The Most Influential Rock Album of Every Decade, From the 1950s to the 1970s

Every decade has a few albums that completely define it. This type of album hushes everything that came before it and redirects everything that came after. The three rock albums below, from the 50s, 60s, and 70s, functioned in this way. These weren’t just momentary hits. They went on to be among the most influential albums of their era.

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‘Elvis Presley’ — Elvis Presley

Though many artists contributed to rock’s formation, Elvis Presley is by and large the “big boom” of rock. Borrowing elements of the musicians who came before him, Presley made it just palatable enough to slip into the mainstream and eventually make rock a mainstay in popular music.

Presley’s eponymous debut album shocked the world in 1956. Suddenly, the world was forever changed with just a few notes. Among the tracklist was Presley’s very famous version of “Blue Suede Shoes,” and that alone should tell you the kind of watershed moment this album was. Presley helped solidify rock’s standing with this one album.

‘The Velvet Underground & Nico’ — The Velvet Underground

Once rock got its bearings, there was space for artists to experiment. Rock from the 50s seems a little trite when compared to the artistic masterpieces rockers put out in the following decades. Artists certainly graduated from the easy-listening love songs that rock was built on.

The Velvet Underground & Nico was one of the most influential albums of the 60s. The band decided to go beyond just making hits and instead work on making rock an art form. It also opened the door for sub-genres. While rock had been splintering off into niches long before this album was released, The Velvet Underground championed the idea that rock wasn’t just one idea with several shades, but something completely undefinable.

‘The Dark Side Of The Moon’ — Pink Floyd

Pink Floyd popularized the concept album with The Dark Side Of The Moon. While they didn’t invent the practice, they perfected it. This album revolutionized the process of making one, going beyond a collection of songs to deliver a unified work.

This album blew up the scale of rock in the 70s. The genre was much bigger than its 50s origins allowed. The 70s and 80s would continue to let rock be the mammoth pop culture entity it was.

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