Well, let us not get into that question here, as the quality of music trumps the length of an album every time, but at one point, when the CDs were in their prime, the line between ‘regular’ albums and a double (or longer) one didn’t matter much.
Yet before that, and now that vinyl is back in vogue, whether an album is a single or a double one certainly does matter; if nothing else, you have to fish out more money for a double one.
It is pretty evident that double albums came to the scene because of the technical limitations of the media carrying them - the artist came up with more material than could fit on a single disc (whatever format is in question). They insisted on fitting it all into one release. Yet, at a certain point in the late sixties and on, they wanted to add another element to their artistic statement
These double albums are worth your listen
Actually, the first double album came in the fifties: Benny Goodman's The Famous 1938 Carnegie Hall Jazz Concert, released in 1950. Things picked up in 1966, when Frank Zappa issued the Mothers Of Invention's debut Freak Out (an honourable mention to this list) as the first rock double album, with Bob Dylan following with his Blonde On Blonde a few weeks later.
From then on, the number of double albums kept on coming in, with 21 below definitely being those that should find their way into any record collection. There are quite a number of others, the Who’s Quadrophenia and Pink Floyd’s The Wall being other honourable mentions here.
Bob Dylan - Blonde On Blonde (1966)
Zappa might have beaten Dylan to the punch as far as the first double rock album is concerned. Still, this set of incredible songs recorded mainly with experienced Nashville session musicians is not only one of the best double albums around but a masterpiece in its own right and one of the best albums Dylan recorded.
Beatles - White Album (1968)
Okay, so the divide between individual members was becoming visible, and they mostly worked on these songs on their own, but the level of their songwriting was at its best, as was their musicianship (including all others involved, like Clapton), and it still sounded like the Beatles at their best.
Jimi Hendrix - Electric Ladyland (1968)
Concluding the trilogy of his first and indeed the best albums, here was Hendrix at his best - whether it was the guitar playing, songwriting, exploring new musical directions, like the spiritual jazz psych combination of “1983... (A Merman I Should Turn to Be)” or bettering Dylan on “All Along The Watchtower." Incredible all over.
Mothers of Invention - Uncle Meat (1969)
This is the second of Zappa’s Mothers of Invention-phase double albums, and it is the one where he shows all those artists who wanted to dabble in jazz-tinged prog rock how that really should sound. Here, Zappa goes everywhere—from the fifties pastiches to full-on jazz ensemble, covering all the bases in between.
Miles Davis - Bitches Brew (1969)
More than jazz, more than jazz rock, more than anything else. A set of incredible workouts by Miles and the band, showing what breaking the borders between genres should sound like. Miles recorded more tracks than were initially included, and when producer Teo Macero asked Miles why he chose the tracks included over the ones he left out, the answer was: “Because I can.”
Captian Beefheart - Trout Mask Replica (1969)
It's not just a double album, not just possibly the weirdest one around, but it's recognized as one of the absolute rock classics by many critics and other artists (and not so many listeners). Was it something in the water, Don Van Vliet’s crazy ideas, or his rigorous practice regime for the band before the recording itself? It all worked.
Grateful Dead - Live/Dead (1969)
It didn’t take the Grateful Dead long to realize that they preferred recording live rather than in the studio. Their first in a line of official (and not so official) live recordings remains one of the landmarks in live show recordings and a guideline not only for the Dead themselves but also for other artists recording live, whether they were jam bands or otherwise.
Allman Brothers Band - At Filmore East (1971)
Another band defined their sound with a live album and a whole genre that became Southern Rock. Yet the Allmans here present their music at a much broader spectrum than that southern tag entails, as well as their incredible instrumental and vocal capabilities.
Can - Tago Mago (1971)
Yet another double album that set the standard in the genre, this time Krautrock (sharing the honours there with another honourable mention recorded the same year, Amon Duul II’s Yeti), where the bands' spaced out improvisations, including those by Japanese vocalist Damo Suzuki. Turning the joking name of the genre into something musically credible and quite serious in quality.
Rolling Stones - Exile On Main Street (1972)
How can a shambles of recording sessions and lifestyle on the French Riviera become a double album rock masterpiece? Maybe the Stones themselves can’t tell you that, but this is one of their albums where they stick to the blues and R&B roots and everything clicks as it should, personal excesses included.
Led Zeppelin - Physical Graffiti (1975)
How do you sum up all the best moments of your career through a set of new songs, and the answer might lie in the grooves of this double album. Not only that, but it also includes one of the best moments Led Zeppelin recorded, which was Jon Bonham’s “Kashmir.”
Stevie Wonder- Songs In The Key Of Life (1976)
From an early life prodigy to a songwriting master, this double album was where Stevie Wonder was at his prime, whether it was his songwriting or instrumental and vocal prowess. All those involved in the recording of this album sound the best they can.
Clash - London Calling (1979)
The seventies punk revolution was supposed to be a three-chord angst affair. Still, Joe Strummer and the rest of the Clash never agreed to that, showing here, possibly the best punk rock album of all time, that the energy can be applied to many other musical elements and still come up with excellent results.
Bruce Springsteen - The River (1980)
Like any great artist with a lengthy career, Bruce Springsteen went through phases, and this double album summed up his first phase, dominated by the expansive rock sound and long-winding lyrical excursions, all working their wonders through every song here.
Talking Heads - The Name of This Band Is Talking Heads (1982)
Those familiar with the Talking Heads at the time only through their studio albums could have never imagined how this band sounded great live, and this double live set made that possible for them, an album that at the same time represents a sort of resume of the first part of the band’s career.
Hüsker Dü - Zen Arcade (1984)
With neither Bob Mould or late Grant Hart (or Greg Norton, for that matter), losing their initial hardcore energy, this is where Hüsker Dü move on into other rock forms with both inventiveness and ease, producing one of the best eighties (double) albums, no matter what genre was in question.
Prince - Sign O’ The Times (1987)
Prince was never satisfied with wearing just one musical (strawberry) beret, and this is where he presents all the aspects of his musical ideas, past, present, and future, without any missteps that started to crop up here and there later in his career.
Sonic Youth - Daydream Nation (1988)
Turning inventive musical ideas, whether they came from rock or modern classical music, into something cohesive and listenable was never easy. It took Sonic Youth a bit of time to turn flashes of brilliance into something completely brilliant, a few albums, and this is where it all came to fruition, enabling them to move in as many directions as they wanted from here on.
Wilco - Being There (1996)
When Jay Farrar and Jeff Tweedy broke up Uncle Tupelo and went their separate ways, the critics were all betting on Farrar, and the first Wilco album might have given signs that they were right. But by Wilco’s second, this double album, Tweedy seems to have put his songwriting entirely in focus, coming with songs that span as many of those as were recorded here.
Godspeed You! Black Emperor - Lift Yr Skinny Fists Like Antenna To Heaven (2000)
Post-rock was always a (sub) genre that needed space to present its ideas, and this Canadian collective effectively uses the space a double album gives, coming up with surely one of the best post-rock albums so far.
Outkast - Speakerboxxx/The Love Below (2003)
Labeling this album simply under a hip-hop tag would surely be a misnomer, as both Dré and Big Boi present such a wealth of musical ideas here that they both had to reduce them to fit them into this album. Their later careers proved them right.
Lambchop - Aww C’mon/No You C’mon (2004)
Lambchop was always (and still is) an expanding/contracting musical collective that essentially depended on the inventiveness and development of Kurt Wagner's musical ideas, its key figure and leader. And this double album just might be where Wagner was at his prime, without a single miss on this expansive double album.