The 100 Greatest Albums of All Time

Thanks be to Lenny.

After finishing my list of "The Rock and Roll 300," my friend Lenny wrote back that it was a good list, but that he thought Led Zeppelin IV should've made the top 20. I then informed him that it was an alphabetical, as opposed to a "best to worst," ranking.

He had a laugh at the error of his ways, but his comment got me thinking. Why not do a ranked list? I happen to love looking at them, but had avoided doing one myself thus far. For all my list-making, this was uncharted territory.

So what follows is my ranked list of the greatest rock and roll albums of all time. I refrained from annotation, since I think virtually all of them have been written about on this blog elsewhere (and I have a feeling that those which haven't been will be in the future). But, as always, I made a few guidelines while putting together the list:

• This list incorporates only the greatest rock and roll albums from what I define as the Rock and Roll Era (1954 to the present). As great and influential as LPs like Miles Davis's Kind of Blue, Frank Sinatra's In the Wee Small Hours, and Robert Johnson's King of the Delta Blues Singers may have been, they do not constitute rock and roll music in and of themselves.
• I also excluded any multiple-artist anthologies, mainly because they are in a different category than one artist's original album -- and the best ones often fall under the category of a greatest hits collection anyway (see below). So as great and influential as The Harder They Come soundtrack, the initial Nuggets: Original Artyfacts from the First Psychedelic Era double-LP, or Hitsville USA: The Motown Singles Collection box set may have been, they fell outside of the category that this list sought to address.
• This list is entirely comprised of original albums -- that is, no greatest hits collections or best-ofs. Sometimes, this territory was tricky with the '50s artists, whose albums were often collected single sides and new tracks, but I used my discretion and only chose a few from that era anyway. It should be noted, however, that this is a list of great albums, not necessarily great artists -- performers like Chuck Berry, Sam Cooke, and Janis Joplin are much more influential than many of those who did make the list, but they simply didn't put out an original album that merited inclusion among the 100 greatest albums of all time.
• The only exception I made in terms of previously-released material was with live albums, either because the material was all essentially new or it showcased the artist in a way that was unique than a regular studio album. That said, I ruled out all albums that were "greatest hits live" on principle, not that those are ever any good anyway.
• I also did my best to factor in the album's influence, as well as its quality. Thus, if the majority of the list seems slanted to the past, that's because I believe something needs to be around for a while in order to prove its greatness. Plus, comparing any album to another essentially becomes an apples to oranges game, and I just as soon default to the "classics" -- especially since they're usually called that for a reason.
• Finally, per usual, I should preface this list by saying that this is not so much my list of my own favorite albums as much as it is my list of what I believe are the overall greatest albums (in terms of both influence and quality) in rock and roll history.

So all that said, here is my ranked list of the 100 Greatest Albums of All Time -- and don't worry Lenny, Led Zeppelin's fourth album fell safely within the top 20.

