# Greatest Classic Rock Albums of All Time??? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 28, 2011, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-classic-rock-albums-of-all-time/587106 "2011-06-28T05:12:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![cjepson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9adbd/32.png) [@cjepson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cjepson)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2011, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-classic-rock-albums-of-all-time/587106/81 "2011-06-29T15:23:11Z")
> [@pojimba](#): > > Has no one mentioned _Aqualung_? I did (post #50). ---
**Author:** ![K1LL\_4\_FUN](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e68b1a/32.png) [@K1LL\_4\_FUN](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/K1LL_4_FUN)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2011, 10:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-classic-rock-albums-of-all-time/587106/82 "2011-06-30T10:55:56Z")
> [@phreesh](#): > > The only significant oversight is the lack of the Rolling Stones. The greatest rock band ever should have spot and their best album - Exile on Main Street - has to be in there. > > To me, it’s the greatest album ever produced, so it’s number one. For me the shortness of the list is why The Stones didn’t make the cut, they don’t have a top ten album in my opinion, but they would have 3 or 4 in the top 50. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2011, 11:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-classic-rock-albums-of-all-time/587106/83 "2011-06-30T11:01:48Z")
> [@Suburban\_Plankton](#): > > _Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs_ - Derek and the Dominos I did mention that one. And I agree we’re getting pretty far from classic rock here. That’s fine but not every album before an arbitrary cutoff date is classic rock. ---
**Author:** ![Sparky812](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb9ed0/32.png) [@Sparky812](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sparky812)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2011, 11:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-classic-rock-albums-of-all-time/587106/84 "2011-06-30T11:21:50Z")
> [@Suburban\_Plankton](#): > > A couple contenders that haven’t been mentioned yet: > > _Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs_ - Derek and the Dominos > \*Back in Black \*- AC/DC AC/DC has to be on the list somewhere, but I’d go with Highway to Hell. Van Halen - Van Halen Aerosmith - Toys in the Attic ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2011, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-classic-rock-albums-of-all-time/587106/85 "2011-06-30T12:45:21Z")
You know you are getting old when Van Halen merits mentions on classic rock lists. Damn. It feels like just yesterday when I first spun a copy of Van Halen I and was blown away by its over the top audacity. ---
**Author:** ![newcomer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e5b9ba/32.png) [@newcomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/newcomer)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2011, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-classic-rock-albums-of-all-time/587106/86 "2011-06-30T14:12:52Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Oh, I got the impression you didn’t like them based on your posts. Other than the Beatles, I can’t think of a single band with as impressive of streak of albums as Led Zep I - Physical Graffiti. For me it’s Deep Purple Mark II: In Rock, Fireball, Machine Head and Made in Japan, one of the best live albums, ever. And if I have to choose one for OP, that would be Machine Head (as featured in series Classic Albums). ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2011, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-classic-rock-albums-of-all-time/587106/87 "2011-06-30T14:21:38Z")
> [@newcomer](#): > > For me it’s Deep Purple Mark II: In Rock, Fireball, Machine Head and Made in Japan, one of the best live albums, ever. Still need two more to match Zep. 🙂 I could think of a few bands that had a great streak of four near-perfect albums. (Metallica might even count for five, depending on how you view the “black” eponymous album. I’d argue it’s their last great record; some would say it’s their first mediocre record.) Six in a row is a lot harder to think of. The Beatles have six, too (_Help!_ through the white album. If you don’t count _Yellow Submarine_, you can extend that to eight.) Actually, now that I think of it, Black Sabbath would count with their first six albums, too. To be honest, Black Sabbath really should be somewhere on my list–I just don’t listen to them as much as the others. I need to remedy that soon. ---
**Author:** ![Prelude\_to\_Fascination](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a183cd/32.png) [@Prelude\_to\_Fascination](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prelude_to_Fascination)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2011, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-classic-rock-albums-of-all-time/587106/88 "2011-06-30T16:00:43Z")
I’d add _Boston_. To me, it was a classic from the first time I heard it, and IMO, timeless (which is redundant, but what the hell?). Brad Delps’ vocals on “More Than a Feeling” is just stupendous, and Scholz’s guitar work is…classic. I love it, just like I love the Allman Bros songs “Jessica,” which can’t qualify for this thread, as it’s a song, not an album. Speaking of the ABB, I’d nominate Live at Fillmore, but I’m not sure it qualifies as “rock,” at least not strictly. Blues rock? > [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](#): > > [snip and a nitpick] > > [sup]1[/sup]Ironically, a lot of this sort of thing is now cool, like those 2-door Chevy Bel-Airs that had that wonderful clean sweep under the roof line, **not having the usual post behind the driver and passenger doors.** Bolding mine. That’s usually called the B-pillar (the A-pillar holds the windshield, the B-pillar is just behind the driver’s head, and the C-pilar holds the rear windshield). 