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The Greatest Albums of All Time...

manisandher

manisandher

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... according to ChatGPT o3, at least :). Below is the actual output from o3, with no edits:

Below are ten mini-canons – 20 essential albums for each genre.
I weight historical impact (how much the record changed the idiom), critical consensus (recurring high rank in “all-time” polls), and enduring replay value. Each list keeps a rough era spread so it isn’t stuck in the ’60s/’70s “golden age.”



Rock​


  1. The Beatles — Abbey Road (1969)
  2. Pink Floyd — The Dark Side of the Moon (1973)
  3. Nirvana — Nevermind (1991)
  4. Led Zeppelin — IV (1971)
  5. The Rolling Stones — Exile on Main St. (1972)
  6. The Clash — London Calling (1979)
  7. Bruce Springsteen — Born to Run (1975)
  8. Fleetwood Mac — Rumours (1977)
  9. Radiohead — OK Computer (1997)
  10. U2 — The Joshua Tree (1987)
  11. Jimi Hendrix Experience — Are You Experienced (1967)
  12. David Bowie — Ziggy Stardust (1972)
  13. The Who — Who’s Next (1971)
  14. AC/DC — Back in Black (1980)
  15. Metallica — Master of Puppets (1986)
  16. Rage Against the Machine — s/t (1992)
  17. Pearl Jam — Ten (1991)
  18. The Smiths — The Queen Is Dead (1986)
  19. Guns N’ Roses — Appetite for Destruction (1987)
  20. Arcade Fire — Funeral (2004)

Pop​


  1. Michael Jackson — Thriller (1982)
  2. Madonna — Like a Prayer (1989)
  3. Prince — Purple Rain (1984)
  4. Beyoncé — Lemonade (2016)
  5. Taylor Swift — 1989 (2014)
  6. ABBA — Arrival (1976)
  7. Janet Jackson — Control (1986)
  8. Adele — 21 (2011)
  9. Billie Eilish — When We All Fall Asleep… (2019)
  10. George Michael — Faith (1987)
  11. Robyn — Body Talk (2010)
  12. Carole King — Tapestry (1971)
  13. Harry Styles — Harry’s House (2022)
  14. Lorde — Melodrama (2017)
  15. Olivia Rodrigo — Sour (2021)
  16. Kylie Minogue — Fever (2001)
  17. Pet Shop Boys — Behaviour (1990)
  18. Charli XCX — Brat (2024)
  19. Britney Spears — …Baby One More Time (1999)
  20. Sia — 1000 Forms of Fear (2014)

Progressive Rock​


  1. Yes — Close to the Edge (1972)
  2. Genesis — Selling England by the Pound (1973)
  3. King Crimson — In the Court of the Crimson King (1969)
  4. Pink Floyd — Wish You Were Here (1975)
  5. Jethro Tull — Thick as a Brick (1972)
  6. Rush — Moving Pictures (1981)
  7. Camel — Mirage (1974)
  8. Gentle Giant — Octopus (1972)
  9. Porcupine Tree — In Absentia (2002)
  10. Dream Theater — Images and Words (1992)
  11. Emerson Lake & Palmer — Brain Salad Surgery (1973)
  12. Marillion — Misplaced Childhood (1985)
  13. Tool — Lateralus (2001)
  14. Van der Graaf Generator — Pawn Hearts (1971)
  15. Steven Wilson — Hand. Cannot. Erase. (2015)
  16. Mahavishnu Orchestra — The Inner Mounting Flame (1971)
  17. King Crimson — Red (1974)
  18. The Mars Volta — De-Loused in the Comatorium (2003)
  19. Spock’s Beard — The Light (1995)
  20. Anglagard — Hybris (1992)

