So I told my friend in Portland, Oregon, that I was writing a list of great Canadian albums, and he responded by suggesting that the whole darn thing should be filled with The Band and Neil Young. Of course, this is the same guy who says he won’t read a book unless it’s at least 100 years old and has stood the test of time. You know — one of those.

But it’s true: Neil Young and The Band are two of Canada’s most important musical acts, and therefore feature prominently on this list. If it means anything, they are two of only five Canadian acts that curators have deemed worthy of inclusion into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame — the others being Joni Mitchell, Leonard Cohen and Rush (though a few other inducted bands also have Canadian members). Still, while perhaps unknown to Oregonians, there’s more to Canadian music than just the 1960s.

This is primarily a list of the greatest English-language Canadian rock or pop albums — “rock or pop” being loosely defined to include basically any form of music invented after 1955. I figured there was no point in throwing in a token Oscar Peterson or Glenn Gould album just to pretend we’re including jazz and classical. We’re not. Also: no Celine Dion, Bryan Adams or Nickelback. This is a list of good music, remember? We’re turning down the suck.

1. After the Gold Rush (1970) – Neil Young

2. Music from Big Pink (1968) – The Band

3. The Suburbs (2010) – Arcade Fire

4. Blue (1971) – Joni Mitchell

5. Twice Removed (1994) – Sloan

6. Harvest (1972) – Neil Young

7. Moving Pictures (1981) – Rush

8. Oar (1969) – Skip Spence

9. Wheatfield Soul (1968) – The Guess Who

10. Something Better Change (1980) – D.O.A.

11. Symphony in Effect (1989) – Maestro Fresh-Wes

12. Songs of Leonard Cohen (1967) – Leonard Cohen

13. Rhythm of Youth (1982) – Men Without Hats

14. The Band (1969) – The Band

15. Mass Romantic (2000) – The New Pornographers

16. Fully Completely (1992) – The Tragically Hip

17. Stealing Fire (1984) – Bruce Cockburn

18. Everything I Long For (1995) – Hayden

19. Court and Spark (1974) – Joni Mitchell

20. Tonight’s the Night (1975) – Neil Young

21. Fumbling Towards Ecstasy (1993) – Sarah McLachlan

22. American Woman (1970) – The Guess Who

23. Neon Bible (2007) – Arcade Fire

24. Jagged Little Pill (1995) – Alanis Morissette

25. Celebration Rock (2012) – Japandroids

26. Melville (1991) – Rheostatics

27. Zuma (1975) – Neil Young & Crazy Horse

28. And Now the Legacy Begins (1991) – Dream Warriors

29. Lost Together (1992) – Blue Rodeo

30. Not Fragile (1974) – Bachman-Turner Overdrive

31. Other Songs (1997) – Ron Sexsmith

32. The Trinity Session (1988) – Cowboy Junkies

33. Sit Down Young Stranger (1970) – Gordon Lightfoot

34. Ingénue (1992) – K.D. Lang

35. Let it Die (2004) – Feist

36. Joyful Rebellion (2004) – k-os

37. Love Tara (1993) – Eric’s Trip

38. Crawl with Me (1988) – Art Bergmann

39. Miss America (1988) – Mary Margaret O’Hara

40. Great Speckled Bird (1970) – Great Speckled Bird

41. VIVIsectVI (1988) – Skinny Puppy

42. Fantasies (2009) – Metric

43. Steppenwolf (1968) – Steppenwolf

44. Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere (1969) – Neil Young & Crazy Horse

45. Teenage Head (1979) – Teenage Head

46. Gordon (1992) – Barenaked Ladies

47. Reconstruction Site (2003) – The Weakerthans

48. …And No One Else Wanted to Play (1985) – SNFU

49. Rufus Wainwright (1998) – Rufus Wainwright

50. God Shuffled His Feet (1993) – Crash Test Dummies

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Andrew Unger lives and writes in a dystopian Mennonite town, but feels no Orwellian sense of urgency to escape. He is the author of, among other things, the novel Inches from America. He promises that the next one will be better.