Everyone loves a canon.
After all, it gives us something concrete to hold on to, that collective wisdom that means we all know what makes the best of the best. These are the albums that we’re supposed to love.
But sometimes these sacred cows aren’t quite the career-defining works that we’ve always been led to believe. This isn’t reinventing the past, it’s not revisionism, it’s just recognising that, with the perspective that only the passing of the years can offer, we may have been – collectively – a little hasty in our assertions.
So here, we took 21 of the undisputed greats of the rock and pop world and asked the question – is that really their best work?
1. The Rolling Stones
The classic album: Exile On Main Street (1972)
The better album: Sticky Fingers (1971)
The rationale: The legend of its creation precedes Exile On Main Street, mythologising this magnificent expanse of some of the finest rock ever cut to wax. And yet, for all its glories, there’s something about Sticky Fingers that distils all the rambling splendour of Exile and delivers it in a punchier, more direct package that, bang for buck, offers more hooks, tighter grooves and more memorable riffs.
There’s greater variety too – 'Wild Horses' is one of the finest pieces of country rock ever recorded; 'I Got The Blues' is pure Memphis soul; 'Brown Sugar' still fills dancefloors decades later; and 'Sister Morphine' fathoms hell like nothing on its successor.
2. Stevie Wonder
The classic album: Songs In The Key Of Life (1976)
The better album: Talking Book (1972)
The rationale: There was a time in the 1970s where it seemed that Stevie Wonder could do no wrong – everything he released from 1970’s Signed, Sealed & Delivered onwards is dazzling, but the trilogy of Music of My Mind, Talking Book and Innervisions is one of the finest runs in pop music history. Which is why it seems so out of step for Songs In The Key Of Life to be seen as his masterpiece.
Sure, it’s a great album, but it sprawls, and at its worst (such as on the interminable ‘Isn’t She Lovely’), it begins to grate. A sign of worse that was to come, perhaps? We picked Talking Book today, but on another day we’d have gone for Music Of My Mind or Innervisions. There are no wrong answers.
3. Bob Dylan
The classic album: Blonde On Blonde (1966)
The better album: Bringing It All Back Home (1965)
The rationale: Invariably, the top Dylan entries on lists of the greatest albums of all time will rotate between Blonde On Blonde, Highway 61 Revisited and Blood On The Tracks – all of them stellar choices. But what about Bringing It All Back Home, the 1965 album that changed everything?
From the kick off, ‘Subterranean Homesick Blues’ is a song unlike anything anybody else made before (or since, for that matter). ‘Maggie’s Farm’ is a visceral 4 minutes, while ‘Mr Tambourine Man’ is one of the popular songs of the century.
But it’s the final three songs that sound like a revolution, an apocalypse and the big bang all at the same time. ‘Gates of Eden’, ‘It’s Alright Ma (I’m Only Bleeding)’ and ‘It’s All Over Now Baby Blue’ are in turns the most devastating song you ever heard, one after the other. If that’s not a classic album then we don’t know what is.
4. Steely Dan
The classic album: Aja (1977)
The better album: Countdown to Ecstasy (1973)
The rationale: While Aja is a sonic marvel of session-player precision, its glossy, mathematical perfection can feel strangely vacuum-sealed, stripping away the dangerous spontaneity of a real rock band. For a more rewarding experience, Steely Dan's sophomore album 'Countdown to Ecstasy', from 1973, stands as their true zenith. It captures the Dan at their most adventurous and muscular, before they retreated entirely into the antiseptic safety of the studio.
With the original quintet still firing, tracks like 'Bodhisattva' and 'My Old School' possess a gritty, sprawling energy that feels alive. It is a record of sophisticated snark and high-stakes musicianship that breathes rather than just glistens.
5. The Beatles
The classic album: Abbey Road (1969)
The better album: Rubber Soul (1965)
The rationale: In the top 50 of Rolling Stone’s list ‘The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time', The Beatles unsurprisingly feature more than any other artist (Abbey Road, Revolver, Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band and the White Album). But what about Rubber Soul, in which the Beatles immerse themselves in a pot haze, Bob Dylan, Stax and Motown (‘Drive My Car’, ‘The Word’) and, crucially, each other?
This is their first album not to include any rock’n’roll numbers. Instead, it introduces a vast buffet of textures from around the world, be that folk rock, Indian instrumentation, or their own blend of subtle percussion, tight harmonies, fuzz bass, scorching electric and folksy acoustic guitars (‘Think For Yourself’, ‘Wait’, ‘You Won’t See Me’).
It’s as introspective and existential (‘Nowhere Man’, ‘In My Life’) as it is accessible and beautiful (‘Girl’, ‘Michelle)’. This is a band that knows they’re at the top of their game, and they’re going to enjoy it.
