In 1965, The Beatles released two albums (Help! and Rubber Soul) within four months of each other. In roughly the same time period, Bob Dylan put out Bringing It All Back Home and Highway 61 Revisited.
As the 1960s progressed, the freedom of artistic expression, coupled with an atmosphere of friendly competition between artists, inspired a creative outpouring that couldn’t be contained within the constraints of a single vinyl record.
Double albums had, until now, been the domain of classical music or jazz, but in June 1966, with 14 tracks in the bag (one of which was over 11 minutes long), Dylan’s next album became rock’s first double.
Over the next three decades, the rock world enjoyed a love affair with ever-expanding formats (some even progressed to triple LPs, but that’s for another day). Here, we pick our selection of the finest examples – including one that was technically two-and-a-bit albums.
The 17 best double albums ever
17. The Smashing Pumpkins – Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness (1995)
The mid-90s saw bands on both sides of the Atlantic reaching for the stars and with this 1995 offering, Billy Corgan and co delivered a cinematic masterwork. ‘Tonight, Tonight’ became an anthem for a generation unafraid to be both vulnerable, dramatic and free of constraints. The sound of dreamers dreaming big.
16. Sonic Youth – Daydream Nation (1988)
The New Yorkers’ titanic 1988 offering inhabits the place where punk rock and art collide. Long, evolving tracks unfurl at length, with shimmering guitars, hypnotic collages of broken sounds and the ability to sound but self-destructive and grandiose.
While not alone in exploring where indie guitar music could go, Daydream Nation was a figurehead at a time when the past was being left behind and the future carved out in stone.
15. Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band – Trout Mask Replica (1969)
Famously, Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band spent months living together and rehearsing the songs for this 1969 album in conditions that were difficult and put relationships under immense strain. Was it worth it?
You might need to judge this one for yourself – it’s famous for proving impossible to listen to for some, and a work of unrivalled genius for others. One thing we can guarantee is that it’s never predictable or boring.
14. Primal Scream – Screamadelica (1991)
After the Scottish indie band had delivered a pair of albums rooted in the classic rock they so loved, it came as quite the shock when they emerged with trance-like dance music that seemed the polar opposite of everything they preached.
And yet they showed that it worked, simply by infusing whatever style of music they turned their hands to with that same spirit of freedom and belief of their heroes Funkadelic, Sly & the Family Stone and The Rolling Stones.
‘Higher Than The Sun’ soars angelic, ‘Come Together’ pays tribute to gospel, rhythm & blues and jazz, and the infectious ‘Loaded’ became the anthem that united the tribes.
13. Elton John – Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (1973)
Blending glam rock sparkle with catchy melodic hooks, and clever arrangements with evocative lyrics, Elton John’s 1973 double is packed with some of his most memorable numbers – ‘Bennie & The Jets’, ‘Candle In The Wind’, ‘Saturday Night’s Alright For Fighting’ and, of course, ‘Goodbye Yellow Brick Road’ itself.
This is Elton John at the peak of his creativity.
12. Fleetwood Mac – Tusk (1979)
How do you follow a global smash like Rumours (1977)? By not trying to make Rumours Part II seems to be the answer if Fleetwood Mac’s expansive 1979 album is to be believed.
Not content to sit on their laurels, the band pushed their own boundaries over 20 songs that allowed raw edges to be exposed. It’s unpredictable, intimate and impossible not to play over and over, with each new listen revealing a fresh dimension.
11. Bruce Springsteen – The River (1980)
The Boss spent a whopping 18 months trying to capture his vision of The E-Street Band on this, his fifth studio album. The result sounds like the greatest bar band you ever heard, singing timeless songs of relatable human experience.
The energy of ‘Hungry Heart’ made it an instant classic, yet the quiet honesty of the title track tugs on the heart strings.
10. Pink Floyd – The Wall (1979)
A theatrical descent into isolation, The Wall is a grand yet claustrophobic descent into turmoil and confusion, and delivered Pink Floyd their only transatlantic number one, in ‘Another Brick in the Wall, Part 2’.
It topped the US Billboard 200 chart for 15 weeks and The Guardian described it as, "A bleak, manic, and agonised album [that] veers uneasily between crazy indulgence and nihilistic brilliance."
9. The Who – Quadrophenia (1973)
Forget Tommy, this is Pete Townsend’s rock opera masterpiece, his defining statement.
