Best Albums of the 1960s

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1.

Abbey Road 

 The Beatles

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"Most great bands have at most one or two great songwriters, the Beatles had three! And I think no other album represents the Moptop Lyricist Trinity better than their seminal 1969 album 'Abbey Road', where the Fab Four for once put their differences aside to record a farewell worthy of their lega...""Most great bands have at most one or two great songwriters, the Beatles had three! And I think no other album represents the Moptop Lyricist Trinity better than their seminal 1969 album 'Abbey Road', where the Fab Four for once put their differences aside to record a farewell worthy of their legacy —even though they later decided to complete and release 'Let It Be', a not-so-great but still decent farewell. And what better way to culminate the story of one of the most influential and iconic artists of all time than with this little rock number aptly titled 'The End', which works as a little epitaph for the band. And it's in that song, when Paul, George and John begin to jam, that you can see how brilliant they were. Not because of their technical skills, because the Beatles were never about virtuosity. But it's rather because of their ability to complement each other that they were so great. Even though each solo showcased how fundamentally different their personalities are, the whole thing flowed so beautifully. They saw each other's ideas and took it to the next level. John's last solo gives way to a last sentence sung in their trademark vocal harmony fashion, 'And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make', a final statement that perfectly captures their message and essence. And with George Harrison's final solo, the Fab Four announce their end, and with them, the end of an entire decade."  [+]  Reply

- chivocosmico | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +14 votes (14 helpful | 0 unhelpful) A maximum of 5 top-voted qualifying comments are selected for each album. To provide the best experience for visitors, comments are excluded if they refer to data corrections, contain excessive profanity, are written in all caps, are non-English, are too short, consist of conversations between users, or contain lists of best tracks etc.

Year of Release:

1969

Appears in:

3,768 charts

Rank Score:

54,567

Rank in 1969:

1

Rank in 1960s:

1

Overall Rank:

3

Average Rating:

 92 (4,672 votes)

Comments:

477

2.

Revolver 

 The Beatles

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"An amazing album, but not the Beatles very best for me. Still though, when you have an album where every song is near perfection, you can't really complain."  Reply

- clockworkfiction3 | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +11 votes (12 helpful | 1 unhelpful) A maximum of 5 top-voted qualifying comments are selected for each album. To provide the best experience for visitors, comments are excluded if they refer to data corrections, contain excessive profanity, are written in all caps, are non-English, are too short, consist of conversations between users, or contain lists of best tracks etc.

Year of Release:

1966

Appears in:

3,622 charts

Rank Score:

47,076

Rank in 1966:

1

Rank in 1960s:

2

Overall Rank:

4

Average Rating:

 91 (4,625 votes)

Comments:

488

3.

Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band 

 The Beatles

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"The influence of this album on the trajectory of popular music cannot be overstated. The Beatles experimentation with the recording process was something that hit a definite high point on this album. This process was something no bands had the rescourses to do at the time(with the exception of th...""The influence of this album on the trajectory of popular music cannot be overstated. The Beatles experimentation with the recording process was something that hit a definite high point on this album. This process was something no bands had the rescourses to do at the time(with the exception of the beach boys). They had money, time away from touring, and a long track record of success that made an experiment like this viable financially. That being said, an understanding of ANY work of popular music since is informed by a thorough listen to this album. Everything from the big breaks in the norm that punk brought in the 70s, to the dedication to experimentation that electronic music brought in the 90s, the Beatles Sgt. Pepper album has had a hand in every major change in the scene of popular music since its creation. This album can be hard to appreciate, The Beatles have a reputation and track record that is universally easy to understand and fall in love with. This album is IMHO the only exception. They werent going for chart topper (although it was the best selling album of the 60s i believe) they were going for world changing. So while Revolver might be easier to digest, or abbey road may have more hits, Sgt. Pepper stands as The Beatles Largest contribution to popular music What makes this album great is it sounds hyper-contemporary. It sounds not only new but truly outside of the sounds, composition styles, production and themes that we expect from popular music. 10/10"  [+]  Reply

- audiooasis2012 | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +17 votes (17 helpful | 0 unhelpful) A maximum of 5 top-voted qualifying comments are selected for each album. To provide the best experience for visitors, comments are excluded if they refer to data corrections, contain excessive profanity, are written in all caps, are non-English, are too short, consist of conversations between users, or contain lists of best tracks etc.

Year of Release:

1967

Appears in:

3,516 charts

Rank Score:

40,912

Rank in 1967:

1

Rank in 1960s:

3

Overall Rank:

8

Average Rating:

 90 (4,632 votes)

Comments:

493

4.

