No. 1 Abbey Road by The Beatles (1969)
Are there more important Beatle albums? Yes. But it would be hard to find an album that encapsulates everything that was great about that band as neatly as this does. Ambitious and arty without seeming pretentious, alternately hard-rocking and full of polished pop—the final album from John, Paul, George and Ringo proved that, despite their personal differences, they were still capable of creating remarkable music. The first half contains some of their most well-known latter recordings, while the second half runs together as a mock song suite. A brilliant end to a brilliant career and the gold standard for artistic ingenuity and craftsmanship from a band that helped write the book.