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Sparky812](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb9ed0/32.png) [@Sparky812](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sparky812)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2011, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-classic-rock-albums-of-all-time/587106/89 "2011-06-30T16:49:33Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > You know you are getting old when Van Halen merits mentions on classic rock lists. Damn. It feels like just yesterday when I first spun a copy of Van Halen I and was blown away by its over the top audacity. I feel the same way, hard to believe that was 33 years ago and now they’re Hall of Famers too. ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2011, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-classic-rock-albums-of-all-time/587106/90 "2011-06-30T17:42:20Z")
> [@Don\_Draper](#): > > “Disraeli Gears” - Cream > “Sympathy for the Devil” - Rolling Stones > “Surrealistic Pillow” - Jefferson Airplane > “American Beauty” - Grateful Dead > “Crosby, Stills & Nash” and “Deja Vu” - Crosby, Stills, Nash (& Young) > “Harvest” - Neil Young > “Court & Spark” - Joni Mitchell > “Pearl” - Janis Joplin > “L.A. Woman” - the Doors > “Horses” - Patti Smith > “the B-52s” > “London Calling” - the Clash > “Let It Bleed” - the Replacements > “Louder Than Bombs” - the Smiths Similar tastes. " Synchronicity " Police " Close To The Edge " Yes " Let It Bleed " The Rolling Stones " The Wall " Pink Floyd "After The Gold Rush " Neil Young " CSNY " CSNY " Appetite For Destruction " Guns N Roses " Live At Carnegie Hall " Renaissance " Monster " R.E.M. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2011, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-classic-rock-albums-of-all-time/587106/91 "2011-06-30T18:05:55Z")
Top 10 is difficult to do, but most of the entries for me would be by the Floyd. If you also take out the Zep and every other album likely to have been mentioned in this thread, I’d give a shout out to **Heart** ’s _Dreamboat Annie_. It captures the essence of 1970’s classic rock, mixing bombast and sensitivity and sex in one rockin’ package. > [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](#): > > I question whether any album made before 1970 can be counted as classic rock. My definition of Classic Rock is anything that can use more cowbell. So by that definition the first Classic Rock song is Drive My Car. It could totally use more cowbell. More seriously, it might be considered the first Power Pop song, and PP is close enough to Classic Rock that I grandfather it in. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2011, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-classic-rock-albums-of-all-time/587106/92 "2011-06-30T18:20:42Z")
“Classic rock” is just what classic rock stations play. When I was growing up, that was late 60s to mid-to-late 70s. The Beatles and the Stones were definitely played on Classic Rock stations, although the Beatles early catalog was usually skipped over. Nowadays, the definition has moved up to include the early 80s. Cream and Hendrix, also 60s musicians, definitely Classic Rock. I’m looking over our local classic rock station’s playlist (WLUP), and they seem to have a big hard-on for the Stones, playing them almost once every hour or hour and a half in the last 12 hours. Anyhow, it doesn’t matter, since the OP isn’t looking for Classic Rock tracks, but rather classic Rock tracks. ---
**Author:** ![SlowMindThinking](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@SlowMindThinking](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlowMindThinking)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2011, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-classic-rock-albums-of-all-time/587106/93 "2011-06-30T18:43:54Z")
Is there no love for Skynyrd? Perhaps “One More for the Road”? ---
**Author:** ![cjepson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9adbd/32.png) [@cjepson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cjepson)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2011, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-classic-rock-albums-of-all-time/587106/94 "2011-06-30T19:10:46Z")
> [@Cartooniverse](#): > > " CSNY " CSNY Do you mean _Deja Vu_ or _4-Way Street_? (Or perhaps _Crosby, Stills & Nash_ or _CSN_?) ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2011, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-classic-rock-albums-of-all-time/587106/95 "2011-06-30T20:30:02Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Anyhow, it doesn’t matter, since the OP isn’t looking for Classic Rock tracks, but rather classic Rock tracks. The capitalization in the thread title and the choices mentioned in the OP guaranteed that most everybody would take it as a Classic Rock thread, so I think it’s best to just go with that. I think it’s inaccurate to say that Classic Rock is [defined by radio playlists](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classic_rock), though the early CR radio stations certainly had a hand in tying the term to its working sonic definition. When somebody says a band has a “classic rock sound,” I think of the instrumentation of the band, songwriting structures and arrangements, and lyric tone–all growing out of an essentially blues-based and psychedelically-inflected tradition. The lyrics may veer bombastic or artful, the guitars may be chimes or growls–but there’s no punk, no funk, and no disco in Classic Rock. Regardless of when any given piece was recorded, Classic Rock follows a template of (mostly white) rock’s achievements and aspirations in 1965-1975. Which is not to say that there weren’t huge CR albums in the later '70s, and since–just that rock records after that point can usually be pegged as either embracing or rejecting elements outside the popular template built in that time. (You might hear Blondie on “CR” radio these days, but Blondie is not Classic Rock.) For Skynyrd, I’d say either _pronounced_ or _Street Survivors_. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2011, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-classic-rock-albums-of-all-time/587106/96 "2011-06-30T21:34:45Z")
