TIME 100 ALBUMS PODCASTS

PODCAST: Welcome to the All-TIME 100 Albums - the musical compilations of the last half-century that need no introduction. That said, listen in below as music critics Josh Tyrangiel and Alan Light introduce the list and talk about the top albums of the 1950s and '60s.

PODCAST: We know. Twenty-nine of the 100 greatest albums of all time come in the 1970s, and Pink Floyd isn't there. Play this podcast to learn why we picked the titles we did, and if you have something to say, tell us about it using the talkback link below.

PODCAST: Maybe it's a Sign O' The Times that you're listening to critics' audio recordings about great music, but this podcast about how we chose the best albums of the 1980s really is a Thriller. Give it a listen below.

PODCAST: Here's music even the younger set will know by heart. Listen to selected clips from the 1990s through present day as music critic Josh Tyrangiel discusses his picks.

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In 1962, James Brown was known, but not—owwwww!—well known. Frustrated at his inability to break through, the ever-savvy J.B. asked his label to record one of his acclaimed live shows and release it as an album. When the label refused, Brown bankrolled the recording himself. "Are you ready for star time?" the emcee asks the Apollo crowd on the night of October 24, and for the next 40 minutes Brown puts on a flawless show of dynamism that lost nothing in the transfer to vinyl. Only a few thousand copies of the original were pressed, but demand became so great (it ultimately sold well over a million) that DJs played the album in its entirety, and the legend of the hardest working man in showbiz was born.