1. sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band
Artist: The Beatles.
Genre: Rock.
“Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” is number one in Rolling Stone magazine’s hit parade. The album was even voted the best record of all time. The title of the album is a kind of pseudonym for the Beatles, which was invented by Paul McCartney. The performers wanted to break away from the image of the Beatles known to the whole world and identify themselves in a new way. One of the most famous songs on the album is When I’m Sixty Four, which McCartney wrote at the age of 16. Incidentally, the musician is now 77 years old.
2) London Calling
Artist: The Clash.
Genre: Punk.
Even if traveling is out of the question and “London Calling” only appears in our dreams, this song is a great source of energy. The Clash’s 1979 album – recorded in London, by the way – is number eight on Rolling Stone magazine’s list. Incidentally, England in the 80s was at the height of unemployment, the decline of industry and the rise of crazy raves. Maybe an energetic punk beat from those crazy times will make you feel like things aren’t so unstable now.
3: Thriller
Artist: Michael Jackson.
Genre: Pop.
You’ve probably heard the single from this album many times, but there are eight more tracks on this album, four of which were written by Michael Jackson himself. The album became the best-selling album of all time within a year and received numerous awards: It is number twenty on Rolling Stone’s list. It was also included by the Library of Congress as a “culturally significant recording” in their collection. The album mixes many different styles: rhythm and blues, funk, pop, post-disco. There were music videos for some of the songs on the album that were historically significant: They were the first videos featuring black artists to air on MTV.
4. 21
Artist: Adele.
Genre: Pop.
A poignant album by English singer Adele from 2011. Incidentally, 21 is her age at the time of writing the songs it contains. It contains a variety of tracks: light folk, deep soul and no less than five singles, of which Someone Like You and Rolling in the Deep are the best known. Adele wrote these songs during a break-up with a loved one and gave free rein to her pain through creativity. Critics from the music industry in all countries praised the album. In the United Kingdom, the record became the best-selling album of the XXI century. And the American edition of Billboard placed the record in the Billboard 200, where “21” set another record: the longest stay at the top of the charts of any album ever recorded by a woman.
5. the Marshall Mathers LP
Artist: Eminem.
Genre: Rap and hip-hop.
Eminem’s third album, produced by Dr. Dre together with the then budding rapper. It was Eminem’s “studio stay”: he worked 20 hours a day on the songs. The lyrics deal with his sudden fame, his relationship with his mother and his wife and the criticism and controversy surrounding his music. On this album, the rapper often speaks in his own name, in contrast to his previous album, on which he sang in the name of his famous alter ego Slim Shady. This album also contains the famous song The Real Slim Shady, in which Eminem makes fun of American pop music. The Marshall Mathers LP sold almost 1.7 million copies in its first week of release – a first for a rap album. By the end of the year, it had already sold almost 8 million.
6 Catch a Fire
Artist: Bob Marley & The Wailers.
Genre: Reggae.
The great Bob Marley recorded Catch a Fire with his Jamaican band The Wailers in 1973. This record is tacitly regarded as the best reggae album in music history and is also classified as such by Rolling Stone. Bob Marley’s reggae music is not always a nice, relaxing beat; this album, for example, is full of dynamic, almost militant songs. And then there are the profound, social and political lyrics that address the problems of the world at the time. You can immerse yourself in this album and not even realize how a few hours have passed – just right during quarantine, when time passes painfully slowly.
7 In Utero
Artist: Nirvana.
Genre: Alternative.
The legendary Kurt Cobain and his band recorded In Utero in 1993. The frontman said in an interview with Rolling Stone that it was an album of extremes: some songs sounded too raw, others were poppy and polished. Listen to it and decide for yourself if it’s a success. The collection includes the famous song Rape Me – you can scream and blow off steam by singing along to Kurt. Or, on the contrary, you can calm down to the softer and lyrical Heart-Shaped Box. The album won a Grammy for Best Alternative Album in 1993 and another award from the British magazine New Musical Express in 2004.
