Category Albums Ranked from Worst to Best

If you’re an old man, shouting at the clouds about how modern music isn’t the same as it was in your heyday, you’ll probably enjoy the Americana of Jason Isbell. Isbell’s music could have been made any time in the…

Miraculously, two of the most talented vocalists and songwriters in the history of popular music ended up in the same band. John Lennon and Paul McCartney met in 1957 when McCartney joined Lennon’s skiffle band The Quarrymen. They enlisted lead…

For someone born in New York City, Gillian Welch has the uncanny ability to evoke the pastoral music of a bygone America. Part bluegrass and part Appalachian folk, she’s able to sound authentic. She’s accompanied by guitarist Dave Rawlings, who…

Neil Finn grew up in Te Awamutu, a provincial town in New Zealand. As a teenage guitarist, he joined his brother Tim in the art-rock band Split Enz. When the Enz switched gears to new wave pop, Neil provided their…

The Decemberists rode the wave of early 21st-century Indie to success, attracting attention with their predilection for historical epics and olde English folk music. They hail from Portland, Oregon, but the band was named for the Decembrist Revolution in 19th-century…

British pop maverick has enjoyed her most successful album release cycle yet with her eighth album Brat. It’s sold well in the UK and US and enjoyed critical acclaim. It’s even become part of the US political landscape – democratic…

Taylor Swift is a megastar, and her profile as a celebrity can overshadow her musical abilities. Opinions on Swift are wildly diverse. In some quarters, she’s dismissed as disposable music for teenage girls. In others, she’s highly respected as a…

Vampire Weekend were formed by students at Columbia University. Frontman Ezra Koenig named the project after a vampire movie he started making in college. The group were interested in African music and punk rock, influences that are clear on their…

Milwaukee-born Julia Holter bridges musical worlds. She is classically trained and merges avant-garde ideas with electronic sounds and indie chamber pop. Impressively, she played all the instruments and self-produced her early albums. Holter is Influenced by esoteric musicians like Alice…

Kacey Musgraves was born in Golden, Texas. She didn’t release her debut album until she was almost 25. Before that, she performed as Hannah Montana at children’s birthday parties and appeared on the talent show Nashville Star. In 2012 she…

Ariana Grande pivoted to a music career after four seasons on Nickelodeon teen comedy Victorious. She released her debut, Yours Truly, in 2013 at the age of 20. It showcased a beautiful voice with a four-octave range, warm tones, and…

Burna Boy’s seventh album, I Told Them…, recently topped the UK charts. It feels symbolic, with the Nigerian-born artist the first African to top the UK charts. It’s the culmination of a decade of hard work, where he’s released seven…

Japanese-American indie-rock musician Mitski is one of the most interesting figures currently working in popular music – Iggy Pop famously labelled her as “the most advanced American songwriter that I know”. While guitar rock can sometimes feel stale in the…

Jenny Lewis’ musical career is the second act in her working life. She first achieved fame as a child star, appearing in commercials then movies like The Wizard and Troop Beverly Hills. She largely quit acting in the mid-1990s to…

Natalie Merchant recently released her sixth solo album, Keep Your Courage. It seems like a good opportunity to revisit her catalogue. On this countdown, I rank her albums as a solo artist and as the lead singer of 10,000 Maniacs.…

The UK’s most likeable pop star, Jessie Ware is charming whereas other mainstream acts leave me cold. She has a gorgeous voice, but she’s closer to the sophisticated poise of Sade than the vocal histrionics of Celine Dion. Ware’s body…

For me, The Hold Steady were the last gasp of a prolonged musical adolescence that reached into my mid-twenties. My first Hold Steady album hit me hard. I played it repeatedly, enjoying its intoxicating modernisation of classic rock, topped by…

The members of The Cars were all experienced musicians when they formed. Drummer David Robinson had already played with another famous Boston act, Jonathan Richman’s Modern Lovers. The band’s two vocalists – bassist Ben Orr and songwriter Ric Ocasek –…

Hayley Williams moved to Franklin, Tennessee, in 2002, to escape from her abusive stepfather. She formed Paramore at the age of 15, joining forces with Josh and Zac Farro, whom she met at a music program for homeschooled students. She…

British soul collective Sault have broken almost every rule of album-making during their brief career. Debuting in 2019, they’ve already released 12 studio albums. Yet they’ve only played live once and have never given an interview. Their already sizeable catalogue…

