# Best rock album ... your preference. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 4, 2019, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-rock-album-your-preference/842972 "2019-11-04T01:05:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![SykoSkotty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c0e974/32.png) [@SykoSkotty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SykoSkotty)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2019, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-rock-album-your-preference/842972/41 "2019-11-04T16:23:55Z")
Impossible for me to pick just one, but I’ll add another classic album that hasn’t been mentioned yet and qualifies as “all killer & no filler:” AC/DC, Back in Black. Every. Damn. Song. ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2019, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-rock-album-your-preference/842972/42 "2019-11-04T16:36:08Z")
Hard to see past Blood On The Tracks. Nobody’s mentioned **Hunky Dory** yet, so I’ll toss that one in the ring for consideration as well. j ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2019, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-rock-album-your-preference/842972/43 "2019-11-04T16:45:04Z")
> [@Ukulele\_Ike](#): > > I would argue that all Dylan post-the first half of **Bringing it All Back Home** is rock. Remember the 1966 concert at Albert Hall? > > You don’t get much more “rock” than _“Play fucking LOUD.”_ Just seen this - another cracking suggestion - not a hint of a clunker on it. I guess I would say Albert Hall too. But we should point out, for any who may be unaware, it was actually the [Manchester Free Trade Hall](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bootleg_Series_Vol._4:_Bob_Dylan_Live_1966,_The_%22Royal_Albert_Hall%22_Concert). j ---
**Author:** ![BrickBat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac91a4/32.png) [@BrickBat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrickBat)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2019, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-rock-album-your-preference/842972/44 "2019-11-04T18:59:06Z")
KISS ‘Alive’. What they sounded like when they were still playing to eat. Great straight-ahead hard rock. Hey you there in the back: Stop laughing. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2019, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-rock-album-your-preference/842972/45 "2019-11-04T19:28:01Z")
All right ya old fogeys. I gotta break up this 60s-70s-80s nostalgia fest and drop some _real_ hard rock. https://www.youtube.com/embed/videoseries?list=PL1Zw2Z8NKVUw-TRG8rTXDVZLWkSwJJv46&wmode=transparent&rel=0&autohide=1&showinfo=1&enablejsapi=1 **Audioslave** “Cochise” Fucking amazing, classic, timeless rock. ---
**Author:** ![Peanuthead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peanuthead/32/360_2.png) [@Peanuthead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peanuthead)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2019, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-rock-album-your-preference/842972/46 "2019-11-04T20:21:11Z")
Graham Parker - Howlin’ Wind. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2019, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-rock-album-your-preference/842972/47 "2019-11-04T20:30:34Z")
ISIS. Panopticon. Influential melodic metal. Damn i wish they were still a band. Each song is an epic fucking journey. Makes the little hairs on my arms stand up. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/RlgARu0l1zI/maxresdefault.jpg "ISIS - Panopticon (Full Album)(2004)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RlgARu0l1zI) ---
**Author:** ![Fiddle\_Peghead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddle_peghead/32/3506_2.png) [@Fiddle\_Peghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiddle_Peghead)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2019, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-rock-album-your-preference/842972/48 "2019-11-04T20:48:44Z")
Upon reading the thread title, my mind immediately made a distinction between rock albums and other genres such as pop or blues, etc. So I am choosing only from what I consider _rock!_ albums. And I hate to be the guy who can’t give a single answer to questions like this, but today, I simply cannot choose between these two: [ul] [li]Highway 61 Revisited - Dylan[/li][li]Exile On Main Street - Stones[/li][/ul] Yep. I just tried again. Can’t decide… ---
**Author:** ![Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/marvin_the_martian/32/2898_2.png) [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marvin_the_Martian)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2019, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-rock-album-your-preference/842972/49 "2019-11-04T20:51:02Z")
I’m going with _Highway 61 Revisited_ over _Blood on the Tracks_ based on the fact that “Desolation Row” \>\> “Lily, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts”. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2019, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-rock-album-your-preference/842972/50 "2019-11-04T22:27:16Z")
I could make a case for _Bringing It All Back Home_ over _Highway 61 Revisited_, although it’s great against great. ---
