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Best Rock Albums of all Time

Best of classical | Best of jazz
An appendix to "A History of Rock Music" | Back to the page on music
TM, ®, Copyright © 1995 Piero Scaruffi
(The lists for each decade are much more accurate --->)
By genre
Click here for Hieu's 2022 visual version of my Top 100. Click here for Vieira's visual version by decades. Click here for the version with liner notes. Click here for Vieira's version with updated notes.
If you are a rock novice, skip the first three and get #4 to #6 first.
N.
Artist and Title
Label and Year
CD reissue
1
Captain Beefheart:
Trout Mask Replica
Straight, 1969
Reprise, 1990
2
Robert Wyatt: Rock Bottom
Virgin, 1974
Thirsty Ear, 1998
3
Faust: Faust I
Polydor, 1971
Polygram, 2001
4
Velvet Underground:
& Nico
Verve, 1967
Polygram, 1996
5
Doors: The Doors
Elektra, 1967
idem, 1988
6
Tim Buckley: Lorca
Elektra, 1970
Asylum, 1992
7
Pere Ubu:
Modern Dance
Blank, 1978
Geffen, 1998
8
Royal Trux: Twin Infinitives
Drag City, 1990
idem, 1994
9
John Fahey: Fare Forward Voyagers
Takoma, 1973
Shanachie, 1992
10
Nico: Desert Shore
Reprise, 1970
Warner Bros, 1993
11
Popol Vuh: Hosianna Mantra
Pilz, 1973
High Tide, 1994
12
Red Crayola: Parable Of Arable Land
International Artist, 1967
Spalax, 1994
13
Klaus Schulze: Irrlicht
Brain, 1972
Spalax, 1995
14
Nick Cave: The Good Son
Mute, 1990

15
Lisa Germano: Geek The Girl
4AD, 1994

16
Morphine: Good
Accurate, 1992

17
Bob Dylan:
Blonde On Blonde :
CBS, 1966
Columbia, 1992
18
Neu!: self-titled
UA, 1973
Astralwerks, 2001
19
Foetus: Nail
SomeBizarre, 1985
Homestead, 1995
20
Suicide: self-titled
Bronze, 1977
Demon, 1995
21
Van Morrison: Astral Weeks
Warner Bros, 1968
idem, 1987
22
Residents: Not Available
Ralph, 1978
Mute, 2000
23
Pop Group: Y
Radar, 1979
idem, 1996
24
Vampire Rodents: Lullaby Land
Re-Constriction, 1993

25
Husker Du: Zen Arcade
SST, 1984

25
Third Ear Band: self-titled
Harvest, 1970

25
My Bloody Valentine: Loveless click here click here
25
Butthole Surfers: Psychic Powerless click here click here
25
Soft Machine: 3 click here click here
25
Type O Negative: Slow Deep And Hard click here click here
25
Frank Zappa: Uncle Meat click here click here
25
Minutemen: Double Nickels On The Dime click here click here
25
Fugazi: Repeater click here click here
25
Mercury Rev: Yerself Is Steam click here click here
25
Gun Club: Fire Of Love click here click here
25
Red House Painters: Down Colorful Hill click here click here
25
Slint: Spiderland click here click here
25
Velvet Underground: White Light White Heat click here click here
25
Captain Beefheart: Safe As Milk click here click here
25
Hash Jar Tempo : Well Oiled
Drunken Fish, 1997
N.A.
25
Jon Hassell : Dream Theory In Malaya
EG, 1981
N.A.
25
Diamanda Galas : Diamanda Galas
Metalanguage, 1984
N.A.
25
Gong: Flying Teapot
Virgin, 1973
Charly, 1999
25
Bruce Springsteen: The River
Columbia, 1980
Columbia, 1995

See the lists by decade and decide for yourself which other albums should go in the top 100!

