#30 Jimi Hendrix, 'Are You Experienced' (1967)

Hendrix’s debut release is the record that changed the way the world would think about the guitar forever. The year before its release, Hendrix was struggling to earn a living as a backing guitarist in R&B. He was introduced to The Animals ex-bassist, Chas Chandler, by Keith Richards’s girlfriend, Linda Keith, who brought him to London and would recruit Noel Redding and Mitch Mitchell to play with him. The trio was rejected by Decca Records, the same label that had rejected The Beatles, but were signed to Track, a new label started by managers of The Who.