I’ve been keeping lists of my favorite albums since the very early ’70s, when I was a grade school Steppenwolf fan. My tastes have evolved dramatically over the years (though I still like Steppenwolf), so I review and update this list periodically, dropping things that haven’t aged well, and adding new things that excite me and seem to have staying power. It’s been 18 months since a freshening, so today seemed a good day to update.

For many years, this was a “Top 100 List,” but as I’ve gotten older, I feel entitled to expand the roster beyond the century mark, since I’ve listened to a whole lot more music now than I had when I was younger. I also used to exclude “Greatest Hits” and other compilation or live albums, but I’ve gotten less uptight about that, too, since for some artists, their best work may have appeared on singles that only saw long-form release in the form of “Best Of” collections.

So here’s the update, in alphabetical order by artist name. As soon as I post this list, I will invariably change my mind about something, but that’s the beauty of updates, right? Watch this space in 2020 to see what I got wrong this time!

1. AC/DC: Back in Black
2. Allison, Mose: Swingin’ Machine
3. Bauhaus: The Sky’s Gone Out
4. Beef: Stink, Stank, Stunk
5. Beefheart, Captain and the Magic Band: Clear Spot
6. Beefheart, Captain and the Magic Band: The Spotlight Kid
7. Birthday Party: Junkyard
8. Black Flag: Damaged
9. Bogmen: Life Begins at 40 Million
10. Bongwater: The Power of Pussy
11. Bonzo Dog Band: Keynsham
12. Bonzo Dog Band: The Doughnut in Granny’s Greenhouse
13. Bowie, David: “Heroes”
14. Bowie, David: Lodger
15. Bowie, David: Blackstar
16. Buggy Jive: The Buggy Jive Mix Tape
17. Burning Spear: Marcus Garvey
18. Bush, Kate: Hounds of Love
19. Bush, Kate: The Dreaming
20. Butthole Surfers: Hairway to Steven
21. Butthole Surfers: Locust Abortion Technician
22. Camberwell Now: All’s Well
23. Cave, Nick and the Bad Seeds: Henry’s Dream
24. Cave, Nick and the Bad Seeds: Tender Prey
25. Chance The Rapper: Coloring Book
26. Chap: Mega Breakfast
27. Christian Death: Catastrophe Ballet
28. Clash: Combat Rock
29. Clutch: Book of Bad Decisions
30. Clutch: Elephant Riders
31. Clutch: Robot Hive/Exodus
32. Coil: Backwards
33. Coil: Horse Rotorvator
34. Coil: The Ape of Naples
35. Collider: WCYF
36. Coup: Sorry to Bother You
37. Coup: Sorry to Bother You: The Soundtrack
38. Cramps: Bad Music for Bad People
39. Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young: Deja Vu
40. Dälek: Absence
41. Dälek: Gutter Tactics
42. Davis, Jed: Small Sacrifices Must Be Made
43. Death Grips: Ex-Military
44. Death Grips: Government Plates
45. Department of Eagles: The Cold Nose
46. Devo: Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo
47. Diamond, Neil: Tap Root Manuscript
    
