Best of each artist · One record per artist
Best production
The sound, the room and the ideas behind the faders. The album where each artist’s sound was most carefully made – and who was at the desk.
- 1 Pink Floyd The Dark Side of the Moon Engineer Alan Parsons and the band turned sound effects into music – listen to the clocks at the start of “Time”. Listen to “Time” Timeless classic
- 2 Talking Heads Remain in Light Brian Eno and the band built the songs from loops of long jams – a new way of writing rock. Listen to “Once in a Lifetime” Timeless classic
- 3 Joy Division Unknown Pleasures Martin Hannett turned a punk band into something cold and spacious, with drums that sound as if played in another world. Listen to “She’s Lost Control” Timeless classic
- 4 David Bowie Low Tony Visconti’s drum sound – fed through an Eventide Harmonizer – sounded like nothing else and was copied for a decade. Listen to “Sound and Vision” Timeless classic
- 5 The Jimi Hendrix Experience Electric Ladyland Jimi Hendrix produced it himself, with engineer Eddie Kramer, and turned the studio into an instrument. Listen to “1983… (A Merman I Should Turn to Be)” Timeless classic
- 6 U2 The Joshua Tree Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois gave U2 space: echoing guitars and a landscape to sing in. Listen to “Where the Streets Have No Name” Timeless classic
- 7 Fleetwood Mac Rumours Ken Caillat and Richard Dashut made a band falling apart sound perfectly together. Listen to “Go Your Own Way” Timeless classic
29 artists in the list.