The best album by every artist in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame's class of 2023

Best Album: The Dreaming (1982)

As dense as it is thrilling, The Dreaming arrived four albums into Kate Bush’s career, long after her 1978 debut The Kick Inside established her skill for conjuring precisely rendered fantasy worlds. Where The Kick Inside floated on a warm breeze, The Dreaming rushes headlong into a nightmare, a place where the familiar seems alienating and strange sounds provide some measure of comfort. That unique imbalance is central to Bush’s appeal, usually underpinning softer, sensual epics, but here it’s distilled to its essence. Maybe it’s an acquired taste but its intensity can be intoxicating.

Honorable Mention: Hounds Of Love (1985)

Anchored by “Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God),” the song that belatedly turned Kate Bush into a household name in America (and certainly played a big part in her 2023 induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame), Hounds Of Love streamlines and synthesizes the eccentricities of The Dreaming, making them more immediate but no less potent.

Best Album: Sheryl Crow (1996)

Sheryl Crow emphasizes the points where the singer/songwriter happily breaks from the classic rock traditions she cherished so she can forge her own signature sound. Some elements of the record are pleasingly redolent of the pinnacle of the alt-rock/pop cross-pollination of the mid-1990s—sludgy guitars vie for attention with drum loops—a sound that seems liberating, not exploitative, particularly arriving after the genial jam sessions of Tuesday Night Music Club. The shift in sound also makes it easier to appreciate Crow’s particular gifts, especially her empathy and wry sense of humor.

Honorable Mention: Tuesday Night Music Club (1993)

Sheryl Crow named her 1993 debut Tuesday Night Music Club after the informal jam sessions she held with a variety of Los Angeles musicians, including David Baerwald, David Ricketts, Kevin Gilbert, and Bill Bottrell. The album’s unexpected success caused a rift in this group, but the album itself captures the loose, warm spirit of this collective while also providing an excellent introduction to Crow’s deep talents as a songwriter and singer.

Best Album: Supa Dupa Fly (1997)

Supa Dupa Fly’s funk sounded futuristic upon its release in 1997. Some of that can be chalked up to producer Timbaland’s beats, which are lean, electronic, and swing like New Jack R&B, his sound caught halfway between hip-hop and electronica. Timbaland may conjure an atmosphere, but Missy Elliott owns it, altering her flow to suit the liquid rush of the production, defying all cliches as she invents a few new styles of her own.

Honorable Mention: Under Construction (2002)

The culmination of Missy Elliott’s hot streak at the turn of the millennium, Under Construction is filled with the kind of big-name guests that confirm her status as a superstar—Jay-Z and Beyonce are both here. Yet it still crackles with the invention she’s displayed since Supa Dupa Fly: with its elastic, slippery rhythms, “Work It” remains one of the freakiest hip-hop hits of its era.

Best Album: Faith (1987)

George Michael’s stardom almost immediately started to overshadow that of Andrew Ridgely, his partner in New Pop sensations Wham!, so he could’ve treated his first solo album as a formality. But there is nothing perfunctory about Faith. Michael set out to best all of his peers in modern pop, writing funk as lithe as Prince, ballads as sultry as Madonna, even modernizing rockabilly in a fashion not entirely dissimilar to Bruce Springsteen. Like Elton John a generation before, Michael could make any permutation of pop his own, with a combination of craft and showmanship that still possesses the capability to dazzle.

Honorable Mention: Older (1996)

George Michael almost immediately ran away from the superstardom he courted, imploring his audience to Listen Without Prejudice on his swift sequel to Faith. A few years later, he came back with Older, a record as serious as Listen Without Prejudice but considerably more sultry: it’s an exquisite blend of immaculately crafted introspection and cautious optimism.

Best Album: Shotgun Willie (1973)

Frustrated with Nashville, Willie Nelson headed to Austin in 1972 with aims of becoming part of a scene filled with blissed-out groovers like local hero Doug Sahm. Signing with Atlantic Records, Nelson recorded Shotgun Willie, the album on which he minted the persona that turned him into a legend: a redneck hippie raised on Western swing, singing sad songs and waltzes to an audience filled with rockers. He’s made many other albums in the 50 years since Shotgun Willie, but this 1973 LP remains the purest distillation of his outlaw charm.

Honorable Mention: Willie & The Family Live (1978)

Anybody wondering why this country legend has been inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame should turn to this double-LP from Willie Nelson and his trusty backing band the Family. This doesn’t rock so much as it rolls—a loose, lively attack that, from a certain angle, can seem like the forefather of jam bands.

Best Album: Rage Against The Machine (1992)

Arriving with the subtlety of a firebomb upon its release in 1992, Rage Against The Machine’s debut album melded the rhythms of rap with the velocity and force of heavy metal, a combination that would become commonplace by the decade’s end. Imitators could sometimes summon the wallop of drummer Brad Wilk and bassist Tim Commerford—they’d play with the muscle, if not the heavy swing of this pair—but no other group attempted the wild contortions of guitarist Tom Morello or the politically charged lyrics of vocalist Zac de la Rocha, elements that distinguish Rage Against The Machine to this day.

Honorable Mention: Evil Empire (1996)

The four years separating Rage Against The Machine and Evil Empire seemed like an eternity in the 1990s, but the band didn’t squander that time. Without losing any of their might, Rage expanded their palette and sharpened their execution, devising a record that hits harder and lingers longer than its predecessor.

