Chuck Berry Is On Top (studio album) by Chuck Berry

”Chuck Berry is on Top” from 1959 was Berry’s third album. It is sometimes regarded a compilation album, since only one song hadn’t been previously released. Still it was the first time these singles came out on an album. It contains no less than seven of his best known and loved rock’n rollers and it is in many ways his most consistent album.
”Maybelline” dates back from 1955, ”Roll Over Beethoven” is from 1956, ”Johnny B. Goode” is from 1957, ”Carol” and ”Sweet Little Rock’n Roller” from 1958 while ”Little Queenie” came out in 1959. The strong "Around and Around" which The Rolling Stones later gave excellent treatment, was never chosen as a-side but was referred to the back of "Johnny B. Goode".

Compared with Berry's two previous albums, this is a much clearer-featured rock'n roll album, where the excursions towards pop and blues are limited. A great immortal album.

https://www.angelfire.com/nv/Badfinger/BANDchuckberry.html

There are 4 or 5 rock classics on here but the rest of the songs feel more like filler or B sides than some of his best work. The two outstanding songs are obviously Johnny B. Goode and Roll Over Beethoven which are both such pivotal moments in the history of rock and roll. The influence and impact this record has is obvious from the records that came after this and the sudden explosion of rock and roll. This makes this not only one of the most important albums in history but a very good one as well. Overall, there is a lot of enjoyment to be had on here but it is mainly so highly rated for its influence on music rather than for its quality.

This is the peak 50s rock and roll album.

From Jboy56 04/03/2022 11:32

3 absolute top songs from rock'n roll canon. As an album, there are a couple of fillers. As an EP full 100 !

Maybe Elvis was the king, but Chuck was the creator of that Rock and Roll sound.

From teague 10/04/2021 23:27

All the songs have an extremely similar formula, but that didn't stop me from enjoying this album quite a bit. Especially Maybellene and Johnny B. Goode.

The hits make this album the classic that it is. It's the blues to dance to so not a top 100 of all time for me but definitely one of the best records from the 50s.

From 2nd-Impressions 09/23/2020 21:16

A great album, and certainly one of Chuck's bests! Kicking off the album with three knock-out tracks: 'Almost Grown', 'Carol' and 'Maybellene'. The record barely loses steam as it picks back up where it started with the iconic 'Johnny B. Goode', and 'Roll Over Beethoven'. Some of Rock N' Roll's finest moments on a truly great record.

From Droophus 01/09/2020 04:44

All great pre-Beatles artists are hamstrung on this website because they were way more focused on releasing singles. So this album, like all of the best Chuck Berry LPs are mostly just collections of previously released singles. It’s kind of a greatest hits album, but seeing how it was released in 1959 when Chuck was still in his prime and wasn’t packaged as such, I can give it a pass. Hard to argue with this collection not being the greatest, most consequential contribution to rock n roll music.

Absolutely awesome early rock 'n' roll album.

Favorites: Maybelline, Johnny B. Goode, Roll Over Beethoven.