The 50 Greatest Rock Albums of All Time
As voted by Planet Rock listeners
Planet Rock is pleased to reveal The 50 Greatest Rock Albums of All Time as voted by YOU, our esteemed listeners.
Thousands of Planet Rock listeners cast their vote in recent weeks, and the full Top 50 was revealed live on air throughout the day on Bank Holiday Monday (29th May).
Just like all Planet Rock polls, it was an open vote meaning that listeners could vote for any album in the history of rock music.
Shortly before 4pm, Pink Floyd’s 1973 masterpiece ‘The Dark Side of the Moon’ was crowned The Greatest Rock Album of All Time. Astonishingly, the seminal album picked up 13% of all votes in the Top 50 and nearly double the votes of second-placed ‘Back in Black’ by AC/DC.
The Greatest Rock Album accolade comes on the year Pink Floyd have celebrated the 50th anniversary of ‘The Dark Side of the Moon’ with an expansive reissue and an official book.
No strangers to topping Planet Rock listener polls, last August David Gilmour’s transcendental guitar playing on Pink Floyd’s 1979 anthem ‘Comfortably Numb’ was voted The Greatest Guitar Solo of All Time.
'Comfortably Numb' was also voted the fifth Greatest Rock Song of All Time in June 2022, while the highest ranking 'The Dark Side of the Moon' track was 'Time' in 67th spot.
AC/DC dominate Planet Rock's Greatest Rock Album countdown:
Despite missing out on Number 1 with ‘Back in Black’, AC/DC are the band with most albums inside the Top 50 with five seminal records making the cut.
AC/DC’s Bon Scott era is represented by four albums – ‘Powerage’, ‘Let There Be Rock’, ‘Highway To Hell’ and live record ‘If You Want Blood You've Got It’ – alongside the Brian Johnson fronted ‘Back in Black.’
Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin have four albums each in the countdown while Deep Purple and Pink Floyd have three albums apiece.
Other acts with multiple records in the Top 50 include Iron Maiden, Metallica, Queen, Thin Lizzy, Rush and The Who.
Interestingly there are also five live albums in the countdown, including three albums inside the Top 20, proving the popularity of the format.
The 1970s is by far most popular decade with a whopping 33 albums making the list. It’s followed by the 1980s, the 1990s, and the 1960s respectively.
The 50 Greatest Rock Albums of All Time:
50: Marillion - ‘Misplaced Childhood’ (1985)
The 50 Greatest Rock Albums of All Time
49: Thunder - ‘Backstreet Symphony’ (1990)
The 50 Greatest Rock Albums of All Time
48: Hawkwind - ‘Space Ritual’ (1973)
The 50 Greatest Rock Albums of All Time
47: Black Sabbath - ‘Sabbath Bloody Sabbath’ (1973)
The 50 Greatest Rock Albums of All Time
46: Thin Lizzy - ‘Jailbreak’ (1976)
The 50 Greatest Rock Albums of All Time
45: The Rolling Stones - ‘Exile on Main St.’ (1972)
The 50 Greatest Rock Albums of All Time
44: Pearl Jam - ‘Ten’ (1991)
The 50 Greatest Rock Albums of All Time
43: AC/DC - ‘If You Want Blood You've Got It’ (1978)
The 50 Greatest Rock Albums of All Time
42: Queen - ‘Queen II’ (1974)
The 50 Greatest Rock Albums of All Time
41: AC/DC - ‘Let There Be Rock’ (1977)
The 50 Greatest Rock Albums of All Time
40: Eagles - ‘Hotel California’ (1976)
The 50 Greatest Rock Albums of All Time