The Velvet Underground & Nico 

 The Velvet Underground & Nico

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"Who cares if the music is "influential"? I love this album because it sounds fucking awesome!"  Reply

- SingingPeasant96 | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +22 votes (24 helpful | 2 unhelpful) A maximum of 5 top-voted qualifying comments are selected for each album. To provide the best experience for visitors, comments are excluded if they refer to data corrections, contain excessive profanity, are written in all caps, are non-English, are too short, consist of conversations between users, or contain lists of best tracks etc.

Year of Release:

1967

Appears in:

3,062 charts

Rank Score:

37,767

Rank in 1967:

2

Rank in 1960s:

4

Overall Rank:

10

Average Rating:

 89 (3,588 votes)

Comments:

356

5.

Pet Sounds 

 The Beach Boys

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"I wonder what people would think of The Beach Boys if this hadn't been made, considering all their other albums are so ridiculously underrated. Would they even be remembered? For that reason alone, this album is crucial. And it is indeed a masterpiece, worthy of every piece of praise it receives....""I wonder what people would think of The Beach Boys if this hadn't been made, considering all their other albums are so ridiculously underrated. Would they even be remembered? For that reason alone, this album is crucial. And it is indeed a masterpiece, worthy of every piece of praise it receives. But there is so much more to The Beach Boys than just this album."  [+]  Reply

- flamingyesdept | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +9 votes (9 helpful | 0 unhelpful) A maximum of 5 top-voted qualifying comments are selected for each album. To provide the best experience for visitors, comments are excluded if they refer to data corrections, contain excessive profanity, are written in all caps, are non-English, are too short, consist of conversations between users, or contain lists of best tracks etc.

Year of Release:

1966

Appears in:

2,880 charts

Rank Score:

36,725

Rank in 1966:

2

Rank in 1960s:

5

Overall Rank:

12

Average Rating:

 88 (3,316 votes)

Comments:

361

6.

The Beatles (The White Album) 

 The Beatles

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"The huge and eclectic masterpiece from the Beatles. When I say masterpiece, I mean for the overall charm and diversity of the songs. Off course, not all the songs are great, in fact there's some real stinkers on it. It's like a quarter of the album is great, a quarter good, a quarter ok, and a qu...""The huge and eclectic masterpiece from the Beatles. When I say masterpiece, I mean for the overall charm and diversity of the songs. Off course, not all the songs are great, in fact there's some real stinkers on it. It's like a quarter of the album is great, a quarter good, a quarter ok, and a quarter crap. The great stuff consists of, back in the USSR, happiness is a warm gun, while my guitar gently weeps, blackbird, Julia, mother nature's son, and, piggies. The rest includes the wonderful, Martha my dear, and i'm so tired, to pointless rubbish like, revolution 9. Other not so great tracks are, cry,baby,cry, Rocky racoon, why don't we do it in the road, and, the boring acoustic version of, revolution. In terms of quality it probably would have been better as a single album, but that would also lose it's quirky charm. It's great that it's a shambolic mess, I wouldn't swap this flawed version for a perfect shorter record. You take the rough with the smooth. Wonderful. "  [+]  Reply

- garycottier | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +5 votes (5 helpful | 0 unhelpful) A maximum of 5 top-voted qualifying comments are selected for each album. To provide the best experience for visitors, comments are excluded if they refer to data corrections, contain excessive profanity, are written in all caps, are non-English, are too short, consist of conversations between users, or contain lists of best tracks etc.

Year of Release:

1968

Appears in:

2,972 charts

Rank Score:

35,520

Rank in 1968:

1

Rank in 1960s:

6

Overall Rank:

14

Average Rating:

 89 (3,857 votes)

Comments:

342

7.

In The Court Of The Crimson King (An Observation By King Crimson) 

 King Crimson

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"21st Century Schizoid Man is a serious contender for best song ever recorded and the rest of the album is not all that far behind. A masterpiece indeed."  Reply

- Bork | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +15 votes (15 helpful | 0 unhelpful) A maximum of 5 top-voted qualifying comments are selected for each album. To provide the best experience for visitors, comments are excluded if they refer to data corrections, contain excessive profanity, are written in all caps, are non-English, are too short, consist of conversations between users, or contain lists of best tracks etc.

Year of Release:

1969

Appears in:

2,090 charts

Rank Score:

26,726

Rank in 1969:

2

Rank in 1960s:

7

Overall Rank:

26

Average Rating:

 89 (2,454 votes)

Comments:

221

8.

