Granted, this is a highly prejudiced list, leaning towards rock, pop, and singer/songwriters, but I don?t listen to much electronica or any hip-hop or country(and sorry, folks, I can?t stand Mariah, Britney, Christina, or Justin), so what it is, it is. Instead of enumerating the albums, I?m presenting them in roughly chronological order.
No group or performer gets more than one entry; otherwise the list would be primarily composed of The Beatles, Dylan, Clapton, etc., and I?ve tried not to lean too heavily upon any one era. I don?t have anything from the past 3-4 years, since I don?t think an album can be seen as great in a historical context until, well, it has some history under its belt.
Some of these choices are a lot?safer? than other albums that came out at the time, but I?m only going by what I listened to. I never really tuned into, e.g. Velvet Underground or The Sex Pistols, so they?re noticeably absent. And in a few cases, I?m not presenting my favorite album by a particular artist(e.g. I like Bringing It All Back Home by Dylan better than BOB, but acknowledge the latter is a better album), preferring to provide the best all-around selection by a performer.
Revolver, The Beatles
Blonde on Blonde, Bob Dylan
Bluesbreakers, John Mayall, et al.
Pet Sounds, The Beach Boys
The Doors, The Doors
Disraeli Gears, Cream
Bookends, Simon & Garfunkel
Let It Bleed, The Rolling Stones
Blue, Joni Mitchell
Layla, Derek and the Dominoes
Crosby, Stills, and Nash, Crosby, Stills, and Nash
Moondance, Van Morrison
At Fillmore East, The Allman Brothers
Led Zeppelin II, Led Zeppelin
Abraxas, Santana
Honky Chateau, Elton John
Who?s Next, The Who
Sail Away, Randy Newman
Dark Side of the Moon, Pink Floyd
Innervisions, Stevie Wonder
Late for the Sky, Jackson Browne
Music from Big Pink, The Band
Born to Run, Bruce Springsteen
The Ramones, The Ramones
Aja, Steely Dan
Rumours, Fleetwood Mac
Dire Straits, Dire Straits
Saturday Night Fever, The Bee Gees
More Songs About Buildings & Food, Talking Heads
London Calling, The Clash
Pretenders, The Pretenders
Imperial Bedroom, Elvis Costello
Thriller, Michael Jackson
Purple Rain, Prince
Rain Dogs, Tom Waits
So, Peter Gabriel
Graceland, Paul Simon
The Joshua Tree, U2
Tracy Chapman, Tracy Chapman
Nick of Time, Bonnie Raitt
I Do Not Want What I Haven?t Got, Sinead O?Connor
Nevermind, Nirvana
Ten, Pearl Jam
Automatic for the People, REM
American Recordings, Johnny Cash
Jagged Little Pill, Alanis Morissette
Odelay, Beck
OK Computer, Radiohead
Car Wheels on a Gravel Road, Lucinda Williams
Play, Moby