**Author:** ![P-man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/p-man/32/3606_2.png) [@P-man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/P-man)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2019, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-rock-album-your-preference/842972/51 "2019-11-04T23:05:07Z")
Who’s Next for me, followed closely by Highway 61 Revisited and Zappa’s Hot Rats. One of my fondest memories is my younger son, then 10, coming to the basement and asking “want to listen to Who’s Next with me?” ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2019, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-rock-album-your-preference/842972/52 "2019-11-04T23:09:56Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > I could make a case for _Bringing It All Back Home_ over _Highway 61 Revisited_, although it’s great against great. For me, _The Freewheelin Bob Dylan’, Bringing It All Back Home, Highway 61 Revisited, Blonde On Blonde_ and _Blood On The Tracks_ are Dylan’s five masterpieces. They’re all flawless works of awesomeness and deserve to be mentioned in a thread like this. ETA: ok, I see, _Freewheelin_’ would be disqualified because it’s not really a rock album, though all the others are. But I leave it in for completeness. ---
**Author:** ![Suburban\_Plankton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suburban_plankton/32/219_2.png) [@Suburban\_Plankton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suburban_Plankton)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2019, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-rock-album-your-preference/842972/53 "2019-11-05T03:55:04Z")
As several others have said, the answer may vary from day to day…so I’ll add another one that hasn’t been mentioned yet: _Rumours_, by Fleetwood Mac. Their collective misery made for an absolutely fabulous group of songs. ---
**Author:** ![Tinker\_Grey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tinker_grey/32/8136_2.png) [@Tinker\_Grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tinker_Grey)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2019, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-rock-album-your-preference/842972/54 "2019-11-05T04:30:13Z")
At the moment: Supernatural by Santana Awesome guitar playing with a range of styles: straight rock, funk, rap, world, etc. ---
**Author:** ![ThisSpaceForRent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thisspaceforrent/32/345_2.png) [@ThisSpaceForRent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThisSpaceForRent)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2019, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-rock-album-your-preference/842972/55 "2019-11-05T04:31:13Z")
If we are adding Zappa (genera “Bizarre music”) into the mix I add _ **Joe’s Garage…Acts 1, 2 and 3** _ Don’t get no jizzm on my sofa, sofa… ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2019, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-rock-album-your-preference/842972/56 "2019-11-05T23:47:35Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > I’d add R.E.M.’s _Lifes Rich Pageant_ for consideration,[…] That’s a very good album, R.E.M. had several great ones (_Document, Murmur, Out Of Time, New Adventures In Hifi_), but my choice would be _Automatic For The People_, IMHO the greatest album of the 90s. The first four and last three songs are all absolute gems, and the five songs inbetween are just a tad less beautiful than the rest. ---
**Author:** ![Anamorphic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/anamorphic/32/3057_2.png) [@Anamorphic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anamorphic)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2019, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-rock-album-your-preference/842972/57 "2019-11-06T00:08:37Z")
> [@Capn\_Carl](#): > > _London Calling_ by The Clash. Every song is at least good. Some are great. Plus, it’s a double album. This was my immediate, without-even-thinking-about-it choice. After giving it some time, ruminating on it for a while, considering other candidates… it remains my choice. With The Pogues’ _If I Should Fall From Grace With God_ coming in a close second, though. ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2019, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-rock-album-your-preference/842972/58 "2019-11-06T00:12:01Z")
Personal preference: Yes’s _Tales from Topographic Oceans._. YMMV, and probably does. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2019, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-rock-album-your-preference/842972/59 "2019-11-06T03:55:53Z")
For today, at least, I’m gonna go with Steely Dan’s second effort, _Countdown to Ecstasy_. That one never gets old for me. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2019, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-rock-album-your-preference/842972/60 "2019-11-06T04:20:34Z")
Dark Side of the Moon was the first one that came to mind for me. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-rock-album-your-preference/842972.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-rock-album-your-preference/842972.md?page=4)