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Cast Your Vote: MGK’s Top 20 Classic Rock Albums Of All Time

Author Gina Cosenza

MGK’s Top 20 Countdown for 2025 is counting down the 20 best classic rock albums of all time…decided by YOU!

Listener votes will help decide the final countdown, starting February 3, 2025.

We’ll dedicate blocks at 10 am, 2 pm, and 6 pm to one album that’s made the list every weekday throughout the month of February.

From underrated picks like Abraxas by Santana to well-known charters like The Beatles‘ Abbey Road, we put together a list based on popularity, album sales, and critical acclaim for you to choose from.

Listen to MGK’s Top 20 all this month to see how your votes stack up.

VOTE FOR THE BEST CLASSIC ROCK ALBUMS OF ALL TIME NOW!

Gina Cosenza is a digital content coordinator for Beasley Media Group Philadelphia. She has been with the company for a year, writing and assisting with all things social. As a content creator in Philadelphia, Gina covers all things Philly sports, food, music, and lifestyle

Apple Music 100 Best Albums List: 7 Legendary Bands Without an Entry

The Apple Music 100 Best Albums List is the latest music list that the internet is talking all about for good, bad and ugly reasons.

The music streaming service announced the list in a May 13 press release and called it “a celebratory list of the greatest records ever made.” Naturally, a statement like that means this list is very subjective and was seemingly designed to start conversations.

Who Helped Determine the Apple Music 100 Best Albums List?

According to the aforementioned press release, this list was “crafted by Apple Music’s team of experts alongside a select group of artists, including Maren Morris, Pharrell Williams, J Balvin, Charli XCX, Mark Hoppus, Honey Dijon, and Nia Archives, as well as songwriters, producers, and industry professionals.”

The list was not determined by any streaming numbers Apple Music has collected over the years and is touted as “an editorial statement.”

Apple Music’s senior director of content and editorial Rachel Newman said in a statement, “100 Best brings together all the things that make Apple Music the ultimate service for music lovers — human curation at its peak, an appreciation for the art of storytelling, and unparalleled knowledge of music and an even deeper love for it.”

A Brief Overview of the Apple Music 100 Best Albums List

We’ll leave it to you to scroll through the list in its entirety, but there are some great takeaways about the list.

For starters, very few artists on this list have more than one title on it, which lends itself to some great diversity. The most albums any one artist has on the list is two, and those artists include Stevie Wonder, Radiohead, Beyonce, The Beatles and Prince.

While the full list of people who helped determine the Apple Music 100 Best Albums list is unknown, the people we do know are more contemporary artists. As a result, this list features many current album titles, but it also boasts some truly classic albums that have continued to influence multiple generations.

There’s a lot to like about this list, and yet, there’s a lot to be annoyed about, which can be said about any given pop culture-related ranking. Perhaps the biggest annoyance of all is the many glaring artist omissions from this list. Considering Apple Music seemed to make a point to limit multiple entries per artists, there are still some major artists missing.

Without further ado, here are seven legendary bands without an entry on the Apple Music 100 Best Albums list.

  • Honorable Mention

    Truthfully, our list of legendary bands without an entry on the Apple Music list had the potential to be obnoxiously long. For the sake of time and sanity, we shortened things down to a respectable seven. However, the list of bands/artists not mentioned could make for an absolutely insane festival lineup.

    If you think that’s an exaggeration, the following are bands/artists who didn’t have an album on the Apple Music 100 Best Albums list: Green Day, Lynyrd Skynyrd, the Allman Brothers Band, the Grateful Dead, the Doors, the Stooges, The Band, the Yardbirds, Cream, R.E.M., Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, Genesis, Peter Gabriel, Phil Collins, Sex Pistols, Rush, Simon & Garfunkel, Paul Simon, Soundgarden, Rush, Jane’s Addiction, KISS, Red Hot Chili Peppers, the White Stripes and ZZ Top.

  • 7. Ramones

    The Ramones remain one of rock’s most influential bands for a good reason. Their loud and fast style appeals to nearly every rock fan and represents rock with perfect minimalism. Rocket to Russia, their third studio album released in 1977, is a classic, but there’s no denying their 1976 self-titled debut. Ramones, along with one of their iconic t-shirts, is basically a punk starter kit.

  • 6. Aerosmith

    “America’s Greatest Rock and Roll Band” is nowhere on the list?! C’mon now! Truly, there is no shortage of Aerosmith albums that could have made Apple Music’s list. Their 1975 breakout album, Toys in the Attic, certainly could be argued as being worthy of a spot. The same goes for its follow-up, 1976’s Rocks. An argument could also be made for 1987’s Permanent Vacation. Frankly, we can’t help but wonder if any Aerosmith albums were close to being included. https://youtu.be/82cJgPXU-ik?si=FIbkf7qO9DFwSzUN

  • 5. Queen

    Following the 2018 biopic Bohemian Rhapsody, Queen’s popularity seemingly exploded. In the process, the band was introduced to a new generation of fans. Queen has a catalog you can really sink your teeth into. 1984’s The Works is absolutely brilliant, as is 1980’s The Game. There’s also 1978’s Jazz, which totally rules. Considering it features “Bohemian Rhapsody,” 1975’s A Night at the Opera seems like a shoo-in for a list like Apple Music’s. It’s almost confusing that Queen isn’t represented at all.

  • 4. The Who

    Like Aerosmith, there is no shortage of albums from The Who that could have made Apple Music’s list. Influential rock operas like 1969’s Tommy or 1973’s Quadrophenia are undeniable classics. Many would likely agree that The Who’s best studio album was 1971’s Who’s Next, which is an absolute monster. One could argue their iconic 1970 live album Live at Leeds could be up for consideration. Definitely shaking our heads over this one.

  • 3. Pearl Jam

    When it comes to Pearl Jam’s catalog, their legions of die-hard fans are known to really get in the weeds and obsess over b-sides and other rarities. (It’s what makes them rather charming, yet also intimidating.) But you really don’t need to get into the weeds on this one. 1993’s Vs. and 1994’s Vitalogy are must-own LPs. However, the most obvious choice to be included on Apple Music’s list is their enduring 1991 debut album Ten. Simply put: It’s perfect, and every band dreams of having a debut on the level of Ten.

  • 2. Van Halen

    Sure, Aerosmith is called “America’s Greatest Rock and Roll Band,” but Van Halen might be the most American rock band. Van Halen is the definition of America’s intrepid spirit. The “Van Hagar” era doesn’t get as much love as it should, and time will continue to treat those albums well. But those first six albums with David Lee Roth are just magic, particularly Van Halen’s 1978 self-titled debut. Add in Eddie Van Halen being one of the greatest guitarists of all time, and the lack of VH is almost heartbreaking.

  • 1. Black Sabbath

    Oh, boy…where to begin with our No. 1 pick? To begin with, there’s a general lack of metal on the Apple Music 100 Best Albums list. Metallica is represented with Master of Puppets at No. 69. (Nice…) The next closest thing to metal is various hard rock titles. Rage Against the Machine’s self-titled debut came in at No. 97. Guns N’ Roses’s classic debut, Appetite for Destruction, came in at No. 52, and Led Zeppelin II was No. 27. But to not have arguably the greatest heavy metal band of all time not represented is a massive oversight. You can make an argument for any of Sabbath’s first four albums. While 1970’s Paranoid is an obvious choice, it’s still a great choice! A classic choice fitting of being considered one of the 100 best albums of all time, one might say!

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Author Gina Cosenza
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