What are the 10 best rock era albums?

[tree]

Just from looking at the words El Rayo-X, I now have "She took off my Romeos . . ." playing in my head.

[gnordenstam]

My list, difficult to cull it to ten (or eleven)...

Todd Rundgren - A Wizard A True Star
Ry Cooder - Jazz
David Bowie - The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars
Jackson Browne - Late For The Sky
Harry Nilsson - Nilsson Sings Newman
Nitty Gritty Dirt Band - Uncle Charlie and His Dog Teddy
Bob Dylan - Blood on the Tracks
Dire Straits - Making Movies
Patti Smith - Horses
Joni Mitchell - Court and Spark

+1
Elton John - Tumbleweed Connection (with the original version of Madman Across the Water featuring Mick Ronson)

[gnordenstam]

Just from looking at the words El Rayo-X, I now have "She took off my Romeos . . ." playing in my head.

Great song from a great album - so many styles and influences present.
--G

[Steve Ostrander]

After reading the original post, I realized that I posted the albums that influenced me the most, not the 10 best rock era albums. Harry Belafonte is certainly not rock, but still influential, IMHO.

[journeybear]

I was thinking kind of the same thing, after reading the thread starter. The OP said "there are a number of albums whose release just stopped people in their tracks... like the White Album or Tommy. What does your list look like? Here's a stab at the albums that jarred me." The criteria are a bit vague, which may be good for this kind of thread, keeps things kind of open. I would like to point out that these don't have to be rock albums at all, they just need to have been released in "the rock era" - which I guess began with what a lot of people believe was the first rock 'n' roll song, "Rocket 88" by Ike Turner's band, Jackie Brenston on vocals, in 1951. So Caruso is out, as is Thomas Edison's "Mary Had A Little Lamb," which jarred everybody like nothing before. But Belafonte is in.