The Best Blues Rock Albums Of All Time Ranked
Blues rock started with rock musicians in the United Kingdom and the United States performing American blues songs. They typically recreated electric Chicago blues songs, such as those by Willie Dixon, Muddy Waters, and Jimmy Reed, at faster tempos and with a more aggressive sound common to rock. In the UK, the style was popularized by groups such as the Rolling Stones, the Yardbirds, and the Animals, who put several blues songs into the pop charts. In the US, Lonnie Mack, the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, and Canned Heat were among the earliest exponents. Some of these bands also played long, involved improvisations as were then commonplace on jazz records. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, the style became more hard rock-oriented. In the US, Johnny Winter, the early Allman Brothers Band, and ZZ Top represented a hard rock trend, along with Ten Years After, Savoy Brown, and Foghat in the UK. Here are all of the best Blues Rock albums.
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15. Pearl – Janis Joplin
“Janis finally realized how to hone her vocal talents and create all around solid tunes. The Full Tilt Boogie Band was great for Janis live because they knew just how to improvise exactly how she wanted and were an all around great unit. Janis already had so many great tunes out there but Me and Bobby McGee might top them all. It’ll start out slow but then you realize just how amazing it truly is.”
14. Having a Rave Up with the Yardbirds – The Yardbirds
“A transitional record in the very best sense of the word, Having a Rave Up arrived as Eric Clapton exited the Yardbirds but still features some of his work alongside tracks with successor Jeff Beck. The LP likewise straddles the line between their early tendency to simply copy their blues heroes and a fizzy turn toward experimentalism largely sparked by Beck.”
13. Blind Faith – Blind Faith
“Celebrated in its time, Blind Faith has somehow become overlooked in the modern era – probably because of this supergroup’s almost immediate demise. But it’s actually the perfect LP for anyone looking for something that’s often bluesier than Traffic and at the same time less cerebral than Cream. Blind Faith’s quietest moments (Steve Winwood’s “Can’t Find My Way Home” and “Presence of the Lord,” Eric Clapton’s first great original) initially drew the most attention, but the simmering “Sea of Joy” and an engaging cover of Buddy Holly’s “Well Alright” find Blind Faith firmly plugged in.”
12. Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs – Derek and the Dominos
“The guitar work by both Eric Clapton and Duane Allman is great and also the songwriting of Eric Clapton is great and he delivers some of his finest tunes on this album.
One of My favorite tunes is the beautiful Hendrix homage “Little Wings”, which was recorded before Jimi died but released after his death, I even like this more than the original. Other great songs are the bluesy “Bell Bottom Blues”, the long jam “Keys to the Highway”, the happy “Anyday” and the fast “Why Does Love Got to be so Sad”.”
11. Blues Breakers with Eric Clapton – John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers
“Before he became a household name in Cream, Eric Clapton set the blues-rock world aflame on John Mayall’s Blues Breakers With Eric Clapton, arguably the six-stringer’s finest hour. Though commonly associated with a Fender Stratocaster, Clapton uses his beloved “Beano” Gibson Les Paul on his sole LP with the Bluesbreakers, slashing through their limber grooves with deliciously trebly solos that never waver in their excitement or technical finesse.”
10. Led Zeppelin II – Led Zeppelin
“The second album from one of the worlds most iconic heavy rock bands. Led Zeppelin’s debut album was great, and this the follow up album offers equal quality. In fact if you wanted to bottle that late sixties feeling, you need to look no further than these two albums. They offer the bridge from the rock music of the late sixties through to what was to follow in the early seventies. This essentially marks these two albums as classics of their era, and also classics of all-time.”
9. Led Zeppelin I – Led Zeppelin
“Led Zeppelin’s 1969 debut album is so many things. the debut of the (My opinion) greatest Rock band of all time. The heaviest album released in the 1960s bar none. One of the ever greatest Guitar albums ever made. And Led Zeppelin is probably the third or fourth (Arguably) most influential album in history. That’s all some pretty towering stuff. This isn’t the birth of Heavy Metal, but it almost is. Some of these cuts are purely incendiary.”
8. L.A. Woman – The Doors
“The final Doors album isn’t really the final Doors album – the band would soldier on without Morrison for a couple of years, and provide music to a spoken word album of his poetry in 1978 – but it is the last one the band is willing to stand by. The album is evidence as to why: what made the Doors really stand out from the crowd was the mysterious, wild persona of Jim Morrison himself, which shines through on this album without restraint or remorse to an extent it hadn’t done on any previous album by the group.”
7. Let It Bleed – Rolling Stones
“Another one of the best albums the Stones have to offer. Although I think I prefer Sticky Fingers and Beggars Banquet over this album, this is still nothing short of a masterpiece. Has some of their best songs like Gimmie Shelter which is without a doubt my favorite Rolling Stones album opening track. Plenty of material here to come back to.”
6. Axis: Bold as Love – The Jimi Hendrix Experience
“This is Jimi’s most understated album. While “Little Wing” and “Castles Made of Sand” are among his greatest hits, they pale in comparison to the smashes off of Are You Experienced and Electric Ladyland. So in that right this is that album you can put on and just enjoy because none of it gets played out in guitar stores or on classic rock radio. Jimi’s playing is as fluent and great as ever, but not nearly as hard hitting as it is on his other two albums.”
5. Exile on Main St. – Rolling Stones
“This is just one of those albums that is not about the greatness of the songs, but the greatness of the album as a whole. There are so many different sounds here, from the hard blues rocking opener “Rocks Off”, to the country themed “Sweet Virginia.” The Stones cover so many different sounds on this single album and it’s incredible how well it’s pulled off.”
4. Safe as Milk – Captain Beefheart & The Magic Band
“Every time I listen to this album, it takes me somewhere – and I have yet to listen to it on psychedelics. This album exists in an alternate reality, completely separate from most anything else – it is monolithic, having achieved some ethereal, unquantifiable electricity that few other works can claim.”
3. Sticky Fingers – The Rolling Stones
“Classic is all that needs to be said about Sticky Fingers. So many great tracks are on this album, beginning with “Brown Sugar” (that damn riff is too good), a number 1 hit for The Stones. But there’s so much more present here, what with “Sway” (more awesome guitar here as well), and the beautiful “Wild Horses”, which was another single from the album. “Can’t You Hear Me Knocking” has one of the best intros to a song ever, some incredible playing there. “You Gotta Move” is usually considered filler, but I have always liked it.”
2. Are You Experienced – The Jimi Hendrix Experience
“The most famous psychedelic rock album in history is also, quite fittingly, possibly the finest one ever – I can’t get enough of this stuff. Every second of this is just dripping with inspiration, I can’t even describe it; there’s just so much to explore within these songs while still remaining extremely simple and enjoyable to listen to.”
1. Electric Ladyland – The Jimi Hendrix Experience
“Electric Ladyland is without doubt one of the most influential albums ever released by any artist, ever. It is widely held that Jimi Hendrix was the best electric Guitarist that ever lived, and I for one won’t argue with that assertion. Electric Ladyland is probably the greatest Guitar album of all time. I don’t have the power of words necessary to describe Jimi Hendrix Guitar parts on this album, they’re simply indescribable. If God played the Guitar using Saturn as a Wah Pedal and the galaxy for an amp, it might sound like the Guitar parts of Electric Ladyland.”