Selecting the best rock albums is pretty much difficult as everyone has the choice that guides them through life’s good events and even in their music taste. We all care too much about the music we want to enjoy all the time, so we prefer the most significant one. The 1960s is the vastest decade in music antiquity, with dozens of perfect albums solidifying generation’s sound. Then the grunge explosion of the ’90s challenged the golden age of rock with instant classics. So, we pull this list together from the list of Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. This pop music magazine’s original list was issued in 2003. According to Rolling Stone, even though almost two decades have gone by, this list remains wildly attractive and biased, with nearly 63 million readers. The modified new list of Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Albums combines 154 new entries.
What was the best year for rock?
1969
Fifty years before, rock ‘n’ roll had, definitively, its vastest year, featuring a landmark run of debut albums and artistic accomplishments that make 1969 an unrivaled mini-era in the genre’s history.
Who sold the most albums ever?
Garth Brooks
Who is the king of rock music?
Elvis Presley
The King of Rock N Roll is a nickname most commonly associated with American rock and roll icon Elvis Presley.
So, here are the Top 10 Greatest Rock Albums of All Time, according to Rolling Stone:
10. ‘The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill’
Released: | 25 August 1998 |
Genre: | Neo-soul, R&B, hip hop, hip hop soul |
Length: | 69:20 |
Label: | Ruffhouse Columbia |
Producer: | Lauryn Hill Che Pope Vada Nobles |
Released on 25 August 1998, “Miseducation” is the only solo studio record and was a defining release of its age. The album made Hill a star, breaking the record for first-week sales by a female singer with 400,000-plus copies and receiving Lauryn Hill 10 Grammy nominations and five victories, the most for a female artist. ‘The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill’ is the power and pain of womanhood. This record debuted at ranked one on the Billboard 200 chart, selling 422,624 copies in its first week, which broke a massive record for a female singer’s first-week sales. Its lyrics touch upon Hill’s pregnancy.
9. Bob Dylan, ‘Blood on the Tracks’
Released: | 20 January 1975 |
Genre: | Folk rock |
Length: | 51:42 |
Label: | Columbia |
Producer: | Bob Dylan |
Dylan’s true gem of an album, “Blood on the Tracks,” was published on 20 January 1975. It was reported at a pivotal time in Dylan’s personal life and career. No. 1 on the Billboard 200 charts and No. 4 on the UK Albums Chart, with the single “Tangled Up in Blue” peaking at No. 31 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. In December, shortly before Columbia’s release, Dylan abruptly re-recorded much of Minneapolis’s studio material. Blood on the Tracks received mixed reviews but has been considered as the greatest albums subsequently by both critics and fans.
8. Prince and the Revolution, ‘Purple Rain.’
Released: | 25 June 1984 |
Genre: | Pop, rock, R&B, psychedelia |
Length: | 43:51 |
Label: | Warner Bros. |
Producer: | Prince and the Revolution |
Purple Rain is the sixth workshop album by American recording artist Prince, published on 25 June 1984 by Warner Bros. Records. The music to the 1984 film of the identical name is the first album where the Revolution is solicited. It was musically more impenetrable than Prince’s previous albums, emphasizing full-band performances and multiple layers of guitars, keyboards, electronic synthesizer effects, drum machines, and other instruments. “Purple Rain” was Prince’s first album to relinquish No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and spent 24 continuous weeks on top rank. Hit singles cover “When Doves Cry,” “Let’s Go Crazy,” “Purple Rain,” and “I Would Die 4 U.”
7. Fleetwood Mac, ‘Rumours.’
Released: | 4 February 1977 |
Genre: | Pop rock, soft rock, folk-rock |
Length: | 39:43 |
Label: | Warner Bros. |
Producer: | Fleetwood Mac, Ken Caillat, Richard Dashut |
Rumours is the eleventh studio record by British-American rock band Fleetwood Mac, published on 4 February 1977 by Warner Bros. Records. Largely videotaped in California in 1976, it was composed by the band with Ken Caillat and Richard Dashut. Rumors was an instant financial success, selling more than 10 million copies worldwide. It garnered widespread recognition from critics, with praise centered on its production feature and harmonies, which frequently relied on the interplay between three vocalists and has sparked the work of musical acts in different genres. At the 1978 Grammy Awards, it was honored by the Album of the Year.
