# What is the best rock album of all time? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 22, 2007, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-rock-album-of-all-time/405114 "2007-05-22T18:45:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**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:** [May 23, 2007, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-rock-album-of-all-time/405114/41 "2007-05-23T03:09:39Z")
This is such a difficult question for me. My first instinct is to say _Pet Sounds_, but that really doesn’t say _rock_ like a lot of other albums in this thread. My number two record of all time, My Bloody Valentine’s _Loveless_, might be a bit too abstract to put at number one for best rock album. _Odyssey and Oracle_, already mentioned, is another one of my all time favorites, but it’s not quite the quintessence of rock to me. If a troupe of aliens came down and asked me what rock music was, that’s not the record I would throw on. _London Calling_ is a bit closer to the feel I’m going for. But, personally, I think I’d nominate Led Zeppelin and, while it’s difficult to pick from all their great albums, I’m going to nominate _Led Zeppelin II_ although, quite honestly, any album from I to Physical Graffiti would do. ---
**Author:** ![MadTheSwine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MadTheSwine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MadTheSwine)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2007, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-rock-album-of-all-time/405114/42 "2007-05-23T03:17:56Z")
_A Night at the Opera_ or _Queen II_ ---
**Author:** ![Kiros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/439d5e/32.png) [@Kiros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kiros)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2007, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-rock-album-of-all-time/405114/43 "2007-05-23T03:20:21Z")
[QUOTE=silenus] The fun thing about these threads is discovering what crappy taste your fellow Dopers have in music! [/QUOTE] Agreed, what is _with_ some of the people in this thread? 😃 That said, I hope I don’t add myself to that list by saying that you can’t go wrong with Zeppelin. I also wanted to be the first to mention Queen, but I see that I’ve been barely beaten on preview. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2007, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-rock-album-of-all-time/405114/44 "2007-05-23T03:24:50Z")
[QUOTE=PlasticCloud] And I pretty much guessed before I opened this thread that there would be multiple mentions of _Dark Side of the Moon_, LZIV, _London Calling_, _Who’s Next_, _Sgt. Pepper_, and the rest of the Rolling Stone Top Albums usual suspects. In fact, I’m kind of suprised no one has dropped _Pet Sounds_ in here yet. 😛 [/QUOTE] I appreciate Pet Sounds, but it doesn’t really _rock_. It’s kind of dull. It’s hard to argue with Led Zeppelin IV, Sgt. Pepper’s, and the like. As a Canadian I’ll throw in Fully Completely just to represent. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2007, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-rock-album-of-all-time/405114/45 "2007-05-23T03:43:50Z")
I’ll add _Led Zeppelin_ (the first) to the mix, as well as Guns ‘n’ Roses _Appetite for Destruction_. Plus I’ll add my vote for The Beatles’ white album. ---
**Author:** ![DfrntBreign](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f6c823/32.png) [@DfrntBreign](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DfrntBreign)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2007, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-rock-album-of-all-time/405114/46 "2007-05-23T03:45:09Z")
Right now I’m’na say **Santana** ’s _Abraxas_. Ask again in a little while and it will be something different. ---
**Author:** ![jackelope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@jackelope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackelope)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2007, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-rock-album-of-all-time/405114/47 "2007-05-23T04:30:05Z")
A bunch of titles jumped to mind when I saw the thread title: _Pet Sounds_, _Zeppelin IV_, The White Album, _London Calling_, _Doolittle_. (_Dark Side of the Moon_ is great, but I don’t consider it a “rock” album.) After a moment’s reflection, though, there’s only one answer. [Elvis Presley, _The Sun Sessions_](http://www.amazon.com/Sun-Sessions-CD-Presley-Commemorative/dp/B000002W9S). Seriously; if an album doesn’t contain Elvis’s version of “Mystery Train,” it can hardly the “best rock album of all time,” now can it? ---
**Author:** ![PlasticCloud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bbe5ce/32.png) [@PlasticCloud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlasticCloud)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2007, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-rock-album-of-all-time/405114/48 "2007-05-23T04:59:18Z")
And now, at this moment, I’m tempted to just say it’s _Tago Mago_ by **Can** , and pack it in. That album compensates for–and makes irrelevant–all the bloat of the early 1970s. ---
**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:** [May 23, 2007, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-rock-album-of-all-time/405114/49 "2007-05-23T05:27:15Z")
[QUOTE=RickJay] I appreciate Pet Sounds, but it doesn’t really _rock_. It’s kind of dull. [/QUOTE] I agree that it may not “rock”, per se, but it’s _hardly_ dull. ---
**Author:** ![JCorre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/3da27b/32.png) [@JCorre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JCorre)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2007, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-rock-album-of-all-time/405114/50 "2007-05-23T06:23:03Z")
Led Zep “Physical Graffiti” Led Zep “IV” Pink Floyd “Dark Side of the Moon” Beatles “Revolver” Pearl Jam “Ten” In that order. I know I’ll lose a lot of folks with the Pearl Jam choice but I really think time will bear this out. That album defined an era just like the previous 4 did. ---
