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Our Best Rock Albums Of 1997 list looks at a year in which many of the most popular rock artists of 1967 released new albums 30 years later in 1997. Artists such as Paul McCartney, Bob Dylan, Paul Simon, John Fogerty, Van Morrison and others all released albums of new material. There were many great debut albums including spectacular debuts by Lit, Savage Garden, Sevendust, Days Of The New and Tanya Donnelly. Rock meets pop meets punk also became the fad as bands like Blink 182, Smash Mouth and others all released albums that merged many rock styles into a new sound that young people fell in love with. Of course, 1997 could never compare to 1967 to 1977, but rock and roll was still alive and a mix of old and new provided some new music for everyone.

# 50 – The Beauty Process: Triple Platinum – L7

# 49 – Freak Show – Silverchair

# 48 – Zaireeka – The Flaming Lips

# 47 – S.C.I.E.N.C.E. – Incubus

# 46 – Homogenic – Björk

# 45 – The Big Picture – Elton John

# 44 – Troublizing –Ric Ocasek

# 43 – Savage Garden – Savage Garden

# 42 – Album of the Year – Faith No More

# 41 -Fush Yu Mang – Smash Mouth

# 40 – Tripping the Light Fantastic – Lit

# 39 – Third Eye Blind – Third Eye Blind

# 38 – Blurring the Edges – Meredith Brooks

# 37 – Cheap Trick – Cheap Trick

# 36 – Dark Days in Paradise – Gary Moore

# 35 – Cryptic Writings – Megadeth

# 34 – Now – Paul Rodgers

# 33 – Blur – Blur

# 32 – Morningrise – Opeth

# 31 – Days of the New – Days of the New

# 30 – Songs from The Capeman – Paul Simon

# 29 – Generation Swine – Mötley Crüe

# 28 – Whatever and Ever Amen – Ben Folds Five

# 27 – Urban Hymns – The Verve

# 26 – Lovesongs for Underdogs – Tanya Donnelly

# 25 – Strangers Almanac – Whiskeytown

# 24 – The Fat of the Land – The Prodigy

# 23 – Floored – Sugar Ray

# 22 – Sevendust –Sevendust

# 21 – A Pleasant Shade of Gray – Fates Warning

# 20 – Let’s Face It – Mighty Mighty Bosstones

# 19 – G3: Live in Concert – Joe Satriani, Steve Vai and Eric Johnson

# 18 – Jugulator – Judas Priest

# 17 – Innamorata – Pat Benatar

# 16 -Blue Moon Swamp – John Fogerty

# 15 – Pop – U2

# 14 – Around the Fur – Deftones

# 13 – Surfacing – Sarah McLachlan

# 12 – American Psycho – Misfits

# 11 – Dude Ranch – Blink-182

# 10 – Breed – Lauren Christy

Lauren Christy has written a lot of big hits for many different artists. It’s a shame this Album never became as big as it should have been. This a great sounding modern rock and roll record that you will fall in love with if you give it a chance. The impact of Alanis Morissette on female artists continued on throughout the decade.

# 9 – The Healing Game – Van Morrison

Has Van Morrison ever released a bad album? Even during his born-again period, he was still releasing great music. It’s incredible how Van Morrison has released almost perfect albums year after year since the late 1960s. This is another one of them

# 8 – Flaming Pie – Paul McCartney

It’s amazing how Paul McCartney has continued to put out great albums and spectacular music over such a long period of time. This is one that may have gotten away from some people check it out, it’s Fab.

# 7 – Be Here Now – Oasis

Oasis may never have been as big in the U.S. as they were in the United Kingdom. Not sure why they were never as popular, but this album proves why they love this band so much on the Eastern side of the Atlantic.

# 6 – Earthling – David Bowie

This is one of those albums that you may not have paid attention to when it first came out. However, listening to it now you can easily come to realize just how good of an album this was from David Bowie.

# 5 – Nine Lives – Aerosmith

A lot of old 70s Aerosmith fans gave the band a hard time over their success in the 90s arguing that their commercial sound could not compare to there 70s material. Well, it’s called growing up and moving on. This is a really good album that deserved more credit than many old fans gave it.

# 4 – The Colour and the Shape – Foo Fighters

Most of us did not expect that the band Foo Fighters would continue on to be one of the most successful modern rock bands to continue holding the mantel of that vintage classic rock sound while adding their own spin and making it all sound brand new.

# 3 – Time Out Of Mind – Bob Dylan

Some felt this was Bob Dylan’s swan song, little did we all know over twenty-five years later he would still be releasing new music. Daniel Lanois performs his magic on the production as Dylan delivered some of his best-written songs since Blood On The Tracks.

# 2 – OK Computer – Radiohead

The band’s third album may have been heavy on experimentalism, but the material and impact it had on the music scene were far-reaching.

# 1 – Marching To Mars – Sammy Hagar

This is probably Sammy Hagar’s most underrated album. Released in the shadow of his Van Halen years, Marching To Mars returns Sammy Hagar to his distinct original sound with the heavy influence of Van Halen also looming large over this work.

Special Tribute

BBC Sessions – Led Zeppelin

This one was recorded in the 1960s so we really can’t put it on the new albums list. Yet, it was released in 1997 and stands as one of the best live Led Zeppelin CDs ever released.

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