THE EIGHT RECORDS TO BUY FIRST

01 THE BEATLES, ABBEY ROAD

From the genuinely iconic cover to the classic pop songs of side A to the epic musical sweep and emotional heft of the B side’s closing suite, this’ll show off your new record player a treat.

02 LED ZEPPELIN, PHYSICAL GRAFFITI

More advanced studies: a double album. Led Zep show off their full range of musical tricks, from acoustic jams to crushing, blues-rock testosterone fests.

03 THE WHO, LIVE AT LEEDS

The best live album ever? Quite possibly. The vinyl version scores over digital in two ways: 1) it’s more authentic; 2) most of Pete Townshend’s interminable between-songs ‘banter’ is cut.

04 JAMES BROWN, THE PAYBACK

Soul brother #1, James Brown whips your woofer with his funky jams, and the title track reigns supreme: he don’t know karate… but he knows kerr-azy!

05 KATE BUSH, VINYL REISSUES

Beautifully packaged, remastered triple and quadruple packs of all her classic albums, plus a final set of rarities. Take a deep breath and buy the lot.

06 GHOSTFACE KILLAH, TWELVE REASONS TO DIE

Like Goodfellas made into a hip-hop album, Ghostface and his band spin a tale of gangster betrayal and vengeance from beyond the grave, over solid beats and Seventies soul stylings.

07 ROLLING STONES, STICKY FINGERS

The Stones’ best album, maybe. Certainly their best vinyl album cover, so long as you can track down the version with the real zip incorporated into the cover, over Mick Jagger’s Y-fronts.

08 KRAFTWERK, COMPUTER WORLD

Electronic music, produced by rather cold Germans, can sound warm and beautiful, especially on vinyl. Songs all reference cutting-edge tech circa 1980.