The day has come. The rankings have changed.
Electric Light Orchestra has dethroned Boston at the number four spot.
Although ELO couldn’t take down the Big Three (The Beatles, Journey, and “Weird Al”), defeating Boston is a pretty big deal. Back in 2007, I don’t remember how close the Boston/Electric Light Orchestra battle would have been. Over the years, there has been a shift in my overall thoughts.
Before 2019: The Greatest Hits > Consistency
When I made my original list, what was I asking myself when I ranked? What ranking factors did I use?
I didn’t take it very serious, so I imagine I just thought of all the great songs and factored that into my decision. It made sense when you think of Boston and their biggest hits. Almost all of their great songs beat out the great songs of Electric Light Orchestra.
Now: Consistent Good Songs with Great Songs > A Few Hits
I started playing with formulas over a year or so ago. I noticed a few trends with my early algorithms. Someone with all four stars and a few albums beat out someone with a ton of albums and a few horrible songs. James Blunt killed Elton John and I know I would never rank that way.
The newest version of the formula fixed the majority of these issues. This also aligned with my current thought. Now that I have easy and cheap access to the discography (thank you streaming music), I can listen to the collective work. Having a lot of music, even if average, shouldn’t hurt you. I made small adjustments to my scoring and now I believe I have it right. Electric Light Orchestra has a ton more songs and on average better songs than Boston.
It will be interesting to see where Boston ends up when this is all said and done. ELO might also be a tough one to take down.
Up Next: The Moody Blues.
Read my artist breakdown of Electric Light Orchestra.
