T Rex – Electric Warrior

Although mainly known as a singles band, T Rex had their share of influential albums. Electric Warrior marked a shift from the band’s folk origins and ended up pioneering glam rock and making Marc Bolan a musical icon. It spawned one of the band’s best selling singles ‘Get It On’. Bolan’s simple yet theatrical songwriting is simply superb. Bold, bonkers and brilliantly British.

Dire Straits – Brothers in Arms

Composed by one of the world’s greatest guitarists Mark Knopfler, Brothers in Arms went on to top the album charts all around the globe. It remains one of the best selling albums in history with over 30 million copies sold. It’s easy to see why with the rock’n’roll of ‘Walk of Life’, the smooth sax of ‘Your Latest Trick’ and the instantly recognisable riff of ‘Money for Nothing’.

The Kinks – The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society

Having already established themselves as one of the most important rock bands of the sixties and releasing a string of best selling singles, the band tried something a little different for the last album with the original line-up. The album was amongst the first concept albums and focuses on a series of vignettes of old fashioned English traditions. Although it sold poorly at the time it has since come to be considered their best work.

Mike Oldfield – Tubular Bells

At the time this was one of the most ambitious albums ever produced. Young Mike Oldfield, who was only 19 at the time, decided to compose a prog rock magnum opus. He played nearly all of the instruments himself, recording them separately and then layering them afterwards. It seems simple now but at the time this was a revolutionary way to record an album and has changed the industry forever. It was the first album released through the Virgin label and was made famous as part of the soundtrack of The Exorcist.