The Top 10 Rock Albums Of All Time According To Rateyourmusic.com

I’m a big fan of the site RateYourMusic.com (I’m also a huge fan of the site http://www.MusicByDay.com by the way!) and one thing I really like to look at is the overall charts to see which albums have been the top rated of all time. If you don’t know what RateYourMusic.com is, it’s a site where music lovers (like myself) rate all of the albums they’ve listened to. Some raters also write their own reviews which can be very interesting to read.
This article is a review of the top 10 rock albums listed (removing the jazz albums that are listed in the top 10 because while I do enjoy jazz I don’t feel I know enough about it to really review it.)
#1 The Beatles – Revolver
As a huge Beatles fan I’m definitely glad they have the #1 spot although personally I feel that Revolver has become a bit overrated in the backlash to Sgt Pepper’s supposed overrated-ness! As great as Revolver is (and it is really great) I don’t feel it should rank above either Sgt Pepper or The White Album. That being said the songs on Revolver are truly timeless and beautiful. The album was also extremely groundbreaking and has been almost incalculable in it’s influence.
#2 The Beatles – Abbey Road
I’d personally probably rank Abbey Road as the fourth best Beatles album so I think it’s slightly overrated as well here. It’s still a great album but for my tastes it’s not quite “far out” enough in comparison to some of the other great Beatles albums. The second side is quite glorious though.
#3 Bob Dylan – Highway 61 Revisited
I’m not sure you could go wrong with about 5 different Dylan albums here. “Ballad of a Thin Man” is my personal favorite track on this album.
#4 Bob Dylan – Blood on the Tracks
I don’t quite enjoy this Dylan period as much as his 60s stuff. I think I may even prefer his recent trilogy (at least Time Out of Mind & Modern Times) over Blood on the Tracks, not sure why. This is still a great album, don’t get me wrong.
#5 The Velvet Underground – The Velvet Underground & Nico
I’m a fan of The Velvet Underground yet I do think this album is probably a little overrated here.
#6 Radiohead – OK Computer
This album is now nearly 10 years old and it is the most recent album on the list. I certainly believe it belongs on the list, although I think Kid A should be ranked just as high, if not higher!
#7 The Beatles – The Beatles (The White Album)
This is my #1! I would rank this as the greatest album of all time because of it’s expansiveness and how many times I can replay it without ever getting tired of it. It’s not as cohesive as most (any?) of the albums on the top 10 and it has a few tracks that aren’t that great by Beatles standards yet somehow it all just works perfectly together for me.
#8 Bob Dylan – Blonde on Blonde
I’d rank this one over Blood on the Tracks for sure. Not sure vs. Highway 61 Revisited.
#9 Bob Dylan – Bringing it all Back Home
This is the fourth Dylan album on the top 10 to go along with the 3 Beatles albums. It’s no surprise really. There’s really no competition when it comes to who are the two most important acts in rock music history. It’s Dylan and the Beatles.
#10 Pink Floyd – The Dark Side of the Moon
I actually feel this album should probably rank even higher. It’s a timeless psychedelic classic. This album is just about as close to perfection as you can find.