6. Queen
The classic album: A Night At The Opera (1975)
The better album: Sheer Heart Attack (1974)
The rationale: Any album that includes ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ is going to sit near the very top of the rock tree – and rightly so. But when you pair it with, say, ‘I’m In Love With My Car’ (sample lyric: ‘Told my girl I'll have to forget her/Rather buy me a new carburettor’), 1975's A Night at the Opera starts to feel more like an album of peaks and troughs.
Sheer Heart Attack, on the other hand, is a blistering album from start to finish. This was the album where Queen finally found their feet, from the balls-out ‘Brighton Rock’ and ‘Now I’m Here’, ‘Killer Queen’’s pomp pop perfection, the tender ‘Lily Of The Valley’ and the anthemic ‘In the Lap of the Gods...Revisited’.
7. Joni Mitchell
The classic album: Blue (1972)
The better album: Hejira (1976)
The rationale: While 1972's Blue is a flawless map of youthful heartbreak, Hejira is the sound of a woman who has finally found herself in the vastness of the world. By 1976, Joni Mitchell had traded the folk-pop structures of her early career for a restless, panoramic jazz-fusion.
Hejira replaces the sharp but intimately personal pain of Blue with something much more widescreen: a profound, travel-worn philosophy, anchored by Jaco Pastorius’s fretless bass, which breathes like a living organism beneath her open-tuned guitar. It is a more demanding listen, eschewing easy hooks for long-form poetic meditations on independence and the 'refuge of the road'. Hejira is Mitchell’s true sophisticated peak.
8. The Velvet Underground
The classic album: The Velvet Underground & Nico (1967)
The better album: Loaded (1970)
The rationale: There’s no denying that The Velvet Underground's seminal debut is a groundbreaking album – pretty much every band of the 70s took something from this cult classic from 1967. But in terms of the pure quality of the album, Loaded is a greater experience on pretty much every level – the songwriting is richer, the playing more controlled, the production sweeter, the grooves warmer. ‘Sweet Jane’ and ‘Rock & Roll’ are instant classics, ‘I Found A Reason’ the perfect love song – and is it just us, or does ‘Oh! Sweet Nuthin’’ sound cooler than pretty much anything else they did?
9. Dire Straits
The classic album: Brothers In Arms (1985)
The better album: Love Over Gold (1982)
The rationale: The epic ‘Telegraph Road,’ which opens Love Over Gold, is the perfect illustration of why the earlier album is the better record. Tension and emotion are wrought by Mark Knopfler’s inventive and expressive guitar work, and the song's long, slow build of drama, storytelling and feeling make it one of rock's most captivating longform pieces, with a sense of release towards the end that is supremely cathartic.
Brothers In Arms may have been the album that took Dire Straits into millions of living rooms worldwide (it was the first CD album to sell a million copies), but where its polished commerciality made it a staple listen in the mid-80s, dedicated fans rightly laud Love Over Gold’s focus on artistry over airplay.
10. Led Zeppelin
The classic album: Led Zeppelin IV (1971)
The better album: Physical Graffiti (1975)
The rationale: You might argue that selecting the best Led Zep album is a little like trying to define categorically which is the best flavour of ice cream: ultimately, it’s all a matter of taste. And yet, what Physical Graffiti does over two monumental slabs of vinyl is to set out Led Zep’s stall completely.
It covers everything they do – blues, folk, hard rock, acoustic explorations – expertly, as though they were trying to demonstrate just how good they were at all of these things. Led Zep IV is packed with iconic moments, but for its sheer scope (not to mention the truly epic ‘Kashmir’), we felt PG was the supergroup’s high point.
11. Radiohead
The classic album: OK Computer (1997)
The better album: In Rainbows (2007)
The rationale: One of the many great things about Radiohead is their refusal to sit on their laurels. The jump from The Bends to OK Computer, for example, was like two different bands. Then, Kid A and Amnesiac saw them take their success and rip it up in pursuit of the higher artistic dream they pursued.
By the time they got to In Rainbows, it felt like they were cherry picking all the biggest things they’d mastered and perfected over the years and melded them into one, magnificent, focused, intense and stupidly good album. The complex rhythms, the searing guitars, the endless counterpoint, melodic bass, the soaring vocals… it’s perfection.
12. Neil Young
The classic album: After The Gold Rush (1970)
The better album: On The Beach (1974)
The rationale: There’s something in the way that On The Beach’s emotional weight is carried across the whole album that brings it together, creating a unified – if somewhat stark – listening experience that elevates it. By immersing the listener deep into these unflinching songs of disillusionment, unease and the fag end of the Sixties dream, in 1974 Young somehow surpasses even After The Gold Rush, despite the earlier album's many soaring highs.
13. Michael Jackson
The classic album: Thriller (1982)
The better album: Off The Wall (1979)
The rationale: Thriller is rightly lauded as one of the greatest albums of the 80s, packed as it is with hit after hit. Yet while its commercial credentials are undeniable, there’s something somehow more complete about 1979's Off The Wall.
