101 Essential Guitar Albums

[Darky]

Always on the search for good music to download or buy, I had a flick through some old guitar mags for ideas.

In the March 2000 issue of Guitarist (UK) magazine there is an article with the title "101 Essential Guitar Albums". It gives a brief run-down on major tracks, and nominates one guitar highlight off each album. Re-typing it manually, I'll condense it to just artist & title & year.

In chronological order and, apart from the pre 1960s days of singles, trying to avoid compilation albums :

Robert Johnson - King of the Delta Blues Singers (recorded 1936/37)
Charlie Christian - The Genius of the Electric Guitar (1941)
T-Bone Walker - The Complete Capitol/Black & White Recordings (1930s-1950s)
Django Reinhardt - Djangology (1950s)
Les Paul (with Mary Ford) - The Legend and The Legacy (1950s)
Wes Montgomery - Smokin' At The Half Note (1950s)
Carl Perkins - Original Sun Greatest Hits (1950s)
Chuck Berry - The Chess Box (1950s/60s)
Elvis Presley - Elvis Presley (1956)
Muddy Waters - The Best Of Muddy Waters (1957)

The Shadows - The Shadows (1961)
Bob Dylan - The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan (1963)
BB King - Live at the Regal (early 1960s)
Shirley Collins & Davy Graham - Folk Roots, New Routes (1964)
The Who - The Who Sings My Generation (1965)
The Byrds - Fifth Dimension (1966)
Bert Jansch - Jack Orion (1966)
Albert King - Born Under A Bad Sign (1967)
The Jimi Hendrix Experience - Are You Experienced? (1967)
The Velvet Underground and Nico - The Velvet Underground (1967)
Simon & Garfunkel - Bookends (1968)
Cream - Wheels of Fire (1968)
Fleetwood Mac - Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac (1968)
Rolling Stones - Beggars Banquet (1968)
Frank Zappa - Hot Rats (1969)

Free - Fire And Water (1970)
James Taylor - Sweet Baby James (1970)
Santana - Abraxas (1970)
Neil Young - After The Gold Rush (1970)
Allman Brothers Band - Live At Fillmore East (1971)
Black Sabbath - Paranoid (1971)
Led Zeppelin - IV (1971)
John McLaughlin & Mahavishnu Orchestra - The Inner Mounting Flame (1971)
Nick Drake - Pink Moon (1972)
David Bowie - The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars (1972)
Deep Purple - Made In Japan (1973)
ZZ Top - Tres Hombres (1973)
Joe Pass - Virtuoso (1973)
Richard & Linda Thompson - I Want To See The Bright Lights Tonight (1974)
Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here (1975)
Queen - A Night At The Opera (1975)
The Eagles - Hotel California (1976)
Joni Mitchell - Hejira (1976)
Boston - Boston (1976)
Rush - 2112 (1976)
George Benson - In Flight (1976)
Sex Pistols - Never Mind The Bollocks (1976)
Al DiMeola - Elegant Gypsy (1977)
Steely Dan - Aja (1977)
Television - Marquee Moon (1977)
Dixie Dregs - What If (1978)
Dire Straits - Dire Straits (1978)
Thin Lizzy - Live And Dangerous (1978)
Pat Metheny Group - Pat Metheny Group (1978)
Larry Carlton - Larry Carlton (1978)
The Police - Regatta De Blanc (1979)
The Clash - London Calling (1979)
Albert Lee - Hiding (1979)

AC/DC - Back In Black (1980)
The Pretenders - The Pretenders (1980)
Ozzy Osbourne - Blizzard Of Ozz (1980)
Iron Maiden - Number Of The Beast (1982)
Bonnie Raitt - Green Light (1982)
Stevie Ray Vaughan - Texas Flood (1983)
James Brown - Star Time (recorded 1965-83)
Yngwie Malmsteen - Rising Force (1984)
The Smiths - Hatful of Hollow (1984)
Allan Holdsworth - Metal Fatigue (1985)
Bon Jovi - Slippery When Wet (1986)
Metallica - Master Of Puppets (1986)
John Scofield - Still Warm (1986)
Guns'N'Roses - Appetite For Destruction (1987)
Def Leppard - Hysteria (1987)
REM - Document (1987)
Joe Satriani - Surfing With The Alien (1987)
U2 - The Joshua Tree (1987)
Robben Ford - Talk To Your Daughter (1988)
Sonic Youth - Daydream Nation (1988)
Pixies - Doolittle (1989)
Jeff Beck - Guitar Shop (1989)
The Stone Roses - The Stone Roses (1989)

Eric Johnson - Ah Via Musicom (1990)
Gary Moore - Still Got The Blues (1990)
Red Hot Chili Peppers - Bllodsugarsexmagik (1991)
My Bloody Valentine - Loveless (1991)
Rage Against The Machine - Rage Against The Machine (1991)
The Hellecasters - The Return Of The Hellecasters (1993)
Oasis - Definitely Maybe (1994)
Smashing Pumpkins - Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness (1996)
Blur - Blur (1997)
Korn - Life Is Peachy (1998)

And the Top Ten :
10. Radiohead - OK Computer (1997)
9. Rolling Stones - Sticky Fingers (1969)
8. Jeff Beck - Blow By Blow (1975)
7. The Beatles - Abbey Road (1968)
6. Steve Vai - Passion And Warfare (1990)
5. Led Zeppelin - II (1969)
4. John Mayall's Bluesbreakers - Bluesbreakers With eric Clapton (1966)
3. Nirvana - Nevermind (1991)
2. Van Halen - Van Halen (1978)
1. The Jimi Hendrix Experience - Electric Ladyland (1968)

Comments/agreements/disagreements anyone?