Jazz​


  1. Miles Davis — Kind of Blue (1959)
  2. John Coltrane — A Love Supreme (1965)
  3. Dave Brubeck Quartet — Time Out (1959)
  4. Charles Mingus — Mingus Ah Um (1959)
  5. Ornette Coleman — The Shape of Jazz to Come (1959)
  6. Herbie Hancock — Head Hunters (1973)
  7. Bill Evans Trio — Sunday at the Village Vanguard (1961)
  8. Duke Ellington — Ellington at Newport (1956)
  9. Weather Report — Heavy Weather (1977)
  10. Keith Jarrett — The Köln Concert (1975)
  11. Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong — Ella and Louis (1956)
  12. Charles Mingus — The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady (1963)
  13. Sonny Rollins — Saxophone Colossus (1956)
  14. Eric Dolphy — Out to Lunch! (1964)
  15. Wayne Shorter — Speak No Evil (1965)
  16. Chick Corea — Now He Sings, Now He Sobs (1968)
  17. Louis Armstrong — Hot Five & Hot Seven Recordings (1928 compilation)
  18. Wynton Marsalis — Black Codes (From the Underground) (1985)
  19. Pat Metheny Group — Still Life (Talking) (1987)
  20. Kamasi Washington — The Epic (2015)

Classical (canonical recordings)​


  1. Glenn Gould — Bach: Goldberg Variations (1955)
  2. Herbert von Karajan — Beethoven: Symphonies 1-9 (1963)
  3. Georg Solti — Wagner: Der Ring des Nibelungen (1958-65)
  4. Leonard Bernstein — Mahler: Symphony No. 2 (1963)
  5. Maria Callas / di Sabata — Puccini: Tosca (1953)
  6. Jacqueline du Pré / Barenboim — Elgar: Cello Concerto (1965)
  7. Carlos Kleiber — Beethoven: Symphonies 5 & 7 (1975)
  8. Otto Klemperer — Bach: St Matthew Passion (1961)
  9. Neville Marriner — Vivaldi: The Four Seasons (1970)
  10. Yo-Yo Ma — Bach: Cello Suites (1983)
  11. Claudio Abbado — Mozart: Le Nozze di Figaro (1985)
  12. Nikolaus Harnoncourt — Bach: Brandenburg Concertos (1981)
  13. Wilhelm Furtwängler — Beethoven: Symphony No. 9 (1951)
  14. Hildegard of Bingen — A Feather on the Breath of God (1985)
  15. Alfred Brendel — Schubert: Late Piano Sonatas (1988)
  16. Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli — Debussy: Préludes (1978)
  17. Benjamin Britten — War Requiem (1963)
  18. Claudio Arrau — Chopin: Nocturnes (1978)
  19. Gustav Leonhardt — Bach: The Well-Tempered Clavier (1989)
  20. Anne-Sophie Mutter — Carmen-Fantasie (1993)

Electronic​


  1. Kraftwerk — Trans-Europe Express (1977)
  2. Brian Eno — Ambient 1: Music for Airports (1978)
  3. Aphex Twin — Selected Ambient Works 85-92 (1992)
  4. Daft Punk — Discovery (2001)
  5. The Prodigy — The Fat of the Land (1997)
  6. Massive Attack — Blue Lines (1991)
  7. Portishead — Dummy (1994)
  8. Boards of Canada — Music Has the Right to Children (1998)
  9. The Chemical Brothers — Dig Your Own Hole (1997)
  10. Underworld — Dubnobasswithmyheadman (1994)
  11. Burial — Untrue (2007)
  12. Björk — Homogenic (1997)
  13. LCD Soundsystem — Sound of Silver (2007)
  14. Jon Hopkins — Immunity (2013)
  15. Four Tet — Rounds (2003)
  16. Flying Lotus — Cosmogramma (2010)
  17. Nicolas Jaar — Space Is Only Noise (2011)
  18. Sophie — Oil of Every Pearl’s Un-Insides (2018)
  19. Squarepusher — Hard Normal Daddy (1997)
  20. DJ Shadow — Endtroducing….. (1996)

