3 Essential Classic Rock Albums Every New Fan Should Own

There should be a name for the day someone gets their first classic rock album. It’s like a second birthday. Maybe we should devise special cakes or rites of passage on the occasion. It’s a big day in the life of a young person. But which album should they get on their second birthday? What are the best choices for that most sacred of days?

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Here below, we wanted to explore three albums that would make for great choices. A trio of LPs that rollick and roll, rock and rouse. Indeed, these are three essential classic rock albums every new fan should own.

[RELATED: No Skips: 4 Classic Rock Albums You’ll Never Have to Fast-Forward]

Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band by The Beatles (1967)

With songs like “With a Little Help from My Friends” and “Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds,” this is the perfect entry both into the Liverpool, England-born band The Beatles as well as classic rock itself. The 1967 Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band is one of those albums that is immediately recognizable as soon as it comes on and displays the band at a transition between pop rock and something creatively strange. There is so much to dive into with this album, it’s like a favorite film.

Tommy by The Who (1969)

Speaking of favorite films, Tommy by The Who is a concept album that was later made into a movie. Listening to the songs transports you to a rock opera with a deaf, blind, and mute pinball savant and about a million people trying to do him harm. There are so many characters, so much vocal harmony, so many buzzing guitars and thunderous drumbeats that it could just be the only classic rock album you’d ever need to own, if you could only own just one. The Who pull no punches as they display all their talents on this one.

Are You Experienced by Jimi Hendrix (1967)

There are classic rock bands and then there’s Jimi Hendrix. The vivid songwriter who also just so happened to be the greatest electric guitar player who ever lived, Hendrix sadly died too young at just 27 years old. But before he passed, he released this album in 1967, introducing himself to the world via songs like “Purple Haze,” “Manic Depression,” and “Red House.” With a rumbling voice and guitar licks that will last the rest of time, Hendrix is a one-man torrential downpour of classic rock music.

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