The Best Psychedelic Rock of All Time

A list of the best psychedelic rock albums of all time, according to critics and fans.

The Beatles – “A Day in the Life”

Viewed by many as the pinnacle of The Beatles’ recorded work, and one of the best psychedelic rock songs of all time, “A Day in the Life” was the final track on 1967’s Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. The song was a collaboration between John Lennon and Paul McCartney, with Lennon writing the majority of the lyrics and McCartney coming up with the famous crescendo that culminates in one of the most well-known uses of a orchestra in rock music. Theresult is a song that both encapsulates The Beatles at their most innovative and is still hugely popular 50 years later.

Pink Floyd – “Interstellar Overdrive”

Formed in 1965, Pink Floyd was one of the first and most recognized psychedelic rock bands. Their debut album, “The Piper at the Gates of Dawn” (1967), is considered a classic of the genre. “Interstellar Overdrive” is one of the best-known tracks from that album, and is a perfect example of the band’s signature sound.

The song begins with an ethereal and dreamy guitar melody, before the rest of the band comes in with a heavy and distorted sound. The drums are relentless, and the bass provides a deep and dark underpinning to the whole track. The vocals are strange and otherworldly, adding to the overall feeling of disorientation and confusion. This is a truly classic psychedelic rock song, and one that any fan of the genre should know.

The Jimi Hendrix Experience – “Are You Experienced?”

The Jimi Hendrix Experience’s debut album is one of the most mind-blowing opening salvos in rock history. Recorded in a blur of chemical euphoria in early 1967, it captures the young triumvirate of Hendrix, Mitch Mitchell and Noel Redding at their most uninhibited and experimental. Sprawling across a generous 53 minutes, “Are You Experienced?” is an explosion of sound and color, with Hendrix plumbing the outer limits of his axe on apocalyptic anthem “Fire” and chasing sonic rainbows on the eleven-minute opus “Third Stone From the Sun.” He also changed rock & roll forever on the Feedback-drenched opening riff of “Purple Haze.” As he later told Rolling Stone, “People were just looking at their feet when they were listening to music then. I wanted to wake them up. I wanted to give them a whiplash.” Mission accomplished.

The Doors – “The End”

There is no greater psychedelic anthem than “The End” by The Doors. The song perfectly captures the feeling of paranoia and ego death that can come with a bad trip, as well as the desire to just keep on dancing through the night, no matter what.

Love – “Forever Changes”

Love’s Forever Changes is one of the most beautiful albums of all time, psychedelic or otherwise. Arthur Lee’s baroque pop masterpiece is a deeply personal record, steeped in L.A.’s late-’60s folk-rock scene but sounding like nothing else of its time – or any other. With its curious blend of sunny melodies, dark subject matter and lavish orchestrations, it’s an album that rewards repeated listens and feels as fresh today as it did upon its release in 1967.

The Grateful Dead – “Dark Star”

“Dark Star” is the ultimate Grateful Dead jam, a free-form opus that segued in and out of several other songs over its live life, sometimes stretching to half an hour. Jerry Garcia called it “a pretty little song that got out of hand.” It was the band’s first real foray into extended improvisation, and it would become their calling card. “Dark Star” became the foundation of the Dead’s live sets, a never-ending sonic adventure that could go anywhere at any time.

The Velvet Underground – “White Light/White Heat”

“White Light/White Heat” is the Velvet Underground at their most unhinged and experimental. It’s a two minute and forty-five second scorcher of a track that careens headlong into pure chaotic noise. There’s no other song quite like it, and it remains one of the most influential songs in the entire history of rock music.

Syd Barrett – “Bike”

Syd Barrett – “Bike”

This is the best psychedelic rock song of all time. It was written by Syd Barrett of Pink Floyd when he was just 19 years old, and it perfectly captures the surreal, trippy feeling of being on acid. The song is about a bicycle that Barrett bought second-hand, and how it takes him on wild trips through the countryside. The lyrics are nonsensical and bizarre, but that’s part of what makes them so perfect.

13th Floor Elevators – “You’re Gonna Miss Me”

“You’re Gonna Miss Me” is the definitive 13th Floor Elevators track, and one of the best psychedelia songs ever recorded. It’s not particularly psychedelic compared to other songs on this list, but its infectious chorus and Roky Erickson’s wild howls make it an essential track for any fan of the genre.

The Stooges – “I Wanna Be Your Dog”

Enter the Stooges. One of the least likely bands to ever want to provide a soundtrack for dropping acid, the Stooges nonetheless turned in one of the most quintessentially psychedelic songs of all time with “I Wanna Be Your Dog.” Iggy Pop’s howl, Ron Asheton’s jagged guitar, and Scott Asheton’s bombardment of drums coalesce into a three-minute tour de force that sounds like the dark underside of the Summer of Love.The song is alternately menacing and vulnerable, chaotic and disciplined, an aural approximation of what it feels like to be caught in the throes of teenage lust. It’s also one of the greatest rock songs ever recorded, psychedelic or otherwise.