Ranking the 1001: #1–150

Because lists are fun, and a convenient way to track my own opinions of these. I’ll re-up the ranking each time I get through another ten albums.

As always, the full album list is available in spreadsheet form (finally updated!!). I’ve also got Spotify playlists — every album I’ve finished that’s on Spotify lives here, in order, and I’ve picked a handful of essential tracks from each album; those are here.

Let’s get to the ranks!

1. Miles Davis — Kind of Blue
2. Bob Dylan — Highway 61 Revisited
3. The Beach Boys — Pet Sounds
4. The Jimi Hendrix Experience — Are You Experienced
5. The Velvet Underground — The Velvet Underground & Nico
6. Sam Cooke — Live At The Harlem Square Club
7. Otis Redding — Otis Blue: Otis Redding Sings Soul
8. The Beatles — Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band
9. Simon & Garfunkel — Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme
10. Simon & Garfunkel — Bookends
11. Bob Dylan — The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan
12. Louis Prima — The Wildest!
13. Frank Sinatra — Songs for Swingin’ Lovers
14. Phil Spector — A Christmas Gift For You
15. Bob Dylan — Blonde on Blonde
16. Jerry Lee Lewis — Live At The Star-Club Hamburg
17. Nina Simone — Wild Is The Wind
18. The Doors — The Doors
19. The Beatles — The Beatles (aka The White Album)
20. The Mamas and the Papas — If You Can Believe Your Eyes and Ears
21. Creedence Clearwater Revival — Bayou Country
22. Ray Charles — Modern Sounds In Country and Western Music
23. Dave Brubeck Quartet — Time Out
24. Aretha Franklin — Lady Soul
25. Sarah Vaughan — Live At Mister Kelly’s
26. The Byrds — Mr Tambourine Man
27. The Everly Brothers — A Date With The Everly Brothers
28. The Crickets — The “Chirping” Crickets
29. Johnny Cash — Johnny Cash At Folsom Prison
30. The Kinks — The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society
31. The Beatles — Rubber Soul
32. Crosby, Stills, and Nash — Crosby, Stills, and Nash
33. The Rolling Stones — Let It Bleed
34. The Beatles — Revolver
35. The Monks — Black Monk Time
36. The Beatles — A Hard Day’s Night
37. Jimmy Smith — Back At The Chicken Shack
38. Dusty Springfield — A Girl Called Dusty
39. Tito Puente & His Orchestra — Dance Mania Vol 1
40. Stan Getz & Joao Gilberto — Getz/Gilberto
41. Nick Drake — Five Leaves Left
42. Scott Walker — Scott 2
43. Love — Forever Changes
44. Fred Neil — Fred Neil
45. Bert Jansch — Bert Jansch
46. Ray Charles — The Genius of Ray Charles
47. The Who — The Who Sell Out
48. The Sonics — !!!Here Are The Sonics!!!
49. Muddy Waters — Muddy Waters At Newport 1960
50. Duke Ellington — Live At Newport
51. Elvis Presley — Elvis Presley
52. Loretta Lynn — Don’t Come Home A Drinkin’ (With Lovin’ On Your Mind)
53. Little Richard — Here’s Little Richard
54. Traffic — Traffic
55. The Velvet Underground — White Light / White Heat
56. The Zombies — Odessey and Oracle
57. Pink Floyd — The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn
58. Donovan — Sunshine Superman
59. Bob Dylan — Bringing It All Home
60. The United States Of America — The United States Of America
61. Big Brother and the Holding Company — Cheap Thrills
62. The Byrds — Younger Than Yesterday
63. Os Mutantes — Os Mutantes
64. Aretha Franklin — I Never Loved A Man The Way I Loved You
65. Blood, Sweat, and Tears — Blood, Sweat, and Tears
66. Cream — Disraeli Blues
67. The Beatles — With The Beatles
68. Machito — Kenya
69. Miles Davis — In A Silent Way
70. Shivkumar Sharma / Brijbushan Kabra / Hariprasad Chaurasia — Call Of The Valley
