45 Best Summer Albums Of All Time Part 2: Counting down the ultimate albums for a rocking summer.
Welcome back to Part 2 of our list of the best albums that captured the summers of yesterday and that continue to rock them today.
Click here to read Part 1 for entries 45-29 and Click here for Part 3
If you’d like to own of these albums on iTunes, click on the album title, highlighted in blue, or if you’d like a physical copy, click on the album cover to go to Amazon.
Let’s begin:
28. Electric- The Cult (April 6th, 1987)
[amazon_image id=”B000007WNN” link=”true” target=”_blank” size=”medium” ]Electric[/amazon_image][amazon_image id=”B00CZAYOWI” link=”true” target=”_blank” size=”medium” ]Electric Peace[/amazon_image]
The summer of 1987 was full of day trips and night drives, many punctuated by the stripped down garage rock of The Cult’s earthy masterpiece on tracks like ‘Love Removal Machine’ and ‘Wildflower’.
Click here for Albums Revisited: Electric
27. Live At Leeds – The Who (May 16th-1970)
[amazon_image id=”B000002OVJ” link=”true” target=”_blank” size=”medium” ]Live at Leeds[/amazon_image]
‘Live At Leeds’ is a summer classic, featuring iconic tracks like ‘My Generation’ and a slamming cover of Duane Eddy’s ‘Summertime Blues.’
Blue Cheer do an equally killer cover of Eddy’s hit, which I included on my ultimate Summer Playlist.
26. Ramones Mania (May 31st, 1988)
[amazon_image id=”B000002LDX” link=”true” target=”_blank” size=”medium” ]Ramones Mania[/amazon_image]
The best compilation album ever came out just in time for summer in 1988, featuring ‘Vacation’ classic ‘Blitzkrieg Bop’, ‘Rock’N’Roll High School’ and the punk surf anthem ‘Rockaway Beach.’
25. TIE: Play- Moby (May 17, 1999)/The Fat of the Land- The Prodigy (June 30th, 1997)
[amazon_image id=”B00000J6AG” link=”true” target=”_blank” size=”medium” ]Play[/amazon_image][amazon_image id=”B0002H24Y6″ link=”true” target=”_blank” size=”medium” ]Play: B Sides[/amazon_image][amazon_image id=”B000002NFM” link=”true” target=”_blank” size=”medium” ]Fat of the Land[/amazon_image]
The 2 most popular electronica albums of the 90’s were aimed for summertime. Moby’s ‘South Side’, ‘Bodyrock’ and ‘The Sky Is Broken’ are perfect for sun dappled days and balmy nights (the B-side collection even has a track called ‘Summer.’) The Prodigy provided raving party anthems like ‘Firestarter’, ‘Breathe’ and ‘Funky Shit.’
24. The Mollusk – Ween (June 24th, 1997)
[amazon_image id=”B000002HOM” link=”true” target=”_blank” size=”medium” ]Mollusk[/amazon_image]
Ween made the weirdest summer album ever on this nautically themed disc, from the 70’s prog of the title track, the Beatles psychedelia of Polka Dot Tale and the 70’s kid-show-esque ‘Ocean Man.’
23. TIE: The Stone Roses (Remastered) – The Stone Roses (May 1989) /Screamadelica – Primal Scream (Sept 1990)
[amazon_image id=”B002MS5TPY” link=”true” target=”_blank” size=”medium” ]The Stone Roses (20th Anniversary Legacy Edition)[/amazon_image][amazon_image id=”B001QURIYO” link=”true” target=”_blank” size=”medium” ]Screamadelica[/amazon_image][amazon_image id=”B004DCAOFW” link=”true” target=”_blank” size=”medium” ]Screamadelica: 20th Anniversary Limited Collection[/amazon_image]
The Roses were the architects of what would become sunny Britpop, and their début album owned the summer of 1989, with psychedelic anthems like ‘She Bangs The Drums’ and ‘I Wanna Be Adored’, and the funky shimmer of ‘Fools Gold’.
Primal Scream helped carry the new British invasion forward further, with the acid-house influenced ‘Screamadelica’, from the stoner anthem ‘Loaded’ to the out-of-body experience that is ‘Higher Than The Sun.’
