The Greatest Albums of All Time...

[manisandher]

I’d rank Pink Floyd

1. Meddle
2. Animals
3. Then - Dark Side

Any top Rock album list is incomplete without:

- Jethro Tull - Aqualung
- Black Sabbath - Paranoid

Yeah, I'd personally have both of these in my top 20.

 

[Oddball]

o3:

Dire Straits are definitely in “borderline-top-20” territory for rock. The sticking point is simply that I forced myself to stop at 20 titles: once you’ve locked in the eight or nine acts who utterly rewired the genre (Beatles, Stones, Zeppelin, Floyd, Hendrix, Nirvana, etc.), the final quarter of the list gets brutally competitive.

Their credentials at a glance​

Metric	Detail
Signature LP	Brothers in Arms (1985)
Commercial clout	30 - 34 million copies worldwide and the first album to sell a million CDs, tipping the industry toward the format. Wikipedia
Critical standing	Ranked #418 on Rolling Stone’s revised 500-greatest list and #224 on the crowdsourced BestEverAlbums all-time chart. WikipediaBest Ever Albums
Catalogue depth	Fans also champion Making Movies (1980) and Love Over Gold (1982), but consensus points to Brothers in Arms as their canonical peak.
Legacy	Mark Knopfler’s finger-style electric tone has influenced everyone from John Mayer to prog-metal players; the album’s digital production became a reference point for ’80s AOR.

How they could slot in​

If you (or the ASR crowd) insist on a Steely Dan and Dire Straits presence without expanding past 20, here’s a tidy swap:

Old #19	New #19
Guns N’ Roses — Appetite for Destruction (1987)	Dire Straits — Brothers in Arms (1985)

Appetite is a genre pillar, but hard-rock already has Back in Black and Master of Puppets on the list, so losing one swagger-guitar entry keeps diversity intact. Everything else would shift down one, with Arcade Fire’s Funeral staying in the honourable-mention pile set up after the Steely Dan adjustment.

Why they just missed the cut originally​

1. Cultural “shock” factor: Brothers in Arms rewrote sales records yet didn’t move the creative goalposts the way Nevermind or OK Computer did.
2. Stylistic overlap: The lush, adult-oriented blues-rock Knopfler perfected overlaps with Springsteen’s big-canvas songwriting and Pink Floyd’s audiophile polish—already covered in the 20.
3. One unanimous classic: Critics almost universally pick Brothers in Arms; most other artists on the list have at least two or three albums that turn up in top-100 debates.

That said, if your forum’s ethos leans toward studio-craft and hi-fi listening, Sneaking Dire Straits in is an easy call. I’m happy to treat the swap above as the “forum edition” of the rock list.

I think they deserve it - but obviously my opinion. Their music marked my youth and is genuine as it gets.

Knopfler did not perform to become a star but because he had no other choice. And sure as hell he got a great band around him. I thank him for that and this thread reminded me that I need to get back to listening to the music I really love.

 

[JPA]

Ridiculous. Everyone knows Elton John's "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" is the best pop album.

 

[Bland_username42069]

o3:

Both Steely Dan and Tangerine Dream have very solid claims and their absence is really just the squeeze-play of a “20 only” rule.

---

1 Steely Dan​

• Flagship album: Aja (1977) – an audiophile reference record that bridged rock, jazz, pop and soul, preserved in the U.S. National Recording Registry and now as high as No. 63 on Rolling Stone’s 500-greatest revision Wikipedia.
• Why I left it out: the rock-20 skewed toward guitar-centric or era-defining cultural jolts; Steely Dan’s perfectionist studio craft felt more “jazz-rock fusion.”
• How to slot it in: I’d slide Aja in around the middle—say new #13—bumping the bottom of the list down one and dropping Funeral (Arcade Fire) to “honourable mention.”

2 Tangerine Dream​

• Flagship album: Phaedra (1974) – routinely described as “one of the most important works in the history of electronic music,” and included in 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die Wikipedia.
• Why I left it out: the electronic-20 already had two “foundations” picks (Kraftwerk, Eno), so I favoured ’90s–’00s styles (IDM, trip-hop, big-beat).
• How to slot it in: replace Squarepusher’s Hard Normal Daddy at #19 with Phaedra and move Squarepusher to the honourable-mention shelf.

