A Basic Rock Listening Vocabulary
Records I think everyone in their right mind should listen to at least once, or you really don't know what you're talking about.
This is a list of records and artists I think everyone should hear once in their lives, separated by decade of recording. It is absolutely not, however, the best records of all time. I flat out hate some of the records and artists on this list. These albums defined the times in which they were released. These albums were bought, listened to, videoed, discussed, loved, played, and taken as influences by more people than any others. You might retitle this 'the biggest cliches in rock history', but hey...some may find this useful. You'll find a lot of singles collections and otherwise 'greatest hits' here, rather than albums that might not be good introductions to a group. No true music fan should let any of the albums or artists go neglected, some if only for documentary purposes. At least try something by them...you may just open your horizons.
Note: These are not necessarily listed in the order of importance. Items will be added as they pop into my head.
(2004 Update: This list is now wildly out of date, but probably 80% of it is still accurate. You can skip buying that Sheryl Crow record I list down there, though.)
1950's
Presley, Elvis - Elvis' Gold Records
Berry, Chuck - The Great Twenty Eight
Holly, Buddy - Buddy Holly's Greatest Hits
Something by Jerry Lee Lewis, Little Richard, Muddy Waters, Miles Davis, Frank Sinatra, the Everly Brothers, Bo Diddley, Hank Williams Sr., Johnny Cash, Patsy Cline, Les Paul
1960's
Beatles, The - Please Please Me, A Hard Day's Night, Beatles for Sale, Rubber Soul, Revolver, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, The Beatles, Abbey Road
Rolling Stones, The - Now!, Aftermath, The London Singles Collection (or Hot Rocks vol. I and II), Beggar's Banquet, Let it Bleed
Animals, The - The Animals Greatest Hits
Dylan, Bob - Bob Dylan, Freewheelin' Bob Dylan, Bringing it All Back Home, Blonde on Blonde, Greatest Hits, John Wesley Harding
Who, The - Meaty, Beaty, Big, and Bouncy, Tommy
Kinks, The - Kink's Greatest Hits, Village Green Preservation Society, Arthur, Kink Kronicles
Beach Boys, The - Pet Sounds, Endless Summer
Doors, The - The Doors Greatest Hits
Brown, James - James Brown Live at the Apollo
Velvet Underground, The - Velvet Underground and Nico, The Velvet Underground
Jefferson Airplane, The - 2400 Fulton St.
Jimi Hendrix Experience, The - Are You Experienced (reissue)
Byrds, The - The Byrds Greatest Hits
Sly and the Family Stone - Greatest Hits
King Crimson - In the Court of the Crimson King
Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin I, II
Pink Floyd - Piper at the Gates of Dawn
Redding, Otis - 20 Greatest Hits
Simon and Garfunkel - Greatest Hits
Credence Clearwater Revival - Chronicle
Miles Davis - Bitches Brew
Nuggets
Something by Cream, the Yardbirds, the Grateful Dead, Marvin Gaye, the Supremes, the Temptations, the Four Tops, Van Morrison (with and without Them), John Coltrane, Ike and Tina Turner, Small Faces, Stevie Wonder, Ray Charles, Frank Zappa, Dick Dale, The Ventures, Merle Haggard, Syd Barrett, the Lovin' Spoonful
1970's
Led Zeppelin - untitled, Houses of the Holy
Yes - The Yes Album, Fragile
Abba - Abba Gold
Deep Purple - In Rock, Deepest Purple (the Very Best of Deep Purple)
Black Sabbath - any album before 1973
Alice Cooper - Greatest Hits
Lennon, John - Plastic Ono Band, Shaved Fish
McCartney, Paul (and Wings) - All the Best
Harrison, George - All Things Must Pass
Rolling Stones, The - Sticky Fingers, Exile on Main St.
