During the COVID-19 pandemic, I began a list on Facebook of some of my favorite albums, posting one (sometimes four) albums per day. I stopped posting albums after I reached 142 in August 2020. For the Make Lists, Not War version of the list, I have added eight more albums to provide a round number of 150. To be honest, these are not my only favorite albums, but this is a good sampling of some of my favorites. They are organized chronologically. For classical works, I have used the date of composition; for compilations, I use the earliest recording date; otherwise I use the date the album was released.
- Various Composers – Music of the Gothic Era (composed 1150-1380) (David Munrow & Early Music Consort of London, 1975)
- Josquin des Préz – Missa “Ave maris stella”; Motets & Chansons (composed c. 1485-1521) (Taverner Consort & Choir/Andrew Parrott, 1992)
- Claudio Monteverdi – Orfeo (composed 1607) (Ensemble Vocal et Instrumental de Lausanne/Michael Corboz, 1968)
- Henry Purcell – Dido and Aeneas (composed 1688) (The English Concert/Trevor Pinnock, 1988)
- Johann Sebastian Bach – St. Matthew Passion (composed 1727) (Philharmonia Orchestra/Otto Klemperer, 1961)
- Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart – Le Nozze di Figaro (composed 1786) (London Philharmonic Orch./Sir Georg Solti, 1981)
- Joseph Haydn – String Quartets, Op. 76 (composed 1797-1798) (Takács Quartet, 1990)
- Ludwig van Beethoven – The Late String Quartets (composed 1825-1826) (Tokyo String Quartet, 1992)
- Frédéric Chopin – Piano Music (composed 1835-1846) (Sylvia Toran, 1994)
- Franz Liszt – Sonata in B Minor and Late Works (composed 1853-1883) (Maurizio Pollini, 1990)
- Richard Wagner – Tristan und Isolde (composed 1859) (Bayreuth Festival Orchestra/Karl Böhm, 1966)
- Rimsky-Korsakov – Scheherazade (composed 1888) (London Philharmonic/Mariss Jansons, 1995)
- Claude Debussy – Images, Etudes (composed 1890-1915) (Jean-Yves Thibaudet, 2000)
- Béla Bartók – The Six String Quartets (composed 1909-1939) (Emerson String Quartet, 1988)
- Alban Berg – Wozzeck (composed 1922) (Staatskapelle Berlin/Daniel Barenboim, 1994)
- Louis Armstrong – The Complete Hot Fives and Hot Sevens (rec. 1924-1929)
- Blind Lemon Jefferson – Blind Lemon Jefferson (rec. 1926-1929)
- Blind Blake – Ragtime Guitar’s Foremost Fingerpicker (rec. 1926-1930)
- Blind Willie Johnson – The Complete Blind Willie Johnson (rec. 1927-1930)
- Fats Waller – Turn on the Heat: The Fats Waller Piano Solos (rec. 1927-1941)
- Bob Wills & the Texas Playboys – Take Me Back to Tulsa (rec. 1932-1950)
- Memphis Minnie – Hoodoo Lady (rec. 1933-1937)
- Art Tatum – Piano Starts Here (rec. 1933-1949)
- Blind Boy Fuller – East Coast Piedmont Style (rec. 1935-1939)
- Dmitri Shostakovich – Complete String Quartets (composed 1938-1974) (Emerson String Quartet, 2000)
- Charlie Parker – The Complete Savoy & Dial Master Takes (rec. 1945-1948)
- Benjamin Britten – Peter Grimes (composed 1945) (Royal Opera House/Colin Davis, 1978)
- Hank Williams – The Hits, Vol. 1 (rec. 1947-1952)
- John Cage – Sonatas and Interludes for Prepared Piano (composed 1948) (Aleck Karis, 1998)
- Clarence Gatemouth Brown – The Original Peacock Recordings (rec. 1948-1959)
- Bud Powell – The Amazing Bud Powell, Vol. 1 (rec. 1949-1951)
- T-Bone Walker – The Complete Imperial Recordings (rec. 1950-1954)
- Bill Monroe – Country Music Hall of Fame (rec. 1950-1990)
- Elvis Presley – The Sun Sessions CD (rec. 1954-1955)
- Buddy Holly – The Memorial Collection (rec. 1954-1959)
- Johnny Cash – The Essential Johnny Cash (rec. 1954-1993)
- Chuck Berry – The Great Twenty-Eight (rec. 1955-1965)
- Nat “King” Cole – After Midnight: The Complete Session (1956)
- Frank Sinatra – Songs for Swingin’ Lovers! (1956)
- Otis Rush – The Classic Cobra Recordings (rec. 1956-1958)
- Jimmy Reed – Upside Your Head (rec. 1956-1961)
- Thelonious Monk – Brilliant Corners (1957)
- Original Broadway Cast – West Side Story (1957)
- Patsy Cline – 12 Greatest Hits (rec. 1957-1963)
- Champion Jack Dupree – Blues from the Gutter (1958)
- Wes Montgomery – The Incredible Jazz Guitar of Wes Montgomery (1960)
- Etta James – The Sweetest Peaches: The Chess Years, Part One (rec. 1960-1966)
- Bill Evans – Sunday at the Village Vanguard & Waltz for Debby (1961)
- Bob Dylan – The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan (1963)
- Various Artists – Nuggets: Original Artyfacts from the First Psychedelic Era (rec. 1963-1968)
- Herbie Hancock – Maiden Voyage (1965)
