The Needle Drop: The Best Psychedelic Rock Albums

The Needle Drop is a blog dedicated to the best psychedelic rock albums. We believe that the genre is undergoing a renaissance, and we want to help you find the best new music.

The Psychedelic Sound

Psychedelic rock, also referred to as “acid rock”, is a style of rock music that was inspired by the use of psychedelic drugs. The sound is typified by distorted guitars, mind-bending lyrics, and extended improvisation. If you’re looking for some of the best psychedelic rock albums, you’ve come to the right place. The Needle Drop is your go-to source for the best music reviews and recommendations.

What is Psychedelic Rock?

Psychedelic rock is a subgenre of rock that emerged in the mid-1960s. Rooted in American and British pop and rock music of the 1950s and early 1960s, it developed as an offshoot of the garage rock, folksong revival and the Beat Generation’s literary movement. Psychedelic bands sought to replicate the mind-altering experiences of psychedelic drugs, such as LSD. Although psychedelic rock was initially dominated by Anglo-American groups like The Beatles, The Beach Boys and The Byrds, by 1968 it had been taken up by musicians across the world.

Psychedelic rock often used distorted guitars, feedback, sitars and electronics. It was sometimes referred to as “acid rock” due to its use of psychedelics. Psychedelic rock influenced fashion with its emphasis on long hair and colorful clothing; it also spawned a fashion for light shows.

Psychedelic music emerged during a time when drugs were being increasingly politicized—during the so-called Summer of Love in 1967 alone there were four drug-related deaths at the Monterey Pop Festival. Psychedelic drugs such as LSD were sometimes used at live concerts to enhance audience participation; however, many concert venues forbid their use due to bad experiences in the past.

By 1967, British blues bands such as Cream and The Jimi Hendrix Experience had achieved mainstream success, while American psychedelic groups such as The Doors, The Grateful Dead and Jefferson Airplane were also achieving commercial success with a more explicitly drug-influenced sound.

The Origins of Psychedelic Rock

Psychedelic rock, also referred to as psych rock or simply psychedlia, is a genre of popular music that emerged in the mid-1960s. Its origins can be traced back to the United States and Britain, where musicians began experimenting with mind-altering drugs like LSD and marijuana while incorporating aspects of Eastern religions and philosophies. The result was a style of music that was characterized by improvisation, extended jamming, and unusual song structures.

Psychedelic rock reached its peak in the late 1960s with bands like The Beatles, The Doors, and Pink Floyd releasing groundbreaking albums that defined the genre. In the 1970s, psychedelia underwent a revival with artists like David Bowie, Syd Barrett, and Brian Eno experimentng with electronic music. Today, psychedelic rock is enjoying something of a renaissance with new bands like Tame Impala and The Growlers carrying on the tradition of mind-expanding music.

The Best Psychedelic Rock Albums

The best psychedelic rock albums are those that take the listener on a journey. They are the albums that make you feel like you’re experiencing something new and exciting, even if you’ve heard them a hundred times. They are the albums that challenge your preconceptions and force you to think about the music in a new way. In short, they’re the albums that change your life.

The Beatles – Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band

The Beatles – Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band
Label: Apple
Release Date: June 2, 1967

In my opinion, there is no better album in the history of music than The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. This album was a game changer in so many ways and its influence can still be felt today, 50 years later.

The album is a perfect blend of pop, rock, and psychedelia and features some of The Beatles’ best songs, including “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds,” “With a Little Help from My Friends,” “A Day in the Life,” and “She’s Leaving Home.”

If you haven’t listened to Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, I urge you to do so as soon as possible. It is truly a masterpiece.

The Beach Boys – Pet Sounds

There’s a reason this album is often cited as one of the greatest of all time – it’s simply that good. The Beach Boys’ ELEVENTH studio album was a massive critical and commercial success upon its release in 1966, and has only grown in stature in the half century since. Brian Wilson’s composition and production is nothing short of miraculous, seamlessly weaving together elements of pop, rock, jazz, classical, and even (gasp!) avant-garde into a cohesive sonic whole. The result is an album that is both timeless and ahead of its time, an endlessly rewarding listen that just gets better with each repeated play.

The Doors – The Doors

The Doors’ debut album is one of the most important and influential debut albums of all time. It established the band as one of the key figures in the psychedelic rock scene, and it is still revered by fans and critics alike. The album features some of the band’s most iconic tracks, including “Break On Through (To the Other Side)”, “Light My Fire”, and “The End”.

Jimi Hendrix – Are You Experienced

Are You Experienced is the debut studio album by English-American rock band the Jimi Hendrix Experience. Released in May 1967, it was the first LP for Track Records and was a commercial and critical success. The album features Jimi Hendrix’s original compositions and introduces his distinctive electric guitar playing style.

The album were recorded over a period of five months from October 1966 to April 1967. The majority of the songs were written by Hendrix, with bassist Noel Redding co-writing two tracks and drummer Mitch Mitchell co-writing one. Several songs on Are You Experienced show influences from early rock and roll, rhythm and blues, blues rock, and British Invasion bands. In particular, “Purple Haze” has been identified as influenced by Muddy Waters’ “I’m Your Hoochie Coochie Man”, while “Hey Joe” borrows heavily from Willie Dixon’s “Back Door Man”. Other songs on the album reflect Hendrix’s own interests, such as his adoptee status (“The Wind Cries Mary”), science fiction (“Third Stone from the Sun”), and the new stratum of young people known as teenagers (“Fire”).

Pink Floyd – The Piper at the Gates of Dawn

In 1967, Pink Floyd released their debut album, The Piper at the Gates of Dawn. While the album wasn’t a commercial success at the time, it is now considered one of the best psychedelic rock albums of all time. The Piper at the Gates of Dawn is a perfect example of what psychedelic rock should be – trippy, mind-bending, and completely unique. If you’re looking for an album that will take you on a journey, this is it.