> [@spark240](#): > > The capitalization in the thread title and the choices mentioned in the OP guaranteed that most everybody would take it as a Classic Rock thread, so I think it’s best to just go with that. I know, but the point was clarified by the OP when I asked him. I can give a top ten classic rock list, too, but I gave my all-time rock list when the OP told me that’s what was wanted. > [@](#): > > Classic Rock follows a template of (mostly white) rock’s achievements and aspirations in 1965-1975. I’m not going to disagree, but I was also responding partially to a post upthread that was questioning whether any album before 1970 could be “classic rock.” Like you, I’d say a significant portion of what is known as “classic rock” comes pre-1970. The Wikipedia link supports what I said about classic rock being defined by radio stations. “Classic rock,” in my estimation, is not really a genre in and of itself–it’s an amalgamation of different rock forms and just a catch-all term to describe rock music after “the Oldies.” Led Zeppelin is early heavy metal, but also classic rock. Journey is arena rock, but also classic rock. I’d say the Clash, though punk through and through, have now fallen into the radio format known as “classic rock.” ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2011, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-classic-rock-albums-of-all-time/587106/97 "2011-06-30T22:21:55Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > The Wikipedia link supports what I said about classic rock being defined by radio stations. Well yes, I cited it as an example of what I was disagreeing with. I’m making a distinction between the radio industry use of the term and a critical/fan usage. You notice Wiki mentions the Black Crowes as _not_ being Classic Rock, just because of when they made their records. But everybody I know who is familiar with that kind of music _would_ call the Black Crowes a CR band–it’s about as useful a short descriptor for their sound as anything else, and except for fellow Georgians REM, all of the people they cite as influences are pretty clearly CR. The Black Crowes are _self-consciously_ so. Classic rock is an amalgamation as you say (and of course artists can be more than one “thing” at a time), but I think if you ask people for CR-_sounding_ bands, they’ll all basically conform to the outline I gave above. Oldies, on the other hand, is defined entirely by the calendar (and, for radio, sales charts). Not only does it now have substantial playlist overlap with CR, but it has no particular barrier to playing music which is _newer_ than, and sonically beyond, the Classic Rock template. See [these stations](http://www.pcboomradio.com/oldies_music.html) for example with Donna Summer, Abba and Michael Jackson. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2011, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-classic-rock-albums-of-all-time/587106/98 "2011-06-30T22:53:20Z")
If we’re just doing best rock albums, my list would look more like this: The Allman Brothers Band - At Fillmore East The Band - Northern Lights, Southern Cross The Beatles - White Album The Derek Trucks Band - Live at Georgia Theater The Jimi Hendrix Experience - Electric Ladyland Neil Young & Crazy Horse - Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere Los Lobos - Colossal Head Radiohead - OK Computer Stevie Wonder - Songs in the Key of Life Talking Heads - Remain in Light I convinced myself Stevie can go in here because someone else nominated Talking Book, but I can’t get myself to justify Dr. John and Bob Marley belong on a rock list, so it’s not that different from my other list. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2011, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-classic-rock-albums-of-all-time/587106/99 "2011-06-30T23:23:44Z")
[QUOTE=spark240;13974885 But everybody I know who is familiar with that kind of music _would_ call the Black Crowes a CR band[/QUOTE] Really? OK, they self-consciously copy those bands, but, personally, nobody _I_ know would describe them as “classic rock.” They’re too recent to be that. We just call them “blues rock” or “blues rock jam band.” (And I speak as someone who has enjoyed the Black Crowes since first hearing _Shake Your Moneymaker_.) It’s obviously an issue of usage. I don’t use the term in that way, and I’m not familiar with the term being so broad as to include bands from the 90s. I mean, is Lenny Kravitz “classic rock,” too? Sounds like in your usage it is. Which is fine–it’s just different than how I know the term. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2011, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-classic-rock-albums-of-all-time/587106/100 "2011-07-01T00:04:41Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > We just call them “blues rock” or “blues rock jam band.” That _is_ Classic Rock, to a large extent–“an essentially blues-based and psychedelically-inflected tradition.” The jamming element isn’t required, but fits easily. > [@pulykamell](#): > > I mean, is Lenny Kravitz “classic rock,” too? Heh. I recall reading a review (first album? _Spin_ album guide?) that called him “the personification of Classic Rock.” That might not be _strictly_ accurate for all his music (he throws out a light funk groove, R&B texture, even a light dance beat sometimes), but it’s not off-base for the central part of his sound and image. It seems weird to me to draw a line between a set with the Black Crowes and Lenny Kravitz on one side, Skynyrd and Hendrix on the other, based solely on their recording dates. Not that the best Classic Rock isn’t mostly from the '60s-'70s heyday. I like the Black Crowes too, but there’s no way they’d make my top-ten list. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-classic-rock-albums-of-all-time/587106.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-classic-rock-albums-of-all-time/587106.md?page=6)