My Top 15 All-Time Favorite Albums

Top 15 All-Time Favorite Albums

In honor of the 15th Anniversary of this blog, here is my listing of my top 15 favorite albums of all time. I have always had a couple dozen or so albums that I consider my all-time favorites, but prior to this exercise I had never tried to rank them or choose an overall favorite. So this was interesting and even a little surprising for me to try to put these albums I love into some sort of ranking order. Obviously, there are dozens, even hundreds of albums I have loved over the years, and this just represents the very top of my list. Also, I have only included one album from each band or artist so that 15 different artists would be represented. First thing you will notice is that almost all of these albums are from the 1970's and none are from 2000 or later. This is not because I don't like any newer albums, but in order for something to become an all-time favorite, I need to have listened to it for many many years (more than twenty). All of these albums are ones I've lived with and listened to over and over for decades (most of them forty to fifty years). Plus, the 70's were my high school and college years and the most important time in my musical and personal development, in addition to the fact that it was just a great time for rock music. Obviously, these are only my personal opinions regarding my favorite music and what means the most to me and does not reflect any other critical rankings, polls, or other criteria. Without further ado, here are my picks as my top 15 favorite albums of all time.  

15. The Who - Who's Next (1971)

Great rock album, with some of Pete Townshend and the Who's greatest songs, including, Bargain, Baba O-Reilly, Behind Blue Eyes, and Won't Get Fooled Again. The peak of a remarkably productive period for the band, and although Townshend's big plans for a groundbreaking Sci-Fi concept double album and film called Lifehouse fell apart, this was the compromise album featuring some of the best songs from that project. And even still, they managed to leave off a couple of the very best songs. I will never understand why Pure and Easy was not included on this album. It was the centerpiece of the Lifehouse project and IMHO, the best song The Who ever recorded. If Pure and Easy was on this album, it would rank even higher, but nonetheless, one of the greatest rocks albums ever. 

14. Emerson, Lake, and Palmer - Trilogy (1972)

ELP was unlike any band before it, led by the virtuoso keyboard wizardry and embrace of emerging synthesizer technology of Keith Emerson, and featuring the gorgeous vocals and guitar/bass of Greg Lake, and the masterful drumming and percussion of Carl Palmer. And for me, this is ELP's overall best album, and shows all sides of the band brilliantly, from the classical influences, the fantastic musicianship of the band, and songs ranging from beautiful acoustic gems (From the Beginning) to electronic rock versions of classical pieces (Hoedown) to novelty prog-pop songs (The Sheriff) to classically-influenced excursions (Abbaddon's Bolero) to stunning Prog masterpieces (Trilogy, Endless Enigma). They also have 3 other masterpiece-level albums to their credit in their self-titled debut, Tarkus, and Brain Salad Surgery, but this has always been my favorite, and a progressive rock classic. 

13. The Kinks - Sleepwalker (1977)

As I've reiterated several times on this blog, The Kinks do not get the attention and acclaim they deserve as one the greatest bands of all time, right up there with the Beatles and Stones, and just as influential to subsequent rock styles.  And this is my favorite album from them. Yes, there are many other great Kinks albums, some more acclaimed than this one (such as Village Green Preservation Society, Arthur, and Lola vs. Powerman), but I just love and connect more with this album than any other. Although many primarily embrace only their 60's output and dismiss their later albums, I contend their resurgent rock period (from 1977-1984) contained some of their very best albums and songs. This was the first album from that period, becoming their return to rock following their '70's musical theater period, and every one of the songs on this album is fantastic. From the energy of the opening track, Life On the Road, the funky title track, the endearing Brother, the joy of Juke Box Music to the beautiful melodies and moods of Stormy Sky and Full Moon to the wonderful closer Life Goes On, it's just a wonderful album.  

12. Counting Crows - This Desert Life (1999)

Counting Crows are another one of my favorite bands that just don't get the respect they deserve as a great rock band. And for me, this is their best all-around album (and this is the only album on my list from newer than 40 years ago). Just great from start to finish. This is their third album, and this is where they really came together as a great rock band, featuring all aspects of the band, a diversity of styles, and just great melodies, arrangements, and songs. Consists of a nice mix of uptempo songs, strong melodies and grooves, along with Adam's slower emotional heartwrenchers in a delectable blend. Opening with the more rockin' 'Hanginaround' and the fantastic rollicking piano groove of  Mrs. Potter's Lullaby, the album just shines throughout. From the sparse, but melodic slow emotional songs like Colorblind and Amy Hit The Atmosphere to the more uptempo drive, groove, and beautiful melodies of 'Four Days,  All My Friends, and High Life to the emotional angst of  I Wish I Was a Girl to the mandolin flourishes of St. Robinson in his Cadillac Dream, are just a delight throughout. 

