Feel like you always listen to the same songs? Lost the moment a great music argument breaks out at a party? No panic: here are thirty albums to know, sorted by mood — from the biggest sellers in history to road-trip soundtracks, by way of melancholy, love, dancing and tears. Enough to enrich your musical education whatever the occasion.
The biggest-selling albums
Hope you like rock: between AC/DC, the Eagles and Meat Loaf, the dose is guaranteed. The list also holds the soundtrack to The Bodyguard, carried by one of the greatest vocal triumphs in history, I Will Always Love You, sung by Whitney Houston.
- Michael Jackson – Thriller (1982), 65 million copies
- AC/DC – Back in Black (1980), 50 million copies
- Pink Floyd – The Dark Side of the Moon (1973), 45 million copies
- Whitney Houston / Various artists – The Bodyguard (1992), 44 million copies
- Meat Loaf – Bat Out of Hell (1977), 43 million copies
Albums for melancholy
Perfect for daydreaming on a grey day. Special mention in this top 5 goes to Adele’s 21 which, with 35 million copies sold, remains the 10th best-selling album of all time; Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours sits at number 8, with 40 million copies.
- Beatles – Abbey Road (1969)
- The Smiths – The Queen Is Dead (1986)
- Fleetwood Mac – Rumours (1977)
- Frank Ocean – Channel Orange (2012)
- Amy Winehouse – Back To Black (2006)
Albums for falling in love
Who better than the French to talk about love? Between Édith Piaf and Serge Gainsbourg, a particular thought for Céline Dion’s French-language album D’eux, written by Jean-Jacques Goldman.
- Adele – 21 (2011)
- Edith Piaf – De l’accordéoniste à Milord (1951)
- Serge Gainsbourg – Jane Birkin/Serge Gainsbourg (1969)
- Céline Dion – D’eux (1995)
- Janis Joplin – Pearl (1971)
Albums for a party
France holds its own here too, between Daft Punk and Justice. Impossible to forget the soundtrack to Saturday Night Fever, the 7th best-selling album of all time with 40 million copies. Ready to slip into the flares?
Want that energy live rather than through headphones? Tunisia’s summer festivals offer the same collective rush.
- Daft Punk – Discovery (2001)
- Justice – Cross (2007)
- Arctic Monkeys – Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not (2006)
- Madonna – Like A Virgin (1984)
- Bee Gees / Various artists – Saturday Night Fever (1977)
Albums for a good cry
Sometimes you have to hit the bottom to climb back up: sad music helps you set off again on the right foot. Rock, jazz, folk — this selection proves emotion lodges itself in every style, one more piece of evidence for why music does us so much good, even at its most melancholy.
- Miles Davis – Kind Of Blue (1959)
- Jacques Brel – Ne Me Quitte Pas (1972)
- David Bowie – Aladdin Sane (1973)
- Bon Iver – For Emma, Forever Ago (2007)
- Jeff Buckley – Grace (1994)
Albums for a road trip
Need music to watch the landscape roll past? Better to bet on tracks that stay in your head, whose words you know, or that simply carry you along. Whether it is Nirvana’s most famous rock album or the oddball record signed by Kanye West, fine hours lie ahead with friends — proof that music comes with us everywhere, including when we listen to music while working.
- Libertines – Up The Bracket (2002)
- Oasis – (What’s The Story) Morning Glory? (1995)
- Nirvana – Nevermind (1991)
- Kanye West – My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (2010)
- Rolling Stones – Let It Bleed (1969)
