Written by Lincoln

fifty albums

Friends know I’m a bit of an album fanatic. I never shuffle my music, and most of my playlists are artist discographies. I got into music rather late, and while DMB and Ben Folds were early favorites, it was Pink Floyd (their 70s albums) that made me understand the potential of the album format and Muse that gave me the final push down the rabbit hole.

This is 50 of my favorite albums without repeating artists, grouped thematically. I hope you find a few to enjoy!

Standouts — “Pretty. Odd.” is my favorite by a mile; the rest are kinda-sorta ordered by preference. A few of these would definitely get a second or third album on my list if I was doing repeats.

  • Pretty. Odd. — Panic! At The Disco
  • The Black Parade — My Chemical Romance
  • Animals — Pink Floyd
  • Some Nights — Fun.
  • Everything Under the Sun – Jukebox The Ghost
  • Whatever and Ever Amen — Ben Folds Five
  • Built to Last — Arrows in Action
  • Dirty Computer — Janelle Monae
  • Blackstar — David Bowie
  • The Heist — Macklemore & Ryan Lewis

No-Miss Bands — These bands would have nearly every album they made on this list if I was doing repeats.

  • Zoetic — The Rocket Summer
  • Happiness LTD. —  Hot Hot Heat
  • Gameshow — Two Door Cinema Club
  • Folie a Deux — Fall Out Boy
  • Black Holes and Revelations – Muse
  • Nordo — Air Traffic Controller
  • The Greatest Unknown — King Gnu
  • The Attractions of Youth — Barns Courtney
  • Pony — Rex Orange County
  • Vampire Weekend — Vampire Weekend

So 90s — I have no excuse, I’m a 90s kid.

  • Light Grenades — Incubus
  • Under the Table And Dreaming — Dave Matthews Band
  • Third Eye Blind – Third Eye Blind
  • Jagged Little Pill — Alanis Morissette
  • Rusted Root — Rusted Root

Core Jazz — These spin a lot in my dimly-lit dining room after dinner.

  • Blue Train — John Coltrane
  • Mingus Ah Um – Charles Mingus
  • Time Out — The Dave Brubeck Quartet
  • Kind of Blue — Miles Davis
  • Big Band Bossa Nova — Quincy Jones

Indie AF — The 00s were weird, I dunno.

  • Something For Rockets — Something For Rockets
  • Arco Iris — Skybox
  • Two New Sciences — Fire Flies
  • Weathervanes – Freelance Whales
  • Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix — Phoenix

Classics — No surprises here.

  • Montero — Lil Nas X
  • Coloring Book — Chance The Rapper
  • This is Happening — LCD Soundsystem
  • Quadrophenia — The Who
  • Kid A — Radiohead

Surprises — These probably weren’t on your bingo card.

  • Villains — Queens of the Stone Age
  • Factory Reset — Tiian
  • Broken Bride — Ludo
  • 5 — Mrs Green Apple
  • Sick Boi — Ren
  • Theater — natori
  • New Sacred Cow — Kenna
  • California — Mr. Bungle
  • Rodrigo y Gabriela — Rodrigo y Gabriela 
  • Viva la Cobra — Cobra Starship