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The 100 Best Psychedelic Rock Albums of The Golden Age

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  • Jason LeValley
  • May 5, 2021
  • 4:00 pm

The 100 Best Psychedelic Rock Albums of The Golden Age

When compiling a list of the greatest psychedelic rock albums of the Golden era, there are a couple of things to take into consideration.

First, one must determine the parameters of the era: when did it begin and when did it end? In this case, the beginning is much clearer than the end. The Byrds released the single “Eight Miles High” in March of 1966 followed shortly by The Beatles single “Paperback Writer” with the b-side featuring the acid-drenched “Rain. Prior to those two singles psychedelic rock didn’t exist, so it’s safe to say that 1966 was the beginning of psych-rock’s golden era.

The end of the era is a bit more difficult to determine. Psych rock appeared to be dying down toward the end of the 60s with the biggest bands of the decade (The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Byrds, etc.) already moving on to other styles. The Manson murders occurred in fall of ‘69 followed by the stabbing of a man during the Rolling Stones set at Altamont and I don’t think it’s any exaggeration to say that these events damaged the psychedelic vibe. When the new decade took hold, psychedelic music faded fast, particularly in America. Most bands that had been playing psych moved on to progressive rock or hard rock. The new artists that emerged in the 70s did their own thing, be it singer-songwriter, glam rock, proto-punk, and weren’t interested in continuing the fads of their elder siblings. By the time punk and disco came to prominence in the mid to late 70s, psychedelic rock was dead as a door nail.

Surrealistic Pillow Album Cover

In choosing my top albums and ranking them, I used a two-factor system: quality of album and psychedelic quotient. The Beatles were (almost inarguably) the best band of the era, so it shouldn’t be a surprise that their three overtly psychedelic albums made my top 10. Another of their long-players, the “White Album”, makes the list on the basis of a couple tracks sounding trippy, although it’s clear that they were moving away from psychedelia by the time the record debuted in late 1968.

Pink Floyd was a psychedelic band, but also perfected progressive rock and space-rock. Their opus The Dark Side of the Moon was all of these and, as such, it makes the list, but it doesn’t rate as high as their psych-rock masterpiece The Piper at the Gates of Dawn because the psychedelic quotient is less dominant in it.

The one compilation on the list: Nuggets: Original Artyfacts from the Original Psychedelic Era 1965-1968 (released in 1972) is an excellent album, but is comprised mostly of garage-rock classics rather than true psych tunes, which is why it didn’t place higher.

