Best Albums of 1966

Explore the best albums of 1966, based on over 2 million album rankings across 60,000 charts. Help Click to see how the rankings are calculated
Last updated: 3 hours ago
Best albums by year or decade
Decade:
Year:
1966 year summaryThe best artists of 1966 were The Beatles, The Beach Boys, Bob Dylan, Simon & Garfunkel, The Rolling Stones, Frank Zappa, Nina Simone, The Kinks, John Coltrane and 13th Floor Elevators.
View chart at point in time
 Show this chart as it was on the following date
Share this chart
Collector's summary (top 1,000) Help The maximum rank used by the Collector's Summary is configurable from your profile (top 1,000 is currently selected). Log in or create an account to discover the great albums that are missing from your music collection!
Sort Sort by
"As great as this album is, it would have been even greater if they had included "Paperback Writer" and "Rain" (and taken off "Dr. Robert" and "Got to get you into my life")...which were released as "single" only in May, 1966...terrible decision. I hated when they released "single only" records."  Reply
- ffudnebbuh | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +8 votes (11 helpful | 3 unhelpful) Help 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:
Rank Score:
46,815
Rank in 1966:
Rank in 1960s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Top rated album (91/100 - 4627 votes)  91 (4,627 votes)
Comments:
"This album is an absolute masterpiece. It deserves any praise that it has ever gotten. From the colorful arrangements to the catchy pop tunes, this album just never disappoints. Although I do have certain favorites from this record, every one of the tracks (even the instrumentals) get stuck in my..."  [+]  Reply
- | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +7 votes (7 helpful | 0 unhelpful) Help 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:
Rank Score:
36,567
Rank in 1966:
Rank in 1960s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Top rated album (88/100 - 3318 votes)  88 (3,318 votes)
Comments:
"The way I feel about this album is best represented by the scene in High Fidelity in which Jack Black's character, Barry, describes not owning it as "perverse." That about sums it up. Song for song, this is finest folk rock album ever made. "Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands" is probably the highligh..."  [+]  Reply
- buzzdainer | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +8 votes (8 helpful | 0 unhelpful) Help 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:
Rank Score:
23,739
Rank in 1966:
Rank in 1960s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Top rated album (88/100 - 2427 votes)  88 (2,427 votes)
Comments:
Year of Release:
1966
Appears in:
Rank Score:
4,319
Rank in 1966:
Rank in 1960s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"Fantastic album. Paul Simon truly seems to have been a tortured soul at the time of this album's creation. "A Most Peculiar Man" is an amazingly simple but dark song and the highlight of the album."  Reply
- sszwalbenest | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful) Help 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:
Rank Score:
4,145
Rank in 1966:
Rank in 1960s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"Ostensibly a psychedelic rock record, Freak Out! wears its influences proudly – yes, the loved-up (drugged-up) pop/rock of the 60s but also doo-wop and straightforward rock ‘n’ roll. The experimentation works up until the last track which strays into parody a little too far. Rating: Good Best tra..."  [+]  Reply
- IanFrance | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful) Help 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:
Rank Score:
3,463
Rank in 1966:
Rank in 1960s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"Very good album. Can't help mentioning the arrangement of the traditional Scarborough Fair wich I think is one of the highest moments in recorded pop/rock history."  Reply
- | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +4 votes (4 helpful | 0 unhelpful) Help 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:
Rank Score:
3,425
Rank in 1966:
Rank in 1960s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"What I find remarkable is how she was able to put so much passion into everything she did. I recommend listening to "Four Women" and "What More Can I Say?" Amazing."  Reply
- | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +6 votes (6 helpful | 0 unhelpful) Help 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:
Rank Score:
2,361
Rank in 1966:
Rank in 1960s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"More advanced musicianship and intricate song writing compared to their earlier, garage rock style albums. There are still great guitar riffs throughout the album, but they are couched in more lush compositions that would foreshadow the grandoise concept albums they'd put out in the late 60s and ..."  [+]  Reply
- | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful) Help 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:
Rank Score:
2,209
Rank in 1966:
Rank in 1960s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"This is probably the archetypel psychedelic album. Combining Roky Erikson's cerebral lyrics and Stacy Sutherland's trademark 'electric jug' fuzztone/reverb guitar (which was the cornerstone of their arrangements), the Elevators create a unique ethereal folk-rock and rhythmic-boogie 'garage' sound..."  [+]  Reply
- hairymarx1 | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +3 votes (3 helpful | 0 unhelpful) Help 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:
Rank Score:
1,999
Rank in 1966:
Rank in 1960s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Total albums: 748. Page 1 of 75

Best Albums of 1966 composition

Best Albums of 1966 chart changes

Biggest climbersHelp Biggest climbers in top 100 since last month
Climber Up 9 from 63rd to 54th
Climber Up 7 from 102nd to 95th
Climber Up 6 from 79th to 73rd
Biggest fallersHelp Biggest fallers in top 100 since last month
Faller Down 3 from 97th to 100th
Faller Down 2 from 42nd to 44th
Faller Down 2 from 53rd to 55th
New entriesHelp New entries in top 100 since last month
New entry Up 7 from 102nd to 95th
New entry Up 5 from 103rd to 98th
LeaversHelp Leavers from top 100 since last month
Leaver Down 5 from 96th to 101st
Leaver Down 2 from 100th to 102nd
Member  Levels
BurndenAce Level 7
billyboy66 Level 2
TitoVampir Level 2
Congratulations to everyone who levelled up this week! 🚀