30 recordings every audiophile should own

Whether it’s for the groundbreaking production values, the musical or lyrical genius or because it’s a classic example of a genre, we’ve selected the top 30 masterpieces that every audiophile should listen to at least once in their lives.

In The Wee Small Hours Frank Sinatra (1955) Smooth and smoky, Sinatra’s In The Wee Small Hours, paints the same sonic picture of streetlights and cigarettes adorning the sleeve.

Black Sabbath Black Sabbath (1970) As entrenched in psychedelia as it is heavy metal. We defy any first-time listener to Black Sabbath to guess it’s approaching its 50th anniversary.

Bitches Brew Miles Davis (1970) Bitches Brew blended modal jazz with a rock rhythm section. Essentially, it redefined the former in the minds of audiences, old and new alike.

What’s Going On Marvin Gaye (1971) Not your archetypal political concept record, Gaye’s soulful vocal soars above jazz- and blues-drenched arrangements.

Abbey Road The Beatles (1969) Even if we disregard any sonic value in its production, Abbey Road is proof that ‘straightforward’ pop music can – and should – be art.

The Planets Gustav Holst Zubin Mehta & Los Angeles Philharmonic (1971) Holst despised its popularity, but few classical suites cover so broad a spectrum of mood and tonality.

Innervisions Stevie Wonder (1973) With ballerina like poise, the production on Stevie Wonder’s Innervisions toes the line brilliantly between precision and abandon.

Loveless My Bloody Valentine (1991) The shoegaze genre’s poster album is a masterpiece of elephantine riffs and dream-pop haze, awash with reverb and overdriven guitars.

Deloused In The Comatorium The Mars Volta (2003) Deloused feels like being punched square between the eyes, though you can’t help but feel admiration as you hit the floor.

Brandenburg Concertos J.S Bach (2007) Acting as a gateway drug to Baroque music – Bach gave solo time to each orchestral family of instruments in these six concertos.

Psychic Darkside (2013) Psychic is an exploration in genre and instrumental arrangement that, put simply, is sonically unparalleled by anything else we’ve heard.

From Kinshasa Mbongwana Star (2015) Both hypnotic, and exciting, From Kinshasa is unmistakably Congolese, but unlike anything we’ve heard from the artistically thriving capital.

Heart Of The Congos The Congos (1977) One of the finest roots reggae albums of all time, and without doubt Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry’s finest hour-and-26-minutes.

Automatic For The People R.E.M (1992) Where others can falter in combining chart-topping hits with poignancy, R.E.M created a timelessly beautiful and pensive record.

Hail To The Thief Radiohead (2003) Radiohead didn’t abandon the genre-blurring experiment of Kid A and Amnesiac, despite reverting to a more guitar-centric sound here.

The Hawk Is Howling Mogwai (2008) Conceptually diverse but never disjointed, this post-rock gem captures Mogwai as true masters of both studio albums and original sound tracks.

Spaces Nils Frahm (2013) “I see this release more as a field recording project than a live record,” said Frahm of this ambient-cum-modern-classical masterpiece.

Junun Shye Ben Tzur, Jonny Greenwood & The Rajasthan Express (2015) A fusion of musical culture from India, Israel and UK that shouldn’t work, but still absolutely does.

Ambient 1 / Music For Airports Brian Eno (1978) Ambient 1 shows Brian Eno’s fascination with complexity born of simplicity. Hard to believe it’s almost 40 years old.

Unplugged Neil Young (1993) We had so many superlative live records to choose from, but just try listening to Like A Hurricane here without getting goosebumps.

Elephant The White Stripes (2003) It’s the dirt beneath its fingernails that spotlights The White Stripes’ Elephant for being one of the finest garage rock albums ever written. Blakroc Blakroc (2009) A collaboration between garage-blues rock duo The Black Keys and an army of rap’s finest lyricists, Blakroc is a truly unique rap record.

LP1 FKA Twigs (2014) LP1 is a mixture of electronic experimentation and sharp-tongued lyricism juxtaposed with Tahliah Barnett’s almost angelic vocal.

Blackstar David Bowie (2016) Blackstar is a Tony Visconti gem, on which Bowie’s genius is complemented gorgeously by jazz saxophonist Donny Mccaslin and his quartet.

L’amour Lewis (1983) While Lewis remains a mystery since this private pressing was found at a Canadian flea market, the merits of his velveteen croon do not.

The Soft Bulletin The Flaming Lips (1999) An expansive and eclectic pallet of musical and lyrical brilliance, and a sonic photograph of The Flaming Lips at their best.

Return To Cookie Mountain TV On The Radio (2006) Recurring themes of alt-rock, gospel, hip-hop and electronica are interspersed with countless other genre influences.

This Is Happening LCD Soundsystem (2010) The digital-with-analogue glory and lyrical wit of LCD Soundsystem makes James Murphy indie’s true King.

Rivers & Streams Lubomyr Melnyk (2015) It’s easy not to think listening to Lubomyr Melnyk’s continuous piano music. Just sit back, meditate and bask in its ambient glory.

Drunk Thundercat (2017) An incredible songwriter and virtuoso bassist; ‘fusion’ feels like an insufficient term to properly describe Thundercat’s sonic mastery.