Do you love vinyl records and rock and roll? Well, you have to own these 10 awesome vinyl records! They’re the best of the best. This is a mix of the greatest albums in classic vinyl with some of the better ones in fancier packaging.
There are reissues of each of these albums available as vinyl pressing of custom vinyl records isn’t as tedious as before. If you’re a musician today, you can have short run vinyl pressing for just 100 units so rest assured that these top rock vinyl records are still very much within your reach. Here are the rock and roll albums on vinyl that we absolutely love.
This is the fifth studio album of The Who’s cleverly titled Who’s Next. The vinyl album jacket has quite a funny, but nevertheless, cool backstory. Apparently, the concept came from the famous Stanley Kubrick masterpiece film 2001: A Space Odyssey, which made them add that sky effect. But what’s really funny about this is the wet dark marks on the large rock which had actual pee from Townshend. Funny? Gross? You decide.
The Doors’ eponymous debut album was released in 1967, with their breakthrough single, “Light My Fire.” As you may have already noticed, the vinyl album cover presents the members with a very clear bias. They had Jim Morrison, who’s a fine looking young man, use half of the space for his face and the other members standing together looking up ahead, which, of course, is a very good marketing strategy. Besides, what’s The Doors without Jim?
The Eagles recently reissued Eagles Live, Long Road Out Of Eden, and The Millenium Concert on 180 gram vinyl record. But let’s talk about the band’s biggest selling studio album — Hotel California. In addition to the popular single, “Hotel California,” the vinyl album’s jacket, with its beautiful scenery of palm trees and lighted structures, also attracts fans and other listeners. The nostalgia it exudes when you look at it cannot be denied.
We can’t not miss this one because it’s one of the best selling records ever. In March 2021, Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours spent its 416th week on Billboard’s 200 Album Chart, which is exactly eight years. It surely deserves its place there because of its awesome tracks, but let’s not forget it’s beautiful on vinyl, too. The version of the album in the Netherlands is very unique. Instead of the pristine white vinyl record, it has the white-grey marble designed custom vinyl record.
6) Bob Dylan – Blood On The Tracks
What’s so cool about Bob Dylan’s Blood On the Tracks and almost all his albums is the vinyl jackets. He has always showcased his face on the front covers of his albums. What’s more beautiful about this heartache-filled 1975 album is that the artwork looks like it was painted, rather than photographed, unlike most of his other covers.
5) David Bowie – The Rise And Fall Of The Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars
Since David Bowie’s death in 2016, several posthumous releases have come out. The Rise And Fall Of The Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars, released in 1972, is a very well known album from Bowie’s discography. What makes it really unique is its very long album title coupled with its comic inspired artwork. If you read the album name again, you’d be surprised by how well thought out this album is and that’s just so cool.
4) Bruce Springsteen – Born To Run
Born To Run is the album that broke Bruce Springsteen into the mainstream. A special pre-release limited edition version of Born To Run is commonly called by fans The Script Over. It has one thing unique about it: A different font for the title and Springsteen’s name. The awesome thing about this album is the two black and white photos that spread across the outside and inside part of the gatefold jacket.
3) Jimi Hendrix – Are You Experienced
Jimi Hendrix is regarded as one of the most influential electric guitarists to have ever have lived. Are You Experienced was his debut album, released in 1967, and its vinyl album format was a huge commercial success that helped to skyrocket his popularity. As you can see, both the jacket and the violet custom vinyl record look so awesome, right? The colors and even the font styles, although very different, oddly complement each other.
2) The Beatles – The BEATLES (aka The White Album)
Since the Beatles’ break up, music from the four members continued to come out. For 2021, Ringo Starr released an EP called Zoom In. Although the Beatles stayed together for a whooping 10 years, a decade seems quite short, don’t you think? Well, with a decade’s worth of songs we cannot deny that the band has many albums that could fill this list of top rock vinyl records. We chose the two-record White Album because of the unique and witty concept of the album cover. They surely are one of the greatest musical artists of the last 100 years.
1) The Rolling Stones – Exile On Main Street
The Rolling Stones have been active for almost 60 years. Their album, Exile on Main Street is the top rock vinyl record of our list, and you might be asking why. Well, it’s because we simply love the collage of memories concept of the album that was incorporated on the vinyl jacket, and the two vinyl sleeves, each with different filter effects. In addition to this is the handwritten band name and album title on the jacket and the small short notes on the sleeves. It feels personal and intimate.
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That concludes our top 10 rock and roll vinyl records of all time. Aren’t they all lovely? Which of these albums do you want to add to your collection?