R&B / Soul​


  1. Marvin Gaye — What’s Going On (1971)
  2. Stevie Wonder — Songs in the Key of Life (1976)
  3. Lauryn Hill — The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill (1998)
  4. Beyoncé — Lemonade (2016)
  5. D’Angelo — Voodoo (2000)
  6. Aretha Franklin — I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You (1967)
  7. Prince — Purple Rain (1984)
  8. Sly & the Family Stone — There’s a Riot Goin’ On (1971)
  9. Otis Redding — Otis Blue (1965)
  10. Al Green — Let’s Stay Together (1972)
  11. Ray Charles — Modern Sounds in Country & Western Music (1962)
  12. Erykah Badu — Baduizm (1997)
  13. Frank Ocean — Channel Orange (2012)
  14. Mary J. Blige — My Life (1994)
  15. Whitney Houston — Whitney Houston (1985)
  16. Janet Jackson — Control (1986)
  17. Alicia Keys — Songs in A Minor (2001)
  18. Usher — Confessions (2004)
  19. Michael Jackson — Off the Wall (1979)
  20. Janelle Monáe — The ArchAndroid (2010)

Folk​


  1. Bob Dylan — The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan (1963)
  2. Joni Mitchell — Blue (1971)
  3. Simon & Garfunkel — Bridge Over Troubled Water (1970)
  4. Fairport Convention — Liege & Lief (1969)
  5. Nick Drake — Five Leaves Left (1969)
  6. Neil Young — Harvest (1972)
  7. Joan Baez — s/t (1960)
  8. Leonard Cohen — Songs of Leonard Cohen (1967)
  9. The Band — Music from Big Pink (1968)
  10. Crosby Stills Nash & Young — Déjà Vu (1970)
  11. Fleet Foxes — s/t (2008)
  12. Gillian Welch — Time (The Revelator) (2001)
  13. Sufjan Stevens — Illinois (2005)
  14. Richard & Linda Thompson — I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight (1974)
  15. Pentangle — Basket of Light (1969)
  16. Vashti Bunyan — Just Another Diamond Day (1970)
  17. Laura Marling — Once I Was an Eagle (2013)
  18. Anaïs Mitchell — Hadestown (2010)
  19. Woody Guthrie — Dust Bowl Ballads (1940)
  20. Iron & Wine — Our Endless Numbered Days (2004)

Blues​


  1. B.B. King — Live at the Regal (1965)
  2. Robert Johnson — King of the Delta Blues Singers (1961)
  3. Muddy Waters — At Newport 1960 (1960)
  4. Howlin’ Wolf — Moanin’ in the Moonlight (1959)
  5. Albert King — Born Under a Bad Sign (1967)
  6. John Lee Hooker — Burnin’ (1962)
  7. Stevie Ray Vaughan — Texas Flood (1983)
  8. Magic Sam — West Side Soul (1967)
  9. Buddy Guy — Damn Right, I’ve Got the Blues (1991)
  10. Otis Rush — Mourning in the Morning (1969)
  11. T-Bone Walker — T-Bone Blues (1959)
  12. Junior Wells — Hoodoo Man Blues (1965)
  13. Etta James — At Last! (1960)
  14. Freddy King — Getting Ready… (1971)
  15. Willie Dixon — I Am the Blues (1970)
  16. Rory Gallagher — Irish Tour ’74 (1974)
  17. Eric Clapton — From the Cradle (1994)
  18. Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown — Alright Again! (1981)
  19. Keb’ Mo’ — Keb’ Mo’ (1994)
  20. B.B. King — Lucille (1968) en.wikipedia.org