Axis: Bold as Love Album Cover

100 Greatest Psychedelic Rock Albums of the Golden Era

1. Revolver—The Beatles

2. Piper at the Gates of Dawn—Pink Floyd

3. Surrealistic Pillow—Jefferson Airplane

4. Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band—The Beatles

5. A Saucerful of Secrets—Pink Floyd

6. Odessey and Oracle—The Zombies

7. Are You Experienced–The Jimi Hendrix Experience

8. Magical Mystery Tour—The Beatles

9. Ogden’s Nut Gone Flake–Small Faces

10. Heaven Is in Your Mind—Traffic

11. Electric Ladyland—The Jimi Hendrix Experience

12. Part One—The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band

13. SF Sorrow—The Pretty Things

14. The Soft Machine vol. 1

15. The Soft Machine vol. 2

16. Disraeli Gears–Cream

17. Roger the Engineer—The Yardbirds

18. The Who Sell Out–The Who

19. In-a-Gadda-da-Vida—Iron Butterfly

20. Forever Changes—Love

21. Axis: Bold as Love–The Jimi Hendrix Experience

22. Electric Music for the Mind and Body—Country Joe and the Fish

23. The Psychedelic Sounds of…The 13th Floor Elevators

24. Smiley Smile—The Beach Boys

25. Tomorrow–Tomorrow

Grateful Dead Aoxomaxoa Album

26. In Search of the Lost Chord—The Moody Blues

27. Would You Believe—Billy Nichols

28. Ummagumma—Pink Floyd

29. The United States of America– The United States of America

30. Strange Days—The Doors

31. Their Satanic Majesties Request—The Rolling Stones

32. Aoxomoxoa—Grateful Dead

33. H.P. Lovecraft II—H.P. Lovecraft

34. Spirit—Spirit

35. Children of the Future—The Steve Miller Band

36. July—July

37. The Madcap Laughs—Syd Barrett

38. I Had Too Much to Dream (Last Night)–The Electric Prunes

39. Joy of a Toy–Kevin Ayers

40. Crown of Creation—Jefferson Airplane

41. Whatevershebringswesing—Kevin Ayers

42. Odessa—The Bee Gees

43. Anthem of the Sun—The Grateful Dead

44. Think Pink—Twink

45. A Gift from a Flower to a Garden–Donovan

46. Wake Up…It’s Tomorrow—Strawberry Alarm Clock

47. Web of Sound—The Seeds

48. Twelve Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus—Spirit

49. Moby Grape—Moby Grape

50. The Crazy World of Arthur Brown—Arthur Brown

It's a Beautiful Day Album Cover

51. Waiting for the Sun—The Doors

52. Ultimate Spinach—Ultimate Spinach

53. Angel’s Egg—Gong

54. Easter Everywhere—The 13th Floor Elevators

55. Balaklava—Pearls Before Swine

56. I-Feel-Like-I’m-Fixin’-to-Die—Country Joe and the Fish

57. Nuggets: Original Artyfacts from the Original Psychedelic Era: 1965-1968

58. The Time Has Come—The Chambers Brothers

59. Wheels of Fire—Cream

60. Buffalo Springfield Again—Buffalo Springfield

61. Happy Trails—Quicksilver Messenger Service

62. Os Mutantes—Os Mutantes

63. Studio—Tages

64. OAR—Skip Spence

65. It’s a Beautiful Day—It’s a Beautiful Day

66. The Story of Simon Simopath—Nirvana (UK)

67. Maggot Brain—Funkadelic

68. Tangerine Dream—Kaleidoscope (UK)

69. Nazz—Nazz

70. The Birthday Party—The Idle Race

71. Evolution—The Hollies

72. Begin—The Millenium

73. Move—The Move

74. Days of Future Passed—The Moody Blues

75. The Hangman’s Beautiful Daughter—The Incredible String Band

Twink-Think Pink Album Cover

76. Sailor—The Steve Miller Band

77. We Are Paintermen—The Creation

78. Cauldron—Fifty Foot Hose

79. Silver Apples—Silver Apples

80. Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn, and Jones, Ltd.–The Monkees

81. 5th Dimension—The Byrds

82. Cheap Thrills—Big Brother and the Holding Company

83. No Way Out—The Chocolate Watchband

84. Side Trips—Kaleidoscope

85. Contact—Silver Apples

86. Vanilla Fudge—Vanilla Fudge

87. Music in a Doll’s House—Family

88. Psychedelic Lollipop—Blues Magoos

89. Da Capo—Love

90. Green Tambourine—The Lemon Pipers

91. Ptoof!–The Deviants

92. A Beard of Stars—Tyrannosaurus Rex

93. The Dark Side of the Moon—Pink Floyd

94. Fever Tree–Fever Tree

95. Little Games—The Yardbirds

96. The Beatles (White Album)–The Beatles

97. Cellophane Symphony—Tommy James and the Shondells

98. Gandalf—Gandalf

99. Nice—The Nice

100. Yes–Yes

Kaleidoscope-Side Trips Album Cover

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18 thoughts on “The 100 Best Psychedelic Rock Albums of The Golden Age”

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  1. James Albee
    December 14, 2021 at 11:55 pm

    What about Hawkwind? What about Scorpions Lonesome Crow?? What about Santana Caravanserai??? Some trippy albums have been left off. Heavy trippy sounds. Share your fav not listed…Thanks.

    Reply
    • Jason LeValley
      December 16, 2021 at 12:28 pm

      James, I have to disgree with you on your picks. Hawkwind occasionally ventures into psychedelic territory, but they are pre-dominantly space-rock. Those Scorpions and Santana albums just aren’t psychedelic in my opinion.

      Reply
      • Don Kruse
        March 8, 2022 at 9:28 pm

        The Hermit of Mink Hollow by Todd Rundgren and Captain Beyond seem like they would fit into the category of psychedelic rock. Olivia Tremor Control is not from the same time period, but they have several albums that could qualify as psychedelic.

        Reply
        • Jason LeValley
          March 11, 2022 at 4:00 pm

          In our estimation, the psychedelic quotient is a little low on those two classic albums. The Olivia Tremor Control definitely made some psychedelic records, but they’re not from the Golden Age of Psychedelic Rock.

          Reply
  2. Greg
    September 13, 2021 at 4:17 am

    Hello,
    No Gong’s album ?

    Reply
    • Jason LeValley
      September 13, 2021 at 8:44 am

      We love Gong, but they are classified in so many different categories–psychedelia being just one. They certainly deserved consideration though.

      Reply
      • Mike R.
        May 26, 2022 at 5:20 pm

        They are on here (number 53) with Angel’s Egg.

        Reply
        • Jason LeValley
          June 1, 2022 at 8:51 am

          OK. So there you go!

          Reply

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