[Darky]

Okay, nobody likes a tumbleweed, so I'll get the ball rolling.

I disagree with a few of the albums being in the top 100, even though they are great rock albums. I just don't think of them as necessarily great guitar albums.

Bon Jovi - Slippery When Wet, Metallica - Master Of Puppets, Nirvana - Nevermind, Iron Maiden - Number Of The Beast, Def Leppard - Hysteria... all are great albums (yes even the Nirvana one, although that's the only one of those I don't own)... but I think they're nothing special when it comes to guitar work.

Maybe the compilers threw in a few really popular albums so the collection wouldn't seem too eclectic and obscure.

I mean I could post my Top 100 metal or hard rock albums, and there'd have to be a few familiar ones in there otherwise you'd think I was making it all up, or trying too hard to name as many obscure bands to seem knowledgeable.

Steve Vai's Passion And Warfare is a strange inclusion. I think it's a very patchy album... very experimental, very few actual "songs", lots of keyboards, lots of sound effects... I find it very hard to listen to and it wouldn't have been in my top 500, let alone at #6.

Other than the above inclusions, I don't think there's much wrong with the named list, although I must admit I am not familiar with a lot of those albums or artists, particular the older ones and the folk artists (I've got 29 from the list).

If we are to take the list seriously, it's a bit of a concern that there are very few nominations from albums released 1990 and onwards. Obviously rap, techno and the modern version of R&B have played a major part in the direction of music since that time, but while it might stop good guitar music from charting it shouldn't stop it from getting made.

Personally I blame Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath. There aren't many catchy riffs left, because he'd written them all by 1974!

[mellowyellow]

Im not going attempt to compile a list but im bemussed as to when these mags write up such lists they never include Roy Buchanan . Any of his albums is an essential experience.

Maybe he still is the best unknown guitarist in the world .

[FIGJAM]

Originally posted by Darky
Bon Jovi - Slippery When Wet, Metallica - Master Of Puppets, Nirvana - Nevermind, Iron Maiden - Number Of The Beast, Def Leppard - Hysteria... all are great albums (yes even the Nirvana one, although that's the only one of those I don't own)... but I think they're nothing special when it comes to guitar work.
But a fair whack of those albums aren't "technically" brilliant, but they are guitar albums and to varying degrees were influential towards and occassionally saviours of, guitar music.

Being a youngun at the time, if it wasn't for Slippery When Wet, I might have forgotten that music was even played on guitar...or worse, I might have taken up the keyboard-guitar!

Fortunately it wasn't long before I realised Bon Jovi sucked and Led Zeppelin existed and it was all good from there!!

You'd have to say all of those albums were relatively dominant in their genre at their respective point in time.

[M29]

Santana? He'd have to be next to Satriani as the biggest fret wa-nker known.

Apart from them, and bon jovi, I don't mind it.

[Angus1]

I often wonder about some of these lists that magazines come up with. I mean this list is supposed to be about guitar music right. I have a large slice of the albums listed here yet while they might be good albums what defines them as being the best guitar albums?
For example Never mind the Bollocks- Sex Pistols.
I really like the album but i wouldn't rate it very high as guitar music goes. Bands like Cream, Black Sabbath, Dire Straits and Stevie Ray Vaughan are what I consider to be guitar music.

Actually anyone who loves great musicianship should get a hold of some live Cream. Or try and get a video of a concert. They were outstanding live and in my opion was Clapton at his best. Also Ginger Baker was one of the all time great drummers and watching him play in this band was truely awesome. Jack Bruce was lead vocal and a very good bass player. Cream on studio albums isn't as good (guitar wise) much like Jimi Hendrix in that the songs were trimmed back and intros and solos were cut out.

As for older music on the list I'm surprised John Lee Hooker didn't get in. He is a guitar legend and one of my favourites. I guess the magazine was sticking to rock music but I doubt you could have a guitar list without some great Blues players and Hooker was one of the best. Robert Johnson made the list as a blues player and in my view Hooker is a lot better but I guess Johnson is on there because he was one of the first real guitar players. Everyone wanted to play like Robert Johnson.

Neil Young has a live double album called Weld and is one of my favourites and really shows his best ever guitar playing while he was in his rock era. (one of his rock eras that should be. lol)
Ozzy Osbourne- Tribute To Rhandy Rhodes is also another excellent guitar album. Ozzy's best IMO.

Just on good guitar players it's interesting to note that Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page once played in the same band.
From memory I think it was The Yard Birds but sometimes I get it mixed up with Buffalo Springfield but anyway they did all play together in the same band at the same time. I don't think it worked all that well because they were all going off in different directions musicaly. Looking at what styles they were playing a few years lately it's hard to believe they could have been together once. Must have been some huge arguments.

[Darky]

Originally posted by Angus1

Just on good guitar players it's interesting to note that Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page once played in the same band.
From memory I think it was The Yard Birds but sometimes I get it mixed up with Buffalo Springfield but anyway they did all play together in the same band at the same time.

They did all play in The Yardbirds but not all at the same time.

It was Beck that replaced Clapton in the band.

[lioness]

Just another one, I don't know what the criteria was really, but I'd also nominate the Beach Boys' 'Surfin USA' album. There are some great examples of Carl Wilson's skill as a guitarist on that album.