Reggae​


  1. Bob Marley & The Wailers — Exodus (1977)
  2. Jimmy Cliff — The Harder They Come (soundtrack) (1972)
  3. Peter Tosh — Legalize It (1976)
  4. Burning Spear — Marcus Garvey (1975)
  5. Toots & the Maytals — Funky Kingston (1973)
  6. Black Uhuru — Red (1981)
  7. Lee “Scratch” Perry — Super Ape (1976)
  8. Augustus Pablo — King Tubbys Meets Rockers Uptown (1976)
  9. Steel Pulse — Handsworth Revolution (1978)
  10. Culture — Two Sevens Clash (1977)
  11. The Congos — Heart of the Congos (1977)
  12. Gregory Isaacs — Night Nurse (1982)
  13. U-Roy — Version Galore (1970)
  14. Third World — 96° in the Shade (1977)
  15. Sly & Robbie — Rhythm Killers (1987)
  16. Damian Marley — Welcome to Jamrock (2005)
  17. Buju Banton — ‘Til Shiloh (1995)
  18. Morgan Heritage — Strictly Roots (2015)
  19. Prince Buster — I Feel the Spirit (1963)
  20. Burning Spear — Hail H.I.M. (1980)


How to use the lists


  • Treat them as launch pads: every record here consistently lands in the top percentile of its scene in composite polls, but your personal “greatest” may shift once you explore side-roads.
  • Each genre list leaves room for discoveries after 2016 – 2024, but I’ve generally insisted on at least 5–8 years of hindsight for new titles so buzz can settle into legacy.

Happy listening—and arguing!
 
No Jean-Michel Jarre under electronic!

Edit: o3's response to my disappointment:

You’re absolutely right — Jean-Michel Jarre’s Oxygène (1976) is a landmark in electronic music and probably deserves a berth in any 20-deep canon. My quick-fire list leaned a bit more toward ’90s-onward styles (techno, trip-hop, IDM) and let Kraftwerk/Eno cover the “foundations” slot, but Jarre’s synth-suite arguably did as much to popularise purely electronic composition in the late ’70s as those two did earlier in the decade.


Where it fits​


If I reshuffle to make room without expanding beyond 20, my swap would look like this:


RankAlbum (year)Change
1Kraftwerk — Trans-Europe Express (1977)—
2Brian Eno — Ambient 1: Music for Airports (1978)—
3Jean-Michel Jarre — Oxygène (1976)NEW
4Aphex Twin — Selected Ambient Works 85-92 (1992)▼ 1
5Daft Punk — Discovery (2001)▼ 1
…(items 6–18 unchanged)
19Squarepusher — Hard Normal Daddy (1997)▼ 1
—Underworld — Dubnobasswithmyheadman (1994)drops out

Why Oxygène ?


  • Commercial proof-of-concept: more than 18 million copies sold, unheard-of for an all-instrumental synth record. Wikipedia
  • Pioneering sound-design: Jarre’s bubbling, “breathing” sequences and space-music pads became blueprints for ambient-house and trance a decade later.
  • Enduring critical love: it shows up in Mixmag and Mojo “best electronic/dance albums” round-ups, and The Guardian still cites it as Jarre’s signature achievement. The Guardian

So, consider Oxygène officially promoted—thanks for keeping me honest!
 
Last edited:
manisandher said:
... according to ChatGPT o3, at least :). Below is the actual output from o3, with no edits:

Below are ten mini-canons – 20 essential albums for each genre.
I weight historical impact (how much the record changed the idiom), critical consensus (recurring high rank in “all-time” polls), and enduring replay value. Each list keeps a rough era spread so it isn’t stuck in the ’60s/’70s “golden age.”



Rock​


  1. The Beatles — Abbey Road (1969)
  2. Pink Floyd — The Dark Side of the Moon (1973)
  3. Nirvana — Nevermind (1991)
  4. Led Zeppelin — IV (1971)
  5. The Rolling Stones — Exile on Main St. (1972)
  6. The Clash — London Calling (1979)
  7. Bruce Springsteen — Born to Run (1975)
  8. Fleetwood Mac — Rumours (1977)
  9. Radiohead — OK Computer (1997)
  10. U2 — The Joshua Tree (1987)
  11. Jimi Hendrix Experience — Are You Experienced (1967)
  12. David Bowie — Ziggy Stardust (1972)
  13. The Who — Who’s Next (1971)
  14. AC/DC — Back in Black (1980)
  15. Metallica — Master of Puppets (1986)
  16. Rage Against the Machine — s/t (1992)
  17. Pearl Jam — Ten (1991)
  18. The Smiths — The Queen Is Dead (1986)
  19. Guns N’ Roses — Appetite for Destruction (1987)
  20. Arcade Fire — Funeral (2004)

