Ten Outstanding 1960s Rock Albums With No Filler

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Our rock albums with no filler series continues with a look at the decade of the 1960s. The biggest challenge we had with this decade could be summed up in two words, “The Beatles.” There would be many Beatles fans and just music fans in general who could argue that there are at least five or six Beatles albums with no filler and maybe even more. They were, of course, the band that changed everything in so many different ways. One of those changes was releasing albums in which every song was just about perfect. However, we also wanted to include some other groups and artists that released close to perfect albums in this decade, so we limited The Beatles to three albums and cheated a little, utilizing two of them in a tie.

The other challenges, of course, were the Rolling Stones, The Doors, Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, The Kinks, and so many other bands that released so many fabulous albums in a decade that proved very challenging for us just to pick 10. Yet, that’s what these lists are all about, making them so much fun to write.

# 10 – The Doors – The Doors

Released on January 4, 1967, The Doors introduced one of the most distinctive bands of the decade with Jim Morrison, Ray Manzarek, Robby Krieger, and John Densmore already sounding completely formed. Produced by Paul A. Rothchild and recorded at Sunset Sound in Hollywood, the album moves from the punch of “Break on Through (To the Other Side)” to the darkness of “The End” without wasting a track. “Light My Fire” became a number-one single, while the album itself reached number two on the Billboard 200. Manzarek’s keyboards, Krieger’s guitar, Densmore’s jazz-influenced drumming, and Morrison’s voice gave the record a sound no other band had. Even the deeper cuts such as “Soul Kitchen,” “The Crystal Ship,” and “Take It as It Comes” belong on the album. From beginning to end, this is one of those debut records where there is simply nowhere to reach for the skip button.

Track Listing

“Break on Through (To the Other Side)” 2:25
“Soul Kitchen” 3:30
“The Crystal Ship” 2:35
“Twentieth Century Fox” 2:33
“Alabama Song (Whisky Bar)” 3:20
“Light My Fire” 7:06
“Back Door Man” 3:34
“I Looked at You” 2:22
“End of the Night” 2:52
“Take It as It Comes” 2:17
“The End” 11:43

# 9 – Lady Soul – Aretha Franklin

Released on January 22, 1968, Lady Soul found Aretha Franklin in total command of her voice, her piano, and one of the strongest collections of songs she ever recorded. Produced by Jerry Wexler for Atlantic Records, the album reached number two on the Billboard 200 and topped the R&B album chart. “Chain of Fools,” “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman,” and “Since You’ve Been Gone (Sweet Sweet Baby)” gave the record three enormous singles, but the album cuts are every bit as strong. Franklin turns Curtis Mayfield’s “People Get Ready,” Ray Charles’s “Come Back Baby,” and the Rascals’ “Groovin'” into music that sounds completely her own. Eric Clapton’s guitar on “Good to Me as I Am to You” adds another great color without ever taking the spotlight away from Aretha. There is not a weak vocal, weak arrangement, or throwaway song anywhere on this record.

Track Listing

“Chain of Fools” 2:46
“Money Won’t Change You” 2:07
“People Get Ready” 3:47
“Niki Hoeky” 2:33
“(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman” 2:39
“Since You’ve Been Gone (Sweet Sweet Baby)” 2:25
“Good to Me as I Am to You” 3:58
“Come Back Baby” 2:29
“Groovin’” 2:55
“Ain’t No Way” 4:12

Read More: 10 Essential Aretha Franklin Songs

# 8 – The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society – The Kinks

Released in the UK on November 22, 1968, The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society is Ray Davies at his most observant, nostalgic, funny, and quietly heartbreaking. Produced by Davies, the album looks at changing England through songs about memory, old friends, photographs, trains, farms, villages, and people being left behind by time. “The Village Green Preservation Society,” “Do You Remember Walter?,” “Picture Book,” “Big Sky,” and “Animal Farm” all sound different while belonging completely to the same world. The album was not a major commercial success when it first appeared, but its reputation grew enormously over the decades. Dave Davies, Pete Quaife, and Mick Avory give Ray’s songs exactly the kind of understated band performances they need. Fifteen songs is a lot of room for an album to stumble, yet this one never does.

Track Listing

“The Village Green Preservation Society” 2:49
“Do You Remember Walter?” 2:28
“Picture Book” 2:34
“Johnny Thunder” 2:31
“Last of the Steam-Powered Trains” 4:13
“Big Sky” 2:50
“Sitting by the Riverside” 2:21
“Animal Farm” 2:57
“Village Green” 2:08
“Starstruck” 2:22
“Phenomenal Cat” 2:40
“All of My Friends Were There” 2:24
“Wicked Annabella” 2:44
“Monica” 2:19
“People Take Pictures of Each Other” 2:19

# 7 – Live at the Apollo – James Brown

Recorded on October 24, 1962, at the Apollo Theater in Harlem and released in May 1963, Live at the Apollo captured James Brown and the Famous Flames at a moment when their stage show was becoming unstoppable. Brown financed the recording himself after King Records owner Syd Nathan initially resisted the idea of releasing a live album. That gamble paid off when the record climbed to number two on the Billboard album chart and stayed on the chart for more than a year. The performances of “I’ll Go Crazy,” “Try Me,” “Lost Someone,” the extended “Please, Please, Please” medley, and “Night Train” move with almost no dead air between them. The audience is part of the record, pushing Brown harder and turning the album into something much more than a collection of live versions. There is no filler here because the entire record feels like one continuous performance that never lets go.

