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Collections

Curated lists of the works that define culture: music, art, museum artifacts, literature and performance, with links to listen, look, read or watch. Vote for your favourites and share your thoughts on every item.

Music

The Top 300 Albums of All Time

  1. Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band The Beatles
  2. Pet Sounds The Beach Boys
  3. What’s Going On Marvin Gaye
300 albums · Listen on Apple Music & Spotify
Music

Jazz: The Top 100 Albums

  1. Kind of Blue Miles Davis
  2. A Love Supreme John Coltrane
  3. Time Out The Dave Brubeck Quartet
100 albums · Listen on Apple Music & Spotify
Music

Classical: The Top 100 Albums

  1. Bach: The Goldberg Variations Glenn Gould
  2. Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 5 & 7 Carlos Kleiber & Vienna Philharmonic
  3. Puccini: Tosca Maria Callas, Tito Gobbi & Victor de Sabata
100 albums · Listen on Apple Music & Spotify
Art

The Top 300 Paintings

  1. Mona Lisa Leonardo da Vinci
  2. The Starry Night Vincent van Gogh
  3. The Last Supper Leonardo da Vinci
300 paintings · See each painting and where it hangs
Museum artifacts

The Top 300 Museum Artifacts

  1. Rosetta Stone Ptolemaic Egypt
  2. Tutankhamun’s Golden Mask New Kingdom Egypt
  3. Bust of Nefertiti Thutmose (attributed)
300 artifacts · See each object and where it’s held
Literature

300 Essential Works of Literature

  1. The Epic of Gilgamesh Anonymous
  2. The Iliad Homer
  3. The Odyssey Homer
300 works · Find each book on Amazon
Performance

Ballet, Opera & Concerts on YouTube

  1. Swan Lake The Royal Ballet · Liam Scarlett
  2. The Nutcracker The Royal Ballet · Peter Wright
  3. Giselle The Royal Ballet · Peter Wright
60 performances · Watch on YouTube
Music

The Top 100 Albums by Decade

1950s1960s1970s1980s1990s2000s2010s2020s
1950s

The Top 100 Albums of the 1950s

  1. Kind of Blue Miles Davis
  2. Elvis Presley Elvis Presley
  3. In the Wee Small Hours Frank Sinatra
100 albums · Listen on Apple Music & Spotify
1960s

The Top 100 Albums of the 1960s

  1. Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band The Beatles
  2. Pet Sounds The Beach Boys
  3. Revolver The Beatles
100 albums · Listen on Apple Music & Spotify
1970s

The Top 100 Albums of the 1970s

  1. What’s Going On Marvin Gaye
  2. Songs in the Key of Life Stevie Wonder
  3. Blue Joni Mitchell
100 albums · Listen on Apple Music & Spotify
1980s

The Top 100 Albums of the 1980s

  1. Thriller Michael Jackson
  2. Purple Rain Prince and the Revolution
  3. Remain in Light Talking Heads
100 albums · Listen on Apple Music & Spotify
1990s

The Top 100 Albums of the 1990s

  1. Nevermind Nirvana
  2. OK Computer Radiohead
  3. The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill Lauryn Hill
100 albums · Listen on Apple Music & Spotify
2000s

The Top 100 Albums of the 2000s

  1. Kid A Radiohead
  2. The Blueprint Jay-Z
  3. Is This It The Strokes
100 albums · Listen on Apple Music & Spotify
2010s

The Top 100 Albums of the 2010s

  1. To Pimp a Butterfly Kendrick Lamar
  2. My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy Kanye West
  3. Blonde Frank Ocean
100 albums · Listen on Apple Music & Spotify
2020s

The Top 100 Albums of the 2020s (So Far)

  1. Fetch the Bolt Cutters Fiona Apple
  2. Renaissance Beyoncé
  3. Folklore Taylor Swift
100 albums · Listen on Apple Music & Spotify
Reading lists

Books

All books →
Culture & ideas

Books on Culture & Ideas

  1. Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind Yuval Noah Harari
  2. Guns, Germs, and Steel Jared Diamond
  3. Orientalism Edward W. Said
30 books · Find each book on Amazon
Travel writing

Great Travel Writing

  1. In Patagonia Bruce Chatwin
  2. A Time of Gifts Patrick Leigh Fermor
  3. The Great Railway Bazaar Paul Theroux
30 books · Find each book on Amazon
Food & drink

Books on Food & Drink

  1. Mastering the Art of French Cooking Julia Child, Louisette Bertholle and Simone Beck
  2. Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat Samin Nosrat
  3. On Food and Cooking Harold McGee
30 books · Find each book on Amazon
Fashion & style

Books on Fashion & Style

  1. The Fashion Book Phaidon Editors
  2. Fashion: A History from the 18th to the 20th Century The Kyoto Costume Institute
  3. The Language of Clothes Alison Lurie
30 books · Find each book on Amazon
Art & design

Books on Art & Design

  1. The Story of Art E. H. Gombrich
  2. Ways of Seeing John Berger
  3. The Lives of the Artists Giorgio Vasari
30 books · Find each book on Amazon