Carly Rae Jepsen is pigeonholed as a one-hit-wonder. Her 2012 song ‘Call Me Maybe’ is one of the most ubiquitous hits of its era. If you haven’t been paying attention since, you may be surprised to learn that Jepsen’s become…

The members of The 1975 met at Wilmslow High School in their teens, playing at gigs organised by a local council worker. They started as a punk band, with Matt Healy, the son of two prominent actors, on drums. With…

The Velvet Underground began as a collaboration between frustrated songwriter Lou Reed and classically trained John Cale. Cale had worked with experimental composers John Cage and LaMonte Young, and Reed’s interest in alternative guitar tunings and drone notes provided common ground. The…

Frederic Fatzer grew up in the small town of Kinsley, Kansas, notable for its equidistance between New York City and San Francisco. He sensibly adopted the stage name Freedy Johnston. His small town background initially constrained his music career –…

Elizabeth Woolridge Grant made an immediate impact on popular culture with her 2011 debut single ‘Video Games’, released under her stage name Lana Del Rey. Her haunting lower register and cinematic feel, chronicling a one-sided relationship. the single immediately established…

The progressive rock supergroup Transatlantic played the last concert of their Absolute Universe tour in July 2022. The group have hinted that it might be their final tour, so it’s possible that their studio catalogue might remain as the five…

When New York power-pop band Fountains of Wayne were nominated for a Grammy for Best New Artist in 2004, they’d already recorded three albums. The nomination was on the back of the hit ‘Stacy’s Mom’ – the gimmicky, new-wave flavoured…

Texan-born Miranda Lambert occupies her own zone somewhere between the current mainstream country and the more rootsy sounds of Americana. As she explains herself, being a major-label artist involves compromise. I love raw albums. I’d love to record an album…

Canadian indie rock band Arcade Fire were founded in Montreal in 2001. The band is centered around the husband and wife duo of Win Butler and Régine Chassagne, while Butler’s brother Will was a member until 2021. The current lineup,…

When Ian Curtis committed suicide on the eve of an American tour, it marked the end of Joy Division. Guitarist Bernard Sumner, bassist Peter Hook, and drummer Stephen Morris continued making music together as New Order. Sumner took over lead…

The Sex Pistols weren’t the first punk band to release an album – The Ramones beat them by 18 months. But Johnny Rotten, Steve Jones, Paul Cook, and Sid Vicious became the face of punk in the UK. Manager Malcolm…

Progressive rock behemoths Yes emerged from London in the late 1960s. Starting out as a psychedelic pop band, they became one of its leading exponents of the emerging genre of progressive rock. Despite a revolving crew of members – bassist Chris Squire…

Joni Mitchell emerged at a time when the women’s rights movement was still building steam. She had to fight for recognition as a serious artist. Her image was often defined in terms of whom she was dating – a Rolling Stone…

The dB’s came from the same era as R.E.M., and featured a similarly jangly sound. While R.E.M. became one of the biggest bands in the world, The dB’s remained a fringe act with critical acclaim but few sales. Despite forming…

David Crosby, Stephen Stills, and Graham Nash were all members of famous 1960s bands before linking up as a trio. Crosby was a member of The Byrds, fired when his countercultural songs like ‘Triad’ were rejected by the group. Nash…

In November 2021, ABBA released their ninth studio album Voyage. It was the Swedish quartet’s first studio album in almost 40 years – an unprecedented gap in output for a superstar group. It’s not the longest gap between releases –…

Aaron Freeman (Gene Ween) met Mickey Melchiondo (Dean Ween) in their eighth-grade typing class in 1984. They made several homemade albums before their first official release, GodWeenSatan: The Oneness, in 1990. Their fourth album, 1994’s Chocolate and Cheese, marked a change…

Formed by London architecture students in 1964, Pink Floyd are one of the most beloved classic rock bands. While most attention is given to stadium-rock blockbusters like Dark Side of the Moon and The Wall, they enjoyed a lengthy career on either side of…

Billed as “the only band that matters”, The Clash released their debut single ‘White Riot’ in the iconic punk year of 1977. But they weren’t constrained by punk – their debut explored the reggae they heard on London’s streets and…

Queen formed in 1970 in London, originally a hard rock band with shades of progressive rock and metal. They adapted as musical fashions changed; they flirted with disco on 1982’s Hot Space and produced stripped-down, synthesizer-fuelled pop hits on 1984’s…

