The Best Rocking Album Of All Time (1955-1985)

[Pontiuth Pilate]

I'm not going to limit myself to 20 specific albums because I'm bound to leave some off and then people will get mad

Instead, please select the band you think released the best rock (or rock-blues, rock-folk etc) album between 1955 and 1985. And tell us what you think it is!

Please Note: Best-of albums DO NOT count, even if they were released between 1955-1985.

If the band you think released the greatest album still isn't on the list, check other and tell us what I left off

Wait for the poll...

 

[Savage Discipil]

Hendrix!

 

[farting bob]

Led zepplin IV is my second favourite album of all time. Only Guns'n'Roses Appetite for Destruction is better IMO, but that was later.

 

[Birdjaguar]

Tough decision, but went for Mick and the boys. Runner ups would be Beatles, Springsteen, & the Who.

Posters who vote for any group except those mentioned in my post don't get a poem on their birthday.

 

[blindside]

You put in Van Halen but left out AC/DC? Back in Black is the 5th best selling album of all time.

Anyway I voted for Led Zeppelin. Led Zeppelin II is perhaps my favorite album of all time and definetely the most rocking. Second I would put Dark Side of the Moon with Who's Next as a close third place.

 

[Syterion]

Pink Floyd. Dark Side, Wish You Were Here, Meddle, all were great. I don't like the Rolling Stones, I like Pink Floyd's style more than the Beatles, and Led Zeppelin is overrated. Still good, just overrated. I'd say my runner up would be Are you Experienced? by the Jimi Hendrix Experience.

 

[sysyphus]

You put in Van Halen but left out AC/DC? Back in Black is the 5th best selling album of all time.

Agreed, ACDC are probably the most rocking band I can think of, though if I had to pick an album I probably choose Who's Next.

I thought Pink Floyd was a strange choice, one of the greatest of all time indeed, but they didn't really "rock".

 

[FearlessLeader2]

Yah, see there's the thing. A lot of the bands on this list didn't 'rock' at all.

'Rock' means more than just 'play music that annoys my parents'. It means 'play music that stirs me; makes me want to dance, sing, or hump'. Of all the bands listed, the one that does that best for me is The Doors. They're my karaoke favorite, and I do a kick-ass Jim Morrison imitation.

The Beatles are undoubtedly a great band, but almost none of their music rocked. I've never been a huge Jimi Hendrix fan, he rocked a little too hard for me. Led Zepplin and Rush are my two favorite heavy metal bands, and the desire to sing along with either is instinctual.

Ramones music is PERFECT for dancing. Queen, The Who, Clapton, Floyd, and the like were all just great bands to listen to, and there is no doubt that any of them rocked the house down wherever they played, but other than one or two 'signature tunes' like Wish You Were Here and Fat Bottom Girls, not much to sign along with, and nothing to dance to.

Still and all, this list reads like you took the names off my CD collections' spines...except for Elvis and the Beach Boys. That's not rock, that's rock and roll. Completely different animal.

 

[DBear]

Yes--Close to the Edge ('72)

 

[Pontiuth Pilate]

Rush, Yes, and ACDC were definite candidates for the list, but I only had 20 slots

Rock is more than music that you want to dance to. When I think "hard-rocking" I'm thinking of yer typical electric guitar setup, playing music that's huddled up on the boundary of not-quite-metal... Hard-rocking songs in my world include Helter Skelter, Kashmir, Layla, While My Guitar Gently Weeps, Voodoo Child, Crossroads, Jumping Jack Flash - you get the picture. Twould be pretty hard to dance to or sing along with Voodoo Child, but that song is rockin'

I included other bands from this period because other people clearly have other definitions of what constitutes "hard-rocking." Some people might think that one of the quieter Dylan songs still "rocks."

My personal vote is for Led Zeppelin. Not sure which album though... and I have to admit that the Stones canon as a whole would be unbeatable, if I'd allowed Best Of albums.

 

[sysyphus]

Ramones music is PERFECT for dancing. Queen, The Who, Clapton, Floyd, and the like were all just great bands to listen to, and there is no doubt that any of them rocked the house down wherever they played, but other than one or two 'signature tunes' like Wish You Were Here and Fat Bottom Girls, not much to sign along with, and nothing to dance to.

Agreed, except why did you include the Who? Maybe not their later stuff, but ealier songs like My Generation and Substitute are big time rocking tunes. The fact that they were well covered by alot of punk bands (real ones from the 70s, not today's rubbish) speaks volumes in that regard. Mods were basically pre-punks.

 

[madviking]

Pink Floyd, DUH!
DSotM is undoubtily the best album ever.

 

[Yom]

Way too hard. Cream, Hendrix, Floyd, and LZ are all too good for me to choose between them. Beatles are up there, but a little short of these four.

 

[America444]

Aerosmith's Toys in the Attic

 

[cgannon64]

Bob Dylan's Highway 61 Revisted or Blonde on Blonde are, I think, way more rockin' than anything the Beatles put out. I'm making a distinction between "most rockin' album" and "best rock album" which I think is important.

The reason they should also be considered competitive with the Beatles' albums for best rock album is because Bob Dylan's lyrics were the inspiration for the Beatles' turn to more serious music. (As well as the chemicals he introduced them to. ) Not to mention that he did serious lyrics a thousand times better than John or Paul or even George. Bob Dylan is as close to a poet as any modern musician has gotten. If anything, we may have to damn him for making every musician try to pick up a pen and write pretentious lyrics. That may be a curse he gave us.

I also can't forget the Rolling Stones. Again, way more rockin' than the Beatles.

 

[blindside]

I'm not too familiar with Dylan's stuff but Pink Floyd's lyrics are quite poetic as well.

 

[BobTheTerrible]

Pink Floyd, DUH!
DSotM is undoubtily the best album ever.

Wholeheartedly agree. I'm not entirely a fan of all things floyd, but Dark Side is a wonderful piece of music.

 

[bad_ronald]

I'll do my top five albums from '55-'85 (and I encourage everyone else to post pics of their top album, for the sake of coolness ):

#5: Led Zeppelin - Physical Grafitti:


#4: Rolling Stones - Beggars Banquet:


#3: The Doors - Waiting for the Sun:


#2 Aerosmith - Get Your Wings:


#1 Jimi Hendrix - Electric Ladyland:


I voted for Hendrix but felt that the above artists deserved recognition .

 

[Left]

Ill put my vote in for Hendrix - but Back in Black was rocking in its most pure, unadulterated form.

 

[Bartleby]

If you like to gamble, I'm your man
Win some, lose some, it's all the same to me
The pleasure is to play, it makes no difference what you say
I don't share your greed, the only card I need
The ace of spades, the ace of spades

Motorhead, ladies and gentlemen, Motorhead.