My 126 favorite albums of all time
These are my 126 favorite albums of all time. This list is arranged in order of preference, starting with my #1 favorite.
1) Linda Ronstadt – “Heart Like a Wheel” (1974)

2) The Beatles – “Rubber Soul” (1965)

3) Daryl Hall & John Oates – “Voices” (1981)

4) Pretenders – “Pretenders” (1980)

5) Creedence Clearwater Revival – “Willy and the Poor Boys” (1969)

6) The Who – “Who’s Next” (1971)

7) Blondie – “Parallel Lines” (1978)

8) Cream – “Disraeli Gears” (1967)

9) Loverboy – “Get Lucky” (1981)

10 Janis Joplin – “Pearl” (1971)

11) Elvis Costello – “Armed Forces” (1979)

12) The Beatles – “Revolver” (1966)

13) The Who – “Meaty Beaty Big and Bouncy” (1971)

14) Phil Spector – “A Christmas Gift for You” (1963)

15) The Beatles – “Help!” (1965)

16) The Velvet Underground – “1969 Velvet Underground Live With Lou Reed” (1974)

17) Patty Smyth – “Greatest Hits: Featuring Scandal” (1998)

18) The Beatles – “A Hard Day’s Night” (1964)

19) Pretenders – “Learning to Crawl” (1984)

20) Blondie – “Blondie” (1976)

21) Daryl Hall and John Oates – “Private Eyes” (1981)

22) Go-Go’s – “Beauty and the Beat” (1981)

23) The Clash – “London Calling” (1979)

24) The Waitresses – “The Best of the Waitresses” (1990)

25) The Rolling Stones – “Let It Bleed” (1969)

26) Led Zeppelin – “Led Zeppelin IV” (1971)

27) Pink Floyd – “The Dark Side of the Moon” (1973)

28) Bruce Springsteen – “Born to Run” (1975)

29) Donna Summer – “Bad Girls” (1979)

30) Bonnie Hayes and the Wild Combo – “Good Clean Fun” (1982)

31) Josie Cotton – “Convertible Music” (1982)

33) Fleetwood Mac – “Rumours ” (1977)

34) The Velvet Underground – “The Velvet Underground & Nico” (1967)

35) Vince Guaraldi – “A Charlie Brown Christmas” (1965)

36) The Beatles – “The Beatles (White Album)” (1968)

37) The Allman Brothers Band – “At Fillmore East” (1971)

38) Otis Redding – “The Ultimate Otis Redding” (1986)

39) Creedence Clearwater Revival – “Cosmo’s Factory” (1970)

40) Cream – “Fresh Cream” (1966)

41) Elvis Costello – “This Year’s Model” (1978)

42) John Williams – “Star Wars IV: A New Hope” (1977)

43) Skeeter Davis – “The Essential Skeeter Davis” (1995)

44) Elvis Costello – “My Aim Is True” (1977)

45) The Velvet Underground – “Loaded” (1970)

46) The Like – “Release Me” (2010)

47) Billy Joel – “Glass Houses” (1980)

48) Creedence Clearwater Revival – “Green River” (1969)

49) The Velvet Underground – “The Velvet Underground” (1969)

50) The Clash – “The Clash” (1979)

51) Juice Newton – “Juice” (1981)

52) Linda Ronstadt – “Linda Ronstadt” (1972)

53) Peter Tchaikovsky “The Nutcracker (Kirov Orchestra/Valery Gergiev)” (1998)

54) Joni Mitchell – “Blue” (1971)

55) Aretha Franklin – “I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You” (1967)

56) Led Zeppelin – “Houses of the Holy” (1973)

57) The Who “Live at Leeds” (1970)

58) The Beatles – “Abbey Road” (1969)

59) Kim Wilde – “Kim Wilde” (1981)

60) The Rolling Stones – “Beggars Banquet” (1968)

61) Joe Jackson – “Look Sharp!” (1979)

62) Jimi Hendrix – “Are You Experienced?” (1967)

63) Neil Young – “Tonight’s the Night” (1975)

64) The Byrds – “Sweetheart of the Rodeo” (1968)

65) The Beatles – “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” (1967)

66) New York Dolls – “New York Dolls” (1973)

