Top 50 Rock Albums

1. Rush - A Farewell to Kings
Brilliant follow-up to 2112; a masterpiece

2. Deep Purple - Made in Japan
Sets the bar for a live album; unmatched

3. Black Sabbath - Paranoid

Dark, heavy and intense; groundbreaking

4. Deep Purple - Machine Head
Montreux fire ignites time-tested inspiration

5. Hell Toupee - Hell Toupee
Debut album from classic Boston funk band

6. Jimi Hendrix - Axis: Bold as Love

Best effort from legendary axeman

7. The Who - Quadrophenia
Townshend's masterpiece still relevant

8. Led Zeppelin - II
Heavy yet mainstream for the time

9. Jefferson Airplane - Surrealistic Pillow
Transcends rock, pop, folk and psychedelic

10. KISS - Alive!

Live album spawns marketing machine

11. Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon

Still blowing minds nearly 40 years later

12. Beatles - Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
Sir George Martin sets bar for studio work

13. ZZ Top - Deguello
Bad, nationwide and ready to party

14. Grateful Dead - American Beauty

Best studio effort from elite live band

15. The Who - Who's Next

Try releasing a cover like this today

16. Crosby, Stills & Nash - CSN
Harmonizers define musical elegance

17. Led Zeppelin - Houses of the Holy

Wide range of emotional tracks

18. Frank Zappa - Joe's Garage

Funny, thought-provoking and high-level musicianship

19. Led Zeppelin - IV

A true classic, but hurt by massive overplay

20. Grand Funk Railroad - Live

Crowd as is, no editing; live and in your face

21. Rush - 2112

Band assumes control with high-fidelity concept

22. Funkadelic - One Nation Under a Groove

Everyone should belong to the P-Funk Nation

23. Jimi Hendrix - Electric Ladyland

Brilliant guitar licks from the master

24. Good Rats - Tasty

Underrated band delivers again and again

25. The Beatles - Rubber Soul

Inspiration for long hair and good karma

26. Rolling Stones - Sticky Fingers

Hard to argue with five hits; neat album cover

27. The Beatles - The White Album

Some of Fab Four's best songs are here

28. Aerosmith - Rocks

Wow — and we thought Toys was good

29. Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath

Debut that has parents locking doors

30. Deep Purple - Burn

May be David Coverdale's finest vinyl

31. Rush - Moving Pictures

An ounce of perception, a pound of obscure

32. ZZ Top - Tres Hombres

You let that boy boogie woogie

33. Anandi - The Mirror

Great voice; should have more recognition

34. The Beatles - Magical Mystery Tour

This really is a ride of excellent '60s pop

35. Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here

Did they get you trade your heroes for ghosts?

36. Soundgarden - Super Unknown

Massive, yet cohesive and succinct

37. Montrose - Montrose
Sammy Hagar rocks the nation

38. Bruce Springsteen - Born to Run

Heartfelt lyrics delivered with passion

39. Alice in Chains - Dirt
Scary, heavy rock when the mood strikes

40. Yes - The Yes Album

Soundtrack to coming of age

41. U2 - The Joshua Tree

Pride of Ireland's masterpiece

42. Led Zeppelin - Presence

Perhaps band's heaviest album ... with funk

43. Meat Loaf - Bat Out of Hell

One of the '70s defining album

44. Thin Lizzy - Live and Dangerous

Wonderful versions of some great songs

45. Jethro Tull - Thick as a Brick

Really don't mind if you sit this one out...

46. Boston - Boston

Soundtrack of '76, hands down

47. Black Sabbath - Sabotage

Experimental with killer 10-ton riffs

48. T. Rex - Electric Warrior

Groovy power pop with unique vocals

49. The Doors - The Doors

Breakthrough album introduces Mr. Morrison

50. Funkadelic - Standing ... Verge of Getting It On

Rock and funk with a title that needs no explanation

Comments

[KevinForrester]

Hmm. Nice list. Not what you would expect. No Dylan or Neil Young are big omissions.

[wefo]

And so it begins...or should I say continues...

John Henry Bonham

[Scott]

I'm impressed that you would even undertake the creation of such a list! I wouldn't know where to start... But if I did, I definitely wouldn't know where to end!

[Dan]

Long story on the list, Scott. Basically, it's a collaborative effort by my college roommate and me. If I had my druthers, Quadrophenia would be No. 1 and Pepper and Dark Side would be higher. I also would have Revolver over Rubber Soul. But we had rules and unless an album was mentioned by both parties, it got bumped low or did not make the list. A song from the album had to be featured on one of our Burning Sessions (http://steelkaleidoscopes.typepad.com/burning_sessions) as well. If it wasn't, the album was not qualified. I'm happy with the list but there are some obvious omissions (and I'm sure my roommate would say the same thing).

[Frank]

No Ozzy?!? Black Sabbath is good, but Ozzy took that sound to a whole new level. What about Blizzard of Oz? Big omission. There should atleast be some Iron Maiden here as well.

[Cyn]

I get surprised each time I see
Surrealistic Pillow so well-regarded. I hope this is one you and your college roommate agree on. I like it a lot. :)
I see however that some folks can't help but pick nits. :p

I also would have Revolver over Rubber Soul.
I agree with you and had a intense discussion with a music history teacher about that point.

As much as I see it's merits I wouldn't have picked Born To Run as the sole representation of Springsteen in part because he was very unhappy with what was done with the material before it was released.

Nice of you to put a Canadian band on the top. Whoulda' thunk? ;)

[Dan]

Frank - you can't be serious that Ozzy solo is better than Black Sabbath.

Cyn - Darkness and the River are worthy Springsteen choices, but this is a collaborative list and my college roommate is not a Springsteen fan. Glad you like Rush on top. Farewell to Kings is about as perfect a studio album as you can get.

[Tom]

Let's get one thing straight. Not having the Beach BOys on this list is plain crap. If you're going to truly represent the last four decades of rock -- which it looks like you're doing -- you need to have Pet Sounds here. Unbelievable!

[Dan]

Tom - it's a list. Lighten up, McGraw.

[Melody Lyons]

I don't know who u r but your picks r right up my alley.I only wish i could make these list like u do. Thank you for posting these really great list.