“What really matters is what you like, not what you are like.”
– Nick Hornby, High Fidelity (1995)
Readers who have enjoyed our interviews from time to time know that we typically ask artists to share their five favorite albums of all time at the end of our conversations with them. No matter who the artist is, it’s always fascinating to discover which long players have impacted their personal and professional lives. A few of our interview subjects have even scoffed at the standard five-album limit, rattling off upwards of a dozen or so titles and second-guessing if they’ve made the right choices.
And now, we’re excited to reveal our writers’ respective lists of their 25 all-time favorite albums. We all reserve the right to change our minds about these choices in the future, but for now, here are the indispensable albums that we can’t live without and the reasons why.
Explore Erika Wolf’s 25 favorites below, click the “Next” button to browse the lists or return to the main index.
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An Albatross
We Are the Lazer Viking
Ace Fu (2003)
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An eight-minute, twenty-second psychedelic-meets-hardcore pounding paisley extravaganza. An Albatross’ live shows were known for being particularly raucous and roiling, thanks in large part to the banshee scream and acrobatic showmanship of frontman Edward B. Gieda III.
Tori Amos
Little Earthquakes
Atlantic/East West (1992)
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Ohh-oh, these little earthquakes—here we go again. Tori Amos captured the beautiful tragedy of being young and already having lived a full life, and this album truly contains multitudes. I’m fairly certain she captured every emotion I’ve ever felt—and ever will feel—with this poetic masterpiece.
The Beatles
Rubber Soul
Parlophone/Capitol (1965)
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The star-sunglasses swagger of “Drive My Car” is the perfect opener to this album where the Beatles are weird—but not Sgt. Pepper’s or White Album weird. The sitar-studded ambiguity of “Norwegian Wood” makes it one of my favorite Beatles songs (plus, I’m Norwegian and we rarely get a shout-out), and who can resist the fancy French melancholia of “Michelle?” A classic, no-fuss Beatles album.
The Breeders
Pod
4AD/Elektra (1990)
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Pod is fucking weird in the best possible way. It gives the feeling of swimming around the murky water in the vase of an old bouquet. (Like I said, weird.) Pitchfork once deemed it “fermented,” and Kim Deal herself called it a compendium of “ugly, stinking gross songs.” It’s romantic, bizarre, and wonderfully unsettling and claustrophobic.
Cocteau Twins
Four-Calendar Café
Fontana (1993)
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Fresh off of psychotherapy, Elizabeth Fraser is naked and vulnerable in her lyrics, which deal with childhood trauma and issues in her romantic relationship with bandmate Robin Guthrie. Standouts include “Squeeze-Wax,” “Evangeline,” and “Bluebeard,” but truly every single song is a winner.
Cowboy Junkies
The Trinity Session
Latent/RCA (1988)
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Recorded in an old Gothic Revival church in Toronto using a single microphone, The Trinity Session mixes Cowboy Junkies’ original material with covers of various classics. From the slow, sensual “Sweet Jane” to the sorrowful “Blue Moon Revisited (Song for Elvis)” to the bluesy, swaggering “I Don’t Get It,” this album is ideal rainy night music.
The Cure
Disintegration
Fiction (1989)
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Shimmery, surreal, and deliciously dark and dream-like, this album always manages to make me feel like a teenager in the best possible way.
Descendents
I Don’t Want to Grow Up
New Alliance (1985)
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From “Silly Girl” to “Christmas Vacation” to “Good Good Things,” Descendents are the blueprint for melancholic and melodic skate punk. Then throw in some “Pervert,” “No FB,” and “Rockstar” for irreverent, juvenile humor worthy of Beavis and Butt-Head and the album’s title.
Fleetwood Mac
Rumours
Warner Bros. (1977)
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Rumours came out the year I was born, and if you’re a late ’70s baby, this album was in your amniotic fluid, in your first breath, and in the whole overall vibe you were absorbing as you came to understand this crazy world. Considering that it’s a coke-fueled breakup album, that could be a good thing or a very bad thing. Fortunately, it’s one banger after another on this well-worn gem.
The Gossip
That’s Not What I Heard
Kill Rock Stars (2001)
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The debut of the band formerly known as the Gossip, this album is garage-y goodness accompanied by the insanely impressive pipes of Beth Ditto, who could shake the roof off of any roadside honkytonk. Honey, ain’t no woman like a Southern girl.