Best Album: One Of A Kind Love Affair (1991)/The Complete Atlantic Singles: The Thom Bell Productions 1972-1979 (2023)

One of the last great R&B vocal harmony groups, the Spinners had their first hits on Motown—Stevie Wonder wrote the ebullient “It’s A Shame”—but hit their groove when they started working with producer Thom Bell at Atlantic Records. Between 1972’s “I’ll Be Around” and 1980s’s “Cupid/I’ve Loved You For A Long Time,” they were a fixture on the pop and R&B charts, releasing such classics as “I’ll Be Around,” “One Of A Kind (Love Affair),” “Could It Be I’m Falling In Love?,” “Ghetto Child,” “Then Came You,” “Games People Play” and “The Rubberband Man.” Streaming services don’t do right by the group: you need to seek out either this year’s The Complete Atlantic Singles: The Thom Bell Productions 1972-1979 or, better still, the old Rhino comp One Of A Kind Love Affair, which has their early 1960s hits.

Honorable Mention: The Spinners (1973)

The Spinners may have mastered 45 rpm singles, but they also made strong albums, starting with their self-titled debut for Atlantic. With tracks like “I’ll Be Around,” “One of a Kind (Love Affair),” “Ghetto Child” and “Could It Be I’m Falling In Love,” this has so many winners that it can play like a greatest hits album.

Best Album: Rumble! The Best Of Link Wray (1993)

One of the few musicians who have a legitimate claim to the invention of the power chord, Link Wray created the immortal “Rumble”—a slow, swaggering instrumental that plays like a back alley threat. Wray made many other greaser classics with his backing band the Ray Men, some of which are available on streaming services, but many are not. After sampling “Rumble,” “Ace of Spades” and “Jack the Ripper,” go seek out the Rhino compilation Rumble! The Best Of Link Wray, which is the best distillation of his dangerous, leather-clad rock and roll.

Honorable Mention: Link Wray (1971)

As great as “Rumble” and its sequels are, this eponymous 1971 LP from Link Wray reveals the full scale of his gifts. Fitting firmly within the early 1970s trend of funky country-rock, the album finds Wray embracing his Native American roots on a collection of passionate, backwoods rockers.

Best Album: Rufus—Rufusized (1974)

Rufus kicked around for a couple of years before Chaka Khan joined the band in 1972, an addition that helped give them shape. But they didn’t fully come together until Stevie Wonder gave them the sinewy funk of “Tell Me Something Good” in 1974. The group quickly rushed out a sequel, Rufusized, that found them hitting a sweet spot between rock and soul that proved to have a remarkably lasting influence. Set aside Chaka Khan’s later cover of his “I Feel For You”: it’s hard not to hear Prince’s slinky blend of pop and funk in these grooves.

Honorable Mention: What Cha’ Gonna Do For Me (1981)

On her own for a few years, Chaka Khan already had a big, definitive hit under her belt with the 1978 disco anthem “I’m Every Woman” when she released What Cha’ Gonna Do For Me, which gave her another R&B number one hit in its title track. Partway between yacht-soul and dance, “What Cha’ Gonna Do For Me” was further proof of Khan’s versatility, how she could shift with the times without losing sight of her vibrant, distinctive style.

Best Album: Blood, Sweat & Tears—Child Is The Father To The Man (1968)

A journeyman who is best known for playing the Hammond organ on Bob Dylan’s “Like A Rolling Stone,” Al Kooper spent most of his career occupying a space just out of the spotlight, either playing in the wings or sitting behind the production boards for bands ranging from Lynyrd Skynyrd to the Tubes. A list of his credits makes a convincing case for his induction to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: he’s on Blonde On Blonde, Electric Ladyland, Let It Bleed and Who’s Next, all contenders for Best Album Ever Made. Nevertheless, it’s Child Is Father To The Man—the lone album he made with Blood, Sweat & Tears, a band he founded with the explicit purpose of blending jazz, rock, pop, and soul—that hints at the full range of Kooper’s talents. As eccentric as it is immediate, Child Is The Father To The Man lacks the corny punch Blood, Sweat & Tears later developed and instead sounds like a series of successive worlds opening.

Honorable Mention: Super Session (With Stephen Stills And Mike Bloomfield) (1968)  

Immediately after leaving Blood, Sweat & Tears, Al Kooper served as a ringleader for two blues-rock jam sessions, each showcasing a hot-shot guitarist. Side one features Mike Bloomfield, former guitarist for the Paul Butterfield Blues Band who, like Kooper, played on Dylan’s Highway 61 Revisited. Side two is dedicated to Stephen Stills, who was in the process of leaving Buffalo Springfield. Kooper is the through line, greasing the proceedings with his Hammond and ensuring things stay loud and loose.

Best Album: Captain Fantastic And The Brown Dirt Cowboy (1975)

Bernie Taupin did release some solo albums—interesting ones too, provided you’re already a committed fan. Still, he’s entering the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame because he’s Elton John’s lifelong collaborator, penning the lyrics for nearly all the pianist’s biggest and best songs. Arriving toward the end of their phenomenal run of the early 1970s, Captain Fantastic And The Brown Dirt Cowboy is where Taupin chose to mythologize their partnership, writing a song cycle dramatizing their early years. Both would later pen their own autobiographies, but this is a case where the art somehow reveals more emotions than the memories themselves.

Honorable Mention: Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (1973)

Arguably, Elton John and Bernie Taupin made a few albums that are better than Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, but this classic rock staple from 1973 is an undeniable tour de force: two discs of impeccable songcraft and adventurous rock that demonstrate the full range of the pair’s abilities as songwriters. This has everything from melancholy balladry to futuristic funk to eccentric pop to hard rock, and everything in between. It’s meant to dazzle and, against all odds, it actually does.