6. Nirvana, ‘Nevermind’
Released: | 24 September 1991 |
Genre: | Grunge, alternative rock |
Length: | 42:38 |
Label: | DGC |
Producer: | Butch Viq Nirvana |
Nevermind is the second studio record by American rock band Nirvana, published on 24 September 1991 by DGC Records. Composed by Butch Vig, Nirvana’s first issue was on the DGC label and the first to feature drummer Dave Grohl. “Nevermind” was more than just an added rock record. It gave a voice to a generation seeking to be heard, pounding the final nail into hair metal’s coffin while overwhelming alternative rock at the forefront of popular music. Nevermind became an unexpected perilous and commercially successful album. In January 1992, it ranked number one on the US Billboard 200. In the same year, it was selling approximately 300,000 copies in a week.
5. The Beatles, ‘Abbey Road.’
Released: | 26 September 1969 |
Genre: | Rock |
Length: | 47:03 |
Label: | Apple |
Producer: | George Martin |
Abbey Road is composed by the English rock band the Beatles, issued on 26 September 1969 by Apple Records. Named after EMI Studios’ location in London, the cover features the group walking across the street’s zebra crossing. This image became one of the most influential and echoed in popular music. The analyses were distinguished by its immediate commercial success, topping record plans in the UK and US and rated as one of the Beatles’ best-selling, including an RIAA multi-platinum certification. Many followers considered The Beatles as the most influential band of the 1960s. This consideration ranked Abbey Road on number five on our list of Best Rock Album of all time.
4. Songs in the Key of Life
Released: | 28 September 1976 |
Genre: | Progressive soul, avant-pop |
Length: | 104:38 |
Label: | Tamla |
Producer: | Stevie Wonder |
“Songs in Key of Life,” by American singer, songster, and musician Stevie Wonder is ranked number four on our list. It was released on 28 September 1976 by Tamla Records, a kind of Motown. Music journalists have regarded this double record as the culmination of Wonder’s “classic period” of recording. It debuted at ranked one on the Billboard Pop Albums Chart, displaying only the third album to accomplish that feat and the first ranked album by an American singer at the time. “Songs” is one of the most prominent albums published in Wonder’s especially productive time in Progressive soul, avant-pop genre.
3. Joni Mitchell, ‘Blue’
Released: | 22 June 1971 |
Genre: | Folk, folk-rock |
Length: | 35:41 |
Label: | Reprise |
Producer: | Joni Mitchell |
Blue is the fourth studio record by Canadian singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell, issued on 22 June 1971 by Reprise Records. It was written and produced solely by Joni Mitchell. It was reported in 1971 at A&M Studios in Hollywood, California. The album topped at number 3 on the UK Albums table, figure 9 on the Canadian RPM Albums Chart, and ranked 15 on the Billboard 200. In January 2000, The New York Times picked Blue as one of the 25 records representing “turning spikes and pinnacles in 20th-century popular music”. And this consideration ranked Blue on number three on our list of Best Rock Album of all time.
2. The Beach Boys, ‘Pet Sounds’
Released: | 16 May 1996 |
Genre: | Progressive pop, chamber pop, psychedelic pop, art rock |
Length: | 35:37 |
Label: | Capitol |
Producer: | Brian Wilson |
This Beach Boys album was released on 16 May 1966 by Capitol Records. The album was favorably acquired by critics and peaked at number 2 in the UK Top 40 Albums Chart. This consideration ranked Pet Sounds number two on our list of Best Rock Album of all time. Pet Sounds are regarded by musicologists as an early concept album that advanced music production, introducing non-standard harmonies and timbres and incorporating elements of pop, jazz, exotica, classical, and the avant-garde. This album comes out with various genres in a single collection, such as Progressive pop, chamber pop, psychedelic pop, art rock which seems so captivating to the listeners.
1. Marvin Gaye, ‘What’s Going On’
Released: | 21 May 1971 |
Genre: | Progressive soul, R&B, symphonic pop, psychedelic soul |
Length: | 35:38 |
Label: | Tamla |
Producer: | Marvin Gaye |
What’s Going On is the 11th studio record by an American soul singer and produced by Marvin Gaye. It was released on 21 May 1971 by the Motown Records-subsidiary label Tamla. This consideration ranked “What’s Going On” on number one on our list of Best Rock Album of all time. This album is a poignant musical masterpiece crafted in a season of unease, which endures as a timely backdrop to another heated season, half a century later, when the world appears upside down. Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Going On,” off the 1971 album of the same name, was written in response to police brutality.
Racial tensions, environmental anxieties, police controversy, a globe on point – they were the topics on the front stove when Gaye rebooted his talented career and took restraint of his creative fantasy inside Motown.
Conclusion!
Some of the soundtracks are classic rock’ n’ roll, but the influential efforts are creative enough to convert old sounds into new ones or drop them into a new genre. Many songs are still popular now as from the decades of their installation. Well, Opinions are purely subjective, but we believe that most people would agree with many of the list’s selective. But if you didn’t, then do remark off in the comments section below to let us know what your favorite album is?