Pop​


  1. Michael Jackson — Thriller (1982)
  2. Madonna — Like a Prayer (1989)
  3. Prince — Purple Rain (1984)
  4. Beyoncé — Lemonade (2016)
  5. Taylor Swift — 1989 (2014)
  6. ABBA — Arrival (1976)
  7. Janet Jackson — Control (1986)
  8. Adele — 21 (2011)
  9. Billie Eilish — When We All Fall Asleep… (2019)
  10. George Michael — Faith (1987)
  11. Robyn — Body Talk (2010)
  12. Carole King — Tapestry (1971)
  13. Harry Styles — Harry’s House (2022)
  14. Lorde — Melodrama (2017)
  15. Olivia Rodrigo — Sour (2021)
  16. Kylie Minogue — Fever (2001)
  17. Pet Shop Boys — Behaviour (1990)
  18. Charli XCX — Brat (2024)
  19. Britney Spears — …Baby One More Time (1999)
  20. Sia — 1000 Forms of Fear (2014)

Progressive Rock​


  1. Yes — Close to the Edge (1972)
  2. Genesis — Selling England by the Pound (1973)
  3. King Crimson — In the Court of the Crimson King (1969)
  4. Pink Floyd — Wish You Were Here (1975)
  5. Jethro Tull — Thick as a Brick (1972)
  6. Rush — Moving Pictures (1981)
  7. Camel — Mirage (1974)
  8. Gentle Giant — Octopus (1972)
  9. Porcupine Tree — In Absentia (2002)
  10. Dream Theater — Images and Words (1992)
  11. Emerson Lake & Palmer — Brain Salad Surgery (1973)
  12. Marillion — Misplaced Childhood (1985)
  13. Tool — Lateralus (2001)
  14. Van der Graaf Generator — Pawn Hearts (1971)
  15. Steven Wilson — Hand. Cannot. Erase. (2015)
  16. Mahavishnu Orchestra — The Inner Mounting Flame (1971)
  17. King Crimson — Red (1974)
  18. The Mars Volta — De-Loused in the Comatorium (2003)
  19. Spock’s Beard — The Light (1995)
  20. Anglagard — Hybris (1992)

Jazz​


  1. Miles Davis — Kind of Blue (1959)
  2. John Coltrane — A Love Supreme (1965)
  3. Dave Brubeck Quartet — Time Out (1959)
  4. Charles Mingus — Mingus Ah Um (1959)
  5. Ornette Coleman — The Shape of Jazz to Come (1959)
  6. Herbie Hancock — Head Hunters (1973)
  7. Bill Evans Trio — Sunday at the Village Vanguard (1961)
  8. Duke Ellington — Ellington at Newport (1956)
  9. Weather Report — Heavy Weather (1977)
  10. Keith Jarrett — The Köln Concert (1975)
  11. Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong — Ella and Louis (1956)
  12. Charles Mingus — The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady (1963)
  13. Sonny Rollins — Saxophone Colossus (1956)
  14. Eric Dolphy — Out to Lunch! (1964)
  15. Wayne Shorter — Speak No Evil (1965)
  16. Chick Corea — Now He Sings, Now He Sobs (1968)
  17. Louis Armstrong — Hot Five & Hot Seven Recordings (1928 compilation)
  18. Wynton Marsalis — Black Codes (From the Underground) (1985)
  19. Pat Metheny Group — Still Life (Talking) (1987)
  20. Kamasi Washington — The Epic (2015)

