Cover of Highway 61 Revisited

Growing up as a baby boomer, I could never really connect with my parents through music. I think the reason is simple. They were teens before rock music and I was a teen after. That is why music is one of the best ways that we can bond with our own teens today. Even though other types of music, such as rap, have been introduced, rock is still alive and well.

Some of my favorite moments with my teens have been when they've discovered the music of the bands from my youth. Many of them have now become their favorites. The Young Adult Library Services Association (Yalsa) has put together a list of 25 Classic Albums Teens still Love. That list contains classic albums from the 1960s through the 1990s. Here are the albums on the list from the 60s and 70s, those albums that the parents of teenagers today, or the baby boomers grew up listening to:

1. Abbey Road - The Beatles (1969)
2. Paranoid - Black Sabbath (1971)
3. The Doors - The Doors (1967)
4. Highway 61 Revisited - Bob Dylan (1965)
5. Are You Experienced - The Jimi Hendrix Experience (1967)
6. IV - Led Zeppelin (1971)
7. Burnin' - Bob Marley & The Wailers (1973)
8. Wish You Were Here - Pink Floyd (1975)
9. A Night at the Opera - Queen (1975)
10. The Ramones - The Ramones (1976)
11. Never Mind the Bollocks Here's the Sex Pistols - The Sex Pistols (1977)
12. The Velvet Underground & Nico - The Velvet Underground (1967)

I am a little surprised that Jethro Tull's Aqualung and Bruce Springsteen's Born to Run aren't on the list. However, I am just happy to see lists like this made up. Anything that shows that parents and teens have music in common to connect over, is great by me.

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