11. Creedence Clearwater Revival - Chronicle (1976)

OK, so this one may not seem fair to include because it is actually a compilation album, but it is such an iconic and long-tenured album that it seems to fit right in here, and it is the CCR album I that have been listening to most incessantly since the '70's. And hey, it's my list, so if I say it's one of my favorite albums, it goes on the list. This has 20 songs, nearly all of CCR's best songs, including Proud Mary, Down On the Corner, Fortunate Son, Who'll Stop the Rain, Have You Ever Seen the Rain, etc., all the hits plus a few lesser-known gems like Long as I Can See the Light and others (sure, there are a few missing, but pretty complete). It even includes the full 12-minute version of I Heard it Through the Grapevine (a clinic on how to effectively extend a song without it ever seeming too long or repetitive). John Fogerty and CCR remain an essential force in rock music and this is a classic. 

10. America - America (1971)

This may seem out of place here, but this has always been one of my favorite albums, and through much of the '70's, it was my favorite album. I Just love the great acoustic guitar work and interplay, the wonderful three-part harmonies, and the great songwriting and enjoyably fun songs throughout (with one notable exception, as I cannot stand the album closer 'Pidgeon Song', which is disturbingly awful). And its mainly the lesser-known songs here (Rainy Day, Donkey Jaw, Here, Never Found the Time, Clarice, Riverside, Three Roses) that are the real gems here, with the hits (Horse with No Name, I Need You, and Sandman) being fine, but notably weaker than the rest of the album. Just a great refreshing change of pace with this acoustic gem that is endearingly a bit rough around the edges. Their following 2 albums, Homecoming, and Hat Trick were great as well, but thereafter they turned to a more slick pop production and style that increasingly led to their musical demise and irrelevance. But this early stuff is great.  

9. Jethro Tull - Thick as a Brick (1972)

Jethro Tull has multiple masterpiece-level albums, such as Aqualung and Songs From the Woods, but this gloriously brilliant full album-length single composition (split into 2 album sides) is the pinnacle of their creativity. It consists of many separate parts brought together with ingenious transitions and connecting sections, intricately crafted songs and parts that fit together magnificently, and mixing the acoustic melodies with the harder rock elements as only prime Tull can, and while still also managing to be quite accessible, featuring some of Tull's most melodic and joyous passages. Even though the whole piece runs for ~44 minutes, there is not a single dull or lackluster moment anywhere, nor any part or section that doesn't fit or should have been left off. Just brilliant from start to finish. Also, the most cohesive and locked-in the whole band is here, with each member contributing greatly to the whole, particularly Barriemore Barlow's dynamic drumming and inspired percussion work that stands out, as well as Martin Barre's guitar work, and of course Anderson's flute and probably his best-ever vocal performance. It still stands as a monumental achievement in rock music.

8. Eagles - Desperado (1973)

OK, so maybe it's not considered cool to like the Eagles, but you've got to give respect where it is due, and this is a truly great album, and probably one of the best concept albums of all time. This was the Eagles poorest selling album, and when it did not succeed, it made the band move away from country-rock toward a harder rock style for their subsequent albums. But this is their masterpiece and the culmination of the country-rock trend of the early seventies. Set in the old west amidst a gang of outlaws, the songs follow a storyline of the rise and fall of a young gun drawn to the allure of fame and fortune of the outlaw life, while also using the story as a metaphor for more contemporary issues. The songs range from the sunny bluegrass banjo picking of Twenty-One to harder-rocking songs Outlaw Man and Out of Control to the emotional standout Desperado. This album also features some of the band's best, most underrated gems like Certain Kind of Fool and Bitter Creek. And although the song Desperado has become very well-known, if you are not familiar with the stunning album-closing reprise of the Desperado Reprise, you have not heard the whole song or story. It's somewhat of a cliche to just dismiss this band, but Desperado deserves to be recognized among the all-time great albums. 

7. Wish You Were Here (1975)

Sure, Dark Side of the Moon is their monumental best-selling iconic classic, but for me, this is their overall best album, primarily due to the presence of the wonderful epic Shine On You Crazy Diamond and Wish You Were Here. Just sensational and so inspiring. Shine On... is split into two halves that bookend the rest of the album and provide the overriding moody presence throughout. Its slowly building mood and atmosphere (its a full 8 minutes into the album before the melody and vocals of the song kick in) eventually erupting into the cathartic release of the full chorus is magical and magnificent. Then Welcome to the Machine and Have a Cigar are darkly comic and engaging musical commentaries on the band's recent commercial success. But the acoustic masterpiece title track  remains my favorite Pink Floyd song with its beautiful and moving melody and refrain. Then closing with another extended dose of Shine On.., a truly masterful album. 