1. The Beatles: Revolver (1966)
2. The Rolling Stones: Exile on Main Street (1972)
3. Bob Dylan: Highway 61 Revisited (1965)
4. The Beach Boys: Pet Sounds (1966)
5. The Jimi Hendrix Experience: Are You Experienced (1967)
6. Marvin Gaye: What’s Going on (1971)
7. The Velvet Underground & Nico (1967)
8. The Beatles: Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967)
9. Michael Jackson: Thriller (1982)
10. Nirvana: Nevermind (1991)
11. Bob Dylan: Blonde on Blonde (1966)
12. The Beatles: Rubber Soul (1965)
13. The Clash: London Calling (1979)
14. The Beatles: Abbey Road (1969)
15. The Rolling Stones: Let It Bleed (1969)
16. Led Zeppelin [IV] (1971)
17. The Sex Pistols: Never Mind the Bollocks Here’s the Sex Pistols (1977)
18. Bruce Springsteen: Born to Run (1975)
19. James Brown: Live at the Apollo (1963)
20. U2: The Joshua Tree (1987)
21. Joni Mitchell: Blue (1971)
22. The Who: Who’s Next (1971)
23. Stevie Wonder: Talking Book (1972)
24. The Jimi Hendrix Experience: Electric Ladyland (1968)
25. Patti Smith: Horses (1975)
26. Bob Dylan: Blood on the Tracks (1975)
27. The Beatles [“The White Album”] (1968)
28. Aretha Franklin: I Never Loved a Man the Way I Loved You (1967)
29. Elvis Presley (1956)
30. Bob Marley and the Wailers: Exodus (1977)
31. The Band (1969)
32. Public Enemy: It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back (1988)
33. Van Morrison: Astral Weeks (1968)
34. The Ramones (1976)
35. Carole King: Tapestry (1971)
36. David Bowie: The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars (1972)
37. The Doors (1967)
38. The Smiths: The Queen Is Dead (1986)
39. Little Richard: Here’s Little Richard (1957)
40. Bruce Springsteen: Born in the U.S.A. (1984)
41. The Rolling Stones: Beggar’s Banquet (1968)
42. Radiohead: OK Computer (1998)
43. R.E.M.: Automatic for the People (1992)
44. Derek and the Dominoes: Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs (1970)
45. Bob Dylan: Bringing It All Back Home (1965)
46. John Lennon: Plastic Ono Band (1970)
47. Simon and Garfunkel: Bridge over Troubled Water (1970)
48. Love: Forever Changes (1967)
49. Fleetwood Mac: Rumours (1977)
50. Madonna: Like a Prayer (1989)
51. Led Zeppelin II (1969)
52. Van Morrison: Moondance (1970)
53. The Allman Brothers: Life at Fillmore East (1971)
54. Grateful Dead: American Beauty (1970)
55. Aretha Franklin: Lady Soul (1968)
56. Elvis Costello: This Year’s Model (1978)
57. Otis Redding: Otis Blue/Otis Sings Soul (1965)
58. The Zombies: Odessey and Oracle (1968)
59. Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band: Trout Mask Replica (1969)
60. Stevie Wonder: Innervisions (1973)
61. The Eagles: Hotel California (1976)
62. The Stooges: Fun House (1970)
63. Pink Floyd: Dark Side of the Moon (1973)
64. Prince: Purple Rain (1984)
65. The Band: Music from the Big Pink (1968)
66. Led Zeppelin [I] (1969)
67. Buddy Holly: The “Chirping” Crickets (1957)
68. Run-D.M.C.: Raising Hell (1986)
69. The Byrds: Mr. Tambourine Man (1965)
70. Frank Zappa & the Mothers of Invention: We’re Only in It for the Money (1968)
71. Grateful Dead: Workingman’s Dead (1970)
72. The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society (1968)
73. Stevie Wonder: Songs in the Key of Life (1976)
74. David Bowie: Hunky Dory (1971)
75. R.E.M.: Murmur (1983)
76. Simon and Garfunkel: Bookends (1968)
77. Elton John: Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (1973)
78. Sly and the Family Stone: There’s a Riot Goin’ on! (1971)
79. Bob Marley: Catch a Fire (1973)
80. The Byrds: Sweetheart of the Rodeo (1968)
81. AC/DC: Back in Black (1980)
82. Television: Marquee Moon (1977)
83. The Who: Tommy (1969)
84. Michael Jackson: Off the Wall (1979)
85. Al Green: Call Me (1973)
86. Neil Young: After the Gold Rush (1970)
87. The Rolling Stones: Sticky Fingers (1971)
88. Dr. Dre: The Chronic (1993)
89. Rod Stewart: Every Picture Tells a Story (1971)
90. U2: Achtung Baby (1991)
91. Elvis Presley: From Elvis in Memphis (1969)
92. Parliament: Mothership Connection (1975)
93. Led Zeppelin: Physical Graffiti (1975)
94. The Beastie Boys: Paul’s Boutique (1989)
95. Talking Heads: Remain in Light (1980)
96. Prince: Sign ‘o’ the Times (1987)
97. Jerry Lee Lewis: Live at the Star Club, Hamburg (1964)
98. Guns N’ Roses: Appetite for Destruction (1987)
99. Ray Charles: Modern Sounds in Country & Western (1962)
100. Jeff Buckley: Grace (1994)