Click here to see where the Stone Roses rank on my list of 12 bands that peaked with their first album
22. Funhouse – The Stooges (July 7th, 1970)
[amazon_image id=”B000005IU2″ link=”true” target=”_blank” size=”medium” ]Fun House[/amazon_image]
The Stooges‘ ‘Fun House’ is a miasma of the best/worst parts of summer; horny depravity, overheated violence and the swagger of untamed youth, perfectly encapsulated in songs like ‘Loose’, ‘TV Eye’ and ‘Down on The Street.’
21. Forever Changes – Love (November, 1967)
Released in the winter, but recorded in the summer of (wait for it), love, ‘Forever Changes’ is a psychedelic carpet ride that captured the ear in tracks like ‘Bummer In The Summer’, ‘Alone Again Or’ and ‘You Set The Scene.’
20. TIE: Roxy Music – Roxy Music (June 16th, 1972) /The Slider – T. Rex (July 21st, 1972)
It was a glam rock summer of 1972 with tracks like Roxy Music’s ‘2HB’, ‘Ladytron’ ,’Virginia Plain’, ‘Sea Breezes’ and T. Rex’s ‘The Slider’, ‘Metal Guru’ and ‘Telegram Sam.’
19. TIE: Blues for the Red Sun – Kyuss (June 30th, 1992) /Rated R (Deluxe Edition) – Queens of the Stone Age (June 6th, 2000)
[amazon_image id=”B000001A3H” link=”true” target=”_blank” size=”medium” ]Blues for Red Sun[/amazon_image][amazon_image id=”B003MPIO08″ link=”true” target=”_blank” size=”medium” ]Rated R – Deluxe Edition[/amazon_image]
Josh Homme is synonymous with desert heat; be it Kyuss’s stoner metal stomp on tracks like ‘Green Machine’, ‘Thumb’ and ‘Thong Song’, or QOTSA’s ‘Feel Good Hit Of The Summer’, ‘The Lost Art Of Keeping A Secret’ and ‘Quick And To The Pointless.’
Click here for my QOTSA San Antonio concert review, full of awesome photos.
18. Heaven Tonight – Cheap Trick (May 1978)
[amazon_image id=”B0012GMVSA” link=”true” target=”_blank” size=”medium” ]Heaven Tonight[/amazon_image]
Cheap Trick’s sunny power pop makes for a perfect summer soundtrack, and ‘Heaven Tonight’ boasts tons of great anthems like ‘Surrender’, the title track and ‘California Man.’
17. TIE: Nothing’s Shocking – Jane’s Addiction (Aug 23rd, 1988)/Ritual de lo Habitual – Jane’s Addiction (Aug 21st, 1990)
[amazon_image id=”B001U3ZYVG” link=”true” target=”_blank” size=”medium” ]Nothing’s Shocking [180g LP][/amazon_image][amazon_image id=”B000002LIX” link=”true” target=”_blank” size=”medium” ]
The L.A. alt-rock pioneers created moody beach anthems like ‘Up The Beach’, ‘Ocean Size’, ‘Summertime Rolls’, and ‘Mountain Song’ and ‘Stop’, and the juvenile delinquent jam ‘Been Caught Stealing’
Click here for Jane’s Addiction’s ‘Nothing’s Shocking’ turns 25
16. Odessey and Oracle – The Zombies (April 19th, 1968)
The Zombies personified sunshine pop with tracks like ‘Time Of The Season’, ‘This Will Be Our Year’ and ‘BeechWood Park’; “Do you remember summer days?”
15. Trainspotting Soundtrack (July 9, 1996)
[amazon_image id=”B000002U3P” link=”true” target=”_blank” size=”medium” ]Trainspotting[/amazon_image][amazon_image id=”B000002TLT” link=”true” target=”_blank” size=”medium” ]Trainspotting #2: Music From The Motion Picture, Vol. #2[/amazon_image]
The soundtrack to Danny Boyle’s film perfectly captures the Britpop/Techno scene of the mid-90’s with tracks from Blur, Pulp, and Underworld, and vintage tracks like Iggy Pop’s summer-perfect ‘Lust For Life.’
Honorable Mention: Cool World Soundtrack, (July 1992).