6. Yes - The Yes Album (1971)

No question that this is my favorite Yes album, hands down. It contains their very best songs. Sensational from beginning to end. Many others point to Close to the Edge or Fragile as their best, but no, this is the one. For me, that side one combo of Yours is No Disgrace, Clap, and Starship Trooper is just flat out better than the sidelong epic of Close to the Edge, and the closer Perpetual Change is one the most underrated gems of their whole catalog. The intricacy and precision in the way that they build songs and performances is just sensational. Starship Trooper, in particular, is such a masterpiece of writing and performing, and Steve Howe's solo performance of the acoustic guitar impossibility Clap, is just mindblowing. Then you have fantastic vocals of Jon Anderson shining through and the vocal harmonies on Your Move, Yours is No Disgrace, and others, and Chris Squire's epic bass playing throughout. Yes, this is before Rick Wakeman joined, so we don't get his keyboard virtuousity that would come in the next few albums, but Tony Kaye does just fine here, and the songs here are just better than anything they did after this, and represent one of the best progressive rock albums ever. 

5. Jackson Browne - Late For the Sky (1974)

This is my representative for the singer-songwriter-type albums, as I think this is the absolute best, the epitome of the singer-songwriter albums. Jackson just has a way of capturing and expressing heartfelt emotions so poetically and brilliantly, dealing with deeply personal, yet universal feelings, and putting them into songs that have a melodic brilliance, coupled with his mellifluous and inspiring voice. Dealing with familiar themes of love, loss, identity, uncertain and doubt, Jackson delves deeper into them on this album, resulting in his most beautiful and thought-provoking album. Songs such as Late For the Sky, Fountain of Sorrow, Farther On, the Late Show, For a Dancer, and Before the Deluge are all among his most emotional and very best songs. He also includes a couple of lighter, more uptempo fun songs (The Road and The Sky and Walking Slow) that admirably lift the mood a bit. This was a really critical album for me when I was going through rough times in my early college days. Yes, at times it can be depressing, but others, so uplifting and inspiring. No other album quite catches these moods and emotions in such a beautiful way as this one. 

4. Steely Dan - Countdown to Ecstasy (1973)

Of their several great albums, for me, this is The One! The Holy Grail of Steely Dan Albums and brilliant fro start to finish. Blazing start with ‘Bodhisattva’, one of the greatest album-opening tracks ever. Unlike on later albums, they are still a real band here, and this one mostly rocks throughout (Skunk Baxter's guitar solos are tremendous). Contains what I consider the four pillars of Dan-dom: ‘Bodhisattva’, ‘Your Gold Teeth’, ‘My Old School’, and ‘King of the World’, but the rest are great as well. Perhaps the quirkiest, adventurous, and most eclectic of all their albums (‘Show Biz Kids’ is flat-out weird), but fantastic stuff all around. Never been another album quite like this, even among other Steely Dan albums..  

 

3. The Beatles - The Beatles (White Album) (1968)

I've generally considered The Beatles my favorite band, at least in the sense that there is the Beatles, then there is everyone else. And the White album is definitely my favorite Beatles album. So, it would make sense that my favorite album by my favorite band would be my favorite album overall. Well, close, but not quite. The White album is a masterpiece in its own way, but I can't quite call it my all-time favorite. It certainly is not a perfect album, but I do think that it is a perfect representation of the Beatles at that moment in time, and probably a better document of a band than almost any other album could ever be. This has on it everything that was going on with the Beatles at the time, for better or worse. It shows them at their best as a band, but also how they were becoming more separate, with each band member doing their own thing to a greater degree, but it all works and makes an incredible musical statement, with many of the Beatles greatest songs (and a couple of their worst). It is their most diverse and outlandish album, a dizzying assortment of songs and styles, from acoustic ditties to heavy rockers, love songs and depression rants, orchestral scorings and sound collages, and everything in between. Much of the appeal of this album is the shear outrageousness of it, the diversity and audacity of the songs, and the incredible sequencing that somehow just works. This album contains my favorite Lennon song (‘Dear Prudence’), My favorite McCartney song (‘Blackbird’), and my 2nd favorite Harrison song (‘While My Guitar Gently Weeps’ ), but also filled with great songs that would have been left off a single album. It's all here in what is probably the greatest representation of what double albums are all about, giving more room for experimentation and going outside the normal musical channels of a band.  
 

