Well, we’ve done it again. We’ve spent days trawling the internet, checking through numerous magazines and canvasing opinion to come up with what may just be our most controversial list yet. It’s the Greatest Albums of the Rock Era.
What do we mean by Rock? Well it’s not Hip Hop, Soul, Motown, Country, Pop or any one of a hundred or so other musical genres. It’s music that is more ‘grown up’ than Pop, demands more of a listener’s attention and is definitely not disposable. It is very definitely not just confined to Hard Rock, but a look at list will show that some from that genre have made our top 100.
Arguably the Rock Era began in the summer of 1966 with the release of The Beatles’ Revolver. It’s a record that made everyone that first heard it at the time start thinking differently about popular music. Since then Rock has taken a fascinating journey through numerous different styles and arguably given us what are some of the greatest albums, across any genre.
As usual we’d love to hear from you as to what you think should be on the list, but remember, this list of the Greatest Rock Albums is not just our opinion but a genuine attempt to gather together all the data from every list we could find.
100. Genesis - The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway
99. Lou Reed - Transformer
98. The Byrds - The Notorious Byrd Brothers
97. Soundgarden - Superunknown
96. Supertramp - Breakfast in America
95. The Police – Synchronicity
94. Lynyrd Skynyrd - Pronounced…
93 . Red Hot Chilli Peppers – Blood Sugar Sex Magik…
92. The Who - Tommy
91. Van Halen - 1984
90. Nine Inch Nails – Downward Spiral
89. Paul McCartney & Wings - Band On The Run
88. George Harrison - All Things Must Pass
87. Primal Scream - Screamadelica
86. Rush - 2112
85. Rod Stewart - Every Picture Tells A Story
84. Manic Street Preachers - The Holy Bible
83. Metallica – Black Album
82. Steely Dan - Pretzel Logic
81. Thin Lizzy - Jailbreak
80. Bon Jovi - Slippery When Wet
79. Alice Cooper – Billion Dollar Babies
78. Queens of the stone Age – songs for the deaf
77. The Cure – Disintegration
76. Blur - Parklife
75. Arctic Monkeys - Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I Am
74. PJ Harvey - Let England Shake
73. Steely Dan - Countdown to Ecstacy
72. Metallica - Master Of Puppets
71, Sonic Youth - Daydream Nation
70. Pixies - Doolittle
69. Pulp - Different Class
68. Prince – Purple Rain
67. Jimi Hendrix - Axis Bold Is Love
66. Daft Punk - Discovery
65. Blondie Parallel Lines
64. Bob Marley and the Wailers - Catch A Fire
63. Dire Straits - Brothers In Arms
62. Nirvana - In Utero
61. Cream - Disraeli Gears
60. John Lennon - Imagine
59. Pearl Jam - Ten
58. Oasis - Definitely Maybe
57. The Band - Music From Pig Pink
56. Black Sabbath - Paranoid
55. Arcade Fire - Funeral
54. Aerosmith – Toys In the Attic
53. Joy Division – Closer
52.. The Stone Roses - The Stone Roses
51. Television - Marquee Moon
50. David Bowie - Low
49. REM - Automatic For The People
48. My Bloody Valentine - Loveless
47. Van Halen - Van Halen
46. Captain Beefheart - Trout Mask Replica
45. Deep Purple – Machine Head
44. Derek & The Dominos – Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs
43. Smiths - The Queen Is Dead
42. Carole King - Tapestry
41. Neil Young - After The Goldrush
40. Queen - Night at the Opera
39. The Allman Brothers Band - Live At Fillmore East
38. John Lennon - Plastic Ono Band
37. Elton John - Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
36. Radiohead – OK Computer
35. Ramones - Ramones
34. David Bowie - Hunky Dory
33. The Sex Pistols - Never Mind the Bollocks
32. Love - Forever Changes
31. Van Morrison - Astral Weeks
30. U2 – Achtung Baby
29. The Rolling Stones - Beggars Banquet
28. AC/DC – Back In Black
27. Guns N' Roses – Appetite For Destruction
26. Jimi Hendrix - Electric Ladyland
25. The Band - The Band
24. Patti Smith - Horses
23. U2 - Joshua Tree
22. Joni Mitchell - Blue
21. Led Zeppelin - 4
20. The Rolling Stones – Sticky Fingers
19. The Doors - The Doors
18. Bob Dylan - Blonde on Blonde
17. Eagles - Hotel California
16. Fleetwood Mac - Rumours
15. Bob Dylan - Blood On The Tracks
14. The Rolling Stones - Let It Bleed
13. The Who – Who’s Next
12. Pink Floyd - Dark Side Of The Moon
11. Velvet Underground & Nico - Velvet Underground & Nico
10. David Bowie - The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and The Spiders From Mars
9. Bruce Springsteen - Born To Run
8. Nirvana - Nevermind
7. The Clash – London Calling
6. The Beach Boys - Pet Sounds
5. Jimi Hendrix - Are You Experienced?
4. Beatles - White Album
3. Rolling Stones - Exile on Main St
2. Beatles– Abbey Road
1. Beatles – Revolver