Year by year
  • The 1960's
  • 1966 (Bob Dylan, USA)
  • 1967 (Velvet Underground, USA)
  • 1968 (Van Morrison, Britain)
  • 1969 (Captain Beefheart, USA)
  • The 1970's
  • 1970 (Nico, Germany)
  • 1971 (Faust, Germany)
  • 1972 (Klaus Schulze, Germany)
  • 1973 (Popol Vuh, Germany)
  • 1974 (Robert Wyatt, Britain)
  • 1975 (Henry Cow, Britain)
  • 1976 (Patti Smith, USA)
  • 1977 (Suicide, USA)
  • 1978 (Pere Ubu, USA)
  • 1979 (Pop Group, Britain)
  • The 1980's
  • 1980 (Bruce Springsteen, USA)
  • 1981 (Gun Club, USA)
  • 1982 (Dream Syndicate, USA)
  • 1983 (Mark Stewart, Britain)
  • 1984 (Husker Du, USA)
  • 1985 (Foetus, Australia)
  • 1986 (Big Black, USA)
  • 1987 (Swans, USA)
  • 1988 (Pixies, USA)
  • 1989 (Peter Gabriel, Britain)
  • The 1990's
  • 1990 (Royal Trux, USA)
  • 1991 (Slint, USA)
  • 1992 (Morphine, USA)
  • 1993 (Vampire Rodents, Canada)
  • 1994 (Lisa Germano, USA)
  • 1995 (Lightwave, France)
  • 1996 (Black Tape, USA)
  • 1997 (Hash Jar Tempo, NZ)
  • 1998 (Dirty 3, Australia)
  • 1999 (Black Heart Procession, USA)
  • The 2000's
  • 2000 (Spring Heel Jack, Britain)
  • 2001 (Solex, Netherlands)
  • 2002 (To Live and Shave in LA, USA)
  • 2003 (Books, USA)
  • 2004 (Ghost, Japan)
  • 2005 (Shit And Shine, Britain)
  • 2006 (Joanna Newsom, USA)
  • 2007 (Burning Star Core, USA)
  • 2008 (Li Jianhong, China)
  • 2009 (Gnaw Their Tongues, Netherlands)
  • The 2010's
  • 2010 (Joanna Newsom, USA)
  • 2011 (Julia Holter, USA)
  • 2012 (Abu Lahab, Morocco)
  • 2013 (Pharmakon, USA)
  • 2014 (Pyrrhon, USA)
  • 2015 (Lil Peep, USA)
  • 2016 (Impossible Nothing, USA)
  • 2017 (Lingua Ignota, USA)
  • 2018 (Julia Holter, USA)
  • 2019 (Sadaf, USA)
  • The 2020's
  • 2020 (La Novia, France)
  • 2021 (Fucked Up, Canada)
  • 2022 (Pragmatica Quartet, Kazakhstan)
  • 2023 (Christine and the Queens, France)

Playlists of the best albums and songs by year

By genre
Best of Jazz
Most over-rated musicians/
Die am meisten ueberbewerteten Musiker/
I musicisti piu` sopravvalutati:
  1. Beatles
  2. Elvis Presley
  3. Kanye West
  4. Prince
  5. David Bowie
  6. U2
(1990s: Radiohead, Moby) (2000s: Eminem) (2010s: Kanye West)
Most under-rated musicians of all time/
Die am meisten unterbewerteten Musiker/
I musicisti piu` sottovalutati:
  1. Tim Buckley
  2. Red Crayola
  3. Robert Wyatt
  4. Captain Beefheart
  5. Pere Ubu
  6. Faust
  7. Foetus
  8. Sandy Bull
  9. Nico
  10. Jim Steinman
  11. Vampire Rodents

Most influential musicians of all time/
Die einflussreichsten Musiker/
I musicisti piu` influenti:
  1. Chuck Berry
  2. Velvet Underground
  3. Rolling Stones
  4. Neil Young
  5. Ramones
  6. Bob Dylan
  7. Captain Beefheart
  8. Can
  9. Pere Ubu
  10. Bruce Springsteen
  11. Pink Floyd
  12. Byrds

Greatest rock musicians
History of Rock Music
The Giants of Rock Music
Album Reviews
Interviews
Most significant works of music 1950-1990

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