My Favorite Rock Albums (2) – That Didn’t Make the Top Ten

Written by Jim S.

Intro to series here.

When I posted my ten favorite rock albums, I realized I had a bunch more that I could have mentioned (same as you I’m sure). Here are some great ones that just didn’t make the cut. Next (and last) post on this theme will be a list of albums I think are great but didn’t entirely make the top twenty cut:

A Hard Day’s Night. Beatles. I used to play one side, flip it over, play it again.
My Aim is True. Elvis Costello. A great album, a great songwriter and musicologist.
Let it Bleed. Rolling Stones. “Gimme Shelter,” “You Can’t Always Get What you Want,” the title song – enough said.
Band on the Run. Paul McCartney. Great stuff. I just learned the intro to “Let Me Roll It” on guitar .
Texas Flood. Stevie Ray Vaughn. SRV rekindled interest in blues. Was there a better bluesman? “It’s floodin’ down in Texas. All of the telephone lines are down.”

Citizen. Steely Dan. I cheated here. This is a box set of everything they ever did. Cannot beat it.
Bridge Over Troubled Water. Paul Simon. Simon is, IMHO, one of the greatest songwriters ever.
Aerosmith. First album. I used to live a few blocks from where they formed in Boston.
Elton John. Another great first album. “Your Song,” “Take Me To the Pilot.”
Abraxas. Santana. Carlos is one of my favorite guitarists ever. A great, great band.

3 thoughts on “My Favorite Rock Albums (2) – That Didn’t Make the Top Ten”

  1. Love the blog. Got me thinking again of all the rock songs I loved listening to in my much earlier years. Putting in a 10 ten list of rock songs and will get back to listing the albums. In the meantime, here’s my list for now…RMS

    The Allman Brothers Band, “Ramblin’ Man”
    The Beatles, “Norwegian Wood”
    BBHC/Janice Joplin, “Piece of My Heart”
    The Doors, “Riders on the Storm”
    Jimi Hendrix, “All Along the Watchtower”
    Joan Jett , “Bad Reputation”
    The Moody Blues, “Nights in White Satin”
    Pink Floyd , “Comfortably Numb”
    Procol Harum, “A Whiter Shade of Pale”
    Lou Reed, “Walk on the Wild Side”

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    1. Great list. The only song I didn’t really know well was the Joan Jett one. Kicks ass. “Comfortably Numb” is a nice choice. A lot of people pick the guitar solo on this (David Gilmour) as not only his best ever but one of THE best ever. As an Allmans fan, I never get tired of “Ramblin’ Man.” Bob Dylan once said he wished he wrote it. I was thinking that if you had to give a millennial who was perhaps unfamiliar with ’60’s/’70’s music a list to listen to, this would be a nice cross-section. You mention you’re going to list you albums. This makes me realize I need to start a blog post which lists my favorite songs, not an easy thing to do.

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      1. Thanks. I had a good time putting the singles list together. I would imagine you will have a harder time picking singles since your repertoire is larger than mine. The Pink Floyd song was driving me crazy. Finally realized after listening to some songs, “Comfortably Numb” was on “The Wall” and not “Dark Side of the Moon”. Interesting note about Bob Dylan and “Ramblin Man”. I really like the Allman Brothers and their album will be on my top 10 list. Pink Floyd as well but “Dark Side of the Moon”. Always loved Joan Jett and yes, really a kick ass song. Didn’t see her but saw Janice Joplin blast out “Piece of My Heart”. Will get to my 10 ten list soon. Just enjoying the ride right now.

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