 In the years since its release , The Blue Album has risen in stature to become one of the most highly regarded albums of the 1990s , appearing on many " Best @-@ of " lists . In 2003 , Rolling Stone ranked the album number 297 on their list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time . In 2002 , the readers of Rolling Stone ranked the album the 21st greatest of all time . Blender named The Blue Album among the " 500 CDs You Must Own " , calling the album " Absolute geek @-@ rock , out and proud . " Non @-@ U.S. publications have acclaimed the album as well : New Zealand 's The Movement placed it at number 39 on a list of " The 101 Best Albums of the 90s " , and Visions of Germany ranked it number 32 on a list of " The Most Important Albums of the 90s . " In November 2011 , The Blue Album was ranked number three on Guitar World magazine 's top ten list of guitar albums of 1994 , with Bad Religion 's Stranger than Fiction and The Offspring 's Smash in first and second place respectively . The album also peaked at number 25 on Guitar World 's " Superunknown : 50 Iconic Albums That Defined 1994 " list . 
