“Mother, mother/There's too many of you crying/Brother, brother, brother/There's far too many of you dying.” “Ah, things ain't what they used to be (ain't what they used to be)/Where did all the blue skies go?/Poison is the wind that blows.” If I presented those lyrics to you in 2021, you might believe they were recently written. One about the deaths of African-American men at the hands of the police, the other about climate change. How can an album written and recorded 50 years ago, be as relevant today as it was back then? This new incarnation of the list was created in the wake of George Floyd’s death and the peak of the Black Lives Matter movement. With that in mind, it makes sense why an album dealing with that very subject matter would make it to the #1 spot.

At the beginning of 1965, 22-year-old Brian Wilson, with already 7 albums under his belt, told his band members he’d be quitting touring to focus on his work in the studio. As I mentioned earlier, Brian Wilson heard The Beatles record, ‘Rubber Soul’ (#35) and became obsessed with it. It was like nothing else he’d heard before and he was inspired to make a record that was like it but better. He was impressed with the lack of filler tracks on the record and set out to make a cohesive work that had zero filler. He was also obsessed with Phil Spector and his Wall Of Sound production technique. These two obsessions coupled with a bad LSD trip that lasted 8 months culminated in ‘Pet Sounds.’

The quintessential singer-songwriter record. ‘Blue’ would become the blueprint for singer-songwriters to come (there was absolutely no pun intended here). “Like all of my albums, “Blue” came out of the chute with a whimper. It didn’t really take off until later. Now there’s a lot of fuss being made over it, but there wasn’t initially. The most feedback that I got was that I had gone too far and was exposing too much of myself. I couldn’t tell what I had created, really. The initial response I got was critical, mostly from the male singer-songwriters. It was kind of like Dylan going electric. They were afraid. Is this contagious? Do we all have to get this honest now?

“Let me put it this way: wherever I go in the world, I always take a copy of Songs in the Key of Life. For me, it's the best album ever made, and I'm always left in awe after I listen to it,” said Elton John in 2003. Well, if that isn’t an endorsement, but allow me to continue. George Michael said this was his all-time favourite album, Michael Jackson cited it as his favourite record by Stevie Wonder. Prince said it was the best album ever recorded, and Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston also expressed their love for it. It’s a record that almost never happened.

“And in the end/The love you take/Is equal to the love you make,” and so ends the last song on the last album by arguably the greatest band of all time, The Beatles. It also ends their run on this journey. I’m getting ahead of myself, however. Firstly, while completely true, a few of the above statements are a bit misleading. It was the last album that the band would record together, but not their last to be released. ‘Let It Be’ was released seven and a half months later. And while ‘The End’ is the last credited song on the record, there is a another one.

Opening with four simple power chords that defined a generation, ‘Nevermind’ is the second studio album by arguably the greatest alternative bands of our time. “Here we are now, entertain us” implores Cobain, screeching over Dave Grohl’s brutal drum attack and Krist Novoselic’s signature bass sounds. By his own admission, Cobain was unashamedly trying to rip off the Pixies.

The greatest break up album ever. In the lead up to this record, Fleetwood Mac had seen multiple lineup changes. First finding success as Peter Green’s Fleetwood Mac, Green left the band after 3 albums. Bob Welch would then join the band for 5 albums, leaving in 1975. Having relocated to LA, and needing a new guitarist, Mick Fleetwood randomly bumped into an old friend while out shopping with his kids. The chance meeting lead him to Sound City Studios where producer, Keith Olsen, played him snippets of a new album he’d been working on, something called Buckingham Nicks. Fleetwood was in awe of the guitar playing and immediately invited him to join the group.

‘Purple Rain’ is the soundtrack to the autobiographical film of the same name and the first to feature Prince’s band, The Revolution, with Prince stepping back ever so slightly from playing everything on the record. Prince lifted the title from the lyrics of America’s 1972 song, ‘Ventura Highway;’ “Wishin' on a falling star/Waitin' for the early train/Sorry boy, but I've been hit by a purple rain.” While original composer of the phrase, Gerry Beckley had no explanation as to what it meant, Prince interpreted it as “When there's blood in the sky – red and blue = purple ... purple rain pertains to the end of the world and being with the one you love and letting your faith/god guide you through the purple rain.”

Following his 1974 tour in support of album, ‘Planet Waves,’ Bob Dylan engaged in a relationship with an employee from Columbia Records, Ellen Bernstein. He had still been married to wife, Sara, at the time and, obviously, this new relationship signalled the sharp decline of his marriage. ‘Blood On The Tracks’ is the record that came out of this heart-breaking and tumultuous time in Dylan’s life.

