The 60 Best Albums of the 1960s

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As with our previous decades lists, we polled our staff, interns and writers and whittled it down to our 60 favorite albums. However, we’ve barely scratched the surface; to avoid making this just a list of Beatles and Bob Dylan records, we’ve limited it to three albums per artist—which means some incredible works like Rubber Soul, The White Album and Bringing It All Back Home, while highly recommended by us, had to get bumped this time around. Be sure to sound off on your favorites in the comments section below.

10. John Coltrane, A Love Supreme (1965)
Jazz has a supernatural presence when crafted correctly. Through all its agitation—the off-kilter drum fills, furious horn solos, and rolling bass lines—there’s an underlying heartbeat centering the rhythm when it almost falters. Released in 1965, John Coltrane’s A Love Supreme was certainly celestial. With its cascading percussion and pervasive wind instruments, Supreme felt like a humid summer day: there’s the pleasant morning breeze that awakens you (“Part I: Acknowledgement”) and the swanky afternoon strut down the block (“Part II: Resolution”). Then there’s the tumultuous storm which cools the horizon (“Part IV: Psalm”). A Love Supreme was a shining example of cohesion, with Coltrane at the helm.—Marcus J. Moore

9. James Brown, Live at the Apollo (1963)
On October 24, 1962, James Brown recorded his performance at the Apollo Theater despite his record label’s opposition. King Records didn’t think that this kind of live recording, one without any new material, would sell well. Brown ended up fronting the recording costs—which not only went on to earn commercial success, but ultimately become one of the most essential live albums respective to an artist’s catalog. At that time, he had developed a reputation as a transcendent showman, but it wasn’t until this record that he, along with The Famous Flames, shared that energy with a wider audience. From slow, soul-stirring ballads like “Try Me” to the frenetic double-time of “Night Train,” James Brown Live at The Apollo, 1962 captures the Godfather of Soul in all his glory.—Max Blau

8. Johnny Cash, At Folsom Prison (1968)
The Man in Black was also no stranger to pinstripes as he’d been arrested twice in 1965—for smuggling Dexedrine capsules across the Mexican border and trespassing in Starkville, Miss., to pick flowers. But his interest in prisons dated back to 1953, when he saw Crane Wilbur’s drama Inside the Walls of Folsom Prison. His 1955 hit “Folsom Prison Blues” resulted in invitations from inmates around the country to come play their prisons, something he did fairly regularly early in his career. But it wasn’t until 1968, when drug abuse had led to career struggles that the singer approached Columbia Records with the idea for a live album from a penitentiary. He played two 24-song sets at Folsom with Carl Perkins, the Tennessee Three and his future wife June Carter, whittling the album down to 16 tracks. The venue is a perfect fit for a man who’d struggled with his own demons and could sing about them honestly without losing sight of his own redemption.—Josh Jackson

7. The Jimi Hendrix Experience, Are You Experienced? (1967)
As his all-too-brief recording career bloomed and wilted, sonic virtuoso Jimi Hendrix grew into his role as a recording studio visionary, helping change perceptions of what a rock song could sound like. He perfected his blend of psychedelic songwriting and wizard-like electric guitar flourishes on 1967’s Axis: Bold as Love, but on Are You Experienced?, his debut album with The Experience (drummer Mitch Mitchell, bassist Noel Redding), he harnessed the sound of a raw, thrilling power trio at the peak of its power. “Foxy Lady” has one of the downright nastiest riffs ever recorded, and “Fire” is the most appropriately titled song in rock history.—Ryan Reed

6. Bob Dylan, Blonde on Blonde (1966)
After going electric and releasing two records full of raving existentialism and subversive societal commentary in Bringing It All Back Home and Highway 61 Revisited, Dylan took a broader, more tender approach to his 1966 double album Blonde on Blonde. Though still rife with surreal imagery, the album tackles more love-centric themes with songs such as “Visions of Johanna,” “I Want You” and “Absolutely Sweet Marie.” This was also Dylan’s first album recording with Robbie Robertson of The Band, and with John Wesley Harding and Nashville Skyline to follow, Blonde on Blonde would signal Dylan’s transition into more laid-back, country-inspired material.—Ryan Bort

5. The Beatles, Revolver (1966)
Picking “the greatest” Beatles album is like a mother picking her favorite child: You know you really shouldn’t, and saying “They’re all equal” is an appropriate response, even if you secretly know the truth. The band’s 1966 masterpiece, Revolver, is my secret favorite child—it’s The Fab Four’s most melodically beautiful album, and the headphone-worthy details drift by like soothing psychedelic clouds, even at its grittiest (the reversed guitars on George Harrison’s biting “Taxman,” Paul McCartney’s mind-numbing bass runs on the underrated “And Your Bird Can Sing”). There’s pure ear-candy fluff (“Yellow Submarine”), haunting balladry (McCartney’s masterful “Eleanor Rigby”), and trailblazing experimentation (Lennon’s droning, LSD binge “Tomorrow Never Knows”), and somehow it all hangs together perfectly—sort of like the greatest album ever made.—Ryan Reed

