10 Greatest Albums of the 1960s, Ranked

The album, as a medium or work of art, did exist before the 1960s, even if the album era didn’t really begin until the mid-1960s. Frank Sinatra and Miles Davis certainly had works from the 1950s that still feel like albums, in the traditional sense, when listened to today, and Sinatra even had In the Wee Small Hours (1955), which sometimes gets highlighted as the first concept album. Concept albums, of course, also really took off as a, uh, concept, during the 1960s.

All that’s to say that there are many amazing and groundbreaking albums from this decade, even if going through the best of the best turns up far more released in the second half of the decade than the first. Still, the ‘60s are the ‘60s, and these albums are some of the best from that time (with a limit of one release per artist, just to keep things interesting and not too Beatles-dominated).

10

‘Electric Ladyland’ (1968)

The Jimi Hendrix Experience

The two greatest albums Jimi Hendrix made were his last two. And, sure, there are only four in total, but it’s worth highlighting how, even with a short career, he still showed progression and growing ambition. Band of Gypsys was his final album, coming out at the start of the 1970s and being a live album, while Electric Ladyland was his final one of the 1960s, a double album, and also his last album with The Jimi Hendrix Experience.

Electric Ladyland is sprawling, even by double album standards, running for almost 75 minutes all up, and having a couple of tracks that come close to being 15 minutes long: “Voodoo Chile” (a highlight) and “1983….(A Merman I Should Turn to Be)” (which is… interesting). It’s also one of those rare albums that saves the very best for right near the end, since it finishes with the one-two-punch of a cover of “All Along the Watchtower” followed by “Voodoo Child (Slight Return).”

9

‘In the Court of the Crimson King’ (1969)

King Crimson

King Crimson arguably put out their best album in the 1970s (Red), and then some of the band’s stuff in the 1980s was also pretty great, but In the Court of the Crimson King seems to remain their most well-known album. It earns that distinction, because it is pretty immediate and even approachable for something that’s also kind of dense and intricate, perhaps being more accessible by progressive rock standards.

As a piece of progressive rock, it’s got a whole bunch of lengthy songs that are generally split into parts, with In the Court of the Crimson King being just five tracks, but running for a total of 42 minutes. There’s a uniquely intense and surreal atmosphere conjured up by much of this album, and it’s an interesting one to either let wash over you, or dive into and analyze, depending on what you’re feeling and how you’re willing to engage with such music at any given time.

8

‘The Velvet Underground & Nico’ (1967)

The Velvet Underground & Nico

The thing that’s most often said about The Velvet Underground & Nico is how ahead of its time it was, as an album. It was the first Velvet Underground album, and the band’s only one done with Nico, and it sounded so out there and uncompromising that it’s not hard to imagine most people, in 1967, not knowing how to even comprehend it.

It has a song about sadomasochism called “Venus in Furs,” and a song about heroin called, um, “Heroin.” And then there’s whatever the hell is going on with “European Son,” the closing track, which out-weirds the already very weird penultimate track, “The Black Angel’s Death Song.” Both sound completely removed from how beautiful the opening track, “Sunday Morning,” is, but somehow the contrast – and everything that comes between – just makes sense. It’s one of those “Oh wow, this actually does live up to all the hype” sort of albums.

7

‘Led Zeppelin I’ (1969)

Led Zeppelin

For a short time, Led Zeppelin was just Led Zeppelin, as in this album was self-titled and it was the band’s debut. 1969 also saw the release of Led Zeppelin II, necessitating this first album be called Led Zeppelin I, and there is an argument to be made that the second was just as good, or maybe even better, but the first one’s consistency and overall oomph is next-level.

It was tempting to call it original, being the first, but Led Zeppelin aren’t really original. Like, the band’s distinctive, and subsequent rock bands have been influenced by them, but Led Zeppelin were also influenced by various blues and rock musicians that came before, some may say overly so. But even then, it’s hard to overlook just how punchy and continuously re-listenable this album is (and, to the band’s credit, they pushed themselves and their sound a little more throughout the 1970s).

6

‘Pastel Blues’ (1965)

Nina Simone

Pastel Blues is worth including here for the closing track, “Sinnerman,” alone. Calling it one of the best songs of all time doesn’t really feel like an exaggeration of any kind, and maybe it’s helped by the fact that it’s so epic in length and scope that it feels like a few great songs packed into one. The overall album isn’t too much longer than half an hour long, so “Sinnerman,” at 10 minutes in length, can’t help but dominate the album, being not far off a third of the whole thing.

