Best Albums of the 1960s

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Listed below are the best albums of the 1960s as calculated from their overall rankings in over 54,000 greatest album charts.

Best albums by year or decade

Decade:

Year:

1960s decade summary

Year	Albums The number of albums from each year featuring in the greatest album charts.	Score Total rank score for each year (made up of the total rank score from all albums in that year)	Top Ranked Album The top ranked album from each year and where it ranks in the overall chart.
1960	638	26,808	Giant Steps (430th)by John Coltrane
1961	598	23,006	My Favorite Things (602nd)by John Coltrane
1962	628	21,106	Modern Sounds In Country And Wes... (1,070th)by Ray Charles
1963	657	49,752	The Black Saint And The Sinner Lady (92nd)by Charles Mingus
1964	769	49,268	A Hard Day's Night (222nd)by The Beatles
1965	914	147,086	Highway 61 Revisited (27th)by Bob Dylan
1966	995	189,310	Revolver (4th)by The Beatles
1967	1,212	302,190	Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club... (7th)by The Beatles
1968	1,571	226,919	The Beatles (The White Album) (13th)by The Beatles
1969	1,970	347,778	Abbey Road (3rd)by The Beatles
Total	9,952	1,383,223

The best artists of the 1960s were The Beatles, The Velvet Underground, Jimi Hendrix, Bob Dylan, The Beach Boys, The Jimi Hendrix Experience, The Velvet Underground & Nico, Led Zeppelin, The Doors and The Rolling Stones.

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Pet Sounds

The Beach Boys

Year of Release:

1966

Appears in:

2,804 charts

Rank Score:

44,134

Rank in 1966:

Rank in 1960s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

88 (3,214 votes)

Comments:

354

Highway 61 Revisited

Bob Dylan

Year of Release:

1965

Appears in:

2,325 charts

Rank Score:

30,148

Rank in 1965:

Rank in 1960s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

89 (2,750 votes)

Comments:

226

10.

The Doors

Year of Release:

1967

Appears in:

2,352 charts

Rank Score:

28,607

Rank in 1967:

Rank in 1960s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

11.

Year of Release:

1966

Appears in:

1,983 charts

Rank Score:

27,216

Rank in 1966:

Rank in 1960s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

88 (2,339 votes)

Comments:

173

12.

Are You Experienced

The Jimi Hendrix Experience

Year of Release:

1967

Appears in:

2,178 charts

Rank Score:

23,689

Rank in 1967:

Rank in 1960s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

87 (2,432 votes)

Comments:

169

14.

Electric Ladyland

The Jimi Hendrix Experience

Year of Release:

1968

Appears in:

1,644 charts

Rank Score:

18,752

Rank in 1968:

Rank in 1960s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

18.

Year of Release:

1965

Appears in:

1,303 charts

Rank Score:

16,914

Rank in 1965:

Rank in 1960s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

87 (1,459 votes)

Comments:

19.

Forever Changes

Love

Year of Release:

1967

Appears in:

1,455 charts

Rank Score:

16,812

Rank in 1967:

Rank in 1960s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

85 (1,597 votes)

Comments:

150

22.

The Black Saint And The Sinner Lady

Charles Mingus

Year of Release:

1963

Appears in:

945 charts

Rank Score:

13,885

Rank in 1963:

Rank in 1960s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

86 (999 votes)

Comments:

23.

The Velvet Underground

Year of Release:

1969

Appears in:

1,196 charts

Rank Score:

13,573

Rank in 1969:

Rank in 1960s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

86 (1,603 votes)

Comments:

115

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Total albums: 632. Page 1 of 64

Best Albums of the 1960s composition

Year	Albums	%

1960	57	6%
1961	61	6%
1962	49	5%
1963	51	5%
1964	66	7%
1965	93	9%
1966	99	10%
1967	142	14%
1968	193	19%
1969	189	19%

Artist	Albums	%

The Beatles	17	2%
The Rolling Stones	14	1%
The Beach Boys	14	1%
John Coltrane	13	1%
Miles Davis	12	1%
Nina Simone	10	1%
Bob Dylan	10	1%
Show all

Country	Albums	%

	632	63%
	208	21%
	33	3%
	24	2%
	24	2%
	16	2%
	13	1%
Show all

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

Live?	Albums	%
No	960	96%
Yes	40	4%

Soundtrack?	Albums	%
No	983	98%
Yes	17	2%

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