Fleetwood Mac - Rumours (1977) Now Fleetwood Mac are cool again, but there was a long period when they weren’t. You don’t make one of the biggest albums of all time without some backlash. But after a Smashing Pumpkins cover, a high-profile reunion special and extensive touring, the Mac came back into public favor, and you can see their influence in a huge way these days, especially in young, female-fronted rock bands like Best Coast, Haim and Beach House. Anyway, Rumour kicks ass and pretty much every baby boomer owns it.

Gerry Rafferty – City to City (1978) Boasting the saxophone-laced cheese classic “Baker Street,” City to City was a solid return for Rafferty, who’d not released an album in six years (he was busy in another dad rock act, Stealers Wheel, who were behind the immortal “Stuck in the Middle With You”) and went to No. 1 with this one. That sax riff alone will be stuck in our collective heads ‘till the day we die. Anyone know what the hell makes that “bwooooo” sound?

Steely Dan – Aja (1977) A much-maligned dad rock band that now sounds pretty sweet to us, Steely Dan were famously fastidious in their recording—they allegedly went through dozens of guitar solos before landing the one they wanted for standout “Peg.” Though it vaguely seems to define the excess of ’70s recording until punk, Aja now plays out sweetly and smoothly, a perfect marriage of jazz and pop-rock. Rappers would get a lot of mileage out of sampling the unbeatable groove of “Black Cow.”

Santana – Abraxas (1970) The end of “Black Magic Woman” is still the best. God I hate it when K-Earth cuts it off.

The Allman Brothers Band - At Fillmore East (1971) Some call this the greatest rock concert ever set to vinyl. An awesome double-LP set of Southern-fried rock ‘n’ roll with several telltale dad rock signs: harmonic guitar playing; the word “band” in the band’s name; the fact that it’s a live album; and mustaches galore!



Cream – Disraeli Gears (1967) Despite the later annoyingness of Eric Clapton (could we put his Unplugged album under worst dad rock albums ever?), this album has one of the most famous guitar riffs of all time (on “Sunshine of Your Love”) and is solid throughout. A hippie rock classic whose influence is oft-overlooked these days—listen to garage rockers like Ty Segall’s Fuzz or Thee Oh Sees and you’ll hear Cream’s chunky riffs blown up into new psychedelic frontiers.



Elton John – Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (1973) Well before The Lion King and his duet with Eminem, Elton John was a glam-rock weirdo with big ass glasses and fun songs like “Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting.” The country-rockin’ Tumbleweed Connection could be a little daddier, but this is his best album.

The Band - Music from Big Pink (1968) The greatest backing band ever became one of the flat-out best bands ever on their debut album, which eschewed the prevalent psych-rock of the time in favor of soulful roots-rock. Hard to think of contemporary dad-rock proliferators like The National, Ryan Adams or Wilco without The Band.



Bruce Springsteen - Born to Run (1975) Bruce Springsteen’s mainstream breakthrough record is the dad rock album of choice for leftist dad, a wall-of-sound heartland rock record that helped put Springsteen’s songcraft, everyman imagery and mouthful-of-oatmeal growl on the map and pave the way for future dad-rockers like Tom Petty. I guess dads are younger now, so 1984’s Born in the U.S.A. works too.



The Who – Quadrophenia (1973) While most of The Who’s catalog still seems pretty contemporary, Quadrophenia is one of those crusty ’70s relics that can only be called dad rock, a sprawling rock opera that defines excess. But it’s an important, time-capsule worthy document anyhow.



Led Zeppelin – IV (1971) It’s hard to call this dad rock, but it is. Maybe I’m just speaking from personal experience—I specifically remember my dad buying this on tape and force feeding it to us, hating it, then coming to worship it years later. Another fun fact about me: My parents’ first date was a Led Zeppelin concert. I GUESS YOU COULD SAY I WAS BORN FROM ROCK ‘N’ ROLL. Led Zep are worth mentioning, anyway, since the first three Led Zeppelin albums just got reissued on vinyl (I, II and III), and they’re all absolutely essential (obviously). IV should be reissued too sometime this year.



Wings – Band on the Run (1973) I’m guessing Wings sounded like dad rock even when they were first around. The Beatles and John Lennon—hell, even Paul McCartney’s solo career—are too cool to qualify. However, Wings were unabashedly cheesy, and thus alone get the distinction of falling under corny music our dads made us suffer through. But Band on the Run is actually really good, helping launch power-pop and eventual new wave with its nonstop exuberance and then-novel use of synthesizers as a lead instrument on songs like “Jet.”



James Taylor – Sweet Baby James (1970) James Taylor just sounds like a dad, tucking you into bed with his mellifluous voice and acoustic guitar notes that fall like beads of soft rain.



Yes - The Yes Album (1971) Could’ve put just about any prog-rock record on here, but … Yes is the daddiest. This takes the place on this list for Pink Floyd, Genesis, Rush and a lot of other bands that clocked in 10-plus-minute songs on the reg.



Chicago – Chicago IX: Chicago’s Greatest Hits (1975) Reviled by some critics, Chicago nonetheless have the dad rock sound on lockdown. This album has most of their big hits, including the fatherly classic “Saturday in the Park.”



Creedence Clearwater Revival - Green River (1969) CCR are sort of the poster boys of dad rock, albeit in the best sense. John Fogerty’s ragged voice and guitar playing sounds more punk to me than a lot of bullshit classic rock.



Simon & Garfunkel - Bridge Over Troubled Water (1970) I like this album too much to even pretend to make fun of.