Curated, not crowdsourced
Albums worth the shelf space.
A collector's shortlist ranked by genre, decade and artist — no scores to argue about, no community to wade through, just records worth owning and the cleanest way to buy each on vinyl or CD.
Compiled by a lifelong record collector.
Where to start
Ten records that belong in any collection — a doorway into the wider lists.
Abbey RoadThe Beatles
NevermindNirvana
IllmaticNas
What's Going OnMarvin Gaye
ThrillerMichael Jackson
Kind of BlueMiles Davis
DiscoveryDaft Punk
London CallingThe Clash
BlueJoni Mitchell
ParanoidBlack Sabbath
Catch a FireBob Marley and the Wailers
Mama TriedMerle Haggard
King of the Delta Blues SingersRobert Johnson
Best songs, ranked
All song lists →The greatest songs by decade and genre — each one links to the album it's from.
Songs of the 1960sSongs of the 1970sSongs of the 1980sSongs of the 1990sSongs of the 2000sSongs of the 2010sRock Songs of All TimeHip-Hop Songs of All TimeSoul & R&B Songs of All TimePop Songs of All TimeElectronic Songs of All TimeIndie & Alternative Songs of All TimeJazz Songs of All TimeFolk Songs of All TimeCountry Songs of All TimeReggae Songs of All TimeBlues Songs of All TimeMetal Songs of All TimePunk & New Wave Songs of All TimeFunk Songs of All TimeDisco Songs of All Time