Best Rock Albums Of All Time: 10 Records That Shook The World

9: Van Halen: ‘1984’ (1984)

Technological advances in the 80s mean that many artists chose glossy production over unfettered riffage during the decade, but 70s hard-rock icons Van Halen found their footing with ease amid the changing rock landscape. One of the biggest records of the era, the group’s diamond-selling sixth album, 1984, turned the David Lee Roth-fronted act into one of the world’s biggest bands. Though kept off the US top spot by Michael Jackson’s ubiquitous Thriller, a record that contains songs of the calibre of Jump and Panama more than earns itself a place among the best rock albums in history.

Must hear: Jump

8: The Rolling Stones: ‘Exile On Main St.’ (1972)

After Bob Dylan’s Blonde On Blonde and The Beatles’ The Beatles (aka “The White Album”) pointed the way, double albums became widely accepted currency in rock during the late 60s and throughout the 70s. Often the domain of progressive rock bands, such mammoth sets could sometimes be overlong and self-indulgent, but, in many crucial cases, they felt absolutely right. One such example is The Rolling Stones’ legendarily hedonistic Exile On Main St.: a sprawling yet consistently inspired collection that takes in raw rock songs tinged with Delta blues, country, soul and gospel, and which is still arguably best consumed in one sitting.

Must hear: Tumbling Dice

7: The Doors: ‘The Doors’ (1967)

US publication Creem dubbed The Doors’ self-titled debut album “as good as anything in rock” when it was first released in 1967, and it’s still hard to refute that claim. Recorded following several months of solid gigging as the house band at Los Angeles’ legendary Whisky A Go Go, the band were primed and ready for action when it came to recording The Doors – and it shows. Frontman Jim Morrison is at his poetic best on the likes of Soul Kitchen, The Crystal Ship and the edgy, Aldous Huxley-inspired Break On Through (To The Other Side), and his bandmates excel on everything from the dynamic, jazz-tinged brilliance of signature hit Light My Fire to the raga-like Oedipal epic The End. A high-water mark in late 60s rock, The Doors’ debut album has frequently been imitated, but never bettered. And after more than half a century, it remains not only one of the best debut albums ever recorded, but also one of the very best rock albums in history.

Must hear: Break On Through (To The Other Side)

6: The Jimi Hendrix Experience: ‘Electric Ladyland’ (1968)

The Jimi Hendrix Experience’s first two albums, Are You Experienced and Axis: Bold As Love, established their leader as one of the best guitarists on Earth, but both records were nailed quickly, with Hendrix’s co-manager Chas Chandler holding the production reins. Determined to brook no further compromises, the guitar god dug his heels in and largely self-produced his next album, Electric Ladyland: a sprawling double set which took most of 1968 to complete.

Hendrix’s quest for sonic perfection drove his team to the point of madness (the protracted recording process eventually caused both Chandler and bassist Noel Redding to quit), but he was right to stick to his guns. With his vision and virtuosity enabling him to master everything from the aquatic soundscapes of 1983… (A Merman I Should Turn To Be) to the overdriven wah-wah attack of Voodoo Chile (Slight Return) and the blazing social commentary of House Burning Down, the sprawling but sublime Electric Ladyland remains the most brilliantly realised work of Hendrix’s tragically short life.

Must hear: Voodoo Chile (Slight Return)

5: Fleetwood Mac: ‘Rumours’ (1977)

Released at the very height of punk, in February 1977, Fleetwood Mac’s unimpeachable 11th album, Rumours, made it abundantly clear that there’s always room for brilliantly executed, harmonically superior rock and pop songs, regardless of prevailing trends. Inevitably, the complexity of the band’s behind-the-scenes relationships held sway with the press, but when all’s said and done, it’s the collective timelessness of songs such as Dreams, Go Your Own Way and Don’t Stop that have sustained the appeal of Rumours long after the gossip died down.

Must hear: Go Your Own Way

4: Led Zeppelin: ‘Physical Graffiti’ (1975)

Led Zeppelin’s mighty back catalogue features no shortage of options for inclusion among the best rock albums of all time. Either or both the group’s self-titled debut album or it’s follow-up, Led Zeppelin II, are eligible for inclusion as progenitors of heavy metal, while the group’s best-selling fourth album (aka “Led Zeppelin IV”) features the likes of Black Dog and the ubiquitous Stairway To Heaven. For its sheer breadth of scope, however, it’s 1975’s peerless Physical Graffiti – which encompasses everything from the driving funk of Trampled Under Foot and the keening prog-rock of In The Light to the epic, Eastern-flavoured Kashmir – which has to get the nod here.

Must hear: Kashmir

3: Pink Floyd: ‘The Dark Side Of The Moon’ (1973)

Thanks to an estimated 45 million sales (and counting), Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side Of The Moon is a mandatory entry among the best-selling albums of all time, and it also demands inclusion among any serious list of the best rock albums. It’s not hard to hear why: The broad appeal of Roger Waters’ lyrical themes (greed, madness and mortality) is allied to arguably the group’s most accessible batch of tunes, with the likes of Time, Money, Us And Them and the especially moving finale of Brain Damage and Eclipse all performed with the sort of warmth, accessibility and empathy a record requires to attain the longevity achieved by The Dark Side Of The Moon.

Must hear: Time

2: The Beatles: ‘Revolver’ (1966)

The Beatles were still a touring band when they cut their seventh album, Revolver, but this extraordinary record pointed to their studio-bound future, with the drones and tape-loop collages of the otherworldly Tomorrow Never Knows paving the way for future artists to use the studio as an instrument in and of itself, setting the group and producer George Martin on the path towards 1967’s seminal Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. Helping to usher in the psychedelic era, Revolver is generally regarded as the start of The Beatles’ most influential phase, with diversions into social commentary (Taxman), orchestral pop (Eleanor Rigby) and Eastern mysticism (Love You To) signposting the many directions rock and pop music would explore over the coming decades.

Must hear: Tomorrow Never Knows

1: David Bowie: ‘The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars’ (1972)

All the entrants in this elite group of records are bona-fide game changers, but the title that tops this list of the best rock albums was especially transformative – for both its creator’s career and for rock’n’roll as a whole. Indeed, despite having both The Man Who Sold The World and the excellent Hunky Dory in the bag, David Bowie was still arguably best known for the one-off hit The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars. A truly seminal release, this era-defining album went on to inspire glam and punk, and established Bowie as one of the most influential musicians in history – a claim his remarkable body of work continues to uphold.

Must hear: Ziggy Stardust

Looking for more? Check out the best rock songs ever.