Best Albums to Have on Vinyl [Top 20 Must-Have Releases]

Back to Black, which includes iconic Amy Winehouse singles like Rehab and Back to Black, won Amy Winehouse and producer Mark Ronson numerous awards and recognition in 2007, and is widely considered one of the best albums of the century.

The neo soul/R&B sound is juxtaposed against Winehouse’s blunt, contemporary lyrics and the gritty funk of backing band The Dap-Kings, to make a masterful album full of tension, reflection, and complexity.

Pet Sounds was Brian Wilson’s magnum opus, a glorious experiment with a vast range of musical influences and groundbreaking production techniques to create a concept album, unlike anything that preceded it.

While it was initially not well received, as it was such a massive departure from the band’s earlier work, Pet Sounds would go on to become one of the most influential rock albums in history, inspiring a generation of not just musicians but also songwriters, sound engineers, and music producers.

Paul McCartney said that no one is educated musically until they have heard that album. What more needs to be said?

The question of which ONE Beatles record should be owned on vinyl raises hot debate wherever it is discussed. Passionate arguments are made for Abbey Road and Revolver. Still, Sgt. Pepper isn’t just one of the best albums to own on vinyl or one of the best Beatles albums: it’s widely regarded as the best album of all time.

Sgt. Pepper is a seminal work in concept albums, psychedelic music, alt rock, and technical innovation. It affected not just music, but fashion, fiction, and youth culture.

Vinyl purists will love chasing down the best pressings of this album, searching for the version that best captures the Beatles’ original, immersive mono mix. Still, this album has something to offer every generation of music lovers with every listen.

Paul’s Boutique has been called the Sgt. Pepper of hip-hop, with a sound and an influence that defined the Beastie Boys and a whole music genre.

Working with the Dust Brothers, the Beastie Boys innovated the use of multi-layered sampling, which would go on to become a defining feature of hip-hop, along with some of the best rhymes in the industry. While the album was not regarded as a success, subsequent years have only heightened the legacy and importance.

Every decade of artists and critics has revisited Paul’s Boutique and found it more masterful, more complex, and more significant than ever. It’s one of the greatest albums of all time, ranking on pop, rock, and hip-hop charts every year.

Legend is the bestselling reggae album of all time and ranked in 2020 by Rolling Stone as the 48th best album of all time. It spent 609 weeks on the Billboard Top 200 Album chart and 921 weeks in the UK Top 100 Albums. It’s a showcase of Bob Marley’s greatest hits, including Buffalo Soldier, No Woman, No Cry, and I Shot the Sheriff.

It has introduced generations of music lovers to Bob Marley and to reggae music in general. While fans will appreciate a deeper dive into Marley’s more complex work, Legend is an excellent introduction. It deserves a place in every vinyl collection.

London Calling is one of the most influential punk albums of all time, but it’s so much more than that. The Clash’s third album explores a greater range of musical styles, using the punk sensibility and aesthetic to explore sounds borrowed from rock, ska, R&B, and jazz.

At the time, some accused the band of abandoning their rebellious roots; today, this exploration offers welcome complexity and variety. London Calling consistently ranks within Rolling Stone Magazine’s top ten greatest albums of all time.

Random Access Memories is not only one of the best dance albums of all time, but it’s also one of the few albums in recent years created for vinyl and takes full advantage of the dynamic range of a record.

For Daft Punk’s fourth album, they wanted to pay homage to the music of the 1970s and 80s and limit the use of samples, loops, and electronic instruments. Instead, they collaborated with legend Nile Rogers to make a disco album with live musicians in 2013, including the monster hit single Get Lucky.

Random Access Memories was recorded on analog and digital simultaneously and mastered with a warm, retro feel that won the Grammy for Best Engineered Album (Non-Classical).

Choosing a single David Bowie album for a vinyl collection is nearly impossible, as Bowie’s body of work was so complex, diverse, and influential.

Our pick is Ziggy Stardust because it is a concept album with a continuous storyline and remains one of the most important rock albums of all time. With Ziggy Stardust, Bowie created a guitar-led, glam/rock/proto-punk sound that launched him into international fame.

The album explores themes of drug use, fame, sexuality, and spirituality. Ziggy Stardust remains a cultural touchstone, the turning point from the peace, love, and denim of the late 60s to the glitter of a more jaded decade, and it’s still just as relevant today.

Tell Mama was James’ seventh studio album and the first to do her justice. It contains several of her signature songs, with a production that intimately captures her soulful, searing voice and made her a legend.

While the title track and Etta James’ rendition of Security hit the charts back in 1967, I’d Rather Go Blind has since become an iconic song, covered by everyone from BB King to Rod Stewart and Dua Lipa.

Rumors was an instant hit, selling 10 million copies within the first month of its release and winning the 1978 Grammy for Album of the Year. It is another of the best albums of all time, ranked seven in Rolling Stone’s list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.