Track Listing

“Introduction by Fats Gonder/Opening Fanfare” 1:48
“I’ll Go Crazy” 2:05
“Try Me” 2:06
“Think” 1:50
“I Don’t Mind” 2:42
“Lost Someone” 10:43
“Medley: Please, Please, Please/You’ve Got the Power/I Found Someone/Why Do You Do Me/I Want You So Bad/I Love You, Yes I Do/Strange Things Happen/Bewildered/Please, Please, Please” 6:26
“Night Train” 3:29

Read More: Top 25 James Brown Songs

# 6 – Pet Sounds – The Beach Boys

Released on May 16, 1966, Pet Sounds was Brian Wilson’s great studio statement and one of the records that permanently changed what a pop album could be. Wilson produced the album and wrote most of its original material with lyricist Tony Asher, while the Beach Boys supplied the extraordinary vocal blend that gave the record its emotional center. Studio musicians helped Wilson build arrangements filled with unusual percussion, keyboards, strings, horns, and sounds that rarely appeared together on rock records at the time. “Wouldn’t It Be Nice,” “Sloop John B,” “God Only Knows,” “I Know There’s an Answer,” and “Caroline, No” are only part of what makes the album so deep. Pet Sounds reached number ten in the United States and number two in the United Kingdom, where its impact was immediate. Every song adds another piece to the album’s feelings of love, insecurity, growing older, and wanting a life that always seems just out of reach.

Track Listing

“Wouldn’t It Be Nice” 2:33
“You Still Believe in Me” 2:36
“That’s Not Me” 2:30
“Don’t Talk (Put Your Head on My Shoulder)” 2:58
“I’m Waiting for the Day” 3:05
“Let’s Go Away for Awhile” 2:18
“Sloop John B” 2:57
“God Only Knows” 2:54
“I Know There’s an Answer” 3:11
“Here Today” 3:07
“I Just Wasn’t Made for These Times” 3:21
“Pet Sounds” 2:37
“Caroline, No” 2:16

Read More: Top 10 Beach Boys Songs

# 5 – Led Zeppelin II – Led Zeppelin

Released in North America on October 22, 1969, Led Zeppelin II caught Led Zeppelin in the middle of relentless touring and somehow turned that pressure into one of the great hard rock albums ever made. Jimmy Page produced the record while sessions and overdubs took place in several studios in Britain and the United States as the band moved from show to show. “Whole Lotta Love,” “Heartbreaker,” “Ramble On,” “Moby Dick,” and “Bring It On Home” showed just how massive this band could sound without losing the blues roots underneath everything. Robert Plant, Page, John Paul Jones, and John Bonham all have moments that feel larger than life, yet the album still works as one complete piece. It reached number one in both the United States and the United Kingdom, and “Whole Lotta Love” became a number-four U.S. single. There is not a safe or disposable cut anywhere on Led Zeppelin II.

Track Listing

“Whole Lotta Love” 5:34
“What Is and What Should Never Be” 4:46
“The Lemon Song” 6:19
“Thank You” 4:49
“Heartbreaker” 4:14
“Living Loving Maid (She’s Just a Woman)” 2:39
“Ramble On” 4:23
“Moby Dick” 4:21
“Bring It On Home” 4:20

# 4 – Abbey Road – The Beatles

Released on September 26, 1969, Abbey Road was the final Beatles album to be recorded even though Let It Be would be released later. George Martin’s production and the band’s return to carefully constructed studio work gave the record a polish that never smothered the personalities of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr. “Come Together,” “Something,” “Oh! Darling,” “Here Comes the Sun,” and “I Want You (She’s So Heavy)” would already make this an extraordinary record before the side-two medley even begins. Harrison delivered two of his greatest Beatles songs, while Starr’s “Octopus’s Garden” fits comfortably beside some of the strongest Lennon-McCartney writing of the band’s career. The album spent seventeen weeks at number one in Britain and eleven weeks at number one in the United States during its original chart run. Even “Her Majesty,” the tiny hidden surprise at the end, feels like part of an album where nothing is wasted.