Thankfully, there are other high points throughout this Nina Simone album, because the penultimate track, “Strange Fruit,” also proves impactful and chilling, while the also ominous-sounding “Be My Husband” sets the mood well, as the opening track. If not for one other soul album that’ll be mentioned in a bit, Pastel Blues could probably stand as the best album of such a genre from the 1960s (though that one is a bit of a different beast, admittedly).

5

‘Blonde on Blonde’ (1966)

Bob Dylan

The idea of topping an album as good as Highway 61 Revisited just one year later might’ve seemed far-fetched, in 1966, but Bob Dylan did just that with the release of Blonde on Blonde. Yes, that other album of his was great, and sometimes gets the most by way of praise as far as Dylan albums go, yet Blonde on Blonde is longer, more ambitious, and also somehow more consistent, all at once.

There are too many great songs here to go over them all one by one, so just know there aren’t really any weak tracks or moments when this album’s not hitting it out of the park. Like, even the chaotic and rambling “Rainy Day Women #12 & 35,” which opens the album, might not sound amazing on its own, but within the context of the album, it feels ideal. Dylan gives the impression he’s winging it, owing to how effortless Blonde on Blonde sounds, but if so, he wings it even better than Wings, so who can complain?

4

‘Hot Buttered Soul’ (1969)

Isaac Hayes

As teased earlier, there’s perhaps one soul album from the decade even better than Pastel Blues, and it’s Hot Buttered Soul, which lets you know exactly what you’re in for genre and sound-wise with one hell of a title. Also, King Crimson was mentioned earlier as a progressive rock band, but with Hot Buttered Soul, Isaac Hayes out-progs the prog rockers themselves, because this album’s 45 minutes long, and it’s made up of just four tracks.

One song here (“By the Time I Get to Phoenix”) is almost 20 minutes long, and it glides right by about as well as “Walk On By” glides/walks on by, and that one’s 12 minutes long. These songs really don’t feel as long as they actually are, because they’re genuinely hypnotic and they make time melt away because of how well they all build and engross. Only one song here was actually co-written by Hayes, but he makes the other three feel like they might as well be his own. Yes, even “Walk On By,” despite the original (sung by Dionne Warwick) being iconic in its own right.

3

‘A Love Supreme’ (1965)

John Coltrane

Sometimes, even straightforward music can be difficult to talk about and break down, especially when you’ve only got so many words to work with, and then you come to jazz, and it’s, like, “Agghh, I’m even more lost as to where to start.” That’s admitted upfront, when it comes to A Love Supreme by John Coltrane being here. This just sounds really good. It is really good. And it is really hard to do justice with words.

Attempts to do so end up sounding pretentious, and it’s probably just going to mirror the usual talking points. You can seek out what jazz aficionados have to say if you want better insight and commentary than the caveman-like: “Music sound good, is good,” but that also speaks to A Love Supreme sounding great, even if you’re usually clueless about jazz. It is immediate in a way that a lot of jazz isn’t, and even if it’s hard to talk about, it’s never hard to listen to. If you’re intimidated by the genre, then this is an ideal starting point, as perhaps the defining gateway jazz album.

2

‘Pet Sounds’ (1966)

The Beach Boys

One of those albums that’s so untouchable it’s really quite difficult to know where to start, Pet Sounds could be the 1960s? There’s an argument to be made that it is, and that such hyperbole is perfectly reasonable. Perfectly reasonable when talking about something so perfect. It’s got some of the best songs The Beach Boys ever recorded on it, and they’re all sequenced in such an incredible way, too.

There’s a lot by way of romance and sunshine here, even if other parts of Pet Sounds sound deeply sad. It could well depend on the mood you’re in when you listen to it, since “God Only Knows” is so distinctly bittersweet, for instance, while “Wouldn’t It Be Nice” can be either crushing or energizing, or somehow a bit of both at the same time.

1

‘Abbey Road’ (1969)

The Beatles

Paul McCartney is one of many famous musicians who’ve cited Pet Sounds as influential, and McCartney was, of course, in The Beatles, with The Beatles being perhaps directly tied to the 1960s even more than The Beach Boys. The latter continued to make music after the 1960s were over, while the former band broke up in 1970, with Let It Be ultimately being the only album of the band’s not released in the 1960s.

Since the sessions for Abbey Road were the final ones The Beatles did as a band, and Abbey Road came out in 1969, then The Beatles were really just active during the one decade. And Abbey Road, though not the only perfect album by the band, is going here for being the culmination of the band’s time together, and perhaps the “most” Beatles album of the bunch; the one that could well convert anyone instantly, even if that person probably has to be hypothetical because, come on, who hasn’t heard at least one Beatles song by now?