Not only is this a major leap for Lauryn Hill, it’s a major leap for women in general. Last time around, the highest placed record by a female solo artist was ‘Blue’ by Joni Mitchell at #30. Now, not only has a woman smashed through the glass ceiling of #10, but it’s a woman of colour, something that the last Top 10 severely lacked too (Marvin Gaye was the only black artist in the last Top 10). Hill’s debut, and in fact, only record.

Following the ground-breaking album, ‘Rubber Soul,’ The Beatles, along with their longtime producer, George Martin, took it to the next level. The band had made the conscious decision to never tour again thus there was no worry about how they’d recreate these songs live, enhancing the studio’s role in their music. So intricate was its recording that The Beatles would spend over 220 hours recording the album (they had only spent about 80 hours recording ‘Rubber Soul.’)

As far as am I’m concerned, this is the #1 record. At least, this is my #1 record. The follow up to ‘Off The Wall’ saw Michael Jackson reunited with producer, Quincy Jones. That album had been an incredible success, having sold 10 million copies, but Jackson was disappointed that it never won Album Of The Year at the Grammys. In 1980, when Rolling Stone refused to put him on the cover of their magazine, he responded, “I've been told over and over that black people on the cover of magazines doesn't sell copies ... Just wait. Some day those magazines are going to be begging me for an interview. Maybe I'll give them one, and maybe I won't.” His goal was to top ‘Off The Wall’ and create an album where every song was killer.

The Queen Of Soul, Aretha Franklin had recorded 9 albums for Columbia Records within the space of 6 years. She struggled to find success on those records and so when her contract expired, Jerry Wexler convinced her to move over to Atlantic Records. Wexler wanted to use Franklin’s Gospel background to capitalise on the rising popularity of Soul Music. Franklin headed to FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama to record with the famous house band there. After recording the title track for this record on day one, her husband had an altercation with the studio manager, forcing her to move sessions to NYC.

‘Exile On Main Street’ is The Rolling Stones at their absolutely very best. Recorded over a period of three years, ‘Exile On Main Street’ was completed at a villa in Nellcôte, in Villefranche-sur-Mer, near Nice. By 1971, instead of paying their dues in taxes the band had spent their money on other things. As the government was due to seize their assets, they packed their bags and left for France as tax exiles. This record was recorded using The Rolling Stones’ famous mobile recording truck.

The second studio album by Public Enemy was intended by the group to be the Hip Hop equivalent of Marvin Gaye’s ‘What’s Going On,’ an album noted for its strong social commentary on the plight of the African-Americans. This record is where the lines of pigeon-holed genres become blurred for me. By definition, it’s a Hip Hop record; there’s rapping, sampling, beats etc. But at its very core, it’s Punk. Similar to artists like The Clash and Sex Pistols, it’s angry, it’s a call to arms and it’s revolutionary.

A two-LP Post Punk record spanning multiple genres and killer songs. The title track discusses the rising unemployment, racism and drug use in England. ‘Rudie Can’t Fail’ is about a fun-loving man with a refusal to grow up.

The result is widely regarded as West’s career-best work. Throughout the 13 tracks, West covers themes of celebrity, excess, escapism, sex, romance, decadence and self-doubt. The albums opens with Nicki Minaj narrating ‘Cinderella,’ a poem by Roald Dahl, in an English accent, before the opulent production kicks in, followed by the beats and introduction of West’s voice. This is the perfect snapshot into the record.

“Crack!” The sound of the snare that opens the record. The first thing we hear. Bruce Springsteen said it best, “that snare shot that sounded like somebody'd kicked open the door to your mind ... The way that Elvis freed your body, Dylan freed your mind, and showed us that because the music was physical did not mean it was anti-intellect.”

This album was a revelation to me. Around its release I had only just started dipping my toe into Hip Hop, with a newfound appreciation for its artform. I was aware of Kendrick Lamar thanks to the singles from 'good kid, m.A.A.d city' (#115), but to be honest I didn’t think much about him. In fact, I thought he was a novelty artist thanks to ‘Swimming Pools (Drank).’ But then ‘King Kunta’ came out, and doing as good singles should, it piqued my interest and encouraged me to listen to this record in full. It was one of those “I remember exactly where I was when I heard it” moments. To put it simply, it blew my mind.

Following ‘OK Computer’ (#42), Radiohead had become burnt out. Mentally and physically, the band members were sick, “a complete fucking mess ... completely unhinged,” according to Thom Yorke. The band had felt that other guitar bands were trying to emulate them too much and that they needed to move on. Yorke felt that their music had become background noise. And so similar to when Dylan picked up the electric guitar, or The Beatles put production on its head with ‘Revolver’ and ‘Sgt Pepper’s,’ Radiohead turned towards electronic music.