**Author:** ![cornflakes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@cornflakes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cornflakes)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2007, 7:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-rock-album-of-all-time/405114/51 "2007-05-23T07:11:05Z")
Born to Run. I have argued that Born to Run is the Great American Surf Record that Brian Wilson wanted to make with _Smile_. The album is an anthem to America in the 1970s and sums up what we all thought that we were when we were in high school. By the stats, I’d say that _Dark Side of the Moon_ is the obvious winner with 741 conscutive weeks on the Billboard Top 100. ---
**Author:** ![Busy\_Scissors](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d78d45/32.png) [@Busy\_Scissors](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Busy_Scissors)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2007, 7:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-rock-album-of-all-time/405114/52 "2007-05-23T07:56:15Z")
Best rock album _ever_ has to be one of the classics already mentioned, ‘paranoid’, ‘Led Zep IV’, ‘who’s next’ etc, that’s when all the innovation took place, they’re the real touchstone influences for everything that came after in rock. In modern times, though, I reckon rage against the machine are far and away the best rock band, and you could easy pick their first album as the best of the past ten years. ‘The battle for LA’ is probably stronger, but it was their first album that defined their sound and character. ---
**Author:** ![ouryL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ouryl/32/6067_2.png) [@ouryL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouryL)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2007, 8:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-rock-album-of-all-time/405114/53 "2007-05-23T08:17:37Z")
[QUOTE=Doug Bowe] This June will be 40 years ago today. [/QUOTE] and guess who is 64. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2007, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-rock-album-of-all-time/405114/54 "2007-05-23T12:26:09Z")
I’d have to go with \*Sgt. Pepper, \*only because I remember when it came out, and we listened to that album for the very first time. It was one of those “OMFG!!!” experiences . . . something totally new, totally different than what had preceded it. I’m so glad I’m old enough to remember that experience. ---
**Author:** ![Labdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/439d5e/32.png) [@Labdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labdad)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2007, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-rock-album-of-all-time/405114/55 "2007-05-23T12:55:11Z")
[QUOTE=panache45] I’d have to go with \*Sgt. Pepper, \*only because I remember when it came out, and we listened to that album for the very first time. It was one of those “OMFG!!!” experiences . . . something totally new, totally different than what had preceded it. I’m so glad I’m old enough to remember that experience. [/QUOTE] Agreed. In the same vein, _Are You Experienced?_ by the Jimi Hendrix Experience was one of those “OMFG!!” albums for me. I’d never heard anything like that before. What a summer 1967 was! That said, I have to go with either _Exile on Main Street_ or _Who’s Next_ as the best rock **album** of all time, depending on how I’m feeling on a particular day. Both hang together brilliantly as a collection of songs. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2007, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-rock-album-of-all-time/405114/56 "2007-05-23T13:56:54Z")
> [@cornflakes](#): > > Born to Run. I have argued that Born to Run is the Great American Surf Record that Brian Wilson wanted to make with Smile. The album is an anthem to America in the 1970s and sums up what we all thought that we were when we were in high school. And how it all doesn’t work out…“Terry you swore we’d live forever” ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2007, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-rock-album-of-all-time/405114/57 "2007-05-23T13:59:59Z")
Several outstanding candidates have already been nominated. Let me just put in a word for **Rush** ’s _Moving Pictures_ or _Permanent Waves_. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2007, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-rock-album-of-all-time/405114/58 "2007-05-23T14:12:41Z")
One outstanding Tier I album not mentioned yet. (Perhaps some would not categorize it as rock?) **Carole King** , _Tapestry_. A handful of Tier I Pink Floyd titles not specifically mentioned: \* Animals, Wish You Were Here, Piper at the Gates of Dawn, Saucerful of Secrets, The Wall\* No point in mentioning the ones I would’ve mentioned if someone hadn’t already mentioned them (2 or 7 times)…onwards to Tier II… **Styx** , _The Grand Illusion_ **Kansas** , _Leftoverture_ **Tori Amos** , _Little Earthquakes_ **Yes** , _Close to the Edge_ **U2** , _The Joshua Tree_ ---
**Author:** ![Cub\_Mistress](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea666f/32.png) [@Cub\_Mistress](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cub_Mistress)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2007, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-rock-album-of-all-time/405114/59 "2007-05-23T14:20:47Z")
Two more candidates: REO Speedwagon: Hi Infidelity Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band: Live Bullet ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2007, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-rock-album-of-all-time/405114/60 "2007-05-23T14:22:30Z")
60’s - Beatles _Revolver_ 70’s - Television - _Marquee Moon_ 80’s - Pixies - _Surfer Rosa_ 90’s - My Bloody Valentine - _Loveless_ 00’s - I’ve really no idea [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-rock-album-of-all-time/405114.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-rock-album-of-all-time/405114.md?page=4)