POLL: Greatest albums of 1965

I'd like to make some polls regarding the albums released during 1965-69, which happens to be my favorite 5-year period of music. It would be interesting to see which are the top albums of each year in the opinion of the members of this forum.

This poll points to choose the favorite records among the most acclaimed albums from 1965. You'll be allowed to select up to 5 albums from the list.

The confection of the list was based on these three sources:
100 Greatest Albums of 1965
Acclaimed Music
Best Albums of 1965

The first condition to include an album in the poll was being in the Top 30 of at least two of those three lists. Then the two highest positions of each album were averaged to determine the relative order. In this way, the Top 25 albums of the resultant list were selected as nominations for the poll.

NOTE: If you think that one or more essential albums you would have selected are not in the list, then you can choose less than 5 options and name those records you wish they had been here.

 

I'll force myself to select just one album per artist; but this is not mandatory, of course.

 

Highway 61
Bringing it all back home
A Love Supreme
Out Of Our Heads

 

Dylan, Stones, Sonics.

 

Great picks !!

 

I like a lot of those albums (I think I own all but around five of 'em), and I don't know what makes any one of them greater than another of them, but most of 'em are old faves that I haven't listened to much or at all in years. The one's I have listened to a lot more in recent years are

Highway 61 Revisited
Spiritual Unity
A Love Supreme
Live at the Regal
Point of Departure

But really the first three are faves that knocked me out when I first heard them and that I've continued to turn to since pretty regularly.

 

My picks for the year.

 

What a year.

Highway 61 Revisited
Bringing it All Back Home
Rubber Soul
Out of Our Heads
My Generation

 

I own them all and can’t pick just five

 

The Beach Boys Today! (The Beach Boys)
Going To A Go-Go (Smokey Robinson & The Miracles)
The Temptations Sing Smokey (The Temptations)
The Kink Kontroversy (The Kinks)
Summer Days (The Beach Boys)

Darryl

 

#1

 

Rubber Soul
Hoodoo Man Blues
Live at the Regal
Highway 61 Revisited
A Love Supreme

Kudos to the OP for including “Hoodoo Man Blues” on the list. I absolutely love that album and never tire of playing it. It’s always my first recommendation for someone looking to get into the Blues.

 

So I picked the first 3 and stopped there. So many great ones for sure but those three stand apart for me.

 

The first four plus Andrew Hill's Point of Departure. That's not my favorite Andrew Hill release (which would probably be Smokestack), but with Eric Dolphy, Joe Henderson, Kenny Dorham, Richard Davis and Tony Williams, that may be one of the best jazz combos ever assembled. Thus, it's no real surprise that almost no one votes for it here.

 

~"Rubber Soul" by The Beatles
~"Help!" by The Beatles
~"Bringing It All Back Home" by Bob Dylan
~"Highway 61 Revisited" by Bob Dylan
~"My Generation" by The Who

Honorable Mention:
The Kinks
The Byrds
The Beach Boys
The Rolling Stones
The Byrds
The Beach Boys
The Rolling Stones
Them
John Coltrane

 

I love the two Byrds album and can listen to both the Dylan albums all the way through without losing the will to live. Of the rest, I haven't heard 15 of them and don't like the others.

 

Beatles
Stones
Kinks

Yeah, "Highway 61" is probably better than some of those, but I'm just not a big Dylan boy!

 

Highway 61 Revisited
The Rolling Stones Now!
Rubber Soul (I prefer the American version)
Beach Boys Today!
Out of Our Heads

While OOOH has got the big singles on it (Satisfaction, The Last Time, Play with Fire), I have always thought that The Rolling Stones Now was the best of their pre-66 albums. Fantastic rock and roots music, including one of their very best covers ever ('Down the Road Apiece').

 

I have 16 on the list but I must add this one...



Not saying it's the best but it's still really freaking great!

 

I think the good thing of these polls, beyond the final results, is exposing those albums that may be unfamiliar to some music fans, including myself. My taste is very inclined to rock/pop music, but occasionally I like listening to other genres such as jazz, blues and soul, at least those records considered as historic pieces. I'm hoping that these polls can serve as a guide for that purpose, taking into account opinions like yours.

 

Surprised to see Song For My Father (The Horace Silver Quintet) in the list from this group. Great, one of my favorite jazz classics, as it must have also been for Steely Dan.

 

Both Dylans
Both Beatles
Byrds - Mr Tambourine Man

 

H61
Bringing It
My Gen
Now!
Out Of

But so unfair to have to choose only 5

 

Greatest? That can't really be determined. My favourites from the list:

The Beatles - Help, Rubber Soul
RollingStones - Out Of Our Heads, Now!
John Coltrane - A Love Supreme