What is the best indie rock album of all time?
From angular guitar anthems to sprawling emotional epics, indie rock has produced some of music's most daring records — underground cult classics and era-defining breakthroughs side by side. Cast your vote!
Doolittle
The Pixies' 1989 masterpiece blending loud-quiet dynamics, surf rock, and surrealist lyrics that directly influenced Nirvana and generations of indie rock.
Daydream Nation
Sonic Youth's 1988 double album, a sprawling noise-rock landmark that defined alternative music's artistic ambitions.
Slanted and Enchanted
Pavement's lo-fi 1992 debut, pioneering slacker rock with detuned guitars and sardonic wit.
In the Aeroplane Over the Sea
Neutral Milk Hotel's 1998 baroque folk-rock opus, one of the most beloved cult records ever made.
Funeral
Arcade Fire's 2004 debut, an expansive orchestral indie rock album about loss and community that launched a generation of epic indie bands.
Is This It
The Strokes' 2001 debut that reinvigorated rock music with a razor-tight, New York cool aesthetic.
OK Computer
Radiohead's 1997 landmark blending art rock, electronic textures, and anxious lyricism into a definitive 90s statement.
Murmur
R.E.M.'s 1983 debut that helped define the sound of college rock and American indie music.
Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
Wilco's 2002 alt-country/experimental rock album, famously rejected by its label and later hailed as a classic.
You're Living All Over Me
Dinosaur Jr's 1987 album fusing heavy guitar noise with melodic songwriting, a crucial bridge between punk and indie.
The Moon & Antarctica
Modest Mouse's sprawling 2000 existentialist indie rock epic, widely considered their definitive statement.
Boxer
The National's 2007 album of literate, melancholic indie rock that solidified the band as one of the most important of their generation.
Sound of Silver
LCD Soundsystem's 2007 masterwork merging dance-punk and heartfelt lyrics, considered one of the defining albums of its era.
Bee Thousand
Guided by Voices' 1994 lo-fi monument, a chaotic collection of brilliant micro-songs recorded on a 4-track.
Either/Or
Elliott Smith's 1997 acoustic indie rock album, intimate and devastating, later made famous by the Good Will Hunting soundtrack.
Turn on the Bright Lights
Interpol's 2002 debut, a brooding post-punk revival record dripping with dark atmosphere and New York tension.
Perfect from Now On
Built to Spill's 1997 sprawling guitar epic, a landmark of 90s indie rock known for its extended psychedelic jams.
Teens of Denial
Car Seat Headrest's 2016 double album of confessional power-pop that brought the solo project to mainstream indie attention.
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