PJ Harvey
Rid of Me
Island (1993)
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A savage and brutal breakup record full of BDSM, wry humor, self-conscious feminism and edge, this blew me away—and continues to punch me right in the gut—for its nihilism and wild courage.
INXS
Kick
WEA/Mercury/Atlantic (1987)
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The late ’80s (and puberty) wouldn’t have been the same without INXS’ Kick. It brings the slinky grooves, shivering ballads, and a deliciously dirty R&B take on New Wave.
Jane’s Addiction
Nothing’s Shocking
Warner Bros. (1988)
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Pioneers of everything “alternative” before the actual ’90s, Jane’s Addiction mixed rumbly bass grooves, punk and metal influences, and watery psychedelia on this late-’80s must-have.
Jefferson Airplane
Surrealistic Pillow
RCA Victor (1967)
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One of the most influential psychedelic-rock records of the ’60s, Surrealistic Pillow was one of my mom’s cherished records when I was growing up and I came to love it, too. Everything about it—from the marching then meandering journey of “White Rabbit,” to the lava-lamp jangle of “Plastic Fantastic Lover” to the ululating lilt of “Somebody to Love”—is totally far-out, man.
Cyndi Lauper
She’s So Unusual
Portrait (1983)
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My first love, since I was six. An infectiously catchy and unusual pop record from front to back, with innovative use of reggae, a nod to ’50s rocker The Big Bopper, a couple of feminist anthems, and creative use of the gated snare drum.
Nirvana
Bleach
Sub Pop (1989)
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Originators of the loud-quiet dynamic that would get ripped off by Nirvana and countless others throughout the ’90s, the Pixies experimented with a wide variety of sounds on Doolittle, from the ’60s sashay of “Here Comes Your Man” to the ’50s heartthrob croon of “La La Love You.” But the absolute standout is the mosh-worthy “Debaser,” which made slicing up eyeballs sound like something you totally wanted to dance to.
The Ronettes
Presenting the Fabulous Ronettes
Phillies (1964)
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The Ronettes were rock ‘n’ roll’s original bad girls, and you can hear Ronnie Spector’s distinctly New York accent in the sublime “Be My Baby.” (The song—and the entire record—is all the better for it). These bee-hived gals inspired the music of the Beatles, and John Lennon famously almost passed out when Ronnie once sang in his ear.
Smashing Pumpkins
Siamese Dream
Virgin (1993)
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Symphonic building-and-dissolving walls of guitars; Billy Corgan’s ethereal whisper; a master class in loud/quiet/loud. The perfect headphones album.
Patti Smith
Horses
Arista (1975)
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Opening with the unforgettable line Jesus died for somebody’s sins, but not mine, Patti Smith’s Horses is dark, fearless, dirty, and raw. From the whiskey-soaked “Gloria,” to the reggae-tinged “Redondo Beach,” to the galloping and disquieting epic “Land,” Horses is a trailblazing punk record that arrived even before the Ramones’ debut, sparking a movement and a revolution.
Sonic Youth
Goo
DGC (1990)
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Sonic Youth’s major-label debut, Goo was cool because of Raymond Pettibon’s cartoon, Kim Gordon’s oddly bored but nearly orgasmic vocals on “Kool Thing,” and the unhinged noise-and-scream fest of “Mildred Pierce.”
The Spinanes
Manos
Sub Pop (1993)
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A beautifully choreographed, intricate interplay between Rebecca Gates on guitar and Scott Plouf on drums, Manos goes from sparse and interior like a love letter on “Entire” to driving, skipping, and soaring on “Noel, Jonah, and Me,” while “Spitfire” manages to sound like it’s played by a much bigger band. Each song is imbued with husky intimacy thanks to Gates’ never-overstated vocals, and Plouf is a master at knowing when subtlety is preferable to bombast (though he’s adept at both).
The Stooges
The Stooges
Elektra (1969)
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There’s truly nothing in the world cooler than the Velvet Underground, and Nico’s blasé Germanness appeals to me because I grew up around a bunch of blasé Germans. “Venus In Furs” conjures a hippie chick dancing in bell-adorned ankle bracelets, “All Tomorrow’s Parties” evokes a glamourous hangover, and “Heroin” is a dark, defiant dirge that’s surprisingly, counterintuitively life-affirming.
X
Under the Big Black Sun
Elektra (1982)
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Pioneers of the Los Angeles punk scene, X filled their third album with rockabilly-tinged songs of adultery, squalid stories from the road, and a plaid-perfumed ode to the punk nightlife (the titular “Under The Big Black Sun”).