71. The Rolling Stones — Beggars Banquet
72. Dr. John — Gris Gris
73. Leonard Cohen — Songs of Leonard Cohen
74. The Kinks — Something Else
75. The Mothers of Invention — Freak Out!
76. The Jimi Hendrix Experience — Electric Ladyland
77. The Band — Music from Big Pink (1968)
78. The Beatles — Abbey Road
79. The Rolling Stones — Aftermath
80. Ella Fitzgerald — Sings The Gershwin Song Book
81. The Who — My Generation
82. Count Basie — The Atomic Mr. Basie
83. Johnny Cash — At San Quentin
84. Small Faces — Ogdens Nut Gone Flake
85. Jefferson Airplane — Surrealistic Pillow
86. The Kinks — Face To Face
87. Ramblin’ Jack Elliot — Jack Takes The Floor/Muleskinner
88. Creedence Clearwater Revival — Green River
89. Stan Getz and Charlie Byrd — Jazz Samba
90. Sabu — Palo Congo
91. Neil Young with Crazy Horse — Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere
92. Jacques Brel — Olympia 64
93. The Who — Tommy
94. The Byrds — The Notorious Byrd Brothers
95. The Jimi Hendrix Experience — Axis (Bold As Love)
96. The Yardbirds — Roger The Engineer
97. James Brown — Live At The Apollo
98. The Flying Burrito Brothers — The Gilded Palace Of Sin
99. Laura Nyro — Eli and the Thirteenth Confession
100. Blue Cheer — Vincebus Eruptum
101. Moby Grape — Moby Grape
102. Buffalo Springfield — Buffalo Springfield Again
103. Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band — Trout Mask Replica
104. Francis Albert Sinatra and Antonio Carlos Jobim — (Self Titled)
105. Tim Buckley — Goodbye and Hello
106. The Beach Boys — The Beach Boys Today!
107. The 13th Floor Elevators — The Psychedelic Sounds of the 13th Floor Elevators
108. Paul Revere and the Raiders — Midnight Ride
109. The Byrds — Fifth Dimension
110. Marty Robbins — Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs
111. B.B. King — Live At The Regal
112. Jeff Beck — Truth (1968)
113. The Byrds — Sweetheart of the Rodeo
114. The Electric Prunes — I Had Too Much To Dream Last Night
115. Fats Domino — This Is Fats
116. The Beau Brummels — Triangle
117. The Mothers of Invention — We’re Only In This For The Money
118. The Young Rascals — Groovin’
119. Country Joe & The Fish — Electric Music for The Mind And Body
120. Miriam Makeba — Miriam Makeba
121. John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers — Blues Breakers With Eric Clapton
122. The Rolling Stones — The Rolling Stones
123. Ray Price — Night Life
124. Frank Sinatra — In The Wee Small Hours
125. Caetano Veloso — Caetano Veloso
126. John Coltrane — A Love Supreme
127. Miles Davis — Birth of the Cool
128. Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band — Safe As Milk
129. Charles Mingus — The Black Saint And The Sinner Lady
130. Elvis Presley — Elvis is Back!
131. Astrud Gilberto — Beach Samba
132. Bill Evans Trio — Sunday at the Village Vanguard
133. Solomon Burke — Rock ‘N Soul
134. Booker T & The M.G.’s — Green Onions
135. Van Morrison — Astral Weeks
136. Pentangle — Basket of Light
137. Iron Butterfly — In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida
138. Joan Baez — Joan Baez
139. Nico — Chelsea Girl
140. Billie Holliday — Lady in Satin
141. Merle Haggard and the Strangers — I’m A Lonesome Fugitive
142. Thelonious Monk — Brilliant Corners
143. Love — Da Capo
144. Bee Gees — Odessa
145. The Pretty Things — S.F. Sorrow
146. Ravi Shankar — The Sounds of India (1968)
147. The Monkees — Headquarters
148. Buck Owens — I’ve Got A Tiger By The Tail
149. The Incredible String Band — The Hangman’s Beautiful Daughter
150. The Louvin Brothers — Tragic Songs of Life