With Rumors, Fleetwood Mac aimed for an album that would be all hits with no filler, and even casual music lovers will recognize iconic hit after hit after hit on this album. The songs are intimate, layered, complex, and beautifully rendered on vinyl. Rumors is still one of the top ten albums sold on vinyl and is simply timeless.

If you ever wanted to know what it would sound like to be in the room with John Coltrane at his best, A Love Supreme on vinyl is the answer.

This four-part jazz/bop/spiritual album was recorded in a single session in 1964 and showcased Coltrane’s incredible talent, range, and mastery. A Love Supreme is Coltrane’s magnum opus and one of the best jazz albums of all time.

One of the things we love about vinyl is the warmth and detail in the mix, so most live albums wouldn’t rank in the top 20. However, At Folsom Prison is simply too important and essential a record to leave out.

Before it, Johnny Cash was just another country singer looking to make a career comeback; afterward, he was a legend. The album, released with little support or enthusiasm from record execs, was a smash hit, with an authenticity and emotion that crossed music genres and made Cash a household name.

The purity of the recording, on which you can still hear ordinary prison operations’ sounds, and feel the connection between Cash and the inmates, is evocative and intimate. It remains one of the greatest albums of all time.

Musical polymath James Murphy’s LCD Soundsystem is an eclectic electronic dance-punk album that sounds great on vinyl.

Murphy brings his musical talents, skill as a producer, and experience as a DJ to making an album that sounds great on vinyl and offers a great mix of inspired singles along with a cohesive progression over the whole album.

Led Zeppelin II is the album that made the band famous, and it remains one of the most critical and influential heavy metal albums of all time. It refined and perfected Zeppelin’s unique merging of blues and hard rock and became the blueprint for a generation of musicians.

Singles like Whole Lotta Love and Ramble On became stadium anthems, while Heartbreaker would redefine the guitar riff and inspire artists like Eddie Van Halen and Steve Vai. This album has so much relevance and staying power that a 2014 reissue reached #9 in the Billboard Top 10.

Most people are familiar with Marvin Gaye’s legendary singles from this album, including the title track, Mercy, Mercy, Me, and Inner City Blues.

But What’s Going On is a concept album comprising a single song cycle, exploring themes of war, poverty, and injustice. It’s an iconic album and was a landmark in American soul and popular music. It consistently ranks as one of the greatest albums of all time, including lists of influential records that changed the world.

With Thriller, Michael Jackson and producer Quincy Jones created the bestselling album of all time. It won a record-breaking eight Grammy awards in 1984, defined the art of the music video, and is credited with single-handedly saving the American music industry.

Jackson’s disco-pop sound on singles like Thriller, Beat It, Billie Jean, and Wanna Be Starting Something defined Jackson as an icon, with legions of imitators, but no competition. In fact, for many American households, Thriller has become something more than an essential album – it’s become a basic fact of life.

Nevermind was incredibly influential and remains one of the bestselling and most acclaimed albums of all time. While Nirvana is indelibly linked to the grunge movement, Nevermind touches on a broad swath of Cobain’s inspirations, with hard rock, pop, metal, and even classical influences.

Cobain wanted to explore melodic songwriting with heavy metal impact, creating songs with huge dynamic shifts and experimental instrumentation. The cover art is one of the most recognized images in music, and this album is an American classic.

Dark Side of the Moon from Pink Floyd makes every single must-have on vinyl lists, for a good reason. It’s one of the bestselling albums of all time and the 19th most acclaimed album in history.

While it’s best known for the singles Money and Us and Them, it’s a concept album based on musical experiments, early analog synth sounds, and live performances, exploring themes of greed, conflict, mental illness, death, and time.

The cover art is iconic, and a 2003 30th anniversary re-release was based on 180-gram virgin vinyl. However, many audiophiles prefer the 2016 pressing.

Dark Side of the Moon is the longest-charting album in the history of Billboard Magazine, with 1,574 weeks in the Top 200.

Songs in the Key of Life is the bestselling and most critically acclaimed album of Stevie Wonder’s career. It showcases Wonder at the peak of his powers, and songs like I Wish, Sir Duke, Pastime Paradise, and Isn’t She Lovely have influenced generations of musicians.

It’s Wonder’s favorite of his albums and a favorite of artists like Prince, Elton John, Mariah Carey, and Coolio. As recently as 2020, Rolling Stone ranked it as #4 on their list of the greatest albums of all time.

Honky Tonk Heroes, reluctantly released by executives at RCA Records and producer Chet Atkins, went on to become one of the most influential records in country music.

By merging country themes with a rock and roll attitude, it established the outlaw genre and cemented Waylon Jennings as a legend. Honky Tonk Heroes is a concept album: Jennings felt that the songs written by Billy Joe Shaver were ‘of a piece,’ and had to be collected together.

The only song on the album not written by Shaver, We Had It All, has become a ballad covered by everyone from Ray Charles to The Rolling Stones. This album is a touchstone for outsiders and rebels and showcases Jennings’ greatest artistry.