#315Albums is a list of 315 albums that appear on both the Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list, as well as the 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die book, edited by Robert Dimery. At its best, it is a representation of some of the greatest music ever released; at its worst, it is a journey through the history of music that the majority see as important, influential, and/or relevant. If nothing else, these albums are worth experiencing at least once to get a better understanding of music, which is why we are working to complete all #315Albums.


No. 016

“[Green River is] a great album, [and Creedence Clearwater Revival] are now creating the most vivid American rock since Music from Big Pink.”

Artist: Creedence Clearwater Revival
Album: Green River
Released: 1969
Label: Fantasy
Rolling Stones Ranking: 95*

I am just now beginning to discover how great a band Creedence Clearwater Revival is. I know a good handful of their songs, but never realized it. On Green River, I recognized two singles – “Bad Moon Rising” and the titular “Green River” – and these hold up as excellent songs. I can’t say that the rest of the album had much of an impact of me, though. Sure, it was good. Quite good, even. But it didn’t really stand out from other rock albums I have heard from this era. I would love to own this on vinyl, and give it another spin at some point in the future, but it isn’t a priority.

Cinefessions’ #315Albums Rating: 67%

* – Here is where things start to get interesting. Rolling Stone’s original list was published in 2003, and that is what this journey is based off of. They edited this list in 2012, and at that point, today’s album became one of the 38 albums removed from the list entirely. I am including the original list number when we come across instances like this, marked with an asterisk. If there is not an “*” next to the number, that means that the current (2012) ranking is listed.

Image and quote courtesy of Rolling Stone Magazine.