Stooges, The - Fun House, Raw Power
Who, The - Live at Leeds (reissue), Who's Next
Dylan, Bob - Blood on the Tracks
Derek and the Dominoes - Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs
Bowie, David - Changesbowie
Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon, Wish You Were Here, The Wall
Queen - Queen's Greatest Hits
Original Soundtrack to Saturday Night Fever
Brown, James - Sex Machine
Clash, The - Clash (US Edition)
Sly and the Family Stone - There's a Riot Goin' On
Sex Pistols - Never Mind the Bullocks Here's The Sex Pistols
Ramones, The - All the Stuff and More (vols I and II)
Smith, Patty - Horses
Young, Neil - Decade
Fleetwood Mac - Rumours
Springsteen, Bruce - any 70's record but Greeting from Asbury Park, N.J.
Wonder, Stevie - Innervisions, Songs in the Key of Life
Van Halen - I, II
Cars, The - The Cars
Curtis Mayfield - Superfly
New York Dolls, The - New York Dolls
Stewart, Rod (with or without the Faces) - Anything recorded through 1972
John, Elton - Greatest Hits
Something by Emerson, Lake, and Palmer, Electric Light Orchestra, Parliament/Funkadelic, Eric Clapton solo, Roxy Music, Brian Eno, Kraftwerk, Can, Hawkwind, Blondie, King Crimson, the Doors, Talking Heads, Wire, the Damned, Television, Richard Hell, Aerosmith, AC/DC, Motorhead, ZZ Top, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Allman Brothers, Donna Summer, the Carpenters, Crosby, Stills, and Nash, The Jackson 5, Lou Reed, Eagles, Elvis Costello, Tom Waits, Willie Nelson, Iggy Pop, Paul Simon, Genesis, Isaac Hayes, the O'Jays, Diana Ross
1980's
Jackson, Michael - Off the Wall, Thriller
Springsteen, Bruce - Born in the USA
REM - Murmur, Document
U2 - War, The Joshua Tree
Yes - 90125
Black Flag - Damaged
Run DMC - Together Forever : The Best of Run DMC
Public Enemy - It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back
Husker Du - Zen Arcade
AC/DC - Back in Black
Clash, The - London Calling
Van Halen - 1984, 5150
ZZ Top - Eliminator
NWA - Straight Outta Compton
Lennon, John and Yoko - Double Fantasy
Prince - Purple Rain, The Hits (I and II)
Guns 'n' Roses - Appetite for Destruction
Beastie Boys - License to Ill, Paul's Boutique
Gabriel, Peter - So
Metallica - Ride the Lightning
Sonic Youth - Daydream Nation
Something By The Talking Heads, Madonna, the Flaming Lips, Def Leppard, Iron Maiden, Asia, Duran Duran, Butthole Surfers, Replacements, Ozzy Osbourne, Motley Crue, the Melvins, the Police, Sting, John Cougar Mellencamp, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Iggy Pop, Phil Collins (with or without Genesis), The Dead Kennedys, Jane's Addiction, the Minutemen, Dinosaur Jr., Sonic Youth
1990's
Nirvana - Nevermind, In Utero
Pearl Jam - Ten
Red Hot Chili Peppers - Blood Sugar Sex Magick
Soundgarden - Superunknown, Badmotorfinger
U2 - Achtung Baby
REM - Out of Time, Automatic for the People
Metallica - Metallica
Radiohead - The Bends, OK Computer
Cube, Ice - Amerikkka's Most Wanted
Dre, Dr. - The Chronic
Snoop Doggy Dogg - Doggystyle
Smashing Pumpkins - Siamese Dream, Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness
Petty, Tom and the Heartbreakers - Greatest Hits
Oasis - (What's the Story) Morning Glory?
Orb, The - Adventures Beyond the Ultraworld
Chemical Brothers, The - Dig Your Own Hole
Wu Tang Clan, The - 36 Chambers
Aerosmith - Big Ones
My Bloody Valentine - Loveless
Something By the Flaming Lips, Beastie Boys, Garth Brooks, Living Colour, Madonna, Sheryl Crow, Primal Scream, Mercury Rev, Pavement, Sebadoh, Dinosaur Jr., 2Pac, Notorious B.I.G., Whitney Houston, Primus, Guns 'n' Roses, Eric Clapton, Spiritualized, Dave Matthews Band, Blur, Sepultura