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 Yardbirds released the single, “Shapes of Things on February 25th, 1966, followed by The Byrds releasing the single “Eight Miles High” on March 14th of that year. 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 | Buffalo Springfield Again–Buffalo Springfield |
| 56 | Angel’s Egg—Gong |
| 55 | Ultimate Spinach—Ultimate Spinach |
| 54 | The Crazy World of Arthur Brown—Arthur Brown |
| 53 | Easter Everywhere—The 13th Floor Elevators |
| 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 | |
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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
40 thoughts on “The 100 Best Psychedelic Rock Albums of The Golden Age”
Pretty good list. I won’t quibble with some of your ’70s choices as you clearly know that they’re more prog than psych, but no Parable of Arable Land?
The Parable by Arable Land by Red Krayola always seemed more experimental than psychedelic. Which 70s selections are you referring to?
I am a RnR fan and have always loved Happy Trails by Quicksilver Messenger Service. With the two long Ellis McDaniel (Bo Diddley) songs rocking 70% of the LP I am confused how they are considered Psychedelic Rock. I also have always loved The 13 Floor Elevator for their rocking sound even if Roky Erickson was a original acid head. Rock on friends!
Good list, and nice to see a few of my faves (Kevin Ayers, PBS “Balaklava,” Small Faces, Zombies…). A lot of psych “experts” overlook certain British progressive folk artists, Might want to check out Dando Shaft’s first two LPs, John & Beverley Martin’s “Road to Ruin,” early Incredible String Band, and Bert Jansch & Pentangle. Peace!
Thanks for the kind words and suggestions.
Respectfully, has to be added …..
king crimson in the court of the crimson king. No question about it mate
That definitely has some psychedelic qualities, but it’s more often considered one of the first prog records.
No After Bathing at Baxters by the Airplane?
That’s a good call. We’ll have to take another look at that. Thanks for your input.
Great list. I know everyone’s favorites can’t make the list. But may I suggest SRC’s 1st lp. Black Sheep alone should qualify the lp.
I just read this review and when I got to #1 , my 1st thought was the same: Bathing at Baxters conspicuously absent. I know all of this- selection and ranking, is by nature very subjective- as is my thinking that album represented the height of both the Airplane and psychedelic rock in general. At any rate, this is a pretty good selection all in all, but JA’s “Baxter’s” seems like one of the very best examples of the genre; and I still treasure listening today.
Thank you for your wonderful feedback. We will revisit that album to potentially add it to the list.