Sure, there’s less spectacle, but there’s way more groove – some of the rhythm tracks on Off The Wall are funkier than a mosquito’s tweeter, and there are more than enough hooks to go around. And, unlike Thriller, there’s not a weak track in sight (for Jacko/Macca collabs, ‘Girlfriend' trumps 'The Girl Is Mine' every time).
14. Nirvana
The classic album: Nevermind (1991)
The better album: In Utero (1993)
The rationale: Nevermind was the album that took Nirvana global, selling by the bucket load and spawning hit singles ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ and ‘Come As You Are’. The polished production made it perfect for radio play, but it lacked the rawness of their debut, 1989's Bleach. By contrast, In Utero saw a return to the band’s uncompromising abrasiveness for which their live shows had become the stuff of legend. As a result, it didn’t sell as well, but for the die-hards, there’s no doubt which is the superior album.
15. Fleetwood Mac
The classic album: Rumours (1977)
The better album: Tusk (1979)
The rationale: Fleetwood Mac's world-conquering Rumours (1977) is perhaps too perfect an album, with its polished production, tight harmonies and accessible songwriting. But Tusk is just more interesting. It takes more risks, it pushes boundaries and embraces greater variety. Lindsey Buckingham’s production gives each track room to develop its own identity, which makes the album less predictable and a more rewarding listen.
16. David Bowie
The classic album: The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars (1972)
The better album: Low (1977)
The rationale: Ziggy is a dazzling album full of theatre, flamboyance and great narrative flare. But by five years later, Bowie had developed unrecognisably as a songwriter, musician and visionary. There’s something so much more substantial about Low, that it’s like comparing a cartoon to a magnificent sculpture.
And there’s a place for both, of course, but when it comes to artistic endeavour, emotional depth and sonic landscapes, Low wins every time.
17. Pink Floyd
The classic album: The Dark Side Of The Moon (1973)
The better album: Animals (1977)
The rationale: In many ways companion pieces, Animals goes beyond the earlier album by exploring many of the same themes – but in a sharper, meaner and more cohesive manner. The polished production and approach of The Dark Side Of The Moon means that it becomes a more universal listen, and yet by 1977 the grittier Animals creates a more challenging – and in turn more rewarding – experience. It explores Orwellian themes with a raw intensity that is more disturbing, and so more authentic.
18. The Who
The classic album: Who’s Next (1971)
The better album: Quadrophenia (1973)
The rationale: The sheer scope and ambition of Quadrophenia should be enough to elevate it to the status of being The Who’s masterpiece. What's more, while 1971's Who’s Next is a first-rate collection of songs ('Baba O' Riley', 'Won't Get Fooled Again'), the narrative that runs through Quadrophenia shows that Pete Townshend’s vision as a storyteller was matched by his creative powers.
Songs like ‘The Real Me’, ‘Love Reign O’er Me’ and ‘I’ve Had Enough’ take the listener on the deepest, darkest dive into the ever-present questions of youth, belonging, identity and anxiety. It’s an absolute force to be reckoned with.
19. U2
The classic album: The Joshua Tree (1987)
The better album: Achtung Baby (1991)
The rationale: Achtung Baby saw the caterpillar that was 80s U2 emerge as a beautiful butterfly, packed with innovation, swagger and dynamism. What’s more, it showed that they were more than an anthemic rock band. With Achtung Baby they embraced electronics, and broadened their palette, both musically and in terms of their reach. They never bettered it.
20. Oasis
The classic album: (What’s The Story) Morning Glory? (1995)
The better album: Definitely Maybe (1994)
The rationale: By 1995, Oasis were the biggest band in the world – at least in their own heads. Their swagger couldn’t be contained and hits like ‘Wonderwall’ and ‘Don’t Look Back In Anger’ came to define a generation as well as a period of great social change.
And yet played back-to-back with the debut today, it’s clear that the earlier record had the bigger balls. The ferocity of ‘Rock’n’Roll Star’ and ‘Columbia’, the self-belief of ‘Live Forever’, the wit of ‘Digsy’s Dinner’ and ‘Married With Children’. Plus, unlike (What’s The Story) Morning Glory?, there’s not a duff moment to be found.
21. The Smiths
The classic album: The Queen Is Dead (1986)
The better album: Strangeways Here We Come (1987)
The rationale: When The Queen Is Dead came out in 1986, it felt like The Smiths just kept getting better and better. And yet with the release just a year later of Strangeways Here We Come came the news that they’d split, with rumours of acrimony and in-fighting, which left a more sour taste in the mouth and the newer record never stood a chance.
Now, with the distance of time, the band's swan-song LP demonstrates more mature songwriting, depth and tonal range. The arrangements are richer, the balance between wit and weakness bang on and fundamentally, it sounds like a band that can do no wrong. Apart from split.
Pics Getty Images