- Various Artists – Chicago/The Blues/Today! (1966)
- Bob Dylan – Blonde on Blonde (1966)
- The Beatles – Revolver (1966)
- The Supremes – I Hear a Symphony (1966)
- The Moody Blues – Days of Future Passed (1967)
- The Velvet Underground – The Velvet Underground and Nico (1967)
- The Beatles – The Beatles [The White Album] (1968)
- Various Artists – Tropicália: A Brazilian Revolution in Sound (rec. 1968-1970)
- John Lennon – John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band (1970)
- Original London Cast – Jesus Christ Superstar (1970)
- Joni Mitchell – Blue (1971)
- Marvin Gaye – What’s Goin’ On (1971)
- Neil Young – Harvest (1972)
- Genesis – Foxtrot (1972)
- The Modern Lovers – The Modern Lovers (rec. 1972-1973)
- Elton John – Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (1973)
- Yes – Yessongs (1973)
- The Who – Quadrophenia (1974)
- Bruce Springsteen – Born to Run (1975)
- Bob Dylan – Blood on the Tracks (1975)
- Pink Floyd – Wish You Were Here (1975)
- Patti Smith – Horses (1975)
- Steve Reich – Music for 18 Musicians (composed 1976) (Ensemble Modern, 1996)
- Albert Collins – Ice Pickin’ (1978)
- Elvis Costello – This Year’s Model (1978)
- Talking Heads – Fear of Music (1979)
- The Roches – The Roches (1979)
- Betty Carter – The Audience with Betty Carter (1980)
- Dire Straits – Making Movies (1980)
- Elvis Costello – Imperial Bedroom (1982)
- Talking Heads – Speaking in Tongues (1983)
- Tom Waits – Rain Dogs (1985)
- Koko Taylor – Queen of the Blues (1985)
- Bulgarian State Radio & Television Female Vocal Choir – Le Mystère des Voix Bulgares (1987)
- U2 – The Joshua Tree (1987)
- R.E.M. – Green (1988)
- Public Enemy – It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back (1988)
- k.d. lang – Shadowland (1988)
- Liz Phair – Exile in Guyville (1993)
- Aimee Mann – Whatever (1993)
- Oumou Sangare – Ko Sira (1993)
- Marcia Ball – Blue House (1994)
- Shoukichi Kina – Asia Classics 2 – The Best of Shoukichi Kina: Peppermint Tea House (1994)
- Garbage – Garbage (1995)
- Emmylou Harris – Wrecking Ball (1995)
- Beck – Odelay (1996)
- Radiohead – OK Computer (1997)
- Various Artists – Buena Vista Social Club (1997)
- Lucinda Williams – Car Wheels on a Gravel Road (1998)
- Lauryn Hill – The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill (1998)
- The Magnetic Fields – 69 Love Songs (1999)
- Tom Waits – Mule Variations (1999)
- Jim Hall and Pat Metheny – Jim Hall & Pat Metheny (1999)
- Steve Earle – Transcendental Blues (2000)
- Susana Baca – Eco de Sombras (2000)
- James Carter – Chasin’ the Gypsy (2000)
- Mariza – Fado em Mim (2000)
- PJ Harvey – Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea (2000)
- Jason Moran – Black Stars (2001)
- Macy Gray – The Id (2001)
- Shemekia Copeland – Talking to Strangers (2002)
- Wilco – Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (2002)
- Terry Riley – Sun Rings (composed 2002) (Kronos Quartet, 2019)
- The New Pornographers – Electric Version (2003)
- Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Fever to Tell (2003)
- John Adams – The Dharma at Big Sur/My Father Knew Charles Ives (composed 2003) (BBC Symphony Orchestra/John Adams, 2006)
- Juliana Hatfield – In Exile Deo (2004)
- Bob Dylan – Modern Times (2006)
- The Hold Steady – Boys and Girls in America (2006)
- Camera Obscura – Let’s Get Out of This Country (2006)
- Toumani Diabate’s Symmetric Orchestra – Boulevard de I’Independance (2006)
- Glen Hansard & Markéta Irglová, et al. – Once: Music From the Motion Picture (2007)
- Bon Iver – For Emma, Forever Ago (2007)
- M.I.A. – Kala (2007)
- Tinariwen – Imidiwan: Companions (2009)
- Arcade Fire – The Suburbs (2010)
- PJ Harvey – Let England Shake (2011)
- The Decemberists – The King Is Dead (2011)
- Ryan Adams – Ashes and Fire (2011)
- The Roots – Undun (2011)
- Grimes – Visions (2012)
- The New Pornographers – Brill Bruisers (2012)
- Angel Olsen – Burn Your Fire for No Witness (2014)
- FKA Twigs – LP1 (2014)
- Courtney Barnett – Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit (2015)
- Kamasi Washington – The Epic (2015)
- Angel Olsen – My Woman (2016)
- Anderson .Paak – Malibu (2016)
- Blood Orange – Freetown Sound (2016)
- Bombino – Azel (2016)
- Lydia Loveless – Real (2016)
- Alvvays – Antisocialites (2017)
- SZA – Ctrl (2017)
- Lucy Dacus – Historian (2018)
- Soccer Mommy – Clean (2018)
- Angelique Kidjo – Remain in Light (2018)
- Big Thief – U.F.O.F. (2019)
- Bartees Strange – Live Forever (2020)
- beabadoobee – Fake It Flowers (2020)