It’s list time! For better or worse, we’re going with the top tier of the Rolling Stone’s Top 100 Country Albums of all Time as our guidepost. There’s some great ones here, in fact the majority are agreeable in our estimation but there are also some “huh?” moments. We’ll just assume that that is par for the course with any opinion-based list by a disparate group of critics. For the most part, it captures the core of country pretty well. We’ll share music from Tom T. Hall, The Carters, George Strait and a few nineties and aught pop stars that made the list because they swim the pop country charts. Join Dave as he walks down the list, one that has its cringe-worthy moments, right alongside moments of pure Americana country gold.
| No. | Artist | Title | Album | Buy |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kacey Musgraves | Space Cowboy | Golden Hour |  |
| 2 | Hank Williams | The Blues Come Around | Southern Belle [Disc 2] | |
| 3 | Waylon Jennings | Black Rose | Honky Tonk Heroes/Ramblin' Man/Dreaming My Dreams (1 of 3) | |
| 4 | Sammi Smith | Help Me Make It Through The Night | Sammi Smith early 60's the Best Of (varese sarabande 96) | |
| 5 | John Anderson | Wild and Blue | Anthology | |
| 6 | Sturgill Simpson | Life Of Sin | Metamodern Sounds In Country Music | |
| 7 | Guy Clark | Rita Ballou | Old No. 1 | |
| 8 | The Carter Family | Kissing Is Crime | Can The Circle Be Unbroken | |
| 9 | John Prine | Paradise | John Prine | |
| 10 | Kris Kristofferson | The Law Is For Protection Of The People | Kristofferson | |
| 11 | Rosanne Cash | My Baby Thinks He's A Train | Hits: 1979-1989 | |
| 12 | George Strait | I Can't See Texas from Here | Strait Out of the Box [Disc 1] | |
| 13 | Gary Stewart | She's Acting Single (I'm Drinkin' Doubles) | Superstars Of Country: Good Ol Songs [Disc 2] | |
| 14 | Loretta Lynn | Coal Miner's Daughter | Decca Country Classics 1934-1973 | |
| 15 | Tom T. Hall | The Year That Clayton Delaney Died (Single Version) | The Definitive Collection: Tom T. Hall | |
| 16 | Patsy Cline | I Fall To Pieces | Classic Country | |
| 17 | George Jones | He Stopped Loving Her Today | I Am What I Am | |
| 18 | Miranda Lambert | Vice | The Weight of These Wings | |
| 19 | The Judds | Why Not Me | Country Music: A Film By Ken Burns – The Soundtrack [Disc 2] | |
| 20 | Johnny Cash | Folsom Prison Blues | At Folsom Prison | |
| 21 | Taylor Swift | You Belong With Me | Fearless | |
| 22 | Randy Travis | On The Other Hand | Country Gold 1984-1986 | |
| 23 | Shania Twain | That Don't Impress Me Much | Come On Over | |
| 24 | Merle Haggard | Red Bandana | His Greatest & His Best | |
| 25 | Lucinda Williams | Jackson | Car Wheels on a Gravel Road | |
| 26 | Dixie Chicks | Wide Open Spaces | Country: The American Tradition [Disc 2] | |
| 27 | Ray Charles | Born to Lose (Remastered) | Complete Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music (Remastered) | |
| 28 | Waylon Jennings | Dreaming My Dreams With You | Artist's Choice: Emmylou Harris | |
| 29 | Dolly Parton | Coat of Many Colors | Coat of Many Colors [RM 2007] | |
| 30 | Willie Nelson | Red Headed Stranger | The Many Sides Of Willie Nelson [Cd 3 "Cowboy"] (1992) | |