The Doors 

 The Doors

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"wicked. I just blasted this on a bottle of wine tonight and it seemed more unapologetically evil than ever. "you men eat your dinner, eat your pork and beans, I eat more chicken than any man's ever seen, 'cause I'm a backdoor man!" he revels in this shit. "father? 'yes son?'-I-want-to-kill-you......""wicked. I just blasted this on a bottle of wine tonight and it seemed more unapologetically evil than ever. "you men eat your dinner, eat your pork and beans, I eat more chicken than any man's ever seen, 'cause I'm a backdoor man!" he revels in this shit. "father? 'yes son?'-I-want-to-kill-you... mother?... I want to.... [unintelligible raving]." this record is the face of evil. in the most brilliant ways possible."  [+]  Reply

- jackbrown8786 | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +4 votes (4 helpful | 0 unhelpful) A maximum of 5 top-voted qualifying comments are selected for each album. To provide the best experience for visitors, comments are excluded if they refer to data corrections, contain excessive profanity, are written in all caps, are non-English, are too short, consist of conversations between users, or contain lists of best tracks etc.

Year of Release:

1967

Appears in:

2,449 charts

Rank Score:

25,762

Rank in 1967:

3

Rank in 1960s:

8

Overall Rank:

27

Average Rating:

 87 (2,870 votes)

Comments:

209

9.

Highway 61 Revisited 

 Bob Dylan

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"Probably Dylan's most important and significant artistic statement. Highway 61, is where he goes completely electric. Even though, blonde on blonde, is my personal favourite Dylan album, this record is surely his most influential. The opening track off course is one of the greatest songs in popul...""Probably Dylan's most important and significant artistic statement. Highway 61, is where he goes completely electric. Even though, blonde on blonde, is my personal favourite Dylan album, this record is surely his most influential. The opening track off course is one of the greatest songs in popular music, a strawberry fields forever, a, bohemian rhapsody, a, smells like teen spirit, where nothing would ever be the same again. It's stunning. Tombstone blues, is another favourite of mine, 'the Sun's not yellow, it's chicken ', fantastic. You can't really say there's a weak track here, although if I had to be picky, I would say, queen Jane approximately, is not quite up there with the rest of the songs, and yes, I do think, desolation row, is one of those tracks I have to be in the right mood to completely enjoy. But these are just minor personal quibbles, it takes nothing away from the genius of this album. Lyrically, he is way ahead of his contemporaries. The Beatles released the, help!, album, at the same time as Dylan released highway 61, and although the rolling stones were starting to use social commentary in their songs with their, satisfaction, single, they're still light years behind Dylan. In reality, did anyone really catch up? Highway 61 revisited, excellent. "  [+]  Reply

- garycottier | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +6 votes (6 helpful | 0 unhelpful) A maximum of 5 top-voted qualifying comments are selected for each album. To provide the best experience for visitors, comments are excluded if they refer to data corrections, contain excessive profanity, are written in all caps, are non-English, are too short, consist of conversations between users, or contain lists of best tracks etc.

Year of Release:

1965

Appears in:

2,378 charts

Rank Score:

25,546

Rank in 1965:

1

Rank in 1960s:

9

Overall Rank:

29

Average Rating:

 88 (2,839 votes)

Comments:

230

10.

Rubber Soul 

 The Beatles

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"Most consistent, raw, best harmonies, best everything. Cannot believe this is 56 years old. Not one weak track on here in my opinion. My favorite Beatles record as well as my favorite record."  Reply

- 789alex1 | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +5 votes (5 helpful | 0 unhelpful) A maximum of 5 top-voted qualifying comments are selected for each album. To provide the best experience for visitors, comments are excluded if they refer to data corrections, contain excessive profanity, are written in all caps, are non-English, are too short, consist of conversations between users, or contain lists of best tracks etc.

Year of Release:

1965

Appears in:

2,355 charts

Rank Score:

25,391

Rank in 1965:

2

Rank in 1960s:

10

Overall Rank:

30

Average Rating:

 88 (3,405 votes)

Comments:

263

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Total albums: 1,000. Page 1 of 100

Best Albums of the 1960s composition

Top 1,000 Top 500 Top 250 Top 100

Year	Albums	%
1960	58	6%
1961	66	7%
1962	50	5%
1963	50	5%
1964	69	7%
1965	90	9%
1966	98	10%
1967	141	14%
1968	186	19%
1969	192	19%

Artist	Albums	%
The Beatles	17	2%
John Coltrane	17	2%
The Beach Boys	15	2%
Miles Davis	15	2%
The Rolling Stones	15	2%
Nina Simone	10	1%
Bob Dylan	10	1%
Show all

Country	Albums	%
	633	63%
	203	20%
	38	4%
	23	2%
	23	2%
	17	2%
	11	1%
Show all

Compilation?	Albums	%
No	969	97%
Yes	31	3%

Live?	Albums	%
No	961	96%
Yes	39	4%

Soundtrack?	Albums	%
No	979	98%
Yes	21	2%