4. The Rolling Stones, Let It Bleed (1969)
The Rolling Stones released Let It Bleed on Dec. 5, 1969. One day later, one murder and three accidental deaths occurred at the Altamont Speedway Free Festival. While it’s likely that the proximity of the two dates was coincidental, the end of the hippie era came right after The Rolling Stones released an album that spoke to the tumultuous times surrounding the present day. “Gimme Shelter” infamously opens their album, warning about the violence and crime lurking just around the bend. Keith Richards wrote some of his finest riffs on Let It Bleed, filling out their songs alongside Mick Jagger’s darker lyrics on war, drugs and loneliness. Ultimately, as with many Stones albums, the tales of redemption and glimmers of hope reign supreme. Let It Bleed closes with “You Can’t Always Get What You Want,” wrapping up the last great album released in the ’60s. In closing out a volatile decade, it offers reassurance and hope in the simplest of messages—complete with a celestial choir to bring it all on home.—Max Blau

3. The Beach Boys, Pet Sounds (1966)
Up until 1966, it was hard to think of anything else than waves, surfboards and summer heat when referencing The Beach Boys. But all of that changed with the release of Pet Sounds, an initially unsuccessful album for the group that is now its most beloved. The album’s recording started shortly after chief Beach Boys songwriter Brian Wilson—who battled with depression, anxiety and other mental issues while on tour with the group—left the road in 1965 to focus on studio recording. With this new studio-centered dedication, The Beach Boys’ 11th album features not only some of the most beautiful, impressive arrangement of the 1960s, but of all time. Part of it was the spirit of creative one-upping between Wilson and The Beatles that started with the release of Rubber Soul, which Wilson countered with the lush, heartfelt 13-track Pet Sounds. Wilson paired with Tony Asher for most of the tracks, which include unforgettable classics like “Wouldn’t It Be Nice,” “I’m Waiting for the Day” and Paul McCartney’s favorite track of all time, “God Only Knows.”—Tyler Kane

2. Bob Dylan, Highway 61 Revisited (1965)
Highway 61, much like the thoroughfare that stretches from Dylan’s native Minnesota and follows the Mississippi down to New Orleans from which it takes its name, represents a certain musical journey. While Highway 61 is the route the delta blues took to travel north, Highway 61 is Bob Dylan’s path to the stratosphere. It’s the logical next step after Bringing It All Back Home, expanding upon the electric sounds he played with on that record. But—more importantly—it’s Dylan in top form, perhaps the first time he truly successfully paired his unparalleled lyricism (see dynamite lines like “dropping a barbell, he points to the sky, saying ‘the sun’s not yellow, it’s chicken’” off of “Tombstone Blues”) with that rock ‘n’ roll music the kids were getting into. The result is some of ol’ Robert Zimmerman’s finest material, including the title track, “Desolation Row,” “It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train to Cry,” and of course, his masterpiece, “Like A Rolling Stone.” So, “how does it feel”? Pretty damn good.—Bonnie Stiernberg

1. The Beatles, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967)
In a decade defined by sweeping cultural paradigm shifts, The Beatles’ music helped the world’s youths make sense of the changing times around them. The Fab Four’s golden years took place from approximately 1965-1969, during which they transformed themselves and continually progressed on the grandest of scales. As John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr went from delightful hand-holding mop-tops to psychedelic luminaries, they offered a way for the world to understand the complex and radical changing of the guard. While it could be said that The Rolling Stones were the purest rockers, The Beach Boys were the more innovative group or that Dylan was the lyrical visionary of his era, no other band had defined their generation like The Beatles. For all intents and purposes, the arguments made for ‘the best album of the 1960’s’ and ‘the greatest Beatles album’ are one in the same. Cases could be made for Rubber Soul, Revolver, The Beatles (White Album) or Abbey Road to claim this spot. No record, however, quite encapsulates The Beatles and what they represented the way that Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band does. Falling in the middle of their fruitful, mid-‘60s run, The Beatles continued Revolver’s experimental production techniques, sprinkled in lyrics that ranged from everyday life to drug usage, and combined genres including infectious pop, traditional Indian music and straightforward rock ‘n’ roll. Like the album’s iconic artwork, the group’s music offers a brilliant and spontaneous sonic hodgepodge, cohesively sewn together and perfectly soundtracking the ever-changing times of the 1960s.—Max Blau