‘The Real Me’ blazes with the urgency of finding yourself while trying to fit in. The rage of ‘5:15’ is matched only by the desperation of ‘Love, Reign O’er Me’. This is a majestic album, grand and full of internal and external conflict. There’s no other album like it.
8. Led Zeppelin – Physical Graffiti (1975)
Led Zeppelin's fifth album is a towering statement from a band not just on top of their game, but on top of pretty much any game anyone’s dared to play. Thunderous riffs entwine with hypnotic passages on the majestic ‘Kashmir’, while ‘Ten Years Gone’ aches with longing.
7. The Cure – Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me (1987)
A kaleidoscopic journey as jumbled as Robert Smith’s hair, Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me established The Cure as big time players on the world stage.
The mood shifts endlessly, from the violent opener ‘The Kiss’ to the delicate love song ‘Catch’, the blistering piece of pure pop that is ‘Just Like Heaven’, and the mystical ‘If Only Tonight We Could Sleep’. There’s even disco, in the delightfully bizarre ‘Why Can’t I Be You?’.
The whole thing feels like Smith has just put his dreams onto tape. Which is kind of how he operates.
6. The Clash – London Calling (1979)
The fusion of punk rock, reggae, ska and rockabilly that oozes over four sides is a fearless assault on the establishment.
Politics and identity are at the fore on an album of classy rebellion – The Clash took no prisoner while adopting a firm ‘no pasaran’ stance on the timeless title track, ‘Guns Of Brixton’ and ‘Spanish Bombs’. This was the moment that punk came of age.
5. Jimi Hendrix – Electric Ladyland (1968)
By 1968, Jimi Hendrix was confident in his mastery of rock that he spent four sides weaving it into new shapes and forms, distorting not just his guitar but the very fabric of rock music itself.
Has any album before or since managed to contain so many great guitar licks? Following ‘Crosstown Traffic’ with ‘Voodoo Chile’ just feels like showing off, which is probably just what he was doing. And why not?
4. Stevie Wonder – Songs In The Key Of Life (1976)
Mainly because it’s just too darned good not to include, we overlooked that Stevie Wonder’s 1976 Songs In The Key Of Life was actually two-and-a-bit-records long – original copies came on double 12” with a bonus 7” EP appropriately called A Something's Extra.
Arguably the last of Wonder’s run of genius albums in the 70s, we hear him apparently effortlessly unravelling hook after groove in a mesmerising listen that’s as joyful as any album we can think of.
3. Bob Dylan – Blonde On Blonde (1966)
Dylan swaggers from the off on this 1966 masterpiece, in which razor-sharp words meet loose and languid rock grooves.
Dispensing wit and wisdom in equal measure – often in the same breath – he delivers one epic work of genius after the next, be that the dreamlike ‘Visions Of Johanna’ ("Ain’t it just like the night to play tricks when you’re trying to be so quiet?"), the biting ‘Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat’ or the simply magnificent ‘Just Like A Woman’.
The whole of side 4 is taken up by just one song – ‘Sad-Eyed Lady Of The Lowlands’ is a beautiful yet impenetrable work of heartfelt romance. Whatever it all means, it’s glorious.
2. The Rolling Stones – Exile On Main St. (1972)
A sweaty, swaggering sprawl of rock ’n’ roll excess, Exile finds the Stones as loose as they ever were, but totally locked in together as they barge their way through soul, gospel, blues, country and all-out rock.
Drums pound, guitars growl and horns blast. It’s as messy as a crazy party at 2am, only without the hangover – which means you can repeat the chaos night after night. Which is exactly what they did.
1. The Beatles – The Beatles (aka The White Album) (1968)
The first full-length follow-up to Sgt Pepper (1967) appeared at the end of 1968, following months of intense sessions that delivered a 30-song double album that stands as one of their greatest works.
The album covers all styles – from the vaudeville of ‘Honey Pie’ to the riff-laden rock of ‘Yer Blues’ and ‘Helter Skelter’, the delicate folk balladry of ‘Blackbird’ to the avant garde collage of ‘Revolution #9’.
There are catchy pop songs like ‘Back In The USSR’ and lullabies (‘Good Night’), gentle hymns (‘Long, Long, Long’) and cod-reggae (‘Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da’). Long have people debated whether it should have been a single album, but to quote Paul McCartney, "It was great. It sold. It's the bloody Beatles' White Album. Shut up!"
Artist photos Getty Images
