Best Albums of 1964

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Explore the best albums of 1964, based on over 2 million album rankings across 60,000 charts.
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1964 year summaryThe best artists of 1964 were The Beatles, Bob Dylan, Stan Getz & João Gilberto, Eric Dolphy, The Ronettes, The Rolling Stones, Sam Cooke, The Supremes, The Kinks and Charles Mingus.

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A Hard Day's Night
Soundtrack

The Beatles

"It's my second favorite album of all time. My favorite Beatles song is "I'll Be Back," believe it or not. There isn't a weak cut here even if the songs aren't "thought provoking"... they're just damn good. No fat, no waste." Reply

- MJP0858 | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +5 votes (5 helpful | 0 unhelpful)

Year of Release:

1964

Appears in:

973 charts

Rank Score:

6,919

Rank in 1964:

Rank in 1960s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

Stan Getz & João Gilberto

"Beautiful samba sounds. Perfect for a summer's day and night. It's all so lovely, one of the essential jazz albums. Romantic, sexy, relaxing and gorgeous." Reply

- garycottier | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +4 votes (4 helpful | 0 unhelpful)

Year of Release:

1964

Appears in:

529 charts

Rank Score:

4,333

Rank in 1964:

Rank in 1960s:

Overall Rank:

381

Average Rating:

82 (557 votes)

Comments:

The Times They Are A-Changin'

Bob Dylan

"This album is under-rated on this site. The title track is an anthem for a generation. "Ballad of Hollis Brown" is brilliant and haunting - masterful story-telling - a throw-back to the death ballads from many years before. "With God On Our Side" is fabulous lyrically and the last verse just blow..." [+] Reply

- edubs | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful)

Year of Release:

1964

Appears in:

596 charts

Rank Score:

3,399

Rank in 1964:

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Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

"It has often been said that The Beatles on this album appear tired, and somewhat uninspirered. If this was so it would not be unnatural, after within two years having recorded four albums and several singles, almost constant touring and with all the buzz around their enormous popularity. The albu...""It has often been said that The Beatles on this album appear tired, and somewhat uninspirered. If this was so it would not be unnatural, after within two years having recorded four albums and several singles, almost constant touring and with all the buzz around their enormous popularity. The album title and the bandmembers' own slightly weary attitudes seem to support this theory. However, I will choose to focus on the music which in no way seems tired to me. The group has in this album perfected their well-known expression, and their own songs are stronger than ever. You could object and say that several of the six cover songs might not be among the most interesting Beatles recordings; and I would not completely disagree. Like on the later "Rubber Soul" several numbers are characterized by the acoustic guitar, which gives them a crisp but also a soft sound, on a few songs almost folkish. The great sound and production are also help to demonstrate the group's lush harmonies and their individual vocally strengths. John Lennon was at this point the group's undisputed vocal center - with Paul and George predominantly as harmonies. A quick review shows that Lennon's takes the lead vocals on "No Reply," "I'm a Loser," "Rock and Roll Music", "Mr Moonlight", "Eight Days a Week," "Every Little Thing" and "I Don't Want to spoil the Party ". On the duets "Baby's in Black" and "Words of Love" it is Lennon you hear most clearly, and even on McCartney's "I'll Follow the Sun" he sings the first verse lines. There was certainly good reason to leave Lennon lead-vocals. His voice was incredibly powerful these years, and his interpretations of rock and roll songs like "Rock and Roll Music" is nothing less than overwhelming. McCartney sings "Kansas City", and actually does it almost equally; that track as such does not work as well as the aforementioned is another matter. On the Beatles originals McCartney actually only has lead-vocals on "I'll Follow the Sun" and "What You're Doing". Ringo and George each sing a Carl Perkins number, a thing of which George clearly comes out best. For me, the album's highlights are many, but especially the two delicate acoustics "No Reply" and "Every Little Thing", are tracks you never grow tired of. McCartney's "I'll Follow the Sun" and "What You're Doing" are almost as good. "Eight Days Week" is a classic that could have been a chart topper, but which was hidden on the back of the stunning "Rock and Roll Music". "I'm a Loser" can almost be regarded as a precursor to the "Help" and "Baby's Black" and "I Don't Want to Spoil the Party" are just good numbers. Among the cover versions, besides "Rock and Roll Music," "Words of Love" comes out the best (it actually sounds like a Beatles' song). "Mr Moonlight", "Kansas City", "Honey Don't" and "Everybody's Trying to Be My Baby" are solid recordings but numbers you could have done without if necessary. " [+] Reply

- Rovers | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +3 votes (3 helpful | 0 unhelpful)

Year of Release:

1964

Appears in:

507 charts

Rank Score:

2,404

Rank in 1964:

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Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

"A wonderfully quirky jazz album. Out to lunch, is a classic with great tunes and excellent instrumentation with Bobby Hutcherson's vibes the icing on the cake to this superb LP. Still sounds like nothing else. Extraordinary." Reply

- garycottier | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)

Year of Release:

1964

Appears in:

355 charts

Rank Score:

1,970

Rank in 1964:

Rank in 1960s:

Overall Rank:

878

Average Rating:

79 (398 votes)

Comments:

Another Side Of Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan

"Dylan's least "distant" and most personal album, he doesn't sound so much like a prophet or a hipster as a dreamy-eyed friend on this record. In fact, he sounds a bit tipsy. It's easy for perplexed young men to relate, take "All I Really Wanna Do" and "I Don't Believe You" for instance..." Reply

poppmusic | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +4 votes (4 helpful | 0 unhelpful)

Year of Release:

1964

Appears in:

401 charts

Rank Score:

1,925

Rank in 1964:

Rank in 1960s:

100

Overall Rank:

899

Average Rating:

78 (618 votes)

Comments:

Presenting The Fabulous Ronettes Featuring Veronica

The Ronettes

"Stunning piece of music from start to finish. Does pop music get much better than "be my baby" or "baby i love you"?xx" Reply

- andyw110183 | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful)

Year of Release:

1964

Appears in:

256 charts

Rank Score:

1,624

Rank in 1964:

Rank in 1960s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

"To me, Sam Cooke and Otis Redding are the two greatest male soul singers of all time, and they're like bookends: Redding had the grittier, more hard-edged vocaal style, while Cooke was silky smooth, more of a charmer. Both are absolutely essential to my appreciation of the music of the 1960s, the..." [+] Reply

buzzdainer | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +3 votes (3 helpful | 0 unhelpful)

Year of Release:

1964

Appears in:

188 charts

Rank Score:

985

Rank in 1964:

Rank in 1960s:

166

Overall Rank:

1,732

Average Rating:

78 (158 votes)

Comments:

Where Did Our Love Go

The Supremes

"Quite a simple collection of songs that are trying to hook you to their choruses and make you sing them for the rest of the day. This works to a varying degree of success with the best tracks coming very early on. Almost every track on side 1 has a fantastic chorus and is so infectious to listen ..." [+] Reply

- Untitled | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)

Year of Release:

1964

Appears in:

212 charts

Rank Score:

983

Rank in 1964:

Rank in 1960s:

168

Overall Rank:

1,737

Average Rating:

77 (177 votes)

Comments:

10.

Kinks

The Kinks

"Definitely revolves around "You Really Got Me", which was hugely influential in creating the hard rock sound. But there are a lot of great "forgotten" songs here, most notably Stop Sobbing and I Took My Baby Home. The cover of Beautiful Delilah is insanely sped up and heavy for it's time." Reply