| >Is there a music buff's roadmap, some sort of a chronologically-ordered list of the best and most influential albums that gives a coherent picture of how music evolved over the 20th century? This is a huge undertaking as a LOT of music has been made during that time period, covering a huge amount of genres and cultural movements. I think you're going to get overwhelmed. Is there a reason why youre more concerned with the history of the medium than current releases ? We are living in one of the best times in history to access new music. It can be as simple as finding a reviewer/website you like and following their recommendations. With that said, there are a lot of amazing albums that have been released in the past, this goes without saying. But like other people have mentioned, the best approach is an organic one. Find compilations of famous albums or singles, listen to them, focus on what you like, read up about the genre and find other recommendations. I find youtube is especially good at taking you down rabbit holes. If you dont know where to start, you can look at 4chans music boards "essential" albums [1] and see what appeals to you. Never thought I would recommend something from that site but it actually did expose me to a lot of new stuff 10 years ago. Other popular sites like Pitchfork and Sputnik music tend to write articles about influential albums or genres. If you are interested in the "why" behind some of the history, David Byrne (formerly of the Talking Heads) wrote a phenomenal book on the subject called "How Music Works", that explains a lot of important shifts in the mediums history. [1] https://4chanmusic.fandom.com/wiki/Essential_Charts |