Shake Your Money Maker (1990) – The Black Crowes
96 Long Live The Kane (1988) – Big Daddy Kane *****
97 Definitely Maybe (1994) – Oasis
98 Roxy Music (1972) – Roxy Music
99 Talking Heads: 77 (1977) – Talking Heads
100 The Young Rascals (1966) – The Young Rascals

Looks better. Good job, again.

The list is great, but I take issue with this.
Boston was a hugely popular album, but it's impact and influence are not even in the same stratosphere as Sabbath's debut.

Actually, I think its impact is very close to Sabbath's--it helped shape the changes at AOR radio and the approach of labels to AOR music at the time.

It's clearly well behind in influence, but it does have some, and it's clearly the winner in both areas of popularity (although not overwhelmingly so, as Sabbath's does well in those categories too). That's how I see it, anyway.

Do others agree/disagree?

Boston did open up the doors for the whole AOR thing mostly. But Sabbath's debut was the wellspring for an entire GENRE of music, it was a radically new style at the time that had a remarkably profound impact on the rock world.
Boston didn't introduce a new style of music, it just upped the ante a little bit in terms of hype and album formula.