Track Listing

“Come Together” 4:20
“Something” 3:03
“Maxwell’s Silver Hammer” 3:27
“Oh! Darling” 3:26
“Octopus’s Garden” 2:51
“I Want You (She’s So Heavy)” 7:47
“Here Comes the Sun” 3:06
“Because” 2:45
“You Never Give Me Your Money” 4:02
“Sun King” 2:26
“Mean Mr. Mustard” 1:06
“Polythene Pam” 1:12
“She Came in Through the Bathroom Window” 1:57
“Golden Slumbers” 1:31
“Carry That Weight” 1:37
“The End” 2:20
“Her Majesty” 0:23

# 3 – Electric Ladyland – The Jimi Hendrix Experience

Released on October 16, 1968, Electric Ladyland was the third and final studio album by the Jimi Hendrix Experience and the first Hendrix album produced and directed by Jimi himself. Hendrix used the studio as another instrument, layering guitars, voices, effects, and tape manipulation into music that could move from hard rock and blues to soul, psychedelia, and long-form experimentation. Noel Redding and Mitch Mitchell remain central to the record, while guests including Steve Winwood, Jack Casady, Dave Mason, Chris Wood, and Buddy Miles expand the sound even further. “Crosstown Traffic,” “Burning of the Midnight Lamp,” “All Along the Watchtower,” “Voodoo Chile,” and “Voodoo Child (Slight Return)” barely begin to show the album’s range. Electric Ladyland reached number one on the Billboard album chart, the only Hendrix album to do so during his lifetime. Sixteen tracks across a double album could have created plenty of room for filler, but Hendrix filled that space with one musical idea after another.

Track Listing

“And the Gods Made Love” 1:21
“Have You Ever Been (To Electric Ladyland)” 2:11
“Crosstown Traffic” 2:25
“Voodoo Chile” 15:00
“Little Miss Strange” 2:52
“Long Hot Summer Night” 3:30
“Come On (Let the Good Times Roll)” 4:10
“Gypsy Eyes” 3:43
“Burning of the Midnight Lamp” 3:39
“Rainy Day, Dream Away” 3:43
“1983… (A Merman I Should Turn to Be)” 13:39
“Moon, Turn the Tides… Gently Gently Away” 1:01
“Still Raining, Still Dreaming” 4:25
“House Burning Down” 4:33
“All Along the Watchtower” 4:01
“Voodoo Child (Slight Return)” 5:13

# 2 – Let It Bleed – The Rolling Stones

Let It Bleed [2 LP/2 CD/7"][Deluxe Box Set]

Released in late 1969, Let It Bleed found the Rolling Stones closing one era and beginning another as Brian Jones departed and Mick Taylor entered the picture. Jimmy Miller produced an album built from blues, country, gospel, and some of the darkest rock and roll the Stones ever recorded. “Gimme Shelter” opens the record like the end of the world, while “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” closes it on a scale that feels almost cinematic. Between those two songs are “Love in Vain,” “Midnight Rambler,” “You Got the Silver,” “Monkey Man,” “Live with Me,” and a title track that could headline another band’s greatest-hits album. Let It Bleed reached number one in the United Kingdom and number three in the United States. Nine songs, nine reasons this record belongs near the top of any discussion about albums with no filler.

Track Listing

“Gimme Shelter” 4:30
“Love in Vain” 4:19
“Country Honk” 3:07
“Live with Me” 3:33
“Let It Bleed” 5:27
“Midnight Rambler” 6:52
“You Got the Silver” 2:50
“Monkey Man” 4:11
“You Can’t Always Get What You Want” 7:28

# 1 – TIE – Rubber Soul / Revolver – The Beatles

Rubber Soul (1965)

Released on December 3, 1965, Rubber Soul was one of the clearest signs that the Beatles had moved far beyond the expectations placed on a pop group only a few years earlier. The UK album mixes folk rock, soul, country touches, sharper electric sounds, and increasingly personal songwriting without ever feeling scattered. “Drive My Car,” “Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown),” “Nowhere Man,” “Michelle,” “Girl,” and “In My Life” are surrounded by album tracks that are just as important to the record’s flow. George Harrison’s sitar on “Norwegian Wood” and fuzz bass on “Think for Yourself” showed how quickly the band’s studio vocabulary was expanding. Even Ringo Starr’s country-flavored “What Goes On” fits naturally into an album whose strength comes from variety. Fourteen tracks later, there is still nothing here that feels like it was added merely to fill out an LP.

Track Listing

“Drive My Car” 2:25
“Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)” 2:05
“You Won’t See Me” 3:22
“Nowhere Man” 2:40
“Think for Yourself” 2:18
“The Word” 2:42
“Michelle” 2:40
“What Goes On” 2:47
“Girl” 2:33
“I’m Looking Through You” 2:23
“In My Life” 2:28
“Wait” 2:13
“If I Needed Someone” 2:22
“Run for Your Life” 2:21

The Beatles - Revolver: Special Edition Black Colored Exclusive VinylLP

Revolver (1966)

Released on August 5, 1966, Revolver pushed the Beatles even further into music that could only have been created by a band treating the recording studio as part of the composition itself. George Martin produced a record filled with tape loops, backward sounds, automatic double tracking, Indian instrumentation, brass, strings, and some of the toughest guitar tones the Beatles ever put on tape. “Taxman,” “Eleanor Rigby,” “I’m Only Sleeping,” “Here, There and Everywhere,” “For No One,” “Got to Get You into My Life,” and “Tomorrow Never Knows” sound like they came from several different futures. George Harrison placed three songs on the UK album, while John Lennon and Paul McCartney were both writing at an extraordinary level. Ringo’s “Yellow Submarine” supplies the great communal sing-along without disrupting the album’s experimental character. Put Rubber Soul and Revolver together at number one and you get two straight Beatles albums where finding the filler is almost impossible.