The 100 Best Psychedelic Rock Albums of The Golden Age
- 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.
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.
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
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
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
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
18 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.