1. Not content with pushing the concept album forward on The Who Sell Out, Pete Townshend wanted more. An album that told a story with defined characters, an album that would sound as great live as recorded, an album meant to be listened to in whole yet effective when split to…

1. In a genuinely shocking turn of events, this is the final Beatles album to make the 1001. The curators of this list omitted Let It Be, the last-released and controversial Beatles studio album, a decision I respect but find shocking given what seems to be an intentional effort at completionism…

1. The second CCR album of 1969, and a very strong companion piece to Bayou Country. Song for song, this is another brilliant, sharp, compact album that puts its foot on the gas and doesn’t let up. It’s tough to single out individual tracks when the whole is this great.
2. Evidently…

1. I guess when you hit pay-dirt the way Cash did with At Folsom Prison, you’d be crazy not to go back to the well for more. But one gets the sense it wasn’t about the payday for Cash; it was a genuine interest in connecting with the forgotten element of…

1. After hearing Gram Parsons take The Byrds in regrettable directions, I was wary of hearing this project of his. …

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.

Back at it again with the rankings.

As always, the full album list is available in spreadsheet form (finally updated!!). I’ve also got…

1. This album is a blast, a jazzy rock and roll album that surprises at every turn. The second album by Blood, Sweat, and Tears, and the first after founding member Al Kooper left, it frequently reminds of everything from James Brown to The Weather Report and Jimmy Smith. …

1. By the time David Crosby, Stephen Stills, and Graham Nash got together, they’d already spent the prior five years dropping enough classic music between them for a lifetime. Crosby’s work with The Byrds and Stills with Buffalo Springfield in particular have been covered ad nauseam on this blog. This isn’t…