67) Richard & Linda Thompson – “Shoot Out the Lights” (1982)

68) Jefferson Airplane – “Volunteers” (1969)

69) Buffalo Springfield – “Buffalo Springfield Again” (1967)

70) Weird Al Yankovic – “Dare to Be Stupid” (1985)

71) Aretha Franklin – “Lady Soul” (1968)

72) Liz Phair – “Exile in Guyville” (1993)

73) The Modern Lovers – “The Modern Lovers” (1976)

74) The Supremes – “Every Great #1 Hit” (1974)

75) Bob Dylan – “Bringing It All Back Home” (1965)

76) The Rolling Stones – “Big Hits (High Tide and Green Grass)” (1966)

77) Roxy Music – “Siren” (1975)

78) Sly & the Family Stone – “Greatest Hits” (1970)

79) Graham Parker – “Squeezing Out Sparks” (1979)

81) Joni Mitchell – “Court and Spark” (1974)

82) Neil Young – “Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere” (1969)

83) Michael Jackson – “Off the Wall” (1979)

84) Ella Fitzgerald – “Ella Wishes You a Swinging Christmas” (1960)

85) Billy Joel – “The Nylon Curtain” (1982)

86) Rod Stewart – Every Picture Tells a Story (1971)

87) Derek and The Dominos – “Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs” (1970)

88) Jefferson Airplane – “Surrealistic Pillow” (1967)

89) Stevie Wonder – “Innervisions” (1973)

90) Sia – “We Are Born” (2010)

91) Brenda Lee – “20th Century Masters: The Christmas Collection: The Best of Brenda Lee” (2003)

92) George Harrison – “All Things Must Pass” (1970)

93) Led Zeppelin – “Led Zeppelin II” (1969)

94) The Rolling Stones – “Sticky Fingers” (1971)

95) Linda Ronstadt – “Get Closer” (1982)

96) Billy Joel – “52nd Street” (1978)

97) The B-52′s – “The B-52′s” (1979)

99) Richard & Linda Thompson – “I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight” (1974)

100) Cyndi Lauper – “She’s So Unusual” (1983)

101) Prince – “Purple Rain” (1984)

102) Big Mama Thornton – “Hound Dog: The Peacock Recordings” (1992)

103) Talking Heads – “More Songs About Buildings and Food” (1978)

104) Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers – “Damn the Torpedoes” (1979)

105) Blondie – “Eat to the Beat” (1979)

106) Fleetwood Mac – “Mirage” (1982)

107) Buddy Holly – “From the Original Master Tapes” (1985)

108) 10,000 Maniacs – “In My Tribe” (1987)

109) The Bangles – “Different Light” (1986)

110) Blondie – “Plastic Letters” (1977)

111) The B-52′s – “Cosmic Thing” (1989)

112) John Cougar Mellencamp – “Uh-Huh” (1983)

113) Johnny Cash – “At Folsom Prison” (1968)

114) Billy Joel – “The Stranger” (1977)

115) Madness – “One Step Beyond…” (1979)

116) Daryl Hall & John Oates – “X-Static” (2000)

117) Boston Pops Orchestra – “A Christmas Festival” (1987)

118) Bruce Springsteen – “The River” (1980)

119) Marvin Gaye – “What’s Going On” (1971)

120) Loverboy – “Loverboy” (1980)

121) Grateful Dead – “American Beauty” (1970)

122) Crosby, Stills & Nash – “Crosby, Stills & Nash” (1969)

123) Blood, Sweat & Tears – “Child Is Father to the Man” (1968)

124) Dusty Springfield – “Dusty in Memphis” (1969)

125) The Feelies – “Crazy Rhythms” (1980)





Eric Mack replied:
Spectacular list, Dan. Just one question: why 126?
Seriously though, these are some great albums. I recently counted down my 100 favorite albums here: http://www.theattackzone.com/100-favorite-albums/
I like what you’re doing on this site. Keep up the good work!
– Eric @ The Attack Zone
November 28, 2012 at 4:51 am. Permalink.
danfromsquirrelhill replied:
Thanks. I chose 126 instead of a nice round number because I wanted to include everything that I love.
November 29, 2012 at 2:10 pm. Permalink.