The best 14 albums from 1986, pulled from the best 1,000 albums ever project — Beastie Boys, Metallica, Bon Jovi, R.E.M., and more.
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Category: Best 1,000 Albums Ever
The audacious (never before seen in human history?) ranking of the best 1,000 albums ever — each with a deep dive, personal stories, and pop culture tie-ins.
The best 15 albums from 2001 ever
White Stripes, Wu-Tang, Weezer, and Gorillaz headline a stacked ranking of 2001’s best albums, pulled from the best 1,000 albums ever.
The best 14 albums from 1965 ever
14 albums from 1965 highlighted from the best 1,000 albums ever project, including multiple selections from The Beatles, The Byrds, and Bob Dylan.
The best 20 albums from 1998 ever
The best 20 albums from 1998 as pulled from the best 1,000 albums project, including The Suicide Machines, Beastie Boys, Beck, Jurassic 5, Lauryn Hill, and more.
The 16 best albums from 1980 ever
The 16 best albums of 1980 – including Dead Kennedys, Devo, Prince, X, Wipers, The Clash, U2, and more – pulled from the best 1,000 albums ever.
The six best Mighty Mighty Bosstones albums ever
From the scorching live classic that cracked the best 1,000 albums ever’s Top 50 to the debut that made a believer out of a generation of ska punk fans.
The nine best albums from 1976 ever
The nine best albums from 1976, including the Ramones, Bob Dylan’s Desire, Boston, and The Modern Lovers.
The eight best albums from 1966 ever
Revolver. Pet Sounds. Blonde on Blonde. 1966 was not messing around in delivering the best albums ever.
The best 15 albums from 1978 ever
The best 15 albums from 1978, pulled from the best 1,000 albums ever project, including scorchers from Elvis Costello, the Talking Heads, and Blondie.
The best 11 albums from 1985 ever
The best 11 albums from 1985 ever — featuring Echo & The Bunnymen, Tom Waits, Hüsker Dü, Dire Straits, and more.
The best seven Beastie Boys albums ever
The Beastie Boys made eight studio albums. Seven of them made the best 1,000 albums ever. Here they are, ranked, with a pull quote from each piece.
The best 14 albums from 1984 ever
The best 14 albums from 1984 — from Cheepskates to Purple Rain to Hüsker Dü — pulled from the best 1,000 albums ever project.
Eight great albums from 2011
Eight albums from 2011 that made the best 1,000 albums ever — from R.E.M.’s stunning farewell to Foster the People, Duran Duran, and the Beastie Boys’ wild final bow.
The best eight albums from 1973 ever
The best eight albums from 1973 span hard rock, glam, reggae, and art rock.
The best 14 albums from 2009 ever
The best 14 albums from 2009, ranked: R.E.M., Flight of the Conchords, MF Doom, Eminem, and more.
The best six Midnight Oil albums ever
Midnight Oil made 13 studio albums. Six of them landed on the best 1,000 albums ever — here’s the ranked list.
The best 13 albums from 1981 ever
The 13 best albums of 1981, ranked — from Devo and Black Flag to the Go-Go’s and Rush, with a lyric to remember each one by.
Every R.E.M. album ranked
R.E.M.’s full catalog ranked, with New Adventures in Hi-Fi at #1 and some opinions that will absolutely start a riot at the 40 Watt.
The 50 best ska punk albums ever
Operation Ivy to The Bosstones to Rancid and beyond — the 50 greatest ska punk albums ever, ranked and drawn from the best 1,000 albums ever project.
The best 100 classic rock albums ever
The best 100 classic rock albums ever — Led Zeppelin, The Doors, The Beatles and much more.
10 Scorching Garage Punk Albums You May Have Missed
Ten scorching garage punk albums from the best 1,000 albums ever project that should be on your radar.
Nirvana – Nevermind: #1 of best 1,000 albums ever!
I don’t care what you think unless it is about me.
R.E.M. – New Adventures in Hi-Fi: #2 of best 1,000 albums ever!
I don’t know what I’m hungry for – I don’t know what I want anymore.
Led Zeppelin – Physical Graffiti: #3 of best 1,000 albums ever!
Talk and song from tongues of lilting grace, sounds caress my ear.
The Doors – The Doors: #4 of best 1,000 albums ever!
Break on through to the other side.
Frank Black – Teenager of the Year: #5 of best 1,000 albums ever!
I want to live on an abstract plain.
Beastie Boys – Paul’s Boutique: #6 of best 1,000 albums ever!
It’s the sound of science.
The Raconteurs – Consolers of the Lonely: #16 of best 1,000 albums ever!
How you gonna top yourself when there is nobody else?
Operation Ivy – Operation Ivy: #7 of best 1,000 albums ever!
Sound system gonna bring me back up, yeah, one thing that I can depend on.
Wu-Tang Clan – Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers): #8 of best 1,000 albums ever!
And if you want beef, then bring the ruckus.
The Beatles – Abbey Road: #9 of best 1,000 albums ever!
Because the world is round, it turns me on because the world is round.
Rage Against the Machine – Rage Against the Machine: #10 of best 1,000 albums ever!
The land of the free? Whoever told you that is your enemy.
Nirvana – MTV Unplugged in New York: #11 of best 1,000 albums ever!
In the pines, in the pines, where the sun don’t ever shine, I would shiver the whole night through.
The Doors – Strange Days: #12 of best 1,000 albums ever!
Cancel my subscription to the resurrection.
A Tribe Called Quest – Midnight Marauders: #13 of best 1,000 albums ever!
We can get down.
The Beatles – Revolver: #14 of best 1,000 albums ever!
All the lonely people – where do they all come from?
R.E.M. – Live at the Olympia: #15 of best 1,000 albums ever!
This is not a show.
Radiohead – Kid A: #17 of best 1,000 albums ever!
I’m not here, this isn’t happening.
Beck – One Foot in the Grave: #18 of best 1,000 albums ever!
I got time on my hands.
The White Stripes – White Blood Cells: #19 of best 1,000 albums ever!
Said it once before but it bears repeating now.
Blur – Blur: #20 of best 1,000 albums ever!
I got my head done, when I was young.
Beastie Boys – Check Your Head: #21 of best 1,000 albums ever!
You think that you can front when revelation comes?
Led Zeppelin – Houses of the Holy: #22 of best 1,000 albums ever!
Many times I’ve lied, many times I’ve listened. Many times I’ve gazed along the open road.
Nirvana – With the Lights Out: #23 of best 1,000 albums ever!
One more day to complain my servant. One more doubt here to find a servant.
Beck – Odelay: #24 of best 1,000 albums ever!
Pulling out jives and jamboree handouts – two turntables and a microphone.
Guns N’ Roses – Appetite for Destruction: #25 of best 1,000 albums ever!
Welcome to the jungle.
The Suicide Machines – Battle Hymns: #26 of best 1,000 albums ever!
And what do we learn? To kill better.
Wu-Tang Clan – Wu-Tang Forever: #27 of best 1,000 albums ever!
I bomb atomically, Socrates’ philosophies and hypotheses can’t define how I be droppin’ these mockeries.
The Beatles – Rubber Soul: #28 of best 1,000 albums ever!
What goes on in your heart? What goes on in your mind?
Frank Black & The Catholics – Pistolero: #29 of best 1,000 albums ever!
Yo soy un pistelero, I’m not shaking in my boots.