It’s no great surprise that the second half of this chronologically ordered collection sags in direct proportion to the Big E’s waistline. Still, given that most of his RCA albums had valleys of filler that would shame anyone but Colonel Parker, this is the best way to hear Elvis the Superstar. “Hound Dog,” “All Shook Up,” “Are You Lonesome Tonight” and the ever zany “Suspicious Minds” still sound fresh and immediate—impressive given how many times most the world has heard them—and show off the diversity of Elvis’ singing, from the purity of his gospel falsetto to his rock and roll purr. The liner notes, written by Elvis biographer Peter Guralnick, provide excellent accompaniment.
All-TIME 100 Albums
The album may be dead, but it's certainly not forgotten. TIME's critics have chosen the 100 greatest and most influential musical compilations since 1954.
Elv1s 30 No. 1 Hits
Full List
1950s
1960s
- Abbey Road
- Bitches Brew
- Stand!
- Astral Weeks
- Blonde on Blonde
- Pet Sounds
- The Band
- Revolver
- Highway 61 Revisited
- At Folsom Prison
- Otis Blue
- Lady Soul
- Rubber Soul
- The Beatles (“The White Album”)
- A Love Supreme
- Are You Experienced
- Live at the Apollo (1963)
- I Never Loved a Man the Way I Loved You
- Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music
- Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band
- King of the Delta Blues
- The Velvet Underground and Nico
1970s
- London Calling
- One Nation Under a Groove
- Never Mind the Bollocks, Here’s the Sex Pistols
- Rumours
- Hotel California
- Red Headed Stranger
- Paranoid
- Call Me
- Sticky Fingers
- Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
- Tapestry
- The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust
- What’s Going On
- Exile on Main Street
- Who’s Next
- Talking Book
- After the Gold Rush
- The Harder They Come
- Bridge Over Troubled Water
- Ramones
- Blue
- John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band
- Songs in the Key of Life
- Coat of Many Colors
- Moondance
- Born to Run
- Hunky Dory
- Horses
- Led Zeppelin IV (a.k.a. Zoso)
1980s
- Like a Prayer
- Paul’s Boutique
- The Stone Roses
- Straight Outta Compton
- It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back
- Straight Outta Compton
- Purple Rain
- Sign O’ The Times
- The Joshua Tree
- Graceland
- Master of Puppets
- Raising Hell
- Legend
- Stop Making Sense
- The Great Twenty-Eight
- Thriller
- Document
- Back in Black
- Paid in Full
1990s
2000s