48. Dogbowl: Flan
49. Dolphy, Eric: Iron Man
50. Donnie Trumpet and the Social Experiment: Surf
51. Dunnery, Francis: Tall Blonde Helicopter
52. Eagles: Desperado
53. Earth, Wind and Fire: All n’ All
54. Einsturzende Neubauten: Halber Mensch
55. Einsturzende Neubauten: Haus der Luge
56. Emerson, Lake and Palmer: Tarkus
57. Emerson, Lake and Palmer: Trilogy
58. Emerson, Lake and Palmer: Brain Salad Surgery
59. Eno, Brian: Here Come the Warm Jets
60. Eno, Brian: Another Green World
61. Eno, Brian: Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy)
62. Eno, Brian: Before And After Science
63. Fairport Convention: Unhalfbricking
64. Fairport Convention: What We Did On Our Holidays
65. Fall: Hex Enduction Hour
66. Fall: The Real New Fall LP (Formerly Country on the Click)
67. Fall: Imperial Wax Solvent
68. Fall: New Facts Emerge
69. Family: Bandstand
70. Family: Fearless
71. First Aid Kit: Stay Gold
72. First Aid Kit: Ruins
73. Fleetwood Mac: Future Games
74. Fleetwood Mac: Rumours
75. Focus: Live At The Rainbow
76. Funkadelic: Maggotbrain
77. Gabriel, Peter: Peter Gabriel (III/Melt)
78. Gang of Four: Entertainment!
79. Gay Tastee: Songs for the Sodomites
80. Genesis: Duke
81. Genesis: Abacab
82. Genesis: The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway
83. Genesis: Wind and Wuthering
84. Good Rats: Birth Comes to Us All
85. Good Rats: Tasty
86. Grateful Dead: American Beauty
87. Grateful Dead: Workingman’s Dead
88. Hall, Daryl: Sacred Songs
89. Hanslick Rebellion: The Rebellion is Here
90. Hawkwind: Doremi Fasol Latido
91. Hawkwind: Space Ritual
92. Hitchcock, Robyn and the Egyptians: Element of Light
93. Hot Tuna: America’s Choice
94. Hot Tuna: Yellow Fever
95. Human Sexual Response: Fig. 14
96. Human Sexual Response: In a Roman Mood
97. Husker Du: Zen Arcade
98. Idles: Brutalism
99. Idles: Joy As An Act of Resistance
100. Imperial Wax: Gastwerk Saboteurs
101. Jarre, Jean-Michel: Equinoxe
102. Jesu/Sun Kil Moon: Jesu/Sun Kil Moon
103. Jethro Tull: Songs From the Wood
104. Jethro Tull: The Broadsword and the Beast
105. Jethro Tull: Heavy Horses
106. Jethro Tull: Thick as a Brick
107. Jethro Tull: A Passion Play
108. Joy Division: Unknown Pleasures
109. Joy Division: Closer
110. Juluka: Scatterlings
111. Kamikaze Hearts: Oneida Road
112. Kaukonen, Jorma: Quah
113. Keineg, Katell: Jet
114. Killdozer: Twelve Point Buck
115. King Crimson: Starless and Bible Black
116. King Crimson: In The Court of the Crimson King
117. King Crimson: Lizard
118. King Crimson: Meltdown: Live in Mexico
119. Kraftwerk: Trans-Europe Express
120. Kraftwerk: Minimum-Maximum
121. Kurki-Suonio, Sanna: Musta
122. Lateef, Yusef: Eastern Sounds
123. Lateef, Yusef: The Complete Yusef Lateef
124. Malibu Ken: Malibu Ken
125. Michael Nyman: A Zed and Two Noughts (Original Soundtrack)
126. Minutemen: Double Nickels on the Dime
127. Mitchel, Joni: For the Roses
128. Mitchell, John Cameron and Stephen Trask: Hedwig And The Angry Inch
129. Mos Def: The Ecstatic
130. Napalm Death: Time Waits For No Slave
131. Napalm Death: Utilitarian
132. Napalm Death: Apex Predator — Easy Meat
133. New Order: Movement
134. New Order: Power, Corruption and Lies
135. Octopus: Restless Night
136. Parliament: Chocolate City
137. Pere Ubu: The Modern Dance
138. Pere Ubu: Terminal Tower
139. Phair, Liz: Exile in Guyville
140. Pink Floyd: The Dark Side of the Moon
141. Pink Floyd: Animals
142. Pink Floyd: The Wall
143. Presley, Elvis: Peace In The Valley: The Complete Gospel Recordings
144. Public Enemy: Fear of a Black Planet
145. Public Enemy: Apocalypse ’91 . . . The Enemy Strikes Black
146. R.E.M.: Life’s Rich Pageant
147. Renaldo and the Loaf: Songs for Swinging Larvae
148. Replacements: Let It Be
149. Replacements: Sorry Ma, Forgot to Take Out the Trash
150. Robbins, Marty: Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs
151. Rolling Stones: Exile on Main St.
152. Rose, Caroline: Loner
153. Roxy Music: For Your Pleasure
154. Rundgren, Todd: Healing
155. Rush: Signals
156. Sanders, Pharoah: Karma
157. Schnell Fenster, The Sound of Trees
158. Sepultura: Roots
159. Shriekback: Oil and Gold
160. Simon and Garfunkel: Sounds of Silence
161. Smiths: Louder Than Bombs
162. Snog: Last of the Great Romantics
163. Soulfly: Ritual
164. Special A.K.A.: In the Studio
165. Steely Dan: Aja
166. Steely Dan: The Royal Scam
167. Steely Dan: Can’t Buy A Thrill
168. Steppenwolf: Gold
169. Stevens, Cat: Buddha And The Chocolate Box
170. Swans: Filth
171. Swans: Holy Money
172. Talking Heads: Fear of Music
173. Television Personalities: Closer to God
174. This Heat: Deceit
175. Tosh, Peter: Mama Africa
176. Tosh, Peter: Equal Rights
177. Tragic Mulatto: Italians Fall Down and Look Up Your Dress
178. Tsukerman, Slava et. al.: Liquid Sky (Original Soundtrack)
179. Utopia: Utopia
180. Utopia: Swing to the Right
181. Wailer, Bunny: Blackheart Man
182. Wall of Voodoo: Happy Planet
183. Wall of Voodoo: Seven Days in Sammystown
184. Wasted: We Are Already in Hell
185. Weasels: Uranus or Bust
186. Weasels: AARP Go the Weasels
187. Weasels: The Man Who Saw Tomorrow
188. Ween: Quebec
189. Ween: The Mollusk
190. Who: Who’s Next
191. Wings: Band on the Run
192. Wings: Venus and Mars
193. Wire: The Ideal Copy
194. Wire: Send
195. XTC: Black Sea
196. XTC: English Settlement
197. Yes: The Yes Album
198. Yes: Fragile
199. Zappa, Frank and the Mothers of Invention: One Size Fits All
200. Zappa, Frank: Joe’s Garage, Parts I, II and III