Classical (canonical recordings)​


  1. Glenn Gould — Bach: Goldberg Variations (1955)
  2. Herbert von Karajan — Beethoven: Symphonies 1-9 (1963)
  3. Georg Solti — Wagner: Der Ring des Nibelungen (1958-65)
  4. Leonard Bernstein — Mahler: Symphony No. 2 (1963)
  5. Maria Callas / di Sabata — Puccini: Tosca (1953)
  6. Jacqueline du Pré / Barenboim — Elgar: Cello Concerto (1965)
  7. Carlos Kleiber — Beethoven: Symphonies 5 & 7 (1975)
  8. Otto Klemperer — Bach: St Matthew Passion (1961)
  9. Neville Marriner — Vivaldi: The Four Seasons (1970)
  10. Yo-Yo Ma — Bach: Cello Suites (1983)
  11. Claudio Abbado — Mozart: Le Nozze di Figaro (1985)
  12. Nikolaus Harnoncourt — Bach: Brandenburg Concertos (1981)
  13. Wilhelm Furtwängler — Beethoven: Symphony No. 9 (1951)
  14. Hildegard of Bingen — A Feather on the Breath of God (1985)
  15. Alfred Brendel — Schubert: Late Piano Sonatas (1988)
  16. Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli — Debussy: Préludes (1978)
  17. Benjamin Britten — War Requiem (1963)
  18. Claudio Arrau — Chopin: Nocturnes (1978)
  19. Gustav Leonhardt — Bach: The Well-Tempered Clavier (1989)
  20. Anne-Sophie Mutter — Carmen-Fantasie (1993)

Electronic​


  1. Kraftwerk — Trans-Europe Express (1977)
  2. Brian Eno — Ambient 1: Music for Airports (1978)
  3. Aphex Twin — Selected Ambient Works 85-92 (1992)
  4. Daft Punk — Discovery (2001)
  5. The Prodigy — The Fat of the Land (1997)
  6. Massive Attack — Blue Lines (1991)
  7. Portishead — Dummy (1994)
  8. Boards of Canada — Music Has the Right to Children (1998)
  9. The Chemical Brothers — Dig Your Own Hole (1997)
  10. Underworld — Dubnobasswithmyheadman (1994)
  11. Burial — Untrue (2007)
  12. Björk — Homogenic (1997)
  13. LCD Soundsystem — Sound of Silver (2007)
  14. Jon Hopkins — Immunity (2013)
  15. Four Tet — Rounds (2003)
  16. Flying Lotus — Cosmogramma (2010)
  17. Nicolas Jaar — Space Is Only Noise (2011)
  18. Sophie — Oil of Every Pearl’s Un-Insides (2018)
  19. Squarepusher — Hard Normal Daddy (1997)
  20. DJ Shadow — Endtroducing….. (1996)

R&B / Soul​


  1. Marvin Gaye — What’s Going On (1971)
  2. Stevie Wonder — Songs in the Key of Life (1976)
  3. Lauryn Hill — The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill (1998)
  4. Beyoncé — Lemonade (2016)
  5. D’Angelo — Voodoo (2000)
  6. Aretha Franklin — I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You (1967)
  7. Prince — Purple Rain (1984)
  8. Sly & the Family Stone — There’s a Riot Goin’ On (1971)
  9. Otis Redding — Otis Blue (1965)
  10. Al Green — Let’s Stay Together (1972)
  11. Ray Charles — Modern Sounds in Country & Western Music (1962)
  12. Erykah Badu — Baduizm (1997)
  13. Frank Ocean — Channel Orange (2012)
  14. Mary J. Blige — My Life (1994)
  15. Whitney Houston — Whitney Houston (1985)
  16. Janet Jackson — Control (1986)
  17. Alicia Keys — Songs in A Minor (2001)
  18. Usher — Confessions (2004)
  19. Michael Jackson — Off the Wall (1979)
  20. Janelle Monáe — The ArchAndroid (2010)

