Defining the greatest albums of all time

Rolling Stone published a list in 2003 that ranked the 500 greatest albums of all time. The list was updated in 2020, and there was a lot of change. For The Pudding, Chris Dalla Riva and Matthew Daniels delve into the shift and ask what makes an album the greatest.

A lot of the differences appear to stem from who does the ranking, which makes for a good polling and statistical accuracy example.

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Diva-ness of national anthem renditions

You’ve probably heard various renditions of The Star-Spangled Banner, and sometimes singers put a little extra something in the anthem. A bit of flourish. Some attitude. For The Pudding, Jan Diehm and Michelle McGhee quantified that extra something into what they’ve dubbed a Diva Score.

Out of the 138 versions they scored, the highest belong to Chaka Khan at the 2020 NBA All-Star game and Patti Labelle at the 2008 World Series.

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Music theory in interactive visuals

muted.io is a set of visual tools to help you learn music theory. Learn about notes, chords, and scales through a playful and colorful interface.

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Data-based journal of Pavement tour songs

Denise Lu, a superfan of Pavement, an indie rock band, examined the set lists from years past. I didn’t know anything about the band going in but came out with an appreciation of their art and some curiosity.

Mostly, I enjoy these pieces where someone loves something and takes you down the data rabbit hole with them.

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Visual breakdowns of iconic hip-hop samples

Hip-hop music producers often sample from previous works. They remake, restructure, and repurpose the samples to create a new sound. Tracklib broke down iconic hip-hop sampling over the past fifty years, using musical frequency charts to show where the bits of popular songs came from.

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Hip-hop’s influence on the English language

For The New York Times, Miles Marshall Lewis highlights the etymology of five words in the English language heavily influenced by hip-hop: dope, woke, cake, wildin’, and ghost. A fun design using GIFs, images, and rotating discs you can click for music take you through the history.

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Rarity of songwriters who are women for popular songs

It’s common to see singers who are women, but the people who write the songs that end up in the Billboard Hot 100 are still mostly men. For The Pudding, Chris Dalla Riva, with design by Ashley Cai, highlights the rarity of women on songwriting teams over the past decade.

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Taylor Swift pop charts

Taylor Swift has been filling up stadiums across the United States and will head overseas soon to fill more seats. For Reuters, Clare Trainor and Dea Bankova break down the songs, albums, and ticket sales with a heavily stylized piece resembling a Swift fan’s scrapbook.

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A moving drumbeat, explained visually

When you first learn to play music, a lot of the instruction is about structure. Turn the metronome on and follow the beats straight up. James Dewitt Yancey, also known as J Dilla, shifted the beats for a different feel and sound. This piece, by Michelle McGhee for The Pudding, demonstrates this difference.

Turn the sound on and press the buttons. It’s neat to hear the breakdown of the rhythm as you walk through the styles.

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Eurovision winners past and present

The 2023 Eurovision Song Contest finished up this past weekend with the winning song coming from Sweden. Hundreds of millions of people watch the contest worldwide, but I’m pretty sure most Americans’ impressions come from the satirical Will Ferrell movie, so this visual guide by Reuters should be helpful.

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