Best Albums of the 1960s

« View best albums of the 1950sView best albums of the 1970s »

Listed below are the best albums of the 1960s as calculated from their overall rankings in over 51,000 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	581	25,440	Giant Steps (457th)by John Coltrane
1961	545	23,409	My Favorite Things (578th)by John Coltrane
1962	613	20,997	Modern Sounds In Country And Wes... (1,132nd)by Ray Charles
1963	624	50,912	The Black Saint And The Sinner Lady (95th)by Charles Mingus
1964	711	49,412	A Hard Day's Night (227th)by The Beatles
1965	849	153,463	Highway 61 Revisited (26th)by Bob Dylan
1966	917	199,268	Revolver (4th)by The Beatles
1967	1,157	319,716	Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club... (6th)by The Beatles
1968	1,506	234,737	The Beatles (The White Album) (13th)by The Beatles
1969	1,882	361,756	Abbey Road (3rd)by The Beatles
Total	9,385	1,439,110

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.

View chart at point in time

Share this chart

Share | |

Collector's summary (top 1,000)Log in or register to discover the great albums that are missing from your music collection!

Sort by

31.

The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan

Year of Release:

1963

Appears in:

947 charts

Rank Score:

9,154

Rank in 1963:

Rank in 1960s:

Overall Rank:

184

Average Rating:

84 (1,449 votes)

Comments:

32.

Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere

Neil Young & Crazy Horse

Year of Release:

1969

Appears in:

881 charts

Rank Score:

8,397

Rank in 1969:

Rank in 1960s:

Overall Rank:

203

Average Rating:

84 (1,037 votes)

Comments:

33.

Axis: Bold As Love

The Jimi Hendrix Experience

Year of Release:

1967

Appears in:

964 charts

Rank Score:

8,261

Rank in 1967:

Rank in 1960s:

Overall Rank:

210

Average Rating:

84 (1,321 votes)

Comments:

34.

In A Silent Way

Miles Davis

Year of Release:

1969

Appears in:

752 charts

Rank Score:

8,038

Rank in 1969:

Rank in 1960s:

Overall Rank:

219

Average Rating:

86 (850 votes)

Comments:

35.

Hot Rats

Frank Zappa

Year of Release:

1969

Appears in:

826 charts

Rank Score:

8,021

Rank in 1969:

Rank in 1960s:

Overall Rank:

220

Average Rating:

83 (932 votes)

Comments:

36.

Help!
Soundtrack

The Beatles

Year of Release:

1965

Appears in:

943 charts

Rank Score:

7,780

Rank in 1965:

Rank in 1960s:

Overall Rank:

224

Average Rating:

81 (1,868 votes)

Comments:

122

37.

A Hard Day's Night
Soundtrack

The Beatles

Year of Release:

1964

Appears in:

920 charts

Rank Score:

7,685

Rank in 1964:

Rank in 1960s:

Overall Rank:

227

Average Rating:

81 (1,814 votes)

Comments:

126

38.

Tommy

The Who

Year of Release:

1969

Appears in:

956 charts

Rank Score:

7,619

Rank in 1969:

Rank in 1960s:

Overall Rank:

229

Average Rating:

81 (1,409 votes)

Comments:

39.

Trout Mask Replica

Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band

Year of Release:

1969

Appears in:

710 charts

Rank Score:

7,443

Rank in 1969:

Rank in 1960s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

40.

Year of Release:

1967

Appears in:

845 charts

Rank Score:

7,416

Rank in 1967:

Rank in 1960s:

Overall Rank:

239

Average Rating:

82 (1,167 votes)

Comments:

« prev
1
...
3
4
5
...
100
next »
Goto Page:

Total albums: 1,000. Page 4 of 100

Best Albums of the 1960s composition

Year	Albums	%

1960	53	5%
1961	64	6%
1962	47	5%
1963	52	5%
1964	67	7%
1965	94	9%
1966	100	10%
1967	139	14%
1968	192	19%
1969	192	19%

Artist	Albums	%

The Beatles	17	2%
The Rolling Stones	14	1%
The Beach Boys	14	1%
John Coltrane	13	1%
Miles Davis	11	1%
Nina Simone	10	1%
Bob Dylan	10	1%
Show all

Country	Albums	%

	623	62%
	210	21%
	31	3%
	26	3%
	23	2%
	18	2%
	12	1%
Show all

Compilation?	Albums	%
No	968	97%
Yes	32	3%

Live?	Albums	%
No	962	96%
Yes	38	4%

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

« View best albums of the 1950sView best albums of the 1970s »

If you enjoy our site, please consider supporting us by sparing a few seconds to disable your ad blocker.

A lot of hard work happens in the background to keep BEA running, and it's especially difficult to do this when we can't pay our hosting fees :(

We work very hard to ensure our site is as fast (and FREE!) as possible, and we respect your privacy.

Recognised Decade Charts (2020s)
1. 100 Best Albums of the 2010s: Staff Picks by Billboard (2019)
2. NME's Greatest Albums of The Decade: The 2010s by New Music Express (2019)
3. Gorilla vs. Bear Albums of the 2010s by Gorilla vs. Bear (2019)
4. The 50 best albums of the decade – 2010 to 2019 by Independent (2019)
5. The 200 Best Albums of the 2010s by Pitchfork (2019)
6. All The Best Albums Of The 2010s, Ranked by Uproxx (2019)
7. 100 Best Albums of the 2010s by Rolling Stone (2019)
8. Top 100 Albums of the Decade by Crack Magazine (2019)
9. The Needle Drop's Top Albums Of The 2010s by The Needle Drop (2019)
10. The A.V. Club's 50 best albums of the 2010s by The A.V. Club (2019)
11. Top 50 Albums of the 2010s by The Wild Honey Pie (2019)
12. The 100 Best Albums Of The 2010s by Stereogum (2019)
13. The 50 Best Albums of the Decade by Deep Cuts (2019)
14. Die besten Platten 2010-2019 by Spex (2019)
15. Die 100 besten Alben der 10er Jahre by Musikexpress.de (2020)
16. Top 100 Albums of the 2010s by Consequence of Sound (2019)
17. The 100 Best Albums of the 2010s by Paste (2019)
18. Tiny Mix Tapes 2010s: Favorite 100 Music Releases of the Decade by Tiny Mix Tapes (2019)
19. BEST OF 2011 - 2020: Die besten Alben des Jahrzehnts by laut (2020)
20. StuBru albums of 2010s by StuBru (2017)