Steely Dan were major album artists of the 1970s, releasing a string of quality records that blurred the lines between rock and jazz. They started the decade as a self-contained rock band and ended as the duo of Donald Fagen…

Originating at Charterhouse School, one of England’s most prestigious public schools, Genesis recorded their first album as teenagers in 1968. They spent their early years losing money and making long-winded progressive rock albums. Their use of gentle 12-string guitars and bass…

Formed in 1981, London’s Talk Talk enjoyed an unusual career trajectory. They started their record career as a passable synth-pop band, often compared to Duran Duran. Early hits like 1984’s ‘Such A Shame’ and ‘It’s My Life’ allowed them access…

The two figures at the centre of 1980s English indie-rock band The Smiths were an unlikely pairing. Vocalist Morrissey was socially awkward, literate, and camp, while guitarist Johnny Marr was an aspiring football player who trialled with Manchester City. Bonding…

One glance at Mark Knopfler’s bandana will tell you that Dire Straits have never been fashionable. Emerging in 1978, at the height of punk, their literate bar-band rock appealed to conservative listeners not enamoured by the upstart sounds of The…

Stewart Copeland, Sting, and Andy Summers were all veteran musicians when they formed The Police in London in 1977. Copeland had drummed for progressive rock band Curved Air, Sting had played in the jazz fusion band Last Exit, while Summers’…

Singer-songwriter Suzanne Vega emerged in the mid-1980s after serving an apprenticeship in folk music in New York’s Greenwich Village. Her introspective and gentle songs were immediately successful at a time when singer-songwriters weren’t popular. Her first two albums spawned hits…

The Red House Painters took their name from a Tennessee painting crew named The International League Of Revolutionary House Painters. Leader Mark Kozelek came from Ohio, but formed the band in San Francisco. Kozelek was joined by drummer Anthony Koutsos,…

English art-rock band Roxy Music was formed by vocalist Bryan Ferry and bassist Graham Simpson in 1970. They recruited saxophone and oboe player Andy Mackay and synth player Brian Eno (who “treated” the other players’ instruments through his synth). Drummer…

Led Zeppelin were the archetypal hard rock band. They streamlined the sound of 1960s rock bands like Cream and The Who; an important innovation was John Bonham’s crisp, groove-based drumming, which contrasted with the busy style of The Who’s Keith…

Bob Dylan needs no introduction – he’s one of the key figures in rock music. He helped to define the genre as it matured, especially as a lyricist. He broadened the scope of rock lyrics, utilising both social issues and…

During ten anarchic years, The Replacements recorded a ton of wonderful songs, self-sabotaged their career, and never achieved the mass success they promised. The Replacements started as part of the hardcore punk scene of the early 1980s, but they were…

Jackson Browne is the quintessential 1970s singer-songwriter, a sensitive individual who analysed his difficult relationships into songs. He was extremely well connected into the 1970s soft-rock scene – he dated Laura Nyro and Joni Mitchell, wrote the Eagles‘ first hit…

The New Pornographers emerged in 2000, a conglomerate of talent from nationally successful Canadian bands like Zumpano, Destroyer, and Limblifter. While A.C. Newman is the group’s main creative force, the band spotlighted Neko Case’s warm, sumptuous voice and Dan Bejar’s…

The Eagles emerged from California in the early 1970s, initially as Linda Ronstadt’s backing band for her album Silk Purse. They were massively successfully, with a string of chart-topping singles and albums. In particular, their Greatest Hits (1971-1975) is one…

I spent my teenage years enamoured by the pop tunes of Billy Joel. Joel has a touch of show-tune about his work, and his work has never been as critically acclaimed as his more celebrated contemporaries like Bruce Springsteen or…

Paul Simon has enjoyed a long, worthwhile solo career since Simon and Garfunkel‘s breakup in 1970. A musical chameleon, he launched his post-duo career with an acoustic record that fitted into the singer-songwriter movement of 1972, then moved into jazz-inflected…

Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel started their recording career as Tom & Jerry in 1957, making teen-oriented Everly Brothers style pop. After a temporary split, they re-branded as Simon & Garfunkel, an earnest folk duo. Their debut album, 1964’s Wednesday Morning,…

Between 1967 and 1972, Birmingham’s The Moody Blues released seven studio albums, commonly referred to as the core seven. They stayed in step with the times, transitioning from richly orchestrated psychedelic pop to more stripped-down albums in the 1970s. At…