The Beatles: Abbey Road (1969). Side one is great; side two is better—a perfect musical suite.
The Decemberists: The Crane Wife (2006). An astonishing marriage of instrumentals and vocals.
Bruce Springsteen, Born to Run (1975). Iconic.
David Bowie, The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars (1972). You don’t have to be a fan of glam-rock; this is a classic, pure and simple.
Pink Floyd: Wish You Were Here (1975). The soundtrack for my junior year at college is as fresh and transcendent as ever.
Jimi Hendrix: Original Soundtrack (1973). Includes among other gems, the best blues recording of all time: an extended version of “Red House.”
Bruce Springsteen, The Wild, the Innocent and the E Street Shuffle (1973).
Paul Simon: Graceland (1985). The title song still makes me want to get in my car and drive; the rest is Simon at his imaginative best.
Shawn Colvin: A Few Small Repairs (1998). Perfect from start to finish, with just the right mix of lyrical grace and melancholy.
K.D. Lang: Hymns of the 49th Parallel (2004). Elegant and at times excruciatingly beautiful reinterpretations of songs by Canadian songwriters.
The Who: Who’s Next (1971). From the gentle piano intro to “Gettin’ in Tune” to the psychedelic opener of “Won’t Get Fooled Again,” this album has it all.
Genesis: Foxtrot (1972). Yes, ELP and Genesis were the triumverate of prog rock This is Genesis’ best.
The Grateful Dead: Europe ’72 (1972).  Putting the Dead in a recording studio was kind of like pinning butterflies inside a display case; they were meant to be heard live, and this is one of the best live albums ever made.
Emerson, Lake & Palmer: Brain Salad Surgery (1973). Admittedly, some of the lyrics are kind of silly, but those instrumentals—wow!
James Taylor: Greatest Hits (1970). I tried to limit my inclusion of compilations. Sweet Baby James would be my first pick among originals, but I couldn’t do without “You’ve Got a Friend.”
Elton John: Elton John (1970). Includes the vastly underappreciated “First Episode at Hienton.” Another perfect album from the 1970s.
The Allman Brothers: Fillmore East (1971). What can I say? Sometimes I feel like I’m tied to a Whippin’ Post.
Johnny Winter: Live—Johnny Winter And (1971). Great rock-n-roll and one of the best extended slow blues jams ever recorded—second only to Hendrix’s “Red House.”
Simon & Garfunkel: Greatest Hits (1972). When you’re weary and feeling small…
Chris Smither: Live as I’ll Ever Be (2000). This album has been in my personal heavy rotation for years, and still is; amazing acoustic guitar work and lyrics that range from humorous to heart-breaking.
The Eagles: Greatest Hits, Vol. 1. Always lifts my spirits.
The Eagles: Hotel California. Far and away the best of the Eagles original albums.
Dar Williams: My Better Self  (2005). The first track doesn’t really seem to fit, but the rest is perfection.
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young: Déjà vu (1970). This album manages to define an era and remain timeless.
Yes: Fragile (1972). Among the best examples of prog-rock.
Elvis Costello: The Best of Elvis Costello and the Attractions (1985). I don’t think any of his original albums quite have what it takes to make the top 40—but how can I leave off an artist who produced both “Oliver’s Army” and “Almost Blue.”
Eric Clapton: Journeyman (1989). This album got me through some hard times. Enough said.
Death Cab for Cutie: Plans (2005). This album introduced me to the band, six years after their first release. It remains in heavy rotation nearly five years later.
Pink Floyd: Meddle (1971). Astonishing range, from the deep-sea voyage of “Echoes” with its whale sounds, to the laid-back “San Tropez.”
Sarah McGlachlan: Surfacing (1997). Listening to this album, especially the song, “I Love You,” always makes me feel as if I’m being kissed.
Led Zeppelin: Led Zeppelin III (1970). When I was 14, I spent hours playing air guitar to this album on audiocassette. It hasn’t aged a day.
Led Zeppelin: Led Zeppelin IV. (1971). Three words: Stairway to Heaven.
Van Morrison: The Best of Van Morrison (1990).
Guster: Ganging Up on the Sun (2006). Gorgeous.
The Doors: L.A. Woman. The original Doors album—the one with “Light My Fire”—is in my top five albums of all time. This is their second best.
Bob Marley: Legend (1984). This album defines not only Marley’s career but reggae itself.
Boz Scaggs: Silk Degrees (1976). A favorite when I was in college; it still makes me want to get up and dance.
Willie Nelson: Stardust (1978). Who’d have thought Willie could do so much justice to the American songbook?
Talking Heads: Stop Making Sense (1984). Still makes perfect sense to me.
Clannad: Fuaim (1984). Well before neo-Celtic began to permeate every other Hollywood soundtrack, these folks were producing rich, harmonic gloriously transcendent albums. This is their best.