The following are what I believe to be the greatest recorded works ever created. Feel free to disagree and/or complain, but I hope you discover some new favorites.
pre 1969
- The Beatles "Rubber Soul"
- The Beatles "White Album"
- James Brown "Live at the Apollo (1963)"
- Ornette Coleman "The Shape of Jazz to Come"
- John Coltrane "Giant Steps"
- Miles Davis "Kind of Blue"
- MC5 "Kick Out the Jams"
- Charles Mingus "Mingus ah uhm"
- Sonny Rollins "Plus 4"
- Sonny Rollins "Way Out West"
- Thelonious Monk "Monk's Music"
- Velvet Underground "The Velvet Underground & Nico"
1970s
- Buzzcocks "Another Music In A Different Kitchen"
- The Clash "London Calling"
- Devo "Freedom of Choice"
- The Grateful Dead "American Beauty"
- Iggy & The Stooges "Raw Power"
- Joy Division "Unknown Pleasures"
- Led Zeppelin "II"
- Van Morrison "Moondance"
- Willie Nelson "Red Headed Stranger"
- Pink Floyd "Dark Side Of The Moon"
- Ramones "Ramones"
- Sam and Dave "The Best of Sam and Dave"
- Van Halen "Van Halen"
- Velvet Underground "Loaded"
- Townes Van Zandt "The Late Great Townes Van Zandt"
- The Who "Live at Leeds"
- The Who "Who's Next?"
1980s
Due to a Twitter #7albums80s poll conducted by @RichardS7370, I took a hard look and expanded my best of 80s list.
My top 7 (in order)
- The Smiths "Strangeways, Here We Come"
- The Stone Roses "The Stone Roses"
- Violent Femmes "Violent Femmes"
- Lou Reed "New York"
- The Wedding Present "Bizarro"
- REM "Life's Rich Pageant"
- The Cure "Disintegration"
From top7albums.com
7 just outside the bubble (in order)
- Hüsker Dü "New Day Rising"
- Sonic Youth "Daydream Nation"
- The Fall "Hex Induction Hour"
- The Birthday Party "Junkyard"
- The Jesus & Mary Chain "Psychocandy"
- X "Los Angeles"
- The Replacements "Tim"
And a few more
- Cowboy Junkies "The Trinity Session"
- Pixies "Doolittle"
- New Order "Power, Corruption & Lies"
- The Smiths "The Queen Is Dead"
- They Might Be Giants "Lincoln"
- Wedding Present "George Best"
- U2 "War"
1990s
- Beastie Boys "Check Your Head"
- Beck "Odelay"
- Boards of Canada "Music Has the Right to Children"
- Crystal Method "Vegas"
- Drive Like Jehu "Yank Crime"
- DJ Shadow "...Endtroducing"
- The Flaming Lips "The Soft Bulletin"
- Fugazi "Repeater"
- Guided by Voices "Alien Lanes"
- Guided by Voices "Bee Thousand"
- Mogwai "Young Team"
- Neutral Milk Hotel "In An Airplane Over The Sea"
- PJ Harvey "Is This Desire?"
- Public Enemy "Fear of a Black Planet"
- Radiohead "OK Computer"
- Refused "The Shape of Punk to Come"
- Sleater-Kinney "Call The Doctor"
- Elliott Smith "Either/Or"
- The Wedding Present "Seamonsters"
- Wilco "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot"
2000s
- Andrew Bird "Andrew Bird & the Mysterious Production of Eggs"
- Bloc Party "Silent Alarm"
- Broken Social Scene "You Forgot It in People"
- Danger Doom "The Mouse and the Mask"
- The Hives "Veni Vidi Vicious"
- Interpol "Antics"
- Interpol "Turn on the Bright Lights"
- PJ Harvey "Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea"
- The Lucksmiths "Warmer Corners"
- Modest Mouse "The Moon and Antartica"
- Radiohead "Kid A"
- Radiohead "Hail to the Thief"
- The Shins "Chutes Too Narrow by The Shins"
- The Strokes "Is This It?"
- The Wrens "The Meadowlands"
- Tokyo Police Club "A Lesson in Crime"
- The xx "xx"
- Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs "Fever to Tell"
2010s
- Arcade Fire "The Suburbs"
- Beastie Boys "Hot Sauce Committee Part 2"
- Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds "Push The Sky Away"
- Deerhunter "Monomania"
- DOOM "Born Like This"
- The Hives "Lex Hives"
- Japandroids "Celebration Rock"
- Morrissey "Years of Refusal"
- Mountain Goats "Heritic Pride"
- Phoenix "Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix"
- Radiohead "King of Limbs"
- Sharks "The Joys of Living 2008-2010"
- Spiritualized "Sweet Heart Sweet Light"
- Swearin' "Swearin'"
2020s to the present
- Phoebe Bridges “Punisher”
- Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds “Idiot Prayer - Nick Cave Alone at Alexandra Palace”
- Dry Cleaning “New Long Leg”
- Fuzz “Levitation Sessions (Live)”
- IDLES “Ultra Mono”
- Kevin Morby “Sundowner”
- The Lawrence Arms “Skeleton Coast”
- Shifting “It Was Good”
- Teenage Bottlerocket “Sick Sesh”
- Tycho “Simulcast”
- Waxahatchee “Saint Cloud”
- Valerie June “The Moon and Stars: Prescriptions for Dreamers"