38 Greatest Albums of All Time
Albums are rated by how well they sound when listened to from beginning to the end without interruptions. That's the reason why there is no Nevermind by Nirvana or Rain Dogs by Tom Waits on the list, since they contain a few songs that ruin the flow of the record. Live albums and compilations are also not included.
Click on the cover to listen to the record on Youtube!!!
1 | "Rage Against the Machine" — Rage Against the Machine
“No samples, keyboards or synthesizers were used in the making of this record”
2 | "L.A. Woman" — The Doors
“Recorded live at their rehearsal space in six days with Elvis's bass player”
3 | "Blue Valentine" — Tom Waits
“Waits at the start of his transformation”
4 | "Sound of Silver" — LCD Soundsystem
“Dance-rock for failed hipsters”
5 | "Morrison Hotel" — The Doors
“Rothchild's best record”
6 | "The Velvet Underground & Nico" — The Velvet Underground
“Banana was peelable on early copies”
7 | "Odelay" — Beck
“Vinyl crackling noises were added intentionally”
8 | "Ramones" — Ramones
“Divine intervention”
9 | "To Pimp a Butterfly" — Kendrick Lamar
“Masterpiece”
10 | "Razdor" — Majke
“Dark and hopeful at the same time”
11 | "The Low End Theory" — A Tribe Called Quest
“They sound fresh even when rapping about pagers”
12 | "!!Destroy-Oh-Boy!!" — New Bomb Turks
“High octane punk 'n' roll”
13 | "Unknown Pleasures" — Joy Division
“Always better than you remember”
14 | "In Utero" — Nirvana
“Drum room mics were delayed for 20 milliseconds”
15 | "Death and the Bible" — The Tiger Lillies
“Weimar, Brecht, Weill, the whole shtick”
16 | "Check Your Head" — Beastie Boys
“Better than the sum of its parts”
17 | "Funhouse" — Stooges
“Stooges at their raw, sweaty, howling peak”
18 | "Swordfishtrombones" — Tom Waits
“Start of the Big Time era”
19 | "Safe as Milk" — Captain Beefheart
“Beefheart for the masses”
20 | "Brown Album" — Primus
“Kalamazoo is a real place in Michigan”
21 | "Tourist" — St Germain
“A synthesis of electronics with jazz soloing”
22 | "Midnite Vultures" — Beck
“Hitting the L.A.'s main nerve”
23 | "I Whistle - You Dance" — Dicky B. Hardy
“Having no bass player can make your music more exciting”
24 | "Smash" — The Offspring
“Best-selling independent album of all time”
25 | "Run the Jewels 2" — Run the Jewels
“Hardcore hip hop that is not based on trap”
26 | "Cansei de Ser Sexy" — CSS
“Fun and relatable”
27 | "The Velvet Underground" — The Velvet Underground
“Ultimate night record”
28 | "Spiderland" — Slint
“More a song than an album”
29 | "Franks Wild Years" — Tom Waits
“High on life”
30 | "Are We Not Men? We Are Devo!" — Devo
“Too much of Brian Eno's ideas were rejected”
31 | "Surfer Rosa" — Pixies
“Drum room mics were delayed for 20 milliseconds”
32 | "One" — NoMeansNo
“Their least annoying record”
33 | "Stereopathetic Soulmanure" — Beck
“Proper lo-fi/trash Americana”
34 | "Clandestino" — Manu Chao
“Electronic beats got lost during production”
35 | "Illmatic" — Nas
“This”
36 | "Amphibios" — Matter
“A fish called Wanda”
37 | "Nemesis Divina" — Satyricon
“Great fusion of garage and studio production”
38 | "Repeater" — Fugazi
“Ultimate day record”
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