2. Genesis - Foxtrot (1972)

I've always considered this the greatest progressive rock album of all time and one of my all-time favorites, but when it all shook out, it was not quite my no.1 favorite. A tour de force of dynamic, intriguing, and powerful progressive rock from beginning to end. Stunning musicianship and instrumental prowess throughout, and their greatest songs. The standout track is, of course, 'Supper’s Ready', the greatest progressive rock song of all time, a 23-min epic that fills Side 2 of the album, and has everything you could ever want in a song. Introduced by Hackett’s beautiful brief solo classical guitar piece ‘Horizons’, 'Supper's Ready' starts with the wonderful anthemic  ‘Lover’s Leap’ section, establishing the theme with a beautiful soaring melody, then moving through the subsequent sections featuring delightful, beautiful, emphatic, quirky, majestic, silly, powerful, and bizarre aspects as it moves along, culminating in the utterly incredible and powerful long buildup of 'Apocalypse in 9/8', resolving in the most triumphant, majestic, and transcendent finale reprising themes from earlier in the piece. An unparalleled achievement in rock music. Although certainly the highlight, the album has much more to offer as well. Side 1 also contains some of the band’s greatest works, including album opener ‘Watcher of the Skies’ and the quirky darkly comic story song ‘Get Em Out by Friday’. But the highlight of Side 1 is the vastly underrated masterpiece that is ‘Can-Utility and The Coastliners’, a masterfully efficient mini-epic that packs all the beauty, excitement, glory, and drama of their long-form epics into an incredible and remarkably creative song coming in at a concise runtime of under 6 minutes. The album is just amazing from beginning to end, set the bar for what progressive rock could accomplish, and influenced countless imitators and admirers, and fans. The epitome of progressive rock. 

1. Supertramp - Crime of the Century (1974)

I've raved about this album before, but it is a true masterpiece, one of the greatest albums of any type, and now I have determined it to be my favorite album of all-time. It is sheer perfection from start to finish, as every aspect of the album, every sound, vocal, instrument, and note is absolutely perfect, from the songwriting, musicianship, and performance, to the engineering, production and sound quality. The album deals with themes of loneliness, isolation, alienation, mental stability, and ultimately personal responsibility, presented in a stunning display of musicianship and musical prowess. From the opening plaintive harmonica wail of School to the haunting closing piano riff and orchestral fade-out of Crime of the Century, the songs flow through from one to another as a continuous musical journey. And the songs are so vibrant and evocative. On the album opener, School, it starts with a magnificent slow build through the opening section and through the first couple verses and beyond, until it explodes into a joyous piano solo in the middle that is one of my favorite musical moments ever, before then taking another turn into a whole different section of musical wonder.  Other album highlights include Rudy, a magnificent journey with multiple sections, evocative and thrilling, each more wonderful than the last, Asylum, a piano-led journey through an individual's struggle with mental health, with a great build-up to the end, Dreamer, a bouncy pop stunner that just keeps growing into something magical, and then there's If Everyone Was Listening, a staggeringly beautiful song that culminates in the perfect clarinet solo (that's right, clarinet!) from John Helliwell, leading into probably the most powerful song of all, the concluding Crime of the Century, where after a short main vocal section enters the stunning and haunting extended outro, starting with a repeated piano riff that slowly builds into a full grandiose orchestra, horns, and sax solo over the top, before the final fade-out which contains a subtle return of the opening harmonica wail as a way of coming full circle. The engineering and production from the legendary Ken Scott is also superb, with crystal clear sound, precise instrument separation, and extremely effective use of orchestration and off-beat instrumentation (musical saw, bells, clarinet, etc.). A Stunning masterpiece and my favorite album of all time.  

Some more of my favorite albums that just missed making the top 15:

Mike Oldfield - Tubular Bells (1973)

Van Morrison - Moondance (1970)

The Beatles - Abbey Road (1969), Revolver (1966)

Genesis - Selling England by the Pound (1973)

Moody Blues - In Search of the Lost Chord (1968), On The Threshold of a Dream (1969)

John Hiatt - Slow Turning (1989)

The Guess Who - Rockin' (1972)

Simon & Garfunkel - Bookends (1968)

Paul Simon - Graceland (1985)

Elvis Costello - My Aim is True (1977), Imperial Bedroom (1982)

Joe Jackson - Big World (1986)

Jethro Tull - Aqualung (1971), Songs From the Woods (1977) 

Big Star - #1 Record (1972)

So, those are some of my very favorite albums. What are some of yours, and why?