[ilamont]

Rolling Stone basically downplayed or ignored everything that wasn't "classic rock" or its close cousins until about 1990. They along with most radio stations really were a tool of the U.S. record industry for years, and didn't pay attention to what was bubbling up on the street and in the clubs until it hit them in the face.

An important moment in pop music history was when the charts switched to actual sales data instead of what record store managers claimed were the top selling albums. This happened in 1991. All of a sudden:

... SoundScan’s data collection returned the power to the people, the genuine fans who buy and listen to music. Twenty-five years ago, the firm started counting how Joe Music Fan was spending his bucks, instead of listening to a record store manager’s easily corrupted opinion.

It turned out that people were buying a lot more metal, hip-hop, country, R&B and alternative rock albums than the old system claimed. The change on the charts was immediate. The change in the industry was almost as fast. Artists that had been relegated to their genre pools (from Nirvana to Ice Cube to Garth Brooks) were now free to swim in the mainstream.

https://ultimateclassicrock.com/billboard-soundscan/

Rolling Stone was forced to change their coverage, although the "best of lists" have always reflected the tastes of their editorial staff, which has been slower to come around.