Recently I was asked to pick top ten albums for the last five decades. Having to choose at least ten for every decade significantly changed the list compared to what it would be if the parameters were simply the best 50 albums over the past 50 years. If that were the case, the 70s would be wildly over-represented in my picks. To ease my discomfort of having to limit myself to only ten per decade, I indulged in designating 25 honorable mentions. It was when I finished that I realized my 75 essential albums of the past 50 years had been born!
A couple of notes: No compilations of course and tie goes to the other…that is, if I had a choice between putting another album on by someone whose body of work is well known versus a less well known band – I chose the latter if each offers about equal pleasures. Career representation is also a tie breaker. For example, if I was struggling between Amy Winehouse and The Hold Steady; The Hold Steady got the nod because they have other good albums besides Boys and Girls while Amy has nothing other than Back to Black.
It’s also worth mentioning that I worked for years as a classic rock radio DJ. This experience shaped my picks by pretty much ruining certain albums for me. I haven’t put on Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon in approximately twenty years because I played the individual tracks from it so often on the air. Of course it’s genius and I hope to one day be able to enjoy it again. In the meantime, I’ll put on Meddle and others!
Led Zeppelin 2 and 4 are similar cases and this works against the Stones, Who, and Beatles as well. However, this bias should generally make for a more interesting list. I put my feet to the fire and kept asking myself, “Do you want to hear that album right now?” or “Do you just remember that album being great even though now you are basically done with it?” If it was the latter, I let it go.
I hope you get a boot out of it.
Best Albums of Last 5 Decades:
60’s Ten
Bob Dylan; Highway 61 Revisited, 1965
Beatles; Revolver, 1966
Velvet Underground & Nico, 1967
Cream; Disraeli Gears, 1967
Jimi Hendrix Experience; Are You Experienced, 1967
Jimi Hendrix Experience; Electric Ladyland, 1968
Jeff Beck Group; Truth, 1968
Van Morrison; Astral Weeks, 1968
The Beatles (White Album) 1968
The Stooges, 1969
70s Ten
Derek & The Dominoes; Layla & Other Assorted Love Songs, 1970
Rolling Stones; Sticky Fingers, 1971
Curtis Mayfiled; Superfly, 1972
Who; Quadrophenia, 1973
Bob Dylan; Blood on the Tracks, 1975
Led Zeppelin; Physical Graffitti, 1975
Bob Marley & The Wailers; Rastaman Vibration, 1976
The Clash, 1977
Television; Marquee Moon, 1977
Gang of Four, Entertainment, 1979
80’s Ten
The Clash; London Calling, 1980 (Released 1/80 in U.S. – We are in America…)
AC/DC; Back in Black, 1980
Bruce Springsteen, The River, 1980
Replacements; Let it Be, 1984
REM; Fables of the Reconstruction, 1985
Guns and Roses; Appetite for Destruction, 1987
Nirvana; Bleach, 1989
Pixies; Doolittle, 1989
Neil Young; Freedom, 1989
Lou Reed; New York, 1989
90’s Ten
Massive Attack; Blue Lines, 1991
Nirvana; Nevermind, 1991
Teenage Fanclub; Bandwagonesque, 1991
U2; Achtung Baby, 1991
Matthew Sweet; Girlfriend, 1991
Lemonhead; It’s a Shame about Ray, 1992
Morphine; Cure for Pain, 1993
Alice in Chains; Jar of Sap (2 EPs: Sap, 1992 & Jar of Flies, 1994)
Radiohead; OK Computer, 1997
Elliott Smith; XO, 1998
00’s Ten
Radiohead; Kid A, 2000
D’Angelo; Voodoo, 2000
White Stripes; White Blood Cells, 2001
Beck; Sea Change, 2002
White Stripes; Elephant, 2003
Green Day; American Idiot, 2004
Spoon; Gimme Fiction, 2005
Raconteurs; Broken Boy Soldiers, 2006
Hold Steady; Boys and Girls in America, 2006
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds; Dig Lazarus Dig, 2008
Honorable Mention:
Traffic; John Barleycorn Must Die, 1970
Deep Purple; In Rock, 1970
T-Rex; Electric Warrior, 1971
Black Sabbath; Master of Reality, 1971
Joni Mitchell; Blue, 1971
Carole King; Tapestry, 1971
Rolling Stones; Exile on Main St., 1972
James Brown; The Payback, 1973
Led Zeppelin; Houses of the Holy, 1973
Patti Smith; Horses, 1975
The Ramones; 1976
Aerosmith, Rocks, 1976
Sex Pistols; Never Mind the Bullocks, 1977
Pink Floyd; Animals, 1977
Neil Young; Live Rust, 1978
J.Geils Band; Love Stinks, 1980
Husker Du; Zen Arcade, 1984
Sonic Youth; Daydream Nation, 1988
Leonard Cohen; I’m Your Man, 1988
Mother Love Bone; Apple, 1990
Temple of the Dog, 1991
Portishead; Dummy, 1994
Tom Petty; Wildflowers, 1994
Fiona Apple; Tidal, 1996
Tom Waits; Mule Variations, 1999
STATS…
by decade:
60s: 10
70s 25
80s: 15
90s: 15
00s: 10