# The 38 Greatest Folk Albums of All Time

> Nylon-string whispers, electric-folk rebellions and bedroom confessionals, spread across six decades. Some are canon by decree, others are the records your friend swears by.

*By YPB Team · Published October 23, 2026 · https://youpick.best/ranking/the-38-greatest-folk-albums-of-all-time*

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## Current results (no votes yet)

1. **The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan** — score 1000/1000
   Bob Dylan's 1963 breakthrough with Blowin' in the Wind.
2. **Blue** — score 853/1000
   Joni Mitchell's 1971 confessional landmark.
3. **Harvest** — score 758/1000
   Neil Young's 1972 chart-topper with Heart of Gold.
4. **Bringing It All Back Home** — score 732/1000
   Dylan's 1965 album that split acoustic folk from electric rock.
5. **Pentangle** — score 732/1000
   Pentangle's 1968 debut fusing British folk and jazz.
6. **Rubber Soul** — score 699/1000
   The Beatles' 1965 album that brought folk textures into pop.
7. **Pink Moon** — score 529/1000
   Nick Drake's stark 1972 final album, voice and guitar only.
8. **American Beauty** — score 529/1000
   Grateful Dead's 1970 acoustic-leaning folk and country album.
9. **Paul Simon** — score 529/1000
   Paul Simon's 1972 solo debut with Mother and Child Reunion.
10. **Court and Spark** — score 473/1000
   Joni Mitchell's 1974 polished and commercially successful record.
11. **Bryter Layter** — score 473/1000
   Nick Drake's 1971 second album with lush string arrangements.
12. **Bridge Over Troubled Water** — score 473/1000
   Simon & Garfunkel's 1970 farewell, a huge chart-topper.
13. **Harvest Moon** — score 473/1000
   Neil Young's 1992 return to the gentle acoustic sound of Harvest.
14. **After the Gold Rush** — score 473/1000
   Neil Young's 1970 country-folk classic.
15. **Time Out of Mind** — score 473/1000
   Bob Dylan's 1997 late-career comeback.
16. **Hejira** — score 473/1000
   Joni Mitchell's 1976 road-inspired jazz-folk album.
17. **Tapestry** — score 473/1000
   Carole King's 1971 singer-songwriter classic.
18. **Nebraska** — score 410/1000
   Bruce Springsteen's 1982 stark acoustic home recording.
19. **Hobo's Lullaby** — score 410/1000
   Arlo Guthrie's 1972 album of folk and country standards.
20. **Five Leaves Left** — score 410/1000
   Nick Drake's 1969 debut of hushed, orchestrated English folk.
21. **Led Zeppelin III** — score 410/1000
   Led Zeppelin's 1970 album that turned toward acoustic folk.
22. **Illinois** — score 410/1000
   Sufjan Stevens' 2005 sprawling, orchestrated indie-folk epic.
23. **Songs of Leonard Cohen** — score 410/1000
   Leonard Cohen's 1967 debut with Suzanne and So Long, Marianne.
24. **Carrie & Lowell** — score 338/1000
   Sufjan Stevens' 2015 quiet elegy for his mother.
25. **Bert Jansch** — score 338/1000
   Bert Jansch's 1965 self-titled debut that reshaped British acoustic guitar.
26. **Folklore** — score 338/1000
   Taylor Swift's 2020 indie-folk surprise album.
27. **Sounds of Silence** — score 338/1000
   Simon & Garfunkel's 1966 album built on the folk-rock title hit.
28. **Déjà Vu** — score 338/1000
   Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young's 1970 harmony-rich landmark.
29. **Crosby, Stills & Nash** — score 338/1000
   The 1969 debut that defined California harmony folk.
30. **Liege & Lief** — score 338/1000
   Fairport Convention's 1969 pioneering British folk-rock record.
31. **Astral Weeks** — score 255/1000
   Van Morrison's 1968 jazz-inflected, mystical folk masterpiece.
32. **Blood on the Tracks** — score 255/1000
   Bob Dylan's 1975 raw, acclaimed breakup record.
33. **Unhalfbricking** — score 255/1000
   Fairport Convention's 1969 album with Sandy Denny and Who Knows Where the Time Goes.
34. **For Emma, Forever Ago** — score 158/1000
   Bon Iver's 2007 debut recorded alone in a Wisconsin cabin.
35. **Las Últimas Composiciones** — score 158/1000
   Violeta Parra's 1966 final album, home of Gracias a la Vida, a landmark of Chilean nueva canción folk.
36. **Fleet Foxes** — score 158/1000
   Fleet Foxes' 2008 debut of layered baroque harmonies.
37. **Music from Big Pink** — score 158/1000
   The Band's 1968 debut of rootsy Americana.
38. **Tea for the Tillerman** — score 158/1000
   Cat Stevens' 1970 album with Wild World and Father and Son.

Tags: folk, music, 70s, 60s, singer-songwriters