​

Honourable-mention shelf​

• Rock: Can’t Buy a Thrill (Steely Dan), Gaucho (Steely Dan), Fragile (Yes).
• Electronic: Rubycon (Tangerine Dream), Ricochet (Tangerine Dream live), Selected Ambient Works Vol. II (Aphex Twin).

In short, the omissions weren’t judgments on merit—just the tyranny of an arbitrary cut-off.

It does mean we get to learn about everyone’s favourite albums.

I do like Aphex and Boards of Canada a lot.

 

[Timcognito]

Get on a new bus and travel some place you never been. Read reviews, reject, reject, reject, reject, reject, then finally try, most are on Qobuz, Tidal, Soundcloud or Bandcamp. Use the search engine; the name of your favorite travel destination country, region or city, instrument, off beat genre like Surf or Fado, musical term like syncopation, or ??? 8000+ one to two paragraph reviews

KFJC 89.7FM

 

[Robin L]

... 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.”

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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)

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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!

"A Feather on the Breath of God" (music of Hildegarde von Bingen) is performed by The Gothic Voices featuring Emma Kirkby, Just in case anyone was wondering who was performing on that disc.

 

[Aldoszx]

o3 asked in my native language, for rock:

Nr.​	Album • Artist​	Year​
1	Revolver • The Beatles	1966
2	Exile on Main St. • The Rolling Stones	1972
3	London Calling • The Clash	1979
4	Kid A • Radiohead	2000
5	Born to Run • Bruce Springsteen	1975
6	Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band • The Beatles	1967
7	Rumours • Fleetwood Mac	1977
8	The Joshua Tree • U2	1987
9	Are You Experienced • The Jimi Hendrix Experience	1967
10	The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust… • David Bowie	1972
11	OK Computer • Radiohead	1997
12	The Dark Side of the Moon • Pink Floyd	1973
13	Led Zeppelin IV • Led Zeppelin	1971
14	Appetite for Destruction • Guns N’ Roses	1987
15	Paranoid • Black Sabbath	1970
16	Back in Black • AC/DC	1980
17	Master of Puppets • Metallica	1986
18	A Night at the Opera • Queen	1975
19	Who’s Next • The Who	1971
20	Ten • Pearl Jam	1991

 

[AdrianusG]

A large part of Japanese rock and pop music is forgotten in this list.

True,

My wife (not Japanese) but having lived there 17 years prior to living here with me in Holland, brought over some >100 CD's from her collection, so i'm well aware of this fact.
Excellent musicians and productions values there

 

[Kremmen]

Kraftwerk: Computer World (1981)
Van Halen: Van Halen (1978)

 

[Corvuscorone]

What about punk music? Ramones, Dead Kennedys, Sex Pistols, Stranglers etc.

 

[Esprit]

Tubular Bells

 

[DavidEdwinAston]

Desperado

 

[DanielT]

Where is Black Sabbath- Paranoid?

Also, America's best rock band is missing from the list: ZZ Top and Van Halen. A cardinal mistake.

Edit:
Not easy to include all the greats on limited lists. Some I can immediately think of that aren't included:
Elton John, The Kinks, The Police, Deep Purple, Electric Light Orchestra, Depeche Mode, Iron Maiden, Rush...

 

[Kremmen]

Megadeth: Rust in Peace (1990)

 

[wadude]

Was Thirteenth Floor Elevators, Easter Everywhere in there? I may have overlooked it.

 

[Ron Party]

Happy listening—and arguing!

Of course any time we read lists like these, there are glaring omissions and curiosities as others have already made mention of. A few that immediately came to mind:

On the R&B list, James Brown’s Live At The Apollo, Curtis Mayfield’s Superfly or Hot Buttered Soul, and Roberta Flack’s First Take are not included.

While it never did anything for me, the historical significance of the omitted Pet Sounds by The Beach Boys arguably requires its listing in the pop genre.

Oh, and Wadude, don't think they belong in any top 20 lists but nice callout for The 13th Floor Elevators, though I'm taking Psychedelic Sounds before Easter Everywhere!

 

[aikofan]

Some more major omissions: Charlie Parker, Bing Crosby (by some measures by far the most popular pop music artist of the 20th century, if not all time), Frank Sinatra, Billie Holiday, The Beach Boys, Japanese pop music, etc. I also feel like some of the more recent choices will be virtually forgotten well within our lifetimes.

 

[sam_adams]

Whither Frank Zappa?

 

[TimF]

oh gawd! They will buy it if it shows up on the shelves.

 

[DMill]

No country music?