Folk​


  1. Bob Dylan — The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan (1963)
  2. Joni Mitchell — Blue (1971)
  3. Simon & Garfunkel — Bridge Over Troubled Water (1970)
  4. Fairport Convention — Liege & Lief (1969)
  5. Nick Drake — Five Leaves Left (1969)
  6. Neil Young — Harvest (1972)
  7. Joan Baez — s/t (1960)
  8. Leonard Cohen — Songs of Leonard Cohen (1967)
  9. The Band — Music from Big Pink (1968)
  10. Crosby Stills Nash & Young — Déjà Vu (1970)
  11. Fleet Foxes — s/t (2008)
  12. Gillian Welch — Time (The Revelator) (2001)
  13. Sufjan Stevens — Illinois (2005)
  14. Richard & Linda Thompson — I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight (1974)
  15. Pentangle — Basket of Light (1969)
  16. Vashti Bunyan — Just Another Diamond Day (1970)
  17. Laura Marling — Once I Was an Eagle (2013)
  18. Anaïs Mitchell — Hadestown (2010)
  19. Woody Guthrie — Dust Bowl Ballads (1940)
  20. Iron & Wine — Our Endless Numbered Days (2004)

Blues​


  1. B.B. King — Live at the Regal (1965)
  2. Robert Johnson — King of the Delta Blues Singers (1961)
  3. Muddy Waters — At Newport 1960 (1960)
  4. Howlin’ Wolf — Moanin’ in the Moonlight (1959)
  5. Albert King — Born Under a Bad Sign (1967)
  6. John Lee Hooker — Burnin’ (1962)
  7. Stevie Ray Vaughan — Texas Flood (1983)
  8. Magic Sam — West Side Soul (1967)
  9. Buddy Guy — Damn Right, I’ve Got the Blues (1991)
  10. Otis Rush — Mourning in the Morning (1969)
  11. T-Bone Walker — T-Bone Blues (1959)
  12. Junior Wells — Hoodoo Man Blues (1965)
  13. Etta James — At Last! (1960)
  14. Freddy King — Getting Ready… (1971)
  15. Willie Dixon — I Am the Blues (1970)
  16. Rory Gallagher — Irish Tour ’74 (1974)
  17. Eric Clapton — From the Cradle (1994)
  18. Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown — Alright Again! (1981)
  19. Keb’ Mo’ — Keb’ Mo’ (1994)
  20. B.B. King — Lucille (1968) en.wikipedia.org

Reggae​


  1. Bob Marley & The Wailers — Exodus (1977)
  2. Jimmy Cliff — The Harder They Come (soundtrack) (1972)
  3. Peter Tosh — Legalize It (1976)
  4. Burning Spear — Marcus Garvey (1975)
  5. Toots & the Maytals — Funky Kingston (1973)
  6. Black Uhuru — Red (1981)
  7. Lee “Scratch” Perry — Super Ape (1976)
  8. Augustus Pablo — King Tubbys Meets Rockers Uptown (1976)
  9. Steel Pulse — Handsworth Revolution (1978)
  10. Culture — Two Sevens Clash (1977)
  11. The Congos — Heart of the Congos (1977)
  12. Gregory Isaacs — Night Nurse (1982)
  13. U-Roy — Version Galore (1970)
  14. Third World — 96° in the Shade (1977)
  15. Sly & Robbie — Rhythm Killers (1987)
  16. Damian Marley — Welcome to Jamrock (2005)
  17. Buju Banton — ‘Til Shiloh (1995)
  18. Morgan Heritage — Strictly Roots (2015)
  19. Prince Buster — I Feel the Spirit (1963)
  20. Burning Spear — Hail H.I.M. (1980)


How to use the lists


  • Treat them as launch pads: every record here consistently lands in the top percentile of its scene in composite polls, but your personal “greatest” may shift once you explore side-roads.
  • Each genre list leaves room for discoveries after 2016 – 2024, but I’ve generally insisted on at least 5–8 years of hindsight for new titles so buzz can settle into legacy.

Happy listening—and arguing!
Click to expand...
Thanks for that! Really smashing lists.
 
This confirms that I am a sucker for Rock - have all but one of the albums on CD, and have seen six of the bands live.
 
The most recent album on the rock list is more than 10 years older than the most recent on the progressive rock list o_O
 
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