The 100 Best Psychedelic Rock Albums of The Golden Age
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.
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.
100 Greatest Psychedelic Rock Albums of the Golden Era
100 | Moby Grape–Moby Grape |
99 | Little Games—The Yardbirds |
98 | Picturesque Matchstickable Messages–Status Quo |
97 | The Time Has Come—The Chambers Brothers |
96 | A Beard of Stars—Tyrannosaurus Rex |
95 | Ptoof!–The Deviants |
94 | A Gift from a Flower to a Garden–Donovan |
93 | Da Capo—Love |
92 | Psychedelic Lollipop—Blues Magoos |
91 | Music in a Doll’s House—Family |
90 | Vanilla Fudge—Vanilla Fudge |
89 | Contact—Silver Apples |
88 | Maggot Brain—Funkadelic |
87 | No Way Out—The Chocolate Watchband |
86 | Cheap Thrills—Big Brother and the Holding Company |
85 | Yes–Yes |
84 | 5th Dimension—The Byrds |
83 | Side Trip–Kaleidoscope |
82 | Cauldron—Fifty Foot Hose |
81 | We Are Paintermen—The Creation |
80 | Cellophane Symphony—Tommy James and the Shondells |
80 | Brave New World–Steve Miller Band |
79 | Aorta-Aorta |
78 | On the Threshold of a Dream—The Moody Blues |
77 | Move—The Move |
76 | Begin—The Millenium |
75 | Evolution—The Hollies |
74 | The Birthday Party—The Idle Race |
73 | Nazz—Nazz |
72 | Tangerine Dream—Kaleidoscope (UK) |
71 | Gandalf—Gandalf |
70 | The Bee Gees–1st |
69 | It’s a Beautiful Day—It’s a Beautiful Day |
68 | OAR—Skip Spence |
67 | Studio—Tages |
66 | Nice—The Nice |
65 | Happy Trails—Quicksilver Messenger Service |
64 | Silver Apples—Silver Apples |
63 | Wheels of Fire—Cream |
61 | Together–Country Joe and the Fish |
60 | Sailor—The Steve Miller Band |
59 | Crown of Creation–Jefferson Airplane |
58 | Balaklava—Pearls Before Swine |
57 | Easter Everywhere—The 13th Floor Elevators |
56 | Angel’s Egg—Gong |
55 | Ultimate Spinach—Ultimate Spinach |
54 | The Crazy World of Arthur Brown—Arthur Brown |
53 | Buffalo Springfield Again—Buffalo Springfield |
52 | Twelve Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus—Spirit |
51 | We Are Ever So Clean—Blossom Toes |
50 | Web of Sound—The Seeds |
49 | Incense and Peppermints—Strawberry Alarm Clock |
48 | The Madcap Laughs–Syd Barrett |
47 | I-Feel-Like-I’m-Fixin’-to-Die—Country Joe and the Fish |
46 | Trip Thru Hell–C.A. Quintet |
45 | Whatevershebringswesing—Kevin Ayers |
44 | Would You Believe—Billy Nichols |
43 | I Had Too Much to Dream (Last Night)–The Electric Prunes |
42 | Joy of a Toy–Kevin Ayers |
41 | After Bathing at Baxter’s–Jefferson Airplane |
40 | The Twain Shall Meet—Eric Burdon & the Animals |
39 | H.P. Lovecraft I–H.P. Lovecraft |
38 | July—July |
37 | Children of the Future—The Steve Miller Band |
36 | Anthem of the Sun—The Grateful Dead |
35 | Spirit—Spirit |
34 | Ummagumma—Pink Floyd |
33 | H.P. Lovecraft II—H.P. Lovecraft |
32 | In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida–Iron Butterfly |
31 | The Psychedelic Sounds of…The 13th Floor Elevators |
30 | Their Satanic Majesties Request—The Rolling Stones |
29 | Strange Days—The Doors |
28 | The United States of America– The United States of America |
27 | Waiting for the Sun–The Doors |
26 | In Search of the Lost Chord—The Moody Blues |
25 | The Doors–The Doors | |
24 | Think Pink—Twink | |
23 | Tomorrow–Tomorrow | |
22 | Electric Music for the Mind and Body—Country Joe and the Fish | |
21 | Axis: Bold as Love–The Jimi Hendrix Experience | |
20 | Forever Changes—Love | |
19 | Aoxomoxoa–Grateful Dead | |
18 | The Who Sell Out–The Who | |
17 | Roger the Engineer—The Yardbirds | |
16 | Disraeli Gears–Cream | |
15 | The Soft Machine vol. 2 | |
14 | The Soft Machine vol. 1 | |
13 | SF Sorrow—The Pretty Things | |
12 | Part One—The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band | |
11 | Electric Ladyland—The Jimi Hendrix Experience | |
10 | Heaven Is in Your Mind—Traffic | |
9 | Ogden’s Nut Gone Flake–Small Faces | |
8 | Odessey and Oracle—The Zombies | |
7 | Magical Mystery Tour—The Beatles | |
6 | A Saucerful of Secrets–Pink Floyd | |
5 |
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4 | Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band—The Beatles | |
3 | Surrealistic Pillow—Jefferson Airplane | |
2 | Piper at the Gates of Dawn—Pink Floyd | |
1 | Revolver—The Beatles |
Related: Top 200 Songs from the Original Psychedelic Era
Revised 5/2/2024
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33 thoughts on “The 100 Best Psychedelic Rock Albums of The Golden Age”
Good list. I would put FEVER TREE and BEGIN much higher. Both amazing records that sound like nothing else. Good to see SMILEY SMILE up there, too.
Thank you. Yes, that Millenium record, in particular, is so good.
After Bathing at Baxters?
Jose, that’s a good one that probably should have made this list. Good call!
Begin by The Millenium. The record so nice it’s on this list twice!
Heheh! Good catch! That frees up some space for another classic album.
Surprised to see 16 of the top 18 albums are from the UK given that San Francisco was the epicenter of the psychedelic movement. Ogdens Nut Flake in the top ten?
Well, the UK is a multi-country empire while SF is just one city. As for Ogden’s Nut Gone Flake, it’s a psychedelic classic by a top-notch band.
13th floor elevators?
They’re on there: #23 and #54.