39: Bruce Springsteen - ‘Born to Run’ (1975)
The 50 Greatest Rock Albums of All Time
38: Bon Jovi - ‘Slippery When Wet’ (1986)
The 50 Greatest Rock Albums of All Time
37: Iron Maiden - ‘Seventh Son of a Seventh Son’ (1988)
The 50 Greatest Rock Albums of All Time
36: The Who – ‘Quadrophenia’ (1973)
The 50 Greatest Rock Albums of All Time
35: David Bowie – ‘The Rise & Fall of Ziggy Stardust & the Spiders from Mars’ (1972)
The 50 Greatest Rock Albums of All Time
34: Van Halen – ‘Van Halen’ (1978)
The 50 Greatest Rock Albums of All Time
33: The Who – ‘Who’s Next’ (1971)
The 50 Greatest Rock Albums of All Time
32: Led Zeppelin – ‘Led Zeppelin’ (1969)
The 50 Greatest Rock Albums of All Time
31: Black Sabbath – ‘Paranoid’ (1970)
The 50 Greatest Rock Albums of All Time
30: Queensrÿche - 'Operation: Mindcrime' (1988)
The 50 Greatest Rock Albums of All Time
29: Wishbone Ash – ‘Argus’ (1972)
The 50 Greatest Rock Albums of All Time
28: Rush – ‘2112’ (1976)
The 50 Greatest Rock Albums of All Time
27: Black Sabbath – ‘Black Sabbath’ (1970)
The 50 Greatest Rock Albums of All Time
26: AC/DC – ‘Highway to Hell’ (1979)
The 50 Greatest Rock Albums of All Time
25: AC/DC – ‘Powerage’ (1978)
The 50 Greatest Rock Albums of All Time
24: Black Sabbath – ‘Heaven & Hell’ (1980)
The 50 Greatest Rock Albums of All Time
23: Pink Floyd – ‘Wish You Were Here’ (1975)
The 50 Greatest Rock Albums of All Time
22: Pink Floyd – ‘The Wall’ (1979)
The 50 Greatest Rock Albums of All Time
21: Metallica – ‘Metallica’ (aka The Black Album) (1991)
The 50 Greatest Rock Albums of All Time
20: Metallica – ‘Master of Puppets’ (1986)
The 50 Greatest Rock Albums of All Time
19: UFO – ‘Strangers in the Night’ (1979)
The 50 Greatest Rock Albums of All Time
18: Deep Purple – ‘Machine Head’ (1972)
The 50 Greatest Rock Albums of All Time
17: Rush – ‘Moving Pictures’ (1981)
The 50 Greatest Rock Albums of All Time
16: Led Zeppelin – ‘Led Zeppelin II’ (1969)
The 50 Greatest Rock Albums of All Time
15: Iron Maiden – ‘The Number of the Beast’ (1982)
The 50 Greatest Rock Albums of All Time
14: Deep Purple – ‘Made in Japan’ (1972)
The 50 Greatest Rock Albums of All Time
13: Deep Purple – ‘Deep Purple in Rock’ (1970)
The 50 Greatest Rock Albums of All Time
12: Def Leppard – ‘Hysteria’ (1987)
The 50 Greatest Rock Albums of All Time
11: Nirvana – ‘Nevermind’ (1991)
The 50 Greatest Rock Albums of All Time
10: Fleetwood Mac – ‘Rumours’ (1977)
The 50 Greatest Rock Albums of All Time
9: Thin Lizzy – ‘Live and Dangerous’ (1978)
The 50 Greatest Rock Albums of All Time
8: Queen – ‘A Night at the Opera’ (1975)
The 50 Greatest Rock Albums of All Time
7: Led Zeppelin – ‘Physical Graffiti’ (1975)
The 50 Greatest Rock Albums of All Time
6: Rainbow – ‘Rising’ (1976)
The 50 Greatest Rock Albums of All Time
5: Meat Loaf – ‘Bat Out of Hell’ (1977)
The 50 Greatest Rock Albums of All Time
4: Led Zeppelin – ‘Led Zeppelin IV’ (1971)
The 50 Greatest Rock Albums of All Time
3: Gun N' Roses – ‘Appetite for Destruction’ (1987)
The 50 Greatest Rock Albums of All Time
2: AC/DC – ‘Back in Black’ (1980)
The 50 Greatest Rock Albums of All Time
1: Pink Floyd – ‘The Dark Side of the Moon’ (1973)
The 50 Greatest Rock Albums of All Time
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